Characteristics and genesis of maghemite in Chinese loess and paleosols: Mechanism for magnetic susceptibility enhancement in paleosols

Morphological characteristics and microstructures of magnetic minerals extracted from Chinese loess and paleosols were investigated using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Our results indicate that maghemite in loess–paleosol sequences was transformed from magnetite through oxidation of magnetite. Maghemite transformed from eolian magnetite during chemical weathering has low-angle grain boundaries among maghemite nano-crystals. Some nano-crystalline maghemites with nanoporous texture resulted from microbe-induced precipitation of magnetite or transformation of poorly crystalline ferric Fe (oxy)hydroxides in presence of Fe-reducing bacteria. Aggregates of euhedral maghemite nano-crystals were transformed from magnetite magnetosomes. Both microbe-induced nanoporous magnetite and microbe-produced magnetite magnetosomes are directly related to microbial activities and pedogenesis of the paleosols. It is proposed that the formation of nano-crystalline maghemite with superparamagnetic property in paleosol results in the enhancement of magnetic susceptibility, although the total amount (weight percent) of magnetic minerals in both paleosol and loess units is similar. Our results also show that nano-crystalline and nanoporous magnetite grains prefer to transform into maghemite in semi-arid soil environments instead of hematite, although hematite is a thermodynamically stable phase. This result also indicates that a decrease in crystal size will increase stability of maghemite. It is also inferred that surface energy of maghemite is lower than that of hematite.     

Land degradation in the source region of the Yellow River, northeast Qinghai-Xizang Plateau: classification and evaluation

Land degradation imposes a great threat to the world. It is not merely an environmental issue, but also a social and economic problem. Land desertification is among the main aspects of environment changes in the source region of the Yellow River. Previous studies focused on water resource utilization and soil erosion, but land degradation in the source region of the Yellow River even the whole Qinghai-Xizang Plateau received little attention. Based on the data obtained by field investigation and TM satellite images of 2000, this study provides the classification and evaluation information of the land degradation in the source region of the Yellow River. There are six types of land degradation in this region: water erosion in the northern mountains around the Gonghe Basin, sandy desertification in the Gonghe Basin and Upland Plain Area, aridization in the lower reaches, salinization in the Gonghe Basin, vegetation degradation in the intramontance basin and freezing and thawing erosion in the high mountains. The total degraded area is 34,429.6 km², making up 37.5% of the land in the study area. Finally, land degradation in the source region of the Yellow River was evaluated according to changes in the physical structure and chemical component of soils, land productivity, secondary soil salt and water conditions.     

Adsorbed silica in stalagmite carbonate and its relationship to past rainfall

Despite considerable work on other trace elements, the incorporation of dissolved silicon from cave waters into speleothems has not been previously investigated. In this study, the controls on dissolved Si in cave waters and on adsorbed Si in resulting speleothems are therefore investigated. Bedrock (dolomite), soil water, dripping water, and cave carbonates were retrieved from Heshang Cave situated in the central Yangtze valley of China and were subjected to analysis of dissolved Si content (plus accompanying Ca and Fe analyses). Soil waters have Si/Ca of 45.5 mmol/mol, compared to only 3.2 mmol/mol in the dolomite bedrock, demonstrating that >80% of the dissolved Si must come from dissolution of silicate minerals in the soil. Drip waters have a dissolved Si concentration of ≈4.2 μg/mL, similar to that in the overlying soil water. Actively growing cave carbonates have a Si/Ca of 0.075 mmol/mol suggesting a partition coefficient for incorporation of dissolved silicon of 0.0014, in good agreement with previous laboratory studies. Extrapolating the results of these laboratory studies to the cave environment suggests that changes in Si/Ca in cave carbonates are likely to be primarily controlled by changes in drip-water Si/Ca. The drip-water Si/Ca will, in turn, be controlled by the rate of wind-blown silicate supply; by soil weathering rates; by rainfall dilution; and by precipitation of calcite. The general expectation is that these effects combine to produce high Si/Ca in speleothems during times of low rainfall. A δ¹⁸O record from a Heshang Cave stalagmite which grew between 20 and 11 thousand years ago allows these controls to be tested. Correlation of high Si/Ca with high δ¹⁸O demonstrates that regional rainfall exerts significant (but not complete) control on speleothem Si/Ca. With further understanding, speleothem Si/Ca may provide a proxy for past rainfall to complement existing proxies such as δ¹⁸O and Mg/Ca.     

“雪龙号”2003北极航次气相多环芳烃纬度分布观测

2003年“雪龙号”北极科学考察期间,对沿途海洋大气进行采样,分析其中气相多环芳烃的空间分布。结果显示,气相中主要是2-4环的多环芳烃,其中菲为主要的化合物,平均占到总多环芳烃的55.1%。在整个航程的广泛区域尺度内,气相总多环芳烃浓度在1043.9-92993.1pg/m3。空间分布上,远东亚的海面>北太平洋海面>北极圈以内海面;总多环芳烃的浓度随纬度升高呈现显著降低的趋势。通过Clausius-Clapeyron方程对浓度和温度相互关系的分析表明,温度是控制气相多环芳烃长距离传输的主要因素。     

云南沿边境地带生态环境3S监测、 评价与调控研究

本文利用全球新千年整体生态系统评估的理论，以云南省沿边境地带生态系统变化跨境生态安全为研究对象，探寻并揭示我国陆疆系统的跨境生态系统变化监测、评价和生态安全综合调控的基础理论与信息机理；进而研究基于“3S”云南沿边境地带的生态环境监测、评价与综合调控的方法和关键技术，包括方法和技术体系的建立、指标体系的建立、多尺度效应和尺度转换、数学模型的建立、综合调控模式和决策方案的建立等；在案例研究部分，建立了背景数据库，然后选择大、中、小尺度进行了全区生态环境现状评价，重点河道、典型路段和重点口岸的影响评价和预测预报研究，最后进行了综合调控模式和方案的探讨，并对研究结果进行了动态仿真和虚拟表达研究。     

A numerical study of mechanical behavior of a cement paste under mechanical loading and chemical leaching

Based on relevant experimental data of a petroleum cement paste under mechanical loading and chemical leaching, an elastic‐plastic model is first proposed by taking into account plastic shearing and pore collapse. The degradation of mechanical properties induced by the chemical leaching is characterized by a chemical damage variable which is defined as the increase of porosity. Both elastic and plastic properties of the cement paste are affected by the chemical damage. The proposed model is calibrated from and applied to describe mechanical responses in triaxial compression tests respectively on sound and fully leached samples. In the second part, a phenomenological chemical model is defined to establish the relationship between porosity change and calcium dissolution process. The dissolution kinetics is governed by a diffusion law taking into account the variation of diffusion coefficient with calcium concentration. The chemical model is coupled with the mechanical model, and both are applied to describe mechanical response of cement paste samples subjected to progressive chemical leaching and compressive stresses. Comparisons between experimental data and numerical results are presented.     

Dissolved organic matter in surface runoff in the Loess Plateau of China: The role of rainfall events and land-use

Exploring the chemical characterization of dissolved organic matter (DOM) is important for understanding the fate of laterally transported organic matter in watersheds. We hypothesized that differences in water-extractable organic matter (WEOM) in soils of varying land uses and rainfall events may significantly affect the quality and the quantity of stream DOM. To test our hypotheses, characteristics of rainfall-runoff DOM and WEOM of source materials (topsoil from different land uses and gullies, as well as typical vegetation) were investigated at two adjacent catchments in the Loess Plateau of China, using ultraviolet–visible absorbance and excitation emission matrix fluorescence with parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC). Results indicated that land-use types may significantly affect the chemical composition of soil WEOM, including its aromaticity, molecular weight, and degree of humification. The PARAFAC analysis demonstrated that the soils and stream water were dominated by terrestrial/allochthonous humic-like substances and microbial transformable humic-like fluorophores. Shifts in the fluorescence properties of stream DOM suggested a pronounced change in the relative proportion of allochthonous versus autochthonous material under different rainfall patterns and land uses. For example, high proportions of forestland could provide more allochthonous DOM input. This study highlights the relevance of soils and hydrological dynamics on the composition and fluxes of DOM issuing from watersheds. The composition of DOM in soils was influenced by land-use type. Precipitation patterns influenced the proportion of terrestrial versus microbial origins of DOM in surface runoff. Contributions of allochthonous, terrestrially derived DOM inputs were highest from forested landscapes.