Geographic information science and the analysis of place and health

The representation of place is a key theoretical advancement that geographic information science can offer to improve the understanding of environmental determinants of health, but developing robust computational representations of place requires a substantial departure from conventional notions of geographic representation in GIS. Unlike conventional GIS representations based on either objects or locations, we suggest that place representation should incorporate dynamic subjective, experiential, and relational aspects of place, as the influence of place on health behavior concerns not only the features that can be objectively observed at a particular location but also the environmental perceptions of the individual, as molded by biological, social, and experiential characteristics. In addition, assessments of environmental exposures on health outcomes should focus on individuals' time–activity patterns and microenvironment profiles, which form a potentially unique personalized exposure environment for each individual. Addressing these representational challenges via collaborative research has the potential to advance both geographic information science and health research.     

Burial and exhumation of the Hoh Xil Basin,northern Tibetan Plateau: Constraints from detrital (U-Th)/He ages

The uplift and associated exhumation of the Tibetan Plateau has been widely considered a key control of Cenozoic global cooling. The south-central parts of this plateau experienced rapid exhumation during the Cretaceous–Palaeocene periods. When and how the northern part was exhumed, however, remains controversial. The Hoh Xil Basin (HXB) is the largest late Cretaceous–Cenozoic sedimentary basin in the northern part, and it preserves the archives of the exhumation history. We present detrital apatite and zircon (U-Th)/He data from late Cretaceous–Cenozoic sedimentary rocks of the western and eastern HXB. These data, combined with regional geological constraints and interpreted with inverse and forward model of sediment deposition and burial reheating, suggest that the occurrence of ca. 4–2.7 km and ca. 4–2.3 km of vertical exhumation initiated at ca. 30–25 Ma and 40–35 Ma in the eastern and western HXB respectively. The initial differential exhumation of the eastern HXB and the western HXB might be controlled by the oblique subduction of the Qaidam block beneath the HXB. The initial exhumation timing in the northern Tibetan Plateau is younger than that in the south-central parts. This reveals an episodic exhumation of the Tibetan Plateau compared to models of synchronous Miocene exhumation of the entire plateau and the early Eocene exhumation of the northern Tibetan Plateau shortly after the India–Asia collision. One possible mechanism to account for outward growth is crustal shortening. A simple model of uplift and exhumation would predict a maximum of 0.8 km of surface uplift after upper crustal shortening during 30–27 Ma, which is insufficient to explain the high elevations currently observed. One way to increase elevation without changing exhumation rates and to decouple uplift from upper crustal shortening is through the combined effects of continental subduction, mantle lithosphere removal and magmatic inflation.     

Evaluation of the Presence of Methane in Złoczew Lignite: Comparison with Other Lignite Deposits in Poland

Natural Resources Research - Catastrophic cases of methane explosion during exploratory drilling within the Be?chatów ortholignite deposit have led to testing for methane in other Polish...     

The Symbolic Wolf: A Construal Level Theory Analysis of the Perceptions of Wolves in the United States

Charismatic wildlife can be difficult to manage due to the controversies they generate among stakeholders, which may be rooted in their symbolic meaning. Using construal-level theory, we coded the images of gray wolves mentioned by respondents to a national survey (n?=?621) and an issue public survey (n?=?447) as symbolic (abstract) or corporeal (concrete). We analyzed the relationship between these representations of wolves and several perceptions that may perpetuate social conflict. Most people thought of wolves abstractly, and abstract thoughts were associated with positive feelings toward wolves and agreement with existence beliefs regarding wolves. Concrete representations were associated with identifying as a gun or property rights advocate, hunter, or farmer/rancher. Given these disparate views of wolves, engaging stakeholders through collaborative processes designed to foster a shared understanding of this species, while addressing the concerns of those groups, could be useful in reducing conflict concerning wolf management.     

Landscape-scale analysis of ecosystem risk and returns: A new tool for ICZM

Management of the coastal zone often focuses on “islands” of high value ecosystems, in terms of economic value or conservation. However, integrated management requires landscape-level analysis of all ecosystem values. The biodiversity portfolio analysis (BPA) method is derived from the logic used in share (equity) portfolio management in terms of balancing within a portfolio the returns with the risks. Optimising the returns from a share portfolio, or a suite of ecosystems in a landscape, is dependent on the relationship between the units in terms of risk and return. Three case studies are then presented to test the applicability of the BPA method at the international (North West Europe), regional (Durham Heritage Coast, UK) and local (part of South Uist, Outer Hebrides, UK) spatial scale. The Biodiversity Portfolio Analysis for NW Europe showed that risk and return were highly correlated in the studied Member States. The ranking of risk and return, with the highest first, was Ireland > UK > France=Netherlands > Belgium. For these Member States the risks to ecosystem service provision were positively correlated with GNI (r=0.97, P<0.01); suggesting that the higher the economic importance of coastal and marine resources in a Member State the more at risk the resources are. The regional and local case studies were more focussed on providing information on which to base Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) decision making; both case studies used stakeholder participation to determine risks and returns. The conclusions from these two case studies show how the BPA method can be useful in terms of setting ICZM priorities and in addressing local coastal issues. The BPA involves making a number of assumptions, however, it does provide coastal managers with a potential tool to strategically plan due to increased awareness of the interaction between the ecosystems in the portfolio.There is a need for such techniques, which involve stakeholder participation and which create objective outcomes, to support the implementation of ICZM.     

Mineralogy and petrogenesis of lunar magnesian granulitic meteorite Northwest Africa 5744

Lunar meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 5744 is a granulitic breccia with an anorthositic troctolite composition that may represent a distinct crustal lithology not previously described. This meteorite is the namesake and first‐discovered stone of its pairing group. Bulk rock major element abundances show the greatest affinity to Mg‐suite rocks, yet trace element abundances are more consistent with those of ferroan anorthosites. The relatively low abundances of incompatible trace elements (including K, P, Th, U, and rare earth elements) in NWA 5744 could indicate derivation from a highlands crustal lithology or mixture of lithologies that are distinct from the Procellarum KREEP terrane on the lunar nearside. Impact‐related thermal and shock metamorphism of NWA 5744 was intense enough to recrystallize mafic minerals in the matrix, but not intense enough to chemically equilibrate the constituent minerals. Thus, we infer that NWA 5744 was likely metamorphosed near the lunar surface, either as a lithic component within an impact melt sheet or from impact‐induced shock.     

Private rights,public benefits: Industry-driven seabed protection

New Zealand has a large exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that contains a variety of marine habitats and commercially-important species. The commercial fishing industry operating within New Zealand's EEZ is of significant value to the economy and fisheries resources are managed through the extensive use of Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs). One of the benefits of ITQs has been to better align some of the private incentives of quota owners with the public interest. These incentives contributed to an initiative proposed by the fishing industry to close large areas of New Zealand's EEZ to protect the seabed from trawling. These closed areas are termed benthic protection areas (BPAs) and protect the benthic biodiversity of about 1.1 million square kilometres of seabed—approximately 30% of New Zealand's EEZ. A significant proportion of New Zealand's known seamounts and active hydrothermal vents are protected by these closed areas. We describe and discuss the criteria used to select BPAs and some of the criticism of this marine protection initiative. We argue that the assignment of strong property rights in fishing resources was an important precondition to an industry initiative that has a significant public benefit. Where private and public interests are well aligned, government can adopt an enabling and facilitation role, ceding direct control of processes in order to get the results the align with the public interest.     

Reconstructing tsunami run-up from the characteristics of tsunami deposits on the Thai Andaman Coast

Tsunamis can leave deposits on the land surface they inundate. The characteristics of tsunami deposits can be used to calculate tsunami run-up height and velocity. This paper presents a reconstruction of tsunami run-up from tsunami deposit characteristics in a simple mathematical model. The model is modified and applied to reconstruct tsunami run-ups at Ao Kheuy beach and Khuk Khak beach, Phangnga province, Thailand. The input parameters are grain-size and maximum run-up distance of the sediment. The reconstructed run-up heights are 4.16–4.91 m at Ao Kheuy beach and 5.43–9.46 m at Khuk Khak beach. The estimated run-up velocities (maximum velocity) at the still water level are 12.78–19.21 m/s. In the area located 70–140 m inland to the end of run-up inundation, estimated mean run-up velocities decrease from approximately 1.93 m/s to 0 m/s. Reasonably good agreements are found between reconstructed and observed run-up heights. The tsunami run-up height and velocity can be used for risk assessment and coastal development programs in the tsunami affected area. The results show that the area from 0 to 140 m inland was flooded by high velocity run-ups and those run-up energies were dissipated mainly in this area. The area should be designated as either an area where settlement is not permitted or an area where effective protection is provided, for example with flood barriers or forest.     

Cavity expansion in cross‐anisotropic rock

Schistous rock can be considered—in a first approximation—as cross‐anisotropic linear elastic material. The determination of the corresponding material constants on the basis of the laboratory investigation of rock samples often fails, as the extraction of appropriate cores proves to be unfeasible (the cores disintegrate if the schistosity is pronounced). In this paper a new method is presented to determine the material constants of a linear elastic cross‐anisotropic rock on the basis of cavity expansion field tests, e.g. with a radial jack. To this purpose, an analytic approximation for the deformation of a hydrostatically loaded cylindrical cavity in cross‐anisotropic rock is derived which serves to the inverse analysis of the material parameters. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Chronology of the last deglaciation and Holocene environmental changes in the Sisimiut area,SW Greenland based on lacustrine records

The Sisimiut area was deglaciated in the early Holocene, c. 11 cal. ka BP. At that time the lowlands were inundated by the sea, but the isostatic rebound surpassed the global sea‐level rise, and the lowlands emerged from the sea. The pioneer vegetation in the area consisted of mosses and herbaceous plants. The oldest remains of woody plants (Empetrum nigrum) are dated to c. 10.3 cal. ka BP, and remains of Salix herbacea and Harrimanella hypnoides are found in slightly younger sediments. The maximum occurrence of statoblasts of the bryozoan Plumatella repens from c. 10 to 4.5 cal. ka BP probably reflects the Holocene thermal maximum, which is also indicated in geochemical proxies of the lake sediments. A maximum in organic matter accumulation in one of the three studied lakes c. 3 cal. ka BP can probably be ascribed to a late Holocene short‐duration temperature maximum or a period of increased aridity. Cenococcum geophilum sclerotia are common in the late Holocene, implying increased soil erosion during the Neoglaciation. A comparison with sediment and macrofossil records from inland shows similar Holocene trends and a similar immigration history. It also reveals that there has been a significant gradient throughout the Holocene, from an oceanic and stable climate at the outer coast to a more continental and unstable climate with warmer summers and drier conditions close to the margin of the Greenland ice sheet, where the buffer capacity of the sea is lower.