Improved regional groundwater flow modeling using drainage features: a case study of the central northern karst aquifer system of Puerto Rico (USA)

In northern Puerto Rico (USA), subsurface conduit networks with unknown characteristics, and surface features such as springs, rivers, lagoons and wetlands, drain the coastal karst aquifers. In this study, drain lines connecting sinkholes and springs are used to improve the developed regional model by simulating the drainage effects of conduit networks. Implemented in an equivalent porous media (EPM) approach, the model with drains is able to roughly reproduce the spring discharge hydrographs in response to rainfall. Hydraulic conductivities are found to be scale dependent and significantly increase with higher test radius, indicating scale dependency of the EPM approach. Similar to other karst regions in the world, hydraulic gradients are steeper where the transmissivity is lower approaching the coastline. This study enhances current understanding of the complex flow patterns in karst aquifers and suggests that using a drainage feature improves modeling results where available data on conduit characteristics are minimal.     

Variations of Hydrodynamics and Submarine Groundwater Discharge in the Yellow River Estuary Under the Influence of the Water-Sediment Regulation Scheme

The “Water-Sediment Regulation Scheme” (WSRS) is critically important to the hydrologic evaluation of the Yellow River estuary since a huge pulse of water and sediment are delivered into the sea during a short period. We used the natural geochemical tracers radium (²²³Ra, ²²⁴Ra, ²²⁶Ra) and radon (²²²Rn) isotopes as well as other hydrological parameters to investigate the mixing variations and submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) in the Yellow River estuary under the influence of the 2013 WSRS. Dramatically elevated radium and radon isotopic activities were observed during this WSRS compared with activities measured during a non-WSRS period. Radium “water ages” indicated that the offshore transport rate nearly tripled when the river discharge increased from 400 to 3400 m³/s. We calculated the SGD flux in the Yellow River estuary based on a radium mass balance model as well as radium and radon time-series models. The SGD flux was estimated at 0.02~0.20 m/day during a non-WSRS period and 0.67~1.22 m/day during the 2013 WSRS period. The results also indicate that large river discharge tends to lead more intense SGD along the river channel direction with a large amount of fresh SGD.     

桂西地区二叠系合山组铝土岩的沉积环境*

桂西地区二叠系合山组铝土岩的沉积环境存在海相、陆相之争。通过对桂西二叠系铝土岩的区域调查及钻孔样品微量元素地球化学数据的分析,认为桂西二叠系铝土岩产出于陆相环境。从铝土岩分布情况看,桂西二叠纪各孤立碳酸盐岩台地上均广泛分布铝土岩沉积,该区域产出特征证明矿层是在碳酸盐岩台地全部暴露地表的环境下形成的。从铝土岩层与下伏茅口组灰岩的接触关系来看,铝土岩层底部存在茅口组灰岩砾石,在部分剖面尚见下伏茅口组灰岩中充填铝土岩等现象,说明铝土岩矿化过程直接于茅口组灰岩的古喀斯特面上完成。此外,在矿层中发现古植物根茎化石也是铝土岩形成于陆相环境的有力证据。从微量元素地球化学结果来看,来自铝土岩层样品的硼含量均小于10×10^-6,Sr/Ba值范围为0.29~1.61,平均值为0.92,Rb/K值范围为0.0011~0.0025,平均值为0.0017,以上指标结合V/Zr-Zr/Cu图解的判别,结果均指示铝土岩形成于陆相淡水环境。     

经略21世纪海上丝路:重要航线、节点及港口特征

为了更好地认识21世纪海上丝绸之路(简称"海上丝路"),文章对"海上丝路"涉及的重要航线、节点及港口的地理位置、气候状况、水文特征、商业价值、人文背景等进行梳理。重要航线、节点及港口的使用与管理作为"海上丝路"建设的基础要素,是与造船能力并列的核心资源,三者之间环环相扣,构成"海上丝路"健康运营的完整体系。与沿"海上丝路"国家稳步推进航线、节点及港口的管理、开发与维护,打造坚实的战略支撑点、现代之"海上驿站",是成功实现我国资源多样化、产业走出去、贸易全球化的最佳路径之一,以此为契机,融入现有国际海洋法公约并在践行过程中制定利我的海上政策体制,助力"海之梦"、"中国梦"。     

Discussion on applying an analytical method to optimize the anti-freeze design parameters for underground water pipelines in seasonally frozen areas

Adopting the quasi-three-dimensional (Quasi-3D) numerical method to optimize the anti-freeze design parameters of an underground pipeline usually involves heavy numerical calculations. Here, the fitting formulae between the safe conveyance distance (SCD) of a water pipeline and six influencing factors are established based on the lowest water temperature (LWT) along the pipeline axis direction. With reference to the current widely used anti-freeze design approaches for underground pipelines in seasonally frozen areas, this paper first analyzes the feasibility of applying the maximum frozen penetration (MFP) instead of the mean annual ground surface temperature (MAGST) and soil water content (SWC) to calculate the SCD. The results show that the SCD depends on the buried depth if the MFP is fixed and the variation of the MAGST and SWC combination does not significantly change the SCD. A comprehensive formula for the SCD is established based on the relationships between the SCD and several primary influencing factors and the interaction among them. This formula involves five easy-to-access parameters: the MFP, buried depth, pipeline diameter, flow velocity, and inlet water temperature. A comparison between the analytical method and the numerical results based on the Quasi-3D method indicates that the two methods are in good agreement overall. The analytic method can be used to optimize the anti-freeze design parameters of underground water pipelines in seasonally frozen areas under the condition of a 1.5 safety coefficient.     

Progress in China’s sustainable development research: Contribution of Chinese geographers

Sustainable development has always been a hotspot in Chinese geographical research. Herein, we conduct a systematic statistical analysis of the contribution of Chinese geographers to sustainable development research using bibliometric methods. Based on the review of a vast amount of literature, we identify the main research teams, research funding sources, journals, and key research fields. The findings are as follows: (1) the resources and environmental institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have a significant influence on sustainable development research; (2) China’s central government foundations (the National Natural Science Foundation of China and National Social Sciences Fund) are the main research funding sources; (3) most of the highly cited articles are published in journals sponsored by the Geographical Society of China; and (4) sustainable development theory and its research areas are being constantly enriched and perfected. Based on the statistics of keywords, the theory, research methods, research regional scales, and key research areas are summarized and expounded.     

Channel deformations of the Irkut river in the Tunkinskaya depression

We examine the intrasecular morphodynamics of the Irkut river within the Tunkinskaya depression and the associated partitions between depressions. An analysis is made of the changes in the channel pattern in plan, and a typization is provided for the channel processes for three time intervals: 1914, 1975 and 2015. We identified eleven morphodynamically uniform reaches of the channel: three, one and seven of them are of the adapted, incised and broad-floodplain types, respectively. The types of morphodynamical development of the river are systematized, and reaches with a different degree of deformation are identified within the most mobile broad-band segment of the river in conditions of free meandering. It is ascertained that the reaches of the braided type and the reach with sharp loop-like bends are the most stable, which is, in either case, due to the consolidation of vegetation by the high floodplain which made it possible to stabilize the movement of the channel in plan. The most strongly altered reaches are determined, where river channel displacements were accompanied by a complete change of the morphodynamical types of bends; the macrobends mainly experienced a regular breakthrough or were complicated by lower-order bends. We identified the reaches with lower-order (local) changes where the development of the bends (for the most part, of the loop-like type) changed into a new evolutionary cycle). We determined the role played by the influence of the territory’s geologo-geomorphological structure, hydrological conditions and natural processes of channel evolution on the dynamics of homogeneous reaches, and on morphological changes within them. The period of the most significant channel deformations, from 1914 to 1976, was determined, which is accounted for by an enhancement in anthropogenic pressure and by the associated increase in suspended load, and the period of decrease in the magnitude of manifestations of channel deformations from 1976 to 2015.     

Typology of countries of the world according to the development level of international tourism

A multifactor tourism typology of countries of the world having a structural-functional character has been developed. It provides insight into the typological features of the global spatial structure of international tourism, reflecting the intensity of international tourism flows, their geography, the importance of the tourism industry for the national economy as well as the general attributes of territorial organization of international tourism, and the dynamics of its development. Five main types of touristic types of countries have been identified. The following indicators were used for characterization of the countries and their comparison: the size of the territory, and the population size; the general level of socioeconomic development; the level and character of development of international tourism; the characteristic properties of touristic demand; the orientedness of tourism flows; characteristics of touristic offer; the degree of influence of international tourism on the national economy; characteristics of the state policy in the sphere of tourism, and touristic specialization. The first type includes the economically highly developed countries with mature national systems of international tourism forming the center of the world’s touristic space. The second type is represented by countries belonging to the semi-periphery of the world’s touristic space with an intensely forming state-supported polyfunctional system of international tourism. The third type includes moderately developed countries of the semi-periphery of the world’s touristic space with a polyfunctional system of international tourism in the stage of transformation and formation of a civilized travel market. The fourth type comprises small island states of the Caribbean Basin which belong to the semi-periphery and, in part, to the “advanced” periphery of the world’s touristic space. The fifth type combines developing countries belonging to the periphery of the world’s touristic space, with a weakly developed market of international tourism.     

Livelihood changes and evolution of upland ethnic communities driven by tourism: a case study in Guizhou Province,southwest China

As an effective livelihood approach to alleviate poverty without rural population migration, ethnic tourism has become the primary choice of economic development in ethnic areas worldwide in addition to traditional livelihood approaches. This article applies the theories of livelihood to study the community evolution driven by tourism livelihood and examine three mountainous tourism communities in different stages of tourist area life cycle. Drawing on the methods of GIS spatial analysis, semi-structured interviews and questionnaires, this article proposes a sustainable livelihood framework for ethnic tourism to explore the evolution of ethnic tourism communities by identifying changes in livelihood assets (natural, financial, social, cultural and human capitals) in the process of tourism development. The results show that the development of ethnic tourism has led to changes in the increase of building land, and the diversification of land use functions with a trend of shifting from meeting local villagers' living needs to satisfying tourists, income composition and uneven distribution of tourism income spatially. Ethnic tourism also led to the deterioration of traditional social management structure, collapse of neighboring relationship, the over- commercialization and staged authenticity of ethnic culture, as well as the gradual vanish of agricultural knowledge with a trend of increasing modern business knowledge and higher education. In addition, these changes, involving livelihood assets from natural, economic, human, social and cultural aspects are interrelated and interactive, which form new evolution characters of ethnic community. This study reveals the conflicts over livelihood approaches which have formed new vulnerabilities to impact on sustainable evolution of ethnic communities. This research provides implications for achieving the sustainable development of ethnic communities with the driving force of tourism livelihood.