An assessment of land degradation in the Save catchment of Zimbabwe

The lack of reliable baseline information on land degradation is a hindrance towards its monitoring and mitigation. Of particular interest is the identification of areas susceptible to degradation. In this study, remote sensing and GIS technologies were applied to detect and map susceptibility to land degradation in Buhera district, in Save catchment, Zimbabwe. Data used included Landsat TM and ETM imagery for 1992 and 2002, agro-ecological zones, vegetation cover and population density. The study identified five preliminary categories of degradation susceptibility ranging from very high to low.     

The stiffness degradation and damping ratio evolution of Taipei Silty Clay under cyclic straining

The non-linear behavior of Taipei Silty Clay under cyclic strain loading was investigated through a series of undrained cyclic strain-controlled tests. The Ramberg–Osgood equation was used with our proposed stiffness degradation model to calculate degraded secant moduli. The proposed degradation model is simple in that it has only one more component than Idriss's model, the modulus ratio for the first cycle, which reflects the effects of the previous cyclic strain history and the current level of the cyclic strain amplitude, and can be used to describe softening and hardening behavior under irregular cyclic straining. It was found that the Ramberg–Osgood equation successfully predicts the damping ratio for small to medium strains. However, it overestimates the damping ratio for larger strains, so we suggest it can be corrected with a damping ratio index. In addition, the proposed equation for describing the evolution of the damping ratio provides the means to assess the variation for Taipei Silty Clay in the measured damping ratio with both the number of cycles and the strain amplitude.     

SPECIFIC DEGRADATION OF WATERSHEDS

An extensive database of reservoir sedimentation surveys throughout continental United States is compiled and analyzed to determine specific degradation SD relationships as function of mean annual rainfall R, drainage area A, and watershed slope S. The database contains 1463 field measurements and specific degradation relationships are defined as function of A, R and S. Weak trends and significant variability in the data are noticeable. Specific degradation measurements are log normally distributed with respect to R, A, and S and 95% confidence intervals are determined accordingly. The accuracy of the predictions does not significantly increase as more independent variables are added to the regression analyses.     

地下水有机污染的水文地球化学标志物探讨——以河南油田为例

经过野外现场调查和取样分析及室内研究得知南阳油田地下水已遭受不同程度的有机物污染，且污染范围可能进一步向油田南部扩散。根据近似地下水流线方向上地下水中总油质量浓度和Fe,Mn等无机组分的变化势态，结合含水介质化学分析结果，发现硫酸盐、Fe和Mn可作为地下水有机污染和地球化学标志物。在含水介质中Fe和Mn质量浓度较高的地方，地下水有机污染物降解速度快，含水介质中Fe和Mn的氧化物和氢氧化物的还原作用导致了含水层介质中Fe和Mn的缺乏和地下水中溶解Fe和Mn的积聚；在含水介质中Fe和Mn质量浓度低的地方，地下水中的有机物质量浓度并没有降低，相应地地下水中溶解Fe和Mn的质量浓度也很低。同时，由于有机污染物的存在使地下水中硫酸盐被还原，导致城下水中硫酸盐质量浓度偏低，且地下水中Fe对有机物污染的敏感性比Mn强。     

低山丘陵区土地利用方式对土壤质量的影响—以河北省遵化市为例

通过调查河北省遵化市低山丘陵区油松林、板栗、草地和坡耕地等典型土地利用方式对土壤养分和土壤容重的影响，土地取样取土壤表层0-20cm，结果表明，森林的砍伐以及随后的耕种显著增加了土壤容重并降低了大部分土壤养分。和林地相比，草地、当年开垦的农地、板栗和耕种3年的农地容重分别增加了13.3%，14.2%,27.5%,39.7%。除全磷外，板栗和耕种3年的农地土壤养分有显著下降，和林地相比，板栗有机质减少了60.7%，全氮减少了35.6%，全钾减少了21.3%，速效钾减少了57%；耕种3年的农地土壤有机质、全氮、全钾和速效钾则分别减少了62.9%,52.6%,31%和60%。土壤退化指数的计算结果表明板栗和耕种3年的农地土壤发生了较为严重的退化。     

西南地区山地不同土地退化类型特征及调控途径

土地退化不仅是目前全还需性的重大环境问题之一，而且也是重大的社会和经济问题之一，西南地区的土地退化是以水力侵蚀为主要动力形成的，文中简述了西南地区的土地退化状况，选择了4个（楚雄市、遂宁市，毕节地区及元谋县）山地不同土地退化类型进行分析，讨论了土 退化过程，提出了土地退化调控途径。     

绿洲演化与自然和人为因素的关系初探——以克里雅河下游地区为例

以位于塔里木盆地的克里雅河下游地区绿洲为例 ,论述了自然环境要素演变及人类活动对绿洲发育的重要作用。克里雅河下游地区的现代绿洲包括沿河岸分布的带状绿色走廊和河流终端干三角洲上的扇形牧业绿洲。依据对河流沉积物及古河道分析得出的结论是 ,在末次冰期晚期时 ,由于来自昆仑山的大量消融水的出现 ,克里雅河的绿色走廊横穿塔克拉玛干沙漠。类似的情况在距今约2 0 0 0年和小冰期时都出现过。这种大的变化是自然环境演变的结果。但是 ,近百年来特别是近 5 0年克里雅河下游牧业绿洲的严重退化是中游地区集中发展农业绿洲而增加引水量及下游地区过度砍伐所造成的。     

小兴安岭黑大公路沿线多年冻土分布及退化状态

黑大公路沿线多年土主要分布于黑河－北安段，属小兴安岭岛状多年冻土区，该区存在的多年冻土是晚全新世寒冷时期的产物，现处于欧亚多年冰土南界边缘，多年冻土发育在低洼、地表积水、塔头草生长茂密、草炭和泥炭发育的沼泽化湿地当中，沼泽湿地独特的热交换特性决定了其中发育的多年冻土处于退化的最晚阶段，冻土的退化在自然条件下可能依赖于由于至上的地下热流。多年冻土的地温剖面表现为零梯度曲且冰土温度接近于0℃，由此决定了多年冻土对人为活动干扰的敏感性。     

红壤退化中的土壤质量评价指标及评价方法

土壤质量评价与监测是评价土壤退化的重要工作,也是重新设计持续性的土壤管理系统的基础。目前缺乏统一的评价指标以及将各项土壤性质与土壤管理措施结合起来的评价方法。本文首先提出了选择红壤质量评价指标的原则,并从化学、物理学和生物学三个方面初步探讨了评价红壤质量动态变化可资采用的指标体系,综述了国内在南方丘陵区红壤质量演化的研究中应用的指标;最后从土地评价方法中选择了可用于红壤质量评价的方法,并简要综述了国际上最新的土壤质量评价方法。     

Hydrocarbon degraders from tropical marine environments

Analysis of 20 samples of marine mud and water around Mumbai resulted in the isolation of 17 bacteria and yeasts all of which were able to degrade more than 10% of the supplied crude oil. The yeasts strains were important degraders of the aliphatic fraction of crude. All the isolated yeasts belonged to the genus Candida. Using biochemical tests these were identified as Candida parapsilosis, C. albicans, C. guilliermondii, Yarrowia lipolytica, C. tropicalis and C. intermedia. Y. lipolytica was the best degrader utilizing 78% of the aliphatic fraction of Bombay High crude oil. None of these isolates degraded the aromatic or ashphaltene fractions. All the isolates required aeration, nitrogen and phosphate supplementation for optimal degradation. Four out of the six yeasts are human pathogens.