A North American perspective on land use and mineral aggregate production

Land use conflicts involving natural aggregate producers often result in the sterilization of aggregate resources like crushed stone, sand and gravel when land management policies render potential resources inaccessible. Transport plays a major role in the cost structure of aggregates. Limiting the sources of aggregate, thereby increasing transport costs, will translate into unnecessary social costs. Sequential land use is examined for conventional aggregate and multiple land use for marine and recycled aggregates. The integration of aggregate production within the land management planning process would preserve the natural resource stock of aggregate and also be economically efficient.     

坚持资源调查与环境评价并举开展好新一轮国土资源大调查

新一轮国土资源大调查是依据新的形势要求开展的一项重要工作,开展新一轮国土资源大调查必须体现了一个“新”了,创新是新一轮国土资源大调查的灵魂。在开展新一轮国土资源大调查时,一定要有新思路,尤其在战略上要坚持“资源调查与环境评价并举”的原则,在加强资源调查工作的同时,大力开展环境评价工作。     

Aspects of agricultural land use in Ireland

Ireland's soil regions consist largely of Luvisols, Cambisols, and Gleysols. Approximately 60% of Ireland's land area is subject to varying degrees of soil limitations. Twenty-five percent of the land area comprises wet lowland mineral soils. Ninety percent of Ireland's agricultural area comprises pasture, hay, and silage. Approximately 30% of the agricultural area is devoted to dairying, and 55% to cattle production. is devoted to dairying, and 55% to cattle production. Trends in agricultural land use indicate that tillage declined substantially while livestock showed a substantial increase particularly in the decade 1965–1975. Research concludes that over 2.8 million ha has a capacity to carry at least 100 LU/40 ha (100 acres). Levels of fertilizer use in Ireland are below EEC levels. The highest fertilizer use levels are associated with the eastern and southern areas of Ireland. Tillage crops occupy only 10% of the agricultural area, while they account for 26% of tertilizer and lime use.     

Groundwater resources in the North China Plain

Shallow groundwater is a major object of exploitation in the North China Plain. About 20 billion m³/yr of fresh groundwater and about 20 billion m³/yr of surface water are available. Present water demand is about equal to or exceeds the utilizable water resources in the North China Plain. Strict economy of water use is needed along with strengthened water control, a restructured development plan, and artificial recharge.     

Land resources of the world; their use and reserves. Definition of land quality and agricultural potential by soil survey maps

The author discusses the use of soil survey maps to define the existing quality and agricultural potential of the world's land. He describes the pioneer work in this field by Russian scientists at the turn of the century and its subsequent continuation in the U.S.S.R., and the recent work by FAO-UNESCO in Russia, America and elsewhere. He also shows how soil types and their agricultural potential may be classified, and urges that existing soil maps should be brought up to date and amplified by including new data obtained through satellite survey techniques. He recommends that the maps produced at various times, by various agencies, should be analysed and collated by computer to assemble the most detailed information possible on the world's soils and their agricultural potential and to provide a universal system of classification. It is already clear that much land is under-cultivated; but the author points out that to bring such land to its full potential would demand immense work and investment.     

On the rigidity of the North American plate

Recently reported Very Long Baseline Interferometer (VLBI) observations between Green Bank, West Virginia, Haystack, Massachusetts and Owens Valley, California, show that the linear distance between these sites has not changed for at least three years (i.e., smooth rate of change less than 1 cm/yr). This level of stability is logically consistent with the hypothesis that the continental U.S. North American plate is geodetically rigid at least on the 2 cm level. Model studies show that this result is in accord with present knowledge of the intra-plate stress field and the elastic properties of typical continental lithosphere.     

关于开展国土资源规划的思考

国土资源包括空间资源、物质资源和能量资源,泛指一个地区的立体空间。空间资源的质量取决于存在于其中的物质成分、数量和比例,所以环境的破坏和生态恶化是空间资源质量下降的结果。物质资源主要有大气、水、土地、森林、牧草、矿产、生物等,这些资源既是人类赖以生存的物质基础,又是重要的环境要素。能量资源指太阳能、转化太阳能和地球内能。空间资源、物质资源和能量资源在自然界是一个相互影响,互为依存的整体。因此国土资源的管理也不应是各种资源管理的简单相加或板块式拼接,而应是互相兼容、兼顾,互相促进的有机整体,是高层次的宏观…     

全球陆地地表水资源演变特征

探究变化环境下全球陆地地表水资源演变特征，是当前水文与水资源学研究关注的热点与难点问题。其中，提高无资料地区水文预报的精度是准确评价全球地表水资源量的重要前提。针对这个问题，本研究在划分全球气候-生态分区的基础上，通过对5种参数移植方法进行比较优选，发现反距离空间插值法与物理相似法相结合的模拟精度最高，进而以此评价了1960—2016年全球、各大洲和重点地区的地表水资源量演变特征。结果表明:在柯本气候分区的基础上，利用生态分区指标进行无监督分类，共获得了229个气候-生态分区；基于全球降水数据和四级水资源区产水系数，获得全球多年平均地表水资源量为41.06万亿m3，与已有研究结果类似；全球、北美洲和非洲的地表水资源量呈现显著下降趋势；地表水资源量呈下降趋势的四级水资源区主要分布在北美洲、南美洲北部和非洲中部等地区。     

Lithosphere mapping beneath the North American plate

Major- and trace-element analyses of garnets from heavy-mineral concentrates have been used to derive the compositional and thermal structure of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) beneath 16 areas within the core of the ancient Laurentian continent and 11 areas in the craton margin and fringing mobile belts. Results are presented as stratigraphic sections showing variations in the relative proportions of different rock types and metasomatic styles, and the mean Fo content of olivine, with depth. Detailed comparisons with data from mantle xenoliths demonstrate the reliability of the sections.

In the Slave Province, the SCLM in most areas shows a two-layer structure with a boundary at 140–160 km depth. The upper layer shows pronounced lateral variations, whereas the lower layer, after accounting for different degrees of melt-related metasomatism, shows marked uniformity. The lower layer is interpreted as a subcreted plume head, added at ca. 3.2 Ga; this boundary between the layers rises to <100 km depth toward the northern and southern edges of the craton. Strongly layered SCLM suggests that plume subcretion may also have played a role in the construction of the lithosphere beneath Michigan and Saskatchewan.

Outside the Slave Province, most North American Archon SCLM sections are less depleted than similar sections in southern Africa and Siberia; this may reflect extensive metasomatic modification. In E. Canada, the degree of modification increases toward the craton margin, and the SCLM beneath the Kapuskasing Structural Zone is typical of that beneath Proterozoic to Phanerozoic mobile belts.

SCLM sections from several Proterozoic areas around the margin of the Laurentian continental core (W. Greenland, Colorado–Wyoming district, Arkansas) show discontinuities and gaps that are interpreted as the effects of lithosphere stacking during collisional orogeny. Some areas affected by Proterozoic orogenesis (Wyoming Craton, Alberta, W. Greenland) appear to retain buoyant, modified Archean SCLM. Possible juvenile Proterozoic SCLM beneath the Colorado Plateau is significantly less refractory. The SCLM beneath the Kansas kimberlite field is highly melt-metasomatised, reflecting its proximity to the Mid-Continent Rift System.

A traverse across the continent shows that the upper part of the cratonic SCLM is highly magnesian; the decrease in mg# with depth is interpreted as the cumulative effect of metasomatic modification through time. The relatively small variations in seismic velocity within the continental core largely reflect the thickness of this depleted layer. The larger drop in seismic velocity in the surrounding Proton and Tecton belts reflects the closely coupled changes in SCLM composition and geotherm.     

全球陆地地表水资源演变特征

探究变化环境下全球陆地地表水资源演变特征，是当前水文与水资源学研究关注的热点与难点问题。其中，提高无资料地区水文预报的精度是准确评价全球地表水资源量的重要前提。针对这个问题，本研究在划分全球气候-生态分区的基础上，通过对5种参数移植方法进行比较优选，发现反距离空间插值法与物理相似法相结合的模拟精度最高，进而以此评价了1960—2016年全球、各大洲和重点地区的地表水资源量演变特征。结果表明：在柯本气候分区的基础上，利用生态分区指标进行无监督分类，共获得了229个气候-生态分区；基于全球降水数据和四级水资源区产水系数，获得全球多年平均地表水资源量为41.06万亿m³，与已有研究结果类似；全球、北美洲和非洲的地表水资源量呈现显著下降趋势；地表水资源量呈下降趋势的四级水资源区主要分布在北美洲、南美洲北部和非洲中部等地区。     

Intraplate tectonics of the western North American plate

Fault-plane solutions, Cenozoic geology, and in-situ stress measurements are used to infer contemporary extension between subplates of the western North American plate. Intraplate, northwest extension is accommodated by strike-slip and oblique normal faulting along present-day seismic zones. Cenozoic volcanism, facilitated by regional extension above a subducting plate, may have spread radially outward from the northern Great Basin to form a continental triple junction with the principal arms: the central Great Basin, the Snake River Plain and a southeast-trending zone of rhyolite domes in the southern Columbia Plateau.     

Mercury in European agricultural and grazing land soils

Agricultural (Ap, A_p-horizon, 0–20 cm) and grazing land soil samples (Gr, 0–10 cm) were collected from a large part of Europe (33 countries, 5.6 million km²) at an average density of 1 sample site/2500 km². The resulting more than 2 × 2000 soil samples were air dried, sieved to <2 mm and analysed for their Hg concentrations following an aqua regia extraction. Median concentrations for Hg are 0.030 mg/kg (range: <0.003–1.56 mg/kg) for the Ap samples and 0.035 mg/kg (range: <0.003–3.12 mg/kg) for the Gr samples. Only 5 Ap and 10 Gr samples returned Hg concentrations above 1 mg/kg. In the geochemical maps the continental-scale distribution of the element is clearly dominated by geology. Climate exerts an important influence. Mercury accumulates in those areas of northern Europe where a wet and cold climate favours the build-up of soil organic material. Typical anthropogenic sources like coal-fired power plants, waste incinerators, chlor-alkali plants, metal smelters and urban agglomerations are hardly visible at continental scales but can have a major impact at the local-scale.     

耕地后备资源调查与评价的思考

耕地对全国的粮食供应起着至关重要作用、也是经济有序发展的基本保障.耕地后备资源作为耕地的储备资源,开展耕地后备资源调查与评价工作势在必行且意义重大.本文通过对我国现有耕地后备资源的现状进行分析,得出进行耕地后备资源调查与评价意义重大.分析耕地后备资源调查与评价的原则,总结得出耕地后备资源不宜耕评价指标表.根据相关方案和...     

Arsenic in agricultural and grazing land soils of Europe

Arsenic concentrations are reported for the <2 mm fraction of ca. 2200 soil samples each from agricultural (Ap horizon, 0–20 cm) and grazing land (Gr, 0–10 cm), covering western Europe at a sample density of 1 site/2500 km². Median As concentrations in an aqua regia extraction determined by inductively coupled plasma emission mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) were 5.7 mg/kg for the Ap samples and 5.8 mg/kg for the Gr samples. The median for the total As concentration as determined by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) was 7 mg/kg in both soil materials. Maps of the As distribution for both land-use types (Ap and Gr) show a very similar geographical distribution. The dominant feature in both maps is the southern margin of the former glacial cover seen in the form of a sharp boundary between northern and southern European As concentrations. In fact, the median As concentration in the agricultural soils of southern Europe was found to be more than 3-fold higher than in those of northern Europe (Ap: aqua regia: 2.5 vs. 8.0 mg/kg; total: 3 vs. 10 mg/kg). Most of the As anomalies on the maps can be directly linked to geology (ore occurrences, As-rich rock types). However, some features have an anthropogenic origin. The new data define the geochemical background of As in agricultural soils at the European scale.     

Assessing land use and land cover change in the Wassa West District of Ghana using remote sensing

Vast tracts of forests are lost globally every year especially in the developing countries of the tropics due to various human activities such as lumbering, farming, bush fires, surface mining and urbanization. The rainforest in Ghana has experienced rapid depletion since the 1980s. The impact of deforestation is widespread, affecting the livelihoods of local people and disrupting the tropical ecosystem. There is a serious concern in the study area about climatic change, soil erosion, siltation of rivers and loss in biodiversity which have an adverse impact on traditional medicinal plants of the local people. The study examined the extent of land cover change through image differencing of Landsat TM 1986 and 2002. The image classification indicated that, vegetative cover from 1986 to 2002 has been reducing whiles land use activities have been increasing. Closed canopy, open canopy and plantation have significantly diminished and land use activities especially built ups, farms, mining and openfields are more than doubled. The driving forces for the change in land cover are population growth, lumbering, socio-economic and cultural practices of the people. Lumbering and mining have been some of the major causes of the changing landscape in primary forest. Also the reliance on wood for domestic energy and the need to increase food productivity to feed growing population have also contributed greatly to the rapid depletion of the vegetative cover.     

Assessing the geoindicators of land degradation in the Kashmir Himalayan region, India

The geoindicators of land degradation such as erosion, vegetation change and wetland loss were identified in the Kashmir Himalayan region using a geospatial model. Geomatics techniques were used to generate information on landuse/landcover, NDVI, slope and the lithological formations that form inputs to map the erosion risk. The results of erosion analysis revealed that 48.27?% of the area is under very high erosion risk. The Middle Himalayan watersheds were found to be under high erosion risk compared to the Greater Himalayan watersheds. Pohru and Doodhganga watersheds of the Middle Himalayas were found to be under very high erosion risk. These two watersheds were studied in detail from 1992 to 2001 for vegetation change and wetland loss. In Pohru watershed, significant change was found in the dense forest with 10?% decrease. Wular lake, an important wetland in the Pohru watershed, has shrunk by 2.7?km² during the last decade. The vegetation change analysis of the Doodhganga watershed revealed that there has been 9.13?% decrease in the forest, 7?% increase in built up and the largest wetland in the Doodhganga, Hokarsar, has reduced by 1.98?km² from 1992 to 2001. Field studies showed that anthropogenic activities and chemically deficit soil (Karewa) along Pir Panjal ranges are the main factors responsible for high land degradation in the area. The assessment of these geoindicators provided valuable information for identifying causes and consequences of the land degradation and thus outlining potential hazard areas and designing remedial measures.     

North American Trends in Extreme Precipitation

An analysis of extreme precipitation events indicates that there has been a sizable increase in their frequency since the 1920s/1930s in the U.S. There has been no discernible trend in the frequency of the most extreme events in Canada, but the frequency of less extreme events has increased in some parts of Canada, notably in the Arctic. In the U.S., frequencies in the late 1800s/early 1900s were about as high as in the 1980s/1990s. This suggests that natural variability of the climate system could be the cause of the recent increase, although anthropogenic forcing due to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations cannot be discounted as another cause. It is likely that anthropogenic forcing will eventually cause global increases in extreme precipitation, primarily because of probable increases in atmospheric water vapor content and destabilization of the atmosphere. However, the location, timing, and magnitude of local and regional changes remain unknown because of uncertainties about future changes in the frequency/intensity of meteorological systems that cause extreme precipitation.