The water column flow velocity of 36 river sections in the river reach between Hankou (Wuhan) and Wuxue of the middle-lower Changjiang River. Their cross sectional distribution patterns in relation to the river channel morphologies were examined by using ship-mounted ADCP (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler) instrument. The results indicate four (I–VI) types of river channel morphology associated flow patterns: I-laterally deepening riverbed topographic pattern; II-symmetrical to asymmetrical riverbed topographic pattern; III-relative flat riverbed topographic pattern, and IV-sandbar supported riverbed topographic pattern. All these correspond to the different patterns of flow velocity distribution. The maximum flow velocity is usually related to the deeper water depth, but irregular water column distribution of flow current velocity results often from the vortices’ current associated with river knots. Deeper river water depth is usually identified in the river reach located slightly downstream to the river knot, where faster flow velocity occurs. Downward change in flow velocity fits semi-log law, showing an exponential decreasing flow current with the maximum flow velocity near the water surface. However, in the river reach near the river knots, the water column distribution of flow current velocity does not fit the semi-log law, showing the irregular flow current pattern. This study, in context of river catchment management, highlights the controls of riverbed morphology to the flow current structure, which will shed light on the post study of Three Gorges damming in 2009.

The grain size and element (including redox sensitive elements and terrigenous elements) concentration of surface sediments from the Changjiang Estuary hypoxia zone and its adjacent sea area were measured in this research. Based on the obtained data, the hypoxic environment’s influence on the distribution of elements in surface sediments was further studied. We believe that the “redox environment effect” greatly influences the distribution of the RSE, which reveals the “patchy enrichment pattern” offshore in the hypoxia zone, while the distribution of the terrigenous elements which shows the “stripped enrichment pattern” near shore is mainly affected by “granularity effects”. Due to the existence of the hypoxia zone of the Changjiang Estuary, the distribution of the RSE such as Mo, Cd and V in the study area exhibits the characteristics of “redox environment effects”.

Authors collected 38 sedimentary boreholes and numerous seismic profiles from previous publications to delineate the Holocene sedimentation rate of six major depositional sinks in the middle-lower Changjiang River basins and its river coast. The results demonstrate that the highest sedimentation rate of ca. 15 m/ka occurred in the mono-depositional sink of the former Changjiang River mouth during 10 000–8000 aBP, when post-glacial transgression happened and the Changjiang water level remained at lower stand. With the rising of the Changjiang water level in response to sea level rise, Jianghan Basin of the middle Changjiang River becomes the other important depositional sink with highest sedimentation rate of 10 m/ka since 7000 aBP. As Jianghan Basin was mostly filled up at ca. 4000 aBP, Dongting Basin and the lower Changjiang valley trapped sediments in great amounts like in the river mouth. A considerable amount of Changjiang sediments has been delivered, both eastward and southward, to the inner continental shelf of the East China Sea, especially after 2000 aBP. This indicates reduced sediment storage capacity of the middle-lower Changjiang valley and the river mouth. In total, ca. 1307.4 billion tons of sediment have deposited in the middle-lower Changjiang floodplain since 7000 aBP. In the meantime, ca. 947 billion tons of sediment have been deposited in the river coast to form the Changjiang subaqueous delta and the Zhejiang-Fujian along-shelf mud wedge. Our result also reveals two time stages with lower sedimentation rates(< 4 m/ka) in all basins during 8000–7000 aBP and in the estuarine area during 4000–2000 aBP, probably owing to stengthened chemical weathering of decline of monsoon precipitation.

The global weather of today is growing significantly warmer; this is an indisputable fact. However, the scientific community has not yet reached consensus on the causes of global warming and its possible consequences. This paper introduces the causes of global warming and summarizes its results, which both involve a series of huge and complex system issues. Our top priority is to pinpoint the main reason and the interrelated links between causative factors by adopting a macro-approach, or comprehensive comparison analysis. Its physical mechanism was then determined and its digital model established after quantitative study.

In this paper, the data on the paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental changes during the Holocene are presented and a discussion is made on a 225-cm-long sediment core from Ulungur Lake, located in Northwest China. The chronology is constructed from six AMS radiocarbon dates on the bulk organic matter. On the basis of the analysis of ostracod assemblages and the shell stable isotopes, the core is divided into three paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental evolution stages: 9 985–5 250 cal.aB.P. stage is the wettest phase of the core section. The climate changed from moderate-dry to cool-wet, and then to warm-wet in turn, and the lake level rose accordingly, showing the characteristic of a high lake level. 5 250–1 255 cal.aB.P. stage was the driest phase of the core sediment. The climate turned from the early warm-dry to the late warm-wet and the lake level fell and rose again. Finally, the 1 255 cal.aB.P. stage was the medium stage of the section. The temperature was low and then increased after the 1920s and the climate was dry. The whole climatic and environmental evolution records of Lake Ulungur were not only in agreement with the sporopollen record of the same core but also in agreement with the record of environmental changes of adjacent areas. It responded to regional environmental changes and global abrupt climate events, following the westerly climate change mode on 100-year-scale, primarily with cold-wet and warm-dry characteristics.

The Cretaceous is an important period in which many geological events occurred, especially the OAEs (oceanic anoxic events) which are characterized by black shale, and the oxic process characterized by CORBs (Cretaceous oceanic red beds). In this paper, the causative mechanism behind the formation of black shale and the oceanic red beds are described in detail. This may explain how the oceanic environment changed from anoxic to oxic in the Cretaceous period. It is suggested that these two different events happened because of the same cause. On the one hand, the large-scale magma activities in Cretaceous caused the concentration of CO₂, the release of the inner energy of the earth, superficial change in the ocean-land, and finally, the increase of atmospheric temperature. These changes implied the same tendency as the oceanic water temperature show, and caused the decrease in O₂ concentration in the Cretaceous ocean, and finally resulted in the occurrence of the OAEs. On the other hand, violent and frequent volcanic eruptions in the Cretaceous produced plenty of Fe-enriched lava on the seafloor. When the seawater reacted with the lava, the element Fe became dissolved in seawater. Iron, which could help phytoplankton grow rapidly, is a micronutrient essential to the synthesis of enzymes required for photosynthesis in the oceanic environment. Phytoplankton, which grows in much of the oceans around the world, can consume carbon dioxide in the air and the ocean. Meanwhile, an equal quantity of oxygen can be produced by the phytoplankton during its growth. Finally, the oxic environment characterized by red sediment rich in Fe³⁺ appeared. The anoxic and oxic conditions in the Cretaceous ocean were caused by volcanic activities, but they stemmed from different causative mechanisms. The former was based on physical and chemical processes, while the latter involved more complicated bio-oceanic-geochemical processes.

The relationship between the variation of ?¹⁸O in precipitation in Yarlungzangbo River basin and the moisture flux was analyzed with NCEP/NCAR reanalysis grid data and ?¹⁸O in precipitation at four stations (Lazi, Nugesha, Yangcun and Nuxia) of the region investigated. In terms of spatial variations, there is obviously a positive correlation between them for the entire basin. With the decrease in moisture flux from the downstream to the upstream area, ?¹⁸O in precipitation became gradually decreased. However, in terms of temporal variations, higher ?¹⁸O in precipitation during spring is linked to small moisture flux while low ?¹⁸O in precipitation during summer is linked to large moisture flux. A model involving meteorological data from NCEP/NCAR was subsequently set up which successfully traced the moisture transport trajectories at Yangcun station. Based on the traced moisture transport trajectories and the ?¹⁸O in precipitation at Yangcun station, the relationship between ?¹⁸O in precipitation in Yarlungzangbo River basin and the moisture transport history was discussed. We found that the humid marine air mass from the Indian Ocean in general has significantly lower ?¹⁸O values than the continental air mass from the north or local re-evaporation. The fluctuation of ?¹⁸O in precipitation during the monsoon season is very pronounced; the lower values are usually related to farther distance and multilayer moisture transport, as well as moisture crossing the Himalaya Mountains.

Based on sampling depths, the research environment of the soil in a study area is divided into two parts: the I environment (I-E) and the II environment (II-E). The results of the statistical analysis of arsenic (As) in the soil of the I-E indicates that the statistical characteristic value obey a normal distribution. The mean value of As is close to the world mean value, China and Tianjin City. Also, the contrast between the spatial change characteristics of As of the I-E and the II-E soils showed that the I-E resembles the II-E in the content variety of As. On the other hand, geochemistry methods were applied in the estimation of contaminated extent. The results indicated that the contamination extent of the north of Tianjin City has not been serious.

The ten-year progress of Chinese polar geodesy from 1996 to 2006 is summarized. Research on plate motion, crustal movement, orbit determination, and atmospheric monitoring, including the ionosphere and troposphere, were performed using GPS data of the Great Wall Station, Zhongshan Station and Yellow River Station. GPS was also applied in the Amery Ice Shelf, Grove Mountains and Dome A expeditions to study ice dynamics. During the 2004/2005 austral summer season, the absolute gravity and relative gravity were measured at the Great Wall Station with precision within ± 3 × 10^-8 ms^-2 and ± 10 × 10^-8 ms^-2 respectively. The tide gauge, which was set up in Zhongshan Station to monitor sea level change in 2000, recorded the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. SAR interferometry was applied to build the DEM of ice sheet and monitor ice flow in the polar region.

Bohaiwan basin, covering an area of 200 000 km², is one of the most important oil-bearing basins in Eastern China. Rifting processes formed the basin, and two evolution phases can be recognized. The rifting phase developed in Paleogene, and post-rifting phase occurred in Neogene. More than 200 oil fields have been found in the onshore and offshore area in Bohaiwan basin in recent years. The distribution of the oil fields is closely related to the rich hydrocarbon depressions, and the Huanghekou depression is one of these rich hydrocarbon depressions. A number of large and medium-sized oil and gas fields have been found in this area, such as BZ25-1, BZ34 etc., and the hydrocarbon was mainly from the Huanghekou depression. The formation of rich hydrocarbon source rocks depended on the tectonic setting of rapid subsidence, favorable paleoclimatic conditions and paleolimnology environments. The effects of paleoclimatic condition on hydrocarbon source rocks are the focus of this paper.

Bohai Bay basin, a typical extensional rift basin, and Ordos basin, an intra-craton down-warped basin, represent two important basin types in China. Because of their respective features, the main control factors for their high quality reservoirs are different. In Bohai Bay basin, the sandbody shows great variety in types and severely separated distribution and its high quality reservoirs are mostly controlled by the vertical secondary pore and vertical abnormal pressure. On the other hand, the sandbody in Ordos basin features a relative lack of variety, good continuity, indistinct vertical zone, and its reservoirs are mainly controlled by the diagenetic differentiation caused by different sedimentation inside the sandbody. Therefore, in the Bohai Bay basin, the exploration should be based on the analysis of sedimentary facies and the favorable diagenetic zones and formations. The focus in Ordos basin, however, should be put on the relatively high permeability sandstones in a generally low permeable sandstone background.

The comprehensive study of the tectonics-sequence stratigraphic-petroleum system shows that five sets of major regional and some local source rocks were developed in the tectonic evolution of South China, including the Lower Cambrian and Lower Silurian in the Caledonian cycle, the Middle Permian and Upper Permian in the Hercynian cycle, and the Lower Triassic in the Indo-Sinian cycle. Due to the inhomogeneous maturity of source rocks in this area, gas exploration would mainly be carried out in the Lower Paleozoic areas, while oil and gas exploration would be in the Upper Paleozoic ones. The reformation from the Indo-Sinian cycle to the Himalayan cycle exerted decisive influence on the hydrocarbon accumulation in the Mesozoic–Cenozoic basin and marine sequences in southern China. The petroleum systems formed in the medium–late period of the superimposed basins are of the greatest potential. The distribution of primary and secondary oil-gas pools was mainly affected by favorable sedimentary facies, ancient uplift and slope. The comprehensive evaluation concluded that the focuses for petroleum exploration in the marine sequences of southern China will be in the superimposed basins along the margin of Yangtze landmass, the Subei-southern South Yellow Sea basin and the marine sequences preserved under the over-thrust nappe along the northern margin of the Jiangnan uplift.

Based on analysis of the well drilling core from Subei basin, the authors conclude that during the Late Cretaceous and Paleocene, Subei basin was linked with the sea and the deposit was affected by transgression. The cause of marine transgression may be that since Late Cretaceous and Paleocene tension power had predominated ground-stress conditions of the East China Sea and developed a series of half-graben-like basins filled by a huge thick sediment of the Early Tertiary in the shelf of Huabei–Bohai gulf, Subei–South Yellow Sea and East China Sea. Consequently, seawater transgressed from the East China Sea to the Yellow Sea and linked half-graben-like basins on the shelf to the sea within a short period. During the sedimentation of the Late Cretaceous Taizhou Formation and Paleocene Funing Formation, the Subei basin had formed the ostracoda-enriched dark shale, including predominantly the whole basin E₁f₂ Formation and E₁f₄ Formation and local K₂t₂ Formation, which became the main source rocks of the basin. The evidence of paleontology, minerals in rocks and geochemistry can help confirm the environment of the lake basin that developed during the Late Cretaceous and Paleocene. We generally designate this environment as “near sea lake basin” and the sea-transgressed layer and member as “transgression lake basin”. Whereas, it is generally called “inland lake and river alluvium plain” during the sedimentation of the Eocene Dainan Formation and Sanduo Formation. This research is not only significant to the paleogeographic reconstruction of the Subei basin during the Late Cretaceous and Paleocene, but also important in understanding the development and distribution of the source rocks and evaluating the potential of oil and gas generation.

Northeast Sichuan basin is a Mesozoic–Cenozoic basin in the northern margin of the Yangtze plate which has a complex tectonic background and hydrocarbon accumulation history. By means of the analysis method of wave processes, major cycles of sedimentary wave process in this basin have been studied. The results show that there are five-order cycles corresponding to 760, 220, 100, 35 and 20 Ma respectively, two first-order sedimentary cycles (220 Ma) and four second-order sedimentary cycles (100 Ma). The authors find that the second-order sedimentary cycles are well matched with reservoir formation cycles through studying the relationship between second-order sedimentary cycles and reservoir formation cycles, and divide three reservoir formation cycles in this basin.

The study of oil geologic anomalies is a new area of petroleum geology. Using the evidence weight method, we selected tectonic, hydrocarbon abundance of source rock, thickness of source rock, level of reservoir, complexity of reservoir, degree of mineralization of formation water as the evidence layer to evaluate the favorable zones of pool forming in the Lower Paleozoic in the north edge of the Middle and Lower Yangtze areas. Finally, we integrated our results with the petroleum geology of this area and concluded that the North Sichuan basin, the western area of Hubei and the eastern area of Chongqing and parts of the Lower Yangtze are the most profitable areas for exploration in the north edge of the Lower and Middle Yangtze areas.