生态-地质作用模式: 诠释表生地质过程与生态特征的耦合

生态-地质作用关系模式诠释的重要内容之一是将基岩风化成土过程及对生态特征的影响进行形象化表达,包括基岩类型、风化过程中成土元素特征和迁移规律、土壤结构,以及与之相对应的生态特征等,重点突出基岩风化成土过程等表生地质过程对生态特征的影响作用。选择内蒙古阴山北麓、张北坝上、西南典型岩溶区等地区,分别研究、分析了不同表生地质条件下土壤垂向结构特征与物质组成、成壤过程中元素迁移特征、生态支撑层的元素富集与亏损等基岩风化成土过程与特征及其对生态分布特征的影响作用,建立了植被分布与风蚀作用基岩风化成土模式、凹陷盆地人工林退化与风化冲洪积土壤栗钙化模式、成土母岩对石漠化发育程度的影响模式等3种生态-地质作用模式,揭示了成土过程对植被分布特征与不同类型生态问题的影响,以期为国土空间生态保护修复提供科学依据。     

南、北盘江流域枯水期水化学特征及离子来源分析

为进一步了解珠江上游南、北盘江流域水化学现状,对其枯水期36个河水样品进行水化学特征分析,结果表明:枯水期河水pH值在7.85~8.75之间,呈弱碱性,TDS均值为358 mg·L-1。河水中阴离子组成以HCO3-、SO42-为主,当量浓度占比均值达到65%与26%,阳离子中Ca2+和Mg2+是绝对的优势离子,当量浓度占比均值分别为65%和24%。与丰水期相关研究对比分析发现Ca2+、Mg2+、Na+、SO42-、HCO3-、Cl-的枯水期浓度普遍高于丰水期,K+、NO3-丰、枯水期浓度变化不大。Piper图、岩性端元分析以及离子浓度比值分析表明,研究区水化学主要受碳酸和硫酸共同参与下的碳酸盐岩风化控制。南、北盘江流域都受到农业施用的钾肥和氮肥的影响,此外,北盘江主要受到煤炭开采以及燃煤工业的影响,南盘江主要受到源头及上游河段化工企业废水和沿途市县的生活废水的影响。与前人数据对比发现,15年间人为活动对流域水化学的影响加剧。      

Geochemical characteristics of Holocene aeolian deposits and their environmental significance in the Mu Us Desert,northern China

This paper addresses the surface and Holocene aeolian deposits in the southeastern Mu Us Desert, N. China, systematically analysing the evolution of the geochemical characteristics of aeolian sand–palaeosol sequences and their environmental significance. Our results indicate that the geochemical components of the Holocene aeolian deposits and surface deposits had the similar material sources, sediment transport and deposition processes in the study region, which were dominated by SiO₂, Al₂O₃, and Na₂O. In the weathering process of the Jinjie (JJ) profile, the Na, K, and Si presented the slight leaching and migration in general, while the other elements were relatively accumulated. The Holocene aeolian deposits and surface deposits incurred weaker geochemical weathering under cold and dry conditions and were only weakly leached, which implies a relatively arid environment in the Holocene epoch and the modern era. The weathering degree was controlled by the regional temperature and precipitation, and was probably more sensitive to the precipitation changes. In the sedimentary profile, the geochemical parameters and migration of elements demonstrated that there have been several alternating warm–wet and cold–dry intervals in the Mu Us Desert in the Holocene epoch; there were relatively warm and wet conditions prior to 4.6 ka, and it has been cold and dry since then. Six millennial‐scale dry events were recorded during the Holocene, which were not only accordant with the history of palaeoclimatic changes in the different latitudes and archives of the Northern Hemisphere, but also correspond to the millennial‐scale variation of cosmic radiation and solar activity during that period. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

安山岩风化过程中元素行为——以豫西熊耳山地区为例

在风化过程中主量元素的风化行为可用风化指数来表征,但对在地球化学中更重要的微量元素的风化行为还缺少研究。本文研究了豫西熊耳山地区—安山岩风化剖面,发现花岗岩风化指数(WIG)也适用于安山岩风化过程的定量表征。基于上陆壳作标准绘制风化剖面样品稀土元素配分曲线时,发现风化过程稀土元素出现分馏现象,表现为富集中稀土;但基于球粒陨石作标准时,风化壳样品均具有相似的稀土配分曲线形态,即上陆壳是一种比球粒陨石更为敏感的稀土元素标准化标尺。牛头沟金矿区安山岩风化过程中部分微量表现出随风化程度增强而显著富集的特征,Au、Ag含量变化可达两个数量级以上,Pb、As、Hg可达一个数量级以上。     

Carbon sequestration and decreased CO2 emission caused by terrestrial aquatic photosynthesis: Insights from diel hydrochemical variations in an epikarst spring and two spring-fed ponds in different seasons

Whether carbonate weathering could produce a stable carbon sink depends primarily on the utilization of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) by aquatic phototrophs (the so-called Biological Carbon Pump-BCP effect). On this basis, water temperature (T), pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and dissolved oxygen (DO) were synchronously monitored at 15-min resolution for one and two days respectively in January and October 2013 in Maolan Spring and the spring-fed midstream and downstream ponds in Maolan Nature Reserve, China. A thermodynamic model was used to link the continuous data to allow calculation of CO₂ partial pressures (pCO₂) and calcite saturation indexes (SI_C). A floating static chamber was placed on the water surface successively at all sites to quantify CO₂ exchange flux between atmosphere and water so as to evaluate the BCP effect. Results show that, in both winter and autumn, remarkable diel variations of hydrochemical parameters were present in the midstream pond where DO, pH, and SI_C increased in the day and decreased during the night while EC, $\left[{{\text{HCO}}_3}^{-}\right]$, [Ca²⁺] and pCO₂ showed inverse changes mainly due to the metabolic processes of the flourishing submerged plants, with photosynthesis dominating in the day and respiration dominating at night. However, hydrochemical parameters in the spring and downstream pond show less change since few submerged plants developed there. It was determined that the BCP effect in the midstream pond was 285 ± 193 t C km⁻² a⁻¹ in winter and 892 ± 300 t C km⁻² a⁻¹ in autumn, indicating a potential significant role of terrestrial aquatic photosynthesis in stabilizing the carbonate weathering-related carbon sink.     

Impact of textural patterns on modeled rock weathering rates and size distribution of weathered grains

Rock texture has a critical influence on the way rocks weather. The most important textural factors affecting weathering are grain size and the presence of cracks and stylolites. These discontinuities operate as planes of mechanical weakness at which chemical weathering is enhanced. However, it is unclear how different rock textures impact weathering rates and the size of weathered grains. Here, we use a numerical model to simulate weathering of rocks possessing grain boundaries, cracks, and stylolites. We ran simulations with either synthetic or natural patterns of discontinuities. We found that for all patterns, weathering rates increase with discontinuity density. When the density was <~25%, the weathering rate of synthetic patterns followed the order: grid > honeycomb > Voronoi > brick wall. For higher values, all weathering rates were similar. We also found that weathering rates decreased as the tortuosity of the pattern increased. Moreover, we show that textural patterns strongly impact the size distributions of detached grains. Rocks with an initial monomodal grain size distribution produce weathered fragments that are normally distributed. In contrast, rocks with an initial log-normal size distribution produce weathered grains that are log-normally distributed. For the natural patterns, weathering produced lower modality distributions.     

Snow cornice dynamics as a control on plateau edge erosion in central Svalbard

Snow cornices grow extensively on leeward edges of plateau mountains in central Svalbard. A dominant wind direction, a snowdrift source area and a sharp slope transition largely control the formation of snow cornices in a barren peri‐glacial landscape. Seasonal snow cornice dynamics control bedrock weathering and erosion in sedimentary bedrock on the Gruvefjellet plateau edge in the valley Longyeardalen. Air, snow and ground temperature sensors, as well as automatic time‐lapse cameras on a leeward facing plateau edge were used to study seasonal cornice dynamics. These techniques allowed for monitoring of cornice accretion, deformation and collapse/melting in great detail. The active layer of the top plateau edge is characterized by high moisture content due to rain before freeze‐up in autumn and cornice meltdown during spring thaw. Thus frost weathering there can be very efficient in this otherwise cold and dry environment. Within the first autumn snowstorms, a vertical fully developed cornice was in place (190 cm thick). The backwall surface beneath the thickest part of the cornice remained in the ice segregation ‘frost cracking window’ for almost nine months. Highly weathered rock material from the plateau edge is thus incorporated into the cornice during cornice accretion. Brittle snow deformation leads to the opening of cornice tension cracks between the cornice mass and the snowpack on the plateau. These cracks are a prerequisite for cornice collapses, and often trigger cornice fall avalanches on the slope beneath. In these open cornice tension cracks, weathered rock debris, plucked from the plateau edge, can be visible, demonstrating the erosional property of the cornices. The cornice will either collapse or melt, resulting in suspended sediment transport downslope by cornice fall avalanche or release as rock fall respectively. Therefore, cornices both promote and trigger high weathering rates on Gruvefjellet, and thus control presently the development of the rockwall free faces and the talus cones. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mass‐balance modeling of mineral weathering rates and CO2 consumption in the forested,metabasaltic Hauver Branch watershed,Catoctin Mountain,Maryland, USA

Mineral weathering rates and a forest macronutrient uptake stoichiometry were determined for the forested, metabasaltic Hauver Branch watershed in north‐central Maryland, USA. Previous studies of Hauver Branch have had an insufficient number of analytes to permit determination of rates of all the minerals involved in chemical weathering, including biomass. More equations in the mass‐balance matrix were added using existing mineralogic information. The stoichiometry of a deciduous biomass term was determined using multi‐year weekly to biweekly stream‐water chemistry for a nearby watershed, which drains relatively unreactive quartzite bedrock. At Hauver Branch, calcite hosts ~38 mol% of the calcium ion (Ca²⁺) contained in weathering minerals, but its weathering provides ~90% of the stream water Ca²⁺. This occurs in a landscape with a regolith residence time of more than several Ka (kiloannum). Previous studies indicate that such old regolith does not typically contain dissolving calcite that affects stream Ca²⁺/Na⁺ ratios. The relatively high calcite dissolution rate likely reflects dissolution of calcite in fractures of the deep critical zone. Of the carbon dioxide (CO₂) consumed by mineral weathering, calcite is responsible for approximately 27%, with the silicate weathering consumption rate far exceeding that of the global average. The chemical weathering of mafic terrains in decaying orogens thus may be capable of influencing global geochemical cycles, and therefore, climate, on geological timescales. Based on carbon‐balance calculations, atmospheric‐derived sulfuric acid is responsible for approximately 22% of the mineral weathering occurring in the watershed. Our results suggest that rising air temperatures, driven by global warming and resulting in higher precipitation, will cause the rate of chemical weathering in the Hauver Branch watershed to increase until a threshold temperature is reached. Beyond the threshold temperature, increased recharge would produce a shallower groundwater table and reduced chemical weathering rates. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Chemical weathering of monsoonal eastern China: implications from major elements of topsoil

Major element compositions of 36 bulk samples and 41 clay samples, which were obtained from 47 topsoils collected in monsoonal eastern China, were investigated with conventional wet chemistry and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry, respectively. Based on major element analyses, the mobility of major elements and latitudinal distributions of SiO₂/Al₂O₃ ratio, chemical index of alteration (CIA), chemical index of weathering (CIW) and weathering index of Parker (WIP) were analyzed. Meanwhile, the suitability of these chemical weathering indices to topsoils in monsoonal eastern China and its controls were discussed.These investigations indicate that Na, K, Ca, Mg, and Si are relatively depleted, while Mn, P, Fe and Ti are relatively enriched in topsoils of the study area by comparison with their contents in the upper continent crust (UCC), and that alkali metal (Na, K) and alkaline earth metal (Ca, Mg) elements are generally easier to be depleted from their parent materials than other major elements during chemical weathering. The latitudinal distributions of CIA, CIW and WIP show that they are suitable to both bulk and clay samples, but SiO₂/Al₂O₃ is only suitable to clay samples, not suitable in bulk ones. All these investigations indicate a significant dependence of grain-size in major element abundance and latitudinal distributions of SiO₂/Al₂O₃, CIA, CIW and WIP, but parent rock type has little effect on them, except its impact on the latitudinal distribution of WIP in clay samples. The significant grain-size dependence probably indicates the presence of unaltered minerals in bulk samples, thus we suggest that clay samples are more suitable to investigating chemical weathering of sediments on continents than bulk samples. The trivial effect of parent rock type probably indicates a relatively uniform chemical weathering on various parent rocks. Correlation analyses indicate that climate is the dominant control of chemical weathering of topsoils in the study area, and the significant latitude effect indicated by the spatial distributions of chemical weathering indices actually reflect the climate control on chemical weathering of topsoils.Chemical weathering indices actually reflect the integrated weathering history in the study area. Besides the dominant control of climate, other factors like tectonics, parent rock, biology, landform and soil depth and age might also have some effect on the chemical weathering of topsoils in the study area, which needs further research.