A high‐resolution multi‐proxy stalagmite record from Mechara,Southeastern Ethiopia: palaeohydrological implications for speleothem palaeoclimate reconstruction

An annually laminated stalagmite from Southeastern Ethiopia grew for 443±8 yr starting at 5023 yr BP (±160 yr) as determined by lamina‐tuned U‐Th dating. The speleothem shows three growth phases: (1) an initial phase where the stalagmite has a candlestick shape, deposited by relatively slow rate drip water; (2) a middle growth phase where laminae grow on the flanks, suggesting faster drip rates; and (3) a final growth phase where the speleothem becomes narrower owing to a decrease in drip water supply towards the end of deposition. Morphometry, annual growth rate, fluorescence index, and ²³⁴U/²³⁸U isotope ratio show marked differences between the growth phases, while δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O do not show significant variation, except within the third phase towards the top of the stalagmite, where they have higher values. The study indicates that the multiproxy approach is crucial as the different proxies respond to single climate forcing in different manners. Our results can be widely applied to speleothem studies distinguishing the relative importance of the various proxies in recording cave ‘external’ (climate, hydrology) and cave ‘internal’ (e.g. evaporation) processes. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Study on elastic P-wave propagation law in unfavorable geologic structures with discontinuous deformation analysis method

The propagation of elastic P-wave in unfavorable geologic structures is a complex process which contains reflex, transmission, and refraction. In this paper, the discontinuous deformation analysis (DDA) method is introduced, and the viscous boundary condition and stress wave input way are applied to enable the DDA method to simulate the seismic dynamic response of underground rock mass. The improved DDA program is used to analyze the propagation laws of elastic P-wave in joints and weak interlayer. The results show that (1) for a range of joint stiffness, the difference of transmission coefficient of joint surface between DDA calculation and theoretical solution is small; (2) the lower the joint stiffness, the more obvious the attenuation of the elastic P-wave is; (3) varied joint spacing and joint number play different roles on the attenuation of elastic P-wave; (4) the DDA calculation result is consistent with the theoretical solution for the transmission coefficient of interface; (5) the thickness and elastic modulus of weak interlayer will affect the interference effect of multiple transmission waves; (6) with the increasing weak interlayer thickness H (or a), the attenuation of the elastic P-wave is more obvious; and (7) the lower the wave impedance ratio of weak interlayer, the more obvious the attenuation of the elastic P-wave is.     

Spatial distribution and the scale effect of influencing factors of specialized and sophisticated enterprises that produce new and unique products in the Yangtze River Delta region: Based on the buffer and MGWR analyses北大核心CSCD

High-quality cultivation of specialized and sophisticated enterprises that produce new and unique products is an important starting point for consolidating the security foundation of China's industrial chain and supply chain. Using buffer zone analysis and the multi-scale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) model, this study explored the spatial distribution of specialized and sophisticated enterprises that produce new and unique products in the Yangtze River Delta region and influencing factors in 2021. The study found that: 1) Spatially, Shanghai is the main area where specialized and sophisticated enterprises that produce new and unique products are concentrated, followed by provincial capitals and cities on the coast and along rivers; The overall composition of the industry is unbalanced, and the real economic industries such as machinery and equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing account for a relatively high proportion, but there are differences in different regions. 2) In terms of spatial agglomeration, differences between circles and the scale effect are obvious. Within each province, the spatial distribution of specialized and sophisticated enterprises that produce new and unique products in different cities is uneven. Region-wide, the overall spatial distribution pattern of "one pole and multiple cores" is evident. Shanghai is the main agglomeration area for these enterprises, and the provincial capital cities and cities that are the regional economic centers are the secondary agglomeration areas of these enterprises. 3) The four dimensions of influencing factors—physical geography, government, market, and society—have a scale effect on the spatial distribution of specialized and sophisticated enterprises that produce new and unique products. The degree of land development acts at a small scale, which is a local variable, and shows a large difference in the impact on the spatial distribution of these enterprises across the region. Factors such as elevation, government-business relationship, degree of marketization, number and scale of enterprises, degree of openness, logistics development level, and innovation environment are global variables, and except that the degree of marketization and the number of enterprises have a significant negative impact on the spatial distribution of these enterprises, the impact of all other factors is significantly positive. The research results can provide support for the optimization of the layout of new special expertise enterprise space in the Yangtze River Delta region, in order to provide reference for the formulation of new special expertise policies and industrial planning. © 2023, Editorial office of PROGRESS IN GEOGRAPHY. All rights reserved.     

Diatom assemblage dynamics during abrupt climate change: the response of lacustrine diatoms to Dansgaard–Oeschger cycles during the last glacial period

The sedimentary record from the paleolake at Les Echets in eastern France allowed a reconstruction of the lacustrine response to several abrupt climate shifts during the last glacial period referred to as Dansgaard–Oeschger (DO) cycles. The high-resolution diatom stratigraphy has revealed distinct species turnover events and large fluctuations in stable oxygen isotope values in diatom frustules, as a response to DO climate variability. More or less identical species compositions became re-established during each DO stadial and interstadial phases, respectively. However, the relative abundance of the most dominant species within these assemblages varies and might indicate differences in climatic conditions. Interstadial phases are characterized by identical species successions. Transitions from stadial to interstadial conditions show a distinct Fragilaria–Cyclotella succession, which resembles the diatom regime shifts that have been recognized in some lakes in the Northern Hemisphere since the mid-nineteenth century.     

黔东北地区下寒武统牛蹄塘组页岩气特征及主控因素分析*

黔东北地区页岩气资源丰富,其下寒武统牛蹄塘组具有巨大的勘探潜力。在对几口探井分析的基础上,结合露头资料及地球化学特征,认为研究区牛蹄塘组页岩具有厚度大、分布广、有机碳含量高、热演化程度相对较高、储集条件较好等特征。但由于大部分针对牛蹄塘组页岩气的钻井遇到的都是含气量低、甲烷含量低、氮气含量高的页岩,因此对黔东北地区页岩气富集的主控因素进行了系统分析,认为该地区牛蹄塘组页岩气具有沉积控带、断裂控藏的明显特征。     

A 140-year record of recent changes in aquatic productivity in a remote,tropical alpine lake in the Rwenzori Mountain National Park,Uganda

Environmental change in many tropical, alpine habitats remains poorly resolved due to an absence of proximate and sustained observations. In the Rwenzori Mountains of East Africa, glaciers have receded rapidly over the last century, and here we assess the impact of this recession through palaeolimnological analyses of a 45 cm sediment core (Buju3) from Lake Bujuku which is closest to the ice-fields and partly supplied by melt water in-flows. ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs suggest that Buju3 has an average sedimentation rate of 2.9 mm year⁻¹ and the base of the core can be dated to 1864 ± 20 years. Contemporary diatom taxa found in the lake are dominated by Tabellaria flocculosa and Synedra spp., but also include Achnanthes minutissima and Fragilaria pinnata. However, the diatom flora for Buju3 is less diverse and dominated by small, tychoplanktonic species of Fragilaria. Over the period associated with glacial recession, organic carbon isotope analysis (δ¹³C) suggests a small but distinct increase in within-lake productivity, which increases in rate since the mid 1970s up to the present day, in line with a shift towards increased algal productivity (as highlighted by C/N ratios). However, the diatom and pollen records appear rather insensitive to changes in glacier recession since the late 19th century.     

The impact of disposal and treatment of coal mining wastes on environment and farmland

In China, coal mining wastes have traditionally been dumped in cone-shaped heaps that have the potential to pollute air, soil and water environments and landscapes through dust generation, leachate production, self-ignition and as a consequence of an absence of vegetation cover. Since 1980s, the disposal technique for coal mining wastes has been changing and in many instances the wastes are now transported directly to subsided land as a fill to enable the reuse of that land. Thus, today, both coal mining waste dumps from the past and filled subsided lands are in existence. However, the comparative impacts of these different disposal techniques on the environment and farmland productivity have not been studied in detail. Using Dongtan (DT), Nantun (NT) and Xinglongzhuang (XLZ) coal mines as examples, the components of coal mining wastes and their potential pollution contribution to soil, surface water and ground water are tested in-situ. The results show that contaminants are released after self-ignition and weathering of coal mining wastes, but they are not above the allowable environmental standards. However, despite these findings, more and closer attention needs to be paid to the mobility, transportation and accumulation of these contaminants in the environment over time.     

Oxygen isotope analysis of diatom silica and authigenic calcite from Lake Pinarbasi, Turkey

There is increasing interest in the ¹⁸O/¹⁶O ratio of diatom silica, particularly for lakes where carbonates are absent. Here we compare the ¹⁸O/¹⁶O ratios preserved in diatom silica and authigenic calcite from an open, spring-fed, freshwater lake core from Turkey which spans marine oxygen isotope stage 3. The two sets of isotope data show contrasting trends in spite of their mutual dependence on the water ¹⁸O/¹⁶O ratio and lake-water temperature. The most likely explanation for this divergence is difference in seasonality of biological productivity mediated by the strongly continental climate of the Anatolian plateau. Diatom silica and authigenic calcite are precipitated from solutes in the lake-water at different times of the year. Diatom productivity follows a well-defined seasonal cycle, peaking first and most importantly in the spring and then in the autumn. The precipitation of calcite follows productivity by all forms of photosynthetic organisms that deplete CO₂ but in most lakes this occurs during the summer months. The ¹⁸O_calcite curve shows mean summer temperature maxima at ca. 30–35 and ca. 58 ka BP while the intervening data represent a period of relatively cool summers. The ¹⁸O_diatom curve shows bipolar results (15–20 and 29–33), which suggests that at least two discrete sources or processes contributed to the oxygen composition of the diatoms but probably involved a dilution mechanism to shift the isotopic values. The most likely source of depleted water is from snow entering the lake during the spring thaw. We infer that many authigenic calcite curves from regions with markedly seasonal climates may be temporally limited to a few summer months and that diatom silica provides complementary data on seasonally-specific water isotopic composition rather than a substitute for analyses based on carbonate.