Water and power networks and urban fragmentation in Los Angeles: Rethinking assumed mechanisms

Los Angeles is often described as the epitome of urban fragmentation, a notion which in this context is frequently connected to, or even conflated with urban sprawl. At the same time, the city features integrated water and power networks which have been under public ownership for over 70 years. We thus have an apparent paradox in the context of the debate on ‘splintering urbanism’, between socio-spatial fragmentation and the integration of networks. In discussing the idea that deregulation of infrastructural networks exacerbates urban fragmentation, the authors use the case of Los Angeles in order to highlight the central role of private interests in management decisions concerning infrastructure networks. The authors carry out their analysis in an historical perspective, revealing that network integration and universal access can often serve private interests more than the public good. Urban fragmentation in Los Angeles, they conclude, is the result of a complex process of instrumentalisation of network development and management.     

Integrating diverse methods to understand climate-land interactions in East Africa

The questions of how land use change affects climate, and how climate change affects land use, require examination of societal and environmental systems across space at multiple scales, from the global climate to regional vegetative dynamics to local decision making by farmers and herders. It also requires an analysis of causal linkages and feedback loops between systems. These questions and the conceptual approach of the research design of the Climate-Land Interaction Project (CLIP) are rooted in the classical human-environment research tradition in Geography.This paper discusses a methodological framework to quantify the two-way interactions between land use and regional climate systems, using ongoing work by a team of multi-disciplinary scientists examining climate-land dynamics at multiple scales in East Africa. East Africa is a region that is undergoing rapid land use change, where changes in climate would have serious consequences for people’s livelihoods, and requiring new coping and land use strategies. The research involves exploration of linkages between two important foci of global change research, namely, land use/land cover (LULC) and climate change. These linkages are examined through modeling agricultural systems, land use driving forces and patterns, the physical properties of land cover, and the regional climate. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are being used to illustrate a diverse pluralism in scientific discovery.     

GMOs and their contexts: A comparison of potential and actual performance of GM crops in a local agricultural setting

In this paper, I argue that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have inherent potential to contribute to socially and environmentally sustainable agriculture by virtue of their ‘biological embeddedness’. Their actual ‘performance’ and how this contributes to sustainability depends on the ‘mutual shaping’ of technology and context. While much attention has been given to the design context of GMOs, this paper considers the influence of the application context and of users. A case study investigating the use of insect-resistant and herbicide-tolerant GM cotton in the cotton-growing region of New South Wales in Australia is presented. The study was based on focus groups with farmers and other stakeholders in a cotton-growing community. It demonstrated a range of direct and indirect effects of GM cotton use, both positive and negative for sustainability, and the ways in which these effects were influenced by the local social context. The influences of the biotechnology industry context, in limiting the contributions that gene technologies can make to sustainability, were also considered, and remedies suggested. I argue that the polarity of the GM debate is hindering progress on these issues, and that a more balanced approach to our analysis of GMOs is necessary in order to fully understand, and to influence, their role in the future of rural spaces.     

Tidal inundation mapping under enhanced land subsidence in Semarang,Central Java Indonesia

Tidal inundation by high tide under enhanced land subsidence is a damaging phenomenon and a major threat to the Semarang urban area in Indonesia. It impacts on economic activities, as well as the cost of an emergency program and causes interruption of pubic services, danger of infectious diseases and injury to human lives. This study examines a spatial analysis tool on the GIS-raster system for the tidal inundation mapping based on the subsidence-benchmark data and modified detail digital elevation model. Neighborhood operation and iteration model as a spatial analysis tool have been applied in order to calculate the encroachment of the tidal inundation on the coastal area. The resulting map shows that the tidal flood spreads to the lowland area and causes the inundation of coastal settlement, infrastructure, as well as productive agricultural land, i.e., the fish-pond area. The monitoring of the vulnerable area due to the tidal inundation under the scenario of extended land subsidence plays an important role in long-term coastal zone management in Semarang.     

冀北万全寺银金矿床地质地球化学特征

万全寺银金矿床位于张宣幔枝构造东侧的侏罗纪断陷盆地中,成矿时限晚于133.33Ma～101.82 Ma.通过硫、铅、氢、氧、碳及稀有气体同位素研究认为,成矿物质应源自地球深部,在中生代冀西北幔枝构造演化过程中集中成矿.成矿热液以岩浆水为主并加入了部分天水.     

Analysis of the 2003 Varunawat Landslide,Uttarkashi, India using Earth Observation data

Mass movements such as landslides in mountainous terrains are natural degradation processes and one of the most important landscape-building factors. Varunawat Parbat overlooking Uttarkashi town witnessed a series of landslides on 23 September 2003 and the debris slides and rock falls continued for 2 weeks. This landslide complex was triggered due to the incessant rainfall prior to the event, and its occurrence led to the blockage of the pilgrim route to Gangotri (source of the Ganges river) and evacuation of thousands of people to safer places. Though there was no loss of lives due to timely evacuation, heavy losses to the property were reported. High-resolution stereoscopic earth observation data were acquired after the incidence to study the landslide in detail with emphasis on the cause of the landslide and mode of failure. Areas along the road and below the Varunawat foothill region are mapped for landslide risk. It was found that the foothill region of the Varunawat Parbat was highly disturbed by man-made activities and houses are dangerously located below steep slopes. The potential zones for landslides along with the existing active and old landslides are mapped. These areas are critical and their treatment with priority is required in order to minimise further landslide occurrences.     

中国-俄罗斯原油管道工程(漠河-大庆段)冻土工程地质考察与研究进展

在2005-2007年期间,先后3次对中国-俄罗斯原油管道漠河-大庆段沿线的冻土工程地质条件等进行科学考察,开展了冻土工程地质条件及其在气候变化和人类活动作用下的评价和预测研究.考察研究结果表明:管道沿线多年冻土在各类融区、季节冻土和水系等分隔作用下呈片状或岛状分布,沿线岛状、稀疏岛状及零星岛状占多年冻土区段的40%左右;管道沿线多年冻土随着气候的转暖和人类活动的影响不断退化.地形地貌单元、植被分布、地表水分条件的变化等局部因素对多年冻土的分布和地下冰的赋存产生重要的影响,管道沿线大约分布有50 km左右的沼泽湿地,其表层为腐殖质土及泥炭层,泥炭层下面分布着含土冰层或地下冰,是管道沿线最差的冻土工程地质地段;由于中俄原油管道沿线水系发育多,冻胀丘、冰椎和冰幔等不良冻土现象广泛分布.科学考察的成果为管道沿线冻土工程地质条件评价和预测、管道的稳定性影响分析以及后期的长期检测系统设置等研究奠定坚实的基础,进一步为即将开工的中俄原油管道漠河-大庆段工程的设计、施工提供科学依据.     

绿片岩-低角闪岩相变质条件下磁铁铁矿与黄铁矿间的Fe同位素分馏

对辽宁省鞍山一本溪地区经历了绿片岩一低角闪岩相变质的新太古代条带状铁建造中磁铁矿和黄铁矿矿物对的Fe同位素分析结果显示:相对于标准IRMM-014,所有样品的磁铁矿和黄铁矿均显示Fe的重同位素富集;且黄铁矿的Fe同位素比值均大于磁铁矿的Fe同位素比值(ε57Fe黄铁矿ε57Fe磁铁矿),两种矿物的Fe同位素比值之差为△57Fe黄铁矿-磁铁矿=2.23～5.13.黄铁矿富集铁的重同位素表明矿物的Fe同位素组成并不代表其原始沉积的特征,而是在区域变质作用过程中Fe同位素发生了交换的结果.由同位素平衡判别图解可知,在绿片岩一低角闪岩相变质作用中,磁铁矿-黄铁矿间的Fe同位素基本达到了平衡,且在平衡条件下黄铁矿比磁铁矿更富集Fe的重同位素,二者之间的Fe同位素平衡分馏系数α黄铁矿-磁铁矿≈1.000 4‰±0.06‰(2σ).这一研究成果是对变质作用过程中Fe同位素的地球化学行为认识的重要进展.     

三维抛物方程Douglas交替方向隐格式的稳定性和收敛性

作者研究三维变系数抛物方程 Douglas交替方向隐格式的稳定性和收敛性。采用 H1能量估计方法 ,证明格式按离散 H1范数是绝对稳定的 ,并且收敛阶为 O(Δ t2 + h2 )