Response of a subtropical estuarine marsh to local climatic change in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico

We examined the contrasting, effects of floods and droughts produced by large changes in local climatology on vegetation patterns in Nueces marsh, a semi-arid subtropical salt marsh in south Texas from 1995 to 2005. Climate variations during the study included an initial 4-yr period of moderate conditions, followed by a 2-yr interval of drought, and a recent 4-yr wet period that included large-scale floods. Variation in freshwater inflow, rainfall, and potential evapotranspiration were used in conjunction with field measurements of salinity, inorganic nitrogen, and vegetation structure collected at sites located at varying distances from Nueces Bay. Tidal creek salinities varied with Nueces Bay salinity, with strength of effect inversely related to distance from the bay. Mean (±standard deviation) pore water salinities ranged from 59±54‰ at two high, marsh stations farthest from the bay (10.1 km distant) to 30±21‰ in soil at a low marsh site closest to the bay (0.5 km distant). Mean pore water ammonium was also higher at stations most distant from the bay; nitrate + nitrite did not exhibit a high marsh to low marsh gradient. Nueces Bay salinity decreased substantially when the 10-d cumulative mean daily Nueces River flows exceeded 10 m³ s⁻¹. During periods of low and moderate flood frequency (flows mostly below 10 m³ s⁻¹), vegetation assemblages were dominated by stress-tolerant clonal plants. A catastrophic flood, which immersed vegetation for several weeks between July and September 2002, resulted in extensive plant mortality, but within months, unvegetated areas were rapidly colonized by the obligate annualSalicornia bigelovii. With the end of major flooding by late 2004, plant community structure began a return to pre-drought assemblages at high and middle marsh stations by summer 2005. At the low marsh station, new conditions favored clonal dominants (Spartina alterniflora andBorrichia frutescens), with the latter replacingSalicornia virginica as the dominant species. Our results support the theory that the importance of competition and abiotic stress in determining community composition are inversely related.     

Kaleidoscoping Landscapes,Shifting Perspectives

Landscapes change in complex ways, creating surface patterns reminiscent of forms seen through a kaleidoscope. On the Earth's surface, those forms are linked to, and caused by, processes that originate with bedrock‐soil‐vegetation‐atmosphere interactions. Human‐caused alterations to landscapes are additionally tied to socioeconomic processes. Evaluation of landscape‐level processes can benefit from examining (1) the influence of disturbance regimes in altering landscape patterns, (2) the importance of considering surficial processes, (3) the subtle and cryptic spatial relations that may be present, (4) the reciprocal relationships among local processes and regional consequences, (5) the increased likelihood of some land cover transitions compared to others, and (6) the special case of landscapes with long histories of human use. These are all examples of potential fruitful arenas for interactions and represent a path for expansion of landscape ecology through accommodation of a broad range of content covered by the international GIScience community.     

Fission track evidence for the Mesozoic Cenozoic tectonic uplift of Mt. Bogda, Xinjiang, Northwest China

1 IntroductionThe Mesozoic-Cenozoic tectonic evolution and ki-netics mechanism of the intracontinental orogen are thekey subjects of continental dynamics (Ma Zongjin andGao Xianglin, 2004) and the key to understanding theregional geological tectonics (Qia…     

基于小波统计特性的遥感图像像素与特征联合最优融合方法

遥感影像的IHS融合方法由于匹配误差导致光谱畸变和退化,而小波变换在变换域具有良好的分频特性,小波系数的统计特性反映了遥感影像的边缘、线和区域等显著特征。提出了基于小波统计特性的遥感影像的像素和特征联合最优融合方法,在IHS空间,对强度分量I的高频部分利用多分辨率小波融合方法进行影像的高频细节特征融合,低频部分选取光谱信息和空间分辨率评价指标作为融合权系数求优指标,进行像素级最优融合,实验结果证明了该方法的有效性。     

2004年印度洋海啸印尼亚齐省灾情遥感监测与分析

2004年12月底印尼苏门答腊岛西北海岸发生里氏9.0级地震,引发印度洋沿岸的印尼、斯里兰卡、泰国、印度等国家先后遭受强烈海啸。印度尼西亚亚齐省是遭受海啸灾害最严重的地区之一。为了评估海啸灾害造成的严重影响,应用遥感和地理信息系统技术,以2005-01-07英国DMC小卫星遥感影像为基础数据源,结合收集到的该地区灾前(2001年)LandsatETM 遥感影像,对亚齐省进行了监测和快速评估。监测结果表明距离震中位置较近的亚齐省苏门答腊岛西海岸遭受影响较严重,亚齐省苏门答腊岛西海岸由于距离震中位置较近遭受严重影响,而苏门答腊岛东海岸则影响较轻,受灾最严重的地区是亚齐省首府班达亚齐市附近。经统计,整个亚齐省遭受海啸严重影响的地区面积约为483km2,其中城市建成区受淹面积约为26·2km2,乡村(镇)地区受淹面积约为430·5km2。文章的最后还结合数字高程模型对海啸灾情的结果进行了分析。结果表明,绝大多数因海啸而受淹地区高程低于20m。     

暴雨时程方程在中吉乌铁路(中国段)暴雨估算中的应用

根据中吉乌铁路（中国段）沿线10多个气象水文观测站40多年（建站至2000年）各历时最大降水量资料，对中吉乌铁路（中国段）暴雨强度进行系统的研究。应用熵气象学导出的暴雨时程方程，预测了中吉乌铁路（中国段）各历时最大降水量。这对于中吉乌铁路（中国段）工程设计和施工及未来铁路客运等具有重要的科学意义和工程价值。     

Effective and Equitable Dissemination of Seasonal-to-Interannual Climate Forecasts: Policy Implications from the Peruvian Fishery during El Niño 1997–98

The development of seasonal-to-interannual climate predictions has spurred widespread claims that the dissemination of such forecasts will yield benefits for society. Based on the use as well as non-use of forecasts in the Peruvian fishery during the 1997–98 El Niño event, weidentify: (1) potential constraints on the realization of benefits, such aslimited access to and understanding of information, and unintended reactions; (2) theneed for an appropriately detailed definition of societal benefit, considering whose welfare counts as a benefit among groups such as labor, industry, consumers, citizens of different regions, and future generations.We argue that consideration of who benefits, and an understanding of potential socioeconomic constraints and how they might be addressed, should be brought to bear on forecast dissemination choices. We conclude with examples of relevant dissemination choices made using this process.     

黄河下游壶穴的研究

黄河下游(泺口以下)发育了大量的壶穴(Pothole),按成因可以分为6种:流水侵蚀、风蚀、圆砾铸模、冰压刻、冰融水滴蚀及泄气侵蚀。流水侵蚀形成的圆形Pothole规模不一,小者直径在十余厘米,深数厘米,大者直径达数米,深1 m余;风蚀形成的圆形Pothole规模一般比较小,直径多在二、三十厘米以下,深10 cm以下,大部分穴壁缓斜,状如盘碟;圆砾铸模形成的Pothole规模一般较小,直径多在一、二十厘米以下、穴壁陡倾,状如锅穴;冰融水滴蚀形成的Pothole形态复杂,规模不一,既有穴壁缓斜的盘碟状者,也有穴壁陡倾近乎直立的近圆柱状者,直径从不足1cm到三、四十厘米,其穴缘、穴壁和穴底常有次级构造;泄气侵蚀形成的Pothole更是十分复杂,平面形态可以圆形到近圆形甚至其他复杂形态,穴壁可以非常平缓,也可以陡倾,直径从数厘米到数十厘米,深数毫米到二、三十厘米,穴缘和穴壁也常有次级伴生构造,既可单独产出,也可成群产出,同时还可以多个密集产出,状如蜂巢,这一类Pothole的成因极为独特,主要与黄河断流河床捕获的空气泄漏有关。     

地下水水质预警信息系统研究

地下水水质预警是对地下水水质现状及变化趋势适时给出相应给别警戒信息的方法，包括状态预警和趋势预警两部分。以GIS技术为核心，将水质预警模型与GIS技术相结合，建立了地下水水质预警信息系统。并以吉林省西部平原地区地下水水质为例，研究了该区地下水水质恶化地区的分布、趋势、恶化预警等级及其成因。地下水水质预警系统为地下水资源管理，减少地下水水质恶化的风险提供了科学依据。     

Quantitative analysis of variations in depositional sequence thickness from submarine channel levees

Abstract Thickness variations across‐levee and downchannel in acoustically defined depositional sequences from six submarine channel‐levee systems show consistent and quantifiable patterns. The thickness of depositional sequences perpendicular to the channel trend, i.e. across the levee, decreases exponentially, as characterized by a spatial decay constant, k. Similarly, the thickness of sediment at the levee crest decreases exponentially down the upper reaches of submarine channels and can be characterized by a second spatial decay constant, λ. The inverse of these decay constants has units of length and defines depositional length scales such that k^?1 is a measure of levee width and λ^?1 is a measure of levee length. Quantification of levee architecture in this way allowed investigation of relationships between levee architecture and channel dimensions. It was found that these measures of levee e‐folding width and levee e‐folding length are directly related to channel width and relief. The dimensions of channels and levees are thus intimately related, thereby limiting the range of potential channel‐levee morphologies, regardless of allocyclic forcing. A simple sediment budget model relates the product of the levee e‐folding width and e‐folding length to through‐channel volume discharge. A classification system based on the quantitative downchannel behaviour of levee architecture allows identification of a ‘mid‐channel’ reach, where sediment is passively transferred from the through‐channel flow to the levees as an overspilling flow. Downstream from this reach, the channel gradually looses its control on guiding turbidity currents, and the resulting flow can be considered as an unconfined or spreading flow.