Environmental economic geography: A sympathetic critique

In this article I examine the objectives and substantive claims of a body of work that has come to be known as ‘environmental economic geography’ (EEG). I characterize this loose grouping of research activities as a topical contrivance: often what unites EEG researchers is simply a desire to apply the theories and methods of economic geography to environmental issues. The article explores an alternative rationale for doing EEG: the development of a distinctive intellectual project out of the encounter between economic geography and environment. Such a project extends beyond an assessment of the environmental impacts of economic activity, to examine the ways in which many ‘economic’ processes are environmentally constituted.     

敦化市区地下水动态特征

本文按不同地下水类型,从地下水的水位、水温、水质三个方面论述了敦化市规划区地下水的动态特征。     

Eco-localisation as a progressive response to peak oil and climate change - A sympathetic critique

This paper critically but sympathetically examines eco-localisation as a response to ‘peak oil’ and to reduce the emission of CO₂ to avoid dangerous climate change. Rather than seeing the politics of climate change and peak oil as in some way ‘post-political’, the paper argues that protagonists of localised economies are developing radical new conceptions of livelihood and economy that directly cut against the logic of growth-based capitalist economic strategies and elite conceptualisations of economic development. Building on development theory, the paper develops a conceptualisation of ‘immanent’ and ‘intentional’ localisation, with the former a simple move by businesses of economic activities that have high transport costs closer to their markets. Advocates of intentional localisation are working more pro actively at grassroots level to develop local solutions to peak oil and climate change based on developing less resource-intensive yet enjoyable and fulfilling livelihoods in more localised economies. In discussing the contested nature of localisation, the paper engages with critiques of eco-localisation from neoliberal advocates and from the left, before concluding that localisation should be seen more as a different calculation of where economic activities would be located, which aims to reduce oil consumption and CO₂ emissions, rather than a call for autarky. The paper concludes by arguing that analyses of the scale of economic networks need to pay more attention of the materiality of oil consumption and CO₂ emissions, and that scales cannot be seen as socially constructed.     

The shelf sand-plume model: a critique

In recent years, a new model for deposition of sand bodies in a shelf environment has appeared. This model, known as the shelf sand-plume model, is hypothesized to result from storm-driven currents that are deflected around a deltaic headland, stripping sand from the headland and redepositing it in a downcurrent ‘plume’ on the inner shelf. The modern analogue for this model is considered to be an arcuate shelf sand body located off the Damietta branch of the Nile Delta. However, the distribution of older deltaic and shoreline sands probably controls the arcuate outline of the sand body. The present current system has certainly reworked these sands into ridges and large-scale bedforms but is not responsible for the overall outline of the sand body. Grain-size range and distribution of sand on the shelf demonstrate that the source of sand in the Nile shelf sand body is not the modern Damietta headland as postulated by the shelf sandplume model. In our view, the shelf sand-plume model is presently unsubstantiated and has orginated as a misapplication of the original Nile example. As a geological model, the shelf sand-plume model lacks a set of observable, consistently applicable criteria. The only common denominator to the model is the ‘plume’ geometry of a sand body located off a deltaic promontory. However, workers postulating the existence of shelf sand-plumes have neither clearly established a ‘plume’ geometry nor shown the juxtaposition of these bodies with respect to coeval deltaic headlands in their outcrop or subsurface examples. The model does not provide criteria to distinguish a ‘shelf sand-plume’ from other classes of shelf sand bodies, notably sand ridges and storm-generated sheet-like sands. Its application to the rock record should be re-evaluated.     

'Race' as a scientific and organizational construct: a critique

'Race' for many years has been a major construct of science and society. While its importance as such has not historically been particularly pronounced on a global scale, the emergence of its most forceful architects, the Anglophone countries, to pre-eminence since World War II has significantly extended its geographical range and added to its significance as an idea within commercialized culture as well as within social organization.In the present paper, 'race' is critically examined from the following angles: 1) its role in the behavioral and medical sciences; b) its historical origins and manifestations within the Anglophone countries, particularly the United States; and c) its emergence as a 'liberal' concept and operating principle since World War II. Questions of why and how 'race' arose and its continued use in science, society and culture drive both the trajectory and depth of this research. 'Race' is found to be a modern construct which arose as a consequence of colonialism and slavery, and was substantially constructed in its present form and substance by England and its off-spring societies, particularly the United States. 'Race' was not used as a term expressing a social idea until modern times, and had no basis in the primordial civilizations which greatly influenced modern Western societies (e.g., ancient Greece and Rome). Efforts undertaken by liberals – particularly in the United States – to 'humanize' the concept of 'race' since the 1960's have been largely unsuccessful. 'race' is viewed as inherently hierarchical, a fact which is evident from its historical and present role in science and society.     

The origins and use of theory in urban geography: Household mobility and filtering theory

The paper looks in detail at one particular interpenetration of academic theory and state policy making — filtering theory in urban geography. While household mobility and turnover are important processes in the housing system, they are extended in filtering theory to form a universal explanatory model embracing the entire housing system. In this model idealised concepts of the operation of the housing market—valid only under conditions that do not occur in practice — are used to legitimate a laissez-faire natural-market view of how the housing system should operate. Translated into government policy, used to justify the dominant private interests in housing, and supported by academic explanation, the theory then comes to legitimate the persistence of gross inequalities in housing provision and to maintain the allocation of resources away from those most in need. This paper reviews this use of filtering theory both in Britain and the United States, and makes a variety of empirical and theoretical criticism of its validity.     

Estimation of stream water quality parameter using regime channel theory

For predicting and forecasting fate of non-conservative pollutants downstream from source using advection–dispersion–decay equation (ADDE), estimation of three parameters; mean flow velocity (U), longitudinal dispersion co-efficient (D _L) and decay rate co-efficient (λ), is required a priori. In this three parameters model, estimation of D _L holds difficulties and draws interest towards it. The empirical formulae use the field and experimental data of channel and flow characteristics to estimate D _L. In this paper, an innovative approach has been proposed towards the estimation of D _L using regime channel concept. Having known discharge of flow and silt factor of the riverbed material, hydraulic parameters of the channel can be determined theoretically, which in turn can be used to estimate D _L appropriately making use of a suitable empirical formula.     

城市地质学基础理论探讨

城市地质有近百年的研究历史,学科研究取得了很大的进展,但是总体上看,学科性质存在较多的争论,城市地质学基础理论难于满足现代城市管理的需求,无法为城市高质量发展提供系统完整的地学解决方案。本文系统梳理了国内外城市地质的发展历程和研究进展,进一步明确了城市地质学的学科性质,运用系统理论提出城市地质系统的概念,并基于这一概念,清晰地界定了城市地质学的研究对象,阐述了现代城市地质学的研究内容和技术框架,为今后形成完善的城市地质学理论体系提供研究基础。     

The end of the Pleistocene: a general critique of chronostratigraphic classification

Formal Chronostratigraphic Units are defined in the International Stratigraphic Guide on the basis of boundary stratotypes and then extended globally as isochronous units. They are unrealistic for application to late-Quaternary history, which involves events that are demonstrably time-transgressive owing to measurable lags between the causative force and the geologic response. Natural geologic time units that are diachronous globally are preferred because they represent events identifiable in the stratigraphic record. A similar objection is raised against formal Chronostratigraphy for the pre-Quaternary: recognizable biostratigraphic or lithostratigraphic units on which the geologic time scale has been built are diachronous globally, for they depend on slow evolutionary or tectonic processes. The imposition of Chronostratigraphic Units that are unrecognizable stratigraphically at a distance away from the type locality introduces an unnecessary terminology in the efforts of stratigraphers to econstruct the geologic history.     

Australian conservation organisations' perspectives on tourism in national parks: a critique

Australia's conservation and parks organisations have become actively involved in the debate over tourism use of national parks and their associated wilderness areas. To date, at least seven organisations have produced at least ten formal policy statements and submissions. This paper presents an analysis of these policy statements.The policies reviewed use a narrow definition of tourism, based on the presence or absence of commercial, private sector activity. If commercial activity exists, then tourism exists; if not, then it is considered to be recreation. This distinction reflects the widely held opinion among many environmentalists that non-commercial use of national parks is acceptable, but that commercial use is essentially unacceptable, even though the groups may be participating in the same activity. The author argues that while making a number of valuable suggestions, these policies suffer from major conceptual flaws that minimise their contribution to the debate on acceptable human uses of parks.The author concludes by making a number of recommendations to rectify the conceptual flaws inherent in the policies.     

基于数据融合理论的某坝段地下水宏观动态研究

在证明了采用误差均方差最小意义下,多传感器数据融合的效果优于利用任一单个传感器进行估计的效果,采用决策级融合方法,将其应用于某坝9坝段地下水宏观动态分析。经分析知：该坝段在2003～2004年为地下水宏观动态的相对突变时期,自2004年以后,坝基地下水宏观动态与库水之间的相关程度又趋于相对的稳定时期,表明该坝段坝基帷幕体的防渗性能至少出现了局部的衰减、且具有阶段性变化的特点;就分析时段而言,2003～2004年间为帷幕体防渗性能明显衰减时期,而2004年以后为其相对稳定时期。     

Deglaciation of the Irish Sea Basin: a critique of the glaciomarine hypothesis

The glaciomarine model for deglaciation of the Irish Sea basin suggests that the weight of ice at the last glacial maximum was sufficient to raise relative sea‐levels far above their present height, destabilising the ice margin and causing rapid deglaciation. Glacigenic deposits throughout the basin have been interpreted as glaciomarine. The six main lines of evidence on which the hypothesis rests (sedimentology, deformation structures, delta deposits, marine fauna, amino‐acid ratios and radiocarbon dates) are reviewed critically. The sedimentological interpretation of many sections has been challenged and it is argued that subglacial sediments are common rather than rare and that there is widespread evidence of glaciotectonism. Density‐driven deformation associated with waterlain sediments is rare and occurs where water was ponded locally. Sand and gravel deposits interpreted as Gilbert‐type deltas are similarly the result of local ponding or occur where glaciers from different source areas uncoupled. They do not record past sea‐levels and the ad hoc theory of ‘piano‐key tectonics’ is not required to explain the irregular pattern of altitudes. The cold‐water foraminifers interpreted as in situ are regarded as reworked from Irish Sea sediments that accumulated during much of the late Quaternary, when the basin was cold and shallow with reduced salinities. Amino‐acid age estimates used in support of the glaciomarine model are regarded as unreliable. Radiocarbon dates from distinctive foraminiferal assemblages in northeast Ireland show that glaciomarine sediments do occur above present sea‐level, but they are restricted to low altitudes in the north of the basin and record a rise rather than a fall in sea‐level. It is suggested here that the oldest dates, around 17 000 yr BP, record the first Late Devensian (Weichselian) marine inundation above present sea‐level. This accords with the pattern but not the detail of recent models of sea‐level change. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Precambrian metamorphic rocks of Ceylon: A critique of a radical interpretation

Zusammenfassung Die neue Hypothese von M. B.Katz (1971), da\ die Vijaya-Gneise und -Migmatite das ursprüngliche Grundgebirge unter den metamorphen Sedimenten der Highland-Serie sind, hÄlt einer kritischen Prüfung nicht stand. Die Ältere Auffassung, die Vijaya-Gesteine seien durch retrograd-metamorphe Amphibolit-Fazies-überprÄgung aus der vorher in Granulit-Fazies entwickelten Highland-Serie hervorgegangen, ist aufrechtzuerhalten und kann durch neue Explorationskartierung und strukturelle und isotopische Analysen wesentlich gestützt werden.

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A critical review leads to the rejection of the recent hypothesis of M. B.Katz (1971) according to which the Vijayan gneisses and migmatites formed an original basement to the Highland Series metasediments. An earlier synthesis which interpreted the Vijayan rocks as the result of a retrograde amphibolite facies metamorphism superimposed upon pre-existing granulite facies Highland Series is upheld and is strongly supported by new reconnaissance mapping and structural and isotopic analyses.

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Résumé Un examen critique montre qu'il faut rejeter la nouvelle hypothèse de M. B.Katz (1971) selon laquelle les gneiss et migmatites du Vijáya constituent le socle original sous les sédiments métamorphisés de la série du Highland. De nouveaux levés de reconnaissance et des analyses structurelles et isotopiques soutiennent au contraire la vue antérieure selon laquelle les roches vijayiennes seraient issues de roches de la série du Highland antérieurement à faciès granulitique, et ce, à la suite d'un rétrométamorphisme qui leur aurait surimposé le faciès amphibolitique.

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(M. B. Katz, 1971), Vijaya Highland, , . , Vijaya Highland , , .

     

Ecological modernization and water resource management: a critique of institutional transitions in Ghana

Ghana is endowed with surface and ground water resources. These resources prior to the colonial era were managed by traditional societies through various conventional methods embedded in their cosmovision. However during the colonial and postcolonial regimes, in response to climate change, economic globalization, and population pressure, there has been a conscious shift from customary water management systems towards paradigms cast in the contemporary mould (legislation, policies, and institutions). These modern approaches have been shown over the years to be insufficient in ensuring water sustainability. This insufficiency manifests itself in the increasing water scarcity through anthropogenic-induced water resources degradation and severe climatic variability. Using content analysis, this paper reviews this transition, first to fully understand the intricacies of the evolution and second to draw lessons for better water resources management in Ghana. This paper contends that although Ghana’s water related institutions, laws, and policies are undergoing significant reforms, implementation and practice remains embedded in weak ecological modernization (EM). Institutionalizing a narrow conception of EM will only perpetuate ‘organized irresponsibility’ and permit the continued production of ecological problems, leaving open the question of whether modernization is compatible with ecological sustainability. Though customary water management approaches are not entirely devoid of limitations, simply branding them as obsolete may obviate an important vehicle for water sustainability. In the spirit paradigmatic complementarity, ecosystem-friendly indigenous approaches must be integrated with contemporary management systems for the long term goal of sustainability.     

Identifying and quantifying urban recharge: a review

The sources of and pathways for groundwater recharge in urban areas are more numerous and complex than in rural environments. Buildings, roads, and other surface infrastructure combine with man-made drainage networks to change the pathways for precipitation. Some direct recharge is lost, but additional recharge can occur from storm drainage systems. Large amounts of water are imported into most cities for supply, distributed through underground pipes, and collected again in sewers or septic tanks. The leaks from these pipe networks often provide substantial recharge. Sources of recharge in urban areas are identified through piezometry, chemical signatures, and water balances. All three approaches have problems. Recharge is quantified either by individual components (direct recharge, water-mains leakage, septic tanks, etc.) or holistically. Working with individual components requires large amounts of data, much of which is uncertain and is likely to lead to large uncertainties in the final result. Recommended holistic approaches include the use of groundwater modelling and solute balances, where various types of data are integrated. Urban recharge remains an under-researched topic, with few high-quality case studies reported in the literature. Electronic Publication     

Big data and the historical sciences: A critique

Social media, government, industry and science use data in the same way, through the pursuit of correlations in large data sets. As this critique shows, however, there is greater dialogue about the potential pitfalls of Big Data and the Big Data Cycle in non-historical science fields, such as medicine and advertising. Pitfalls, such as the Big Data Hubris, the Filter Bubble and correlation superseding causation, are discussed in relation to the historical sciences.     

Quantification of urban expansion in Siliguri urban agglomeration (UA): a model-based approach

In the study of new towns and cities, spatial assimilation and the complex nature of urban development hold issues of special importance. At present, in developing countries like India, rapid development as well as urbanization in medium sized cities is a noticeable phenomenon. However,researchers in the field of urban study,lay emphasis on larger cities in our country. Therefore,more studies are essential to identify the problem and future prospect and also to suggest satisfactory policies for the betterment of medium sized cities.The current paper assesses the spatial expansion of the Siliguri (a fast growing medium sized city of Eastern India) designed for the year 1990, 2000, 2010 as well as 2019 using satellite imagery and field investigation.The research quantifies the urban growth and sprawling pattern in the study area using statistical techniques and spatial matrices.The other objectives of this study are to predict and analyze the urban growth of Siliguri Urban Agglomeration (UA) of 2030 with the help of a Future Land Use Simulation (FLUS) model. This simulation model was chosen by using a technique to evaluate the classified images in three maps: a time 1 reference map, a time 2 reference map and a simulation map of time 3. Spatial metrics and Shannon entropy results revealed that Siliguri (UA) is experiencing rapid sprawl. In contrast, the degree of freedom results revealed a significant gulf between the observed and planned urban development.The simulation model also showed that the unsustainable trend will likely to remain intact in the future, with the built-up area rising to 78.496 km² by 2030, potentially resulting in loss of major cultivated land, fallow land and flora.