Evaluation of the four potential Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundaries in the Nanxiong Basin based on evidences from volcanic activity and paleoclimatic evolution

Determining the location of the Cretaceous-Paleogene(K-Pg) boundary in terrestrial strata is highly significant for studying the evolution of terrestrial ecosystems at the end of the Cretaceous(especially the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs). At present, research on terrestrial K-Pg boundaries worldwide is concentrated in the middle and high latitudes, such as North America and Northeast China. Although many studies have also been carried out in the Nanxiong Basin, located at low latitudes(which has become the standard for dividing and comparing the continental K-Pg stratigraphy in China), many researchers have proposed four possible boundaries from different perspectives. Therefore, the exact location remains to be determined. In this study, the total mercury(Hg) content, environmental magnetism, geochemistry, and other parameters for the samples collected near the four boundaries were determined and compared with existing records. Results indicated that: 1) The total Hg content significantly increased in the upper part of the Zhenshui Formation and Pingling part of the Shanghu Formation with sharp fluctuations. As per latest dating results of Deccan Traps, the significantly high Hg value was attributed to the Deccan Traps eruption. Boundary 1 was located in the middle of the Hg anomaly interval, which was consistent with the relationship between the global K-Pg boundary and time of volcanic eruption. 2) The reconstructed paleoclimate evolution curve revealed that the red sediments in the basin recorded the late Maastrichtian warming event(66.2 Ma). Regarding the relationship between the four boundaries and this warming event, only boundary 1 was found to be closest to the real K-Pg boundary of the Nanxiong Basin.     

Accurate Shortwave Radiation Simulation with a Two-Layer Aerosol Model in Xinjiang Region

To harness the rich solar energy resources in Xinjiang Region of Northwest China, this study tries to address the issue of lack of downward surface shortwave radiation(DSSR) observations and the need to improve the accuracy of satellite retrieval and numerical simulation of DSSR under varied sky and meteorological conditions.(1) A two-layer aerosol model specific to Xinjiang was developed to capture the vertical distributions of aerosols based on multiple data sources including lidar, GPS soundi...     

A Thorough Evaluation of the Passive Microwave Radiometer Measurements onboard Three Fengyun-3 Satellites

Microwave Radiometer Imager(MWRI) is a key payload of China’s second generation polar meteorological satellite, i.e., Fengyun-3 series(FY-3). Up to now, 5 satellites including FY-3A(2008), FY-3B(2010), FY-3C(2013), FY-3D(2018), and FY-3E(2021) have been launched successfully to provide multiwavelength, all-weather, and global data for decades. Much progress has been made on the calibration of MWRI and a recalibrated MWRI brightness temperature(BT) product(V2) was recently released. This study th...     

New equation to decipher the relationship between carbon isotopic composition of methane and maturity of gas source rocks

The identification of the origin and source of natural gas is always a difficult and hot issue.Hereinto,the maturity identification is one of the most important scientific problems.Many empirical equations have been established to decipher the relationship between the maturity of gas source rocks and the carbon isotopic composition of natural gas.However,these equations proposed often fail to identify the maturity of the source rocks correctly,which in turn prevents the identification of genetic types and source rocks of the natural gas because the petroliferous sedimentary basins in China are complex and diverse,with multiple sets of source rocks and different thermal history.In this paper,the oil-associated gas from the Permian lacustrine source rocks and the coal-derived gas from the Jurassic source rocks in Junggar and Turpan-Hami basins have been investigated to decipher the relationship between the maturity(vitrinite reflectance)of gas source rocks and the carbon isotopic composition of methane.The equations established areδ¹³C₁=25lgR_o-42.5 for oil-associated gas,andδ¹³C₁=25lgR_o-37.5 for coal-derived gas.These new equations are suitable for the maturity identification of source rocks in most petroliferous basins,and favorable for the identification of the genetic type and source of natural gas,which is very important to improve the geological theory of natural gas.     

The black water around the Changjiang (Yangtze) Estuary in the spring of 2003

The Changjiang (Yangtze) Estuary is located in the East China Sea shelf with shallow water. Affected by the tide mixing and the runoff of the Changjiang River and the Qiantang River, the turbidity is very high. Generally, the water-leaving radiance is high in the turbid water because of the large particle scattering. Based on the in-situ data and ocean color remote sensing data of SeaWiFS, it was found that there was a black water region with the normalized water-leaving radiances less than 0.5 mW/(cm2·μm2·...     

THERMAL EFFECTS OF BUILDING′S EXTERNAL SURFACES IN CITY——Characteristics of Heat Flux into and out of External Wall Surfaces

1INTRODUCTIONWiththerecentmodernizationandurbanizationofChi-na,urbanareashavegreatlyincreased, andgiantbuild-ings,especiallythosetallerthan100m,havebeendomi-nantincities,whichhave resultedinthegreatincreaseintheproportionofbuilding'sexternalsurfacetototalurbanarea.Thedifferencesofthermalpropertiesmain-lyinducedbysolarradiationbetweenbuilding'sexter-nalsurfacesareobviousfordifferentexposures,whichcaninevitablyinfluencethedistributionsofairtempera-turenearby,eventheverticaldistributionsofurb…     

Analysis of the Decadal and Interdecadal Variations of the East Asian Winter Monsoon as Simulated by 20 Coupled Models in IPCC AR4

Using the output data of 20 coupled climate models used in IPCC AR4 and observational data from NCEP, the capability of the models to simulate the boreal winter climatology of the East Asian sea level pressure, 850-hPa wind, and surface air temperature; the decadal variations of the East Asian winter mon- soon (EAWM) intensity and EAWM-related circulation, and the interdecadal variations of EAWM-related circulation are systematically evaluated. The results indicate that 16 models can weakly simulate the declin- ing trend of the EAWM in the 1980s. More than half of the models produce relatively reasonable decadal variations of the EAWM-related circulation and the interdecadal di?erences of EAWM-related circulation between the boreal winters of 1960-1985 and 1986-1998, including the weakened Siberian high, Aleutian low, and East Asian trough, the enhanced Arctic oscillation and North Pacific oscillation, and a deepened polar vortex. It is found that the performance of the multi-selected-model ensemble in reproducing the spatial dis- tribution of the variations is encouraging, although the variational amplitudes are generally smaller than the observations. In addition, it is found that BCCR_BCM2.0, CGCM3.1_T63, CNRM_CM3, CSIRO_MK3.0, GISS-ER, INM_CM3.0, and MRI_CGCM2.3.2 perform well in every aspect     

Land use change in Bohai Rim: a spatial-temporal analysis

Land use change is one of the important aspects of global change[1-3]. The Bohai Rim is a hot spot of economic development in China, where land use changes remarkably. Analyzing land use change in this area is significant to the research of global change and regional sustainable land use. Although there has been much work undertaken on regional land use change in China, it was mainly on urban land use change[4-11], and few researches integrated remote sensing and GIS method. Based on data f…     

Karst Collapse Mechanism and Criterion for Its Stability

Karst collapse, caused by natural or artificial abstraction of groundwater, has been a focus of environmentalgeological problems for its ever-increasing hazardousness. The potential erosion theory and vacuum suction erosion theory, which reveal the origin of karst collapse macroscopically, are popularly accepted. However, a mathematic prediction criterion for karst collapse cannot be established only by these two theories. From a new perspective, this paper attempts to explain the microcosmic mechanism of karst collapse on the basis of these two theories. When the shear stress surpasses the shear strength of soil, a certain point or a certain plane in the unconsolidated soil covering karst caves will fail under the mechanical effects of water and air as well as its load-pressure, and with the increase of damaged points, a breaking plane appears and the soil on karst caves is completely damaged; as a result, the karst ground collapses. On the basis of the Mohr-Coulomb failure theory and previous studies,