Spatial controls on the distribution and dynamics of a marginal snowpack in the Australian Alps

Seasonal snowpacks in marginal snow environments are typically warm and nearly isothermal, exhibiting high inter‐ and intra‐annual variability. Measurements of snow depth and snow water equivalent were made across a small subalpine catchment in the Australian Alps over two snow seasons in order to investigate the extent and implications of snowpack spatial variability in this marginal setting. The distribution and dynamics of the snowpack were found to be influenced by upwind terrain, vegetation, solar radiation, and slope. The role of upwind vegetation was quantified using a novel parameter based on gridded vegetation height. The elevation range of the catchment was relatively modest (185 m), and elevation impacted distribution but not dynamics. Two characteristic features of marginal snowpack behaviour are presented. Firstly, the evolution of the snowpack is described in terms of a relatively unstable accumulation state and a highly stable ablation state, as revealed by temporal variations in the mean and standard deviation of snow water equivalent. Secondly, the validity of partitioning the snow season into distinct accumulation and ablation phases is shown to be compromised in such a setting. Snow at the most marginal locations may undergo complete melt several times during a season and, even where snow cover is more persistent, ablation processes begin to have an effect on the distribution of the snowpack early in the season. Our results are consistent with previous research showing that individual point measurements are unable to fully represent the variability in the snowpack across a catchment, and we show that recognising and addressing this variability are particularly important for studies in marginal snow environments.     

“高分二号”卫星在黄土地质灾害解译中的应用研究

黄土高原地区地质灾害多发频发,危害严重,应用亚米级的高分二号(GF-2)卫星影像数据,提取地质灾害信息,并对室内解译结果进行了野外查证。本文提出了以GF-2卫星数据为主要信息源,进行地质灾害解译的技术方案;并以宁夏南部黄土高原区为例,验证了该方法的适用性,为规模化地开展基于国产高分系列卫星的黄土高原地区地质灾害遥感解译提供了可行的技术方案;通过GF-2卫星影像与常用的国内外卫星数据用于地质灾害信息判释的对比研究,认为GF-2卫星影像对于地质灾害信息的识别能够满足地质灾害遥感解译的要求,GF-2卫星影像的应用具有较高的性价比和显著的经济社会效益。     

汉江上游黄土常量元素地球化学特征及区域对比

本文对汉江上游黄土的常量元素含量及相关地球化学参数CIA、Na/K、淋溶系数、退碱系数、残积系数等进行了系统分析。结果显示：① 汉江黄土的主要化学成分为SiO₂、Al₂O₃和Fe₂O₃,三者含量总和达767.3 g/kg;常量元素含量大小排序为SiO₂>Al₂O₃>Fe₂O₃>K₂O>MgO>Na₂O>CaO。风化成壤过程中Na、Ca、Mg、Si发生不同程度的迁移淋溶,而Fe、Al、K相对富集。② 其风化成壤强度呈现从马兰黄土L₁→过渡性黄土L_t→古土壤S₀逐渐升高、全新世黄土L₀又降低的规律,记录了该区域气候经历了末次冰期（55.0-15.0 ka BP）冷干、早全新世（15.0-8.5 ka BP）增温增湿、中全新世（8.5-3.1 ka BP）达到最暖湿,晚全新世（3.1-0.0 ka BP）降温变干的演变过程。③ 汉江黄土与洛川、巫山、下蜀黄土的元素组合特征高度一致,不同地区常量元素（CaO除外）含量十分接近且UCC标准化值变幅均小于0.25,这暗示了它们风化之初具有相似的风成沉积基础;但不同区域黄土的化学风化强度差异明显,大致呈现洛川黄土<汉江黄土<巫山黄土<下蜀黄土的趋势,与中国现代季风气候的空间变化规律相吻合,即不同地区黄土风化程度差异主要是东亚季风变化影响的结果。     

Drainage basin object-based method for regional-scale landform classification: a case study of loess area in China

Landform classification is one of the most important procedures in recognizing and dividing earth surface landforms. However, topographical homogeneity and differences in regional-scale landforms are often ignored by traditional pixel- and object-based landform classification methods based on digital elevation models (DEMs). In this work, a drainage basin object-based method for classifying regional-scale landforms is proposed. Drainage basins with least critical areas are first delineated from DEMs. Then, terrain derivatives of mean elevation, mean slope, drainage density, drainage depth, and terrain texture are employed to characterize the morphology of the drainage basins. Finally, a decision tree based on the topographical characteristics of the drainage basins is constructed and employed to determine the landform classification law. The experiment is validated in the landform classification of regional-scale loess areas in China. Results show that clear boundaries exist in different landforms at the regional scale. Landform type in a specific region shows significant topographical homogeneity under its specific regional geomorphological process. Classification accuracies are 87.3 and 86.3% for the field investigation and model validation, respectively. Spatial patterns of classified landforms and their proximity to sediment sources and other factors can be regarded as indicators of the evolutionary process of loess landform formation.     

Collapsing loess-like soil in western Saudi Arabia

Earth fissures have developed at Wadi Al-Yutamah, western Saudi Arabia. The fissues are associated with land subsidence which is considered to be due to both rapid draw down of the ground-water level and hydrocompaction of the wadi soil after flooding. This phenomenon is relatively recent in the area.The wadi soil was investigated and classified in the field, and disturbed and undisturbed samples were collected for laboratory testing and analysis. The engineering properties of the wadi soils were determined, including in situ field density, specific gravity, liquid limit, plastic limit, plasticity index, shrinkage limit, and consolidation characteristics such as total settlement and coefficient of subsidence (collapse).Four types of silty soil of different colours were identified, in addition to yellowish-brown sand (representing the dunes) which accumulated on the surface of the study area. The silty soils include yellowish-brown silty sand, yellowish-gray silt, pale brown silt and yellowish-brown clayey silt. The results of X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the clay is mainly kaolinite and illite with minor smectite. The dominant soil type in the study area is silt of low plasticity, high void ratio and low density which decreased with depth. This soil was classified as loess-like materials.The studied soils are of a collapsing type, and settlement is greatly increased by excessive wetting under constant pressure. The calculated coefficients of subsidence (collapse) of the soils at different depths generally increased with decreasing soil density and ranged between 3·1% and 10·8%. The wadi soils are considered to pose a moderate problem when wetted.     

黄土孢粉分析的新途径——筛滤分析法

黄土-古土壤序列在全球古气候、古环境研究中占有不可替代的重要地位,而其中的孢粉是黄土高原生态环境演化过程中保存的直接生物学证据,它对建立黄土高原降水或湿度状况的时空变化特征,认识季风变迁的过程、规律以及未来发展趋势等具有重要的意义。随着黄土研究工作的不断深入,作为直接生物学证据的孢粉研究相对薄弱。其中最困扰的因素是从黄土中提取孢粉极其困难,分析技术上始终未能找到一个突破口,因此需要一种分析效果好、快捷、成本低的分析方法以获得大量高精度的孢粉数据。筛滤分析法正是为了适应黄土研究的需要而设计的一种新型的黄土孢粉分析方法。筛滤分析法利用真空状态下的气压差使样品在水中完全悬浮跳动,样品得到充分的冲洗并促使孢粉与其它无机质与有机质分离。相对真空的状态减少了微细颗粒对极为细小的网眼的阻塞,重力作用促使水及各类颗粒不断冲击筛网,使粒径小于10μm的物质较容易被过滤到聚水容器中,而孢粉与较少的大颗粒物质则被隔离在筛网之上,这使我们很容易用重液浮选出干净、清晰的孢粉底样。筛滤分析法与常规的黄土孢粉分析相比,具有以下特点:①大大降低了分析样品的重量及药品的消耗,一般仅需样品30 g左右,是常规分析法用量的1/6~1/8。②整个分析流程短, 12个样品一个流程仅需3~4 d。③筛滤分析法使孢粉几乎全部被隔离在筛网上而丢失极少,提高了黄土孢粉研究精度。④筛滤分析法几乎不破坏孢粉的结构,孢粉底样干净、清晰。使用筛滤分析法共分析耀县全新世黄土剖面69块孢粉样品,均发现数量不等的孢粉。孢粉底样干净、杂质少,结构清楚。共统计孢粉14978粒,分属27个科属,这些科属包括了黄土高原主要的孢粉类型。从孢粉结果可以初步确定,在全新世时期,位于黄土高原南缘的耀县地区,草本植物占全部孢粉总量的93.6%,而乔木植物仅占孢粉总量的4.7%。在整个剖面中没有出现乔木植物含量超过30%,可以认为在黄土高原的全新世时期是以草原植被为主,并无森林生长。     

Reconstruction of High Resolution Timescale in Weinan Loess Section of Late Quaternary

TheWeinanloesssectionislocatedatNanjiangVillage(34"21'N,lO9"3l'E),YangguoTown,Weinan,ShaanxiProvince,whichisoneofthecontinuousloesssequencedis-coveredofthelasto.l5MaB.P.,whichhassoforbeenthebestdatedbyboththeAMSl4CandTL(Liuetal.,l994),andisusedasastratigraphicstandard.Basedontheorbitaltuningmethod(Dingetal.,l99l)lapreliminaryhighresolu-tiontimescaleofthissectionhasbeenestab1ished(Liuetal.,l995).Howeverlinrecentyears,increasingeffortshavebeenmadetodocumentsub-orbitalscaleclimaticvariat…     

用黄土地球化学参数进行古气候定量估算的初步尝试

尝试了用表土地球化学转换函数恢复渭南剖面最近１３万ａ米的古温度,古降水。结果显示：（１）全新世适宜期及末次间冰期时,降水量显著增加,渭南地区的年降水量可大于７００ｍｍ（２）末次冰期时降水量明显低于全新世适宜期及末次间冰期,但是这一时期有一些次一级的变化;特别与深海Ｏ同位素阶段４对应的时期不仅降水量显著降低,而且还有更次一级的变化;（３０全新世适宜期时,渭南地区的年平均温度在１２－１４℃左右,末次冰     

中国北方四剖面CaCO3含量变化及其反映的古降水量

中国北方自西向东的4个剖面,各地层CaCO3的含量呈现逐渐减少的规律。科尔沁剖面和延长剖面、西宁盘子山剖面CaCO3含量曲线表现出的特征为：在每一个古土壤单元的下部一定深度内CaCO3曲线都表现为一个明显的峰;新疆塔勒德剖面的各古土壤的CaCO3含量表现为表层比中、下部要高。利用CaCO3淀积深度恢复出来的部分区域的古降水量显示,末次间冰期期间盘子山剖面的古降水量大为352mm,延长剖面和科尔沁剖面的古降水量大约为500-550mm;末次冰期的间冰阶阶段科尔沁剖面的古降水量大致为320～360mm;延长剖面古降水量大约为443mm;全新世以来盘子山剖面的古降水量大约为306mm,延长剖面和科尔沁剖面的古降水量大约为320-380mm。这些数据可为半定量恢复地质历史时期古环境状况提供依据。     

黄土液化微细观特性试验研究

黄土液化演化过程的微观机理分析是液化防御的科学问题之一。通过微细观及动力学试验探索黄土液化的本质和影响因素。首先用CT细观扫描实验探索黄土渗透液化的细观变化,研究表明土体液面上升的根本原因是弱碱性盐类胶结物的吸水作用导致土样含水面整体上升;试样达到高饱和度,大孔隙周围颗粒间胶结物质破坏后有效应力为零,土层液化。粉土的孔隙尺寸和特殊的胶结物质导致高饱和度。土样微观结构的差异也会影响土的液面上升和破坏强度。针对低黏性粉土、粉质砂土及粉质黏土的三类黄土液化实验分析表明,低黏性粉土动荷加载时间更短,更易于液化,即低粘性粉土液化最为严重,粉质砂土为中等液化,粉质黏土相比其他黄土类别不易液化。电镜扫描土样微观结构参数分析表明,土颗粒周围胶结物质的化学元素比值(Ca/Fe),以及土颗粒粒径分布和孔隙尺寸(孔隙与颗粒比)均影响液化等级,可初步判断液化的强弱。