http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987114000334

The Musgrave Province developed at the nexus of the North,West and South Australian cratons and its Mesoproterozoic evolution incorporates a 100 Ma period of ultra-high temperature(UHT) metamorphism from ca.1220 to ca.1120 Ma.This was accompanied by high-temperature A-type granitic magmatism over an 80 Ma period,sourced in part from mantle-derived components and emplaced as a series of pulsed events that also coincide with peaks in UHT metamorphism.The tectonic setting for this thermal event(the Musgrave Orogeny) is thought to have been intracontinental and the lithospheric architecture of the region is suggested to have had a major influence on the thermal evolution.We use a series of two dimensional,fully coupled thermo-mechanical-petrological numerical models to investigate the plausibility of initiating and prolonging UHT conditions under model setup conditions appropriate to the inferred tectonic setting and lithospheric architecture of the Musgrave Province.The results support the inferred tectonic framework for the Musgrave Orogeny,predicting periods of UHT metamorphism of up to 70 Ma,accompanied by thin crust and extensive magmatism derived from both crustal and mantle sources.The results also appear to be critically dependent upon the specific location of the Musgrave Province,constrained between thicker cratonic masses.     

How Do Surficial Lithic Assemblages Weather in Arid Environments? A Case Study from the Atacama Desert,Northern Chile

Archaeological sites composed only of surficial lithics are widespread in arid environments. Numerical dating of such sites is challenging, however, and even establishing a relative chronology can be daunting. One potentially helpful method for assigning relative chronologies is to use lithic weathering, on the assumption that the most weathered artifacts are also the oldest. Yet, few studies have systematically assessed how local environmental processes affect weathering of surficial lithics. Using macroscopic analyses, we compared the weathering of surficial lithic assemblages from seven mid‐to‐late Holocene archaeological sites sampled from four different microenvironments in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. Changes in polish, texture, shine, and color were used to establish significant differences in weathering between two kinds of locations: interfluves and canyon sites. Lithics from interfluve sites were moderately to highly weathered by wind and possessed a dark coating, whereas canyon lithics were mildly weathered despite greater exposure to moisture, often lacked indications of eolian abrasion, and lacked dark coatings. Our results show that lithic weathering can be used as a proxy for relative age, but only after considering local environmental factors. The power of such chronologies can be improved by combining archaeological, paleoenvironmental, geomorphological, and taphonomic data.     

1979—2019年武汉市重点水体多要素协同的时空演变特征

城市发展对水体多方面要素产生了巨大影响,尤其是对水资源丰富的城市,迫切需要开展相关监测研究。研究以武汉市为例,通过梳理国内外相关研究以及武汉水体保护政策,提出融合水体面积、水质、水体景观、滨水区生态环境4个方面要素的分析技术路线以更为全面的反映城市尺度的水体时空演变特征,具体的,利用随机森林模型基于1979—2019年遥感影像获取武汉67个重点水体信息,并以此获取水体面积和水体景观的变化特征;同时,通过梳理多年水质监测数据分析水质变化特征;另外,基于遥感生态指数（Remote Sensing Ecological Index, RSEI）分析滨水区生态环境变化;最后,采用多尺度地理加权回归模型（Multi-scale Geographically Weighted Regression, MGWR）对重点水体面积变化的影响因素研究,希冀为政府制定差异化的水体保护政策提供科学支撑,并为其他地区水体的多要素分析提供有益借鉴。结果表明：① 武汉市水体面积呈下降趋势,水体总面积、重点水体面积分别减少10.75%及13.12%,中心城区及郊区水体变化存在显著差异;② 水体景观呈退化趋势,周长面积分维数、平均斑块面积、聚合指数及结合指数分别减少了6.43%,79.35%,1.55%及10.94%;③ 重点水体水质总体呈恶化趋势,其中江河及水库多数常年为III类及以上水体,中心城区湖泊多为V类及以下水体,郊区湖泊多为IV类及V类水体;④ 中心城区及郊区滨水区遥感生态指数（RSEI）分析表明滨水区生态环境呈恢复态势,其中中心城区滨水区平均RSEI增长了14.29%;⑤ MGWR分析表明,自然气象因素中,相对湿度的增加对江夏区湖泊恢复影响更为显著,降水对水面较小的水体恢复影响更为显著;社会经济因素中,各行政区GDP的增加有助于水体恢复,对中心城区、黄陂及新洲的水体保护影响更为显著;滨水缓冲区内不透水面占比（IS）的增加导致大多数水体面积的减少,然而,对于少数重点修复水体,IS增加是受相关保护政策影响,IS增加有助于这些水体恢复。     

中国城际联系距离衰减的非线性规律——基于人口流动大数据

以人口流动为表征的空间相互作用是热点议题,然而关于其影响因素的非线性机制尚未被充分揭示。论文利用2018年腾讯迁徙大数据,以梯度提升决策树模型改进重力模型,分析距离衰减系数的非线性特征。研究发现：(1)城际联系的距离衰减系数呈非线性,偏依赖图曲线存在2个“平台区”(距离衰减系数接近于0)和2个“衰减区”(距离衰减系数约为2.8),将直线距离替换为路网距离,2018年数据替换为其他年份数据后,结果仍然稳健;(2)与基准模型相比,航空、铁路及公路交通下的距离衰减系数非线性特征存在显著差异,春运期间的距离衰减系数基本保持一致。建议根据城际联系距离衰减规律布局都市圈和城市群,优化国土空间发展格局。     

Biodiversity,ecological structure,and change in the sponge community of different geomorphological zones of the barrier fore reef at Carrie Bow Cay,Belize

Changes in the relative abundance of benthic groups on the barrier fore reef at Carrie Bow Cay, Belize, point to a significant reduction of corals and an expansion of the sponge community in 1995–2009. Fifty‐one species are now present in the four geomorphological zones of this reef: the low‐relief spur‐and‐groove zone, the inner reef slope, the outer ridge, and the fore‐reef slope (to a depth of 30 m). Five species are new additions to the sponge fauna reported for Belize, and six species account for 42.6% of the total assemblage: Niphates erecta (9.60%), Aiolochroia crassa (8.8%), Niphates digitalis (6.9%), Callyspongia plicifera (6.63%), Aplysina archeri (5.37%) and Xestospongia muta (5.37%). Species richness, average density, diversity and evenness indexes are statistically similar in these four zones but some species appear to be more dominant in certain areas. In the same 30 years, coral cover has decreased by more than 90%, while the octocoral cover has greatly increased (by as much as 10‐fold in the low‐relief spur‐and‐groove zone). Thus the Carrie Bow fore reef appears to be undergoing a transition from coral dominance in the late 1970s to algae dominance today, with other benthic groups such as sponges and octocorals showing signs of gradual recovery.     

Innovation benefits from nuclear phase-out: can they compensate the costs?

This paper investigates whether an inefficient allocation of abatement due to constraints on the use of currently available low carbon mitigation options can promote innovation in new technologies and have a positive impact on welfare. We focus on the case of a nuclear power phase-out and endogenous technical change in energy efficiency and alternative low carbon technologies. The research is inspired by the re-thinking about nuclear power deployment which took place in some countries, especially in Western Europe, after the Fukushima accident in March 2011. The analysis uses an Integrated Assessment Model, WITCH, which features multiple externalities related to greenhouse gas emissions and innovation market failures. Our results show that phasing out nuclear power stimulates R&D investments and deployment of technologies with large learning potential. The resulting technology benefits that would not otherwise occur due to intertemporal and international externalities almost completely offset the economic costs of foregoing nuclear power. The extent of technology benefits depends on the stringency of the climate policy and is distributed unevenly across countries.     

Time evolution of complex networks: commuting systems in insular Italy

The aim of this paper is to study the dynamics of the commuting system of two insular regions of Italy, Sardinia and Sicily, inspected as complex networks. The authors refer to a 20-year time period and take into account three census data sets about the work and study-driven inter-municipal origin-destination movements of residential inhabitants in 1981, 1991 and 2001. Since it is likely that the number of municipalities (in this case, the vertices of the system) does not display sharp variations, the authors direct the study to the variation of the properties emerging through both a topological and a weighted network representation of commuting in the time periods indicated.     

The Growth of the Planetary Boundary Layer at a Coastal Site: a Case Study

A lidar system is used to determine the diurnal evolution of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) height on a summer day characterized by anticyclonic conditions. The site is located some 15 km distant from the sea, on a peninsula in south-east Italy. Contrary to expectations, the PBL height, after an initial growth consequent to sunrise, ceases to increase about 2 h before noon and then decreases and stabilizes in the afternoon. An interpretation of such anomalous behaviour is provided in terms of trajectories of air parcels towards the lidar site, which are influenced by the sea breeze, leading to a transition from a continental boundary layer to a coastal internal boundary layer. The results are analyzed using mesoscale numerical model simulations and a simple model that allows for a more direct interpretation of experimental results.     

The Urban Heat Island Intensity of Paris: A Case Study Based on a Simple Urban Surface Parametrization

We explore the ability of a simple urban surface parametrization, embedded in a mesoscale meteorological model, to correctly reproduce observed values of the urban heat island (UHI) intensity, which is defined as the urban-rural surface air temperature difference. To do so, a simple urban scheme was incorporated into the Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS). Subsequently, a simulation was performed with the coupled model over the wider area of Paris, for a 12-day period in June 2006 that was characterised by conditions prone to UHI development. Simulated 2-m air temperature was compared with observed values for urban and rural stations, yielding mean errors of 1.4 and 1.5 K, respectively. More importantly, it was found that the model also displayed an overall good capability of reproducing the observed temperature differences. In particular, the magnitude (up to 6 K) and timing of the diurnal cycle of the UHI intensity was simulated well, the model exhibiting a mean error of 1.15 K. As a result, our conclusion is that the ARPS model, extended with simple urban surface physics, is able to capture observed urban-rural air temperature differences well, at least for the domain and period studied.