Impact of climate indicators on continental‐scale potential groundwater recharge in Africa

In the last decades, human activity has been contributing to climate change that is closely associated with an increase in temperatures, increase in evaporation, intensification of extreme dry and wet rainfall events, and widespread melting of snow and ice. Understanding the intricate linkage between climate warming and the hydrological cycle is crucial for sustainable management of groundwater resources, especially in a vulnerable continent like Africa. This study investigates the relationship between climate‐change drivers and potential groundwater recharge (PGR) patterns across Africa for a long‐term record (1960–2010). Water‐balance components were simulated by using the PCR‐GLOBWB model and were reproduced in both gridded maps and latitudinal trends that vary in space with minima on the Tropics and maxima around the Equator. Statistical correlations between temperature, storm occurrences, drought, and PGR were examined in six climatic regions of Africa. Surprisingly, different effects of climate‐change controls on PGR were detected as a function of latitude in the last three decades (1980–2010). Temporal trends observed in the Northern Hemisphere of Africa reveal that the increase in temperature is significantly correlated to the decline of PGR, especially in the Northern Equatorial Africa. The climate indicators considered in this study were unable to explain the alarming negative trend of PGR observed in the Sahelian region, even though the Standardized Precipitation‐Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) values report a 15% drought stress. On the other hand, increases in temperature have not been detected in the Southern Hemisphere of Africa, where increasing frequency of storm occurrences determine a rise of PGR, particularly in southern Africa. Time analysis highlights a strong seasonality effect, while PGR is in‐phase with rainfall patterns in the summer (Northern Hemisphere) and winter (Southern Hemisphere) and out‐of‐phase during the fall season. This study helps to elucidate the mechanism of the processes influencing groundwater resources in six climatic zones of Africa, even though modelling results need to be validated more extensively with direct measurements in future studies. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Detecting the stepwise propagation of the Eastern Sicily thrust belt (Italy): insight from thermal and thermochronological constraints

An extensive dataset of vitrinite reflectance, FTIR parameters on organic matter, illite content in mixed layers illite‐smectite, apatite fission tracks and U‐Th/He dating has been used to reconstruct the stepwise propagation of the Eastern Sicily fold‐and‐thrust belt during Late Palaeogene and Neogene times. The results indicate that the fold‐and‐thrust belt is divisible into two levels of thermal maturity. These levels consist of a less evolved level of thermal maturity that records limited sedimentary burial and minor heating, and a more evolved level of thermal maturity that indicates tectonic burial and exhumation at different times. Deformation and exhumation of shallowly buried units are linked to wedge forward propagation by low‐angle thrusts, whereas the evolution of deeply buried units is associated with tectonic imbrications by duplex formation and steep thrusts. The two tectonic styles alternate during evolution of the fold‐and‐thrust belt under low erosion rates.     

国内外前寒武纪条带状铁建造研究现状

条带状铁建造(BIFs)主要发育于早前寒武纪时期(3.8~1.8Ga),记录了早期地球演化的重要信息且蕴含丰富的铁矿石资源。本文梳理总结了国内外BIF相关领域的研究认识及存在问题:1统计对比显示,BIF沉积事件与地幔柱、地壳增生等重大地质事件相关;2稀土元素及Nd同位素示踪表明,Fe来源于海水与海底高温热液的混合溶液,其中高温热液与海水比例为1:1000;3 BIFs缺乏负Ce异常且富集重Fe同位素,暗示沉积时古海洋整体处于缺氧环境以避免Fe~(2+)发生氧化;4一些重要科学问题尚未解决,例如Si的主要来源、沉淀机制及条带成因等;5华北克拉通BIFs多形成于约2.54Ga,BIF类型、形成时代与富矿成因等问题有待深入研究。本文认为,加强国内外典型BIFs的对比研究并适当应用现代先进测试技术,有利于探索BIF沉积的精细过程及古老克拉通的早期演化。