Analysis of Sampling Error Uncertainties and Trends in Maximum and Minimum Temperatures in China简

In this paper we report an analysis of sampling error uncertainties in mean maximum and minimum temperatures （Tmax and Tmin） carried out on monthly,seasonal and annual scales,including an examination of homogenized and original data collected at 731 meteorological stations across China for the period 1951-2004.Uncertainties of the gridded data and national average,linear trends and their uncertainties,as well as the homogenization effect on uncertainties are assessed.It is shown that the sampling error variances of homogenized Tmax and Tmin,which are larger in winter than in summer,have a marked northwest-southeast gradient distribution,while the sampling error variances of the original data are found to be larger and irregular.Tmax and Tmin increase in all months of the year in the study period 1951-2004,with the largest warming and uncertainties being 0.400℃ （10 yr）-1 ＋ 0.269℃ （10 yr）-1 and 0.578℃ （10 yr）-1 ＋ 0.211℃ （10 yr）-1 in February,and the least being 0.022℃ （10 yr）-1 ＋ 0.085℃ （10 yr）-1 and 0.104℃ （10 yr）-1 ＋0.070℃ （10 yr）-1 in August.Homogenization can remove large uncertainties in the original records resulting from various non-natural changes in China.     

The causes of land-use and land-cover change: moving beyond the myths

Common understanding of the causes of land-use and land-cover change is dominated by simplifications which, in turn, underlie many environment-development policies. This article tracks some of the major myths on driving forces of land-cover change and proposes alternative pathways of change that are better supported by case study evidence. Cases reviewed support the conclusion that neither population nor poverty alone constitute the sole and major underlying causes of land-cover change worldwide. Rather, peoples’ responses to economic opportunities, as mediated by institutional factors, drive land-cover changes. Opportunities and constraints for new land uses are created by local as well as national markets and policies. Global forces become the main determinants of land-use change, as they amplify or attenuate local factors.     

Cone morphologies associated with shallow marine eruptions: east Pico Island, Azores

Eruptions in shallow water typically produce cones of volcaniclastic material. In order to identify any systematic effects of water depth and other environmental parameters on cone morphology, we have measured the heights and widths of cones in multibeam echo-sounder data from a submarine ridge extending southeast from Pico Island, Azores. XRF analyses of dredged samples show that lavas here vary compositionally from alkali basalt to trachybasalt and trachyandesite. Cones in deeper water are generally steep-sided with upper flanks close to 30°, the dip of talus at the angle of repose. However, height/width ratios of cones vary more in shallow water (200?C400-m summit depth) with extreme values below 0.1; while some shallow-water cones are steep-sided as in deep water, others are much flatter. Three such cones lie on a bench at 300-m depth immediately east of Pico Island and have flank slopes of only 10?C20°. We speculate that exceptionally shallow cone slopes here were produced by forced spreading of the erupting columns on reaching the water?Cair density barrier.     

Examining the relationship between wetland alteration and watershed flooding in Texas and Florida

Inland flooding remains one of the greatest threats to the safety of human population in the United States (US). While few large-scale studies exist, the potential role of naturally occurring wetlands in mitigating flood duration and intensity has been widely discussed. This study examines the relationship between wetland alteration and coastal watershed flooding in Texas and Florida over a 12-year period. Specifically, we geo-reference wetland alteration permits required under Section 404 of the US Clean Water Act and correlate the number of granted permits with the degree of flooding measured by stream gauge data. Results indicate that specific types of federal permits exacerbate flooding events in coastal watersheds while controlling for various environmental and socioeconomic characteristics.     

Magmatic modification of the uppermost mantle beneath the Basin and Range to Colorado Plateau Transition Zone; Evidence from xenoliths, Wikieup, Arizona

Upper mantle xenoliths from Wikieup, AZ, provide abundant evidence for magmatic modification of the uppermost mantle beneath the Transition Zone between the Colorado Plateau and the southern Basin and Range province. Upper mantle lithologies in this xenolith suite are represented by spinel peridotite, wehrlite, plagioclase peridotite, and Al-augite group pyroxenites. Isotopic data for these xenoliths yield relatively uniform values and suggest a common petrogenesis. Al-augite-bearing gabbro and pyroxenite xenoliths from this locality are interpreted to have formed by crystal fractionation processes from parent alkali basalts similar to the Wikieup host basalt. Mineral and whole rock compositions show consistent trends of increasing incompatible element contents (Fe, Al, Ca, Na, K, LIL, and LREE), and decreasing compatible element contents (Mg, Cr, Ni) from spinel peridotite to wehrlite to plagioclase peridotite to the host basalt composition. These compositional trends are interpreted as resulting from varying degrees of magma-mantle wall rock interaction as ascending mafic magmas infiltrated upper mantle peridotite. Small degrees of melt infiltration resulted in slightly modified spinel peridotite compositions while moderate degrees metasomatized spinel peridotite to wehrlite, and the highest degrees metasomatized it to plagioclase peridotite. Whole rock compositions and clinopyroxene, plagioclase, and whole rock isotopic data suggest that the infiltrating magmas were the same as those from which the gabbros and pyroxenites crystallized, and that they were alkalic in composition, similar to the Wikieup host alkali olivine basalts. Relatively uniform ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd for the mineral separates and whole rocks in spite of the significantly wide range in their ¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴⁴Nd (0.71–0.23 in clinopyroxene) suggests that the Wikieup xenoliths including gabbro, pyroxenite, peridotite, wehrlite, and plagioclase peridotite, are all relatively young rocks formed or metasomatized by a relatively recent magmatic episode. Received: 21 May 1996 / Accepted: 23 December 1996