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.     

Application of Dangerous Probability Function in Risk Estimation of Surface Rupture Earthquake：Taking the Lingwu Fault in Ningxi1 Region as on Example

Based on the fitting on paleoearthquake data of intra-plate regions in the northern part of Chi-na and giving a statistical model of time interdependence,the potential damage earthquakes in a definite future period and characteristics of present shocks along the Lingwu fault have been analyzed by using dangerous probability function and some new data concerned.We have in-ferred that the fault has entered a period that earthquakes will probably occur.There exists a potential danger that a strong earthquake with Ms7.0-7.5 will occur in 10-100a.     

Groundwater regime and calculation of yield response in North China Plain: a case study of Luancheng County in Hebei Province

The groundwater table has been declining at a rate of 0.65 m/yr in Luancheng County since large scale groundwater extraction carried out in the 1960s. The drop of precipitation, substantial increase in agricultural output, variations of crop planting structure and construction of water conservancy projects in the headwater area all tie up with the decline of the groundwater table. On the basis of analyzing the hydrogeological conditions and the water resources utilization of Luancheng County, a three-dimensional groundwater flow model was developed to simulate the county’s groundwater flow through finite-difference method using Visual Modflow software. We divide the research field into four parts after analyzing the hydrogeological condition. Based on parameter calibration and adjustment using measured data, the hydraulic conductivity and specific yield were simulated. Using the calibrated model, we analyze the agricultural water saving potentiality and its influence on the groundwater. The results are as follows: (1) if we decrease the amount of water extracted by 0.14xl0⁸ m³, the average groundwater table of the five observation wells in December will rise by 0.33 m; (2) if we decrease the water by 0.29x 10⁸m³, the average groundwater table of the five observation wells in December will rise by 0.64 m; and (3) if we increase the water by 0.29 x 10⁸m³, the average groundwater table of the five observation wells in December will decline by 0.45 m. So we can draw a conclusion that controlling the agricultural water use is an important way to prevent the decline of groundwater table.     

Total N,total P and organic matters content in floodplain soils of Xianghai Nature Reserve

Soil sediment samples of 10 layers with a spacing of 10 cm each were collected in different floodplain zones adjacent to Huolin River in the Xianghai Nature Reserve, and contents of total N, total P and organic matters were analyzed. The results showed that contents of total N, total P and organic matters were generally decreasing with the increase of distance from sample locations to the river channel, and contents of the three items were generally higher in the upper soil layer than that in the lower soil layer. The content variations displayed how flooding functions influenced nutrient matter content variations in floodplain soils since the flood inundation frequencies of the sample locations varied. The correlation analysis displayed that there were remarkable relativities between total N, total P and organic matters within definite spatial distance from the Huolin River channel.     

内蒙古二道岭矿区煤储层孔隙结构特征

采用汞注入法测试了内蒙古二道岭矿区主力煤储层的孔容、孔比表面积及孔隙率,分析了二道岭矿区主煤层的孔隙结构特征。结果表明,二道岭矿区主煤层总孔容较高,孔隙率较高,煤储层吸附能力较大,煤层气的运移潜势较大,有利于煤层气的开发。     

Isotopic Tracing of Trophication Processes over the Last Millennia on Lake Chenghai

Multi-parameter studies (stable isotopes in carbonate and organic matter, pigment,organic carbon and nitrogen contents) from a 660-yr continuous sediment core from Lake Cheng-hai, a closed, eutropic lake in southern China, provide information on lake historical eutrophi-cation. During the last 660 years, great changes have taken place in productivity and eutrophi-cation of Lake Chenghai in response to human activities. In 1690, the productivity of the lakebegan to increase as Lake Chenghai became closed from agriculture in the lake‘‘ s watershed. In 1942, Lake Chenghai evolved to eutrophic state, marked by an increase in organic carbon, ni-trogen, CaC03, pigment contents and obvious negative values of stable isotopes, which is more or less simultaneous with the large-scale population immigration during the period. In 1984, in-tensive human activities induced modern lacustrine productivity and eutrophic level. Human-in-duced trophic changes during the past few decades have affected the Lake Chenghai ecosystem tosuch an extent that it has never experienced before in the last 660 years.     

The Role of Organic Matter During Metal Enrichment in Permian Kupferschiefer of the Rudna Mine,Southwest Poland

The bulk composition of organic matter and saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons extracted from 16 samples collected from two Kuperschiefer profiles in the Rudna mine,Southwest Poland has been analyzed to study the role of organic matter during base metal enrichment in the Kupferschiefer shale.The results indicated that the extract yields and saturated hydrocarbon yields decreased with increasing base metal contents.GC and GC/MS analyses indicated that n -alkanes and alkylated aromatic compounds were depleted and may have served as hydrogen donators for thermochemical sulfate reduction.The enrichment of base metal is closely connected with the destruction of hydrocarbons.