The property, age and formation environment of the palaeokarst in Qinghai-Xizang Plateau

The karst landforms distributed on the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau can be genetically classed with the Tertiary underground karst, which were gradually exhumed to the surface with the uplift of the plateau during Quaternary period. The relative deposits of the Tertiary palaeokarst processes, such as the residuum and speleothem, were discovered recently in the southern and southeastern fringe areas of the plateau, where has geological-currently been disintegrated by the headward erosion processes of the modern river systems. The major chemical components of the clay portion of the residuum consist mainly of SiO2, Al2O3 and Fe2O3. The clay minerals composition of the clay portion belongs to illite-kaolinite pattern for most of the residuum samples, and kaolinite-illite pattern for a few of the samples. It can be judged from the silicic acid index and the clay minerals composition that the formation of the residuum of the Plateau was in its initial phase. However, such a lower chemical weathering index only reflected the weathering degree in the bottom or lower parts of the lateritic weathering crust. The relatively intensive chemical weathering processes of the surface layers of the lateritic weathering crust could be logically speculated. The surface feature textures of quartz grains in the residuum were formed mainly by the chemical erosion, which revealed a long-term humid-tropical environment when the residuum and the palaeokarst formed.

SEASONAL VARIATIONS OF RIVERINE ORGANIC CARBON CONTENTS IN MAKOU AND HEKOU GAUGE STATIONS OF THE ZHUJIANG RIVER, CHINA

Water samples were collected and analyzed in high water season (July 1997) and in middle water season (October, 1997) from two main lower reach gauge stations of the Zhujiang (Pearl) River, namely Hekou and Makou, respectively. Content of particulate organic carbon is always higher than that of dissolved organic carbon in both seasons, which is obviously different from the global average pattern, i.e. dissolved organic carbon is the dominant component of the transported riverine organic carbon. The content of dissolved and particulate organic carbon changes with the water levels in a direct ratio. The percentage of organic carbon in total suspended substance changes with the content of total suspended substance in an inverse ratio. The more intense is the soil erosion in the drainage, the more concentrated is the riverine organic carbon in the river. The contribution of autochthonous organic carbon is larger in high water season than in middle water season.