Continental size,eustasy and sediment yield

Sediment yield from modern continental blocks is a function of the area (dissolved load) and hypsometry (mechanical load) of the blocks. Hypsographic curves for modern continental blocks show that the change in the percentage area flooded for any change in eustatic sea level depends on the size of the block and the absolute sea level. This allows predictions of changes in sediment yield around different sized blocks for any given eustatic change. The range in size of continental blocks is such that, for any given sea level change, the blocks will show different percentage changes in yield. Data from modern continental blocks are compared with theoretical results. Assuming that the rules governing modern hypsometries applied in the past, and a constant volume of continental crust, it is possible to estimate the hypsographic curves of former continental blocks. The implications of suggested past continental configurations and sea levels for sediment yield are discussed.     

探讨气候变化的新热点:大气气溶胶的气候效应

气溶胶的气候效应是近年来研究的热点问题。针对这一问题已开展过许多观测研究和模式研究。但是由于气溶胶问题的复杂性以及对气溶胶的观测历史短,至今尚缺少全球范围的气溶胶系统观测资料,所以目前气溶胶的辐射强迫仍是个很不确定的量。这直接影响对全球气候变化的预测。目前国内外正在加强这方面的研究工作,并且有了一些初步的结果。概述了近期国内外对气溶胶的气候效应的研究状况及结果,介绍了今后国际上将要在这一领域开展的研究工作。     

北京地区3500a来的气候与环境变迁——兼论昆明湖的沧桑

通过对北京颐和园昆明湖中沉积物的沉积特征的研究,结合历史记载,对昆明湖水域的形成时间和发展过程有了深入的了解,据此对北京地区3500a以来的气候与环境变迁作出了科学的划分,为探讨北京地区未来的气候变化趋势将会有所启迪。     

云南属都湖近百年环境演变的湖泊沉积记录与器测资料对比研究

通过对属都湖湖心钻取的短岩芯Esdr1进行放射性核素137Cs和常规的元素分析,利用137Cs建立精确的年代标尺,开展地球化学记录环境演变与器测资料的对比研究。器测资料表明,近50年来,该地区主要的气候变化特征:1958～1983年,气候偏冷湿;1983～2002年,气候逐渐暖干化,这些气候波动特征被沉积岩芯忠实记录。研究表明属都湖沉积物地球化学代用指标指示的气候演化特征与器测资料可很好的对比印证,属都湖沉积岩芯完整的记录了区域气候变化的信息     

Glacier change and glacier runoff variation in the Tuotuo River basin,the source region of Yangtze River in western China

Glaciers in the Tuotuo River basin, western China, have been monitored in recent decades by applying topographical maps and high-resolution satellite images. Results indicate that most of glaciers in the Tuotuo River basin have retreated in the period from 1968/1971 to 2001/2002, and their shrinkage area is 3.2% of the total area in the late 1960s. To assess the influence of glacier runoff on river runoff, a modified degree–day model including potential clear-sky direct solar radiation has been applied to the glaciated regions of the river basin over the period 1961–2004. It was found that glacier runoff has increased in the last 44 years, especially in the 1990s when a two-thirds increase in river runoff was derived from the increase in glacier runoff caused by loss of ice mass in the entire Tuotuo River basin.     

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.     

Effective livelihood adaptation to climate change disturbance: Scale dimensions of practice in Mozambique

Natural resource-dependent societies in developing countries are facing increased pressures linked to global climate change. While social-ecological systems evolve to accommodate variability, there is growing evidence that changes in drought, storm and flood extremes are increasing exposure of currently vulnerable populations. In many countries in Africa, these pressures are compounded by disruption to institutions and variability in livelihoods and income. The interactions of both rapid and slow onset livelihood disturbance contribute to enduring poverty and slow processes of rural livelihood renewal across a complex landscape. We explore cross-scale dynamics in coping and adaptation response, drawing on qualitative data from a case study in Mozambique. The research characterises the engagements across multiple institutional scales and the types of agents involved, providing insight into emergent conditions for adaptation to climate change in rural economies. The analysis explores local responses to climate shocks, food security and poverty reduction, through informal institutions, forms of livelihood diversification and collective land-use systems that allow reciprocity, flexibility and the ability to buffer shocks. However, the analysis shows that agricultural initiatives have helped to facilitate effective livelihood renewal, through the reorganisation of social institutions and opportunities for communication, innovation and micro-credit. Although there are challenges to mainstreaming adaptation at different scales, this research shows why it is critical to assess how policies can protect conditions for emergence of livelihood transformation.     

IUPA: a tool for the evaluation of the general usefulness of practices for adaptation to climate change and variability

A prototype multi-purpose index is proposed for use in the evaluation of practices for adaptation to climate variability and change. The Index of Usefulness of Practices for Adaptation (IUPA) allows the user to assign weights and scores to a set of user-defined evaluation criteria. Individual criterion scores are aggregated into a final index value. Both the final value and the individual parameter scores provide useful information for improved decision making in the context of climate change. An innovative aspect of IUPA is that guidance is given to the user through the inclusion of recommendations on evaluation criteria and criterion-specific weight factors. These have been defined by a panel of experts from the Latin-American and Caribbean Region (LAC). Application of the index is demonstrated for an existing adaptation practice from the Coquimbo Region, Chile. The IUPA tool is recommended for use in the evaluation of adaptation practices in their design, implementation and post-implementation phase. It is practical for a quick first assessment or when limited financial resources are available, making the tool especially useful for practitioners in the developing world. The index is flexible both from the perspective of its construction and use. Additional expert opinions can easily be included in the future versions of the tool.     

A 7000-year record of environmental change,including early farming impact,based on lake-sediment geochemistry and pollen data from County Sligo,western Ireland

Detailed, chronologically tightly constrained, lake-sediment-based geochemical and pollen records have enabled local changes in soil erosion, woodland cover and composition, and prehistoric farming impact to be reconstructed in considerable detail. The profile opens shortly after 7800 BC when tall canopy trees were well-established and presumably in equilibrium with their environment. A distinct perturbation that involved an increase in pine and birch, a decrease in oak and a minor opening-up of the woodland is regarded as the local expression of the 8.2 ka climate anomaly. Lack of response in the geochemical erosional indicators is interpreted as evidence for drier conditions. A short-lived, over-compensation in climate recovery followed the 8.2 ka event. Neolithic farming impact is clearly expressed in both the pollen and geochemical data. Both datasets indicate that Neolithic impact was concentrated in the early Neolithic (3715–3440 BC). In the interval 3000–2700 BC there appears to have been a break in farming activity. The pollen data suggest substantially increased farming impact (both arable and pastoral) in the Bronze Age, with maximum farming and woodland clearances taking place in the late Bronze Age (1155–935 BC). These developments are poorly expressed in the geochemical record, possibly due to within-lake changes.     

水沙调节后荆江典型河道横向调整过程的响应——Ⅱ.上、下荆江调整差异初探

三峡水库2003年6月蓄水运用后,下游河道水沙过程已发生大幅变化,对于岸滩抗冲性较弱的荆江河道来说,河道的横向调整过程势必受到影响。采用考虑岸滩崩塌的河势研究数值模型,针对三峡水利枢纽工程运行所引发的水沙变异过程,初步探讨了荆江典型河道横向调整及河势变化对水沙条件变化的响应。对于下荆江石首河段来说,来沙减少后,冲刷加剧,局部河岸坍塌及平面变形加剧,主要发生在受弯道水流顶冲的位置,但河势演变趋势及平面变形总体上基本一致,并未发生较大变化。对于上荆江沙市—新厂河段来说,来沙量减小后,河道平面变形幅度总体上减小,局部最大减幅可达50%左右。