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.     

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.     

A sonic well log of the basement complex of the Walvis Ridge

A sonic well log was obtained within the basement complex of the Walvis Ridge during Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 74. The top of the basement complex is characterized by smooth acoustic reflectors. The rocks recovered within the basement complex consist of basalts with intercalated sediments. According to the log ～-50% of the upper 75 m of basement are igneous rocks and the other 50% sedimentary. Sonobuoy results indicate that the ratio of sediments to basalt increases with depth for an additional 225 m until a typical oceanic velocity structure is observed. Paleontological results suggest that the processes forming this upper 300 m of the basement complex was accomplished within a short time interval.     

Reconstruction of ancient sea conditions with an example from the Swiss Molasse

Ancient sea conditions can be estimated from the grain size, spacing and steepness of preserved ripple-marks. The element of greatest uncertainty in such reconstructions is the relationship between near-bed orbital diameter of water particles and the ripple spacing. This relationship is simple for vortex ripples of high steepness but is problematical for the low-steepness forms known as post-vortex, rolling-grain or anorbital ripples.

The existence field for wave ripples is between the threshold velocity for sediment movement and the onset of sheet flow, most low-steepness forms occurring close to the bed planation threshold. A range of maximum period of formative waves can be obtained using combinations of orbital diameter and orbital velocity, assuming linear wave theory to be a reasonable approximation.

Probable wave heights, wave lengths and water depths can be investigated using the transformation of wave parameters in shallowing waters and the constraints on wave dimensions provided by the wave-breaking condition. Given reasonable estimates of wave height, crude estimates of wave power allow a comparison of ancient wave-influenced sequences with modern counterparts.

Wave ripple-marks preserved in the Upper Marine Molasse of western Switzerland have been investigated. Results, which are in agreement with regional geology, suggest deposition in a seaway of approximately 100 km width, where moderate period waves (T = 3–6 s) were generated. The depositional facies belts were adjusted to the prevailing waves, tides and fluvial outflows.