Three-dimensional visualization of an emotional map with geographical information systems: a case study of historical and cultural heritage in the Yeongsan River Basin,Korea

The objective of this study is the production and visualization of an emotional map to reveal the unique emotions inherent to the areas surrounding the Yeongsan River, which is often referred to as ‘the cradle of civilization’ in Korea. The sites selected for this study are the 11 cities and districts (5667.6 km²) that cut across the vast granary in the southeastern region of Korea, near the Yeongsan River. The emotional map was produced by extracting features of historical and cultural heritage distributed throughout this region and by using a geographic information systems program and its functions for spatial analysis. A database was constructed through interviews with locals and Global Positioning System to index 4318 pieces of cultural heritage to achieve the visualization of emotions. Among the 558 historical relics considered for representing the regional culture, 100 with the largest emotional impact were selected. It was determined that loyalty (), justice (), courtesy (), resentment (), and anger () should be the major emotional elements. Methodologically, a set of regional, periodic, historical, and emotional classification codes were first systematized. After subjecting this data to inverse distance weight interpolation and vertical exaggeration coefficients, the three-dimensional emotional map could be visualized.     

A Karst Connection model for Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA

Along the Asturian coast of northern Spain an uplifted wave-cut platform extends for  100 km east–west. The steep cliff which bounds the gently seaward-dipping platform to the north increases in height from 30 m in the west to 100 m in the east and reflects the overall eastward increase in platform elevation. The southern edge of the 2–4 km-wide platform runs along the foothills of the Cantabrian Mountains, as constrained by a high-resolution digital elevation model. The marine platform, which was carved into deformed Paleozoic bedrock with abundant quartzite beds, is largely covered by weathered marine and continental sediments. Quartzite samples from flat bedrock outcrops which are currently not covered by sediment or soil yield cosmogenic nuclide concentrations (²¹Ne, ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al) that demonstrate a long and complex exposure history, including periods of burial with partial or complete shielding from cosmic rays. The combination of multiple cosmogenic nuclides yields a minimum age of 1–2 Ma for the platform. Taking into account (i) the horizontal and vertical extent of the platform, (ii) the high resistance to erosion of the quartzitic bedrock, and (iii) published data on the magnitude of past sea level fluctuations, we suggest that the wave-cut platform formed in the Pliocene. Subvertical faults cutting the platform at high angles to the coastline offset the southern edge of the platform by 20 to 40 m and reactivate the pre-existing anisotropy in the Paleozoic bedrock. Uplift and crustal deformation of the coastal region have occurred after platform formation in the Pliocene and may still be active. The slow deformation of the northern edge of the Iberian plate including the Cantabrian Mountains may result from the ongoing slow convergence at an incipient subduction zone extending along the coast of northern Spain.     

Recent diatom assemblage changes in subarctic Lake Saanajärvi, NW Finnish Lapland, and their paleoenvironmental implications

Diatoms were analysed from a 30-cm long sediment core obtained from remote subarctic Lake Saanaärvi (69°03N, 20°52E) in order to trace possible changes in the lake. Diatom assemblages were relatively constant throughout the core, except in the top 4–5 cm (approx 1850 A.D.) where relative frequencies of Aulacoseira italica subsp. subarctica, A. lirata var. biseriata, Cyclotella comensis and C. glomerata increased markedly. No significant trends were observed in the weighted averaging (WA) reconstructed pH values. Several hypotheses, including (i) airborne pollution, (ii) climatic change, and (iii) catchment disturbances have been put forth to explain the recent changes in diatom assemblages. The diatom change coincides with a marked increase in mean annual temperature that has been documented in the area since the termination of the Little Ice Age. Our evidence favours climate change as the main causative mechanism for the observed diatom compositional changes, although other explanations cannot be ruled out.