Morphology and characteristics of radio pulsars

This review describes the observational properties of radio pulsars, fast rotating neutron stars, emitting radio waves. After the introduction we give a list of milestones in pulsar research. The following chapters concentrate on pulsar morphology: the characteristic pulsar parameters such as pulse shape, pulsar spectrum, polarization and time dependence. We give information on the evolution of pulsars with frequency since this has a direct connection with the emission heights, as postulated in the radius to frequency mapping (RFM) concept. We deal successively with the properties of normal (slow) pulsars and of millisecond (fast-recycled) pulsars. The final chapters give the distribution characteristics of the presently catalogued 1300 objects.Received: 5 December 2003, Published online: 15 April 2004 Correspondence to: Richard Wielebinski     

Morphologic evidence of active motion of the Zambapala Fault, Gulf of Guayaquil (Ecuador)

The Zambapala Fault Zone (ZFZ) is located at the link between the offshore structures of the Gulf of Guayaquil and the Guayaquil Caracas Megashear (GCM) that accommodates the northeastward motion of the North Andean Block. We use morphological observations of drainage offset to assess the active motion of the Zambapala Fault. The relation between the horizontal offset amount D of the stream channel and the upstream length L from the offset segment, and offset of beach morphology provide a measurement of the average slip rate of the motion of the fault to an accuracy of a fraction of millimeters per year. The drainage network is short, running down the southeastern slopes of the Zambapala Cordillera (297 m), a Quaternary dome uplifted along a positive flower structure. We measure the D (drainage offset along the fault)/L (drainage length from the fault) relation for the upper and more recent part of the drainage network. The relation suggests that the fault is active at present. Capture occurs along the middle slopes and channel straightening near the littoral plain, hiding part or most of the fault offset. The fault trace crosses the littoral plain, showing 35–40 m offset of the inner beach ridge, and delimiting variations of the beach morphology. The attribution of a maximum age of 5000–6000 years to the oldest beach ridge (the postglacial transgression) allows us to calculate a minimal mean slip rate of 5.8–8 mm year⁻¹. This result confirms that the Guayaquil Caracas Megashear extends to the Gulf of Guayaquil through the Zambapala Fault Zone, which accommodate at least 60–80% of the slip motion of the Guayaquil Carcas Megashear.     

Soil morphological variations on the Taoyuan Terrace, Northwestern Taiwan: Roles of topography and groundwater

To understand whether soils on the same geomorphic surface have similar properties, this study examines the morphology of soils developed on the 30-kyr-old Taoyuan Terrace, Northwestern Taiwan. Relationships among soil morphology, variations in the groundwater table, and soil forming processes were established based on field investigations and previously published datasets. The soil series in the study area can be grouped into seven types, including three homogeneous groups, two mottled groups, one gley group, and one reworked group. Fifteen hand-core samples collected in the field and borehole data were used to understand spatial variations in soil morphology. The results indicate that soil morphology on the southern Taoyuan Terrace changes systematically from the fore-edge to the back-edge: from red/orange soils to yellow soils, then to mottled soils, and finally to gley soils. The borehole data indicate that the groundwater table is generally parallel to the ground surface but drops significantly near the terrace fore-edge. This pattern matches with the observed soil toposequence, indicating that the pedogenic processes in the study area are mainly controlled by groundwater distribution determined by topography. Although soils on the terrace fore-edge have developed under the well-drained conditions that favor lateritization, at least two distinct soil types (i.e., red and orange) can be observed there, reflecting different geomorphological settings in a paleo-fluvial landscape. This work suggests that geomorphological and hydrological conditions should be examined carefully before using soil morphology for correlating geomorphic surfaces.     

Rapid morphological changes at the summit of an active volcano: reappraisal of the poorly documented 1964 eruption of Mount Etna (Italy)

While the eruptive record of Mount Etna is reasonably complete for the past 400 years, the activity of the early and late 1960s, which took place at the summit, is poorly documented in the scientific literature. From 1955 to 1971, the Central and Northeast Craters were the sites of long-lived mild Strombolian and effusive activity, and numerous brief episodes of vigorous eruptive activity, which led to repeated overflows of lava onto the external flanks of the volcano. A reconstruction of the sequence of the more important of these events based on research in largely obscure and nearly inaccessible sources permits a better understanding of the eruption dynamics and rough estimates of erupted volumes and of the changes to the morphology of the summit area. During the first half of 1964, the activity culminated in a series of highly dynamic events at the Central Crater including the opening of a fissure on the E flank of the central summit cone, lava fountains, voluminous tephra emission, prolonged strong activity with continuous lava overflows, and growth of large pyroclastic intracrater cones. Among the most notable processes during this eruption was the breaching of a section of the crater wall, which was caused by lateral pressure of lava ponding within the crater. Comparison with the apparently similar summit activity of 1999 allows us to state that (a) lava overflows from large pit craters at the summit are often accompanied by breaching of the crater walls, which represents a significant hazard to nearby observers, and that (b) eruptive activity in 1999 was much more complex and voluminous than in 1964. For 1960s standards however, the 1964 activity was the most important summit eruption in terms of intensity and output rates for about 100 years, causing profound changes to the summit morphology and obliterating definitively the former Central Crater.     

Morphology and propagation styles of Miocene submarine basanite lavas at Stanley, northwestern Tasmania, Australia

Miocene submarine basanite pillows, lava lobes, megapillows and sheet lavas in the Stanley Peninsula, northwestern Tasmania, Australia, are well-preserved in three dimensions. The pillows have ropy wrinkles, transverse wrinkles, symmetrical wrinkles, contraction cracks and three types of spreading cracks on their surfaces, and concentric and radial joints in the interior. The lava lobes have ropy wrinkles and contraction cracks on their surfaces. The megapillows are cylindrical with a smoothly curved upper surface and steep sides, and are characterized by distinct radial columnar joints in the interior. They are connected to pillows that propagate radially from its basal margin. The sheet lavas are tabular and have vertical columnar joints in the interior. The largest sheet lava shows a remarkable gradation from a lower 5-m-thick pillow facies to an upper massive facies. The pillows, lava lobes, megapillows and sheet lavas are inferred to have been emplaced completely below sea level but in a shallow marine environment. Their morphological features suggest that the pillows grew by episodic rupture of a near-solid crust and emergence of hot lava, whereas the lava lobes propagated by continuous stretching of the outer skin at the flow front. The megapillows and sheet lavas were master feeder channels by which molten lava was conveyed to the advancing pillows. The sheet lavas propagated by repeated processes of pillow formation and overriding by an upper massive part. Alternating pillow and massive facies commonly found in ocean-floor drill cores and exposed in cross-section in many subaqueous volcanic successions may have formed by propagation of pillows from the basal margins of advancing sheet lavas.     

The last British Ice Sheet: A review of the evidence utilised in the compilation of the Glacial Map of Britain

This paper reviews the evidence presently available (as at December 2003) for the compilation of the Glacial Map of Britain (see [Clark C.D., Evans D.J.A., Khatwa A., Bradwell T., Jordan C.J., Marsh S.H., Mitchell W.A., Bateman, M.D. , 2004. Map and GIS database of glacial landforms and features related to the last British Ice Sheet. Boreas 33, 359–375] and http://www.shef.ac.uk/geography/staff/clark_chris/britice.html) in an effort to stimulate further research on the last British Ice Sheet and promote a reconstruction of ice sheet behaviour based on glacial geology and geomorphology. The wide range of evidence that has been scrutinized for inclusion on the glacial map is assessed with respect to the variability of its quality and quantity and the existing controversies in ice sheet reconstructions. Landforms interpreted as being of unequivocal ice-marginal origin (moraines, ice-contact glacifluvial landforms and lateral meltwater channels) and till sheet margins are used in conjunction with available chronological control to locate former glacier and ice-sheet margins throughout the last glacial cycle. Subglacial landforms (drumlins, flutings and eskers) have been used to demarcate former flow patterns within the ice sheet. The compilation of evidence in a regional map is crucial to any future reconstructions of palaeo-ice sheet dynamics and will provide a clearer understanding of ice sheet configuration, ice divide migration and ice thickness and coverage for the British Ice Sheet as it evolved through the last glacial cycle.     

Evidence for active tilting of the NW-German Basin from correlations between fluvial landscape and geological subground

The catchment basin of the River Hunte (Lower Saxony, NW-German Basin) was studied on a mesoscale (length of ~90 km) to investigate the influence of the geological subground on modern morphology. A Geo Information System (GIS) was used to calculate linear correlation coefficients between the depth of geological strata (Base Zechstein to Base Quaternary) and the height of the modern landscape (Holocene Alluvial Plain, Lower Weichselian Terrace, catchment basin and watershed). High linear correlation coefficients between the Base of Tertiary and the height of the modern topography (catchment basin [r²=0.87], Lower Weichselian Terrace [r²=0.95] and Holocene Alluvial Plain [r²=0.95]) indicate control of the modern topography by the depth of the geological subsurface via tilting of the entire basin. Most likely northward tilting of the NW-German Basin forces the River Hunte to flow in a northerly direction by relative uplift of the hinterland (Wiehengebirge, Rhenish Massif) and subsidence of the North Sea area.     

Effects of dam operation and land use on stream channel morphology and riparian vegetation

Dams are well known for influencing channel and vegetation dynamics downstream, but little work has focused on distinguishing effects of land use and channel responses to the impoundment. In this paper, we examined interacting effects of a dam and land use on downstream changes in channel morphology and riparian vegetation along an agricultural stream system in northern California. Measurements of planform channel morphology, vegetation area, and land use were mapped along multiple stream segments based on a chronological sequence of historical aerial photographs over a 34-yr period prior to operation of the dam in 1983 and over a 17-yr period after dam operation, and compared to a nearby, undammed reference stream. A two-factor analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to examine the effect of the dam on changes in bankfull area, stream length, and riparian vegetation area while accounting for the effect of land use and distance downstream. The dammed stream's bankfull area contracted 94% after dam operation. Prior to dam operation, bankfull area decreased when land use area increased, but not after operation of the dam. Stream length varied 64% less after dam operation as a consequence of less frequent episodic channel migration and entrenchment. The area of riparian vegetation was decreasing during the pre-dam period, but then increased 72% after operation of the dam. Across time periods, decreases in the area of riparian vegetation were also associated with increases in land use area in both the dammed and reference stream. After operation of the dam, reduced peak discharges and sediment reduction likely lead to channel incision and constrained channel migration, which allowed vegetation to increase 50% on less accessible, abandoned banks. Rating curve and hydraulic exponent analyses based on stream gauge measurements corroborate statistical analyses of the mapped changes. In conclusion, we found that operation of the dam and land use patterns together influenced spatial and temporal changes in channel morphology and riparian vegetation. Use of a nearby undammed reference stream in conjunction with multivariable analysis of spatially and temporally replicated observations provided an effective framework for unraveling interacting effects of dams and land use activities on stream channel and vegetation dynamics.     

Channel processes following land use changes in a degrading steep headwater stream in North Island, New Zealand

In headwater streams in steep land settings, narrow and steep valley floors provide closely coupled relationships between geomorphic components including hillslopes, tributary fans, and channel reaches. These relationships together with small catchment sizes result in episodic changes to the amount of stored sediment in channels. Major sediment inputs follow high magnitude events. Subsequent exponential losses via removal of material can be represented by a relaxation curve. The influence of hillslope and tributary processes on relaxation curves, and that of altered coupling relations between components, were investigated along a 1.3 km reach of a degrading channel in the 4.8 km² Weraamaia Catchment, New Zealand. Extensive deforestation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, followed by invasion of scrubs and reforestation, induced changes to major erosion types from gully complexes to shallow landslides. Changes in the size and pattern of sediment slugs from 1938 to 2002 were analysed from air photographs tied to detailed field measurement. The rate and calibre of sediment flux changed progressively following substantive hillslope input in a storm in 1938. Subsequently, the channel narrowed and incised, decoupling tributary fans from the main stem, thereby scaling down the size of sediment slugs. As a consequence, the dominant influence on the behaviour of sediment slugs and associated relaxation processes, changed from tributary fans to the type and distribution of bedrock outcrops along the reach.     

一种城市形态中的空间可视分析方法

空间可视分析是空间句法的重要依据,是进行城市空间形态分析的新方法。在视域的行为指导原理上,采用可视集中性的概念来进行可视分析,进而通过可视分析各参数的具体量化,包括视域面积、视线长度等,将其应用到具体的城市街道形态中,分析各参数量化大小的分布情况。研究城市形态中可视分析通过“视域法则”影响人的行为,从而潜在决定城市内有关行人等基础设施的布局情况,现实中的设施分布也证明了这种分析的正确性。以武汉市中南地区为分析实例,说明上述各过程,验证城市形态对空间设施分布的影响。