A case study on Landscape Component Niche based on Landscape Pattern Indices: Yanchi,Ningxia Province,China

Yanchi County is located in the agro-pastoral ecotone and belongs to the ecologically fragile area of Northwest China.It is important to study the evolution of landscape pattern to curb its environmental degradation.In order to intuitively show how the landscape pattern of the study area changes over time,Landsat Thematic Mappers(TM)and Landsat Operational Land Imager(OLI)data of 1991,2000,2010 and 2017 were used.This paper attempts to apply niche theories and methods into landscape ecology,and constructs a niche model of landscape components by using"n-dimentional hypervolume niche theory"and landscape pattern indices.By evaluating the spatial and temporal evolution of niche from the perspective of two-dimensional space to reflect the changes of landscape pattern in the study area over the past 26 years,new theories and methods were introduced for the characterization of landscape pattern.The results indicate that:1)The larger the attribute and dominance value of landscape components,the higher the ecological niche and the stronger the control effect on the overall landscape.2)The ecological niche of each landscape component was significantly different,just as its control effect on the overall landscape.3)The dynamic change of the ecological niche of each landscape component was different,with grassland,unused land and arable land always in a high dominant position,although the ecological niche of construction land and water area was always low.In general,the introduction of niche theory into the landscape ecology provided a new method to study the changes in regional landscape pattern.     

The Martian hydrologic cycle: Effects of CO2 mass flux on global water distribution

The Martian CO₂ cycle, which includes the seasonal condensation and subsequent sublimation of up to 30% of the planet's atmosphere, produces meridional winds due to the consequent mass flux of CO₂. These winds currently display strong seasonal and hemispheric asymmetries due to the large asymmetries in the distribution of insolation on Mars. It is proposed that asymmetric meridional advection of water vapor on the planet due to these CO₂ condensation winds is capable of explaining the observed dessication of Mars' south polar region at the current time. A simple model for water vapor transport is used to verify this hypothesis and to speculate on the effects of changes in orbital parameters on the seasonal water cycle.     

TEMPORAL TRENDS IN SOIL PRODUCTIVITY EVALUATIONS*

Studies of soil productivity must compensate for the effects of temporal trends in order to examine the pattern of crop yields along spatial gradients. An analysis of the published yield estimates for 30 soils in 233 counties, however, did not find consistent yield increases over the past three decades. On the contrary, the yield estimates for many soils were markedly uniform since 1972. The uniformity appears to have two causes: the acknowledged difficulty of making yield estimates in a time of increasing variability in soil and crop management, both within and between regions, and surveyors' awareness of data stored in a national soils data base. The effect is to cast doubt on soil productivity data reported in county soil surveys published between 1973 and 1988.     

The mass of the white dwarf in the recurrent nova U Scorpii

We present spectroscopy of the eclipsing recurrent nova U Sco. The radial velocity semi-amplitude of the primary star was found to be     from the motion of the wings of the He  ii λ 4686-Å emission line. By detecting weak absorption features from the secondary star, we find its radial velocity semi-amplitude to be     . From these parameters, we obtain a mass of     for the white dwarf primary star and a mass of     for the secondary star. The radius of the secondary is calculated to be     , confirming that it is evolved. The inclination of the system is calculated to be     , consistent with the deep eclipse seen in the light-curves. The helium emission lines are double-peaked, with the blueshifted regions of the disc being eclipsed prior to the redshifted regions, clearly indicating the presence of an accretion disc. The high mass of the white dwarf is consistent with the thermonuclear runaway model of recurrent nova outbursts, and confirms that U Sco is the best Type Ia supernova progenitor currently known. We predict that U Sco is likely to explode within ∼700 000 yr.     

Are natural hazards temporally random?

The paper employs statistical hypothesis tests to explore the question of whether natural hazards (hail and tornadoes being considered here) are or are not intertemporally random. The answer to this question, at least for these two hazards, is surprising and has important policy implications: hazards appear to be more likely in year t if an event was experienced in year t?1: hence, apparent ‘Gambler's Fallacy’ behaviour on the part of farmers and others may indeed be rational. Should this result hold for a full range of climate-related hazard types. as we suspect, hundreds of millions of dollars of crop loss and other damages may be preventable (e.g., rotating to frost-resistant crops if past events suggest greater than usual likelihood of early or late frost). The degree of positive serial correlation is also seen to vary a great deal regionally, with individuals in some states being unable to benefit from knowledge of prior hazard occurrence.     

Fresnel modeling of hematite crystal surfaces and application to martian hematite spherules

The gray crystalline hematite at Meridiani Planum first discovered by the Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer (MGS-TES) instrument occurs as spherules that have been interpreted as concretions. Analysis of the TES and mini-TES spectra shows that no 390 cm⁻¹ feature is present in the characteristic martian hematite spectrum. Here, we incorporate the mid-IR optical constants of hematite into a simple Fresnel reflectance model to understand the effect of emission angle and crystal morphology on the presence or absence of the 390 cm⁻¹ feature in an IR hematite spectrum. Based on the results we offer two models for the internal structure of the martian hematite spherules.     

Hawaiian basalt and Icelandic rhyolite: Indicators of differentiation and partial melting

In spite of the voluminous basaltic volcanism on the island of Hawaii, rhyolite is not produced. Iceland, on the other hand, exhibits common rhyolitic volcanism amounting to some 10–12% of its surface rocks. This contrast is investigated using the fundamental igneous processes exhibited by sheet-like Hawaiian lava lakes and Shonkin Sag laccolith in Montana. Highly differentiated, residual melts normally reside within inwardly advancing solidification fronts and are generally inaccessible to eruptive processes. Only when a large initial phenocryst population is present, from which a thick basal cumulate can rapidly form, is it possible to supply highly differentiated melt into the active (i.e., eruptable) portion of the magma chamber. Although there is protracted control of differentiation at Hawaii by settling of olivine, further differentiation occurs within the solidification fronts. Only by repeated transport and holding is it possible to differentiate beyond the critical composition of the leading edge of the solidification front ( 7% MgO and 51.5% SiO₂). Crystal size distributions (CSDs) for Hawaii and Shonkin Sag are used to demonstrate the inferred physical and chemical processes of solidification, including the kinetics of crystallization.A ubiquitous feature of these basaltic bodies is the formation of coarse veins and segregations of refined melt and granophyres within the upper solidification front. It is this fundamental bimodal feature which is the key to understanding Icelandic silicic volcanism.Rhyolites in Iceland occur mainly as a bimodal population with basalts associated with central volcanoes. Rhyolites, granophyres, and felsites are common, with the intrusions often being layered. Ash flows and true granite-like intrusions are rare. The voluminous silicic lavas at Torfajokull central volcano contain disequilibrium phenocryst assemblages. This, and the disagreement in oxygen isotopic values between rhyolites and basalts, reflects extensive partial melting of the heterogeneous basaltic crust of Iceland to produce these rhyolites. Relatively small, chemically distinct, and spatially intimate silicic bodies are formed by concentrating granophyric segregations from earlier cycles of solidification. This process is also reflected in the layered granophyric instrusion of Slaufrudalur in eastern Iceland. Slaufrudalur is an unvented subterranean caldera, equivalent in igneous processes and style to the subaerial Torfajokull caldera.Hawaii is dominated by fractional crystallization due to crystal settling and does not produce rhyolite. Iceland's tectonics allow continual and extensive reprocessing of thin, hot basaltic crust which produces rhyolite by concentrating original silicic segregations and veins and by partially melting intermediate extrusives, which have subsided deep into the crust.

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Zusammenfassung Auf Hawaii treten, trotz intensiven Basalt-Vulkanismusses, keine Rhyolithe auf. Auf Island dagegen ist Rhyolith, mit 10–12% des anstehenden Gesteins, verbreitet. Dieser Kontrast wurde anhand grundlegender magmatischer Prozesse untersucht, wie sie in flachen Lava-Seen Hawaiis und im Shonkin Sag Laccolith Montanas auftreten. Hochdifferenzierte Restschmelzen verbleiben innerhalb langsam nach innen vorrückender Erstarrungsfronten und sind meist unerreichbar für eruptive Prozesse. Nur wenn anfänglich bereits große Mengen von Einsprenglingen vorhanden sind, die rasch am Boden der Magmenkammer akkumulieren, kann eine hochdifferenzierte Schmelze in den aktiven (d.h. eruptiven) Teil der Magmenkammer gelangen. Obwohl auf Hawaii die Differentiation durch die Kristallisation von Olivin anhaltend kontrolliert wird, findet an der Erstarrungsfront weitere Differentiation statt. Nur durch wiederholten Transport und zeitweiliges Verharren ist es möglich, über die kritische Zusammensetzung der vordersten Erstarrungsfront hinaus zu differenzieren (ca. 7% MgO und 51,5% SiO₂). An Kristallgrö-ßenverteilungen (CDS) von Hawaii und Shonkin Sag können die angenommenen physikalischen und chemischen Prozesse der Kristallisation und die Kristallisationskinetik gezeigt werden. Ein weit verbreitetes Merkmal dieser Basaltkörper ist die Bildung grobkristalliner Gänge und Absonderung von stark differenzierten Schmelzen und Granophyren innerhalb der oberen Erstarrungsfront. Diese ausgeprägt bimodale Charakteristik ist der Schlüssel zum Verständnis des sauren isländischen Vulkanismus.Isländische Rhyolithe treten meist in bimodaler Verbreitung mit Basalten in Zusammenhang mit zentralen Vulkanen auf. Rhyolithe, Granophyre und Feisite sind häufig, in oft geschichteten Intrusionen. Ignimbrite und echte Granitintrusionen sind selten. Die großen Mengen SiO₂-reicher Laven am Torfajokull-Zentralvulkan enthalten Ein-sprenglinge, die sich nicht im Gleichgewicht mit der Matrix befinden. Dies, und die unterschiedlichen delta-¹⁸O-Werte von Rhyolithen und Basalten, zeigen, daß ausgeprägtes teilweises Aufschmelzen der heterogenen Basaltkruste von Island zur Produktion dieser Rhyolithe führte. Relativ kleine, nahe benachbarte saure Körper, die aber deutliche Unterschiede in ihrem Chemismus aufweisen, werden gebildet durch die Konzentration granophyrischer Teilschmelzen aus früheren Kristallisationszyklen. Dieser Vorgang wird auch widergespiegelt in der »layered intrusions« von Slaufrudalur in Ostisland. Slaufrudalur ist eine geschlossene unterirdische Kaldera, deren magmatische Prozesse und Baustil der subaerischen Torfajokull-Kaldera entsprechen.Die Prozesse in Hawaii sind dominiert von gravitativer Kristallisationsdifferentiation und es werden keine Rhyolithe produziert. Die isländische Tektonik führt zu kontinuierlicher starker Wiederaufarbeitung von dünner, heißer basaltischer Kruste. Dabei wird, durch die Konzentration ursprünglicher saurer Teilschmelzen und Gänge und durch die teilweise Aufschmelzung intermediärer Intrusiva, die tief in die Kruste abgesunken sind, Rhyolith produziert.

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Résumé En dépit du volcanisme basaltique volumineux des îles Hawaï, il n'y existe pas de rhyolite. En Islande, par contre, le volcanisme rhyolitique est commun et représente 10 à 12% des roches de la surface. Ce contraste est examiné sur la base des processus ignés fondamentaux présentés par les lacs de lave d'Hawaï et le laccolite de Shonkin Sag au Montana. Normalement, les liquides résiduels hautement différenciés résident à l'intérieur des fronts de solidification qui progressent vers l'arrière et sont généralement à l'abri des processus éruptifs. Ce n'est que dans le cas d'une population initiale abondante de phénocristaux, qui se rassemblent dans un cumulat basai épais, que des liquides hautement différenciés peuvent être fournis à la portion active (c'est-à-dire »éruptible«) de la chambre magmatique. A Hawaï, bien que la différenciation soit continuellement régie par la cristallisation d'olivine, la poursuite du processus a lieu à l'intérieur des fronts de solidification. Ce n'est que par la répétition d'actions de transport et de stagnation qu'il est possible de différencier audelà de la composition critique du front de solidification (±7% MgO et 51,5% SiO₂). A partir de la distribution de la taille des cristaux à Hawaï et à Shonkin Sag, on peut déduire les processus physique et chimique de la solidification, y compris la cinétique de la cristallisation.Une particularité courante de ces corps basaltiques est la formation de veines grenues et de ségrégations de liquides très différenciés et de granophyres à l'intérieur du front supérieur de solidification. Cette manifestation bimodale est la clé qui permet de comprendre le volcanisme siliceux islandais.En Islande, les rhyolites constituent d'ordinaire une population bimodale avec les basaltes centraux. Les rhyolites, les granophyres et les felsites sont fréquents, et souvent sous forme d'intrusions litées. Les coulées ardentes et les vraies intrusions de type granitique sont rares. Les volumineuses laves siliceuses du volcan central de Torfajokull contiennent des assemblages de phénocristaux en déséquilibre. Ce fait, ainsi que la non concordance des isotopes de l'oxygène entre rhyolites et basaltes, traduisent, à l'origine de ces rhyolites, une fusion partielle extensive de la croûte basaltique hétérogène d'Islande. Des corps siliceux relativement petits et chimiquement distincts bien que d'emplacements très voisins se sont formés par concentration de fusions partielles granophyriques lors des premiers cycles de solidification. Ce processus s'exprime également dans l'intrusion granophyrique litée de Slaufrudalur, en Islande orientale. Slaufrudalur est une caldeira souterraine fermée, équivalente par son style et son processus igné à la caldeira subaérienne de Torfajokull.A Hawaï, le phénomène dominant est la cristallisation fractionnée gravitative, sans production de rhyolite. La tectonique de l'Islande permet la régénération continue et extensive d'une mince croûte basaltique chaude. Les rhyolites y sont engendrées par la concentration des veines et ségrégations siliceuses originelles et par la fusion partielle de masses extrusives intermédiaires descendues profondément dans la croûte.

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