‘I hate sand … it gets everywhere’—Phanerozoic sedimentary recycling from NW Africa

Over 10,000 published detrital zircon ages have been reprocessed (applying a +10% normal and reverse concordance range) and analysed to understand the evolution of the detrital zircon record of north-west Africa during the Phanerozoic. Using dissimilarity and clustering analysis, shifts in detrital zircon populations allow interpretation of the evolution of source regions and source to sink systems throughout the Phanerozoic within the West Gondwana superfan. Previous thermochronology and field studies conducted across north-west Africa indicate significant and sustained shifts in source regions in Meso-Cenozoic times which are not recorded in the detrital zircon geochronology record. This discrepancy is most notable for Mesozoic to modern source to sink studies focused on the evolution of the Atlasic rift and opening of the Atlantic and Tethyan Oceans to the west and north respectively. Our results indicate a high degree of similarity between samples from Cambrian times onwards due to successive phases of sediment recycling. This highlights the need to integrate detrital zircon analysis with other techniques to provide confident reconstruction of sediment routing systems across Morocco. This systematic review also reveals the ubiquitous occurrence of Mesoproterozoic zircons within Moroccan sediment. No basement of this age is known from north-west Africa—often described as the ‘Mesoproterozoic Gap’, which was thought to be a diagnostic feature of sediment derived from the West African Craton. However, zircons of this age form 7% of all analysed zircons and are present in sediments from at least 700 Ma. The presence of this population is interpreted as strongly diagnostic of provenance from either the Amazonian Craton or the Eastern Gondwana Orogen within Central Africa. Their presence in the Moroccan detrital record from the Neoproterozoic onwards raises questions about the position of the West African Craton in the Proterozoic, and for the spatial extent of Mesoproterozoic orogeny within north Africa.     

Variation between bee communities on a sand dune complex in the Great Basin Desert,North America: Implications for sand dune conservation

Sand dunes across the Mojave and Great Basin Deserts house rich bee communities. The pollination services these bees provide can be vital in maintaining the diverse, and often endemic, dune flora. These dune environments, however, are threatened by intense off-highway vehicle (OHV) use. Conservation efforts adopted by land managers often consist of setting aside a portion of a dune system that is off-limits to OHV use, but little work has been done showing the extent to which this protects native bee communities. A two-year study of bee communities on a Great Basin sand dune complex in Dugway Proving Ground located in northwestern Utah revealed low similarity index values between closely situated collecting plots (1–40 km apart). Similarity values ranged from 0.13 to 0.70 for species composition, and from 0.07 to 0.57 when similarity was weighted by abundance. Distance between plots had no significant relationship to similarity when richness and abundance were considered. Bee similarity between plots was significantly correlated with floral similarity. These results indicate that dune conservation strategies that preserve “representative” portions of dune systems may be insufficient to protect bees and the pollination services they provide.     

区位选择与人文地理系统的分形优化——关于城市区位分形理论一般原理与方法的初步探讨

以城市区位论为主线,提出区位选择的分形思想和方法,旨在探讨人文地理系统空间优化的基本理论。指出区位选择和空间优化应该遵循三个基本原则：自相似原则、匹配原则和包容原则。     

多尺度地图空间相似关系基本问题研究

基于多尺度地图数据库建设中地图自动综合的终止判断条件,引出多尺度地图空间相似关系问题。基于集合论给出空间相似关系的定义,论述空间相似关系的5个性质,即反身性、对称性、非传递性、多尺度自相似性与尺度依赖性;并从图形相似和属性相似的角度论述多尺度地图空间相似关系的分类体系。该成果是研究地图自动综合和地图空间相似查询等的基础。     

风沙现象的相似问题

风沙现象室内模型实验要做到与自然界的风沙现象完全相似是很难实现。第一,要做到模型与实物几何相似很困难,如气流中沙粒按模型缩尺缩小,其在与流中物理本质将完全改变;第二,满足相似的判据太复杂,技术上难以实现。如要同时满足两个最重要的判据雷诺数(Re)和福洛德数(Fr),就需要改变运动介质或改变地球的重大加速度,这在技术上实现很困难,故只能采用近似相似的方法,只考虑一个较重要的相似判据。风沙问题可以分为无沙与有沙气流两大类。无沙气流研究沙粒或其他物质在风力作用下的稳定性问题时(如沙粒起动,大风吹翻火车货车等).应主要考虑Fr数相同。而在研究固定的物体在风力作用下的绕流问题时(如防护林防风效益).应主要考虑Re数相同。研究风沙流的问题就较为复杂,在可能情况下加以简化,如只测流场,由流场中的风速大小、分布推测沙的蚀积情况;或采用不同比尺的模型实验,用系列模型法外推原型的情况。     

ELIMINATING COMPLEX EIGENVECTORS AND EIGENVALUES IN MULTIWAY ANALYSES USING THE DIRECT TRILINEAR DECOMPOSITION METHOD

The direct trilinear decomposition method(DTDM)is an algorithm for performing quantitative curveresolution of three-dimensional data that follow the so-called trilinear model,e.g.chromatography-spectroscopy or emission-excitation fluorescence.Under certain conditions complexeigenvalues and eigenvectors emerge when the generalized eigenproblem is solved in DTDM.Previouspublications never treated those cases.In this paper we show how similarity transformations can be usedto eliminate the imaginary part of the complex eigenvalues and eigenvectors,thereby increasing theusefulness of DTDM in practical applications.The similarity transformation technique was first used byour laboratory to solve the similar problem in the generalized rank annihilation method(GRAM).Because unique elution profiles and spectra can be derived by using data matrices from three or moresamples simultaneously,DTDM with similarity transformations is more efficient than GRAM in the casewhere there are many samples to be investigated.     

地理案例推理及其应

由于案例推理接近于人类认识、解决问题最原始的思维方式，具有在无法获取机理模型、确定规则或统计模型时，采用简单的历史相似性实现问题的定量求解和预测的特点，成为当前人工智能中备受关注的领域。在讨论案例推理方法发展的基础上，探讨应用案例推理进行地学问题求解的具体方法。从地学数据分析的角度提出了地理案例推理，并结合地理案例的特点，具体讨论了地理案例的表达模式和推理模型，最后结合东海中心渔场预报的实际工作，给出这种方法的具体应用实例。     

Further developments of a fuzzy set map comparison approach

Fuzzy set map comparison offers a novel approach to map comparison.The approach is specifically aimed at categorical raster maps and applies fuzzy set techniques, accounting for fuzziness of location and fuzziness of category, to create a similarity map as well as an overall similarity statistic: the Fuzzy Kappa. To date, the calculation of the Fuzzy Kappa (or K-fuzzy) has not been formally derived, and the documented procedure was only valid for cases without fuzziness of category. Furthermore, it required an infinitely large, edgeless map. This paper presents the full derivation of the Fuzzy Kappa; the method is now valid for comparisons considering fuzziness of both location and category and does not require further assumptions. This theoretical completion opens opportunities for use of the technique that surpass the original intentions. In particular, the categorical similarity matrix can be applied to highlight or disregard differences pertaining to selected categories or groups of categories and to distinguish between differences due to omission and commission.     

SMSM: a similarity measure for trajectory stops and moves

For many years trajectory similarity research has focused on raw trajectories, considering only space and time information. With the trajectory semantic enrichment, emerged the need for similarity measures that support space, time, and semantics. Although some trajectory similarity measures deal with all these dimensions, they consider only stops, ignoring the moves. We claim that, for some applications, the movement between stops is as important as the stops, and they must be considered in the similarity analysis. In this article, we propose SMSM, a novel similarity measure for semantic trajectories that considers both stops and moves. We evaluate SMSM with three trajectory datasets: (i) a synthetic trajectory dataset generated with the Hermoupolis semantic trajectory generator, (ii) a real trajectory dataset from the CRAWDAD project, and (iii) the Geolife dataset. The results show that SMSM overcomes state-of-the-art measures developed either for raw or semantic trajectories.     

生态文明建设的路径依赖与互动关系变化——基于2003-2015年长江经济带地级市面板数据

基于路径依赖视角,采集长江经济带108个地级市的2003-2015年面板数据,运用皮尔逊相关系数、回归分析等方法,刻画长江经济带生态文明建设的路径依赖格局和演化,并初步探讨了影响因素与关系变化。结果表明：① 生态文明建设是一个长期且循序渐进的过程,短期内生态文明建设存在着较强路径依赖,80%以上的城市在相邻阶段内结构相似度的相关系数在中等相关以上,各地区应当具有生态文明建设的战略定力。② 生态文明建设要求新型良性互动关系的建立,出现结构锁定的地区在构建自然系统与其他系统的互动关系上要显著落后。在第二阶段与第三阶段,整个长江经济带的自然状态增长率对经济系统增长和社会系统增长的回归系数分别为0.139和0.061,而在结构锁定地区,回归系数则不显著。③ 在不同阶段自然响应（表征资源利用）、经济压力（表征经济增长）、社会响应（表征教育与社会保障）的增长率与结构相似度呈现显著负相关,表明资源利用效率、资金、教育与社会保障的提升可从手段、资金和意识三方面推动形成新型的良性互动关系,有利于突破当前的区域结构锁定。     

Toponym matching through deep neural networks

Toponym matching, i.e. pairing strings that represent the same real-world location, is a fundamental problemfor several practical applications. The current state-of-the-art relies on string similarity metrics, either specifically developed for matching place names or integrated within methods that combine multiple metrics. However, these methods all rely on common sub-strings in order to establish similarity, and they do not effectively capture the character replacements involved in toponym changes due to transliterations or to changes in language and culture over time. In this article, we present a novel matching approach, leveraging a deep neural network to classify pairs of toponyms as either matching or nonmatching. The proposed network architecture uses recurrent nodes to build representations from the sequences of bytes that correspond to the strings that are to be matched. These representations are then combined and passed to feed-forward nodes, finally leading to a classification decision. We present the results of a wide-ranging evaluation on the performance of the proposed method, using a large dataset collected from the GeoNames gazetteer. These results show that the proposed method can significantly outperform individual similarity metrics from previous studies, as well as previous methods based on supervised machine learning for combining multiple metrics.     

An AHP–TOPSIS Predictive Model for District-Scale Mapping of Porphyry Cu–Au Potential: A Case Study from Salafchegan Area (Central Iran)

The Salafchegan area in central Iran is a greenfield region of high porphyry Cu–Au potential, for which a sound prospectivity model is required to guide mineral exploration. Satellite imagery, geological geochemical, geophysical, and mineral occurrence datasets of the area were used to run an innovative integration model for porphyry Cu–Au exploration. Five favorable multi-class evidence maps, representing diagnostic porphyry Cu–Au recognition criteria (intermediate igneous intrusive and sub-volcanic host rocks, structural controls, hydrothermal alterations, stream sediment Cu anomalies, magnetic signatures), were combined using analytic hierarchy process and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution to calculate a final map of porphyry Cu–Au potential in the Salafchegan area.     

基于多源大数据的城市体征诊断指数构建与计算——以上海市为例

基于多源大数据,构建了整合城市活动-移动系统、城市人口系统、城市运行系统、城市环境系统4个系统的城市体征诊断指数体系。该指数体系分解为底力、动力、压力、活力4个维度,具有4个层次和12个时空间尺度。底力指数表征土地、人口等空间单元基本属性,用以把握区域总体特征;动力指数通过企业发展状况、环境质量等反映了空间单元的发展状态;压力指数用以监测城市系统运行状况,起到风险评判与预警的作用;活力指数以活动和流的时空特征进行活动动态展现,反映空间单元的真实活力。最后以2016年4月6日为例,计算和展示了上海各街道的综合和各维度体征诊断指数,说明了体征诊断指数的可应用性和指数计算结果的稳健性。城市体征诊断指数可以辅助于城市网格化管理、压力预警等治理需求。     

Fuzzy set approach to assessing similarity of categorical maps

For the evaluation of results from remote sensing and high-resolution spatial models it is often necessary to assess the similarity of sets of maps. This paper describes a method to compare raster maps of categorical data. The method applies fuzzy set theory and involves both fuzziness of location and fuzziness of category. The fuzzy comparison yields a map, which specifies for each cell the degree of similarity on a scale of 0 to 1. Besides this spatial assessment of similarity also an overall value for similarity is derived. This statistic corrects the cell-average similarity value for the expected similarity. It can be considered the fuzzy equivalent of the Kappa statistic and is therefore called K_Fuzzy. A hypothetical case demonstrates how the comparison method distinguishes minor changes and fluctuations within patterns from major changes. Finally, a practical case illustrates how the method can be useful in a validation process.     

基于临近相似性考虑的犯罪热点密度图预测准确性比较——以DP半岛街头抢劫犯罪为例

在无时空考虑的密度估计算法基础上,分别加入了案件点之间的时间临近相似性、空间临近相似性和时空临近相似性的考虑,利用DP半岛2006~2007年的街头抢劫犯罪数据为基础计算无时空临近相似性、时间临近相似性、空间临近相似性和时空临近相似性4种不同算法所得到的犯罪热点图,并以之预测2008年的街头抢劫。通过Natural breaks（Jenks）分级方法和等比例面积选取两种方式来划定热点区域进行预测并进行PAI指数得分比较,结果表明时空临近相似性的密度估计算方法在犯罪预测的优势比较显著。     

SYNOPTIC WEATHER-MAP CLASSIFICATION: CORRELATION VERSUS SUMS-OF-SQUARES*

A sums-of-squares similarity measure (S), attributed to Kirchhofer, has been characterized by a number of synoptic climatologists as superior to correlation for quantifying the similarity between two gridded weather maps. The sums-of-squares metric and product-moment correlation, however, are virtually identical so S cannot be regarded as better. It is also suggested that correlation, in any form, is not generally a satisfactory measure of the similarity between weather maps of comparable units.     

Cellular modelling as a tool for interpreting historic braided river evolution

Results are presented from a new cellular model of braided river dynamics that simulates flow, sediment transport, morphological change and the effects of braidplain vegetation. This model is used to investigate the effect of changes in upstream sediment supply on braided river systems over simulation periods of 200 years. Modelled changes in channel morphology, associated with both aggradation and degradation, were seen to be consistent with those reported in the literature. In addition, simulation results allowed the identification of diagnostic characteristics of aggrading and degrading reaches, in the form of relationships between the age, extent and relative elevation of fluvial surfaces. Interpretation of spatial patterns of valley floor surface characteristics in the Avoca River, New Zealand, on the basis of these relationships, allowed the identification of channel reaches that appear to be experiencing either aggradation or degradation. These inferences are shown to be consistent with independent evidence of spatial patterns of sediment supply to the main valley floor, derived from aerial photographs and an existing sediment source inventory. These results illustrate the potential for using cellular models to develop an improved understanding of natural river behaviour.     

A STATISTICAL TEST OF FLORISTIC ZONES AS INFERRED FROM THE POLLEN RECORD: SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND

This study presents the stratigraphic and floristic interpretations of data collected from a 6.49 m core taken within the Rowley River Marsh, Massachusetts. Twenty-five samples were collected at 28 centimeter intervals from the core in this Holocene coastal marsh. Based on stratigraphic control, the age of the core samples includes a time sequence extending back 4,600 years from the present. Analysis of the core stratigraphic units suggests the environment has essentially been a low energy estuarine system for the past 4,600 years. The 25 samples were also processed for pollen taxa present since 4,600 years B.P. A discriminant function analysis was used to test the floristic zonal similarity of the diagnostic taxa (Picea, Pinus, Carya, Tsuga, Quercus) from the core with those same taxa used to establish the floristic zones for the southern New England region. The results of the analysis demonstrated that 84% of the samples were correctly classified by floristic zone. Although the distribution of diagnostic taxa from this study is generally in agreement with the previously established floristic zones, the Tsuga taxa are present throughout the temporal sequence, suggesting the occurrence of a cooler climate regime for the sampling site since 4,600 years B.P.