Geochemical Eccentricity of Ground Water Allied to Weathering of Basalts from the Deccan Volcanic Province,India: Insinuation on CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Consumption

Analyses of 72 samples from Upper Panjhara basin in the northern part of Deccan Plateau, India, indicate that geochemical incongruity of groundwater is largely a function of mineral composition of the basaltic lithology. Higher proportion of alkaline earth elements to total cations and HCO₃>Cl + SO₄ reflect weathering of primary silicates as chief source of ions. Inputs of Cl, SO₄, and NO₃ are related to rainfall and localized anthropogenic factors. Groundwater from recharge area representing Ca + Mg–HCO₃ type progressively evolves to Ca + Na–HCO₃ and Na–Ca–HCO₃ class along flow direction replicates the role of cation exchange and precipitation processes. While the post-monsoon chemistry is controlled by silicate mineral dissolution + cation exchange reactions, pre-monsoon variability is attributable chiefly to precipitation reactions + anthropogenic factors. Positive correlations between Mg vs HCO₃ and Ca + Mg vs HCO₃ supports selective dissolution of olivine and pyroxene as dominant process in post-monsoon followed by dissolution of plagioclase feldspar and secondary carbonates. The pre-monsoon data however, points toward the dissolution of plagioclase and precipitation of CaCO₃ supported by improved correlation coefficients between Na + Ca vs HCO₃ and negative correlation of Ca vs HCO₃, respectively. It is proposed that the eccentricity in the composition of groundwater from the Panjhara basin is a function of selective dissolution of olivine > pyroxene followed by plagioclase feldspar. The data suggest siallitization (L < R and R _k) as dominant mechanism of chemical weathering of basalts, stimulating monosiallitic (kaolinite) and bisiallitic (montmorillonite) products. The chemical denudation rates for Panjhara basin worked out separately for the ground and surface water component range from 6.98 to 36.65 tons/km²/yr, respectively. The values of the CO₂ consumption rates range between 0.18 × 10⁶ mol//km²/yr (groundwater) and 0.9 × 10⁶ mol/km²/yr (surface water), which indicates that the groundwater forms a considerable fraction of CO₂ consumption, an inference, that is, not taken into contemplation in most of the studies.     

Effect of volatiles erupted from Mesozoic and Cenozoic volcanic activities on paleo-environmental changes in China

Based on the determination of composition of volcanic volatiles and petrologic estimation of the total mass of volatiles erupted, we showed important advances in the study of the impact of Mesozoic and Cenozoic volcanic activities on paleo-environmental changes in China. The volcanic activities include western Liaoning and Zhangjiakou Mesozoic intermediate-acidic explosive eruptions, southern Tibet and Shanwang Cenozoic volcanism, and Mt. Changbai volcanic eruption around one thousand years ago. The paper predominantly discusses the earth’s surface temperature changes, ozone depletion, acidic rain formation and mass mortalities of vertebrate induced by the Mesozoic and Cenozoic volcanism in China. __________ Translated from Bulletin of Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry, 2007, 26(4): 319–322 [译自: 矿物岩石地球化学通报]     

RATIONAL UTILIZATION OF MOUNTAIN SOILS IN SOUTHEAST QINGHAI-XIZANG (TIBETAN)PLATEAU

ISoil-fo~gEnvironmentandMainSoilTrocsThesoLItheastQinghai-Xizang(Tibetan)PlateauwheretheHengduanMoUnains,eastempartoftheThmalayanandNyainqentanglhamoUnainsarelocatedextendsfrom25'to34"Nand92'to1O5'Ewithanareaof5OO,OOOkm',oraboutone-fiffooftheentireQinghai-XiZangPlateau.ItisatransitionalzoneofdeePdisseCtedmoUntainseXtendingsoutheastWardpenpherallowlandsandwichedin-betWeenSichuanBasinandcentralYunnanPlateau.Whletheterrainofthesmponinclinestosoutheast,thealtitudeofthevaIleysraises…     

高原大地形及海洋热力强迫对东亚及北半球环流和气候变化影响的观测研究

本文总结了“青藏高原大地形及西太平洋暖池势力强迫对东亚及全球气候变化的影响”专题五年来的主要研究工作。其中包括青世故高原东部大气热源的时间演变特征,夏半年高原热源异常对我国降水和北半球环流的影响;西沙海温变化特征及其与我南方降水的关系,北太平洋海温主因子特征及其与华南前汛期降水的变化。     

荒漠植被红砂（Reaumurta soongorica）水热响应的年轮学研究

 红砂是黄土高原荒漠植被带主要建群植物种之一，在植被恢复重建和生态建设中具有重要意义。本文以皋兰县40 a天然植被封育区为例，运用树木年轮学方法，对不同坡向红砂与当地水热条件变化的时空响应及分布格局进行了研究。研究结果表明，红砂具有明显的年轮特征，可以进行树木年轮方面的研究。虽然不同坡向水分条件和植被状况有很大差异，但红砂径向生长对区域水热变化具有非常一致的响应模式：同生长季降水呈正相关关系，尤以7月降水量最为显著；同生长季气温呈负相关关系，以6月最为显著。根据不同坡向红砂年龄分布格局分析结果，并考虑到水土流失的防治效果，黄土高原西部荒漠植被带的封育期限不宜少于10 a。     

青藏高原腹地湖泊沉积对第四纪晚期古季风变化的响应

通过对青藏高原腹地的综合科学考察和对中心钻孔岩芯剖面的最新研究,用层序地层学与年代地层学和气候地层学相结合的方法,分辨出可可西里地区湖泊沉积记录(孔深7.25 m)的第四纪晚期距今3万余年以来的古气候变化,沉积物磁化率等因子综合表征的高原古季风变化是波动发展的,发生在仙女木期地质环境事件中的季风活动具有强烈暴发的特点,是高原季风发展中的突变事件,而且地表热点效应对其起到了激发作用。综合分析的研究成果表明,它的变化频谱与激变因子及其运行机制是伴随着青藏高原地质效应的演变而发展的,为研究第四纪冰消期以来的气候变化提供了新的信息。     

Weathering and climate change since l820 AD in Hoh Xil, Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, China——Evidence from element geochemistry of lake sediments of Gulug Co Lake

Element geochemistry of lake sediments has been widely used to detect climate change because element composition and ratios can reflect the weathering degree in the source area. Given the dement composition of lake sediments from Gulug Co Lake, Hoh Xil, Qing- hai-Xizang Plateau, chemical index of alteration （CIA）, index of composition variability （ICV） and other element ratios have been used to establish the weathering sequence of this area since 1820 AD. The weathering is so weak that the element composition change is more sensitive to climate change and autochthonous processes. From 1820 to 1984 AD, there were two drier periods with a wetter interval from 1870 to 1945 AD. After 1984 the weather showed a tendency of becoming wet.     

Selenium contamination in the Colorado River Basin, western USA： Remediation by leaching and nanof＇dtration membranes

Selenium （Se） is an essential micronutrient to biota, but can become a potent toxicant at elevated concentrations. The natural sources and chemical properties of Se species make the boundary between deficiency and toxicity narrow for some biota, with both phenomena common around the globe. Large areas of farmland in the Colorado River Basin （CRB） generate salinized drainage water with Se concentrations much higher than 5 μg/L, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chronic water-quality criterion for the protection of aquatic life. We have carried out detailed field and laboratory studies to investigate Se geochemistry and remediation in two of these areas： the Middle Green River Basin, Utah and the Salton Sea Basin, California, located respectively in the Upper and Lower CRB. Results from these and other studies show that approximately 90% of the dissolved Se in the Colorado River and its tributaries originally is derived from the Upper Cretaceous Mancos Shale and equivalent pyritic marine units that outcrop in the Upper CRB. Selenium is mobilized commonly by biogeochemical oxidation of this pyritic shale and is concentrated mainly as selenate （SeO4^2-） in soils and agricultural drainage water of dry climates by evaporation. Minor （0%-5%） amounts of Se are present as the selenite species （HSeO3^-） and （SEO3^2-）, but these species and the more reduced species, elemental Se （SeO） and selenide （Se^2-）, have much lower solubility and/or have high sorptive affinity towards organic matter, clay minerals and iron oxyhydroxides. The concentration of dissolved Se （-2.5 μg/L） and salinity in the Lower Colorado River water are among the highest of the world major rivers. Because of low precipitation （7 cm/a） and extreme evapotranspiration （-1.8 m/a） rates in the Salton Sea Basin, California, Se values in irrigation water imported from the Colorado River increase to 〉300 μg/L in drainage wastewater. Removal of Se from contaminated wastewater by nanofiltration membranes was demonstrated in laboratory and pilot-scale field experiments.     

Peak discharge of a Pleistocene lava-dam outburst flood in Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA

The failure of a lava dam 165,000 yr ago produced the largest known flood on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon. The Hyaloclastite Dam was up to 366 m high, and geochemical evidence linked this structure to outburst-flood deposits that occurred for 32 km downstream. Using the Hyaloclastite outburst-flood deposits as paleostage indicators, we used dam-failure and unsteady flow modeling to estimate a peak discharge and flow hydrograph. Failure of the Hyaloclastite Dam released a maximum 11 × 10⁹ m³ of water in 31 h. Peak discharges, estimated from uncertainty in channel geometry, dam height, and hydraulic characteristics, ranged from 2.3 to 5.3 × 10⁵ m³ s⁻¹ for the Hyaloclastite outburst flood. This discharge is an order of magnitude greater than the largest known discharge on the Colorado River (1.4 × 10⁴ m³ s⁻¹) and the largest peak discharge resulting from failure of a constructed dam in the USA (6.5 × 10⁴ m³ s⁻¹). Moreover, the Hyaloclastite outburst flood is the oldest documented Quaternary flood and one of the largest to have occurred in the continental USA. The peak discharge for this flood ranks in the top 30 floods (>10⁵ m³ s⁻¹) known worldwide and in the top ten largest floods in North America.