Coupled spatial variations in precipitation and long-term erosion rates across the Washington Cascades

Past studies of tectonically active mountain ranges have suggested strong coupling and feedbacks between climate, tectonics and topography. For example, rock uplift generates topographic relief, thereby enhancing precipitation, which focuses erosion and in turn influences rates and spatial patterns of further rock uplift. Although theoretical links between climate, erosion and uplift have received much attention, few studies have shown convincing correlations between observable indices of these processes on mountain-range scales. Here we show that strongly varying long-term (>10(6)-10(7) yr) erosion rates inferred from apatite (U-Th)/He cooling ages across the Cascades mountains of Washington state closely track modern mean annual precipitation rates. Erosion and precipitation rates vary over an order of magnitude across the range with maxima of 0.33 mm yr(-1) and 3.5 m yr(-1), respectively, with both maxima located 50 km west (windward) of the topographic crest of the range. These data demonstrate a strong coupling between precipitation and long-term erosion rates on the mountain-range scale. If the range is currently in topographic steady state, rock uplift on the west flank is three to ten times faster than elsewhere in the range, possibly in response to climatically focused erosion.     

日喀则群沉积厚度、沉积速率及剥蚀速率

通过对日喀则弧前盆地日喀则群沉积的详细研究,对日喀则群的沉积厚度、沉积速率做了近似的计算.日喀则群现今保存下来的厚度平均为3 000 m,恢复其原始沉积厚度为4 800 m,从而计算得出沉积速率为34 cm/ka(未脱压校正值为22 cm/ka),主沉积期的沉积速率为308 cm/ka(未脱压校正);并且与其他几个白垩纪同类盆地进行对比,得出白垩纪此类盆地发育过程中,沉积速率的平均值为27.75 cm/ka.根据近似恢复的弧前盆地和剥蚀区的范围,计算得出沉积盆地沉积物充填总量最小90 750 km3,最大137 500 km3;物源区剥蚀速率最小0.1 mm/a,最大0.45 mm/a.     

Efficient organic carbon burial in the Bengal fan sustained by the Himalayan erosional system

Continental erosion controls atmospheric carbon dioxide levels on geological timescales through silicate weathering, riverine transport and subsequent burial of organic carbon in oceanic sediments. The efficiency of organic carbon deposition in sedimentary basins is however limited by the organic carbon load capacity of the sediments and organic carbon oxidation in continental margins. At the global scale, previous studies have suggested that about 70 per cent of riverine organic carbon is returned to the atmosphere, such as in the Amazon basin. Here we present a comprehensive organic carbon budget for the Himalayan erosional system, including source rocks, river sediments and marine sediments buried in the Bengal fan. We show that organic carbon export is controlled by sediment properties, and that oxidative loss is negligible during transport and deposition to the ocean. Our results indicate that 70 to 85 per cent of the organic carbon is recent organic matter captured during transport, which serves as a net sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide. The amount of organic carbon deposited in the Bengal basin represents about 10 to 20 per cent of the total terrestrial organic carbon buried in oceanic sediments. High erosion rates in the Himalayas generate high sedimentation rates and low oxygen availability in the Bay of Bengal that sustain the observed extreme organic carbon burial efficiency. Active orogenic systems generate enhanced physical erosion and the resulting organic carbon burial buffers atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, thereby exerting a negative feedback on climate over geological timescales.     

Evidences of rapid erosion driven by climate in the Yarlung Zangbo （Tsangpo） Great Canyon, the eastern Himalayan syntaxis

Climate and tectonism are both particularly intense in the Yarlung Zangbo (Tsangpo) Great Canyon in the eastern Himalayan syntaxis,which is characterized by the most rapid landscape evolution of anywhere in the world.Thus,the eastern Himalayan syntaxis is one of the best locations to study the interactions between climate and tectonics.This paper investigates the cooling ages of the Doxong La-Baibung profile using apatite fission track (AFT) dating on 11 bedrock samples at elevations ranging from 4210 to 710 m.There are topographic,climatic,metamorphic,and thermochronological gradients in the profile,providing good conditions to study interactions between climate and tectonics.AFT ages ranged from 4.6±0.6 Ma to 1.7±0.3 Ma,and the mean fission track lengths ranged from 11.0 to 12.4 μm.It was found that the cooling rates revealed by AFT ages increased with decreasing elevation.However,the tendency of the cooling rates revealed by the 40 Ar-39 Ar ages was different from that indicated by the AFT ages.Moreover,for most districts of the eastern Himalayan syntaxis,the compiled AFT age distribution correlates well with the annual average precipitation,indicating the coupling of the cooling and erosion rates of the near-surface rock and precipitation.The geothermal history modeling results indicate an obvious increase in the cooling and erosion rate between 1.0 and 0.5 Ma.This age is consistent with other research findings for this time,when the vapor channel of the Yarlung Zangbo Great Canyon began to take effect.These evidences suggest that climate,especially precipitation,has acting as a key factor influencing the rapid cooling and erosion in the Yarlung Zangbo Great Canyon since 1-0.5 Ma.     

Reorganization of the western Himalayan river system after five million years ago

Uplift of mountains driven by tectonic forces can influence regional climate as well as regional drainage patterns, which in turn control the discharge of eroded sediment to the ocean. But the nature of the interactions between tectonic forces, climate and drainage evolution remains contested. Here we reconstruct the erosional discharge from the Indus river over the past 30 million years using seismic reflection data obtained from drill core samples from the Arabian Sea and neodymium isotope data. We find that the source of the Indus sediments was dominated by erosion within and north of the Indus suture zone until five million years ago; after that, the river began to receive more erosional products from Himalayan sources. We propose that this change in the erosional pattern is caused by a rerouting of the major rivers of the Punjab into the Indus, which flowed east into the Ganges river before that time. Seismic reflection profiles from the Indus fan suggest high mass accumulation rates during the Pleistocene epoch partly driven by increased drainage to the Indus river after five million years ago and partly by faster erosion linked to a stronger monsoon over the past four million years. Our isotope stratigraphy for the Indus fan provides strong evidence for a significant change in the geometry of western Himalayan river systems in the recent geologic past.     

Sedimentation rates and provenance analysis in the Southwestern Okinawa Trough since the mid-Holocene

As a high-sedimentation rate depocenter along the path of the Kuroshio Current, the southwesternmost part of the Okinawa Trough is a key area to understand the Kuroshio history and sediments transpor-tation. A 34.17-m-long sediment core was obtained by the advanced piston corer of Marco Polo/IMAGES XII MARION DUFRESNE during the May 2005 from the Southern Okinawa Trough at site MD05-2908. The recovered sediments were analyzed by AMS ¹⁴C dating, coarse size fraction (>63 μm) extraction and moisture content determination in order to study its sedimentation flux and provenance. The depth-age relationship of core MD05-2908 was well constrained by 17 ¹⁴C dating points. The sediments span across the mid-Holocene (6.8 ka B.P.) and have remarkablely high sedimentation rates between 1.8 and 21.2 m ka^-1, which is well consistent with the modern observations from sediment traps. We identified five 70―200 a periods of abnormally rapid sedimentation events at 6790―6600 a B.P., 5690―5600 a B.P., 4820―4720 a B.P., 1090―880 a B.P., and 260―190 a B.P., during which the highest sedimentation rate is up to 21.2 m/ka. In general, the lithology of the sediments were dominated by silt and clay, associated with less than 5% coarse size fraction (>63 μm). As the most significant sediment source, the Lanyang River in northeastern Taiwan annually deliver about 10Mt materials to the coastal and offshore region of northeast Taiwan, a portion of which could be carried northward by currents toward the study area. Therefore, we concluded that the 5 abnormally rapid sedimentation events may be related to intensified rainfall in Taiwan and thus increased materials to our study area at that time. However, a few ex-treme-rapid sedimentation events cannot be explained by normal river runoff alone. The large earth-quakes or typhoons induced hyperpycnal discharge of fluvial sediment to the ocean may also act as a potential source supply to the Okinawa Trough.     

Fire-induced erosion and millennial-scale climate change in northern ponderosa pine forests

Western US ponderosa pine forests have recently suffered extensive stand-replacing fires followed by hillslope erosion and sedimentation. These fires are usually attributed to increased stand density as a result of fire suppression, grazing and other land use, and are often considered uncharacteristic or unprecedented. Tree-ring records from the past 500 years indicate that before Euro-American settlement, frequent, low-severity fires maintained open stands. However, the pre-settlement period between about ad 1500 and ad 1900 was also generally colder than present, raising the possibility that rapid twentieth-century warming promoted recent catastrophic fires. Here we date fire-related sediment deposits in alluvial fans in central Idaho to reconstruct Holocene fire history in xeric ponderosa pine forests and examine links to climate. We find that colder periods experienced frequent low-severity fires, probably fuelled by increased understory growth. Warmer periods experienced severe droughts, stand-replacing fires and large debris-flow events that comprise a large component of long-term erosion and coincide with similar events in sub-alpine forests of Yellowstone National Park. Our results suggest that given the powerful influence of climate, restoration of processes typical of pre-settlement times may be difficult in a warmer future that promotes severe fires.     

Cause analysis of gully erosion in Yuanmou basin of Jinshajiang valley

Some factors （i.e. lithology, topography, climate, the change of population as well as land use during the past 50 years） that could have great influence on the development of gully in the arid-hot basin of Jinshajiang valley were investigated. The results show that the factors leading to the strong gully erosion in this area include： the widely distributed Yuanmou group stratum, which promotes the development of gully erosion; the unique geomorphologic configuration that is prone to rock fall and gully erosion; the strong and time-concentrated rainfall; the arid-humid alternate climate characteristics that prepares the ground for the development of fissures in soils; the arid-hot climate that goes against the growth and recovery of vegetation; and the unreasonable and abusive human activities.     

基于GIS与USLE的榆中县土壤侵蚀

在GIS与RS技术支持下应用USLE模型对位于黄土高原西部的榆中县进行土壤侵蚀强度的定量估算,探讨区域土壤侵蚀的空间变异性以及与坡度梯度和土地利用方式之间的关系.得出榆中县的年均侵蚀总量为813137t,年均侵蚀模数为247t/km~2,并且土壤侵蚀的空间变异性明显,年均侵蚀模数与年均侵蚀总量随坡度梯度的增加都呈指数增加.在分析不同土地利用方式下的土壤侵蚀状况后发现,低覆盖度草地才是区域最主要的侵蚀地带.     

应变速率对红砂岩预制隙裂贯通破坏的影响

为了探究应变速率对节理岩体裂纹扩展形态和贯通破坏的影响,提出在室内制作含裂隙的红砂岩试样,采用不同加载速率进行单轴加载试验,观察裂隙起裂、贯通、破坏的全过程,并在物理试验基础上利用数值分析软件对结果进行分析和验证。结果表明:随着加载速率的增加,试样的峰值强度增加,试样发生应力强度跌落时的应变也有一定的增长;裂隙的扩展方式不局限于沿着试件高度方向开展,有部分裂隙发生横向方向的扩展和贯通,导致试样逐渐从局部破坏形式向整体破坏形式发展;裂隙强度在单轴加载时伴随裂隙倾角和加载速率的增加而变大,裂隙贯通强度对裂隙倾角的变化更敏感。     

三峡水库干流典型消落带泥沙沉积过程

 选择三峡水库中游干流典型消落带断面,现场调查泥沙沉积速率随高程分布,探讨三峡水库特定水位调节模式和长江上游泥沙输移的季节性特征对消落带泥沙沉积的影响。结果表明,消落带泥沙净沉积主要发生在145~168 m 高程,2010年累积净沉积厚度为1.1~39.9 cm,随高程增加逐渐减小,145~155 m 平均泥沙沉积厚度为14.9 cm,155~168 m 平均泥沙沉积厚度为2.6 cm;2013年累积净沉积厚度为3~80 cm,表明三峡水库干流消落带泥沙沉积过程迅速。泥沙粒径随高程增加逐渐变粗,体现在砂粒体积分数和中值粒径逐渐增大。消落带下部沉积泥沙颗粒组成与干流悬移质泥沙接近,而消落带上部沉积泥沙明显粗于干流悬浮泥沙。消落带泥沙沉积速率与水库水位调节密切相关,雨季水库低水位运行,长江悬移质输沙量的增加导致了消落带下部大量泥沙沉积;旱季水库高水位运行,长江悬移质输沙量减少导致消落带上部泥沙沉积速率降低,消落带河岸侵蚀对沉积泥沙贡献逐渐增大。消落带淹水时间随高程增加而缩短,长时间淹没有利于消落带下部泥沙沉积。综合推断,三峡水库干流消落带下部泥沙主要来源于雨季河流悬移质泥沙的沉积,而消落带上部沉积泥沙主要来自旱季消落带河岸侵蚀产沙。     

Estimation of wind erosion rates by using 137Cs tracing technique: A case study in Tariat-Xilin Gol transect, Mongolian Plateau

Wind erosion is one of the major environmental problems in semi-arid and arid regions. Here we established the Tariat-Xilin Gol transect from northwest to southeast across the Mongolian Plateau, and selected seven sampling sites along the transect. We then estimated the soil wind erosion rates by using the 137Cs tracing technique and examined their spatial dynamics. Our results showed that the 137Cs inventories of sampling sites ranged from 265.63=44.91 to 1279.54=166.53 Bq. m-2, and the wind erosion rates varied from 64.58 to 419.63 t. km-2. a-~ accordingly. In the Mongolia section of the transect （from Tariat to Sainshand）, the wind erosion rate increased gradually with vegetation type and climatic regimes; the wind erosion process was controlled by physical factors such as annual precipitation and vegetation coverage, etc., and the impact of human activities was negligible. While in the China section of the transect （Inner Mongolia）, the wind erosion rates of Xilin Hot and Zhengxiangbai Banner were thrice as much as those of Bayannur of Mongolia, although these three sites were all dominated by typical steppe. Besides the physical factors, higher population density and livestock carrying level should be responsible for the higher wind erosion rates in these two regions of Inner Mongolia.     

Response of 210Pbex inventory to changes in soil erosion rates on uncultivated land

This analysis studies changes in the variation 210Pbex inventory in soil in response to soil erosion on uncultivated land.A model was created to fit the response of 210 Pb ex inventory to variations in soil erosion rates on uncultivated land using the principle of mass balance.By numerical simulation of the variation in the soil erosion rate in soil of uncultivated land,we prove:(1) past use of what has long been considered the best method of determining 210 Pb ex levels over the past 100 to 200 years is not scientifically accurate;(2) the model shows that variation in 210 Pb ex inventory as a function of time varies according to the index law after variation of soil erosion rates in uncultivated land is considered;and(3) the time needed for the variation in 210 Pb ex inventory to reach a steady-state is affected by changes in the rate of soil erosion and the quality and depth of relaxation in soil of uncultivated land.The results of this research can guide efforts to measure soil erosion rates.     

Modeling and simulation of dynamic carbonate deposition in a loess-paleosol sequence

A compartment model of dynamic deposition processes has been developed and tested in the Potou loess section of China. There are four components in the model : carbonate input of eolian dust, carbonate output of erosion, carbonate chemical equilibrium and soil water balance. A climate stochastic model software (CLIMAK) generates the daily weather data. The processes of eolian dust deposition, erosion, and pedogenesis simulate the complex process of carbonate deposition in a loess-paleosol sequence. We consider both climatic change and soil-forming factors. The results indicate that since the Late Pleistocene in Potou section, the mean carbonate fluxes from precipitation, eolian dust and erosion are 0.14g/cm~2/kg, 1.45g/cm~2/ka and 0.23g/cm~2/ka respectively. Of this, 91.2% of the carbonate input is from eolian dust.     

^210Pbex depth distribution in soil and calibration models for assessment of soil erosion rates from ^210Pbex measurements

Throughout the past decade, the potential for using nuclear weapon-produced 137Cs ( half-life 30.2 a) fallout to quantify soil erosion rates on both cultivated and uncul- tivated lands for medium-term timescales (≈ 40 a) has been successfully demonstrated in a wide range of envi- ronments in different regions of the world[1—6]. Because in difficulties of distinguishing Chernobyl-derived compo- nent from total 137Cs input in many parts of Europe, and in measuring low activity samples of…     

Quantifying the uncertainty in forecasts of anthropogenic climate change

Forecasts of climate change are inevitably uncertain. It is therefore essential to quantify the risk of significant departures from the predicted response to a given emission scenario. Previous analyses of this risk have been based either on expert opinion, perturbation analysis of simplified climate models or the comparison of predictions from general circulation models. Recent observed changes that appear to be attributable to human influence provide a powerful constraint on the uncertainties in multi-decadal forecasts. Here we assess the range of warming rates over the coming 50 years that are consistent with the observed near-surface temperature record as well as with the overall patterns of response predicted by several general circulation models. We expect global mean temperatures in the decade 2036-46 to be 1-2.5 K warmer than in pre-industrial times under a 'business as usual' emission scenario. This range is relatively robust to errors in the models' climate sensitivity, rate of oceanic heat uptake or global response to sulphate aerosols as long as these errors are persistent over time. Substantial changes in the current balance of greenhouse warming and sulphate aerosol cooling would, however, increase the uncertainty. Unlike 50-year warming rates, the final equilibrium warming after the atmospheric composition stabilizes remains very uncertain, despite the evidence provided by the emerging signal.     

陕北志丹地区前侏罗纪古地貌及其控制作用

综合运用印模法、残厚法及沉积法等将志丹地区前侏罗纪古地貌划分为侵蚀高地、侵蚀斜坡、侵蚀沟谷以及侵蚀残丘四个基本单元.研究结果表明:前侏罗纪古地貌对印支侵蚀不整合面上下之地层、构造、沉积、储层以及油气成藏特征等都具有重要的控制和影响.侵蚀面之下的长2油层组顶面剥蚀构造特征较好地反映了印支古地貌的基本格局;侵蚀面之上的延安组早期的沉积是前古地貌发育的镜像反映;而延10顶面构造则具有围绕古高地背景集中发育的特点.古高地与斜坡发育区是侵蚀面上下油气富集成藏的有利指向和主要场所,而深切的沟谷则为沟通下部油源以及油气运移提供了主要通道.油藏类型主要为地层-岩性油藏、构造-岩性油藏以及小而局限的构造、岩性油藏等.     

Decoupling of erosion and precipitation in the Himalayas

The hypothesis that abrupt spatial gradients in erosion can cause high strain rates in active orogens has been supported by numerical models that couple erosional processes with lithospheric deformation via gravitational feedbacks. Most such models invoke a 'stream-power' rule, in which either increased discharge or steeper channel slopes cause higher erosion rates. Spatial variations in precipitation and slopes are therefore predicted to correlate with gradients in both erosion rates and crustal strain. Here we combine observations from a meteorological network across the Greater Himalaya, Nepal, along with estimates of erosion rates at geologic timescales (greater than 100,000 yr) from low-temperature thermochronometry. Across a zone of about 20 km length spanning the Himalayan crest and encompassing a more than fivefold difference in monsoon precipitation, significant spatial variations in geologic erosion rates are not detectable. Decreased rainfall is not balanced by steeper channels. Instead, additional factors that influence river incision rates, such as channel width and sediment concentrations, must compensate for decreasing precipitation. Overall, spatially constant erosion is a response to uniform, upward tectonic transport of Greater Himalayan rock above a crustal ramp.     

Active out-of-sequence thrust faulting in the central Nepalese Himalaya

Recent convergence between India and Eurasia is commonly assumed to be accommodated mainly along a single fault--the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT)--which reaches the surface in the Siwalik Hills of southern Nepal. Although this model is consistent with geodetic, geomorphic and microseismic data, an alternative model incorporating slip on more northerly surface faults has been proposed to be consistent with these data as well. Here we present in situ cosmogenic 10Be data indicating a fourfold increase in millennial timescale erosion rates occurring over a distance of less than 2 km in central Nepal, delineating for the first time an active thrust fault nearly 100 km north of the surface expression of the MHT. These data challenge the view that rock uplift gradients in central Nepal reflect only passive transport over a ramp in the MHT. Instead, when combined with previously reported 40Ar-39Ar data, our results indicate persistent exhumation above deep-seated, surface-breaking structures at the foot of the high Himalaya. These results suggest that strong dynamic interactions between climate, erosion and tectonics have maintained a locus of active deformation well to the north of the Himalayan deformation front.     

新生代青藏高原三维古地形再造

印度板块与欧亚板块的碰撞,引发了青藏高原的快速隆升、高原及邻区的气候环境、地形地势巨变,这一过程为同期形成的海洋沉积盆地、周缘前陆盆地和高原内部盆地所记录。高原隆升剥蚀区与前述三种类型的汇水盆地基本上处于一个相对封闭和半封闭体系,因而,可以根据质量平衡的原则,将汇水盆地内的沉积物按照物源方向和一定的分配方案回剥至隆升剥蚀区,重建任一时间段内剥蚀区的地形地势。通过对比不同时间段的古地形地势演变,可以比较精确和全面地刻划高原的隆升过程、隆升和剥蚀速率、隆升后所达到的海拔高度,进而探讨隆升与气候的关系,探索青藏高原在大陆碰撞体制下是增生扩大还是缩小