Spatiotemporal changes of gross primary productivity and its response to drought in the Mongolian Plateau under climate change

Gross primary productivity(GPP)of vegetation is an important constituent of the terrestrial carbon sinks and is significantly influenced by drought.Understanding the impact of droughts on different types of vegetation GPP provides insight into the spatiotemporal variation of terrestrial carbon sinks,aiding efforts to mitigate the detrimental effects of climate change.In this study,we utilized the precipitation and temperature data from the Climatic Research Unit,the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index(SPEI),the standardized precipitation index(SPI),and the simulated vegetation GPP using the eddy covariance-light use efficiency(EC-LUE)model to analyze the spatiotemporal change of GPP and its response to different drought indices in the Mongolian Plateau during 1982-2018.The main findings indicated that vegetation GPP decreased in 50.53% of the plateau,mainly in its northern and northeastern parts,while it increased in the remaining 49.47%area.Specifically,meadow steppe(78.92%)and deciduous forest(79.46%)witnessed a significant decrease in vegetation GPP,while alpine steppe(75.08%),cropland(76.27%),and sandy vegetation(87.88%)recovered well.Warming aridification areas accounted for 71.39% of the affected areas,while 28.53% of the areas underwent severe aridification,mainly located in the south and central regions.Notably,the warming aridification areas of desert steppe(92.68%)and sandy vegetation(90.24%)were significant.Climate warming was found to amplify the sensitivity of coniferous forest,deciduous forest,meadow steppe,and alpine steppe GPP to drought.Additionally,the drought sensitivity of vegetation GPP in the Mongolian Plateau gradually decreased as altitude increased.The cumulative effect of drought on vegetation GPP persisted for 3.00-8.00 months.The findings of this study will improve the understanding of how drought influences vegetation in arid and semi-arid areas.

A review of geophysical studies on the Mongolian Plateau

The Mongolian Plateau in Central Asia is an intracontinental tectonic system far from active plate boundaries.Despite its distance from these boundaries,the plateau is characterized by intense crustal deformation accompanied by voluminous Cenozoic volcanism and active modern seismicity.However,the intraplate deformation mechanism has long been debated owing to the scarcity of observations and contradictions between different results.In recent years,growing geophysical studies have been conducted on the Mongolian Plateau,providing constraints on its lithospheric structure and dynamics.Here,we review the geophysical research on the Mongolian Plateau over the last decade,including seismological,geodetic,gravity,magnetotelluric,and geodynamic aspects.This review aims to(a)describe crustal and mantle structures based on multiscale seismic images;(b)describe deformation patterns based on seismic anisotropy,focal mechanisms,and global positioning system(GPS)observations;and(c)discuss the mechanisms behind intraplate deformation,volcanism,and seismic activity across the Mongolian Plateau.Seismic images show that the crustal structure of the plateau has significant east-west differences.Several blocks in the western Mongolian Plateau have thick crusts,including the Altai Mountains,Hovsgol Rift,and Hangay Dome.The lithospheric deformation across the Mongolian Plateau has strong lateral variation,with NE-SW shortening in the Altai Mountains and W-E or NW-SE shear deformation in the Hangay Dome region and the eastern part.The varied deformation may result from the superposition of multiple mechanisms,including far-field stress in the Altai Mountains,mantle upwelling,and mantle flow in the Hangay Dome region.However,it is difficult to identify the geodynamics of the formation of the entire Mongolian Plateau because the deformation is too complicated,and the present models are not sufficient and are always partial.Overall,this review encompasses recent advances in seismic observations of the Mongolian Plateau,illuminates the heterogeneities in the crust and mantle structure and deformation of the plateau,and discusses the mechanisms behind the deformation,magmatism,and seismicity.

Impacts of climate change and human activities on vegetation dynamics on the Mongolian Plateau, East Asia from 2000 to 2023

The Mongolian Plateau in East Asia is one of the largest contingent arid and semi-arid areas of the world.Under the impacts of climate change and human activities,desertification is becoming increasingly severe on the Mongolian Plateau.Understanding the vegetation dynamics in this region can better characterize its ecological changes.In this study,based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS)images,we calculated the kernel normalized difference vegetation index(kNDVI)on the Mongolian Plateau from 2000 to 2023,and analyzed the changes in kNDVI using the Theil-Sen median trend analysis and Mann-Kendall significance test.We further investigated the impact of climate change on kNDVI change using partial correlation analysis and composite correlation analysis,and quantified the effects of climate change and human activities on kNDVI change by residual analysis.The results showed that kNDVI on the Mongolian Plateau was increasing overall,and the vegetation recovery area in the southern region was significantly larger than that in the northern region.About 50.99%of the plateau showed dominant climate-driven effects of temperature,precipitation,and wind speed on kNDVI change.Residual analysis showed that climate change and human activities together contributed to 94.79%of the areas with vegetation improvement.Appropriate human activities promoted the recovery of local vegetation,and climate change inhibited vegetation growth in the northern part of the Mongolian Plateau.This study provides scientific data for understanding the regional ecological environment status and future changes and developing effective ecological protection measures on the Mongolian Plateau.

The Tibetan Plateau bridge:Influence of remote teleconnections from extratropical and tropical forcings on climate anomalies

本文回顾了青藏高原桥梁作用方面的最新研究进展,涉及北大西洋气候异常对春,夏亚洲季风和厄尔尼诺-南方涛动(ENSO)事件的遥相关影响,热带海洋异常和中国东部极端气候异常之间的联系以及华南春雨的季节内变化等.介绍了年际时间尺度上,冬-春季北大西洋海表温度强迫如何影响南亚季风的季节性转变以及随后ENSO事件的触发.5月份青藏高原上空显著的负感热斜压结构,为北大西洋影响亚洲季风和ENSO提供了桥梁效应,夏季北大西洋涛动与华东夏季降水变化显著相关,高原潜热在这一关系中起着桥梁作用.另一方面,这种高原桥梁效应也存在于从热带海洋异常到东亚夏季极端降水事件的连接中,以及从中纬度波列到华南春雨准双周振荡的联系中.

Thrusting of the North Lhasa Block in the Tibetan Plateau

A huge thrust system, the North Lhasa Thrust (NLT), was discovered in the northern Lhasa block of the Tibetan Plateau based on geological mapping of the Damxung region and its vicinity, the Deqen-Lunpola traverse and the Amdo-Bam Co profile. The NLT consists of the Dongqiao-Lunpola thrust (DLT), the west Namco thrust (WNT) and the south Damxung thrust (SDT) and ductile shear zones, ophiolite slices and folds extending in a WNW direction. Major thrust faults of the NLT seem to merge into a single deep-seated detachment of the upper-crust and totally displaced southward as far as 100-120 km. Chronological analyses with 39Ar-40Ar of plagioclase and hornblende, Rb-Sr isochron of minerals and fission-tracks of apatite from mylonite within the WNT yield ages of 174-173 Ma, 109 Ma and 44 Ma, showing 3 periods of thrusting in the north Lhasa block caused by subduction of the Tethys oceanic plate and the India-Eurasia continental collision respectively.

Spatiotemporal variability of precipitation during 1961-2014 across the Mongolian Plateau

Precipitation is the dominant factor that controls vegetation growth and land-use practices in the arid and semiarid Mongolian Plateau(MP), so the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of precipitation change has been an important scientific question in the region. This study investigated the spatiotemporal characteristics of annual and seasonal precipitation across the entire MP based on monthly precipitation data from 136 meteorological stations during 1961–2014 by using a modified Mann–Kendall test, Sen's slope, Morlet Wavelet Transform, and geostatistical methods. Results show the following: 1) Annual precipitation decreased slightly from 1961 to 2014.Stations with positive and negative trends were 41.9%and 58.1%, respectively. Significant positive trends were mainly in the southwestern and northeastern regions of the plateau, whereas significant negative trends were in the northern and southeastern regions.2) Precipitation decreased at rates of-5.65 and-0.41 mm/decade in summer and autumn, respectively, but increased at 1.91 and 0.51 mm/decade in spring and winter. The contribution of spring and winter precipitation to the annual amount increased significantly, but that of summer precipitation decreased significantly. 3) A large majority of stations(80.2%) showed decreasing trends in summer,whereas 89.7% and 83.1% of stations showed increasing trends in spring and winter. The spatial distribution of trend magnitude in seasonal precipitation amount was strongly heterogeneous. 4)By climatic zones, precipitation increased in humid and arid zones, but decreased in a semiarid zone. On the whole, the MP experienced a drying trend, with significant regional differentiation and seasonal variations.

The Exhumation History of North Qaidam Thrust Belt Constrained by Apatite Fission Track Thermochronology:Implication for the Evolution of the Tibetan Plateau

Determining the spatio-temporal distribution of the deformation tied to the India-Eurasian convergence and the impact of pre-existing weaknesses on the Cenozoic crustal deformation is significant for understanding how the convergence between India and Eurasia contributed to the development of the Tibetan Plateau. The exhumation history of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau was addressed in this research using a new apatite fission track （AFT） study in the North Qaidam thrust belt （NQTB）. Three granite samples collected from the Qaidam Shan pluton in the north tied to the Qaidam Shan thrust, with AFT ages clustering in the Eocene to Miocene. The other thirteen samples obtained from the Luliang Shan and Yuka plutons in the south related to the Luliang Shan thrust and they have showed predominantly the Cretaceous AFT ages. Related thermal history modeling based on grain ages and track lengths indicates rapid cooling events during the Eocene-early Oligocene and since late Miocene within the Qaidam Shan, in contrast to those in the Cretaceous and since the Oligocene-Miocene in the Luliang Shan and Yuka region. The results, combined with published the Cretaceous thermochronological ages in the Qaidam Shan region, suggest that the NQTB had undergo rapid exhumation during the accretions along the southern Asian Andean-type margin prior to the India-Eurasian collision. The Cenozoic deformation initially took place in the North Qaidam thrust belt by the Eocene, which is consistent with the recent claim that the deformation of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau initiated in the Eocene as a response to continental collision between India and Eurasia. The immediate deformation responding to the collision is tentatively attributed to the preexisting weaknesses of the lithosphere, and therefore the deformation of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau should be regarded as a boundary-condition-dependent process.

Community phylogenetic structure of grasslands and its relationship with environmental factors on the Mongolian Plateau

The community assembly rules and species coexistence have always been interested by ecologists. The community phylogenetic structure is the consequence of the interaction process between the organisms and the abiotic environment and has been used to explain the relative impact of abiotic and biotic factors on species co-existence. In recent years, grassland degradation and biodiversity loss have become increasingly severe on the Mongolian Plateau, while the drivers for these changes are not clearly explored, especially whether climate change is a main factor is debated in academia. In this study, we examined the phylogenetic structure of grassland communities along five transects of climate aridity on the Mongolian Plateau, and analyzed their relations with environmental factors, with the aims to understand the formation mechanism of the grassland communities and the role of climatic factors. We surveyed grassland communities at 81 sites along the five transects, and calculated their net relatedness index(NRI) at two different quadrat scales(small scale of 1 m2 and large scale of 5 m2) to characterize the community phylogenetic structure and analyze its relationship with the key 11 environmental factors. We also calculated the generalized UniFrac distance(GUniFrac) among the grassland communities to quantify the influence of spatial distance and environmental distance on the phylogenetic β diversity. The results indicated that plant community survey using the large scale quadrat contained sufficient species to represent community compositions. The community phylogenetic structure of grasslands was significantly overdispersed at both the small and large scales, and the degree of overdispersion was greater at the large scale than at the small scale, suggesting that competitive exclusion instead of habitat filtering played a major role in determination of community composition. Altitude was the main factor affecting the community phylogenetic structure, whereas climatic factors, such as precipitation and temperature, had limited influence. The principal component analysis of the 11 environmental factors revealed that 94.04% of their variation was accounted by the first four principal components. Moreover only 14.29% and 23.26% of the variation in community phylogenetic structure were explained by the first four principal components at the small and large scales, respectively. Phylogenetic β diversity was slightly significantly correlated with both spatial distance and environmental distance, however, environmental distance had a less explanatory power than spatial distance, indicating a limited environmental effect on the community phylogenetic structure of grasslands on the Mongolian Plateau. In view of the limited effect of climatic factors on the community phylogenetic structure of grasslands, climate change may have a smaller impact on grassland degradation than previously thought.

Remote sensing-based dynamic monitoring and environmental change of wetlands in southern Mongolian Plateau in 2000‒2018

The environmental change in the wetlands in the southern Mongolian Plateau has important impacts on the environment of North China and even the entire Northeast Asia,from which the global climate change can be understood on a large scale,especially the climate change in the Mongolian Plateau.This study extracted the information on the wetlands from three stages of remote sensing images(also referred to as RS images)of the study area,including Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus(ETM+)images of 2000,TM images of 2010,and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager(OLI)images of 2018.As indicated by the extraction results,the area of wetlands decreased from 796.90 km^(2) of 2000 to 666.24 km^(2) of 2018 at a rate of 7.26 km^(2)/a.The reduced area is 130.66 km^(2),which is about 16.4%reduction.And the patch number of wetlands decreased from 731 of 2000 to 316 of 2018 in the study area,approximately 56.8%reduction(415 patches),and the decrease in the area of the wetlands mainly occurred in the northwest endorheic region.In terms of wetland types,the change of the wetlands was dominated by the decrease of lacustrine wetlands,of which the area and patch number decreased by 106.2 km^(2) and 242,respectively.Furthermore,the area of the lacustrine wetlands decreased at the highest rate of 8.70 km^(2)/a in 2010‒2018.From the perspective of spatial distribution,the wetlands in the western part shrunk more notably than those in the eastern part as a whole in the study area.According to local meteorological data,the precipitation gently decreased and the temperature increased(about 1.7℃)from 1975-2018.Overall,the decrease in the area of the wetlands and the temperature rises in the study area were mainly driven by the Mongolian monsoon climate,reduction in precipitation,and human activities.

Determining the groundwater basin and surface watershed boundary of Dalinuoer Lake in the middle of Inner Mongolian Plateau,China and its impacts on the ecological environment

The surface watershed and groundwater basin have fixed recharge scale,which are not only the basic unit for hydrologic cycle research but also control the water resources formation and evolution and its corresponding eco-geological environment pattern.To accurately identify the boundary of the surface watershed and groundwater basin is the basis for properly understanding hydrologic cycle and conducting the water balance analysis at watershed scale in complicated geologic structure area,especially when the boundary are inconsistent.In this study,the Dalinuoer Lake located in the middle of the Inner Mongolian Plateau which has complicated geologic structure was selected as the representative case.Based on the multidisciplinary comprehensive analysis of topography,tectonics,hydrogeology,groundwater dynamics and stable isotopes,the results suggest the following:(1)The surface watershed ridge and groundwater basin divide of Dalinuoer Lake are inconsistent.The surface watershed was divided into two separate groundwater systems almost having no groundwater exchange by the SW-NE Haoluku Anticlinorium Fault which has obvious water-blocking effect.The surface drainage area of Dalinuoer Lake is 6139 km^(2).The northern regional A is the Dalinuoer Lake groundwater system with an area of 4838 km^(2),and the southern regional B is the Xilamulun Riverhead groundwater system with an area of 1301 km^(2).(2)The groundwater in the southern of regional A and the spring-feeding river are the important recharge sources for the Dalinuoer Lake,and it has greater recharge effects than the northern Gonggeer River system.(3)It is speculated that the trend of Haoluku Anticlinorium Fault is the boundary of the westerlies and the East Asian summer Monsoon(EASM)climate systems,which further pinpoints the predecessor’s understanding of this boundary line.At present,the Dalinuoer Lake watershed is proved to have gone through a prominent warming-drying trend periods,which leads to the precipitation reduction,temperature rise,human activities water usage increasement.So the hydrological cycle and lake eco-environment at watershed scale will still bound to be change,which may pose the potential deterioration risk on the suitability of fish habitat.The results can provide basic support for better understanding water balance evolution and lake area shrinkage cause as well as the ecological protection and restoration implementation of Dalinuoer Lake watershed.

SALT LAKES ON THE INNER MONGOLIAN PLATEAU OF CHINA

Salt lakes,the main source of trona resources in China, are widely distributed on the Inner Mongolian Plateau. Their characteristics are large in number, various in type, and short in salt-forming stage, especially their considerable number is well-known at home and abroad. The paper discusses the physical constituents, hydrochemical features, classification, formation, evolution, and salt-forming regularities of salt lakes through analyzing their distribution, lacustrine deposits and salt-forming conditions.

TWO SUITES OF OPHIOLITE RECOGNIZED IN THE MAQEN AREA, NORTHEASTERN TIBETAN PLATEAU

The A’nyemaqen ophiolite belt lies along the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau and is believed to mark the boundary between the East Kunlun terrain and the ayanhar\|Songpan\|Garze terrain (Fig.1). The ophiolite in this belt is considered to be Early Permian to Middle Triassic in age (Yang et al., 1996). Our recent study indicates that there is an old ophiolite suite (>421 5Ma), located to the northern margin of this belt (Fig.1). Since the new found ophiolite is near to the Dur’ngoi deposit, so we called it North Dur’ngoi ophiolite. The geological and geochemical characteristics of the two ophiolite suites are different obviously as follows.

Studies on Water Consumption Characteristics and Crops Rotation Effects in Plateau of Northern Hebei Province

Experiments were carried out in 1994 - 1998 to study crop rotation and its effects on crop water consumption characteristics of field with sandy chestnut soil in the Plateau of north Hebei Province. Five crops including spring wheat, oat, pea, flax and potato were examined. There was little difference in field water consumption among the crops during the growing season. WUE varied significantly in a range of 1. 347 -11.177kg · ha-1 · mm-1 among crops and 11.44% - 46.66% among previous crops. It was pointed out that the land equivalent ratio (LER) can be used as an index to evaluate the biological effects of crop rotation comprehensively. The 2-4 year crop rotation patterns with higher LER were estimated in the paper.

Microbial processes and factors controlling their activities in alkaline lakes of the Mongolian plateau

A striking feature of the Mongolian plateau is the wide range of air temperatures during a year, -30 to 30~C. High summer temperatures, atmospheric weathering and the arid climate lead to formation of numerous alkaline soda lakes that are covered by ice during 6-7 months per year. During the study period, the lakes had pH values between 8.1 to 10.4 and salinity between 1.8 and 360 g/L. According to chemical composition, the lakes belong to sodium carbonate, sodium chloride-carbonate and sodium sulfate-carbonate types. This paper presents the data on the water chemical composition, results of the determination of the rates of microbial processes in microbial mats and sediments in the lakes studied, and the results of a Principal Component Analysis of environmental variables and microbial activity data. Temperature was the most important factor that influenced both chemical composition and microbial activity, pH and salinity are also important factors for the microbial processes. Dark CO2 fixation is impacted mostly by salinity and the chemical composition of the lake water. Total photosynthesis and sulfate-reduction are impacted mostly by pH. Photosynthesis is the dominant process of primary production, but the highest rate （386 mg C/（L.d）） determined in the lakes studied were 2-3 times lower than in microbial mats of lakes located in tropical zones. This can be explained by the relatively short warm period that lasts only 3-4 months per year. The highest measured rate of dark CO2 assimilation （59.8 mg C/（L·d）） was much lower than photosynthesis. The highest rate of sulfate reduction was 60 mg S/（L·d）, while that of methanogenesis was 75.6 μL CH4/（L·d） in the alkaline lakes of Mongolian plateau. The rate of organic matter consumption during sulfate reduction was 3-4 orders of magnitude higher than that associated with methanogenesis.

Abrupt change of winter temperature over the Mongolian Plateau during 1961-2017

Studying the abrupt change of winter temperature(ACWT)over the Mongolian Plateau(MP,including Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and State of Mongolia)is of great significance for understanding the spatiotemporal distribution of temperature and the mechanism of global climate change.Monthly temperature data during 1961–2017was collected,and the abrupt change point was determined by the Mann–Kendall test and sliding ttest,to analyze the characteristics and causes of ACWT.The results showed that(a)The winter temperature has rapidly increased with a trend of 0.41℃/10a,which was significantly higher than that of the rest area of Chinese mainland,indicating that climate change in the MP was more sensitive to global warming.(b)The abrupt change point occurred in 1988,with temperature of-15.5℃and-14.1℃before and after abrupt change,respectively.The ACWT in 50°N was 1–3 years later than that in 40°N,and the isotherms of different temperatures moved northward by 10–200 km,especially-16℃isotherms moved approximately 200 km northward after 1988.(c)The Arctic Oscillation(AO)and Mongolian High(MH)anomaly affects winter temperature over the MP.When the AO is unusually strong,the MH and East Asian winter monsoon are weak,and southerly winds prevail in most regions,which is not conducive to the cold air developing southward,leading to higher winter temperature in the MP.Overwise,abnormally northerly winds prevail and temperature is low.Meanwhile,the abrupt change time of AO occurred in 1987 before winter temperature.It shows that the AO indirectly causes winter temperatures to rise by influencing the MH and is also the main driving factor of ACWT.

Climate characteristics of the eastern Mongolian Plateau,China during the early Early Cretaceous(145-132 Ma):Palynological evidence from the Tongbomiao Formation in Well Hong-6,Hailar Basin

This study identified two palynological assemblages,namely Bayanhuasporites-Cycadopites-Protoconiferus and Cicatricosisporites-Cedripites-Perinopollenites,in the Tongbomiao Formation in the Hongqi Sag in the Hailar Basin,Inner Mongolia,China for the first time.The former is distributed in the lower part of the Tongbomiao Formation and is characterized by abundant gymnosperm pollen and diverse fern spores.Among them,the gymnosperm pollen is dominated by Paleoconifer(4.98%-31.62%)and Cycadopite(8.55%-25.23%)pollen grains and also includes other pollen grains such as Classopollis,Parcisporites,Erlianpollis,Callialasporites,and Jiaohepollis.The fern spores in the former palynological assemblage contain Bayanhuasporite(0-8.96%),Granulatisporites(0.93%-6.97%),and some important Cretaceous genera,such as Cicatricosisporites,Concavissimisporites,Densoisporites,Hsuisporites,Foraminisporis,and Leptolepidites.The Cicatricosisporites-Cedripites-Perinopollenites palynological assemblage is distributed in the upper part of the Tongbomiao Formation.Gymnosperm(77.30%),Pinaceae(31.9%),and Paleoconiferus(19.02%)pollen predominate this palynological assemblage,and Quadraeculina,Erlianpollis,and Jiaohepollis pollen are also common in this assemblage.The fern spores in this palynological assemblage include abundant Cicatricosisporites(4.29%).Besides,Concavissimisporites,Aequitriradites,and Leptolepidites are also common in this palynological assemblage.No angiosperm pollen has been found in both palynological assemblages.The identification of both palynological assemblages provides important evidence for the biostratigraphic correlation between the Hailar Basin and its adjacent areas.It also enables the reconstructions of the Berriasian-Valanginian(Early Cretaceous)vegetation and the paleoclimate on the eastern Mongolian Plateau during 141-132 Ma.The vegetation reconstructed on the palynological data of the represented by Hailar Basin in eastern Mongolian Plateau(141.6-141.4 Ma),form conifer forest or conifer broad-leaved mixed forest to conifer forest with shrubs and grassland,the climate belongs to warm temperate and warm-subtropicalt,the highest temperature is estimated to reach 35-38℃.Form 132.3 Ma,the vegetation type is conifer forest,and its paleoclimate is sub-humid warm temperate,the highest temperature is estimated to reach 24-29℃.

Subduction of Continental Crust in the Early Palaeozoic North Qaidam Ultrahigh-Pressure Metamorphic Belt, NW China:Evidence from the Discovery of Coesite in the Belt

Coesite was discovered as inclusions in zircon separates from pelitic gneissassociated with a large eclogite body in the North Qaidam ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) terrane. Somegraphite inclusions were also found. This finding suggested the occurrence of in-situ UHPmetamorphism and that the terrane was most likely recrystallized at pressures below the diamondstability field. It supported other previous indirect UHP evidence, such as polycrystalline quartzinclusions in eclogitic garnet, quartz lamellae in omphacite and P-T estimates for both eclogite andgarnet peridotite. The U-Pb and Sm-Nd ages of the North Qaidam eclogite indicated that subductionof continental crust occurred in the Early Palaeozoic, which probably recorded a collision betweenthe Sino-Korean and Yangtze plates.

NDVI spatial pattern and its differentiation on the Mongolian Plateau

GIMMS NDVI database and geo-statistics were used to depict the spatial distribution and temporal stability of NDVI on the Mongolian Plateau.The results demonstrated that:(1) Regions of interest with high NDVI indices were distributed primarily in forested mountainous regions of the east and the north,areas with low NDVI indices were primarily distributed in the Gobi desert regions of the west and the southwest,and areas with moderate NDVI values were mainly distributed in a middle steppe strap from northwest to southeast.(2) The maximum NDVI values maintained for the past 22 years showed little variation.The average NDVI variance coefficient for the 22-year period was 15.2%.(3) NDVI distribution and vegetation cover showed spatial autocorrelations on a global scale.NDVI patterns from the vegetation cover also demonstrated anisotropy;a higher positive spatial correlation was indicated in a NW-SE direction,which suggested that vegetation cover in a NW-SE direction maintained increased integrity,and vegetation assemblage was mainly distributed in the same specific direction.(4) The NDVI spatial distribution was mainly controlled by structural factors,88.7% of the total spatial variation was influenced by structural and 11.3% by random factors.And the global autocorrelation distance was 1178 km,and the average vegetation patch length(NW-SE) to width(NE-SW) ratio was approximately 2.4:1.0.

DEFINITING AND ITS GEOLOGIC MEANING OF SOUTH-NORTH TREND FAULTED STRUCTURE BELT IN QIANGTANG BASIN, NORTH PART OF TIBET

There were more expounding to north—west (west) trend fault and north\|east trend fault within Qiangtang Basin, North Part of Tibet, in the past literature. With increasing of geophysical exploration data, nearly east\|west trend structure began to be taken note to. Since the year of 1995, by a synthetic study to geophysical and geological data, that south\|north trend faulted structures are well developed. These structures should be paid much more attention to, because they have important theoretical meaning and practical significance.1 Spreading of south\|north faulted structure belt According to different geological and geophysical data, the six larger scale nearly south\|north faulted structure belt could be distinguished within the scope of east longitude 84°～96° and near Qiangtang Basin. The actual location of the six belts are nearly located in the west of the six meridian of east longitude 85°,87°,89°,91°,93°,95° or located near these meridian. The six south\|north faulted structure belts spread in the same interval with near 2° longitude interval. The more clear and much more significance of south\|north trend faulted structure belts are the two S—N trend faulted structure belts of east longitude 87° and 89°. There are S—N trend faulted structure belts in the west of east longitude 83°,81°, or near the longitudes. The structure belts spreading features,manifestation,geological function and its importance, and inter texture and structure are not exactly so same. The structure belts all different degree caused different region of geological structure or gravity field and magnetic field. There is different scale near S—N trend faulted structure belt between the belts.

New Thought of Meteorological Forecasting and Warning Models of Geological Disasters in Loess Plateau of North Shaanxi

The study established daily comprehensive precipitation equations and calculated respective critical daily comprehensive precipitation value of loess-collapse disasters and landslide disasters by dint of the geological disasters and corresponding precipitation data in 47 years.Considering geological disaster risk divisions,precipitation influence coefficient and daily comprehensive precipitation,hourly rolling daily-forecasting and hourly warning fine and no-gap models on the base of high temporal and spatial resolution rainfall data of automatic meteorological station were developed.Through the verifying of combination of dynamical forecasting model and warning model,the results showed that it can improve efficiency of forecast and have good response at the same time.