Main geochemical characteristics and key biogeochemical carbon processes in the East China Sea

Research related to carbon geochemistry and biogeochemistry in the East China Sea is reviewed in this paper. The East China Sea is an annual net sink for atmospheric CO, and a large net source of dissolved inorganic carbon to the ocean. The sea absorbs CO, from the atmosphere in spring and summer and releases it in autumn and winter. The East China Sea is a CO, sink in summer because Changjiang River freshwater flows into it. The net average sea-air interface carbon flux of the East China Sea is estimated to be about 4.3 X 10(6) t/y. Vertical carbon transport is mainly in the form of particulate organic carbon in spring; more than 98% of total carbon is transported in this form in surface water, and the number exceeds 68% in water near the bottom. In the southern East China Sea, the average particulate organic carbon inventory was about one-tenth that of the dissolved organic carbon. Research indicates that the southern Okinawa Trough is an important site for particulate organic carbon export from the shelf. The annual cross-shelf exports are estimated to be 414 and 106 Gmol/y for dissolved organic carbon and particulate organic carbon, respectively. Near-bottom transport could be the key process for shelf-to-deep sea export of biogenic and lithogenic particles.

Distribution and species diversity of plant communities along transect on the Northeastern Tibetan plateau

The distribution and species diversity of plant communities along a 600 km transect through the northeastern Tibetan Plateau (32 degrees 42'-35 degrees 07' N, 101 degrees 02'-97 degrees 38' E) with altitudes from 3255 to 4460 m are described. The transect started from the Youyi Bridge of Banma through Dari, Maqin and Maduo to Zaling Lake. The data from 47 plots along the transect are summarized and analyzed. The mean annual temperature, the mean annual rainfall and the length of growing season decreases from 2.6 to -4.5 degrees C, from 767.2 to 240.1 mm, from 210 to 140 days, respectively, along the transect from the southeastern Banma to northwestern Zaling Lake. The number of vascular plant species recorded in 47 plots is 242 including 2 tree, 34 shrub, 206 herb species. Main vegetation types on the transect from southeast to northwest are: Sabina convallium forest, Picea likiangensis forest, Pyracantha fortuneana + Spiraea alpina shrub, Hippophae neurocarpu shrub, Sibiraea angustata + Polygonum viviparum shrub, Stellera chamaejasme herb meadow, Potentilla fruticosa + Salix obscura + Carex sp. Shrub, Kobresia capillifolia meadow, P. froticosa + Kobresia humilis shrub, Caragana jubata + S. obscura shrub, Kobresia tibetica meadow, Kobresia pygmaea meadow, K. pygmaea + Stipa purpurea steppe meadow, Stipa purpurea steppe. Plant richness and diversity index all showed a decreasing trend with increasing of elevation along transect from southeast to northwest. Detailed information on altitudinal ranges and distribution of the alpine vegetation, vascular flora and environments over the alpine zone at northeastern Tibetan Plateau provides baseline records relevant to future assessment of probable effects of global climate changes.

地震层析成像与天山地区的壳幔深部结构研究

The Tien Shan is the most prominent intracontinental mountain belt on the earth. The active crustal deformation and earthquake activities provide an excellent place to study the continental geodynamics of intracontinental mountain belt. The studies of deep structures in crust and upper mantle are significantly meaningful for understanding the geological evolution and geodynamics of global intracontinental mountain belts. This dissertation focuses on the deep structures and geodynamics in the crust and upper mantle in the Tien Shan mountain belt. With the arrival time data from permanent and temporal seismic stations located in the western and central Tien Shan, using seismic travel time tomographic method, we inversed the P-wave velocity and Vp/Vs structures in the crust and uppermost mantle, the Pn and Sn velocities and Pn anisotropic structures in the uppermost mantle, and the P-wave velocity structures in the crust and mantle deep to 690km depth beneath the Tien Shan. The tomographic results suggest that the deep structures and geodynamics have significant impacts not only on the deformations and earthquake activities in the crust, but also on the mountain building, collision, and dynamics of the whole Tien Shan mountain belt. With the strongly collision and deformations in the crust, the 3-D P-wave velocity and Vp/Vs ratio structures are highly complex. The Pn and Sn velocities in the uppermost mantle beneath the Tien Shan, specially beneath the central Tien Shan, are significantly lower than the seismic wavespeed beneath geological stable regions. We infer that the hot upper mantle from the small-scale convection could elevate the temperature in the lower crust and uppermost mantle, and partially melt the materials in the lower crust. The observations of low P-wave and S-wave velocities, high Vp/Vs ratios near the Moho and the absences of earthquake activities in the lower crust are consistent with this inference. Based on teleseismic tomography images of the upper mantle beneath the Tien Shan, we infer that the lithosphere beneath the Tarim basin has subducted under the Tien Shan to depths as great as 500 km. The lithosphere beneath the Kazakh shield may have subducted to similar depths in the opposite direction, but the limited resolution of this data set makes this inference less certain. These images support the plate boundary model of converge for the Tien Shan, as the lithospheres to the north and south of the range both appear to behave as plates.

白水剖面黄土-红粘土化学风化的粒度效应

The loess-red clay deposit in the Loess Plateau, as large regions mixed in the dust depositional areas, may recorded the chemical weathering features and recycling of the detritus material of the earth’s surface from the wide range upwind of the Loess Plateau. And the loess-red clay sequence is rare information for recovering the continent's weathering history of Late Cenozoic, as it’s clear sense of age. The concentrations of elements in loess-red clay are largely affected by grain size. Therefore, we divided samples of a long loess-red clay section and six spacial sections into three fractions in order to counteracting the effect of particle size on the values of weathering proxies. First, the loess unit L1 and S1 of six sections located at Guyuan, Baishui, Changwu, Yongshou, Yangling and Lantian, Chinese Loess Plateau were sampled. These samples were divided into three fractions: <5μm, 5-20μm, 20-63μm, which were then analyzed for the primary elements using an X-ray fluorescence analyser. Results show that the effect of particle is much smaller on the fraction <5μm than other fractions. Therefore, the fraction <5μm can reflect the change of chemical weathering intensity much better. In addition, we divided Baishui section samples into three fractions, and analyzed them with X-ray fluorescence for primary elements. Results show that the value of CIA vary in different size fractions, indicating different weathering progress. Elements K, Na, Ca and Mg in the <5μm fraction have a sequence which is the reverse of Bowen Sequence. This may be a important sense for the change of source regions.

植物营养元素的含量和δ~(13)C值随海拔而变化的特征及营养元素相互作用对碳同位素分馏作用的影响

为了研究植物营养元素的含量和δ~(13)C值随海拔而变化的相关关系,沿着海拔450 m的贵州茂兰至海拔1330 m的贵州安顺一线,采集和分析研究了C_3植物——小果蔷薇(R.cymosa Tratt)的叶片。分析结果表明,植物叶片中营养元素含量随着海拔的上升而产生的变化是:氮、磷和钾的含量会在增高,而钙和镁的含量却会降低。植物叶片的δ~(13)C值会增大,其变幅为+2.4‰/1000m。