Coordinating future adaptation policies across Canadian natural resources

What are the roles of informal coordination networks, policy-oriented beliefs, and the concern about climate change? Informal networks are considered in addition to the highly publicized strategies and commitments made by government departments and agencies. Based on a survey of agriculture, forestry and water-based policy elites in the Canadian prairies, this article examines the structure and impact of informal networks and policy-oriented beliefs. To do so, a number of testable hypotheses were proposed. The results indicate that respondents looked to the federal government as a potential ally. However, the federal government did not reciprocate by supporting the other major organizational clusters (agriculture and forest industry, provincial government, environment groups and research organizations). A bleak picture of future action on climate change emerges when the gaps between closed and polarized networks are considered.     

The feasibility of a land information system for Belize,Central America

Abstract

Limitations of the current land records systems in Belize, Central America, led leaders of the Ministry of Natural Resources to initiate this feasibility study for a computer-aided land information system (LIS). Land records in Belize have been based on the British Torrens land tenure system, which maintains five sets of records along with informative maps. One paper file is maintained for each title application and records are continually circulated between seven locations throughout the country, resulting in up to 3 years to complete the process of title registration. A LIS will permit quick access to land records and eliminate most of the current problems, and will merge with a geographic information system being developed for Belize.     

An inductive modelling procedure based on Bayes' theorem for analysis of pattern in spatial data

Abstract

This paper describes an inductive modelling procedure integrated with a geographical information system for analysis of pattern within spatial data. The aim of the modelling procedure is to predict the distribution within one data set by combining a number of other data sets. Data set combination is carried out using Bayes’ theorem. Inputs to the theorem, in the form of conditional probabilities, are derived from an inductive learning process in which attributes of the data set to be modelled are compared with attributes of a variety of predictor data sets. This process is carried out on random subsets of the data to generate error bounds on inputs for analysis of error propagation associated with the use of Bayes’ theorem to combine data sets in the GIS. The statistical significance of model inputs is calculated as part of the inductive learning process. Use of the modelling procedure is illustrated through the analysis of the winter habitat relationships of red deer in Grampian Region, north-east Scotland. The distribution of red deer in Deer Management Group areas in Gordon and in Kincardine and Deeside Districts is used to develop a model which predicts the distribution throughout Grampian Region; this is tested against red deer distribution in Moray District. Habitat data sets used for constructing the model are accumulated frost and altitude, obtained from maps, and land cover, derived from satellite imagery. Errors resulting from the use of Bayes’ theorem to combine data sets within the GIS and introduced in generalizing output from 50 m pixel to 1 km grid squares resolution are analysed and presented in a series of maps. This analysis of error trains is an integral part of the implemented analytical procedure and provides support to the interpretation of the results of modelling. Potential applications of the modelling procedure are discussed.     

Calcretes,fluviolacustrine sediments and subsidence patterns in Permo‐Triassic salt‐walled minibasins of the south Urals,Russia

The south Uralian foreland basin forms part of the giant, yet sparsely documented, PreCaspian salt tectonic province. The basin can potentially add much to the understanding of fluviolacustrine sedimentation within salt‐walled minibasins, where the literature has been highly reliant on only a few examples (such as the Paradox Basin of Utah). This paper describes the Late Permian terrestrial fill of the Kul’chumovo salt minibasin near Orenburg in the south Urals in which sediments were deposited in a range of channel, overbank and lacustrine environments. Palaeomagnetic stratigraphy shows that, during the Late Permian, the basin had a relatively slow and uniform subsidence pattern with widespread pedogenesis and calcrete development. Angular unconformities or halokinetic sequence boundaries cannot be recognized within the relatively fine‐grained fill, and stratigraphic and spatial variations in facies are therefore critical to understanding the subsidence history of the salt minibasin. Coarse‐grained channel belts show evidence for lateral relocation within the minibasin while the development of a thick stack of calcrete hardpans indicates that opposing parts of the minibasin became largely inactive for prolonged periods (possibly in the order of one million years). The regular vertical stacking of calcrete hardpans within floodplain mudstones provides further evidence that halokinetic minibasin growth is inherently episodic and cyclical.     

Rinded iron‐oxide concretions: hallmarks of altered siderite masses of both early and late diagenetic origin

Iron‐bearing concretions are valuable records of oxidation states of subsurface waters, but the first concretions to form can be altered drastically during later diagenetic events. Distinctive concretions composed of heavy rinds of iron oxide that surround iron‐poor, mud‐rich cores are common along bases of fluvial cross‐bed sets of the Cretaceous Dakota Formation, Nebraska, USA. Concretion rinds thicken inward and cores contain 46 to 89% void space. Millimetre‐scale spherosiderites are abundant in palaeosols that developed in floodplain facies. Evolution of rinded concretions began when intraformational clasts were eroded from sideritic soils, transported, abraded and deposited in river channels. Alteration of siderite and formation of rinds occurred much later, perhaps in the Quaternary when sandstone pore waters became oxic. Dakota concretions are analogous to ‘rattlestones’ in Pleistocene fluvial channels of The Netherlands, and their rinded structure is analogous to that of iron‐rich concretions in the aeolian Navajo Sandstone of Utah. In all three deposits, rinded concretions formed when pre‐existing, siderite‐cemented concretions were oxidized within a sand matrix. Unlike fluvial examples, siderite in the Navajo Sandstone was autochthonous and of late diagenetic origin, having precipitated from carbon dioxide and methane‐enriched waters moving through folded and jointed strata. Iron‐rich rinds formed in all these strata because concretion interiors remained anaerobic, even as oxygen accumulated in the pore waters of their surrounding, permeable matrix. Iron oxide first precipitated at redox boundaries at concretion perimeters and formed an inward‐thickening rind. Acid generated by the oxidation reaction drove siderite dissolution to completion, creating the iron‐poor core. Iron‐oxide rinds are indicators of the former presence of siderite, a mineral that forms only under reducing conditions, during either early or late diagenesis. Siderite is vulnerable to complete oxidation upon exposure, so the distinctive rinded concretions are valuable clues that aid in deciphering diagenetic histories and for recognizing methanic floodplain palaeoenvironments and wet palaeoclimate.     

超强台风“威马逊”作用下红河三角洲海域水动力环境变化的数值研究

201409号超强台风"威马逊"于2014年7月从北部湾北部过境,对红河三角洲近岸海域的水动力环境产生重要影响。本文基于Delft3D建立三维潮、流、浪耦合数值模型,对红河三角洲水位、海流及波浪对台风的响应变化进行模拟。结果表明:威马逊台风期间,红河三角洲海域风速增大约6倍,风向由偏南风转为偏北风,表底层流速均受影响,其中表层变化较大,表现为北分量流速明显增大,流向变为偏南向,与风向主分量变化有关;波高增大为正常海况的9倍,时间变化与风速一致。本研究获得了从北部湾北部海域过境的台风影响下红河三角洲海域水动力环境的响应变化特征,对该海域的物质输运研究及海洋工程建设有重要意义。     

槽波地震勘探技术在工作面小构造探测中的应用

小构造是导致煤炭资源回采困难及煤矿安全事故的主要原因。利用槽波地震勘探技术,对义安煤矿11061工作面进行了透射法探测。通过CT成像可以分辨工作面内与煤厚相当的小构造,同时还能获得围岩高应力区及瓦斯富集带等地质信息。探测结果可作为煤矿安全回采的依据。      

太湖秋季水体体散射和散射相函数特征

利用Fournier and Forand(FF)体散射函数近似计算方法模拟太湖水体的体散射函数以及散射相函数,进而分析太湖水体体散射函数和散射相函数的特性,以及与波段、深度之间的变化关系,空间分布差异。研究表明,太湖水体体散射函数表现为具有极强前向散射特性的大颗粒物散射特征,体散射函数随波段变化的差异性主要体现在后向方向上,散射相函数的变化规律与体散射函数较为相似;而随着深度的变化体散射函数几乎没有变化,但散射相函数表现出了较为明显的层状特征;体散射函数和散射相函数在空间上表现出了较大的差异性,这种差异性随着散射角的增大而不断地加强。     

不同温度下罗非鱼人工感染海豚链球菌后血液生化指标及组织病理

在28℃、33℃两种温度下,用海豚链球菌人工感染尼罗罗非鱼后,测定尼罗罗非鱼血液生化指标。结果显示:两个温度水平病鱼的血清总蛋白(TP)随时间延长都呈现升高趋势;谷丙转氨酶(ALT)、谷草转氨酶(AST)活性随时间延长先升高后降低再升高,33℃实验组ALT、AST活性比28℃实验组达峰值时间短,并显著高于对照组(p<0.05);尿素、钾(K+)含量随时间延长逐渐升高后降低,钠(Na+)含量先升高后降低再升高,肌酐含量呈上升趋势;血清碱性磷酸酶(AKP)活性28℃实验组呈先升高后降低趋势,33℃实验组呈升高趋势;超氧化歧化酶(SOD)活性随时间延长先升高后降低再升高,33℃实验组各个时间点基本高于28℃实验组;球蛋白(GLO)随感染后时间延长呈现升高趋势,至120 h,显著高于对照组(p<0.05),但温度组间各时间点没有显著差异(p>0.05)。组织病理学观察发现,33℃实验组肝细胞、肾小管上皮细胞水肿变性;28℃实验组肝细胞出现嗜酸性小体;肾小管上皮细胞出现嗜酸性的红色小体,颗粒变性。表明感染海豚链球菌的尼罗罗非鱼肝脏、肾脏均有损伤,造成功能障碍,高温时损伤更严重。     

Morphology and evolution of an anastomosed channel network where saline underflow enters the Black Sea

The Bosphorus Strait accommodates two‐way flow between the Aegean and Black Seas. The Aegean (Mediterranean) inflow has speeds of 5 to 15 cm sec^?1 in the strait and a salinity contrast of ～12‰ to 16‰ with the Black Sea surface waters on the shelf. An anastomosed channel network crosses the shelf and in water deeper than 70 m is characterized by first‐order channels 5 to 10 m deep, local lateral accretion bedding, muddy in‐channel barforms, and a variety of sediment waves both on channel floors and bar crests, crevasse channels entering the overbank area and levée/overbank deposits which are radiocarbon‐dated in cores to be younger than ～7·5 to 8·0 ka. This channel network accommodates the saline density current formed by the Mediterranean inflow. The density contrast between the density underflow and the ambient water mass is ～0·01 g cm^?3, similar to the density contrast ascribed to low‐concentration turbidity currents in the deep sea. Channel‐floor deposits are sandy to gravelly with local shell concentrations. Low‐relief bedforms on the channel floor have relatively straight crests, upflow‐dipping cross‐stratification, heights 1 to 1·5 m and wavelengths 85 to 155 m. Bankfull flows are subcritical, so these probably are not antidunes. Bar tops are ornamented locally with mudwaves having heights 1 to 2 m and wavelengths ～20 to 100 m; these are potentially antidunes formed under shallow overbank flows. Towards the shelf edge, the degree of channel bifurcation increases dramatically and bar tops are dissected locally by secondary channels, some of which terminate in hanging valleys. Conical mounds on the shelf (possibly mud volcanoes or sites of fluid seepage) interact with the channel network by promoting accretion of muddy streamlined macroforms in their lee. This channel network may be one of the largest and most accessible natural laboratories on Earth for the study of continuously flowing density currents. Although the driver is salinity contrast, the underflow transports sufficient sediment to form levée wedges and large streamlined barforms, and presumably transports sediment into deep water.