Formation and Evolution of Ancient Lakes on South Coast Plain of Laizhou Bay

Based on the data of historical geography, the analysis of the stratigraphic section, and the textual research of place names and satellite photographic interpretations, the authors study the formation and evolution of ancient lakes on the south coast plain of Laizhou Bay where there were once three lakes: Judian Lake, Qingshuibo Lake and Biehua Lake. All the lakes formed 6000 years ago evolved from the lagoons near the estuary and went through two periods, the golden age in the Middle Holocene and the shrinking age in the Late Holocene. The disappearance of the lakes resulted from the drying climate, the migration of the river courses and the activities of human beings. Among the three reasons, the migration of the river courses is the main one.

Evolution of an Ancient Large Lake in the Southeast of the Northern Tibetan Plateau

Nam Co is the largest (1920 km2 in area) and highest (4718 m above sea level) lake in Tibet. According to the discovery of lake terraces and highstand lacustrine deposits at several places in Nam Co and its adjacent areas, the authors confirm the existence of an ancient large lake in the southeastern part of the northern Tibetan Plateau. On the basis of the U-series, 14C and ESR dating, coupled with the levelling survey of lake deposits and geomorphology, the evolutionary process of the ancient large lake in the southeastern part of the northern Tibetan Plateau may fall into three stages: (1) the ancient large lake stage at 115-40 ka BP, when the ancient lake level was 140-26 m above the level of present Nam Co; (2) the outflow lake stage at 40-30 ka BP, when the ancient level was 26-19 m above the present lake level; and (3) the Nam Co stage since 30 ka BP, when the ancient lake level was < 19 m above the present lake level. During the ancient large lake stage, a large number of modern large, medium-sized and small lakes, including Nam Co, Siling Co and Zhari Namco, in the southeastern part of the northern Tibetan Plateau, were connected into a single large ancient lake, rather than several separate lakes connected by river channels. Its areal extent may have gone beyond the watersheds of the modern endorheic and exorheic drainage systems; so it may be called the 'ancient east lake', 'ancient south lake' and 'ancient west lake'. It might also be connected with other ancient lakes in the southern and western parts of the northern Tibetan Plateau to form a unified 'ancient large lake' on the northern Tibetan Plateau.

The Evolution of the Quaternary Salt Lakes in the Qaidam Basin

The paper discusses the distribution of Quaternary sediments, occurrence of saline minerals and phases of neotectonic movements and their manifestations in the Qaidam basin. The formation of four successive lacustrine terraces in Tertiary anticlinal zones in the western part of the basin was related to the neotectonic movements that took place 100 Ka ago, and the distribution of such terraces discloses, in a way. the evolutionary history of the Quaternary salt lakes. According to the distribution of the terraces coupled with the distribution of Quaternary sediments and features of salt deposition, four periods of Quaternary salt lake evolution in the basin may be distinguished, which correspond to four stages of salt deposition respectively.

Possible relatedness between the outburst of the Diexi ancient dammed lake and ancient Chengdu’s cultural change

The Diexi ancient dammed lake is in the upper reaches of the Minjiang River.Six terraces with lacustrine sediments occur at the base.These terraces are the products of the graded outburst of the Diexi ancient dammed lake.The outburst of the ancient dammed lake would certainly have had an impact on the Chengdu Plain in the lower reaches of the Minjiang River.In this paper,on-site sampling and laboratory analysis were used to analyze the sediments of the Diexi ancient dammed lake and the Jinsha site in Chengdu Plain,and the environmental indicators of each sediment layer were tested.Through a comparative analysis of the environmental indicators in the sediments at the two locations,the following results were obtained:the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental characteristics at the two locations generally show consistent changes.The most important finding is that the types and content of the major pollen taxa at the two locations are similar.The Pinus content strongly proves that the soil layers at the Jinsha site was sourced from the upper reaches of the Minjiang River.Considering that the demise of the ancient culture at the Jinsha site occurred close in time to the outburst of the ancient dammed lake,this similarity suggests that the cultural change at the Jinsha site may have been related to the outburst of the Diexi ancient dammed lake.

Simulation of the dynamic disturbance characteristics of the soft sediment in the Diexi ancient dammed lake,China

In an earlier study of the Diexi ancient dammed lake along the Minjiang River in Southwest China,10 disturbed layers with envelope and flame structures were found in more than 240 m of lacustrine sediments.In this paper,the soft-sediment disturbances caused by earthquakes in the Diexi ancient dammed lake were studied based on field investigations and laboratory core observations.A two-to three-degree-of-freedom spring-type earthquake simulation vibration table was used to carry out disturbance tests on lacustrine sediments under different dynamic conditions.The results support the following conclusions:(1)The disturbance layers in the lacustrine sediments were caused by strong earthquakes in the region.(2)The characteristics of the disturbance layers are related to the seismic parameters and the degree of sediment consolidation.(3)The greater the earthquake intensity is,the greater the disturbance amplitude is;moreover,the lower the consolidation degree is,the greater the disturbance amplitude.(4)The simulation tests verify that the disturbance layers in the sediments of the Diexi ancient dammed lake correspond to strong earthquakes in the region.These results are valuable for ongoing palaeoseismic research in the region.

An integrated north–south paleo-Dadu-Anning River: New insights from bulk major and trace element analyses of the Xigeda Formation

The Xianshuihe-Anninghe fault extends SE–S and constitutes the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau.However,the Dadu River which is associated with the fault does not flow following the path,but makes a 90ºturn within a distance of 1 km at Shimian,heading east,and joins the Yangtze River,finally flowing into the East China Sea.Adjacent to the abrupt turn,a low and wide pass near the Daqiao reservoir at Mianning separates the N–S course of the Dadu River from the headwater of the Anning River which then flows south into the Yunnan Province along the Anninghe fault.Therefore,many previous studies assumed southward flow of the paleo-Dadu River from the Shimian to the Anning River.However,evidences for the capture of the integrated N–S paleo-Dadu-Anning River,its timing,and causes are still insufficient.This study explored the paleo-drainage pattern of the Dadu and Anning Rivers based on bulk mineral and geochemical analyses of the large quantities of fluvial/lacustrine sediments along the trunk of the Dadu and Anning Rivers.Similar with sands in the modern Dadu River,the Xigeda sediments also exhibit a granitoid affinity with the bulk major mineral compositions of quartz(>50%),anorthite(about 10%),orthoclase(about 5%),muscovite(about 5%),and clinochlore(about 4%).Correspondingly,bulk major elements show high SiO_(2),with all samples>60%,and some of them>70%,low TiO_(2)(≤0.75%),P_(2)O_(5)(≤0.55%),FeO*(≤5%),and relatively high CaO(1.02%–8.51%),Na_(2)O(1.60%–2.52%),and K_(2)O(2.17%–2.71%),with a uniform REE patterns.Therefore,synthesizing all these results indicate that these lacustrine sediments have similar material sources,which are mainly derived from its course in the Songpan-Ganzi flysch block,implying that the paleo-Dadu originally flowed southward into the Anning River and provided materials to the Xigeda ancient lake.The rearrangement of the paleo-Dadu River appears to be closely related to the locally focused uplift driven by strong activities of the XianshuiheXiaojiang fault system.

Element Response to the Ancient Lake Information and Its Evolution History of Argillaceous Source Rocks in the Lucaogou Formation in Sangonghe Area of Southern Margin of Junggar Basin

With the analysis of the element geochemistry characteristics, the ancient lake infor- mation evolution history of the argillaceous source rocks in Lucaogou 0~/~＇~） Formation in San- gonghe area is reconstructed. According to the ancient lake information and total organic matter （TOC） characteristics of argillaceous source rocks, the study section is divided into 6 Subsec- tions. Subsection I mainly developed low-quality source rocks. This is because of the arid climate, high salinity, low lake productivity, unstable preservation conditions in this Subsection. Subsection II mainly developed high-quality source rocks. This is because of the humid climate, low salinity, high lake productivity, stable preservation conditions in this Subsection. Though the paleoclimate was humid and preservation conditions were stable. Lake productivity and the water salinity changed frequently. So Subsection III mainly developed medium-quality source rocks. Because of the humid climate, high lake productivity, medium sedimentary rate and stable preservation conditions, high-quality source rocks were developed in Subsection IV. The preservation conditions were stable, but other ancient lake information changed frequently. Therefore, the quality of the formed source rocks in Subsection V was different. Subsection VI mainly developed high-quality source rocks be- cause of the humid climate, medium sedimentary rate, high lake productivity, low salinity and good preservation conditions. In summary, the ancient lake information parameters and TOC characteris- tics of each Subsection are different from each other.