Freshwater inundation effects on emergent vegetation of a hypersaline salt marsh

The coastal marshlands of the Nueces estuary, Texas depend upon periodic freshwater inundation to support current community structure and promote further establishment and expansion of emergent halophytes. Decades of watershed modifications have dramatically decreased freshwater discharge into the upper estuary resulting in hypersaline and dry conditions. In an attempt to partially restore inflow, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation excavated two overflow channels re-connecting the Nueces River to the marshlands. Freshwater-mediated (precipitation and inflow) changes in tidal creek and porewater salinity and emergent marsh vegetation were examined over a 5-yr period at three stations in the upper Nueces Marsh with the aid of a Geographical Information System (GIS). Two stations were potentially subjected to freshwater inflow through the channels, while one station experienced only precipitation. Decreased tidal creek and porewater salinity were significantly correlated with increased freshwater at all stations (R²=0.37 to 0.56), although porewater salinities remained hypersaline. GIS analyses indicated the most considerable vegetation change following freshwater inundation was increased cover of the annual succulentSalicornia bigelovii. Fall inundation allowed seed germination and rapid expansion of this species into previously bare areas during the subsequent winter and following spring. The station affected by both inflow and precipitation exhibited greaterS. bigelovii cover than the station affected solely by precipitation in both spring 1999 (58. 7% compared to 27.9%) and 2000 (48.6% compared to 1.9%). Percent cover of the perennialBatis maritima temporarily increased after periods of consistent rainfall. The response was short term, and cover quickly returned to pre-inundation conditions within 3 mo. Prolonged inundation led to longterm (>2yr) decreases in percent cover ofB. maritima. Our results suggest that the timing and quantity of freshwater inundation strongly dictate halophyte response to precipitation and inflow. Brief periods of freshwater inundation that occur at specific times of year alleviate stress and promote seed germination and growth, but extended soil saturation can act as a disturbance that has a negative impact on species adapted to hypersaline conditions.     

A rifted inside corner massif on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 5°S

The structure of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 5°S was investigated during a recent cruise with the FS Meteor. A major dextral transform fault (hereafter the 5°S FZ) offsets the ridge left-laterally by 80 km. Just south of the transform and to the west of the median valley, the inside corner (IC – the region bounded by the ridge and the active transform) is marked by a major massif, characterized by a corrugated upper surface. Fossil IC massifs can also be identified further to the west. Unusually, a massif almost as high as the IC massif also characterizes the outside corner (OC) south of the inactive fracture zone and to the east of the median valley. This OC massif has axis-parallel dimensions identical to the IC massif and both are bounded on their sides closest to the spreading axis by abrupt, steep slopes. An axial volcanic ridge is well developed in the median valley both south of the IC/OC massifs and in an abandoned rift valley to the east of the OC massif, but is absent along the new ridge-axis segment between the IC and OC massifs. Wide-angle seismic data show that between the massifs, the crust of the median valley thins markedly towards the FZ. These observations are consistent with the formation of the OC massif by the rifting of an IC core complex and the development of a new spreading centre between the IC and OC massifs. The split IC massif presents an opportunity to study the internal structure of the footwall of a detachment fault, from the corrugated fault surface to deeper beneath the fault, without recourse to drilling. Preliminary dredging recovered gabbros from the scarp slope of the rifted IC massif, and serpentinites and gabbros from the intersection of this scarp with the corrugated surface. This is compatible with a concentration of serpentinites along the detachment surface, even where the massif internally is largely plutonic in nature.     

新时期我国区域经济地理学发展问题初探

我国新时期的区域经济地理学在取得全面发展的同时，在理论体系，研究方法和实践领域等方面还需要进一步的发展，文章根据学习和实践区域经济地理学的体会，初步提出基础理论和应用理论，思维方法和技术方法等方面发展见解，并指出区域创新系统和国际经济技术合作等学科应注意拓展的重要实践领域，最后提出我国区域经济地理学科发展的建议。     

华南地区凉果加工业与凉果资源的匹配关系分析——以广东省新兴县为例

文章以广东省新兴县为例，从凉果资源分布与加工能力的匹配关系角度对华南地区凉果资源的分布，凉果加工业的分布与布局，凉果市场分布与竞争力，凉果加工业与资源的匹配关系等进行了分析，并针对华南地区凉果加工业面临的主要问题提供了一些建议。     

成都市民消费结构与休闲活动关系研究

城市居民消费水平，消费结构会影响其休闲消费能力，消费意愿，消费方式，消费态度和休闲时空结构，文章以成都市7个城区歌舞，茶棋牌，电影及城市公园休闲活动调查为基础，探讨了城市居民消费结构及其变化与休闲活动特征的关系。研究结果表明，城市居民消费结构的改变对歌舞，茶棋牌娱乐活动影响最大。     

南水北调中线工程建设与河南水资源可持续利用

文章通过对河南省水资源开发利用现状，存在的主要问题，水资源供需平衡以及南水北调工程对河南省水资源利用的影响论述，提出了在拟定南水北调工程供水方案中，应通过强化节水，加强水资源保护，严格控制地下水开采，将水资源作为商品等措施，促进河南省水资源的可持续开发利用。     

区域视觉形象识别系统设计的理论与实践

目前，全国各地正在兴起区域形象设计与建设的浪潮，但如何把区域形象信息系统地传递出去，这方面的理论研究大大落后于实践。文章就区域形象信息传递的有效工具－区域视觉识别系统设计的主要内容，设计的原则，设计的基本流程等在理论与实践上作了较为详细的探讨，并就区域视觉识别系统设计方案的经济学论证作了一些有益探讨。     

河南经济技术开发区发展前景与对策

文章阐述了经济技术开发区在区域经济发展过程中的作用。根据河南省经济技术开发区的发展现状和存在的问题，分析了加入WTO后开发区所面临的机遇和挑战，并在此基础上从开发区环境营造，运行机制，筹资方式，产业发展，城市建设等方面提出了加快河南省经济技术开发区发展的对策。     

土地持续利用的五维空间分析

土地资源的持续利用是人类社会发展的基础，文章较为系统地提出了时间，空间，用途，技术和制度是实现土地资源持续利用的五维空间，并对各维度的内涵进行了较为深入的分析。其中，土地持续利用的时间维主要表现为从伦理角度考虑如何在代际间合理分配土地资源，使代际间利益之和最大；空间维则要求实现土地利用在空间上的合理布局；胜任维要求将土地资源合理配置到各种用途上，从而使人们从土地所提供的产品和劳各中获得的总效用最大；技术维选择意味着土地利用的直接或间接技术的选用能够保证土地的永续使用；制度维要求制度建设适应土地利用情况的变化，通过消除不同的土地制度之间存在着的外部利润来实现土地资源的最优配置。     

旅游信息系统建设模式探讨——以佛山市为例

作为当前旅游信息系统开发的两种主要基础平台，地理信息系统和多媒体制作系统都存在一定的缺陷。多媒体制作系统缺乏旅游地图的有效管理，空间查询，分析和统计功能，旅游地理信息系统则缺乏旅游信息的多媒体表达能力。从实用性和普及性出发，集合二者优点开发模式具有更大的推广应用价值。因此，论文提出在同一界面下基于GIS和多媒体集成的旅游信息系统开发模式；（1）在GIS中增加多媒体信息表达能力，以关系数据库为核心，把多媒体文件名信息存储在地理信息系统属性库，依靠多媒休段实现多媒体数据与地理信息系统图形和属性的关联，实现查询的基本概念；（2）在多媒体系统中开发部分GIS空间查询功能。以此思路，佛山科技学院GIS技术实验室利用VB进行GIS和多媒体二次开发，成功地完成了佛山旅游信息系统的设计和开发。