Hydrology of Dali Lake in central-eastern Inner Mongolia and Holocene East Asian monsoon variability

Lacustrine records from the northern margin of the East Asian monsoon generate a conflicting picture of Holocene monsoonal precipitation change. To seek an integrated view of East Asian monsoon variability during the Holocene, an 8.5-m-long sediment core recovered in the depocenter of Dali Lake in central-eastern Inner Mongolia was analyzed at 1-cm intervals for total organic and inorganic carbon concentrations. The data indicate that Dali Lake reached its highest level during the early Holocene (11,500–7,600 cal yr BP). The middle Holocene (7,600–3,450 cal yr BP) was characterized by dramatic fluctuations in the lake level with three intervals of lower lake stands occurring 6,600–5,850, 5,100–4,850 and 4,450–3,750 cal yr BP, respectively. During the late Holocene (3,450 cal yr BP to present), the lake displayed a general shrinking trend with the lowest levels at three episodes of 3,150–2,650, 1,650–1,150 and 550–200 cal yr BP. We infer that the expansion of the lake during the early Holocene would have resulted from the input of the snow/ice melt, rather than the monsoonal precipitation, in response to the increase in summer solar radiation in the Northern Hemisphere. We also interpret the rise in the lake level since ca. 7,600 cal yr BP as closely related to increased monsoonal precipitation over the lake region resulting from increased temperature and size of the Western Pacific Warm Pool and a westward shifted and strengthened Kuroshio Current in the western Pacific. Moreover, high variability of the East Asian monsoon climate since 7,600 cal yr BP, marked by large fluctuations in the lake level, might have been directly associated with variations in the intensity and frequency of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events.     

Large-Scale Turbulence Structures and Their Contributions to the Momentum Flux and Turbulence in the Near-Neutral Atmospheric Boundary Layer Observed from a 213-m Tall Meteorological Tower

Large-scale turbulence structures in the near-neutral atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) are investigated on the basis of observations made from the 213-m tall meteorological tower at Tsukuba, Japan. Vertical profiles of wind speed and turbulent fluxes in the ABL were obtained with sonic anemometer-thermometers at six levels of the tower. From the archived data, 31 near-neutral cases are selected for the analysis of turbulence structures. For the typical case, event detection by the integral wavelet transform with a large time scale (180 s) from the streamwise velocity component (u) at the highest level (200 m) reveals a descending high-speed structure with a time scale of approximately 100 s (a spatial scale of 1 km at the 200-m height). By applying the wavelet transform to the u velocity component at each level, the intermittent appearance of large-scale high-speed structures extending also in the vertical is detected. These structures usually make a large contribution to the downward momentum transfer and induce the enhancement of turbulent kinetic energy. This behaviour is like that of “active” turbulent motions. From the analysis of the two-point space–time correlation of wavelet coefficients for the u velocity component, the vertical extent and the downward influence of large-scale structures are examined. Large fluctuations in the large-scale range (wavelet variance at the selected time scale) at the 200-m level tend to induce the large correlation between the higher and lower levels.     

Determination of Thallium in Eighty-Seven Geochemical Reference Samples by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

The thallium content of eighty-seven geochemical reference samples has been determined by atomic absorption spectrometry using an air-acetylene flame or a graphite furnace atomizer, after extraction of thallium as chloride with methylisobutylketone (MIBK). A comparison with published data show clearly the need for much more data on most reference samples.     

Determination of Selenium in Fifty Two Geochemical Reference Materials by Hydride Generation Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

The selenium content of fifty two geochemical reference samples, issued by several reference material producers (ANRT, GIT-IWG, USGS, NIST and GSJ) has been determined by continuous hydride generation and atomic absorption spectrometry. Selenium(VI) in the digested solutions was pre-reduced to selenium(IV) by heating in 6 mol l⁻¹ HCl solution. The limit of detection was 3 ng g⁻¹ selenium in common geological samples. Some samples which contain a large amount of heavy metals were analysed by the standard addition technique. The agreement between the reported results and published data is satisfactory.     

Mo-related Adakitic Granitoids from Non-island-arc Setting: Jecheon Pluton of South Korea

Abstract. The Jecheon granitoids, having an elongated shape of NE-SW 27 km and NW-SE 13 km (190 km²), are composed mostly of magnetite-series hornblende-biotite granodiorite and biotite granite, which intrude into the Neoproterozoic metamor-phic and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks of the Ogcheon Belt. The granitoids have Triassic-Jurassic age of 202.7 ±1.9 Ma with very high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr initial ratio of 0.7140. The granodiorite has 63–69 % SiO₂, 15.1–17.3 % Al₂O₃, <1.6 % MgO, 6–15 ppm Y and Sr/Y ratios of 24–76, and is depleted in HREE. Biotite granite together, the Jecheon pluton has adakitic characteristics, which are unique in a continental tectonic setting. The granitoids may have been generated by partial melting of an older adakitic granitoid of I-type basement, or by separation of early crystallized garnet and hornblende from an anatectic melt.