Experimental Analysis of the Dynamic Effects of Coal–Gas Outburst and a Protean Contraction and Expansion Flow Model

Natural Resources Research - As one of the most serious dynamic disasters in underground coal mining, coal–gas outburst (CGO) leads to very high casualties and economic losses. To research...     

Experimental Study of Coal–Gas Outburst: Insights from Coal–Rock Structure,Gas Pressure and Adsorptivity

Natural Resources Research - Coal–gas outburst is a complex dynamic phenomenon in underground coal mines that has occurred frequently over the past 150 years. This phenomenon has...     

Effects of Methane Saturation and Nitrogen Pressure on N2–Enhanced Coalbed Methane Desorption Strain Characteristics of Medium-Rank Coal

Natural Resources Research - To understand the characteristics of medium-rank coal reservoir desorption in N2–enhanced coalbed methane (N2–ECBM), three groups of nitrogen...     

Weighting the Effects of Spatial Cognition and Activity Anchors on Time–Space Activity

Many elements are known to affect the decision-making procedures that underlie time–space activity patterns. Yet, knowledge regarding the relations between these elements is lacking. In this article, a hierarchical structure of external and cognitive time–space behavioral influences is proposed based on the results of a field experiment. The experiment relied on an in situ sampling of stated and overt behaviors of visitors to a touristic site in northern Israel, using questionnaires and Global Positioning System loggers. Two experimental treatments were simultaneously applied during sampling, dividing the sample into four groups: Each participant received on entry one of two maps, designed according to different cartographical–cognitive approaches; new activity stations were placed during half of the sampling days, meaning that each participant was exposed to one of two possible spatial layouts. The behavioral patterns recorded expose each treatment's distinct behavioral effect along with its relative weight within the decision-making process, thus pointing toward a hierarchical structure.     

Assessment of Empirical Pressure–Volume–Temperature Correlations in Gas Condensate Reservoir Fluids: Case Studies

Natural Resources Research - Measurement and modeling of fluid properties and phase behavior of gas condensate reservoir fluids are challenging tasks. Many researchers proposed various empirical...     

Effects of freeze–thaw cycles on soil N_2O concentration and flux in the permafrost regions of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

Nitrous oxide(N_2 O) is one of the most important greenhouse gases in the atmosphere; freeze–thaw cycles(FTCs) might strongly influence the emission of soil N_2 O on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau(QTP). However, there is a lack of in situ research on the characteristics of soil N_2 O concentration and flux in response to variations in soil properties caused by FTCs.Here, we report the effect of FTC-induced changes in soil properties on the soil N_2 O concentration and flux in the permafrost region of the higher reaches of the Shule River Basin on the northeastern margin of the QTP. We measured chemical properties of the topsoil, activities of soil microorganisms, and air temperature(AT), as well as soil N_2 O concentration and flux, over an annual cycle from July 31, 2011, to July 30, 2012. The results showed that soil N_2 O concentration was significantly affected by soil temperature(ST), soil moisture(SM), soil salinity(SS), soil polyphenol oxidase(SPO), soil alkaline phosphatase(SAP), and soil culturable actinomycetes(SCA), ranked as SMSSSTSPOSAPSCA, whereas ST significantly increased soil N_2 O flux, compared with SS. Overall, our study indicated that the soil N_2 O concentration and flux in permafrost zone FTCs were strongly affected by soil properties, especially soil moisture, soil salinity, and soil temperature.     

Household Water Insecurity in the Global North: A Study of Rural and Periurban Settlements on the Texas–Mexico Border

This article examines household-level characteristics that predict water insecurity in low-income rural and periurban communities on the Texas–Mexico border. We employ two logistic regression models (binary and ordered) to identify household characteristics that are more likely to result in water insecurity. Our analyses yielded unexpected findings: Whereas socioeconomic factors are weak predictors, immigration status of household members is a significant variable that contributes to household water insecurity. Policymakers need to pay more attention to marginalized communities as “universal” water access still leaves populations without adequate, reliable, and affordable water in the Global North.     

Experimental Study on Physical and Mechanical Properties of Gypsum Rock During High-Temperature Dehydration–Hydration Expansion

Natural Resources Research - In order to study the physical and mechanical properties of gypsum rock samples in three states (natural, high-temperature dehydration and hydration time), natural...     

Effects of rural–urban migration on vegetation greenness in fragile areas: A case study of Inner Mongolia in China

Different government departments and researchers have paid considerable attention at various levels to improving the eco-environment in ecologically fragile areas. Over the past decade, large numbers of people have emigrated from rural areas as a result of the rapid urbanization in Chinese society. The question then remains: to what extent does this migration affect the regional vegetation greenness in the areas that people have moved from? Based on normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data with a resolution of 1 km, as well as meteorological data and socio-economic data from 2000 to 2010 in Inner Mongolia, the spatio-temporal variation of vegetation greenness in the study area was analyzed via trend analysis and significance test methods. The contributions of human activities and natural factors to the variation of vegetation conditions during this period were also quantitatively tested and verified, using a multi-regression analysis method. We found that: (1) the vegetation greenness of the study area increased by 10.1% during 2000-2010. More than 28% of the vegetation greenness increased significantly, and only about 2% decreased evidently during the study period. (2) The area with significant degradation showed a banded distribution at the northern edge of the agro-pastoral ecotone in central Inner Mongolia. This indicates that the eco-environment is still fragile in this area, which should be paid close attention. The area where vegetation greenness significantly improved showed a concentrated distribution in the southeast and west of Inner Mongolia. (3) The effect of agricultural labor on vegetation greenness exceeded those due to natural factors (i.e. precipitation and temperature). The emigration of agricultural labor improved the regional vegetation greenness significantly.     

Beyond the Edge and in Between: (Re)conceptualizing the Rural–Urban Interface as Meaning–Model–Metaphor

As examinations of the rural–urban interface move beyond a focus on the rural or urban fringe as a location and move toward examining the patterns and processes that both divide and link rural and urban places, a broader (re)conceptualization of the rural–urban interface becomes increasingly important. Thus far the question of boundaries and interfaces between so-called urban and rural locales has mostly revolved around where and when such boundaries occur (including significant coverage of the differences and conflicts between urban vs. rural people), rather than asking what physical or social functions are being served by the rural–urban interface itself. In response, I (re)frame the rural–urban interface not only as a boundary between two distinct spaces but also as a conduit, a place of exchange, and a flux point between them. Using a particular case of contested ecologies in the exurban Sierra Nevada foothills of California, I (re)conceptualize the rural–urban interface as meaning, model, and metaphor (MMM), situating contrasting people and places in an ongoing negotiation of place and environmental meaning along the (ex)urbanizing edge. Although the differences between rural and urban are increasingly unclear, the division continues to be compelling from environmental and sociopolitical standpoints. I argue that (perceived) boundaries are instrumental in understanding physical–material change and for mitigating social conflicts occurring across them. As such, attention to the patterns, processes, and flows that connect or separate rural and urban areas is critical to forging effective and long-lasting solutions to contemporary social, economic, and environmental problems.     

A Retrospective of Oil and Gas Field Development in the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Gulf of Mexico, 1947–2017

Natural Resources Research - The U.S. Gulf of Mexico is a world-class hydrocarbon basin and industry has an impressive track record of advancing its capabilities in the region. From 1947 to 2017,...     

Cross-cultural perceptions of ecosystem services: A social inquiry on both sides of the Israeli–Jordanian border of the Southern Arava Valley Desert

This research explores local resident perspectives on ecosystem services (ES) in the hyper-arid Arava Valley/Wadi Araba, which spans across both Israel and Jordan. Identifying and characterizing ES, an increasingly popular precursor for crafting sustainable natural resource management and land use policy, is an inherently multi-disciplinary endeavor. Our goal is to apply social research tools, in particular in-depth interviews with local residents, to understand their perspectives concerning ES. Since the research is conducted on two sides of an international border, it also illuminates the potential role of culture, nationality and economics in formulating perceptions on ES in deserts.The results show that, although deserts are often considered to be lacking in ES, local residents feel that their environment is abundant in services, particularly cultural services. Furthermore, although they live in a nearly identical ecosystem, local residents from two sides of the border showed distinct differences, as well as some shared patterns, in how they use and value ES. The study highlights the importance of applying social methods for ES identification and characterization in tandem with other disciplinary approaches, in order to avoid common problems including disregard of the importance of social and cultural perspectives, leading to undervaluing of intangible cultural services.     

Model employers and model cities?: Bangalore’s public sector and the rise of the neoliberal city

Bangalore is held up as a model for how cities, particularly in the global south, should develop in the globalized information age, in which entrepreneurs with new access to international capital fuel service-sector-driven development. Expanding market forces cultivate cities of skilled middle-class workers whose increased consumption generates broad developmental benefits. Now known as the “Silicon Valley of India,” Bangalore was previously the capital of India’s public sector enterprises (PSEs), which laid important groundwork for the city of today, including the IT sector. I show how, by providing access to homeownership along with high wages and benefits tied to secure employment, Bangalore’s PSEs created the foundation for the city today and its middle-class character. The skilled workforce that PSEs created helped the IT sector emerge in the city. By examining this erased history, we see the role of the state in development projects, and consider alternative models for urban change.     

Religion on the Fringe: the representation of space and minority religious facilities in the rural–urban fringe of metropolitan Sydney,Australia

This article examines land-use development applications for minority religious facilities in two local government areas on the rural–urban fringe of metropolitan Sydney, Australia. Using critical discourse analysis and underpinned by Lefebvre's (1991) conceptual triad of space, the work interrogates the way in which place identity is generated and codified both by land-use planners and local residents through spatial representation. This representation is revealed in discourses around the compatibility of minority religious facilities for particular zones, lack of a sufficient minority population and social disruption. These discourses reveal a construction of peri-urban space that is aligned with particular elite Anglo-Australian activities (horse riding and gentleman farms) and land uses (rural residential, small-scale agriculture and the ‘bush-church’). These case studies illustrate the potential for the creation of exclusionary, abstract space by urban planners but also the ways in which local residents use discoursive strategies to ensure the stability of their position as elites in rapidly changing spatial situations.     

The effects of enclosures and land-use contracts on rangeland degradation on the Qinghai–Tibetan plateau

Rangeland degradation on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau is a growing concern, often attributed to climate change and overgrazing. A minority of researchers have suggested instead that degradation may be caused by changes in land management, particularly enclosures and the contracting of long-term rangeland use rights to households. However, these claims have been hampered by a lack of empirical evidence. This field experiment is the first to compare rangeland conditions over time in the case of different management regimes on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, specifically single-household versus multi-household management. A survey of vegetation properties in Maqu County, Gansu province in 2009, and repeated in 2011, examined the differences between single- and multi-household management in terms of vegetation biomass, cover, and species richness. In 2009, the biomass of the sedge group under multi-household management was significantly higher than that under single-household management. In 2011, biomass, vegetation cover, and species richness were all significantly higher under multi-household management than single-household management. These data suggest the flaws of the tragedy of the commons assumptions underlying single-household management.     

Comparative Analysis of Gas–Solid–Liquid Coupling Behavior in Front of the Working Face Before and After Water Injection During Coal Mining

Natural Resources Research - Coal seam water injection is a critical measure for the prevention of coal-and-gas outbursts. However, the gas–solid–liquid coupling effect in front of the...     

Impact of radiations on the long-range correlation of soil moisture: A case study of the A’rou superstation in the Heihe River Basin

Journal of Geographical Sciences - Analyses of the soil moisture evolution trend and the influence of different types of radiation on soil moisture are of great significance to the simulation and...     

A comparison of three Eurasian chironomid–climate calibration datasets on a W–E continentality gradient and the implications for quantitative temperature reconstructions

Multiple regional chironomid–climate calibration datasets are available to reconstruct quantitatively July air temperatures from fossil chironomid assemblages. We examined the relationship between July air temperature and the 40 most common chironomid taxa in three independent Eurasian calibration (training) sets. The estimated temperature optimum of each chironomid taxon is systematically lower (by ~1–2 °C) in a Norwegian calibration set compared to Finnish and Russian calibration sets. This result might partly be explained by the fact that the Norwegian calibration set extends further at the cold end of the temperature gradient. A difference in continentality between the Russian sites and the European sites might also contribute to this pattern. The number of taxa that show a statistically significant unimodal response to temperature is higher in the Norwegian calibration set (34 out of 40 taxa) compared to the modern Finnish (11 of 37 taxa; 3 common taxa absent) and the Russian calibration set (20 of 40 taxa), probably due to the longer temperature gradient incorporated in the Norwegian calibration set. We applied all three calibration sets to fossil chironomid assemblages from the high-latitude study site of Sokli (northeast Finland), a site with a unique series of lacustrine deposits covering (amongst others) the Holocene, part of early MIS 3 (at ~53 ka) and MIS 5d–c (at ~110–95 ka) and with independent proxy-records for comparison. In the early Holocene and during MIS 5c, the chironomid-based temperature inferences from all three inference models had similar values. Temperature reconstructions based on the Norwegian calibration set are 2–4 °C lower for the late Holocene, early MIS 3 and MIS 5d than the inferred temperatures based on the other calibration sets. Although the lakes included in the Finnish calibration set are located closest to the site of Sokli, evaluation tests and a comparison with independent proxy data suggests that the Norwegian calibration set provides the most suitable analogues for reconstruction purposes for most of the fossil assemblages. Our results imply that when choosing a calibration set for quantitative climate reconstructions on glacial timescales, regional proximity of the fossil site may not be a sufficient basis, and the length of the temperature gradient of the calibration dataset and factors such as the continentality gradient covered by the calibration set must also be considered.