Recharge to the inter-dune lakes and Holocene climatic changes in the Badain Jaran Desert, western China

We present new estimates on evaporation and groundwater recharge in the Badain Jaran Desert, western Inner Mongolia of northwestern China, based on a modified Penman Equation suitable for lakes in China. Geochemical data and water balance calculations suggest that local rainfall makes a significant contribution to groundwater recharge and that past lake-level variations in this desert environment should reflect palaeoclimatic changes. The chronology of lake-level change, established by radiocarbon and U-series disequilibrium dating methods, indicates high lake levels and a wetter climate beginning at ca. 10 ka and lasting until the late mid-Holocene in the Badain Jaran Desert. The greatest extension of lakes in the inter-dune depressions indicates that the water availability was greatest during the mid-Holocene. Relicts of Neolithic tools and pottery of Qijia Culture (2400-1900 BC) suggest relatively intensive human activity in the Badain Jaran Desert during the early and middle Holocene, supporting our interpretation of a less harsh environment. Wetter climates during the Holocene were likely triggered by an intensified East Asian summer monsoon associated with strong insolation.     

沙漠风成沙的可溶盐组成及其环境意义

沙漠环境下,风成沉积物可溶盐的组成、分布和成因可为理解地表过程及环境与气候系统间的相互作用提供重要证据.本研究通过对塔克拉玛干、库姆塔格、巴丹吉林和腾格里四大沙漠的风成沙样品的水溶盐研究,提供了中国北方沙漠带风成沙可溶盐的组成、含量、分布的基础数据,并讨论了风成沙可溶盐的来源、地理分布、成因及其对沙漠固碳的环境意义.风...     

Diatom–environment relationships and a transfer function for conductivity in lakes of the Badain Jaran Desert, Inner Mongolia, China

We describe a dataset of 26 modern diatom samples and associated environmental variables from the Badain Jaran Desert, northwest China. The influence of electrical conductivity (EC) and other variables on diatom distribution was explored using multivariate analyses and generalized additive modeling of species response curves. A transfer function was derived for EC, the variable with the largest unique effect on diatom variance, as shown by partial canonical correspondence analysis. Weighted-averaging partial least squares regression and calibration provided the best model, with a high coefficient of determination ( $ {\text{r}}_{\text{boot}}^{2} $  = 0.91) and low prediction error (RMSEP_boot = 0.136 log₁₀ μS cm^?1). To assess its potential for palaeosalinity and palaeoclimate reconstructions, the EC transfer function was applied to fossil diatom assemblages from ²¹⁰Pb-dated short sediment cores collected from two subsaline lakes of the Badain Jaran Desert. The diatom-inferred (DI) EC reconstructions were compared with meteorological data for the past 50 years and with remote sensing data for the period AD 1990–2012. Changes in DI–EC were small and their relationship with climate was weak. Moreover, remote sensing data indicate that the surface areas and water depths of these lakes did not change, which suggests that water loss by evaporation is compensated by groundwater inflow. These results suggest that the response of these lakes to climate change is mediated by non-climatic factors such as the hydrogeological setting, which control recharge from groundwater, and may be non-linear and non-stationary.     

Near-equatorial Typhoon Development： Climatology and Numerical Simulations

The climatology of near-equatorial typhoons over the western-north Pacific are fully investigated using the JTWC (Joint Typhoon Warning Center) typhoon record from 1951 to 2006. The result shows that there are seasonal and decadal variations, as well as a distinctive spatial distribution, of such events. Among them, Typhoon Vamei is an example of a near-equatorial typhoon that occurred near Singapore in December of 2001. Using the WRF (Weather and Research Forecast) model, we attempt to find out how the well known ``wind surge" of this event contributes to the development of Typhoon Vamei. It is found that the strong wind surge not only helps to provide advection of positive vorticity to Vamei between 800 and 500 hPa, but also increases the convective instability of the lower troposphere, and thus helps to induce convective outbreaks and rapid intensification. Furthermore, sensitivity experiments show that terrain and the land-sea distribution have very limited effects on the formation of Typhoon Vamei in the simulation, but an adequate Coriolis parameter ($f)$ is still needed for the development of Vamei.     

中国地貌与第四纪研究的近今进展与未来展望

近年来,在来自国民经济建设巨大需求的推动下,我国地貌与第四纪学服务于国民经济建设,取得了长足的进展.本文对近年来(主要为2006-2008年间)我国在地貌与第四纪方面所取得的主要进展进行了综述,包括构造地貌、流水地貌、风沙地貌、冰川地貌、河口与海岸地貌和第四纪环境演变方面的进展.同时,还指出了学科发展中存在的问题.文中对未来发展进行了展望,提出了推动学科发展的若干建议:(1)加强地貌学基本理论研究;(2)加强应用地貌研究,更好地为国家建设的重大需求服务;(3)加强地貌学的实验研究;(4)加强人才队伍建设.     

蒙古国苏赫巴托尔省前巴音钼矿区地质-地球物理特征

蒙古国前巴音钼矿床是一个石英脉型钼矿床。在前巴音深覆盖区隐伏-半隐伏钼矿床勘查中,地球物理勘探方法取得了显著的找矿效果。文章从矿区矿床地质特征、矿区地球物理特征方面总结前巴音钼矿床物探异常规律,提出了该区的找矿方向。     

末次冰期40 ka以来阿拉善高原地区的环境演变与地貌演化

阿拉善高原末次冰期（40 ka）以来的环境演变研究是揭示中纬度沙漠的发展变化与物质来源的重要依据,为不同尺度区域乃至全球气候变化间的比较提供依据,进一步揭示气候要素的发展变化。目前已有大量的研究工作及成果见诸文献报道,但缺乏系统性的总结与对比分析,尤其是40 ka以来的环境演变过程及其原因。本文通过对中西方已有文献的系统总结和对比研究,从末次冰期、全新世早、中、晚期的古气候变化记录、地貌演化记录及环境变化的原因、可能存在的问题等方面,分析了阿拉善高原地区末次冰期以来的环境演变历史。指出约40 ka到末次盛冰期结束时的环境比现在湿润,之后至更新世结束环境普遍干旱,风沙活动增强;但是乌兰布和沙漠的环境演变与区域总体的变化结果不同,即整个末次冰期均表现为干旱的环境;全新世早期和中期环境普遍湿润,湖泊、植被等进一步发育,风沙活动弱,全新世晚期环境干旱,沙漠或进一步扩大。但是,腾格里沙漠全新世早期表现为干旱的环境,并且存在争议最大的是巴丹吉林沙漠全新世中期的干旱事件,这些问题仍需要进一步研究。此外,西风带、东亚季风在不同时期对研究区气候变化的影响不同,关于研究区与全球气候变化的具体关系的研究很少,缺少代表性事件的证据。沙源的研究结果存在不一致性,由于研究方法的局限性和地貌营力作用的复杂性,沙源的定性和量化分析具有一定的难度;沙丘的形态、分布与风的方向、能量具有相互指示性,适当的风能才是沙丘建造的关键;从气候变化的全球尺度分析,沙漠的形成普遍与冰期或者气候寒冷干燥时期相对应。     

Geochemical compositions of soluble salts in aeolian sands from the Taklamakan and Badanjilin deserts in northern China, and their influencing factors and environmental implications

Two large sandy seas in northern China, the Taklamakan and Badanjilin deserts, were investigated for geochemical variations of soluble salts in aeolian sands. The aim was to explore factors influencing the composition and distribution of soluble salts in aeolian sands and their environmental implications. The total concentrations of soluble salt in the aeolian sands range between 0.14 and 1.32‰, with pH ranging between 8.4 and 9.6, indicating a primary degree of salt accumulation and alkaline soil conditions in these regions. Sodium chloride and bicarbonate are the major salts. High inter-regional homogenization and small local differences in the chemical compositions and distributional patterns of salt occur in the two deserts. The spatial variations in salt content correlate with regional climatic parameters, such as precipitation and temperature. This suggests that the regional air temperature and moisture conditions of climate have a significant influence on the soluble salts in aeolian sands. The domination of sedimentation of soluble salts in aeolian sands deposited via atmospheric processes, which is heavily associated with dry deposition, is discussed. Case studies from the two deserts suggest that variations in salt content in sedimentary sequences, interlaid by aeolian and lacustrine sediments, should be interpreted with care if the aim is to reveal palaeo-environmental changes. To a certain extent, the two deserts, as inferred from the carbon-bearing salts and the alkalinity of the sandy soils, appear to have potential to provide a significant contribution to the global carbon cycle.     

Hydrogeochemistry of three watersheds (the Erlqis, Zhungarer and Yili) in northern Xinjiang, NW China

In the arid region of northern Xinjiang, one of the least-studied areas in China, three watersheds, namely those of the Yili, Zhungarer and Erlqis, have become the focus of attention due to rapidly increasing human population and water demands. The hydrogeochemistry of natural water from the three watersheds was investigated. The ionic chemistry of natural waters from these watersheds changes considerably on a regional scale. The waters are neutral to alkaline in nature and most of them are soft-fresh waters. The total dissolved solid (TDS) varies over two orders of magnitude with a mean value of 580 mg/L, about 1.2 times and 4.6 times those of the Huanghe (Yellow River) and the world spatial median, respectively, but only 40% and 0.8% of those of the Tarim and the western Alashan watersheds, respectively. Much of the solutes and physicochemical parameters in these waters are under the highest desirable limits of the World Health Organization (WHO) for drinking purpose and a plot of sodium adsorption ratio versus EC shows that most waters are of good water quality for irrigation. Water-rock interaction and saturation index (SI) for selected minerals are evaluated. The SI of these natural waters is out of equilibrium (undersaturated) with respect to major carbonates (calcite and dolomite) and evaporites (gypsum and halite). The high concentrations of alkali earth metals, alkalinity and the high (Ca + Mg)/(Na + K) and Na/Cl ratios indicate that the release of major solutes in these waters is controlled largely by dissolution processes of carbonate and partly by silicate weathering, while, cation exchange reactions, soil-salt leaching and evaporation processes also play an important role. The effects of local pollution are minimal in the montane and piedmont areas of these watersheds but are significant in the oases and central areas of the drainage basins.     

Simulated variations of eolian dust from inner Asian deserts at the mid-Pliocene, last glacial maximum, and present day: contributions from the regional tectonic uplift and global climate change

Northern Tibetan Plateau uplift and global climate change are regarded as two important factors responsible for a remarkable increase in dust concentration originating from inner Asian deserts during the Pliocene?CPleistocene period. Dust cycles during the mid-Pliocene, last glacial maximum (LGM), and present day are simulated with a global climate model, based on reconstructed dust source scenarios, to evaluate the relative contributions of the two factors to the increment of dust sedimentation fluxes. In the focused downwind regions of the Chinese Loess Plateau/North Pacific, the model generally produces a light eolian dust mass accumulation rate (MAR) of 7.1/0.28?g/cm²/kyr during the mid-Pliocene, a heavier MAR of 11.6/0.87?g/cm²/kyr at present, and the heaviest MAR of 24.5/1.15?g/cm²/kyr during the LGM. Our results are in good agreement with marine and terrestrial observations. These MAR increases can be attributed to both regional tectonic uplift and global climate change. Comparatively, the climatic factors, including the ice sheet and sea surface temperature changes, have modulated the regional surface wind field and controlled the intensity of sedimentation flux over the Loess Plateau. The impact of the Tibetan Plateau uplift, which increased the areas of inland deserts, is more important over the North Pacific. The dust MAR has been widely used in previous studies as an indicator of inland Asian aridity; however, based on the present results, the interpretation needs to be considered with greater caution that the MAR is actually not only controlled by the source areas but the surface wind velocity.