Classification,metallogenesis and exploration of silver deposits in Daxing’anling of Inner Mongolia and its adjacent areas

By the end of 2020,83 silver deposits(or ore occurrences),including four super-large-scale deposits,nine large-scale deposits,33 medium-scale deposits and 37 small-scale deposits or ore occurrences,have been proved.The amount of silver metal exceeds 86000 t with average grade of 100 g/t,which makes Daxing’anling region one of the the most important silver ore belt in China.However,the metallogenic characteristics and metallogenesis need to be clarified.The silver deposits in the study area are classified into three main types,which are magmatic hydrothermal vein type,continental volcano-subvolcanic type and skarn type,respectively.The supergiant deposits include the Shuangjianzishan deposit(silver metal amount of 15214 t with average grade of 138 g/t),the Baiyinchagandongshan deposit(silver metal amount of 9446 t with average grade of 187 g/t),the Huaobaote deposit(silver metal amount of 6852 t with average grade of 170 g/t),and the Fuxingtun deposit(silver metal amount of 5240 t with average grade of 196 g/t).The silver deposits are mainly distributed in the central and south of the Daxing’anling area,and mainly formed in the Yanshanian period.The silver polymetallic deposits in the Daxinganling area are significantly controlled by regional faults and the junction zone of volcanic rock basins and their margins.The north-east trending deep faults are the most important ore-controlling structures in this area.The distribution of silver polymetallic deposits along the main faults is obvious,and the intersection area of multiple groups of faults often form important mine catchments.The Permian is the most important ore-bearing formation in this area,but some important silver polymetallic deposits occur in Mesozoic volcanic basins or pre-Mesozoic strata.The magmatic rocks related to mineralization are mainly intermediate acidic or acidic intrusions,intermediate acidic lavas,pyroclastic rocks,and small intrusions of ultra-shallow or shallow facies of the Yanshanian Period.The mineralization element combination is mainly determined by the elemental geochemical background of surrounding rocks or source layers.In addition,the type of deposit,the distance from the mineralization center,and the degree of differentiation of ore-forming rock mass are also important influence factors.The article analyzes the prospecting prospects of each silver deposit type in the study area,discusses the relationship between mineralization center and deep prospecting,and proposes that porphyry silver deposits should be paid attention to.In the prospecting and exploration of silver deposits,comprehensive evaluation and multi-target prospecting need to be strengthened because silver can coexist or be associated with a variety of metals.

Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the optical properties and radiative effects of urban brown carbon aerosol

Intensive measurements were conducted in Xi’an,China before and during a COVID-19 lockdown period to investigate how changes in anthropogenic emissions affected the optical properties and radiative effects of brown carbon(BrC)aerosol.The contribution of BrC to total aerosol light absorption during the lockdown(13%-49%)was higher compared with the normal period(4%-29%).Mass absorption cross-sections(MACs)of specific organic aerosol(OA)factors were calculated from a ridge regression model.Of the primary OA(POA),coal combustion OA(CCOA)had the largest MACs at all tested wave-lengths during both periods due to high molecular-weight BrC chromophores;that was followed by biomass burning OA(BBOA)and hydrocarbon-like OA(HOA).For secondary OA(SOA),the MACs of the lessoxidized oxygenated OA(OOA)species(LO-OOA)atλ=370-590 nm were higher than those of more-oxidized OOA(MO-OOA)during both periods,presumably due to chromophore bleaching.The largest contributor to BrC absorption at the short wavelengths was CCOA during both periods,but BrC absorption by LO-OOA and MO-OOA became dominant at longer wavelengths during the lockdown.The estimated radiation forcing efficiency of BrC over 370-600 nm increased from 37.5 W·gduring the normal period to 50.2 W·gduring the lockdown,and that enhancement was mainly caused by higher MACs for both LO-OOA and MO-OOA.This study provides insights into the optical properties and radiative effects of source-specific BrC aerosol when pollution emissions are reduced.

Early Miocene Paleoaltitude of the Tuotuohe Basin,Central-Northern Tibetan Plateau and its Tectonic Implications

Reconstruction of the paleoaltitude history of the Tibetan Plateau is critical for understanding the linkage between tectonics and its effect on regional and global climate change.Presently,most of the paleoaltitude studies are concentrated on the southern and southeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau,and few studies have been conducted in the central-northern part.In this paper we focused on the Wudaoliang Formation in the Tuotuohe Basin,central to northern Tibetan Plateau,to reconstruct paleoaltitude based on carbonate oxygen isotopes.The carbonate samples are primary or have experienced an early stage of digenesis.Based on the thermodynamic and empirical model results,the paleoaltitude of the Wudaoliang Formation is found to be around 2700–3260 m(average of 2980±280 m)in the early Miocene(~24 Ma).Integrating paleoaltitude results from Wudaoliang Basin and our results,we conclude that crustal shortening and tectonic activity were strong during the late Eocene to late Oligocene-early Miocene and relatively weak during the early Miocene in the central-northern Tibetan Plateau.

Elaborations of the influencing factors on the formation of secondary inorganic aerosols in a heavily polluted urban area of China

In this study,online water-soluble inorganic ions were detected to deduce the formation mechanism of secondary inorganic aerosol in Xianyang,China during wintertime.The dominant inorganic ions of sulfate(SO_(4)^(2-)),nitrate(NO_(3)^(-)),and ammonium(NH_(4)^(+))(the sum of those is abbreviated as SNA)accounted for 17%,21%,and 12% of PM_(2.5)mass,respectively.While the air quality deteriorated from excellent to poor grades,the precursor gas sulfur dioxide(SO_(2))of SO_(4)^(2-)increased and then decreased with a fluctuation,while nitrogen dioxide(NO_(2))and ammonia(NH_(3)),precursors of NO_(3)^(-)and NH_(4)^(+),and SNA show increasing trends.Meteorological factors including boundary layer height(BLH),temperature,and wind speed also show decline trends,except relative humidity(RH).Meanwhile,the secondary conversion ratio shows a remarkable increasing trend,indicating that there was a strong secondary transformation.From the perspective of chemical mechanisms,RH is positively correlated with sulfur oxidation ratios(SOR),nitrogen oxidation ratios(NOR),and ammonia conversion ratios,representing that the increase of humidity could promote the generation of SNA.Notably,SOR and NOR were also positively related to the ammonia.On the one hand,the low wind speed and BLH led to the accumulation of pollutants.On the other hand,the increases of RH and ammonia promoted more formations of SNA and PM_(2.5).The results advance our identification of the contributors to the haze episodes and assist to establish more efficient emission controls in Xianyang,in addition to other cities with similar emission and geographical characteristics.

Estimating PM_(2.5) concentrations in a central region of China usinga three-stage model

Owing to uneven environmental monitoring site distribution,there are significant spatial data gaps for concentrations of ambientfine particles with diameters≤2.5µm(PM_(2.5))obtained using traditional monitoring methods.Satellite products are an alternative data source for locations where monitoring sites are unavailable.The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS)aerosol optical depth(AOD)product has been widely used in PM_(2.5) assessment for years;however,it has obvious data gaps in winter.Here,the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite(VIIRS)AOD was applied to supplement MODIS AOD data to obtain a fused AOD dataset.A three-stage model consisting of a corrected AOD model,mixed effects model,and geographically weighted regression model was developed and used with meteorological and vegetation factors to estimate PM_(2.5).Results showed overall modelfitting by cross-validation(CV)with an R^(2) of 0.92,mean absolute error of 5.72μg/m^(3),and root mean square error of 7.15μg/m^(3).The combination of MODIS AOD and VIIRS AOD was a suitable method for enhancing AOD coverage.The CV R^(2) value of the three-stage model(0.92)was higher than that of the two-stage model(0.9).Hence,the three-stage model could achieve a betterfit in estimating PM_(2.5) on a regional scale.

树轮记录的华北地区过去三个世纪的干旱变化

Droughts are the most frequent natural disaster in regions at the margins of the East Asian summer monsoon(EASM),which pose threats to agriculture,the economy,and human lives.However,the limitations of only approximately 60 years of meteorological observations hamper our understanding of the characteristics and mechanisms of local hydroclimate.Trees growing in the marginal region of the EASM are usually sensitive to moisture variations and have played important roles in past hydroclimatic reconstructions.Here,a 303-year tree-ring-width chronology of Pinus tabulaeformis from Mt.Lama,which is located in the junction of the Liaoning Province and Inner Mongolia,China,was used to reconstruct the May-August Palmer drought severity index(PDSI)in the marginal region of the EASM.The transfer function explains 48.0%(or 47.2%after adjusting for the loss of the degrees of freedom)of the variance over the calibration period from 1946 to 2012.A spatial correlation analysis demonstrates that our PDSI reconstruction can represent the drought variability on the northernmost margin of the EASM.The winter Asian polar vortex area index showed a delayed impact on the summer EASM precipitation in the following year.