A multi-scale study on land use and land cover quality change: The case of the Yellow River Delta in China

This paper presents a case study of the Yellow River Delta in China, to trace land use and land cover changes during the past 20 years, with an emphasis on land quality changes. Three sets of data are used in this case study: remote sensing data derived from satellite images; crop yield data from statistics; and soil data collected by the researchers in the field. Our study reveals that at the regional scale, LUCC has taken place in a positive direction: vegetation cover has been expanding and crop yields per hectare have been on rise. However, while the overall eco-environment has improved, the improvement is uneven across the Delta region. At local levels, some areas show signs of increased salinization and declining organic content. Both natural forces and human activities are responsible for the LUCC, but human activities play a more important role. While some impacts of human activities are positive, the damages are often long-lasting and irreversible. We also conclude that it is necessary to use both macro data (such as remote sensing data) and micro data (data collected in the field) to study land quality change. The former are efficient in examining land quality changes at the regional scale, the latter can serve to verify ground patterns revealed from macro data and help to identify local variations, so as to get a comprehensive understanding of LUCC and promote sustainable land use and land management. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Groundwater-flow modeling in the Yucatan karstic aquifer, Mexico

The current conceptual model of the unconfined karstic aquifer in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, is that a fresh-water lens floats above denser saline water that penetrates more than 40 km inland. The transmissivity of the aquifer is very high so the hydraulic gradient is very low, ranging from 7–10 mm/km through most of the northern part of the peninsula. The computer modeling program AQUIFER was used to investigate the regional groundwater flow in the aquifer. The karstified zone was modeled using the assumption that it acts hydraulically similar to a granular, porous medium. As part of the calibration, the following hypotheses were tested: (1) karstic features play an important role in the groundwater-flow system; (2) a ring or belt of sinkholes in the area is a manifestation of a zone of high transmissivity that facilitates the channeling of groundwater toward the Gulf of Mexico; and (3) the geologic features in the southern part of Yucatan influence the groundwater-flow system. The model shows that the Sierrita de Ticul fault, in the southwestern part of the study area, acts as a flow barrier and head values decline toward the northeast. The modeling also shows that the regional flow-system dynamics have not been altered despite the large number of pumping wells because the volume of water pumped is small compared with the volume of recharge, and the well-developed karst system of the region has a very high hydraulic conductivity. Electronic Publication     

Impact of Kiri dam on the lower reaches of river Gongola, Nigeria

Changes in Geomorphic characteristics in the lower reaches of the Gongola River channel following construction of Kiri dam have been investigated. The study focused on changes in the channel bankfull width and of riverbed width after the control of the river flow, variation in discharge characteristics between pre- and post- dam periods and the impact of discharge variation on post- dam river channel. Results of the analysis revealed that the main effect of the impoundment of the Gongola channel is a drastic decrease in flood peaks below the reservoir by 11.5% (from 1,420 m³/sec to 1,256 m³/sec). The low flows have on the other hand increased by 268% (from 5.7 m³/sec to 21 m³/sec). The resultant effect of decrease in the discharge was reduction in the channel bankfull and riverbed widths by 38.3% and 72.2% respectively. Also, the post- dam channel became less sinuous and braided in some of the reaches downstream. Discharges of high peaks were found during the period of maximum precipitation (June to September) whereas low discharges were recorded during the period of minimum or no precipitation (December to May). Some of the observed implications of the flow control on the geometric variables were reduction in the overall channel width, concave bank erosion and emergence of vegetation in some of the reaches.     

Origin of Gold—Bearing Fluid and Its Initiative Localization Mechanism in Xiadian Gold Deposit,Shandong Province

The composition of quartz inclusions and trace elements in ore indicate that gold-bearing fluid in the Xiadian gold deposit,Shandong Province,stemmed from both mantle and magma,belonging to a composite origin.Based on theoretical analysis and high temperature and high pressure experimental studies,gold-bearing fluid initiative localization mechanism and the forming environment of ore-host rocks are discussed in the present paper.The composite fluid extracted gold from rocks because of its expanding and injecting forces and injecting forces and flew through ore-conducive structures,leading to the breakup of rocks.The generation of ore-host faults and the precipitation of gold-bearing fluid occurred almost simultaneously.This study provides fur-ther information about the relationships between gold ore veins and basic-ultrabasic vein rocks and intermediate vein rocks,the spatial distribution of gold ore veins and the rules governing the migration of ore fluids.     

县市级政府决策信息系统的开发应用:专业GIS 软件SK set V4 .0功能介绍———以贵州沿河土家族自治县资源遥感信息系统为例

SK setV4.0是中国地质科学院岩溶地质研究所GIS中心2001年4月开发成功的、具有自主板权的专业GIS平台软件。它集成了现今较为先进的组件、控件重用，面向对象编程等技术，并以美国Inprise公司的BorladnC^ Builder编译软件为开发平台，提供了全中文菜单环境，不仅具有基本信息和多图层查询、相关分析动态监测、多因子分析、图斑编辑、自动演示、系统维护等功能，而且还具有快速响应的工具条、友好的对话框和较强的纠错机制，很适合缺乏专业GIS人才的县市级政府管理部门使用。文中还以贵州省沿河县资源遥感信息系统为例，对SK setV4.0的功能和使用方法进行了具体的介绍。     

The Quaternary evolution of the Gulf of Corinth, central Greece: coupling between surface processes and flow in the lower continental crust

The Gulf of Corinth in central Greece is an active normal fault zone with particularly clear evidence of isostatic footwall uplift, constrained by Quaternary marine terraces, and hanging-wall subsidence and sedimentation. It is bounded to the south by a Pliocene to Early Pleistocene sedimentary basin, which is now eroding into the Gulf. Previous work has suggested that the relief across this region has increased dramatically since the Early Pleistocene, due to the isostatic response to increased rates of footwall erosion and hanging-wall sedimentation. It is indeed assumed here that incision accompanying the draw-down of global sea-level at 0.9 Ma, during the first major Pleistocene glaciation, initiated the erosion of the basin south of the Gulf of Corinth and so abruptly increased the sedimentation rate in the Gulf. The resulting transient thermal and isostatic response to these changes is modelled, with the subsiding depocentre and eroding sediment source coupled by flow in the lower continental crust. The subsequent enhancement of relief, involving an increase in bathymetry from near zero to 900 m and 500 m of uplift of the eroding land surface in the sediment source, is shown to be a direct consequence of this change. The model is sensitive to the effective viscosity of the lower crust, and can thus resolve this parameter by matching observations. A value of 6×10¹⁹ Pa s is indicated, suggesting a viscosity at the Moho no greater than 10¹⁸ Pa s. Similar transient topographic effects caused by increased rates of sedimentation and erosion are likely to be widespread within the geological record, suggesting that this coupling process involving flow in the weak lower crust may be of major geological and geomorphological importance.     

Stability of earthquake moment tensor inversions: effect of the double-couple constraint

We show that spurious large non-double-couple components can be obtained in inversions for the full deviatoric moment tensor for shallow crustal earthquakes due to inaccurate Earth models. The traditional “best double-couple” solution does not in general provide an optimal estimate of a double-couple mechanism, and is only reliable when the non-double-couple component of the full deviatoric solution is small. The inverse problem for the moment tensors of the 1998 Antarctic Plate and 2000 Wharton Basin strike-slip earthquakes is shown in each case to have two well-fitting minima in the misfit function of pure double-couple solutions. Such pairs of solutions are most likely to exist for earthquakes which are close either to vertical strike-slip or to dip-slip on a fault plane dipping at 45°. It is shown theoretically that these pairs of solutions arise from the combination of the pure double-couple constraint and the instability of two elements of the moment tensor. No significant non-double-couple component is found for the shallow thrusting 1996 Biak, Indonesia earthquake.     

Milan: The city of constant renewal

Traditional models of urban development are no longer adequate to describe current metropolitan transformations. These are now at the centre of a debate concerning management and administration. In Italy, delays in resolving problems of urban and metropolitan government, despite the legal framework provided by Law 142/90, have weighed heavily on the larger urban areas of the country: Rome, Naples, Milan, which have not been able to tackle the issue of metropolitan government. Recent legislation, while not providing a pre-defined institutional solution, allows separate administrative districts to collectively establish metropolitan institutions of `variable geometry'. The Milan urban area is not one city, but a system of mutually-dependent cities, linked to each other and the rest of the world by a transport network still requiring much investment. The vitality of its economic structure (especially its small firms) is held back by seriously inadequate infrastructure and low external economic efficiency. The provincial capital may boast `historic centrality' but the most interesting potential for development is to be found on the periphery and in the administrative districts immediately surrounding it, in the recovery of derelict industrial areas and dormitory towns established in the 1950s and 1960s, especially to the north. Recovery of derelict areas, green areas, and better transport links within the urban area and with the outside world are the key elements in the reorganization of `Greater Milan'. In this situation of rapid transformation the most appropriate political strategies involve negotiated planning. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

华北地台北缘成矿带大青山绿岩型金矿地质特征

本文详细阐述了大青山地区绿岩型金矿的地质特征和找矿标志,指出金矿化带赋存在二道洼群大理岩与其它岩层的接触部位,同时受韧性剪切带控制,在大理岩褶曲部位或下层位有利于形成较富矿体。该类型金矿的发现,大大地拓展了在大青山地区的找矿空间。     

在"数字国土工程"中我区地学数据库建设的现状及发展趋势

近年来,在国土资源部的高度重视下,我区相继建立了一系列地学数据库。这些地学数据库的建立不仅为地矿行业提供了基础性数据,也加速了"数字国土工程"和国土资源信息化建设的步伐。随着信息技术的高速发展,利用地理信息系统(GIS)将各类地学数据有机地结合起来,形成地学数据应用与管理系统,最终通过网络服务于社会,必将是各类地学数据发展的必然趋势。