In many arid ecosystems, vegetation frequently occurs in high-cover patches interspersed in a matrix of low plant cover. However, theoretical explanations for shrub patch pattern dynamics along climate gradients remain unclear on a large scale. This context aimed to assess the variance of the Reaumuria soongorica patch structure along the precipitation gradient and the factors that affect patch structure formation in the middle and lower Heihe River Basin (HRB). Field investigations on vegetation patterns and heterogeneity in soil properties were conducted during 2014 and 2015. The results showed that patch height, size and plant-to-patch distance were smaller in high precipitation habitats than in low precipitation sites. Climate, soil and vegetation explained 82.5% of the variance in patch structure. Spatially, R. soongorica shifted from a clumped to a random pattern on the landscape towards the MAP gradient, and heterogeneity in the surface soil properties (the ratio of biological soil crust (BSC) to bare gravels (BG)) determined the R. soongorica population distribution pattern in the middle and lower HRB. A conceptual model, which integrated water availability and plant facilitation and competition effects, was revealed that R. soongorica changed from a flexible water use strategy in high precipitation regions to a consistent water use strategy in low precipitation areas. Our study provides a comprehensive quantification of the variance in shrub patch structure along a precipitation gradient and may improve our understanding of vegetation pattern dynamics in the Gobi Desert under future climate change.
The tectonic transition from subduction to collision is a fundamental process during orogenesis, yet the magmatic expression of this transition and related deep geodynamic processes remain unclear. This study focuses on a newly identified volcanic belt within the Moyun–Zaduo–Sulu area of the North Qiangtang Block and presents new zircon U-Pb data that indicate that this belt formed during the Middle Triassic (247–241 Ma), a time characterized by a regional transition from subduction to collisional tectonism. The volcanic belt is located to the south of a Permian to Early Triassic arc and is dominated by high-K calc-alkaline and peraluminous rhyolites. These rhyolites have low Mg#, Nb/Ta, and δEu values, contain low contents of Sr, have high Rb/Sr and whole-rock εNd(t) values, and show positive zircon εHf(t) values, all of which suggest that they formed from magmas generated by the dehydration melting of juvenile crustal material. The migration of Middle Triassic volcanism in this region was most likely caused by rollback of the subducting Longmucuo–Shuanghu Tethyan oceanic slab. Combining our new data with previously published results of numerical modeling of subduction–collisional processes and regional data from north-central Tibet yields insights into the magmatic expressions and related deep geodynamics of the transition from oceanic subduction to continental collision. This combination of data also suggests that variations in oxygen fugacity can be used as a proxy for the discrimination of magmatism related to subduction, the transition from subduction to collision, and collisional tectonism. 相似文献
New Earth observation missions and technologies are delivering large amounts of data. Processing this data requires developing and evaluating novel dimensionality reduction approaches to identify the most informative features for classification and regression tasks. Here we present an exhaustive evaluation of Guided Regularized Random Forest (GRRF), a feature selection method based on Random Forest. GRRF does not require fixing a priori the number of features to be selected or setting a threshold of the feature importance. Moreover, the use of regularization ensures that features selected by GRRF are non-redundant and representative. Our experiments based on various kinds of remote sensing images, show that GRRF selected features provides similar results to those obtained when using all the available features. However, the comparison between GRRF and standard random forest features shows substantial differences: in classification, the mean overall accuracy increases by almost 6% and, in regression, the decrease in RMSE almost reaches 2%. These results demonstrate the potential of GRRF for remote sensing image classification and regression. Especially in the context of increasingly large geodatabases that challenge the application of traditional methods. 相似文献
U–Pb age, trace element and Hf isotope compositions of zircon were analysed for a metasedimentary rock and two amphibolites from the Kongling terrane in the northern part of the Yangtze Craton. The zircon shows distinct morphological and chemical characteristics. Most zircon in an amphibolite shows oscillatory zoning, high Th/U and 176Lu/177Hf ratios, high formation temperature, high trace element contents, clear negative Eu anomaly, as well as HREE-enriched patterns, suggesting that it is igneous. The zircon yields a weighted mean 207Pb/206Pb age of 2857 ± 8 Ma, representing the age of the magmatic protolith. The zircon in the other two samples is metamorphic. It has low Th/U ratios, low trace element concentrations, variable HREE contents (33.8 ≥ LuN≥2213; 14.7 ≤ LuN/SmN ≤ 354) and 176Lu/177Hf ratios (0.000030–0.001168). The data indicate that the zircon formed in the presence of garnet and under upper amphibolite facies conditions. The metamorphic zircon yields a weighted mean 207Pb/206Pb age of 2010 ± 13 Ma. These results combined with previously obtained Palaeoproterozoic metamorphic ages suggest a c. 2.0 Ga Palaeoproterozoic collisional event in the Yangtze Craton, which may result from the assembly of the supercontinent Columbia. The zircon in two samples yields weighted mean two-stage Hf model ( T DM2) ages of 3217 ± 110 and 2943 ± 50 Ma, respectively, indicating that their protoliths were mainly derived from Archean crust. 相似文献
A combined study of petrography, whole-rock major and trace elements as well as Rb?Sr and Sm?Nd isotopes, and mineral oxygen isotopes was carried out for two groups of low-T/UHP granitic gneiss in the Dabie orogen. The results demonstrate that metamorphic dehydration and partial melting occurred during exhumation of deeply subducted continent. Zircon δ18O values of ? 2.8 to + 4.7‰ for the gneiss are all lower than normal mantle values of 5.3 ± 0.3‰, consistent with 18O depletion of protolith due to high-T meteoric-hydrothermal alteration at mid-Neoproterozoic. Most samples have extremely low 87Sr/86Sr ratios at t1 = 780 Ma, but very high 87Sr/86Sr ratios at t2 = 230 Ma. This suggests intensive fluid disturbance due to the hydrothermal alteration of protoliths during Neoproterozoic magma emplacement and the metamorphic dehydration during Triassic continental collision. Rb–Sr isotopes, Th/Ta vs. La/Ta and Th/Hf vs. La/Nb relationships suggest that Group I gneiss experienced lower degrees of hydrothermal alteration, but higher degrees of dehydration, than Group II gneiss. The two groups of gneiss have similar patterns of REE and trace element partition. Group I gneiss displays good correlations between Nb and LREEs but no correlations between Nb and LILEs (Rb, Ba, Pb, Th and U), indicating differential mobilities of LILEs during the dehydration. Thus the correlation between Nb and LREEs is inherited from protolith rather than caused by metamorphic modification. Relative to Group I gneiss, Group II gneiss has stronger negative Eu anomaly, lower contents of Sr and Ba but higher contents of Rb, Th and U. In particular, Nb correlates with LILEs (e.g., Rb, Sr, Ba, Th and U), but not with LREEs (La and Ce). This may indicate decoupling between the dehydration and LILEs transport during continental collision. Furthermore, dehydration melting may have occurred due to breakdown of muscovite during “hot” exhumation. Group II gneiss has extremely low contents of FeO + MgO + TiO2 (1.04 to 2.08 wt.%), high SiO2 contents of 75.33 to 78.23 wt%, and high total alkali (Na2O + K2O) contents (7.52 to 8.92 wt.%), comparable with compositions predicted from partial melting of felsic rocks by experimental studies. Almost no UHP metamorphic minerals survived; felsic veins of fine-grain minerals occurs locally between coarse-grain minerals, resulting in a kind of metatexite migmatites due to dehydration melting without considerable escape of felsic melts from the host gneiss. In contrast, Group I gneiss only shows metamorphic dehydration. Therefore, the two groups of gneiss show contrasting behaviors of fluid–rock interaction during the continental collision. 相似文献
Groundwater in Sfax City (Tunisia) has been known since the beginning of the century for its deterioration in quality, as
a result of wastewater recharge into the aquifer. An average value of 12 × 106 m3 of untreated wastewater reaches the groundwater aquifer each year. This would result not only in a chemical and biological
contamination of the groundwater, but also in an increase of the aquifer piezometric level. Quantitative impacts were evaluated
by examining the groundwater piezometric level at 57 surface wells and piezometers. The survey showed that, during the last
two decades, the groundwater level was ever increasing in the urban area with values reaching 7 m in part; and decreasing
in Sidi Abid (agricultural area) with values exceeding −3 m. Groundwater samples for chemical and microbial analysis were
collected from 41 wells spread throughout the study area. Results showed significantly elevated levels of sodium, chlorides,
nitrates and coliform bacteria all over the urban area. High levels (NO3: 56–254 mg/l; Na >1,500 mg/l; Coliforms >30/100 ml) can be related to more densely populated areas with a higher density
of pit latrine and recharge wells. Alternatively results showed a very variable chemical composition of groundwater, e.g.
electrical conductivity ranges from 4,040 to19,620 μs/cm and the dry residual varies between 1.4 and 14 g/l with concentrations
increasing downstream. Furthermore a softening of groundwater in Set Ezzit (highly populated sector) was observed. 相似文献
The Hong’an area (western Dabie Mountains) is the westernmost terrane in the Qinling-Dabie-Sulu orogen that preserves UHP
eclogites. The ages of the UHP metamorphism have not been well constrained, and thus hinder our understanding of the tectonic
evolution of this area. LA-ICPMS U–Pb age, trace element and Hf isotope compositions of zircons of a granitic gneiss and an
eclogite from the Xinxian UHP unit in the Hong’an area were analyzed to constrain the age of the UHP metamorphism. Most zircons
are unzoned or show sector zoning. They have low trace element concentrations, without significant negative Eu anomalies.
These metamorphic zircons can be further subdivided into two groups according to their U–Pb ages, and trace element and Lu–Hf
isotope compositions. One group with an average age of 239 ± 2 Ma show relatively high and variable HREE contents (527 ≥ LuN ≥ 14) and 176Lu/177Hf ratios (0.00008–0.000931), indicating their growth prior to a great deal of garnet growth in the late stage of continental
subduction. The other group yields an average age of 227 ± 2 Ma, and shows consistent low HREE contents and 176Lu/177Hf ratios, suggesting their growth with concurrent garnet crystallization and/or recrystallization. These two groups of age
are taken as recording the time of prograde HP to UHP and retrograde UHP–HP stages, respectively. A few cores have high Th/U
ratios, high trace element contents, and a clear negative Eu anomaly. These features support a magmatic origin of these zircon
cores. The upper intercept ages of 771 ± 86 and 752 ± 70 Ma for the granitic gneiss and eclogite, respectively, indicate that
their protoliths probably formed as a bimodal suite in rifting zones in the northern margin of the Yangtze Block. Young Hf
model ages (TDM1) of magmatic cores indicate juvenile (mantle-derived) materials were involved in their protolith formation.
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. 相似文献
The sulfur isotopic composition of carbonate associated sulfate (CAS) has been used to investigate the geochemistry of ancient seawater sulfate. However, few studies have quantified the reliability of δ34S of CAS as a seawater sulfate proxy, especially with respect to later diagenetic overprinting. Pyrite, which typically has depleted δ34S values due to authigenic fractionation associated with bacterial sulfate reduction, is a common constituent of marine sedimentary rocks. The oxidation of pyrite, whether during diagenesis or sample preparation, could thus adversely influence the sulfur isotopic composition of CAS. Here, we report the results of CAS extractions using HCl and acetic acid with samples spiked with varying amounts of pyrite. The results show a very strong linear relationship between the abundance of fine-grained pyrite added to the sample and the resultant abundance and δ34S value of CAS. This data represents the first unequivocal evidence that pyrite is oxidized during the CAS extraction process. Our mixing models indicate that in samples with much less than 1 wt.% pyrite and relatively high δ34Spyrite values, the isotopic offset imparted by oxidation of pyrite should be much less than ? 4‰. A wealth of literature exists on the oxidation of pyrite by Fe3+ and we believe this mechanism drives the oxidation of pyrite during CAS extraction, during which the oxygen used to form sulfate is taken from H2O, not O2. Consequently, extracting CAS under anaerobic conditions would only slow, but not halt, the oxidation of pyrite. Future studies of CAS should attempt to quantify pyrite abundance and isotopic composition. 相似文献
Sedimentological observations and palaeomagnetic data for Cryogenian glacial deposits present the climatic paradox of grounded glaciers and in situ cold climate near sea-level, glaciomarine deposition, and accompanying large (up to 40 °C) seasonal changes of temperature, all in low to near-equatorial (< 10°) palaeolatitudes (equated with geographic latitudes). Neither the “snowball Earth” nor the “slushball Earth” hypothesis can account for such strong seasonality near the palaeoequator, which together with findings from sedimentology, chemostratigraphy, biogeochemistry, micropalaeontology, geochronology and climate modelling argue against those scenarios. An alternative explanation of glaciation and strong seasonality in low palaeolatitudes is offered by a high (> 54°) obliquity of the ecliptic, which would render the equator cooler than the poles, on average, and amplify global seasonality. A high obliquity per se would not have been a primary trigger for glaciation, but would have strongly influenced the latitudinal distribution of glaciers. The principle of low-latitude glaciation on a terrestrial planet with high obliquity is validated by theoretical studies and observations of Mars. A high obliquity for the early Earth is a likely outcome of a single giant impact at 4.5 Ga, the widely favoured mechanism for lunar origin. This implies that a high obliquity could have prevailed during most of the Precambrian, controlling the low palaeolatitude of glaciations in the early and late Palaeoproterozoic and Cryogenian. It is postulated that the obliquity changed to < 54° between the termination of the last Cryogenian low-palaeolatitude glaciation at ≤ 635 Ma and the initiation of Late Ordovician–Early Silurian circum-polar glaciation at 445 Ma.The High Obliquity, Low-latitude Ice, STrong seasonality (HOLIST) hypothesis for pre-Ediacaran glaciation emerges favourably from numerous glacial and non-glacial tests. The hypothesis is in accord with such established or implied features of Cryogenian glaciogenic successions as extensive and long-lived open seas, an active hydrological cycle, aridity and palaeowesterly (reversed zonal) winds in low palaeolatitudes, and the apparent diachronism or non-correlation of some low-palaeolatitude glaciations. A pre-Ediacaran high obliquity also offers a viable solution of the faint young Sun paradox of a warm Archaean Earth. Furthermore, reduction of obliquity during the Ediacaran–early Palaeozoic would have yielded a more habitable globe with much reduced seasonal stresses and may have been an important factor influencing the unique evolutionary events of the Ediacaran and Cambrian. The palaeolatitudinal distribution of evaporites cannot discriminate unambiguously between high- and low-obliquity states for the pre-Ediacaran Earth. Intervals of true polar wander such as postulated by others for the Ediacaran and Early Cambrian imply major mass-redistributions within the Earth at those times, which may provide a potential mechanism for reducing the obliquity during the Ediacaran–early Palaeozoic. 相似文献