Holocene climatic and environmental changes recorded in Baahar Nuur Lake core in the Ordos Plateau, Inner Mongolia of China

A 5.3 m lake core was drilled in Baahar Nuur Lake in the Ordos Plateau, and measurements of meangrain size, organic δ 13C (δ 13Corg), organic carbon content (TOC), C/N, carbonate content, carbonate δ 13C(δ 13Ccar) and δ 18O (δ 18Ocar) were conducted for retrieving the Holocene chronosequence of climaticchanges based on 15 AMS 14C dates. The record documented four major stages of climate change inthe Ordos Plateau: (IV) a cold and dry condition before ～7.65 14C ka BP; (III) a warm and humid stagebetween ～7.65 and ～5.40 ka BP; (II) a generally drier and cooler climate since ～5.40 ka BP with twohumid events occurring from ～4.70 to ～4.60 ka BP and from ～4.20 to ～3.70 ka BP, and (I) a dry climatecharacterized by complete desiccation of the lake after 3.70 ka BP. Stage III can be further divided intothree sub-stages: (IIIa) a warm and humid episode from ～7.65 to ～6.70 ka BP, (IIIb) a warm and relativelydry episode from ～6.70 to ～6.20 ka BP, and (IIIc) the magthermal and maghumid episode of the Holo-cene from ～6.20 to ～5.40 ka BP.     

Bilinear R-Parity Violation and τ干κ土 Mixing Production in e+e- Colliders

An extended minimum supersymmetric standard model, characterized by bilinear R-parity violations through the third generation lepton number (τ) in superpotential and the soft breaking SUSY tefms, is constructed. The masses of CP-odd Higgs bosons and those of charged Higgs bosons are estimated with proper formulation and possible parametrization. Several interestingfeatures, such as the mixing among τ lepton and charginos etc., are discussed precisely. Taking an example, we compute the ‘mixing production’ e⁺e^- → τ^干κ_i^土(i = 1, 2) cross sections in e⁺e^- colliders, where τ^干κ_i^土 (i = 1, 2) denote the physical τ lepton and the lightest charginos respectively.     

Spatiotemporal variations of Zr/Rb ratio in three last interglacial paleosol profiles across the Chinese Loess Plateau and its implications for climatic interpretation

The ratio of Zirconium to Rubidium （Zr/Rb） is suggested to be a better proxy for the East Asian winter monsoon strength than the widely-used grain size distribution. The rationale for the Zr/Rb proxy relies on the following assumptions： （1） Grain size fractionating characteristics during eolian dust transport should be archived in the Zr/Rb ratio records and this assumption is based on the premise that Zr is preferentially enriched in coarser grain size fraction while Rb tend to be enriched in finer grain size fraction; and （2） post-depositional weathering does not change the Zr/Rb ratio due to the immobility of these two elements. To examine these two assumptions, three last interglacial paleosols （S1） from Dingxi, Tianshui and Lantian, along a NW-SE transect across the Chinese Loess Plateau, were geo- chemically investigated. Our results show that the Rb concentration exhibits an increasing trend along the NW-SE transect both in the paleosol （S1） and the measured portions of the loess units （L1 and L2）, being supportive to the assumption that Rb is enriched in the fine particles. But we also found that Rb loss did occur to some extent in the three profiles, contradicting to the presumption of Rb immobility during pedogenic processes. The Zr concentration exhibits an expected decreasing trend in the measured portions of the loess units and an unexpected increasing trend in the paleosol along the NW-SE transect. Moreover, the ratios of Zirconium to Hafnium （Zr/Hf） show different variation patterns between interglacial and glacial, implying that Zr-bearing minerals and their resident grain size fractions are probably not identical during interglacial and glacial. Thus, the assumption that Zr is enriched in coarse grain size fraction can no longer hold. We conclude that the final Zr/Rb value is not only dependent on grain size sorting processes but also on post-depositional alteration and source prove- nance. Under enhanced chemical weathering, especially when chemical index of alterat     

Characteristics of stemflow for sand-fixed shrubs in Mu Us sandy land, Northwest China

Little work has been done on stemflow for desert shrubs in China. This study measured stemflow in two shrubs of Salix psammophila C. Wang et Chang Y. Yang and Artemisia sphaerocephala Krasch in Mu Us sandy land and established a relationship between stemflow and canopy characteristics, rainfall amount and intensity. During the experimental period, the amount of stemflow for S. psammophila and A. sphaerocephala accounted for 7.6% and 2.7% of the gross rainfall respectively. Statistical analysis showed that there was a significant positive linear correlation between rainfall and stemflow for the two shrubs; while the relationship between stemflow percentage and rainfall suggested that there existed a rainfall depth threshold of 3-5 mm for S. psammophila and 5-7 mm for A. sphaerocephala. Stemflow percentage positively increased with rainfall depth increasing before the rainfall depth threshold values had been reached but showed stability after the threshold. A stepwise regression analysis suggested that the shrubs with more branches, larger crown volume and smaller branch angle inclination tended to collect more volumes of stemflow. Moreover, stemflow amount and percentage increased with the maximum rain intensity increasing in 10 minutes （l10） and the stemflow percentage tended to increase quickly with l10 when it was less than 3.0 mm h^-1 for S. psammophila and 2.0 mm h^-1 for A. sphaerocephala, and then showed stable trend with increasing of 110.