Kosa (yellow sand) components in precipitation collected at central Japan

In east Asia, acidic gases derived from fossil fuel combustion have increased in the past decades. On the other hand, the Asian dust, also called Kosa (yellow sand) is transported following windstorms from arid lands in the Asian continent. Many researchers have been interested in the reaction between acidic aerosols and Kosa aerosols as well as the long-range transport of these emissions. To investigate the characteristics of chemical components in precipitation on a long-term basis over Japan, precipitation was sequentially collected from April 1984 to March 1997 at Kanazawa located near the coast of the Sea of Japan. Precipitation samples were collected at 1 mm intervals for the first 5 mm rainfall and all volume of rainwater after 6 mm for all precipitation events with an automatic wet only precipitation collector. According to the analyses of precipitation including Kosa aerosols during Kosa periods, the reaction in the air between Kosa and acidic components during the long-range transport was discussed.     

Damage and recovery of the Gurbantunggut Desert vegetation following engineering activities

The fragile ecological environment of the Gurbantunggut Desert is damaged/disturbed by human activities relating to the development of oil-gas resources and the constructions of desert road and great engineering in the Jungger Basin. It was mainly represented: soil compaction, vegetation cleaning, burial of vegetation, oil polluting, and soil disturbance. With investigation and experiment, we found that when the way and intensity of engineering activities disturbing the eco-environment does not make its ecological stability disintegrated, the desert vegetation has a capacity of natural recovery. To speed and strengthen the process of vegetation recovery efficient assistant measurements, including stabilizing mobile sands promptly and sowing seeds of shrub and herb plants in good time will be needed.     

Expansion and contraction of Chinese deserts during the Quaternary

Episodic dune formations during the Quaternary are found in many deserts of China. The causes of desert expansions on different time scales are not the same. Desert extension at about 1.1 and 0.9 Ma ago were the response to the active tectonic movements, whereas the desert evolutions on the ten-thousand years time scale were the response to the orbital scale climatic changes. Spatial scale studies on desert evolution indicate that desert margins shifted greatly during the last glacial maximum (LGM) and the Holocene optimum, its changing from 125°E of the LGM to 105°E of the climatic optimum. Historical desertification in the semiarid China is not a response to climate drought but largely associated with the human impacts (mainly over-cultivation) since about 2300 years ago, which leads to the reworking of the underlying LGM sands.     

Utilization of water resources,ecological balance and land desertification in the Tarim Basin,Xinjiang

Because of the human exploitation and utilization of water resources in the Tarim Basin, the water resources consumption has changed from mainly natural ecosystem to artificial oasis ecosystem, and the environment has changed correspondingly. The basic changes are: desertification and oasis development coexist, both “the human being advance and the desert retreat” and “the desert advance and the human being retreat” coexist, but the latter is dominant. In the upper reaches, water volume drawing to irrigated agricultural areas has increased, artificial oases have been enlarging and moving from the deltas in the lower reaches of many rivers to the piedmont plains. In the middle and lower reaches of the Tarim River, the stream flow has decreased, old oases have declined, natural vegetations have been degenerating, desertification has been enlarging, and the environment has deteriorated. The transition regions, which consist of forestlands, grasslands and waters between the desert and the oases, have been decreasing continuously, their shelter function to the oases has been weakened, and the desert is threatening the oases seriously.     

Getting ‘holistic’ about land rehabilitation in hot arid regions

The paper describes Western Australian examples and causes of land degradation. It outlines shortcomings in the methodologies used to rehabilitate these areas. From this a protocol is suggested for an ‘holistic’ approach to land rehabilitation.     

华北地区部分井孔稀有气体异常研究

介绍了近年来华北地区宝龙等 3口井稀有气体的显著异常 ,并据其特征与井孔水位动态的关系 ,对稀有气体异常的成因进行了理论分析与实验研究。结果表明 ,水位下降 10 0mm ,岩层孔隙、裂隙中的气体体积膨胀 0 0 0 90 % (气体体积百分比 ,下同 )左右。由于地下水位大幅度下降 ,岩层孔隙压力减小 ,积聚在岩层孔隙、裂隙中的气体体积膨胀溢出 ,导致井孔地下水中稀有气体含量出现异常变化。这些异常是干扰因素所致 ,不是地震异     

驻马店市春播期降水分析与趋势预报

利用1959－2001年春播期（3－4月）驻马店月降水资料，分析了春播期降水气候规律。找出与3－4月降水相关性好的因子，建立3，4月降水趋势预报方程。     

沙坡头人工植被固沙区天然降水的入渗和分配研究

土壤、植被冠层与大气界面间(SVAT)物质传输过程日益成为水文学研究最感兴趣的领域,降水量的迁移与转换是非灌溉区SVAT主要的物质传输过程.干旱半干旱区稀疏灌丛蒸散量占降水量的90%以上,因此对降水入渗与水分在土壤内植物根际区再分配的研究显得十分重要.试验于2001年8月17日至9月30日在中国科学院沙坡头试验站进行,主要观测人工植被荒漠灌木柠条(Caragana korshinskii) 灌丛固定沙丘降水入渗与再分配过程.结果表明:在7次不连续降水过程中,土壤入渗深度与降水强度呈简单线性相关关系,土壤入渗速率约为降水强度的10倍.当次降水过程中降水强度小于0.46 mmh-1时,土壤入渗速率约为0 cm*h-1,此时的降水对沙区土壤基本上没有水分补给作用.受荒漠灌木柠条根系吸水作用的影响,其根系密集剖面深度40～140 cm内降水水分入渗积累不明显.降水入渗速率及入渗深度受土壤剖面初始含水率多寡而变化,干燥土壤剖面有助于提高瞬时入渗速率.降水以后随着时间的推移,人工固沙区微环境内空气温度、湿度等气象条件适宜,柠条生长进入相对旺盛阶段,其根系密集层140 cm深度处土壤含水率在总体上下降的过程中,表现出昼消夜长的趋势,试验期间翌日 8:00时土壤含水率值略高于前一日20:00时水分值 0.1%～0.3%.