Recent Trends in Geography Education in Louisiana

Geography at elementary and middle schools in Louisiana, USA., remains a social studies strand along with civics, economics, and history, with no state-required geography course at any level. But because schools may require more geography than the state standard, this research examines the extent to which K–12 students are exposed to geography in Louisiana, using an electronic survey and an interview with state department of education officials. Results suggest that geography remains underemphasized, but the 2011 implementation of new social studies standards, the Advanced Placement Human Geography course, and other initiatives offer promise for more geographically literate Louisiana citizens.     

Meeting the Challenge of Systemic Change in Geography Education: Lucy Sprague Mitchell’s Young Geographers

The history of K–12 geography education has been characterized by recurrent high hopes and dashed expectations. There have, however, been moments when the trajectory of geography education might have changed to offer students the opportunity to develop a thorough working knowledge of geography. Lucy Sprague Mitchell’s geography program developed in the 1920s and 1930s was brilliant in its conception and execution but it did not lead to large-scale systemic change. Analyzing the origins, development, and outcome of her program suggests the conditions that facilitate and inhibit systemic change, and therefore perhaps we can learn to capitalize on comparable moments in the future.     

The Pedagogical Benefits of SimCity in Urban Geography Education

This article investigated the pedagogical potential of the SimCity simulation game in an urban geography course. University students used SimCity to build their own cities and applied a wide range of theories to support their urban structures. Moreover, the students critically evaluated the logic and functioning of the SimCity simulation compared to real-world contexts and urban geography principles. The students believed the SimCity activity provided them with opportunities to promote their geographic creativity, resulting in diverse, unique, and interesting cities. The findings demonstrate that the use of SimCity can be an effective tool for geography education.     

Multi-factor sensitivity analysis on the stability of submarine hydrate-bearing slope

There are many factors affecting the instability of the submarine hydrate-bearing slope (SHBS), and the interaction with hydrate is very complicated. In this paper, the mechanical mechanism of the static liquefaction and instability of submarine slope caused by the dissociation of natural gas hydrate (NGH) resulting in the rapid increase of pore pressure of gas hydrate-bearing sediments (GHBS) and the decrease of effective stress are analyzed based on the time series and type of SHBS. Then, taking the typical submarine slope in the northern South China Sea as an example, four important factors affecting the stability of SHBS are selected, such as the degree of hydrate dissociation, the depth of hydrate burial, the thickness of hydrate, and the depth of seawater. According to the principle of orthogonal method, 25 orthogonal test schemes with 4 factors and 5 levels are designed and the safety factors of submarine slope stability of each scheme are calculated by using the strength reduction finite element method. By means of the orthogonal design range analysis and the variance analysis, sensitivity of influential factors on stability of SHBS are obtained. The results show that the degree of hydrate dissociation is the most sensitive, followed by hydrate burial depth, the thickness of hydrate and the depth of seawater. Finally, the concept of gas hydrate critical burial depth is put forward according to the influence law of gas hydrate burial depth, and the numerical simulation for specific submarine slope is carried out, which indicates the existence of critical burial depth.     

Revisiting the death of geography in the era of Big Data: the friction of distance in cyberspace and real space

Many scholars have argued that the importance of geographic proximity in human interactions has been diminished by the use of the Internet, while others disagree with this argument. Studies have noted the distance decay effect in both cyberspace and real space, showing that interactions occur with an inverse relationship between the number of interactions and the distance between the locations of the interactors. However, these studies rarely provide strong evidence to show the influence of distance on interactions in cyberspace, nor do they quantify the differences in the amount of friction of distance between cyberspace and real space. To fill this gap, this study used massive amounts of social media data (Twitter) to compare the influence of distance decay on human interactions between cyberspace and real space in a quantitative manner. To estimate the distance decay effect in both cyberspace and real space, the distance decay function of interactions in each space was modeled. Estimating the distance decay in cyberspace in this study can help predict the degree of information flow across space through social media. Measuring how far ideas can be diffused through social media is useful for users of location-based services, policy advocates, public health officials, and political campaigners.     

喜马拉雅淡色花岗岩——关键金属Sn-Cs-Tl的富集机制

关键金属是全球高科技产业不可或缺的战略性资源,其富集机制和成矿作用是目前国际矿床学研究的热点之一。我们对喜马拉雅带吉隆和亚东地区淡色花岗岩开展系统的地球化学研究,发现侵入到藏南拆离系的淡色花岗岩含有较高的Sn、Cs、Tl、Be、W、B、Li和Bi。全岩元素地球化学分析表明,这些淡色花岗岩具有如下特征：（1）富集关键金属元素;（2）为原始岩浆经历斜长石、锆石、独居石、磷灰石、云母分离结晶作用后的残余熔体;（3）关键元素的富集和矿化与花岗岩高度分离结晶作用密切相关。随着分异程度的增强,岩浆变为富挥发分的高SiO₂体系,关键金属元素在残余熔体中富集,并且最后可能形成具有工业价值的矿床。由于地球化学特征的相似性,Cs和Tl呈类质同象替代钾、铷进入云母中。富集关键金属元素的花岗岩在时间上和空间上属于与藏南拆离系相关的同构造侵位花岗岩,藏南拆离系的活动促使了原始岩浆的广泛分离结晶作用,以及后期的关键金属元素（如Rb、Cs和Tl）的富集。     

模型揭示的浅水湖泊稳态转换影响因素分析

富营养化会导致浅水湖泊发生稳态转换,生态系统服务严重受损。磷是驱动湖泊发生稳态转换的重要环境因子,探究湖水磷浓度的变化规律是湖泊管理的关键。通过磷动力学模型,从影响湖水磷浓度的主要参数入手,探讨了每种参数变化对磷浓度的具体影响。结合前人研究结果,详细讨论了不同类型气候变化和人类活动对湖泊稳态转换时间、滞后时长、修复速率等的影响。研究认为,气候变化所导致的温度升高、光强减弱、风浪增强等和人类活动所导致的生物扰动、水位波动增强等因素变化虽不会改变湖泊稳态转换突变时间,但会推迟湖泊修复时间,造成突变阈值减小,滞后时间延长,稳态增大。在湖泊保护中要重点考虑主要外力驱动对湖泊稳态转换过程影响的区别,避免有害突变的发生。     

地理空间信息网格特征解析

地理空间信息网格这一重要的基础设施具有物理特征、基本特征和多方参与性等若干特征。详细分析、讨论地理空间信息网格的这些特征,对地理空间信息网格技术研究、地理空间信息资源共享、更加广泛地应用以及地理空间信息网格建设具有重要意义。     

Mobile-GIS中的数据组织模型研究

mob ile-GIS是GIS的全新发展领域,从应用的角度评述了移动服务中的数据特点和各种数据模型的原理及适用领域。不同的数据模型造成部门间数据难以共享,为此本文提出了一种集成数据模型,能使不同模型相互转化,提高数据共享程度。     

闽东北地区的历史地震调查

以闽东北地区为例,阐述了重大建设工程场地历史地震调查的新思路和研究内容:① 根据地区文化发展史和灾异记载状况,进行地震资料完整性考证;② 由实际记载资料进行历史地震影响状况评价,并复核确认破坏性地震的震中位置和强度. 按照这种新的技术思路开展研究工作,能够对历史地震调查赋予文化历史和可信时间域的内涵,增强了研究结果的科学性. 其目的在于促进历史地震调查更好地服务于工程建设.