古代生物分子在第四纪研究中的应用

从第四纪化石和沉积物中获得的古代生物分子为第四纪研究者提供了丰富和独特的有关古代生物、遗传和古环境信息的定量和高分辨率的数据.过去10多年的研究证实来自第四纪材料中的各种古代生物分子的分离、鉴定和应用的能力在不断增加.文章总结了古代生物分子在第四纪研究中的最新进展,主要包括以下几个方面的内容:1)不同类型的古代生物分子在地质体中的保存和降解;2)古DNA和古蛋白序列中的生物遗传学信息;3)单体分子同位素与第四纪古环境和古气候研究;4)建于古代生物分子水平上的第四纪年代学.作者预见对第四纪地层中的原位和分散保存的古代生物分子的研究将在广度上以多分子综合研究而深度上与单体分子同位素技术相结合,为第四纪科学家们提供大量解决地质学和演化生物学问题的高精度数据.随着地球化学和分子生物学技术的不断改进以及人们对古代生物分子的降解过程和机制的进一步理解,对古代生物分子的研究无疑将进一步促进和推动第四纪科学研究的发展.     

Imaging buried Quaternary valleys using the transient electromagnetic method

Buried Quaternary valleys in Denmark are complex structures filled with various deposits consisting primarily of glacio-lacustrine clay, till and meltwater sand, and gravel. The valleys are important geophysical targets, because they often contain significant volumes of groundwater used for public water supply. About 700 km of buried valley structures have been imaged in the western part of Denmark by the transient electromagnetic (TEM) method. The ability to map the valleys depends primarily on valley geometry, infill architecture and the resistivity of the fill sediments as well as the substratum. One-dimensional (1-D) inversion models of the TEM soundings have been used to construct contour maps of 20 m average resistivities and depth to a good conductor, which provide images for geological interpretation. Images of buried valley morphology, fill properties, infill architecture, such as cut-and-fill structures, valley distribution and valley generations, are characterized for case studies from Hornsyld, Holstebro and the Vonsild/Agtrup areas of Denmark.     

Seismic imaging of mid-Pleistocene tunnel-valleys in the North Sea Basin—high resolution from low frequencies

Seismic reflection methods provide continuous access both to stratigraphy (vertical) and to subsurface morphology (horizontal), for which the scales of interest may differ by orders of magnitude. Seismic surveys of Quaternary successions have generally sought to optimise vertical resolution, through the use of higher source frequency content. Here, I show that low-frequency bandwidth is not necessarily a limiting factor for the seismic resolution of glacigenic morpho-sedimentary features. Observations are presented from a buried network of large mid-Pleistocene (Elsterian) tunnel-valleys in the southern North Sea Basin, across a 100×130 km study area with water depths less than 30 m. Low-frequency 2D and 3D seismic multi-channel data, acquired for deeper hydrocarbon exploration, are compared with previously available high-frequency single- and multi-channel profiles (5–15 km grid spacing). The low-frequency data contribute to a new understanding of the basal morphology and fill stratigraphy of the tunnel-valleys, in part due to higher data densities (≥1 km grid spacing), but also to improved imaging of reflectors at depth. The tunnel-valleys are seen to be overdeepened troughs, shallow (≤0.5 km) relative to their widths (≤6 km). The basal unconformity defines a series of arborescent elements, convergent to the south; erosional overlap by younger elements to the north has resulted in anastomosing patterns in places. The fill is dominated by axially downlapping clinoforms, descending to the north, onlapped and overlain by subhorizontal reflectors. Well data show that sand-dominated glaciofluvial sediments are overlain by glaciolacustrine to marine muds. Better definition of the clinoforms on low- versus high-frequency multi-channel data is suggested to reflect the coarse spatial scale of the backset glaciofluvial strata. The results support a simple interpretation of time-transgressive tunnel-valley formation by coeval glaciofluvial erosion and backfill beneath the outer tens of kilometres of the northward receding Elsterian ice sheet margin. Comparable submarginal interpretations have been proposed for drainage features (tunnel-valleys and eskers) of the last deglaciation of both northern Europe and North America using integrated geomorphologic and stratigraphic methods. Commercial 2D and 3D seismic data are widely available from exploration areas such as the North Sea and are argued to constitute an underexploited resource for Quaternary research.     

鄱阳湖组(第四系)的修订及特征

根据对鄱阳湖地区 Zk0 1钻孔柱状剖面的研究 ,对鄱阳湖组的定义进行修订、补充 ,认为鄱阳湖组为一套以青灰色淤泥质粘土、黄褐色粘土、粉质粉土为主夹少量粉砂或细砂的湖泊—河口三角洲相沉积。年代地层为第四系全新统 ,底界年龄约 6 2 10± 12 5 a B.P.,开阔湖泊沉积始于 32 4 0± 180 a B.P.,且由北向南时代渐新 ,具有明显的穿时性     

0．7Ma以来的念青唐古拉山脉隆升过程——来自冰川剥蚀作用的证据

通过对念青唐古拉山冰碛地层划分及冰碛物同位素测年，发现最早一期冰碛物形成于0．7～0．6MaBP，指示自中更新世以来念青唐古拉山脉开始隆升，主峰地区发生了大规模的冰川剥蚀作用，形成了大面积分布的冰碛高平台；0．2～0．14MaBP念青唐古拉山又快速隆升，并堆积了刚刚伸出各大沟谷口的高侧碛；0．07～0．03MaBP念青唐古拉山再次小规模隆起，形成各大沟谷内的侧碛和终碛垄；0．01Ma BP还有小规模冰川活动。念青唐古拉山主峰地区的冰川剥蚀作用反映出的山脉隆升过程，可较好地与青藏高原的隆起过程相对比，它应是青藏高原隆升的响应。     

Calcrete profile development in Quaternary alluvial sequences,southeast Spain: implications for using calcretes as a basis for landform chronologies

A detailed study of the morphology and micro‐morphology of Quaternary alluvial calcrete profiles from the Sorbas Basin shows that calcretes may be morphologically simple or complex. The ‘simple’ profiles reflect pedogenesis occurring after alluvial terrace formation and consist of a single pedogenic horizon near the land surface. The ‘complex’ profiles reflect the occurrence of multiple calcrete events during terrace sediment aggradation and further periods of pedogenesis after terrace formation. These ‘complex’ calcrete profiles are consequently described as composite profiles. The exact morphology of the composite profiles depends upon: (1) the number of calcrete‐forming events occurring during terrace sediment aggradation; (2) the amount of sediment accretion that occurs between each period of calcrete formation; and (3) the degree of pedogenesis after terrace formation. Simple calcrete profiles are most useful in establishing landform chronologies because they represent a single phase of pedogenesis after terrace formation. Composite profiles are more problematic. Pedogenic calcretes that form within them may inherit carbonate from calcrete horizons occurring lower down in the terrace sediments. In addition erosion may lead to the exhumation of older calcretes within the terrace sediment. Calcrete ‘inheritance’ may make pedogenic horizons appear more mature than they actually are and produce horizons containing carbonate embracing a range of ages. Calcrete exhumation exposes calcrete horizons whose morphology and radiometric ages are wholly unrelated to terrace surface age. Composite profiles are, therefore, only suitable for chronological studies if the pedogenic horizon capping the terrace sequence can be clearly distinguished from earlier calcrete‐forming events. Thus, a detailed morphological/micro‐morphological study is required before any chronological study is undertaken. This is the only way to establish whether particular calcrete profiles are suitable for dating purposes. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evolution and inheritance of a rock coast: western Galicia,northwestern Spain

There is increasing evidence that shore platforms and other elements of rock coasts may be inherited, at least in part, from interglacial stages when sea level was similar to today's. Most of this evidence, which includes ancient beaches and datable terrestrial deposits, has been obtained from areas of resistant, slowly eroding rock, where the platforms often appear to be much too wide to have developed since the sea reached its present level. It is much more dif?cult to demonstrate that inheritance has occurred in areas of weaker rock, which generally lack any datable material. The coast of western Galicia in northwestern Spain has shore platforms in igneous and metamorphic rocks that were deeply weathered during the Tertiary. These platforms are closely associated with ancient beaches from the last interglacial stage, and associated periglacial and ?uvio‐nival deposits that covered and fossilized most of the Eemian platforms and cliffs during the late middle and late Weichselian glacial stage. The sedimentary processes and the thickness and facies of the sediments were determined by the height, aspect and gradient of the coastal mountains, and their distance from the coast. Radiocarbon dating, sedimentary analysis and platform morphology indicate that the shore platforms of Galicia have been inherited from at least the last interglacial stage. They were fossilized in places beneath thick Weichselian deposits and then exhumed during the Holocene transgression. The abundant evidence for inheritance in Galicia has important implications for other coasts in fairly weak rocks where such evidence is generally lacking. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

La vallée d'Ys : un paléoréseau hydrographique immergé en baie de Douarnenez (Finistère,France)

Interpretation of the recent high-resolution survey, CANADOU 2000, in the Bay of Douarnenez (Finistère, France) allowed us to restore the morphology of the substratum and the sedimentary filling of the bay. The Brioverian and Palaeozoic substratum reveals a well-defined network of incised valleys as results of successive emergence stages of the Bay during the Quaternary. Valleys join in a westward-widened mean valley, called Ys Valley. The present-day sedimentary fill of the bay of Douarnenez appears mainly controlled by the Holocene rise and the consecutive highstand. It comprises fluvial and estuarine deposits filling up incised valleys and marine sedimentation extending out of the incised valleys. To cite this article: G. Jouet et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).To cite this article: G. Jouet et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).     

Age and paleoclimatic significance of late Holocene lakes in the Carson Sink, NV, USA

New dating in the Carson Sink at the termini of the Humboldt and Carson rivers in the Great Basin of the western United States indicates that lakes reached elevations of 1204 and 1198 m between 915 and 652 and between 1519 and 1308 cal yr B.P., respectively. These dates confirm Morrison's original interpretation (Lake Lahontan: Geology of the Southern Carson Desert, Professional Paper 40, U.S. Geol. Survey, 1964) that these shorelines are late Holocene features, rather than late Pleistocene as interpreted by later researchers. Paleohydrologic modeling suggests that discharge into the Carson Sink must have been increased by a factor of about four, and maintained for decades, to account for the 1204-m lake stand. The hydrologic effects of diversions of the Walker River to the Carson Sink were probably not sufficient, by themselves, to account for the late Holocene lake-level rises. The decadal-long period of increased runoff represented by the 1204-m lake is also reflected in other lake records and in tree ring records from the western United States.     

西藏纳木错晚更新世以来湖面变化和藏北高原古大湖的演化

根据西藏纳木错及邻区发现的多处湖岸阶地和高位湖相沉积,确定了藏北高原古大湖的存在。水准测量表明,在纳木错沿岸发育了6级湖岸阶地,以及拔湖48～139.2m的高位湖相沉积;在拔湖26m以下,发育有8～30条湖岸堤;一条明显的湖蚀凹槽则集中出现在拔湖17.5～19.8m的高度上,与纳木错和仁错的分水垭口的高度相当。纳木错沿岸和邻区湖相或湖滨相沉积物的铀系年龄测定表明,高位湖相沉积形成于115.9～71.8kaB.P.的晚更新世早期;第6至第2级阶地形成于53.7～28.2kaB.P.的晚更新世中晚期;与湖蚀凹槽相当的湖滨相沉积则稍早于29.3kaB.P.;第2至第1级阶地,14C测定结果为2350～10390aB.P.。