Utilisation and Management Changes in South Kyrgyzstan＇s Mountain Forests

Using political ecology as its conceptual framework, this paper focuses on the changes in forest utilisation and management of South Kyrgyzstan＇s walnut-fruit forests over the last century The aim of this study on human-environment interactions is to investigate the relationship between actors on the one side, their interests and demands, and the forests and forested lands on the other. Forest resource utilisation and management - and even the recognition of different forest products as resources - are connected with political and socioeconomic conditions that change with time. The walnut-fruit forests of South Kyrgyzstan are unique, characterised by high biodiversity and a multiplicity of usable products; and they have been utilised for a long time. Centralised and formal management of the forests started with the Russian occupation and was strengthened under Soviet rule, when the region became a part of the USSR. During this era, a state forest administration that was structured from Moscow all the way down to the local level drew up detailed plans and developed procedures for utilising the different forest products. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the socio-political and economic frame conditions have changed significantly, which has brought not only the sweeping changes in the managing institutions, but also the access rights and interests in the forest resources. At present, the region is suffering from a high unemployment rate, which has resulted in the forests＇ gaining considerable importance in the livelihood strategies of the local population. Political and economic liberalization, increased communication and transregional exchange relations have opened the door for international companies and agents interested in the valuable forest products. Today, walnut wood and burls, walnuts, wild apples and mushrooms are all exported to various countries in the world. Scientists and members of various international organisations stress the ecological value of the forests and are trying to establish nature conservation areas. Nevertheless, it is to fear that a multiplicity of interrelated factors - the present transformation and globalization processes, the appearance of new actors, the local population＇s insecure economic situation and the erosion of managing institutions - are all leading to an intensified and unregulated exploitation of the forests, resulting in their degradation.     

预防油页岩地层钻进中压差卡钻的措施

分析了油页岩地层钻进中压差卡钻发生的原因,提出了预防压差卡钻的途径及处理方法,并通过工程实例来强调预防为主的重要性。     

鄂尔多斯盆地黄陵、东胜地区地温场对比

鄂尔多斯盆地黄陵、东胜铀矿区分别处于盆地南部渭北隆起的北侧边缘和盆地北部伊盟隆起的东部,赋矿层位都是中侏罗统直罗组。盆地南、北铀矿区在现今地温场及古地温场都存在明显差异,南部现今大地热值及热演化程度明显高于北部。对于下侏罗统延安组和石炭—二叠系煤层,黄陵地区镜质体反射率都高于东胜地区。通过镜质体反射率资料得出同一埋深的一套地层经历的最大古地温和对应的古地温梯度也有南部高于北部的现象。由于早白垩世后期盆地普遍整体抬升使得现今地温相对古地温降低,南部黄陵地区抬升剥蚀量大于北部东胜地区,导致古、今地温差异也大于后者。盆地南部庆阳—富县一带局部构造热运动,导致南部异常地温场的形成,使得南部热演化程度高于北部。     

焦作-郑州天然气输气管道工程地质灾害防治措施及防治建议

焦作-郑州天然气输气管道是较重要建设项目,输气管道起自焦作市博爱县磨头镇,南止郑州市惠济区古荥镇,该输气管道沿线地质环境条件复杂程度为简单-中等。地质灾害类型主要为崩塌、地裂缝、地面不均匀沉陷,黄土湿陷和沙土液化等地质灾害。工程建设有引发和加剧崩塌灾害的可能性,有遭受地质灾害的危险性。工程建设过程中应针对不同的灾害类型采取适当的预防或治理措施。     

Evolution of cool skin and direct air-sea gas transfer coefficient during daytime

Absorption of solar radiation within the thermal molecular sublayer of the ocean can modify the temperature difference across the cool skin as well as the air-sea gas transfer. Our model of renewal type is based on the assumption that the thermal and diffusive molecular sublayers below the ocean surface undergo cyclic growth and destruction, the heat and gas transfer between the successive burst events are performed by molecular diffusion. The model has been upgraded to include heating due to solar radiation. The renewal time is parameterized as a function of the surface Richardson number and the Keulegan number. A Rayleigh number criterion characterizes the convective instability of the cool skin under solar heating. Under low wind speed conditions, the solar heating can damp the convective instability, strongly increasing the renewal time and correspondingly decreasing the interfacial gas exchange. In the ocean, an additional convective instability caused by salinity flux due to evaporation becomes of importance in such cases. The new parameterization is compared with the cool skin data obtained in the western equatorial Pacific during the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Response Experiment in February 1993. In combination with a model of the diurnal thermocline it describes main features of the field data both in nighttime and daytime. Under low wind speed conditions (< 5 m s^-1) diurnal variations of the sea surface temperature due to the formation of a diurnal thermocline were substantially larger than those across the cool skin. Under wind speeds > 5 m s^-1, diurnal variations of the surface temperature due to the variations of the thermal molecular sublayer become more important.     

Commentary and critique of “accounting for mineral resources: Issues and BEA's initial estimates”

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), U.S. Department of Commerce, in keeping with broad international efforts to green national gross domestic product (GDP) accounts, has attempted to create satellite accounts for mineral depletion. The present paper criticizes the BEA's unit rent measure of resource depletion, which is based upon Hotelling's pure theory of exhaustion. Following a thorough criticism of Hotelling's theory as a real-world model of mineral prices, practical issues related to the treatment of recycling, exploration, definition of reserves/resources, and their valuation/exploitation are introduced. For crude oil and natural gas and the nonfuel minerals, specific application problems of joint products and residuals complicate BEA's assumptions and efforts.     

“煤特征指数”与矿井瓦斯危险类型的关系

矿井瓦斯危险程度与煤层中瓦斯赋存状况及其泄出方式有关,并取决于多种地质条件和采掘工艺。其中,煤特征条件特别重要。本文分析了湖南省的5种矿井瓦斯危险类型以及相应的煤特征条件,提出了“煤特征指数(I_c)”这一概念。I_c是一项评价矿井瓦斯危险程度的综合指标。研究表明,矿井瓦斯危险愈严重,则其I_c值愈高。应用该项成果预测了16对矿井的瓦斯危险类型,取得了满意的效果。     

Geochemistry of soils derived from black shale, central Hunan, China

The black shale formed under anoxic conditions usually contains high concentrations of many metals. Weathering of such black shale might cause the emission of many metals. Moreover, soils derived from black shale （SBS） are believed to be affected by black shale weathering. In recent years, many studies such as Lee et al. （2002）, Woo et al. （2002）, Fang et al. （2002）, Pasava et al. （2003）, and Peng et al. （2004） have approached the heavy metal contaminations of SBS, but systematical geochemical study is rare. Presently, the SBS and its corresponding black shales （CBS） were both sampled from central Hunan （China）, and analyzed for a large number of elements, using an Elan6000 ICP-MS/AES machine at Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, CAS. In this paper, some preliminary results are reported. The analytical results show that the SBS in central Hunan contains very high concentrations of heavy metals such as Co, Cu, Hg, Mo, Pb, Zn, U, Th, Sb, T1, Cd, Cr, Sc, V, Sn, As, Se, and Ni.     

Attenuation of aqueous metal transport at two natural acid rock drainage occurrences in the Yukon Territory, Canada

Naturally acidic drainage associated with pyritic black shale has been observed in many locations in the Yukon Territory. While not necessarily linked to known mineral deposits, most of these natural acid rock drainage occurrences show elevated dissolved concentrations of trace elements, especially zinc, nickel, copper, cadmium and arsenic. Based on field observations, microbial investigation, chemical analyses and geochemical modeling, the fate and transport of potentially deleterious elements at two natural acid drainage occurrences with slightly different settings are examined. The Macintosh Creek is a small, acidic stream （pH 2.98-3.40）, 2 km long, located in the Macmillan Pass area of east-central Yukon amidst known sedimentary exhalative massive sulfide mineralization but remains undisturbed by exploration activities. Its trace metal content is apparently derived from groundwater discharges, which gave as much as 5.0, 2.5, 0.7, 0.13 and 0.03 mg/L ofZn, Ni, Cu and As, respectively. Interaction and sorption reactions with algal mats, biofilms and iron oxyhydroxides appear to be the dominant mechanisms attenuating aqueous contaminant transport along the stream. Cryogenic precipitation further consolidates the ferricrete formation and reduces the mobility of the sorbed metals. The tributaries of the Engineering Creek along the Dempster Highway in northern Yukon drain through a series of dolomite, phyllite, argillite, limestone, black shale, sandstone and conglomerate with no known concentration of mineralization. In this area, the water chemistry fully reflects the local geology with acidic streams invariably associated with black shale occurrences. Groundwater seeps in the headwaters area of the km-180 Creek completely enclosed in black shale gave pH 3.0 and as much as 148, 39, 2.9 and 9.1 mg/L of Zn, Ni, Cu and As, respectively. Sorption with iron oxyhydroxide and organic matter appear to dominate the attenuation of contaminant transport along the stream. However, once entered into carbonate-dominated terrains, secondary carbonate minerals exercise additional geochemical control on the local water chemistry as a result of neutralization.     

Asking the right questions: environmental conflict in the case of Azerbaijan

This paper contributes an empirical test of key themes of the literature on natural resource conflict. Survey and interview data from an ongoing project in Azerbaijan provide insights into an unexpected lack of conflict in Azerbaijan related to the environment, resources and energy despite the predictions of resource conflict literature. We contend that questions about public perceptions about the environment and other daily concerns are critical if we are to understand who is likely (or unlikely) to be involved in conflict and why. The data presented in this paper demonstrate that Azerbaijani citizens rank environmental and resource issues among their immediate concerns and their top concerns for the country. However, compared to other day-to-day concerns such as the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and economic concerns, environment-related concerns do not appear to be sufficient to motivate widespread violent conflict or citizen dissent related to environmental or natural resource conditions.