地质与生态环境影响下的地表水化学以及碳同位素地球化学特征——以贵州境内珠江水系为例

河流是连接海洋和陆地生态系统的重要途径，也是全球碳循环研究的重要环节。因此，河水的水文地球化学研究是获得有关流域侵蚀、风化以及元素在大陆- 河流- 海洋系统中外生循环过程等的重要途径。由于碳酸盐岩风化作用的产物在很大程度上控制着地表水系的地球化学组成, 因此对碳酸盐岩地区河流的水文地球化学特征的研究, 对于了解碳酸盐岩地区的侵蚀、风化强度以及河流地球化学组成变化的多种控制因素有很大的意义。 单就珠江水系而言，目前该方面的研究范围较窄，主要集中于珠江流域水文气候监测、水体有机污染物的迁移转化以及珠江三角洲与河口水体的同位素示踪研究等几个方面，而对于典型气候、地质地貌区域内的各支流的系统的水文地球化学研究少之又少。事实上，对于珠江水系的干流西江而言，流域内由于喀斯特地貌广泛发育，具有极强的地理特异性，因而各支流在不同地质地貌特征、土壤、气候、植被等条件下的水文地球化学的系统研究以及同位素示踪流域侵蚀状况等方面的研究，不仅对于更好地了解中国西南地区典型喀斯特岩溶区域内土壤、岩石的化学风化、水土流失、水文地球化学特征以及环境污染等方面具有极其重要的意义，同时也对全球碳循环的系统研究有着极其重要的研究价值。 本研究在导师刘丛强研究员主持的国家重大基础规划“973”计划项目“西南喀斯特山地石漠化与适应性生态系统调控”课题的支持下开展完成，选择贵州境内珠江水系干流西江及其支流（红水河流域），以及一级支流柳江源头都柳江及其支流为研究对象，分别通过对流域内，变质碎屑岩以及海相碳酸盐岩两大岩性区域内不同植被覆盖状况下各地表水体中水文地球化学特征以及碳同位素地球化学特征分析，得出以下结论： 1、流域岩性特征是控制流域内各地表水体水文地球化学特征以及流域风化侵蚀程度的重要影响因素。与此同时，研究区内由于人为活动造成的水体污染对于地表水体离子组成特征的变化，也有一定的影响。 2、研究区珠江流域内的地表水体来源主要为大气降水和地下水。研究区内的受西南季风影响下的频繁的降雨过程，是研究区地表水体的主要补给源。研究区内大气降水大多透过表层土壤，进入深部土壤含水层后，或以地表径流的形式冲刷土壤岩石表层后汇入流域内地表河流；或参与地下水体循环，最终以地下水补给地表河流。研究区内NNE方向褶皱断裂构造极其发育，地表河网与地下河网相互连接，转换频繁。 3、研究区内地表水体的离子组成特征以及物理化学性质，主要受流域内土壤岩石化学风化过程的控制。不同岩性特征区域内，地表水体的离子组成特征以及水化学参数有着显著的差异。 4、通过对贵州境内珠江水系75个地表水体中三种不同形态碳DIC、DOC、POC及其部分稳定碳同位素的分析测试，发现研究区内地表水体中的DIC主要来源于研究区内土壤CO2对不同流域内土壤、岩石矿物的化学风化过程。一般而言，植被覆盖状况较好的区域，土壤CO2较为丰富，化学风化作用较为强烈；碳酸盐岩比硅酸盐类易于风化，并且不同岩性区域化学风化过程可以使得地表水体具有不同的离子组成特征与水化学特性。 5、研究区各流域地表水体中的有机碳主要与流域内植被状况相关。地表水体中DOC浓度在一定程度上反映了流域内的植被状况，而TSS以及POC则反映了流域内土壤有机质的情况。研究区地表水体中DOC、POC含量变化情况，是探讨喀斯特地区碳的源汇关系及循环模式的重要依据。 6、河流悬浮物中的POC主要来源于土壤有机质和陆地植物，是研究流域侵蚀问题的重要指标。研究区内变质碎屑岩以及海相碳酸盐岩区域内各地表水体均表现出δ13CPOC 与TOC/TN之间的负相关关系，且地表水体中颗粒有机物具有较低的TOC/TN，表明研究区内各地表水体中POC很可能来源于深层土壤。水动力越强，流域侵蚀越强烈，因而TSS中TOC/TN越低。

Quaternary geology of the German North Sea and Western Irish Sea Mud Belt: revised stratigraphies, geotechnical properties, sedimentology and anthropogenic impacts

The climatic development of the Mid to Late Quaternary (last 400,000 years) is characterised by fluctuation between glacial and interglacial periods leading to the present interglacial, the Holocene. In comparison to preceding periods it was believed the Holocene represented a time of relative climatic stability. However, recent work has shown that the Holocene can be divided into cooler periods such as the Little Ice Age alternating with time intervals where climatic conditions ameliorated i.e. Medieval Warm Period, Holocene Thermal Optimum and the present Modern Optimum. In addition, the Holocene is recognised as a period with increasing anthropogenic influence on the environment. Onshore records recording glacial/interglacial cycles as well as anthropogenic effects are limited. However, sites of sediment accumulation on the shallow continental shelf offer the potential to reconstruct these events. Such sites include tunnel valleys and low energy, depositional settings. In this study we interrogated the sediment stratigraphy at such sites in the North Sea and Irish Sea using traditional techniques, as well as novel applications of geotechnical data, to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental record. Within the German North Sea sector a combination of core, seismic and in-situ Cone Penetration Testing (CPT) data was used to identify sedimentary units, place them within a morphological context, relate them to glacial or interglacial periods stratigraphically, and correlate them across the German North Sea. Subsequently, we were able to revise the Mid to Late Quaternary stratigraphy for the North Sea using this new and novel data. Similarly, Holocene environmental changes were investigated within the Irish Sea at a depositional site with active anthropogenic influence. The methods used included analyses on grain-size distribution, foraminifera, gamma spectrometry, AMS 14C and physical core logging. The investigation revealed a strong fluctuating climatic signal early in the areas history before anthropogenic influence affects the record through trawling.

Stable isotope ratios indicate diet and habitat use in New World monkeys.

This paper demonstrates the use of stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen in animal tissue for indicating aspects of species behavioral strategy. We analyzed hair from individuals representing four species of New World monkeys (Alouatta palliata, the mantled howler; Ateles geoffroyi, the spider monkey; Cebus capucinus, the capuchin; and Brachyteles arachnoides, the woolly-spider monkey or muriqui) for delta 13C and delta 15N using previously developed methods. There are no significant differences in either carbon or nitrogen ratios between sexes, sampling year, or year of analysis. Seasonal differences in delta 13C reached a low level of significance but do not affect general patterns. Variation within species was similar to that recorded previously within single individuals. The omega 13C data show a bimodal distribution with significant difference between the means. The two monkey populations living in an evergreen forest were similar to each other and different from the other two monkey populations that inhabited dry, deciduous forests. This bimodal distribution is independent of any particular species' diet and reflects the level of leaf cover in the two types of forest. The delta 15N data display three significantly different modes. The omnivorous capuchins were most positive reflecting a trophic level offset. The spider monkeys and the muriquis were similar to one another and significantly more positive than the howlers. This distribution among totally herbivorous species correlates with the ingestion of legumes by the howler monkey population. In combination, these data indicate that museum-curated primate material can be analyzed to yield information on forest cover and diet in populations and species lacking behavioral data.

Biogeography in deep time - What do phylogenetics, geology, and paleoclimate tell us about early platyrrhine evolution?

Molecular data have converged on a consensus about the genus-level phylogeny of extant platyrrhine monkeys, but for most extinct taxa and certainly for those older than the Pleistocene we must rely upon morphological evidence from fossils. This raises the question as to how well anatomical data mirror molecular phylogenies and how best to deal with discrepancies between the molecular and morphological data as we seek to extend our phylogenies to the placement of fossil taxa. Here I present parsimony-based phylogenetic analyses of extant and fossil platyrrhines based on an anatomical dataset of 399 dental characters and osteological features of the cranium and postcranium. I sample 16 extant taxa (one from each platyrrhine genus) and 20 extinct taxa of platyrrhines. The tree structure is constrained with a "molecular scaffold" of extant species as implemented in maximum parsimony using PAUP with the molecular-based 'backbone' approach. The data set encompasses most of the known extinct species of platyrrhines, ranging in age from latest Oligocene (∼26 Ma) to the Recent. The tree is rooted with extant catarrhines, and Late Eocene and Early Oligocene African anthropoids. Among the more interesting patterns to emerge are: (1) known early platyrrhines from the Late Oligocene through Early Miocene (26-16.5Ma) represent only stem platyrrhine taxa; (2) representatives of the three living platyrrhine families first occur between 15.7 Ma and 13.5 Ma; and (3) recently extinct primates from the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola) are sister to the clade of extant platyrrhines and may have diverged in the Early Miocene. It is probable that the crown platyrrhine clade did not originate before about 20-24 Ma, a conclusion consistent with the phylogenetic analysis of fossil taxa presented here and with recent molecular clock estimates. The following biogeographic scenario is consistent with the phylogenetic findings and climatic and geologic evidence: Tropical South America has been a center for platyrrhine diversification since platyrrhines arrived on the continent in the middle Cenozoic. Platyrrhines dispersed from tropical South America to Patagonia at ∼25-24 Ma via a "Paraná Portal" through eastern South America across a retreating Paranense Sea. Phylogenetic bracketing suggests Antillean primates arrived via a sweepstakes route or island chain from northern South America in the Early Miocene, not via a proposed land bridge or island chain (GAARlandia) in the Early Oligocene (∼34 Ma). Patagonian and Antillean platyrrhines went extinct without leaving living descendants, the former at the end of the Early Miocene and the latter within the past six thousand years. Molecular evidence suggests crown platyrrhines arrived in Central America by crossing an intermittent connection through the Isthmus of Panama at or after 3.5Ma. Any more ancient Central American primates, should they be discovered, are unlikely to have given rise to the extant Central American taxa in situ.