Soil erosion and sediment transport in Tanzania: Part I – sediment source tracing in three neighbouring river catchments

Water bodies in Tanzania are experiencing increased siltation, which is threatening water quality, ecosystem health, and livelihood security in the region. This phenomenon is caused by increasing rates of upstream soil erosion and downstream sediment transport. However, a lack of knowledge on the contributions from different catchment zones, land-use types, and dominant erosion processes, to the transported sediment is undermining the mitigation of soil degradation at the source of the problem. In this context, complementary sediment source tracing techniques were applied in three Tanzanian river systems to further the understanding of the complex dynamics of soil erosion and sediment transport in the region. Analysis of the geochemical and biochemical fingerprints revealed a highly complex and variable soil system that could be grouped in distinct classes. These soil classes were unmixed against riverine sediment fingerprints using the Bayesian MixSIAR model, yielding proportionate source contributions for each catchment. This sediment source tracing indicated that hillslope erosion on the open rangelands and maize croplands in the mid-zone contributed over 75% of the transported sediment load in all three river systems during the sampling time-period. By integrating geochemical and biochemical fingerprints in sediment source tracing techniques, this study demonstrated links between land use, soil erosion and downstream sediment transport in Tanzania. This evidence can guide land managers in designing targeted interventions that safeguard both soil health and water quality.     

Soil erosion and sediment transport in Tanzania: Part II – sedimentological evidence of phased land degradation

Soil resources in parts of Tanzania are rapidly being depleted by increased rates of soil erosion and downstream sediment transport, threatening ecosystem health, water and livelihood security in the region. However, incomplete understanding to what effect the dynamics of soil erosion and sediment transport are responding to land-use changes and climatic variability are hindering the actions needed to future-proof Tanzanian land-use practices. Complementary environmental diagnostic tools were applied to reconstruct the rates and sources of sedimentation over time in three Tanzanian river systems that have experienced changing land use and climatic conditions. Detailed historical analysis of sediment deposits revealed drastic changes in sediment yield and source contributions. Quantitative sedimentation reconstruction using radionuclide dating showed a 20-fold increase in sediment yield over the past 120 years. The observed dramatic increase in sediment yield is most likely driven by increasing land-use pressures. Deforestation, cropland expansion and increasing grazing pressures resulted into accelerating rates of sheet erosion. A regime shift after years of progressive soil degradation and convergence of surface flows resulted into a highly incised landscape, where high amounts of eroded soil from throughout the catchment are rapidly transported downstream by strongly connected ephemeral drainage networks. By integrating complementary spatial and temporal evidence bases, this study demonstrated links between land-use change, increased soil erosion and downstream sedimentation. Such evidence can guide stakeholders and policy makers in the design of targeted management interventions to safeguard future soil health and water quality.     

Is the soil moisture precipitation feedback enhanced by heterogeneity and dry soils? A comparative study

The interaction between the land surface and the atmosphere is a crucial driver of atmospheric processes. Soil moisture and precipitation are key components in this feedback. Both variables are intertwined in a cycle, that is, the soil moisture – precipitation feedback for which involved processes and interactions are still discussed. In this study the soil moisture – precipitation feedback is compared for the sempiternal humid Ammer catchment in Southern Germany and for the semiarid to subhumid Sissili catchment in West Africa during the warm season, using precipitation datasets from the Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS), from the German Weather Service (REGNIE) and simulation datasets from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and the hydrologically enhanced WRF-Hydro model. WRF and WRF-Hydro differ by their representation of terrestrial water flow. With this setup we want to investigate the strength, sign and variables involved in the soil moisture – precipitation feedback for these two regions. The normalized model spread between the two simulation results shows linkages between precipitation variability and diagnostic variables surface fluxes, moisture flux convergence above the surface and convective available potential energy in both study regions. The soil moisture – precipitation feedback is evaluated with a classification of soil moisture spatial heterogeneity based on the strength of the soil moisture gradients. This allows us to assess the impact of soil moisture anomalies on surface fluxes, moisture flux convergence, convective available potential energy and precipitation. In both regions the amount of precipitation generally increases with soil moisture spatial heterogeneity. For the Ammer region the soil moisture – precipitation feedback has a weak negative sign with more rain near drier patches while it has a positive signal for the Sissili region with more rain over wetter patches. At least for the observed moderate soil moisture values and the spatial scale of the Ammer region, the spatial variability of soil moisture is more important for surface-atmosphere interactions than the actual soil moisture content. Overall, we found that soil moisture heterogeneity can greatly affect the soil moisture – precipitation feedback.     

Hydrological modelling for assessing spatio-temporal groundwater recharge variations in the water-stressed Amathole Water Supply System,Eastern Cape,South Africa

To increase the resilience of regional water supply systems in South Africa in the face of anticipated climatic changes and a constant increase in water demand, water supply sources require diversification. Many water-stressed metropolitan regions in South Africa depend largely on surface water to cover their water demand. While climatic and river discharge data is widely available in these regions, information on groundwater resources – which could support supply source diversification – is scarce. Groundwater recharge is a key parameter that is used to estimate groundwater amounts that can be sustainably exploited at a sub-watershed level. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop a reliable hydrological modelling routine that enables the assessment of regional spatio-temporal variations of groundwater recharge to discern the most promising areas for groundwater development. Accordingly, we present a semi-distributed hydrological modelling approach that incorporates water balance routines coupled with baseflow modelling techniques to yield spatio-temporal variations of groundwater recharge on a regional level. The approach is demonstrated for the actively managed catchment areas of the Amathole Water Supply System situated in a semi-arid part of the Eastern Cape of South Africa. In the investigated study area, annual groundwater recharge exhibits a high spatio-temporal heterogeneity and is estimated to vary between ~0.5% and 8% of annual rainfall. Despite some uncertainties induced by limited data availability, calibration and validation of the model were found to be satisfactory and yielded model results similar to (point) data of annual groundwater recharge reported in earlier studies. Our approach is therefore found to derive crucial information for efficiently targeting more detailed groundwater exploration studies and could work as a blueprint for orientating groundwater potential exploration in similar environments.     

Biomization and quantitative climate reconstruction techniques in northwestern Mexico—With an application to four Holocene pollen sequences

New paleovegetation and paleoclimatic reconstructions from the Sierra Madre Occidental (SMO) in northwestern Mexico are presented. This work involves climate and biome reconstruction using Plant Functional Types (PFT) assigned to pollen taxa. We used fossil pollen data from four Holocene peat bogs located at different altitudes (1500‑2000 m) at the border region of Sonora and Chihuahua at around 28° N latitude (Ortega-Rosas, C.I. 2003. Palinología de la Ciénega de Camilo: datos para la historia de la vegetación y el clima del Holoceno medio y superior en el NW de la Sierra Madre Occidental, Sonora, Mexico. Master Thesis, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México D.F.; Ortega-Rosas, C.I., Peñalba, M.C., Guiot, J. Holocene altitudinal shifts in vegetation belts and environmental changes in the Sierra Madre Occidental, Northwestern Mexico. Submitted for publication of Palaeobotany and Palynology). The closest modern pollen data come from pollen analysis across an altitudinal transect from the Sonoran Desert towards the highlands of the temperate SMO at the same latitude (Ortega-Rosas, C.I. 2003. Palinología de la Ciénega de Camilo: datos para la historia de la vegetación y el clima del Holoceno medio y superior en el NW de la Sierra Madre Occidental, Sonora, Mexico. Master Thesis, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México D.F.). An additional modern pollen dataset of 400 sites across NW Mexico and the SW United States was compiled from different sources (Davis, O.K., 1995. Climate and vegetation pattern in surface samples from arid western U.S.A.: application to Holocene climatic reconstruction. Palynology 19, 95–119, North American Pollen Database, Latin-American Pollen Database, personal data, and different scientific papers). For the biomization method (Prentice, I.C., Guiot, J., Huntley, B., Jolly, D., Cheddadi, R., 1996. Reconstructing biomes from paleoecological data: a general method and its application to European pollen data at 0 and 6 ka. Climate Dynamics 12, 185–194), we modified the pollen-PFT and PFT-biomes assignation of Thompson and Anderson (Thompson, R.S., Anderson, K.H., 2000. Biomes of western North America at 18,000; 6000 and 0 14C yr BP reconstructed from pollen and packrat midden data. Journal of Biogeography 27, 555–584) for a better representation of the modern vegetation of NW Mexico. The biome reconstruction method was validated with the modern pollen sites and applied to the fossil sites. Our results show that, during the early Holocene, a cool conifer forest extended at least down to 1700 m, while today this biome is present above 2000 m in the Chihuahua state. The Younger Dryas event was recorded in one site with cold and dry conditions. The reconstructed annual temperature for this period was 3°–6 °C colder than today, and annual precipitation was 250 mm lower than at present (900 mm/yr). The middle Holocene after 9200 cal yr BP was marked by a warming trend, reaching temperatures 2 °C warmer than today at 7000 cal yr BP, and by the installation of a warm mixed forest, the present day biome, at 1700 m elevation, while at higher elevations (1900 m) the cool conifer forest was still present. Summer precipitation was 200 mm/yr above the early Holocene values, suggesting that monsoon-like conditions strengthened since 9200 cal yr BP at this region. During the last 4000 yr, the same warm mixed forest was reconstructed below 1700 m and a conifer forest above 1700 m. A great variability of vegetation and climate patterns was recorded for the last 3000 yr particularly at high elevation sites, where warming and cooling trends would be coeval of the Medieval warm period and Little Ice Age, likely related to ENSO variability.     

尼日尔Termit盆地上白垩统储层岩石学特征及控制因素分析

本文对尼日尔Termit盆地17口井218个井壁取芯样品开展普通薄片、阴极发光、X衍射、扫描电镜及重矿物分析,研究上白垩统储层的岩石学特征,并探讨其控制因素。实验分析结果表明,Termit盆地上白垩统储层的岩石类型主要为石英砂岩,成分成熟度高,以石英为主,含量达86%以上,钾长石、方解石及斜长石等含少量,占比约5%,这种岩石类型对原生孔隙的保存比较有利;填隙物主要为粘土杂基,含量为7%左右,矿物成分以高岭石为主,利于对晶间孔的保留;岩石中发育硅质、方解石和铁质等胶结类型,胶结物的含量占比较小,对储层的破坏作用不大;重矿物类型为磁铁矿、赤铁矿、锆石、磷灰石,推测物源区的母岩类型主要为花岗岩;以细粒结构和少量的不等粒结构为主,分选中等-差,磨圆度一般为次棱角-次圆状,磨圆差。与国内石英砂岩沉积于高能的滨浅海环境不同,研究区石英砂岩成分成熟度高,但分选程度和磨圆度较低,一方面反映了物源区母岩富含石英,同时也反映了这种石英砂岩沉积于近源的河流-三角洲环境。影响研究区上白垩统储层物性的主要因素是岩石类型及成岩作用,由于储层的岩石类型为石英砂岩,压实作用对储层的破坏作用较一般岩石类型偏小。砂岩埋深小于2500m时,主要发育原生孔隙,面孔率大于15%。溶蚀作用对本区储层产生一定的影响,最常见的为长石的溶蚀,溶蚀作用形成粒内溶孔和粒间溶孔,还会扩大原生孔隙形成混合孔,改善了砂岩的储集性能。     

川西中三叠统雷口坡组三段-四段白云岩特征与成因——来自于岩相学及地球化学的约束

白云岩化是影响储层发育是否的重要沉积-成岩过程。作者通过在对川西地区的中三叠统雷口坡组的雷三至雷四段的岩相学,碳、氧、锶、镁同位素以及元素地球化学等综合研究,划分出含膏的泥晶云岩AD0、泥晶云岩D0、泥粉晶云岩D1、粉细晶云岩D2、微生物云岩MD、含灰质藻云岩CD(交代结构)以及去云化的泥粉晶云岩(CD0CD1)等七类白云岩。白云石有序度及铁、锰含量较低。阴极发光以暗紫、暗紫红、蓝紫为主;次为玫瑰红、橙红及橙黄红色。δ~(13)CPDB=1. 95‰～2. 46‰,δ~(18)OPDB=-4. 05‰～2. 70‰;~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr=0. 70778～0. 70807,δ~(26)Mg=-1. 872‰～-2. 124‰,其中δ~(13)C_(PDB)、~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr的平均值与中三叠世全球海水相似;δ~(18)O_(PDB)为弱负漂及正偏移。从D2、D1至D0、AD0,Sr、Na和大部分微量元素含量及比值和δ~(18)O_(PDB)逐渐增加; AD0、少量D0或MD相对富含硅、铝,并与高(低镁)方解石、黏土、有机质等共生。离子组成反映出白云石的前驱物以方解石型为主,少量为文石、原白云石结构。存在广盐、稍咸和超盐度的碱性等沉积环境。白云岩形成主要受向上变浅米级旋回序列,干燥、炎热为主、偶夹潮湿古气候以及古地貌-古水文条件等因素影响。存在浅潟湖的萨勃哈(AD0或D0)、环潮缘至局限台地(D0-D1、微生物诱导MD)、潮间-潮下的微生物礁(席)构成的障壁的台缘带(MD-CD1-CD)、潮坪-开阔台地(D0-D2-CD1、MD)等环境,以萨勃哈和受蒸发泵-密度差驱动的"渗透-回流白云石化"模式为主。     

Heating duration of igneous rim formation on a chondrule in the Northwest Africa 3118 CV3oxA carbonaceous chondrite inferred from micro-scale migration of the oxygen isotopes

Due to their common occurrence in various types of chondrites, igneous rims formed on pre-existing chondrules throughout chondrule-forming regions of the solar nebula. Although the peak temperatures are thought to reach similar values to those achieved during chondrule formation events, the heating duration in chondrule rim formation has not been well defined. We determined the two-dimensional chemical and oxygen isotopic distributions in an igneous rim of a chondrule within the Northwest Africa 3118 CV3_oxA chondrite with sub-micrometer resolution using secondary ion mass spectrometry and scanning electron microscopy. The igneous rim experienced aqueous alteration on the CV parent body. The aqueous alteration resulted in precipitation of the secondary FeO-rich olivine (Fa_40–49) and slightly disturbed the Fe-Mg distribution in the MgO-rich olivine phenocrysts (Fa_11–22) at about a 1 μm scale. However, no oxygen isotopic disturbances were observed at a scale greater than 100 nm. The MgO-rich olivine, a primary phase of igneous rim formation, has δ¹⁷O = −6 ± 3‰ and δ¹⁸O = −1 ± 4‰, and some grains contain extreme ¹⁶O-rich areas (δ¹⁷O, δ¹⁸O = ∼−30‰) nearly 10 μm across. We detected oxygen isotopic migration of approximately 1 μm at the boundaries of the extreme ¹⁶O-rich areas. Using oxygen self-diffusivity in olivine, the heating time of the igneous rim formation could have continued from several hours to several days at near liquidus temperatures (∼2000 K) in the solar nebula suggesting that the rim formed by a similar flash heating event that formed the chondrules.     

Access to electricity for all and the role of decentralized solar power in sub-Saharan Africa

ABSTRACT

Several hundred million people in sub-Saharan Africa are at risk of being without access to electricity by 2030 despite the ongoing work aimed at achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 7—sustainable energy for all. Based on qualitative interviews, quantitative surveys, observation, and participation in Kenya and Senegal between 2010 and 2018, the author aims to explain why the rate of progress is slower than intended. The findings highlight three strong hindrances: lack of affordability due to extreme poverty, mismatch between the village-level outreach of grid-based electricity systems and the geography of settlements, and lack of consideration given to gender inequality. The findings also provide new insights into the ways that decentralized small-scale solar power increasingly meets some of the shortcomings of centralized grids in addressing these three issues, even in rural areas where grids are already present. The author concludes that the ways in which village communities have combined the use of solar-powered energy with grid-supplied energy indicates the importance of the former and the need to intensify efforts to improve solar power delivery models and integrate them fully in energy sector strategies.     

1996—2015年非洲人口扩张区域类型划分与区域演变分析

采用总人口和劳动力等直接指标单独测度,结合出生率、死亡率、少年系数和老年系数等指标进行综合测度,分析1996—2015年非洲51个国家（地区）人口扩张区的数量变化、空间分布及演化特征,并对比了不同测度指标和方法之间的差异。发现：①总人口扩张区的比重虽高,但扩张程度有所放缓,地域分布整体呈现“南北弱、中部强”的特征,其在东非地区缩减明显;②劳动力扩张区较总人口扩张区扩张程度更为明显,两者在北非和南非部分地区差异较大,其地域分布整体呈现“北退南进”的变化过程;③“劳动力增长率大于总人口增长率”地区比重高于“总人口增长率大于劳动力增长率”,且差距有不断拉大的趋势,前者以北非地区西北部、西非地区几内亚湾沿岸较为集中,后者主要集中分布在中非、东非与西非部分地区;④基于综合指标结果显示,重度扩张型占有较高的比重,中度扩张型增速较快,轻度扩张型占比呈波动下降;⑤综合指标与单一指标结果有一定的趋同性,但区别也比较明显,综合指标在综合性、前瞻性方面有一定优势。