Environmental changes in the northern Altai during the last millennium documented in Lake Teletskoye pollen record

A high-resolution pollen record from Lake Teletskoye documents the climate-related vegetation history of the northern Altai Mountain region during the last millennium. Siberian pine taiga with Scots pine, fir, spruce, and birch dominated the vegetation between ca. AD 1050 and 1100. The climate was similar to modern. In the beginning of the 12th century, birch and shrub alder increased. Lowered pollen concentrations and simultaneous peaks in herbs (especially Artemisia and Poaceae), ferns, and charcoal fragments point to colder and more arid climate conditions than before, with frequent fire events. Around AD 1200, regional climate became warmer and more humid than present, as revealed by an increase of Siberian pine and decreases of dry herb taxa and charcoal contents. Climatic conditions were rather stable until ca. AD 1410. An increase of Artemisia pollen may reflect slightly drier climate conditions between AD 1410 and 1560. Increases in Alnus, Betula, Artemisia, and Chenopodiaceae pollen and in charcoal particle contents may reflect further deterioration of climate conditions between AD 1560 and 1810, consistent with the Little Ice Age. After AD 1850 the vegetation gradually approached the modern one, in conjunction with ongoing climate warming.     

BP神经网络在古气候序列重建中的应用

当前小区域的古气候变化研究受模拟资料分辨率和可靠性的严重制约.为了将大区域的气候模拟资料应用到小区域的古气候研究中去,亟待建立有效的降尺度方法.为此以徽鄂地区为例,建立了一个3层BP神经网络拟合模型,利用相关气象要素作为拟合因子,拟合并重建了该地区近千年来1月、7月和年平均的温度和降水序列,通过与观测及模拟资料的对比分析发现,该模型拟合及重建的近千年气候序列有较高的精度和可靠性,能反映小区域气候的年际和年代际变化信号,提高了模拟资料对小区域气候变化的刻画能力.     

An Overview on Changes of Dry/Wet Pattern in China in Decadal to Centennial Warm and Cold Periods During the Past Millennium

Revealing the multi-scale variation characteristics of the drought/flood patterns for the past millennium has been a hot spot in climate change research in recent years. It has significance for understanding and predicting the temporal and spatial differences of precipitation changes in the context of future climate warming. Based on publications on the peer-reviewed journals, here, we summarized and compared the combinations between cold/warm periods and dry/wet spatial patterns at multi-scales in China over the past millennium. The main conclusions are: although there are differences in China's dry/wet patterns in different cold and warm periods for the past millennium, the ensemble mean shows that the dry/wet patterns in eastern China in decadal or centennial warm periods are approximately "dry (South China)-wet (middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River)-dry (Huanghuai Area)" from south to north, while in the relatively cold periods it mainly shows a "wet in east and dry in west" pattern. The climate changes from cold to warm usually lead to a drying trend in the Huanghuai Area, and a wetting trend in the Jiangnan area (especially the Yangtze River basin in Hunan and Jiangxi provinces). This shows that the "flood in south and drought in north" pattern in eastern China since the 1970s under the background of global warming may be a re-occurrence of the matching characteristics of cold/warm climate and dry/wet patterns in China for the past millennium. However, from the perspective of the longer-scale cold and warm stages, the dry/wet pattern in China tend to be "dry in the arid and semi-arid areas in western China; wet in southwestern, northern, and northeastern China; and dry in southeastern China" in the Medieval Climate Anomaly, and an opposite pattern shows in the Little Ice Age. It suggests that there are still uncertainties in the current climate reconstructions, and it also shows that the mechanism of dry/wet pattern responding to multi-scale temperature fluctuations might be extremely complicated.     

Research on hydrogen and oxygen isotopes of paleoclimate reconstruction in Nuomuhong

As a typical alluvial-proluvial fan area in the Qaidam Basin, Nuomuhong is important to the research on paleoclimate reconstruction in proluvial fan areas and basin climate change and ecological protection. This paper analyzes features of ~2H, ~3H, ~(18) O and ~(14) C isotopes in Nuomuhong and reconstructs paleoclimate in this area. According to the results: since 28 ka B.P., the ground average temperature decreases and then increases in the Qaidam watershed, reaching the lowest in 17.7 ka B.P. before increasing gradually. In the past 30 000 years, average temperature has changed ranged from 1 ℃ to 5 ℃ in this area; the lowest temperature was different from today's temperature only by 3 ℃. This shows that climate conditions and natural environment in this area have been relatively stable in the past 30 000 years.     

Paleoclimate reconstruction in the Levant region from the geochemistry of a Holocene stalagmite from the Jeita cave, Lebanon

Dated oxygen and carbon isotopic profiles from a Holocene stalagmite (11.9–1.1 ka) from the Jeita cave, Lebanon, are compared to variations in crystallographic habit, stalagmite diameter and growth rate. The profiles show generally high δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values during the late-glacial period, low values during the early Holocene, and again high values after 5.8 ka. On the basis of the good correlation between the morphological and crystallographic aspect of the stalagmite and its isotopic records, as well as the isotopic response of speleothems from central and northern Israel, we relate high δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values to drier conditions. Between 6.5 and 5.8 ka an increase in isotopic values, a decrease in growth rate and stalagmite diameter suggest a transition from wet conditions in the early Holocene towards drier conditions in the mid-Holocene. The transition occurred in two steps, first a progressive change to drier conditions started at 6.5 ka but was interrupted by a short ( 100 years) return to wetter conditions, followed by an equally rapid (< 200 years) change to drier conditions.     

A 2000-yr reconstruction of air temperature in the Great Basin of the United States with specific reference to the Medieval Climatic Anomaly

A sediment core representing the past two millennia was recovered from Stella Lake in the Snake Range of the central Great Basin in Nevada. The core was analyzed for sub-fossil chironomids and sediment organic content. A quantitative reconstruction of mean July air temperature (MJAT) was developed using a regional training set and a chironomid-based WA-PLS inference model (r²_jack = 0.55, RMSEP = 0.9°C). The chironomid-based MJAT reconstruction suggests that the interval between AD 900 and AD 1300, corresponding to the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), was characterized by MJAT elevated 1.0°C above the subsequent Little Ice Age (LIA), but likely not as warm as recent conditions. Comparison of the Stella Lake temperature reconstruction to previously published paleoclimate records from this region indicates that the temperature fluctuations inferred to have occurred at Stella Lake between AD 900 and AD 1300 correspond to regional records documenting hydroclimate variability during the MCA interval. The Stella Lake record provides evidence that elevated summer temperature contributed to the increased aridity that characterized the western United States during the MCA.     

Non-linear connections between dune activity and climate in the High Plains, Kansas and Oklahoma, USA

Discrete dune fields are found throughout much of the Great Plains of North America, and the timing of past dune activity is often used as a proxy for paleoclimate because of the intuitive link between dune activity and a more arid climate. This research suggests that feedbacks in the soil-geomorphic system create a relationship between dune activity and climate that varies both spatially and temporally. Older eolian landforms are more resistant to activation because of the long-term accumulation of finer soil particles in a Bt horizon which retain moisture and anchor the deposit even during more arid times. Conversely, younger deposits lack these fines and are more easily reactivated. This spatially variable relationship is supported by soil stratigraphy, particle size analysis, and optical age control. Additionally, the water retention of the Bt horizons is quantifiably greater than that of the soils found in the younger dunes of the area. This complication in the relationship between eolian activity and climate is important because it suggests that caution is needed when using past dune activity as the lone proxy for paleoclimate.     

虚拟现实技术在石油勘探开发中的应用

在石油工业勘探开发面临严峻挑战的今天,多学科的交叉合作发展势在必行。虚拟现实技术以其沉浸性、交互性和想象性,将成为理想的石油工业勘探开发工作平台,可望广泛应用于地震资料解释、储层模型建立、钻井轨迹设计、海上钻井平台设计以及多学科工作组的协同工作和决策等,并分析了虚拟现实技术的主要进展,展望了虚拟现实技术在石油勘探开发中的应用前景。     

Holocene climate variability and cultural evolution in the Near East from the Dead Sea sedimentary record

A comprehensive record of lake level changes in the Dead Sea has been reconstructed using multiple, well dated sediment cores recovered from the Dead Sea shore. Interpreting the lake level changes as monitors of precipitation in the Dead Sea drainage area and the regional eastern Mediterranean palaeoclimate, we document the presence of two major wet phases ( 10–8.6 and  5.6–3.5 cal kyr BP) and multiple abrupt arid events during the Holocene. The arid events in the Holocene Dead Sea appear to coincide with major breaks in the Near East cultural evolution (at  8.6, 8.2, 4.2, 3.5 cal kyr BP). Wetter periods are marked by the enlargement of smaller settlements and growth of farming communities in desert regions, suggesting a parallelism between climate and Near East cultural development.     

Comparison of three geostatistical methods for hydrofacies simulation: a test on alluvial sediments

The hydrodispersive properties of porous sediments are strongly influenced by the heterogeneity at fine scales, which can be modeled by geostatistical simulations. In order to improve the assessment of the properties of three different geostatistical simulation methods (Sequential indicator simulation, SISIM; Transition probability geostatistical simulation, T-PROGS; Multiple point simulation, MPS) a comparison test at different scales was performed for a well-exposed aquifer analogue. In the analysed volume (approximately 30,000?m³) four operative hydrofacies have been recognised: very fine sand and silt, sand, gravelly sand and open framework gravel. Several equiprobable realizations were computed with SISIM, MPS and T-PROGS for a test volume of approximately 400?m³ and for the entire volume, and the different outcomes were compared with visual inspection and connectivity analysis of the very or poorly permeable structures. The comparison of the different simulations shows that the geological model is best reproduced when the simulations are realised separately for each highest rank depositional element and subsequently merged. Moreover, the three methods yield different images of the volume; in particular MPS is efficient in mapping the geometries of the most represented hydrofacies, whereas SISIM and T-PROGS can account for the distribution of the less represented facies.     

全新世中期中国气候格局定量重建

古气候要素的定量化,是认识气候变化规律的关键节点之一。以往对于我国的古气候要素定量化重建,主要基于孢粉-气候的统计学方法。由于该方法难以有效区分温度、降水和大气CO₂浓度等环境因子对植物生长的影响,因而导致重建结果可能存在不确定性。本次研究,我们基于植物生理过程、新一代古气候定量重建的植被反演方法,考虑环境因子对植被生长的影响,利用新完善的中国第四纪孢粉数据库中的孢粉数据,定量化重建了我国全新世中期（6±0.5ka ¹⁴C）的古气候要素空间格局。结果表明,全新世中期我国年均温度比现在略高约0.7℃,东部区域增温明显,尤其是东北地区,而西北地区可能略有降温;最冷月温度增温较大,达约1℃,而最热月温度增温较小,为约0.5℃。全国年降水量整体比现在多约230mm,主要是夏季降水增多所导致,其中东部地区增加显著。上述结果揭示,全新世中期全球增温将有利于我国降水增加,并导致季节性温度变化明显。本次重建结果增强了与古气候模拟结果的可对比性。

     

Bacterial tetraether membrane lipids in peat and coal: Testing the MBT-CBT temperature proxy for climate reconstruction

Peatlands are widespread and important natural archives of environmental change. Here we explore the potential of the recently introduced MBT-CBT proxy (methylation index and cyclisation ratio of branched tetraethers) to estimate past annual mean air temperature (MAT) based on the distribution of bacterially-derived branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) membrane lipids in peat and coal. To this end, branched GDGTs in an ombrotrophic peat bog from Switzerland and three coal deposits of increasing maturity were analysed.For the surface of the bog, reconstructed annual MAT is higher than both measured annual MAT and measured in situ pore water temperature. Changes in the CBT ratio, considered a proxy for pH, with depth in the bog do not match with present day in situ pore water pH, but coincide with a peat stratigraphic boundary. This indicates that GDGTs down the bog profile are predominantly fossil and not derived from extant biomass. The MBT-CBT derived annual MAT record also shows a large drop at this stratigraphic boundary, which likely relates to past change in trophic status of the bog. Branched GDGTs are abundant in an immature lignite (vitrinite reflectance, R_o 0.25%), but occur in low amount in a slightly more mature coal (R_o 0.32%). Annual MAT could be reconstructed for the lignite alone and is higher than other proxy-based estimates from approximately the same time and location.Our results indicate potential for the application of the MBT-CBT proxy in peat and immature coals, but improved constraints on the effects of different types of peat on branched GDGT distributions as well as improved calibration of MAT estimates are needed before the method can be confidently applied.     

Biodegradation of C-labeled low molecular organic acids using three biometer methods

Low molecular weight organic acids (LMWOA) are produced in soil by various biological and chemical processes and can exhibit substantial metal complexing and dissolution capacity. The reactivity of these compounds in the soil environment is dependent on their non-complexed concentration in the soil solution. Adsorption of LMWOA has been shown to reduce their concentration in the soil solution; however, little is known about the reduction of LMWOA concentration due to microbial degradation. To examine the extent of microbial degradation in reducing LMWOA concentration in the soil solution, three-biometer methods were used: a soil biometer flask, an in-situ field biometer and a soil column biometer. Four soil horizons were used with each method. To each soil sample, 2.0×10⁻⁶ moles of organic acid containing 3.7×10⁴ Bq total activity was applied. The ¹⁴C-radiolabeled aliphatic and aromatic acids studied included oxalic, malonic, succinic, and phthalic acid. Evolved ¹⁴CO₂ was trapped in 0.5 mol l⁻¹ NaOH and measured using liquid scintillation counting. Labeled acids degraded rapidly within the first 5 days for the Ap1, Ap2, and BA horizons, with a generally slower rate of ¹⁴CO₂ evolution being observed for the Bt1 horizon. The % degradation of labeled acid was substantially greater for the soil biometer flask method, compared to the field and soil column biometer methods. The average % degradation for the soil biometer flask was 67% for all soil horizons and organic acids, compared to 14% for the field biometer and 13% for the soil column biometer. Results indicate that substantial microbial degradation of organic acids can occur within a relatively short time period and the biometer method selected can influence the % acid degraded. Based on primary results, the soil column biometer method better approximated microbial degradation under field conditions, as evaluated using the field biometer.     

Physicochemical simulation of the evolution of small lakes in a cold climate

The paper presents a generalized algorithm for the simulation of multiyear cycles in variations of the chemical composition of lake waters with regard for the seasonal specifics of hydrogeochemical processes. Data were obtained on the behavior of the hydrogeological system during a time span of 500–1000 years. Each of the simulated model cycles involved a successively alternating “summer-winter” time periods. Terrestrial exchange fluxes between reservoirs, groundwater inflow, falls of atmospheric precipitate, and the evaporation of lake water were taken into account for summer periods, whereas winter conditions were simulated as corresponding to the development of the ice phase, the absence of water exchange fluxes, a change from oxidizing to reducing conditions, and the burial of solid phases in the sediments. The results of our physicochemical simulations with the use of data on the composition of natural hydrogeological systems are in good agreement with natural observations and make it possible to realistically predict the evolution of small lakes in the Ol’khon area.     

过去千年3个特征时期东亚冬夏季风关系的模拟研究

使用美国大气研究中心开展的过去千年集合模拟试验（Community Earth System Model-Last Millennium Ensemble,简称CESM-LME）数据,对过去千年（公元850~2005年）3个重要的特征时期——中世纪气候异常期、小冰期和现代暖期的东亚冬、夏季风关系,尤其是年代-多年代尺度上的关系进行了对比研究。结果表明：在年代和多年代尺度上,由自然外强迫主导的中世纪气候异常期和小冰期及人类活动主导的现代暖期,东亚冬、夏季风均呈负位相变化形势,但影响二者关系的机制在3个时期并不相同。研究发现,太平洋年代际振荡（Pacific Decadal Oscillation,简称PDO）可能是造成前两个特征时期东亚冬、夏季风反位相变化的主要原因,大西洋多年代际振荡（Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation,简称AMO）的作用相对较小。现代暖期AMO的作用有所加强,与PDO的作用相当,同时夏季风环流对PDO和AMO的响应较前两个时期强,且响应特征有所不同,这可能与人类活动有较大关系。另外在人类活动作用下,季风指数的定义方法可能会对季风关系的研究结果产生影响,这是未来预估研究中需要留意的地方。

     

Reconstruction of climate and vegetation changes of Lake Bayanchagan (Inner Mongolia): Holocene variability of the East Asian monsoon

A high-resolution pollen and Pediastrum record, spanning 12,500 yr, is presented for Lake Bayanchagan (115.21°E, 41.65°N, and 1355 m a.s.l.), southern Inner Mongolia. Individual pollen taxa (PT-MAT) and the PFT affinity scores (PFT-MAT) were used for quantitative climatic reconstruction from pollen and algal data. Both techniques indicate that a cold and dry climate, similar to that of today, prevailed before 10,500 cal yr B.P. The wettest climate occurred between 10,500 and 6500 cal yr B.P., at which time annual precipitation was up to 30–60% higher than today. The early Holocene increases in temperature and precipitation occurred simultaneously, but mid-Holocene cooling started at approximately 8000 cal yr B.P., 1500 yr earlier than the drying. Vegetation reconstruction was based on the objective assignment of pollen taxa to the plant functional type. The results suggest that this region was dominated by steppe vegetation throughout the Holocene, except for the period 9200 to 6700 cal yr B.P., when forest patches were relatively common. Inner Mongolia is situated at the limit of the present East Asian monsoon and patterns of vegetation and climate changes in that region during the Holocene probably reflect fluctuations in the monsoon's response to solar insolation variations. The early to middle Holocene monsoon undoubtedly extended to more northern latitudes than at present.     

May-June precipitation reconstruction of southwestern Anatolia, Turkey during the last 900 years from tree rings

A May-June precipitation reconstruction (AD 1097-2000) has been developed for southwestern Anatolia in Turkey, the longest reported to date in this region. The reconstruction was derived from a regional Juniperus excelsa chronology that was built from material sampled at four sites in the Antalya and Mersin Districts. The regional tree-ring chronology accounts for 51% of the variance of instrumentally observed May-June precipitation. The years AD 1518 to 1587 are the most humid period in the reconstruction, coinciding with a major shift in European climate. The driest 70-year period in the reconstruction is AD 1195 to 1264. The period AD 1591-1660 represents the third driest and was characterized by instability climatically, politically, and socially in Anatolia.     

Review of the algebraic linear methods and parallel implementation in numerical simulation of groundwater flow

The desire to increase spatial and temporal resolution in modeling groundwater system has led to the requirement for intensive computational ability and large memory space. In the course of satisfying such requirement, parallel computing has played a core role over the past several decades. This paper reviews the parallel algebraic linear solution methods and the parallel implementation technologies for groundwater simulation. This work is carried out to provide guidance to enable modelers of groundwater systems to make sensible choices when developing solution methods based upon the current state of knowledge in parallel computing.     

Mid to late holocene climate evolution of the lake telmen basin, north central mongolia, based on palynological data

Palynological and sedimentological data from Lake Telmen, in north-central Mongolia, permit qualitative reconstruction of relative changes in moisture balance throughout the mid to late Holocene. The climate of the Atlantic period (7500–4500 yr ago) was relatively arid, indicating that Lake Telmen lay beyond the region of enhanced precipitation delivered by the expanded Asian monsoon. Maximum humidity is recorded between 4500 and 1600 cal yr B.P., during the Subboreal (4500–2500 yr ago) and early Subatlantic (2500 yr–present) periods. Additional humid intervals during the Medieval Warm Epoch (1000–1300 A.D. or 950–650 ago) and the Little Ice Age (1500– 1900 A.D. or 450–50 yr B.P.) demonstrate the lack of long-term correlation between temperature and moisture availability in this region. A brief aridification centered around 1410 cal yr B.P. encompasses a decade of cold temperatures and summer frost between A.D. 536 and 545 (1414–1405 yr B.P.) inferred from records of Mongolian tree-ring widths. These data suggest that steppe vegetation of the Lake Telmen region is sensitive to centennial- and decadal-scale climatic perturbations.