The role of hydrothermal fluids in sedimentation in saline alkaline lakes: Evidence from Nasikie Engida,Kenya Rift Valley

Saline alkaline lakes that precipitate sodium carbonate evaporites are most common in volcanic terrains in semi‐arid environments. Processes that lead to trona precipitation are poorly understood compared to those in sulphate‐dominated and chloride‐dominated lake brines. Nasikie Engida (Little Magadi) in the southern Kenya Rift shows the initial stages of soda evaporite formation. This small shallow (<2 m deep; 7 km long) lake is recharged by alkaline hot springs and seasonal runoff but unlike neighbouring Lake Magadi is perennial. This study aims to understand modern sedimentary and geochemical processes in Nasikie Engida and to assess the importance of geothermal fluids in evaporite formation. Perennial hot‐spring inflow waters along the northern shoreline evaporate and become saturated with respect to nahcolite and trona, which precipitate in the southern part of the lake, up to 6 km from the hot springs. Nahcolite (NaHCO₃) forms bladed crystals that nucleate on the lake floor. Trona (Na₂CO₃·NaHCO₃·2H₂O) precipitates from more concentrated brines as rafts and as bottom‐nucleated shrubs of acicular crystals that coalesce laterally to form bedded trona. Many processes modify the fluid composition as it evolves. Silica is removed as gels and by early diagenetic reactions and diatoms. Sulphate is depleted by bacterial reduction. Potassium and chloride, of moderate concentration, remain conservative in the brine. Clastic sedimentation is relatively minor because of the predominant hydrothermal inflow. Nahcolite precipitates when and where pCO₂ is high, notably near sublacustrine spring discharge. Results from Nasikie Engida show that hot spring discharge has maintained the lake for at least 2 kyr, and that the evaporite formation is strongly influenced by local discharge of carbon dioxide. Brine evolution and evaporite deposition at Nasikie Engida help to explain conditions under which ancient sodium carbonate evaporites formed, including those in other East African rift basins, the Eocene Green River Formation (western USA), and elsewhere.     

Geoarchaeological evidence on a Late Bronze Age earthquake,Ohrid Basin (North Macedonia)

Geoarchaeological investigations on the northeastern shore of Lake Ohrid revealed 3.5 m thick deepwater lacustrine sediments overlying terrestrial vegetation macrofossils, worked wood and abundant potsherds dated to the Late Bronze Age (LBA). Distinct contact of deepwater sediment with the sub-aerial weathered limestone bedrock point to a sudden increase in lake level. According to radiocarbon data, catastrophic flooding occurred shortly after 1214 yr bc. Because the area is located in a highly active seismic zone, we propose that this event was caused by tectonically induced, metre-scale coseismic subsidence related to faults bordering the Ohrid alluvial plain. Moreover, this event coincides well with a dramatic switch in the habitation and settlement strategy in the region. More important, however, is the finding that the age of the proposed massive tectonic event and change in habitation lies within the interval of the proposed ‘earthquake storm’ in the eastern Mediterranean dated to 1225–1175 bc. As the Ohrid-Korça zone belongs to the same tectonic province, a relationship between the abovementioned earthquakes and the proposed event can be expected. This research therefore might provide the first direct evidence of a large-scale earthquake event linkable to the LBA collapse of Europe's first urban civilisation in the Aegean.     

砾石在分析盆地物源区迁移与湖岸线演化中的作用*

中国中西部盆地的盆山结合部位,勘探程度较低、钻井少、地震成像复杂,致使利用传统的地震相、测井相、岩心资料等研究原型盆地岩相古地理特征较为困难。基于露头中巨厚砾岩发育层段对应盆地内储集层平面展布范围最广这一认识,运用“将今论古”方法,建立南天山前现代冲积扇、扇三角洲平原、河流等沉积体系中砾石与搬运距离关系,以及不同沉积相类型中砾石发育产状与湖岸线远近关系,定量计算了准噶尔盆地多条重点剖面侏罗系—白垩系现今位置与沉积物源区和湖岸线演化的距离,恢复了侏罗纪—白垩纪物源区范围与湖岸线演化过程。认为侏罗纪—早白垩世砂砾岩储集体向盆地内延伸范围最大时期的湖岸线,明显与现今盆地边缘线有一向西北方向敞开的夹角,该认识对在编制岩相古地理图过程中以盆地边缘线即为湖岸线的观念提出了不同见解,为恢复准南等低勘探程度区原型盆地的岩相古地理特征、预测有利储集体的展布提供参数依据。建立的刻画物源区变化和湖岸线迁移的定量评价方法与参数,是对传统沉积学研究的有益补充。     

模型揭示的浅水湖泊稳态转换影响因素分析

富营养化会导致浅水湖泊发生稳态转换,生态系统服务严重受损。磷是驱动湖泊发生稳态转换的重要环境因子,探究湖水磷浓度的变化规律是湖泊管理的关键。通过磷动力学模型,从影响湖水磷浓度的主要参数入手,探讨了每种参数变化对磷浓度的具体影响。结合前人研究结果,详细讨论了不同类型气候变化和人类活动对湖泊稳态转换时间、滞后时长、修复速率等的影响。研究认为,气候变化所导致的温度升高、光强减弱、风浪增强等和人类活动所导致的生物扰动、水位波动增强等因素变化虽不会改变湖泊稳态转换突变时间,但会推迟湖泊修复时间,造成突变阈值减小,滞后时间延长,稳态增大。在湖泊保护中要重点考虑主要外力驱动对湖泊稳态转换过程影响的区别,避免有害突变的发生。     

卤水中溶解性有机质的光谱学性质和光降解行为研究

卤水中溶解性有机质(dissolved organic matter,DOM)会对盐田日晒工艺和产品质量产生不利影响,如盐田卤水的蒸发速率减缓、蒸发度减小以及提取的矿物产品带有刺鼻的气味、浓重的颜色等。因此,对具有资源开发利用价值的卤水体系中DOM结构和性质的研究可以为后续DOM的有效去除或在DOM共存体系中调控无机盐结晶工艺路线提供有效的指导意见。本文以自然界中广泛存在的两种不同类型的卤水体系,即盐湖卤水DOM(SLDOM)和油田卤水DOM(OFDOM)为研究对象,采用溶解性有机碳(dissolved organic carbon,DOC)分析、光谱学分析和平行因子分析等手段对DOM的含量、分子量分布特征、光谱学结构和光降解行为开展了研究。DOC和荧光分析表明SLDOM和OFDOM的DOC含量和生物指数(BIX)值相似;与OFDOM相比,SLDOM的腐质化指数(HIX)值和高分子量组分(HMW)比例偏高;特别吸收光谱(SUVA₂₅₄)和糖类化合物含量检测结果表明,SLDOM和OFDOM的HMW组分中含有的芳香类和糖类化合物所占比例比低分子量组分(LMW)高;三维荧光谱图分析(EEM)结果表明,SLDOM主要以腐殖质类物质为主,而OFDOM以蛋白质类组分为主。此外,DOM的荧光组分在不同分子量中的分布也存在明显差异:对于SLDOM,富里酸主要分布在HMW DOM中,而腐殖酸主要在LMW DOM中;对于OFDOM,芳香胺类蛋白组分主要分布在HMW DOM中,色氨酸和酪氨酸类蛋白组分主要分布在LMM DOM中。在光降解实验中,SLDOM和OFDOM的DOC含量随光照时间增加而逐渐减少,分别下降了29.32%和15.11%。进一步的分析表明,光照过程中两种卤水中糖类化合物均减少,小分子量的DOM优先分解。此外,在光照过程中SLDOM芳香类化合物增加,腐质化程度基本不变;OFDOM芳香类化合物减少,腐质化程度增加。EEM平行因子分析(PARAFAC)结果表明,SLDOM荧光组分在光降解过程中荧光强度增加,而OFDOM荧光强度减少。     

Reconstruction of earthquake hazard in regions of sparse seismic monitoring

Studying strong motion records and the spatial distribution of ground shaking is of great importance in understanding the underlying causes of damage in earthquakes. Many regions in the world are either not instrumented or are sparsely instrumented. As such, significant opportunities for motion-damage correlations are lost. Two recent and damaging earthquakes belong to the class of lost opportunities, namely the Kashmir (Pakistan) earthquake of October 2005 and the Yogyakarta (Indonesia) earthquake of May 2006. In this paper, an overview of the importance of supply and demand studies in earthquake-stricken regions is given, followed by two examples of investigative engineering seismology aimed at reconstructing the hazard from sparse data. The paper closes with a plea for responsible authorities to invest in seismic monitoring networks in the very near future.     

Trophic modeling of the Northern Humboldt Current Ecosystem, Part II: Elucidating ecosystem dynamics from 1995 to 2004 with a focus on the impact of ENSO

The Northern Humboldt Current Ecosystem is one of the most productive in the world in terms of fish production. Its location near to the equator permits strong upwelling under relatively low winds, thus creating optimal conditions for the development of plankton communities. These communities ultimately support abundant populations of grazing fish such as the Peruvian anchoveta, Engraulis ringens. The ecosystem is also subject to strong inter-annual environmental variability associated with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which has major effects on nutrient structure, primary production, and higher trophic levels. Here our objective is to model the contributions of several external drivers (i.e. reconstructed phytoplankton changes, fish immigration, and fishing rate) and internal control mechanisms (i.e. predator-prey) to ecosystem dynamics over an ENSO cycle. Steady-state models and time-series data from the Instituto del Mar del Perú (IMARPE) from 1995 to 2004 provide the base data for simulations conducted with the program Ecopath with Ecosim. In simulations all three external drivers contribute to ecosystem dynamics. Changes in phytoplankton quantity and composition (i.e. contribution of diatoms and dino- and silicoflagellates), as affected by upwelling intensity, were important in dynamics of the El Niño of 1997–98 and the subsequent 3 years. The expansion and immigration of mesopelagic fish populations during El Niño was important for dynamics in following years. Fishing rate changes were the most important of the three external drivers tested, helping to explain observed dynamics throughout the modeled period, and particularly during the post-El Niño period. Internal control settings show a mix of predator–prey control settings; however a “wasp-waist” control of the ecosystem by small pelagic fish is not supported.     

A Raman investigation on the boron form occurring in salt lake brine during evaporation

Boron resources are abundant in Da Qaidam salt lake of Qaidamu Basin. It has been given great attention for the polyborate species present in brine. In this study, the Raman spectroscopy was applied to investigate the existing-form of boron in brine during evaporation. The prepared solutions of MgO·2B2O3-H2O, MgO·2B2O3-MgCl2 -H2O, and MgO·2B2O3-MgSO4-H2O was also evaporated and recorded to study the influence of boron concentration, pH, and electrolytes on the borate speciation in brine. The mononborates of B(OH)3 and B(OH)4- were found to be the only forms present in the original salt lake brine. Brine evaporation promotes the formation of polyborate anions B3O3(OH)4-, B5O6(OH)4-, and B6O7(OH)62- and also disappearance of the B(OH)4- ion in brine with boron concentration of more than 11 g/L in B2O3. The pentaborate ion of B5O6(OH)4- was sensitive to the solution pH and found to be appeared under the pH value of 8.0. While the hexaborate ion of B6O7(OH)62- was observed more dependent on the electrolyte of magnesium chloride due to its special properties, such as promoting boron accumulation, lowering solution pH, and also the strong af?nity for water molecules, which is beneficial to the polymerization of borate ions in brine. The interaction mechanisms among polyborate anions during evaporation had also been proposed.     

Spatiotemporal characteristics of Qinghai Lake ice phenology between 2000 and 2016

Journal of Geographical Sciences - Lake ice phenology is considered a sensitive indicator of regional climate change. We utilized time series information of this kind extracted from a series of...     

Lakes of the Jom-Bolok Volcanoes Valley in the East Sayan Mts., Baikal region

Journal of Geographical Sciences - This article describes the lake basins of the Jom-Bolok volcanic region in the East Sayan (the largest manifestation of the Holocene eruptions in Central Asia)....