THE FALL LINE: A PHYSIOGRAPHIC‐FOREST VEGETATION BOUNDARY*

ABSTRACT. The range boundaries for many tree species in the southeastern United States correspond to the Fall Line that separates the Coastal Plain from the Appalachian Highlands. Trees in the Coastal Plain with northern range boundaries corresponding to the Fall Line occur exclusively in alluvial valleys created by lateral channel migration. These species grow mostly on lower bottomland sites characterized by a high water table, soils that are often saturated, and low annual water fluctuation. In contrast to the Coastal Plain, the southern Appalachian Highlands are occupied mostly by bedrock streams that have few sites suitable for the regeneration of these species. The Fall Line is also an approximate southern boundary for trees common in the southern Appalachians that typically occur on either dry, rocky ridgetops or in narrow stream valleys, habitats that are uncommon on the relatively flat Coastal Plain. The ranges for many trees in eastern North America are controlled by large‐scale climatic patterns. Tree species with range boundaries corresponding to the Fall Line, however, are not approaching their physiological limits caused by progressively harsher climatic conditions or by competition. Instead, the Fall Line represents the approximate boundary of habitats suitable for regeneration.     

Riverine dunes on the Coastal Plain of Georgia, USA

Relict eolian dunes on the Georgia Coastal Plain line the north and east sides of many SE-trending streams and contain important paleoenvironmental information. A detailed analysis of four dune fields characterizes dune geomorphology, stratigraphy, sedimentology and soils. Georgia's inland dunes range from parabolic to infilled parabolic to irregular in form, typically merge to form long chains that parallel source streams and can occur as distinct bands. Typically, the dunes are composed of >95% quartz sand grains, with more than half the sand falling in the medium sand fraction. Dunes overlie flood plain and pointbar sands, backswamp and peat deposits, fluvial terraces and other dunes. In places, organic deposits occur on top of dunes. Cross-bedding is observable in dunes more than about 4 m thick and indicates eastward dune migration. Paleosols found within some dunes indicate Holocene reworking. Conditions favoring dune formation likely included at least seasonal aridity. Postdepositional modification of the dunes includes a smoothing of the dune surface, a clay increase in the C horizon, spodic horizon development, bioturbation, removal of weatherable minerals and fluvial incision.     

Environmental changes in the central Po Plain (northern Italy) due to fluvial modifications and anthropogenic activities

The fluvial environment of the central Po Plain, the largest plain in Italy, is discussed in this paper. Bounded by the mountain chains of the Alps and the Apennines, this plain is a link between the Mediterranean environment and the cultural and continental influences of both western and eastern Europe. In the past decades, economic development has been responsible for many changes in the fluvial environment of the area.This paper discusses the changes in fluvial dynamics that started from Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene due to distinct climatic changes. The discussion is based on geomorphological, pedological, and archaeological evidences and radiocarbon dating.In the northern foothills, Late Pleistocene palaeochannels indicate several cases of underfit streams among the northern tributaries of the River Po. On the other hand, on the southern side of the Po Plain, no geomorphological evidence of similar discharge reduction has been found. Here, stratigraphic sections, together with archaeological remains buried under the fluvial deposits, show a reduction in the size of fluvial sediments after the 10th millennium BC. During the Holocene, fluvial sedimentation became finer, and was characterised by minor fluctuations in the rate of deposition, probably related to short and less intense climatic fluctuations.Given the high rate of population growth and the development of human activities since the Neolithic Age, human influence on fluvial dynamics, especially since the Roman Age, prevailed over other factors (i.e., climate, tectonics, vegetation, etc.). During the Holocene, the most important changes in the Po Plain were not modifications in water discharge but in sediment. From the 1st to 3rd Century AD, land grants to war veterans caused almost complete deforestation, generalised soil erosion, and maximum progradation of the River Po delta. At present, land abandonment in the mountainous region has led to reafforestation. Artificial channel control in the mountain sector of the basins and in-channel gravel extraction (now illegal but very intense in the 1960s and 1970s) are causing erosion along the rivers and along large sectors of the Adriatic coast. These changes are comparable with those occurring in basins of other Mediterranean rivers.     

Contrasting soils and landscapes of the Piedmont and Coastal Plain, eastern United States

The Piedmont and Coastal Plain physiographic provinces comprise 80 percent of the Atlantic Coastal states from New Jersey to Georgia. The provinces are climatically similar. The soil moisture regime is udic. The soil temperature regime is typically thermic from Virginia through Georgia, although it is mesic at altitudes above 400 m in Georgia and above 320 m in Virginia. The soil temperature regime is mesic for the Piedmont and Coastal Plain from Maryland through New Jersey. The tightly folded, structurally complex crystalline rocks of the Piedmont and the gently dipping “layer-cake” clastic sedimentary rocks and sediments of the Coastal Plain respond differently to weathering, pedogenesis, and erosion. The different responses result in two physiographically contrasting terrains; each has distinctive near-surface hydrology, regolith, drainage morphology, and morphometry.The Piedmont is predominantly an erosional terrain. Interfluves are as narrow as 0.5 to 2 km, and are convex upward. Valleys are as narrow as 0.1 to 0.5 km and generally V-shaped in cross section. Alluvial terraces are rare and discontinuous. Soils in the Piedmont are typically less than 1 m thick, have less sand and more clay than Coastal Plain soils, and generally have not developed sandy epipedons. Infiltration rates for Piedmont soils are low at 6–15 cm/h. The soil/saprolite, soil/rock, and saprolite/rock boundaries are distinct (can be placed within 10 cm) and are characterized by ponding and/or lateral movement of water. Water movement through soil into saprolite, and from saprolite into rock, is along joints, foliation, bedding planes and faults. Soils and isotopic data indicate residence times consistent with a Pleistocene age for most Piedmont soils.The Coastal Plain is both an erosional and a constructional terrain. Interfluves commonly are broader than 2 km and are flat. Valleys are commonly as wide as 1 km to greater than 10 km, and contain numerous alluvial and estuarine terrace sequences that can be correlated along valleys for tens of kilometers. Coastal Plain soils are typically as thick as 2 to 8 m, have high sand content throughout, and have sandy epipedons. These epipedons consist of both A and E horizons and are 1 to 4 m thick. In Coastal Plain soils, the boundaries are transitional between the solum and the underlying parent material and between weathered and unweathered parent material. Infiltration rates for Coastal Plain soils are typically higher at 13–28 cm/h, than are those for Piedmont soils. Indeed, for unconsolidated quartz sand, rates may exceed 50 cm/h. Water moves directly from the soil into the parent material through intergranularpores with only minor channelization along macropores, joints, and fractures. The comparatively high infiltration capacity results in relatively low surface runoff, and correspondingly less erosion than on the Piedmont uplands.Due to differences in Piedmont and Coastal Plain erosion rates, topographic inversion is common along the Fall Zone; surfaces on Cenozoic sedimentary deposits of the Coastal Plain are higher than erosional surfaces on regolith weathered from late Precambrian to early Paleozoic crystalline rocks of the Piedmont. Isotopic, paleontologic, and soil data indicate that Coastal Plain surficial deposits are post-middle Miocene to Holocene in age, but most are from 5 to 2 Ma. Thus, the relatively uneroded surfaces comprise a Pliocene landscape. In the eastern third of the Coastal Plain, deposits that are less than 3.5 Ma include alluvial terraces, marine terraces and barrier/back-barrier complexes as morphostratigraphic units that cover thousands of square kilometers. Isotopic and soil data indicate that eastern Piedmont soils range from late Pliocene to Pleistocene in age, but are predominantly less than 2 Ma old. Thus, the eroded uplands of the Piedmont “peneplain” comprise a Pleistocene landscape.     

Stream Channel Enlargement Response to Urban Land Cover in Small Coastal Plain Watersheds,North Carolina

Stream channel response to urban land use has not been well documented for southeastern Coastal Plain streams. In this study, urban channel response was evaluated in small Inner Coastal Plain watersheds (<5 km²) in eastern North Carolina. Reaches were selected across a range of watershed total impervious area (0-67% TIA). Channel dimensions and sediment grain size data were collected along 20 urban (>10% TIA) and 20 rural reaches (<10% TIA), and at 10 stormwater outfall sites (180 cross-sections). Urban cross-sectional area, channel incision ratio, and channel grain size (gravel%, D₅₀, and D₈₄) were greater, relative to rural channels. Bankfull cross-sectional areas were approximately 1.78 times greater for urban watersheds than for rural watersheds. Channels in urban watersheds were incised and had median full-channel capacities approximately 3.4 times greater than channels draining rural watersheds. Watershed TIA explained 65-72% of channel capacity enlargement. Urban expansion in the region began in the 1960s, with major urbanization occurring over the last 25 years. Channels draining urban watersheds are still responding to this land use change by downcutting and widening. Urban channel incision has frequently cut off streams from their floodplains, reducing floodplain sediment retention and water quality functions.     

ACCELERATED EROSION ON THE NORTH CAROLINA COASTAL PLAIN

The Atlantic Coastal Plain of the United States has long been considered to have negligible soil erosion owing to low relief and permeable soils. Several recent studies point to a need for reassessment. Post-settlement erosion on the North Carolina Coastal Plain was estimated at the regional scale based on soil-profile truncation of a representative upland soil (Norfolk series). Apparent post-settlement soil-profile truncation ranges from 2.5 to 30 cm (mean 14.5 cm), implying a minimum regional average rate of 0.55 mm/yr since the region was settled in the 1700s. This amounts to a conservative estimated average rate of 9.3 t/ha/yr, a rate of the same general magnitude as estimated erosion rates in the North Carolina Piedmont, long recognized as a problem erosion area. Results imply accelerated water erosion despite the low slopes and permeable soils, and suggest the possibility of significant eolian erosion in the region. This rapid erosion in an area noted for its geological stability is a testament to the importance of vegetation cover and human agency in landscape evolution in the Coastal Plain. [Key words: accelerated erosion, soil profile, geomorphology, coastal plain, North Carolina.]     

我国沿海近岸带水域的悬沙分布特征

本文根据实测悬沙资料,阐述了我国沿海近岸带水域的悬沙浓度由黄河口和长江口-杭州湾为中心,分别向南、北递减,高低相间,构成波状起伏的分布特征,同时分析了径流输沙、潮流、波浪、海岸类型诸要素在悬沙浓度时空变化中的不同作用.     

试论黄河下游北岸可能决口地段及其最大淹没范围

鉴于黄河的现状,作者认为黄河决口的潜在危险越来越大。推断北岸决口的可能性为大。根据溃坝原理,采用水力学方法对北岸决口的最大淹没范围作了模拟。指出若从沁河口—原阳段决堤,淹没面积约2.21万平方公里,从原阳—高村段决堤,则约为2.12万平方公里。     

半干旱地区地表水平衡的特征和模拟

作者分析了我国半干旱区草原典型地区的水量平衡的特点。由于地处东亚季风区和西风带的过渡带,降水主要集中在夏季,且多短时间对流性降水,其中绝大部分消耗于蒸发,地表径流很少,土壤比较干燥。冬季积雪, 春季融雪集中,能产生较强的径流,这与夏季降水形成的径流构成双峰型特征,在我国半干旱区较为典型。由于这些特点,在地表水量平衡的计算和模拟中,蒸发的估算十分重要,为此在植被-大气相互作用模式 (AVIM) 中对水文过程作了改进,模式中包含了大气-植被-土壤间的能量和水分传输过程,特别是半干旱区地表蒸发和植被的蒸腾过程作了比较细致的处理,考虑了蓄满和超渗两种产流机制,同时采用了一个简化的雪盖模型。以此模型模拟了内蒙古半干旱草原上锡林河流域的地表水文过程。计算结果显示,半干旱区地表水平衡,蒸发大而径流小及产流的春夏双峰型特征都能很好地模拟。这些过程的参数化方案也适用于非干旱区。     

江汉平原湿地水系统综合评价与水资源管理探讨

江汉平原分布着由河流湖泊-沼泽-沼泽型水稻土-潜育型水稻土组成的湿地系统。江汉平原湿地在蓄水滞洪、调节气候、水质净化、维持生物多样性和改善生态环境方面有着十分重要的作用。在探讨江汉平原湿地水系统结构和功能的基础上,提出了合理利用湿地水资源和实施科学水管理的途径,首先要对水资源和水环境进行积极的保护;其次积极实施退田还湖,增强江汉平原湿地的调蓄洪水能力,减轻洪涝灾害损失;其三是建立江汉平原水环境安全调控体系;最后将江汉平原湿地水系统管理纳入整个长江中游及长江流域的统一管理与规划之中,进行总体协调与管理。     

Fluvial process and the establishment of bottomland trees

The effects of river regulation on bottomland tree communities in western North America have generated substantial concern because of the important habitat and aesthetic values of these communities. Consideration of such effects in water management decisions has been hampered by the apparent variability of responses of bottomland tree communities to flow alteration. When the relation between streamflow and tree establishment is placed in a geomorphic context, however, much of that variability is explained, and prediction of changes in the tree community is improved.The relation between streamflow and establishment of bottomland trees is conditioned by the dominant fluvial process or processes acting along a stream. For successful establishment, cottonwoods, poplars, and willows require bare, moist surfaces protected from disturbance. Channel narrowing, channel meandering, and flood deposition promote different spatial and temporal patterns of establishment. During channel narrowing, the site requirements are met on portions of the bed abandoned by the stream, and establishment is associated with a period of low flow lasting one to several years. During channel meandering, the requirements are met on point bars following moderate or higher peak flows. Following flood deposition, the requirements are met on flood deposits ;high above the channel bed. Flood deposition can occur along most streams, but where a channel is constrained by a narrow valley, this process may be the only mechanism that can produce a bare, moist surface high enough to be safe from future disturbance. Because of differences in local bedrock, tributary influence, or geologic history, two nearby reaches of the same stream may be dominated by different fluvial processes and have different spatial and temporal patterns of trees. We illustrate this phenomenon with examples from forests of plains cottonwood (Populus deltoides ssp. monilifera) along meandering and constrained reaches of the Missouri River in Montana.     

珠江三角洲腹地洪水特征变异因素的关联分析

采用关联分析法,对珠江三角洲网河区腹地代表站近期洪水位变异的各种成因的主次作用进行分析,结果表明,近期导致腹地洪水位异变的主要因素依次是,河口水流不畅和潮流顶托、西江向三角洲腹地河网分流以及三角洲网河上部水情.三角洲河口水流顶托与上游分流增加、流速加快(均与人类活动造成的河床变异有关)在腹地形成"水流挤压"共同导致腹地的异高洪水位;同时,三角洲腹地河滩占用严重,桥梁、码头建设密度大,更加剧了腹地河道水位壅高.     

几种频率分布线型对新疆天山北坡洪水适应性研究

由于水文现象的复杂性及其资料的有限性,至今尚无法在理论上确定洪水峰量究竟属何种频率分布。目前选择线型均是依据实测资料,以曲线与经验分布的拟合优劣作标准来确定线型。通过四种频率线型,对新疆天山北坡中小河流洪水进行拟合分析,从11个站的拟合情况来看,有9个站用P-Ⅲ,草拟合结果最好,占整个参加分析站点的82％,因此,可以认为P－Ⅲ型曲线较适应于新疆天山北坡河流洪水分析。     

鄱阳湖典型湿地植物现状与保护策略

鄱阳湖是我国最大的吞吐型、季节性浅水通江湖,呈现丰水期和枯水期周期性交替的独特水文节律。近年来鄱阳湖水位波动加剧,在各种因素及2020年特大洪水的影响下,鄱阳湖沉水植物呈退化趋势。综述了鄱阳湖湿地植物种类、典型湿地植物及其适应策略等,探讨鄱阳湖水文水质变化、10年禁渔、采砂等对沉水植物群落等分布的影响,为鄱阳湖湿地植物的保护及恢复提供参考。     

The Current Status of Riparian Vegetation along Bank of Kelantan River after the Worst Flood for Decades

Undeniably Kelantan is one of the east coast states of Malaysia,which has faced yearly flooding catastrophe especially during north-east-monsoon season.The aims of this study are to record the land uses from upstream to downstream of Kelantan River basin,and to record the riparian vegetation that are resistance and susceptible to flood situations in affected areas along the bank of Kelantan River after December 2014 when the worst flood was recorded for decades.A serial of surveys were conducted at 9 sampling sites(S1 to S9)from the upstream to the downstream in the basin.The massive clearing in the forest in the basin particularly in the upper streams was a serious problem.Heavy loads of sedimentations greatly affected the hydrological system of Kelantan River.There were 64 plant species were recorded in this study.Most sampling sites were submerged and most of the riparian plants survived although the flood levels reached 10 m.On the other hand,some commercial tree species such as Elaeis guenensis,Lansium parasiticum and Nephelium lappaceum could not thrive in flooding conditions.It should be noted that the populations of noxious,such as Mimosa pigra and Piper aduncum had colonized most parts of riparian zones.Perhaps due to the disturbances of catchment and riparian vegetations,the river water regimes have been transformed.Therefore,the ecological assessments and socio-economic approaches were recommended in order to mitigate the flood situation.     

天山北坡“96.7”洪水致灾原因分析

１９９６年７月中，下旬，天山北坡发生了特大洪水，其洪峰之高，洪量之大为历史上所罕见，形成了建国以来新疆从未有过的特大洪灾，本文综合实地考察结果，在对洪水特点分析基础上，结合对本次洪水致灾过程的研究，详尽分析了天山北坡“９６．７”洪水致灾原因。     

塔里木河地区居民腹泻病因分析

本文考察并研究发塔里木河地区居民腹泻的类型及其临床表现，地区分布与病因等，并提出根治途径。     

Lake Winnipeg coastal submergence over the last three centuries

Radiocarbon dating of marsh facies peat and drowned trees along the barrier beaches at the south end of Lake Winnipeg, indicates water levels are presently rising. Lagoonal sediment and associated trees are being buried as the barrier islands move landward in response to rising water levels. Estimates based on radiocarbon dating suggest the water level has been rising 20 cm/century over the last three hundred years. This estimate is consistent with lake level records and models of isostatic uplift which suggest the level of the lake should be rising between 6.7 and 12 cm/century along the south shore. However, additional radiocarbon dates on submerged trees from Observation Point, at the north end of South Basin, and the Spider Islands, near the northern outlet, indicate that at least part of the water-level rise is basin wide. Southward transgression of Lake Winnipeg, throughout the Holocene, is believed to be the result of isostatic tilting of the basin, whereas the recent basin-wide water-level rise is more likely the result of a combination of isostatic tilting and increased precipitation associated with climate change.     

基于气象干旱综合监测指数(MCI)的陕西省干旱灾害风险评估与区划北大核心CSCD

利用陕西省94个国家气象站1961—2018年逐日气象资料,根据干旱灾害气候背景和社会经济环境,结合灾害风险评估相关理论方法,选取致灾因子危险性、孕灾环境脆弱性、承灾体暴露度、防灾减灾能力4个方面指标,建立干旱灾害风险评估指数,基于GIS平台,对陕西省不同季节进行干旱灾害风险区划。结果表明:(1)陕西各区域干旱致灾因子危险性季节差异明显,陕北北部除夏季外各季节干旱危险性较高,关中地区易发生伏旱。陕南的汉中各季节干旱危险性均较大,安康东部和商洛各季节干旱危险性则较小。(2)春季、夏季和秋季,陕南的汉中平原及安康的汉江河谷地带,关中的西安和渭南地区,陕北北部榆林地区为干旱孕灾环境高脆弱性区或较高区;冬季陕南大部、秦岭地区的高脆弱性区较其他三季范围有所减小;海拔较高的秦岭山地,关中平原和陕北北部各季节皆为低脆弱性或较低脆弱性地区。(3)承灾体暴露度的高风险区主要分布于关中地区。(4)全省抵御干旱风险能力最高地区为陕北黄河沿线、关中各地的城镇地区。(5)干旱灾害综合风险的高风险区主要在陕南巴山地区、秦岭南北两侧、陕北南部,陕南汉江平原、关中平原及陕北延安、榆林等地为干旱较低、低风险区。