Geochemistry of groundwater in front of a warm‐based glacier in Southeast Greenland

Groundwater in front of warm‐based glaciers is likely to become a more integrated part of the future proglacial hydrological system at high latitudes due to global warming. Here, we present the first monitoring results of shallow groundwater chemistry and geochemical fingerprinting of glacier meltwater in front of a warm‐based glacier in Southeast Greenland (Mittivakkat Gletscher, 65° 41′ N, 37° 48′ W). The groundwater temperature, electrical conductivity and pressure head were monitored from August 2009 to August 2011, and water samples were collected in 2009 and analyzed for major ions and water isotopes (δD, δ¹⁸O). The 2 yrs of monitoring revealed that major outbursts of glacier water during the ablation season flushed the proglacial aquifer and determined the groundwater quality for the next 2–8 weeks until stable chemical conditions were reached again. Water isotope composition shows that isotopic fractionation occurs in both groundwater and glacier meltwater, but fractionation due to evaporation from near‐surface soil moisture prior to infiltration has the most significant effect. This study shows that groundwater in Low Arctic Greenland is likely to possess a combined geochemical and isotopic composition, which is distinguishable from other water sources in the proglacial environment. However, the shallow groundwater composition at a given time is highly dependent on major outbursts of glacier water in the previous months.     

重庆地区第四纪气候的初步研究

早更新世时,重庆地区生活着巫山人;中更新世时,生存有盐井沟动物群和歌乐山动物群;晚更新世—全新世时,合川三汇坝动物群繁衍,以水杉、红椿木和枫杨为代表的植物群遍及全区,并有水杉、银杉等孓遗植物存在。整个第四纪时期,重庆地区的气候属亚热带温暖湿润气候,没有发生过冰川活动。     

皖南新元古代冰期地层再认识

前人认为皖南地区新元古代冰期地层存在两套冰碛岩。通过对皖南蓝田新元古界剖面和皖南地区的另外3条新元古界剖面的重新观察,发现该剖面只存在一套冰碛层和一套盖帽白云岩,均未发现间冰期地层。植被覆盖和地层错断是造成前人认为本地区新元古代冰期地层存在两套冰碛层和两套盖帽白云岩的主要原因。这一套冰碛层与中国南方扬子区南华系南沱组相当。     

Geomorphology of carbonate platform‐marginal uppermost slopes: Insights from a Holocene analogue,Little Bahama Bank,Bahamas

As the product of a variety of sediment sources and sedimentation (and re‐sedimentation) and erosion processes, the geomorphology and sedimentology of carbonate slopes are highly variable. The purpose of this study is to describe sub‐bottom profiles and side‐scan sonar, multibeam and optical data acquired by an autonomous underwater vehicle to explore variability in geomorphological and sedimentological character of the present‐day platform‐marginal, uppermost slope environments (< 240 m water depth) on the north, open‐ocean facing flank of Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas. Although at time scales of greater than 100 ka this margin is progradational, the data illustrate a complex juxtaposition of erosional and depositional processes and features. Erosion is evidenced by two prominent escarpments (70 m and 120 m) that expose eroded, bedded rocky outcrops. These escarpments are interpreted to represent relict features, related to past sea‐level positions, although they still may be shedding debris. Aside from erosional remnants, sedimentation and active transport is indicated by several features, including active bedforms (especially above the 70 m escarpment, but ripples occur to depths of ca 200 m), several mass transport complexes that overlie and cover the lower escarpment, gravity flow deposits and rare slump features. Similarly, a thick (up to 20 m) onlapping sediment wedge, interpreted to be Holocene in age, suggests lateral accretion of the slope by more than 75 m in this period. Data illustrate that this open‐ocean margin is distinct from windward margins in the Bahamas, which typically include near‐vertical walls of erosion or bypass, flanked downdip by rubble and talus, and leeward margins, which have onlapping muddy wedges, but that lack marked terraces or escarpments. Collectively, the results provide perspectives into the nature and controls on complex geomorphological patterns of erosion and deposition in Holocene uppermost slope systems, concepts potentially applicable to ancient analogues.     

华北山地多成因壶穴初步研究——对华北山地“冰臼”等“冰川地貌”的讨论

华北山地"距今二、三百万年"的"冰臼"绝大部分位于第四纪河谷内,"距今1～2万年"的"冰川壶穴"位于全新世河谷内,与华北山地地貌演化相矛盾;所谓的"冰川地貌"组合不是真正的地貌组合,而是不同时代、不同成因地貌的混合,因此,华北山地不存在冰臼。所谓的"冰臼"是不同时代、多种成因的壶穴——距今2.50Ma前后的河蚀壶穴,距今10～20ka的雪蚀壶穴,距今10ka以来的溶蚀穴、溶蚀—河蚀壶穴、风化—风蚀壶穴、现代壶穴和水潭。     

阿尔泰山喀纳斯河流域末次冰期OSL年代学新证

布尔津河支流喀纳斯河源于中俄蒙三国交界处友谊峰的南坡,为额尔齐斯河的重要源区.友谊峰连同奎屯峰等高峰形成了阿尔泰山最大的现代冰川作用中心.在第四纪期间,这些冰川都发生了规模较大的进退,在河谷中留下了形态较为清晰的冰川地形.应用OSL单片再生剂量测定技术对采自主U型谷两侧的高大侧碛垄进行了定年,测年结果分别为(27.2±2.0)ka(K-1)与(16.1±1.5)ka(K-2).基于地貌地层学原理、并结合已有的年代学资料(OSL与14 C)与古气候研究资料,末次冰期以来喀纳斯河流域共有5次规模较大的冰进,分别为小冰期、新冰期、末次冰期晚冰阶(MIS 2)、末次冰期中冰阶(MIS 3中期)与末次冰期早冰阶(MIS 4).     

中朝古陆的解体与华北、华泰二克拉通的确立

半个世纪之前,黄汲清和任纪舜等将华北、东北南部以及西北的阿拉善这类凡有前寒武纪结晶基底出露的地区确定为单一的中朝古陆(或准地台).这种观念一直被沿用迄今.近年,构造地层地体的研究发现原称之“中朝古陆”是由华北和华泰两个克拉通构成,计 11个地块或地体.重新厘定的华北克拉通,其范围只限于辽宁省西部和北部、河北省、内蒙古南...     

Variability in erosion rates related to the state of landscape transience in the semi‐arid Chilean Andes

We quantify erosion rates in the higher sectors of the Huasco Valley, in the Main Cordillera of the semi‐arid Andes of Chile, using elevation differences between three successive geomorphic markers (pediments and paleo‐valleys) and the present day valley. Available Ar‐Ar ages of Neogene pediments are used to estimate mean erosion rates for the three periods (16 to 13 My, 13 to 8 My, and following 8 My). The landscape of the Huasco Valley is in a transient state, as indicated by well‐preserved pediment surfaces in interfluves, valleys deeply incised by fluvial and glacial erosion and scarped head‐valleys that represent the current knickzones. Higher erosion rates (45–75 m/My) are calculated for the more recent period (< 8 My) during which deep incision developed compared to previous periods (6–31 m/My). Quantitative data indicate that glaciers had a much higher erosional capability than fluvial activity in the higher sectors of the Main Cordillera. Comparison with erosion rates calculated in other drainage basins of the Chilean Andes suggests that the variability of erosion rates depends on the landscape's transient erosive state. The landscape's geomorphologic response to the uplift of the Main Cordillera results in the retreat of a knickzone, for which retreat velocity depends on precipitation rate pattern and glacial erosion intensity. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using a GIS filtering approach to replicate patterns of glacial erosion

In order to extend our knowledge of glacial relief production in mountainous areas new methods are required for landscape reconstructions on a temporal resolution of a glacial cycle and a spatial resolution that includes the most important terrain components. A generic data set and a 50 m resolution digital elevation model over a study area in northern Sweden and Norway (the present day landscape data set) were employed to portray spatial patterns of erosion by reconstructing the landscape over successive cycles of glacial erosion. A maximum‐value geographic information system (GIS) filtering technique using variable neighbourhoods was applied such that existing highpoints in the landscape were used as erosional anchor points for the reconstruction of past landscape topography. An inherent assumption, therefore, is that the highest surfaces have experienced insignificant down‐wearing over the Quaternary. Over multiple reconstruction cycles, proceeding backwards in time, the highest summits increase in area, valleys become shallower, and the valley pattern becomes increasingly simplified as large valleys become in‐filled from the sides. The sum of these changes reduces relief. The pattern of glacial erosion, which is to 60% correlated to slope angle and to 70% correlated to relative relief, is characterized by (i) an abrupt erosional boundary below preserved summit areas, (ii) enhanced erosion in narrow valleys, (iii) restricted erosion of smooth areas, independently of elevation, (iv) eradication of small‐scale irregularities, (v) restricted erosion on isolated hills in low‐relief terrain, and (vi) a valley widening independent of valley directions. The method outlined in this paper shows how basic GIS filtering techniques can mimic some of the observed patterns of glacial erosion and thereby help deduce the key controls on the processes that govern large‐scale landscape evolution beneath ice sheets. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Chronostratigraphy and lake-level changes of Laguna Cari-Laufquén, Río Negro, Argentina

Evidence from shoreline and deep-lake sediments show Laguna Cari-Laufquén, located at 41°S in central Argentina, rose and fell repeatedly during the late Quaternary. Our results show that a deep (> 38 m above modern lake level) lake persisted from no later than 28 ka to 19 ka, with the deepest lake phase from 27 to 22 ka. No evidence of highstands is found after 19 ka until the lake rose briefly in the last millennia to 12 m above the modern lake, before regressing to present levels. Laguna Cari-Laufquén broadly matches other regional records in showing last glacial maximum (LGM) highstands, but contrasts with sub-tropical lake records in South America where the hydrologic maximum occurred during deglaciation (17–10 ka). Our lake record from Cari-Laufquén mimics that of high-latitude records from the Northern Hemisphere. This points to a common cause for lake expansions, likely involving some combination of temperature depression and intensification of storminess in the westerlies belt of both hemispheres during the LGM.