Geography Deserts: State and Regional Variation in the Formal Opportunity to Learn Geography in the United States, 2005–2015

The formal opportunity to learn geography in the United States is unevenly distributed across space, creating possible geography deserts. Data on the number of exams taken in Advanced Placement Human Geography (APHG) and bachelor’s degrees earned in geography are mapped at the state and regional scales. Normalized rates are ranked and grouped into quintiles. For APHG exams, states in the southeastern region of the United States are in the uppermost quintiles while states in the northeastern region are in the lowermost quintiles. The pattern for bachelor’s degrees in geography is somewhat the spatial inverse of that for APHG.     

环塔里木盆地绿洲城市发展与水环境质量协调度

解决好新疆环塔里木盆地绿洲城市发展与水环境质量之间的关系，对"一带一路"倡议顺利实施及新疆社会稳定具有十分重要的作用。基于2004-2017年环塔里木盆地绿洲城市发展与水环境变化状况，构建城市发展与水环境质量的综合评价模型及二者的协调度模型，以探讨环塔里木盆地绿洲城市发展、水环境质量变化及二者的协调关系。结果表明：2004-2017年，（1）环塔里木盆地绿洲城市发展综合指数呈现出逐年稳定上升的趋势，经济发展和城镇空间规模扩大是环塔里木盆地绿洲城市发展的主要形式；（2）环塔里木盆地绿洲城市的水环境质量综合指数呈现出逐年降低的趋势，水环境质量形势严峻；（3）环塔里木盆地绿洲城市发展-水环境质量系统的协调度呈现倒U型的稳定发展趋势，但总体上两者的协调度较低，城市发展和水环境质量之间的矛盾日益突出。     

影响鸢乌贼手钓上钩率的因子探讨

根据印度洋西北部鸢乌贼（Sym plectoteuthis oualaniensis）作业渔场的现场调查数据．分析了作业水深、作业时段、摄食等级和月相等因子对手钓上钩率的影响。统计表明．晚上、午夜和凌晨3个不同时段和不同作业水深对手钓上钩率均有显著性影响。3个时段中，其摄食等级呈先低后高再低的现象。午夜和凌展，上钩率的变化趋势与摄食等级的变化趋势呈显著的负相关。在月相的影响下．离朔日三四天之前，手钓产量呈上升趋势；离望日五六天之前。手钓产量呈明显的下降趋势。     

地震前后垂直形变场动态演化的量化指标

提出一种表达垂直形变场动态演化过程的量化指标——区域应变率、应变集中度。在此基础上，对南北地震带各水准监测区近30年的垂直形变资料进行了实际计算．并结合具体震例进行了对比研究。结果表明：量化指标在一定程度上能够反映地震前后形变场的动态演化过程和地壳运动状态，对地震的中长期预报有一定的积极意义。     

GRADATION AND ASSESSMENT OF DAMAGE DEGREE OF NATURAL LANDSCAPE IN XING, AN COUNTY, GUANGXI

A new technique designed to help quantify the degree of damage to the landscape from one area to another shows a close relationship between population density and the degree of landscape damage. The technique establishes a scale of damage from 0 to 5 (zero = no damage; 5 = severe damage) using data from aerial photographs, land-use maps, and field data. The related formula allows one to compare the relative degree of damage across regions using a combination of an absolute index, a theoretical index, a relative index, and population density. Xing'an County is used to demonstrate the technique.     

Application of stress release models to historical earthquakes from North China

Univariate and multivariate stress release models are fitted to historical earthquake data from North China. It is shown that a better fit is obtained by treating separately the Eastern part of the region, including the North China Plain and Bohai Sea, and the Western part of the region, including the Ordos Plateau and its Eastern boundary. Further improvement is obtained by fitting the large events (M7.6) and smaller events in the Western region by different stress release models. The comparisons are made by computing the likelihoods of the fitted models and discounting the number of parameters used by Akaike's AIC criterion. The models are used to develop long-term risk scenarios for the East and West regions.     

Numerical modeling for analyzing thermal surface anomalies induced by underground coal fires

Coal seams burning underneath the surface are recognized all over the world and have drawn increasing public attention in the past years. Frequently, such fires are analyzed by detecting anomalies like increased exhaust gas concentrations and soil temperatures at the surface. A proper analysis presumes the understanding of involved processes, which determine the spatial distribution and dynamic behavior of the anomalies.In this paper, we explain the relevance of mechanical and energy transport processes with respect to the occurrence of temperature anomalies at the surface. Two approaches are presented, aiming to obtain insight into the underground coal fire situation: In-situ temperature mapping and numerical simulation. In 2000 to 2005, annual temperature mapping in the Wuda (Inner Mongolia, PR China) coal fire area showed that most thermal anomalies on the surface are closely related to fractures, where hot exhaust gases from the coal fire are released. Those fractures develop due to rock mechanical failure after volume reduction in the seams. The measured signals at the surface are therefore strongly affected by mechanical processes.More insight into causes and effects of involved energy transport processes is obtained by numerical simulation of the dynamic behavior of coal fires. Simulations show the inter-relation between release and transport of thermal energy in and around underground coal fires. Our simulation results show a time delay between the coal fire propagation and the observed appearance of the surface temperature signal. Additionally, the overall energy flux away from the burning coal seam into the surrounding bedrock is about 30-times higher than the flux through the surface. This is of particular importance for an estimation of the energy released based on surface temperature measurements. Finally, the simulation results also prove that a fire propagation rate estimated from the interpretation of surface anomalies can differ from the actual rate in the seam.     

汶川大地震（MS 8.0）同震变形作用及其与地质灾害的关系

2008年5月12日发生于四川盆地西部龙门山断裂带的汶川大地震（MS 8.0）波及半个亚洲,震撼整个中国。本文通过地震后的实地调查,对发育在龙门山断裂带上的同震地表破裂带的分布、产状、继承性复活与变形特征,以及同震变形与地震地质灾害的关系等进行了初步总结,分析表明这次汶川大地震(MS 8.0)沿北川-映秀逆冲断裂和安县-灌县逆冲断裂同时发生地表破裂,前者产生以高角度逆冲兼右旋走滑为特征的地表破裂带长约275 km,后者产生以缓倾角逆冲作用为特征的地表破裂带长约80 km。汶川大地震的同震地表破裂带分布具有分段性特征,并与地表破坏程度的分带性有着一定的内在联系,详细研究表明,同震地表破裂带的产状直接影响地表破坏程度和地震地质灾害的强度,汶川大地震（MS 8.0）沿呈高角度陡倾的北川-映秀逆冲断裂发育的同震地表变形所产生的地表破坏程度和地震地质灾害的强度比沿缓倾角的安县-灌县逆冲断裂要强。从各种类型的地震断裂来看,具有垂直运动的逆冲型地震断裂所造成的地表破坏程度和地质灾害强度比具水平运动的走滑型地震断裂要强。因此,汶川大地震发生的破裂过程和同震地表变形与地震地质灾害的关系值得深入研究。     

Microbial release of potassium from K-bearing minerals by thermophilic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus

A strain of thermophilic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus was cultured with K-bearing minerals to determine if microbe-mineral interactions enhance the release of mineralic potassium. Experiments were carried out in two settings, one with the mineral grains and the fungal cells in direct contact, and the other employing a membrane (pore size 0.22 μm) to separate the two. Measurements over a period of 30 days showed that, irrespective of the experimental setup, the concentration of free K in the culture was drastically higher than those in any of the control experiments where no living organism was present. Moreover, the occurrence of mineral-cell physical contact enhanced potassium release by an additional factor of 3 to 4 in comparison to the separation experiments. For contact experiments, Electron Probe Microanalysis revealed the formation of mycelium-mineral aggregates, and Atomic Force Microscopy imaging further indicated the possible ingestion of mineral particles by the fungus cells. Contrasting to what was observed and expected in control experiments, the potassium solubilization rate showed a positive dependence upon pH when fungi and minerals were mixed directly, and exhibited no correlations with solution acidity if cell-rock contact was restrained. These results appear to suggest that A. fumigatus promoted potassium release by means of at least three likely routes, one through the complexation of soluble organic ligands, another appealing to the immobile biopolymers such as the insoluble components of secretion, and the third related to the mechanical forces in association with the direct physical contact between cells and mineral particles.     

Efficiency analysis of open trench for impact pile driving through a single-variable method

Abstract

The ground vibrations during pile driving operation have a drastic potential to undermine the surrounding structures both in land and reclaimed land. Particularly, reclaimed land necessitates ample application of pile driving due to the weak land condition. To prevent the structural damage, attenuation of the ground vibrations to an allowable level through active isolation of circular open trench is the scope of this study. In this research, finite element simulations of continuous impact pile driving process from the ground surface was executed with particular attention to the pile-soil interaction, and thereby, the efficiency of open trench application in attenuation of the unsafe distance of different structures was surveyed using the vibration sensitivity degree. Regarding the crucial parameters of an open trench (depth, width, and location), it was concluded that a sufficient high depth can attenuate the unsafe distance up to 68%, the trench width variations are less effective, and an average pile-trench distance is the most efficient option. The excavation volume was also concluded as another crucial parameter in open trench design which takes all three parameters into account. The trench depth equal to the pile’s maximum critical depth of vibration was inferred for an optimum design.