Rapid tidewater glacier retreat: a comparison between Columbia Glacier, Alaska and Patagonian calving glaciers

Time-changes in the terminus positions of Patagonian grounded calving glaciers are studied. The framework for the study is a model of terminus retreat based on observations of Columbia Glacier, Alaska. The interpretation favored in this work is that rapid retreat is caused by the terminus thinning to near flotation and weakening of the ice by bottom crevasses. Both thinning and bottom crevasse formation are caused by the increase in near-terminus stretching during rapid retreat. The model is consistent with the behavior of calving Patagonian glaciers regardless of the salinity of the water body calved into. Continuity calculations on Glaciar San Rafael, Chile indicate internal voids, possibly in the form of bottom crevasses, as on Columbia Glacier.     

Late Pleistocene and early Holocene ecological response of Lake El Trébol (Patagonia, Argentina) to environmental changes

Stratigraphy of Lake El Trébol (41°S 71°W, 758 m a.s.l.) described from an 11 m long sediment core provided a continuous record of patecenvironmental changes occurred during the last 14,000 years in southern South America east of the Andes. Located in an ecotonal area within a strong humidity gradient, this lake offers a unique opportunity to develop paleolimnological studies. Using a geochemical approach that includes elemental analysis, bulk organic matter, major nutrients and pigments combined with chironomids and pollen analysis, three zones were identified in the sedimentary record of this take. The oldest one (between 680 and 1,100 cm) corresponds to the late Glacial period. During that time, clayish laminated sediments were formed in a proglacial environment. Low organic matter, biogenic silica and nitrogen contents and the absence of pigments, pollen and chironomids characterise this period. At the end of this period, ca. 14,000 yr BP, a sharp increase in phosphorus concentrations predates major changes in limnological parameters. The transition zone (between 560 and 680 cm) is related to major changes in the drainage system that started soon after ca. 14,000 yr BP and continued to ca. 10,500 yr BP. The chemical composition of the sediments was affected by an increase in physical weathering mechanisms almost coincident with the increase in the regional volcanic activity that produced suspended volcanic detritus. The increase of mainly coarser detritical components may indicate a reorganisation of the fluvial system by that time. Simultaneously, an increase in the productivity of the lake accompanied by a gradual replacement of open vegetation with Nothofagus, Poaceae and Ericaceae, by Nothofagusforest, was observed. In the last zone (between 0 and 560 cm) the productivity of Lake El Trébol achieves maximum values. The trends in geochemical and biological indicators observed at Lake El Trébol can be up to some extent, correlated to those registered in Lake Mascardi. The results support earlier paleoctimatic scenarios from southern South America.     

恒河深海扇东北区域晚第四纪气候和海平面变化对沉积作用的控制

通过对恒河深海扇沟道间均质细粒沉积物的氧同位素地层划分,本文讨论了晚更新世以来冰川—气候旋回和海平面变化对印度洋北部大陆坡地带各种活跃的沉积因素（陆源和碳酸盐物质的沉积通量、浊流活动的强度和频度、粘土矿物分布、碳酸盐浓度和钙质生物壳的溶解度）的控制作用和因素间的相互关联。     

黄土高原末次间冰期气候的不稳定性特征

欧共体格陵兰冰芯计划(GRIP)中的冰芯资料揭示末次间冰期气候具有快速变化的不稳定性特征,而美国格陵兰冰盖计划(GISP2)却不曾发现其不稳定证据。本文通过黄土高原诸剖面的古气候代用指标综合分析认为,末次间冰期,特别是早期气候曾出现过较大幅度的气候波动,存在不稳定性特征,支持了GRIP结果,表明中国黄土含有极地北大西洋的气候信息,是全球变化研究的理想记录。      

四川彭州葛仙山巨型冰川漂砾的发现及意义

四川彭州市葛仙山巨型冰川漂砾距四川盆地边缘地带约３～４ｋｍ,规模巨大（约６ｋｍ×２５ｋｍ×０３ｋｍ）,是目前世界上发现的罕见巨型冰川漂砾。现有资料研究结果表明,葛仙山巨型漂砾是早更新世青藏大冰盖冰流的搬运作用所形成的。是青藏大冰盖存在的有力证据之一,也是全球泛大冰盖形成的重要历史见证。同时对众多相关边缘学科的重大基础理论问题的研究,提供了新的思路、途径和方法     

Isochron‐burial dating of glaciofluvial deposits: First results from the Swiss Alps

In this study, we use isochron‐burial dating to date the Swiss Deckenschotter, the oldest Quaternary deposits of the northern Alpine Foreland. Concentrations of cosmogenic ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al in individual clasts from a single stratigraphic horizon can be used to calculate an isochron‐burial age based on an assumed initial ratio and the measured ²⁶Al/¹⁰Be ratio. We suggest that, owing to deep and repeated glacial erosion, the initial isochron ratio of glacial landscapes at the time of burial varies between 6.75 and 8.4. Analysis of 22 clasts of different lithology, shape, and size from one 0.5 m thick gravel bed at Siglistorf (Canton Aargau) indicates low nuclide concentrations: <20 000 ¹⁰Be atoms/g and <150 000 ²⁶Al atoms/g. Using an ²⁶Al/¹⁰Be ratio of 7.6 (arithmetical mean of 6.75 and 8.4), we calculate a mean isochron‐burial age of 1.5 ± 0.2 Ma. This age points to an average bedrock incision rate between 0.13 and 0.17 mm/a. Age data from the Irchel, Stadlerberg, and Siglistorf sites show that the Higher Swiss Deckenschotter was deposited between 2.5 and 1.3 Ma. Our results indicate that isochron‐burial dating can be successfully applied to glaciofluvial sediments despite very low cosmogenic nuclide concentrations. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

1990—2018年中巴经济走廊冰湖时空变化特征

中巴经济走廊是贯通南北丝路的关键枢纽。在全球变暖的背景下, 区域内冰川变化情况复杂, 部分冰川出现前进或跃动现象, 冰湖溃决的风险在不断上升, 进而威胁中巴经济走廊的建设与民生安全。基于1990—2018年Landsat TM/ETM+/OLI遥感影像, 利用目视解译方法提取了中巴经济走廊3期冰湖编目数据, 并分析了28年来该区域内冰湖的总体变化趋势、 空间异质性以及成因。结果表明： 中巴经济走廊目前共发育有2 380个冰湖, 总面积为（131.76±19.08） km², 集中分布于喀喇昆仑山脉和喜马拉雅山脉; 1990—2018年期间, 冰湖总体面积扩张速度为0.48%·a^-1, 但各个山脉不同规模冰湖面积变化差异较大。中巴经济走廊在气温和降水的共同作用下, 区内冰湖面积呈扩张趋势, 同时气温和降水变化率的空间差异使得冰湖面积变化存在空间差异; 冰川的快速退缩增加了区内冰湖溃决的风险。     

硅藻生物多样性对千年尺度气候突变的快速响应:以云南云龙天池湖泊末次冰消期记录为例

湖泊是全球生态系统的重要组成部分。尽管湖泊初级生产力的生物多样性在湖泊生态系统中发挥着非常重要的作用,但对其如何在千年时间尺度上对气候变化做出响应却知之甚少,而千年时间尺度与预测未来变化最为相关。本文以云南云龙天池湖泊为研究对象,以湖泊重要的初级生产力硅藻为研究手段,分析了末次冰消期期间硅藻生物多样性对千年尺度上气候变化的响应。云龙天池硅藻生物多样性表现为暖期高、冷期低。随着全球温度的快速变化,硅藻生物多样性亦对应的快速响应:在转暖时(Bolling/Allerod暖期)快速增加,在转冷时(Herinrich 1和Younger Dryas)快速降低。这些变化主要与温度变化驱动的湖泊环境条件的变化(比如冰封期长短、边岸带水生植被的变化等)有关。研究结果还表明,在末次冰消期期间,云龙天池湖泊硅藻生物多样性与千年尺度的气候变化同步,而且在长时间尺度上,气候变暖对高山湖泊生物多样性可能是有利的。     

晚第四纪MIS6以来柴达木盆地成盐作用对冰期气候的响应

气候是控制柴达木盆地盐类沉积的主要因素之一,但是其作用机制尚待明确。作者以柴达木盆地察汗斯拉图盐湖的3个含盐剖面为研究对象,采用多接收电感耦合等离子质谱(MC-ICP-MS)铀系测年测定其沉积时代,并通过X射线粉晶衍射(XRD)分析测定其盐类矿物种类。铀系测年显示D18剖面石盐和芒硝层的沉积时代为13.1±2.0 ka BP～15.9±2.5 ka BP,其中芒硝沉积年代属于末次冰期MIS2晚期;MXK2剖面芒硝层的沉积时代分别为131.7±39.5 ka BP和158.3±10.8 ka BP,D12剖面芒硝层的沉积时代分别为166.6±20.2 ka BP和198.0±20.6 ka BP,可以对应于倒数第二次冰期MIS6。XRD分析确定了3个剖面的盐类矿物主要为芒硝、石盐和石膏。综合多个盐湖晚第四纪成盐数据,本文认为倒数第二次冰期MIS6和末次冰期MIS2是柴达木盆地晚第四纪重要的成盐期,冰期的冷干气候有利于石盐和芒硝等盐类沉积。柴达木盆地"冰期成盐"的根本原因,是由于冰期环境下盆地周边山体冰川规模的扩张以及干冷的冰期气候,共同造成了盐湖补给水量的减少。此外,晚第四纪MIS6和MIS2的冰期降温也是导致盆地中冷相盐类沉积的直接原因。