Trend of Salt Lake Changes in the Background of Global Warming and Tactics for Adaptation to the Changes

Salt lakes are a mirror of climatic changes and provide holographic records of environmental changes of lakes. According to a study of geological hazards in typical salt lake areas in China and other regions, the authors explain how geological hazards in salt lake areas are caused by natural agents and how humans can seek benefits, avoid hazards and reduce losses on the premise that they have monitored and mastered the trend of salt lake changes in advance and even can store flood and recharge water in lakes and extract saline resources. The climate in western China is probably turning from warm-dry to warm-moist. The authors analyze the change trend of salt lakes sensu lato (with salinity≥0.3 wt% (NaCl)eq) and salt lakes sensu stricto (with salinity ≥3.5 wt% (NaCl)eq) in China in such climatic conditions and distinguish three types of salt lake areas (i.e. lake water rising type, lake water falling type and lake water rising and unstable type) according to the characteristics of lake water rising and shrinking. In order to conform to the climatic and lake changes in China's salt lake areas, the authors propose to add and improve hydrological and meteorological observation stations and integrate observations with remote sensing monitoring in important salt lake areas and set up multidisciplinary and interdepartmental basic projects to monitor and study recent climatic and environmental changes in salt lake areas of western China. Moreover, it is necessary to build additional flood-control and drought-preventing water conservancy facilities in key salt lake areas and work out measures for ecological protection in salt lake areas. Full consideration should be given to the influence of flooding when building saltfields and implementing capital projects.

Classification and mineralization of global lithium deposits and lithium extraction technologies for exogenetic lithium deposits

A reasonable classification of deposits holds great significance for identifying prospecting targets and deploying exploration. The world ’s keen demand for lithium resources has expedited the discovery of numerous novel lithium resources. Given the presence of varied classification criteria for lithium resources presently, this study further ascertained and classified the lithium resources according to their occurrence modes, obtaining 10 types and 5 subtypes of lithium deposits(resources) based on endogenetic and exogenetic factors. As indicated by surveys of Cenozoic exogenetic lithium deposits in China and abroad,the formation and distribution of the deposits are primarily determined by plate collision zones, their primary material sources are linked to the anatectic magmas in the deep oceanic crust, and they were formed primarily during the Miocene and Late Paleogene. The researchers ascertained that these deposits,especially those of the salt lake, geothermal, and volcanic deposit types, are formed by unique slightly acidic magmas, tend to migrate and accumulate toward low-lying areas, and display supernormal enrichment. However, the material sources of lithium deposits(resources) of the Neopaleozoic clay subtype and the deep brine type are yet to be further identified. Given the various types and complex origins of lithium deposits(resources), which were formed due to the interactions of multiple spheres, it is recommended that the mineralization of exogenetic lithium deposits(resources) be investigated by integrating tectono-geochemistry, paleoatmospheric circulation, and salinology. So far, industrialized lithium extraction is primarily achieved in lithium deposits of the salt lake, clay, and hard rock types. The lithium extraction employs different processes, with lithium extraction from salt lake-type lithium deposits proving the most energy-saving and cost-effective.

Effects of microwave post-treatments on leaching resistance of ACQ-D treated Chinese fir

In order to improve the leaching resistance of active ingredient-copper in ammoniacal copper quat-type D （ACQ-D） treated Chinese fir （Cunninghamia lanceolata Hook.）, microwave post-treatments were carried out. The percentages of leached copper from ACQ-D treated Chinese fir with different microwave post-treatments were obtained after leaching tests by analyzing the copper retention in treated wood. The fixation mechanism of copper in the treated wood was determined with the help of SEM and FTIR spectra, while the valence conversion of copper after microwave post-treatments was studied by UV spectroscopy. Our experimental results show that the percentage of leached copper was reduced significantly after microwave post-treatment over time. This development was reinforced by allowing even more time for the treatment as well as with an increase in the power of microwave post-treatment. The leaching resistance of copper in wrapped samples was better than that in unwrapped samples, which is attributed to the combined effects of temperature and moisture content. Compared with air-dried samples, the valence conversion in the samples with microwave post-treatments changed slightly, which demonstrates that microwave post-treatments cannot impair the natural decay resistance of ACQ-D treated wood. SEM and FTIR spectra showed the presence of crystal particles formed by chemical reactions between copper and wood ingredients in wood cell walls and wood pits. Only a small amount of copper reacted with cellulose, while lignin and hemicellulose were the major bonding sites for copper in wood. Given the experimental results of mechanical properties, microwave post-treatments had a slight effect on the compression strength parallel to the grain and on the erystallinity of ACQ-D treated Chinese fir.