Predicting average annual groundwater levels from climatic variables: an empirical model

On the basis of one-dimensional theoretical water flow model, we demonstrate that the groundwater level variation follows a pattern similar to recharge fluctuation, with a time delay that depends on the characteristics of aquifer, recharge pattern as well as the distance between the recharge and observation locations. On the basis of a water budget model and the groundwater flow model, we propose an empirical model that links climatic variables to groundwater level. The empirical model is tested using a partial data set from historical records of water levels from more than 80 wells in a monitoring network for the carbonate rock aquifer, southern Manitoba, Canada. The testing results show that the predicted groundwater levels are very close to the observed ones in most cases. The overall average correlation coefficient between the predicted and observed water levels is 0.92. This proposed empirical statistical model could be used to predict variations in groundwater level in response to different climate scenarios in a climate change impact assessment.     

Infiltration on mountain slopes: a comparison of three environments

Water is well established as a major driver of the geomorphic change that eventually reduces mountains to lower relief landscapes. Nonetheless, within the altitudinal limits of continuous vegetation in humid climates, water is also an essential factor in slope stability. In this paper, we present results from field experiments to determine infiltration rates at forested sites in the Andes Mountains (Ecuador), the southern Appalachian Mountains (USA), and the Luquillo Mountains (Puerto Rico). Using a portable rainfall simulator–infiltrometer (all three areas), and a single ring infiltrometer (Andes), we determined infiltration rates, even on steep slopes. Based on these results, we examine the spatial variability of infiltration, the relationship of rainfall runoff and infiltration to landscape position, the influence of vegetation on infiltration rates on slopes, and the implications of this research for better understanding erosional processes and landscape change.Infiltration rates ranged from 6 to 206 mm/h on lower slopes of the Andes, 16 to 117 mm/h in the southern Appalachians, and 0 to 106 mm/h in the Luquillo Mountains. These rates exceed those of most natural rain events, confirming that surface runoff is rare in montane forests with deep soil/regolith mantles. On well-drained forested slopes and ridges, apparent steady-state infiltration may be controlled by the near-surface downslope movement of infiltrated water rather than by characteristics of the full vertical soil profile. With only two exceptions, the local variability of infiltration rates at the scale of 10° m overpowered other expected spatial relationships between infiltration, vegetation type, slope position, and soil factors. One exception was the significant difference between infiltration rates on alluvial versus upland soils in the Andean study area. The other exception was the significant difference between infiltration rates in topographic coves compared to other slope positions in the tabonuco forest of one watershed in the Luquillo Mountains. Our research provides additional evidence of the ability of forests and forest soils to preserve geomorphic features from denudation by surface erosion, documents the importance of subsurface flow in mountain forests, and supports the need for caution in extrapolating infiltration rates.     

内蒙古达茂旗北部奥陶纪花岗岩类特征及其构造意义

研究区奥陶纪花岗岩分布于乌兰布拉格 -哥舍深大断裂 (槽台断裂 )以北 ,岩石类型主要有闪长岩、石英闪长岩、斜长花岗岩和花岗闪长岩。岩石中 Si O2 质量分数为 5 6.76%～ 69.2 4 % ,Al2 O3较高 (多 >1 6% ) ,富 Na2 O贫 K2 O,A/ CNK均 <1 .1 ,为准铝质的钙碱性岩石系列。稀土总量普遍较低 ,为 (63 .4 1～ 1 4 0 .61 )× 1 0 - 6 ,轻重稀土分馏强烈 ,铕异常不明显 (δEu=0 .95～1 .2 2 6)。痕量元素特征与典型的火山弧花岗岩相似。结合区域地质背景 ,认为该套花岗岩类为与洋壳消减有关的岛弧型花岗岩 ,岩浆起源于加厚陆壳的底部。从花岗岩的分布及迁移规律推测 ,华北陆块与其北缘增生带之间的早古生代洋壳可能是由南西向北东的斜向消减     

Current controlled sediment deposition from the shelf to the deep ocean: the cenozoic evolution of circulation through the SW pacific gateway

 The circulation of cold, deep water is one of the controlling factors of the Earth's climate. Forty percent of this water enters the world ocean through the Southwest Pacific as a deep western boundary current (DWBC) flowing northwards at bathyal to abyssal depths, east of the New Zealand microcontinent. South of latitude 50°S, the DWBC is intimately linked with the Antarctic circumpolar current (ACC), which is the prominent force for the shallow-water circulation. The Pacific DWBC is presently the largest single contributor of deep ocean water, and deciphering its evolution is of fundamental importance to understanding ocean and climate history, and global ocean hydrography. The evolution of the DWBC system, and of related circum-Antarctic currents, has taken place since 30–25 Ma when plate movements created the first oceanic gaps south of Australia and South America. The stratigraphic record preserved in sediment drifts of the Southwest Pacific, in eastern New Zealand, is the best available for deciphering the Neogene history of Southern Ocean water masses, and of the circulation of the ACC, DWBC and their precursor systems. Major current activity commenced on the New Zealand margin in the late Eocene or early Oligocene (Hoiho Drift; early ACC) and was widespread by the mid-late Oligocene (Marshall Paraconformity and Weka Pass Limestone drift; ACC). During the Neogene the eastern South Island continental shelf built seawards by accretion at its outer edge of large Miocene current drifts up to tens of kilometres long and hundreds of metres thick (Canterbury drifts). Also commencing in the mid-Cenozoic, but in depths >2000 m, the DWBC emplaced large deep-water sediment drifts. Rates of drift deposition accelerated considerably in the late Neogene, when climatic change (and particularly glacial sea-level falls) caused the delivery of large volumes of turbiditic sediment into the path of the DWBC via the Bounty and Hikurangi channels. Received: 9 August 1995 / Accepted: 15 January 1996     

天山山区近40a年降水变化特征与南、北疆的比较

本文分析了天山山区近40 a来年降水变化的基本特征，并与南疆、北疆进行了比较，所得的主要结果如下：(1)天山山区在年降水量干湿变化阶段上与北疆的相似性强于南疆。(2)年降水量的空间分布的同步变化性以北疆为最好，南疆最差，天山山区居中，而年降水量的空间分布的反向变化性，以天山山区为最大，北疆最小，南疆居中。(3)天山山区与南疆从60年代到90年代，年降水均表现出了持续的增加的趋势，北疆年降水从60年代到90年代，除70年代外，不断增多。     

Neotectonic deformation in the transition zone between the Dead Sea Transform and the East Anatolian Fault Zone, Southern Turkey: a palaeomagnetic study of the Karasu Rift Volcanism

In southern Turkey ongoing differential impingement of Arabia into the weak Anatolian collisional collage resulting from subduction of the Neotethyan Ocean has produced one of the most complex crustal interactions along the Alpine–Himalayan Orogen. Several major transforms with disputed motions, including the northward extension of the Dead Sea Fault Zone (DSFZ), meet in this region. To evaluate neotectonic motion on the Amanos and East Hatay fault zones considered to be northward extensions of the DSFZ, the palaeomagnetism of volcanic fields in the Karasu Rift between these faults has been studied. Remanence carriers are low-Ti magnetites and all except 5 of 51 basalt lavas have normal polarity. Morphological, polarity and K–Ar evidence show that rift formation occurred largely during the Brunhes chron with volcanism concentrated at 0.66–0.35 Ma and a subsidiary episode at 0.25–0.05. Forty-four units of normal polarity yield a mean of D/I=8.8°/54.7° with inclination identical to the present-day field and declination rotated clockwise by 8.8±4.0°. Within the 15-km-wide Hassa sector of the Karasu Rift, the volcanic activity is concentrated between the Amanos and East Hatay faults, both with left lateral motions, which have rotated blocks bounded by NW–SE cross faults in a clockwise sense as the Arabian Block has moved northwestwards. An average lava age of 0.5 Ma yields a minimum cumulative slip rate on the system bounding faults of 0.46 cm/year according with the rate deduced from the Africa–Arabia Euler vector and reduced rates of slip on the southern extension of the DSFZ during Plio-Quaternary times. Estimates deduced from offsets of dated lavas flows and morphological features on the Amanos Fault Zone [Tectonophysics 344 (2002) 207] are lower (0.09–0.18 cm/year) probably because they are limited to surface fault breaks and do not embrace the seismogenic crust.Results of this study suggest that most strike slip on the DSFZ is taken up by the Amanos–East Hatay–Afrin fault array in southern Turkey. Comparable estimates of Quaternary slip rate are identified on other faults meeting at an unstable FFF junction (DSFZ, East Anatolian Fault Zone, Karatas Fault Zone). A deceleration in slip rate across the DSFZ and its northward continuation during Plio-Quaternary times correlates with reorganization of the tectonic regime during the last 1–3 Ma including tectonic escape within Anatolia, establishment of the North and East Anatolian Fault Zones bounding the Anatolian collage in mid–late Pliocene times, a contemporaneous transition from transpression to transtension and concentration of all basaltic magmatism in this region within the last 1 Ma.     

Low-temperature alteration of oceanic island basalts and their contribution to transition metal circulation of the ocean

The major elements, rare earth elements （REE） and trace elements of four basalt samples from central and western Pacific ferro- manganese crust provinces have been analyzed using chemical methods and ICP - MS, respectively. The results indicate that the samples have been extensively altered and that the contents of their major elements have changed significantly. However, the similarity of REE partition patterns and trace element contents of basalt samples to those of fresh oceanic island basalts （OIB） indicate that the basalt samples originated as OIB. Because of low-temperature alteration, the contents of A1203 , Fe203 , MnO, K20 and P205 increased, while MgO and FeO decreased. Active components, such as magnesium and iron, were leached from OIB resulting in the relative enrichment of SiO2. The leaching of active components can cause the relative enrichment of REE, while the precipitation of LREE-rich ferromanganese oxides in vesicles and fissures not only causes an increase of REE contents, but also induces ＂fractionation＂ of LREE and HREE. Based on the enrichment mechanism of REE contents, the theoretical quantities of precipitated ferromanganese oxides and the depleted quantities of active components are calculated ： the depleted quantities of active components for the unit mass of fresh basalts vary in the range of 0.15 ～ 0. 657, and the precipitated quantities of ferromanganese oxides for the unit mass of fresh basahs vary in the range of 0. 006 ～ 0. 042. Of the major elements, the two most depleted are iron, and magnesium, with 18.28% ～ 70.95% of iron and 44.50% ～ 93.94% of magnesium in the fresh basalts was leached out. Theoretical calculation and geochemistry results both indicate that low-temperature alteration of basalts can supply abundant amount of metals to seawater, and may play an important role in ocean metal circulation.     

新疆布鲁斯台辉长岩岩石学特征及对南天山洋俯冲时限的制约

布鲁斯台辉长岩位于中天山南缘缝合带中段古洛沟蛇绿岩以北30km,是该带上出露的为数不多的较大的基性侵入岩体。辉长岩主要由斜长石(35%~45%)、单斜辉石(20%~25%)和角闪石(30%~35%)组成,角闪石主要为交代辉石后的产物。岩石化学成分显示,辉长岩具有高Al2O3(15.43%~23.20%)和CaO(12.96%~14.48%),低碱K2O(0.13%~0.19%)、Na2O(1.47%~3.00%)、P2O5(0.03%~0.07%)和TiO2(0.34%~0.61%)的特征。辉长岩稀土元素球粒陨石标准化配分模式与E-MORB相似,但ΣREE低(12.91×10-6~23.14×10-6),微量元素具有Ba、U、K、Sr等LILE富集和Nb、Ta、Zr、Hf、Th等HFSE亏损的特点。锆石原位εHf(t)值为+9.7~+15.0。上述特征反映辉长岩形成的构造背景为活动大陆边缘,源区为受俯冲流体影响的亏损地幔橄榄岩,且在上升的过程中未遭受地壳的明显混染。La、Sm、Yb判别图解显示岩石可能是亏损的尖晶石二辉橄榄岩发生5%~10%的部分熔融的产物。锆石LA-ICP-MS测年表明,辉长岩形成年龄为316.8±2.1Ma(MSWD=3.4,n=36)。结合区域地质、年代学和地球化学的资料,我们提出至少在晚石炭世,南天山洋还存在洋内和洋陆俯冲事件,南天山洋闭合的时间可能在更晚的早二叠世,而不是志留纪或者早泥盆世。     

石笋氧同位素和微量元素记录的陕南地区4200～2000a B.P.高分辨率季风降雨变化

基于陕南祥龙洞石笋XL2的19个230Th年龄、218个氧同位素分析以及896个Sr/Ca分析数据,高分辨率重建了4200～1972a B.P.期间陕南地区季风降雨变化.重建结果显示陕南地区这一时期季风降雨有显著的127～105a和57a周期,可能分别受控于太阳活动、PDO和/或AMO的变化.重建时段有3次百年尺度的干旱事件,分别发生于2200～2100a B.P.,2900～2700a B.P.和3600～3400a B.P.,其中2900～2700a B.P.干旱事件对应于北大西洋地区2.8ka冷事件.对比研究显示,尽管祥龙洞石笋和董哥洞石笋δ18O记录整体一致,但除了2900～ 2700aB.P.干旱事件之外,其他两次干旱事件在董哥洞石笋记录中并不明显.而尽管总体上祥龙洞和和尚洞石笋δ18O记录的差异要大,但XL2的3次干旱事件在和尚洞记录都有明显体现.有精确年代控制的祥龙洞、董哥洞及和尚洞石笋氧同位素记录的差异,揭示晚全新世我国季风降雨在十一百年尺度存在区域差异.     

Petrogenesis and Tectonic Implications of the Latest Cretaceous Intrusive Rocks from the Eastern Gangdese Belt, Southeast Tibet

The latest Cretaceous magmatic activity in the eastern segment of the Lhasa terrane provides important insights for tracking the magma source and geodynamic setting of the eastern Gangdese batholith, eastward of eastern Himalayan Syntaxis. Detailed petrological, geochemical and geochronological studies of the intrusive rocks (monzodiorites and granodiorites) of the eastern Gangdese batholith are presented with monzodiorites and granodiorites giving zircon U–Pb crystallization dates of 70–66 Ma and 71–66 Ma with εHf(t) values of ?4.8 to +6.2 and ?1.9 to +5.3, respectively. These rocks are metaluminous to weakly peraluminous I-type granites showing geochemically arc-related features of enrichment in LREEs and some LILEs, e.g., Rb, Th, and U, and depletion in HREEs and some HFSEs, e.g., Nb, Ta, and Ti. The rocks are interpreted to be derived from partial melting of mantle material and juvenile crust, respectively, which are proposed to be triggered by Neo-Tethyan slab rollback during northward subduction, with both experiencing ancient crustal contamination. The studied intrusive rocks formed in a transitional geodynamic setting caused by Neo-Tethyan oceanic flat subduction to slab rollback beneath the eastern Gangdese belt during the latest Cretaceous.