北京连续降雪过程分析

该文对2002年12月份北京出现的1841年以来历史上最长的连续6天的降雪天气进行了合成分析和诊断分析。北半球合成环流形势显示，连续降雪发生在东亚稳定的纬向环流形势下，其上游地区强大经向环流和阻塞高压使中纬度东亚和西太平洋纬向环流得以维持。东亚合成环流的垂直结构表明，连续降雪期间华北地区始终处于锋区中，并存在低空辐合、高空辐散的散度场垂直分布结构。卫星水汽云图显示出有水汽通道向河套倒槽云系输送水汽。华北地区的诊断分析表明，地面和边界层中山东地区分裂高压南侧向北回流的偏南气流是造成降雪的主要水汽通道。变形场的流场结构使水汽在北京附近辐合。垂直剖面展现了华北回流降雪天气近地面层的浅薄的冷空气垫，和暖湿空气回流在冷空气垫上的爬升，并在其上形成一个浅薄的饱和层。     

青藏高原影响亚洲夏季气候研究的最新进展

文中回顾了近 10a来吴国雄等在青藏高原影响亚洲夏季气候研究方面的最新进展。通过分析东西风交界面的演变证明 ,由于青藏高原的春季加热 ,亚洲季风区对流层低层冬季盛行偏东风转变为夏季偏西南风最早发生在孟加拉湾东部 ,与其相伴随的激烈对流降水出现在其东面。因此孟加拉湾东部至中印半岛西部是亚洲季风最早爆发的地区。同时也指出盛夏伊朗高原和青藏高原加热所激发的同相环流嵌套在欧亚大陆尺度的热力环流中 ,从而加强了东亚的夏季风 ,加剧了中西亚的干旱 ;并通过其所激发的波动对夏季东亚的气候格局产生重要影响。文中还比较了夏季南亚高压的伊朗模态和青藏模态性质的异同及其对亚洲夏季降水异常分布的不同影响。     

喜马拉雅中段高压麻粒岩变质作用、地球化学与年代学

研究的高压麻粒岩发现于西藏亚东以北约40公里的(Zherger-La)、出露在藏南拆离系(STDS)主构造面下盘的高喜马拉雅结晶岩系中,是继喜马拉雅东西构造结的Nanga Barbat、Namjag Barwa和喜马拉雅中段Khatra & Marina地区、定结地区发现的榴辉岩或高压麻粒岩之后,在青藏高原上新近发现的高压麻粒岩.该麻粒岩呈岩片被包裹于花岗质片麻岩中.麻粒岩记录了两期变质作用,早期矿物组合为Grt+Cpx+Pl+Qz,属麻粒岩相变质产物,矿物成分分析显示早期矿物组合达到了平衡,并且没有表现成分扩散;后期矿物组合为Hbl+Pl+Bio或Opx+Pl,指示了较高温但相对压力较低的麻粒岩相退变变质作用,矿物成分分析和结构显示了退变作用没有达到变质平衡.显微结构可以观察到多组变质反应Grt+Cpx+Qtz=Opx+Pl,Grt+Qtz=Opx+Pl,Grt+Cpx+L=Hbl+Pl+Bio+Mt,和Cpx+L=Hbl+Mt.根据矿物平衡关系,利用Grt-Cpx温度计和Grt-Cpx-Pl-Qz压力计估算的早期变质作用温压为T=780～850℃,P=12～15kbar,相对应的地温梯度16℃～18℃/km.借用Hbl-Pl温度计和A1tot in Hbl压力计估算的晚期变质作用温压为T=730～760℃;P=4～6kbar,相当的地温梯度为38℃～50℃/km.变质作用P-T演化呈等温降压轨迹,指示麻粒岩地体从增厚(或俯冲)地壳到减薄增温(或部分熔融)地壳,进而被快速剥露地表的构造过程.初步的地球化学结果表明高压麻粒岩原岩可能相当于大陆拉斑玄武岩.麻粒岩锆石SHRIMP年代学有两组相对集中的年龄分别为98±5 Ma(5 spots)和17.0±0.3 Ma(13 spots).高压麻粒岩的两期变质作用的温度都在700℃以上,略高于锆石U-Pb同位素体系计时封闭温度,推断17 Ma是高压麻粒岩变质后发生折返,随高喜马拉雅结晶岩系剥露冷却的年龄;98.4Ma的测年结果被推测是高压麻粒岩原岩形成的年龄.在喜马拉雅山,高压麻粒岩记录了类似增厚地壳到减薄地壳的转变一方面可能是地壳深部作用机制的转变,另一方面,这种机制与喜马拉雅南坡巨大的降雨量和去顶作用有密切关系,意义重大.     

The magmatic–hydrothermal transition—evidence from quartz phenocryst textures and endoskarn abundance in Cu–Zn skarns at the Empire Mine, Idaho, USA

Information about the magmatic to hydrothermal transition is preserved in late-stage features of quartz phenocrysts and endoskarn alteration in some Cu–Zn skarn deposits such as the Empire Mine in Idaho. Important features include: (1) quartz phenocrysts with strong resorption textures such as vermicular zones of igneous groundmass cutting primary quartz cathodoluminescence banding, (2) anomalous amounts of endoskarn (more than 50% of mineralized rock), (3) high F activities as evidenced by fluorite as an accessory mineral in igneous rocks, in alteration assemblages, and in fluid inclusions and by high F in hydroxyl sites in igneous biotite and amphibole, and (4) direct association of Zn, which normally is deposited distally at low temperature, with Cu in proximal locations and in endoskarn. These features are explained by the following model: (1) F lowers the solidus temperature of the magma, thus changing the timing, temperature, and duration of hydrothermal fluid exsolution. (2) Upon magmatic vapor saturation the F-rich hydrothermal fluids form bubbles that adhere to quartz phenocrysts and chemically corrode/tunnel into the quartz forming vermicular resorption textures. (3) F-rich hydrothermal fluids also promote the formation of endoskarn; silicic rocks are attacked by F-rich fluids in the same sense that carbonate wall rocks are dissolved by weakly to moderately acidic hydrothermal fluids. (4) Low fluid exsolution temperature facilitated by high F activity promotes high Zn/Cu ratios in proximal locations due to the solubility of Zn relative to Cu at lower temperatures. This model may be applicable at other localities such as the world-class Cu–Zn skarn Antamina mine, as well as some tin and rapakivi granites.     

High-pressure experimental growth of diamond using C–K2CO3–KCl as an analogue for Cl-bearing carbonate fluid

High-pressure, high-temperature diamond growth experiments have been conducted in the system C–K₂CO₃–KCl at 1050–1420 °C, 7.0–7.7 GPa. KCl is of interest because of the strong effect of halogens on the phase relations of carbonate-rich systems [Geophys. Res. Lett. 30 (2003) 1022] and because of the occurrence of KCl coexisting with alkali silicate–carbonate fluids in natural-coated diamond [Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 64 (2000) 717]. We have used system C–K₂CO₃–KCl as an analogue for these mantle fluids in diamond growth experiments. The presence of KCl reduces the potassium carbonate liquidus to ≤1000 °C at 7.7 GPa, allowing it to act as a solvent catalyst for diamond growth at temperatures below the continental geotherm. This is a reduction on the minimum diamond growth temperature reported in the alkali-carbonate–C–O–H system [Lithos 60 (2002) 145]. Diamond growth using carbonate solvent catalysts is characterised by a relatively long induction period. However, the addition of KCl also reduced the period for diamond growth in carbonate to 5 min; no such induction period appears to be necessary. It is suggested that KCl destabilises carbonate, allowing greater solubility and diffusion of carbon.     

Holocene hydrographical changes of the eastern Laptev Sea (Siberian Arctic) recorded in δO profiles of bivalve shells

Oxygen isotope profiles along the growth axis of fossil bivalve shells of Macoma calcarea were established to reconstruct hydrographical changes in the eastern Laptev Sea since 8400 cal yr B.P.. The variability of the oxygen isotopes (δ¹⁸O) in the individual records is mainly attributed to variations in the salinity of bottom waters in the Laptev Sea with a modern ratio of 0.50‰/salinity. The high-resolution δ¹⁸O profiles exhibit distinct and annual cycles from which the seasonal and annual salinity variations at the investigated site can be reconstructed. Based on the modern analogue approach oxygen isotope profiles of radiocarbon-dated bivalve shells from a sediment core located northeast of the Lena Delta provide seasonal and subdecadal insights into past hydrological conditions and their relation to the Holocene transgressional history of the Laptev Sea shelf. Under the assumption that the modern relationship between δ¹⁸O_w and salinity has been constant throughout the time, the δ¹⁸O of an 8400-cal-yr-old bivalves would suggest that bottom-water salinity was reduced and the temperature was slightly warmer, both suggesting a stronger mixture of riverine water to the bottom water. Reconstruction of the inundation history of the Laptev Sea shelf indicates local sea level ∼27 m below present at this time and a closer proximity of the site to the coastline and the Lena River mouth. Due to continuing sea level rise and a southward retreat of the river mouth, bottom-water salinity increased at 7200 cal yr B.P. along with an increase in seasonal variability. Conditions comparable to the modern hydrography were achieved by 3800 cal yr B.P.     

Lake-Sediment Records of Recent Environmental Change on Svalbard: Results of Diatom Analysis

Surface sediments from 23 lakes on Svalbard were analysed for diatoms. About 182 taxa were found but samples generally have a low richness, with the majority of sites dominated by benthic genera such as Fragilaria, Navicula, and Achnanthes. Centric Cyclotella species occur at only three sites. Modern relationships between diatom abundance and water chemistry and other environmental variables were explored numerically and a preliminary transfer function for pH was developed. Lakes fell into three groups on the basis of their diatom assemblages: (1) high pH, high cation, high conductivity sites characterised by Amphora libyca, (2) shallow sites with relatively high nutrient values characterised by Fragilaria species, and (3) more acid and dilute sites with high amounts of snow cover in the catchments characterised by small Achnanthes species and Navicula digitulus. Five sediment cores representing the recent past were also analysed for diatoms. Three shallow sites were dominated by Fragilaria species throughout the period represented by the cores and no shifts in inferred pH were found. At two deeper sites (Arresjøen, Birgervatnet) major assemblage shifts are found which are unrelated to independent evidence for atmospheric contamination. Early (ca. 1200 AD) changes found at both sites are possibly related to the onset of the ‘Little Ice Age’. Later changes are neither synchronous nor similar in nature and might be best explained as individual responses to the recovery from the ‘Little Ice Age’ and subsequent climatic warming.     

A Local Example of Land‐Use Change: Southern Illinois—1807, 1938, and 1993*

This article provides an analysis of a wetland site in southern Illinois from presettlement to the present. The study area is part of the Cache River‐Cypress Creek Wetland, which has international importance, as recognized by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Land‐cover data for 1807, 1938, and 1993 were created and analyzed with a geographic information system (GIS). Land‐use change by topographic setting (uplands, transitional, and bottomlands) and soil productivity was quantified and studied. Interviews with local experts informed this analysis. Results illustrate the complexity of environmental change and its driving forces. First, notable forest and swamp acreage was converted to cropland between 1807 and 1938 and, to a lesser degree, from 1938 to 1993. Second, there were land‐use variations by topographic region. Between 1807 and 1938, the largest transformation occurred in the uplands, with substantial acreage converted from forest to cropland. Between 1938 and 1993, however, agriculture decreased in the upland areas as hilly areas reverted to forest cover. At the same time, agriculture expanded in the bottomlands as this land was drained for farming. Third, there are interesting patterns within these categories of land‐use change, as soil productivity is an indicator of what lands were taken out of cropland and converted back to grassland and forest.     

Possible Impacts of the Arctic Oscillation on the Interdecadal Variation of Summer Monsoon Rainfall in East Asia

The influences of the wintertime AO (Arctic Oscillation) on the interdecadal variation of summer monsoon rainfall in East Asia were examined. An interdecadal abrupt change was found by the end of the 1970s in the variation of the AO index and the leading principal component time series of the summer rainfall in East Asia, The rainfall anomaly changed from below normal to above normal in central China, the southern part of northeastern China and the Korean peninsula around 1978. However,the opposite interdecadal variation was found in the rainfall anomaly in North China and South China.The interdecadal variation of summer rainfall is associated with the weakening of the East Asia summer monsoon circulation. It is indicated that the interdecadal variation of the AO exerts an influence on the weakening of the monsoon circulation. The recent trend in the AO toward its high-index polarity during the past two decades plays important roles in the land-sea contrast anomalies and wintertime precipitation anomaly. The mid- and high-latitude regions of the Asian continent are warming, while the low-latitude regions are cooling in winter and spring along with the AO entering its high-index polarity after the late 1970s. In the meantime, the precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau and South China is excessive, implying an increase of soil moisture. The cooling tendency of the land in the southern part of Asia will persist until summer because of the memory of soil moisture. So the warming of the Asian continent is relatively slow in summer. Moreover, the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean which are located southward and eastward of the Asian land, are warming from winter to summer. This suggests that the contrast between the land and sea is decreased in summer. The interdecadal decrease of the land-sea heat contrast finally leads to the weakening of the East Asia summer monsoon circulation.     

Experimental and theoretical study of stability of dense hydrous magnesium silicates in the deep upper mantle

Fluid-undersaturated experiments were conducted to determine the phase relations in the simplified peridotite system MgO-SiO₂-H₂O (MSH) at 11.0-14.5 GPa and 800-1400 °C. Stability relations of dense hydrous magnesium silicates (DHMSs) under fluid-undersaturated conditions were experimentally examined. From the fluid-absent experimental results, we retrieved thermodynamic data for clinohumite, phase A, phase E, and hydrous wadsleyite, consistent with the published data set for dry mantle minerals. With this new data set, we have calculated phase equilibria in the MSH system including dehydration reactions. The dehydration reactions calculated with lower water activities of 0.68-0.60 match the fluid-present experiments of this study above 11.0 GPa and 1000 °C, indicating that considerable amounts of silicate component were dissolved into the fluid phase. The calculated phase equilibria illustrate the stability of the post-antigorite phase A-bearing assemblages. In the cold subducting slab peridotite, phase A + enstatite assemblage survives into the transition zone, whereas phase A + forsterite + enstatite assemblage forms hydrous wadsleyite at a much shallower depth of about 360-km. The slab is subducted with no dehydration reactions occurring when entering the transition zone. The phase equilibria also show the high temperature stability of phase E. Phase E is stable up to 1200 °C at 13.5 GPa, a plausible condition in the mantle of relatively low temperature, i.e., beneath subduction zones. Phase E is a possible water reservoir in the mantle as well as wadsleyite and ringwoodite.