晚新生代亚洲干旱气候发展与全球变冷联系的风尘沉积证据

在干旱气候背景下常常有风尘物质的释放和传输,风尘沉积被认为是干旱环境变化良好的地质记录。在亚洲中部和中国北方,大面积的干旱区被沙漠戈壁覆盖,这些地区是粉尘物质的重要源地,释放的风尘物质影响局地和区域环境,并通过参与生物地球化学循环等影响更大空间尺度的气候变化。因此,亚洲中部干旱气候的形成和演化以及发展趋势一直受到重视。长期以来,关于晚新生代亚洲中部干旱气候发展的驱动机制至少有两种解释:一是青藏高原的隆升控制着亚洲中部的干旱化过程,随着高原的阶段性隆升亚洲干旱气候逐步增强;二是晚新生代全球变冷直接驱动着亚洲变干,全球变冷是主导因素。中国黄土高原及其周边地区堆积的黄土-红粘土序列是指示亚洲干旱化过程良好的地质记录,通过对新获得的风尘堆积记录的分析,发现在晚新生代中国风尘堆积的时空演化与全球变冷有较好的对应,全球变冷可以促使亚洲中部干旱气候发展并加强粉尘活动,而青藏高原隆升的幅度和时间还不清楚,进而认为是全球变冷而不是青藏高原隆升直接驱动亚洲内陆的阶段性变干。基于这些结果,我们认为以前关于青藏高原隆升影响全球气候的结论可能高估了青藏高原在地球环境演化中的作用,关于高原隆升直接驱动亚洲干旱化的结论还需要检验。     

Numerical Modelling of Dissolving and Driving Exploitation of Potash Salt in the Qarhan Playa——A Coupled Model of Reactive olute Transport and Chemical Equilibrium in a Multi-component Underground Brine System

Firstly, the macroscopic chemical equilibrium state of a series of chemical reactions between intercrystal brine and its media salt layer (salt deposit) in Qarhan Salt Lake was studied by using the Pitzer theory. The concept of macroscopic solubility product and its relation with accumulated ore dissolving ratio were presented, which are used in the numerical model of dissolving and driving exploitation of potassium salt in Qarhan Salt Lake. And secondly, with a model forming idea oftransport model for reacting solutes in the multi-component fresh groundwater system in porous media being a reference, a two-dimensional transport model coupled with a series of chemical reactions in a multi-component brine porous system (salt deposits) was developed by using the Pitzer theory.Meanwhile, the model was applied to model potassium/magnesium transport in Qarhan Salt Lake in order to study the transfer law of solid and liquid phases in the dissolving and driving process and to design the optimal injection/abstraction strategy for dissolving and capturing maximum Potassium/Magnesium in the mining of salt deposits in Qarhan Salt Lake.     

Numerical Modelling of Dissolving and Driving Exploitation of Potash Salt in the Qarhan Piaya——A Coupled Model of Reactive Solute Transport and Chemical Equilibrium in a Multi-component Underground Brine System

Firstly,the macroscopic chemical equilibrium state of a series of chemical reactions between intercrystal brine and its media salt layer (salt deposit) in Qarhan Salt Lake was studied by using the Pitzer theory.The concept of macroscopic solubility product and its relation with accumulated ore dissolving ratio were presented,which are used in the numerical model of dissolving and driving exploitation of potassium salt in Qarhan Salt Lake.And secondly,with a model forming idea of transport model for reacting solutes in the multi-component fresh groundwater system in porous media being a reference,a two-dimensional transport model coupled with a series of chemical reactions in a multi-component brine porous system (salt deposits) was developed by using the Pitzer theory. Meanwhile,the model was applied to model potassium/magnesium transport in Qarban Salt Lake in order to study the transfer law of solid and liquid phases in the dissolving and driving process and to design the optimal injection/abstraction strategy for dissolving and capturing maximum Potassium/ Magnesium in the mining of salt deposits in Qarban Salt Lake.     

Towards a nonperturbation transport theory in hetereogeneous aquifers

A large body of existing theories of flow and contaminant transport in aquifers ignore the presence of recharge, eliminate the boundary conditions, neglect transient conditions in groundwater flow, conceive hydraulic gradients as linear, and require parameter variability to be stationary and Gaussian. The most outstanding and difficult to justify assumption is the subjective small size of the stochastic terms (i.e., small perturbation methods), which usually is forced by considering the logarithm of the hydraulic conductivity. Several problems in flow and contaminant subsurface hydrology, such as the enhanced dispersion parameters with plume size or time after injection, remain to be observed in the light of a stochastic theory that allows a more realistic consideration of physical and hydrologic properties. In this article, an attempt is made to reformulate a contaminant transport equation (the variable dispersion equation, VDE) with transport parameters in terms of regional hydrologic and aquifer hydraulic properties, such as recharge rate, spatially random transmissivity, hydraulic gradient, aquifer thickness, and soil porosity. Subsequently, a general analytic procedure, the method of decomposition, is used to derive a solution to the VDE. This procedure does not require small perturbation, logarithmic transformations, or specific probability law assumptions. Comparison tests with existing theoretical and field results are given. The tests illustrate the enhanced dispersion and shifting concentration effects produced by the variable dispersion equation. Finally a generalization of the method to nonstationary dispersion in three-dimensional domains is proposed.     

Laboratory simulation of geogas microbubble flow

Preliminary laboratory tests provided first data on the behavior of gas microbubbles through porous media in the framework of the geogas theory. Under experimented conditions with laboratory equipment arranged for pressure controlled gas-tracer injection and sampling, gas microbubbles moved up to ten times faster than singlephase flow in dry media under the same injection pressure. Microbubbles were determined to be very sensitive to changes in injection pressure and their terminal velocity seems to be described with good approximation by the Stokes formula. The capability of microbubbles to pick up and transport upward for short distances solid ultra-small particles (metallic and radionuclide compounds) has been proved. Results are consistent with a time-dependent process linked to the transport properties of microbubbles (e.g., flotation), such as that reported by some authors.     

Circumstellar dust and circumstellar extinction curves

We have calculated the circumstellar extinction curves produced by dust grains which absorb and scatter the stellar radiation in the shells of pre-main-sequence stars. A Monte Carlo method was used to model the radiative transfer in non-spherical shells. The dependence on the particle size distribution and the dust shell parameters has been examined.The application of the theoretical results to explain the extinction and polarization of the Herbig Be star HD 45677 shows that the dust shell is not disk-like and that very small grains are absent in it.     

Semi-analytical solutions of a contaminant transport equation with nonlinear sorption in 1D

A new method to determine semi-analytical solutions of one-dimensional contaminant transport problem with nonlinear sorption is described. This method is based on operator splitting approach where the convective transport is solved exactly and the diffusive transport by finite volume method. The exact solutions for all sorption isotherms of Freundlich and Langmuir type are presented for the case of piecewise constant initial profile and zero diffusion. Very precise numerical results for transport with small diffusion can be obtained even for larger time steps (e.g., when the Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy (CFL) condition failed).     

Characterization of microbial communities associated with African desert dust and their implications for human and ecosystem health

Desert winds aerosolize several billion tons of soil-derived dust each year, including concentrated seasonal pulses from Africa and Asia. Huge dust events create an atmospheric bridge over continents and oceans, and eject a large pulse of soil-associated microorganisms into the atmosphere. These dust events might therefore have a role in expanding the biogeographical range of some microorganisms by facilitating rare long-distance dispersal events. The goal of this study is to characterize the microbes associated with African dust events and determine if they pose a risk to humans or downwind ecosystems. Air samples were collected by vacuum filtration in a source region （Mali, West Africa） during dust events and plated on R2A media to culture microorganisms. These organisms were compared to those in similar samples collected in the Caribbean during Saharan/Sahelian dust events. A high-volume liquid impinger is currently being tested in Barbados, collecting aerosol samples during African dust events. Over 100 bacteria and fungi （19 genera of bacteria and three genera of fungi） have been characterized from source region dust events.     

Natural siliceous dust and human health： Pathways, toxicity, and impact

Fine atmospheric dust includes mineral particles and aggregates, fibrous minerals and fibrous organic material. Generation, dislodgement and transport （deflation） of natural dust with the finer （〈4 microns） components suspended as silt-size aggregates, is widespread in and adjacent to the world＇s drylands, as well as deriving from volcanic vents. Silica is a highly fibrogenic agent in lung tissue. Long-term inhaling of siliceous dusts can lead to a number of fibrotic lung diseases, including natural （non-occupational） pneumoconioses （notably silicosis, but including asbestosis and others）. Different polymorphs of silica show different levels of toxicity in interaction with lung tissue. Particles with highly active surfaces may release radicals, causing cell damage. Some types of inhaled particulates are degraded by macrophages, but many are highly resistant and persist in the lungs, some stimulating fibroblastic cells to deposit collagen. Silicosis is an inflammation of the lung commonly caused by silicate mineral particles, leading to fibrosis. Three types are recognized： nodular pulmonary fibrosis （simple or chronic silicosis）, acute silicosis, and accelerated silicosis. Generally, finer particulates have greater oxidative capacity than the coarser fractions. They contain more reactive oxygen species, their greater bioreactivity making them more toxic to pulmonary tissue. Nevertheless, inhalation of large dust particles （〉 10μm） may constitute a health risk if the mineralogy is toxic, regardless of where the grains lodge in the respiratory system. Dust may absorb harmful gases, disease-generating bacteria and carcinogenic hydrocarbon compounds. Silica-related respiratory disease may also an exacerbate cardiac problem, and epidemiology suggests a link with tuberculosis. Quantification of dust loading and exposure requires study of spatial and temporal patterns, supported by meteorological analysis, airflow modeling and satellite-borne imagery. Some acute, short-term health impacts have been assessed using atmospheric and health records both before and after a dust storm or by comparison of populations within and outside such events. Analysis of the size, shape, mineralogy and geochemistry of ambient dust particulates provides information on natural dust sources, dust concentrations, and potential particulate toxicity, as well as providing a datum for assessment of human exposure levels.     

Factors controlling the spatial and temporal variability of dust emissions

New field measurement techniques are allowing researchers to better understand how surficial properties affect the temporal and spatial variability of dust emissions. In this paper we review the current understanding of the dust emission process and present new field measurements that examine how three surface properties： roughness, crust strength, and temporal changes of surface properties affect dust emissions. These data were collected using three unique measurement systems developed by our team. Roughness exerts considerable control on the entrainment threshold and emissions of dust from a surface. We have carried out a series of experiments designed to quantify roughness effects on aeolian sediment entrainment and transport in a shear stress partitioning framework. Our results show that the model of Raupach et al. （1993） provides very good agreement with available data to predict the amount of shearing stress on the intervening surface among roughness elements, relatively independent of their size and distribution. However, element size affects the aeolian sediment transport process beyond that attributable only to the reduction of surface shear stress caused by the roughness. Additional interactions of the elements with the saltation cloud appear to reduce the transport efficiency and potentially dust emissions as well. The effect of crust strength on dust emissions was assessed using a newly-developed pin penetrometer, which can measure crust strength in-situ. Previous researchers suggested that variation in crust strength even within a small area could lead to considerable spatial variability in dust emissions. Our measurements showed that crust strength is highly variable over a scale of centimeters. This variability may help to explain some of the observed scatter in field measurements of dust emissions for what appear to be homogeneous surfaces. Variability of dust emissions in time and space was also evaluated using a new instrument, the Portable In-Situ Wind Erosion Lab （PI-SWERL） developed to measure dust emissions from soil surfaces.