Potassium isotopic signatures of modern offshore detrital sediments from different climatic regimes and the implications

Potassium isotopes are a novel tracer for continental weathering.Previous K isotope studies on chemical weathering generally targeted weathering profiles under a particular climate region,yet the effects of chemical weathering on K isotopes under different climatic backgrounds remain unclear.Moreover,little is known about the K isotope signatures of modern unconsolidated detrital sediments.Here,we report K isotopic data of surficial seafloor sediments from continental shelves along the east coast of China(ECC),as well as those around the tropical Hainan island in the northern South China Sea.The ECC sediments have a relatively narrow distribution ofδ^(41)K(with reference to NIST3141a)values,which range from(-0.40±0.01)‰to(-0.57±0.04)‰,with an average of(-0.51±0.09)‰.By contrast,δ^(41)K values of Hainan offshore sediments display a larger variation,ranging from(-0.28±0.07)‰to(-0.67±0.02)‰.Theδ^(41)K values of Hainan offshore sediments exhibit negative correlations with the chemical index of alteration(CIA),Al/K,Ti/K,and total iron(FeT),which underlines the control of chemical weathering on K isotopic signatures of detritus inputs into oceans.We also measured Mg isotope compositions for the same samples;interestingly,the variability inδ^(26)Mg of the samples is small(~0.24‰)for all ECC and Hainan offshore sediments,andδ^(26)Mg values do not show clear correlations with indexes of chemical weathering.Our study demonstrates the link between K isotopic variability of detrital sediments and climatic conditions including rainfall intensity,which indicates that K isotopes of the detrital component of marine sediments could be applied to study Earth’s climate in deep time.Theδ^(41)K values of the offshore detrital sediments are significantly less variable than those of pelagic marine sediments,highlighting the importance of distinguishing the effects of diagenesis and neoformation of clay minerals from continental weathering in attempts to study deep-time climate-weathering link by K isotopes in detrital sedimentary records.

Application of Holdridge life-zone model based on the terrain factor in Xinjiang Automous Region

This study improved the application of the Holdridge life-zone model to simulate the distribution of desert vegetation in China which gives statistics to support eco-recovery and ecosystem reconstruction in desert area. This study classified the desert vegetation into four types： （1） LAD： little arbor desert; （2） SD： shrub desert： （3） HLHSD： half-shrub, little half-shrub desert; （4） LHSCD： little halfshrub cushion desert. Based on the classification of Xinjiang desert vegetation, the classical Holdridge life-zone model was used to simulate Xinjiang desert vegetation＇s distribution and compare the Kappa coefficient result of the model with table of accuracy represented by Kappa values. The Kappa value of the model was only 0.19, it means the simulation result was poor. To improve the life-zone model application to Xinjiang desert vegetation type, a set of plot standards for terrain factors was developed by using the plot standard as the reclassification criterion to climate sub-regime. Then the desert vegetation in Xinjiang was simulated. The average Kappa value of the second simulation to the respective climate regime was 0.45. The Kappa value of final modeling result was 0.64, which is the better value. The modification of the model made it in more application region. In the end, the model＇ s ecological relevance to the Xinjiang desert vegetation types was studied.

Discussion of the“warming and wetting”trend and its future variation in the drylands of Northwest China under global warming

Since Shi et al.proposed that the climate in the drylands of Northwest China experienced a significant transition from a“warming and drying”trend to a“warming and wetting”trend in the 1980s,researchers have conducted numerous studies on the variations in precipitation and humidity in the region and even in arid Central Asia.In particular,the process of the“warming and wetting”trend by using obtained measurement data received much attention.However,there remain uncertainties about whether the“warming and wetting”trend has paused and what its future variations may be.In this study,we examined the spatiotemporal variations in temperature,precipitation,the aridity index(AI),vegetation,and runoff during 1950-2019.The results showed that the climate in the drylands of Northwest China and the northern Tibetan Plateau is persistently warming and wetting since the 1980s,with an acceleration since the 1990s.The precipitation/humidity variations in North China,which are mainly influenced by summer monsoon,are generally opposite to those in the drylands of Northwest China.This reverse change is mainly controlled by an anomalous anticyclone over Mongolia,which leads to an anomalous easterly wind,reduced water vapor output,and increased precipitation in the drylands of Northwest China.While it also causes an anomalous descending motion,increased water vapor divergence,and decreased precipitation in North China.Precipitation is the primary controlling factor of humidity,which ultimately forms the spatiotemporal pattern of the“westerlies-dominated climatic regime”of antiphase precipitation/humidity variations between the drylands of Northwest China and monsoonal region of North China.The primary reasons behind the debate of the“warming and wetting”trend in Northwest China were due to the use of different time series lengths,regional ranges,and humidity indices in previous analyses.Since the EC-Earth3 has a good performance for simulating precipitation and humidity in Northwest and North China.By using its simulated results,we found a wetting trend in the drylands of Northwest China under low emission scenarios,but the climate will gradually transition to a“warming and drying”trend as emissions increase.This study suggests that moderate warming can be beneficial for improving the ecological environment in the drylands of Northwest China,while precipitation and humidity in monsoon-dominated North China will persistently increase under scenarios of increased emissions.

Global analysis of cover management and support practice factors that control soil erosion and conservation

Cover management and support practices largely control the magnitude and variability of soil erosion.Although soil erosion models account for their importance(particularly by C-and P-factors in the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation),obtaining spatially explicit quantitative field data on these factors remains challenging.Hence,also our insight into the effects of soil conservation measures at larger spatial scales remains limited.We analyzed the variation in C-and P-factors caused by human activities and climatic variables by reviewing 255 published articles reporting measured or calculated C-and P-factor values.We found a wide variation in both factor values across climatic zones,land use or cover types,and support practices.The average C-factor values decreased from arid(0.26)to humid(0.15)climates,whereas the average P-factor values increased(from 0.33 to 0.47,respectively).Thus,support practices reduce soil loss more effectively in drylands and drought-prone areas.The global average C-factor varies by one order of magnitude from cropland(0.34)to forest(0.03).Among the major crops,the average C-factor was highest for maize(0.42)followed by potato(0.40),among the major orchard crops,it was highest for olive(0.31),followed by vineyards(0.26).The P-factor ranged from 0.62 for contouring in cropland plots to 0.19 for trenches in uncultivated land.The C-factor results indicate that cultivated lands requiring intensive site preparation and weeding are most vulnerable to soil loss by sheet and rill erosion.The low P-factor for trenches,reduced tillage cultivation,and terraces suggests that significantly decreased soil loss is possible by implementing more efficient management practices.These results improve our understanding of the variation in C-and P-factors and support large-scale integrated catchment management interventions by applying soil erosion models where it is difficult to empirically determine the impact of particular land use or cover types and support practices:the datasets compiled in this study can support further modeling and land management attempts in different countries and geographic regions.

A comprehensive framework for seasonal controls of leaf abscission and productivity in evergreen broadleaved tropical and subtropical forests

Relationships among productivity,leaf phenology,and seasonal variation in moisture and light availability are poorly understood for evergreen broadleaved tropical/subtropical forests,which contribute 25% of terrestrial productivity.On the one hand,as moisture availability declines,trees shed leaves to reduce transpiration and the risk of hydraulic failure.On the other hand,increases in light availability promote the replacement of senescent leaves to increase productivity.Here,we provide a comprehensive framework that relates the seasonality of climate,leaf abscission,and leaf productivity across the evergreen broadleaved tropical/subtropical forest biome.The seasonal correlation between rainfall and light availability varies from strongly negative to strongly positive across the tropics and maps onto the seasonal correlation between litterfall mass and productivity for 68 forests.Where rainfall and light covary positively,litterfall and productivity also covary positively and are always greater in the wetter sunnier season.Where rainfall and light covary negatively,litterfall and productivity are always greater in the drier and sunnier season if moisture supplies remain adequate;otherwise productivity is smaller in the drier sunnier season.This framework will improve the representation of tropical/subtropical forests in Earth system models and suggests how phenology and productivity will change as climate change alters the seasonality of cloud cover and rainfall across tropical/subtropical forests.