Dust supply from river floodplains: the case of the lower Huang He (Yellow River) recorded in a loess–palaeosol sequence from the Mangshan Plateau

The Mangshan Plateau is located on the south bank of the Huang He (Yellow River) just west of the city of Zhengzhou, well outside the Loess Plateau in central China. Mixing models of the grain‐size data indicate that the loess deposits are mixtures of three loess components. Comparison of the mixing model with existing models established for a series of loess–palaeosol sequences from the Loess Plateau indicates that the Mangshan loess has been supplied from a proximal dust source, the Huang He floodplain, during major dust outbreaks. The high accumulation rates, the composition of the loess components, and especially the high proportions of a sandy loess component support this. Owing to the exceptionally high accumulation rates, the Mangshan grain size, magnetic susceptibility and carbonate records provide a high‐resolution archive of environmental and climate change. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High-pressure eclogites in northern Jiangsu – southern Shandong province, eastern China

Abstract Eclogites are distributed for more than 500 km along a major tectonic boundary between the Sino-Korean and Yangtze cratons in central and eastern China. These eclogites usually have high-P assemblages including omphacite + kyanite and/or coesite (or its pseudomorph), and form a high-P eclogite terrane. They occur as isolated lenses or blocks 10 cm to 300 m long in gneisses (Type I), serpentinized garnet peridotites (Type II) and marbles (Type III). Type I eclogites were formed by prograde metamorphism, and their primary metamorphic mineral assemblage consists mainly of garnet [pyrope (Prp) = 15–40 mol%], omphacite [jadeite (Jd) = 34–64 mol%], pargasitic amphibole, kyanite, phengitic muscovite, zoisite, an SiO₂ phase, apatite, rutile and zircon. Type II eclogites characteristically contain no SiO₂ phase, and are divided into prograde eclogites and mantle-derived eclogites. The prograde eclogites of Type II are petrographically similar to Type I eclogites. The mantle-derived eclogites have high MgO/(FeO + Fe₂O₃) and Cr₂O₃ compositions in bulk rock and minerals, and consist mainly of pyrope-rich garnet (Prp = 48–60 mol%), sodic augite (Jd = 10–27 mol%) and rutile. Type III eclogites have an unusual mineral assemblage of grossular-rich (Grs = 57 mol%) garnet + omphacite (Jd = 30–34 mol%) + pargasite + rutile. Pargasitic and taramitic amphiboles, calcic plagioclase (An₆₈), epidote, zoisite, K-feldspar and paragonite occur as inclusions in garnet and omphacite in the prograde eclogites. This suggests that the prograde eclogites were formed by recrystallization of epidote amphibolite and/or amphibolite facies rocks with near-isothermal compression reflecting crustal thickening during continent–continent collision of late Proterozoic age. Equilibrium conditions of the prograde eclogites range from P > 26 kbar and T= 500–750°C in the western part to P > 28 kbar and T= 810–880°C in the eastern part of the high-P eclogite terrane. The prograde eclogites in the eastern part are considered to have been derived from a deeper position than those in the western part. Subsequent reactions, manifested by (1) narrow rims of sodic plagioclase or paragonite on kyanite and (2) symplectites between omphacite and quartz are interpreted as an effect of near-isothermal decompression during the retrograde stage. The conditions at which symplectites re-equilibrated tend to increase from west (P < 10 kbar and T < 580°C) to east (P > 9 kbar and T > 680°C). Equilibrium temperatures of Type II mantle-derived eclogites and Type III eclogite are 730–750°C and 680°C, respectively.     

Magnetostratigraphy and palaeoclimate of Red Clay sequences from Chinese Loess Plateau

Two Red Clay profiles near Xi’an and Xifeng were investigated in an attempt to determine magnetostratigraphic and palaeoclimatic records. The results show that aeolian dust accumulation and the related East Asia palaeomonsoon system had begun by 6.5 Ma, and it is deduced that the Tibetan Plateau had reached a significant elevation at that time. The late Tertiary palaeoclimatic history of the Red Clay as reflected by magnetic susceptibility is reconstructed during the period of 6.5–2.5 Ma. Stepwise increase in susceptibility of aeolian dust accumulation appears to have a close correlation to the uplift processes of the Tibetan Plateau. The remarkable increase of aeolian dust accumulation at 3.2 Ma appears to be due to the influence of global ice volume on the East Asia monsoon. Palaeomonsoon variation during the late Tertiary as recorded in the Red Clay sequences from the Chinese Loess Plateau can be regarded as the product of a number of interacting factors, such as uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, solar radiation, global ice volume, etc. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Foundation of Xi’an Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.     

沈阳地区沙尘天气分析

本文总结了沈阳地区沙尘天气的时空分布特点，从天气条件、地表自然条件(沙源)两方面分析了沈阳地区沙尘天气的成因，总结了沈阳地区预报沙尘天气时应参考的5个因素。     

北京地区两次沙尘(暴)天气过程对比分析

通过对 2 0 0 0年 4月 6日和 4月 9日北京地区两次沙尘 (暴 )天气过程的对比分析认为 :蒙古气旋型和不伴有气旋的西北槽型所造成的北京沙尘天气的严重程度不同 ;沙源地区中低层较强上升运动的主要作用是将当地沙尘垂直输送到空中 ,然后在70 0hPa较强西北气流的引导下将卷起的沙尘水平输送到下游地区 ;不稳定层结又加强了沙尘天气 ;沙尘暴区上空z 螺旋度分布的特征是高层为负值 ,低层为正值 ,对流层中低层螺旋度正的大值区与卫星云图显示的沙尘暴区具有较好的一致性 ,对沙尘暴的预报有一定的指示意义     

2014年4月大气环流和天气分析

2014年4月大气环流特征为,北半球极涡呈单极型分布,中心位于喀拉海北端附近;亚洲大陆东部高压脊强度偏强,导致4月我国气温较常年同期(11.0℃)偏高1.1℃,为1961年同期以来第五高值。东亚大槽强度和位置、南支系统和西北太平洋副热带高压接近常年平均状况。4月全国平均降水量为43.7 mm,比常年同期略偏少。月内,江南南部和华南等地出现短时强降水、雷雨大风等强对流天气;北方地区出现多次沙尘天气过程;此外,部分站次出现极端高温、极端降温事件。     

成都市近地表大气尘的矿物学特征及其环境指示意义

通过对成都市近地表大气尘X射线衍射、电镜扫描分析等研究显示:其主要由石英、长石、伊利石、绿泥石、方解石、石膏等矿物组成;就其形状看有致密的不规则粒状、片状单矿物、不规则粒状聚合体、浑圆形球状飘珠、聚合体放大观察可见片状的粘土矿物和细小的粒状单矿物,偶见藻类;矿物形貌特征及矿物组成空间分布特征的研究显示:球形状飘珠及伊利石、绿泥石、石膏的空间分布特征与工业布局和表层土壤的pH值密切相关,成都市近地表大气尘主要为地表扬尘和工业烟尘的混合物;与土壤的矿物组成比较可见,近地表大气尘重金属污染除土壤贡献外,还有其他污染贡献;石膏在本次研究中平均含量高达8.2%,推测可能成为成都市往年燃煤量大而无明显酸雨现象的原因之一。     

Metamorphic evolution of garnet-bearing ultramafic rocks from the Gongen area, Sanbagawa belt, Japan

Garnet‐bearing ultramafic rocks including clinopyroxenite, wehrlite and websterite locally crop out in the Higashi‐akaishi peridotite of the Besshi region in the Cretaceous Sanbagawa metamorphic belt. These rock types occur within dunite as lenses, boudins or layers with a thickness ranging from a few centimetres to 1 metre. The wide and systematic variation of bulk‐rock composition and the overall layered structure imply that the ultramafic complex originated as a cumulate sequence. Garnet and other major silicates contain rare inclusions of edenitic amphibole, chlorite and magnetite, implying equilibrium at relatively low P–T conditions during prograde metamorphism. Orthopyroxene coexisting with garnet shows bell‐shaped Al zoning with a continuous decrease of Al from the core towards the rim, consistent with rims recording peak metamorphic conditions. Estimated P–T conditions using core and rim compositions of orthopyroxene are 1.5–2.4 GPa/700–800 °C and 2.9–3.8 GPa/700–810 °C, respectively, implying a high P/T gradient (> 3.1 GPa/100 °C) during prograde metamorphism. The presence of relatively low P–T conditions at an early stage of metamorphism and the steep P/T gradient together trace a concave upwards P–T path that shows increasing P/T with higher T, similar to P–T paths reported from other UHP metamorphic terranes. These results suggest either (1) down dragging of hydrated mantle cumulate parallel to the slab–wedge interface in the subduction zone by mechanical coupling with the subducting slab or (2) ocean floor metamorphism and/or serpentinization at early stage of subduction of oceanic lithosphere and ensuing HP–UHP prograde metamorphism.     

一次雷暴大风引发的强沙尘暴天气的中尺度系统分析

使用探空、地面和张掖多普勒天气雷达观测资料对2013年7月30日发生在河西走廊的一次强沙尘暴天气进行了分析。结果表明：这次雷暴大风沙尘天气是对流层低层冷平流作用下,不稳定能量释放形成的β、γ中尺度对流系统造成的,雷暴下击暴流的辐散流和密度流是引发地面强风和沙尘暴的直接因素。高层干、中层相对湿和低层干的层结,易产生雷暴大风天气。1 h正变压和负变温演变能很好地反映雷暴下击暴流形成的雷暴高压和冷池的强弱变化,同时也反映了下击暴流的辐散气流和冷池密度流造成的地面大风及沙尘天气的变化。     

2004年春季沙尘天气对和田市空气质量的影响

利用沙尘暴监测网数据、常规气象资料以及MICAPS系统环流形势资料,对和田市2004年春季沙尘天气产生的污染进行了详细的对比分析。研究结果表明：和田市春季污染相当严重,主要以沙尘污染为主。整个春季79％时间API（环境污染指数）指数均达到500,且45％时间可吸入颗粒物PM10在TSP巾的浓度比例达50％。不同天气系统对和田市空气的污染贡献不同。从东路影响和田市的天气系统、高压底部型地面系统和浮尘天气所造成空气污染相当严重。其余天气系统和天气现象所产生的污染较小。