Willingness to pay for marine-based tourism in the Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve,Mozambique

Marine and coastal ecosystems face widespread degradation largely because market failure hides the economic value of the goods and services they provide. Marine protected areas (MPAs) can serve as structures that ensure the continued functioning of marine and coastal ecosystem goods and services. Yet, to be effective and sustainable, MPAs must be able to prove their economic worth and generate revenue. User-fee systems are used commonly to partially finance multi-use MPAs. This study applies contingent valuation as a method of economic valuation within an MPA in southern Mozambique. Using a payment card and questionnaire from November 2012 to April 2013, this study determined the willingness to pay (WTP) of three user groups for access to the Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve. The study also investigated the potential for the reserve to increase revenues for conservation through the implementation of a user fee for marine-based activities. Probit and ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions were used to determine the effects of various independent variables on WTP. The OLS model found income, African residency and environmental awareness to be significant factors that influenced visitors' WTP for access to the reserve. The mean WTP was R 43.75 (South African rands) per person per day. Using data supplied by the reserve management, conservative estimated annual revenues based on the implementation of this fee amount ranged between R 1.46 million and R 3.3 million.     

新疆东天山觉罗塔格地区花岗岩类年代学、构造背景及其成矿作用研究

东天山觉罗塔格地区岩浆岩非常发育,以花岗岩类分布最为广泛,对其研究还较为薄弱。本文对觉罗塔格地区主要的花岗岩类岩体系统开展了地质特征研究并进行了同位素精确测年,报道了区内16个主要花岗岩类岩体的锆石LA-ICPMS U-Pb年龄：镜儿泉岩体376.9±3.1Ma、西凤山岩体349.0±3.4Ma、石英滩岩体342±11Ma、长条山岩体337.4±2.8Ma、天目岩体320.2±3.1Ma、百灵山岩体317.7±3.7Ma、白石泉岩体303±18Ma、迪坎岩体288.0±2.5Ma、黄山岩体288±17Ma、白山东岩体284.5±4.5Ma、管道岩体284.1±5.8Ma、红石岩体282.7±4.2Ma、陇东岩体276.2±2.5Ma、多头山岩体271.7±5.5Ma、双岔沟岩体252.4±2.9Ma、土墩岩体246.2±2.6Ma,上述定年结果为研究区岩浆活动与区域构造演化及深部过程的关系研究提供了可靠的年代学支持。结合前人已有的部分年代学成果认为,觉罗塔格地区花岗岩类的形成年龄分布在386~230Ma之间,岩浆活动可分为晚泥盆世(386.5~369.5Ma)、早石炭世(349~330Ma)、晚石炭世-晚二叠世(320~252Ma)、早中三叠世(246~230Ma)等4个阶段。前3个阶段岩浆活动具有持续时间逐渐变长、岩浆活动逐渐加剧的特点,并在第三阶段达到顶峰,而第四阶段岩浆活动则明显变弱。花岗岩类岩浆活动在时空分布上表现为,自哈尔里克-大南湖岛弧带→阿奇山-雅满岛弧带→康古尔-黄山韧性剪切带,岩体侵位由早到晚; 自研究区东部→中西部→沿韧性剪切带,岩体侵位由老到新。结合区域构造演化研究成果认为,觉罗塔格地区花岗质岩浆活动与区域构造演化具有很强的耦合关系,花岗岩类在前碰撞阶段、主碰撞阶段、后碰撞阶段、板内阶段等4个构造演化阶段均有发育,与花岗岩类在时间分布上的4个阶段完全对应,其中尤以后碰撞构造演化阶段花岗岩类的分布最广泛、岩浆活动最强烈。觉罗塔格地区与4个阶段花岗岩类有关的成矿作用由早到晚具有无明显矿化→斑岩型铜矿、火山岩型铁矿→韧性剪切带型金矿、夕卡岩型银(铜)矿→斑岩-石英脉型钼矿的演化特点,其中以对应于主碰撞阶段的斑岩型铜矿和后碰撞阶段的韧性剪切带型金矿最为发育。本文系统阐述了东天山觉罗塔格地区中酸性岩体的时空格架、与区域构造演化的耦合、与成矿作用的关系,为北疆地区晚古生代特别是后碰撞背景下的岩浆演化及其成矿关系的研究提供了有力支持。     

东天山自然铜矿化带玄武岩的起源、演化及成岩构造背景

新疆东天山地区与玄武岩有关的自然铜矿化带位于东天山觉罗塔格构造带内,自西向东有十里坡、黑龙峰、长城山、东尖峰等主要矿(化)点,自然铜矿化主要发育在玄武岩、杏仁状玄武岩及凝灰岩夹层中。本文基于玄武岩的地球化学特征,研究东天山自然铜矿化带玄武岩是否与地幔柱有关、岩浆源区性质、岩浆演化、成岩构造背景等问题。研究显示,东天山自然铜矿化带玄武岩与地幔柱岩浆活动无直接关系,整个天山地区是否存在石炭-二叠纪地幔柱岩浆活动也需要进一步的研究; 玄武岩起源于亏损岩石圈地幔,是演化岩浆的产物; 演化的玄武质岩浆形成后,在岩浆房中或上升至地表的过程中没有发生明显的分离结晶作用,也没有受到明显的地壳物质混染; 与玄武岩对应的地幔橄榄岩平衡原生岩浆演化的高镁岩浆的产物,可能为东天山地区与铜镍硫化物成矿有关的基性-超基性岩,指示这些铜镍硫化物矿床可能与地幔柱岩浆活动也没有关系; 玄武岩形成于新疆北部后碰撞构造阶段的伸展期,是在拉张应力体制下,由于软流圈上涌导致岩石圈地幔部分熔融而形成。     

ENSIP: the El Niño simulation intercomparison project

An ensemble of twenty four coupled ocean-atmosphere models has been compared with respect to their performance in the tropical Pacific. The coupled models span a large portion of the parameter space and differ in many respects. The intercomparison includes TOGA (Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere)-type models consisting of high-resolution tropical ocean models and coarse-resolution global atmosphere models, coarse-resolution global coupled models, and a few global coupled models with high resolution in the equatorial region in their ocean components. The performance of the annual mean state, the seasonal cycle and the interannual variability are investigated. The primary quantity analysed is sea surface temperature (SST). Additionally, the evolution of interannual heat content variations in the tropical Pacific and the relationship between the interannual SST variations in the equatorial Pacific to fluctuations in the strength of the Indian summer monsoon are investigated. The results can be summarised as follows: almost all models (even those employing flux corrections) still have problems in simulating the SST climatology, although some improvements are found relative to earlier intercomparison studies. Only a few of the coupled models simulate the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in terms of gross equatorial SST anomalies realistically. In particular, many models overestimate the variability in the western equatorial Pacific and underestimate the SST variability in the east. The evolution of interannual heat content variations is similar to that observed in almost all models. Finally, the majority of the models show a strong connection between ENSO and the strength of the Indian summer monsoon.