Vegetation evolution on the central Chinese Loess Plateau since late Quaternary evidenced by elemental carbon isotopic composition

There are many controversial issues in loess studies such as natural vegetation types on the Chinese Loess Plateau during the historical periods and the spatial and temporal evolution of C3/C4 plants. Elemental carbon isotopic composition （δ^13Cec） in the loess section may offer new evidence for these problems. Elemental carbon （EC） is produced by incomplete combustion of vegetation, and its carbon isotopic composition has a very small difference from that of the formal vegetation, then δ^13Cec can be used as a record to recover the changes of vegetation. Elemental carbon was extracted by applying the oxidation method from the Ioess-paleosol sequence in the central Chinese Loess Plateau, and its car- bon isotope composition was analyzed by the isotope mass spectrometer. The results showed that the vegetation in this region was a mixed type of C3 and C4 plants, dominated with C3 plants in most of the time. Since late Quaternary, C3/C4 plants may not follow a simple glacial-interglacial cycle mode on the Chinese Loess Plateau, but showing fluctuations. C3 plants increased gradually in L4 period, and more C3 plants occurred during $3 period, and C4 plants increased again during L3-- L2 periods, after that, Cs plants dominated again during S1 --S0 periods. During periods of paleosol development, C3 plants were abundant in S3 and S1, and there were more Ca plants in S2 and SO. During periods of loess sedimen- tation, there were more C3 plants in L4 and L1, and there were more C4 plants in L3 and L2. On the orbital timescale, the vegetation variations revealed by δ^13Cec record are consistent with the results of pollen data and also similar to the results obtained by organic carbon isotopic composition since the last glacial period.     

10Be/7Be implies the contribution of stratosphere-troposphere transport to the winter-spring surface O3 variation observed on the Tibetan Plateau

10Be/7Be is a stratospheric sensitive tracer.In this paper,measurements of 10Be/7Be and surface O3 from October 2005 to May 2006 at Mt.Waliguan (hereafter WLG,100.898°E,39.287°N,3810 m,a.s.l.),China global atmospheric watch (GAW) observatory,are introduced and used to investigate the stratosphere-troposphere transport (STT) and its impact on surface O3 on the Tibetan Plateau.The results show that the magnitude of STT is weak in winter,followed by strengthening from the end of winter to the middle of spring (from mid February to mid April) with large increases in 10Be,7Be,10Be/7Be and surface O3.At the end of spring (from the end of April to mid May in this paper),the STT weakened,and the continuous increase of surface O3 at WLG is produced by tropospheric photochemistry reactions.     

Carbon isotopic composition,turnover and origins of soil CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> in a monsoon evergreen broadleaf forest in the Dinghushan Biosphere Reservoir,South China

Carbon isotopic compositions of soil CO2 in rainy season (July) from two natural soil profiles (DHLS & DHS) in the monsoon evergreen broadleaf forest in the Dinghushan Biosphere Reservoir (DBR), South China, are presented. Turnover and origins of soil CO₂ are preliminarily discussed in this paper. Results show that the content of soil CO2 varies between 6120 and 18718 ppmv, and increases with increasing depth until 75 cm, and then it declines. In DHLS, soil CO₂ δ¹³C ranges from −24.71‰ to −24.03‰, showing a significant inverse correlation (R²＝0.91) with the soil CO₂ content in the same layer. According to a model related to soil CO₂ δ¹³C, the soil CO₂ is mainly derived from the root respiration (>80%) in DHLS. While in DHS, where soil CO₂ ? 13C ranges from −25.19‰ to −22.82‰, soil CO₂ is primarily originated from the decomposition of organic matter (51%–94%), excluding the surface layer (20 cm, 90%). Radiocarbon data suggest that the carbon in soil CO₂ is modern carbon in both DHLS and DHS. Differences in ¹⁴C ages between the “oldest” and “youngest” soil CO₂ in DHLS and DHS are 8 months and 14 months, respectively, indicating that soil CO₂ in DHLS has a faster turnover rate than that in DHS. The ¹⁴C values of soil CO₂, which range between 100.0‰ and 107.2‰ and between 102.5‰ and 112.1‰ in DHLS and DHS, respectively, are obviously higher than those of current atmospheric CO₂ and SOC in the same layer, suggesting that soil CO₂ is likely an important reservoir for Bomb-¹⁴C in the atmosphere.     

Concentration and seasonal variation of 10Be in surface aerosols of Lhasa,Tibet

Thirty samples of total suspended particles were collected at a site in western part of Lhasa, Tibet from August 2006 to July 2007. The ¹⁰Be concentrations were determined by Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (AMS). Analysis of correlation between ¹⁰Be con-centrations and meteorological factors revealed that the wet scavenging has little effect on ¹⁰Be. ¹⁰Be can be used as a proxy of transport processes of the upper atmosphere over the Tibetan Plateau. Analysis of correlation between ¹⁰Be concentrations and NCEP reanalysis data demonstrated that higher ¹⁰Be concentrations in spring were probably caused by the atmosphere exchange from stratosphere to troposphere during February to June. Lower ¹⁰Be concentrations during August to September were consistent with the synchronous lower O₃ values, suggestive of both ¹⁰Be and O₃ were probably influenced by the atmosphere exchange from troposphere to stratosphere.     

Apparent ages of suspended sediment and soil erosion of the Pearl River (Zhujiang) drainage basin

The carbon isotopic composition (Δ 14 C,δ 13 C) and apparent ages of suspended sediment were determined in the Pearl River in the years 1998,2000 and 2005.These results indicate that suspended POC consists mostly of young carbon and some old carbon.Apparent ages of suspended POC range from 540 to 2050 a BP.The apparent ages are older in the Xijiang and Beijiang Rivers,while these values are variable in the Dongjiang River,including old and young samples.The suspended POCδ 13 C values increase with increasin...