Phytolith records of the climate change since the past 15000 years in the middle reach of the Yangtze River in China

Based on 14C dating and core sediments survey, phytolith records are employed to reconstruct paleovegetation and paleoclimate in the Jianghan Plain in the middle reach of the Yangtze River. Phytoliths identified are assigned into 21 well-described morphotypes and divided into four groups （Poaceae, fern, coniferous and broad-leaved）. The phytolith assemblages together with warmth index （Iw） are divided into 18 ecological zones, which reflect a complete vegetation history related to climate change in the middle reach of the Yangtze River during the past 15000 years. On the basis of the correlation ofphytolith records with the paleoclimatic indicators from stalagmite, peatland, North Atlantic deep-sea sediments, Loess Plateau of Central China, and Arabic Sea sediments, eight climatic phases are identified included Last Glacial Maximum （LGM） （20- 14.8 cal kaBP）, Last Deglaciation （LDG） （14.8-11.9 cal kaBP）, low-temperature phase in the Early Holocene （11.9-8 cal kaBP）, Holocene Opti- mum （8-4.9cal kaBP）, Holocene Katathermal （4.9- 1.1 cal kaBP）, Medieval Warmth Period （MWP） （1.1- 0.7 cal kaBP）, Little Ice Age （LIA） （0.7-0.15 cal kaBP）, and Modem Warming （0.15 cal kaBP-present）. Climatic events such as Bolling-Allerod warm intervals, Older Dryas, Inter-Allerod Cold Period, and Younger Dryas, and eight Holocene Bond events （B1-8） have been identified since the LDG. Our results demonstrate that the evolution of the climate in the research area has a strong link with the Indian Summer Monsoon （SW Monsoon）, Asian Summer Monsoon （SE Monsoon）, and Holocene events in North Atlantic simultaneously, which might indicate that solar variability affects the Earth surface climate system at the centennial and millennial scales.

Iron and lead ion adsorption by microbial flocculants in synthetic wastewater and their related carbonate formation

Although microbial treatments of heavy metal ions in wastewater have been studied, the removal of these metals through incorporation into carbonate minerals has rarely been reported. To investigate the removal of Fe^3＋ and Pb^2＋, two representative metals in wastewater, through the precipitation of carbonate minerals by a microbial flocculant （MBF） produced by Bacillus mucilaginosus. MBF was added to synthetic wastewater containing different Fe^3＋ and Pb^2＋ concentrations, and the extent of flocculation was analyzed. CO2 was bubbled into the mixture of MBF and Fe^3＋/Pb^2＋ to initiate the reaction. The solid substrates were analyzed via X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. The results showed that the removal efficiency decreased and the MBF adsorption capacity for metals increased with increasing heavy metal concentration. In the system containing MBF, metals （Fe^3＋ and Pb^2＋）, and CO2, the concentrated metals adsorbed onto the MBF combined with the dissolved CO2, resulting in oversaturation of metal carbonate minerals to form iron carbonate and lead carbonates. These results may be used in designing a method in which microbes can be utilized to combine CO2 with wastewater heavy metals to form carbonates, with the aim of mitigating environmental problems.