Seasonal and spatial variations of heavy metalsin surface sediments collected from the BaoxiangRiver in the Dianchi Watershed, China

To explore potential ecological hazards due to heavy metals in the Dianchi Lake Watershed, a three-stage European Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) sequential extraction procedure was applied to examine the spatial distributions and relative speciation ratios of Zn, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Cr in Baoxiang River sediments during wet and dry seasons. The metal species have similar spatial variations during different seasons. In the upstream reaches of the Baoxiang River, heavy metals reside primarily in the non-extractable residual fraction (72&ndash;90%). In the midstream, the residual fraction (35&ndash;89%) remains dominant, but the extractable fraction increases, featuring especially notable increases in the reducible fraction (5&ndash;40%). Downstream, the Cu, Ni, Pb, and Cr residual fractions remain high (46&ndash;80%) and the extractable fractions increase rapidly; the Zn extractable fraction is quite high (65.5%). Anthropogenic sources drive changes in heavy metal speciation. Changes in the river environment, such as pH and oxidation-reduction potential, also affect speciation. The reducible fraction of heavy metals in Baoxiang River sediments is most sensitive to pH. Potential ecological risk assessments for these five elements indicate that risks from Zn and Pb are mild to moderate in the middle and lower reaches of the river.<br style="line-height: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-size-adjust: auto;" /

Geochemical characteristics and environmental significance of Talede loess-paleosol sequences of Ili Basin in Central Asia

The loess-paleosol deposit in Central Asia is a sensitive indicator of the evolution of the quaternary paleoclimate in the Westerlies, providing insight into the quaternary climate history and its relationship with global climatic changes. Based on the geochemical analysis of elemental composition of densely sampled strata from Talede loess-paleosol sequence in the Ili Basin, the results showed that SiO2had the highest major elements content, followed by Al2O3. The order of compositional abundance of major elements was generally as follows: SiO2&gt; Al2O3&gt; CaO &gt; Fe2O3&gt; MgO &gt; Na2O &gt; K2O. Trace elements (i.e. Rb, Sr, Sc, Ni, Cu, Ga, Mo, Y, Pb, Th) in the paleosol layers (i.e. S0, Sm, S1) and the loess layer of L1were enriched relative to underlain loess (L2) horizons, except for the contents of Zr, Cs, Nd, and La in paleosol layers. All of geochemical proxies, such as enrichment factor, Rb/Sr ratio, eluvial coefficient (Ki) and chemical weathering index, display no obvious differentiation in the Talede loess-paleosol deposit. The results indicate that the weak chemical weathering, greater evaporation and low effective moisture in Ili Basin, are to a degree weaker than those in the China Loess Plateau and the climate was warm-dry during the interglacial period. In addition, the loess of Ili area is rich in schistose minerals and implies that the loess may come from the deserts of Central Asia and it may be closely related to the widespread aridification of Central Asia.</p

Evaluating OSL-SAR protocols for dating quartz grains from the loess in Ili Basin, Central Asia

Late Pleistocene records of loess deposition are a critical archive for understanding terrestrial paleo-environment changes in Central Asia. The age of loess is not well known for the deserts regions and surrounding high plateaus in Central Asia. Previous studies have shown that there remains a disparity between ages for loess deposition by luminescence and C-14 dating. This study evaluates the potential of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) to date a loess sequence resting on fluvial sands in the east Ili Basin, Central Asia. The single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) protocol on coarse grain quartz was employed for equivalent dose determinations. The basal fluvial sand returned a secure OSL age, with low overdispersion value in equivalent doses (19 +/- 2%) of ca. 36 ka and provides a close, but maximum age estimate (within 5 ka) on the initiation of loess deposition. However, the loess yielded high overdispersion values for equivalent doses and age reversals, coincident with diffuse paleosols; indicating that pedoturbation with loess deposition may be a dominant process. OSL ages between ca. 45 and 14 ka calculated using a maximum age model and OSL ages from other sites in the Basin suggests that the latest major period of loess deposition was between 70 and 10 ka ago. A future hypothesis to test based on these analyses is that there may be three periods of heightened loess deposition at ca. 45, 35 to 19 and 14 ka, when desert source areas to the west were particularly dry.</p