Geochemical characteristics of the metapelites from the Xingxingxia group in the Eastern Segment of the Central Tianshan: Implications for the provenance and paleoweathering

Clastic sedimentary rocks record a number of in-formation about the compositions and paleoweathering conditions of the source areas, and the tectonic setting of the depositional basin[1―6]. The traditionallypetrological study commonly utilizes the major com-ponents (Quartz, Feldspar and Lithics) of the silici-clastic sedimentary rocks to investigate the source rock composition and tectonic setting[7]. However, thepetrological method is somewhat limited, because many of the mafic components f…     

Changes in the spatial scale of Beijing UHI and urban development

The seasonal and interannual variations of Beijing urban heat island (UHI) are investigated in this paper using the temperature data from 1960 to 2000 at 20 meteorological stations in the Beijing region, and then the relationship between the intensity and spatial scale of UHI and Beijing urbanization indices is analyzed and discussed. Main conclusions are the followings. First, Beijing UHI shows obvious seasonal variations, and it is strongest in winter, next in spring and autumn, and least in summer. The seasonal variation of the UHI mainly occurs in the urban area. The UHI intensity at the center of Beijing is more than 0.8℃ in winter, and only 0.5℃ in summer. Second, the intensity of Beijing HUI exhibits a clear interannual warming trend with its mean growth rate (MGR) being 0.3088℃/10 a. The MGR of HUI is largest in winter, next in spring and autumn, and least in summer, and the urban temperature increase makes a major contribution to the growth of HUI intensity. Third, since the Reform and Opening, the urbanization indices have grown several ten times or even one hundred times, the intensity of HUI has increased dramatically, and its spatial scale also expanded distinctively along with the expansion of urban architectural complexes. Fourth, the interannual variation of urbanization indices is very similar with that of HUI intensity, and their linear correlation coefficients are significant at a more than 0.001 confidence level.     

The diurnal and seasonal characteristics of urban heat island variation in Beijing city and surrounding areas and impact factors based on remote sensing satellite data

Based on the land surface temperature (LST), the land cover classification map,vegetation coverage, and surface evapotranspiration derived from EOS-MODIS satellite data, and by the use of GIS spatial analytic technique and multivariate statistical analysis method, the urban heat island (UHI) spatial distribution of the diurnal and seasonal variabilities and its driving forces are studied in Beijing city and surrounding areas in 2001. The relationships among UHI distribution and landcover categories, topographic factor, vegetation greenness, and surface evapotranspiration are analyzed. The results indicate that: (i) The significant UHI occur in Beijing city areas in the four seasons due to high heat capacity and multi-reflection of compression building, as well as with special topographic features of its three sides surrounded by mountains,especially in the summer. The UHI spatial distribution is corresponding with the urban geometry structure profile. The LST difference is approximately 4-6℃ between Beijing city and suburb areas, comparatively is 8- 10℃ between Beijing city area and outer suburb area in northwestern regions. (ii) The UHI distribution and intensity in daytime are different from nighttime in Beijing city area, the nighttime UHI is obvious. However, in the daytime, the significant UHI mainly appears in the summer, the autumn takes second place, and the UHI in the winter and the spring seem not obvious. The surface evapotranspiration in suburb areas is larger than that in urban areas in the summer, and high latent heat exchange is evident, which leads to LST difference between city area and suburb area. (iii) The reflection of surface landcover categories is sensitive to the UHI, the correlation between vegetation greenness and UHI shows obviously negative.The scatterplot shows that there is the negative correlation between NDVI and LST (R2 = 0.6481).The results demonstrate that the vegetation greenness is an important factor for reducing the UHI,and large-scale construction of greenbelts can considerably reduce the UHI effect.     

江西贵溪盆地罗塘群沉积体系特征及其地质意义

早白垩世晚期江西贵溪盆地的控盆断裂活动加强,在盆地边缘的不同地带及盆地中心发育有不同的沉积体系,野外露头岩相特征和剖面的研究表明,贵溪盆地罗塘群主要发育有冲积扇体系、扇三角洲体系、辫状河三角洲体系、湖泊沉积体系及辫状河沉积体系,沉积体系特征主要受控于盆缘断裂活动,不同的沉积体系出现在盆地演化的不同阶段,并由不同的岩相组成.沉积体系的特征、分布及组合型式反映了陆相断陷红盆沉积相带窄、横向及纵向上相变快的特点.     

A multidirectional semi‐analytical method for analysis of laterally loaded pile groups in multi‐layered elastic strata

A semi‐analytical method for calculating the response of single piles and pile groups subjected to lateral loading is developed in this paper. Displacements anywhere in the soil domain are tied to the displacements of the piles through decay functions. The principle of virtual work and the calculus of variations are used to derive the governing differential equations that describe the response of the piles and soil. The eigenvalue method and the finite difference technique are used to solve the system of coupled differential equations for the piles and soil, respectively. The proposed method takes into account the soil surface displacement along and perpendicular to the loading direction and produces displacement fields that are very close to those produced by the finite element method but at lower computational effort. Compared with the previous method that considered only the soil displacement along the loading direction, accounting for the multi‐directional soil displacement field produces responses for the piles and soil that are closer to those approximated by the finite element method. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Scaling procedures for heterogeneous unconfined aquifers

Complex flows in heterogeneous confined and unconfined aquifers is a phenomenon that continues to present difficulties in flow mapping and modelling in the field, laboratory, and through numerical simulations. It is often the case with complicated phenomena that transformative scaling and reduction of the problem through symmetry is of great efficacy in the formation of predictive models in both the laboratory and computational settings. A detailed a study of the application of a broad class of Lie scaling transformations on a set of equations representing the groundwater flows in heterogeneous confined and unconfined aquifers has produced a set of scaling relationships between the spatial variables, hydrologic variables, and parameters. The set of scaling transformations preserve the structure of the equations in the sense that the scaling transformations leave the initial‐boundary value system representing the invariant groundwater flows. This theoretical approach elucidates not only the scaling relationships but also the properties that hydrologic variables and parameters must satisfy in order for calling to be possible. Validation of the theory developed is carried out through a series of four numerical simulations using the USGS modflow ‐2005 software package. The results of these experiments demonstrate that the derived scaling transformations can effectively form predictive models of large‐scale phenomena at small scales with negligible error in many cases. Comments on the limitations of the approach and directions for future research are made in the closing sections. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spatialising the Melanesian Canarium industry: Understanding economic upgrading in an emerging industry among three Pacific small island states

This paper examines economic upgrading in the Canarium indicum (Canarium) nut industry in Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Canarium is a tree that is indigenous to Melanesia, and has been the subject of several commercialisation attempts since 1988. The paper assesses the outcomes to various actors in the Canarium supply chain from attempts to upgrade industry products and processes by: (1) increasing the available resource in suitable locations; (2) improving nut products and processing techniques; (3) increasing actors’ knowledge and supply chain coordination; and (4) establishing product standards. A two-phase data generation process was implemented. Document analysis and participant observations of industry workshops initiated a set of four economic upgrading interventions that were adaptively implemented. A second stage of workshops and 76 interviews enabled outcomes to be assessed at the project’s end. Findings suggest that a small number of urban-based entrepreneurs benefit and subsequently are lead actors in industry development, but at the expense of benefits being distributed to a larger, more spatially disparate group of smallholder and small commercial growers. These economic upgrading outcomes are circumscribed by core-periphery relations in Pacific small island states and the scale of industry in each country. Thus, spatial inequalities are reproduced through the emerging Canarium industries. We argue that different routes to industry development are required in each country. Development initiatives that capitalise on the benefits of micro-enterprise clusters, joint action and regional institutional arrangements are proposed to overcome the impediments imposed by the particular geographies of Pacific island states.     

Is Darwin's ‘Abominable Mystery’ still a mystery today?

Darwin described the Cretaceous diversification and subsequent rapid rise of flowering plants (angiosperms) as an “abominable mystery”: how could they have achieved worldwide ecological dominance by early Paleogene times when the oldest angiosperm fossils are only Cretaceous in age? However, recent phylogenetic and palaeobiogeographical analyses have suggested a much earlier, perhaps Triassic origin for the stem angiosperms. We suggest that the fossil record is accurately reflecting the rapid diversification of the crown angiosperms that molecular data suggests occurred in Cretaceous–early Palaeogene times, and which coincides with similar explosive diversifications that occurred in other parts of the terrestrial biota including insects, birds and mammals. Early, stem angiosperms are poorly represented in the fossil record for a combination of taphonomic and ecological reasons. We conclude that the reported evidence shows that the Darwin's “mystery” is in fact no mystery and confirms that it merely requires an appropriate reading of the fossil record.     

Geological development of Heard Island,Central Kerguelen Plateau

We report ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar laser step-heating age determinations on 15 stratigraphically controlled lava flows and intrusive rocks from Heard Island, Central Kerguelen Plateau (Indian Ocean). The island history began with uplift of pelagic limestone intruded by 22 Ma gabbro sills. Subaerial and wave erosion levelled the early island, producing an unconformity onto which pillow lavas, tuffaceous sediments and shallow-water, fossiliferous marine siltstone (Drygalski Formation) were deposited, beginning in late Miocene time. Two volcanic systems then formed in the late Quaternary. Big Ben dominates the larger southeast part of the island, while Mount Dixon occupies the northwest Laurens Peninsula. Feeder dykes and the early lava flows in both systems are 400–200 ka. Lava flows with evolved compositions (trachytes, trachyandesites) erupted 100–20 ka. Well-preserved parasitic cones exposed at low elevations are 15–10 ka and younger. Mawson Peak, near the summit of Big Ben, has erupted lava flows as recently as 2007. Heard Island, and nearby active McDonald Island, are subaerial features of a larger Neogene volcanic region of Central Kerguelen Plateau that includes several large sea knolls and recently identified submarine fields of small cones. This broadly distributed volcanic activity is linked to incubation of plume material at the base of the nearly stationary overlying Central Kerguelen Plateau.