A magnetotelluric study of the Alpine Fault, New Zealand

Magnetotelluric soundings have been made at seven locations on a 4  km profile crossing the Alpine Fault in the South Island of New Zealand. The 'distortion' techniques of Groom & Bailey (1989 ) and Lilley (1998a , b ) have been used to derive regional apparent resistivity and phase curves that correspond to electromagnetic induction in orientations parallel and perpendicular to the fault. 2-D inversion of the regional responses reveals that a narrow (<1  km wide) conductive zone is associated with the Alpine Fault. This conductor is most probably related to the heating of deep circulating meteoric water in a region in which enhanced temperatures occur at shallow depth due to the tectonic uplift of the Southern Alps.     

东亚季风影响区末次冰期冰川作用的控制性因素

东亚季风气候控制下的山地与岛屿冰期历史、冰川规模及其分布规律对深入探讨中国第四纪冰川的发生机制以及全球变化具有重要的科学意义。最新的绝对年代结果显示,中国东部及东亚沿海岛屿山地(包括中国台湾岛,日本本州岛、北海道,朝鲜盖马高原,俄罗斯远东山地等)的冰期启动与消亡时间存在显著差异,但均严格控制在末次冰期范围之内,相当于深海氧同位素阶段(MIS)4至2,冰川的发育规模在末次冰期早中期(MIS3/4)大于末次冰盛期(MIS2)。对研究区各山地和岛屿末次冰期冰川发育的基本特点进行比较后,明确了影响东亚季风影响区冰川作用的主要控制性因素有：气候因素、构造因素、纬度因素和海陆位置等,它们控制着末次冰期冰川的发生、分布与期次。在此控制性因素影响下,东亚低海拔山地不会出现比末次冰期更早的冰川作用。     

Local Extremes in the Lidar‐Derived Snow Cover of Alpine Glaciers

Snow deposition and redistribution are major drivers of snow cover dynamics in mountainous terrain and contribute to the mass balance of alpine glaciers. The quantitative understanding of inhomogeneous snow distribution in mountains has recently benefited from advances in measuring technologies, such as airborne laser scanning (ALS). This contribution further advances the quantitative understanding of snow distribution by analysing the areas of maximum surface elevation changes in a mountain catchment with large and small glaciers. Using multi‐annual ALS observations, we found extreme surface elevation changes on rather thin borders along the glacier margins. While snow depth distribution patterns in less extreme terrain have presented high inter‐annual persistence, there is little persistence of those extreme glacier accumulations between winters. We therefore interpret the lack of persistence as the result of a predominance of gravity‐driven redistribution, which has an inherently higher random component because it does not occur with all conditions in all winters. In highly crevassed zones, the lidar‐derived surface elevation changes are caused by a complex interaction of ice flux divergence, the propagation of crevasses and snow accumulation. In general, the relative contribution of gravitational mass transport to glacier snow cover volume was found to decrease for glaciers larger than 5 km² in the investigated region. We therefore suggest that extreme accumulations caused by gravitational snow transport play a significant role in the glacier mass balance of small to medium‐size glaciers and that they may be successfully parameterized by simple mass redistribution algorithms, which have been presented in the literature.     

A giant deep-seated slope deformation in the Italian Alps studied by paleoseismological and morphometric techniques

This work proves the existence of a large deep-seated gravitational slope deformation (DGSD) in a hilly region of the southwestern Alps, whereas DGSD are usually linked with high relief energy in mountain environments. Moreover, we describe the usefulness of applying paleoseismological techniques by means of trench excavation to date and understand the deformation history and genesis of recent morphostructures, and we found evidence of causative relationships between DGSD and surface landslides. The studied DGSD of Mt. Croce della Tola–Mt. Scincina, Italy, is the largest of the western Alps: it is 7-km long and involves a minimum area of 16 km² with a volume ≥3.5 km³ probably extending further NE beneath Lake Maggiore surface. Several parallel scarps, representing the surface expression of slip-planes, affect the upper part of the slope, whereas the lower part presents a convex profile. DGSD at Mt. Croce della Tola started in the last interglacial period (120–40 ka BP) and the following glacial phase was not able to significantly modify the general slope geometry. Post-glacial deformation also occurred, especially at Mt. Scincina, after 25 ka BP. Post-glacial and active surface landslides developed on the convex lower part of the slope, suggesting that they resulted from instability due to the new profile assumed by the slopes during the deep-seated deformation. The occurrence of Mt. Scincina DGSD with a very low topographic gradient is interpreted as an effect induced by on other large DGSD.     

Cosmogenic Be dating of a sackung and its faulted rock glaciers, in the Alps of Savoy (France)

Sackungs are the largest gravitational deformation observed in mountains. They are characterized by the long-term slowness of the movements, but their mechanism is still not well understood. Nowadays cosmic ray exposure (CRE) dating methods allow dating the morphologic structures involved in sackung and can contribute at the understanding of their origin. In the Alps, the 5.3 km long Arcs sackung initiated during the activity of rock glaciers. Three samples from these faulted rock glaciers provide their first CRE ages and show that at 2000 m elevation these block accumulations moved during the Younger Dryas and stopped in early Holocene. Six ¹⁰Be ages of fault scarps show that the Arcs sackung lasted only a few thousand years and stopped at about 8462 ± 432 ¹⁰Be yr. They also reveal that deformation migrated upslope in agreement with a mechanism of flexural toppling of vertical layers. This unique and long gravitational event, characterized by migration of the deformation, does not support earthquake shaking as triggering mechanism for individual faults. It shows that, in the upper Isère valley, slope deformation was delayed of several thousand years after glacial debuttressing, and is not anymore active despite its fresh morphology.     

近10 a来松嫩平原湿地研究的回顾与展望

松嫩平原是中国内陆湿地集中分布区之一。该区湿地类型有沼泽、湖泊、盐沼和稻田,此外还有水库和少量泥炭地。概述了该区湿地的研究现状,并指出目前研究热点。重点探讨了未来本区湿地的研究趋势,主要体现在湿地生态系统结构、功能和过程研究,湿地的区域生态功能评价,湿地污染及其治理,退化湿地恢复和重建,湿地多样性与湿地保护,湿地资源综合利用,湿地对全球变化响应和全球变化对湿地影响,湿地-草地-盐碱地转换机制和过程和驱动力等方面。     

宁夏沙尘暴天气研究进展

概括地分析了宁夏沙尘暴天气的地理分布与时空演变特征、形成机理与成灾规律,以及沙尘暴与生态环境等方面的研究成果。 总结性地分析了宁夏中北部沙尘暴多发区生态退化、土地荒漠化与强沙尘暴间的相互关系等,取得了阶段性进展;同时也介绍了利用多源资料及相关科研成果,建立适合宁夏中北部地区气候特征的沙尘暴发生频率定量化模型等,以期对以后沙尘暴的更深入研究有所借鉴和帮助。     

一种新型冰川地貌——山岳冰川型蛇形丘

蛇形丘一般发育在大陆冰川地区,其成因主要是冰下隧道中冰融水流动携带的砂砾堆积填充而成,组成物质为砂砾。该文提出山岳冰川地区也有蛇形丘发育,并阐述其成因、组成物质结构、地理位置等与大陆冰川地区蛇形丘的不同。利用该类地貌的航空立体影像进行分析论证,为山岳冰川型蛇形丘的存在、成因、物质结构、地理位置提供依据。     

Alpine Plant Communities: A Statistical Assessment of Their Relation to Microclimatological,Pedological, Geomorphological,and Other Factors

Floristic composition and environmental factors vary widely among plant communities in the alpine belt. Thus far no study has attempted to measure all relevant site conditions in a larger number of alpine communities. Here we show (1) which environmental factors were highly correlated with the floristic composition of the 14 plant communities investigated in the Swiss Alps and (2) which plant communities have similar environmental affinities. In every plant community investigated, the main factors potentially having an impact on plant life were measured and the floristic composition was defined. We used nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) to determine linkage between plant communities and complex environmental gradients. The first axis of the NMDS corresponds to a climate gradient (temperature/wind speed), and the second axis corresponds to a soil gradient (soil suction/pH/Ca content). With the exception of the Nardus grassland and Carex curvula turf, plant communities belonging to the same phytosociological class are exposed to very similar combinations of environmental factors. Our study shows that the variation between phytosociological classes is much larger than within classes. Still, the variation of environmental factors within individual classes leads to a further differentiation of the floristic composition. Thus, our study reinforces the validity of the phytosociological classification.     

Glacier changes in the Qilian Mountains in the past half-century: Based on the revised First and Second Chinese Glacier Inventory

Glaciers are the most important fresh-water resources in arid and semi-arid regions of western China. According to the Second Chinese Glacier Inventory (SCGI), primarily compiled from Landsat TM/ETM+ images, the Qilian Mountains had 2684 glaciers covering an area of 1597.81±70.30 km2 and an ice volume of ~84.48 km³ from 2005 to 2010. While most glaciers are small (85.66% are <1.0 km²), some larger ones (12.74% in the range 1.0–5.0 km²) cover 42.44% of the total glacier area. The Laohugou Glacier No.12 (20.42 km²) located on the north slope of the Daxue Range is the only glacier >20 km² in the Qilian Mountains. Median glacier elevation was 4972.7 m and gradually increased from east to west. Glaciers in the Qilian Mountains are distributed in Gansu and Qinghai provinces, which have 1492 glaciers (760.96 km²) and 1192 glaciers (836.85 km²), respectively. The Shule River basin contains the most glaciers in both area and volume. However, the Heihe River, the second largest inland river in China, has the minimum average glacier area. A comparison of glaciers from the SCGI and revised glacier inventory based on topographic maps and aerial photos taken from 1956 to 1983 indicate that all glaciers have receded, which is consistent with other mountain and plateau areas in western China. In the past half-century, the area and volume of glaciers decreased by 420.81 km² (–20.88%) and 21.63 km³ (–20.26%), respectively. Glaciers with areas <1.0 km² decreased the most in number and area recession. Due to glacier shrinkage, glaciers below 4000 m completely disappeared. Glacier changes in the Qilian Mountains presented a clear longitudinal zonality, i.e., the glaciers rapidly shrank in the east but slowly in the central-west. The primary cause of glacier recession was warming temperatures, which was slightly mitigated with increased precipitation.     

太白山高山带环境特征

对比国内外关于高山带景观划分的多种观点，采用气候树线以上部分为高山带的划分方法，重点讨论太白山高山带自然环境，包括第四纪冰川遗迹和现代冰缘作用影响下的高山、亚高山地貌，研究区内主要气候要素的分布状、特别气温和降水的时空分配分布格局，土壤有机质的空间分异，以及在这种环境条件下高山带的植物区系和植被分布格局。太白山高山带的各种环境要素之间密切相关，是表现特殊的自然综合体。在全球气候变化背景下，其自然环境特点及变化值得密切关主。     

区域土地利用变化驱动力研究进展与展望

剖析了区域土地利用变化驱动力的概念和内涵,通过对国内外土地利用变化驱动力研究进行系统的分析比较,归纳了土地利用变化的主要驱动因素,概括了驱动力的基本特性,着重分析了土地利用与土地覆被变化的驱动力机制及其模型研究进展,并总结了各个模型的特点及其适用范围。最后提出了未来土地利用变化驱动力研究的发展趋势,以期为土地利用/覆被变化研究提供借鉴。     

Depositional processes and particle characteristics on fans in the Southern Alps, New Zealand

Characteristics of surface particles on four fans dominated by different depositional processes are investigated in the sedimentary ranges of the Aoraki–Mount Cook area, Southern Alps, New Zealand. Statistical testing shows that on three of the fans all indices of particle size and roundness differ significantly according to the depositional process: snow avalanches produce the largest and most angular particles, streamflows the smallest and most rounded, with debris flows in between. On the fourth fan affected by all of these depositional processes, particle size and roundness indicate that snow avalanches are presently dominant with streamflow playing a secondary role. The results also show that all indices of particle size are strongly correlated with each other and suggest that the principal (a-) or intermediate (b-) axis length may provide a satisfactory substitute for more complex indices of size. Indices of particle shape generally do not differ significantly between the fans, reflecting both the strong control exerted on particle shape by source area lithology and structure and the geologic similarity of the four basins. Changes in particle size and roundness occur with down-fan distance on the snow avalanche, debris flow, and hybrid fans but not on the streamflow fan.     

冰川旅游研究进展与启示

冰川旅游是现代旅游活动的重要组成部分,对冰川区域的自然生态环境产生着重要影响。冰川分布偏远、进入性差、旅游活动专业性强等因素制约着该领域的深入研究,尚未形成系统性的理论研究体系。论文梳理了国内外冰川旅游相关研究成果,从冰川旅游的概念与内涵、冰川旅游资源开发与管理、冰川旅游发展效应、气候变化对冰川旅游的影响及应对等方面进行了总结,评述了国内外冰川旅游在研究时间、研究内容、研究方法上的差异,提出了冰川旅游研究的难点和突破口。在此基础上,提出冰川旅游研究应基于资源学和地理学科特点,以旅游地域的人地关系演化为着眼点,从冰川旅游的资源基础、景观价值评价与适宜性开发、冰川旅游发展模式、目的地管理与社区建设等方面构建研究框架,指导中国冰川旅游的可持续发展。     

中国季风温冰川区近代气候变化与冰川动态

通过对中国季风温冰川区的气候实测资料、冰芯记录、树木年轮指数和冰川进退记载等多种指标的综合分析,较详细地研究了400年以来本区气候与冰川变化。自17~19世纪小冰期的两个寒冷阶段以后,中国季风温冰川分布区气温普遍波动上升,与全球变暖的大背景一致, 大部分冰川正在后退,但降水量变化则比较复杂,达索普冰芯记录证明,本区西部的喜马拉雅山地区降水量表现为下降的趋势,与气温变化相反,而东部的横断山等地的降水则表现为上升的趋势,与气温变化同步,这主要是不同来源大气环流影响的结果。研究区主要盛行来源于印度洋的西南季风,此外,其东部还受来源于西太平洋东南季风的影响,西部受西风环流南支的影响,造成中国季风温冰川区东西部不均匀的降水分布和变化趋势。小冰期以后,我国的季风温冰川对气候变暖反应敏感,绝大部分冰川持续后退。20世纪80年代以来,后退速度加剧, 但后退幅度和规模因地而异。     

The impacts of climate change on hydrology in a typical glacier region—A case study in Hailuo Creek watershed of Mt. Gongga in China

The glaciers of the Hengduan Mountains play an important role in the hydrology processes of this region. In this study, the HBV Light model, which relies on a degree-day model to simulate glacier melting, was employed to simulate both glacier runoff and total runoff. The daily temperature and precipitation at the Hailuo Creek No. 1 Glacier from 1952 to 2009 were obtained from daily meteorological observed data at the glacier and from six national meteorological stations near the Hailuo Creek Basin. The daily air temperature, precipitation, runoff depth, and monthly potential evaporation in 1995, 1996, and 2002 were used to obtain a set of optimal parameters, and the annual total runoff and glacier runoff of the Hailuo Creek Glacier(1952–2009) were calculated using the HBV Light model. Results showed the average annual runoff in the Hailuo Creek Basin was 2,114 mm from 1952 to 2009, of which glacial melting accounted for about 1,078 mm. The river runoff in the Hailuo Creek catchment increased as a result of increased glacier runoff. Glacier runoff accounted for 51.1% of the Hailuo Creek stream flow in 1994 and increased to 72.6% in 2006. About 95% of the increased stream flow derived from the increased glacier runoff.