The causes and processes responsible for rocky desertification in karst areas of southern China

The karst region of southern China is a fragile ecological zone with widespread rocky desertification. This paper describes the rocky desertification occurring in this region in terms of both natural and anthropogenic factors. During geological time periods, the region’s changing environment governed the natural rocky desertification processes, whereas during historical and modern times, anthropogenic processes have been superimposed on these natural processes. Human activities have accelerated and exacerbated rocky desertification. The period from the beginning to the middle of the Qing dynasty was an important transitional period in which human activities began to exert a particularly strong influence on rocky desertification. Since then, the effect of anthropogenic factors has increasingly exceeded the effect of natural factors. The rocky desertification process in southern China’s karst region combines surface ecological processes (including vegetation degradation and loss, soil erosion, surface water loss, and bedrock solution) with a reduction of the land’s biological productivity, leading to degradation that produces rocky desert. Controlling rocky desertification requires comprehensive development of sustainable agriculture and economic development that provides employment alternatives to agriculture and thereby promotes the rehabilitation of rocky desertified land.     

A new multiscale scheme for computing statistical moments in single phase flow in heterogeneous porous media

In this work we develop a new multiscale procedure to compute numerically the statistical moments of the stochastic variables which govern single phase flow in heterogeneous porous media. The technique explores the properties of the log-normally distributed hydraulic conductivity, characterized by power-law or exponential covariances, which shows invariance in its statistical structure upon a simultaneous change of the scale of observation and strength of heterogeneity. We construct a family of equivalent stochastic hydrodynamic variables satisfying the same flow equations at different scales and strengths of heterogeneity or correlation lengths. Within the new procedure the governing equations are solved in a scaled geology and the numerical results are mapped onto the original medium at coarser scales by a straightforward rescaling. The new procedure is implemented numerically within the Monte Carlo algorithm and also in conjunction with the discretization of the low-order effective equations derived from perturbation analysis. Numerical results obtained by the finite element method show the accuracy of the new procedure to approximated the two first moments of the pressure and velocity along with its potential in reducing drastically the computational cost involved in the numerical modeling of both power-law and exponential covariance functions.     

Early Paleozoic ridge subduction in the Chinese Altai: Insight from the abrupt change in zircon Hf isotopic compositions

Zircons were separated from granitoids, gneisses, and sedimentary rocks of the Chinese Altai. Those with igneous characteristics yielded U-Pb ages of 280-2800 Ma, recording a long history of magmatic activity in the region. Zircon Hf isotopic compositions show an abrupt change at ~420 Ma, indicating that prior to that time the magmas came from both ancient and juvenile sources, whereas younger magmas were derived mainly from juvenile material. This may imply that the lithosphere was signifi- cantly modified...     

库姆塔格沙漠的“羽毛状沙丘”形态的观测

参照卫星照片和地形图,实地观测了库姆塔格沙漠“羽毛状沙丘”分布区域的地貌。新月型“沙垄”是该区域的主导性地貌类型,垄间地形波状起伏。如果将“沙垄”喻为“羽轴”,垄间的波状起伏地形为“羽枝”,则可构成卫星照片所显示的“羽毛状沙丘”。新月型“沙垄”的走向为NE-SW,由新月形沙丘前一沙丘的迎风坡与后一沙丘的东翼相连而成,高3~19m,宽约50m,长15~22km。“垄”间起伏地形的波长为100~300m,振幅为40~100cm,与“沙垄”成60~105°夹角。在波状起伏地形的波峰与波谷过渡区堆积颜色较浅的细沙,厚2~7cm,构成了“大沙波”。实地观测的“羽毛状沙丘”的形态与卫星照片显示的形态有一定差异。     

基于生态水文过程的塔里木河下游 植被生态需水量研究

根据2005年塔里木河下游8个断面25眼地下水位观测井和25个植物样地野外采集的数据,运用DPS统计软件计算植被物种多样性指数,进而对地下水、土壤水与植被的关系进行了分析,结果表明地下水位、土壤含水量与植被多样性之间都有极强的相关性,在此基础上确定出塔里木河下游潜水蒸发的极限埋深是5 m。并采用阿维里扬诺夫公式和群克水均衡场公式对塔里木河下游天然植被的月潜水蒸发量进行计算,将两者计算结果加以算术平均得到塔里木河下游不同埋深对应的潜水蒸发量;采用两种方法对植被面积进行分类,在此分类基础上计算生态需水量,将两个结果再次平均,得到天然植被全年最低需水量约为3.2×10⁸ m³。通过对月生态需水量的分析发现4月到9月的生态需水量占全年的81%,尤其是5、6、7三个月占全年总需水量的47%,是生态需水的主要时期。     

地面不同垄沟形式对径流调控机制的研究

在干旱缺水、水土流失严重的黄土高原地区,地面垄沟是控制侵蚀、保持水分的有效措施。而不同垄沟形式将直接影响沟中径流量和土壤水分状况。本文设计了两种不同垄上覆盖材料和三种不同垄沟比的6组试验处理,通过2002与2003年降水季节的连续田间试验观测。结果表明:覆膜垄沟(MR)的临界产流降雨量低于不覆膜垄沟(ER),约为不覆膜垄沟(ER)的10%,两种垄沟的临界产流降雨量分别为0.4mm、4.6mm。覆膜垄沟(MR)的径流效率远高于不覆膜垄沟(ER),覆膜垄沟(MR)与土垄的平均径流效率分别在45%~70%与5%~6%之间变化。     

大别山超高压变质岩的退变质赤微构造：折返过程的启示

大别山超高压变质岩中发现了一系列退变质显微构造,其主要类型有：①由于出溶而产生的定一包裹物;②由于多型转变而产生的假像替代;③固→固反应产生的冠状体;④涉及流体的退变质反应产生的冠状体或后成合晶。借助显微构造关系,可以建立超高压变质岩的退变质演化阶段,从而构筑其ＰＴ演化趋势、识别出碰撞造山和超高压变质峰期之后的两阶段隆升历史;早期为“挤出”作用诱发的近等温减压退变质;晚期则是地壳伸展体制下的退变质     

Microbial populations in contaminant plumes

Received, May 1999/Revised, October 1999/Accepted, October 1999