Highly Thermo-Conductive Three-Dimensional Graphene Aqueous Medium

Highly thermo-conductive aqueous medium is a crucial premise to demonstrate high-performance thermal-related applications.Graphene has the diamond comparable thermal conductivity,while the intrinsic two-dimensional reality will result in strong anisotropic thermal conductivity and wrinkles or even crumples that significantly sacrifices its inherent properties in practical applications.One strategy to overcome this is to use three-dimensional(3D)architecture of graphene.Herein,3D graphene structure with covalent-bonding nanofins(3D-GS-CBF)is proposed,which is then used as the filler to demonstrate effective aqueous medium.The thermal conductivity and thermal conductivity enhancement efficiency of 3D-GS-CBF(0.26 vol%)aqueous medium can be as high as 2.61 W m-1 K-1 and 1300%,respectively,around six times larger than highest value of the existed aqueous mediums.Meanwhile,3D-GS-CBF can be stable in the solution even after 6 months,addressing the instability issues of conventional graphene networks.A multiscale modeling including non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations and heat conduction model is applied to interpret experimental results.3D-GS-CBF aqueous medium can largely improve the solar vapor evaporation rate(by 1.5 times)that are even comparable to the interfacial heating system;meanwhile,its cooling performance is also superior to commercial coolant in thermal management applications.

深时重大生物和气候事件与全球变化:进展与挑战

地球自5.4亿年前现代生态系统形成至今,发生了多次与碳循环扰动有关的重大气候事件.这些事件的触发机制、发展过程、环境变化及其伴随的生物响应型式为科学评估当今全球变化背景下生物多样性现状提供重要借鉴.然而,古-今生态系统变化时间尺度大不相同,高分辨率关键环境因子(温度、CO_(2)、降雨量、海洋氧化还原条件等)在深时记录中亦难以获取,深时海陆生物多样性模式尚缺乏高分辨率记录.因此,当今全球变化与深时记录对比存在巨大鸿沟.地球5.4亿年以来大部分时间处于两极无冰的温室状态,期间伴随多次极冷和极热气候事件,但地球深时重大生物演化和气候事件的关系复杂.生物多样性在变冷的奥陶纪早期、晚古生代大冰期、晚新生代大冰期以及中-晚三叠世和白垩纪热室期均呈现稳定增加,而在奥陶纪末冰期快速降温期间和二叠纪末、三叠纪末、白垩纪末火山排气作用导致的快速升温过程中急剧下降.地质时期生物多样性对气候变化的不同响应型式表明,生物多样性变化的根本驱动因素可能不是简单的温度、大气CO_(2)浓度等环境因子的背景值高或低,而是环境因子的变化速率(环境变率).变率较小,环境相对稳定,生物有足够的时间适应环境变化,生物多样性不会丧失,甚至繁盛.反之,若环境因子变率过大,超出了生态系统的承受力,生物来不及适应,生物多样性就会显著降低,甚至引发大灭绝.已有模拟和计算表明,当今地球碳排放的速度有可能超过了地质历史时期任何一次生物大灭绝事件.因此,避免环境突变事件和生物大灭绝的再次发生成为政界、科学界和普通民众关注的焦点.打通地球多圈层界限,开展古-今地质记录、冷-热极端气候、海-陆生态系统和长-短时间尺度的综合对比研究,并通过建立适用于深时的地球系统模型,模拟重大生物和环境事件的背景与发生过程,是地球系统科学未来发展的重要方向.

地球深部过程与极热和极冷事件

地球气候以频繁冷暖波动为特征,在百万年时间尺度上可划分为温室期和冰室期,期间发生持续时间相对短的极热和极冷事件.大多数学者将这些温室期、冰室期以及极热和极冷事件归因于大气CO_(2)浓度变化,即地球深部碳释放和表层碳消耗之间的动态平衡.地球深部碳是CO_(2)的主要来源,通过大火成岩省、俯冲带、裂谷岩浆活动等过程释放到大气中,从而引发全球增温.但是,深部过程又可通过4种途径引发降温:(1)火山活动释放SO_(2)形成硫酸盐气溶胶,导致“火山冬天”;(2)岩浆活动峰期之后的化学风化消耗大气CO_(2),其中,镁铁质岩化学风化速率高于长英质岩,降温作用更显著;(3)火山喷发及岩浆岩化学风化释放营养元素,促进大洋初级生产力,加快碳埋藏;(4)板块运动增大陆地面积以及使大陆聚集于高温、湿润的低纬地区,增强化学风化对CO_(2)的消耗.大体上,温室和冰室气候与俯冲带大陆弧岩浆活动强度(通常用大陆弧长度和年轻碎屑锆石相对丰度指代)及低纬地区弧-陆碰撞带长度有关,如果大陆弧活跃且低纬地区弧-陆碰撞带规模小,易形成温室气候,反之则形成冰室气候.极热事件普遍由镁铁质大火成岩省的快速巨量碳释放引发;极冷事件成因较为复杂,例如低纬地区大火成岩省强烈化学风化(如前寒武纪斯图特雪球地球)和硅质大火成岩省或大规模长英质火山活动的“火山冬天”效应(如晚古生代冰期极盛期).目前,从发生时间一致和关联机制合理性这两个角度考虑,大部分极热和极冷事件的发生都可归因于大规模岩浆活动,但是岩浆活动引发的系列反馈过程以及对极热和极冷事件的触发与维持机制仍缺乏深入理解.就此而论,高精度定年、岩浆活动过程及其气候反馈的数值模拟应该是今后研究的重点.

土壤退化的总有机碳含量预警

土壤退化是威胁全球粮食安全、影响土地生态服务功能的一个关键因素.如何在区域空间尺度对土壤退化状况进行预警,是保障国家粮食安全和有效维护土壤安全的重要前提.本研究以我国重要粮食主产区东北黑土区为研究对象,选取全新世(~11,700年以来)肥沃土壤(黑土、黑色砂质土壤)与贫瘠土壤(风成砂、灰黑色砂质土壤)作为材料,通过分析528个样品的总有机碳(TOC)含量和相关地球物理、地球化学和同位素指标,在研究区集成了一批与土壤性质有关的指标数据,同时在全国范围集成了一套与土壤肥力有关的谷物产量数据集,得到土壤TOC指示土壤退化进程的重要发现,即:土壤TOC含量大于0.5%时,土壤肥沃、健康,可以持续支撑粮食生产,土壤TOC含量小于0.5%时,土壤则已退化至贫瘠状态.由此我们认为,土壤TOC含量可作为预警指标有效示警土壤退化,土壤TOC含量0.5%是土壤退化的一个关键阈值,在全球范围内保持TOC含量高于0.5%对于维持农业生产、保障粮食安全具有重大战略意义.

上新世数值模拟揭示气候周期空间差异的机理

上新世(5.33~2.58 Ma)是距今最近的大气CO_(2)浓度超过400 ppmv的暖期,是理解未来气候变化的地质历史相似型.地质记录显示,上新世气候主要响应地球倾角和岁差变化,比如深海氧同位素和高纬陆相记录表现出强的倾角周期(41 ka),低纬和地中海地区的粉尘和花粉记录以岁差周期(21 ka)为主.然而,这些气候周期空间差异的机制尚不清楚.我们使用全球海气耦合模式HadCM3,开展了轨道参数极值实验.结果表明:(1)倾角变化主要对高纬温度影响显著(>5℃),很好地解释了高纬记录和受高纬冰量调节的深海氧同位素记录的41 ka周期;(2)岁差变化主要影响低纬降水(>2 mm d-1),很好地解释了低纬和地中海地区与季风活动相关的21 ka气候周期.

Seven million-year iron geochemistry record from a thick eolian red clay-loess sequence in Chinese Loess Plateau and the implications for paleomonsoon evolution

Recently, the Tertiary red clay sequence underlying Pleistocene loess has attracted much attention. The remarkable progress is the recognition that the Tertiary red clay sequence is also wind-blown in origin, thus providing a good opportunity to reconstruct long-term monsoon changes. In contrast to the loess deposits, the magnetic susceptibility and the pedogenic characteristics are almost independent of each other in the red clay, thus challenging the validity of the readily measurable magnetic susceptibility in describing the monsoon history recorded by the red clay. With the objective to address the long-term East Asia summer monsoon evolution, the free to total Fe2O3 ratios were calculated in a continuous eolian red clay-loess sequence at Lingtai, the Chinese Loess Plateau, which has a thickness of 305 m and a basal age of 7.0 Ma. The seven million-year Fe2O3 ratio record from the red clay-loess sequence indicates that (i) variations of the free to total Fe2O3 ratios of the loess can correlate

Pedogenic carbonate isotope record of vegetational evolution since late Miocene in Loess Plateau

lsotopic analyses for paleovegetational evolution have been carried out on samples of the pedogenic carbonate nodules in the Red Clay-Loess sequence at Lingtai （35°N）, the Loess Plateau. Stable carbon isotopic composition indicates that （ ⅰ ） C4 plants might be present at least by7.0 Ma; （ ⅱ ） C4 plants expanded gradually between ～4.0 and ～3.2 Ma, and their biomass fraction was up to 50%; and （ ⅲ ） the biomass of C4 vegetation since ～2.0 Ma seems to have been decreased to the level （about 20%） before 4.0 Ma. C4 plant expansion at Lingtai cannot be fully understood with the 'global C4 expansion' model because it occurred much later up to 3.0 Ma than in Pakistan, which indicates that some changes in the regional climatic system may also contribute to C3/C4 shift except changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations and temperature. The latitudinal zone for C3/C4 transition seems to move southwards slightly in East Asia, compared with the case in North America where 37°N is the ideal

The East Asian Monsoon since the Last Glacial Maximum:Evidence from geological records in northern China

The impact of global warming on the climate of northern China has been investigated intensively, and the behavior of the East Asian monsoon during previous intervals of climatic warming may provide insight into future changes. In this study, we use paleovegetation records from loess and lake sediments in the marginal zone of the East Asian summer monsoon(EASM) to reconstruct the EASM during the interval of warming from the Last Glacial Maximum(LGM) to the Holocene. The results show that during the LGM, desert steppe or dry steppe dominated much of northern China;in addition, the southeastern margin of the deserts east of the Helan Mountains had a distribution similar to that of the present-day, or was located slightly further south, due to the cold and dry climate caused by a strengthened East Asian winter monsoon(EAWM) and weakened EASM. During the last deglaciation, with the strengthening of the EASM and concomitant weakening of the EAWM, northern China gradually became humid. However, this trend was interrupted by abrupt cooling during the Heinrich 1(H1) and Younger Dryas(YD) events. The EASM intensified substantially during the Holocene, and the monsoon rain belt migrated at least 300 km northwestwards, which led to the substantial shrinking of the desert area in the central and eastern part of northern China, and to the large expansion of plants favored by warm and humid conditions. Paleoclimatic records from the marginal zone of the EASM all show that the EASM reached its peak in the mid-Holocene, and past global climatic warming significantly strengthened the EASM, thereby greatly improving the ecological environment in northern China. Thus, northern China is expected to become wetter as global warming continues. Finally, high resolution Holocene vegetation records are sparse compared with the numerous records on the orbital timescale, and there is a need for more studies of Holocene climatic variability on the centennial-to-decadal scale.