The Fennoscandian uplift and glacial isostasy

Various hypotheses have been put forth in relation to the land uplift of Fennoscandia, which is well documented both by geological and geodetic observations. Most modern authors attribute the present uplift to an isostatic rebound of the earth after the last deglaciation. Recent information on the gravity field, both from the satellite data and land survey measurements is examined to ascertain whether the Fennoscandian uplift is associated with a gravity minimum and a mass deficit. Free air anomalies correlate well with the central area of uplift and predict a remaining uplift of about 100 m. Results of secular gravity measurements are inconclusive. Seismicity of Fennoscandia does not show a close association with the area of maximum uplift. Different rheological models proposed for the mantle below the Fennoscandian shield are reviewed and it is shown that the available data on the rates of uplift for the last 9000 years are more compatible with a low-viscosity (10²⁰ P) asthenosphere of 100–200 km thickness.     

Investigating effects of land use change scenarios on soil erosion using CLUE-s and RUSLE models

Predicting soil erosion change is an important strategy in watershed management. The objective of this research was to evaluate land use change effects on soil erosion in the north of Iran using five land use scenarios. Three land use maps were created for a period of 25 years (1986–2010) to investigate land use transition and to simulate land use for the year 2030. Additionally, the RUSLE model was used to estimate erosion and the effect of land use change. The results showed that CLUE-s is suitable for modeling future land use transition using ROC curve. The median soil loss in the basis period was 104.52 t ha^?1 years^?1. Results indicate that the range of soil loss change is 2–32% in simulated period and soil loss value was higher than basis period in all scenarios. Thirty percent decrease in demand scenario has the lowest soil loss in simulated period, and the soil loss value under this scenario will be only 2% more than the basis period. Thus, the soil conversion effects resulted from the demand of each land use.     

Newest results obtained in studying the Fennoscandian land uplift phenomenon

The Fennoscandian land uplift phenomenon has been studied using geodetic, gravimetric and seismologic material. Results obtained show that the greatest part of the phenomenon is of glaciological origin. In the geoid there is a depression approx. eight meters in depth. A seismic map showing data gathered over 500 years shows also a certain tectonic pattern.     

地面重力数据结合GPS/水准数据精化兴城物探实验区大地水准面

区域大地水准面的确定是GPS测量常需解决的问题。目前确定大地水准面的方法主要包括重力法、GPS水准几何法及组合法,其中组合法因其精度和可靠性都较高,常用于计算高精度区域大地水准面。高精度的大地水准面模型是组合法确定区域大地水准面的关键。在我国,EGM2008全球重力场模型精度和分辨率均高于此前的所有模型,研究基于该模型的组合法大地水准面精化具有重要的实践意义。笔者以吉林大学兴城教学实习基地物探实验区为例,基于实测重力数据、EGM2008重力场模型和GPS水准数据,采用组合法精化了区域大地水准面,比较了组合法大地水准面模型和无重力实测数据的几何法大地水准面模型的精度差异,分析了该方法在物探测量中的适用性。结果表明,实验区组合法大地水准面模型精度最高达到1.2 cm,并且误差分布区间较小,总体上精度和可靠性高于对比的几何方法,并且组合法和几何法获取的两种大地水准面模型均能满足大比例尺物探测量要求。EGM2008模型精度较高,故平坦地区使用组合法时,高密度的实测重力数据可能带来高频扰动,有可能降低EGM2008重力场模型本身的精度,所以重力数据采集过程中要顾及重力点的密度和空间分布。本文方法更适用于地形复杂的地区。     

Late Holocene vertical land motion and relative sea‐level changes: lessons from the British Isles

Vertical land motion caused by continuing glacial isostatic adjustment is one of several important components of sea‐level change and is not limited just to previously glaciated regions. A national‐scale analysis for the British Isles shows an ellipse of present‐day relative uplift (relative sea‐level fall), ～1.2 mm a^?1, broadly centred on the deglaciated mountains of Scotland. The pattern of three foci of relative subsidence, ～1 mm a^?1, results from the additional interactions of the deglacial meltwater load on the Atlantic basin and the continental shelf, and the signal due to far‐field ice sheets. At a local scale, sediment compaction can more than double the rate of relative land subsidence. Relative land‐level change (the negative of relative sea‐level change) is not the same as vertical land motion. There is a spatial pattern in the difference between relative land‐level change and vertical land motion, with differences at present of approximately ?0.1 to ?0.3 mm a^?1 around the British Isles and +2.5 to ?1.5 mm a^?1 globally. For the wider scientific and user community, whether or not the differences are considered significant will depend upon the location, time frame and spatial scale of the study that uses such information. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Recent geoid computations for the Hellenic area

New geoid computations for the Hellenic area are carried out using (a) gravity anomalies for the land area available from old and new data bases, and gravity data for the sea area derived from altimetry and a recent digitization of sea gravity maps, and (b) a 1km × 1km digital terrain model. The EGM96 geopotential model is used as the reference field. In order to assess the quality of the computed geoid heights in the continental area comparisons were carried out with GPS/leveling heights and the recently available European Gravimetric Geoid EGG97. In the sea area the geoid heights were compared with sea surface heights of the recent and more accurate TOPEX/POSEIDON (T/P) altimetry mission. At the end of this article the improvement of the data bases is discussed and some plans for further development in the methodological schedule are pointed out.     

Land uplift induced by injection: a feasible method to evaluate the security of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> capture and sequestration projects

Technology of CO₂ capture and sequestration (CCS) is one of the many solutions to reduce greenhouse gases and alleviate the current global warming, but its security is important and needs to be evaluated. A simulator which links TOUGHREACT and FLAC^3D was used to simulate the process of coupled temperature-hydrologic-mechanics (THM) in CCS. A test on laboratory scale was set up and water was injected into compacted sand covered by low permeability clay to study the land uplift displacement. The results were used to verify the accuracy of the simulator for calculating the THM coupling. The effects of injection quantity, injection time, and injection mode on land uplift were also studied on the constructed model. At last, a land uplift evaluation system was built to quantify the CO₂ escape if any. The evaluation process can be divided into five steps: model generalization, acquisition of model parameters, numerical modeling, simulation and analysis, monitor comparison, and evaluation of model results. The major output of this study will provide a feasible method for quantitative analysis of CO₂ leakage in CCS projects.     

The Northern and Southern Scandes — structural differences revealed by an analysis of gravity anomalies, the geoid and regional isostasy

We investigate the Scandes mountain range by analysing the gravity field, the geoid heights and the degree of isostatic compensation of the lithosphere. Topographically, the Scandes mountain range can be divided in the Northern and Southern Scandes. Comparisons between the present topographic expression and the gravity field and the geoid show that the axis of highest elevation in the Northern Scandes is shifted eastwards compared to the minimum of the Bouguer anomaly, while the two coincide perfectly in the Southern Scandes. Geoid heights reduced by the effect of topographic masses show a large-scale minimum in the Northern Scandes, but no anomaly in the Southern Scandes.Regional, flexural isostatic calculations yield a flexural rigidity of D = 10²³ Nm for the lithosphere of the Southern Scandes and the isostatic gravity and geoid residuals point to additional isostatic support by low-density rocks below the Moho. On the other side, for the lithosphere in the Northern Scandes no significant flexural rigidity can be resolved. Here, the Bouguer anomaly is best modelled with a small flexural rigidity, indicating nearly Airy isostatic behaviour. Local subsurface loading and horizontal tectonic forces overprint the isostatic compensations and increase the tectonic complexity of the Northern Scandes. These distinctive features of the Scandes cannot be explained by currently existing models of the present and Neogene uplift and the isostatic mechanism of the Scandes.     

The Late Cenozoic uplift – climate change paradox

The geologic evidence for worldwide uplift of mountain ranges in the Neogene is ambiguous. Estimates of paleoelevation vary, according to whether they are based on the characteristics of fossil floras, on the masses and grain sizes of eroded sediments, or on calculations of increased thickness of the lithosphere as a result of faulting. Detrital erosion rates can be increased both by increased relief in the drainage basin and by a change to more seasonal rainfall patterns. The geologic record provides no clear answer to the question whether uplift caused the climatic deterioration of the Neogene or whether the changing climate affected the erosion system in such a way as to create an illusion of uplift. We suggest that the spread of C₄ plants in the Late Miocene may have altered both the erosion and climate systems. These changes are responsible for the apparent contradictions between data supporting uplift and those supporting high elevations in the past.     

The present rate of uplift of Fennoscandia implies a low-viscosity asthenosphere

The rate of displacement in Fennoscandia has been intensively discussed for many years. It is now widely accepted to be an isostatic response of the glacial history of the area. The Earth's present response to deglaciation in Fennoscandia is simulated using a three-dimensional (3D), viscoelastic model in which the asthenosphere and mantle viscosity are allowed to vary so that the maximum rate of present uplift matches its observed value. The deglaciation history is considered to be known, and the C¹⁴-datings are converted to sidereal years. The pattern of the present uplift gives a firm match with the observed data when a low-viscosity asthenosphere is introduced. Assuming a 15,000 years load cycle, i.e. the glacier was applied to the surface for 15,000 years before the melting started, the best fitting earth viscosity model is a 10²⁴ Nm lithosphere overlying a 75 km-thick 2.0 × 10¹⁹ Pas asthenosphere and a 1.2 × 10²¹ Pas mantle. The simulations suggest a remaining maximum uplift of 40 m.     

Land cover change over the last three centuries due to human activities: The availability of new global data sets

Land use and land cover change is an important driver of global change (Turner et al., 1993). It is recognized that land use change has important consequences for global and regional climates, the global biogeochemical cycles such as carbon, nitrogen, and water, biodiversity, etc. Nevertheless, there have been relatively few comprehensive studies of global, long-term historical changes in land cover due to land use. In this paper, we review the development of global scale data sets of land use and land cover change. Furthermore, we assess the differences between two recently developed global data sets of historical land cover change due to land use. Based on historical statistical inventories (e.g. census data, tax records, land surveys, historical geography estimates, etc) and applying different spatial analysis techniques, changes in agricultural land cover (croplands, pastures) were reconstructed for the last 300 years. The two data sets indicate that cropland areas expanded from 3–4 million km² in 1700 to 15–18 million km² in 1990 (mostly at the expense of forests), while grazing land area expanded from 5 million km² in 1700 to 31 million km² in 1990 (mostly at the expense of natural grasslands). The data sets disagree most over Latin America and Oceania, and agree best over North America. Major differences in the two data sets can be explained by the use of a fractional versus Boolean approach, different modelling assumptions, and inventory data sets.     

Land uplift effects on the phosphorus cycle of the Baltic Sea

The isostatic land uplift after the latest glaciation period in northern Europe means that the descending wave base in the eutrophicated Baltic Sea continuously exposes new bottom areas to increasing wind and wave-induced erosion. Erosion adds considerable amounts of phosphorus (P) and clay particles to the water column. This study has used a dynamic mass-balance model to investigate how land uplift affects the whole P cycle in the five major subbasins of the Baltic Sea. The model uses a unitary set of variables and constants for all subbasins with the exception of measurable, basin-specific driving variables. Differences in P concentrations between the subbasins could be quite accurately quantified only when the land uplift gradient was used as a driving variable. The clarifying effect from clay particles was found to be a major reason why those subbasins with the most intensive land uplift rates were also the ones with the lowest P concentrations. Without using the land uplift gradient as a model input, concentration differences could not be quantitatively explained in a meaningful way. Furthermore, simulations showed that clay particle erosion from land uplift has a substantial impact on all major internal P fluxes of the Baltic Sea. At the turn of the millennium, one of the subbasins (the Bothnian Bay) was oligotrophic, whilst the other four major subbasins were mesotrophic. Without the clarifying effect from the clay particles added to the water column during erosion of the rising seafloor, all five major subbasins of the Baltic Sea would probably be substantially more eutrophic.     

Land-use change and its environmental impact in the Heihe River Basin, arid northwestern China

Rapid land-use change has taken place in many arid and semi-arid regions of China over the last decade as the result of demand for food for its growing population. The Heihe River Basin, a typical inland river basin of temperate arid zone in northwestern China, was investigated to assess land-use change dynamics by the combined use of satellite remote sensing and geographical information systems (GIS), and to explore the interaction between these changes and the environment. Images were classified into six land-use types: cropland, forestland, grassland, water, urban or built-up land, and barren land. The objectives were to assess and analyze landscape change of land use/cover in Heihe River Basin over 15 years from 1987 to 2002. The results show that (1) grassland and barren land increase greatly by 22.3, and 268.2 km², respectively, but water area decreased rapidly by 247.2 km² in the upper reaches of Heihe River Basin; (2) cropland and urban or built-up land increased greatly by 174.9, and 64.6 km², respectively, but grassland decreased rapidly by 210.3 km² in the middle reaches of Heihe River Basin; and (3) barren land increased largely by 397.4 km², but grassland degraded seriously and water area decreased obviously by 313.3, and 21.7 km², respectively in the lower reaches of Heihe River Basin. These results show that significant changes in land-use occur within the whole basin over the study period and cause severe environmental degradation, such as water environmental changes (including surface water runoff change, decline of groundwater table and degeneration of surface water and groundwater quality), land desertification and salinization, and vegetation degeneracy.     

A new high-resolution gravimetric geoid for South Spain and the Gibraltar Strait area: SOSGIS

A new gravimetric geoid is computed for South Spain and the Gibraltar Strait area. This geoid is located just in the junction between two tectonic plates (Euro-Asiatic and African plates) and in the junction of two gravimetric geoids: IGG2005 (the Iberian Gravimetric Geoid obtained in 2005) and MORGEO (the MORoccan GEOid). IGG2005 is the Iberian geoid and MORGEO is the Moroccan geoid, both geoids have been previously obtained. The new geoid is the gravimetric geoid solution that connects the two above-mentioned geoids, getting a more accurate and reliable picture of this area than the other previous geoids. The method used is the Stokes integral in convolution form, which shows to be an efficient method to reach the proposed objective. The terrain correction and the indirect effect have been taken into account. The new geoid is obtained as a regular grid (with a mesh size of 1.5′ × 1.5′) in the GRS80 reference system, covering the study area from 34° to 40° of latitude and from −8° to 0° of longitude. This gravimetric geoid and the previous geoids: IGG2005 and MORGEO; are compared to the geoid undulations derived at the validation points located on the study area (four GPS/levelling points measured on Morocco and five points of the European vertical reference network (EUVN) measured on Iberia). As it is expected, the new geoid is a more precise and reliable model, fitting the geoidal heights of these validation points with more accuracy than the other previous geoids. This new model will be useful for orthometric height determination by GPS in the mountains and remote areas, where levelling has many logistic problems. Also, it can be interesting for other geophysical purposes different to the height measurements, because it can provide a constraint for the density distribution, the thermal state of Lithosphere and the viscosity in the mantle. Such details can be inferred from a geoid model and the seismic velocity structure.     

Land use change

Despite decades of interest by geographers in patterns and processes of land use change, the data base for such studies is at best fragmentary. In the absence of an adequate land inventory, it is difficult to see how an effective land planning and allocation system can be devised to meet future social, economic and ecological needs. It is argued that a more comprehensive system for monitoring land use change is required, and the role and accuracy of remote sensing in providing a land use survey base is assessed.     

Flow discharge simulation based on land use change predictions

Haraz River is one of the most important rivers in Iran, which has been faced with successive inappropriate land use changes and environmental degradation practices in recent decades. In this way, the impact of land use changes on stream flow generation, evaporation and hydrological processes of the Haraz basin has been studied. Land use maps for the years of 1988, 2000 and 2013 were prepared and assessed for any changes in land use using land change modeler and logistic regression methods. GEOMOD method was also used for accuracy tests of models. The calibration periods of 1988–2000, 1988–2013 and also Markov chain with hard prediction model were applied in order to predict the future land use for 2025. Besides, SWAT model was used to evaluate the watershed-scale impacts of land use change. Evaluating the calibration periods using GEOMOD method and some parameters showed a more accurate prediction for the period of 1988–2013 than the 1988–2000 period. Likewise, the results indicated that the rate of changes from 2013 to 2025 will be decreased in terms of forest and range lands (6751.05 and 168,09.01 ha, respectively) and will be increased in terms of residential areas, irrigated farming, gardens and bare lands up to 1567.2, 1405.68, 3039.38 and 174,05.55 ha, respectively. The assessment of model efficiency showed that the SWAT model has acceptable performance to simulate the flow discharge. Overall, the model outcomes indicated that land use changes lead to increase the average runoff in the study area. As a matter of fact, this issue has significant effects on water resources, economic and social situations, and hence, efficient strategies are needed for an integrated management in the Haraz basin.     

Land use/cover change and driving force analyses in parts of northern Iran using RS and GIS techniques

To accomplish integrated watershed management and land use planning, it is necessary to study the dynamic spatial pattern of land use and cover change related to socioeconomical and physical parameters. In this study, land use and cover change detection was applied to the Lajimrood Drainage Basin in northern parts of Iran, an area characterized by rich and diversified agricultural and forest mosaic. The main of changes in the study area were forest–arable land transformation, which was only considered in this study. In order to detect these changes, at first, based on 1:25,000 digital topographic maps dated 1967 and 1994 and ETM⁺ satellite image dated 2002, land use map in these three dates were prepared. The results showed that the area with forest land use decreased about 3.2% in transition 1967–2002. Also, arable land increased about 36.9%. We suggested a method to analyze the driving forces and the spatial distribution of land use change. The maps of elevation, slope, and aspect were derived and classified by using digital elevation model (DEM). Also, the maps of distance from road, drainage network, and building area were selected as socioeconomical factors. These maps were overlaid and crossed with land use change map and land use change area ratio was computed. The results showed that the elevation, slope, and aspect were physical effective factors in land use changing. Also, by increasing the distance from building area and roads, deforestation rate was reduced.     

Paleolithospheric structure revealed by continental geoid anomalies

Lithospheric geoid anomalies record changes in elevation and potential energy experienced by continental lithosphere. Estimates of local isostatic equilibration and potential energy, in tandem with lithosphere-related geoid anomalies, can be used to estimate paleolithospheric thickness, providing a clearer understanding of how and why continental topography is developed. We employ several simplifying assumptions about the crustal and mantle lithosphere density and structure (and readily acknowledge that our results are therefore first-order approximations) to predict the pre-orogenic structure of the lithosphere. At the outset we emphasize that while this approach does not provide an exhaustive evaluation of the deformation mechanism, it does serve to quantify the relative role played by the variations in the crustal and upper mantle components of the lithosphere. In this way we are able to use independent measurement of lithospheric geoid anomalies, current (post-orogenic) elevation and lithospheric structure, and paleoelevation information to estimate topographic development and structural support over time. Application of this technique to the southwestern United States indicates that the uplift of the Colorado Plateau is the result of processes in both the crust and mantle lithosphere and that the lithosphere of the pre-orogenic Southern Basin and Range was thinned relative to the Northern Basin and Range and Colorado Plateau. Although we use the southwestern U.S. as an example, this method can help constrain uplift mechanisms for any region for which the structure and geoid anomaly of the modern lithosphere is well understood.     

Land cover change dynamics mapping and predictions using EO data and a GIS-cellular automata model: the case of Al-Baha region,Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The present study designed to monitor and predict land cover change (LCC) in addition to characterizing LCC and its dynamics over Al-Baha region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, by utilizing remote sensing and GIS-cellular automata model (Markov-CA). Moreover, to determine the effect of rainwater storage reservoirs as a driver to the expansion of irrigated cropland. Eight Landsat 5/7 TM/ETM images from 1975 to 2010 were analyzed and ultimately utilized in categorizing LC. The LC maps classified into four main classes: bare soil, sparsely vegetated, forest and shrub land, and irrigated cropland. The quantification of LCC for the analyzed categories showed that bare soil and sparsely vegetated was the largest classes throughout the study period, followed by forest, shrubland, and irrigated cropland. The processes of LCC in the study area were not constant, and varied from one class to another. There were two stages in bare soil change, an increase stage (1975–1995) and decline stage (1995–2010), and the construction of 25 rainwater-harvesting dams in the region was the turning point in bare soil change. The greatest increase was observed in irrigated cropland after 1995 in the expense of the other three categories as an effect of extensive rainwater harvesting practices. Losses were evident in forest and shrubland and sparsely vegetated land during the first stage (1975–1995) with 5.4 and 25.6 % of total area in 1995, while in 1975, they covered more than 13.8 and 32.7 % of total area. During the second stage (1995–2010), forest and shrubland witnessed a significant increase from 1569.17 km² in 1975 to 1840.87 km² in 2010. Irrigated cropland underwent the greatest growth (from 422.766 km² in 1975 to 1819.931 km² in 2010) during the entire study period, and this agriculture expansion reached its zenith in the 2000s. Markov-CA simulation in 2050 predicts a continuing upward trend in irrigated cropland and forest and shrubland areas, as well as a downward trend in bare soil and sparsely vegetated areas; the spatial distribution prediction indicates that irrigated cropland will expand around reservoirs and the mountain areas. The validation result showed that the model successfully identified the state of land cover in 2010 with 97 % agreement between the actual and projected cover. The output of this study would be useful for decision makers and LC/land use planners in Saudi Arabia and similar arid regions.     

Completion of the nationwide GPS-gravimetric geoid solution for Hungary

The establishment of the Hungarian National GPS Network (OGPSH) had been completed in 1997. It is exclusively settled on the traditional horizontal network sites, no leveling benchmarks were included. The OGPSH network consists more than 1100 GPS points, but less than 30% of the sites have trustful leveled heights. Our task was to supply the remaining points with cm-accuracy heights above the geoid in a uniform system. For this purpose a technique had been developed using the GPS data and the geoid information available. A specialized geoid solution, covering the whole country was computed and used for supporting the GPS-heighting procedure.The OGG98B GPS-gravimetric geoid solution made the GPS-heighting very simple and efficient. The accuracy of the technique was extensively tested and proved to be accurate not worse than ±3 cm. Higher residuals were found only at some points, where the height information was questionable. The improved technique is planned to be used in the 3rd order leveling network in Hungary.This paper shortly summarizes the computational procedure of the GPS-gravimetric geoid and presents some results on the GPS-heighting had been performed in the OGPSH network.