Luminescence chronology of loess-palaeosol deposits in the Central Shandong Mountains region: Provenances and paleoclimate implications

The loess-palaeosol deposits of the Central Shandong Mountains (CSM) to the east of the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) potentially provide valuable archives for the reconstruction of East Asian monsoon patterns. However, compared to the abundant attention given to the loess layer, fewer studies have explored the palaeosols documenting the processes and characteristics of interglacial climate changes. The high-resolution chronologies and provenances of the palaeosol in the CSM area are still unclear. In this work, the luminescence ages and paleoclimate proxies in the Shaozhuang (SZ) and Focun (FC) sections were studied, by combining detrital zircons U–Pb ages from the loess-palaesosol in Jingbian, Licheng, Focun, Pianguan and Dongming Yellow River sediments. Quartz single-aliquot regenerative dose protocol (SAR) and K-feldspar post-infrared IRSL (pIRIR₂₉₀) dating results were obtained in the SZ (8.0 ± 1.1 ka −50.8 ± 2.7 ka) and FC (3.8 ± 0.3 ka—144.0 ± 7.8 ka) sections to develop the most detailed CSM region chronologies to date. The analyzed grain sizes and detrital zircon U–Pb ages suggest that the provenance of the CSM loess was dominated by local Yellow River sediments. The palaeosols observed in the field in these two sections were composed of both aggradation soils deposited in the interglacial period and non-aggradation soil formed by the weathering and leaching of the underlying loess. We found evidences for the presence of non-aggradation soils as indicated the relatively high 5–16 μm particle percentages, relatively low chemical index of alteration (CIA) values and the percentages of >63 μm particles compared to those of the overlying palaeosol layers. Nevertheless, the loess-palaeosol deposits in the CSM are still the product of the East Asian monsoon and global climatic variations, as the deposits have recorded the glacial-interglacial cycles.     

Source constraints for the young basaltic rocks from the northernmost end of Cappadocian region,Turkey: Melting evidence from peridotite and pyroxenite source domains

Widespread magmatic activity developed in the Middle Miocene in the Cappadocian Region of Central Anatolia in Turkey. Despite several previous studies that focus on the geochemical features of the magmatic rocks, the source components and development of melting conditions are still a matter of debate.Recent basaltic rocks from Karaburna and Gül?ehir (1228 and 96 Ka, respectively, Dogan, 2011) are considered as a part of the Central Anatolian Volcanic Province, situated at the northernmost end of the Cappadocian Region. These lavas have similar large ion lithophile (LIL) (except Rb) and high field strength (HFS) element abundances, however, Karaburna samples are more enriched in HFS elements, and both of the rocks suites reflect HFS depletions relative to the OIB signature.Karaburna and Gül?ehir basalts have low Nb/La (0.45–0.5; 0.35–0.5), Nb/Th (2.75–4.61; 1.26–2.85) values, respectively, suggesting contributions from crustal sources, whereas Zr/Ba ratios of these samples range between 0.32–0.93 and 0.4–0.88 and imply that these rocks appear to be derived from asthenospheric sources. These incompatible element ratios can be attributed to either different geochemical processes, or are related to melting from different source component(s).The ambient mantle source of the Cappadocian region appears to be consistent with spinel peridotite, but this domain is not solely satisfactory to represent the melting conditions in the light of new elemental data. Values of Tb/Yb(N) and Zn/Fe provide new constraints suggesting the magmas were generated from the asthenosphere. Tb/Yb(N) ratio separates garnet – spinel transition Tb/Yb_(N) (>1.8) and Zn/Fe ratio displays separation between the peridotite-derived (Zn/Fe <12) and pyroxenite-derived (13?20) melts.A melting model based on REE ratios and Zn/Fe, Co/Fe, Tb/Yb(N) values indicates that basaltic rocks were not derived from a single source component (peridotite). Instead, those values suggest substantial melting contributions from a pyroxenite source domain, which has not been discussed as a source component in previous studies. Melts, from both of the source domains, with the result of asthenospheric upwelling linked to the downgoing Aegean and Cyprean slabs, are distinct from the alkaline character frequently observed as the final products of recent volcanic activity in the Cappadocian region and also explains the different trace element variations observed in such a small scale.     

“Yes to Peace”? Environmental peacemaking and transboundary conservation in Central America

The use of transboundary conservation as tools for improving interstate relations has become a widely supported initiative in nature conservation. The rationale follows the environmental peacemaking hypothesis, which argues that seemingly neutral environmental issues can provide a sound basis for cooperation between states. The paper investigates the hypothesis’ premise through the case of International System of Protected Areas for Peace (Si-A-Paz), a transboundary protected area shared by Costa Rica and Nicaragua. In recent years, both countries have been involved in a number of border conflicts within Si-A-Paz and linked to the use of the San Juan River, contested land areas, and oil resources. The case of Si-A-Paz shows that transboundary environmental issues can provide arguments for maintaining or even strengthening conflicts rather than fostering peace between states. The case also shows the emergence of environmental issues as a new arena for geopolitical play, where actors not only justify their actions through an environmental discourse but also, the environmental discourse is stretched to include a variety of issues through which actors can obtain international support. The events in Nicaragua and Costa Rica raise questions about the role of transboundary conservation as a peacebuilding tool.     

中亚天山地区关键水文要素变化与水循环研究进展

天山地处欧亚大陆腹地,是丝绸之路经济带中段的重要水源地.天山地区的水循环系统具有时空差异性大、水源机制复杂、径流构成多元以及水系统脆弱等特点,水循环各环节受陆表格局和气候变化影响显著,水文要素对气候变化响应敏感,难以沿用现有的流域水循环模式阐述其内在机理.结合文献阅读和研究,系统分析了气候变化背景下天山地区关键水文要素...     

塔中古溶洞见证晚奥陶世抬升幅度

塔中隆起区上奥陶统良里塔格组灰岩与桑塔木组砂—粉砂岩之间为不整合接触,昭示着这两个组沉积期之间存在一次历时约百万年的区域性构造抬升事件。中古31井良里塔格组三段的4125.6～4133.9 m井段为垮塌型溶洞沉积,洞顶距良里塔格组二段顶部190.6 m, 溶洞中角砾状充填物主要来自良里塔格组洞壁本身的礁相灰岩,且见数厘米厚的暗河流水沉积纹层,未发现源于其它时代的颗粒混杂其间。这一事实指证了溶洞的形成和充填时代均为良里塔格组沉积之后、桑塔木组覆盖之前的晚奥陶世凯迪中期。具溶蚀力的淡水潜流带的深度一般不低于周围的海平面,由此可推断出该井区这次抬升出海平面之上的高度,即使忽略良里塔格组顶部可能经地表剥蚀的良里塔格组一段,抬升出水面部分至少也应该有190 m,藉生态地层学恢复洞壁礁灰岩沉积时的海水深度约为30 m±,因此总抬升幅度至少能达到220 m。     

内蒙古赤峰地区泥盆纪晚期火山岩的发现及其地质意义

运用LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb测年获得华北地块北缘内蒙古赤峰莲花山地区朝吐沟组2件流纹质熔结凝灰岩的形成时代,分别为366Ma±2Ma和364Ma±2Ma。测年结果表明,莲花山朝吐沟组火山岩形成于泥盆纪晚期,而不是早石炭世。同时,这一结果也将赤峰地区朝吐沟组的时代限定为泥盆纪晚期,而非早石炭世。莲花山泥盆纪晚期火山岩总体上以富硅、碱、铝,贫铁、镁、钙、钛及过铝质为特征,与本区晚石炭世—二叠纪钙碱性火山岩（如青凤山组或大石寨组火山岩）的特征明显不同。华北地块北缘泥盆纪晚期火山岩的形成可能与早古生代末期—晚古生代初期白乃庙岛弧和华北克拉通北缘弧—陆碰撞后的伸展环境有关。这一构造环境与华北地块北缘泥盆纪碱性岩及基性—超基性岩侵位背景相似。     

中原地区古代居民的健康状况——以贾湖遗址和西坡墓地为例

对古代墓葬出土人骨的研究,可以了解古代人群的健康状况,并可以探讨不同生业模式对古代人群健康状况的影响。中原地区是中国古代文化最发达的地区,也是古代人骨出土最多和考古研究最充分的地区。本文对中原地区比较典型的河南舞阳贾湖遗址和河南灵宝西坡墓地出土人骨进行了全面的骨骼健康状况研究。贾湖遗址以渔猎采集为主要经济形态,距今9000~7800年;西坡墓地以农业为主,距今约5000年。骨骼研究显示,贾湖遗址和西坡墓地的两性身高呈逐渐降低的趋势;口腔疾病研究显示,在龋齿、牙周病、齿根脓疡、牙结石、釉质发育不全等疾病的发病率上,西坡墓地的发病率都明显高于贾湖遗址;身体骨骼研究显示,西坡墓地在退行性关节病、骨质疏松症和贫血等的发病率也明显高于贾湖遗址。这些可能暗示了,古代人群的健康状况在从渔猎采集经济向农业经济转变过程中呈逐渐恶化的趋势。但同时,作为健康指标的重要特征,西坡墓地较贾湖遗址的平均寿命有了明显的提高。结合考古学研究成果,我们认为农业经济虽然在一定程度上对古代人群的健康有一定的负面影响,但农业经济的发展,提供了更稳定的食物供应,养活了更多的人口,使得古代遗址规模不断扩大,社会复杂化逐渐深化,也创造了更多的社会财富,为向文明社会的转化奠定了物质基础。因此,农业经济的转变总体上促进了古代人群的健康状况的发展和文明的进步,农业经济对人类的进步做出了巨大贡献。     

Agricultural impacts on ecosystem functioning in temperate areas of North and South America

Land use has a large impact on ecosystem functioning, though evidences of these impacts at the regional scale are scarce. The objective of this paper was to analyze the impacts of agricultural land use on ecosystem functioning (radiation interception and carbon uptake) in temperate areas of North and South America. From land cover maps generated using high-resolution satellite images we selected sites dominated by row crops (RC), small grain crops (SG), pastures (PA), and rangelands (RA) in the Central Plains of USA and the Pampas of Argentina. These two regions share climatic characteristics and the agricultural conditions (crop types) are also very similar. Both areas were originally dominated by temperate grasslands. In these sites we extracted the temporal series of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from the NOAA satellites for the period 1989–1998 and calculated the mean seasonal NDVI curve for each site. Additionally, we calculated the mean annual NDVI, the maximum NDVI, the date of the year when the max NDVI was recorded and the interannual variability of these three attributes. We compared the mean values of each NDVI-derived attribute between land cover types and between continents. The NDVI seasonal patterns for each land cover type were roughly similar between the Central Plains and the Pampas during the growing season. The largest differences were observed during the winter and spring, when the NDVI of all land cover types in the Central Plains remained at lower values than in the Pampas. This was probably caused by the high annual thermal amplitude in the Central Plains that results in a much more restricted growing season. As a result of these differences in the shape of the NDVI curve, the mean annual NDVI in the Central Plains was lower than in the Pampas for all land cover types but the maximum NDVI did not differ importantly. In both regions, row crops delayed the date of the NDVI peak, small grain crops advanced it and pastures did not change it importantly, compared with rangelands. The interannual variability of the NDVI attributes was higher for small grains than for row crops in both regions. However, small grains crops were consistently more variable between years in the Central Plains than in the Pampas. The opposite occurred with pastures and rangelands, which were more variable in the Pampas than in the Central Plains. This paper confirms and generalizes previous findings that showed important imprints of land use on ecosystem functioning in temperate ecosystems. Our results support the idea that the changes in land cover that have occurred in the Central Plains and the Pampas leaded to similar changes in the way that ecosystems absorb solar radiation and in the patterns of carbon uptake.     

Distribution of DDT in sediments off the central California coast

A collaborative sampling cruise off the central California coast was conducted to evaluate contaminant transport pathways along and across the shelf in the spring of 2002. The area has a complex current structure and net transport routes are not known for sure. Sediment characteristics, and organic and trace metal contaminants were analyzed in sediments taken from locations near shore, out to the heads of several canyons. Relative to the continental shelf and Pioneer Canyon stations, DDT was found at higher concentrations in Ascension and Monterey Canyons. Monterey Bay still receives DDT from terrestrial runoff and may be the source of DDT found in Ascension Canyon. DDT concentrations in Monterey Bay biota indicate bioaccumulation is occurring at depth due to continuing input from the shore. Effects on the deep ocean benthic community is unknown.     

Fractal analysis of quartz grain boundary sutures in a granite (Malanjkhand,Central India) — Implications to infer regional tectonics

In the present paper the intensity of serration of quartz grain boundary sutures in the Palaeoproterozoic age Malanjkhand granite (Central India) is quantified using the ruler method of fractal analyses. The northern margin of the granite has proximity to the Central Indian Suture (CIS) that forms the southernmost part of Central Indian Tectonic Zone (CITZ) along which amalgamation of the northern and southern Indian shields took place. The fractal dimension (D) of the quartz sutures is calculated in 13 samples collected at varying distance from the CIS. D values are noted to increase in samples towards the CIS. This demonstrates the influence of the tectonic events along the CIS on fabric development in the Malanjkhand granite. Magmatic fabric defined by preferentially oriented feldspar laths and high-T solid-state deformation fabrics are observed in areas distant from the CIS. In contrast, mylonites and low-T fabrics such as bulging quartz grain boundaries occur in proximity to the CIS. It is inferred that the emplacement and high-T fabric development in the Malanjkhand granite was synchronous with regional accretionary processes that occurred in the region during the Palaeoproterozoic. Two different possibilities, one involving a single tectonic event and the other involving multiple tectonic events are discussed to explain the superimposition of low-T over high-T fabric due to which intensity of quartz grain boundary serration increases towards the CIS.