Changes in carbon and nutrient fluxes from headwaters to ocean in a mountainous temperate to subtropical basin

Water erosion provides major links in global cycles of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). Although significant research on erosion mechanisms has been done, there is still little knowledge on C, N and P fluxes across landscapes to the ocean and their controlling factors in subtropical climates. A four‐year study quantifying and comparing particulate and dissolved C, N and P from multiple scales (microplot, plot, microcatchment, subcatchment, catchment, sub‐basin and basin) was performed in Thukela basin (≈30 000 km²), South Africa. The basin climate was largely subtropical‐humid [mean annual precipitation (MAP) > 980 mm yr^‐1], but temperate (MAP >2000 mm yr^‐1) on the highlands. Open grassland, cropland and bushland were the major land uses. On average, 65, 24 and 4 g m^‐2 yr^‐1 C, N and P were displaced from original topsoil positions, but only 0.33, 0.005 and 0.002 mg m^‐2 yr^‐1 were, respectively, exported to the ocean. The fluxes decreased by 95, 97 and 84%, respectively, from plot to microcatchment outlet; and decreased further in downstream direction by >99% from microcatchment to basin outlet. The hillslope (microplot to microcatchment) fluxes correlated strongly with rainfall parameters. Particulate contributions dominated hillslope fluxes at 73, 81 and 76% of total annual C, N and P, respectively. Although particulate C dominated in the microcatchment‐catchment reach (55%), N (54%) and P (69%) were dominated by dissolved forms. The lower basin zone was dominated by dissolved flux contributions at 93, 81 and 78% for C, N and P for the sub‐basin outlet. These results suggested spatially varying drivers of C, N and P losses from the landscape to the ocean, via the river network. Deposition was envisaged the dominant hillslope level loss process, which gradually gave way to mineralization and biotic uptake in the river network as flux contributions shifted from being predominantly particulate to dissolved forms. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

昌马断裂带古地震活动特征的新认识

昌马断裂位于祁连山西段,是祁连山系列次级断裂与阿尔金断裂东段的重要构造转换断层之一,于1932年发生7.6级地震。位于昌马断裂中东段的臭水柳沟古地震探槽揭示了2次地震事件:一次为1932年昌马地震事件,另一次为(902±44)a B.P.以来发生的事件,这弥补了昌马断裂全新世晚期古地震事件缺失的现状。结合前人的研究结果可确定昌马断裂全新世至少发生7次古地震事件,推测地震复发间隔为1ka左右,部分事件未能揭示。通过探槽揭示的低角度断层、地层变形和部分断裂的地貌特征可知,受阿尔金断裂NEE向挤出的影响,昌马断裂部分段落表现出低角度的逆冲推覆活动,形成其特有的低角度走滑现象,以吸收阿尔金断裂东段的左旋位移。这也说明昌马断裂在承担阿尔金断裂与祁连山西段系列断层的构造转换中起着重要作用。     

Response of soil detachment rate to the hydraulic parameters of concentrated flow on steep loessial slopes on the Loess Plateau of China

Using hydraulic parameters is essential for describing soil detachment and developing physically based erosion prediction models. Many hydraulic parameters have been used, but the one that performs the best for describing soil detachment on steep slopes when the lateral expansion (widening) of rills is not limited has not been identified. An indoor concentrated flow scouring experiment was performed on steep loessial slopes to investigate soil detachment rates for different flow rates and slope gradients. The experiments were conducted on a slope‐adjustable plot (5 m length, 1 m width, 0.5 m depth). Sixteen combinations of 4 flow rates (10, 15, 20, and 25 L/min) and 4 slope gradients (17.6%, 26.8%, 36.4%, and 46.6%) were investigated. The individual and combined effects of slope gradient and flow hydraulic parameters on soil detachment rate were analysed. The results indicated that soil detachment rate increased with flow rate and slope gradient. Soil detachment rate varied linearly and exponentially with flow rate and slope gradient, respectively. Multivariate, nonlinear regression analysis indicated that flow depth exerted the greatest influence on the soil detachment rate, followed by unit discharge per unit width, slope gradient, and flow rate in this study. Shear stress and stream power could efficiently describe the soil detachment rate using a power equation. However, the unit stream power and unit energy of the water‐carrying section changed linearly with soil detachment rate. Stream power was an optimal hydraulic parameter for describing soil detachment. These findings improve our understanding of concentrated flow erosion on steep loessial slopes.     

‘Detachment’ of icefield outlet glaciers: catastrophic thinning and retreat of the Columbia Glacier (Canada)

We present an investigation of changes taking place on the Columbia Glacier, a lake-terminating outlet of the Columbia Icefield in the Canadian Rockies. The Columbia Icefield is the largest, and one of the most important, ice bodies in the Canadian Rockies. Like other ice masses, it stores water as snow and ice during the winter and releases it during warmer summer months, sustaining river flows and the ecosystems that rely on them. However, the Columbia Glacier and Icefield is shrinking. We use Landsat and Sentinel-2 imagery to show that the Columbia Glacier has retreated increasingly rapidly in recent years, and suggest that this looks set to continue. Importantly, we identify a previously undocumented process that appears to be playing an important role in the retreat of this glacier. This process involves the ‘detachment’ of the glacier tongue from its accumulation area in the Columbia Icefield. This process is important because the tongue is cut off from the accumulation area and there is no replenishment of ice that melts in the glacier's ablation area by flow from upglacier. As a consequence, for a given rate of ablation, the ice in the tongue will disappear much faster than it would if the local mass loss by melting/calving was partly offset by mass input by glacier flow. Such a change would alter the relationship between rates of surface melting and rates of glacier frontal retreat. We provide evidence that detachment has already occurred elsewhere on the Columbia Icefield and that it is likely to affect other outlet glaciers in the future. Modelling studies forecast this detachment activity, which ultimately results in a smaller ‘perched’ icefield without active outlets. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impacts of different vegetation restoration options on gully head soil resistance and soil erosion in loess tablelands

Vegetation restoration is identified as an effective approach to control soil erosion and affects soil detachment and resistance to concentrated flow on the Loess Plateau. However, the effects of vegetation restoration at gully heads in loess-tableland remains unclear. This study was performed to investigate the effects of nine vegetation restoration types at gully heads on soil detachment rate (Dr) and soil resistance to concentrated flow (i.e. soil erodibility, K_r and critical shear stress, τ_c). Undisturbed soil samples were collected from nine vegetation-restored lands and one slope cropland (as the control) and were subjected to a hydraulic flume to obtain Dr values of gully heads under six inflow discharges (0.5–3.5 L s^-1). The results showed that the Dr values of nine revegetated gully heads were 77.11% to 95.81% less than that of slope cropland, and the grassland dominated by Cleistogenes caespitosa and the shrubland dominated by Hippophae rhamnoides had a relatively greater decrease in Dr than those of other seven restoration types. The Dr value of nine revegetated gully heads could be better simulated by stream power than by flow velocity and shear stress and was also significantly affected by soil disintegration rate (positively), soil bulk density, saturated hydraulic conductivity, organic matter content, and water-stable aggregate stability (negatively). Additionally, roots with diameters of 0 to 0.5 mm showed a greater effect on Dr than those with larger diameters. Compared to cropland, the nine restored types reduced K_r by 76.26% to 94.26% and improved τ_c by 1.51 to 4.68 times. The decrease in K_r and the increase in τ_c were significantly affected by organic matter content, water-stable aggregate, mean weight diameter of aggregate and root mass density. The combination of grass species (Cleistogenes caespitosa) and shrub (Hippophae rhamnoides) could be considered the best vegetation restoration types for improving soil resistance of gully heads to concentrated flow. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

川东与大巴山褶皱冲断带交汇区构造几何学和运动学特征

川东与大巴山褶皱冲断带交汇区位于四川盆地东北缘,由温泉井—马槽坝背斜带、云安场背斜带和方斗山背斜带组成,其形成过程受川东构造带和大巴山构造带的双重控制,开展川东与大巴山褶皱冲断带交汇区构造几何学和运动学特征研究,对认识华南板块和华北板块之间的拼贴碰撞及演化具有重要意义。本文基于野外调查、钻测井资料和二维地震资料,以断层相关褶皱理论为指导,通过对四条二维地震剖面的精细解析,揭示了交汇区构造几何学特征,并应用2Dmove软件恢复了研究区构造运动学过程。研究认为:①交汇区在南北方向上显示为大型的复向斜结构,垂向上被区内下三叠统嘉陵江组膏盐层、志留系泥页岩层和下寒武统泥页岩层三套滑脱层分为上、中、下三大构造层,上构造层主要发生滑脱褶皱变形,中、下构造层发育断层较多,主要发育双冲构造、冲起构造以及断层转折褶皱;②研究区中构造层构造变形最为强烈,构造缩短率达10%,上、下构造层构造缩短率较小,均为6%左右,且各构造层缩短率由西到东呈现出逐渐增大的趋势;③中生代以来,研究区的构造演化过程分为三个阶段:晚三叠世到晚侏罗世稳定沉积阶段、早白垩世到古近纪早期对冲变形阶段、古近纪晚期至今定型阶段。     

西南印度洋脊龙旂热液区蚀变岩岩石学特征及对热液流体循环的指示

慢速?超慢速扩张洋脊的海底热液活动区多出露类型多样的蚀变岩石,记录了地壳深部的流体与围岩的相互作用,为研究深部热液流体特征以及循环过程提供了样本。本研究选取了中国大洋第30、34和40航次在超慢速扩张西南印度洋脊龙旂热液区(A区、B区和C区)利用电视抓斗采集的蚀变玄武岩、蚀变辉长岩、蚀变辉石岩和蛇纹岩等蚀变岩样品,利用光学显微镜、电子探针开展了岩相学和矿物化学分析。岩相学结果表明,龙旂热液区蚀变岩石样品约95%发生了地壳浅部的脆性变形作用,靠近龙旂1号热液区(A区)约有5%的蚀变岩石混合发育了脆性变形及脆性?塑性变形特征。研究区岩石蚀变属于中?低温变质作用,变质相近似绿片岩相,变质矿物组合为绿泥石?绿帘石?钠长石?阳起石?榍石。其中,A区的蚀变岩中的绿泥石形成温度(201～341℃)以及蛇纹石、阳起石、绿泥石等蚀变矿物的Fe元素含量(17.5%～27.5%)都高于龙旂3号热液区(B区和C区)的绿泥石形成温度(239～303℃)和Fe元素含量(16.8%～26.5%),这也与在该区观测到高温的热液喷口相符合。本研究认为龙旂热液区所在洋脊段发育的拆离断层为热液流体的向上运移提供了通道,洋壳扩张后期轴部的岩浆熔体在轴侧区域的岩浆侵入或喷发活动可能为热液循环提供了热源。     

胶东地区玲珑双向变质核杂岩的均衡隆升：运动学涡度的指示

在胶东半岛西北部,围绕着玲珑岩基所发育的早白垩世伸展构造,属于独特的双向变质核杂岩。这一变质核杂岩的东、西边界上,分别发育了倾斜相背的招平与焦家伸展拆离剪切带。双向变质核杂岩的剥露是否也有均衡隆升的贡献,一直没有明确的认识。本次工作以采自这两条边界拆离剪切带不同部位的糜棱岩样品为分析对象,分别应用刚性残斑长短轴比值法（具体又分别使用了Wallis投图法和刚性颗粒网格法）和石英c轴组构与主应变比值法对同一样品进行了运动学涡度测量。对于招平拆离剪切带,应用刚性残斑长短轴比值法获得的涡度值为0. 57~0. 73,而应用石英c轴组构与主应变比值法获得的涡度值为0. 80~0. 93。对于焦家剪切带,应用刚性残斑长短轴比值法获得的涡度值为0. 58~0. 74,而应用石英c轴组构与主应变比值法获得的涡度值为0. 79~0. 93。对于剪切带的同一样品,这两种测量方法给出的结果明显不同。应用刚性残斑长短轴比值法数据所获得这两条剪切带的减薄率,也明显高于应用石英c轴组构与主应变比值法数据的计算结果。理论分析与实例表明,刚性残斑长短轴比值法所获得的涡度值代表了剪切带的早期变形,而石英c轴组构与主应变比值法所得结果指示了晚期变形。由此表明,玲珑双向变质核杂岩边界拆离剪切带演化中,伴随着纯剪组分的明显降低,指示了剪切带产状的变陡,为均衡隆升的结果。均衡隆升发生在核杂岩演化的晚阶段,是早白垩世郭家岭期同构造花岗闪长岩侵位的响应。本文结果指示,双向与不对称变质核杂岩具有相似的演化规律,都经历过晚阶段均衡隆升,对中—下地壳的剥露具有重要的贡献。     

Seismic study on oceanic core complexes in the Parece Vela back-arc basin

Abstract   In the present study the seismic structure of oceanic core complexes (OCC) in the Parece Vela Basin, Philippine Sea have been imaged. Together with recent work on the Atlantis Massif OCC on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, including deep drilling, this work provides an unprecedented opportunity to advance our understanding of OCC internal structure. A continuous, strong and relatively smooth reflection that was ca 0.15 s (two way time) below the sea floor of an OCC in the Chaotic Terrain of the Parece Vela Basin was identified. This reflection, termed the D-reflector, is similar to that observed beneath Atlantis Massif. A faster P-wave velocity (>6 km/s) is observed very shallow beneath the Chaotic Terrain OCC, suggesting that the core of these OCC is dominantly gabbroic. The D-reflector might be common beneath OCC, owing to localized alteration along fractured zones within gabbro. We further observed a series of three detachment events in the Chaotic Terrain. The first and second detachments exhumed shallow basaltic crust to deeper gabbroic core, whereas the last one only exhumed shallow basaltic crust.     

STUDY ON THE DYNAMIC PROCESS OF RILL EROSION OF LOESS SLOPE SURFACE

1 mTRODUCTIONAs a woridwide concem, excessive water erosion induces land degradation, causes losses of plantnutrients, and Ieads to off site enVironmental problems such as sedimentahon streams and reservoirs. mllerosion, which results from concentraed flow in a lindted and confined space, plays imPortant roles inthe erosion systCm on uPland areas. Data listed in Table l show its contribution and imPoftance to thetOtal slope soil losses. In the last decades, stodies on the physical mecha…