TY - JOUR A1 - Gosens, Jorrit A1 - Gilmanova, Alina A1 - Lilliestam, Johan T1 - Windows of opportunity for catching up in formative clean-tech sectors and the rise of China in concentrated solar power JF - Environmental innovation and societal transitions N2 - We analyse the potential for industry entry and catching up by latecomer countries or firms in formative sectors, by deriving a framework that builds on the concept of windows of opportunity for catching up. This framework highlights differences in technological, market, and institutional characteristics between formative and mature sectors, and elaborates how this may affect opportunities for catching up. We apply this framework to the global Concentrated Solar Power sector, in which China has rapidly narrowed the gap to the global forefront in terms of technological capabilities and market competitiveness. We find that the formative nature of the sector resulted in turbulent development of the technological, market, and institutional dimensions, making it more difficult for early leaders to retain leadership, and therefore easier for latecomer firms or countries to catch up. This signals an increased role in early-stage technology development in the next phase of the energy transition. KW - catching up KW - windows of opportunity KW - formative sectors KW - concentrating solar power KW - China Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2021.03.005 SN - 2210-4224 VL - 39 SP - 86 EP - 106 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Carlà-Uhink, Filippo A1 - Freitag, Florian T1 - Theme Park Imitations BT - the Case of Happy World (Happy Valley Beijing) JF - Cultural History N2 - Theme parks frequently draw not only on historical themes, from antiquity to the roaring twenties, but also on their own history – that is, the history of the medium of the theme park itself. This article uses the example of the Happy World ride at Happy Valley Beijing (China) to discuss theme park imitations, that is, the fact that theme parks frequently borrow individual elements (themes, technologies, visuals, layouts, names) and/or entire units (rides, restaurants, themed areas) from each other. Opened in 2014 in the Greek-themed Aegean Harbour section of Happy Valley Beijing, Happy World may upon first sight look like an almost exact copy of Disney’s ‘it’s a small world’ (opened at Disneyland in California in 1966) but turns out to be, upon closer examination, a complex refunctionalization of central elements of ‘it’s a small world’ that establishes meaningful connections between (ancient) Greece and the city of Beijing via the theme of the Olympic Games: drawing on the origins of ‘it’s a small world’ in the 1964–5 New York World’s Fair and the latter’s motto of ‘Peace through Understanding’, Happy World takes visitors on a journey from the ancient Olympiad to contemporary Beijing (the site of the 2008 Summer and the 2022 Winter Olympic Games) to offer a theme park rendition of the 2008 Olympic torch relay as an homage to ‘the spirit [of peace, respect, and friendship] in the people’s [sic] of the world’. KW - China KW - Disney KW - Happy Valley KW - ‘it’s a small world’ KW - imitation KW - Olympic Games Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3366/cult.2022.0267 SN - 2045-290X SN - 2045-2918 VL - 11 IS - 2 SP - 181 EP - 198 PB - Edinburgh University Press CY - Edinburgh ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tardif, Delphine A1 - Fluteau, Frédéric A1 - Donnadieu, Yannick A1 - Le Hir, Guillaume A1 - Ladant, Jean-Baptiste A1 - Sepulchre, Pierre A1 - Licht, Alexis A1 - Poblete, Fernando A1 - Dupont-Nivet, Guillaume T1 - The origin of Asian monsoons BT - a modelling perspective JF - Climate of the Past N2 - The Cenozoic inception and development of the Asian monsoons remain unclear and have generated much debate, as several hypotheses regarding circulation patterns at work in Asia during the Eocene have been proposed in the few last decades. These include (a) the existence of modern-like monsoons since the early Eocene; (b) that of a weak South Asian monsoon (SAM) and little to no East Asian monsoon (EAM); or (c) a prevalence of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) migrations, also referred to as Indonesian-Australian monsoon (I-AM). As SAM and EAM are supposed to have been triggered or enhanced primarily by Asian palaeogeographic changes, their possible inception in the very dynamic Eocene palaeogeographic context remains an open question, both in the modelling and field-based communities. We investigate here Eocene Asian climate conditions using the IPSL-CM5A2 (Sepulchre et al., 2019) earth system model and revised palaeogeographies. Our Eocene climate simulation yields atmospheric circulation patterns in Asia substantially different from modern conditions. A large high-pressure area is simulated over the Tethys ocean, which generates intense low tropospheric winds blowing southward along the western flank of the proto-Himalayan-Tibetan plateau (HTP) system. This low-level wind system blocks, to latitudes lower than 10 degrees N, the migration of humid and warm air masses coming from the Indian Ocean. This strongly contrasts with the modern SAM, during which equatorial air masses reach a latitude of 20-25 degrees N over India and southeastern China. Another specific feature of our Eocene simulation is the widespread subsidence taking place over northern India in the midtroposphere (around 5000 m), preventing deep convective updraught that would transport water vapour up to the condensation level. Both processes lead to the onset of a broad arid region located over northern India and over the HTP. More humid regions of high seasonality in precipitation encircle this arid area, due to the prevalence of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) migrations (or Indonesian-Australian monsoon, I-AM) rather than monsoons. Although the existence of this central arid region may partly result from the specifics of our simulation (model dependence and palaeogeographic uncertainties) and has yet to be confirmed by proxy records, most of the observational evidence for Eocene monsoons are located in the highly seasonal transition zone between the arid area and the more humid surroundings. We thus suggest that a zonal arid climate prevailed over Asia before the initiation of monsoons that most likely occurred following Eocene palaeogeographic changes. Our results also show that precipitation seasonality should be used with caution to infer the presence of a monsoonal circulation and that the collection of new data in this arid area is of paramount importance to allow the debate to move forward. KW - earth system model KW - early eocene KW - tibetan plateau KW - climate-change KW - oligocene climate KW - summer monsoon KW - global monsoon KW - ice sheet KW - part 1 KW - China Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-847-2020 SN - 1814-9332 SN - 1814-9324 VL - 16 IS - 3 SP - 847 EP - 865 PB - Copernicus Publications CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cao, Xianyong A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike A1 - Ni, Jian A1 - Zhao, Yan A1 - Böhmer, Thomas T1 - Spatial and temporal distributions of major tree taxa in eastern continental Asia during the last 22,000 years JF - The Holocene : an interdisciplinary journal focusing on recent environmental change N2 - This study investigates the spatial and temporal distributions of 14 key arboreal taxa and their driving forces during the last 22,000 calendar years before ad 1950 (kyr BP) using a taxonomically harmonized and temporally standardized fossil pollen dataset with a 500-year resolution from the eastern part of continental Asia. Logistic regression was used to estimate pollen abundance thresholds for vegetation occurrence (presence or dominance), based on modern pollen data and present ranges of 14 taxa in China. Our investigation reveals marked changes in spatial and temporal distributions of the major arboreal taxa. The thermophilous (Castanea, Castanopsis, Cyclobalanopsis, Fagus, Pterocarya) and eurythermal (Juglans, Quercus, Tilia, Ulmus) broadleaved tree taxa were restricted to the current tropical or subtropical areas of China during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and spread northward since c. 14.5kyr BP. Betula and conifer taxa (Abies, Picea, Pinus), in contrast, retained a wider distribution during the LGM and showed no distinct expansion direction during the Late Glacial. Since the late mid-Holocene, the abundance but not the spatial extent of most trees decreased. The changes in spatial and temporal distributions for the 14 taxa are a reflection of climate changes, in particular monsoonal moisture, and, in the late Holocene, human impact. The post-LGM expansion patterns in eastern continental China seem to be different from those reported for Europe and North America, for example, the westward spread for eurythermal broadleaved taxa. KW - China KW - Holocene KW - Last Glacial Maximum KW - pollen mapping KW - vegetation expansion Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683614556385 SN - 0959-6836 SN - 1477-0911 VL - 25 IS - 1 SP - 79 EP - 91 PB - Sage Publ. CY - London ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Rieck, Christian E. T1 - Region ohne Richtung BT - Lateinamerikanische Sicherheitspolitik in der Großmachtkonkurrenz T2 - Zwischen Moskau, Peking und Washington: Lateinamerika in der Großmachtkonkurrenz N2 - Welche Auswirkungen wird die aufziehende Großmächtekonkurrenz also auf die regionale Sicherheitsordnung haben? Der Beitrag nähert sich dieser Frage über die regionalen Bedingungsfaktoren, die den Rahmen für jegliche Ingerenz extraregionaler Mächte bilden: Die regionalen Sicherheitskomplexe in Lateinamerika und der Karibik, einschließlich der Regionalorganisationen und Regionalmächte, sowie der Einflusssphären und Anreizsysteme der Großmächte. Am Ende wagt der Beitrag einen Ausblick auf die Entwicklung der lateinamerikanischen Sicherheitspolitik im Angesicht der Geopolitik der Großmächte. Die hier vorgestellte Kernthese wagt ein strukturelles und deshalb wenig alarmistisches Argument: Die Großmächtekonkurrenz wird die bestehende Fragmentierung der regionalen Sicherheitsordnung weiter vertiefen, doch wird die Region gleichzeitig nicht substanziell an Agency gegenüber den Großmächten verlieren. Der Schlüssel hierzu ist die außenpolitische Maxime der „gebundenen Äquidistanz“, die Dependenzen diversifiziert und damit nicht als Widerspruch, sondern als Positivsummenspiel versteht. KW - Lateinamerika KW - Sicherheitspolitik KW - China Y1 - 2023 SN - 978-3-7560-0033-3 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748936121 SP - 121 EP - 130 PB - Nomos CY - Baden-Baden ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhang, Yan-qiu A1 - Guo, Zeng-hui A1 - Chen, Dai-zhao T1 - Porosity distribution in cyclic dolomites of the Lower Qiulitag Group (Upper Cambrian) in northwestern Tarim Basin, China JF - China geology N2 - Increasing interests in hydrocarbon resources at depths have drawn greater attentions to the deeply-buried carbonate reservoirs in the Tarim Basin in China. In this study, the cyclic dolomite rocks of Upper Cambrian Lower Qiulitag Group from four outcrop sections in northwestern Tarim Basin were selected to investigate and evaluate the petrophysical properties in relation to depositional facies and cyclicity. The Lower Qiulitag Group includes ten lithofacies, which were deposited in intermediate to shallow subtidal, restricted shallow subtidal, intertidal, and supratidal environments on a carbonate ramp system. These lithofacies are vertically stacked into repeated shallowing-upward, meter-scale cycles which are further grouped into six third-order depositional sequences (Sq1 to Sq6). There are variable types of pore spaces in the Lower Qiulitag Group dolomite rocks, including interparticle, intraparticle, and fenestral pores of primary origin, inter crystal, and vuggy pores of late diagenetic modification. The porosity in the dolomites is generally facies-selective as that the microbially-originated thrombolites and stromatolites generally yield a relatively high porosity. In contrast, the high-energy ooidal grainstones generally have very low porosity. In this case, the microbialite-based peritidal cycles and peritidal cycle-dominated highstand (or regressive) successions have relatively high volumes of pore spaces, although highly fluctuating (or vertical inhomogeneous). Accordingly, the grainstone-based subtidal cycles and subtidal cycle-dominated transgressive successions generally yield extremely low porosity. This scenario indicates that porosity development and preservation in the thick dolomite successions are primarily controlled by depositional facies which were influenced by sea-level fluctuations of different orders and later diagenetic overprinting. KW - Dolomites KW - porosity KW - cyclicity KW - Upper Cambrian KW - stromatolite KW - microbial KW - build up KW - oil-gas basin KW - oil-gas exploration engineering KW - Tarim Basin KW - China Y1 - 2020 UR - http://en.cgsjournals.com/zgdzdcqkw-data/zgdzyw/2020/3/PDF/cg2020026.pdf SN - 2096-5192 SN - 2589-9430 VL - 3 IS - 3 SP - 425 EP - 444 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tian, Fang A1 - Cao, Xianyong A1 - Dallmeyer, Anne A1 - Zhao, Yan A1 - Ni, Jian A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike T1 - Pollen-climate relationships in time (9 ka, 6 ka, 0 ka) and space (upland vs. lowland) in eastern continental Asia JF - Quaternary science reviews : the international multidisciplinary research and review journal N2 - Temporal and spatial stability of the vegetation climate relationship is a basic ecological assumption for pollen-based quantitative inferences of past climate change and for predicting future vegetation. We explore this assumption for the Holocene in eastern continental Asia (China, Mongolia). Boosted regression trees (BRT) between fossil pollen taxa percentages (Abies, Artemisia, Betula, Chenopodiaceae, Cyperaceae, Ephedra, Picea, Pinus, Poaceae and Quercus) and climate model outputs of mean annual precipitation (P-ann) and mean temperature of the warmest month (Mt(wa)) for 9 and 6 ka (ka = thousand years before present) were set up and results compared to those obtained from relating modern pollen to modern climate. Overall, our results reveal only slight temporal differences in the pollen climate relationships. Our analyses suggest that the importance of P-ann compared with Mt(wa) for taxa distribution is higher today than it was at 6 ka and 9 ka. In particular, the relevance of P-ann for Picea and Pinus increases and has become the main determinant. This change in the climate tree pollen relationship parallels a widespread tree pollen decrease in north-central China and the eastern Tibetan Plateau. We assume that this is at least partly related to vegetation climate disequilibrium originating from human impact. Increased atmospheric CO2 concentration may have permitted the expansion of moisture-loving herb taxa (Cyperaceae and Poaceae) during the late Holocene into arid/semi-arid areas. We furthermore find that the pollen climate relationship between north-central China and the eastern Tibetan Plateau is generally similar, but that regional differences are larger than temporal differences. In summary, vegetation climate relationships in China are generally stable in space and time, and pollen-based climate reconstructions can be applied to the Holocene. Regional differences imply the calibration-set should be restricted spatially. KW - Boosted regression trees KW - China KW - Holocene KW - Niche stability KW - Pollen-climate relationship KW - Uniformitarianism Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.11.027 SN - 0277-3791 VL - 156 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine ED - Wang, Yukai ED - Färber, Gisela T1 - Local Government in Germany BT - Key Features and Current Reforms T2 - Comparative Studies on Vertical Administration Reforms in China and Germany (Speyerer Forschungsberichte ; 285) KW - China KW - Deutschland KW - Verwaltungsreform KW - China KW - Germany KW - administrative reform Y1 - 2016 SN - 978-3-941738-23-2 SP - 51 EP - 67 PB - Deutsches Forschungsinstitut für öffentliche Verwaltung CY - Speyer ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Opitz, Stephan A1 - Wünnemann, Bernd A1 - Aichner, Bernhard A1 - Dietze, Elisabeth A1 - Hartmann, Kai A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike A1 - IJmker, Janneke A1 - Lehmkuhl, Frank A1 - Li, Shijie A1 - Mischke, Steffen A1 - Plotzki, Anna A1 - Stauch, Georg A1 - Diekmann, Bernhard T1 - Late Glacial and Holocene development of Lake Donggi Cona, north-eastern Tibetan Plateau, inferred from sedimentological analysis JF - Palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology : an international journal for the geo-sciences N2 - Sediments of Lake Donggi Cona on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau were studied to infer changes in the lacustrine depositional environment, related to climatic and non-climatic changes during the last 19 kyr. The lake today fills a 30x8 km big and 95 m deep tectonic basin, associated with the Kunlun Fault. The study was conducted on a sediment-core transect through the lake basin, in order to gain a complete picture of spatio-temporal environmental change. The recovered sediments are partly finely laminated and are composed of calcareous muds with variable amounts of carbonate micrite, organic matter, detrital silt and clay. On the basis of sedimentological, geochemical, and mineralogical data up to five lithological units (LU) can be distinguished that document distinct stages in the development of the lake system. The onset of the lowermost LU with lacustrine muds above basal sands indicates that lake level was at least 39 m below the present level and started to rise after 19 ka, possibly in response to regional deglaciation. At this time, the lacustrine environment was characterized by detrital sediment influx and the deposition of siliciclastic sediment. In two sediment cores, upward grain-size coarsening documents a lake-level fall after 13 cal ka BP, possibly associated with the late-glacial Younger Dryas stadial. From 11.5 to 4.3 cal ka BP, grain-size fining in sediment cores from the profundal coring sites and the onset of lacustrine deposition at a litoral core site (2 m water depth) in a recent marginal bay of Donggi Cona document lake-level rise during the early to mid-Holocene to at least modern level. In addition, high biological productivity and pronounced precipitation of carbonate micrites are consistent with warm and moist climate conditions related to an enhanced influence of summer monsoon. At 4.3 cal ka BP the lake system shifted from an aragonite- to a calcite-dominated system, indicating a change towards a fully open hydrological lake system. The younger clay-rich sediments are moreover non-laminated and lack any diagenetic sulphides, pointing to fully ventilated conditions, and the prevailing absence of lake stratification. This turning point in lake history could imply either a threshold response to insolation-forced climate cooling or a response to a non-climatic trigger, such as an erosional event or a tectonic pulse that induced a strong earthquake, which is difficult to decide from our data base. KW - China KW - Monsoon KW - Paleolimnology KW - Multi-site study KW - Aragonite KW - XRF KW - XRD KW - Sedimentology Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.04.013 SN - 0031-0182 VL - 337 IS - 23 SP - 159 EP - 176 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - THES A1 - Schimpf, Stefan T1 - Herkunft und Ablagerungsmilieu quartärer Sedimente im Einzugsgebiet des Heihe, NW China N2 - Der zentralasiatische Naturraum, wie er sich uns heute präsentiert, ist das Ergebnis eines Zusammenwirkens vieler verschiedener Faktoren über Jahrmillionen hinweg. Im aktuellen Kontext des Klimawandels zeigt sich jedoch, wie stark sich Stoffflüsse auch kurzfristig ändern und dabei das Gesicht der Landschaft verwandeln können. Die Gobi-Wüste in der Inneren Mongolei (China), als Teil der gleichnamigen Trockenregionen Nordwestchinas, ist aufgrund der Ausgestaltung ihrer landschaftsprägenden Elemente sowie ihrer Landschaftsdynamik, im Zusammenhang mit der Lage zum Tibet-Plateau, in den Fokus der klimageschichtlichen Grundlagenforschung gerückt. Als großes Langzeitarchiv unterschiedlichster fluvialer, lakustriner und äolischer Sedimente stellt sie eine bedeutende Lokalität zur Rekonstruktion von lokalen und regionalen Stoffflüssen dar.. Andererseits ist die Gobi-Wüste zugleich auch eine bedeutende Quelle für den überregionalen Staubtransport, da sie aufgrund der klimatischen Bedingungen insbesondere der Erosion durch Ausblasung preisgegeben wird. Vor diesem Hintergrund erfolgten zwischen 2011 und 2014, im Rahmen des BMBF-Verbundprogramms WTZ Zentralasien – Monsundynamik & Geoökosysteme (Förderkennzeichen 03G0814), mehrere deutsch-chinesische Expeditionen in das Ejina-Becken (Innere Mongolei) und das Qilian Shan-Vorland. Im Zuge dieser Expeditionen wurden für eine Bestimmung potenzieller Sedimentquellen erstmals zahlreiche Oberflächenproben aus dem gesamten Einzugsgebiet des Heihe (schwarzer Fluss) gesammelt. Zudem wurden mit zwei Bohrungen im inneren des Ejina-Beckens, ergänzende Sedimentbohrkerne zum bestehenden Bohrkern D100 (siehe Wünnemann (2005)) abgeteuft, um weit reichende, ergänzende Informationen zur Landschaftsgeschichte und zum überregionalen Sedimenttransfer zu erhalten. Gegenstand und Ziel der vorliegenden Doktorarbeit ist die sedimentologisch-mineralogische Charakterisierung des Untersuchungsgebietes in Bezug auf potenzielle Sedimentquellen und Stoffflüsse des Ejina-Beckens sowie die Rekonstruktion der Ablagerungsgeschichte eines dort erbohrten, 19m langen Sedimentbohrkerns (GN100). Schwerpunkt ist hierbei die Klärung der Sedimentherkunft innerhalb des Bohrkerns sowie die Ausweisung von Herkunftssignalen und möglichen Sedimentquellen bzw. Sedimenttransportpfaden. Die methodische Herangehensweise basiert auf einem Multi-Proxy-Ansatz zur Charakterisierung der klastischen Sedimentfazies anhand von Geländebeobachtungen, lithologisch-granulometrischen und mineralogisch-geochemischen Analysen sowie statistischen Verfahren. Für die mineralogischen Untersuchungen der Sedimente wurde eine neue, rasterelektronenmikroskopische Methode zur automatisierten Partikelanalyse genutzt und den traditionellen Methoden gegenübergestellt. Die synoptische Betrachtung der granulometrischen, geochemischen und mineralogischen Befunde der Oberflächensedimente ergibt für das Untersuchungsgebiet ein logisches Kaskadenmodell mit immer wiederkehrenden Prozessbereichen und ähnlichen Prozesssignalen. Die umfangreichen granulometrischen Analysen deuten dabei auf abnehmende Korngrößen mit zunehmender Entfernung vom Qilian Shan hin und ermöglichen die Identifizierung von vier texturellen Signalen: den fluvialen Sanden, den Dünensanden, den Stillwassersedimenten und Stäuben. Diese Ergebnisse können als Interpretationsgrundlage für die Korngrößenanalysen des Bohrkerns genutzt werden. Somit ist es möglich, die Ablagerungsgeschichte der Bohrkernsedimente zu rekonstruieren und in Verbindung mit eigenen und literaturbasierten Datierungen in einen Gesamtkontext einzuhängen. Für das Untersuchungsgebiet werden somit vier Ablagerungsphasen ausgewiesen, die bis in die Zeit des letzten glazialen Maximums (LGM) zurückreichen. Während dieser Ablagerungsphasen kam es im Zuge unterschiedlicher Aktivitäts- und Stabilitätsphasen zu einer kontinuierlichen Progradation und Überprägung des Schwemmfächers. Eine besonders aktive Phase kann zwischen 8 ka und 4 ka BP festgestellt werden, während der es aufgrund zunehmender fluvialer Aktivitäten zu einer deutlich verstärkten Schwemmfächerdynamik gekommen zu sein scheint. In den Abschnitten davor und danach waren es vor allem äolische Prozesse, die zu einer Überprägung des Schwemmfächers geführt haben. Hinsichtlich der mineralogischen Herkunftssignale gibt es eine große Variabilität. Dies spiegelt die enorme Heterogenität der Geologie des Untersuchungsgebietes wider, wodurch die räumlichen Signale nicht sehr stark ausgeprägt sind. Dennoch, können für das Einzugsgebiet drei größere Bereiche deklariert werden, die als Herkunftsgebiet in Frage kommen. Das östliche Qilian Shan Vorland zeichnet sich dabei durch deutlich höhere Chloritgehalte als primäre Quelle für die Sedimente im Ejina-Becken aus. Sie unterscheiden sich insbesondere durch stark divergierende Chloritgehalte in der Tonmineral- und Gesamtmineralfraktion, was das östliche Qilian Shan Vorland als primäre Quelle für die Sedimente im Ejina-Becken auszeichnet. Dies steht in Zusammenhang mit den Grünschiefern, Ophioliten und Serpentiniten in diesem Bereich. Geochemisch deutet vor allem das Cr/Rb-Verhältnis eine große Variabilität innerhalb des Einzugsgebietes an. Auch hier ist es das östliche Vorland, welches aufgrund seines hohen Anteils an mafischen Gesteinen reich an Chromiten und Spinellen ist und sich somit vom restlichen Untersuchungsgebiet abhebt. Die zeitliche aber auch die generelle Variabilität der Sedimentherkunft lässt sich in den Bohrkernsedimenten nicht so deutlich nachzeichnen. Die mineralogisch-sedimentologischen Eigenschaften der erbohrten klastischen Sedimente zeugen zwar von zwischenzeitlichen Änderungen bei der Sedimentherkunft, diese sind jedoch nicht so deutlich ausgeprägt, wie es die Quellsignale in den Oberflächensedimenten vermuten lassen. Ein Grund dafür scheint die starke Vermischung unterschiedlichster Sedimente während des Transportes zu sein. Die Kombination der Korngrößenergebnisse mit den Befunden der Gesamt- und Schwermineralogie deuten darauf hin, dass es zwischenzeitlich eine Phase mit überwiegend äolischen Prozessen gegeben hat, die mit einem Sedimenteintrag aus dem westlichen Bei Shan in Verbindung stehen. Neben der Zunahme ultrastabiler Schwerminerale wie Zirkon und Granat und der Abnahme opaker Schwerminerale, weisen vor allem die heutigen Verhältnisse darauf hin. Der Vergleich der traditionellen Schwermineralanalyse mit der Computer-Controlled-Scanning-Electron-Microscopy (kurz: CCSEM), die eine automatisierte Partikelauswertung der Proben ermöglicht, zeigt den deutlichen Vorteil der modernen Analysemethode. Neben einem zeitlichen Vorteil, den man durch die automatisierte Abarbeitung der vorbereiteten Proben erlangen kann, steht vor allem die deutlich größere statistische Signifikanz des Ergebnisses im Vordergrund. Zudem können mit dieser Methode auch chemische Varietäten einiger Schwerminerale bestimmt werden, die eine noch feinere Klassifizierung und sicherere Aussagen zu einer möglichen Sedimentherkunft ermöglichen. Damit ergeben sich außerdem verbesserte Aussagen zu Zusammensetzungen und Entstehungsprozessen der abgelagerten Sedimente. Die Studie verdeutlicht, dass die Sedimentherkunft innerhalb des Untersuchungsgebietes sowie die ablaufenden Prozesse zum Teil stark von lokalen Gegebenheiten abhängen. Die Heterogenität der Geologie und die Größe des Einzugsgebietes sowie die daraus resultierende Komplexität der Sedimentgenese, machen exakte Zuordnungen zu klar definierten Sedimentquellen sehr schwer. Dennoch zeigen die Ergebnisse, dass die Sedimentzufuhr in das Ejina-Becken in erster Linie durch fluviale klastische Sedimente des Heihe aus dem Qilian Shan erfolgt sein muss. Die Untersuchungsergebnisse zeigen jedoch ebenso die Notwendigkeit einer ergänzenden Bearbeitung angrenzender Untersuchungsgebiete, wie beispielsweise den Gobi-Altai im Norden oder den Beishan im Westen, sowie die Verdichtung der Oberflächenbeprobung zur feineren Auflösung von lokalen Sedimentquellen. N2 - The Central Asian natural space, as it presents itself today, is the result of a combination of many different factors over millions of years. However, in the current context of climate change it becoming obvious how strongly material fluxes can change in the short-term and thereby transform the face of the landscape. As a large long-term archive of different fluvial, lacustrine and aeolian sediments, the Gobi Desert in Inner Mongolia (China) represents a significant locality for the reconstruction of local and regional material flows as well as an important source for supra-regional dust transport due to erosion by aeolian processes. This, in connection with its location to the Tibetan Plateau, has moved the Gobi Desert into the focus of climate-historical basic research. Against this background, several German-Chinese expeditions to Ejina Basin (Inner Mongolia) and the Qilian Shan foreland were accomplished between 2011 and 2014. They were part of the BMBF joint program WTZ Central Asia - Monsoon Dynamics & Geo-Ecosystems (Grant No. 03G0814). In the course of these expeditions numerous surface samples from the entire catchment area of the Heihe (Black River) were collected for the determination of potential sediment sources. Additionally, two drillings in the interior of the Ejina Basin were conducted as a continuation of the existing drill-core D100 (see Wünnemann (2005)) and for gathering complementary information on landscape history and supra-regional sediment transfer. The goals of this doctoral thesis are a sedimentological-mineralogical characterization of the study area with regard to potential sediment sources and material fluxes of the Ejina Basin as well as the reconstruction of the sedimentation history of a 19 m sediment drill-core (GN100) drilled in the northern part of the basin. The main focus is on the clarification of the sediment provenance within the drill core as well as the designation of provenance signals and possible sediment sources or sediment transport paths. The methodological approach is based on a multi-proxy approach to characterize the clastic sedimentary facies using field observations, lithological-granulometric and mineralogical-geochemical analyses as well as statistical methods. For the mineralogical investigations of the sediments, a new scanning electron microscopic method for automated particle analysis was used and compared with traditional methods. The synoptic analysis of the granulometric, geochemical and mineralogical findings of the surface sediments result in a logical cascade model with recurring process areas and similar process signals. The results of the extensive granulometric analyses indicate decreasing grain sizes as the distance from the Qilian Shan increases and allow the identification of four textural signals: fluvial sands, dune sands, still water sediments and dusts. They can be used as the basis of interpretation for the grain size analyses of the drill core. This makes it possible to reconstruct the depositional history of the core sediments and to put them in an overall context in conjunction with own and literature-based datings. For the study area four depositional phases can be identified which date back until the time of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). During these depositional phases, various phases of activity and stability led to a continuous progradation and overprinting of the alluvial fan. A particularly active phase can be observed between 8 ka and 4 ka BP. During this period there seems to have been a significant increase in alluvial fan dynamics due to increasing fluvial activity. In the periods before and after mainly aeolian processes have led to an overprinting of the alluvial fan. Regarding the mineralogical provenance signals there is a great variability. This reflects the enormous geological heterogeneity of the study area, by which the spatial signals are not very pronounced. Nonetheless, within the catchment three larger areas can be declared which can be considered as possible sediment sources. These are the eastern and western foreland of the Qilian Shan mountains as wells as the Bei Shan in the west of the Ejina basin. They differ, in particular, from strongly diverging chlorite contents in the clay mineral and total mineral fraction. The eastern Qilian Shan foreland is characterized by significantly higher chlorite contents as the primary source for the sediments in the Ejina Basin. This is related to the greenschists, ophiolites and serpentinites in this area. Geochemically, the Cr/Rb-ratio in particular indicates a large variability within the catchment area. In this case its again the eastern Qilian Shan foreland which stands out from the rest of the study area with high values due to its high proportion of mafic rocks which are rich in chromites and spinels. Within the drill core sediments of GN100 the temporal but also the general variability of the sediment provenance according to the surface sediment results cannot be clearly traced. The mineralogical-sedimentological characteristics of the drilled clastic sediments exhibit meantime changes in sediment provenance. However, they are not as pronounced as the source signals within the surface sediments suggest. One reason seems to be the strong mixing of different sediments during transport. The combination of the particle size results with the results of the total and heavy mineralogy indicate that there must have been a phase in the meantime with predominantly aeolian processes.. These processes were connected with a sediment input from the Bei Shan mountains in the west. In addition to the increase in ultrastable heavy minerals such as zirconium and garnet and the decline of opaque heavy minerals, mainly present conditions point to this. The comparison of the traditional heavy mineral analysis (polarized light microscopy) with computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy (short: CCSEM) shows the clear advantage of the modern analysis method. Above all is the significant greater statistical significance of the counting results. In addition, this method can also be used to determine chemical varieties of some heavy minerals, which allows an even finer classification and more reliable conclusions about a possible sediment provenance. Furthermore, better statements can be made about the composition and the development process of the deposited sediments. This thesis shows that the sediment provenance within the study area as well as the ongoing processes partly depend strongly on local conditions. Therefore, the heterogeneity of the geology and the size of the catchment as well as the resulting complexity of the sediment genesis makes it very difficult to make exact assignments to clearly defined sediment sources. Nevertheless, the results indicate a primary input of fluvial clastic sediments of the Heihe coming from the Qilian Shan mountains. However, the findings also indicate the need to complement the study with adjacent study areas such as the Gobi Altai in the north or the Beishan in the west as well as a densification of the surface sampling for a better resolution of possible local sediment sources. KW - Heihe KW - Ejina Becken KW - Gaxun Nur KW - Schwerminerale KW - China KW - CCSEM KW - Herkunftsanalyse KW - Tonminerale KW - Heihe KW - Ejina Basin KW - Gaxun Nur KW - Heavy Minerals KW - China KW - CCSEM KW - Provenance Analysis KW - Clay Minerals Y1 - 2020 ER -