Enter the working forest: Discourse analysis in the Northern Forest

In 1988, four states in the northeastern USA commissioned a study to address land use changes in the Northern Forest, 26 million acres of temperate and boreal forest extending from Maine to eastern New York State. Against a backdrop of economic destabilization and concerns regarding social and ecological implications of a real estate boom, the sustained deliberative dialogue catalyzed by this study has come to rely heavily on the ambiguous concept of “working forest.” To clarify political and environmental dynamics in the region, we analyzed how people respond to and seek to capitalize on the interpretive flexibility of the term working forest. We combine an analysis of socio-political discourses of working forest based on a structured literature review with an assessment of local peoples’ definitions of working forest based on a survey conducted in a pair of contrasting New York State communities. The first study site represents an amenity-oriented community (i.e. a place where the forest supports a service economy including recreation and tourism) and the other study site represents a timber-dependent community. By linking data from community-level analysis to data derived from a general analysis of forest politics, we seek to develop a more robust perspective. By comparing discourses across differently structured communities, we investigate how local forest politics are mediated by local economic development processes. Our study empirically illustrates contested and geographically uneven processes of social construction of environment and rural development in a region confronting pressures of globalization. Results indicate that timber harvesting is a heavily privileged management objective, as a logic of ‘the forest that pays is the forest that stays’ dominates. Environmental politics in the region, and perhaps more generally, increasingly conforms to a form of pragmatism in which economic opportunities structure conservation planning and investment.     

Morphology and paleoclimatic significance of Pleistocene Lake Bonneville spits

Pleistocene Lake Bonneville of western Utah contains a variety of spits associated with shorelines and other features that formed between 21,000 and 12,000 ¹⁴C yr BP. Field studies in the low-lying mountain ranges of the central portion of Lake Bonneville identified 17 spits of various types. The spits are connected to small mountain ranges and islands, vary in size from 0.02 to 0.5 km², and are composed of coarse-grained, well-rounded, poorly-sorted sedimentary material. Sixteen of the 17 spits have a northeasterly to southwesterly orientation implying that winds were from the northwest to northeast, approximately 180° out of phase with modern winds in the eastern Great Basin. Lake Bonneville spit orientation is best explained as the result of persistent northerly winds caused by the high atmospheric pressure cell of the continental ice sheet and passage of low pressure extratropical storms south of the lake. Similar, strong persistent winds are a common feature of modern continental ice sheets and passing low pressure systems. If so, the North American jet stream tracked south of Lake Bonneville as recently as 12,000 ¹⁴C yr BP, well past the height of the last glacial maximum.     

Western Pacific Jet Stream Anomalies at 200 hPa in Winter Associated with Oceanic Surface Heating and Transient Eddy Activity

The relationships between the 200-hPa westerly jet stream anomalies over the East Asian coastal water- western Pacific(WPJS),and the oceanic surface heating and synoptic-scale transient eddy(STE)activity anomalies over the North Pacific in wintertime are examined by using ERA-40 and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data.The analysis demonstrates that the surface heating and the STE anomalies have different patterns, corresponding to the three WPJS anomalous modes,respectively.In the first WPJS anomalous mode,the WPJS main part shows no robust anomaly.The anomalous westerly wind,occurring over the mid-latitude central-eastern Pacific past the date line is associated with the anomalous heating presenting both in the tropical central-eastern Pacific past the date line and the center of the North Pacific basin.Meanwhile,the STE anomaly appears around the region of the anomalous zonal wind.The fluctuation in jet strength shown in the second WPJS mode is strongly related to the heating anomaly in the Kuroshio Current region and the STE anomaly in the jet exit region.The third mode demonstrates a northward/southward shift of the WPJS,which has a statistical connection with a south-north dipolar pattern of the heating anomaly in the western North Pacific separated at 35°N.Meanwhile,the STE spatial displacement is in conjunction with jet shifts in the same direction.The heating anomaly has a close connection with the atmospheric circulation, and thus changes the mid-latitude baroclinicity,leading to the STE anomaly,which then reinforces the WPJS anomaly via internal atmospheric dynamics.     

夏季东亚西风急流扰动异常与副热带高压关系研究

利用1979—2003年NCEP/NCAR月平均再分析资料, 探讨夏季 (6—8月) 200 hPa东亚西风急流扰动异常与南亚高压和西太平洋副热带高压的关系。研究指出:夏季200 hPa东亚西风急流扰动动能加强 (减弱), 东亚西风急流位置偏南 (偏北)、强度偏强 (偏弱); 东亚西风急流扰动动能强弱不仅与北半球西风急流强弱和沿急流的定常扰动有关, 而且还与东亚地区高、中、低纬南北向的扰动波列有关, 亚洲地区是北半球中纬度环球带状波列异常最大的区域。夏季200 hPa东亚西风急流扰动动能加强 (减弱), 南亚高压的特征为位置偏东 (偏西)、强度加强 (减弱); 西太平洋副热带高压的特征为位置偏南 (偏北)。东亚环流特别是500 hPa西太平洋副热带高压对东亚西风带扰动异常的响应由高空东亚西风急流南侧的散度场及其对流层中下层热带和副热带地区的垂直速度距平场变化完成。     

Analysis of the impact of conservation measures on stream flow regime in catchments of the Loess Plateau,China

Catchments in the Loess Plateau have been under the influence of human activities for centuries. In the last four decades, soil conservation measures have accelerated and intensified. These measures were designed to reduce soil erosion, improve agricultural productivity, and enhance environmental quality. It is important to evaluate the effects of these measures on hydrology in order to develop sustainable catchment management plans in the region. This study evaluated changes in stream flow data for four selected catchments in the Loess Plateau following large‐scale soil conservation measures. The non‐parametric Mann–Kendall test was used to identify trends in annual stream flow and the results showed significant downward trends in three of the four catchments. The Pettitt test indicated that a change point occurred in 1978 in these three catchments. Annual precipitation in all the catchments showed no significant trend during the period of record. Comparison of daily flow duration curves for two 20‐year periods (1957–1978) and (1979–2003) showed significant changes in stream flow regime. Reduction in most percentile flows varied between 20 and 45%, and the reduction in low flows was greatest. Overall, the reductions in daily flow were increasing with time, with significant changes occurring in the 1990s. However, it is not clear whether these catchments have seen the full effects of the soil conservation measures, so the results of this study might underestimate the final impact of soil conservation on stream flow regime. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The problem of underpowered rivers

This study has hypothesized that for many rivers the trade-off between flow accumulation and the decrease in slope along channel length means that stream power increases downstream and, moreover, that given the low slope angles in headwater and low-order streams, they would have insufficient stream power to erode let alone transport sediment. The study considered the stream power profile, the particle travel distances and the application of the Hjulström curve based on the velocity profile of nine, large UK catchments. The study showed that:

1. Some rivers never showed a maximum in their longitudinal stream power profile, implying that some rivers never develop a deposition zone before they discharge at the tidal limit.
2. Particle travel distances during a bankfull discharge event showed that for some rivers 91% of the upper main channel would not be cleared of sediment. Furthermore, while some rivers could transport a 2 mm particle their entire length in one bankfull event, for another river it would take 89 such events.
3. The Hjulström curve shows that for three of the study rivers the upper 20 km of the river was not capable of eroding a 2 μm particle.
4. The study has shown that for all rivers studied, erosion is focused downstream and deposition upstream. Many UK rivers have a dead zone where, on time scales of the order of centuries, no erosion or transport occurs and erosion only occurs in the lower courses of the channel where discharge rather than slope dominates – we propose these as underpowered rivers.

© 2020 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd     

北祁连西段吊达坂地区水系沉积物地球化学特征及找矿预测

以北祁连西段吊达坂水系沉积物测量地球化学特征为研究对象，通过元素含量的概率分布、元素富集与分异、单元素异常、元素相关性分析及异常元素组合等特征的研究，在区内共圈定综合地球化学异常18处，划分出3个铜铅锌多金属找矿远景区，发现矿点4处。研究结果显示水系沉积物测量在北祁连西段半干旱高寒山区找矿效果明显。     

对地球信息科学的思考

作为地球科学一个重要分支的地球信息科学,在近１０多年来已得到人们的广泛关注与高度重视。本文以信息科学为基础分析信息流的意义及其与物质流和能量流的关系,阐述地球信息科学在地球科学中的地位及其内涵,并从地球信息机理、地球信息技术以及地球信息科学的应用三方面论述地球信息科学研究的主要内容。     

Holocene profile changes along a California coastal stream

Walker Creek in Marin County, California is a coastal stream draining to Tomales Bay, which lies in the San Andreas Rift Zone. Its valley contains an alluvial fill with a basal gravel dated at 5000 years BP. In upstream parts of the watershed, channels are incised arroyo-like in the fill leaving the valley floor standing as a high terrace averaging 5·5 m (18 ft) high. Below this terrace is an inner terrace of historic age that stands 2·4 m (8 ft) above the streambed. The stratigraphy and morphology of this valley are seen in others nearby, and indicate that in the last half of Holocene time in this region a single episode of valley alluviation was followed by two episodes of valley cutting. The second episode of valley cutting is occurring in the present time. During the last 60 years the flow has become seasonal, the stream has incised 1·5 m (5 ft) below the inner terrace in upstream reaches, aggraded 1·2 m (4 ft) in downstream reaches, and extended its estuary. Incision upstream has begun to re-expose the bedrock valley floor and is associated with aggradation downstream that has caused the flood plain to overtop both terraces. This has decreased the stream's gradient. Using a stream that is currently effecting major changes in its valley and channel morphology, two aspects of hydraulic adjustment in fluvial systems are examined. The changes in the average slope of the longitudinal profile are small but measureable. Profile concavity has not changed measurably. The various profiles that have existed in Holocene time show that stream gradient can be, but is not necessarily, slightly adjusted during valley filling and cutting. Flow measurements at a high discharge show that the channel has begun to assume the hydraulic geometry of an ephemeral channel. Adjustments of depth, velocity, and roughness appear to be hydraulic adjustments in response to changing watershed conditions.     

Siltation analysis in the Neyyar reservoir and forest degradation in its catchment: a study from Kerala state, India

 Impact of catchment erosion and the resultant reservoir siltation from a tropical environment is reported here to discuss the effect of a reservoir in the natural degradation of an evergreen-forested segment. While an area of 8.01 km² has been affected by direct inundation at the full reservoir level, another 2.6 km² area once under thick forest cover, had also lost its identity over the last 38 years by indirect degradation. This zone mainly falls in the confluence of tributaries, namely Neyyar and Mullayar, with the reservoir. The capacity of the reservoir was found to be reduced by 28.8 Mm³ during this period and the annual average loss is calculated as 0.75 Mm³ (0.71%), indicating the intensity of erosion from the catchment zone. In case the proposed upper dam in the reservoir comes into existence, an additional area of 2.4 km² from the virgin forest would be submerged and more area would face degradation around the inundated zone. Received: 29 July 1998 · Accepted: 16 November 1998