Time scale of an early to mid-Paleozoic orogenic cycle of the long-lived Central Asian Orogenic Belt, Inner Mongolia of China: Implications for continental growth

We present a detailed, new time scale for an orogenic cycle (oceanic accretion–subduction–collision) that provides significant insights into Paleozoic continental growth processes in the southeastern segment of the long-lived Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). The most prominent tectonic feature in Inner Mongolia is the association of paired orogens. A southern orogen forms a typical arc-trench complex, in which a supra-subduction zone ophiolite records successive phases during its life cycle: birth (ca. 497–477 Ma), when the ocean floor of the ophiolite was formed; (2) youth (ca. 473–470 Ma), characterized by mantle wedge magmatism; (3) shortly after maturity (ca. 461–450 Ma), high-Mg adakite and adakite were produced by slab melting and subsequent interaction of the melt with the mantle wedge; (4) death, caused by subduction of a ridge crest (ca. 451–434 Ma) and by ridge collision with the ophiolite (ca. 428–423 Ma). The evolution of the magmatic arc exhibits three major coherent phases: arc volcanism (ca. 488–444 Ma); adakite plutonism (ca. 448–438 Ma) and collision (ca. 419–415 Ma) of the arc with a passive continental margin. The northern orogen, a product of ridge-trench interaction, evolved progressively from coeval generation of near-trench plutons (ca. 498–461 Ma) and juvenile arc crust (ca. 484–469 Ma), to ridge subduction (ca. 440–434 Ma), microcontinent accretion (ca. 430–420 Ma), and finally to forearc formation. The paired orogens followed a consistent progression from ocean floor subduction/arc formation (ca. 500–438 Ma), ridge subduction (ca. 451–434 Ma) to microcontinent accretion/collision (ca. 430–415 Ma); ridge subduction records the turning point that transformed oceanic lithosphere into continental crust. The recognition of this orogenic cycle followed by Permian–early Triassic terminal collision of the CAOB provides compelling evidence for episodic continental growth.     

Distinct climate change synchronous with Heinrich event one, recorded by stable oxygen and carbon isotopic compositions in stalagmites from China

Uranium-series dating of oxygen and carbon isotope records for stalagmite SJ3 collected in Songjia Cave, central China, shows significant variation in past climate and environment during the period 20-10 ka. Stalagmite SJ3 is located more than 1000 km inland of the coastal Hulu Cave in East China and more than 700 km north of the Dongge Cave in Southwest China and, despite minor differences, displays a clear first-order similarity with the Hulu and Dongge records. The coldest climatic phase since the Last Glacial Maximum, which is associated with the Heinrich Event 1 in the North Atlantic region, was clearly recorded in SJ3 between 17.6 and 14.5 ka, in good agreement in timing, duration and extent with the records from Hulu and Dongge caves and the Greenland ice core. The results indicate that there have been synchronous and significant climatic changes across monsoonal China and strong teleconnections between the North Atlantic and East Asia regions during the period 20-10 ka. This is much different from the Holocene Optimum which shows a time shift of more than several thousands years from southeast coastal to inland China. It is likely that temperature change at northern high latitudes during glacial periods exerts stronger influence on the Asian summer monsoon relative to insolation and appears to be capable of perturbing large-scale atmospheric/oceanic circulation patterns in the Northern Hemisphere and thus monsoonal rainfall and paleovegetation in East Asia. Climatic signals in the North Atlantic region propagate rapidly to East Asia during glacial periods by influencing the winter land-sea temperature contrast in the East Asian monsoon region.     

Decoupling of stalagmite-derived Asian summer monsoon records from North Atlantic temperature change during marine oxygen isotope stage 5d

The Asian monsoon is an important component of the global climate system. Seasonal variations in wind, rainfall, and temperature associated with the Asian monsoon systems affect a vast expanse of tropical and subtropical Asia. Speleothem-derived summer monsoon variation in East Asia was previously found to be closely associated with millennial-scale change in temperature in the North Atlantic region between 75 and 10 ka. New evidence recovered from East Asia, however, suggests that the teleconnection between summer monsoon in East Asia and temperature change in the North Atlantic region may have significantly reduced during 120 to ~ 110 ka, a period directly after the full last interglaciation and corresponding roughly to marine oxygen isotope stage 5d. This reduction may be due to the low ice volume in the North Hemisphere at that time, which makes the millennial-scale change in temperature in the North Atlantic region less effective in influencing the Asian summer monsoon. This is important for investigating the mechanisms controlling the Asian summer monsoon and the paleoclimatic teleconnection between East Asia and the North Atlantic region, and for predicting monsoon-associated precipitation in East Asia under a global-warming trend.     

Timing of the Nihewan formation and faunas

Magnetostratigraphic dating of the fluvio-lacustrine sequence in the Nihewan Basin, North China, has permitted the precise timing of the basin infilling and associated Nihewan mammalian faunas. The combined evidence of new paleomagnetic findings from the Hongya and Huabaogou sections of the eastern Nihewan Basin and previously published magnetochronological data suggests that the Nihewan Formation records the tectono-sedimentary processes of the Plio-Pleistocene Nihewan Basin and that the Nihewan faunas can be placed between the Matuyama-Brunhes geomagnetic reversal and the onset of the Olduvai subchron (0.78-1.95 Ma). The onset and termination of the basin deposition occurred just prior to the Gauss-Matuyama geomagnetic reversal and during the period from the last interglaciation to the late last glaciation, respectively, suggesting that the Nihewan Formation is of Late Pliocene to late Pleistocene age. The Nihewan faunas, comprising a series of mammalian faunas (such as Maliang, Donggutuo, Xiaochangliang, Banshan, Majuangou, Huabaogou, Xiashagou, Danangou and Dongyaozitou), are suggested to span a time range of about 0.8-2.0 Ma. The combination of our new and previously published magnetostratigraphy has significantly refined the chronology of the terrestrial Nihewan Formation and faunas.     

印度共和国主要矿产资源及其地质特征

印度共和国是南亚地区矿产资源比较丰富的国家,铁矿探明储量175.7亿吨;铝土矿探明储量26.54亿吨;锰矿探明储量1.35亿吨;铬铁矿储量5900万吨;重晶石储量3000万吨。目前,全印度已开发了89种矿产资源,其中有52种非金属矿产,11种金属矿产,22种稀有金属矿产,4种能源矿产。全国生产矿     

Zircon U–Pb ages, Hf and O isotopes constrain the crustal architecture of the ultrahigh-pressure Dabie orogen in China

The crustal structure of the Dabie orogen was reconstructed by a combined study of U–Pb ages, Hf and O isotope compositions of zircons from granitic gneiss from North Dabie, the largest lithotectonic unit in the orogen. The results were deciphered from metamorphic history to protolith origin with respect to continental subduction and exhumation. Zircon U–Pb dating provides consistent ages of 751 ± 7 Ma for protolith crystallization, and two group ages of 213 ± 4 to 245 ± 17 Ma and 126 ± 4 to 131 ± 36 Ma for regional metamorphism. Majority of zircon Hf isotope analyses displays negative ε_Hf(t) values of − 5.1 to − 2.9 with crust Hf model ages of 1.84 to 1.99 Ga, indicating protolith origin from reworking of middle Paleoproterozoic crust. The remaining analyses exhibit positive ε_Hf(t) values of 5.3 to 14.5 with mantle Hf model ages of 0.74 to 1.11 Ga, suggesting prompt reworking of Late Mesoproterozoic to Early Neoproterozoic juvenile crust. Zircon O isotope analyses yield δ¹⁸O values of − 3.26 to 2.79‰, indicating differential involvement of meteoric water in protolith magma by remelting of hydrothermally altered low δ¹⁸O rocks. North Dabie shares the same age of Neoproterozoic low δ¹⁸O protolith with Central Dabie experiencing the Triassic UHP metamorphism, but it was significantly reworked at Early Cretaceous in association with contemporaneous magma emplacement. The Rodinia breakup at about 750 Ma would lead to not only the reworking of juvenile crust in an active rift zone for bimodal protolith of Central Dabie, but also reworking of ancient crust in an arc-continent collision zone for the North Dabie protolith. The spatial difference in the metamorphic age (Triassic vs. Cretaceous) between the northern and southern parts of North Dabie suggests intra-crustal detachment during the continental subduction. Furthermore, the Dabie orogen would have a three-layer structure prior to the Early Cretaceous magmatism: Central Dabie in the upper, North Dabie in the middle, and the source region of Cretaceous magmas in the lower.     

Impact of land use covers upon karst processes in a typical Fengcong depression system of Nongla, Guangxi, China

The direction and intensity of karst processes can be deeply affected by soil physical and chemical variations which were resulted from land use. Taking Nongla Fengcong depression area, Mashan County, Guangxi as an example, authors discussed the impact of land use on karst processes based on the data of field limestone tablet. The results showed that the corrosional rates at varied soil depth are quite different. Corrosional rate in woodland and orchard is mostly bigger than 20 mg/a, which is much higher than that in tilled land and shrub. Generally, corrosional rate decreased from orchard, woodland, tilled land, fallow land and shrub successively, in which soil organic matter (OM) and soil pH are two major controlling factors: corrosion process is controlled remarkably by soil OM in woodland and orchard. The higher the organic matter content is and the less the pH value is, the higher the corrosional rate is. Owing to lower organic matter content, the corrosional rate is mainly affected by soil CO₂ in tilled land and shrub.     

Modeling on adsorption–desorption of trace metals to suspended particle matter in the Changjiang Estuary

The uptake and release of trace metals (Cu, Ni, Zn, Cd, and Co) in estuaries are studied using river and sea end-member waters and suspended particulate matter (SPM) collected from the Changjiang Estuary, China. The kinetics of adsorption and desorption were studied in terms of environmental factors (pH, SPM loading, and salinity) and metal concentrations. The uptake of the metals studied onto SPM occurred mostly within 10 h and reached an asymptotic value within 40 h in the Changjiang Estuary. As low pH river water flows into the high pH seawater and the water become more alkaline as it approaches to the seaside of estuary, metals adsorb more on SPM in higher pH water, thus, particulate phase transport of metal become increasingly important in the seaward side of the estuary. The percentage of adsorption recovery and the distribution coefficients for trace metals remained to be relatively invariable and a significant reduction only occurred in very high concentrations of metals (>0.1 mg L⁻¹). The general effect of salinity on metal behavior was to decrease the degree of adsorption of Cu, Zn, Cd, Co, and Ni onto SPM but to increase their adsorption equilibrium pH. The adsorption–desorption kinetics of trace metals were further investigated using Kurbatov adsorption model. The model appears to be most useful for the metals showing the conservative behavior during mixing of river and seawater in the estuary. Our work demonstrates that dissolved concentration of trace metals in estuary can be modeled based on the metal concentration in SPM, pH and salinity using a Kurbatov adsorption model assuming the natural SPM as a simple surfaced molecule.     

Plant distribution at the mobile dune scale and its relevance to soil properties and topographic features

A survey was conducted in an 11-year recovery mobile dune (RMD11) and a 20-year recovery mobile dune (RMD20), in Horqin Sandy Land, Northern China, to determine plant distribution at the mobile dune scale and its relevance to soil properties and topographic features. The results showed that (1) vegetation cover and species number increased from dune top to bottom in the restoration process of mobile dune; (2) the average value of soil organic C, total N, pH, relative height of sampling site, very fine sand content and soil water contents (40−60 and 60−80 cm) of RMD11 were less than that of RMD20, respectively, and there were significant differences (P < 0.05) between the two dunes; (3) soil resources were redistributed by shrub restoration and relative height of sampling site on dune. The distribution of sand pioneer plant, Agriophyllum squarrosum, was positively related to the relative height of sampling site and soil water content, while that of other herbaceous plants was positively related to soil nutrients in the restoration process of mobile dune. These results suggest that at mobile dune scale, plant distributions are determined by a combination of soil properties and topographic feature. Much effort should be made to preserve the interdune lowland and to improve the level of soil nutrients on mobile dune.     

Natural radioactivity in sediment of Wei River,China

The concentrations of natural radionuclides in sediment of Wei River of China were measured using γ-ray spectrometry with the aim of estimating the radiation hazard as establishing a database for radioactivity levels of river sediment of China. The activity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K in sediment samples ranged from 10.4 to 39.9 Bq kg⁻¹, 15.3 to 54.8 Bq kg⁻¹ and 514.8 to 1,175.5 Bq kg⁻¹, respectively. The concentrations of these radionuclides were compared with the typical world values and the average activities of Chinese soil and Shaanxi soil. Radium equivalent activity (Ra_eq), external hazard index (H _ex) and representative level index (I _γr) were calculated for the samples to assess the radiation hazards arising due to the use of these sediment samples in the construction of dwellings. All the sediment samples have Ra_eq lower than the limit of 370 Bq kg⁻¹, H _ex less than unity and I _γr close to 1 Bq kg⁻¹. The overall mean outdoor terrestrial gamma dose rate is 64.8 nGy h⁻¹ and the corresponding outdoor annual effective dose is 0.079 mSv. None of the studied location is considered a radiological risk and sediment can be safely used in construction.