Sedimentary pellets as an ice-cover proxy in a High Arctic ice-covered lake

Sediment aggregates (“sedimentary pellets”) within the sedimentary record of Lake A (83°00′ N, 75°30′ W), Ellesmere Island, Canada, are used to construct a 1000 year proxy record of ice-cover extent and dynamics on this perennially ice-covered, High Arctic lake. These pellets are interpreted to form during fall or early winter when littoral sediment adheres to ice forming around the lake’s periphery or during summer through the development of anchor ice. The sediment likely collects in ice interstices and is concentrated in the upper ice layers through summer surface ice melt and winter basal ice growth. The pellets remain frozen in the ice until a summer or series of summers with reduced ice cover allows for their deposition across the lake basin. Sedimentary pellet frequency within multiple sediment cores is used to develop a chronology of ice-cover fluctuations. This proxy ice-cover record is largely corroborated by a record of unusual sedimentation in Lake A involving iron-rich, dark-orange to red laminae overlying more diffuse laminae with a lighter hue. This sediment sequence is hypothesized to represent years with reduced ice cover through increased chemocline ventilation and iron deposition. During the past millennium, the most notable period of inferred reduced ice cover is ca. 1891 AD to present. Another period of ice cover mobility is suggested ca. 1582–1774 AD, while persistent ice cover is inferred during the 1800s and prior to 1582 AD. The proxy ice-cover record corresponds well with most regional melt-season proxy temperature and paleoecological records, especially during the 1800s and 1900s.

属性识别模型在艾比湖水质评价中的应用

根据新疆博尔塔拉蒙古自治州环境监测站对艾比湖5个代表性的监测断面最近5年的水质实测资料,结合熵权法和国家地表水环境质量标准系统地建立了属性识别模型,运用属性计算和属性得分详细评价了艾比湖的水质.模型评价结果表明:艾比湖的水质污染主要为氨氮、磷、砷的污染.就空间而言,湖心2水质较好,没有出现V类水质,其次为喇叭口,博乐河口与精河河口水质较差;就时间而言,2003年各监测断面水质均属I类,之后逐渐恶化,到2008年半数以上的监测断面属于V类水质,且与改进密切值法的评价结果比较,结果较吻合.采用属性识别模型评价湖泊水质,概念清晰,计算简单,评价结果客观、合理,可以反映出艾比湖水质的现状,是湖泊水质评价中简便实用的评价方法之一.     

新疆赛里木湖地质公园旅游开发研究

通过对赛里木湖实地考察,调查了129个景点,并收集了大量资料进行对比分析.结合赛里木湖地质遗迹景观的实际情况,参照国土资源部地质环境司制定的<中国国家地质公园建设技术要求和工作指南>进行分类,对资源进行特色分析.在运用"三三六"评价法和层次分析法对旅游资源定性定量结合评价的基础上,得出对赛里木湖地质公园的旅游开发应突出以高原湖泊景观为主,生物景观和冰川地貌景观为辅,建设一环三纵的旅游空间格局,形成以博乐市为依托城市,以博乐市、伊宁市和乌鲁木齐大都市圈为基本客源市场,以来疆游客为次级客源市场,成为新疆一个集科研、度假、休闲、探险为一身的旅游目的地.     

Late Quaternary lake response to climate change and anthropogenic impact: biomarker evidence from Lake Constance sediments

This study used organic matter in oligotrophic Lake Constance (southern Germany) to reconstruct lake environment and to disentangle the multiple factors, such as climate change and human impacts, which influence sedimentation in large lakes. A sediment core from Upper Lake Constance, which represents 16,000 years of Late Glacial and Holocene lake history, was analysed for organic biomarkers, hydrogen index and elements calcium, strontium, and magnesium. Magnetic susceptibility was measured to establish a high-resolution stratigraphic framework for the core and to obtain further information about changes with respect to relative allochthonous versus autochthonous sedimentation. Dinosterol—a biomarker for dinoflagellates—and calcium have low concentrations in Younger Dryas sediments and consistently high concentrations between 10,500 and 7,000 cal. years BP. These variations are attributed to changes in lake productivity, but are not reflected in the proportion of total organic carbon within the sediment. During the Younger Dryas and between 6,000 and 2,800 cal. years BP, concentrations and accumulation rates of land-plant-derived C₂₉-steroids (β-sitosterol, stigmastanol and stigmasterol), in combination with a relatively low HI, indicate periods of enhanced terrigenous input to the lake. For the Younger Dryas, higher runoff can be attributed to a cold climate, leading to decreased vegetation cover and increased erosion. After 6,000 cal. years BP, high terrestrial input may be explained by enhanced precipitation. Biomarker and HI results, in combination with archaeological studies, raise the question as to whether lakeshore settlements affected sedimentation in Upper Lake Constance between 6,000 and 2,800 cal. years BP.     

Sediment accumulation of Dianchi Lake determined by 137Cs dating

The water quality of Dianchi Lake declines quickly and the eutrophication is getting serious. To identify the internal pollution load of Dianchi Lake it is necessary to evaluate its sediment accumulation. Sedimentation rates of Dianchi Lake are determined by 137Cs dating. However, 137Cs vertical distribution in sediment cores of Dianchi Lake has special characteristics because Dianchi Lake is located on the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Kunming quasi-stationary front is over the borders of Yunnan and Guizhou where the specific precipitation is distributed. Besides 1954, 1963 and 1986 137Cs marks can be determined in sediment cores, a 137Cs mark of 1976 representing the major period of 137Cs released from China unclear test can be determined and used for an auxiliary dating mark. Meanwhile Dianchi Lake is divided into seven sections based on the water depth, basin topography, hydrological features and supplies of silt and the lakebed area of each section is calculated. The mean annual sedimentation rates for seven sections are 0.0810, 0.1352, 0.1457, 0.1333, 0.0904, 0.1267 and 0.1023 g/cm2a in 1963–2003, respectively. The gross sediment accumulation of the lake is 26.18×104 t/a in recent 17 years and 39.86×104 t/a in recent 50 years.     

Recent water quality trends and a comparison to sediment-core records for two riverine lakes of the Upper Mississippi River basin: Lake St. Croix and Lake Pepin

Long-term water quality monitoring data from two riverine lakes in the Upper Mississippi River basin, Lakes St. Croix and Pepin, were analyzed to compare the long-term average water quality conditions and land use distributions, water quality trends and loads at lake inlets and outlets, trends from long-term versus short-term monitoring records, and the ability of paleolimnological cores to accurately infer lake water quality conditions. During the 1976–2004 period, the long-term average concentrations of nutrients, suspended solids, and chlorophyll-a were consistently lower at the Lake St. Croix inlet versus the Lake Pepin inlet, which drains a greater proportion of urban and agricultural runoff. Despite these differences, nutrient trends were similar at the inlets to both lakes; reductions in total phosphorus and ammonium concentrations were attributed to improvements in point source technologies, whereas increasing nitrate concentrations were attributed to both point source changes and nonpoint source increases. Despite improvements in several water quality variables, nitrate concentrations are increasing in both lakes, sediment trends indicate persistent nonpoint source inputs to Lake Pepin, and current total phosphorus concentrations remain well above pre-1950s levels in both lakes. Since urban development and agriculture are increasing in the Lake St. Croix and Lake Pepin Watersheds, continued point source regulation and additional nonpoint source control efforts will be needed to further improve water quality in these lakes. The 1976–2004 trends for most water quality variables were similar at inlet versus outlet sites on Lake St. Croix. Trends at Lake Pepin inlet versus outlet sites were less similar, but data availability limited the comparison to the 1993–2003 period. While the truncated data record highlighted short-term trends in both lakes, the full data record was most useful for exploring general patterns in water quality. Length of monitoring record affected our ability to detect trends at the inlets to both lakes, and altered the magnitude of detected trends. During the two decades of the 1980s and 1990s, paleolimnological estimates of retained phosphorus loads were similar to those estimated from recent water quality monitoring. These similarities support the use of paleolimnological approaches to infer past water quality conditions in Lakes St. Croix and Pepin. This is one of eight papers dedicated to the “Recent Environmental History of the Upper Mississippi River” published in this special issue of the Journal of Paleolimnology. D. R. Engstrom served as guest editor of the special issue.     

青海湖周边地区沙丘移动监测及其气候驱动力分析

根据青海湖周边地区3个定点沙丘监测点近5 a沙丘移动监测资料,结合邻近气象局气象资料,分析了青海湖周边地区沙丘移动距离、方向和高度变化规律及其气候驱动力。结果显示,近年来青海湖湖东地区沙丘主要向ENE方向移动,移动速度减慢,沙丘高度降低;龙羊峡水库西北部的两个沙丘主要向偏SW方向移动,移动速度东部快西部慢,沙丘高度均有所降低。沙丘移动速度及方位主要受4～8 m·s-1风速级风向出现频率的影响。近年来兴海、海晏水热条件向暖湿化方向发展,兴海风速自1996年以来变化平稳,海晏近几年虽有所增加,但在2004年前经历了16 a较平稳的低风速阶段,气候条件对沙丘发展有一定的抑制作用;共和降水增幅较小,气温持续升高,且在2004年以前经历了13 a的高风速阶段,对沙漠化具有加剧作用。     

Walking through volcanic mud: the 2,100-year-old Acahualinca footprints (Nicaragua)

We present the stratigraphy, lithology, volcanology, and age of the Acahualinca section in Managua, including a famous footprint layer exposed in two museum pits. The ca. 4-m-high walls of the main northern pit (Pit I) expose excellent cross sections of Late Holocene volcaniclastic deposits in northern Managua. We have subdivided the section into six lithostratigraphic units, some of which we correlate to Late Holocene eruptions. Unit I (1.2 m thick), chiefly of hydroclastic origin, begins with the footprint layer. The bulk is dominated by mostly massive basaltic-andesitic tephra layers, interpreted to represent separate pulses of a basically phreatomagmatic eruptive episode. We correlate these deposits based on compositional and stratigraphic evidence to the Masaya Triple Layer erupted at Masaya volcano ca. 2,120 ± 120 a B.P.. The eruption occurred during the dry season. A major erosional channel unconformity up to 1 m deep in the western half of Pit I separates Units II and I. Unit II begins with basal dacitic pumice lapilli up to 10 cm thick overlain by a massive to bedded fine-grained dacitic tuff including a layer of accretionary lapilli and pockets of well-rounded pumice lapilli. Angular nonvesicular glass shards are interpreted to represent hydroclastic fragmentation. The dacitic tephra is correlated unequivocally with the ca. 1.9-ka-Plinian dacitic Chiltepe eruption. Unit III, a lithified basaltic-andesitic deposit up to 50 cm thick and extremely rich in branch molds and excellent leaf impressions, is correlated with the Masaya Tuff erupted ca. 1.8 ka ago. Unit IV, a reworked massive basaltic-andesitic deposit, rich in brown tuff clasts and well bedded and cross bedded in the northwestern corner of Pit I, cuts erosionally down as far as Unit I. A poorly defined, pale brown mass flow deposit up to 1 m thick (Unit V) is overlain by 1–1.5 m of dominantly reworked, chiefly basaltic tephra topped by soil (Unit VI). A major erosional channel carved chiefly between deposition of Units II and I may have existed as a shallow drainage channel even prior to deposition of the footprint layer. The swath of the footprints is oriented NNW, roughly parallel to, and just east of, the axis of the channel. The interpretation of the footprint layer as the initial product of a powerful eruption at Masaya volcano followed without erosional breaks by additional layers of the same eruptive phase is strong evidence that the group of 15 or 16 people tried to escape from an eruption.     

Modern pollen rain in the Lake Qinghai basin,China

Lake Qinghai is the largest inland brackish lake in China and lies within the NE Tibetan Plateau. Our study shows that pollen assemblages in each vegetation belt are significantly correlated with the vegetation types of this area. Among the herbaceous and shrubby pollen assemblages, Artemisia is over-represented, while Poaceae, Cyperaceae and Polygonaceae are under-represented. Artemisia/ Chenopodiaceae (A/C) ratios with the regional vegetation characteristic can be used as a proper index to reconstruct the...     

洞庭湖区减压井井管及滤层结构试验研究

为研究适用于洞庭湖区二元结构堤基的减压井结构型式,采用室内试验对比分析了土工织物包扎塑料花管式、钢管式、砂滤体式及无砂混凝土式井管的排水减压效果,并结合洞庭湖区何家堤减压井试验工程研究了合理的滤层结构。试验表明,塑料盲沟和毛细板减压井是适合洞庭湖区二元堤基的两种减压井结构型式。