Simulation of morphological development of soil cracks in Yuanmou Dry-hot Valley region,Southwest China

Soil cracking is an important process influencing water and solutes transport in the Yuanmou Dry-hot Valley region of Southwest China. Studying the morphological development of soil cracks helps to further reveal the close relationship between the soil cracking process and water movement in such semi-arid regions. Here we report regular changes on surface morphology of soil cracks with decreasing water in four different soils (Typ-Ustic Ferrisols,Ver-Ustic Ferrisols,Tru-Ustic Vertisols and Typ-Ustic Vertiso...     

西安地裂缝活动成灾评估

西安地裂缝活动给市政建设带来了重大损失,严重地影响着人们的生活。本文在前人研究的基础上,采用静力位错理论对小寨地裂缝、边家村地裂缝和辛家庙地裂缝活动所产生的垂直位移进行了分析。同时,通过地裂缝活动使地基或基础的不均匀沉降超过极限时,建筑物就会出现裂缝,发生变形,危及建筑物的安全。根据不同工程地质性质的场地和不同结构的建筑物对最大差异沉降的要求,对地裂缝带进行了严重区、较严重区、轻微区的安全性分区。并依每区的标准对这三条地裂缝进行了成灾评估,从而明确了不同地裂缝的成灾程度。     

Scale-free Structure of Town Road Network in Southern Jiangsu Province of China

From the viewpoint of Graph Theory this paper builds a town road network graph of regional scale, and proposes numerical vertex degree (Di), rank vertex degree (Dr) and population size vertex degree (Dp) on the base of vertex degree (D). Then the indicators of Di, Dr, Dp and mathematical statistics methods are applied to investigating scale-free structure of town road networks in the southern Jiangsu Province. The results show that the distribution of Di does not exhibit scale-free properties, but Dr and Dp do. Additionally the correlation coefficient between Dp and Di is only 0.569, but the spatial correlation between Dp and Dr is very evident on the base of correlation analysis and spatial analysis of GIS. The mutual mechanism between Dp and Dr spatially represents a "Core-Belt" model of town development of regional scale. The town development model is open and clustered, and beneficial to both economic development and ecological protection. And then we suggest that Suzhou City, Wuxi City, Changzhou City and Wujin City control towns' high-density pattern by conducting centralization and consolidation policies, and properly controlling and planning higher rank roads; whereas Nanjing City, Zhenjiang City, Jintan City and Liyang City must strengthen the development of towns along higher rank roads.     

武汉城市化进程对湖泊景观格局的空间非平稳性影响分析

武汉城市化过程中的土地利用变化对其湖泊生态系统产生了一系列负面影响,深入研究并分析其影响的空间非平稳性对优化武汉城市化建设和环境保护规划极具现实意义。本文运用景观生态学理论和地理加权回归建模方法,分别构建城市化测度指标和多种类型景观格局指标,衡量武汉城市化进程对于湖泊特征、景观格局的影响,从而揭示了1996~2013年间武汉城市化进程与湖泊景观格局之间的空间非平稳性关系,结果表明:1武汉城市化进程对其不同地理区域的湖泊景观格局影响存在差异,具体表现为城市化强度越大的地区,其引起并解释湖泊景观格局变化的能力越强;2在武汉市大部分地区(超过其总面积的70%),尤其集中在中部及其周边地区,城市化与湖泊景观面积、密度、连通度、斑块分维数的变化均存在负相关,且具有呈方向性的梯度变化趋势。3在某些有针对性保护的区域,如北部黄陂区,景观面积、景观连通度、斑块分维数与城市化强度指数呈现出正相关。针对上述特征本研究提出武汉市湖泊防治的对策和建议。     

基于张量投票和目标追踪的墙体裂缝检测算法研究

针对墙体裂缝对比度低、受噪声干扰严重等特点,提出了一种基于张量投票和目标追踪的墙体裂缝检测算法。在对原始影像进行二值化的基础上,利用张量投票的聚类思想,突出线性区域目标的强度,然后在突出的线性目标上选取特征点,对特征点进行追踪得到裂缝的大致位置,再反投到原始影像上。实验结果表明,该算法能够正确检测出墙体裂缝信息,且检测率较高,具有一定的通用性。     

Rangeland degradation assessment in Kyrgyzstan: vegetation and soils as indicators of grazing pressure in Naryn Oblast

Rangelands occupy more than 80% of the agricultural land in Kyrgyzstan. At least 30% of Kyrgyz pasture areas are considered to be subject to vegetation and soil degradation. Since animal husbandry is the economic basis to sustain people’s livelihoods, rangeland degradation presents a threat for the majority of the population. We present for the first time an ecological assessment of different pasture types in a remote area of the Naryn Oblast, using vegetation and soils as indicators of rangeland conditions. We analysed the current degree of utilization (grazing pressure), the amount of biomass, soil samples, and vegetation data, using cluster analysis as well as ordination techniques. Winter pastures (kyshtoo) are characterized by higher pH values (average of 7.27) and lower organic matter contents (average of 12.83%) compared to summer pastures (dzailoo) with average pH values of 6.03 and average organic matter contents of 21.05%. Additionally, summer pastures show higher above-ground biomass, and higher species richness and diversity. Our results support the hypothesis that winter pastures, which are located near settlements, suffer from over-utilisation, while the more distant summer pastures are subjected to much lower grazing pressure.     

Community structure and seasonal variation of soil arthropods in the forest-steppe ecotone of the mountainous region in Northern Hebei,China

Soil fauna have been receiving more and more attention because they play an important role in nutrient cycling. However, there is a lack of information on soil arthropods in the forest-steppe ecotone in the mountainous region of northern Hebei, which makes it difficult to meet the need of protecting biodiversity in this area. Soil arthropod communities were investigated in the forest-steppe ecotone in northern Hebei province to provide basic information on changes in mountain soil fertility, which could promote the development of soil arthropod communities in mountain ecotones. From the preliminary identification, a total of 7994 individual soil arthropods were collected, which belonged to 25 groups, 6 classes and 24 orders. Acarina, Hymenoptera and Collembola were the dominant groups in the ecotone. The number of Acarina was higher than Collembola, and this phenomenon was obviously different from other areas in the same climate zone. The increased abundance of rare groups in the Forest zone with the richer vegetation, higher arthropod abundance and more substantial litter depth, could be interpreted as a reaction to the suitable soil environment and food supply. And these rare groups were sensitive to environmental changes, which could be regarded as biotic indicators for evaluating soil quality. The analysis of community diversity showed that the abundance index (d), the Shannon-Wiener index (H′), the evenness index (J) and the density-group index (DG) were significantly higher in the forest zone, lower in the forest-steppe zone, and lowest in the meadow-steppe zone. Seasonal variations in community composition correlated with changes in average air temperature and precipitation in this ecotone. Groups and individuals of soil arthropod communities in the three zones were present in greater numbers in the middle of the rainy season than in the early or late periods of the rainy season as a whole. At the same time, seasonal changes in soil arthropod communities from different plots were also influenced by habitat condition.     

Investigating the Effects of Greenhouse Vegetable Cultivation on Soil Fertility in Lhasa,Tibetan Plateau

The area of land utilized for growing vegetables in greenhouses has expanded rapidly on the Tibetan Plateau over recent decades. However, the effects of greenhouses on soil fertility as well as variations in these effects between the plateau and plain remain unclear on the Tibetan Plateau. This study assessed the effects of vegetable greenhouses in the vicinity of Lhasa, using open field soil as a control. A total of 92 plough layer(0-20 cm depth) soil samples including 54 from greenhouses and 38 from open fields were taken, and soil pH, electrical conductivity(EC), total soluble salt(TS), soil organic matter(SOM), total nitrogen(TN), available phosphorus(AP), and available potassium(AK) were measured. The results reveal that, soil pH was lower 1.0 units in greenhouses than that in open field. TS was higher 82% and AP was higher 160% overall. Similarly, SOM and TN were higher 32% and 46%, respectively, while AK changed slightly at a higher 1% rate. Results also show that soil properties varied depending on cultivation time and vegetable types. Overall, pH continuously decreased with cultivation time while other soil fertility indicators reached a maximum value after nine years of cultivation before starting to decrease. The effect of leafy vegetable planting on soil was slight overall, while the impact of fruits on soil was more serious. Compared with changes in plain greenhouse soil fertility measured across the eastern China, the effects of greenhouses on soil in Lhasa remain relatively limited; and the change in the degree of soil fertility was lower and the extreme values of soil fertility occurred later in Lhasa.     

Fracture analysis for torsion problems of a gravity platform column with cracks under wind load

Ocean platforms are subjected to a variety of environment loads, such as those from winds, waves, currents, etc. In this study, the torsion problems of a gravity platform column with cracks under wind load were investigated. The column was assumed to be a composite cylinder. Therefore the torsion fracture problem of a composite cylinder was considered, and new boundary integral equations for the Saint-Venant torsion problem of a composite cylinder with curvilinear cracks were derived. The problem was reduced to solving the boundary integral equations on every boundary. By using the new boundary element method, the torsion problem of the gravity platform column with a straight crack under various wind loads was calculated. The obtained results were compared with those obtained for a torsion problem of the same column without cracks to prove the applicability of the present method. The comparison showed that the detrimental effect of cracks in a column should be considered in marine engineering.     

西安市城市边缘区空间识别与边界划分

城市边缘区研究的首要任务是对城市边缘区进行空间识别和边界划分。针对现有研究存在的指标选取过于单一或繁杂、水陆分离导致划分间断等问题,利用西安市SPOT-5、Landsat TM遥感影像和社会统计数据,分别从物理、景观、人口3个视角出发,选定不透水面盖度与景观絮乱度作为主要判别指标,人口密度作为辅助指标,构建城市边缘区识别指标体系。运用信息熵法和突变检测法,量化并可视化西安市城市边缘区的空间范围。结果表明：① 所选取指标沿着城乡梯度表现出独特的空间信息,根据指标的城乡空间异质性特征可以识别出城市边缘区的空间范围,且方法更科学,界定结果更精确。② 西安市呈现出明显的城市核心区、城市边缘区、农村腹地的圈层结构特征。道路牵引与政策调控对城市边缘区的空间分布有重要影响。本研究可为城市边缘区其他相关研究提供科学参考和依据。     

基于多源数据的谭家湾滑坡变形机制及稳定性评价

针对2016年5月发生于秭归县西北部的谭家湾滑坡,结合卫星遥感影像、现场勘查资料以及历史资料等多源数据,初步明确了滑坡的影响区域、特征及发生时序;综合采用钻探、槽探、物探等手段,开展室内外相关实验,明确了滑坡区的地层特性以及岩土体物理力学性质指标,通过分析该区裂缝位移及GPS数据,对该边坡的变形机制进行了探讨,并对该区稳定性进行了评价。结果表明:①谭家湾滑坡属于不规则"圈椅形"中型松散层的水库下降型滑坡,滑坡区的地表形态、地质构造及岩性等因素决定了滑坡的形成和发育,库水位和降雨的共同作用激励了滑坡的变形;②滑坡根据时序共分为3级滑体,总体呈现多次、多层、相互影响的演化特点,第三级滑体具有牵引式特征;③滑坡体内地下水位随库水位下降而下降,但下降速率缓于库水位,随之坡体内水力梯度和渗透力显著变大,此时碰到强降雨,将会导致坡体地下水赋存,岩土体软化,加剧滑坡变形,须施加必要的防护措施。④稳定性分析表明,该滑坡现处于临界稳定状态,一旦发生降雨和库水位变化,局部段可能发生失稳滑动。      

Effects of gully erosion and gully filling on soil degradation in the black soil region of Northeast China

Gully erosion has caused soil degradation and even reduced soil productivity.However,only few studies on the effects of gully erosion and artificial controlling measures on soil degradation in the Black Soil Region of Northeast China are available.Thus,this study explores the relationships between gully erosion,gully filling and soil parameters.Two sets of soil samples were collected in the field at:(1) 72 sample points in the gully erosion study area,60 sample points in the ephemeral and classical gully erosion area(3,518 m2),12 sample points in the deposition zone(443 m2),(2)10 reference points along a slope unaffected by gully erosion representing the original situation before the gully was formed.All soil samples were analyzed for gravel content(GC),soil organic matter(SOM),total nitrogen(TN),available nitrogen(AN),available phosphorus(AP),and available potassium(AK).The soil property values on unaffected slope were fitted by the polynomial curves as the reference values in no gully erosion area.The interpolated soil property values in gully eroded study area were compared with these polynomial curves,respectively,and then,changes of soil property values were analyzed.Gully erosion caused an increase in GC and a decrease in SOM,TN,AN,AP and AK.The change of GC,SOM,TN,AN,AP,AK was 8.8%,-9.04 g kg-1,-0.92 g kg-1,-62.28 mg kg-1,-29.61 mg kg-1,-79.68 mg kg-1.The soil property values in the study area were below optimal values.Thus,we concluded that gully erosion and gully filling caused both on-site and off-site soil degradation.Soil degradation area was 0.65 % of the cultivated land.In addition,it was proved that gully filling were an improper soil and water conservation measure,which seems to exacerbate the problem.Thus,it is suggested that soil where soil is deep is moved to fill the gully,and then the area around the filled gullies should be covered by grass for preventing the formation and development of the gully.     

Sustainable tourism development in mountain areas in ?umadija and Western Serbia

Sustainable tourism, as an integral part of sustainable development, emerged as a logical outcome of preventing the uncontrolled and excessive use of tourism resources and attractions. This study analyzes whether mountain tourism development in Serbia can be sustainable and feasible in the long term. Given the heterogeneity of mountains in Serbia in terms of tourism development, the subject of this research is the achieved level of sustainable tourism development in mountains in the most developed and most visited region in Serbia-?umadija and Western Serbia: Zlatibor, Kopaonik, Tara, Zlatar, Mokra Gora and Go?. The sustainable tourism development level was analyzed by using five groups of the EU's comparative indicators: economic, social, cultural, environmental and tourist satisfaction indicators. The results showed that the development of tourism in the examined mountains is not fully aligned with sustainable development. The tourist satisfaction indicator has the most acceptable values, which is a good basis for further harmonization of tourism development on the principles of sustainability. Economic indicators, especially the ratio of overnight stays and accommodation capacities, show the most unacceptable values, which indicate the need for implementing changes in the process of tourism development in the coming period. The analysis of sustainable tourism in mountain areas in ?umadija and the Western Serbia undoubtfully points out that it is necessary to significantly change the current tourism product portfolio, which implies harmonizing mountain tourism development with global trends. Certainly, a comparative analysis that looks at the degree of sustainability of mountain tourism in some countries of the Alpine region, such as Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia, contributes to this. The more intensive development of tourism throughout the year would significantly improve indicators of sustainable tourism in all analyzed mountain areas of ?umadija and Western Serbia. This would improve the value of economic indicators, which are marked as the most unsustainable. The development of tourism in the summer season, especially recreational and adventure tourism, would improve the social and cultural component of sustainable tourism. Environmental dimension of sustainable tourism would be enhanced by the development of ecotourism. By connecting spatially close mountains(Zlatibor, Zlatar, Tara and Mokra Gora) into a unique and integrated tourism destination, synergistic effects would be achieved resulting in international recognition and making the region of ?umadija and Western Serbia competitive on the European market.     

Preliminary Mapping and Characterisation of Soils in the Pirin Mountains （Bulgaria）

Soil types, humus types and vegetation as well as their hypsometric variation were analysed in terms of sequences in the northern part of the high mountains of the Pirin National Park at altitudes between looo and 2400 m a.s.1. The study area is characterised by a large variety of natural parameters like petrology （mainly marble and granite）, morphology （different slope deposits, exposition） and the orographic climate gradient. Statistical analyses using these parameters provided a basis for the soil group classification of the sites. Based on a Digital Terrain Model （DTM） and a geological map of the Pirin National Park, the results of these statistical analyses were used to generate a ＂map of potential soil groups＂ （regionalisation using GIS）. Six potential soil groups could be determined. The resulting map exhibits a confidence level of 68 % on 74.4 % of the covered area. Rendzic Leptosols, in combination with Folic Histosols and Histi-lithic Leptosols occur in the alpine and subalpine regions on calcareous substrates. With decreasing altitude they are replaced by a mosaic of Rendzic Leptosols, Phaeozems and an increasing occurrence of Cambic Umbrisols. Umbrisols found on silicatic substrates in the alpine region are replaced by Cambic Umbrisols with decreasing altitude as well. Hence, pedogenesis is characterised by increasing browning and depth of the soil profiles with decreasing altitude. The pH-level is slightly acidic to neutral in lower zones and on calcareous rocky bases. Acidification increases in the subalpine zone. Soil pH decreases down to 4 on silicate subtrates. Typical humic values in mineral topsoils are 10 to 12 %, and in organic layers of the soils above 2000 m a.s.1, they are even more. The C：N ratio closely ranges around 20 （median）.     

Clustering gully profiles for investigating the spatial variation in landform formation on the Chinese Loess Plateau

The gully is the most dynamic and changeable landform unit on the Loess Plateau, and the characteristics of gully landforms are key indicators of gully evolution. Different gully profiles are connected and combined through runoff nodes. Thus, it is necessary to cluster gully profiles into a gully profile combination(GPC) to reveal the spatial variation in gully landforms throughout the Loess Plateau. First, the gradient and gully evolution index(GEI) of two sample areas in Changwu and Suide in Shaanxi Province, China are calculated and analysed based on GPC. Then, the gradient and GEI are calculated by using 90-m-resolution digital elevation model(DEM) data for the severe soil erosion area with the basin as the research unit. On this basis, the spatial variation in the development degree is analysed with Getis-Ord Gi*. The results show that the degree of gully undercutting decreases from southeast to northwest under the influence of rainfall. Due to the soil properties, the loess in the northwest is more prone to collapse, resulting in the decrease of GEI from northwest to southeast. The development degree of gullies is closely related to rivers. The strong erosive capacity of rivers leads to greater differences in gullies within the basin. At the same time, the skewness and kurtosis of the gully index in the basin are correlated; when the distribution of the gully index in the basin is less normal, the distribution of the gully index is more concentrated. These results reveal the spatial variation characteristics of the Loess Plateau based on GPC.     

东营郑南斜坡带砂砾岩体储层微观特征

东营凹陷郑南斜坡带砂砾岩体是古近纪沙四段沉积时期形成的以砂、砾岩为主的近岸水下扇沉积体。储集层岩石结构成熟度和成分成熟度均较低,多为双模态和复模态结构。首先对影响储集层岩石的主要成岩作用进行了描述,分析了该砂砾岩体储集层的孔隙类型和孔隙结构特征。该类砂砾岩体储集层孔隙类型多样,孔隙结构复杂,以中-低孔隙度、低渗透率储层类型为主。     

Spatial distribution of land cover and vegetation activity along topographic gradient in an arid river valley, SW China

Anthropogenic activities have become more and more important in characterizing the landscape, but their impacts are still restricted by natural environments. This paper discusses the interactions of anthropogenic activity, vegetation activity and topography through describing the spatial distribution of land cover and vegetation activity （represented by Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI） along topographic gradient in a mountainous area of southwestern China. Our results indicate that the existing landscape pattern is controlled by anthropogenic activities as well as topographic factors. Intensive anthropogenic activities mainly occur in areas with relatively low elevation, gentle and concave slopes, as these areas are easy and convenient to attain for human. Because of the destruction by human, some land cover types （mainly grassland and shrub） are only found in relatively harsher environments. This study also finds that topographic wetness index （W） used in other places only reflects runoff generation capacity, but not indicate the real spatial pattern of soil water content in this area. The relationships between NDVI and W, and NDVI and length slope factor （LSF） show that runoff and erosion have complex effects on vegetation activity. Greater values of W and LSF will lead to stronger capacity to produce runoff and transport sediment, and thereby increase soil water content and soil deposition, whereas beyond a certain threshold runoff and erosion are so strong that they would destruct vegetation growth. This study provides information needed to successfully restore native vegetation, improve land management, and promote sustainable development in mountainous areas, especially for developing regions.     

Mechanism of mining-induced slope movement for gullies overlaying shallow coal seams

This paper provides an improved understanding of the movement mechanisms of both bed-rock gully and sandy soil gully when underground mining occurs underneath, followed by systematic analysis of the contributing factors such as mining advance direction, gully slope angle, gully erosion coefficient and mining height. This paper presents the results from monitoring, theoretical analyses and up to date modeling based on the geological features in the gully affected area, and the implications of these results to the success of roof support trial. It was observed that when mining occurred towards the gully, sliding of slope block along the fracture surface occurred, which resulted in unstable roof condition; when mining progressed away from the gully, polygon blocks developed in the gully slope and rotated in reversed direction forming hinged structure; within the bed-rock slope, the hinged structure was unstable due to shear failure of the polygon block; however, within the sandy soil slope, the structure was relatively stable due to the gradual rotating and subsiding of the polygon block. The increase of the value of slope angle and mining height lead to a faster and more intensive fracture development within the gully slope, which had a pronounced effect on gully slope stability and underground pressure. Various remediation approaches are hence proposed in this paper including introducing more powerful support and reasonable mining height, setting up working face along or away from gullies, using room and pillar, strip mining and backfill instead of longwall mining.     

Impact factors on distribution and characteristics of natural plant community in reclamation zones of Changjiang River estuary

To identify impact factors on the distribution and characters of natural plants community in reclamation area, with survey data from 67 plant quadrats in July 2009, soil properties data from 216 sampling points in April 2009, and TM (30 m) data in 2006, the composition and characteristics of natural plants community in different time of the Fengxian area in the Changjiang (Yangtze) River estuary were analyzed with two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN), multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), detrended canonical correspondence analysis (DCCA) and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). The results show that: 1) The plant communities in the reclaimed area are mainly mesophytes and helophytic-mesophytic transitional communities, showing a gradient distribution trend with the change in reclamation years. Species richness (MA), species diversity (H) and above-ground biomass also increase with the increase of reclamation years. Nevertheless, they appear to decline slightly in the middle and late reclamation period (> 30 years). 2) With the rise in land use levels, the changes in species richness and species diversity tend to increase at first and then decrease; species dominance (D), however, tends to decline; and above-ground biomass increases slightly. 3) The distribution of the plant community is mainly influenced by the following factors: land use levels (R = 0.55, p < 0.05), soil moisture (R = 0.53, p < 0.05), soil salinity (R = 0.43, p < 0.05) and reclamation time (R = 0.40, p < 0.05).     

Determining the degree of saturation of rocks as a function of time: A case study from mountainous area of Turkey

The aim of this study is to scrutinize whether, in terms of saturation, the 48 hour duration suggested by ISRM(International Society for Rock Mechanics) methods and ASTM(American Society for Testing and Materials) standard in rocks is sufficient or not, and to examine how the degree of saturation of rocks may be determined as a function of time. For this purpose, samples from five different rock groups including igneous(andesite, granite, andesitic tuff) and sedimentary(limestone, sandstone) exposed in Gümü?hane city which is from mountainous area of north-eastern Turkey, have been compiled. Measurements were taken on the samples left for saturation under laboratory conditions as a result of which the degree of saturation values at the end of these time periods were determined. Similarly, at the end of 48 hours, the samples were left to dry under atmospheric conditions in the laboratory environment and their time dependent degree of saturation were also calculated at different times. The changes as a function of time in the degree of saturation were then examined mathematically using non-linear, exponential and logarithmic functions. Graphs and equations related with the acquired time-degree of saturation values and the correlation coefficient(r) values for these equalities have indicated a high accordance between time and degree of saturation for the studied rock groups. The applied methodology will be beneficial for determining the degree of saturation based on time for engineering studies that will be carried out in similar lithologies.