Clastic sedimentary rocks are samples of the exposed continental crust. In order to characterize the crustal growth history of North China and its possible regional variations, 479 concordant detrital zircons in three sand samples from the lower reach of the Yellow River (which drains the Tibet-Qinghai Plateau, the Western Qinling Orogen, the Qilian Orogen and the North China Craton) and two sand samples from the Luan River and the Yongding River (which run entirely within the North China Craton) were measured for U-Pb age and Lu-Hf isotopic compositions by excimer laser-ablation ICP-MS and MC-ICP-MS. Although regional variations exist, concordant detrital zircons from the Yellow River reveal three major age groups of 2.1-2.5 Ga, 1.6-2.0 Ga, and 150-500 Ma. Detrital zircons from the smaller Luan and Yongding Rivers show three broadly similar major age groups at 2.3-2.6 Ga, 1.6-2.0 Ga, and 140-350 Ma, but with narrower age ranges. Compared to the Luan and Yongding River zircons, the Yellow River zircons are characterized by a significant number of Neoproterozoic grains. Although Hf isotopic compositions show both juvenile crustal growth and crustal reworking for all age groups, much of the crustal growth of North China occurred in the Neoarchean and Mesoproterozoic. All three rivers are characterized by a common prominent group of Hf crust formation model ages at 2.4-2.9 Ga with a peak at 2.7-2.8 Ga. A less significant age group lies between 1.4 and 1.8 Ga for the Yellow River, and between 1.6 and 1.9 Ga for the Yongding River and Luan River. Crustal growth rates based on Hf continental crust formation model ages suggest 45% and 90% of the present crustal volume was formed by 2.5 Ga and 1.0 Ga, respectively, for the drainage area of the Yellow River. In comparison, 60% and 98% of the present crustal volume of the North China Craton was generated by 2.5 Ga and 1.0 Ga, respectively, for the Luan and Yongding Rivers. The 2.7-2.8 Ga age peak observed in all river samples agrees well with the coeval major peak for global crustal growth. However, the other suggested global peaks of crustal growth at 3.4 and 3.8 Ga are insignificant in North China. Taken together with our previous studies of the Yangtze Craton, which show insignificant crustal growth at 2.7-2.8 Ga, we suggest that these advocated worldwide crust formation peaks be re-examined and treated carefully. Our results also show that Phanerozoic zircons may have been derived from crustal sources separated from the mantle up to 2.0 Ga ago before the zircons crystallized, suggesting long-term preservation, reworking and recycling of the continental crust. 相似文献
Meteorological droughts can affect large areas and may have serious environmental, social and economic impacts. These impacts depend on the severity, duration, and spatial extent of the precipitation deficit and the socioeconomic vulnerability of the affected regions. This paper examines the spatiotemporal variation of meteorological droughts in the Haihe River basin. Meteorological droughts events were diagnosed using daily meteorological data from 44 stations by calculating a comprehensive drought index (CI) for the period 1961–2011. Based on the daily CI values of each station over the past 50 years, the drought processes at each station were confirmed, and the severity, duration and frequency of each meteorological drought event were computed and analyzed. The results suggest the following conclusions: (1) the use of the CI index can effectively trace the development of drought and can also identify the duration and severity of each drought event; (2) the average drought duration was 57–85 days in each region of the Haihe River basin, and the region with the highest average values of drought duration and drought severity was Bohai Bay; (3) drought occurred more than 48 times over the study period, which is more than 0.95 times per year over the 50 years studied. The average frequencies of non-drought days, severe drought days and extreme drought days over the study period were 51.2, 3.2 and 0.4 %, respectively. Severe drought events mainly occurred in the south branch of the Hai River, and extreme drought events mainly occurred in the Shandong Peninsula and Bohai Bay; (4) the annual precipitation and potential evapotranspiration of the Haihe River basin show decreasing trends over the past 50 years. The frequency of severe drought and extreme drought events has increased in the past 20 years than during the period 1961–1990. The results of this study may serve as a reference point for decision regarding basin water resources management, ecological recovery and drought hazard vulnerability analysis.
