Hydrologic Response to Future Climate Change in the Dulong-Irra-waddy River Basin Based on Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6

Within the context of the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI)and the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor(CMEC),the Dulong-Ir-rawaddy(Ayeyarwady)River,an international river among China,India and Myanmar,plays a significant role as both a valuable hydro-power resource and an essential ecological passageway.However,the water resources and security exhibit a high degree of vulnerabil-ity to climate change impacts.This research evaluates climate impacts on the hydrology of the Dulong-Irrawaddy River Basin(DIRB)by using a physical-based hydrologic model.We crafted future climate scenarios using the three latest global climate models(GCMs)from Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6(CMIP6)under two shared socioeconomic pathways(SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5)for the near(2025-2049),mid(2050-2074),and far future(2075-2099).The regional model using MIKE SHE based on historical hydrologic processes was developed to further project future streamflow,demonstrating reliable performance in streamflow simulations with a val-idation Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency(NSE)of 0.72.Results showed that climate change projections showed increases in the annual precip-itation and potential evapotranspiration(PET),with precipitation increasing by 11.3%and 26.1%,and PET increasing by 3.2%and 4.9%,respectively,by the end of the century under SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5.These changes are projected to result in increased annual streamflow at all stations,notably at the basin’s outlet(Pyay station)compared to the baseline period(with an increase of 16.1%and 37.0%at the end of the 21st century under SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5,respectively).Seasonal analysis for Pyay station forecasts an in-crease in dry-season streamflow by 31.3%-48.9%and 22.5%-76.3%under SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5,respectively,and an increase in wet-season streamflow by 5.8%-12.6%and 2.8%-33.3%,respectively.Moreover,the magnitude and frequency of flood events are pre-dicted to escalate,potentially impacting hydropower production and food security significantly.This research outlines the hydrological response to future climate change during the 21st century and offers a scientific basis for the water resource management strategies by decision-makers.

Organic Matter Accumulation in the Upper Permian Dalong Formation from the Lower Yangtze Region,South China

The Late Permian was marked by a series of important geological events and widespread organic-rich black shale depositions,acting as important unconventional hydrocarbon source rocks.However,the mechanism of organic matter(OM)enrichment throughout this period is still controversial.Based on geochemical data,the marine redox conditions,paleogeographic and hydrographic environment,primary productivity,volcanism,and terrigenous input during the Late Permian in the Lower Yangtze region have been studied from the Putaoling section,Chaohu,to provide new insights into OM accumulation.Five Phases are distinguished based on the TOC and environmental variations.In Phase I,anoxic conditions driven by water restriction enhanced OM preservation.In Phase II,euxinic and cycling hydrological environments were the two most substantial controlling factors for the massive OM deposition.During Phase III,intensified terrestrial input potentially diluted the OM in sediment and the presence of oxygen in bottom water weakened the preservation condition.Phase IV was characterized by a relatively higher abundance of mercury(Hg)and TOC(peak at 16.98 wt%),indicating that enhanced volcanism potentially stimulated higher productivity and a euxinic environment.In Phase V,extremely lean OM was preserved as a result of terrestrial dilutions and decreasing primary productivity.Phases I,II and IV are characterized as the most prominent OM-rich zones due to the effective interactions of the controlling factors,namely paleogeographic,hydrographic environment,volcanism,and redox conditions.

Influence of Various Earth-Retaining Walls on the Dynamic Response Comparison Based on 3D Modeling

The present work aims to assess earthquake-induced earth-retaining(ER)wall displacement.This study is on the dynamics analysis of various earth-retaining wall designs in hollow precast concrete panels,reinforcement concrete facing panels,and gravity-type earth-retaining walls.The finite element(FE)simulations utilized a 3D plane strain condition to model full-scale ER walls and numerous nonlinear dynamics analyses.The seismic performance of differentmodels,which includes reinforcement concrete panels and gravity-type and hollowprecast concrete ER walls,was simulated and examined using the FE approach.It also displays comparative studies such as stress distribution,deflection of the wall,acceleration across the wall height,lateral wall displacement,lateral wall pressure,and backfill plastic strain.Three components of the created ER walls were found throughout this research procedure.One is a granular reinforcement backfill,while the other is a wall-facing panel and base foundation.The dynamic response effects of varied earth-retaining walls have also been studied.It was discovered that the facing panel of the model significantly impacts the earthquake-induced displacement of ER walls.The proposed analytical model’s validity has been evaluated and compared with the reinforcement concrete facing panels,gravity-type ER wall,scientifically available data,and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials(AASHTO)guidelines results based on FE simulation.The results of the observations indicate that the hollow prefabricated concrete ER wall is the most feasible option due to its lower displacement and high-stress distribution compared to the two types.The methodology and results of this study establish standards for future analogous investigations and professionals,particularly in light of the increasing computational capabilities of desktop computers.

Spatiotemporal pattern of climate change in the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor from 1901 to 2018

The China-Myanmar Economic Corridor(CMEC) is an important part of China's Belt and Road Initiative and an important area for global ecology and biodiversity. In this study, the annual and seasonal spatiotemporal patterns of temperature and precipitation in the CMEC over the past century were investigated using linear tendency estimation, the Mann-Kendall mutation test, the T-test, and wavelet analysis based on the monthly mean climatic data from 1901 to 2018 released by the Climatic Research Unit(CRU) of the University of East Anglia, UK. The results show that the CMEC demonstrated a trend of warming and drying over the past 100 years, and the rate of change in Myanmar was stronger than that in Yunnan Province of China. The warming rate was 0.039 ℃/10a. Precipitation decreased at a rate of -6.1 mm/10a. From the perspective of spatial distribution, temperature was high in the central and southern, low in the north of the CMEC, and the high-temperature centers were mainly distributed in the southern plain and river valley. Precipitation decreased from west to east and from south to north of the CMEC. From the perspective of the rate of change, warming was stronger in central and northern CMEC than in southern and northeastern CMEC. The rate of precipitation decline was stronger in the central and western regions than in the eastern region. This study provides a scientific reference for the CMEC to address climate change and ensure sustainable social and economic development and ecological security.

Spatial Downscaling of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Precipitation Using Geographically Weighted Regression Kriging over the Lancang River Basin, China

Satellite-based precipitation products have been widely used to estimate precipitation, especially over regions with sparse rain gauge networks. However, the low spatial resolution of these products has limited their application in localized regions and watersheds.This study investigated a spatial downscaling approach, Geographically Weighted Regression Kriging(GWRK), to downscale the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission(TRMM) 3 B43 Version 7 over the Lancang River Basin(LRB) for 2001–2015. Downscaling was performed based on the relationships between the TRMM precipitation and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI), the Land Surface Temperature(LST), and the Digital Elevation Model(DEM). Geographical ratio analysis(GRA) was used to calibrate the annual downscaled precipitation data, and the monthly fractions derived from the original TRMM data were used to disaggregate annual downscaled and calibrated precipitation to monthly precipitation at 1 km resolution. The final downscaled precipitation datasets were validated against station-based observed precipitation in 2001–2015. Results showed that: 1) The TRMM 3 B43 precipitation was highly accurate with slight overestimation at the basin scale(i.e., CC(correlation coefficient) = 0.91, Bias = 13.3%). Spatially, the accuracies of the upstream and downstream regions were higher than that of the midstream region. 2) The annual downscaled TRMM precipitation data at 1 km spatial resolution obtained by GWRK effectively captured the high spatial variability of precipitation over the LRB. 3) The annual downscaled TRMM precipitation with GRA calibration gave better accuracy compared with the original TRMM dataset. 4) The final downscaled and calibrated precipitation had significantly improved spatial resolution, and agreed well with data from the validated rain gauge stations, i.e., CC = 0.75, RMSE(root mean square error) = 182 mm, MAE(mean absolute error) = 142 mm, and Bias = 0.78%for annual precipitation and CC = 0.95, RMSE = 25 mm, MAE = 16 mm, and Bias = 0.67% for monthly precipitation.

August–September Runoff Variation in the Kara Darya River Determined from Juniper(Juniperus turkestanica) Tree Rings in the Pamirs-Alai Mountains, Kyrgyzstan, Back to 1411 CE

A 606 year runoff reconstruction of the Kara Darya River was developed, based on the tree-ring width chronology of Turkestan juniper(Juniperus turkestanica) from the Pamir-Alai Mountains of Kyrgyzstan. Preliminary comparison between the snow cover variation and these climate/runoff reconstructions found that Central Asian snow cover may have strong associations with large-scale ocean-atmosphere-land circulations. The runoff reconstruction demonstrated that instrumental runoff was not representative of runoff over the past 606 years. The drought of the 1960 s-1990 s resulted in low runoff levels during the past 50 years;however, this probably does not represent a worst-case scenario for the Kara Darya because the runoff reconstruction showed additional extremely low runoff prior to the 20 th century. The reconstruction will provide a long-term perspective on runoff variation in the Kara Darya River basin, aid sustainable water resource management and be useful in guiding expectations of future variations and water resource planning.

Spatio-temporal changes in the six major glaciers of the Chitral River basin(Hindukush Region of Pakistan)between 2001 and 2018

Glaciers in the northern Pakistan are a distinctive source of freshwater for the irrigation,drinking and industrial water supplies of the people living in those regions and downstream. These glaciers are under a direct global warming impact as indicated in many previous studies. In this study, we estimated the glacier dynamics in terms of Equilibrium Line Altitude(ELA), mass balance and the snout position variation using remote sensing data between 2001 and 2018. Six glaciers, having area≥ 20 km2 each, situated in the Chitral region(Hindukush Mountains) were investigated in this study. Digital Elevation Model(DEM) and available cloud-free continuous series of Landsat and Sentinel satellite images from minimum snow cover season were used to monitor the variability in the studied glaciers by keeping the status of glaciers in year 2001 as a reference. The annual climatic trends of mean temperature and total precipitation from Chitral weather station were detected using the nonparametric Mann-Kendall’s test. Results revealed a general increase in the ELA, decrease in the glacier mass balance and the retreat of snout position.Average upward shift in the ELA for the entire study area and data period was ~345 ± 93 m at a rate of^13 m.a-1 from the reference year’s position i.e.~4803 m asl. Estimated mean mass balance for the entire study area indicated a decline of-0.106 ± 0.295 m w.e. a-1. Periods of snout retreat and advance in different glaciers were found but the mean value over the entire study area was a retreat of-231 ± 140 m.No obvious relationship was found between the glacier variation trends and the available gauged climatic data possibly due to the presence of debris cover in ablation zones of all the studied glaciers which provides insulation and reduces the immediate climatic effects.

Controls on geomorphic characteristics of the Xiaohei River basin in the upper Lancang-Mekong, China

Understanding the evolution of the fluvial geomorphology in an orogenic belt provides valuable insight into the relationship between upper crustal deformation and surface processes.The upper Lancang-Mekong River is in an area experiencing both uplift and erosion.The related processes provide a steady sediment supply to the lower reaches of the river and play an important role in the regional environmental changes.The Xiaohei(Weiyuan)River Basin is an important sub-basin in this area,which is characterized by large-scale topographic fluctuations,active tectonics and erosion,and anthropogenic activities.These different factors introduce numerous complexities to the local surface processes.In this study,we investigate and quantify the controls of geomorphic evolution of the Xiaohei River Basin.We located and mapped the main knick-zones within the channels and examined the main genetic factors,such as faults and stratigraphic differences.The results show that the areas with the lowest uplift rates are characterized by a low steepness index and are located in the southeastern part of the basin.The stream power of the mainstream increases downstream,with an average value of^122 W/m.The erosional activity of the various stream channels is intense.Overall,the basin tends to expansion,with only local instances of inward contraction.Our analysis confirms that a number of the geomorphic evolutionary characteristics of the Xiaohei River Basin are transient.In addition,the future potential for the increasing the number of dams and the hydropower development in the basin may weaken the expansion trend of the basin over a long period of time.

Spatiotemporal variation of snow cover and its relationship with temperature and precipitation in the Yarlung Tsangpo-Brahmaputra River Basin

The snow cover over the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau(QTP)and its surrounding areas is very sensitive to climate changes.Due to the complexity of geographical environment in this large region,the response of snow cover to climate change should exhibit spatiotemporal differences.In this study,the spatiotemporal variations of snow cover from 2002-2015 in the Yarlung Tsangpo-Brahmaputra River Basin(YBRB)were analyzed using an optimized fractional snow cover(FSC)product derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS).Additionally,the effects of temperature and precipitation on the variability of snow cover were also investigated.The results showed that:(1)The snow cover exhibited large spatial and temporal heterogeneity in the YBRB.High FSC was observed in the northeast of the basin and the south slope of Himalaya,while the lowest was concentrated in the broad valley of the upstream of YBRB.The FSC value reached its highest in winter and dropped to its lowest in summer,but the monthly change processes were different between upstream and downstream regions.(2)A slightly increasing tendency(3.76%/10 a)of snow cover was observed on basin-wide,but the changes varied through time and space.The FSC increased significantly in the source and midstream regions during winter to spring(10.5%-18.0%/10 a),while it changed slightly in summer over all parts of the basin(-0.4%-4.3%/10 a).(3)The study area generally became warm and wet,and the change trend of temperature was more significant than that of precipitation.Snow cover changes were weakly correlated with temperature in winter and precipitation in summer.But in spring and autumn,both precipitation and temperature were significantly related to snow cover change in most regions of the basin.(4)The dominant factor driving the changes of snow cover varied in seasons.The area dominated by temperature was slightly larger than that dominated by precipitation in spring,except that precipitation significantly dominated the snow cover changes in the source region;In summer and autumn,temperature contributed more to the snow cover change in most areas of the basin;However,in winter,precipitation played a leading role in the variations of snow cover.These findings help to understand the different performance of the snow cover in the QTP and its surrounding areas under future climate change.

Spatial Distribution of Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus within Surface Sediments in the Lower Lancang River: Pollution Assessment Related to Dams

Surface sediment is one of the main sources of nutrients in overlying water environments, and these can also indirectly reflect the degree of eutrophication. In this paper, the spatial distribution characteristics of total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) in the surface sediments of 11 sections in the lower Lancang River during flood season are analyzed, as well as the distribution of phosphorus in different forms. The main sources of TOC and its correlation with TN and TP are discussed and, finally, the pollution levels of the surface sediments are evaluated. The results show that the average content of TOC in the surface sediments of the lower Lancang River is 9003.75 mg/kg. The average TN content is 893.79 mg/kg, while the average TP content is 521.35 mg/kg. The TOC in the surface sediments of the lower Lancang River is derived mainly from algae and plankton in the river, and the TN and TP have similar sources. The total phosphorus in the surface sediments of the lower Lancang River is composed mainly of calcium-bound phosphorus (Ca-P). The evaluations of the organic pollution index and comprehensive pollution index show that the surface sediment pollution degree at the upper sections of the Nuozhadu and Jinghong Dams are more serious than those below the dams. Furthermore, the tributary sections are all slightly polluted, with the exception of the Mengyang River, which is considered moderately polluted.

Erratum to:Spatio-temporal changes in the six major glaciers of the Chitral River basin(Hindukush Region of Pakistan)between 2001 and 2018

The article Spatio-temporal changes in the six major glaciers of the Chitral River basin(Hindukush Region of Pakistan)between 2001 and 2018,written by Jawaria GUL,Sher MUHAMMAD,LIU Shi-yin,Siddique ULLAH,Shakeel AHMAD,Huma HAYAT and Adnan Ahmad TAHIR,was originally published Online First without Open Access.After publication in volume 17,issue 3,page 572-587,the author decided to opt for Open Choice and to make the article an Open Access publication.Therefore,the copyright of the article has been changed to C The Author(s)2020 and the article is forthwith distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/),which permits use,duplication,adaptation,distribution and reproduction in any medium or format,as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s)and the source,provide a link to the Creative Commons license,and indicate if changes were made.The original version of this article has been revised due to a retrospective Open Access order.

MODIS observed snow cover variations in the Aksu River Basin, Northwest China

A major proportion of discharge in the Aksu River is contributed from snow-and glacier-melt water.It is therefore essential to understand the cryospheric dynamics in this area for water resource management.The MODIS MOD10A2 remotesensing database from March 2000 to December 2012 was selected to analyze snow cover changes.Snow cover varied significantly on a temporal and spatial scale for the basin.The difference of the maximum and minimum Snow Cover Fraction(SCF)in winter exceeded 70%.On average for annual cycle,the characteristic of SCF is that it reached the highest value of 53.2%in January and lowest value of 14.7%in July and the distributions of SCF along with elevation is an obvious difference between the range of 3,000 m below and 3,000 m above.The fluctuation of annual average snow cover is strong which shows that the spring snow cover was on the trend of increasing because of decreasing temperatures for the period of 2000-2012.However,temperature in April increased significantly which lead to more snowmelt and a decrease of snow cover.Thus,more attention is needed for flooding in this region due to strong melting of snow.

A 602-year Reconstruction of July-June Streamflow in the Kuqa River, China, Reveals the Changing Hydrological Signals of the Tarim Basin

A regional tree-ring width chronology of Schrenk spruce(Picea schrenkiana) was used to determine the annual(previous July to current June) streamflow of the Kuqa River in Xinjiang, China, for the period of 1414–2015. A linear transformation of the tree-ring data accounted for 63.9% of the total variance when regressed against instrumental streamflow during 1957–2006. The model was validated by comparing the regression estimates against independent data. High streamflow periods with a streamflow above the 602-year mean occurred from 1430–1442, 1466–1492, 1557–1586, 1603–1615, 1687–1717, 1748–1767, 1795–1819, 1834–1856, 1888–1910 and 1989–2015. Low streamflow periods(streamflow below the mean) occurred from 1419–1429, 1443–1465, 1493–1556, 1587–1602, 1616–1686, 1720–1747, 1768–1794, 1820–1833, 1857–1887 and 1911–1988. The reconstruction compares well with the tree-ring-based streamflow series of the Tizinafu River from the Kunlun Mountains;both show well-known severe drought events. The streamflow reconstruction also shows highly synchronous upward trends since the 1980 s, suggesting that streamflow is related to Central Asian warming and humidification. Thus, the influences of the extremes and the persistence of low streamflows on local society may be considerable. Climatic changes in the watershed may be responsible for the change in the hydrologic regime of the Tarim Basin observed during the late twentieth century.

Seasonal variations in glacier velocity in the High Mountain Asia region during 2015–2020

Velocity is an important component of glacier dynamics and directly reflects the response of glaciers to climate change.As a result,an accurate determination of seasonal variation in glacier velocity is very important in understanding the annual variation in glacier dynamics.However,few studies of glacier velocity in the High Mountain Asia(HMA)region were done.Along these lines,in this work,based on Sentinel-1 glacier velocity data,the distribution of glacier velocity in the HMA region was plotted and their seasonal variations during 2015-2020 were systematically analysed.The average glacier velocity in the HMA region was 0.053 m/d,and was positively correlated with the glacier area and slope.Glaciers in the Karakoram Mountains had the fastest average flow velocity(0.060 m/d),where the glaciers exhibited the largest average area and average slope.Moreover,glaciers in the GangdisêMountains had the slowest velocity(0.022 m/d)and the smallest average glacier area.The glacier flows were the fastest in spring(0.058 m/d),followed by summer(0.050 m/d),autumn(0.041 m/d),and winter(0.040 m/d).In addition,the glacier flows were the maximum in May,being 1.4 times of the annual average velocity.In some areas,such as the Qilian,Altun,Tibetan Interior,Eastern Kunlun,and Western Kunlun mountains,the peak glacier velocities appeared in June and July.The glacier velocity in the HMA region decreased in midsummer and reached the minimum in December when it was 75%of the annual average.These results highlight the role of meltwater in the seasonal variation in glacier flows in late spring and early summer.The seasonal velocity variation of lake-terminating glaciers was similar to that of land-terminating ones,but the former flowed faster.The velocity difference close to the mass balance line between the lake-and land-terminating glaciers was obviously greater in spring than in other seasons.In summer,the difference between the lake-and land-terminating glaciers at a normalized distance of 0.05-0.40 from the terminus was significantly greater than those of other seasons.The velocity difference between the lake-and land-terminating glaciers is closely related to the variable of ice thickness,and also to the frictional force of the terminal base reduced by proglacial lakes.Thus,it can be concluded that in addition to the variation of the glacier thickness and viscosity,the variation of glacier water input also plays a key role in the seasonal variation of glacier velocity.

Complexity responses of Rhododendron species to climate change in China reveal their urgent need for protection

Global climate change has been widely recognized as important factors that threaten biodiversity.Rhododendron species are not only famous woody ornamental plants worldwide but are also indispensable components in alpine and subalpine vegetation in southwest China.However,the geographical distribution ranges response of this broad taxonomic group to future climate change remains not be fully understood.Herein,we studied the impact of climate change on the distribution of Rhododendron species in China by predicting the changes in their suitable habitats,centroid,and species richness under three climate change scenarios(SSP1-2.6,SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5)in the 2090s.The species richness changes of Rhododendrons along altitude were also evaluated.In addition,we calculated the phylogenetic signals of distribution response to climate change.We found that the distribution responses of Rhododendron to climate change have weak phylogenetic signals.In the 2090s,the suitable habitats of about 87%of Rhododendron species will be reduced,77%of Rhododendron species are manifested as northward migration.The high species richness of Rhododendrons tends to migrate to transboundary areas with high altitudes in China.Some Rhododendron species with no concern previously should be taken seriously for their high risk of habitat loss under climate change.Thus,the urgent protection of Rhododendron species under climate change need to be paid more attention than previous acknowledged.We recommend carrying out the reintroduction of endangered species in future suitable habitat,strengthening the protection of transboundary areas with high species richness,and focusing on species with few concerns previously.

Impacts of land use/cover change on water balance by using the SWAT model in a typical loess hilly watershed of China

Land use/cover change(LUCC)plays a key role in altering surface hydrology and water balance,finally affect-ing the security and availability of water resources.However,mechanisms underlying LUCC determination of water-balance processes at the basin scale remain unclear.In this study,the Soil and Water Assessment Tool(SWAT)model and partial least squares regression were used to detect the effects of LUCC on hydrology and water components in the Zuli River Basin(ZRB),a typical watershed of the Yellow River Basin.In general,three recommended coefficients(R^(2)and E ns greater than 0.5,and P bias less than 20%)indicated that the output results of the SWAT model were reliable and that the model was effective for the ZRB.Then,several key findings were obtained.First,LUCC in the ZRB was characterized by a significant increase in forest(21.61%)and settlement(23.52%)and a slight reduction in cropland(-1.35%),resulting in a 4.93%increase in evapotranspiration and a clear decline in surface runoffand water yield by 15.68%and 2.95%at the whole basin scale,respectively.Second,at the sub-basin scale,surface runoffand water yield increased by 14.26%-36.15%and 5.13%-15.55%,respectively,mainly due to settlement increases.Last,partial least squares regression indicated that urbanization was the most significant contributor to runoffchange,and evapotranspiration change was mainly driven by forest expansion.These conclusions are significant for understanding the relationship between LUCC and water balance,which can provide meaningful information for managing water resources and the long-term sustainability of such watersheds.

A Machine-Learning Approach for the Prediction of Fly-Ash Concrete Strength

The composite exciter and the CaO to Na_(2)SO_(4) dosing ratios are known to have a strong impact on the mechanical strength offly-ash concrete.In the present study a hybrid approach relying on experiments and a machine-learn-ing technique has been used to tackle this problem.The tests have shown that the optimal admixture of CaO and Na_(2)SO_(4) alone is 8%.The best 3D mechanical strength offly-ash concrete is achieved at 8%of the compound activator;If the 28-day mechanical strength is considered,then,the best performances are obtained at 4%of the compound activator.Moreover,the 3D mechanical strength offly-ash concrete is better when the dosing ratio of CaO to Na_(2)SO_(4) in the compound activator is 1:1;the maximum strength offly-ash concrete at 28-day can be achieved for a 1:1 ratio of CaO to Na_(2)SO_(4) by considering a 4%compound activator.In this case,the compressive andflexural strengths are 260 MPa and 53.6 MPa,respectively;the mechanical strength offly-ash concrete at 28-day can be improved by a 4:1 ratio of CaO to Na_(2)SO_(4) by considering 8%and 12%compound excitants.It is shown that the predictions based on the aforementioned machine-learning approach are accurate and reliable.

Glacier change in the Tanggula Mountains, Tibetan Plateau,in 1969-2015

To improve our knowledge of glacier change in the Tanggula Mountains located in the northeast of the Tibetan Plateau,we delineated outlines of the glaciers in 1991 and 2015 using Landsat TM/OLI images and compared them with the reported glacier data in the First Chinese Glacier Inventory in 1969 and the Second Chinese Glacier Inventory in 2007.These comparisons showed that the glacier area and ice volume decreased by 524.8 km2 and 37 km3,respectively.The majority of the glacier area loss was concentrated in the area class of 1-5 km2,between 5300 m and 5500 m in elevation,on north and east facing slopes and in the Dam Qu River basin.These glacier changes exhibited spatial and temporal differences.The glacier retreat rate gradually increased from 1969 to 2015,and the rate in the east was higher than that in the west.From 1969 to 2015,the warming rate in the Tanggula Mountains was 0.38°C/10a,while the annual precipitation only increased by 0.4%.The slight increase in the amount of precipitation made a limited contribution to glacier change,while the change in temperature led to noticeable shrinkage of the glaciers.Contrary to the retreat or stagnation of most glaciers in the study area,there were 10 glaciers that experienced clear advance in 1986-2015 with noticeable increases in both area and length.Whether or not these 10 glaciers are surge glaciers requires further study.

A novel model to assess soil productivity in the dry-hot valleys of China

Accurate evaluation of soil productivity has been a long-standing challenge. Although numerous models for productivity assessment exist, most are cumbersome to use and require substantial parameter inputs. We developed a new empirical soil productivity model based on field investigations of soil erosion, soil physicochemical properties, and crop yields in the dry-hot valleys(DHVs) in China. We found that soil p H, and organic matter and available potassium contents significantly affected crop yields under eroded conditions of the DHVs. Moreover, available potassium content was the key factor affecting soil productivity. We then modified an existing soil productivity model by adding the following parameters: contents of effective water, potassium, organic matter, and clay, soil p H, and root weighting factor. The modified soil productivity model explained 63.5% of the crop yield. We concluded that the new model was simple, realistic, and exhibited strong predictability. In addition to providing an accurate assessment of soil productivity, our model could potentially be applied as a soil module in comprehensive crop models.

Quantitative analysis of the macro-geomorphic evolution of Buyuan Basin, China

Buyuan River, the largest tributary within the Chinese Lancang-Mekong River region downstream of the Jinghong Dam, plays a crucial role in river function and ecosystem service of the Lancang-Mekong River. The geomorphic evolution of a basin exerts a key control on riverine sediment input and transport. In this study, the geomorphic characteristics of Buyuan Basin are analyzed using morphological parameters, hydrodynamic parameters and the stream power river incision model. The results show that: 1) The slight north-south difference of channel density is most likely due to lithology and independent of tectonic activity and climate. 2) The weak tectonic activity and the low hypsometric integral(HI) value suggest that the macroscopic landform condition limits erosion and sediment production. 3) The logarithmic longitudinal profile of the main channel defends that the upstream sediments generated by erosion are easily deposited in the downstream channel, rather than being transported directly into the Lancang-Mekong River. 4) Approximately 74% of the reaches have annual average stream power less than 500 W·m^(-1). The narrow variation ranges of stream power in 50% of the river channel indicate relatively stable hydrodynamic environment. 5) Stream erosion and tectonic activity make the longitudinal profiles of the main channel and most tributary channels unstable. The wide range(between 22.01 and 45.58 with θ=0.43) of steepness index(k_(sn)) of longitudinal profiles implies differential uplift in the basin.