Origin of Early Creceouscalc-alkaline granite, Taxkorgan: Implications for evolution of Tethys evolution in central Pamir

The Pamir plateau may have been a westward continuation of Tibet plateau.Meanwhile,the Rushan-Pshart suture is correlative to the Bangong-Nujiang suture of Tibet,and the Central Pamir is the lateral equivalent of the Qiangtang Block.We present the first detailed LA-ICPMS zircon U-Pb chronology,major and trace element,and Lu-Hf isotope geochemistry of Taxkorgan two-mica monzogranite to illuminate the Tethys evolution in central Pamir.LA-ICPMS zircon U-Pb dating shows that two-mica monzogranite is emplaced in the Cretaceous(118 Ma).Its geochemical features are similar to S-type granite,with enrichment in LREEs and negative Ba,Sr,Zr and Ti anomalies.All the samples show negative zirconεHf(t)values ranging from 17.0 to 12.5(mean 14.5),corresponding to crustal Hf model(TDM2)ages of 1906 to 2169 Ma.It is inferred that these granitoids are derived from partial melting of peliticmetasedimentary rocks analogous to the Paleoproterozoic Bulunkuole Group,predominantly with muscovite schists component.Based on the petrological and geochemical data presented above,together with the regional geology,this work provides new insights that Bangong Nujiang Ocean closed in Early Cretaceous(120114 Ma).

The role of glacial gravel in community development of vascular plants on the glacier forelands of the Third Pole

On a deglaciated terrain,glacial gravel is the primary component of the natural habitat for vascular plant colonization and succession.Knowledge regarding the role of glacial gravel in vascular plant growth,however,remains limited.In this study,an unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)was used to investigate plant family composition,species richness,fractional vegetation cover(FVC),and gravel cover(GC)along elevational gradients on the three glacier forelands(Kekesayi,Jiangmanjiaer,and Koxkar Baxi)of the Third Pole(including the eastern Pamir Plateau and western Tianshan Mountains)in China.We then analyzed the spatial characteristics of vascular plants followed by exploring the effect of glacial gravel on vascular plants.Findings indicated that FVC on these glacier forelands generally decreased as the elevation increased or distance from the current glacier terminus decreased.The shady slope(Kekesayi)was more vegetated in comparison to the sunny slope(Jiangmanjiaer)at the glacier basin scale,and the warm and humid deglaciated terrain(Koxkar Baxi)had the highest FVC at the regional scale.Plant family composition and species richness on the glacier forelands decreased with rising elevation,with the exception of those on the Jiangmanjiaer glacier foreland.The relationships between FVC and GC presented negative correlations;particularly,they exhibited variations in power functions on the Kekesayi and Jiangmanjiaer glacier forelands of the eastern Pamir Plateau and a linear function on the Koxkar Baxi glacier foreland of the western Tianshan Mountains.Glacial gravel was found to be conducive to vegetation colonization and development in the early succession stage up until vascular plants adapted to the cold and arid climatic condition,whereas it is unfavorable to the expansion of vascular plants in the later succession stage.These findings suggested that the spatial difference of plant characteristics had close connections with regional climatic and topographic conditions,as well as glacial gravel distribution.In addition,we concluded that aerial photographs can be an asset for studying the functions of micro-environment in vegetation colonization as well as succession on the glacier forelands.

Women on the Pamir Plateau

The Tajik nationality, with a population of 33,538, mainly settle in the Taxkorgan Tajik Nationality Autonomous County. They have their own language, but no written script. Many of them can speak and write in Uygur. Taxkorgan, the only county of China with Pakistan as neighbor, is located on the highest part of the Pamir Plateau, on whose south stands the Qogir Peak,8,611 metres above the sea level, the second-highest peak of the world. The magnificent Pamir trained the Tajik to be brave, firm and generous. Their ancestors smoothed the Silk Road. The opening of Kungjirap port has energised the local economy.

Mapping mountain glaciers using an improved U-Net model with cSE

Global warming is melting glaciers.Changes in mountain glaciers have a tremendous impact on human life.Regular identification and extraction of glaciers from satellite images are necessary.However,when studying glaciers,materials surrounding the glacier have high spectral similarity to glaciers and are easily misclassified in the identification process.Therefore,in this study of glacier extraction,we used an improved U-Net model(a channel-attention U-Net)to map glaciers.The model was trained on Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager(OLI)data and a Shuttle Radar Topography Mission(SRTM)digital elevation model(DEM),and was tested on glaciers in the Pamir Plateau.The results show that the channel-attention U-Net identifies glaciers with relatively high accuracy compared to U-Net and GlacierNet.The obtained results were fine-tuned by the conditional random field model,effectively reducing background misidentification.