Tortoises and hares: dissolution,erosion and isostasy in landscape evolution

Denudation mechanisms differ fundamentally between limestone and silicate rock types, which are subject to very different rate thresholds and enhancers/inhibitors. Silicates are removed largely by erosion, the mechanical entrainment and transport of particles. This is a relatively high energy, and highly episodic, process which occurs only when a minimum threshold ?ow velocity is exceeded; it is inhibited by vegetation cover and favoured by strongly seasonal runoff. Limestone is removed largely by chemical dissolution at a rate directly proportional to runoff. Dissolution is a relatively low energy process that can occur at any ?ow velocity or in static water; in general it is enhanced by vegetation cover and non‐seasonality of runoff. These contrasting factors in the denudation of silicates versus limestone can produce strikingly uneven rates of surface lowering across a landscape, sometimes akin to the well known ‘tortoise and hare race’, where the slow and steady denudation of limestones may in the long term exceed the sometimes rapid, but often localized and episodic, erosion of silicates. Prolonged exposure of limestone to a humid temperate climate in a tectonically stable environment produces low‐relief corrosion plains in which limestone uplands are anomalous and, in most instances, due to recent unroo?ng from beneath a siliciclastic cover. In a highly seasonal or semi‐arid climate almost the exact inverse may develop, with ‘?ashy’ runoff and sparse vegetation favouring erosion rather than dissolution. Even under a constant humid climate progressive unroo?ng of a thick limestone unit within folded siliciclastics may lead to a topographic inversion over time, with the limestone outcrop always forming a topographic low ?anked by siliciclastic uplands. Valleys will be initiated on anticlinal crests, where the limestone is ?rst unroofed, but progressive lowering of the limestone causes these valleys to migrate to their ?nal position in the synclinal troughs. In humid climates isostatic compensation in response to slow, but continuous, denudation of extensive limestone outcrops may be a signi?cant factor in the development of relief on adjacent, more slowly eroding, silicate outcrops. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

三江源地区气候变化及其对生态环境的影响

利用EOF等方法通过计算 1 96 2～ 2 0 0 1年 4 0年来三江源地区 1 6个气象台站气温、降水、蒸发资料 ,分析了三江源地区近 4 0年来气候变化的异常特征及其对生态环境的影响 ,结果表明 :三江源地区气候变化表现为气温升高、降水减少和蒸发增大的干旱化气候变化趋势 ,同时 ,在气候干旱化和人为活动的影响下出现了草场退化、湖泊萎缩、河流流量减少、土壤沙化和水土流失等生态环境荒漠化问题。     

山东省气候变化及其对冬小麦生产潜力的影响

利用全省 2 7个台站 1 96 1～ 1 998年的温度、降水、日照等基本气象要素资料 ,对山东省气候变化特点进行了分析 ,并对冬小麦生产潜力进行了计算、分析。结果表明 ,山东省年、季平均气温呈波动性增暖趋势 ,降水量呈减少趋势。气候变暖有利于生产潜力的提高 ,冬小麦气候生产潜力总的变化趋势是波动性的上升 ,但较光温生产潜力倾向率小 ,反映了小麦生育期内光、温、水的综合影响。     

济南、福山太阳辐射的气候学特征分析

利用济南、福山地面太阳辐射资料，分析了太阳辐射的气候变化特征。结果表明，60到90年代，济南地面太阳总辐射量、直接辐射量呈显著减少趋势，福山变化趋势不明显；90年代以后，济南地面太阳总辐射呈增多趋势。     

柴达木盆地近40a气候变化及其对农业影响的研究

利用柴达木盆地6个代表站逐日平均气温、逐月降水资料以及逐日最低气温资料。对盆地40a来的气候变化特征进行分析。同时分析了气候变化对农业生产的影响。为充分利用变化了的农业气候资源。减少不利因素带来的影响提出了对策和建议。     

从安徽气候变化看2003年洪涝和高温的必然性

利用近 50年温度和降水资料研究了安徽夏季气候变化特征 ,解释了 2 0 0 3年夏季洪涝、高温等极端气候事件出现的必然性。研究结果表明 :(1 )近 50年来安徽夏季温度呈下降趋势 ,降水则呈增加趋势 ,两者变化是相协调的。目前夏季温度处于较低的气候基本态 ,降水处于高基本态。 (2 )无论是温度还是降水 ,其变率都在 2 0世纪80年代中后期开始上升 ,目前均处于高气候变率时期。降水的“两高”(高基本态和高气候变率 )结合决定了 2 0 0 3年夏季洪涝出现的必然性 ;温度的较低基本态决定了“凉夏”背景 ,但由于基本态的回升和变率的加大 ,仍会出现像 2 0 0 3年夏季的若干高温天气。 (3)最大熵谱估计表明 ,安徽夏季降水变化的主周期为 2 5年 ,反映了降水的准两年振荡特征     

热带第四纪气候变化研究进展

南美洲、非洲、亚洲以及澳洲、太平洋地区近百个实例表明，全球热带第四纪气候的波动不明显，例如晚更新世MlSS5～MISS2期间的D／0暖波动和Hi冷波动、末次冰期盛期、新仙女木冷回返都很少见报道。但是，相对而言，冷波动比暖波动较易识别，末次冰期有较多实例，新冰期I、Ⅱ、Ⅲ也有表现，而末次间冰期及全新世大暖期则不易识别。温度与湿度变化的时空配合有一定的规律性。末次冰期之前，环境普遍趋湿。末次冰期之后，干湿的地域差异较大。全新世回暖，但是，干湿的地域分布与此前相反。气候变化的地域差异与气候的地带性有关。南美洲的暖波动主要出现在北部。非洲中部赤道多雨带的气候相对稳定。亚洲南部的印度干湿变化明显。东南亚诸岛冷期趋湿。     

20世纪中国气候变化研究

Studies on the 20th century climate change in China have revealed that under the background of global warming over the past century,climate in China has also experienced significant change with mean annual temperature increased by about 0.5 °C.More reliable results for the latter part of the 20th century indicate that the largest warming occurred in Northwest China,North China and Northeast China,and the warming in winter is most significant.Although no obvious increase or decrease trends were detected for mean precipitation over China in the past half century,regional differences are very distinct.In the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River,precipitation increased,while that in the Yellow River Basin markedly decreased.Studies suggest that climate change in China seems to be related not only with the internal factors such as ENSO,PDO,and the others,but also with the anthropogenic effects such as greenhouse gas emissions,and land use.The future climate change studies in China seem to be important in narrowing understanding the nature of China's climate change and its main causes,since it is significant for projection and for impact assessment of climate change in the future.     

The role of moisture cycling in the weathering of a quartz chlorite schist in a tropical environment: findings of a laboratory simulation

Long‐term weathering of a quartz chlorite schist via wetting and drying was studied under a simulated tropical climate. Cubic rock samples (15 mm × 15 mm × 15 mm) were cut from larger rocks and subjected to time‐compressed climatic conditions simulating the tropical wet season climate at the Ranger Uranium Mine in the Northern Territory, Australia. Fragmentation, moisture content and moisture uptake rate were monitored over 5000 cycles of wetting and drying. To determine the impact of climatic variables, five climatic regimes were simulated, varying water application, temperature and drying. One of the climatic regimes reproduced observed temperature and moisture variability at the Ranger Uranium Mine, but over a compressed time scale. It is shown that wetting and drying is capable of weathering quartz chlorite schist with changes expected over a real time period of decades. While wetting and drying alone does produce changes to rock morphology, the incorporation of temperature variation further enhances weathering rates. Although little fragmentation occurred in experiments, significant changes to internal pore structure were observed, which could potentially enhance other weathering mechanisms. Moisture variability is shown to lead to higher weathering rates than are observed when samples are subjected only to leaching. Finally, experiments were conducted on two rock samples from the same source having only subtle differences in mineralogy. The samples exhibited quite different weathering rates leading to the conclusion that our knowledge of the role of rock type and composition in weathering is insufficient for the accurate determination of weathering rates. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Postglacial topographic evolution of glaciated valleys: a stochastic landscape evolution model

The retreat of valley glaciers has a dramatic effect on the stability of glaciated valleys and exerts a prolonged influence on the subsequent fluvial sediment transport regime. We have studied the evolution of an idealized glaciated valley during the period following retreat of ice using a numerical model. The model incorporates a stochastic process to represent deep‐seated landsliding, non‐linear diffusion to represent shallow landsliding and an approximation of the Bagnold relation to represent fluvial sediment transport. It was calibrated using field data from several recent surveys within British Columbia, Canada. We present ensemble model results and compare them with results from a deterministic linear‐diffusion model to show that explicit representation of large landslides is necessary to reproduce the morphology and channel network structure of a typical postglacial valley. Our model predicts a rapid rate of fluvial sediment transport following deglaciation with a subsequent gradual decline, similar to that inferred for Holocene time. We also describe how changes in the model parameters affect the estimated magnitude and duration of the paraglacial sediment pulse. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.