Reconnaissance-Scale Prospectivity Analysis for Gold Mineralisation in the Southern Uplands-Down-Longford Terrane, Northern Ireland

The Southern Uplands-Down-Longford Terrane in southeast Northern Ireland is prospective for Caledonian-age, turbidite-hosted orogenic gold mineralisation with important deposits at Clontibret in the Republic of Ireland and in Scotland. Geochemical and geophysical data from the DETI-funded Tellus project have been used, in conjunction with other spatial geoscience datasets, to map the distribution of prospectivity for this style of mineralisation over this terrane. A knowledge-based fuzzy logic modelling methodology using Arc Spatial Data modeller was utilised. The prospectivity analysis has identified several areas prospective for turbidite-hosted gold mineralisation, comparable to that at Clontibret and gold occurrences in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. A number of these either coincide with known bedrock gold occurrences or with areas considered prospective and targeted by previous exploration work, validating the predictive capability of the exploration model devised and its translation into a GIS-based prospectivity model. The results of the modelling suggest that as in other parts of the Southern Uplands the coincidence of regional strike-parallel structures and intersecting transverse faults are highly prospective, as these are likely to create zones of anomalous stress for fluid flow and deposit formation. Those areas in which there are no known gold occurrences are considered to be favourable targets for further exploration and should be followed up.     

PRESERVATION PLANNING AND GEOGRAPHIC CHANGE IN NEW ORLEANS' VIEUX CARRÉ

Despite historic-district zoning since 1937, New Orleans' Vieux CarrC has, in the view of most presetvationists, lost a rich and valuable part of itself. Today the historic district serves largely as an entertainment showcase for tourists. This paper explores the arguments used to justify the preservation of the Vieux CarrC and examines the impact of subsequent preservation strategies on the neighborhood. The official arguments for preserving the Vieux CarrC have not harmonized with those that initially inspired preservation efforts, and no comprehensive, long-range objectives have been formulated to define the kind of historic-district environment to be preserved. By assuming a piecemeal approach to historic-district planning, preservation policies in New Orleans have tended to react to, rather than guide, change. New Orleans' experience illustrates that historic-district preservation strategies must be clearly stated and incorporated into broader community goals if they are to succeed.     

Diatom preservation in the recent sediment record of Spanish saline lakes: implications for palaeoclimate study

In palaeoclimate research, fossil diatoms from saline lakes can be excellent indicators of past salinity, a proxy for climate change, although they are sometimes poorly preserved in sediment cores. Spain has numerous salt lakes but the potential of diatoms for studies of climate change has never been investigated. A comprehensive survey of diatom preservation is described based on modern and fossil diatoms from short cores (<50 cm depth) in a representative data-set of 59 sites, and the main factors affecting preservation are investigated using principal components analysis (PCA). Most lakes do not preserve a diatom record; four sites in southern Spain are identified which both contain diatoms and have suitable limnological characteristics for a climate study. Many lakes are ephemeral and the physical effects of desiccation, coupled with other factors such as turbidity and high salinity, are the main factors enhancing diatom dissolution or their failure to be incorporated into the sediment record.     

Wetland Preservation in Australia: The Administrative and Policital Threats

The wetlands in Australia are of great physical,chemical and biological variety due to the continent's age,geological history and climate.The traditional physical and biological threats remain as the main challenges for wetland preservation in Australia.However,it has been increasingly recognized that the immediate survival of wetlands are being affected by more subtle threats,such as administrative and political threats.This paper identifies these non-physical threats and discusses how and why they have become the major barriers for sustainable wetland preservation in Australia.Finally,this paper calls for more practical policies and solutions to be implemented for sustainable wetland preservation in Australia.     

The IASPEI procedure for the evaluation of earthquake precursors

Full scientific evaluation of proposed earthquake precursors for earthquake prediction is a problem because independent testing is difficult or impossible. To approach this difficulty, and to assess the current state of the art of earthquake prediction research, IASPEI has devised a peer-review procedure for precursor evaluation. The procedure does not consider predictions of impending earthquakes, but evaluates case histories of proposed precursors for past events according to stated validation criteria, which are specified in terms of guidelines concerning the hypothesized physical model, data quality, anomaly definition, the rules of association of precursor with earthquake, and statistical significance. So far, five precursors have been placed on a preliminary list of significant earthquake precursors, although none has satisfied the validation criteria well enough to ensure that their placement is permanent. Exclusion of a precursor from the list does not mean it is useless, but further work is required if it is to become convincing. The main objectives in producing the list are to establish a consensus on the criteria which a precursor must satisfy to be recognized as validated, and to find case histories which satisfy these criteria. Further nominations of precursor candidates are requested for evaluation by the IASPEI procedure.     

Application of the negative binomial to earthquake occurrences in the Alpide-Himalayan belt

Summary . Shallow focus earthquakes ( h ≤ 60 km) of magnitude range M = 4.0–6.0, occurred during 1954–75 in various high seismicity zones of the Alpide-Himalayan belt have been tested by the Poisson and the negative binomial laws. When the clustering of events make the simple Poisson model inapplicable in most of the high seismicity zones of the Alpide-Himalayan belt it has been shown that the negative binomial entries provide an excellent model for describing the earthquake occurrences. The chi-square ( X ²) test is employed for testing the actual observations with theoretical distributions.     

WHY PLACES ARE PRESERVED: HISTORIC DISTRICTS IN AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN CITIES

This paper presents historic preservation as a movement caught up in issues and conflicts that are ordinary and serious concerns for many Americans and Europeans. It examines rationales for the designation of historic districts in five metropolitan areas: London, Paris, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. One rationale for historic preservation that is of interest to geographers-enhancing a sense of place-was found to be especially important but in need of further discussion in most historic districts. The role of historic preservation in these study areas is much broader and less elitist or antiquarian than has been suggested in many interpretations of the preservation movement.     

Data-Driven Predictive Modeling of Mineral Prospectivity Using Random Forests: A Case Study in Catanduanes Island (Philippines)

The Random Forests (RF) algorithm is a machine learning method that has recently been demonstrated as a viable technique for data-driven predictive modeling of mineral prospectivity, and thus, it is instructive to further examine its usefulness in this particular field. A case study was carried out using data from Catanduanes Island (Philippines) to investigate further (a) if RF modeling can be used for data-driven modeling of mineral prospectivity in areas with few (i.e., <20) mineral occurrences and (b) if RF modeling can handle predictor variables with missing values. We found that RF modeling outperforms evidential belief (EB) modeling of prospectivity for hydrothermal Au–Cu deposits in Catanduanes Island, where 17 hydrothermal Au–Cu prospects are known to exist. Moreover, just like EB modeling, RF modeling allows analysis of the spatial relationships between known prospects and individual layers of predictor data. Furthermore, RF modeling can handle missing values in predictor data through an RF-based imputation technique whereas in EB modeling, missing values are simply represented by maximum uncertainty. Therefore, the RF algorithm is a potentially useful method for data-driven predictive modeling of mineral prospectivity in regions with few (i.e., <20) occurrences of mineral deposits of the type sought. However, further testing of the method in other regions with few mineral occurrences is warranted to fully determine its usefulness in data-driven predictive modeling of mineral prospectivity.     

面向ResearchGate的古气候文献数据采集系统的研制与应用测评

论文基于Linux平台,利用Python(V3.6)和MySQL(V5.7),开发了一套“面向ResearchGate的古气候文献数据采集系统”;并且通过人工判读从全球古气候资料共享网(https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov)数据库中遴选出1450篇古气候重建论文,对关键词进行了分类汇总,初步构建了用于古气候文献检索的关键词表。依据这一关键词表,利用古气候文献数据采集系统,从ResearchGate数据库中进行了文献检索。针对来自ResearchGate的32493篇文献和来自NCDC的1450篇文献,通过时间尺度、代用资料类型、气象要素、研究地区(国家)4个维度关键词词频的对比分析,发现2套文献数据关键词词频的相对差异基本一致。这表明依据初步构建的关键词表,自ResearchGate检索获取的古气候重建文献是有效的,能反映古气候重建研究现状。如此庞大数量的研究论文为下一步收集未被NCDC收录的古气候重建结果提供了丰富的数据源。“面向ResearchGate的古气候文献数据采集系统”达到了预期设计目标。     

Recent Geography Dissertations And Theses Completed And In Preparation

Titles followed by an asterisk in the list below are available on interlibrary loan. The next list of titles will be published in the October, 1971 issue. The list has been prepared by Leslie Hewes of the University of Nebraska.     

RECENT GEOGRAPHY DISSERTATIONS AND THESES COMPLETED AND IN PREPARATION

Titles followed by an asterisk in the list below are available on interlibrary loan. The next list of titles will be published in the November, 1969 issue. The list has been prepared by Leslie Hewes of the University of Nebraska.     

RECENT GEOGRAPHY DISSERTATIONS AND THESES COMPLETED AND IN PREPARATION

Titles followed by an asterisk in the list below are available on interlibrary loan. The next list of titles will be published in the November, 1967 issue. The list has been prepared by Leslie Hewes of the University of Nebraska.     

云南省寻甸县金源老干沟泥石流灾害与治理

通过实地考察 ,分析了金源泥石流形成背景 ,对泥石流防治工程设计必需的水文参数进行了讨论 ,介绍了治理方案的选择和确定 ,重点讨论了 1 0 0 0m长排导糟工程的设计。     

RECENT GEOGRAPHY DISSERTATIONS AND THESES COMPLETED AND IN PREPARATION

Titles followed by an asterisk in the list below are available on interlibrary loan. The next list of titles will be published in the November, 1967 issue. The list has been prepared by Leslie Hewes of the University of Nebraska.     

Integrating general principles into mixed-integer programming to optimize schematic network maps

ABSTRACT

Schematic maps are popular for the representation of transport networks. Many automated methods have been developed to generate such maps. In these methods, optimization techniques work with various sets of constraints. Most of these constraints govern geometric properties of individual features. A few constraints address relationships among features, but none explicitly deal with the main structure of an entire network. We believe that preservation of main structure is the most important and preservation of relative relations is helpful. This is because human perception follows a global-to-local process. These constraints have recently been formed into four general principles, with two for global structure and two for relativity of features. This study develops an automated method by integrating these principles into the mixed-integer programming (MIP) framework. Experimental evaluations have been conducted with two sets of real-world transit networks. In comparison to the existing method, the proposed method has smaller fractal dimensions, better computational performance and higher scores in terms of clarity, recognition of major lines, visual simplicity and satisfaction. Therefore, it is concluded that the proposed method can generate schematic maps with improved clarity and aesthetics. The idea in this study is also helpful for the design of other visual representations.     

Classifying mineral potential in support of land-use policy decisions in British Columbia,Canada

British Columbia covers a vast segment of the Cordillera Mountain system that is richly endowed with a diversity of resources. British Columbia's historic patterns of resource development increasingly have been in conflict with demands for greater environmental protection. To avoid such conflicts, a recently legislated process that provides for detailed mineral resource assessments in candidate park areas has stimulated the creation of a mineral potential classification system for use in land-use planning and policy decisions.A mineral potential study of the Chilko Lake Planning Area provided three unique categories of field data on which to build the classification system. These categories are geological setting, geochemistry, and mineral occurrences. Data in each category were compiled independently to provide indicators of mineral potential. The field data were used to develop a widely understood classification of mineral potential. The classification is based on two factors: favorability and degree of confidence.     

Glacial survival of blockfields on the Varanger Peninsula, northern Norway

For more than hundred years it has been debated whether blockfields in mountain summit areas can be used to delimit the vertical extent of Pleistocene ice sheets. In this study the relationship between blockfields, developed in quartzites and sandstones on the Varanger Peninsula, northern Norway, and glacially derived features have been evaluated. Erratics and circular ablation moraines are superimposed on the blockfields and lateral meltwater channels are eroded into them. Glacial striations and other signs of glacial sculpturing are restricted to low-lying areas with channelled ice flow. Relative ages of the blockfields and the features in them are inferred, and the first measurements of in-situ produced cosmogenic nuclides from the Varanger Peninsula are reported. We conclude that the blockfields have survived underneath at least one thick, cold-based ice sheet. Thus, these blockfields cannot be used as indicators of ice-free conditions as previously suggested for southern Norway. Our results have implications for the potential for land surface preservation beneath ice sheets and for glacial reconstructions in northern Fennoscandia.     

Modeling the Influence of Groundwater Exploitation on Land Subsidence Susceptibility Using Machine Learning Algorithms

Natural Resources Research - Groundwater over-exploitation in arid and semiarid environments has led to many land subsidence cases. Immense economic losses incurred from land subsidence occurrences...     

Quantitative Analysis of Scale of Aeromagnetic Data Raises Questions About Geologic-Map Scale

A recently published study has shown that small-scale geologic map data can reproduce mineral assessments made with considerably larger scale data. This result contradicts conventional wisdom about the importance of scale in mineral exploration, at least for regional studies. In order to formally investigate aspects of scale, a weights-of-evidence analysis using known gold occurrences and deposits in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt of Finland as training sites provided a test of the predictive power of the aeromagnetic data. These orogenic-mesothermal-type gold occurrences and deposits have strong lithologic and structural controls associated with long (up to several kilometers), narrow (up to hundreds of meters) hydrothermal alteration zones with associated magnetic lows. The aeromagnetic data were processed using conventional geophysical methods of successive upward continuation simulating terrane clearance or ‘flight height’ from the original 30 m to an artificial 2000 m. The analyses show, as expected, that the predictive power of aeromagnetic data, as measured by the weights-of-evidence contrast, decreases with increasing flight height. Interestingly, the Moran autocorrelation of aeromagnetic data representing differing flight height, that is spatial scales, decreases with decreasing resolution of source data. The Moran autocorrelation coefficient scems to be another measure of the quality of the aeromagnetic data for predicting exploration targets.