Soil moisture potential and water content in the unsaturated zone within the arid Ejina Oasis in Northwest China

Three soil profiles were selected in the Ejina Oasis, northwest China, to determine water content profiles and evolution of soil moisture potentials in the unsaturated zone within the arid area. The total soil moisture potentials have been monitored for about 3 months in 2001 at different depths in the soil profiles. The occurrence and movement of water in the unsaturated zone was analyzed using the zero flux plane (ZFP) method. It is shown that convergent ZFPs and divergent ZFPs may occur at depths between 0.5 and 3.0 m, and that the depth of the ZFPs was controlled by the root zone of plants growing on the land surface. Profiles of the total soil moisture potentials were observed to be coincident with those of the water contents at the three experimental sites. The total soil moisture potential showed a slight increasing trend and the ZFPs tend to vanish from summer to winter as the water extraction by roots decreased. Evapotranspiration through vegetation has an important bearing on the water content and the total potential in the unsaturated zone.     

Accurate U-Pb Age and Trace Element Determinations of Zircon by Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry

Various zircons of Proterozoic to Oligocene ages (1060-31 Ma) were analysed by laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Calibration was performed using Harvard reference zircon 91500 or Australian National University reference zircon TEMORA 1 as external calibrant. The results agree with those obtained by SIMS within 2s error. Twenty-four trace and rare earth elements (P, Ti, Cr, Y, Nb, fourteen REE, Hf, Ta, Pb, Th and U) were analysed on four fragments of zircon 91500. NIST SRM 610 was used as the reference material and ²⁹Si was used as internal calibrant. Based on determinations of four fragments, this zircon shows significant intra-and inter-fragment variations in the range from 10% to 85% on a scale of 120 μm, with the variation of REE concentrations up to 38.7%, although the chondrite-normalised REE distributions are very similar. In contrast, the determined age values for zircon 91500 agree with TIMS data and are homogeneous within 8.7 Ma (2 s ). A two-stage ablation strategy was developed for optimising U-Pb age determinations with satisfactory trace element and REE results. The first cycle of ablation was used to collect data for age determination only, which was followed by continuous ablation on the same spot to determine REE and trace element concentrations. Based on this procedure, it was possible to measure zircon ages as low as 30.37 0.39 Ma (MSWD = 1.4; 2 s ). Other examples for older zircons are also given.     

Geochronology and petrogenesis of the post-orogenic Cu–Ni sulfide-bearing mafic–ultramafic complexes in Jilin Province, NE China

Northeastern (NE) China is a well-documented example of a collisional zone characterized by widespread post-orogenic granites and mafic–ultramafic complexes. Based on a study of the Hongqiling and Piaohechuan Cu–Ni sulfide-bearing mafic–ultramafic complexes in central Jilin province, we present geological, petrological, geochemical and geochronological data which indicates their post-orogenic origin.The Hongqiling complex comprises pyroxenite, olivine websterite, lherzolite, gabbro and leucogabbro. Zircon U–Pb SHRIMP analyses on a leucogabbro of the Hongqiling complex yield a weighted mean ²⁰⁶Pb–²³⁸U age of 216±5 Ma. The Piaohechuan complex is composed of gabbro, pyroxenite and dolerite, exposed as dikes. A plagioclase-bearing pyroxenite has a U–Pb zircon weighted mean ²⁰⁶Pb–²³⁸U age of 217±3 Ma, identical to that of the Hongqiling complex. These ages are coeval with the emplacement of A-type granites in the area, but slightly younger than the regional metamorphism (240 Ma) and syn-orogenic granitic magmatism (246±4 Ma). This suggests that these mafic–ultramafic complexes are post-orogenic in origin. The age data also indicated a short period of lithospheric stabilization of about 30 Ma after cessation of orogenic activity.Geochemical investigation indicates that the primary mafic magma was a lithospheric mantle-derived basalt resulting from the upwelling of asthenosphere due to lithospheric delamination during post-orogenic processes. The magmatic source was contaminated by a small amount of crustal material, and subsequent crystal fractionation resulted in the Cu–Ni mineralization.The widespread occurrence of mafic–ultramafic complexes in the Xing'an–Mongolian Orogenic Belt of NE China and in the Altay–Tianshan–Junggar Orogenic Belt of Northern Xinjiang indicates that mafic intrusions are an important magmatic suite that evolved during post-orogenic processes. Portions of this mafic magma could have underplated the lower crust, and served as the heat source for associated late-stage granitic magmas.     

Focal mechanism dependence of static stress triggering of earthquakes

We perform a global statistical investigation into the problem of Coulomb stress triggering of earthquakes by using the Harvard CMT catalogue of shallow earthquakes from 1976 to 2001. We consider ‘earthquake pairs’, i.e., pairs of successive earthquakes occurring near each other with similar focal mechanisms, and address the problem of whether or not the change of the Coulomb failure stress (CFS) produced by the first earthquake of the pair ‘encourages’ the occurrence of the second one. An interesting feature is that such a Coulomb stress-triggering phenomenon has an apparent focal mechanism dependence: for thrust earthquakes, a more evident triggering effect can be observed.     

Empirical garnet-muscovite-plagioclase-quartz geobarometry in medium- to high-grade metapelites

Based on the net transfer reactions among garnet, muscovite, plagioclase, and quartz (for both Mg and Fe end-member models), the garnet-muscovite-plagioclase-quartz (GMPQ) geobarometry was empirically calibrated under the physical conditions of P=1.0-11.4 kbar and T=505-745 °C for 128 natural metapelitic rock samples collected from the literature. The input temperatures and pressures were simultaneously determined by the garnet-biotite thermometer and the garnet-aluminosilicate-plagioclase-quartz (GASP) barometer. The GMPQ calibrations adopted the same asymmetric quaternary solid solution model of garnet and the same Al-avoidance asymmetric ternary model of plagioclase as the calibrations of the garnet-biotite geothermometer and the GASP geobarometer. A symmetric Fe-Mg-Al^VI ternary solid solution model of muscovite was adopted, and the Margules parameters of muscovite were obtained through regression. The Mg and Fe model reactions, along with the assumption of whether the ferric iron content in muscovite is 0% or 50%, resulted in four GMPQ barometry formulae. The GMPQ barometry formulae reproduce the input GASP pressures well within ±1.0 kbar (mostly within ±0.5 kbar). For both aluminosilicate-bearing and aluminosilicate-absent samples, the GMPQ barometry formulae yield identical pressures for every sample, whether the sample was included or not in calibrating the barometers. For each of the Mg or Fe model reaction, the formulae gave identical pressures within ±40 bars. The random error of the GMPQ barometry may be expected as ±1.4 kbar. The dP/dT slopes of these GMPQ formulae are close to that of the GASP barometer in the P-T space. Applications of the GMPQ barometry to aluminosilicate-absent metapelites within a limited geographic area without postmetamorphic structural discontinuity generally show no pressure difference. It may be concluded that the GMPQ barometry formulae derived in this work may be used as practical tools for metamorphic pelites under the conditions of 505-745 °C and 1-11.4 kbar, in the composition range of X_gros>3% in garnet and X_An>17% in plagioclase.     

Acidification and Trace Metals of Lakes in Taiwan

One hundred and eighty lakes, ponds and reservoirs in Taiwan, and the offshore islands have been investigated since 1985. Effects such as warming/cooling, mixing, photosynthesis and respiration on pH have been identified. These effects were found to be less profound than those resulting from the geology. Since there is little rain or lake water pH data available prior to 1970, it was necessary to use proxy data in order to ascertain the history of lake acidification. In this study, we present data based on diatoms in a sediment core collected from a lake in the remote subalpine region of southern Taiwan. The acidity of this lake water was found to have increased since 1900. We measured the concentrations of 55 chemical species in lake water samples. In addition, concentrations of 26 chemical species were obtained from sediments. Conductivity, alkalinity (HCO₃ ^?), most other major and minor chemical species, as well as the non sea-salt SO₄/Na ratio in lake water clearly decrease with elevation. Distribution of pH is similar, although the trend is less clear. Distribution of trace metals, however, shows a different trend as anthropogenic pollution, diagenetic reduction and lake acidification are at play.     

基于RS和GIS的农业土地利用污染分析

农业已被确认为地表和地下水最主要的非点源污染源，而土地利用方式又是影响非点源污染的关键性因素。大规模的土地利用与开发、化肥与农药用量的增加、规模养殖业的发展、生活垃圾的增加等，这些非点污染源严重威胁水体质量，进而影响到人们的生活。为了更好地预测和控制、管理非点源污染，必须研究其负荷定量化问题。本文从以上几方面入手，讨论了非点源污染与农业土地利用方式之间的关系，利用组件GIS技术，以网格为评价单元，实现非点源污染负荷的定量计算及可视化分析。文章最后以上海市松江区作为研究区域，对该区的污染情况进行了分析。     

自动风向转换程序设计思路

由于OSSMO 2004版地面测报业务软件中抄录报表风向不太方便，故长治县气象局自行设计了自动风向角度和方位的转换程序。本程序用OBJECT PASCAL语言编写，在DELPHI中实现，采用Microsoft．Jet．OLEDB．4．0数据库引擎及ADO的方式操作数据库。