Stratigraphic evidence for multiple drainings of glacial Lake Missoula along the Clark Fork River, Montana, USA

Glacial Lake Missoula, a source of Channeled Scabland flood waters, inundated valleys of northwest Montana to altitudes of ∼ 1265 m and to depths of  >600 m, as evidenced by shorelines and silty lacustrine deposits. This study describes previously unrecognized catastrophic lake-drainage deposits that lie stratigraphically beneath the glacial-lake silts. The unconsolidated gravelly flood alluvium contains imbricated boulder-sized clasts, cross-stratified gravel with slip-face heights of 2-> 35 m, and 70- to 100-m-high gravel bars which all indicate a high-energy, high-volume alluvial environment. Gravel bars and high scablands were formed by catastrophic draining of one or possibly more early, high lake stands (1200-1265 m). Most glacial-lake silt, such as the Ninemile section, was deposited stratigraphically above the earlier deposits, represents a lower lake stand(s) (1050-1150 m), and was not deposited in lake(s) responsible for the highest discharge events. The glaciolacustrine silt-covered benches are incised by relict networks of valleys formed during the drainage of the last glacial lake. Significant erosion associated with the last lake draining was confined to the inner Clark Fork River canyon.     

Microwave-assisted extraction of organochlorine pesticides from sediments and determination by gas chromatograph with electron capture detection

A simple and rapid procedure to extract organochlorine pesticides （OCPs） from sediments by means of microwave energy is proposed. Sediment samples were irradiated with microwaves in a closed vessel system while immersed in hexane-acetone （1 ： 1, v/v）. The sample extracts were cleaned up using solid phase extraction with Florisil as adsorbent. Pesticides were eluted with hexane-ethyl acetate （80 ： 20, v/v） and determined by gas chromatographic separation with electron capture detection. Three oven programs were assayed with two different solvent mixtures in order to achieve adequate experimental conditions for the complete extraction of organochlorine pesticides from the matrix. Different variables such as the composition of extraction solvent,     

Speciation analysis and significance of ecological geochemistry

Different species of one element have different activities, so it has different effects on environment and human health. To analyze qualitatively and quantitatively the speciation of a special element in sample, which is the important basis for appraising the toxicity and studying the rule of transfer and translation of elements. Since the 1970＇s, the scheme of sequential extraction has already been used at many laboratories both at home and abroard, to get the information about heavy metals＇ activity in polluted soils. Because this method has the experimental nature, many schemes of problem has taken place, the absence of consistency of these sequential extraction have been formed. Thus the complexity of the schemes, the lack of selectivity of reagent, the lack of quality control, the result mainly related to the extraction scheme used, and so on. In the face of these problems, the study of experimental methods of sequential extraction on three different soils, sediment in Dongting Lake, soil in Jiangsu Province and loess in Shanxi Province was made. Reference materials of heavy metal speciation following sequential extraction in soil and sediment had been developed. Nowadays two kinds of sequential extraction methods which are widely used are BCR （three steps） and improved Tessier methods （seven steps）. Based on three steps of BCR, water-soluble speciation and the residual speciation were increased in our research. BCR701 was determined eight times at different laboratories using BCR three steps. The results showed that determined data obtained eight times were identical to the standard value, and it is indicated that this method has good reproducibility. The stability and homogeneity experiments indicated that the preparation of three types of candidates accorded with our requirements. Eight laboratories had afforded the determined values of 12 heavy metal elements （Cu, Pb, Zn, Mn, Co, Ni, Cd, Cr, Mo, As, Sb, Hg, Se et al.） using BCR three steps. Also, these three candidates afforded the determined values by seven steps, and 12 laboratories had participated.     

Changes to cadmium associations in canal sediments on drying and oxidation

The mainly 19th Century canal system in the UK, largely managed by British Waterways, has been increasingly brought back into operation over the last few decades, and is now widely used for both leisure, and, increasingly, transport. Both initial and routine dredging of the canal sediment is carried out and these sediments are generally disposed of to land. Because many of the canals were connected with primary industries, their sediments can locally be significantly contaminated with heavy metals, and the behaviour of these metals under differing redox conditions, when introduced into a new environment （i.e., on land） is of importance for environmental risk-assessment purposes. Canal sediments are often rich in sulfidic mineral phases, and we have attempted to quantify the influence of these sulfidic phases on the release and retention of metals in dredged canal sediments, using a combination of traditional chemical techniques （e.g. sequential extraction） and X-ray absorption spectroscopy （XAS）. Sediment samples have been collected from urban fresh-water canals, one in the British Midlands and one in Northern France. It appears from XAS that Cd is largely associated with oxygen in air-dried sediment, and with sulphur in vacuum-dried sediment.     

Influence of humic acid on bioavailability of heavy metals in sediments

The mimetic ocean environment and chemical method were used to research the bioavailability effect of humic acid on five heavy metals in sediment, including Cd, Cu, Zn, Pb and Ni. The sediment was separated into four containers with artificial seawater, and each of them had different concentrations of humic acid. The values of concentrations covered the whole range found in natural sediment （0.1%-10%）. According to the 48 hours LC50 of clam and distribution coefficient, metals were added in artificial seawater, and their speciation was determined at first and then after two days＇ incubation. It was found the bioavailability of heavy metals was reduced in the presence of humic acid. The obvious negative effect on Zn was observed, but the influence on Cd was not remarkable. In addition, the contents of Pb and Ni increased obviously in organic phase, and they are correlative with the concentrations of humic acid.     

Stratigraphic evolution of a fluvial–eolian succession: The example of the Upper Jurassic—Lower Cretaceous Guará and Botucatu formations, Paraná Basin, Southernmost Brazil

The Guará and Botucatu formations comprise an 80 to 120 m thick continental succession that crops out on the western portion of the Rio Grande do Sul State (Southernmost Brazil). The Guará Formation (Upper Jurassic) displays a well-defined facies shift along its outcrop belt. On its northern portion it is characterised by coarse-grained to conglomeratic sandstones with trough and planar cross-bedding, as well as low-angle lamination, which are interpreted to represent braided river deposits. Southwards these fluvial facies thin out and interfinger with fine- to medium-grained sandstones with large-scale cross-stratification and horizontal lamination, interpreted as eolian dune and eolian sand sheets deposits, respectively. The Botucatu Formation is characterised by large-scale cross-strata formed by successive climbing of eolian dunes, without interdune and/or fluvial accumulation (dry eolian system). The contact between the Guará and the Botucatu formations is delineated by a basin-wide deflation surface (supersurface). The abrupt change in the depositional conditions that took place across this supersurface suggests a major climate change, from semi-arid (Upper Jurassic) to hyper-arid (Lower Cretaceous) conditions. A rearrangement of the Paraná Basin depocenters is contemporaneous to this climate change, which seems to have changed from a more restrict accumulation area in the Guará Formation to a wider sedimentary context in the Botucatu Formation.     

Biofacies of Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous sediments of central West Siberia

Paleontological study of Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous sediments recovered by boreholes in the Agan-Vakh and Nadym-Vengapur interfluves clarified environments of their deposition. As is shown, influx of siliciclastic material to central areas of the West Siberian sea basin varied through time. Taxonomic composition and ecological structure of nektonic and benthic fossil assemblages are analyzed and considered in terms of environmental factors such as hydrodynamics, aeration, temperature, and salinity of seawater.     

New data on Sr-and C-isotopic chemostratigraphy of the Upper Riphean type section (Southern Urals)

New data on Sr-and C-isotopic systematics of carbonate rocks from the Upper Riphean stratotype (Karatau Group of the southern Urals) are obtained for several southwestern sections of the Bashkirian meganticlinorium, which have not been studied before. The results obtained supplement the Sr-and C-isotopic information for the group upper horizons thus detailing chemostratigraphic characterization of the entire succession. Limestone and dolostone samples used to analyze the Sr isotope composition satisfy strict geochemical criteria of the isotopic system retentivity and have been subjected to preliminary treatment in ammonium acetate to remove secondary carbonate phases. Data on 255 samples of carbonate rocks (171 studied for the first time) show that δ¹³C value varies in the Karatau Group succession from ?2.8 to +5.9 ‰ V-PDB with several in-phase excursions from the general trend in all the sections studied in the area 90 × 130 km. The δ¹³C variation trend demarcates several levels in the carbonate succession of the Karatau Group suitable for objectives of regional stratigraphy and for C-isotope chemostratigraphic subdivision of the Upper Riphean. The results of Sr isotopic analysis of 121 samples (51 unstudied before) from the Karatau Group imply that rocks in its lower part (the Katav Formation and basal horizon of the Inzer Formation) experienced considerable secondary alterations, while limestones and dolostones of the overlying interval of the group are frequently unaltered. In the “best” samples satisfying geochemical criteria of the isotopic system retentivity, the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr initial ratio increases from 0.70521–0.70532 in the lower Inzer deposits to 0.70611 in the upper Min’yar carbonates, decreasing to <0.70600 near the top of the latter. Above the regional hiatus separating the Min’yar and Uk formation, this ratio grows from 0.70533 to 0.70605–0.70609 in the limestone succession of the last formation.     

Study of stable isotopes for highly deformed aquifers in the Hsinchu-Miaoli area, Taiwan

This study was based on the analysis of isotopic compositions of hydrogen and oxygen in samples from precipitation, groundwater and stream water. In addition, parts of groundwater samples were dated by carbon-14 and tritium. These data are integrated to provide other views of the hydrologic cycle in the Hsinchu-Miaoli groundwater district. The groundwater district is principally composed of Pleistocene and Holocene aquifers. The Pleistocene aquifers are highly deformed by folding and faults into small sub-districts with areas of only tens of square kilometers. These aquifers are exclusively recharged by local precipitation. The Holocene aquifers cover narrow creek valleys, only tens of meters in thickness. The local meteoric water line (LMWL), constructed from rainfall samples in the Hsinchu Science Park, is described by the equation δD=8.02δ¹⁸O+10.16, which agrees with the global meteoric water line. In addition, the precipitation isotopic compositions can be categorized into two distinct end members: typhoon type and monsoon type. The groundwater isotopic compositions are perfectly located on an LMWL and can be considered a mixture of precipitations. Based on the mass balance of isotopic compositions of oxygen and hydrogen, infiltration is more active in the rainy season with depleted isotopic compositions. The amount of infiltration during May–September is roughly estimated to comprise at least 55% of the whole year’s recharge. The isotopic compositions of stream water are expressed by a regression equation: δD=7.61δ¹⁸O+9.62, which is similar to the LMWL. Although precipitation isotopic compositions are depleted during summer time, the isotopic compositions contrarily show an enriched trend in the upstream area. This is explained by the opposite altitude effect on isotopic compositions for typhoon-related precipitations.     

科尔沁沙地土地利用与耕作方式对土壤风蚀的影响

土壤风蚀造成的直接生态后果是土地资源的退化。在春播前两次沙尘暴事件中,对科尔沁沙地几种具有代表性的土地类型的土壤风蚀量及土壤特性进行了野外测定、分析,结果表明:(1)在同一沙尘暴天气下,由于土地利用和耕作方式的不同,土壤风蚀量存在着差异,新垦农地和翻耕农地的风蚀量显著高于未垦草地、免耕农地和麻黄地;免耕农地则与未垦草地的风蚀量相差不大,风蚀危害较轻;麻黄地几乎不受风蚀侵害。新垦农地、翻耕农地、免耕农地、未垦草地、麻黄地两次观测的土壤风蚀量平均值依次为24.59、15.60、2.26、1.46和0.22 g/h.cm2。(2)基于土壤特性计算的土壤退化指数结果表明,新垦农地和翻耕农地发生了较为严重的退化。