Assessment of frozen-ground conditions for engineering geology along the Qinghai–Tibet highway and railway, China

The Qinghai–Tibet Highway and Railway (the Corridor) across the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau traverses 670 km of permafrost and seasonally frozen-ground in the interior of the Plateau, which is sensitive to climatic and anthropogenic environmental changes. The frozen-ground conditions for engineering geology along the Corridor is complicated by the variability in the near-surface lithology, and the mosaic presence of warm permafrost and talik in a periglacial environment. Differential settlement is the major frost-effect problem encountered over permafrost areas. The traditional classification of frozen ground based on the areal distribution of permafrost is too generalized for engineering purposes and a more refined classification is necessary for engineering design and construction. A proposed classification of 51 zones, sub-zones, and sections of frozen ground has been widely adopted for the design and construction of foundations in the portion of the Corridor studied. The mean annual ground temperature (MAGT), near-surface soil types and moisture content, and active faults and topography are most commonly the primary controlling factors in this classification. However, other factors, such as local microreliefs, drainage conditions, and snow and vegetation covers also exert important influences on the features of frozen ground. About 60% of the total length of the Corridor studied possesses reasonably good frozen-ground conditions, which do not need special mitigative measures for frost hazards. However, other sections, such as warm and ice-rich or -saturated permafrost, particularly in the sections in wetlands, ground improvement measures such as elevated land bridges and passive or proactive cooling techniques need to be applied to ensure the long-term stability of thermally unstable, thick permafrost subsoils, and/or refill with non-frost-susceptible soils. Due to the long-history of the construction and management of the Corridor by various government departments, adverse impacts of construction and operation on the permafrost environment have been resulted. It is recommended that an integrated, executable plan for the routing of major construction projects within this transportation corridor be established and long-term monitoring networks installed for evaluating and mitigating the impact from anthropogenic and climatic changes in frozen-ground conditions.     

若尔盖高原及其周围山地的冻土和环境

若尔盖高原内部年平均气温０．６～３．３℃，气温年较差１９．１～２１．２℃，已不具备多年冻土形成和保存的气候条件。据１９９２年７月间试坑和钻孔测温，在１．０～２．２ｍ深处地温为５～８．４℃，浅层地下水温６．０～７．８℃，由此判断不存在多年冻土，季节冻结深度为１．０～２．０ｍ。据冻土现象和试坑资料判断，周围山地海拔４１５０～４２００ｍ以上发育山地岛状多年冻土。区内沼泽演化表明，部分沼泽已疏干或向疏干趋势发展，草场退化和草原沙化已成为本区生态环境的重要问题，并已影响畜牧业发展     

Study on biogenic amines in various dry salted fish consumed in China

This study was carried out to investigate the biogenic amines（BAs）, physicochemical property and microorganisms in dry salted fish, a traditional aquatic food consumed in China. Forty three samples of dry salted fish were gathered from retail and wholesale markets and manufacturers, which had been produced in various regions in China. Cadaverine（CAD） and putrescine（PUT） were quantitatively the most common biogenic amines. About 14% of the samples exceeded the histamine content standards established by the FDA and/or EU. The highest histamine content was found in Silver pomfret（Pampus argenteus）(347.79 mg kg^-1). Five of forty three samples exceeded the acceptable content of TYR(100 mg kg^-1), and 23.26% of dried-salted fish contained high contents of biogenic amines(above 600 mg kg^-1). In addition, species, regions, pickling processes and drying methods made the physicochemical property, microorganisms and biogenic amines in dry salted fish to be different to some extents. The total plate count（TPC） was much higher than that of total halophilic bacteria in all samples. The biogenic amines, physicochemical property and microbiological counts exhibited large variations among samples. Furthermore, no significant correlation between biogenic amines and physicochemical property and TPC was observed. This study indicated that dry salted fish may still present healthy risk for BAs, depending on the processing methods, storage conditions among others.     

Thermal regimes and degradation modes of permafrost along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway

Permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) is widespread, thin, and thermally unstable. Under a warming climate during the past few decades, it has been degrading extensively with generally rising ground temperatures, the deepening of the maximum summer thaw, and with lessening of the winter frost penetration. The permafrost has degraded downward, upward and laterally. Permafrost has thinned or, in some areas, has totally disappeared. The modes of permafrost degradation have great significance in geocryology, in cold regions engineering and in cold regions environmental management. Permafrost in the interior of the QTP is well represented along the Qing-hai-Tibet Highway (QTH), which crosses the Plateau through north to south and traverses 560 km of permafrost-impacted ground. Horizontally, the degradation of permafrost occurs more visibly in the sporadic permafrost zone in the vicinity of the lower limit of permafrost (LLP), along the margins of taliks, and around permafrost islands. Downward degradation develops when the maximum depth of seasonal thaw exceeds the maximum depth of seasonal frost, and it generally results in the formation of a layered talik disconnecting the permafrost from the seasonal frost layer. The downward degrada- tion is divided into four stages: 1) initial degradation, 2) accelerated degradation, 3) layered talik and 4) finally the conversion of permafrost to seasonally frozen ground (SFG). The upward degradation occurs when the geothermal gradient in permafrost drops to less than the geothermal gradients in the underlying thawed soil layers. Three types of permafrost temperature curves (stable, degrading, and phase-changing transitory permafrost) illustrate these modes. Although strong differentiations in local conditions and permafrost types exist, the various combinations of the three degradation modes will ultimately transform permafrost into SFG. Along the QTH, the downward degradation has been proceeding at annual rates of 6 to 25 cm, upward degradation at 12 to 30 cm, and lateral degradation in the sporadic permafrost zone at 62 to 94 cm during the last quarter century. These rates exceed the 4 cm per year for the past 20 years reported for the discontinuous permafrost zone in subarctic Alaska, the 3 to 7 cm per year reported in Mongolia, and that of the thaw-stable permafrost in subarctic Yakutia and Arctic Alaska.     

PERMAFROST CHANGES AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS ALONG THE QINGHAI－XIZANG HIGHWAY

ＰＥＲＭＡＦＲＯＳＴＣＨＡＮＧＥＳＡＮＤＥＮＶＩＲＯＮＭＥＮＴＡＬＰＲＯＢＬＥＭＳＡＬＯＮＧＴＨＥＱＩＮＧＨＡＩ－ＸＩＺＡＮＧＨＩＧＨＷＡＹ￥ＷａｎｇＳｈａｏｌｉｎｇ（王绍令）（ＬａｎｚｈｏｕＩｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅｏｆＧｌａｃｉｏｌｏｇｙａｎｄＧｅｏｃｒ...     

THE DISCOVERED DEEP BURIED LAKE ICE IN SOURCE REGION OF THE HUANGHE RIVER

The 4.45 m-thick pure ice lens have been discovered firstly at depth from 19.81 -24.26 m in the bore No.6, which locates in north bank of the Ngoring Lake. In source region of the Huanghe (Yellow) River, 14C dating, X -ray diffraction, pollen analysis, micropalaeontology, chemical components, environmental isotope 2H, 3H, 18O and freezing point of the ice and water samples from the bore have been tested and microorganism in the ice have been also appraised with microscope. Combined with the research on geomorphy and Quaternary around the lake, the ice lens are determined as a kind of deep-buried lake ice, formed in 35,030-45,209 yr.B.P., and annual mean air temperature was about -10℃ during that time.     

Dynamics of DOC of euphotic layer in the Taiwan Strait——Diurnal variation of large range

ThisstudywassupportedbytheStateEducationalCommittee(SEC)ofChina.INTRODUCTIONThedissolvedorganiccarbon(DOC),ordissolvedorganicmatter(DOM),isoneofthemostimPortantorganiccarbonreservoiroftheworld,whichmayaffectthecontentofCO2intheatmospherewithatime-scaleof1OOO~1OOOOyears(Hedges,1992).Theratesofproduction,degradationortransPortationofDOCareseveralmaindynamicalparametersofDOCintheeu-photiclayer.Inthispaper,wefocusonthediurnalvariationsofDOCinordertoestimatetheseparameters.METso…     

Short term variability of Particle fluxes and its relation to variability in sea surface temperature and chlorophylla field detected by Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner (OCTS) off Sanriku, northwestern North Pacific in the spring of 1997

A sediment trap experiment was carried out in conjunction with an over flight of Ocean Color Temperature Scanner (OCTS) on board Advanced Earth Observing Satellite (ADEOS) at 40°N, 143°E off Sanriku in April to May 1997. Short term variability of particle fluxes was examined at depths of 450 m and 600 m from April 6 to May 1 with a sampling interval of two days, and at 450 m with one day interval from 2nd to 10th May. Daily averaged mass flux at 450 m and 600 m was 815 mg m⁻²d⁻¹ and 862 mg m⁻²d⁻¹, respectively. A sharp increase in mass flux was observed during the period from April 26 to April 29 with the highest mass flux of 8 g m⁻²d⁻¹. About 85% of the total mass flux for the entire duration (26 days) was collected within these 4 days. Trapped material during the peak flux period was mainly composed of diatoms dominated byThalassiosira spp. and resting spores ofChaetoceros spp. This suggested that the peak flux was the result of (a) diatom bloom(s) in the euphotic column. Current meter records at 420 m showed that on April 26 and 27, the period when the peak flux was observed, the southwestward current had diminished in strength and changed its direction northwestward. Low current speeds appeared to have enhanced trap efficiency to help form the peak flux. A time series of OCTS Intensive-LAC (Local Area Coverage: Region B) images from mid-March to early May was examined todetect phytoplankton bloom(s). In the March 26th Chl image, high concentration region was restricted to the southwest off Cape Erimo, but spread around the warm core ring (WCR) 93A by April 10. East of the WCR93A, high Chl concentration remained steady until May, but to the west of the WCR93A, Chl decreased rapidly before the 19th of April. From this observation we suspect that the peak flux observed at the end of April originated from a bloom, which ceased on the 17th or 18th of April, in the region north of 40°N and west of 143°E. Taking the current meter records into account, the source region for the trapped material is most likely around southwest of the Cape Erimo.     

Evolution of permafrost in China during the last 20 ka

The formation and evolution of permafrost in China during the last 20 ka were reconstructed on the basis of large amount of paleo-permafrost remains and paleo-periglacial evidence, as well as paleo-glacial landforms, paleo-flora and paleofauna records. The results indicate that, during the local Last Glacial Maximum(LLGM) or local Last Permafrost Maximum(LLPMax), the extent of permafrost of China reached 5.3×106-5.4×106 km2, or thrice that of today, but permafrost shrank to only0.80×106-0.85×106 km2, or 50% that of present, during the local Holocene Megathermal Period(LHMP), or the local Last Permafrost Minimum(LLPMin). On the basis of the dating of periglacial remains and their distributive features, the extent of permafrost in China was delineated for the two periods of LLGM(LLPMax) and LHMP(LLPMin), and the evolution of permafrost in China was divided into seven periods as follows:(1) LLGM in Late Pleistocene(ca. 20000 to 13000-10800 a BP)with extensive evidence for the presence of intensive ice-wedge expansion for outlining its LLPMax extent;(2) A period of dramatically changing climate during the early Holocene(10800 to 8500-7000 a BP) when permafrost remained relatively stable but with a general trend of shrinking areal extent;(3) The LHMP in the Mid-Holocene(8500-7000 to 4000-3000 a BP)when permafrost degraded intensively and extensively, and shrank to the LLPMin;(4) Neoglaciation during the late Holocene(4000-3000 to 1000 a BP, when permafrost again expanded;(5) Medieval Warming Period(MWP) in the late Holocene(1000-500 a BP) when permafrost was in a relative decline;(6) Little Ice Age(LIA) in the late Holocene(500-100 a BP), when permafrost relatively expanded, and;(7) Recent warming(during the 20 th century), when permafrost continuously degraded and still is degrading. The paleo-climate, geography and paleopermafrost extents and other features were reconstructed for each of these seven periods.     

基于气候干燥度的青藏高原多年冻土区分类新方案

采取综合分析与主导因素相结合的原则, 阐明了青藏高原各大地貌单元的大气环流及自然景观特征, 描述了高原多年冻土形成和分布格局. 基于综合地域分异规律, 以年降水量和干燥度(蒸发/降水)作为主要指标, 并参考年平均气温、气温年较差及年平均空气湿度等, 结合地形因素将高原多年冻土划分为: 湿润型、亚湿润型、半干旱型、干旱型和极干旱型五种类型, 并对各类多年冻土的代表性地区的冻土特征分别进行论述. 该分类方法适合于小比例尺的冻土测绘和制图.