Ziting Liu

Chromosomal localization of 5S and 18S-5.8S-25S ribosomal DNA sites in five Asian pines using fluorescence in situ hybridization.

Abstract.Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was employed on mitotic metaphase chromosome preparations of five Asian Pinus species: Pinus tabuliformis, Pinus yunnanensis, Pinus densata, Pinus massoniana and Pinus merkusii, using simultaneously DNA probes of the 18S rRNA gene and the 5S rRNA gene including the non-transcribed spacer sequences. The number and location of 18S rDNA sites varied markedly (5–10 pairs of strong signals) among the five pines. A maximum of 20 major 18S rDNA sites was observed in the diploid genome (2n = 24) of P. massoniana. The 5S rDNA FISH pattern was less variable, with one major site and one minor site commonly observed in each species. The differentiation of rDNA sites on chromosomes among the five pines correlates well with their phylogenic positions in Pinus as reconstructed from other molecular data. P. densata, a species of hybrid origin, resembles its parents (P. tabuliformis and P. yunnanensis), including some components characteristic of each parent in its pattern. However, the species is unique, showing new features resulting possibly from recombination and genome reorganization.

Geochemical compositions of soluble salts in aeolian sands from the Taklamakan and Badanjilin deserts in northern China, and their influencing factors and environmental implications

Two large sandy seas in northern China, the Taklamakan and Badanjilin deserts, were investigated for geochemical variations of soluble salts in aeolian sands. The aim was to explore factors influencing the composition and distribution of soluble salts in aeolian sands and their environmental implications. The total concentrations of soluble salt in the aeolian sands range between 0.14 and 1.32‰, with pH ranging between 8.4 and 9.6, indicating a primary degree of salt accumulation and alkaline soil conditions in these regions. Sodium chloride and bicarbonate are the major salts. High inter-regional homogenization and small local differences in the chemical compositions and distributional patterns of salt occur in the two deserts. The spatial variations in salt content correlate with regional climatic parameters, such as precipitation and temperature. This suggests that the regional air temperature and moisture conditions of climate have a significant influence on the soluble salts in aeolian sands. The domination of sedimentation of soluble salts in aeolian sands deposited via atmospheric processes, which is heavily associated with dry deposition, is discussed. Case studies from the two deserts suggest that variations in salt content in sedimentary sequences, interlaid by aeolian and lacustrine sediments, should be interpreted with care if the aim is to reveal palaeo-environmental changes. To a certain extent, the two deserts, as inferred from the carbon-bearing salts and the alkalinity of the sandy soils, appear to have potential to provide a significant contribution to the global carbon cycle.

Formation and evolution of sand deserts in Xinjiang, Northwest China: I. Provenances of desert sands

Sandy desert landscape is a geological product of arid climate and abundant sand materials supply in natural conditions, therefore the formation of sandy desert is an ideal studying object for understanding the interaction between various stratigraphic/epigenetic spheres of the earth system. However, until now, the knowledge about the provenance and formation of these deserts in Xinjiang, Central Asia is diverse and inconsistent, a systematic review is necessary. Ancient aeolian sand sediments in the internal areas of these deserts and their twin dust deposits in the Cenozoic strata surrounding the Xinjiang deserts are direct and indirect clues reflecting the provenance of sand materials and the formation and evolution of deserts. Based on the geochemical, mineralogical and isotopic evidences of desert sands and relevant deposits in the peripheral regions, this paper reviews the research progress on the development of the sandy deserts in Xinjiang, Northwest China. Many proofs proposed that desert sands in Xinjiang were mainly sourced from the ancient pluvial, alluvial and fluvial sediments and were eventually achieved because of the local sand supply. It pointed out that the settings of tectonic structure in Xinjiang had made sediments both in the Tarim Basin and the Junggar Basin being influenced greatly by regional hydrological system and aeolian processes originated from the planetary wind system of westerly, the East Asian winter monsoon and the topographical mountain-valley winds. However, the directions of transportation paths are different between the hydrological dynamics and the aeolian dynamics, which are decided by the slantwise structures of the basins tectonics and the regional atmospheric circulation routes, respectively, and have determined anisotropies of the transport pathway of these sediments delivered by different agents. This results in a geological cycle of detrital sediment transportation in the two large basins and thus largely increases the degree of sediment mixing, alternation and recycle between younger and older sediment sources, as well as the complexity and diversity of sand provenances.