The environmental impact of landslides on the population living on the eastern footslopes of the Aberdare ranges in Kenya: a case study of Maringa Village landslide

 Landslides are a recognized but poorly studied phenomena in the eastern footslopes of the Aberdare ranges in central Kenya. The Aberdare ranges traverse the Murang'a, Kiambu, Nyeri and Nyandarua districts of Kenya where fatal landslides have occurred in the past. A detailed study of a major landslide which occurred at Maringa village in Murang'a district on 30 April 1997, has been undertaken. The landslide buried three houses at the toe of a slope and killed all the 11 occupants in their sleep. It is shown that the geology and climate of the study area contribute to the prevalence of landslides not only in Murang'a but in all the andosol-covered areas throughout the eastern footslopes of Aberdare ranges. Rapid weathering of pyroclastic rocks in a warm and wet climate create a regolith which is generally weaker than the underlying better-cemented basalt and basaltic agglomerates. The landsliding occurred when the weathered pyroclastic regolith become saturated after a heavy rainstorm on high mechanically unstable slope which slid over the more stable basalts. Over-saturation of clay soils (andosol) which were also derived from weathering of pyroclastic rocks contributed to the slope failure. The results of the study show that besides fatalities and injuries, the landslide destroyed homes, plantations and roads. Received: 16 March 1998 · Accepted: 22 September 1998     

The transfer of agricultural technology and the development of small-scale farming in rural Africa: Case studies from Ghana, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia and South Africa

In many developing countries, research institutions or centres have been established to develop and/or adapt technologies that would help agricultural development. This is particularly true in Africa where national efforts have been supplemented with international research institutes. Although some modest progress has been achieved in improving agricultural technology, on the whole, the improvement record is not quite encouraging among the small-scale farmers. In many areas, either there are no improved technologies, or where they exist, are unacceptable by farmers. However, where useful technologies exist, their spread has been very limited and where they have been adapted, the benefits only accrue to a small segment of the community. The logical question posed is: why and how do we find ourselves in the current situation? This paper considers the view that to understand fully why the available technologies have remained largely at the research centres, there is need to examine the whole process of research, development, dissemination and utilization of agricultural technology. It is significant to investigate the structural constraints and prospects under which those involved in the process work, their motivations and the interactions between different groups. The traditional ‘top-down’ of development strategy should be supplemented with farmers' indigenous knowledge, and programmes encouraging transfer of agricultural technology should include institutional support. Only by the identification of farmers' environmental and resource utilisation, preferences, socio-economic circumstances and constraints can a development programme of optimum meaning to farmers be devised and implemented with success.     

东非鲁伍马盆地窄陆架背景下的深水沉积体系

通过岩心、钻井、地震等资料以及物源分析,详细研究了东非鲁伍马盆地构造及沉积演化特征,初步提出了研究区窄陆架背景之下的沉积体系模式。研究认为,鲁伍马盆地陆坡较陡峭且峡谷水道非常发育,而深海平原地形趋于平缓,这有利于形成大型海底扇沉积体系。鲁伍马盆地沉积主要受控于鲁伍马河水系,尤其从渐新世开始受区域隆升影响,导致盆地西缘遭受抬升剥蚀,沉积物源供应充足,加之鲁伍马河水系较为发育,并伴随全球性海退,形成了庞大的向海推进的鲁伍马三角洲沉积体系,这也为海底扇的发育提供了丰富的物源,使得研究区发育了鲁伍马三角洲—水道—海底扇复合沉积体系。     

东天山中酸性侵入岩浆作用及其地球动力学意义

东天山地区华里西中-晚期中酸性侵入岩浆活动强烈,加里东期、华里西早期及印支期花岗岩类分布零星,初步可分为南、北两个岛弧花岗岩带。除哈尔里克有少量碱性花岗岩外,花岗岩类均属钙碱性岩石系列。从早期到晚期,中酸性侵入岩浆作用经历了板块碰撞前、火山弧、碰撞同期、板内伸展、陆内叠覆造山和非造山6个演化阶段,岩石成因类型可分为M、CM、C、A4种类型。南、北岛弧的碰撞与缝合从北东向南西呈现出递进演化的特点。土屋-赤湖、石英滩、维权、白山等铜、钼、金矿床与华里西中期岛弧环境产出的过铝质钙碱性系列CM型花岗岩类关系密切。     

Rainfall-induced shallow landslides: a model for the triggering mechanism of some case studies in Northern Italy

The article relates the main findings of a recent investigation aimed at modeling the triggering of shallow landslides. A simplified model for assessing the safety factor of potentially unstable slopes, directly related with rainfall trends, was developed. Based on the geometric characteristics of the slope, the geotechnical properties, and strength parameters of the soil, the model makes it possible to define a safety factor of a slope as a function of time. The model is based on the limit equilibrium method and takes into account the seepage of underground water. The safety factor is, in turn, related to the seasonal rainfall. The model was applied on a local scale to some historical cases which had occurred recently in Northern Italy. The paper shows how the results of the application of the model on a local scale achieve a good agreement between the instability condition and the real date of each considered event.     

Volunteer tourism: The case of Habitat for Humanity South Africa

Volunteer tourism as a subset of alternative tourism is the focus of analysis. This paper contributes to the limited writings on volunteer tourism by investigating the activities in South Africa of Habitat for Humanity, a grassroots ecumenical Christian organization that works in partnership with communities to eliminate poverty through the provision of shelter. A profile of the volunteer tourist and of their tourism experience in South Africa is presented which is based largely upon the return of 123 questionnaires from volunteer tourists in South Africa working with the local branch of Habitat for Humanity. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Centrifuge modelling of landslides and landslide hazard mitigation: A review

Landslides are serious geohazards that occur under a variety of climatic conditions and can cause many casualties and significant economic losses. Centrifuge modelling, as a representative type of physical modelling, provides a realistic simulation of the stress level in a small-scale model and has been applied over the last 50 years to develop a better understanding of landslides. With recent developments in this technology, the application of centrifuge modelling in landslide science has significantly increased. Here, we present an overview of physical models that can capture landslide processes during centrifuge modelling. This review focuses on (i) the experimental principles and considerations, (ii) landslide models subjected to various triggering factors, including centrifugal acceleration, rainfall, earthquakes, water level changes, thawing permafrost, excavation, external loading and miscellaneous conditions, and (iii) different methods for mitigating landslides modelled in centrifuge, such as the application of nails, piles, geotextiles, vegetation, etc. The behaviors of all the centrifuge models are discussed, with emphasis on the deformation and failure mechanisms and experimental techniques. Based on this review, we provide a best-practice methodology for preparing a centrifuge landslide test and propose further efforts in terms of the seven aspects of model materials, testing design and equipment, measurement methods, scaling laws, full-scale test applications, landslide early warning, and 3D modelling to better understand the complex behaviour of landslides.     

The co-production of livelihoods and land use change: Case studies from South Africa and Ghana

Land use change and livelihood systems are often analyzed separately or with one “driving” the other. This “driver-feedback” relationship has been buttressed by approaches to social process that are often far too static. Actors are confronted with a bundle of choices that they must negotiate as they create pathways of change. These choices are always bound up in relations of power and the knowledges that are the conditions for and results of these relations. We suggest that land uses and livelihood are different manifestations of the social processes by which individuals and groups negotiate the everyday conditions that shape their lives. We propose a framework that extends current understandings of the relationship between land use change and livelihoods by treating social relations of power as the entry point into this complex relationship. We underpin our arguments with empirical examples from South Africa and Ghana that locate power/knowledge relations in the context of social change in both study areas.     

藏东左贡-竹卡地区一些关键地层的时代和物源区示踪

因地层时代和物源区缺乏有效约束,限制了对龙木错-双湖缝合带东向延伸的北澜沧江缝合带北段构造演化历史的认识。本文报道了位于北澜沧江缝合带北段藏东左贡-竹卡地区的酉西群、竹卡群和甲丕拉组的锆石U-Pb年龄数据,在酉西群变质砂岩和甲丕拉组砂岩中获得的最年轻碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄加权平均值分别为410±7Ma(n=3)和215±1Ma(n=2),将二者的最大沉积时代分别限定为早泥盆世和晚三叠世。竹卡群英安岩的锆石U-Pb年龄(240±1Ma)表明火山岩浆作用发生于中三叠世。碎屑锆石年龄频谱表明,酉西群兼具南羌塘地体约950Ma的碎屑锆石年龄指标和拉萨地体约1110Ma的年龄指标,表明其初始物源可能来自东冈瓦纳大陆内部印度大陆与南极洲之间的Eastern Ghats-Rayner和澳大利亚大陆和南极洲之间的Albany-Fraser-Bunger-Windmill造山带。甲丕拉组碎屑锆石最年轻的年龄峰值(225±2Ma;n=25)及其Hf同位素组成(-15.7~-4.2)与东达山岩基的相似性,指示甲丕拉组的物源很可能来自邻近的东达山岩基。甲丕拉组最年轻的碎屑锆石年龄(215Ma)与东达山岩基最年轻的花岗岩浆活动同期。这一结果,结合东达山地区甲丕拉组与下伏地层之间发生的与羌塘中央隆起带同期的区域性角度不整合事件,提出在北澜沧江北段的东达山地区,在东达山花岗岩基岩浆作用之后(约215Ma)甲丕拉组磨拉石沉积之前,很可能发生了快速隆升,与青藏高原羌塘中央隆起带的隆升剥露事件同期,可能受控于北澜沧江古特提斯洋壳板片的断离。     

Late Quaternary glaciation in Southern Africa: moraine ridges and glacial deposits at Mount Enterprise in the Drakensberg of the Eastern Cape Province,South Africa

Late Quaternary moraines and diamictons containing striated clasts are described from near Elliot in the Drakensberg of South Africa. An equilibrium line altitude (ELA) of 2109 m is suggested for the palaeoglacier associated with the innermost moraine. This glacier was fed by a very extensive snowblow area and the ELA may reflect the temperature–precipitation–wind ELA rather than the temperature–precipitation ELA and be considerably below the ‘regional’ ELA. Mean annual air temperatures when glaciation occurred were probably at least 10.0°C below those of the present. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Insights from Earth Sciences into Human Evolution studies: The example of prehistoric landscape use in Africa and the Levant

Fossil remains are embedded in a continually evolving landscape. Earth scientists have the methods and approaches to study the processes that shape the landscape at various temporal and spatial scales. Some of these methods can generate insights that are of potential use for researchers in other fields, such as archaeology and palaeoanthropology. Here we present two case studies to illustrate how a broader landscape perspective can provide new insights into the land use by Pliocene hominins in southern Africa, and more recently, by Palaeolithic hominins in the southern Levant. Key landscape attributes can help explain why humans, hominins and the wider animal community exploit certain types of landscapes in predictable ways. Our first case study examines how active tectonics or volcanism appears to be important in creating fertile regions with reliable water sources and complex topography. While relatively easy for agile primates such as hominins to negotiate, zones of complex topography are harder for certain predators and prey animals to traverse. In the second case study, we consider that differences in soil edaphics can exert a major control on animals by supplying or failing to supply necessary trace elements, such as selenium, copper, phosphate and potassium (Henkin et al., 1995). We show that the pattern of trace element distribution can accurately map animal movements between areas of suitable grazing. This predictability could have enabled Levantine humans to ambush megafauna during these seasonal migrations. By studying the landscape attributes around fossil site locations, Earth scientists can offer new insights and perspectives into the past, particularly on the ways in which the inhabitants would have used their landscapes.     

东喜马拉雅构造结泥质高压麻粒岩的锆石和独居石定年与地质意义

东喜马拉雅构造结的南迦巴瓦杂岩含有广泛分布的高压麻粒岩,但由于以前获得了许多不同的年龄,对这些麻粒岩的变质与深熔时代、持续时间和成因存在不同认识。本文对泥质高压麻粒岩（蓝晶石榴黑云片岩）中的锆石和独居石进行了系统的内部结构、U-（Th）-Pb定年和微量元素分析,以求揭示这些岩石是否具有相同的演化过程。所研究的6个蓝晶石榴黑云片岩由石榴石、蓝晶石、黑云母、石英、钾长石、斜长石、夕线石、白云母、石墨和副矿物金红石、钛铁矿、锆石和独居石组成,峰期矿物组合是石榴石+蓝晶石+斜长石+钾长石+黑云母+石英+金红石。6个样品中的锆石均由继承碎屑核+变质（深熔）幔+变质（深熔）边组成。其中3个样品中的锆石幔和边较宽,均可进行原位定年,幔部给出了类似的较老年龄范围（39.6~31.6Ma、40.8~32.0Ma和38.1~31.3Ma）,而边部给出了类似的较年轻年龄范围（26.8~17.3Ma、28.3~18.6Ma和28.4~18.8Ma）。另外3个样品的锆石幔部较窄,不能进行分析,其边部给出了与前3个样品锆石边部类似的年轻年龄范围（22.0~17.0Ma、20.9~16.9Ma和22.2~16.6Ma）。一个片岩样品中的独居石给出了与其锆石幔部+边部年龄类似的较宽年龄范围（38.1~17.5Ma）,而另外3个样品中的独居石获得了与其锆石边部年龄相似的年轻年龄范围（26.0~18.8Ma、22.3~16.9Ma和26.4~19.4Ma）。随着年龄的减小,锆石和独居石的Th/U比值增大,Eu/Eu^*减小,独居石的HREE和Y含量减小。基于这些分析结果,笔者认为所研究的6个片岩记录了相同的、从~41Ma持续到~17Ma的进变质与深熔过程。但是,由于某些样品中的锆石和独居石在早期变质和深熔过程中形成的结晶域（锆石幔部）很窄,无法定年,导致不同的样品获得了不同的年龄范围。结合现有研究成果,笔者推测南迦巴瓦杂岩中的高压麻粒岩经历了相似的长期进变质与深熔过程。     

延边地区东部火山-岩浆活动特点及矿化特征

延边地区东部汪清—杜荒子中生代陆相火山断陷盆地是处于吉黑褶皱系延边优地槽褶皱带延边复向斜内。区内中生代以来不同方向的断裂发育,火山活动强烈,岩浆侵入频繁。与中生代火山—岩浆活动有成因联系的多个金、铜多金属矿床和多见的矿化蚀变线索构成了知名度很高的五风—小西南岔近东西向火山—岩浆期后低温热液型金、铜多金属成矿带。     

Paleozoic glaciation in NE Africa: field and remote sensing-based evidence from the South Eastern Desert of Egypt

ABSTRACT

Exhumed Paleozoic glacial deposits and landforms of the North Gondwana are reported here for the first time from the South Eastern Desert (SED) of Egypt. Using field observations and remote sensing datasets (Advanced Land Observing Satellite [ALOS], Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar [PALSAR] radar, multispectral Landsat TM datasets, and digital elevation models [DEMs]), we mapped the distribution of Paleozoic glacial features (i.e. deposits and landforms) in the SED. Two main glaciogenic facies were identified in three locations in the SED: (1) massive, poorly sorted, matrix supported, boulder-rich diamictites in Wadi El-Naam and Korbiai, and (2) moderately-sorted, occasionally bedded outwash deposits in Betan area. Inspection of radar, DEMs, and Landsat Operational Land Imager (OLI) images revealed previously unrecognized ENE-WSW trending glacial megalineations (MLs) over the peneplained Neoproterozoic basement rocks in the central sections of the SED, whose trends align along their projected extension with those of glacial features (tunnel valleys and striation trends) reported from Saudi Arabia. The glaciogenic features in the SED are believed to be largely eroded during the uplift associated with the Red Sea opening, except for those preserved as basal units beneath the Nubia Sandstone Formation or as remnant isolated deposits within paleo-depressions within the basement complex. The apparent spatial correlation of the SED glacial features with well-defined Late Ordovician deposits in North Africa and in Saudi Arabia, and the reported thermochronometric analyses and fossil records are consistent with a Late Ordovician age for the SED glaciogenic features and support models that call on the continuation of the Late Ordovician (Hirnantian) ice sheet from the Sahara into Arabia through the SED of Egypt.     

东昆仑大灶火沟—万宝沟晚二叠世陆缘弧火山岩的发现及意义

东昆仑地区物质组成复杂、构造演化历史悠久,现保存的建造物质记录了从古元古代以来该区发生的地质事件,在多次洋陆转化中中泥盆世—中三叠世造山阶段尤为重要,同时也是该区岩浆活动和成矿作用的主要时期之一,长期以来缺失二叠纪火山岩记录。最近开展的1∶25万大灶火幅区调工作新发现一套中酸性高钾钙碱性系列火山岩组合,用LA-ICP-MS技术测得次流纹英安岩锆石U-Pb年龄为254.7±0.6Ma。根据剖面研究和区域对比,将这套陆缘弧环境下喷发的火山岩命名为晚二叠世大灶火沟组,主要分布在大灶火沟—万保沟一带,地层严格受昆南断裂控制,出露面积大于74km~2。这一发现不仅为东昆仑岩浆弧长期争论的是否存在二叠纪火山岩提供了明确的证据,而且填补了东昆仑地区晚二叠世火山岩地层的空白。东昆仑地区从二叠纪开始昆南洋向北俯冲,形成了规模巨大的碰撞型花岗岩,大灶火沟组火山岩的形成标志着晚二叠世东昆仑处于区域性挤压阶段。     

东喜马拉雅构造结墨脱剪切带特征及其区域构造意义

东喜马拉雅构造结东、西两侧分别为墨脱剪切带和东久-米林剪切带,本文以墨脱剪切带为研究对象,从构造变形几何学和组构运动学方面进行详细研究。结果表明:①剪切带不同部位的变形性质具有逐渐演化的特征,基于产状、变形性质及变质程度等的变化将其从南到北分为三部分:NE走向具右行兼上盘下滑性质的阿尼桥-希让段、近N-S向具右行走滑性质的旁辛-达木段及N(N)W向具右行兼逆冲性质的甘登-加拉萨段;②在墨脱剪切带内识别出两类剪切变形:高温剪切变形和低温剪切变形。除了构造变形及岩相学证据外,石英EBSD组构数据显示区内高温剪切变形以{10■-0}a滑移系为主,对应的温度为550~650℃,达到高温角闪岩相,局部(北端和中段)还出现了{10■-0}c滑移系,温度更高,大于650℃,相当于下地壳的深度;低温剪切变形以{10■-1}a和{0001}a滑移系为主,对应的温度小于550℃,即剪切变形发生在绿片岩相或绿片岩相以下的构造环境。结合西界东久-米林剪切带的构造特征,推测在印度板块和欧亚板块碰撞之后,南迦巴瓦变质体受制于这两条剪切带而相对拉萨地体向北推移,并楔入拉萨地体之下。     

东天山图拉尔根大型铜镍硫化物矿床的斜长石主量成分特征：对矿床成因的指示

图拉尔根镍铜矿床产于康古尔塔格-黄山韧性剪切带NEE向的次级挤压破碎带上,位于黄山-镜儿泉岩浆铜镍成矿带的东段。矿田范围内有I、II、III号3个镁铁质-超镁铁质杂岩体,主要铜镍矿体就位于I号基性-超基性杂岩体内。该杂岩体主要包括辉长岩、角闪橄榄岩、二辉橄榄岩、角闪辉橄岩等岩相,其中角闪橄榄岩为主要的赋矿岩相。本文通过对矿物颗粒镜下形态、结构、构造的观察,对钻孔中赋矿岩相、不含矿岩相的斜长石进行系统的成分分析和对比,来进一步限定岩浆的演化及矿床成因。图拉尔根矿床中主要造岩矿物的结晶次序为:橄榄石-辉石(角闪石)-角闪石。仅见极少数斜长石颗粒包裹橄榄石,而与辉石和角闪石没有明显的包裹关系,可能是略晚于橄榄石结晶的另一单独结晶序列的矿物。赋矿的角闪橄榄岩中斜长石与硫化物含量呈负相关性。斜长石中SiO2和Al2O3含量相对集中,CaO、Na2O、K2O含量变化范围大。SiO2含量从深部到浅部,表现出含量从低到高变化的趋势,说明岩体中斜长石受同源岩浆结晶分异作用的控制。越靠近富硫化物的角闪橄榄岩,斜长石中CaO和Al2O3含量越高,SiO2、Al2O3、CaO、Na2O、K2O等主量元素的含量变化范围较大。因此,斜长石的主量成分可以作为接近硫化物富矿体的指示。     

Composite landslides induced by heavy rainfalls in suburban areas: City of Patras and surrounding area, western Greece

Representative landslide phenomena in western Greece induced by heavy rainfalls, in terms of the geological composition and structure of the affected materials, are thoroughly studied and analyzed. The studied cases involved composite landslides on weathered mantle of flysch and Neogene marls that constitute the most critical landslide prone geological formations in Greece. Their shear strength characteristics were determined from back analyses while low-cost remedial measures, focused on surface and groundwater control, were designed. The effective contribution of the finally constructed works on ground stabilization was systematically monitored by surface and subsurface measurements of ground displacements during a time period after their construction.     

The North of Eastern Siberia: Refuge of Mammoth Fauna in the Holocene

The global climate changings at the end of Pleistocene led to extinction of the typical representatives of Mammoth fauna–mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, wild horse, bison, muskox, cave lion, etc.–on the huge territories of Northern Eurasia. Undoubtedly the Mammoth fauna underwent pressure from the Upper Paleolithic Man, whose hunting activity also could play the role in decreasing the number of mammoths and other representatives of megafauna (large mammals). Archaeological data testify that the typical representatives of Mammoth fauna were the Man's hunting objects only till the end of the Pleistocene. Their bone remains are not usually found on the settlements of Mesolithic Man. Formerly it was supposed that the megafauna of ‘Mammoth complex’ was extinct by the beginning of Holocene. Nevertheless the latest data testify that the global extinction of the Mammoth fauna was sufficiently delayed in the north of Eastern Siberia. In the 1990s some radiocarbon data testified that the mammoths on the Wrangel Island existed for a long time during the Holocene from 8000 till 3700 y. BP. The present radiocarbon data show that wild horses inhabited the north of Eastern Siberia (the lower stream of the Enissey river, the Novosibirskie Islands, the East Siberian sea-shore) 3000–2000 y. BP. Musk-oxen lived on the Taimyr Peninsula and the Lena River delta about 3000 y. BP. Some bison remains from Eastern Siberia belong to the Holocene. The following circumstances could promote the process of preservation of the Mammoth fauna representatives. The cool and dry climate of this region promotes the maintenance of steppe associations – habitats of those mammals. The Late Paleolithic and Mesolithic settlements are not found in the Arctic zone of Eastern Siberia from the Taimyr Peninsula to a lower stream of the Yana River; they are very rare in the basins of the Indigirka and Kolyma Rivers. So, the small number of the Stone Age hunting tribes on the North of Eastern Siberia was another factor in the long-term preservation of some Mammoth fauna representatives.     

冀东某地原生红刚玉矿床地质特征

冀东某地原生刚玉矿床具有埋藏浅,刚玉个体大、微红至暗红色、半透明至不透明等特点,经人工改善可生产低档红宝石。本文主要介绍该矿床的刚玉形态特征、物理性质、晶体结构、包裹体特征及矿床形成的地质条件。研究认为,本矿床应属深熔型混合岩化作用成因,即“混合岩型”刚玉矿床。