The lacustrine sedimentary records of coal-burning atmospheric pollution

With the acceleration of industrialization, coal- burning atmospheric pollution is getting more and more serious in many regions in China. However, there are only about ten odd years literature records about pollution in some large and mid-sized cities, where the atmosphere has perhaps been polluted for several decades, and therefore it is difficult to know the process and characteristic of pollution, and diffi-cult to evaluate its damage to environment. Lacustrine sediment, a natural record w…     

2-D crustal Poisson’s ratio from seismic travel time inversion in Changbaishan Tianchi volcanic region

Based on the inversion method of 2D velocity structure and interface, the crustal velocity structures of P-wave and S-wave along the profile L ₁ are determined simultaneously with deep seismic sounding data in Changbaishan Tianchi volcanic region, and then its Poisson’s ratio is obtained. Calculated results show that this technique overcomes some defects of traditional forward calculation method, and it is also very effective to determine Poisson’s ratio distribution of deep seismic sounding profile, especially useful for study on volcanic magma and crustal fault zone. Study result indicates that there is an abnormally high Poisson’s ratio body that is about 30 km wide and 12 km high in the low velocity region under Tianchi crater. Its value of Poisson’s ratio is 8% higher than that of surrounding medium and it should be the magma chamber formed from melted rock with high temperature. There is a high Poisson’s ratio zone ranging from magma chamber to the top of crust, which may be the uprise passage of hot substance. The lower part with high Poisson’s ratio, which stretches downward to Moho, is possibly the extrusion way of hot substance from the uppermost mantle. The conclusions above are consistent with the study results of both tomographic determination of 3D crustal structure and magnetotelluric survey in this region. Foundation item: Key Project from China Earthquake Administration and the Project (95-11-02-01) from Ministry of Science and Technology (2001DIA10003). Contribution No. RCEG200401, Geophysical Exploration Center, China Earthquake Administration.     

Leaf area index retrieval based on canopy reflectance and vegetation index in eastern China

The aim of this paper is to investigate the feasibility of using Landsat TM data to retrieve leaf area index (LAI). To get a LAI retrieval model based ground reflectance and vegetation index, detailed field data were collected in the study area of eastern China, dominated by bamboo, tea plant and greengage. Plant canopy reflectance of Landsat TM wavelength bands has been inversed using software of 6S. LAI is an important ecological parameter. In this paper, atmospheric corrected Landsat TM imagery was utilized to calculate different vegetation indices (VI), such as simple ratio vegetation index (SR), shortwave infrared modified simple ratio (MSR), and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Data of 53 samples of LAI were measured by LAI-2000 (LI-COR) in the study area. LAI was modeled based on different reflectances of bands and different vegetation indices from Landsat TM and LAI samples data. There are certainly correlations between LAI and the reflectance of Tm3, TM4, TM5 and TM7. The best model through analyzing the results is LAI = 1.2097*MSR + 0.4741 using the method of regression analysis. The result shows that the correlation coefficient R2 is 0.5157, and average accuracy is 85.75%. However, whether the model of this paper is suitable for application in subtropics needs to be verified in the future.     

Present environment and historic changes from the record of lake sediments, Dhaka City, Bangladesh

Changes in the urban environment of Dhaka City have been evaluated from the geochemical compositions of bottom sediments from two lakes, Gulshan-1 and –2. Abundances of Pb, Zn, Fe₂O₃ and total sulfur in a Gulshan-1 core gradually increase toward the sediment–water interface. Three stages of condition change can be recognized in Gulshan-1, based on trace metal concentration patterns. The basal Stage I corresponds to background Dhaka sedimentation, whereas gradual increase in Stage II represents the beginning of pollution. Marked increases in Pb and Zn in Stage III reflect rapid urban development and increased emissions to the atmosphere. The condition of the Dhaka environment is compared to that of Japan based on Zn–Fe₂O₃ and Pb–Fe₂O₃ relations. Zn–Fe₂O₃ ratios in Stage I Dhaka sediments are similar to normal Japanese sediments, whereas Stage II data lie on the same trend as Japan urban sediments. Dhaka Stage III samples have greater Zn:Fe₂O₃ ratios than Japanese urban sediments, suggesting Zn pollution from poorly-controlled industrial sources. In contrast, the Dhaka Pb–Fe₂O₃ trend lies between normal and urban Japanese sediments. Although vehicle emissions in Dhaka are now significant, the data suggest that Pb pollution from this source remains in its early stages.     

New evidence for an extended occupation of the Provo shoreline and implications for regional climate change, Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, Utah, USA

Lake Bonneville was a climatically sensitive, closed-basin lake that occupied the eastern Great Basin during the late Pleistocene. Ongoing efforts to refine the record of lake level history are important for deciphering climate conditions in the Bonneville basin and for facilitating correlations with regional and global records of climate change. Radiocarbon data from this and other studies suggest that the lake oscillated at or near the Provo level much longer than depicted by current models of lake level change. Radiocarbon data also suggest that the lake dropped from threshold control much more rapidly than previously supposed. These revisions to the Lake Bonneville hydrograph, coupled with independent evidence of climate change from vegetation and glacial records, have important implications for conditions in the Bonneville basin and during the Pleistocene to Holocene transition.     

洱海环境演变与大理城市发展的关系研究

针对洱海特殊的生态环境和对大理城市发展所起的举足轻重的作用，2002年通过实地环境调查和系列历史及动态资料分析进行了洱海和大理城市之问人地关系的互动研究。概括出大理城市发展的5个阶段，结果表明人类生存场所发展的总趋势是从高处往低处下移，从山前台地向下迁往山缘冲积洪积扇平原，直至湖滨平原地带。并着重分析了变迁的原因和人类活动的影响状况，从而使人们在开发利用洱海的同时，促进人类活动和城市发展建设相得益彰，并建议选择旅游和供水为主的和谐可持续发展道路，强化政府的宏观管理，增大科技投入。     

Age of Gimli beach of Lake Agassiz based on new OSL dating

Gimli beach in Manitoba is one of the lowest elevation beaches in the southern Lake Agassiz basin, and is a distinct ridge composed of bedded sand and gravel that rises above the lake plain and extends for more than 40 km. Ten new optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages from Gimli beach yield ages mostly ranging from 9.7 ± 0.7 to 10.5 ± 0.8 ka (average 10.3 ± 0.5 ka), which is older by 0.6 to >1.0 ka than age estimates of previous researchers. Two of our new OSL ages are notably older than the others, dating to ~11.3 ± 0.8 and 13.9 ± 1.0 ka, which we attribute to poorly bleached sands. We ascribe an age of about 10 ka to Gimli beach, which is several centuries before overflow from Lake Agassiz and its vast drainage basin shifted from the western Great Lakes to glacial Lake Ojibway and the St. Lawrence Valley.     

Characterisation of hydroclimatological trends and variability in the Lake Naivasha basin,Kenya

Recent hydro‐climatological trends and variability characteristics were investigated for the Lake Naivasha basin with the aim of understanding the changes in water balance components and their evolution over the past 50 years. Using a Bayesian change point analysis and modified Mann–Kendall tests, time series of annual mean, maximum, minimum, and seasonal precipitation and flow, as well as annual mean lake volumes, were analysed for the period 1960–2010 to uncover possible abrupt shifts and gradual trends. Double cumulative curve analysis was used to investigate the changes in hydrological response attributable to either human influence or climatic variability. The results indicate a significant decline in lake volumes at a mean rate of 9.35 × 10⁶ m³ year^?1. Most of the river gauging stations showed no evidence of trends in the annual mean and maximum flows as well as seasonal flows. Annual minimum flows, however, showed abrupt shifts and significant (upward/downward) trends at the main outlet stations. Precipitation in the basin showed no evidence of abrupt shifts, but a few stations showed gradual decline. The observed changes in precipitation could not explain the decline in both minimum flows and lake volumes. The findings show no evidence of any impact of climate change for the Lake Naivasha basin over the past 50 years. This implies that other factors, such as changes in land cover and infrastructure development, have been responsible for the observed changes in streamflow and lake volumes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of the interannual variability of annual daily extreme water levels in the St Lawrence River and Lake Ontario from 1918 to 2010

We compared the interannual variability of annual daily maximum and minimum extreme water levels in Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence River (Sorel station) from 1918 to 2010, using several statistical tests. The interannual variability of annual daily maximum extreme water levels in Lake Ontario is characterized by a positive long‐term trend showing two shifts in mean (1929–1930 and 1942–1943) and a single shift in variance (in 1958–1959). In contrast, for the St Lawrence River, this interannual variability is characterized by a negative long‐term trend with a single shift in mean, which occurred in 1955–1956. As for annual daily minimum extreme water levels, their interannual variability shows no significant long‐term change in trend. However, for Lake Ontario, the interannual variability of these water levels shows two shifts in mean, which are synchronous with those for maximum water levels, and a single shift in variance, which occurred in 1965–1966. These changes in trend and stationarity (mean and variance) are thought to be due to factors both climatic (the Great Drought of the 1930s) and human (digging of the Seaway and construction of several dams and locks during the 1950s). Despite this change in means and variance, the four series are clearly described by the generalized extreme value distribution. Finally, annual daily maximum and minimum extreme water levels in the St Lawrence and Lake Ontario are negatively correlated with Atlantic multidecadal oscillation over the period from 1918 to 2010. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.