Groundwater Availability as Constrained by Hydrogeology and Environmental Flows

Groundwater pumping from aquifers in hydraulic connection with nearby streams has the potential to cause adverse impacts by decreasing flows to levels below those necessary to maintain aquatic ecosystems. The recent passage of the Great Lakes‐St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact has brought attention to this issue in the Great Lakes region. In particular, the legislation requires the Great Lakes states to enact measures for limiting water withdrawals that can cause adverse ecosystem impacts. This study explores how both hydrogeologic and environmental flow limitations may constrain groundwater availability in the Great Lakes Basin. A methodology for calculating maximum allowable pumping rates is presented. Groundwater availability across the basin may be constrained by a combination of hydrogeologic yield and environmental flow limitations varying over both local and regional scales. The results are sensitive to factors such as pumping time, regional and local hydrogeology, streambed conductance, and streamflow depletion limits. Understanding how these restrictions constrain groundwater usage and which hydrogeologic characteristics and spatial variables have the most influence on potential streamflow depletions has important water resources policy and management implications.     

Long-term Control Mechanisms of Stream Piracy Processes in Southeast Spain

The Gaudix Basin developed as an endorheic depression during the Upper Miocene-Upper Pleistocene. Its principal palaeogeographical lcharacteristics are a large lake in the eastern sector, an axial fluvial system and two fluvial systems transverse to it in the western sector. The uplift of a central sector of the Betic Cordillera during the Upper Pleistocene affected the study area, causing northward tilting from the Internal Zone of the cordillera (Sierra Nevada and Sierra de Baza), step-faulting of the Plio-Pleistocene infill of the ancient basin (leaving more northern sectors in a lower topographical position), alteration of fluvial current profiles and displacement of the ancient Axial System to a position very close to the divide between the ancient endorheic Gaudix Basin and the Guadalquivir Basin. This facilitated capture of the endorheic basin by the headward erosion of a tributary of the Guadalquivir River. The region then began to be rapidly eroded, as the new base level was now some 500 m lower than that of the ancient basin. The present drainage network is similar to that of the ancient endorheic basin as regards the location of the main streams and the distribution of drainage patterns and fluvial styles, although flow reversal is found in some stretches and a barbed drainage pattern appears locally. As a result of the inheritance of drainage from the ancient basin, fluvial superimposition is found in some stretches of the main streams. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Formation of phreatic caves in an eogenetic karst aquifer by CO2 enrichment at lower water tables and subsequent flooding by sea level rise

Formation of extensive phreatic caves in eogenetic karst aquifers is widely believed to require mixing of fresh and saltwater. Extensive phreatic caves also occur, however, in eogenetic karst aquifers where fresh and saltwater do not mix, for example in the upper Floridan aquifer. These caves are thought to have formed in their modern settings by dissolution from sinking streams or by convergence of groundwater flow paths on springs. Alternatively, these caves have been hypothesized to have formed at lower water tables during sea level low‐stands. These hypotheses have not previously been tested against one another. Analyzing morphological data and water chemistry from caves in the Suwannee River Basin in north‐central Florida and water chemistry from wells in the central Florida carbonate platform indicates that phreatic caves within the Suwannee River Basin most likely formed at lower water tables during lower sea levels. Consideration of the hydrological and geochemical constraints posed by the upper Floridan aquifer leads to the conclusion that cave formation was most likely driven by dissolution of vadose CO₂ gas into the groundwater. Sea level rise and a wetter climate during the mid‐Holocene lifted the water table above the elevation of the caves and placed the caves tens of meters below the modern water table. When rising water tables reached the land surface, surface streams formed. Incision of surface streams breached the pre‐existing caves to form modern springs, which provide access to the phreatic caves. Phreatic caves in the Suwannee River Basin are thus relict and have no causal relationship with modern surficial drainage systems. Neither mixing dissolution nor sinking streams are necessary to form laterally extensive phreatic caves in eogenetic karst aquifers. Dissolution at water tables, potentially driven by vadose CO₂ gas, offers an underappreciated mechanism to form cavernous porosity in eogenetic carbonate rocks. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A comparative study of the atmospheric circulations associated with rainy-season floods between the Yangtze and Huaihe River Basins

Here we present the results from the composite analyses of the atmospheric circulations and physical quantity fields associated with rainy-season for the selected floods cases over the Yangtze and Huaihe River basins for the 21 years(1990–2010),using the daily rain gauge measurements taken in the 756 stations throughout China and the NCEP/reanalysis data for the rainyseasons(June–July)from 1990 to 2010.The major differences in the atmospheric circulations and physical quantity fields between the Yangtze and Huaihe River basins are as follows:for flooding years of the Yangtze River Basin,the South Asia high center is located further east than normal,the blocking high over the Urals and the Sea of Okhotsk maintains,and the Meiyu front is situated near 30°N whereas for flooding years of the Huaihe River Basin,the South Asia high center is further west than normal,the atmospheric circulations over the mid and high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere are of meridional distribution,and the Meiyu front is situated near 33°N.In addition,there are distinct differences in water vapor sources and associated transports between the Yangtze and Huaihe River basins.The water vapor is transported by southwesterly flows from the Bay of Bengal and monsoon flows over the South China Sea for flooding years of the Yangtze River Basin whereas by southeast monsoons from the eastern and southern seas off China and monsoon flows over the South China Sea for flooding years of the Huaihe River Basin.     

淠河流域河源溪流鱼类空间分布格局及主要影响因素

淠河是安徽省内淮河右岸最大的支流,也是淮河中游重要的水源地.为了解淠河流域河源溪流鱼类的空间分布格局及其主要影响因素,本研究于2015年4—5月对6条河源溪流鱼类及其环境因子进行了调查.研究结果表明,6条溪流共采集鱼类19种,其中杂食性种类占57.9%,肉食性和植食性种类分别占26.3%和15.8%.所有种类中,宽鳍鱲(Zacco platypus)是主要优势种,绿太阳鱼(Lepomis cyanellus)为研究区域首次报道的外来入侵种.就6条溪流各样点的平均值而言,淠河西部3条溪流鱼类种类数及个体数均明显高于东部3条溪流,但重量却并没有类似趋势.Sorensen相似性分析表明,6条溪流鱼类组成具有较高相似性,且相对较小值主要位于高、低海拔溪流之间.除趋势对应分析二维空间排序与相似性分析结果一致.Pearson相关分析表明,影响鱼类种类数的主要是局域栖息地参数(包括海拔、流速、底质、水深、河宽和电导率)和溪流的空间位置参数(溪流级别、流量量级和下游量级);影响鱼类个体数和重量的均仅有局域栖息地参数中的底质因素.本研究结果可为淠河流域鱼类的保护和管理提供重要的基础资料.     

Submarine slide evidence for late Miocene strike-slip reversal of the Red River Fault

During the late Miocene (~5.5 Ma), a large-scale submarine slide with an area of approximately 18000 km² and a maximum thickness of 930 m formed in the deep-water region of the Qiongdongnan Basin. The large-scale submarine slide has obvious features in seismic profile, with normal faults in the proximal region, escarpments at the lateral boundary, and a pronounced shear surface at the base. The internal seismic reflections are chaotic and enclosed by parallel and sub-parallel seismic events. The main direction of sediment transport was from south to north and the main sediment source was the southern region of the Qiongdongnan Basin, which is located in the east of the Indo-China Peninsula and the north of the Guangle uplift. In this region, late Miocene strike-slip reversal of the Red River Fault, uplift and increased erosion of the Indo-China Peninsula, and an abrupt rise in the rate of deposition in the western part of the South China Sea provided the basic conditions and triggering mechanism for the large-scale submarine slide. The discovery of the large-scale submarine slide provides sedimentological evidence for the tectonic event of late Miocene strike-slip reversal of the Red River Fault. It can also be inferred that the greatest tectonic activity during the process of the Red River Fault reversal occurred at ~5.5 Ma from the age of top surface of the submarine slide.     

GEOMORPHIC FEATURES OF THE HEIHE RIVER DRAINAGE BASIN IN WESTERN QILIAN SHAN-HEXI CORRIDOR AND ITS TECTONIC IMPLICATIONS

Using quantitative geomorphic factors for regional active tectonic evolution is becoming more and more popular. Qilian Mountains-Hexi Corridor which locates in the northern edge of Qinghai-Tibet plateau is the most leading edge of the plateau's northward extension. The uplift rate of all segments and the intensity of influence from tectonic activity are the important evidences to understand the uplift and extension of the plateau. Heihe River Basin is located at the northern piedmont of the western segment of Qilian Mountains, the development of the rivers is influenced by the tectonic activity of the Qilian Mountains, and the unique river morphology is important carriers of the regional tectonic uplift. Geomorphologic indexes such as hypsometric integral, geomorphologic comentropy and river longitudinal profiles were extracted by GIS tools with free access to the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission(SRTM)DEMs, and according to the different expression of the geomorphological indexes in the Heihe River Basin, we divided the drainage basin into two parts and further compared them to each other. Recent studies reveal that obvious differences exist in the landscape factors(hypsometric integral, geomorphology entropy and river profiles)in the east and west part of the Heihe Basin. The structural intensity of the west part is stronger than that of the east, for example, in areas above the main planation surface on the western part, the average HI value is 0.337 8, and on the eastern part the HI value is 0.355. Accordingly, areas under the main planation surface are just on the contrary, indicating different structural strength on both sides. Similar phenomenon exists in the whole drainage basins. Furthermore, by comparing the fitting river profiles with the real river profiles, differential uplift is derived, which indicates a difference between west and east(with 754m on the western part and 219m on the east). Comprehensive comparison and analysis show that the lithologic factors and precipitation conditions are less influencing on the geomorphic factors of the study area, and the tectonic activities, indicated by field investigation and GPS inversion, are the most important element for geomorphic evolution and development. The variation of the geomorphologic indexes indicates different tectonic strength derived from regional structures of the Qilian Shan.     

合浦-北流断裂带西支合浦盆地段断裂活动性研究

合浦-北流断裂起于北部湾海域,经合浦、博白后继续向NE延伸,断裂总长度为400余千米,断裂总体走向为40°～60°,分东、西2支,其中西支自南流江下游合浦盆地西南段一直向NE延伸。文中主要采用地质地貌、地震探测、钻探以及年代学方法,对合浦-北流断裂西支合浦盆地段的活动性进行判定,结果表明:合浦-北流断裂西支合浦盆地段最后1次活动应发生在早更新世中晚期,错距约为10m,断裂被中更新世中、晚期地层覆盖,即中更新世中、晚期以来,断裂的活动趋于减弱或停止     

畹町断裂晚第四纪活动与水系构造变形

畹町断裂位于滇西中缅交界地带,蚌冬以西走向近EW,以东走向NE,倾向N和NW,全长170km。最新考察发现,沿断裂新活动的断层地貌明显,表现为清晰的断层三角面、平直的断层槽地、断层陡崖、线性山脊、多级跌水等。断裂对第四纪盆地有着明显的控制作用,畹町、曼海等盆地呈串珠状沿断裂展布。龙镇大桥等地第四纪断层及高家寨洪积扇位错等揭示出畹町断裂切错了晚更新世堆积层,被错堆积层热释光年龄为(17.60±1.49)ka～(38.24±3.25)kaBP,表明断裂在晚第四纪有过明显活动。蚌冬一带怒江沿断裂展布,主河道被左旋位错了约9.5km并形成"发卡"型拐弯;公养河等6条河流及其支流均沿断裂发育,局部或整体河段受断裂控制明显,说明这些河段是在断裂新活动后沿断裂破碎带追踪侵蚀形成的。沿断裂多处可见水系同步左旋位错现象,如平子亭—公养河间有11条小溪同步左旋位错,中山—万马河一线有10余条水系表现出同步左旋位错。位错量可分为40～50m、90～100m、200～250m、300～400m和600～1100m5个量级;梳状水系发育。水系左旋位错、阶地及洪积扇等位错现象表明,断裂在晚第四纪以水平左旋走滑为主,滑动速率为1.7～2.2mm/a.。沿断裂曾发生多次中强地震,被认为是1976年龙陵7.3、7.4级地震的余震,但它们不是沿发震断层———龙陵-瑞丽断裂呈带状分布,而是集中于龙陵-瑞丽断裂与畹町断裂间南北长55km、东西宽32km的广阔区域。因此,推断这些余震的发生是龙陵-瑞丽断裂与畹町断裂相继活动所致。     

Fluvial response to an historic lowstand of the Great Salt Lake,Utah

Understanding fluvial adjustments to base level changes benefits the fields of sequence stratigraphy, geomorphology and petroleum geology. This investigation is a modern case study of the channel dynamics of Lee Creek and the Goggin Drain, two streams that are part of the Jordan River drainage into the endorheic Great Salt Lake of northern Utah, a lacustrine system that has experienced multiple, decadal‐scale base level changes. Since 1965, the lake level has fluctuated in elevation more than 6 m, transitioning from an historic lowstand [< 1279 m above sea level (a.s.l.)] to an historic highstand (>1284 m a.s.l.), and in 2009–2010 approaching an historic lowstand. This study uses detailed aerial images, fieldwork and LiDAR data to link the modern geomorphology and channel hydraulics to specific variations in sediment transport, channel form, and avulsion behavior. Although Lee Creek and the Goggin Drain are situated only a few kilometers apart and share similar shore zone gradients, substrates and vegetation patterns, and have been subjected to the same changes in lake level, their channel forms have evolved very differently. Differences in discharge patterns are likely the most influential factor causing the meandering form of Lee Creek and the braiding channel of the Goggin Drain. Despite the differences in discharge, total sediment eroded from the two streams is comparable and can be attributed to similar stream power/unit stream width in the two streams. Although Lee Creek has not recently been avulsive, three major avulsions of the Goggin Drain have taken place since 1965. Two possible styles of avulsion are interpreted: an allogenic response to changing base level, and an autogenic response dictated by channel morphology and hydraulics. Despite a wealth of available information, avulsions cannot be unequivocally attributed to one style or another. Caution should be used when attempting to link the complex process of avulsion to causal mechanisms. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Breakup of Australia and Antarctica estimated as mid-Cretaceous (95 ± 5 Ma) from magnetic and seismic data at the continental margin

A positive magnetic anomaly marks the seaward edge of the magnetic quiet zone along the southern margin of Australia eastward between 114° and 131°E and along the conjugate Antarctic margin between 105° and 132°E. This anomaly was originally interpreted as the oldest seafloor-spreading anomaly—A22, revised by Cande and Mutter to A34—in the Southeast Indian Ocean, but is better modelled as the edge effect at the continent-ocean boundary (COB) constrained by seismic data. Continental crust abuts the oceanic sequence of normal and reversed spreading blocks, truncated within the Cretaceous normal interval at an extrapolated age of 96 Ma, rounded to 95 ± 5 Ma to take into account the uncertainty of the initial spreading rate and of the location of the COB. The occurrence of the anomaly on both margins defines this as the age of breakup. Farther east between 131° and 139°E on the Australian margin, the COB anomaly is modelled as due to the same kind of effect but with successively younger ages of truncation to 49 Ma, interpreted as indicating the most recent ridge-crest jumping to the Australian COB. The magnetic data from the conjugate sector of Antarctica, albeit scanty, are consistent with this interpretation.The 95 ± 5 Ma age of breakup coincides with that of the breakup unconformity in southern Australia, expressed by a short mid-Cretaceous lacuna in the Otway Basin between faulted Early Cretaceous rift-valley sediments of the Otway Group and the overlying Late Cretaceous Sherbrook Group, and by an unconformity of similar age in the Great Australian Bight Basin.     

A magnetotelluric profile of the Wind River Thrust, Wyoming

Data from ten magnetotelluric (MT) stations over the Wind River Uplift and adjacent basins are interpreted with constraints from the Consortium for Continental Reflection Profiling (COCORP) seismic reflection data and from gravity data. The MT data reveal the general configuration of the conductive basins and resistive uplifts; low resistivity zones are interpreted as faults which correspond to those visible in the COCORP sections.

The Wind River Thrust Fault is modelled as a conductive zone that can be traced to a depth of at least 20 km, and the crust beneath the Green River Basin is about 40 km thick.

The modelled constant dip of the Wind River Thrust is consistent with a tectonic model of lateral compressive stress.     

The role of baseflow in dissolved solids delivery to streams in the Upper Colorado River Basin

Salinity has a major effect on water users in the Colorado River Basin, estimated to cause almost $300 million per year in economic damages. The Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program implements and manages projects to reduce salinity loads, investing millions of dollars per year in irrigation upgrades, canal projects, and other mitigation strategies. To inform and improve mitigation efforts, there is a need to better understand sources of salinity to streams and how salinity has changed over time. This study explores salinity in the baseflow fraction of streamflow, assessing whether groundwater is a significant contributor of dissolved solids to streams in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB). Chemical hydrograph separation was used to estimate baseflow discharge and baseflow dissolved solids loads at stream gages (n = 69) across the UCRB. On average, it is estimated that 89% of dissolved solids loads originate from the baseflow fraction of streamflow, indicating that subsurface transport processes play a dominant role in delivering dissolved solids to streams in the UCRB. A statistical trend analysis using weighted regressions on time, discharge, and season was used to evaluate changes in baseflow dissolved solids loads in streams (n = 27) from 1986 to 2011. Decreasing trends in baseflow dissolved solids loads were observed at 63% of streams. At the three most downstream sites, Green River at Green River, UT, Colorado River at Cisco, UT, and the San Juan River near Bluff, UT, baseflow dissolved solids loads decreased by a combined 823,000 metric tons (mT), which is approximately 69% of projected basin‐scale decreases in total dissolved solids loads as a result of salinity control efforts. Decreasing trends in baseflow dissolved solids loads suggest that salinity mitigation projects, landscape changes, and/or climate are reducing dissolved solids transported to streams through the subsurface. Notably, the pace and extent of decreases in baseflow dissolved solids loads declined during the most recent decade; average decreasing loads during the 2000s (28,200 mT) were only 54% of average decreasing loads in the 1990s (51,700 mT).     

Drainage-basin evolution and aquifer development in a karstic limestone terrain South-Central Texas,U.S.A.

The Edwards artesian aquifer occurs in cavernous limestones of Cretaceous (Albian) age within the Balcones fault zone in south-central Texas. The major recharge and discharge zones of the aquifer are contained within the upper reaches of three river systems: the Nueces, the San Antonio, and the Guadalupe. Within these watersheds, recharge dominates in the semiarid Nueces basin to the west while most discharge occurs farther east from wells in the subhumid San Antonio basin and from springs in the subhumid Guadalupe basin. This long-distance transfer of ground water (up to 240 km) is a result of several factors: depositional and early diagenetic history of the limestone host rock, geometry and magnitudes of fault displacement, and physiographic responses to faulting. The loci of greatest discharge from the aquifer occur in an area that was exposed subaerially with concomitant porosity enhancement due to dissolution of limestone during late Early Cretaceous time. This area also was subjected to the greatest fault displacement during Miocene time. Thus, faults and associated joints superimposed additional avenues for porosity and permeability development onto an area that already had considerable secondary porosity. Further determinants on aquifer properties resulted from late Tertiary and Quaternary drainage evolution in response to faulting along the Balcones trend. The strike of the fault zone lay at acute angles to the courses of the main trunk streams in the ancestral Guadalupe and San Antonio River systems, whereas in the Nueces basin the trend of the fault zone was normal to the courses of the main streams. Thus, as a fault-line scarp began to form in the eatern basins, scarp-normal streams were incised rapidly into northwest-trending canyons. These steep-gradient streams captured the eastward-flowing major streams in the easten watersheds. These pirate streams incised into the aquifer at the lowest topographic levels within the region because of: 1. The sudden acquisition of extensive catchment areas in a subhumid area; and 2. Steep stream gradients that reflected the larger fault displacement in the east. The low topographic points of discharge became the loci of major springs. Recharge is dominant in the Nueces basin mainly because streams cross permeable limestone units at higher topographic levels than in the San Antonio and Guadalupe basins. The topographic characteristics of the Nueces watershed resulted from a combination of diverse factors: lesser fault displacement, no major stream piracy, and less vigorous erosion because of a semiarid climate.     

A HYDROLOGIC CLASSIFICATION OF VALLEYS IN THE GREAT BASIN,WESTERN UNITED STATES / Une classification hydrologique des vallées dans le Grand Bassin, États Unis de l'Ouest

Abstract

The Great Basin section of the Basin and Range Physiographic Province of Nevada and adjoining states is a semiarid to arid region that is completely cut off from the sea. Valleys of the Great Basin are partly or completely surrounded by mountains in contrast to the Basin and Range Province of southern Arizona where isolated mountains are completely surrounded by valleys. Valleys completely surrounded by mountains are described as topographically closed whereas valleys that have surface connections with nearby valleys are considered to be topographically open. However, the topographic characteristics of individual valleys are not necessarily indicators of the hydrologic characteristics. The valley fill may be saturated with water to the ground surface or it may be entirely drained, depending upon the position of the controlling outlet. The playa on the valley floor may be dry or wet depending upon the depth to water in the valley. A classification of valleys of the Great Basin is presented, based on the extent to which a valley is isolated and the depth of the water table. The playa—whether it is wet or dry—is used to determine the classification of an individual valley.     

Conceptual models for carbonate aquifers. 1969

The very diverse types of ground‐water behavior in carbonate terrains can be classified by relating the flow type to a particular hydrogeologic environment each exhibiting a characteristic cave morphology. The ground water may move by diffuse flow, by retarded flow, or by free flow. Diffuse flow occurs in less soluble rocks such as extremely shaley limestones or crystalline dolomites. Integrated conduits are rare. Caves tend to be small, irregular, and often little more than solutionally widened joints. Retarded flows occur in artesian environments and in situations where unfavorable stratigraphy forces ground water to be confined to relatively thin beds. Network cave patterns are characteristic since hydrodynamic forces are damped by the external controls. Solution occurs along many available joints. Free flowing aquifers are those in which solution has developed a subsurface drainage system logically regarded as an underground extension of surface streams. These streams may have fully developed surface tributaries as well as recharge from sinkholes and general infiltration. Characteristic cave patterns are those of integrated conduit systems which are often truncated into linear, angulate, and branchwork caves. Free Flow aquifers may be further subdivided into Open aquifers lying beneath karst plains and Capped aquifers in which significant parts of the drainage net lie beneath an insoluble cap rock. Other geologic factors such as structure, detailed lithology, relief, and locations of major streams, control the details of cave morphology and orientation of the drainage network.     

Texture and tectonic attribute of Cenozoic basin basement in the northern South China Sea

Based on the drilling data,the geological characteristics of the coast in South China,and the interpretation of the long seismic profiles covering the Pearl River Mouth Basin and southeastern Hainan Basin,the basin basement in the northern South China Sea is divided into four structural layers,namely,Pre-Sinian crystalline basement,Sinian-lower Paleozoic,upper Paleozoic,and Mesozoic structural layers.This paper discusses the distribution range and law and reveals the tectonic attribute of each structural layer.The Pre-Sinian crystalline basement is distributed in the northern South China Sea,which is linked to the Pre-Sinian crystalline basement of the Cathaysian Block and together they constitute a larger-scale continental block—the Cathaysian-northern South China Sea continental block.The Sinian-lower Paleozoic structural layer is distributed in the northern South China Sea,which is the natural extension of the Caledonian fold belt in South China to the sea area.The sediments are derived from southern East China Sea-Taiwan,Zhongsha-Xisha islands and Yunkai ancient uplifts,and some small basement uplifts.The Caledonian fold belt in the northern South China Sea is linked with that in South China and they constitute the wider fold belt.The upper Paleozoic structural layer is unevenly distributed in the northern South China.In the basement of Beibu Gulf Basin and southwestern Taiwan Basin,the structural layer is composed of the stable epicontinental sea deposit.The distribution areas in the Pearl River Mouth Basin and the southeastern Hainan Basin belong to ancient uplifts in the late Paleozoic,lacking the upper Paleozoic structural layers.The stratigraphic distribution and sedimentary environment in Middle-Late Jurassic to Cretaceous are characteristic of differentiation in the east and the west.The marine,paralic deposit is well developed in the basin basement of southwestern Taiwan but the volcanic activity is not obvious.The marine and paralic facies deposit is distributed in the eastern Pearl River Mouth Basin basement and the volcanic activity is stronger.The continental facies volcano-sediment in the Early Cretaceous is distributed in the basement of the western Pearl River Mouth Basin and Southeastern Hainan Basin.The Upper Cretaceous red continental facies clastic rocks are distributed in the Beibu Gulf Basin and Yinggehai Basin.The NE direction granitic volcanic-intrusive complex,volcano-sedimentary basin,fold and fault in Mesozoic basement have the similar temporal and spatial distribution,geological feature,and tectonic attribute with the coastal land in South China,and they belong to the same magma-deposition-tectonic system,which demonstrates that the late Mesozoic structural layer was formed in the background of active continental margin.Based on the analysis of basement structure and the study on tectonic attribute,the paleogeographic map of the basin basement in different periods in the northern South China Sea is compiled.     

PROGRESS OF DETRITAL ZIRCON CHRONOLOGY IN SEDIMENT PROVENANCE STUDIES IN THE YANGTZE RIVER BASIN

Evolution of the Yangtze River in East Asia is closely linked to the evolving topography following India-Eurasia collision and plays an important role in connecting the Tibetan plateau and the marginal sea, which is of great significance for understanding the evolution of modern Asian landform pattern and exploring the response of river development to tectonic uplift and monsoon evolution. Thus, many methods have been performed to reconstruct the evolution history of the Yangtze River, but there are still some disputes about the age of the Yangtze River, which has been strongly debated for over a century with estimates ranging from late Cretaceous to late Pleistocene. At present, sediment provenance tracing is one of the most important methods for studying the Yangtze River drainage evolution, for the provenance tracers could effectively represent the source area information and the various dating methods would provide reliable chronology framework. Previous studies showed that the zircon high closure temperature, wide distribution in fluvial sediment, and convenient sampling and analyzing made the zircon U-Pb dating a unique indicator recording the source area information. However, the Yangtze River drains a large basin and runs through different geological blocks with complicated lithology, as well as the abundant thermal historical events, leading to the zircon U-Pb dating a challenge work in tracing the sediment source within the Yangtze River Basin. In this study, based on the combination of previous research data and the "source to sink" system, the limitations and disadvantages of the detrital zircon U-Pb dating in the studies of sediment provenance tracing of the Yangtze River Basin were re-analyzed and re-discussed. Considering the evolving process of the large river system, some key areas and diagnostic information carrier, including bedrock and fluvial sediments deposited in present day or geo-history, would provide significant constraints on the evolution process. The former records the original information of the source region, and the latter reserves the practical information preserved in the downstream sink. As for the Yangtze River Basin, the limitation and disadvantages of the detrital zircon U-Pb dating in tracing sediment provenance are showed as follows:Firstly, six major tectonic units in the source region shows four similar age peaks, which closely corresponds to the previously identified synchronous major granitoid magmatic episodes. Five similar age peaks obviously exist in the sediment of the downstream sink both in the modern fluvial sediment and the geo-historical deposits such as outcrops and basin sediments. Thus, detrital zircon U-Pb chronology is indistinguishable from source to sink, making it unreliable in provenance tracing of the Yangtze River. Secondly, comparing with the detrital zircon spectra of tributary downstream and the upper reaches, all the tributaries below the Three Gores, the running-through of which is regarded as the symbol of the establishment of the modern Yangtze River system, could make up the similar spectra with the modern river sediments. Moreover, Sichuan Basin and Jianghan Basin, which is the last basin and first basin in western and eastern of the Three Gorges, are crucial basins for recording the incision information. However, sediment in these two basins show the similar spectra with five major age peaks from early Jurassic to late Cretaceous, which means the detrital zircon U-Pb chronology could not efficiently record the capture information no matter in spatial scale or time scale. In addition, the same results are also shown in Neogene gravel layer both in Jianghan Basin and Nanjing area. In summary, we propose that the similarity of the detrital zircon age spectra exists widely in Yangtze River system, and this greatly restricts the application of detrital zircon chronology in provenance tracing in the Yangtze River Basin, and the combination of multi-index and multi-method will shed new light in the future studies of provenance tracing within Yangtze River drainage system.     

Riparian canopy openings on mountain streams: Landscape controls upon temperature increases within openings and cooling downstream

How much stream temperatures increase within riparian canopy openings and whether stream temperatures cool downstream of these openings both have important policy implications. Past studies of stream cooling downstream of riparian openings have found mixed results including rapid, slow, and no cooling. We collected longitudinal profiles of stream temperatures above, within, and below riparian forest openings along stream segments within otherwise forested riparian conditions to evaluate how sensitivity of stream temperatures to riparian conditions varied across landscape factors. We conducted these temperature surveys across openings in 12 wadeable streams within and near the Upper Little Tennessee River Basin in western North Carolina and northeastern Georgia. Basin areas ranged from 74 to 6,913 ha, and bankfull channel widths varied from 3.4 to 16.4 m. Stream temperatures were collected every 15 min using HOBO® data loggers for 2 weeks in each stream, repeated later in summer in some streams. Reference temperatures were highest in stream reaches at low elevations and with large drainage areas. Stream temperature increases in the middle of riparian gaps were highest when streams drained small high-elevation watersheds, and increases at the end of openings were highest when the opening length was large relative to watershed size. Downstream from openings, cooling rates were greatest in small, high-elevation headwater streams and also increased with larger increases in canopy cover. Stream segments that warmed the most within openings also featured higher cooling rates downstream. The data show that stream temperature sensitivity to canopy change is highly dependent on network position and watershed size. A better understanding of stream temperature responses to riparian vegetation may be useful to land managers and landowners prioritizing riparian forest restoration.     

Internal stratigraphic relationships in the Etendeka group in the Huab Basin, NW Namibia: understanding the onset of flood volcanism

The Etendeka Igneous Province in NW Namibia forms the eastern most extent of the Paraná–Etendeka Flood Basalt Province and, despite only covering about 5% of the Paraná–Etendeka, has been the focus of much interest, due to its extremely well exposed nature. The Huab Basin in NW Namibia forms the focus of this study, and formed a connected basin with the Paraná throughout Karoo times (late Palaeozoic) into the Lower Cretaceous. It contains a condensed section of the Karoo deposits, which indicate early periods of extension, and Lower Cretaceous aeolian and volcanic Etendeka deposits, which have their correlatives in the Paraná. In the Huab Basin, the volcanic rocks of the Etendeka Group consists of the Awahab and Tafelberg Formations, which are separated by a disconformity. Detailed examination of the Awahab Formation reveals an additional disconformity, which separates olivine-phyric basalts (Tafelkop-type) from basalt/basaltic andesites (Tafelberg-type) marking out a shield volcanic feature which is concentrated in an area to the SE of the Huab River near to the Doros igneous centre. Early volcanism consisted of pahoehoe style flows of limited lateral extent, which spilled out onto aeolian sands of an active aeolian sand sea 133 million years ago. This sand sea is equivalent to the sands making up the Botucatu Formation in the Paraná basin. The early expression of flood volcanism was that of laterally discontinuous, limited volume, pahoehoe flows of Tafelkop-type geochemistry, which interleaved with the aeolian sands forming the Tafelkop–Interdune Member basalts. These basalts are on-lapped by more voluminous, laterally extensive, basalt/basaltic andesite flows indicating a step-up in the volume and rate of flood volcanism, leading to the preservation of the shield volcanic feature. These geochemically distinct basalts/basaltic andesites form the Tsuhasis Member, which are interbeded with the Goboboseb and Sprinkbok quartz latite flows higher in the section. The Tsuhasis Member basalts, which form the upper parts of the Awahab Formation, are of Tafelberg-type geochemistry, but are stratigraphically distinct from the Tafelberg lavas, which are found in the Tafelberg Formation above. Thus, the internal stratigraphy of the flood basalt province contains palaeo-volcanic features, such as shield volcanoes, and other disconformities and is not that of a simple layer-cake model. This complex internal architecture indicates that flood volcanism started sporadically, with low volume pahoehoe flows of limited lateral extent, before establishing the more common large volume flows typical of the main lava pile.