基于统计-动力反演的近千年印度夏季风驱动机制探讨

过去1000年的气候变化是最近数十年人类活动影响加强情况下全球气候变化的自然背景, 其变化规律和驱动机制的研究对预测未来气候变化有着重要意义。非线性统计-动力反演方法结合了统计模型和动力模型的优点, 能充分利用观测数据反演系统各因子之间的相互关系。本文尝试应用非线性统计-动力反演方法建立印度夏季风的动力方程, 为研究印度夏季风的驱动机制提供量化参考。经研究发现:近千年印度夏季风系统是复杂非线性动力系统; 工业革命前印度夏季风变化的主要驱动力是北大西洋海表温, 其次是温室气体(N2O和CO2)浓度与阿拉伯海海表温、ENSO及太阳辐照度等的相互作用; 在工业革命后期, 温室气体(CH4、N2O和CO2)浓度及其与北大西洋海表温、太阳辐照度、ENSO及北极温度等的相互作用成为印度夏季风的主要驱动力; 单因子甲烷和N2O是印度夏季风的驱动力, 而它们的非线性相互作用(两个因子的交叉项)却是稳定作用力。总体来说, 工业革命前, 北大西洋海表温度是印度夏季风的主要驱动因子; 工业革命后, 温室气体则成为主要的驱动因子。     

Origin of the sedimentary deposits of the Naracoorte Caves, South Australia

The origin of the sediments located in the Naracoorte Caves (South Australia) was investigated via the analysis of strontium isotope ratios (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr), elemental geochemistry, and mineralogy. Sedimentary deposits located in Robertson, Wet, Blanche and several other chambers in Victoria Cave are all variable mixes of fine sand and coarse silts, which display similar and consistent strontium isotope ratios (0.717–0.725). This suggests that over the 400 ka time frame that these deposits span there has been minimal variation in the source of the clastic sediments. Increased strontium concentrations for these cave sediments correspond with increasing silt content, yet there is no correlation between ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios and silt content. This implies that the silt-sized component of the sediments is the main contributor of strontium to the cave sediments. Comparisons of ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr with regional surficial deposits show a significant correlation between the cave sediments (avg: 0.7228; n = 27), the fine silt lunettes of the Bool Lagoon area (avg: 0.7224; n = 4), the sandy A horizons of the Coonawarra Red Brown Earths (RBEs; avg: 0.726; n = 5), and Holocene age podsolic sand deposits (0.723). These data suggest that there has been substantial flux from this group of deposits to the caves, as would be expected considering prevailing winds. This relationship is further supported by a strong correlation between many trace elements, including Ti, Zr, Ce, and Y; however, variations in clay mineralogy suggest that the fine silt-dominated lunettes and Padthaway RBEs were not significant contributors to the cave deposits. Hence, the detritus entering the caves was more than likely from areas proximal to the cave entrance and was dominated by medium grain-sized materials. Major regional deposits, including the coarser-grained, calcite-rich Bridgewater Formation sands, basalts from the lower SE, Padthaway Horst granites, Gambier limestone, and metamorphics from the Adelaide geosyncline show minimal correlation in ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios, elemental geochemistry, and mineralogy with the cave sediments, and are discounted as significant sources. In comparison, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios for the Coorong silty sands (0.717–0.724), Lower Murray sands (0.727–0.730), and the medium size silt component of the Murray–Darling River system (0.71–0.72), compare favourably with the cave sediments. This relationship is further supported by similarities in elemental chemistry and mineralogy. Thus, much of the strontium-rich silt that is now located in the Naracoorte Cave sediments likely originated from the Murray–Darling basin. Over time, this material has been transported to the SE of South Australia, where it mixed with the medium sand component of the regressive dune ridge sequence, locally derived organic matter, limestone fragments, and fossil material to produce the unique deposits that we see evident in many of the chambers of the Naracoorte Cave system today.     

Insights into Wasatch fault vertical slip rates using the age of sediments in Timpanogos Cave, Utah

Timpanogos Cave, located near the Wasatch fault, is about 357 m above the American Fork River. Fluvial cave sediments and an interbedded carbonate flowstone yield a paleomagnetic and U–Th depositional age of 350 to 780 ka. Fault vertical slip rates, inferred from calculated river downcutting rates, range between 1.02 and 0.46 mm yr^− 1. These slip rates are in the range of the 0–12 Ma Wasatch Range exhumation rate ( 0.5–0.7 mm yr^− 1), suggesting that the long-term vertical slip rate remained stable through mid-Pleistocene time. However, the late Pleistocene (0–250 ka) decelerated slip rate ( 0.2–0.3 mm yr^− 1) and the accelerated Holocene slip rate ( 1.2 mm yr^− 1) are consistent with episodic fault activity. Assuming that the late Pleistocene vertical slip rate represents an episodic slowing of fault movement and the long-term (0–12 Ma) average vertical slip rate, including the late Pleistocene and Holocene, should be  0.6 mm yr^− 1, there is a net late Pleistocene vertical slip deficit of  50–75 m. The Holocene and late Pleistocene slip rates may be typical for episodes of accelerated and slowed fault movement, respectively. The calculated late Pleistocene slip deficit may mean that the current accelerated Wasatch fault slip rate will extend well into the future.     

Geological risk assessment of the area surrounding Altamira Cave: A proposed Natural Risk Index and Safety Factor for protection of prehistoric caves

Altamira Cave occurs in a carbonate sequence-dated as middle to upper Cenomanian, being characterized by tabular bedding. This sequence has been studied in detail and mapped in an attempt to delimit the beds in which the cave was formed. The cave forms part of a karstic complex developed in the Altamira Formation, which consists of eight stratigraphic units characterized by karstic forms and landslides as the main geomorphologic elements. The strong relationship between sinkholes and faults within the area was also revealed, with sinkholes of oval morphology aligned along the faults. Inside the cave, the subhorizontal bedding is intersected by subvertical joints, generating geometrical blocks prone to falling down. This is the main process of the present evolution of the cave in addition to the dissolution and precipitation of carbonates in local zones. We used this geological characterization as the basis for the definition of protection areas around prehistoric caves, applied in this article to the Altamira Cave. Landslides, water flow towards the cave, rock falls within cave and karstic features are the main geological risks affecting the karstic complex. Two semi-quantitative indexes were proposed, the Natural Risk Index (NRI) and Safety Factor (SF), with the main aim of determining the risk level in different zones of the study area. The information provided by geological studies as well as the results obtained using the proposed indexes allowed definition suitable protection areas around the cave.     

The role of inherited Pb in controlling the quality of speleothem U-Pb ages

Over two decades of technical and application-based advances to the speleothem U-Pb chronometer have cemented this terrestrial archive at the forefront of landscape reconstruction, palaeoclimatology, and palaeoanthropology. The ability to access speleothem palaeoclimate records beyond the 650 ka limit of the U-Th system has opened many avenues to such ‘deep-time’ considerations. Yet still this chronometer remains a challenging analytical exercise, more-so as the technique becomes routinely applied to carbonates with less-than-ideal U/Pb ratios. In this contribution, we review the vadose speleothem U-Pb system, as revealed by 68 previously published isochrons produced from 474 solution-mode analyses across three separate geographical regions. We develop a new statistical parameter of ‘average distance’ to quantify the dispersion or ‘spread’ along the previously published isochrons and compare this with available U and Pb elemental concentrations. Our findings highlight the importance of regional geology and karst morphology in controlling the speleothem's overall U/Pb ratio. Furthermore, we show that variability in the amount of inherited Pb across the sampling layer (average variability of 63% relative to sample average) – not uranium (23% variability) or by extension radiogenic Pb – is a main factor controlling the resulting isochron's quality. This is demonstrated using Z-score distributions of the U and Pb concentrations and isochron average distance values. By making this distinction we hope to initiate further research into Pb-specific transportation vectors through the karst, in addition to physical/chemical processes that fractionate inherited Pb at the speleothem precipitation site. We go on to extend the use of Tera-Wasserburg common Pb anchors to the ‘classical’ U-Pb isochrons as an example of the utility gained by considering the role of inherited Pb within speleothems. Finally we argue that an improved theoretical understanding of inherited Pb distributions within speleothems would greatly benefit solution mode sampling strategies, especially for poor-to-moderate U/Pb speleothems.     

北京石花洞石笋微层层面有机物质的形成时间及机理初探

通过对北京石花洞滴水水溶性有机碳(DOC)近一个水文年的观测,发现不同点滴水DOC浓度均表现出明显的季节性变化,7月中旬均有一个大的主峰出现。初步说明中国北方石笋微层的层面物质沉积于7月雨季,主要来源于大的雨量对土壤中有机质的淋溶;洞穴顶板较薄的滴水点在5月和8月有明显的DOC次峰,可能与石笋亚年层形成有关。     

黑龙江阿城交界洞穴遗址的哺乳动物群

黑龙江阿城交界旧石器时代洞穴遗址出土的哺乳动物化石主要来自洞穴堆积下部的第5层和第6层,目前鉴定出12个种类,以北方种类为主,缺少披毛犀和猛犸象等典型的喜冷种类,是生存于亚温暖期向寒冷期过渡阶段的北方动物群。交界动物群以含原东北鼢鼠相似种、东北兔(翁氏兔)和梅氏犀等中更新世类型为特征,在组成上与中更新世中晚期的金牛山和庙后山动物群、晚更新世的小孤山动物群和古龙山动物群接近。堆积下部第6层出土的化石种类可能生存于距今154~266ka之间的亚温暖期(倒数第二冰期Ⅱ和Ⅲ阶段之间)末尾,适合喜温的梅氏犀及对温差适应能力较强的北京斑鹿、斑鬣狗等大型动物的生存; 而出土于第5层的化石种类可能生存在暖冷交替的倒数第二冰期Ⅲ阶段初始(距今154ka)附近,适合旱獭、原东北鼢鼠、东北兔等小型草原型哺乳动物的生存。交界动物群生存时期的环境为草原与森林镶嵌存在,在亚温暖期时(下部第6层堆积时期)的森林面积较大,而在冷暖期转变时(次下部第5层堆积时期)森林面积缩小、草原面积增加。     

富源刺托洞旧石器遗址初探

富源刺托洞的旧石器文化是适应岩溶地貌发育环境的产物,形成以小型石片、刮削器为主体的石器工业;当时的气候总体上是在热带、亚热带气候至暖温带之间波动,形成的动物群为非典型的大熊猫-剑齿象动物群(Ailuroooda-Stegodon fauna)可与晚更新世的柳江动物群(西畴动物群)对比;遗址时代为晚更新世,地质年龄测定(14C)＞4×104a.     

Reef margin collapse, gully formation and filling within the Permian Capitan Reef: Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico, USA

An area of reef margin collapse, gully formation and gully fill sedimentation has been identified and mapped within Left Hand Tunnel, Carlsbad Caverns. It demonstrates that the Capitan Reef did not, at all times, form an unbroken border to the Delaware Basin. Geopetally arranged sediments within cavities from sponge–algal framestones of the reef show that the in situ reef today has a 10° basinwards structural dip. Similar dips in adjacent back-reef sediments, previously considered depositional, probably also have a structural origin. Reoriented geopetal structures have also allowed the identification of a 200-m-wide, 25-m-deep gully within the reef, which has been filled by large (some  >15 m), randomly orientated and, in places, overturned blocks and boulders, surrounded by finer reef rubble, breccias and grainstones. Block supply continued throughout gully filling, implying that spalling of reef blocks was a longer term process and was not a by-product of the formation of the gully. Gully initiation was probably the result of a reef front collapse, with a continued instability of the gully bordering reef facies demonstrated by their incipient brecciation and by faults containing synsedimentary fills. Gully filling probably occurred during reef growth, and younger reef has prograded over the gully fill. Blocks contain truncated former aragonite botryoidal cements, indicating early aragonite growth within the in situ reef. In contrast, former high-magnesian calcite rind cements post-date sedimentation within the gully. The morphology of cavern passages is controlled by reef facies variation, with narrower passages cut into the in situ reef and wider passages within the gully fill. Gully fills may also constitute more permeable zones in the subsurface.     

洞穴次生化学沉积物与地质背景及洞穴环境的耦合关系——以广西巴马水晶宫为例

运用岩溶地貌及洞穴次生化学沉积物的成景机制和原理,结合动态耦合的方法和系统的观点,通过“洞穴”这一共同作用的对象,将洞穴的区域地质背景、洞穴外部环境、洞穴内部环境与洞穴次生化学沉积物成景过程进行有机联系,创立某一洞穴次生化学沉积物成景耦合系统,概括其内涵、特征和意义。同时通过对广西巴马水晶宫区域地质背景、洞穴外部环境、洞穴内部环境等系统分析和研究,全面系统探讨水晶宫洞穴次生化学沉积物的成景耦合过程,并按不同时期区域构造运动的程度及洞穴次生化学沉积物的形成特征,将该成景耦合过程划分为4个可往复循环的阶段：① 区域构造平稳前期—洞穴次生化学沉积物形成发育阶段;② 区域构造平稳中期—洞穴次生化学沉积物大规模发育阶段;③ 区域构造平稳后期—洞穴次生化学沉积物缓慢或停止发育阶段;④ 区域间歇性构造运动—洞穴次生化学沉积物崩塌阶段。