Vertical variations and transport mechanism of soil moisture in response to vegetation restoration on the Loess Plateau of China

Soil moisture is essential for vegetation restoration in arid and semi-arid regions. Ascertaining the vertical distribution and transportation of soil moisture under different vegetation types has a profound effect on the ecological construction. In this study, the soil moisture at a depth of 500 cm for four typical vegetation types, including Robinia pseudoacacia, Caragana korshinskii, Stipa bungeana, and corn, were investigated and compared in the Zhifanggou watershed of the Loess plateau. Additionally, hydrogen and oxygen stable isotopes were detected to identify the transport mechanism of soil moisture. The results showed vertical distribution and transportation of soil moisture were different under different vegetation types. Depth-averaged soil moisture under S. bungeana and corn generally increased along the profile, while C. korshinskii and R. pseudoacacia showed weakly increasing and relatively stable after an obvious decreasing trend (0–40 cm). The soil moisture under R. pseudoacacia was lower than that under other vegetation types, especially in deep layer. However, the effect of R. pseudoacacia on soil moisture in the topsoil (< 30 cm) could be positive. For R. pseudoacacia (160–500 cm), C. korshinskii (0–500 cm), and S. bungeana (0–100 cm), the soil moisture declined with increased in vegetation age. Planting arbor species such as R. pseudoacacia intensified the decline of soil moisture on the Loess Plateau. The capacity of evaporation fractionation of soil moisture followed the sequence: corn > S. bungeana > R. pseudoacacia > C. korshinskii. The δ¹⁸O values in soil water fluctuated across the profile. The δ¹⁸O values changed sharply in upper layer and generally remained stable in deep layer. However, in middle layer, the vertical distribution characteristics of the δ¹⁸O values were different under different vegetation types. We estimated that piston flow was the main mode of precipitation infiltration, and the occurrence of preferential flow was related to vegetation types. These results were helpful to improve the understanding of the response of deep soil moisture to vegetation restoration and inform practices for sustainable water management.     

Oxygen isotope speedometry in granulite facies garnet recording fluid/melt–rock interaction (Sør Rondane Mountains,East Antarctica)

In situ analysis of a garnet porphyroblast from a granulite facies gneiss from Sør Rondane Mountains, East Antarctica, reveals discontinuous step‐wise zoning in phosphorus and large δ¹⁸O variations from the phosphorus‐rich core to the phosphorus‐poor rim. The gradually decreasing profile of oxygen isotope from the core (δ¹⁸O = ~15‰) to the rim (δ¹⁸O = ~11‰) suggests that the ¹⁸O/¹⁶O zoning was originally step‐wise, and modified by diffusion after the garnet rim formation at ~800°C and 0.8 GPa. Fitting of the ¹⁸O/¹⁶O data to the diffusion equation constrains a duration of the high‐T event (~800°C) to c. 0.5–40 Ma after the garnet rim formation. The low δ¹⁸O value of the garnet rim, together with the previously reported low δ¹⁸O values in metacarbonates, indicates regional infiltration, probably along a detachment fault, of low δ¹⁸O fluid/melt possibly derived from meta‐mafic to ultramafic rocks.     

Using stable isotopes to understand seasonal and interannual dynamics in moisture sources and atmospheric circulation in precipitation

Stable isotopes in precipitation are useful tracers to strengthen understanding of climate change and hydrological processes. In this study, the moisture sources of 190 precipitation events in Beijing were analysed using the Hybrid Single‐particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model, based on which we studied the relation between variations in precipitation δ¹⁸O and dynamics in moisture sources and atmospheric circulation in seasonal and interannual timescales. Categorization of 7 groups of moisture sources was performed, among which oceanic moisture sources presented lower δ¹⁸O in precipitation than continental moisture sources. The results show that seasonal variations of precipitation δ¹⁸O were caused by changes of moisture sources. In summer, moisture from proximal oceans dominated vapour transport to Beijing due to increasing monsoon strength and resulted in a relatively small variation of precipitation δ¹⁸O. At the interannual timescale, the variations of δ¹⁸O in summer precipitation were related to dynamics in oceanic moistures, showing depleted values when the contribution of oceanic moistures, especially the proportion of long‐distance oceanic moisture, was high. Further analysis indicated that changes of oceanic moisture sources were controlled by the strength of summer monsoons. These findings address the complexity of moisture sources in midlatitude monsoon areas and suggest that isotopic signals in precipitation have the potential to deduce changes in moisture sources and atmospheric circulation and can therefore serve for palaeoclimate reconstruction.     

Intragrain oxygen isotope zoning in titanite by SIMS: Cooling rates and fluid infiltration along the Carthage‐Colton Mylonite Zone,Adirondack Mountains,NY, USA

Oxygen isotopes are an attractive target for zoning studies because of the ubiquity of oxygen‐bearing minerals and the dependence of mineral ¹⁸O/¹⁶O ratios on temperature and fluid composition. In this study, subtle intragrain oxygen isotope zoning in titanite is resolved at the 10‐μm scale by secondary ion mass spectrometry. The patterns of δ¹⁸O zoning differ depending on microstructural context of individual grains and reflect multiple processes, including diffusive oxygen exchange, partial recrystallization, grain‐size reduction, and grain growth. Using the chronological framework provided by structural relations, these processes can be related to specific events during the Grenville orogeny. Titanite was sampled from two outcrops within the Carthage‐Colton Mylonite Zone (CCMZ), a long‐lived shear zone that ultimately accommodated exhumation of the Adirondack Highlands from beneath the Adirondack Lowlands during the Ottawan phase (1090–1020 Ma) of the Grenville orogeny. Titanite is hosted in the Diana metasyenite complex, which preserves three sequentially developed fabrics: an early NW‐dipping protomylonitic fabric (S₁) is crosscut by near‐vertical ultramylonitic shear zones (S₂), which are locally reoriented by a NNW‐dipping mylonitic fabric (S₃). Texturally early titanite (pre‐S₂) shows diffusion‐dominated δ¹⁸O zoning that records cooling from peak Ottawan, granulite‐facies conditions. Numerical diffusion models in the program Fast Grain Boundary yield good fits to observed δ¹⁸O profiles for cooling rates of 50 ± 20 °C Ma^?1, which are considerably faster than the 1–5 °C Ma^?1 cooling rates previously inferred for the Adirondack Highlands from regional thermochronology. High cooling rates are consistent with an episode of rapid shearing and exhumation along the CCMZ during gravitational collapse of the Ottawan orogen at c. 1050 Ma. Texturally later titanite (syn‐S₂) has higher overall δ¹⁸O and shows a transition from diffusion‐dominated to recrystallization‐dominated δ¹⁸O zoning, indicating infiltration of elevated‐δ¹⁸O fluids along S₂ shear zones and continued shearing below the blocking temperature for oxygen (~≤500 °C for grain sizes at the study site). The texturally latest titanite (post‐S₃) has growth‐dominated δ¹⁸O zoning, consistent with porphyroblastic grain growth following cessation of shearing along the Harrisville segment of the CCMZ.     

Differing controls on river‐ and lake‐water hydrogen and oxygen isotopic values in the western United States

Surface water oxygen and hydrogen isotopic values are commonly used as proxies of precipitation isotopic values to track modern hydrologic processes while proxies of water isotopic values preserved in lake and river sediments are used for paleoclimate and paleoaltimetry studies. Previous work has been able to explain variability in USA river‐water and meteoric‐precipitation oxygen isotope variability with geographic variables. These studies show that in the western United States, river‐water isotopic values are depleted relative to precipitation values. In comparison, the controls on lake‐water isotopic values are not well constrained. It has been documented that western United States lake‐water input values, unlike river water, reflect the monthly weighted mean isotopic value of precipitation. To understand the differing controls on lake‐ and river‐water isotopic values in the western United States, we examine the seasonal distribution of precipitation, evaporation and snowmelt across a range of seasonality regimes. We generate new predictive equations based on easily measured factors for western United States lake‐water, which are able to explain 69–63% of the variability in lake‐water hydrogen and oxygen isotopic values. In addition to the geographic factors that can explain river and precipitation values, lake‐water isotopic values need factors related to local hydrologic and climatic characteristics to explain variability. Study results suggest that the spring snowmelt runs off the landscape via rivers and streams, depleting river and stream‐water isotopic values. By contrast, lakes receive seasonal contributions of precipitation in proportion to the seasonal fraction of total annual precipitation within their watershed. Climate change may alter the ratio of snow to rain fall, affecting water resource partitioning between rivers and lakes and by implication of groundwater. Paleolimnological studies must account for the multiple drivers of water isotopic values; likewise, studies based on the isotopic composition of fossil material need to distinguish between species that are associated with rivers versus lakes. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Root‐related rhodochrosite and concretionary siderite formation in oxygen‐deficient conditions induced by a ground‐water table rise

Sedimentological, mineralogical, stable carbon and oxygen isotope determinations and biomarker analyses were performed on siderite concretions occurring in terrestrial silts to understand their formation and to characterize the sedimentary and diagenetic conditions favouring their growth. High δ¹³C values (6·4‰ on average) indicate that siderite precipitated in an anoxic environment where bacterial methanogenesis operated. The development of anoxic conditions during shallow burial was induced by a change in sedimentary environment from flood plain to swamp, related to a rise of the ground‐water table. Large amounts of decaying plant debris led to efficient oxygen consumption within the pore‐water in the peat. Oxygen depletion, in combination with a decrease in sedimentation rate, promoted anoxic diagenetic conditions under the swamp and favoured abundant siderite precipitation. This shows how a change in sedimentary conditions can have a profound impact on the early‐diagenetic environment and carbonate authigenesis. The concretions contain numerous rhizoliths; they are cemented with calcium‐rhodochrosite, a feature which has not been reported before. The rhodochrosite cement has negative δ¹³C values (?16·5‰ on average) and precipitated in suboxic conditions due to microbial degradation of roots coupled to manganese reduction. The exceptional preservation of the epidermis/exodermis and xylem vessels of former root tissues indicates that the rhodochrosite formed shortly after the death of a root in water‐logged sediments. Rhodochrosite precipitated during the initial stages of concretionary growth in suboxic microenvironments within roots, while siderite cementation occurred simultaneously around them in anoxic conditions. These suboxic microenvironments developed because oxygen was transported from the overlying oxygenated soil into sediments saturated with anoxic water via roots acting as permeable conduits. This model explains how separate generations of carbonate cements having different mineralogy and isotopic compositions, which would conventionally be regarded as cements precipitated sequentially in different diagenetic zones during gradual burial, can form simultaneously in shallow burial settings where strong redox gradients exist around vertically oriented permeable root structures.     

Iron isotopic systematics of UHP eclogites respond to oxidizing fluid during exhumation

The iron stable isotope compositions (δ⁵⁶Fe) and iron valence states of ultrahigh‐pressure eclogites from Bixiling in the Dabie orogen belt, China, were measured to trace the changes of geochemical conditions during vertical transportation of earth materials, for example, oxygen fugacity. The bulk Fe³⁺/ΣFe ratios of retrograde eclogites, determined by Mössbauer spectroscopy, are consistently higher than those of fresh eclogites, suggesting oxidation during retrograde metamorphism and fluid infiltration. The studied eclogites (five samples) display limited mid‐ocean ridge basalts (MORB)‐like (~0.10‰) δ⁵⁶Fe values, which are indistinguishable from their protoliths, that is, gabbro cumulates formed through differentiation of mantle‐derived basaltic magma. This suggests that Fe isotope fractionation during continental subduction is limited. Garnet separates display limited δ⁵⁶Fe variation ranging from ?0.08 ± 0.07 ‰ to 0.02 ± 0.07‰, whereas coexisting omphacite displays a large variation of δ⁵⁶Fe values from 0.15 ± 0.07‰ to 0.47 ± 0.07‰. Omphacite also has highly variable Fe³⁺/ΣFe ratios from 0.367 ± 0.025 to 0.598 ± 0.024, indicating modification after peak metamorphism. Omphacite from retrograde eclogites has elevated Fe³⁺/ΣFe ratios (0.54–0.60) compared to that from fresh eclogites (~0.37), whereas garnet displays a narrow range of ferric iron content with Fe³⁺/ΣFe ratios from 0.039 ± 0.013 to 0.065 ± 0.022. The homogenous δ⁵⁶Fe values and Fe³⁺/ΣFe ratios of garnet suggest that it survived the retrograde metamorphism and preserved its Fe‐isotopic features and ferric contents of peak metamorphism. Because of similar diffusion rates of Fe and Mg in garnet and omphacite, and constant Δ²⁶Mg_{omphacite‐garnet} values (1.14 ± 0.04‰), equilibrium iron isotope fractionation between garnet and omphacite was probably achieved during peak metamorphism. Elevated Fe³⁺/ΣFe ratios of omphacite from retrograde eclogites and variant Δ⁵⁶Fe_{omphacite‐garnet} values of the studied eclogites (0.13 ± 0.10‰ to 0.48 ± 0.10‰) indicate that oxidized geofluid infiltration resulted in the elevation of δ⁵⁶Fe values of omphacite during retrograde metamorphism.     

广西栗木钨锡铌钽矿区流体包裹体及氢氧同位素研究

本文通过对广西栗木矿区金竹源矿床和水溪庙矿床的流体包裹体研究,得出该矿区流体包裹体主要有两相H_2O-NaCl和H_2O-NaCl-CO_2两种类型。显微测温结果表明:两相H_2O-NaCl型流体包裹体均一温度主要集中于181.9~258.8℃,盐度w(Na Cleq)主要集中于4.01%~6.87%,密度0.690~0.988 g/cm3;H_2O-NaCl-CO_2型流体包裹体均一温度为178.5~331.1℃,主要集中在两个温度段,分别为高-中温段(265.3~315.5℃)和中-低温段(202.3~264.1℃),盐度w(NaCleq)主要集中在0.21%~5.05%,密度为0.678~0.886 g/cm3。栗木矿区成矿流体有两个温度集中段,且具有低盐度、低密度的特征。氢氧同位素研究结果表明:金竹源矿床钨锡铌钽矿化花岗岩石英δD值为-73.6‰~-62.8‰,δ~(18)OV-SMOW值为7.5‰~8.9‰,计算得δ~(18)OH2O值为6.00‰~7.40‰;水溪庙矿床钨锡铌钽矿化花岗岩石英δD值为-73.8‰~-58.3‰,δ~(18)OV-SMOW值为11.0‰~13.2‰,计算得δ~(18)OH2O值为9.50‰~11.70‰,水溪庙矿床含钨锡石英脉石英δD值为-75.3‰~-56.6‰,δ~(18)OV-SMOW值为11.8‰~14.1‰,计算得δ~(18)OH2O值为2.20‰~4.50‰。栗木矿区钨锡铌钽矿化花岗岩成矿流体来源于岩浆水,含钨锡石英脉成矿流体来源于岩浆水和大气降水的混合流体。     

从平衡-封闭-静态转向非平衡-开放-动力学研究-热液矿床成因的若干新概念概述

热液金属矿床成因研究过程中,观测与实验始终是密切结合的。上世纪70年代,平衡热力学的实验数据的快速积累,使人们用热力学理论计算可以预测和反演矿石和岩石的成因。但是,没有矿物-水溶液的反应速率数据,又没有与流体力学的结合,搞清楚矿石成因是困难的。七、八十年代,开始研究矿物与水溶液的反应动力学实验。科学家们开始瞄准了从平衡-封闭-静态转向非平衡-开放-动力学研究的这个大方向。1992年我们建立地球化学动力学开放研究实验室。研究高温高压矿物与水反应速率,发现固液的开放体系的自组织现象。实验发现温度影响矿物的各个元素反应速率改变,发现在跨越水临界态时矿物与水反应速率涨落、在近临界的气-液两相不混溶区一些金属进入气相、超临界流体的氧化作用及特别的溶剂性能影响矿物溶解性质。实验证实:临界态区流体与矿石成因有关。水岩相互作用的反应动力学实验温度从低温到550度,揭示矿石的金属来源、迁移、金属与蚀变分带机制。一大批大于300度的矿物与水反应动力学实验在国际界是少有报道的。九十年代,超高压的科学发展,与同步辐射光源的技术进步的结合,使固体地球科学又迈向了地球深内部。我们发展了高温高压流体性质的原位直测(测量850℃水溶液)红外谱,发现深部流体的新性质:气液两相流体的新结构,在临界温度区(300~400℃),水分子氢键网络的破坏受压力影响不大(23MPa~3GPa),同时,出现水的高电导率。研发新仪器为开放-流动-非平衡的反应动力学实验与极端条件下物质性质的直接观测结合,在科学前沿领域开辟了创新道路。     

滇黔北坳陷寒武系碳酸盐岩古海洋环境特征及地质意义

为厘定滇黔北坳陷寒武系碳酸盐岩古海洋环境,揭示成岩流体与岩溶作用的潜在联系,并预测有利储层发育层段,基于镇雄羊场碳酸盐岩剖面实测及系统取样基础上,采用微量元素、碳氧锶同位素及铸体薄片等分析手段,地球化学与岩石学方法相结合,探讨碳酸盐岩古海洋环境及地质意义。研究结果表明:滇黔北坳陷寒武系清虚洞组-娄山关组整体为海相环境,古海洋温度处于12.82℃~32.84℃之间,主体为温暖或炎热的亚热带气候。海平面具有主体震荡下降的趋势,存在8期海平面变化旋回,发育对应的岩相组合,其同位素演化曲线可作为地层划分依据。微量元素、同位素地球化学及岩石学特征证实娄山关组岩溶作用相对发育,成岩流体混入强氧化性低温大气水,有利储层纵向上主要分布在海平面下降旋回的高部位。