Younger Dryas glaciolacustrine rhythmites and cirque glacier variations at Kråkenes, western Norway: depositional processes and climate

Kråkenes faces the open sea on the west coast of Norway. During the Younger Dryas a cirque glacier deposited a large outer and a smaller inner moraine in a cirque at the site and melt-water entered a small lake depositing glaciolacustrine sediments. The glaciolacustrine succession can be divided into three sub-units corresponding to the advance, the still-stand and the retreat phases of the glacier. The sediment succession contains both varves and other types of rhythmites, the latter being mainly deposited as turbidity underflows caused by localized slumping events. Lee-side accumulation of snow by wind and avalanching into the cirque was crucial to form and maintain the cirque glacier once summer temperatures were low enough. At maximum, the glacier likely was in equilibrium with climate. The initial retreat from the maximum position might have been triggered by fall-out of volcanic ash from Iceland, but the continued retreat was due to increased ablation season temperatures. The most rapid change in climate at the Younger Dryas/Preboreal transition occurred after the cirque glacier had melted away completely.     

The influence of land use change on karst water quality of Shuicheng Basin in Guizhou Province

The influence of land use and land cover on ecological environment is a focus of global change research. The paper chooses an industrial city-Shuicheng in Guizhou Province-as a study area because the karst water quality around the city is deteriorating with land use and land cover change. The natural susceptibility of karst water system is an important factor leading to karst water pollution. But land use and land cover change is also a main factor according to the chemical analysis of karst water quality and land use change. So it is a good way to protect karst water through rational planning and managing of land use and land cover.     

Research on spatial calculating analysis model of landuse change

The spatial calculating analysis model is based on GIS overlay. It will compartmentalize the land in research district into three spatial types: unchanged parts, converted parts and increased parts. By this method we can evaluate the numerical model and dynamic degree model for calculating land-use change rates. Furthermore, the paper raises the possibility of revising the calculating analysis model of spatial information in order to predicate more precisely the dynamic changing level of all types of land uses. In the most concrete terms, the model is used mainly to understand changed area and changed rates (increasing or decreasing) of different land types from microcosmic angle and establish spatial distribution and spatio-temporal principles of the changing urban lands. And we will try to find out why the situation can take place by combining social and economic situations. The result indicates the calculating analysis model of spatial information can derive more accurate procedure of spatial transference and increase of all kinds of land from microcosmic angle. By this model and technology we can conduct the research of land-use spatio-temporal structure evolution more systematically and more deeply, and can obtain a satisfactory result. The result will benefit the rational planning and management of urban land use of developed coastal areas in China in the future.     

Modeling Spatially and Temporally Complex Land‐Cover Change: The Case of Western Honduras*

This article presents an econometric analysis of land‐cover change in western Honduras. Ground‐truthed satellite image analysis indicates that between 1987 and 1996 net reforestation occurred in the 1,015‐km² study region. While some reforestation can be attributed to a 1987 ban on logging, the area of reforestation greatly exceeds that of previously clear‐cut areas. Further, new area was also deforested between 1987 and 1996. Thus, the observed land‐cover changes represent a complex mosaic of changing land‐use patterns across time and space. The analysis contributes to the literature on land‐cover change modeling in that: (1) it compares two econometric approaches to capture complex and often bidirectional changes in land cover from 1987 to 1996 as a function of agricultural suitability and transportation costs, and (2) it addresses techniques to identify and correct for spatial autocorrelation in a categorical regression framework.     

A Local Example of Land‐Use Change: Southern Illinois—1807, 1938, and 1993*

This article provides an analysis of a wetland site in southern Illinois from presettlement to the present. The study area is part of the Cache River‐Cypress Creek Wetland, which has international importance, as recognized by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Land‐cover data for 1807, 1938, and 1993 were created and analyzed with a geographic information system (GIS). Land‐use change by topographic setting (uplands, transitional, and bottomlands) and soil productivity was quantified and studied. Interviews with local experts informed this analysis. Results illustrate the complexity of environmental change and its driving forces. First, notable forest and swamp acreage was converted to cropland between 1807 and 1938 and, to a lesser degree, from 1938 to 1993. Second, there were land‐use variations by topographic region. Between 1807 and 1938, the largest transformation occurred in the uplands, with substantial acreage converted from forest to cropland. Between 1938 and 1993, however, agriculture decreased in the upland areas as hilly areas reverted to forest cover. At the same time, agriculture expanded in the bottomlands as this land was drained for farming. Third, there are interesting patterns within these categories of land‐use change, as soil productivity is an indicator of what lands were taken out of cropland and converted back to grassland and forest.     

Channel Bed Mobility Downstream from the Elwha Dams,Washington*

Dams are a major source of fragmentation and degradation of rivers. Although substantial research has been conducted on the environmental impacts of large structures in the United States, smaller dams have received less attention. This study evaluated the impact of two dams of moderate size, the Elwha Dams, on the downstream channel system using field data collection at river cross‐sections. The relationship of average boundary shear stress (τ_o) to critical shear stress (τ_cr) served as the basis for determining channel bed material mobility under the two‐year and ten‐year flood events. The channel had the greatest channel bed mobility at the natural cross‐section upstream from the dams, low bed mobility between the structures, and an increase in channel bed mobility in the low gradient river segment near the mouth of the river. Low bed mobility tended to be associated with a lack of channel system complexity, including reduction or loss of bars and low alluvial terraces and their associated young riparian communities. Although these run‐of‐the‐river dams do not modify streamflow greatly, the loss of sediment from the channel system has had a substantial impact on bed mobility and geomorphic and biotic complexity of the Elwha River.     

The Terrestrial NPP Simulation in China since 6ka BP

1. IntroductionAccording to the reconstruction of paleo-temperature based on δ18 O data of ice core in theGreenland (see Jouzel et al., 1987; Grootes et al.,1993; Blunier and Brook, 2001), the current inter-glacial epoch, the Holocene, began at ca. 11.5 thou-sand years before present (ka BP). Multiple sources(pollen data, macrofossils) reveal that the summer cli-mate in the Northern Hemisphere was warmer in theearly to middle Holocene (MH) (ca. 8-6ka BP) relativeto the present climate. …     

IGGOS as a potential partner in IGOS

This short note reviews our thinking on how IGGOS can best achieve a high status within the set of global monitoring programmes. If such a high status can be obtained, then the importance of geodetic networks and services will be recognized more widely, and their activities will consequently be better resourced in the long term. One particular aspect concerns how IGGOS can complement the roles of the various IGOS partners within global monitoring. The different ways in which IGGOS can contribute to IGOS are outlined.     

Postglacial topographic evolution of glaciated valleys: a stochastic landscape evolution model

The retreat of valley glaciers has a dramatic effect on the stability of glaciated valleys and exerts a prolonged influence on the subsequent fluvial sediment transport regime. We have studied the evolution of an idealized glaciated valley during the period following retreat of ice using a numerical model. The model incorporates a stochastic process to represent deep‐seated landsliding, non‐linear diffusion to represent shallow landsliding and an approximation of the Bagnold relation to represent fluvial sediment transport. It was calibrated using field data from several recent surveys within British Columbia, Canada. We present ensemble model results and compare them with results from a deterministic linear‐diffusion model to show that explicit representation of large landslides is necessary to reproduce the morphology and channel network structure of a typical postglacial valley. Our model predicts a rapid rate of fluvial sediment transport following deglaciation with a subsequent gradual decline, similar to that inferred for Holocene time. We also describe how changes in the model parameters affect the estimated magnitude and duration of the paraglacial sediment pulse. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.