Spatial analysis of anthropogenic impact on karst geomorphology (Slovenia)

The objective of this contribution is analyzing, visualizing, interpreting and discussing the impacts of anthropogenic influences on karst geomorphology through various geomorphologically based environmental indicators. The primary data sources are digital terrain models (DTMs) as continuous surface data, supported by aerial photographs, satellite images, topographic maps and databases of natural and anthropogenic features. The sources are supplemented by written information about surface changes and in situ inspections. Spatial analyses as quantitative methods in combination with enhanced visualizations as qualitative methods performed in a geographical information system (GIS) on different data sets are introduced as an important methodology. This enables explaining many anthropogenic influences on the terrain surface (landform), which were not perceived before by classical surveying techniques and verifications.     

祁连山西段测震指标异常综合应用

通过对1980年以来至今14个指标的全时间扫描,并使用祁连山西段地区Ms5．0地震进行对应。结果表明,选取A值、AC值、A（b）值、b值、Mf值和地震活动度S值进行同步异常分析,能显著提高祁连山西段地区的有震报震率,但有漏报。对目前地区异常集中区进行时间扫描,结果显示,祁连山西段地区出现同步异常,认为2012年或稍长时期有发生Ms≥5．0中强震的可能。     

Benthic indicators: From subjectivity to objectivity - Where is the line?

Over the last few years, the interest in using benthic indicators to assess marine environments has increased dramatically after a rather long period of relative stagnation, mostly due to the need to assess the status of coastal marine waters required by North American and European regulations. Numerous papers on this topic have been published in the domain of ecology, using a variety of different terms to refer to two categories of information: benthic species and the status of benthic communities. Nowadays, the abundant literature on these two categories makes it possible to comment on (1) the definition of the different terms used by benthic researchers, (2) the current increase of papers of rising complexity about benthic indicators, and (3) the subjectivity and objectivity involved in using benthic indicators. Faced with the increase in the number of methods, we recommend pragmatism and thus the transfer of simple methods to the research consultancies that are responsible for assessing benthic quality in numerous impact studies. Using certain procedures, such as the “sentinel species”, the best professional judgement (BPJ) and taxonomic sufficiency (TS), should clearly be encouraged.     

Constraining Holocene sea levels using U‐Th ages of phreatic overgrowths on speleothems from coastal caves in Mallorca (Western Mediterranean)

Phreatic overgrowths on speleothems (POS) are carbonate formations deposited at the water table of caves in unique karstic coastal settings having morphologies that can be directly related to sea level at the time of formation. The U‐Th ages of calcite and aragonite overgrowths collected from the modern water table in coastal caves on Mallorca (Cova de Cala Varques A and Cova des Pas de Vallgornera) were determined using high‐precision MC‐ICPMS techniques. U‐Th ages indicate that phreatic carbonate deposition occurred between ca 2·8 and at least 0·6 ka BP and are in accord with an archeologically estimated age of 3·7–3·0 ka BP for a drowned prehistoric construction at a depth of 1 m below current sea level in a cave from the same area. Speleothem δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O and chemical composition of cave pools provide supportive evidence that POS reflect mixing between seawater and brackish water table. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Statistical characteristics of flow as indicators of channeling in heterogeneous porous and fractured media

We introduce two new channeling indicators D_ic and D_cc based on the Lagrangian distribution of flow rates. On the basis of the participation ratio, these indicators characterize the extremes of both the flow-tube width distribution and the flow rate variation along flow lines. The participation ratio is an indicator biased toward the larger values of a distribution and is equal to the normalized ratio of the square of the first-order moment to the second-order moment. Compared with other existing indicators, they advantageously provide additional information on the flow channel geometry, are consistently applicable to both porous and fractured media, and are generally less variable for media generated using the same parameters than other indicators. Based on their computation for a broad range of porous and fracture permeability fields, we show that they consistently characterize two different geometric properties of channels. D_ic gives a characteristic scale of low-flow zones in porous media and a characteristic distance between effectively flowing structures in fractured cases. D_cc gives a characteristic scale of the extension of high-flow zones in porous media and a characteristic channel length in fractured media. D_ic is mostly determined by channel density and permeability variability. D_cc is, however, more affected by the nature of the correlation structure like the presence of permeability channels or fractures in porous media and the length distribution in fracture networks.     

The dynamics of tourist excursion ratios in Slovakia show caves from 2000 to 2014

Show caves are one of the most important targets in developing local ecotourism strategies. This work focuses on a tourism visit rate incidence through an Attractiveness Index concerning 12 selected show caves in Slovakia. Our study focuses on visitor counts published from 2000 to 2014. A set of eight criteria were selected in order to analyse and determine the appeal that each cave may have for visitors. Establishing the “degree” of appeal as an indicator of the tourism and geographic absolute attractiveness value is based on a principal components factor analysis; the resultant single factor was correlated with our selected criteria. We find a strong correlation between touristic cave attractiveness and cave locations, ease of cave passage access (vehicle and trail) infrastructures, cave location in main tourism regions, and the growth of urban areas as they encroach on show cave locations. Similar studies in valorization of show caves tourism have not been attempted in Slovakia or Eastern Europe. The data and result from this study are also clearly important from a managerial perspective. This general framework could be easily expanded to include additional attributes that might be relevant for other market segments or other vacation experiences.     

The validity of the monocentric city model in a polycentric age: US metropolitan areas in 1990, 2000 and 2010

In this article, we use local indicators of spatial association (LISA) and other spatial analysis techniques to analyze the distribution of centers with high employment density within metropolitan areas. We examine the 359 metropolitan areas across the United States at three points in time (1990, 2000, and 2010) to provide a spatio-temporal panoramic of urban spatial structure. Our analysis highlights three key findings. (1) The monocentric structure persists in a majority of metropolitan areas: 56.5% in 1990, 64.1% in 2000, and 57.7% in 2010. (2) The pattern of employment centers remains stable for most metropolitan areas: the number of centers remained the same for 74.9% of metropolitan areas between 1990 and 2000 and for 85.2% between 2000 and 2010. (3) Compared with monocentric metropolitan areas, polycentric metros are larger and more dense, with higher per-capita incomes and lower poverty rates.     

A land-use-based modelling chain to assess the impacts of Natural Water Retention Measures on Europe’s Green Infrastructure

This article details the process of integrating models to answer a specific policy-driven question: ‘What could be the impact of proposed Natural Water Retention Measures (NWRMs) on Europe’s Green Infrastructure (GI)?’ It describes the new Land Use Modelling Platform (LUMP), now enabling a high spatial scale (100-m) and large coverage (pan-European), whereby several sector-specific models contribute to assessing the impact of regional-level policy on a given spatial topic of concern. The configuration (land claims and land allocations modules) and calibration (accessibility and biophysical suitability) of the LUMP are explained. Four NWRM scenarios (riparian areas, afforestation, grassland and baseline scenario) are configured to run the simulations. For the reference: year 2006, the spatial representation of GI is based on land-use features of a refined version of the CORINE Land Cover (CLC), and resumed as connected components made of nodes and links.

Mathematical morphological image processing and network graph theory model, available from the free software package GUIDOS (the Joint Research Center of the European Commission), enabled the measurement of the GI connectivity and identified most critical links. Results show that the competition for land claimed by different economic sectors, combined with policy-driven rule-sets for the implementation of different NWRMs, yields very different results for the 2030 land-use projections, and subsequently for the morphology of GI. Three indicators associated with the morphology of GI are computed in order to assess the model outputs for 2030. The indicators are computed to answer the following questions: (1) How is the quantity of GI affected by each of the NWRM, and what proportion of that GI is most valuable? (2) What is the location of the most critical nodes and connectors of GI, and what land-use conversions occur under these? (3) Are the average components getting larger or smaller?

Whereas the grassland measure results in the largest net increase of GI, the afforestation measure results in the overall largest number of hectares of key nodes and links within the network. Land conversions occur under the critical GI nodes and links, with a large increase in agricultural areas, especially for the riparian measure under critical nodes and the grassland measure under critical links. Also predominant is the swapping of land from pasture to forest under critical links with the afforestation measure. The riparian measure most increases the average size of GI components, and all three measures contribute to bridging two large components which were divided in the 2006 land-use map, thus increasing the size of the largest component by more than 50%.     

福建省顺昌县山后铅锌矿床地质特征及找矿标志

[摘 要]山后铅锌矿床位于福建省顺昌县高阳乡境内,目前已发现12 个铅锌矿体和3 个低品位矿体,矿体呈层状、似层状、透镜状产于F₁₃、F₁₄断裂之间的东岩组透辉(透闪) 石岩中,铅+锌品位7.21×10^-2,求得铅+锌(332)+(333)金属量12.46 万吨,矿床达中型规模。通过对山后铅锌矿的地层、构造、岩体以及围岩蚀变等地质特征分析,认为铅锌矿体受东岩组绿片岩层位控制,并受热液叠加改造,属海底火山喷发-沉积变质(热液改造)块状硫化物型矿床;总结出中-晚元古代东岩组绿片岩层、地表矿体氧化后常见有黑色的褐铁矿斑点、围岩常伴有绿泥石化、绿帘石化、黄铁矿化、硅化等蚀变以及物化探异常等找矿标志,其对省内乃至华南地区寻找同类型矿床具重要意义。     

Ductile Shearing in Attur Shear Zone and its Relation with Moyar Shear Zone, South India

In the eastern part of southern Peninsular India, the charnockitic hills of the Madras block are cut across by the E-W trending Attur shear zone (ASZ) which is characterised by a thick (1 to 1.5 km) phyllonite zone, showing intense mylonitisation due to ductile shearing. Steeply plunging (70°–80°) stretching lineation on steeply dipping mylonitic foliation within this zone indicates a relative vertical upliftment of the adjacent blocks. A dextral shearing event from west to east is envisaged from the kinematic analysis of shear sense indicators such as S-C fabric, asymmetric folds, asymmetric augens and asymmetric porphyroclasts. Simultaneous development of these features, related to vertical and horizontal movements may be explained by the mechanism of transpressional deformation. The Attur shear zone may be correlated with the Moyar shear zone based on distinct lithological and structural similarities.