A furrow runs through it: An example of sustainable traditional irrigation in Western Cape Province,South Africa

Water and water related matters are important issues in water scarce countries like the Republic of South Africa. This is especially true for the agricultural sector that relies heavily on the availability of water for irrigation to ensure a secure food supply. In South Africa, present day irrigation projects rely on government subsidies and are usually large undertakings beyond the reach of individuals or small communities. The sustainability of such large irrigation projects is still a matter of debate. A 100 years ago a different set of rules applied. Irrigation could only be achieved by hand-dug furrows that supplied water in relatively small quantities to small farming communities. This paper investigated such a small community, the Leeukloof farming community in the Western Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa. For the past 93 years this community has maintained a furrow that supplies water not only to farms bordering the Perdeberg River, which supplies the furrow with water, but also to farms not bordering the river. The authors try to reconstruct the changes in agricultural practices brought about by the furrow, methods of water extraction during each phase, as well as the development and role of the furrow system. The perception by the community of the necessity of this method of water extraction from the river system is also investigated. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

北京延庆北部地区后城组火山岩岩石化学特征与成因探讨

根据TAS图解 ,北京延庆北部地区后城组火山属于玄武粗安岩 流纹岩 (和粗面岩 )的双峰式组合。该套火山岩不属于典型的钾玄岩系列 ,在基性岩和中性岩中总体上以碱性系列和向碱性系列过渡的高钾钙碱性系列、钾玄岩系列为主 ,流纹岩类属于富钾质的拉斑系列。该套火山岩轻稀土元素明显富集。玄武粗安岩类岩石没有负铕异常或负铕异常不明显 ,而流纹岩存在明显的负铕异常。延庆北部地区后城组火山岩形成于燕山运动早期或中期阶段的造山变形事件趋于结束时的后碰撞构造环境中。     

新疆北天山中东段地区震源参数研究

本文首先利用经验格林函数方法证明了新疆北天山中东段地区的震源谱基本满足ω-2 模型。在此基础上 ,通过对S波观测谱中的噪音、仪器、路径、场地等影响的逐一消除 ,得到了研究区 10 5次ML2 5～ 5 7地震的震源谱 ,进而根据Brune的圆盘震源模型计算了地震矩、应力降、震源半径等震源参数。结果表明 ,这些地震的标量地震矩M0 与ML 震级线性相关较好 ,关系为Log10 M0 =1 10ML+ 17 2 0 ;震源半径在 10 0～ 15 0 0m之间 ;应力降介于 1～ 16 0bar之间 ,优势分布于 1～ 10 0bar。地震矩与拐角频率的关系呈现出两段趋势 ,可能表明了研究区震源的多重标度特征 :当M0 小于 4× 10 2 1dyne cm时 (相当于ML4 0地震 ) ,应力降显示出对M0 有依赖关系 ;当M0 大于 4× 10 2 1dyne cm时 ,地震的应力降不依赖于M0 。     

Rock albedo and monitoring of thermal conditions in respect of weathering: some expected and some unexpected results

Broadly speaking, there is, at least within geomorphic circles, a general acceptance that rocks with low albedos will warm both faster and to higher temperatures than rocks with high albedos, reflectivity influencing radiative warming. Upon this foundation are built notions of weathering in respect of the resulting thermal differences, both at the grain scale and at the scale of rock masses. Here, a series of paving bricks painted in 20 per cent reflectivity intervals from black through to white were used to monitor albedo‐influenced temperatures at a site in northern Canada in an attempt to test this premise. Temperatures were collected, for five months, for the rock surface and the base of the rock, the blocks being set within a mass of local sediment. Resulting thermal data did indeed show that the dark bricks were warmer than the white but only when their temperatures were equal to or cooler than the air temperature. As brick temperature exceeded that of the air, so the dark and light bricks moved to parity; indeed, the white bricks frequently became warmer than the dark. It is argued that this ‘negating’ of the albedo influence on heating is a result of the necessity of the bricks, both white and black, to convect heat away to the surrounding cooler air; the darker brick, being hotter, initially convects faster than the white as a product of the temperature difference between the two media. Thus, where the bricks become significantly hotter than the air, they lose energy to that air and so their respective temperatures become closer, the albedo influence being superceded by the requirement to equilibrate with the surrounding air. It is argued that this finding will have importance to our understanding of weathering in general and to our perceptions of weathering differences between different lithologies. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Landslide hazard in the Nebrodi Mountains (Northeastern Sicily)

The eastern sector of the Nebrodi Mountains (NE Sicily), a part of the Apenninic-Maghrebian orogenic chain, is characterized by an high landslide hazard. The village of S. Domenica Vittoria, which lies in the area, has been particularly affected by various landslide phenomena, with resulting damage to buildings and infrastructure.The rocks outcropping in the area belong to the Cretaceous Monte Soro Flysch; they consist of an alternation of argillaceous and calcareous beds at the base and argillaceous and quartzarenitic beds at the top. The lithotechnical characteristics of the formation and the steepness of the slopes in the area lead to an elevated instability, as testified by the widespread occurrence of sub-vertical arcuate cliffs (landslide scarps) and sub-horizontal areas (landslide terraces), typical of a landslide-controlled morphology. From a kinematics point of view, the observed phenomena can be referred to multiple rotational slides, flows, and complex landslides, often with a retrogressive development and enlargement. Triggering causes lie principally in the intense rainfalls that determine the decay of the geomechanical properties of the terrain and supply discontinuos groundwater circulation that is evident in seasonal springs. Human activity, such as the construction of roads and buildings on steep slopes and dispersal of water from supply systems and sewers has a significant impact as well.Due to the instability of the area, expansion of the village, which is already limited by the morphological conditions, is made difficult by the high hazard level, especially in the areas at higher elevations, where the principal landslide scarps are located, and even more on the rims of the scarps. Considering the high hazard level, S. Domenica Vittoria has been inserted by the National Geological Service among the sites in Sicily to be monitored by means of a GPS network. The survey carried out along the entire slope hosting the village has furnished the base for geological and geomorphological knowledge needed for the planning of the network, to identify the areas at landslide risk, where parts of the village lie, including the areas of expansion of the village, the main roads, and a portion of the Favoscuro river bed.     

新疆阿尔泰造山带构造作用的锆石裂变径迹分析

在新疆阿尔泰造山带所获得的19个锆石裂变径迹年龄变化于155-243Ma之间，明显地分为2组，分别对应于2个构造活动期，早期为155-189Ma，晚期为189-243Ma。这与磷灰石裂变径迹年龄反映的62-100Ma和100-160Ma两个构造期完全一致。早期和晚期构造活动期持续的时间分别为54-60Ma和34-38Ma，而这两个构造期之间的间隔时间，则从早到晚由83-89Ma变为89-93Ma。同时，锆石裂变径迹年龄与距特斯巴汗断裂和巴寨断裂的距离有关，反映这两条断裂带对区域构造演化的控制作用。     

河北省北部晶质石墨矿层岩(矿)石地球化学特征与成因分析

晶质石墨是一种新兴战略矿产。近年在河北省北部发现了多处大中型晶质石墨矿床,主要赋矿层位于新太古代崇礼上岩群、古元古代红旗营子岩群等,具有良好的成矿潜力。通过系统的野外地质调查与采样、分析测试工作,详细研究了赋矿层位的岩相学、地球化学特征,并对碳质来源进行了分析。结果表明:赋矿岩石主要为含石墨黑云斜长变粒岩、片麻岩与透辉岩,原岩恢复以砂泥质碎屑岩、钙质沉积岩为主。主量元素含量变化较大, SiO₂含量为38.90%～80.42%, CaO+MgO为2.05%～31.93%, Al₂O₃为1.50%～15.34%;稀土元素含量为79.1～321.4μg/g, PAAS标准化分布模式一般具有右倾或较平坦分布特征, δCe略具负异常,部分具有δEu异常。微量元素特征指示沉积环境为滨浅海环境,部分地区存在富氧条件,局部为还原环境或存在热液加入。石墨中碳同位素值为–26.0‰～–20.7‰,主要来源于生物成因有机碳;大理岩碳同位素值为–3.8‰～1.1‰,主要来源于碳酸盐岩成因无机碳。区内晶质石墨矿层分布受到地层、岩性、岩相控制,含矿...     

大兴安岭天保工程区生态系统服务变化研究

利用Landsat和MODIS遥感数据和InVEST模型,评估了1990-2015年大兴安岭天保工程区实施前后生态系统土壤风蚀量、生境质量和碳储量的时空变化,并通过地理探测器方法对生态系统服务时空变化分布与趋势进行驱动因子探测和交互作用探测分析.结果 表明:①从空间分布来看,额尔古纳市南部、鄂温克族自治旗西北部、科尔沁...     

利用树轮密度重建新疆北部5-8月温度变化

利用新疆北部5个采样点的树轮密度年表主序列和新疆北部33个气象站观测气温平均值进行相关分析,结果显示其与新疆北部5-8月平均温度存在很强一致相关性,相关系数为0.667（p<0.001, n=49）。温度重建方程能够解释校准期（1960-2008年）内44.5%的温度变化方差。空间相关分析揭示该温度重建序列能够表征新疆北部过去353 a （1656-2008年）5-8月温度总体变化特征。重建序列揭示新疆北部5-8月平均温度大致经历了6个偏暖阶段,即1656-1664年、1667-1692年、1711-1734年、1804-1832年、1855-1956年、2000-2008年,中间为偏冷阶段,这些阶段中间多个小幅度变化。温度重建结果发现新疆北部温度变化与太阳活动、火山喷发有着紧密联系。温度重建序列与全球海温场的相关分析显示当西风带海区及热带大西洋地区的海温偏高时,研究区气温偏高。与海温、火山喷发和云量变化的相关分析都指示在西风环流的作用下,上述因子对于该地区温度变化有着重要影响。该温度重建序列在低频变化上与北半球气温具有显著正相关,说明中亚地区温度变化与北半球整体温度变化具有较好的一致性。