Model of carbon fixation in microbial mats from 3,500 Myr ago to the present

Biological carbon fixation is an important part of global carbon cycling and ecology. Fixation that took place 3,500 million years ago is recorded in the laminated sedimentary rock structures known as stromatolites, which are fossilized remains of microbial mat communities. Stromatolites are the most abundant type of fossil found in the Proterozoic (2,500 to 590 Myr ago), but they then declined, possibly because of predation and competition. Using modern microbial mats as analogues for ancient stromatolites, we show that the rate of carbon fixation is higher at the greater levels of atmospheric CO2 that were probably present in the past. We suggest that carbon fixation in microbial mats was not carbon-limited during the early Precambrian, but became carbon-limited as the supply of inorganic carbon decreased. Carbon limitation led to a lower rate of carbon fixation, especially towards the end of the Precambrian. Thus, another reason for the decline of the stromatolites could have been a decrease in available CO2.     

Climatic instability recorded by the mollusk assemblages from the late glacial loess deposits in China

The loess-paleosol sequence in China records abundant and valuable information on the global and regional climate changes. Biological record from the loess sequence is the most direct evidence on variation in pattern of paleo-atmospheric circulation and changes in winter and summer monsoon. A new record of climatic instability, which occurred in the Loess Plateau during the late glacial period, is presented. Through the study of terrestrial mollusks from three loess sequences, the authors intend to characterize the biological response process to rapid climate change and to learn the mechanisms driving the instable climate changes and the possible linkage in different regions. The result shows the striking consistent variability in the ratio records of three mollusk sequences of the late glacial, indicating apparent rapid climate fluctuations. Correlation of our three mollusk records with the oxygen isotopic records from Greenland ice cores and foraminifera1 records from the Northeast Pacific Ocean reveals similar instability climate during the late glacial period, which provides us a new thought probing the climate instability observed in the North Atlantic, the North Pacific and the Loess Plateau. The low-level atmospheric circulation in the Northern Hemisphere may be one possible way to link the unstable climate patterns observed in the above three regions.     

Newly discovered Palaeolithic artefacts from loess deposits and their ages in Lantian,central China

Eight new Palaeolithic open-air sites were identified and 770 stone artefacts were collected from 2009 to 2011 in the Lantian area of the Bahe River valley, central China. Because the famous Homo erectus fossils were unearthed at the Gongwangling and Chenjiawo localities, and more than 30 Palaeolithic open-air sites were investigated in the 1960s in this region, the catchment of Bahe River is regarded as one of the most important hominin sites from the late early Pleistocene to the middle Pleistocene. These eight newly discovered open-air sites are located at the second(n = 6), third(n = 1) or higher terraces(n = 1) of the Bahe River. The Diaozhai section on the second terrace was sampled in detail. Two samples were collected for optically stimulated luminescence dating(OSL). The OSL results suggest that a buried lithic artefact layer at the Diaozhai site spans approximately 70–30 ka. The lithic assemblage analysis suggests that the stone artefacts were made of local pebbles/cobbles such as greywacke, quartz, sandstone and igneous rocks. The main percussion techniques that were used were direct hard hammer percussion and bi-polar techniques. The lithic artefacts comprise hammer stones, cores, flakes, retouched tools and flaking debris. Acheulian-type large cutting tools(LCTs) such as hand-axes, picks and cleavers were indentified in the Lantian region as well. This is the first time Acheulian-type LCTs from the late Pleistocene have been identified in this region. This study distinguishes age gaps between Western world and East Asian Acheulian-type tools.     

Long-term trend and abrupt events of the Holocene Asian monsoon inferred from a stalagmite δ18O record from Shennongjia in Central China

The middle-Holocene was a period of profound cul- ture transitions: the Neolithic culture around Central China[1], Mesopotamia[2] and India[3] all mysteriously collapsed around 4 ka . It is plausible that this civiliza-tion collapse can be contributed to …     

Palaeoenvironmental implication of the Plio-Pleistocene loess deposits in southern Tarim Basin

The sedimentary characteristics, grain-size distribution, geochemical composition and surface characteristics of quartz grains, together with palaeoenvironmental reconnaissance, all point to an aeolian origin for the intercalated siltstone beds in the Plio-Pleistocene Artux and Xiyu Formations along the southern margins of the Tarim Basin, indicating that loess deposition in the region started, at least, in the Early Pliocene. Loess deposition in the southern Tarim Basin was a response to the global deterioration, which might be attributed to the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau.     

Ancestral echinoderms from the Chengjiang deposits of China

Deuterostomes are a remarkably diverse super-phylum, including not only the chordates (to which we belong) but groups as disparate as the echinoderms and the hemichordates. The phylogeny of deuterostomes is now achieving some degree of stability, especially on account of new molecular data, but this leaves as conjectural the appearance of extinct intermediate forms that would throw light on the sequence of evolutionary events leading to the extant groups. Such data can be supplied from the fossil record, notably those deposits with exceptional soft-part preservation. Excavations near Kunming in southwestern China have revealed a variety of remarkable early deuterostomes, including the vetulicolians and yunnanozoans. Here we describe a new group, the vetulocystids. They appear to have similarities not only to the vetulicolians but also to the homalozoans, a bizarre group of primitive echinoderms whose phylogenetic position has been highly controversial.     

The record of cultivated rice from archaeobiological evidence in northwestern China 5000 years ago

Pollen, plant seeds and phytoliths from an AMS dated sediment profile at the Xishanping site indicate that the cultivation of rice might start no later than 5070 cal. a BP in the region of Tianshui, Gansu Province. It continued from 5070 to 4300 cal. a BP. This is so far the oldest and the most northwestern record of cultivated rice in Neolithic China, which extends the known region of prehistoric rice cultivation at least 2° longitude to the west. This finding provides important evidence for reconstructing the cultivation region of rice at 5000 a BP （an important time period）, and its spreading history in East Asia, during the Neolithic.     

黄土体结构面的发育特征及其灾害效应

根据结构面的规模、成因、性质、产状、张开度和形成时期对黄土体结构面进行了综合分类，总结概括了黄土高原地区第四纪断层与构造地裂缝、构造节理面、卸荷裂隙面、垂直节理面、不同岩性接触面、软弱夹层等结构面的特征厦其灾害效应，认为黄土体结构面的显隐、开启和发育程度受黄土的形成时代、埋藏深度、粘粒含量、含水状态和黄土高原地区的地形地貌、新构造运动等因素影响。黄土体结构面是分割黄土成块体的结构面，是侵蚀土壤、洞穴的优势面，是孕育地质灾害的控制和分离面，是地下水的运移通道和储存场所。     

Temporal-spatial characteristics of vegetation cover and desertification of China by using remote sensing data

Based on the NOAA advanced very high resolution radiometer (NOAA-AVHRR) remote sensing data of 1982 — 1999. the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) reflecting the surface vegetation cover has been obtained. Using the empirical orthogonal function analysis, the temporal-spatial eigenvectors of NDVI are given, and the characteristics of the spatial distribution of vegetation cover and its temporal variation together with the desertification of China are analyzed. It is found that the surface vegetation cover has seriously deteriorated in most part of China since 1995. along with the intensified desertification. All these are mainly caused by human activities although the climate change is responsible for the damage of surface vegetation cover to some extent.     

宁夏土地荒漠化敏感度时空变化分析

选取土壤、地形、自然环境和社会经济4个方面的数据,采用Logistic回归模型分别对2001和2017年宁夏土地荒漠化敏感度进行了建模分析. 基于模型得到2001和2017年宁夏荒漠化敏感度等级数据。主要结论有:1）采用Logistic回归模型可以有效检测宁夏荒漠化敏感度,2001和2017年的模型准确度分别达到85%和78%;2）宁夏各区域按荒漠化风险等级由低到高排序,依次为北部引黄溉区、南部黄土丘陵区、中部干旱区;3）相比于2001年,2017年宁夏土地荒漠化风险级别总体呈下降趋势,大约有39%的高风险和极高风险区域转化为低风险和中等风险区域,得益于防沙治沙、禁牧封育与生态修复等政策的施行. 研究通过监测宁夏荒漠化易发生区域的动态变化趋势,及时为宁夏荒漠化防治工作布局提供参考信息.      

Millennial-scale climate change since the last glaciation recorded by grain sizes of loess deposits on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau

Whether climatic changes in high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere since the last glaciation have effects on the Tibetan Plateau monsoon, and the variation characteristics of the Plateau monsoon itself are still not solved but of great significance. The 22-m high-resolution Ioess-paleosol sequence in the Hezuo Basin on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau demonstrates that the Plateau winter monsoon experienced a millennial variation similar to high latitude Northern Hemisphere, with cold events clearly correlated with Heinrich events but less for the warm events (Dansgarrd-Oeschger events). It may indicate that the climate system at high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere had played an important role in both the Plateau monsoon and the high-level westerlies. On 10^4 year scale, there are two distinct anomalous changes, which are not found in the records from high latitude northern hemisphere, revealed by the loess grain size in the Hezuo Basin. One is that there was a considerable grain size increase at -36 kaBP, suggesting an abrupt enhancement of the Plateau winter monsoon at that time; the other is that, during 43--36 kaBP, the grain size decreased distinctly, indicating a notable weakening of the Plateau winter monsoon around that period. Both of the two anomalies suggest that the Tibetan climate may have been controlled by some other factors, besides the high latitude climatic changes in the Northern Hemisphere.     

Evidence from episodic seamount volcanism for pulsing of the Iceland plume in the past 70 Myr

The North Atlantic volcanic province has been attributed to continental rifting about 60 Myr ago over an Iceland plume head with a diameter of 1,000-2,000 km (refs 1, 2). But evidence from a few igneous centres has been used to infer that earlier plume activity occurred in this region. The three seamounts in the Rockall trough off the Atlantic coast of Scotland are among the few accessible remnants of such early plume activity. Here we present 40Ar-39Ar incremental-heating ages of samples from these seamounts, which show that volcanism began there in the late Cretaceous period (70 +/- 1 Myr ago), and then continued for the next 30 Myr in at least four discrete phases: 62, 52, 47 and 42 Myr ago. We relate this activity to pulsing of large masses (approximately 10(8) km3) of hot Iceland plume material on timescales of 5-10 Myr. This significantly extends the time span for Iceland plume activity both backwards and forwards in time, and provides a possible alternative to the 'plume head' models for the formation of continental flood basalts.     

Abrupt climate change of EastAsian Monsoon at 130 kaBP inferred from a high resolu-tion stalagmite δ18O record

^230Th ages and oxygen isotope data of a stalagmite from Shanbao Cave in Hubei Province characterize the East Asian Monsoon precipitation from 133 to 127ka. The decadal-scale high-resolution δ^18O record reveals a detailed transitional process from the Penultimate Glaciation to the Last Interglaciation. As established with ^230Th dates, the age of the Termination Ⅱ is determined to be 129.5±1.0 kaBP, which supports the Northern Hemisphere insolation as the triggers for the ice-age cycles. In our δ^18O record, the glacial/interglacial fluctuation reaches about 4‰, almost the same level as in other Asian Monsoon cave stalagmite δ^18O records. The transition of the glacial/interglacial period in our record can be recognized as four stepwise stages, among which, a rapid rise of monsoon precipitation follows the stage of “Termination Ⅱ pause”. The rapid rise is synchronous with the abrupt change of global methane concentration, which reflects that an increase in both Asian Monsoon precipitation and tropical wetland plays an important role in the global climate changes.     

Temperature variations in the past 6000 years inferred from δ18O of peat cellulose from Hongyuan, China

Trends of the temperature variations recorded in δ18O in Hongyuan peat cellulose are similar to those recorded in δ 18O of Jinchuan peat cellulose and inδ18O of Dunde ice core. Climate events have been identified to be globallyhomogeneous. Two notable climate transition periods have been detected in the past 6000 years, namely 4000 aBP with climate shifting from cold to warm and 1500aBP with climate shifting from warm to relatively cold. Power spectrum analysiswas performed to investigate the periodical signals in the δ18O time series. Typical periodicities of 1200-1087 a, 752 a, 444 a, 325 a, 213 a, 127-123 a, 88a, 79 a were discovered, indicating an integrated influence on Hongyuan climatefrom solar, monsoon and ocean activities. Solar forcing has been addressed to be the main driving forcing of Hongyuan climate.     

从广州亚运会透视中国田径现状

本届亚运会中国田径女子项目集体出现下滑现象;男子则实现了个别项目的突破;亚洲整体田径出现"集中"现象,如何进一步缩小与高水平田径的国家的差距,保持优势项目的持久力以及扭转我国女子项目的下滑是我们面临的首要任务。     

中国荒漠化地区沙产业发展风险的定量评价

从自然环境、市场环境和企业内部分析了中国荒漠化地区沙产业发展所面临的风险,提炼出9个风险评价二级指标,建立了沙产业发展的风险评价指标体系,给出了基于模糊评价法的风险定量评价模型.应用算例分析说明如何运用该模型对荒漠化地区沙产业发展所面临的风险程度进行定量评价.     

我国西南岩溶地区石漠化问题研究--以滇黔桂三省区为例

以云南、贵州和广西3省区为对象分析了我国西南岩溶地区石漠化的现状,研究了西南岩溶地区石漠化的机理.结果表明,广泛分布的碳酸盐岩是形成石漠化的地质背景;崎岖的地表为石漠化提供了动力;成土缓慢且土层薄使其允许侵蚀量小;受气候因素的影响岩溶地貌发育使土壤易“丢失”;人口的增长及不合理的行为导致植被破坏后恢复困难,易造成水土流失.在此基础上提出了石漠化的治理措施.