Engineering geology of loess and loess-like deposits: a commentary on the Russian literature

Loess and loess-like deposits were much studied in the Soviet Union, and are currently under investigation in Russia and surrounding countries. There is a vast literature in Russian, which touches on all aspects of loess science and technology. In particular, the studies of the origin of collapsibility are almost totally in Russian, and of course studies on the various regions of Russia and the countries of the Former Soviet Union FSU appear in Russian. This review looks at the literature in Russian and attempts to pick out key contributors, major topics and works and to identify the critical regions and zones of investigation. Because so many regions of the FSU had people living on loess ground, there is a vast literature on engineering geology and ground engineering topics, and this tends to dominate all the literature on loess in Russian. Following Russian practice, the fine-grained deposits under consideration are divided into loess and loess-like deposits. Three main topics are recognised across the whole spectrum of loess research: formation and distribution of loess deposits; stratigraphy, cyclicity and palaeoclimatology; and engineering topics, in particular hydrocollapse and subsidence, and we concentrate on the engineering geology topics. An attempt is made, based on the map of Abelev and Abelev [Abelev, Yu.M., Abelev, M.Yu., 1968. Fundamentals of design and construction on collapsible macroporous soils, 2nd ed. Stroiizdat, Moscow, 431 pp. (in Russian)] of collapsing loess deposits, to define seven loess regions within the geographical limits of the old USSR. The seven regions are those where geotechnical problems might be expected.     

Paleoclimate Changes during the Early Oiigocene in the Hoh Xil Region, Northern Tibetan Plateau

Sedimentological, cyclic-stratigraphic, paleomagnetic, and clay-mineralogical studies on the early Oligocene Yaxicuo Group in the Hoh Xil Basin, the largest Cenozoic sedimentary basin in the hinterland of the Tibetan Plateau, provide abundant information of paleoclimate changes. A 350-m thick section in the middle-lower Yaxicuo Group was analyzed to reveal the climatic history that occurred in the Hoh Xil region during the early Oligocene interval 31.30-30.35 Ma, dated with the paleomagnetic chronostratigraphy. The results indicate that add and cold climate dominated the Hoh Xil region during the early Oligocene in general, being related to the global cooling and drying events that occurred in the earliest Oligocene. Within this period, relatively warm and wet climate accompanied by strong tectonic activity occurred in the 31.05-30.75 Ma interval; while add and cold climate and relatively inactive tectonics occurred in the 31.30-31.05 and 30.75-30.35 Ma intervals. Furthermore, spectral analyses of high-temporal resolution paleoclimatic records show orbital periods including eccentricity, obliquity, and precession. It is concluded that paleoclimate changes during the early Oligocene in the Hoh Xil region were forced by both tectonic activity and orbital periods.     

青藏高原1∶25万区域地质调查地貌年代学研究

高原隆升及剥蚀作用的复杂性与区域差异性以及高原恶劣的气候、地理条件,使得在青藏高原空白区1∶25万区域地质调查中进行地貌年代学研究具有很大的现实意义.由于地貌是高原隆升、环境演化、新构造运动等的信息载体,地貌年代有助于重塑这些地质作用的发生时间及发展过程,因此地貌年代学研究具有重要的技术意义.1∶25万银石山幅的工作表明,地貌年代学调查对高原隆升及环境演化过程研究具有良好效果.     

The red bed controversy revisited: shape analysis of Colorado Plateau units suggests long magnetization times

Several Triassic and earliest Jurassic sedimentary units from the Colorado Plateau region have distributions of virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs) that are highly elongate along the path of apparent polar wander (APW). This suggests that the remanent magnetizations measured in these units were acquired over an extended period of time, possibly approaching 35 m.y., and are not precisely coeval with the stratigraphic age of the rock. Comparison with other paleomagnetic studies shows that the observed elongation is not a general attribute of the age of the rock, nor is it related to paleolatitude. The rocks that yield elongate VGP distributions are dominantly red to brown mudstones, and it is possible that their remanence is dominated by a slowly acquired chemical remanent magnetization, as suggested by Larson et al. [J. Geophys. Res. 87 (1982) 1081] and other authors. However, several superficially similar units from the Colorado Plateau have nearly circular VGP distributions. The process by which remanence is acquired in clastic sedimentary rocks merits further study.     

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.     

沙尘暴天气监测预警服务业务系统设计思路及其实现

文中全面介绍了中国西北地区沙尘暴天气监测预警服务业务系统的设计思路及其先进性。该系统由沙尘天气资料库、沙尘天气监测预警和沙尘天气服务3个子系统构成。它的成功建设为西部大开发气象服务提供了有力的技术保障，为西部地区环境保护和环境监测奠定了基础。     

西北地区东部春季土壤湿度变化的初步研究

利用中国西北地区东部 (包括宁夏、内蒙古西部以及甘肃、陕西两省 35°N以北地区 )农业气象站近 2 0年固定地段旬土壤湿度资料 ,对该地区春季土壤湿度的变化进行了初步分析。结果表明 ,中国西北地区东部土壤湿度的变化具有 3年左右的周期 ,而且 2 0世纪 90年代以来呈下降的趋势 ,这与该地区的降水和气温变化有关系 ;西北地区东部的土壤湿度变化对该地区群发性沙尘暴的爆发有一定影响     

青藏高原上中尺度对流系统(MCSs)的个例分析及其比较

对1995年7月25—28日高原上连续数日出现MCSs的现象进行了红外云图特征及其演变、大尺度环境背景场和对流有效位能的分析。可以发现，所有这些MCSs有着相似的日变化演变过程；它们的初始对流在中午由于日射加热开始活跃，之后迅速发展，这些MCSs在后下午形成，在傍晚达到最强，之后逐渐减弱。其中26日MCS最为强大，它是在单一的强大的近于圆形的高原反气旋高压背景下受强的低层热力强迫和条件不稳定的驱动而发生的。这些发生条件都与高原本身的热力作用紧密相关，所以它的发生发展主要与高原特有的较为纯粹的热力因子相联系。28日MCS是另一个很强的MCS，它明显地受到中纬度西风槽的斜压区的影响，这二个很强的MCS有着不同的发展机制和显著不同的表现特征。     

青藏及邻区新生代火山活动及构造演化

青藏高原是现今地球动力学和地质演化研究的一个热点。该区火山活动受中 -新生代以来高原深部地球物理 -化学反应的控制 ,是多种因素相互作用所表现的形式和结果。本区既有富钾质的 (主导 ) ,也有富钠质的火山岩 (次要 ) ;既有喷发熔岩流 (主导 ) ,也有一些浅源上侵的次火山岩体 ;火山活动发育在古近纪、新近纪与第四纪 ,而最强烈的发生在中新世期间。本区钠质和钾质两类火山岩在形成环境和时代上有很大的差异 :前者一般发育在古新世—始新世 (6 0～ 4 0MaBP) ,而后者主要形成在渐新世—中新世 (30～ 10MaBP) ;存在着钠质—钾质—酸性次火山岩的演化过程 ;大体上可划分为西羌塘、北羌塘、可可西里、中昆仑、西昆仑等 5个火山岩省。本文对比了青藏高原及邻区甘肃礼县和云南三岩区 (金沙江北段、腾冲和滇东南地区 )新生代火山岩的岩石组合、同位素年代学以及地球化学特征 ,大量的证据表明 ,这些火山岩形成在原始地幔、或“壳 -幔过渡带”或陆壳基底等源区。在实际考察和综合研究的基础上 ,探讨了岩石圈的区域构造特征及其与高原隆升的关系等     

长江巨洪的强信号探讨

分析了1900年以来长江3次巨洪的3个强信号：(1)太阳黑子活动，(2)厄尔尼诺事件，(3)青藏高原南部大震，它们对大气环流异常的影响分别称为日气作用、海气作用、地气作用，依据长江巨洪和3个强信号的基本事实，讨论了长江发生巨洪的统计规律，指出当3个强信号的出现时间互相重叠时，长江很可能发生巨洪，如果再叠加其它信号，长江发生巨洪的量级更大，这对长江巨洪的超长期预期具有重要的指示作用。