Spatially distributed hydrotope‐based modelling of evapotranspiration and runoff in mountainous basins

River basins in mountainous regions are characterized by strong variations in topography, vegetation, soils, climatic conditions and snow cover conditions, and all are strongly related to altitude. The high spatial variation needs to be considered when modelling hydrological processes in such catchments. A complex hydrological model, with a great potential to account for spatial variability, was developed and applied for the hourly simulation of evapotranspiration, soil moisture, water balance and the runoff components for the period 1993 and 1994 in 12 subcatchments of the alpine/pre‐alpine basin of the River Thur (area 1703 km²). The basin is located in the north‐east of the Swiss part of the Rhine Basin and has an elevation range from 350 to 2500 m a.s.l. A considerable part of the Thur Basin is high mountain area, some of it above the tree‐line and a great part of the basin is snow covered during the winter season. In the distributed hydrological model, the 12 sub‐basins of the Thur catchment were spatially subdivided into sub‐areas (hydrologically similar response units—HRUs or hydrotopes) using a GIS. Within the HRUs a hydrologically similar behaviour was assumed. Spatial interpolations of the meteorological input variables wereemployed for each altitudinal zone. The structure of the model components for snow accumulation and melt, interception, soil water storage and uptake by evapotranspiration, runoff generation and flow routing are briefly outlined. The results of the simulated potential evapotranspiration reflect the dominant role of altitudinal change in radiation and albedo of exposure, followed by the influence of slope. The actual evapotranspiration shows, in comparison with the potential evapotranspiration, a greater variability in the lower and medium altitudinal zones and a smaller variability in the upper elevation zones, which was associated with limitations of available moisture in soil and surface depression storages as well as with the evaporative demand of the local vegetation. The higher altitudinal dependency and variability of runoff results from the strong increase in precipitation and the decrease in evaporation with increased altitude. An increasing influence of snow cover on runoff as well as evapotranspiration with altitude is obvious. The computed actual evapotranspiration and runoff were evaluated against the observed values of a weighting lysimeter and against runoff hydrographs. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Syn-rift to post-rift tectonic transition and drainage reorganization in continental rifting basins: Detrital zircon analysis from the Songliao Basin,NE China

Tectonic transition from a syn-rift stage to subsequent post-rift stage is an important mechanism in the evolution of extensional basins. The sedimentary infill records the crustal response to this process. We have obtained new detrital zircon U-Pb and Lu-Hf signatures from the Lower Cretaceous stratigraphic successions encompassing the commonly accepted syn- to post-rift transition boundary, the T4 unconformity, in the Songliao Basin, NE China. These constrain the Songliao Basin’s evolution from its center to distal margins, providing insights into the sediment provenance and dispersal pattern over the tectonic transition. Analysis of zircons from the syn-rift (the Shahezi and Yingcheng formations) and immediate post-rift (the Lower and Middle Denglouku Formation) stages reveals Phanerozoic age populations with positive ?_Hf(t) values, which were derived from the proximal juvenile mantle-derived melt origin bedrocks of the Songliao Block. In contrast, the overlying samples from the Upper Denglouku Formation deposited in the subsequent post-rift stage contain exotic and ancient zircon populations with ages of 2.5 Ga & 1.8 Ga and complex hafnium signatures, characteristic of a mixed origin. These are interpreted to be transported from distant cratonic terranes via larger drainage networks. It is obvious that the sediment dispersal pattern switched from being a local and hydrologically closed “intraregional” pattern to a “transcontinental” pattern during the transition. The time lag between the development of the T4 unconformity and the drainage reorganization also ensures a distinguishable ～3 Myr (106103 Ma, Late Albian) transition period of regional extent. During this transition stage, syn-rift faulting was replaced by post-rift thermal subsidence, exhibiting a uniform sag configuration. Our new findings are important for understanding other continental rift basins during syn- to post-rift transition, which often demonstrates a complex interaction between the linkage and integration of sub-basins, and the reorganization of fluvial drainages and catchment systems.     

兰坪盆地三类主要铜银多金属矿床的稳定同位素地球化学

通过对兰坪盆地内三种主要成因类型（沉积-热液改造型、热水沉积-热液改造型和热液脉型）的铜银多金属矿床硫、碳、氢、氧同位素的研究,揭示了成矿作用过程的某些重要信息：矿石中的硫主要来自细菌还原的海水硫酸盐,但在沉积-热液改造型矿床中可能还有部分有机生物硫和深源火山硫的贡献;碳主要来自不同比值水/岩反应体系中碳酸盐岩地层的溶解结果,但在沉积-热液改造型矿床中还可能有深部地幔去气作用带来的CO2.成矿流体系以大气降水为主要补给源的盆地建造水,盆地建造水的运移成矿过程中可能伴有较为明显的蒸发作用.     

The down-faulted basin zone and high disaster risk zone in Shanxi Province, China

Introduction Since 1920s, with increasing awareness of disaster prevention and reduction in various as-pects and gradually deepened development of International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) activities in China, the role and position of disaster risk analysis and risk management work are increasingly prominent. In the final report of the IDNDR activities in 1999, the Science and Technology Committee of IDNDR had presented 5 challenge fields, which the international dis…     

定向羽状水平井在晋南沁水盆地煤层气开发应用中存在的问题

定向羽状水平井是指通过定向井、多分支水平井技术,由地面垂直向下钻至造斜点后以中、小曲率半径侧斜钻进目的煤层主水平井,再从主井两侧不同位置水平侧钻分支井,进而形成像羽毛状的多分支水平井。这一技术是一项复杂的系统工程,目前在中国煤层气领域还处在研究和试验阶段,尚未形成一系列成熟的工艺与技术。只有通过对国内现有的定向井、分支井、水平井钻井技术,井眼轨迹精确控制技术和煤储层保护技术进行整合,吸收国外的先进技术和管理经验,并进行实际工程研究和试验,将各种技术进行优化组合,逐步积累经验,不断地完善,最终才能形成一整套适合于中国煤层气地质特征的多分支羽状水平井技术。     

祁连山及邻区第四纪地层区划与沉积序列

在前人资料和野外勘查的基础上对祁连山及邻区贵德盆地、循化—化隆盆地、同仁盆地、西宁盆地、门源盆地、临夏盆地、兰州盆地、定西盆地、天水盆地、肃北盆地、酒泉盆地、玉门盆地、张掖盆地、武威盆地、哈拉湖盆地、苏里盆地、木里盆地、民和盆地、共和盆地、青海湖盆地及柴达木等20余个盆地的第四纪地层进行了研究。以祁连山第四纪构造地貌演化、盆地沉积序列、古生物及古气候特征为地层分区依据,对祁连山及邻区第四纪地层进行了地层分区,并对部分地层名称做了厘定或统一。祁连山及邻区第四纪沉积特征总体为东部(主要为陇中地区)黄土分布广泛,堆积了世界上最厚的黄土地层;北部(河西走廊地区)冲洪积扇堆积及风沙发育;南部(柴北盆地)以冲洪积-湖积为主,晚更新世以来发育风成沙及黄土;共和盆地由湖泊转向冲积扇和风沙沉积;青海湖盆延续至今;中西部高山及山间盆地冰碛、冰水堆积以及河流阶地堆积发育。根据上述特征及划分原则,将祁连山及邻区第四纪地层区划分为:兰州—西宁地层区,贵德地层区,酒泉—张掖地层区,柴北地层区,共和地层区,青海湖地层区及肃北—门源地层区。     

塔里木北部周缘前陆盆地早二叠世快速迁移与沉积相突变:俯冲板片拆沉的响应

塔里木北部周缘前陆盆地发育于泥盆纪末至早三叠世期间,完整地记录了南天山造山带的发育过程。该盆地在早二叠世由复理石盆地转化为磨拉石盆地,同时发生快速南移。同期幔源物质加入,有山根地壳熔融的岩浆活动、南天山造山带的整体隆升、热液成矿作用集中发育和变形、变质作用的激化使俯冲岩片的拆沉成为盆地转化与迁移的最佳机制。相同的转化过程及深部机制在其他造山带中也明显存在,表明俯冲岩片拆沉是造山作用一个不可或缺的环节。     

贵州晴隆锑矿稀土元素特征与成因探讨

对晴隆锑矿含矿层及围岩的稀土元素地球化学特征研究表明,其ΣREE变化较大,但REE配分模式较固定,以明显的负Ce异常、Eu正异常、分配曲线相对平缓为特征。对比该区玄武岩的稀土配分模式图后发现,两者差异较大。结合镜下岩(矿)石的结构和矿物组合特征以及野外实际资料,认为锑等矿质元素是盆地流体通过花鱼井、雷钵硐等NE向的深大断裂运移,由于氧化还原、温度和压力等物理化学条件的改变,沉积赋存于大厂层中。     

Putative Meteoritic Craters in Río Cuarto (Central Argentina) Interpreted as Eolian Structures

Ten oblong aligned depressions in the Río Cuarto area (provincia de Córdoba, Argentina) were supposed to be the result of very-low-angle Holocene meteoroid impacts. However, we consider that authors that studied the structures did not demonstrated their extraterrestrial origin. We suggest that an eolian origin for the structures of Río Cuarto is more likely. Actually, these landforms integrate large systems of similar deflation/accumulation geoforms aligned according to predominant winds during different periods.     

Late Tertiary tectonic evolution of northern Iran: A case for simple crustal folding

Here we present a crustal folding or buckling mechanism to explain the rootless 3–5 km high Alborz Mountains in northern Iran as well as  10 km of Late Miocene to recent subsidence in the south Caspian basin and  3–6 km of subsidence in the central Iranian basin in the context of the middle Miocene to recent Arabia–Eurasia collision. A key element of the mechanism is the presence of lateral and vertical lithospheric strength contrasts between the north Iranian continental and south Caspian oceanic crusts: when compression from the collision is applied across the region, the strong south Caspian oceanic crust, buried under > 10 km of premiddle Miocene sediment, interacts with the bottom of the mechanically strong continental upper crust of northern Iran, resulting in upward buckling of the continental crust and downward buckling of the oceanic crust. We test this mechanism using a finite-element numerical model with a Maxwell rheology and obtain results that are consistent with the geological and geophysical observations. The observations compiled here and the model results demonstrate the potential for using this region as a natural laboratory for studying the early stages of continent–oceanic collision, including processes like basin inversion, fault localization and, potentially, subduction initiation.