The late Holocene paleohydrology of Pine Lake, Alberta: a multiproxy investigation

This paper reports on a high-resolution, multi-proxy, late-Holocene study from a lake in the Aspen Parkland of southern Alberta, Canada. A sediment core spanning the last 4000+ yrs from Pine Lake was analyzed for charcoal, granulometry, grain roundness, tephra content, geochemistry, mineralogy and pollen. This multi-proxy record indicates: (1) increasing anoxia causing a shift in S deposition from gypsum to pyrite due to increasing moisture availability in the late Holocene; (2) a decrease in Mg flux into the lake due to the development of the aspen forest, which reduced water flow through the Mg-rich shallow sand aquifer; the aspen forest expansion was in turn induced by the extirpation of plains bison prior to settlement; and (3) a change in the upland fire regime from frequent low-biomass grass fires to less frequent but higher biomass under-story fires, also as a result of the expansion of the aspen forest. Not only are the different proxies sensitive to different rates and magnitudes of change, they also show different sensitivities to different types of hydrological change: the mineralogy and geochemistry are sensitive to changes in water level and redox potential, and to changes in the relative strengths of the aquifers feeding the lake, while the granulometry is sensitive to total hydrological balance. Thus, apparently contradictory proxy results should be viewed as complementary.     

煤中裂隙脉的形成机理

根据岩石中裂隙脉的研究方法和理论,对煤中方解石脉的形成机理进行了系统探讨,发现煤中方解石脉以对生式和背生式为主,组合式裂隙脉比较少见。同时,发现了流体压力致裂裂隙的存在,且为多期张裂-闭合作用的结果。      

Tidal regime shift in Lingdingyang Bay,the Pearl River Delta: An identification and assessment of driving factors

Both natural changes (e.g., tidal forcing from the ocean and global sea level rise) and human-induced changes (e.g., dredging for navigation, sand excavation, and land reclamation) exert considerable influences on the long-term evolution of tidal regimes in estuaries. Evaluating the impacts of these factors on tidal-regime shifts is particularly important for the protection and management of estuarine environments. In this study, an analytical approach is developed to investigate the impacts of estuarine morphological alterations (mean water depth and width convergence length) on tidal hydrodynamics in Lingdingyang Bay, Southeast China. Based on the observed tidal levels from two tidal gauging stations along the channel, tidal wave celerity and tidal damping/amplification rate of different tidal constituents are computed using tidal amplitude and phase of tidal constituents extracted from a standard harmonic analysis. We show that the minimum mean water depth for the whole estuary occurred in 2006, whereas a shift in tidal wave celerity for the M₂ tide component occurred in 2009. As such, the study period (1990–2016) could be separated into pre-human (1990–2009) and post-human (2010–2016) phases. Our results show that the damping/amplification rate and celerity of the M₂ tide have increased by 31% (from 7 to 9.2 m⁻¹) and 28% (from 7 to 9 m·s⁻¹) respectively, as a consequence of the substantial impacts of human interventions. The proposed analytical method is subsequently applied to analyse the historical development of tidal hydrodynamics and regime shifts induced by human interventions, thus linking the evolution of estuarine morphology to the dominant tidal hydrodynamics along the channel. The observed tidal regime shift is primarily caused by channel deepening, which substantially enlarged the estuary and reduced effective bottom friction resulting in faster celerity and stronger wave amplification. Our proposed method for quantifying the impacts of human interventions on tidal regime shifts can inform evidence-based guidelines for evaluating hydraulic responses to future engineering activities.     

Confounded by forgotten legacies: Effectively managing watersheds in the contemporary age of unknown unknowns

Contemporary watershed management practices can reflect oversimplifications of relationships between anthropogenic pressures and resource degradation. Remediation and restoration efforts often focus on recent land use practices as the primary driver of hydrologic regime changes. We present a case study that serves as an example to the scientific and watershed management communities of the lasting influences of historic land use practices and natural physical processes on a stream in the central United States listed as impaired by the federal government. Abnormal spatiotemporal streamflow relationships, determined by means of an experimental watershed study, alerted the authors to possible sink/source behavior in the upper‐watershed. Subsequent research uncovered archival evidence of coal mining, which may provide at least partial explanation. Additional investigation identified hydrologic processes associated with natural landscape evolution, noted by early‐20th‐century researchers, which are considered in the context of the current water quality and flow regime. Despite best‐intended management practices, regulatory agencies, scientists, and local decision makers have not accounted for such practices and processes, instead relying on recent development as the proximate cause of designated impairment. We present argumentation that historic land use (coal mining) and landscape processes comprise cumulative yet unconsidered legacy effects that contribute systemically to the observed hydrologic regime of the watershed. Results hold important implications for contemporary watershed management, and support rethinking the case‐by‐case appropriateness of federal and state water impairment listings, and the achievability of restoration efforts in many developing watersheds.     

Insights on stream temperature processes through development of a coupled hydrologic and stream temperature model for forested coastal headwater catchments

Stream temperature controls a number of biological, chemical, and physical processes occurring in aquatic environments. Transient snow cover and advection associated with lateral throughflow inputs can have a dominant influence on stream thermal regimes for headwater catchments in the rain‐on‐snow zone. Most existing stream temperature models lack the ability to properly simulate these processes. We developed and evaluated a conceptual‐parametric catchment‐scale stream temperature model that includes the role of transient snow cover and lateral advection associated with throughflow. The model consists of routines for simulating canopy interception, snow accumulation and melt, hillslope throughflow runoff and temperature, and stream channel energy exchange processes. The model was used to predict discharge and stream temperature for a small forested headwater catchment near Vancouver, Canada, using long‐term (1963–2013) weather data to compute model forcing variables. The model was evaluated against 4 years of observed stream temperature. The model generally predicted daily mean stream temperature accurately (annual RMSE between 0.57 and 1.24 °C) although it overpredicted daily summer stream temperatures by up to 3 °C during extended low streamflow conditions. Model development and testing provided insights on the roles of advection associated with lateral throughflow, channel interception of snow, and surface–subsurface water interactions on stream thermal regimes. This study shows that a relatively simple but process‐based model can provide reasonable stream temperature predictions for forested headwater catchments located in the rain‐on‐snow zone.     

Impacts of regional warming on long‐term hypolimnetic anoxia and dissolved oxygen concentration in a deep lake

Although few reports have described long‐term continuous anoxia in aquatic systems, Lake Ikeda in Japan experienced such conditions in the hypolimnion from 1990 to 2010. The present study aimed to assess temporal fluctuations in the lake's thermal stability from 1978 to 2011 to understand the influence of regional climate change on hypolimnetic anoxia in this lake. Because complete vertical mixing, which supplies dissolved oxygen (DO) to the hypolimnion, potentially occurs on February, we calculated the Schmidt stability index (S) in February and compared it with hypolimnetic DO dynamics. Vertical water temperature profiles were calculated using a one‐dimensional model, and calculated temperatures and meteorological data were used to analyse annual fluctuations in water temperatures, thermocline depth, meteorological variables and S. We estimated that mean annual air and volume‐weighted water temperatures increased by 0.028 and 0.033 °C year^?1, respectively, from 1978 to 2011. Between 1986 and 1990, S and water temperature increased abruptly, probably due to a large upwards trend in air temperature (+0.239 °C year^?1). We hypothesize that a mixing regime that lacked overturn took effect at this time and that this regime lasted until 2011, when S was particularly small. These results demonstrate that abrupt climate warming in the late 1980s likely triggered the termination of complete mixing and caused the 21‐year period of successive anoxia in Lake Ikeda. We conclude that the lake response to a rapid shift in regional climate conditions was a key factor in changing the hypolimnetic water environment and that thermal stability in winter is a critical environmental factor controlling the mixing regime and anoxic conditions in deep lakes. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

流体包裹体研究对成矿流体动力学模式的制约

热液矿床的形成既包括地球化学过程也包括流体动力学过程,后者主要研究成矿流体的驱动力、流动方向、速度及持续时间。流体及金属的来源,金属在热液中的溶解度及溶解机制,以及矿石的沉淀机制等可以通过多种地球化学手段来研究,而流体动力学过程的确定相对比较困难。流体包裹体分析不仅可以为成矿地球化学过程,而且可为流体动力学过程提供制约,因为流体包裹体研究所得到的流体P-V-T-X性质与流体流动、热传导及质量迁移等控制方程直接相关。本文阐述流体包裹体与流体动力学研究的理论关系,流体包裹体研究对已有成矿流体动力学模式的贡献,以及未来的研究方向。从流体包裹体研究得出的流体压力状态为岩浆热液及造山型成矿系统的超压驱动模式提供了关键的证据。流体包裹体均一温度及其分布为沉积盆地成矿流体动力学模式提供了重要的制约。流体包裹体研究在揭示流体混合及流体相分离等重要成矿过程方面提到了至关重要的作用,但它们在研究流体混合及多相流体流动的物理过程方面的潜力有待进一步开发。精心设计的流体包裹体研究有可能应用于古流体流动数值模型的调试。     

中国南方夏季低频雨型特征及其年代际变化研究

为了揭示南方低频降水的季节内及年代际变化规律,利用1961—2011年夏季中国南方逐日降水资料和大气环流再分析资料,运用经验正交函数分解(EOF)与聚类分析相结合方法,将南方地区10 d以上的低频尺度降水划分为5个异常雨型.分析表明,各雨型具有较好的持续性,与同期的环流场有很好的对应关系,彼此间水汽异常输送特征有明显差别.通过对雨型的统计特征进行分析,指出不同于以往的季节平均雨型,低频雨型可在季节内交替出现,反映了大尺度异常降水的低频演变特征.进一步研究发现,近50年来各低频雨型的多项统计特征存在显著的年代际变化:20世纪80—90年代各多雨型均相继出现峰值,进入21世纪偏旱型的各项统计特征存在明显上升趋势,而大部分低频多雨型出现次数减少,这可能预示着中国南方地区正在进入一个季节内尺度降水减少的阶段.     

The Social Nature of Participatory Ecological Monitoring

Participatory ecological monitoring brings together conservationists and members of the public to collect data about changes in nature. This article scrutinizes the “social nature” of such monitoring, considering not only its impacts for nature, but also society, and importantly the ways in which these interact. Drawing on the field of nature–society studies we present a framework with which to explore case studies from the community forests of Nepal. We document the importance of multiple knowledges of nature, including what is referred to as “local monitoring” and its relation to the scientific procedures promoted in participatory monitoring; the consequences of participatory monitoring as a situated and embodied practice, such that it may (re)produce social inequalities; and the place of monitoring within the wider socioecological regime, with regard to possible unintended consequences for both nature and society. This article thus expands our understanding of the complexities of this increasingly popular approach to conservation.