Discovery of the Plagiogranites in the Diyanmiao Ophiolite,Southeastern Central Asian Orogenic Belt,Inner Mongolia,China and Its Tectonic Significance

In this study, plagiogranites in the Diyanmiao ophiolite of the southeastern Central Asian Orogenic Belt （Altaids） were investigated for the first time. The plagiogranites are composed predominantly of albite and quartz, and occur as irregular intrusive veins in pillow basalts. The plagiogranites have high SiO2 （74.37-76.68wt%） and low A1203 （11.99-13.30wt%）, and intensively high Na20 （4.52-5.49wt%） and low K20 （0.03-0.40wt%） resulting in high Na20/K20 ratios （11.3-183）. These rocks are classified as part of the low-K tholeiitic series. The plagiogranites have low total rare earth element contents （∑REE）（23.62-39.77ppm）, small negative Eu anomalies （JEu=0.44-0.62）, and flat to slightly LREE-depleted chondrite-normalized REE patterns （（La/Yb）N=0.68-0.76）, similar to N-MORB. The plagiogranites are also characterized by Th, U, Zr, and Hf enrichment, and Nb, P, and Ti depletion, have overall flat primitivemantle-normalized trace element patterns. Field and petrological observations and geochemical data suggest that the plagiogranites in the Diyanmiao ophiolite are similar to fractionation-type plagiogranites. Furthermore, the REE patterns of the plagiogranites are similar to those of the gabbros and pillow basalts in the ophiolite. In plots of SREE-SiO2, La-SiO2, and Yb-SiO2, the plagiogranites, pillow basalts, and gabbros show trends typical of crystal fractionation. As such, the plagiogranites are oceanic in origin, formed by crystal fractionation from basaltic magmas derived from depleted mantle, and are part of the Diyanmiao ophiolite. LA-ICP-MS U-Pb dating of zircons from the plagiogranites yielded ages of 328.6±2.1 and 327.1±2.1Ma, indicating an early Carboniferous age for the Diyanmiao ophiolite. These results provide petrological and geochronological evidence for the identification of the Erenhot-Hegenshan oceanic basin and Hegenshan suture of the Paleo-Asian Ocean.

Groundwater evapotranspiration under psammophilous vegetation covers in the Mu Us Sandy Land, northern China

Groundwater is a significant component of the hydrological cycle in arid and semi-arid areas. Its evapotranspiration is an important part of the water budget because many plants are groundwater-dependent. To restore the degraded ecosystems, the need is pressing to further our understanding of the groundwater evapotranspiration（ET_g） in arid and semi-arid areas. This study employed the White method to estimate ET_g at four sites in the Mu Us Sandy Land in northern China, and the four sites are covered by Salix psammophila（SP site）, Artemisia ordosica（AO site）, Poplar alba（PA site）, and Carex enervis（CE site）, respectively. The depth of groundwater table and the duration of drainage were taken into account in calculating the specific yield（S_y） to improve the accuracy of the ET_g estimats. Our results showed that from late May to early November 2013 the ET_g were 361.87（SP site）, 372.53（AO site）, 597.86（PA site） and 700.76 mm（CE site）, respectively. The estimated ET_g rate was also species-dependent and the descending order of the ET_g rate for the four vegetation was： C. enervis, P. alba, A. ordosica, and S. psammophila. In addition, the depth of groundwater table has an obvious effect on the ET_g rate and the effect varied with the vegetation types. Furthermore, the evapotranspiration for the vegetation solely relying on the water supply from unsaturated layers above the groundwater table was much less than that for the vegetation heavily relying on the water supply from shallow aquifers.

Response of larch species to climate changes

Global warming has changed the distributions of forests of northeastern China.Larix are very important species in this area.Predicting the potential distributions of Larix species and their responses to climate change would attract more and more attention.This paper predicted the potential distributions of three Larix species based on‘climatic-topographic’relationships by logistic regression.The results showed that L.gmelinii is predicted to retreat northwestward by 220 km by 2050 and by 270 km more by 2100;L.olgensis var.changpaiensis is predicted to retreat northwestward by 200 km by 2050 and by 190 to 300 km more by 2100;L.principis-rupprechtii is predicted to retreat northeastward by 200 km by 2050 and by 250 to 400 km more by 2100.This indicated that L.gmelinii could have its optimum latitude moved into Russia,L.olgensis var.changpaiensis could move to the Small Xing’an Mountains and L.principisrupprechtii would move to the middle part of the Great Xing’an Mountains.