Capturing critical behaviour in soil moisture spatio-temporal dynamics

A physical system is subject to a phase transition process when it shows a discontinuous change of a macroscopic feature of the system under a continuous change of a system’s state variable.     

The Character of Shear-wave Splitting in Marble in the Critical State of Rupture

This paper mainly observed and analyzed the character of shear-wave splitting in rock specimens while they were in the critical state of rupture. The rock specimens for study are made of Laizhou marble from Shandong, China. A series of records were obtained from two rock specimens when they were in the critical state of rupture. The result shows that, in the critical state just before rock rupture, there may be the phenomenon of rise and fall in the time delay of shear-wave splitting, even though the load was kept constant. That is to say, the time delay of shear-wave splitting may have a falling process before rock rupture.     

论湿陷起始压力

本文以实测数据为依据,以工程应用为主题,从七个方面对湿陷起始压力进行了广泛的讨论,为工程中多方面应用湿陷起始压力提供了系统允分的依据。     

A GIS-based mapping method on distribution of critical Ecological Situation in China

Introduction Human-induced environmental change in China has led to different consequences due to various causes. They conver certain regions and places where their impacts may threaten the long-term or even the short-term sustainability of human-environmental relationships. Designating such areas as "critical environmental situations," Russian Geographers have developed "red data maps" showing their locations[1]. Yet, there are no fully developed conceptualizations of environmental critical…     

浅淡物候指标在农业生产上的应用

通过对物候资料与气象资料的对比分析找出与农业界限温度对应的物候指标,以物候指标为依据,就可掌握农业四季的初终期和农业界限温度的出现时间,并以物候指标预告农时,简便易行,对指导农业生产有广泛的应用价值。     

Seismic Displacement of Gravity Walls by a Two-body Model

Gravity walls retaining dry soil are modeled as a system of two bodies: (a) the gravity wall that slides along the wall-foundation soil boundary and (b) the critical soil wedge in the soil behind the wall. The strength of the system is defined by both the frictional and the cohesional components of resistance. The angle of the prism of the critical soil wedge behind the wall is obtained using the limit equilibrium method. The model accounts for changes in the geometry of the backfill soil behind the wall by considering the displacements at the end of each time step under limit equilibrium. The model shows that the standard (single) block model is over-conservative for the extreme case of critical-to-applied-seismic acceleration ratios less than about 0.30, but works well for cases where this ratio ranges between 0.5 and 0.8. The model is applied to predict the seismic displacement of gravity walls (a) tested in the shaking-table and (b) studied numerically by elaborate elasto–plastic analyses.     

The creative reconstruction of the Internet: Google and the privatization of cyberspace and DigiPlace

The Internet has often been portrayed as the ultimate leveler of information where existing hierarchies of power and privilege are undermined by meritocracy. Some websites and functions are, however, more equal than others. In particular, search engines such as Google have been a key means to construct meaning out of disorder. This ordering (or enclosing of the Internet commons), however, comes at a cost as a location within the top 10 Google search results, marks the boundary (albeit a fluid one) between the core and the periphery of the Internet. The recent incorporation of spatial elements into the Google indexing raises fresh and geographically relevant concerns. This article focuses on the construction, access and use of Google derived rankings to deploy geo-referenced information in the physical environment and the way this melding of code and place affects how people interact with place. Using the theoretical concept of DigiPlace this article analyzes how Google Maps and Google Earth are structured and shape what appears (and what does not) in cyberspace and DigiPlace. Of particular concern are the implications of a private corporation controlling this new space.     

A global map to aid the identification and screening of critical habitat for marine industries

Marine industries face a number of risks that necessitate careful analysis prior to making decisions on the siting of operations and facilities. An important emerging regulatory framework on environmental sustainability for business operations is the International Finance Corporation’s Performance Standard 6 (IFC PS6). Within PS6, identification of biodiversity significance is articulated through the concept of “Critical Habitat”, a definition developed by the IFC and detailed through criteria aligned with those that support internationally accepted biodiversity designations. No publicly available tools have been developed in either the marine or terrestrial realm to assess the likelihood of sites or operations being located within PS6-defined Critical Habitat. This paper presents a starting point towards filling this gap in the form of a preliminary global map that classifies more than 13 million km² of marine and coastal areas of importance for biodiversity (protected areas, Key Biodiversity Areas [KBA], sea turtle nesting sites, cold- and warm-water corals, seamounts, seagrass beds, mangroves, saltmarshes, hydrothermal vents and cold seeps) based on their overlap with Critical Habitat criteria, as defined by IFC. In total, 5798×10³ km² (1.6%) of the analysis area (global ocean plus coastal land strip) were classed as Likely Critical Habitat, and 7526×10³ km² (2.1%) as Potential Critical Habitat; the remainder (96.3%) were Unclassified. The latter was primarily due to the paucity of biodiversity data in marine areas beyond national jurisdiction and/or in deep waters, and the comparatively fewer protected areas and KBAs in these regions. Globally, protected areas constituted 65.9% of the combined Likely and Potential Critical Habitat extent, and KBAs 29.3%, not accounting for the overlap between these two features. Relative Critical Habitat extent in Exclusive Economic Zones varied dramatically between countries. This work is likely to be of particular use for industries operating in the marine and coastal realms as an early screening aid prior to in situ Critical Habitat assessment; to financial institutions making investment decisions; and to those wishing to implement good practice policies relevant to biodiversity management. Supplementary material (available online) includes other global datasets considered, documentation and justification of biodiversity feature classification, detail of IFC PS6 criteria/scenarios, and coverage calculations.     

A critical appraisal of Sustainable Consumption and Production research: The reformist,revolutionary and reconfiguration positions

This conceptual review article provides a critical appraisal of Sustainable Consumption and Production research, which is currently framed by two generic positions. First, the ‘reformist’ position, which focuses on firms pursuing green eco-innovations and consumers buying eco-efficient products, represents the political and academic orthodoxy. Second, the ‘revolutionary’ position, which is a radical critique of the mainstream, advocates the abolishment of capitalism, materialism, and consumerism, and promotes values such as frugality, sufficiency, and localism. We find this dichotomous debate problematic, because it is intellectually stifling and politically conservative (in its outcomes). To move beyond this dichotomy, we propose a third position, ‘reconfiguration’, which focuses on transitions in socio-technical systems and daily life practices and accommodates new conceptual frameworks. For each of the three positions, we discuss: (1) the scale and type of change, (2) views on consumption and production in exemplary approaches, (3) underlying theoretical, epistemological and normative orientations, (4) policy implications, and (5) critical appraisal. The conclusion compares the three positions, provides arguments for the fruitfulness of the reconfiguration-position and offers four critical reflections about future Sustainable Consumption and Production research agendas.     

An Apollonian appreciation of Google Earth

This short article reviews and critically appraises Kingsbury and Jones’ (2009)Geoforum article entitled “Walter Benjamin’s Dionysian Adventures on Google Earth”, and finds it lacking in several regards. First, the use of Nietzsche’s Dionysus/Apollo dichotomy is in fact a double binary, in which Apollonian logic is constructed as a binary within the dichotomy, while the Dionysian logic is ‘bacchanalian’. Second, Walter Benjamin as exemplar of Dionysian logic is shown to be problematic and more a distraction from the flawed Nietzschean logic than a useful construct in itself. Lastly, the educational potential of Google Earth is overlooked by Kingsbury and Jones, in their haste to see Google Earth through ‘Google goggles’, in which everything Google appears through Dionysian-tinted lenses.