Advances in Modern Phytolith Research

Phytolith has been widely used as a tool to reconstruct the paleoenvironment, and the investigation of modern phytolith is very crucial to the accurate interpretation of phytolith data in ancient sediments. Studies of modern process of phytolith primarily include the morphological analysis of phytolith in modern plants, and the relationships between the formation and growth of phytolith and environmental factors, as well as the transportation and taphonomy of phytolith in modern soils and sediments. The formation of phytolith in plants is controlled not only by genes but also by environmental factors, such as humidity, precipitation, temperature, CO₂ concentration, soil pH, and nutrient status, etc. The morphology, assemblages, ¹³C and ¹⁸O of phytolith in plants can respond sensitively to environmental variables. The phytolith assemblages can be affected by its taphonomy and transportation that may be different due to phytolith types and soils/sediments texture. It is necessary to investigate the phytolith morphology and types in modern plants, the relationship between its formation and environmental factors, and the impact of transportation and taphonomy on phytolith assemblages under different environmental conditions in order to promote the application of phytolith analysis to paeloenvironment reconstruction.     

长株潭城市群公路交通与区域协调发展研究

长株潭城市群是长江中游地区的重要组成部分,是开展新时期公路交通与区域协调发展研究的理想区域。从区域协调发展与主体功能区建设的视角,系统分析长株潭城市群公路交通发展的理论基础与现状特征,发现目前公路交通在路网结构、职能分工、产业统筹、公共交通、资源环境等方面存在诸多突出问题。在此基础上,构建以资源节约、环境友好、以人为本、区域一体为核心内涵的公路交通发展新模式,并从主体功能区划、空间拓展、产业布局、生态环境保护、体制与机制创新等维度提出公路交通与区域协调发展的对策。     

Characteristics of water isotopes and hydrograph separation during the wet season in the Heishui River, China

Runoff generation and dynamics is an important issue in watershed and water resource management, but the mechanism in large scale is unclear and site-dependent. For this reason, spatial variations of δD and δ¹⁸O of river water and their sources within large-area of the Heishui Valley of the upper Yangtze River in western China were investigated during the wet season. A total 117 river water samples were collected at 13 sampling sites located at the junction of the principal river course and its tributaries. The results showed no spatial variations of either δD or δ¹⁸O values existed among tributary sampling sites A, B, E, F, H and I during the wet season, and significantly spatial variation occurred between tributary sampling sites A, B, E, F, H, I and site K; which indicated different proportions of rain entering river water should lead to spatial variation of water isotopes. The hydrograph separation analysis, based on the isotope data of river water, meltwater and rain water samples, showed the contribution of snow and glacier meltwater varied from 63.8% to 92.6%, and that of rain varied from 7.4% to 36.2%; which meant that snow and glacier meltwater was the main supplying water source of baseflow in the Heishui Valley. And the roles of glacier and snow meltwater should be significantly noticed in water resource management in this alpine valley at the rim of the Tibetan Plateau.     

Heating Stage Experimental Study of Melt Inclusions in Feldspars from Three Holocene Eruptions of Changbaishan Tianchi Volcano

There occurred several eruptions from Changbaishan Tianchi volcano in Holocene, and at least three of them were believed to be true according to the formal studies. The products of three eruptions were yellow comenditic pumice of - 5000a B.P. （Eruption Ⅰ ）, gray comenditic pumice and pyroclastic flow of - 1000a B.P. （ Eruption II, i.e. the millennium explosive eruption）, black trachy pumice and welded tuff of - 300a B.P. （ Eruption Ⅲ ） respectively. There were a large number of melt inclusions found in phenocrysts, which differ in size and color. The Leitz 1350 heating stage experiments for melt inclusions in host feldspars from three Holocene eruptions of Changbaishan Tianchi volcano imply that there were little differences between the homogenization temperatures of melt inclusions from Eruptions Ⅰ and Ⅲ, whereas it was rather complicated for Eruption H, i.e. there might be two kinds of melt with different homogenization temperature periods, which gave the evidence for the assumption that the explosive millennium eruption of Tianchi volcano was triggered by injection and mixing of two different magmas. The experimental results also indicate that （ 1 ） small melt inclusion is easy to be homogenized, while the large one, especially the one with lots of daughter crystals, is rather difficult to be homogenized; （2） homogenization temperature closely correlates with the size of melt inclusion within host crystal, with the temperature point switching from high heating rate to low heating rate, and correlates with whether it is the first time to obtain homogenization as well; and （3） a melt inclusion can get different homogenization temperatures when it is repeatedly heated. Even more, the next homogenization temperature is usually higher than the former one, which testifies the phenomenon that hydrogen migration occurs during repeated heating.     

汶川地震前川滇地区构造活动与区域应力特征分析

2008年5月12日四川省汶川县(31.0°N,103.4°E)发生8.0级强烈地震.这是我国建国以来破坏性较大的一次地震.研究该地震发生前川滇地区构造活动及区域应力特征,认识地震孕育、发生和震后调整的过程及对未来地震形势的判定具有十分重要的意义.     

Molecular fossil and paleovegetation records of paleosol S4 and adjacent loess layers in the Luochuan loess section, NW China

Using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technique, a series of biomarkers were identi- fied, including n-alkanes, n-alkane-2-ones, isoprenoid etc. from the loess-paleosol samples collected from the S4 and adjacent L5, L4 of the Luochuan loess section, Northwestern China. Based on these data, especially n-alkanes and high-resolution magnetic susceptibility and grain size data, the pa- leoenvironment and paleovegetation history during S4 was reconstructed. The CPI (Carbon Predomi- nance Index) and correlation between n-alkanes and magnetic susceptibility and grain size data dem- onstrated that the molecular fossils in paleosol and loess layers can reflect the vegetation condition during the loess-paleosol formation, if the allochthonous organic inputs could be excluded reasonably. The ACL (average chain length) index is correlated well with paleomagnetic susceptibility and grain size variations, displaying their good synchrony with warm and humid climate. However, it relatively lagged behind the paleomagnetic susceptibility and the grain size variations when the climate began to deteriorate. During the formation period of paleosol, the n-alkanes was dominated by C31 homologue, indicating that the primary organic input originated from herbs. Our study also demonstrated that the herbs were more flourish than wood plants in Loess Plateau, especially in the Luochuan area during the warm and humid phase, and there was no typical forest vegetation developed in the studied period.     

松嫩平原西部土壤盐碱化空间变异与微地形关系研究

以松嫩平原西部具有典型微地形变化的苏打盐渍土小区为试验区,运用经典统计学和地统计学相结合的方法研究了小区盐碱化指标土壤电导率(EC)、盐分含量(SC)、pH和SAR的空间变异特征,绘制了4种指标的空间分布图。结果表明:受结构性因素和随机性因素的共同作用,4种指标均具有强空间相关性。4种指标空间分布在一定范围内均存在空间上的相似性。四种指标与相对高程呈极显著相关,相对高程在40cm范围内,四种指标随着相对高程的增加,呈二次函数曲线增加趋势。该研究为苏打盐渍土区植被恢复和盐碱地利用提供依据。     

Early Paleozoic subduction of the Paleo-Asian Ocean: Geochronological and geochemical evidence from the Dashizhai basalts,Inner Mongolia

Zircon U-Pb results of basalt from the Dashizhai Town in Inner Mongolia, NE China, shows that the basaltic lava was erupted at 439±3 Ma, much older than the “Permian basalts” as previously thought. These rocks show arc-type trace element patterns (i.e., Nb-Ta depletion and light REE and large ion lithophile element enrichment) and unradiogenic Sr and highly radiogenic Nd and Hf isotope compositions. They can be subdivided into two petrogenetic groups: Group 1 basalts have relatively high TiO₂, MgO and compatible elements and low Sr and Th, characterized by mid-oceanic ridge basalt (MORB)-type Sr-Nd-Hf isotope compositions (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr(i)=0.7028−0.7032, ε_Nd(t)=+9.8−+11.2, ε_Hf(t)=+16.1−+18.4). Group 2 has lower TiO₂, MgO and compatible elements and higher Sr and Th, and relatively evolved Sr-Nd-Hf isotope compositions (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr(i)=0.7037−0.7038, ε_Nd(t)=+5.7−+7.3, ε_Hf(t)=+12.6−+13.0). Both groups were interpreted as melts derived from a metasomatized mantle wedge formed during the subduction of Paleo-Asian Ocean. The mantle source for Group 1 was probably a highly isotopically depleted oceanic mantle modified by predominant slab fluids; whereas subducted sediments had an important contribution to the melting source for Group 2. The petrogenesis of the Dashizhai basalts provides clear evidence for early Paleozoic subduction of the Paleo-Asian Ocean, and the highly radiogenic Nd and Hf compositions in these rocks suggest that these lavas and their possible intrusive counterparts were one of the important components for Phanerozoic crustal growth. Our and previous studies on the “Dashizhai Formation” volcanic rocks yield an unrealistic eruption range of 440-270 Ma for different rock types, we thus advise to disassemble the previously defined “Dashizhai Formation” into multiple lithologic units and to reinterpret the spatial and temporal distributions of different volcano-sedimentary associations. Supported by National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2006CB403504)     

基于遥感特征指数的地表水体自动提取技术研究

为了从海量遥感数据中有效地提取地表水体信息,并提高自动化提取效率,提出了一种基于遥感特征指数的地表水体自动提取方法.该方法选取归一化植被指数(NDVI)、归一化建筑指数(NDBI)和修正归一化水体指数(MNDWI)作为遥感特征指数集,并根据这些指数构建了遥感特征指数曲线.通过分析,发现地表水体在特征曲线中单调上升,植被在特征曲线中单调下降,而其它地物并无此特征.因此,根据这一规律,利用ERDAS IMAGINE软件建立了自动化提取模型.通过与其他方法对比,表明所建立的模型在精度和自动化方面都明显优于其他方法,可用于海量数据地表水体的自动提取.最后,在ARCGIS环境下,并通过决策树模型初步实现了地表水体的自动分类.