Flow prediction in high altitude ungauged catchments: A case study in the Italian Alps (Pantano Basin,Adamello Group)

We develop a simple model to evaluate the daily flow discharges in the ablation season for the 11 km² Pantano basin in the Retiche Italian Alps, based upon the data gathered during a three years field campaign. The Pantano basin embeds the Venerocolo debris covered and the Avio debris free glaciers, covering 2.14 km² in the Adamello Group, where the widest Italian glacier Adamello is located. First, degree-day models based upon air temperature are tuned to calculate snow and ice melt at daily scale. Glaciers’ meteorological data are collected from an automatic weather station (AWS), operating on the glacier during summer 2007. The melt factors in the debris covered areas of the glacier are estimated against debris thickness, using a data driven parameterization. The flow discharge from the catchment is estimated using semi distributed flow routing for the ablation seasons of four years, from 2006 to 2009. The predicted discharges are compared to those derived from inverse reservoir's routing at the Benedetto lake, catching the basin outflow. The proposed approach is valuable as a tool to investigate the hydrology of poorly gauged glacierized areas, including those with debris covered ice, widely diffused and yet poorly understood. Pending accurate parameterization the approach is usable for water resources evaluation and for long term assessment of the climate change impact on the glacierized areas within the Alps.     

Magnetic properties of recent sediments in Lake Baikal, Siberia

Mineral magnetic measurements of six ²¹⁰Pb-dated surface cores from different basins of Lake Baikal, Siberia, show temporal records controlled by a range of internal and external processes. With the exception of sediments on the Academician Ridge, there is clear evidence for widespread reductive diagenesis effects on the ferrimagnetic component coupled with neo-formation of paramagnetic iron minerals. Greigite formation, bacterial magnetosome accumulation and turbidite layers may affect the properties of some sediment levels. Concentrations of canted antiferromagnetic minerals (eg. haematite) appear to increase from the 19th century onwards. These minerals are less affected by dissolution processes and probably represent detrital minerals delivered by catchment fluvial processes. The magnetic evidence for recent atmospheric pollution by fossil-fuel combustion processes is weak in all the cores, and supports the findings from studies of spherical carbonaceous particles (SCPs) and heavy metals that pollution is largely restricted to the southern basin. Correlations between recent sediments based on magnetic data may be insecure over long distances or between basins.     

European retirees on the Costa del Sol: a cross-national comparison

"This paper studies northern European retired immigrants, using data generated by a questionnaire survey of 300 respondents and in-depth interviews with 20 people in 13 municipalities. Reasons for moving to Spain, the advantages and disadvantages reported of living there, and the perceived impacts on the local region were analysed, paying particular attention to cross-national differences between British, German, Benelux and Nordic retirees. The results show that sociodemographic and economic features of the settlers tend to be quite similar, whilst reasons for moving, stated advantages and disadvantages, and consequences and impacts exhibit some cross-national differentiation."     

城郊"水土流失带"的结构、特征与治理模式研究

从生态学和地理学的角度提出“水土流失带”的概念,及其在城市边缘地区的分布,剖析了它的空间结构,物质组成结构,指出其域界范围,宽度、“环状”;分布,垂直结构特征及物质组成结构的多元性。     

A record of accelerated erosion in the recent sediments of Blelham Tarn in the English Lake district

Two frozen cores from Blelham Tarn were subsampled and measured using mineral magnetic, loss-on-ignition (LOI), radiometric, granulometric and diatom analyses. A detailed chronology was established using varves, radioisotopes and diatoms. This has enabled an accurately dated reconstruction of sedimentation over the past forty years. Despite a large increase in lake productivity, evidence suggests that the observed exponential increase in sedimentation rates can be attributed to erosion within the catchment. The predominant sediment source has been identified as surface soil. A comparison between the trend of accelerated sedimentation and the record of increased sheep stocking density for the area within which the most of the catchment lies, as well as observations of contemporary surface processes within the catchment, both suggest that much of the recent erosion is a direct response to increased pressure from sheep grazing.     

结合MapReduce和HBase的遥感图像并行分布式查询

提出了一种可扩展的遥感图像多维度并行查询模式,即利用MapReduce实现海量图像数据金字塔的并行构建,利用HBase实现图像的分布式检索,设计和实现了单张遥感图像金字塔的并行构建方法和图像索引系统。实验结果表明,随着Hadoop和HBase集群的增长,图像数据的导入和检索速度得到明显提升。     

Land use and disturbance effects on the dynamics of natural ecosystems of the Monte Desert: Implications for their management

The complex interactions between human activity and natural processes determine non-linear dynamics in ecosystems that can difficult their management. Human settlements in arid lands contribute to the modification of disturbance regimes, including the introduction of new disturbances and the elimination of others. In consequence, they can alter the functional mechanisms that allow systems to overcome limiting factors, leading to desertification. In this revision, we evaluated the effects of the changes on disturbance regimes produced by the different forms of land transformation on the structure and function of ecosystems of the Monte Biogeographical Province, in Argentinean arid west. Two approaches were used: the analysis of land use history and the analysis of the effects of the main disturbances on the dynamics of different communities. We concluded that throughout the history of the Monte Desert, the joint action of natural and anthropic agents has resulted in complex dynamics that lead most area of the Monte to a moderate to severe status of desertification. The modification of the disturbance regime had strong consequences for several aspects of the dynamics of communities, such as species composition and diversity, water dynamics, soil conditions, trophic structure and productivity of Monte Desert ecosystems. However, disturbance regimes could be managed to promote favorable transitions in ecosystems and, therefore, could be a tool for optimizing productivity of agro-ecosystems, and recovering and conserving natural ecosystems.     

The chemical composition and sources of the bulk deposition on Lake Kinneret (The Sea of Galilee), Israel

The chemical composition of the bulk deposition into Lake Kinneret, Israel was determined for the three hydrological years from 1992 to 1995. The fluxes of the elements and ions in the bulk deposition around the lake are fairly uniform although some local effects due to anthropogenic activity are observed; temporal effects are more pronounced. Na and Cl fluxes are greatly affected by rainfall that has passed over the Mediterranean Sea whilst Ca fluxes increase during dust storm episodes. The amount of each of the determined constituents entering the lake was calculated. The major chemical constituent entering the lake (except Ca) is SO₄ whose main source is long-range transport from Europe. Enrichment factor analysis shows that the insoluble portion of the bulk deposition has the same characteristics as regional (and Saharan) dust storms, whilst the soluble portion is strongly affected by the marine environment. Significant additions to the previously known input of nitrogen and phosphorous enter the lake due to bulk deposition: 10% for nitrogen and 40% for phosphorous. The Pb content of the lake sediments correlates with Pb usage in petrol. Full experimental results are given in the electronic appendices.