Automated Sizing of Coarse-Grained Sediments: Image-Processing Procedures

This is the first in a pair of papers in which we present image-processing-based procedures for the measurement of fluvial gravels. The spatial and temporal resolution of surface grain-size characterization is constrained by the time-consuming and costly nature of traditional measurement techniques. Several groups have developed image-processing-based procedures, but none have demonstrated the transferability of these techniques between sites with different lithological, clast form and textural characteristics. Here we focus on image-processing procedures for identifying and measuring image objects (i.e. grains); the second paper examines the application of such procedures to the measurement of fluvially deposited gravels. Four image-segmentation procedures are developed, each having several internal parameters, giving a total of 416 permutations. These are executed on 39 images from three field sites at which the clasts have contrasting physical properties. The performance of each procedure is evaluated against a sample of manually digitized grains in the same images, by comparing three derived statistics. The results demonstrate that it is relatively straightforward to develop procedures that satisfactorily identify objects in any single image or a set of images with similar sedimentary characteristics. However, the optimal procedure is that which gives consistently good results across sites with dissimilar sedimentary characteristics. We show that neighborhood-based operations are the most powerful, and a morphological bottom-hat transform with a double threshold is optimal. It is demonstrated that its performance approaches that of the procedures giving the best results for individual sites. Overall, it out-performs previously published, or improvements to previously published, methods.     

人为季节性河流的初步研究

由于人类引水量的激增,我国北方的一些天然常流河频繁断流,已经成为季节性河流。文中提出了人为季节河的概念,在分析天然常流河与天然季节河的形成条件的基础上,查明了人为季节河形成的敏感带和在这种敏感带中,常流河向季节河转化的条件。     

Seasonal variation and flux of dissolved nutrients in the Danshuei Estuary, Taiwan: A hypoxic subtropical mountain river

Comprehensive bimonthly field surveys were carried out from September 2000 to June 2002 to study the seasonal dynamics and the inter-annual variability of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN; nitrate, nitrite and ammonium) and dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) in a subtropical mountain river system, the Danshuei tributary, the largest urbanized estuarine system in Taiwan. The headwaters were found to be well aerated, saturated with oxygen, with low ambient DIN (<9 μM) and DIP (<0.2 μM) concentration. As the river flows through the city of Taipei, the river becomes hypoxic because re-aeration rates cannot keep up with elevated oxygen consumption, and the concentrations of DIP (7.53 μM) and DIN (390 μM) increase drastically. Conservative mixing was mostly observed for silicate while DIP and DIN mostly showed non-conservative removal characteristics. Silicate originates from weathering and erosion of bedrocks in the watershed, whereas nitrogen- and phosphorus-bearing nutrients come mainly from urban discharges. Ammonium is the predominant dissolved nitrogenous species, ranging from 10 to 1000 μM. The nutrient chemistry is complex and dynamic due to anthropogenic perturbations and reactions in the tidally mixed zone of strong redox gradients. On average, the annual loading rates of dissolved phosphate and dissolved inorganic nitrogen from the Danshuei River to the ocean are 0.1 and 3.2 Gmol/year, respectively, which represent 0.1% and 0.2% of the world's total river discharge of dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phosphate.     

Tidal mixing and trapping in mangrove swamps

Lateral trapping in mangrove swamps is a dominant process controlling longitudinal mixing in mangrove-fringed tidal rivers. In the dry season, the effective value of the longitudinal diffusivity is increased by the trapping effect by typically two orders of magnitude, from its value in the absence of swamps. In the wet season, freshwater is trapped within the swamp and the adjoining boundary in the tidal river, for long periods following the passage of a short-lived flood. This may have important ecological implications. A fluid-mud layer appears to be created by strong tidal currents over colloidal mangrove mud.     

江心洲平衡形态水动力条件的理论分析

江心洲在何种水动力条件下具有稳定的形态一直是河床演变学中的核心问题,采用河道形态变分分析方法,综合分析分汊型河流在水流连续方程、阻力方程、推移质输沙方程和总流能量方程控制下的自动调整机理。以长江中下游两汊不对称的江心洲为研究对象,将其形态概化为规则的等腰三角形,详细数理分析发现,主汊的分沙比大于分流比是这类江心洲达到平衡的必要条件。当分汊河道达到平衡状态时,江心洲的形态会随着汊道间水沙分配比例的调整而变化,且分流比与分沙比越接近,江心洲越窄长。另外,利用长江中游监利汊道的实测水沙资料对理论分析进行验证,结果表明,江心洲形态的理论计算值与相应的实测值符合程度较好,相对误差为9.0%左右。     

The job of the river

Earth scientists have traditionally conceptualized rivers and streams as geomorphic machines, whose role is to transfer sediment and to sculpt the landscape. Steady‐state relationships between sediment supply and transport capacity have traditionally been considered normative in fluvial systems. Rivers are hydrological entities, however, whose function is to redistribute excess moisture on land. The geomorphic work of the river – erosion, transport, deposition, etc. – is a byproduct of the hydrological job of the river. There is therefore no reason to expect any particular relationship between sediment supply and transport capacity to develop as a normative condition in fluvial systems. The apparent steady‐state equilibrium slope adjustments of rivers are a byproduct of four basic phenomena: (1) hydraulic selection, which favors channels and branching networks over other flux patterns; (2) water flows along the available path of least resistance; (3) energy dissipation; and (4) finite relaxation times. Recognizing converging trends of stream power or slope and sediment supply as common (but far from inevitable) side effects rather than self‐regulation has important implications for interpreting and predicting fluvial systems, and for river management and restoration. Such trends are variable, transient, contingent, and far from universal. Where they occur, they are an emergent byproduct of fundamental physical mechanisms, not a goal function or attractor state. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

资源-区位-贸易三大因素对日本游客入境旅游目的地选择的影响

外国游客人境旅游目的地的选择受多种因素的影响,具有较大的不确定性.本文从宏观视角出发,分别选取了旅游资源丰度、交通区位指数和贸易联系度三大因素,在广泛市场调查和总结已有成果的基础上,提出了入境游客目的地选择的三因素假设,即:旅游景点择高、空间距离择近和经济联系择富.并以日本游客入境中国旅游地域分布为例,系统收集整理了日...     

嗜酸小球菌对日本鳗鲡生长和免疫的影响

在饲料中分别添加3.0×108kg-1(A组)、1.5×108kg-1(B组)、1.0×108kg-1(C组)的嗜酸小球菌,制成3种实验饲料,以不添加嗜酸小球菌(D组)作为对照,饲养日本鳗鲡60d,以研究嗜酸小球菌对日本鳗鲡生长和免疫的影响。测定了增重率、饵料系数、成活率、血清中一氧化氮含量以及人工感染后的死亡率,并通过电镜观察了小肠壁细胞的微绒毛结构。结果表明A、B、C组和对照组的相对增重率分别为42.31%、75.42%、89.65%和40.32%,饲料系数分别为1.93、1.12、0.98和1.58,C组的相对增重率显著高于其他组,饵料系数则显著低于其他组,成活率也显著提高。电镜观察发现C组和B组的鳗鲡小肠细胞微绒毛排列整齐、细而长,吸收面积增大,从而提高了对饲料利用率,D组鳗鲡小肠细胞的微绒毛稀疏、短,排列不均匀。血清中NO的含量A、B、C组分别比对照组提高了23%、42%和73%。C组人工感染后的死亡率显著低于其他组。实验结果表明,在鳗鲡饲料中添加嗜酸小球菌可以显著促进鳗鲡的生长,降低饵料系数,增强其免疫力。     

长江中游地区第四纪河湖演变及其对环境的影响

第四纪以来，区内长江水系的演化和变迁经过了４个阶段，形成了丰富的资源，同时也是区内主要环境地质问题产生的根本原因，未来演变的趋势是湖群的进一步衰亡和荆江河段地上河继续抬升，这对区内环境潜伏着巨大威胁。     

Stock Structure Analysis of the Japanese Spanish Mackerel Scomberomorus niphonius (Cuvier, 1832) Along the China Coast Based on Truss Network

The Japanese Spanish mackerel Scomberomorus niphonius(Cuvier,1832)is widely distributed in the subtropical and temperate waters of the northwestern Pacific Ocean,supporting one of the most important commercial fisheries in China.However,ignoring the potential population structure changes induced by fishing pressure and climate change may undermine the population stability under the current management strategy.In this study,the population structure of the Japanese Spanish mackerel was investigated based on a morphometric truss network system.A total of 534 individuals were randomly collected from commercial gill nets spanning eight major spawning grounds in the Bohai,Yellow,and East China Seas during the peak spawning seasons respectively.A total of 17 measurements(including eye diameter)were conducted in each specimen and subjected to principal component analysis(PCA)and discriminant function analysis(DFA).The results of PCA indicated that the first two factors cumulatively caused 78.38%of the total morphometric variation and observable differences,primarily fin the caudal and trunk areas.The results of DFA revealed that the eight spawning groups can be divided into three stocks,i.e.,southern,middle,and northern stocks,with 68.7%of total accuracy.In contrast to previous studies,the spawning groups of the Japanese Spanish mackerel demonstrated a tendency to disperse to northern regions.In conclusion,this study found that to maintain the stability of the population structure and the total production of Japanese Spanish mackerel S.niphonius(Cuvier,1832),a newly revised management method should be developed and implemented.