Preliminary data on chemical changes in the Aral Sea during low-level periods from the last 9000 years

The withdrawal of the Aral Sea tributaries (Amu and Syr Daria) for cultures has led to significant falls of its level and an important increase in its salinity. During the Holocene, a succession of low and high water inputs occurred. Silty deposits correspond to the high levels and carbonates to the low levels. This study makes a distinction between the Syr Daria and the Amu Daria water inputs during low-level periods by using mineralogical and chemical compositions of the carbonates deposits. Waters from the Syr Daria are more sulphatic and have a low iron content in comparison with that of the Amu Daria. The Syr Daria was the major tributary around 7500, 4956 and 970 yr?BP, whereas around 6200 and 3610 yr?BP, inflow also from the Amu Daria is observed. To cite this article: L. Le Callonnec et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

Palaeoceanographic change in the northeastern South China Sea during the last 15000 years

The sedimentary succession of piston core RC26-16, dated by ¹⁴C accelerator mass spectrometry, provides a nearly continuous palaeoceanographic record of the northeastern South China Sea for the last 15000 yr. Planktic foraminiferal assemblages indicate that winter sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) rose from 18°C to about 24°C from the last glacial to the Holocene. A short-lived cooling of 1°C in winter temperature centred at about 11000 ¹⁴C yr ago may reflect the Younger Dryas cooling event in this area. Summer SSTs have remained between 27°C and 29°C throughout the record. The temperature difference between summer and winter was about ca. 9°C during the last glacial, much higher than the Holocene value of ca. 5°C. During the late Holocene a short-lived cooling event occurred at about 4000 ¹⁴C yr ago. Oxygen and carbon isotopic gradients between surface (0–50 m) and subsurface (50–100 m) waters were smaller during the last glacial than those in the Holocene. The fluctuation in the isotopic gradients are caused most likely by changes in upwelling intensity. Smaller gradients indicate stronger upwelling during the glacial winter monsoon. The fauna-derived estimates of nutrient content of the surface waters indicate that the upwelling induced higher fertility and biological productivity during the glacial. The winter monsoon became weaker during the Holocene. The carbonate compensation depth and foraminiferal lysocline were shallower during the Holocene, except for a short-lived deepening at about 5000 ¹⁴C yr ago. A preservation peak of planktic foraminifera and calcium carbonate occurred between 13400 and 12000 ¹⁴C yr ago, synchronous to the global preservation event of Termination I.     

River inflow and salinity changes in the Caspian Sea during the last 5500 years

Pollen, spores and dinoflagellate cysts have been analysed on three sediment cores (1.8–1.4 m-long) taken from the south and middle basins of the Caspian Sea. A chronology available for one of the cores is based on calibrated radiocarbon dates (ca 5.5–0.8 cal. ka BP). The pollen and spores assemblages indicate fluctuations between steppe and desert. In addition there are some outstanding zones with a bias introduced by strong river inflow. The dinocyst assemblages change between slightly brackish (abundance of Pyxidinopsis psilata and Spiniferites cruciformis) and more brackish (dominance of Impagidinium caspienense) conditions. During the second part of the Holocene, important flow modifications of the Uzboy River and the Volga River as well as salinity changes of the Caspian Sea, causing sea-level fluctuations, have been reconstructed. A major change is suggested at ca 4 cal. ka BP with the end of a high level phase in the south basin. Amongst other hypotheses, this could be caused by the end of a late and abundant flow of the Uzboy River (now defunct), carrying to the Caspian Sea either meltwater from higher latitudes or water from the Amu-Daria. A similar, later clear phase of water inflow has also been observed from 2.1 to 1.7 cal. ka BP in the south basin and probably also in the north of the middle basin.     

Chronology of the Black Sea over the last 25,000 years

Deep-water sediments of the Black Sea deposited during Late Pleistocene and Holocene time are distinguished by three sedimentary units: (1) a microlaminated coccolith ooze mainly consisting of Emiliania huxleyi; (2) a sapropel; and (3) a banded lutite. The base of the first unit lies at 3,000 years B.P., that of the second at 7,000 years B.P., and that of the third at least at about 25,000 years B.P. Fossils and geochemical criteria are used to decipher the environmental events of this time period. Beginning with the base of the section dated at about 25,000 years B.P. we witness the final stage of metamorphosis from anoxic marine to oxic freshwater conditions. By the time this stage ended, about 22,000 years B.P., the Black Sea had become a truly freshwater habitat. The lake phase lasted about 12,000 to 13,000 years. Sedimentation rates were in the order of 1 m/10³ years, but began to decrease as sea level rose during the last 5,000 years of this phase (9,000–15,000 years B.P.). Starting at about 9,000 years B.P. and continuing to 7,000 years B.P., Mediterranean waters occasionally spilled over the Bosporus as a consequence of ice retreat and sea level rise. This marked the beginning of a gradual shift from freshwater to marine, and from well aerated to stagnant conditions. At about 7,000 years B.P. when deposition of unit 2 started, the H₂S zone was well established. Sedimentation rates dropped to 10 cm/10³ years. Environmental conditions similar to those of today finally became established around 3,000 years B.P., almost exactly the time when Jason and the Argonauts sailed through the Bosporus in search of the Golden Fleece.     

咸海流域水文水资源演变与咸海生态危机出路分析

中亚的咸海问题已成为全球性的生态和社会问题,研究咸海流域水文水资源、经济社会发展演变与气候变化,对深入理解中亚地区咸海危机形成机理、未来发展趋势、探讨咸海生态危机出路具有重要意义,对类似区域跨界河流和我国西北干旱区水资源开发利用具有重要借鉴意义. 介绍了中亚五国咸海流域的水资源及其开发利用情况,重点分析了中亚五国咸海流域农业灌溉的发展演变、近80a来咸海流域气候变化趋势与主要河流水文演变情势及咸海水文特征演变. 结果表明,咸海生态危机完全是由人类自导并日益严重的水资源-生态-环境与社会危机,短期内难以遏制,长期来看也无法逆转. 结合咸海危机生态环境效应,讨论了3个跨流域调水方案拯救咸海的利弊与前景,探讨了立足于流域本身拯救咸海的综合治理措施. 最后,提出了咸海危机经验教训对我国内陆河水资源开发利用的若干启示.     

南海北部夏季沿岸上升流近百年的强度变化

用全谱直读ICP-AES技术测定了海南岛东部（琼东）沿岸上升流区域滨珊瑚1906—1996年的Sr／Ca比值。结果显示珊瑚Sr／Ca比值重建的琼东海域的夏季海表温度偏低,强烈地受到东亚夏季风引起沿岸冷上升流的影响。结合西沙海域的滨珊瑚海表温度记录,首次重建了1906～1993年琼东沿岸风生上升流的强度指数变化序列。结果表明琼东上升流于1906～1993期间整体呈加强趋势,并具显著的年代际波动特征,同全球趋暖密切相关。此外,重建的上升流强度指数序列还揭示了大尺度环流——厄尔尼诺一南方涛动对琼东上升流强度变化的制约。     

Dust deposition in the Aral Sea: implications for changes in atmospheric circulation in central Asia during the past 2000 years

We investigated mineral aerosol (dust) deposition in the Aral Sea with intention to understand the variability of dust in central Asia and its implications for atmospheric circulation change in the late Holocene. Using an 11.12-m sediment core of the lake, we calculated bulk sediment fluxes at high time-resolution and analyzed grain-size distributions of detrital sediments. A refined age-depth model was established by combined methods of radiocarbon dating and archeological evidence. Besides, a principal component analysis (PCA) of grain-size fractions and elements (Fe, Ti, K, Ca, Sr) was used to assess the potential processes controlling detrital inputs. The results suggest that two processes are mainly relevant for the clastic input as the medium silt fractions and Ti, Fe and K are positively correlated with Component 1 (C1), and the fine size fractions (<6 μm) are positively correlated with Component 2 (C2). Taking the results of the PCA, geological backgrounds, clastic input processes into account, we propose that the medium silt fractions and, in particular, the grain-size fraction ratio (6–32 μm/2–6 μm), can serve as indicators of the variability of airborne dust in the Aral Sea region. On the contrary, the fine size fractions appear to be contributed mainly by the sheetwash processes. The bulk sediment deposition fluxes were extremely high during the Little Ice Age (LIA; AD 1400–1780), which may be related to the increased dust deposition. As indicated by the variations of grain-size ratio and Ti, the history of dust deposition in central Asia can be divided into five distinct periods, with a remarkably low deposition during AD 1–350, a moderately high value from AD 350–720, a return to relatively low level between AD 720 and AD 1400 (including the Medieval Warm Period (MWP, AD 755–1070)), an exceptionally high deposition from AD 1400 to 1940s and an abnormally low value since 1940s. The temporal variations in the dust deposition are consistent with the changes in the Siberian High (SH) and mean atmospheric temperature of the northern hemisphere during the past 2000 years, with low/high annual temperature anomalies corresponding to high/low dust supplies in the Aral Sea sediments, respectively. The variations in the fine size fraction also show a broadly similarity to a lacustrine δ¹⁸O record in Turkey (Jones et al., 2006), implying that there was less moisture entering western central Asia from the Mediterranean during the LIA than during the MWP.     

Control of wind strength and frequency in the Aral Sea basin during the late Holocene

Changing content of detrital input in laminated sediments traced by XRF scanning and microfacies analyses reflect prominent variations in sedimentation processes in the Aral Sea. A high-resolution record of titanium from a core retrieved in the northwestern Large Aral Sea allows a continuous reconstruction of wind strength and frequency in western Central Asia for the past 1500 yr. During AD 450–700, AD 1210–1265, AD 1350–1750 and AD 1800–1975, detrital inputs (bearing titanium) are high, documenting an enhanced early spring atmospheric circulation associated with an increase in intensity of the Siberian High pressure system over Central Asia. In contrast, lower titanium content during AD 1750–1800 and AD 1980–1985 reflects a diminished influence of the Siberian High during early spring with a reduced atmospheric circulation. A moderate circulation characterizes the time period AD 700–1150. Unprecedented weakened atmospheric circulation over western Central Asia are inferred during ca. AD 1180–1210 and AD 1265–1310 with a considerable decrease in dust storm frequency, sedimentation rates, lamination thickness and detrital inputs (screened at 40-μm resolution). Our results are concurrent with changes in the intensity of the Siberian High during the past 1400 yr as reported in the GISP2 Ice Core from Greenland.     

A high-resolution diatom-inferred palaeoconductivity and lake level record of the Aral Sea for the last 1600 yr

Formerly the world's fourth largest lake by area, the Aral Sea is presently undergoing extreme desiccation due to large-scale irrigation strategies implemented in the Soviet era. As part of the INTAS-funded CLIMAN project into Holocene climatic variability and the evolution of human settlement in the Aral Sea basin, fossil diatom assemblages contained within a sediment core obtained from the Aral Sea have been applied to a diatom-based inference model of conductivity (r² = 0.767, RMSEP = 0.469 log₁₀ μS cm^− 1). This has provided a high-resolution record of conductivity and lake level change over the last ca. 1600 yr. Three severe episodes of lake level regression are indicated at ca. AD 400, AD 1195–1355 and ca. AD 1780 to the present day. The first two regressions may be linked to the natural diversion of the Amu Darya away from the Aral Sea and the failure of cyclones formed in the Mediterranean to penetrate more continental regions. Human activity, however, and in particular the destruction of irrigation facilities are synchronous with these early regressions and contributed to the severity of the observed low stands.     

Study on the change of Keqikaer Glacier during the last 30 years,Mt. Tuomuer,Western China

Using radio echo sounder, ice thickness of Keqikaer Glacier tongue was measured in 1981 and 2004. Data obtained by comparing topographical maps, aerial and satellite photographs at different times, illustrates changes of the thickness and advance/retreat of Keqikaer Glacier. Keqikaer Glacier has been in intensive retreat since the 1990s and become thinner since the 1980s. Measured thickness of the ice tongue indicates reducing with a speed of 0.5–1.5 m a⁻¹ since 1981. The shrinkage of the glacier terminus is less than 2% of the total length during the last 30 years; however, the retreat of terminus position and the thinning of the ice thickness provides significant information that these glaciers on the south slope of Mt. Tuomuer are in an intensively decreasing phase in recent time.     

Paleoceanography of the Santa Barbara Basin during the last 8000 years

The varved sediments of the Santa Barbara Basin off southern California, offer a unique opportunity to study the changes in oceanographic conditions of this nearshore area during the last 8000 yr. Quantitative analysis of Radiolaria found in recent surface sediment samples from the eastern North Pacific allows the identification of four “assemblages” which can be related to the physical oceanography of the California Current. Two assemblages are associated with the southerly flowing California Current, one with the main stream of the current (California Current Assemblage) and the other with the offshore flow along northern California (Central Assemblage). The two other assemblages are associated with the subtropical region of the eastern North Pacific (Subtropical Assemblage) and one found mostly off the coast of Baja California (Baja Assemblage). Analysis of the Radiolaria found in the varved sediments of a core from the Santa Barbara Basin give an 8000-yr continuous record of these four assemblages. The California and Baja Assemblages show only minor fluctuations in their importance in the sediments of the Santa Barbara Basin. The California Assemblage, however, shows a steady increase during this time period. Prior to 5400 yr B.P. the Radiolaria were predominately subtropical in character, whereas after 5400 yr B.P. the Central Assemblage becomes more important. Since 5400 yr B.P. most of the changes in the radiolarian fauna consist of fluctuations in the importance of these two assemblages. Past sea-surface temperatures for the month of February were calculated using the transfer function technique of J. Imbrie and N. G. Kipp (1971, In “The Late Cenozore Glacial Ages” L. K. Turekian, Ed.), (Chap. 5, Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, Conn.). The time series of paleotemperature estimates show major changes in the average February temperature of Santa Barbara Basin waters. The range of estimated temperatures (12°C) exceeds that of the historical observations of February temperatures in the Santa Barbara Basin but does not exceed the observed range for the California Current region. The intervals from 800 to 1800 yr B.P. 3600 to 3800 yr B.P. and 5400 to the end of the record appear to have been generally warmer than today. Comparison of the Holocene record of alpine glacial advances with the radiolarian assemblage and paleotemperature time series shows that the initiations of advances was coincident with a decrease in sea-surface temperatures and an increase in the importance of the Central Assemblage in the Santa Barbara Basin. The terminations of these advances were not marked by any consistent characteristic in the Santa Barbara Basin time series.     

Palaeoceanographic changes in the northern Barents Sea during the last 16 000 years – new constraints on the last deglaciation of the Svalbard–Barents Sea Ice Sheet

The sediment core NP05‐71GC, retrieved from 360 m water depth south of Kvitøya, northwestern Barents Sea, was investigated for the distribution of benthic and planktic foraminifera, stable isotopes and sedimentological parameters to reconstruct palaeoceanographic changes and the growth and retreat of the Svalbard–Barents Sea Ice Sheet during the last ～16 000 years. The purpose is to gain better insight into the timing and variability of ocean circulation, climatic changes and ice‐sheet behaviour during the deglaciation and the Holocene. The results show that glaciomarine sedimentation commenced c. 16 000 a BP, indicating that the ice sheet had retreated from its maximum position at the shelf edge around Svalbard before that time. A strong subsurface influx of Atlantic‐derived bottom water occurred from 14 600 a BP during the Bølling and Allerød interstadials and lasted until the onset of the Younger Dryas cooling. In the Younger Dryas cold interval, the sea surface was covered by near‐permanent sea ice. The early Holocene, 11 700–11 000 a BP, was influenced by meltwater, followed by a strong inflow of highly saline and chilled Atlantic Water until c. 8600 a BP. From 8600 to 7600 a BP, faunal and isotopic evidence indicates cooling and a weaker flow of the Atlantic Water followed by a stronger influence of Atlantic Water until c. 6000 a BP. Thereafter, the environment generally deteriorated. Our results imply that (i) the deglaciation occurred earlier in this area than previously thought, and (ii) the Younger Dryas ice sheet was smaller than indicated by previous reconstructions.     

The evolution of the terrestrial-terminating Irish Sea glacier during the last glaciation

Here we reconstruct the last advance to maximum limits and retreat of the Irish Sea Glacier (ISG), the only land-terminating ice lobe of the western British Irish Ice Sheet. A series of reverse bedrock slopes rendered proglacial lakes endemic, forming time-transgressive moraine- and bedrock-dammed basins that evolved with ice marginal retreat. Combining, for the first time on glacial sediments, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) bleaching profiles for cobbles with single grain and small aliquot OSL measurements on sands, has produced a coherent chronology from these heterogeneously bleached samples. This chronology constrains what is globally an early build-up of ice during late Marine Isotope Stage 3 and Greenland Stadial (GS) 5, with ice margins reaching south Lancashire by 30 ± 1.2 ka, followed by a 120-km advance at 28.3 ± 1.4 ka reaching its 26.5 ± 1.1 ka maximum extent during GS-3. Early retreat during GS-3 reflects piracy of ice sources shared with the Irish-Sea Ice Stream (ISIS), starving the ISG. With ISG retreat, an opportunistic readvance of Welsh ice during GS-2 rode over the ISG moraines occupying the space vacated, with ice margins oscillating within a substantial glacial over-deepening. Our geomorphological chronosequence shows a glacial system forced by climate but mediated by piracy of ice sources shared with the ISIS, changing flow regimes and fronting environments.     

Sub–fossil Ostracoda and the death of the Aral Sea

The Aral Sea has become increasingly saline since 1960, resulting in decimation of the aquatic biota. Of the 11 ostracod species known to have been alive in the Aral Sea 30 years ago, only one, the euryhaline Cyprideis torosa, lives there today. Recent research has suggested that this species has survived because it is capable of strong hypo–osmotic regulation. The Quaternary history of the sea shows that there have often been water–level fluctuations, but recent dramatic environmental changes have had particularly severe consequences on the ostracod faunas .