Cosmogenic nuclide measurements in southernmost South America and implications for landscape change

We measured in situ ¹⁰Be, ²⁶Al and³⁶Cl on glacial deposits as old as 1.1 Myr in the southernmost part of Patagonia and on northern Tierra del Fuego to understand boulder and moraine and, by inference, landscape changes. Nuclide concentrations indicate that surface boulders have been exposed for far less time than the ages of moraines they sit upon. The moraine ages are themselves constrained by previously obtained ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages on interbedded lava flows or U-series and amino acid measurements on related (non-glacial) marine deposits. We suggest that a combination of boulder erosion and their exhumation from the moraine matrix could cause the erratics to have a large age variance and often short exposure histories, despite the fact that some moraine landforms are demonstrably 1 Myr old. We hypothesize that fast or episodic rates of landscape change occurred during glacial times or near the sea during interglacials. Comparison with boulder erosion rates and exhumation histories derived for the middle latitudes of semi-arid Patagonia imply different geomorphic processes operating in southernmost South America. We infer a faster rate of landscape degradation towards the higher latitudes where conditions have been colder and wetter.     

Late Quaternary clay minerals off Middle Vietnam in the western South China Sea: Implications for source analysis and East Asian monsoon evolution

High-resolution clay mineral records combined with oxygen isotopic stratigraphy over the past 450 ka during late Quaternary from Core MD05-2901 off Middle Vietnam in the western South China Sea are re-ported to reconstruct a history of East Asian monsoon evolution. Variations in Illite, chlorite, and kaolinite contents indicate a strong glacial-interglacial cyclicity, while changes in smectite content present a higher frequency cyclicity. The provenance analysis indicates a mixture of individual clay minerals from various sources surrounding the South China Sea. Smectite derived mainly from the Sunda shelf and its major source area of the Indonesian islands. Illite and chlorite originated mainly from the Mekong and Red rivers. Kaolinite was provided mainly by the Pearl River. Spectral analysis of the kaolin-ite/(illite chlorite) ratio displays a strong eccentricity period of 100 ka, implying the ice sheet-forced win-ter monsoon evolution; whereas higher frequency changes in the smectite content show an ice sheet-forced obliquity period of 41 ka, and precession periods of 23 and 19 ka and a semi-precession period of 13 ka as well, implying the tropical-forced summer monsoon evolution. The winter monsoon evolution is generally in coherence with the glacial-interglacial cyclicity, with intensified winter monsoon winds during glacials and weakened winter monsoon winds during interglacials; whereas the summer monsoon evolution provides an almost linear response to the summer insolation of low latitude in the Northern Hemisphere, with strengthened summer monsoon during higher insolation and weakened summer monsoon during lower insolation. The result suggests that the high-latitude ice sheet and low-latitude tropical factor could drive the late Quaternary evolution of East Asian winter and summer monsoons, respectively, implying their diplex and self-contained forcing mechanism.     

南海北部陆坡ODP 1144站位第四纪硅藻及其古环境演变

中国南海北部陆坡ODP 1144站位硅藻植物群的研究，建立了西太平洋边缘海一个新的中更新世晚期以来的硅藻生物地层图式，根据硅藻化石中具有指示意义的硅藻种的分布和生态变化（暖水种和冷水种），划分了8个硅藻组合带，其硅藻组合带分别在不同的高低海面环境下形成的，根据ODP1144站位氧同位素（OIS）测定结果，8个硅藻组合带与OIS 1－8期相对应。1、3、5、7硅藻组合带相当于OIS1、3、5、7期，间冰期是以热带和亚热带硅藻占优势，其中冷期出现大量的沿岸硅藻为特征，反映高海平面温暖的气候条件；2、4、6、8硅藻组合带相当于OIS2、4、6、8期，冰期是以亚热带，热带和出现较多冷水硅藻为特征，反映低海平面较冷气候条件，硅藻丰度值的变化与冰期和间冰期有关，可以证实间冰期时期高的海平面和较低的生物生产力以及冰期时低的海平面和高的生物生产力，而生物生产力的变化又与沉积时期沿岸流或上升流的强弱及水团活动有密切关系，进而揭示该区古海洋环境的演化与季风强弱之间的内在关系。     

青藏高原新生代构造和第四纪研究的进展及问题讨论

简述了近年来国内外在青藏高原晚新生代构造和第四纪地质研究方面所取得的新进展，针对在活动构造研究中所存在的问题，提出 今后研究工作的方向，认为应当加强青藏高原及其周缘地区晚新生代构造变形方式、幅度和速率的研究，同时在研究中应当将第四纪地质与活动构造研究相结合，特别要注重深部构造的研究。     

洞庭湖区第四纪气候变化的初步探讨

探讨了洞庭湖区第四纪以来的气候变化，初步得出以下规律：更新世气候变化剧烈，气候组合暖湿（温湿）与冷干；全新世气候转为温凉，主要气候组合为温湿与凉干；历史时期气候主要仍温湿与凉干交替，但15 世纪以来出现短暂的温干与凉温期；15世纪以来，气候波动频繁，有愈来愈不稳定的趋向，进入20世纪，旱涝灾害更加。在全球变暖的背景下，预计该区未来气候趋向于暖湿，但不排除暖干的可能性。     

晚更新世以来南天山阿克苏地区地壳缩短率

作者研究南天山中段阿克苏—库车山前带活动断层,发现断层切过托木尔峰山麓第四纪冰碛物和阶地,形成2条断层崖。通过测量阶地和冰碛物的变形量,推断阶地和冰碛物的沉积年代,估算南天山中段阿克苏地区晚更新世以来的地壳缩短率可能为1.85mm/a。这个缩短率与库尔勒地区(2mm/a)和柯坪地区(1.8mm/a)的地壳缩短率一致,但是小于南天山西段喀什地区(10±2mm/a)和天山东段玛纳斯地区(6±3mm/a)的地壳缩短率,表明天山不同地段的地壳缩短率存在明显差异。     

柴达木盆地第四纪古气候变化在物理测井自然伽玛曲线上的记录

利用物理测井曲线分析古气候变化，是近年发展起来的新领域。本文在对取芯井涩中6井多种气候指标分析的基础上，建立了涩中6井GR曲线古气候反演模式，将该模式引进到盆地东部唯一贯穿第四纪的钻孔---达参1井，利用该井高分辨率自然伽玛曲线建立了盆地东部地区2.85Ma以来的时间标尺，据此讨论盆地东部地区2.85Ma以来的古气候变化，表明盆地气候变化在大阶段上明显受到天文轨道周期的控制，但也具有明显的区域性特征。此外还与盆地西部大浪滩ZK-336孔进行了对比。表明柴达木盆地同时包含了高原隆升与全球性气候变化的信息，是古环境变迁的良好的信息载体。也证明了自然伽玛曲线是反映内陆干旱盆地气候与环境变化良好的代用指标。     

关于南国冰臼群成因的商榷之二

南国冰臼群分布区大量冰川堆积、冰川条痕石及变形砾石的发现，再次有力地证明是“冰臼”不是“壶穴”的正确结论，由冰川漂砾经融冻作用形成的“石海”，与化学风化作用产生的花岗岩“石蛋”地貌特征，有天渊之别，不应混为一谈；边滩是由河流冲积物组成，不能与基岩冰床相提并论；圆滚水钻与急流旋涡及风蚀作用，形成的动力学性质、方向和方式完全不同，不该阴错阳差；节理、构造只影响冰臼的形态和发育程度，不是控制形成的动力学性质、方向和方式完全不同，不该阴错阳差；节理、构造只影响冰臼的形态和发育程度，不是控制冰臼的发育部位，不致于是非不辨，南国地区古冰川遗迹的大量发现，证明距今约二三百万年的第四纪早期确实曾发生过大规模的古冰川运动，为争论了半个多世纪的中国东部中低山区有无第四纪冰川问题，从此画上一个圆满的句号。     

试论金坛地区下蜀组与Ge湖组关系

根据金坛地区第四纪地层剖面，对下蜀组和Ge湖组（上段）地层层序、沉积特征、成因及分布进行了初步探讨。认为下蜀组与Ge湖组（上段）是不同期、不同相的产物，在平原区与丘陵山区的交接地带，Ge湖组（上段）超覆于下蜀组之上。