Short-Term Morphological and Shoreline Changes at Trinkat Island,Andaman and Nicobar,India, After the 2004 Tsunami

The tsunami waves generated during the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake of 26 December 2004 devastated the coastal area along Trinkat Island, causing sudden changes to the morphology of the landforms. This study uses a series of satellite images to record the short-term morphological response and shoreline changes as well as the recovery of coastal land after its destruction. Results indicate that the island experienced substantial erosion and a significant reduction in land area. Shoreline erosion is more prevalent than accretion at an average linear regression rate of ～?9 m per year between 2004 and 2013. The major morphological changes at Trinkat Island were observed in coastal inlets, beaches, and bay head-lands. Straight beaches had almost recovered eight years after the tsunami; however, erosion is continually observed in other areas. Our study will help understanding the response and recovery of shorelines in Indian Ocean regions after the 2004 tsunami.     

Seafloor Geomorphology and Processes on the Western Continental Margin of India based on Multibeam Acoustic Backscatter Data Analysis

An assessment of the multibeam sonar data of the central Western Continental Margins of India has been carried out to evaluate the seafloor geomorphology and processes by examining the geomorphological attributes e.g., slope, sediments, structures, etc. associated with geomorphic features. The variation in relief and the features located in the region have been mapped and interpreted collectively by utilizing several geospatial mapping tools. The backscatter strength across the area, apparently congruent with the local relief, has helped to examine the sediment movement on the seafloor. The prominent features found in the region include faults, pockmarks, mounds, submarine terraces, and submerged fossil reefs. Several areas with varying topography engender comparable fractal dimension at short scale breaks, and the probability density functions (PDFs) utilizing backscatter data depicting overlapping classes. The present study highlights how fractals and scale break parameters can be utilized to determine the seafloor processes and associated sedimentological dynamics in a complex geographical environment with strong bottom currents, seasonal upwelling, and faulted structure. The role and impact of the various geomorphic processes on the reworking of sediment movement and the overall progression of the seafloor morphology has been revealed for the first time in this part of the ocean bottom.     

Aesthetic evaluation of yardang landforms landscape: the Dunhuang Yardang National Geo-park example

Dunhuang Yardang National Geo-park,situated in the Gansu Province of northwestern China(40o25'36 "N–40o33'10" N,93o00'00 "E–93o13'30" E),was chosen as a research locality of aesthetics evaluation of yardang landforms landscape.The yardang landforms landscape is a composite structural system of patch-corridor-matrix,with four landscape unit elements as dense group,sparse group,single body and remnant.The study of the landscape aesthetics spatial pattern of Dunhuang Yardang National Geo-park shows that yardang dense group,sparse group and single body provide the greatest contribution to the aesthetic value of yardang landforms landscape.Yardang bodies are scarce,unique,irreplaceable,and priceless resources in yardang landforms areas.However,they are easily destroyed under the influence of the natural and artificial factors.Therefore,when the tourism potential of yardang landforms landscape is exploited,the protection should be fully improved.     

基于 DEM 对喀斯特地貌山地及水系信息的提取--以桂林阳朔县为例

以30 m分辨率的SRTM－DEM数据为基础,通过GIS的空间分析功能,首先对数据进行坡度分析,通过坡度分级法将山地与平原划分,自动提取出山地的信息,再运用碎斑处理结合TM影像对结果进行修正;其次,在ArcGIS的水文分析（ Hydrology）模块下对 DEM进行数字地形分析,提取流域特征。经分析得到了研究区域的山地及河网特征信息,并与实际地形及河流水系大致吻合,改进了传统手工和野外调查为主的提取方法,初步实现了山地、水系信息的自动提取,为研究区域社会经济更好更快地发展具有一定的参考意义。     

BOOK REVIEW

Eolian landforms as sandy dunes and dune heaps were mapped by the author in 1979–1980 in a zone where vegetation had been destroyed by a forest fire on 30 June 1976, in an area to the east of Elverum, south-east Norway. The mapped eolian landforms are discussed together with information from 40 samples of the eolian sediment. Winds, mostly from the north and north-west, were responsible for the development of these eolian landforms, utilizing the fluvioglacial sediments accumulated as a sandur during the retreat of the inland ice approximately 10,000 years ago. The winds were active during a short period of time, only a century or so before the area became vegetated.     

The impact of agriculture on solute and suspended sediment load on a Mediterranean watershed after intense rainstorms

The solute and suspended‐sediment load following five rainstorms (2005–2007) with varied intensities were studied at the Vernegà experimental watershed, north‐western Spain. Two land‐use areas are located within this watershed, the upstream one (forest) with 160 ha a 100% forested area, and the downstream one (agricultural) with 97 ha being 9 ha conventional agricultural field and 88 ha forest. This study investigates the capacity of each land‐use to yield water, suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and dissolved solid concentration (DSC). The hypothesis is that DSC and SSC from the agricultural area are greater than DSC and SSC of the forest area. Results showed that the agriculture area produced significantly greater mean DSC than in the forest area, the main contribution was the Ca²⁺ (24·68 ± 46·52 mg l^?1) ion at the agricultural area. A long‐term sediment production rate at the agricultural outlet was calculated (69·1 tonnes per 100 years) based on the total sediment discharge (TSD) and the recurrence interval of the largest event of the five rainstorms (October 2005). Geographic information system (GIS) spatial data layers of the watershed were produced to determine the relation of tracks, landforms, slopes and forest management to SSC yield in the forest outlet (133·89 ± 308·14 mg l^?1) during the five rainstorms. Agriculture practices are the main cause of soil erosion at the study area. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

五台山冰缘地貌植物群落的数量分类与排序

在野外样方调查的基础上,采用双向指示种分析法(TWINSPAN)和除趋势对应分析法(DCA)对五台山冰缘地貌植被进行了数量分类和排序研究,将五台山冰缘地貌植被分为13个群丛,13个群丛是不同冰缘地貌生态景观的重要组成要素,各群丛的群落学特征与冰缘地貌生境有密切的生态关系。DCA样方排序结果和种排序结果表明,五台山冰缘地貌植物群落分布格局是土壤、水分、热量等综合环境因子决定的。而不同冰缘地貌上植物群丛优势种的分布格局在很大程度上决定着植物群丛类型的分布格局,反映出植物群落类型和物种分布随冰缘地貌类型及环境梯度变化的趋势。     

GLACIAL GEOMORPHOLOGY OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS,CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA: ESTABLISHMENT OF A GLACIAL CHRONOLOGY

The White Mountains, astride the California-Nevada stateline, are the highest and westernmost of the Great Basin ranges. This range was extensively glaciated during the Quaternary Period. Glacial landforms and scattered erratics were identified in the field using primarily morpho-and lithostratigraphic criteria, and mapped on aerial photographs and topographic maps. Topographic characteristics of the glacial deposits were analyzed using standard statistical procedures. A sequence of glacial deposits was identified in terms of six glacial stages, these glaciations named according to type site, and relative ages inferred. With the exception of perched Stage I (early) deposits along the range crest, reconstructed equilibrium-line altitudes and elevation of the glacier termini increase to the present, with glacier length and inferred size decreasing through time. Preliminary data suggest that weathering and pedogenesis are also progressive, though environmental gradients mask some of these distinctions between deposits. It is hypothesized that the White Mountains have a similar glacial chronology to the adjacent Sierra Nevada, but that with the intensification of the Sierran rainshadow during the Quaternary, the extent of glaciation in the White Mountains apparently decreased through time owing to regional tectonic uplift. This had led to the preservation of a more complete sequence of glacial deposits than in the Sierra Nevada, making the delineation of multiple mid-Quaternary events possible in many valleys. Further radiometric and chronometric dating of these deposits is in progress. [Key words: Glaciation, Quaternary, glacial geomorphology, White Mountains, California, Nevada.     

Characteristics and Altitudinal Distribution of Periglacial Decay Phenomena in the Massif of Rondane,Central Norway

The Norwegian massif of Rondane is part of the Scandes Mountains and is subject to polar, oceanic and continental influences. Because of its climatic context and its quartzitic structure, the massif has one of the thickest functional periglacial belts in Europe (1200 m). This belt is not fixed considering its translation in altitude since the end of the Little Ice Age. This mobility is continuing and involves periglacial decay dynamics which are revealed by numerous and various periglacial forms in the field. Because of their frequency in the massif and also their sensitivity to climate fluctuations, earth patches and small non‐sorted circles have a diagnostic value for current periglacial climate fluctuations. The major aim of this study is to propose several indicators of this periglacial decay and to highlight its consequences on periglacial belt mobility because these landforms enable the delimitation of a critical belt of decay in the massif.