Une méthode de quantification de la dégradation d'un escarpement de faille au cours des cycles climatiques du Quaternaire : la faille de Jobourg (Nord Cotentin,France)Quantification of a fault-scarp degradation through Quaternary: the Jobourg fault (North Cotentin,France)

The degradation of the Jobourg fault-scarp occurred by cryoclastic processes in a periglacial environment during a part of Quaternary time. An attempt of quantification indicates a bulk scarp erosion of about 39 m³ m^?2, while the head accumulated at the bottom of the fault scarp only represents 4.6 m³ m^?2. To cite this article: M. Font et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 171–178.     

LAND DEGRADATION AND ITS MANAGEMENT IN THE ARID AND SEMI ARID AREAS OF CHINA

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青海高原冻土退化的若干事实揭示

利用地理信息系统技术和数理统计学方法,分析了青海高原冻土分布的时空演变规律,揭示了其退化的若干事实.研究表明:季节冻土和多年冻土在青海高原分布十分广泛;季节冻土具有显著的年内变化特征,冻土的融化过程通常较冻结过程复杂的多,且与地形因子和土壤特性等具有密切的关系.近几十年来,冻土表现为地温显著升高、冻结持续日数缩短、最大冻土深度减小和多年冻土面积萎缩、季节冻土面积增大以及冻土下界上升等总体退化的趋势.     

Biodegradation and environmental behavior of biodiesel mixtures in the sea: An initial study

Biodiesel, a mixture of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) derived from animal fats or vegetable oils, is rapidly moving towards the mainstream as an alternative source of energy. However, the behavior of biodiesel, or blends of biodiesel with fossil diesel, in the marine environment have yet to be fully understood. Hence, we performed a series of initial laboratory experiments and simple calculations to evaluate the microbial and environmental fate of FAMEs. Aerobic seawater microcosms spiked with biodiesel or mixtures of biodiesel and fossil diesel revealed that the FAMEs were degraded at roughly the same rate as n-alkanes, and more rapidly than other hydrocarbon components. The residues extracted from these different microcosms became indistinguishable within weeks. Preliminary results from physical-chemical calculations suggest that FAMEs in biodiesel mixtures will not affect the evaporation rates of spilled petroleum hydrocarbons but may stabilize oil droplets in the water column and thereby facilitate transport.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987111000405

This study has focused on the processes of soil degradation and chemical element concentration in tea-growing regions of Rwanda, Africa. Soil degradation accelerated by erosion is caused not only by topography but also by human activities. This soil degradation involves both the physical loss and reduction in the amount of topsoil associated with nutrient decline. Soil samples were collected from eleven tropical zones in Rwanda and from variable depth within each collecting site. Of these, Samples from three locations in each zone were analyzed in the laboratory, with the result that the pH of all soil samples is shown to be less than 5 (pH < 5) with a general average of 4.4. The elements such as iron (Fe), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn) are present in high concentration levels. In contrast calcium (Ca) and sodium (Na) are present at low-level concentrations and carbon (C) was found in minimal concentrations. In addition, elements derived from fertilizers, such as nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), and potassium (K) which is also from minerals such as feldspar, are also present in low-level concentrations. The results indicate that the soil in certain Rwandan tea plantations is acidic and that this level of pH may help explain, in addition to natural factors, the deficiency of some elements such as Ca, Mg, P and N. The use of chemical fertilizers, land use system and the location of fields relative to household plots are also considered to help explain why tea plantation soils are typically degraded.     

Siltation analysis in the Neyyar reservoir and forest degradation in its catchment: a study from Kerala state, India

 Impact of catchment erosion and the resultant reservoir siltation from a tropical environment is reported here to discuss the effect of a reservoir in the natural degradation of an evergreen-forested segment. While an area of 8.01 km² has been affected by direct inundation at the full reservoir level, another 2.6 km² area once under thick forest cover, had also lost its identity over the last 38 years by indirect degradation. This zone mainly falls in the confluence of tributaries, namely Neyyar and Mullayar, with the reservoir. The capacity of the reservoir was found to be reduced by 28.8 Mm³ during this period and the annual average loss is calculated as 0.75 Mm³ (0.71%), indicating the intensity of erosion from the catchment zone. In case the proposed upper dam in the reservoir comes into existence, an additional area of 2.4 km² from the virgin forest would be submerged and more area would face degradation around the inundated zone. Received: 29 July 1998 · Accepted: 16 November 1998     

Emerging coral diseases: a temperature‐driven process?

In the last few decades there has been a surge in research focusing on coral disease. While climate change, specifically rising sea surface temperature, has been proposed as a major and growing driver of the emergence of marine diseases, to date a solid connection between disease epizootics and elevated sea surface temperature has not been established. However, a wealth of data now exists, compiled from many different perspectives, that may support such a connection. In this work we provide a comprehensive review targeting one coral disease, black band disease, that spans the infection process, pathobiology, and epizootiology, and links specific mechanisms of the disease process to increasing temperatures. This temperature‐driven pattern of infection can be expanded to include similar processes associated with other temperature‐related coral diseases. The conclusions presented here are based upon the results of many studies using a diverse suite of approaches that have been synthesized to argue that the emergence and continuing spread of black band disease is linked to warming sea surface temperatures. In summary, as global ocean temperatures increase seasonally and over decades, the environment shifts to become more favorable for the growth of potentially pathogenic microorganisms endemic to the immediate environment of the reef. The increase in the relative number of potential pathogens in the microbial community produces microenvironments conducive to the growth of other potential pathogens, leading to infection by a polymicrobial consortium. This consortium is easily perturbed by a (seasonal) temperature decrease, but remains associated with the coral host and can be reactivated with a subsequent seasonal increase in temperature, resulting in a cycle of temperature‐dependent disease emergence.     

碳纳米管和纳米二氧化钛复合光催化剂处理海洋柴油污染的研究

利用溶胶凝胶法自制了碳纳米管和纳米二氧化钛的复合光催化剂,采用投射电子显微镜和X光衍射仪对粉体的粒径、物象、形貌和热稳定性等进行表征。通过研究光照条件、催化剂的投加量、油的初始浓度、催化剂制备的煅烧条件等因素,考察了自制碳纳米管和纳米二氧化钛的复合催化剂对降解模拟海洋柴油污染的海水去除率的影响。研究发现,在可见光照条件下,400℃煅烧2 h的复合催化剂,投加量为0.4 g/L、柴油的初始浓度为0.6 g/L、反应的光照时间为4 h时效果最好,去除率可达到67.65%。     

Land use change and its ecological effect in Qian'an County of Jilin Province

Based on GIS and statistical methods, with the help of searching historical literatures and calculating the landscape indices, the land use changes of Qian'an County in both spatial and temporal aspects from 1945 to 1996 has been analyzed in this paper. And the driving forces of land use changes and their ecological effects are discussed too. The main findings of this study are as follows: (1) Land use changed greatly in Qian'an during 1945-1996, characterized by a decrease in grassland, wetland and water bodies, and an increase in cultivated land, saline-alkali land, and the land for housing and other construction purposes. Grassland decreased by 175,828.66 ha, and cultivated land increased by 102,137.23 ha over the half century. Accordingly, the main landscape type changed from a steppe landscape to a managed agricultural ecosystem. (2) Results of correlation analysis show that the land use change in the study area was mainly driven by the socioeconomic factors.　(3) The ecological effects of land use change in the area are characterized by serious salinization, degression of soil fertility and the weakening of landscape suitability.     

Environmental degradation narratives in Madagascar: From colonial hegemonies to humanist revisionism

It is recurrently argued that political ecologists, by overlooking biophysical realities, misinterpret ecological interactions and underestimate environmental degradation. This article investigates the relevance of these critiques in the case of the Malagasy highlands. It is based on an analysis of three environmental narratives: a narrative developed by European colonists at the beginning of the century; a “modern” narrative developed since the 1980s by combining data from paleobotanists, archeologists and paleontologists; and a narrative developed more recently by political ecologists. I will show that biophysical realities were actually investigated by political ecologists in Madagascar, but that their interpretation differed from those of mainstream ecologists as a result of a different way of defining, characterizing and valuing the environment. With the aim of favoring a more comprehensive understanding of environmental degradation in Madagascar, I will propose to clarify the epistemological framework of political ecology, and to bring an objective nature back into its scope of enquiry. Far from weakening political ecology, this exercise will render the discipline more resistant to the counterattacks it has received, and more powerful for building a future that will answer to both social and environmental challenges.