Discovery of the boninite series volcanic rocks in the Bangong Lake ophiolite mélange, western Tibet, and its tectonic implications

The Bangong Lake ophiolite section, the western-most part of the Bangong Lake-Nujiang River ophiolitezone, is located to the south of the Bangong Lake andabout 10 km north of Rutog Town (Fig. 1). Being over2000 km long in Tibet, it extends westward to Kashmirand southeastward beyond Tibet along the Nujiang River.Although the section of the ophiolite is well exposed, nodetailed research work has yet been done. This ophiolitezone, which is one of the ophiolite zones in Tibet, servesas the…     

LA-ICP-MS dating of Zhangjiakou Formation volcanic rocks in the Zhangjiakou region and its geological signi?cance

The geological cross section of the Zhangjiakou Formation is originally established in the Zhangjiakou region. From the dating of four samples from typical cross sections of the Zhangjiakou Formation in the Zhangjiakou region, the age range is found to be mainly from 143.0 ± 3.7 Myr to 136.1 ± 1.4 Myr, which almost equals the sum of the age range of the Zhangjiakou Formation (136–135 Myr) and that of the Tuchengzi Formation (143–136 Myr) in the Luanping region, and the Zhangjiakou and Tuchengzi Formations in Zhangjiakou-Luanping of North Hebei are found to be conformable. The evidence above indicates that the Zhangjiakou and Tuchengzi Formations, which are distributed in Zhangjiakou-Luanping, were formed under the same geological setting. Volcanic activity was earlierand longer (143–136 Myr) in the western region (Zhangjiakou) than that in the eastern region (Luanping). The ‘‘Zhangjiakou Formation” in Chengde and Pingquan formed in the period in which the Yixian Formation in West Liaoning formed, so should be renamed the Yixian Formation.     

Calibration of the U 37 K′ index of long-chain alkenones with the in-situ water temperature in Lake Qinghai in the Tibetan Plateau

Long-chain alkenones (LCAs) can potentially be used as indicators to understand past variations in lacustrine environments.Previous research has suggested that the relationship between the temperature and the unsaturation index of LCAs should be calibrated individually,because of the possible variations in the alkenone-producing algal species in the lacustrine environment.In this work,we have calibrated U37K’ of water filter samples against the in-situ water temperature in Lake Qinghai,Tibetan Plateau.There are significant relationships between U37K’ and the water temperature,a non-linear relationship was derived.Because the U37K’ values did not respond sensitively at lower temperatures,we suggested that a quadratic regression (U37K’ =0.0011×T2-0.0201×T+0.1959,n=15,r2=0.74) was appropriate than linear regression to represent the relationship between the in-situ temperatures and U37K’.Meanwhile,the U37K correlation relationship was not more significant than U37K’ index in our study.Because of the C37:4 effects by salinity change,we suggest U37K is not as robust as the U37K’ index as a temperature proxy,at least for the salt lake in the Tibetan Plateau.The calibration of the U37K’ index in this work has provided a new understanding of historic climatic changes in the Tibetan Plateau.     

Using quantile regression to analyze the stressor–response relationships between nutrient levels and algal biomass in three shallow lakes of the Lake Taihu Basin,China

Understanding the stressor–response relationship between nutrient levels and algal biomass is a prerequisite for the management of eutrophication in lakes. In this study, a quantile regression(QR) approach was used to interpret the stressor–response relationships between nutrient(e.g., phosphorus, nitrogen) concentrations and algal biomass as measured by chlorophyll-a(Chl-a) levels. QR results indicated that Lake Dianshan and Lake Changdang,which are both heavily eutrophicated, were P-limited only.In contrast, Lake Kuilei, which has significantly lower nutrient levels and algal biomass than the other two lakes,was P- and N-limited. Moreover, in Lake Kuilei, N and P levels had significant interaction effects on the algal biomass at the upper quantiles(s [ 0.68). The degree to which the lakes were P-limited increased with rises in the mean total P concentration in the lakes. QR has many advantages over ordinary least squares regression for discriminating limiting factors and, in particular, allows us to estimate changes near the upper extremes of distributions associated with limiting factors. QR is adapted to more specialized risk management problems, such as early warnings of the risk of algal blooms.The probable value-at-risk of harmful algal blooms for Lake Kuilei, Lake Dianshan and Lake Changdang is s = 0.76(Chl-a = 9 mg/m3), s = 0.87(Chl-a = 24 mg/m3) and s = 0.72(Chl-a = 35 mg/m3), respectively. Given the results of the stressor–response relationship analysis, we conclude that reductions in P input represent the most feasible and least costly approach for managing eutrophication in the shallow lakes of the Lake Taihu Basin. To control the magnitude and duration of algal blooms in shallow lakes,reductions in P and N inputs are required. The 95 % CI bounds of slopes indicated that the interactions of nonnutrient factors with nutrients had strong impacts on the algal biomass in lightly eutrophicated Lake Kuilei. It is suggested that, in addition to reductions in nutrient loads,several ecological measures, such as an increase in the biomass of submerged macrophytes and the reduction of hydraulic retention time by flushing, could represent important components of an integrated approach to eutrophication management in the Lake Taihu Basin.