铜陵地区老鸦岭层状钼矿床铅同位素组成研究

安徽铜陵老鸦岭矿床中二叠系大隆组(P2d)顶部的含矿(钼矿化)黑色页岩以及附近(立新煤矿)同一层位不含矿黑色页岩的实测铅同位素组成分别为：^206Pb/^204Pb20.20～22.37,^207Pb/^204Pb15.67～15.82,^208Pb/^204Pb38.47～38.60和^206Pb/204Pb18.83～20.80,^207Pb/^204Pb15.65～15.76,^208Pb/^204Pb38．84～39．22。对137Ma的放射成因Pb进行校正后的铅同位素组成表明，含矿黑色页岩和不含矿黑色页岩均与燕山晚期火成岩无关，老鸦岭含矿黑色页岩可能具沉积成因。对沉积(约250Ma)以来的放射成因Pb进行校正后的铅同位素组成表明：不含矿黑色页岩的Pb源自上地壳，而含矿黑色页岩的Pb(因而推测其他成矿金属)可能源于上地壳物质(与不含矿黑色页岩的Pb源相似)与下地壳物质的混合。     

鄂尔多斯盆地中生代晚期以来大地热流的变化及其对生态环境格局和演变的影响

鄂尔多斯盆地的西北部、东北部和南部三个区域现今大地热流平均值分别为56．3、67．3和65．3mW／m^2，对应的生态环境格局也有明显的差异。研究表明，大地热流每增加4～5mW／m^2可使年均地表温度升高约l℃，使最低月均地表温度升高2。C以上。鄂尔多斯盆地东北部的平均大地热流比西北部高出11mW／m^2，东北部年均地表温度可能比西北部高出2～3℃，其最低月均地表温度可能比西北部高出4～6℃。西北部的大地热流平均值已经低于维持地表生态系统延续所需大地热流的临界值(57mW／m^2)，其自然生态系统整体上已经处于脆弱境地；东北部和南部的大地热流均大于57mW／m^2，自然生态系统均尚较稳健。东北部的沙漠化可能是风沙侵入的结果，其生态应该是可以恢复的。整个西北部作为一个整体看，72万年以前大地热流就已衰减到临界值以下，区域生态系统渐趋脆弱，开始整体上向荒漠化演变。     

Velocity field in the spiral-wave pattern observed in rotating shallow-water experiments

The paper presents the first quantitative results of a laboratory study of the velocity field in a two-arm spiral-wave pattern generated in a steady-state fashion by a hydrodynamical instability in a differentially rotating, thin layer of liquid. The liquid layer has a free surface, and the rotational profile includes an interval where the velocity drops abruptly, as in the gaseous disks of spiral galaxies. The properties of anticyclonic vortices observed between the arms of this pattern at the corotation radius are considered.     

Discrimination between climate and human-induced dryland degradation

In this study we present a technique to discriminate between climate or human-induced dryland degradation, based on evaluations of AVHRR NDVI data and rainfall data. Since dryland areas typically have high inter-annual rainfall variations and rainfall has a dominant role in determining vegetation growth, minor biomass trends imposed by human influences are difficult to verify. By performing many linear regression calculations between different periods of accumulated precipitation and the annual NDVI_max, we identify the rainfall period that is best related to the NDVI_max and by this the proportion of biomass triggered by rainfall. Positive or negative deviations in biomass from this relationship, expressed in the residuals, are interpreted as human-induced. We discuss several approaches that use either a temporally fixed NDVI peaking time or an absolute one, a best mean rainfall period for the entire drylands or the best rainfall period for each individual pixel. Advantages and disadvantages of either approach or one of its combinations for discriminating between climate and human-induced degradation are discussed. Depending on the particular land-use either method has advantages. To locate areas with a high likelihood of human-induced degradation we therefore recommend combining results from each approach.     

Geography Education: The Glass Is Half Full and It's Getting Fuller

This article examines the recent progress of geography education as an academic subfield of geography and as an area of activity in K–12 education. Challenges to both endeavors are described. A restructuring of geography education's research program that focuses on spatial thinking and reasoning and merges applied and theoretical research is proposed.