Jun 2008, Volume 2 Issue 2
    

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  • Extraction and identification of elemental carbon in sediment and its environmental and climatic implications
    ZHOU Bin, SHEN Chengde, ZHENG Hongbo, CHEN Jinyang
    2008, 2(2): 131-137. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-008-0024-y
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    Elemental carbon was extracted from sediments by chemical oxidation and identified by Raman spectroscopy. The experimental results indicate that elemental carbon, defined by processing, is a continuum ranging from single crystal graphite to amorphous carbon. Chemical oxidation is a feasible method to extract elemental carbon from sediments, and when experimental condition and time are properly controlled, it can remove organic carbon without any loss of elemental carbon. However, due to the differences in experimental conditions and methods, different results have been obtained. Therefore, we believe that the determination of standard sample and its concentration as well as the unification of the experimental method are of great importance. Also, the unification and definition of all these carbon particulates can facilitate transect comparison and further research in related fields. In profile research, elemental carbon was extracted and determined by using the same method. The elemental carbon curve tends to change with other climatic proxies, indicating elemental carbon can provide another new proxy for climatic and environmental changes. Based on the analysis, we deduce that the elemental carbon record has different implications for climate and environmental changes on different timescales.
  • Pelagic records from the Equatorial Ninetyeast Ridge and significant environmental events during the past 3.5 Ma
    WEI Hualing, FANG Nianqiao, DING Xuan, LIU Xiuming, NIE Lanshi
    2008, 2(2): 162-169. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-008-0034-9
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    This paper presents pelagic records of planktic foraminifera, as well as data of stable isotope stratigraphy and carbonate stratigraphy since 3.5 Ma B.P. from site ODP758 in the Ninetyeast Ridge of the Indian Ocean. Based on these data, manifestations and related mechanisms of major tectonic and environmental events such as the rapid uplift of the Himalaya Mountains, “middle Pleistocene climatic transition” and “mid-Brunhes dissolution event” in the region are discussed. According to the analysis and comparison of various indices and changes in terms of foraminifera assemblage, paleotemperature, paleosalinity and themocline from site ODP758, the authors deduce that the paleoclimatic changes might correlate with the mid-Pleistocene transition at 1.4–1.7 Ma B.P. The changes of CaCO3, mass accumulation rates (MAR) of CaCO3 and non- CaCO3 MAR indicate that the loaded terrigenous sediments increased at 1.7 Ma, which is in agreement with the uplift history of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau as shown by the available data. The last two changes coincide with the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, hence they are called “Qinghai-Tibet movement” (1.7 Ma), and the “Kunlun-Yellow River movement” (1.2-0.6 Ma). The changes of the CaCO3 content, coarse fraction (> 150 ?m) content and planktonic foraminifera biostratigraphy show that strong dissolution of abyssal CaCO3 occurred in the study region during 0.5-0.4 Ma. The event was consistent with the “mid-Brunhes dissolution event” in the sedimentary records of the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean and Nansha sea area of the South China Sea.
  • Progress in rapid climate changes and their modeling study in millennial and centennial scales
    JIN Liya, CHEN Fahu
    2008, 2(2): 187-198. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-008-0028-7
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    Rapid climate change at millennial and centennial scales is one of the most important aspects in paleoclimate study. It has been found that rapid climate change at millennial and centennial scales is a global phenomenon during both the glacial age and the Holocene with amplitudes typical of geological or astronomical time-scales. Simulations of glacial and Holocene climate changes have demonstrated the response of the climate system to the changes of earth orbital parameter and the importance of variations in feedbacks of ocean, vegetation, icecap and greenhouse gases. Modeling experiments suggest that the Atlantic thermohaline circulation was sensitive to the freshwater input into the North Atlantic and was closely related to the rapid climate changes during the last glacial age and the Holocene. Adopting the Earth-system models of intermediate complexity (EMICs), CLIMBER-2, the response of East Asian climate change to Dansgaard/Oeschger and Heinrich events during the typical last glacial period (60 ka B.P.–20 ka B.P.) and impacts of ice on the Tibetan plateau on Holocene climate change were stimulated, studied and revealed. Further progress of paleoclimate modeling depends on developing finer-grid models and reconstructing more reliable boundary conditions. More attention should be paid on the study of mechanisms of abrupt climatic changes as well as regional climate changes in the background of global climate change.
  • Lacustrine strata sedimentology and lake-level history in ancient Zhuyeze Lake since the Last Deglaciation
    ZHAO Qiang, WANG Nai‘ang, LI Xiumei
    2008, 2(2): 199-208. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-008-0031-z
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    The ancient Zhuyeze Lake lies in the east Hexi corridor of Northwest China and it is the interacting belt of the East Asian summer monsoon and the westerly line. The research on paleoclimate of the lake facilitates the understanding of the processes and mechanism of climate change in Northwest China since the Last Deglaciation. Related researches of this area started in the 1960s, and the research on environment changes has become the “hotspot” during the last 10 years. This paper focuses on four sections (Qingtuhu Section, Xiqu Section, Shakengjing Section, Jiutuoliang Section) in ancient Zhuyeze Lake. Much work was done in spot investigation, section strata comparison, geophysical analyses, geochemical analyses and dependable 14C dating in order to retrieve the dry-wet history of climate changes in ancient Zhuyeze Lake since the Last Deglaciation. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) the highest terminal lake level was 1313–1315 m. In Holocene, the highest lake level was 1308–1309 m occurring between 6700–5800 a B.P.. (2) After geophysical and geochemical analyses, high-resolution records of the climate change since the Last Deglaciation were revealed as follows: cold and dry during 15800–13000 a B.P.; cool and wet during 13000–9500 a B.P.; warm and dry during 9500–6700 a B.P.; warm and wet during 6700–4300 a B.P.; cool and wet during 4300–2700 a B.P.; and at last dry during 2700–0 a B.P..
  • Study on the strength of frozen clay at high confining pressure
    CHANG Xiaoxiao, MA Wei, WANG Dayan
    2008, 2(2): 240-242. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-008-0027-8
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    An extensive test program was conducted on East China deep clay to investigate mechanical behavior in the process of axial compression and triaxial compression. In addition, the effect of negative temperature and confining pressure on the strength of frozen clay was analyzed. It is concluded that the stress-strain curves at high confining pressure belong to the strain hardening type and its strength almost corresponds to confining pressure in the range of tested confined stress. With respect to temperature, the strength increases when the temperature decreases.
  • Climate changing characteristics of Zhangye City in Heihe River basin during 1968–2005
    LI Mingji, MA Yuxia, SHI Peiji
    2008, 2(2): 243-248. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-008-0032-y
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    At present, researches on climate change of the Heihe River basin mainly focus on the relationship between basin climate change and regional water resources, regional desertification and dynamic climatic seasons of sandstorm, but less on climate change of oasis region, where there are more intense and frequent human activities. Based on data of precipitation, temperature, strong wind and dust events frequencies obtained from the six meteorological stations of Zhangye region in Heihe River basin, the features of climate change during 1968–2005 were carefully studied. Results show that the regional temperature rise rate exceeded the average level of China. The annual precipitation changed a little, but the precipitation had a slowly increasing trend in spring and winter. Frequencies of strong wind and sandstorm days show obviously descending trends, which had a close correlation with the regional temperature rise and the precipitation increase in spring and winter. Meanwhile, further human economic activities and exploitations to the oasis in the inland valley of arid regions also affected the climate change of this region, which has a sensitive and fragile eco-environment.