Landscape analysis: Theoretical considerations and practical needs

Numerous systems of land classification have been proposed. Most have led directly to or have been driven by an author's philosophy of earth-forming processes. However, the practical need of classifying land for planning and management purposes requires that a system lead to predictions of the results of management activities.We propose a landscape classification system composed of 11 units, from realm (a continental mass) to feature (a splash impression). The classification concerns physical aspects rather than economic or social factors; and aims to merge land inventory with dynamic processes.Landscape units are organized using a hierarchical system so that information may be assembled and communicated at different levels of scale and abstraction. Our classification uses a geomorphic systems approach that emphasizes the geologic-geomorphic attributes of the units.Realm, major division, province, and section are formulated by subdividing large units into smaller ones. For the larger units we have followed Fenneman's delineations, which are well established in the North American literature. Areas and districts are aggregated into regions and regions into sections. Units smaller than areas have, in practice, been subdivided into zones and smaller units if required.We developed the theoretical framework embodied in this classification from practical applications aimed at land use planning and land management in Maryland (eastern Piedmont Province near Baltimore) and Utah (eastern Uinta Mountains).     

Use of FePt alloys to eliminate the iron loss problem in 1 atmosphere gas mixing experiments: Theoretical and practical considerations

Theoretical and practical considerations are combined to place limits on the iron content of an FePt alloy that is in equilibrium with silicate melt, olivine and a gas phase of known \(f_{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}} }\) . Equilibrium constants are calculated for the reactions: (1) $$2{\text{Fe}}^{\text{o}} + {\text{SiO}}_{\text{2}} + {\text{O}}_{\text{2}} \rightleftharpoons {\text{Fe}}_{\text{2}} {\text{SiO}}_{\text{4}}$$ (2) $${\text{Fe}}^{\text{o}} + \frac{1}{2}{\text{O}}_{\text{2}} \rightleftharpoons {\text{FeO}}$$ . These equilibria may be used to choose an appropriate iron activity for the FePt alloy of an experiment. The temperature dependence of the equilibrium constants is calculated from experimental data. The Gibbs free energy of reaction (1) obtained using thermochemical data is in close agreement with ΔG_rxn calculated from the experimental data. Reaction (1) has the advantage that it is independent of the Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺ ratio of the melt, but is limited to applications where olivine is a crystallizing phase and requires a formulation for \(a_{{\text{SiO}}_{\text{2}} }^{{\text{liq}}}\) . Reaction (2) uses an empirical approximation for the FeO/Fe₂O₃ ratio of the liquid, and is independent of olivine saturation. However, it requires a formulation for a _FeO ^liq . Either equilibrium constant may be used to calculate the appropriate FePt alloy in equilibrium with a silicate melt. If experiments are conducted at an \(f_{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}} }\) parallel that of a buffer assemblage, a small range of FePt alloys may be used over a large temperature interval. For example, an alloy containing from 6 % to 9 % Fe by weight is in equilibrium with olivine-saturated tholeiites and komatiites at the quartzfayalite-magnetite buffer over the temperature interval 1,400° C to 1,100° C. Lunar basalt liquids in equilibrium with olivine at 1/2 log unit below the iron-wüstite buffer require an FePt alloy that contains 30–50 wt. % iron over a similar temperature interval.     

Hillslope processes and archaeology in Wadi Ziqlab,Jordan

Record levels of precipitation during February 1992 generated 290 earth flows and earth slumps in Wadi Ziqlab, Jordan. Geomorphologic and sedimentological characteristics of these landslides and older colluvial deposits were used to identify the dominant mass-wasting processes active in the wadi. Earth flows in 1992 left long linear scars on the steep hillsides and deposited thin, fine and coarse-grained, sheets on the well-developed colluvial slopes below. Older colluvial deposits exposed along the wadi bottom are crudely stratified, heavily bioturbated, and contain paleosols, suggesting colluviation was episodic and occurred through a slow accumulation of successive earth flows. Earth slumps in 1992 produced crescentic scarps, flat benches, and thick colluvial masses; similar features preserved on the wadi slopes were formed by the same process at an earlier time. Annual slope wash does not appear important on the steep, heavily landslide-scarred, slopes. The uneven distribution and episodic occurrence of earth flows and earth slumps in Wadi Ziqlab have resulted in highly variable burial depths of archaeological material, as illustrated in one locality where Roman artifacts are buried over 1 m deeper than a Neolithic site only 200 m away. The ability of earth flows to transport artifacts great distances has given rise to inverted stratigraphy on colluvial slopes and has produced large artifact scatters located beyond the margins of the colluvial slopes. These complex postoccupation disturbances and prehistoric land-use practices would have been difficult to interpret without a full understanding of the hillslope processes active in Wadi Ziqlab and the landscape features they have produced. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

乡村振兴视角下地质文化村建设的理论框架构建与实践模式

地质文化村建设是积极响应"乡村振兴"等国家战略的地质实践,其理论体系构建与实践模式探索具有重要意义.本文基于乡村振兴视角,以"生态振兴"、"文化振兴"、"产业振兴"、"人才振兴"和"组织振兴"五个方面为总纲,以"两山理论"、"乡村治理理论"等为指导,提出地质文化村建设应以"地质保护优先"+"科学合理利用"为核心宗旨,以...     

农地利用变化假说与相关的环境效应命题

将用途转移和集约度升降这两种类型的土地利用变化整合在一个过程中,解释变化机制的理论,有古典经济学的地租理论,还有若干理论性假说。这些假说又常常与一些土地利用的环境效应命题联系在一起,扩充为解释人地关系的假说。综述了解释农地利用变化的四大假说（包括基于马尔萨斯人口论的土地面积持续扩张假说、博斯鲁普的需求诱发型集约化假说、吉尔茨的集约度弹性假说、土地利用粗放化假说）和农地利用环境效应的三大命题（包括农地面积扩张造成土地退化、优质土地的集约化间接促使生态脆弱地区环境改善、农地利用粗放化和弃耕促使环境和生态恢复）,以及围绕这些假说和命题的争论和实证研究,旨在为土地利用变化的情景构建、模型模拟及愿景设计提供学术依据。     

An archaeology of fear and environmental change in Philadelphia

This paper examines how mechanisms of social control function to mediate human-environment relations and processes of environmental change in the city. Using the Fairmount Park System of Philadelphia as a case study, I argue that a history of social control mechanisms, both formal and informal, maintained viable socio-environmental urban relationships. Their decline over the last several decades has produced a legacy of fear towards the city’s natural environment that has had, and continues to have, profound socio-spatial and ecological implications. I argue that these changes have their origin in a set of racially motivated decisions made during the volatile years of the late 1960s and early 1970s and that African American women, in particular, have been impacted disproportionately by their consequences. Fear of crime in the natural environment and suspicion of environmental change have resulted in the exclusion of local women and children from what was, historically, a politically and socially viable public space. In this context, urban ecological change is locally understood as more an issue of social control than one of environmental concern.     

Geochemical barriers: theory and practical applications

Geochemical barriers are zones in the Earth's crust with sharp physical or chemical gradients and they are often associated with concentrations of elements, sometimes to the extent of forming ore deposits. Four fundamental classes of geochemical barriers have been identified: (1) mechanical; (2) physico-chemical; (3) biochemical; (4) anthropogenic.Mechanical barriers are the simplest class and placer deposits are a good example. Physico-chemical barriers (the dominant class) are formed in zones characterized by sharp changes in the intensity of certain physico-chemical parameters of waters; tables of observed and predicted element associations have been prepared and these can be used to identify element concentrations which depend principally on the properties of waters. Biochemical barriers are specifically related to element concentrations brought about through reactions associated with life on Earth, for example, the accumulation of trace elements in effects are one variety. Although barriers consisting of combinations of several classes can occur, the main emphasis of this paper is on physico-chemical barriers with respect to ore deposits, soil geochemistry and groundwaters.