Late Holocene climates of the Near East deduced from Dead Sea level variations and modern regional winter rainfall

The Dead Sea is a terminal lake of one of the largest hydrological systems in the Levant and may thus be viewed as a large rain gauge for the region. Variations of its level are indicative of the climate variations in the region. Here, we present the decadal- to centennial-resolution Holocene lake-level curve of the Dead Sea. Then we determine the regional hydroclimatology that affected level variations. To achieve this goal we compare modern natural lake-level variations and instrumental rainfall records and quantify the hydrology relative to lake-level rise, fall, or stability. To quantify that relationship under natural conditions, rainfall data pre-dating the artificial Dead Sea level drop since the 1960s are used. In this respect, Jerusalem station offers the longest uninterrupted pre-1960s rainfall record and Jerusalem rains serve as an adequate proxy for the Dead Sea headwaters rainfall. Principal component analysis indicates that temporal variations of annual precipitation in all stations in Israel north of the current 200 mm yr⁻¹ average isohyet during 1940–1990 are largely synchronous and in phase (70% of the total variance explained by PC1). This station also represents well northern Jordan and the area all the way to Beirut, Lebanon, especially during extreme drought and wet spells. We (a) determine the modern, and propose the past regional hydrology and Eastern Mediterranean (EM) climatology that affected the severity and length of droughts/wet spells associated with multiyear episodes of Dead Sea level falls/rises and (b) determine that EM cyclone tracks were different in average number and latitude in wet and dry years in Jerusalem. The mean composite sea level pressure and 500-mb height anomalies indicate that the potential causes for wet and dry episodes span the entire EM and are rooted in the larger-scale northern hemisphere atmospheric circulation. We also identified remarkably close association (within radiocarbon resolution) between climatic changes in the Levant, reflected by level changes, and culture shifts in this region.     

A late quaternary record of eolian silt deposition in a maar lake, St. Michael Island, western Alaska

Recent stratigraphic studies in central Alaska have yielded the unexpected finding that there is little evidence for full-glacial (late Wisconsin) loess deposition. Because the loess record of western Alaska is poorly exposed and not well known, we analyzed a core from Zagoskin Lake, a maar lake on St. Michael Island, to determine if a full-glacial eolian record could be found in that region. Particle size and geochemical data indicate that the mineral fraction of the lake sediments is not derived from the local basalt and is probably eolian. Silt deposition took place from at least the latter part of the mid-Wisconsin interstadial period through the Holocene, based on radiocarbon dating. Based on the locations of likely loess sources, eolian silt in western Alaska was probably deflated by northeasterly winds from glaciofluvial sediments. If last-glacial winds that deposited loess were indeed from the northeast, this reconstruction is in conflict with a model-derived reconstruction of paleowinds in Alaska. Mass accumulation rates in Zagoskin Lake were higher during the Pleistocene than during the Holocene. In addition, more eolian sediment is recorded in the lake sediments than as loess on the adjacent landscape. The thinner loess record on land may be due to the sparse, herb tundra vegetation that dominated the landscape in full-glacial time. Herb tundra would have been an inefficient loess trap compared to forest or even shrub tundra due to its low roughness height. The lack of abundant, full-glacial, eolian silt deposition in the loess stratigraphic record of central Alaska may be due, therefore, to a mimimal ability of the landscape to trap loess, rather than a lack of available eolian sediment.     

Late Pleistocene and early Holocene rivers and wetlands in the Bonneville basin of western North America

Field investigations at Dugway Proving Ground in western Utah have produced new data on the chronology and human occupation of late Pleistocene and early Holocene lakes, rivers, and wetlands in the Lake Bonneville basin. We have classified paleo-river channels of these ages as “gravel channels” and “sand channels.” Gravel channels are straight to curved, digitate, and have abrupt bulbous ends. They are composed of fine gravel and coarse sand, and are topographically inverted (i.e., they stand higher than the surrounding mudflats). Sand channels are younger and sand filled, with well-developed meander-scroll morphology that is truncated by deflated mudflat surfaces. Gravel channels were formed by a river that originated as overflow from the Sevier basin along the Old River Bed during the late regressive phases of Lake Bonneville (after 12,500 and prior to 11,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P.). Dated samples from sand channels and associated fluvial overbank and wetland deposits range in age from 11,000 to 8800 ¹⁴C yr B.P., and are probably related to continued Sevier-basin overflow and to groundwater discharge. Paleoarchaic foragers occupied numerous sites on gravel-channel landforms and adjacent to sand channels in the extensive early Holocene wetland habitats. Reworking of tools and limited toolstone diversity is consistent with theoretical models suggesting Paleoarchaic foragers in the Old River Bed delta were less mobile than elsewhere in the Great Basin.     

江淮流域夏季严重旱涝与大气季节内振荡

利用NCEP/NCAR的再分析资料和中国气象局国家气象中心提供的中国台站降水资料,分析研究了江淮流域大范围严重旱涝的20-70天大气季节内振荡(ISO)特征。结果表明,对应江淮流域严重涝年,200hPa青藏高原北部存在ISO气旋性环流,青藏高原南部存在ISO反气旋性环流;大气ISO流型在对流层中低层850hPa主要是我国长江以南、南海和西太平洋地区为大气ISO反气旋性环流,我国长江以北到日本地区的大气ISO气旋性环流,我国江淮流域位于这两个ISO涡旋西侧偏南气流和偏北气流的交汇处;旱年反之。利用向量经验正交展开方法得到,上述大气ISO环流型分别是旱涝年大气ISO流型的第一模态,并且涝年大气ISO流型的振幅强,旱年振幅弱。进一步分析揭示,严重洪涝(干旱)年分别对应对流层中上层江淮流域及其以北的中高纬度地区有强(弱)的大气ISO活动。中高纬度地区的大气ISO在严重洪涝年向南传播,与低纬度向北传播的大气ISO在江淮流域汇合;而在严重干旱年,虽然大气ISO可向北传播,但向南的传播却很不明显。     

渤海湾盆地区燕山期构造特征与原型盆地

结合近几年来渤海湾盆地区深层地震勘探与解释的成果，重点论述了渤海湾盆地区燕山期构造特征与盆地原型，提出燕山期构造变形样式总体在纵向上可分为三个构造层，分别称为上部、中部和下部；横向上总体可分为三个构造带，西部为向西逆冲的薄皮逆冲带，中部为冲断—走滑带，东部为厚皮褶皱—冲断带，主体由两期挤压方向皆为NW—SE向的褶皱—逆冲变形形成；并将其演化分为三个阶段：燕山早期、燕山中期和燕山晚期。但是，渤海湾盆地区燕山期的构造变形特征和原型盆地有所变化，其空间上的差异是基底构造格局及其空间差异叠合的结果。综合其它研究结果还表明，渤海湾盆地区燕山期构造是在西太平洋大陆边缘弧的挤压构造背景下，陆内壳下拆沉和壳内挤出逃逸构造的综合动力作用下形成的。     

末次盛冰期以来全球湿润状况的地质证据──全球古湖泊数据库及其湖水位变化的大尺度时空分析

介绍了正在建设中的全球湖泊数据库的情况，以及该数据库的水位资料所反映的晚更新世末期以来全球湿润状况的变化。通过大尺度湖水位变化的时空分析，结果显示当今湖泊水位状态较历史时期而言，位于低纬干旱或半干旱地区的湖泊水位较低，而中纬及高纬湿润地区的湖泊水位较高。自末次冰盛期以来，北美大陆中南部地区湖泊水位自高至低，反映出该地区气候条件由湿变干，至早、中全新世达最干旱。而在非洲及南亚季风地区，冷期偏干，暖期偏湿。特别是在早、中全新世的温暖时期，为历史上最湿润时期。北半球中纬度地带的气候干湿变化与北半球冰盖的存在及其消融导致的西风带的南北摆动有关；而北半球季风区在早、中全新世出现的高潮面与北半球夏季辐射的增加有密切联系。     

洪泽湖历史洪水分析(1736─1992年)

根据1736－1911年文献记载的洪泽湖年最高水位及1914－1992年湖区水文测站的水位、流量资料，进行了长、短序列的入湖洪峰流量及不同时段洪量的频率分析，进而推求出不同重视期的设计入湖洪量和洪水年份相当的重现期，并分析洪水的灾害特征，结果表明：1）洪泽湖历史上洪水发生频繁，1786、1851、1906年均发生过特大洪水，高堰志桩分别至163、23．4、16．1尺。2）1953年建库后，湖水位上升。年最高水位历年平均值较建库前升高了1．22m；多年平均水位升高了1．72m。3）1916－1992年淮河蚌埠站年入湖洪峰流量、最大3日洪量、最大30日洪量和年平均流量频率分析显示。1954年分别相当于20、20、45．5和30．3年一遇洪水。1991年分别相当于7．1、7．1、10和14．7年一遇洪水。1991年洪水总体上小于1954年，但灾情超过1954年．表明湖区受灾程度有加剧趋势。     

小江断裂带中段盆地的发育阶段及其与区域构造运动的关系

小江断裂带中段新生代发育的系列盆地，根据其发育阶段可分为始新世—渐新世、上新世—早更新世、中更新世—晚更新世和晚更新世—全新世４个阶段，并根据发育持续性可分为继承性、阶段性、复活性、新生性４种类型。由大比例尺填图所获资料及前人成果，介绍了各阶段盆地的分布特征和成因机制，讨论了盆地发育与区域构造运动、断裂活动的关系     

楚雄盆地下侏罗统磨拉石楔沉积与含油性研究

楚雄盆地为一中生代周缘型走滑前陆盆地，通过对下侏罗统冯家河组沉积特征的详细研究与对比，作者认为早侏罗世是楚雄前陆盆地强烈坳陷与沉降的主要发展时期从早期到晚期经历了一个变深又变浅的典型前陆盆地充填过程。在前陆冲断块体的不断逆冲和加载条件下，楚雄盆地西部早侏罗世沉积物的来源主要为哀牢山造山带隆起，其沉积环境以滨，浅湖或湖泊三角洲为主。     

博斯腾湖的水盐平衡与矿化度

博斯腾湖曾是中国内陆区最大的淡水湖，因人类活动影响约在１９６８年演变为微咸水湖。本文依据湖泊水平衡太矿化度基本原理，结合博斯滕湖实际，分析计算了该湖各个时期的水盐平衡与矿化度；经推地整理，提出了预测矿化度的计算式，经检验与实测值基本吻合。