The ecological water diversion project in the Heihe River Basin is the first successful case in China in which the ecological systems in a river basin have been rescued. This project serves as a valuable example for the management of ecosystems in other inland river basins. This paper reviews the integrated studies of the water–ecosystem–economy relationship in the Heihe River Basin and concludes that sustainable development in inland river basins requires the basin to be considered as a whole, with the relationships between the upstream, midstream and downstream areas of the basin coordinated appropriately. Successful development in these basins will be reflected in an improved output per cubic meter of water and the implementation of integrated river basin management practices.

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We describe a 1,400 million-year old (Ma) iron formation (IF) from the Xiamaling Formation of the North China Craton. We estimate this IF to have contained at least 520 gigatons of authigenic Fe, comparable in size to many IFs of the Paleoproterozoic Era (2,500-1,600 Ma). Therefore, substantial IFs formed in the time window between 1,800 and 800 Ma, where they are generally believed to have been absent. The Xiamaling IF is of exceptionally low thermal maturity, allowing the preservation of organic biomarkers and an unprecedented view of iron-cycle dynamics during IF emplacement. We identify tetramethyl aryl isoprenoid (TMAI) biomarkers linked to anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria and thus phototrophic Fe oxidation. Although we cannot rule out other pathways of Fe oxidation, iron and organic matter likely deposited to the sediment in a ratio similar to that expected for anoxygenic photosynthesis. Fe reduction was likely a dominant and efficient pathway of organic matter mineralization, as indicated by organic matter maturation by Rock Eval pyrolysis combined with carbon isotope analyses: Indeed, Fe reduction was seemingly as efficient as oxic respiration. Overall, this Mesoproterozoic-aged IF shows many similarities to Archean-aged (>2,500 Ma) banded IFs (BIFs), but with an exceptional state of preservation, allowing an unprecedented exploration of Fe-cycle dynamics in IF deposition.