Stone movement on hillslopes in the Mojave Desert,California: A 16-year record

Previous research has shown that either hydraulic action or creep may be the dominant process transporting coarse debris down hillslopes in the American Southwest. This study analyses the movement over 16 years of painted stones on two hillslopes in the central Mojave Desert to ascertain which of these two processes dominate in this region. The distance moved (M) is found to be directly related to length of overland flow (X) and hillslope gradient (S), and inversely related to particle size (D). The fact that M is more highly correlated with X than with S suggests that hydraulic action rather than creep is the dominant process. It is concluded that this is probably the case over most of the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts on slopes up to at least 24°, and that it is only at higher elevations where winters are more severe that creep may become dominant.     

The survival of desert varnish in subsurface positions,western New South Wales,Australia

Desert varnish occurs in arid western New South Wales. Microprobe analysis has shown that the chemical composition of this varnish lies within the ranges reported for varnish in United States. Field observations suggest that desert varnish near the soil surface may be destroyed by weathering, but that varnish at depths of more than 15 cm can survive burial and later be exhumed. Varnish has also survived coating by calcium carbonate; a corrected age of about 5000 years for the carbonate indicates long-term persistence of varnish under this form of ‘burial’. In some situations, presently-exposed varnish may have a complex history of burial and exhumation following initial subaerial formation.     

U-Pb (zircon) ages for the gneissic terrane west of the Nile,southern Egypt

The first U-Pb zircon ages are reported for the gneissic bedrock inliers previously interpreted as part of the Nile Craton. The inliers crop out in the Egyptian Western Desert, east of the Uweinat area and west of the Eastern Desert. Multi- and single-grain zircon analyses of granitoid gneiss and migmatite from Gebel Um Shagir, Aswan, and another locality approximately 160 km south-west of Aswan, yield simple discordia with near modern day Pb loss trajectories, and the following Neoproterozoic crystallization ages: 626+4/–3, 634 ± 4 and 741 ± 3 Ma. In contrast, multi- and single-grain U-Pb analyses (zircon and sphene) from an anorthositic gabbro at Gebel Kamil (22°46N 26°21E) and an anorthosite at Gebel El Asr (22°46N 31°10E) yield Archean and Paleoproterozoic emplacement ages. The former yield a crystallization age of > 2.67 Ga and a metamorphic age of 2.0 Ga; the latter a metamorphic age of 0.69 Ga and an inheritance age of 1.9–2.1 Ga. Because high grade gneiss and migmatite of Neoproterozoic, Paleoproterozoic and Archean age crop out west of the Nile, pre-Neoproterozoic crust should no longer be identified by its metamorphic grade. By contrast, mapping the anorthosite and related rocks might provide first-order estimates for the extension of pre-Neoproterozoic crust in north-east Africa. It is suggested that Archean and Paleoproterozoic crust of the Uweinat and Congo Craton are contiguous because these U-Pb (zircon) data show no evidence for a Neoproterozoic thermal overprint in the Gebel Kamil area and there is no pronounced Neoproterozoic magmatic activity south of the Uweinat inlier and north of the Congo Craton.     

Late Neogene loess deposition in southern Tarim Basin: tectonic and palaeoenvironmental implications

Uplift of the Tibetan Plateau during the late Cainozoic resulted in a thick apron of molassic sediments along the northern piedmonts of the Kunlun and Altyn Mountains in the southern Tarim Basin. Early Neogene sediments are characterised by sandstone, siltstone and red mudstone, representing floodplain to distal alluvial fan environments. The Early Pliocene Artux Formation consists of medium-grained sandstone and sandy mudstone with thin layers of fine pebbly gritstone. The Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene Xiyu Formation is dominated by pebble to boulder conglomerate typical of alluvial fan debris flow deposits. Sedimentological investigation, together with grain size and chemical analyses of siltstone bands intercalated with sandstone and conglomerate in the Xiyu and Artux Formations, point to an aeolian origin, suggesting desertic conditions in the Tarim Basin by the Early Pliocene. The onset of aeolian sedimentation in the southern Tarim Basin coincided with uplift of the northern Tibetan Plateau inferred from the lithofacies change from fine-grained mudstone and sandstone to coarse clasts. Tibetan Plateau uplift resulted in the shift of sedimentary environments northwards into the southern Tarim Basin, and could well have triggered the onset of full aridity in the Taklimakan region as a whole.     

Fluid Inclusions in the Gold—Bearing Quartz Veins at Um Rus Area,Eastern Desert,Egypt

Fluid inclusions in the gold-bearing quartz veins at the Um Rus area are of three types: H₂O, H₂O−CO₂ and CO₂ inclusions. H₂O inclusions are the most abundant, they include two phases which exhibit low and high homogenization temperatures ranging from 150 to 200°C and 175 to 250°C, respectively. The salinity of aqueous inclusions, based on ice melting, varies between 6.1 and 8 equiv. wt% NaCl. On the other hand, H₂O−CO₂ fluid inclusions include three phases. Their total homogenization temperatures range from 270 to 325°C, and their salinity, based on clathrate melting, ranges between 0.8 and 3.8 equiv. wt% NaCl. CO₂ fluid inclusions homogenize to a liquid phase and exhibit a low density range from 0.52 to 0.66 g/cm³. The partial mixing of H₂O−CO₂ and salt H₂O−NaCl fluid inclusions is the main source of fluids from which the other types of inclusions were derived. The gold-bearing quartz veins are believed to be of medium temperature hydrothermal convective origin.     

Water relation characteristics of Alhagi sparsifolia and consequences for a sustainable management

Water relation characteristics of the desert legume Alhagisparsifolia were investigatedduring the vegetation period from April to September 1999 in the foreland of Qira oasis at thesouthern fringe of the Taklamakan Desert, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. The sea-sonal variation of predawn water potentials and of diurnal water potential indicated that Alhagiplants were well water supplied over the entire vegetation period. Decreasing values in the sum-mer months were probably attributed to increasing temperatures and irradiation and therefore ahigher evapotranspirative demand. Data from pressure-volume analysis confirmed that Alhagiplants were not drought stressed and xylem sap flow measurements indicated that Alhagiplantsused large amounts of water during the summer months. Flood irrigation had no influence on waterrelations in Alhagiprobably because Alhagiplants produced only few fine roots in the upper soillayers. The data indicate that Alhagisparsifolia is a drought-avoiding species that utilizes groundwater by a deep roots system, which is the key characteristic to adjust the hyper-arid environment.Because growth and survival of Alhagidepends on ground water supply, it is important that varia-tiohs of ground water depth are kept to a minimum. The study will provide a theoretical basis forthe restoration and management of natural vegetation around oasis in arid regions.     

Soil–vegetation relationships in a coastal desert plain of southern Sinai, Egypt

The present study provides an analysis of soil, vegetation types as well as structure and species distribution in 19 sites in El-Qaa plain along the Gulf of Suez (south Sinai, Egypt), and focuses on the environmental factors that control the species distribution. A total of 203 species belonging to 39 families of the vascular plants are recorded. Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Chenopodiaceae and Poaceae are the largest families. Grasses constitute only 9% of the recorded species, while the woody perennials (shrubs and sub-shrubs) are highly dominated (46%). Therophytes and chamaephytes are the most frequent, denoting a typical desert life-form spectrum. Floristic composition in the different geomorphologic landscape units showed differences in species richness. The highest mean species richness of 19.7±1.7 is recorded in the wadi channels. The lowest species richness values are recorded in the coastal shore and playas (6.0±1.4) and in the alluvial fans (mean of 8.4±1.6 species). Chorological analysis revealed that 46% of the studied species are uniregional, being native to the Saharo-Arabian region. On the other hand, about 50% of the recorded species are biregional and pluriregional, extending their distribution all over the Saharo-Arabian, Sudano-Zambezian, Irano-Turanian and Mediterranean regions. Classification of the vegetation is analysed using two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) techniques resulted in the recognition of five vegetation groups, each of definite vegetation and soil characters, and could be linked to a specific geomorphologic unit. Capparis spinosa var. spinosa occupied the terraces, Cornulaca monacantha, Convolvulus lanatus and Deverra tortuosa inhabited the alluvial plains, Launaea nudicaulis and Artemisia judaica characterized the wadi channels, Acacia tortilis subsp. raddiana and Leptadenia pyrotechnica characterized the alluvial fans and Tamarix nilotica, Zygophyllum album and Nitraria retusa on the playas and the coastal shore. Ordination techniques as detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) are used to examine the relationship between the vegetation and studied soil parameters. Nine soil variables are included: electrical conductivity, pH, calcium carbonate, gypsum, organic matter, gravel, fine soil fractions and soil saturation percentage. Analysis with DCA gave results similar to CCA, suggesting that there is a relatively high correspondence between vegetation and soil factors. DCA axis 1 showed significant positive correlation with CaCO₃, pH, soil saturation and organic matter, and interpreted as a calcium carbonate—soil saturation gradient. DCA axis 2 showed significant correlation with pH, gypsum and electric conductivity, and interpreted as an electric conductivity—gypsum gradient. Application of CCA indicated that soil surface sediment, CaCO₃, soil saturation, pH and organic matter are the main operating edaphic gradients in the area. These gradients are related closely to the first three canonical axes, and accounted for 67% of the species–environment relationship among the sites.     

Coyote diets in the Chihuahuan Desert, more evidence for optimal foraging

With 7 years data on coyote prey use and availability, we tested three predictions based on optimal foraging: (1) the proportion eaten of the most profitable item is constant regardless of availability, (2) under a constant density of higher ranked prey, there is no relationship between the proportion eaten of low profitability items and their density, (3) the ratio of number consumed to availability for the highest ranking prey item should be negatively related to availability. We tested these predictions with regression analyses. We found no significant linear relationship between lagomorph availability and use. There was no significant linear relationship between percent frequency of occurrence of rodents nor arthropods and their respective availabilities for two levels of availability of lagomorphs. We found a significant negative relationship between number consumed/number available to availability for lagomorphs but not for rodents nor arthropods. The results supported the three predictions and we concluded that coyotes are foraging optimally.     

塔克拉玛干沙漠南缘典型绿洲ET0模型适用性评价及修正

ET₀模型在不同地区具有不同的适用性,而对极端干旱的塔克拉玛干沙漠南缘绿洲的ET₀模型的适用性研究较为稀缺。利用2006—2014年生长季（4—10月）策勒气象站逐日气象资料,以自动称重式蒸渗仪实测数据为标准,采用最大绝对误差（MAE）、均方根误差（RMSE）、模型效率（EF）和一致性指数（d）4个指标,在日、月时间尺度上评价了6种常用ET₀模型在策勒绿洲的适用性,并使用回归修正法和比例修正法分别修正了这6种模型。结果表明：（1）日、月时间尺度上,Hargreaves-Samani（H-S）模型高估程度较大,其余模型均不同程度低估,拟合度由高到低依次为FAO-56PM、Jensen-Haise（J-H）、Priestley-Taylor（P-T）、Makkink、Turc、H-S。（2）所有ET₀模型月值变化趋势与蒸渗仪实测值基本一致,除FAO-56PM和Turc模型计算的ET₀月值在6月达到峰值外,其余模型均在7月达到峰值,在生长季尺度所有模型ET₀月值与蒸渗仪实测值呈显著相关。（3）日、月时间尺度上,回归修正法和比例修正法修正后的ET₀模型计算结果与蒸渗仪实测值均呈极显著相关,回归修正法优于比例修正法。（4）相关性分析表明,对策勒绿洲ET₀影响由高到低的气象因子依次为T_{\mathrm{m}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{n}}>T_{\mathrm{m}\mathrm{i}\mathrm{n}}>P>T_{\mathrm{m}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{x}}>R_s>U_{\mathrm{2}}>R{H}_{\mathrm{m}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{n}}。     

巴丹吉林沙漠及其东南边缘地区水化学和环境同位素特征及其水文学意义

通过对巴丹吉林沙漠东南部湖水和南缘地区地下水离子化学成分及其环境同位素分析,初步探讨了沙漠地区湖水和地下水之间补给的关系。沙漠湖水的离子化学特征显示沙漠东南部湖泊的演化趋势:微咸湖-咸水湖-盐水湖。显著不同的盐度、CO₃^2-和HCO₃^-含量以及地质资料都表明,沙漠北部较大的湖泊和东南部的湖泊被一地形上的褶皱隆起阻隔而形成了不同的地下水补给体系。环境同位素的分析结果表明,巴丹吉林沙漠东南部的湖泊和地下水与沙漠东南边缘地区的地下水有着相似的蒸发趋势,暗示南缘地区的地下水和沙漠东南部地区湖泊之间存在一定的联系。同其他干旱地区地下水的同位素结果进行对比显示,雅布赖地区和沙漠地区的地下水应该是埋深较浅的地下潜水。因本次研究结果不支持单一远源或者深层地下水补给的观点,故推断沙漠东南部地区以及南缘地区的地下水主要是当地雨量丰沛时期的降水及南缘低山降水下渗补给的。