River Views of Beginning Pre-service Teachers: Content Knowledge Use

Abstract

How beginning teachers organize themselves to teach new or unfamiliar topics is an important issue for research. This paper discusses information about rivers in pre-service teachers' lessons taught to fourth grade students. Lessons were videotaped and transcribed for analysis. The data consisted of all information about rivers found in the lessons. Lesson content was analyzed for accuracy, coherence, centrality, over-simplification, and undue emphasis.

Seven kinds of problems with lesson content occurred because the beginning teachers lacked sufficient knowledge about rivers. Inaccurate information was either presented or allowed to stand unchallenged in the lessons. The lessons lacked coherence, because the beginning teachers tended to make passing references to concepts. About twice as many of the lesson concepts were peripheral to the study of rivers, the problem of centrality. The relationships between some river-related ideas were misunderstood or ignored. Both physical and human geography concepts were consistently over-simplified. The recreational use of rivers was consistently over-emphasized.     

Silicate and carbonate weathering in the drainage basins of the Ganga-Ghaghara-Indus head waters: Contributions to major ion and Sr isotope geochemistry

The role of silicate and carbonate weathering in contributing to the major cation and Sr isotope geochemistry of the headwaters of the Ganga-Ghaghara-Indus system is investigated from the available data. The contributions from silicate weathering are determined from the composition of granites/ gneisses, soil profiles developed from them and from the chemistry of rivers flowing predominantly through silicate terrains. The chemistry of Precambrian carbonate outcrops of the Lesser Himalaya provided the data base to assess the supply from carbonate weathering. Mass balance calculations indicate that on an average ∼ 77% (Na + K) and ∼ 17% (Ca + Mg) in these rivers is of silicate origin. The silicate Sr component in these waters average ∼40% and in most cases it exceeds the carbonate Sr. The observations that (i) the⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and Sr/Ca in the granites/gneisses bracket the values measured in the head waters; (ii) there is a strong positive correlation between⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr of the rivers and the silicate derived cations in them, suggest that silicate weathering is a major source for the highly radiogenic Sr isotope composition of these source waters. The generally low⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr (< 0.720) and Sr/Ca (∼ 0.2 nM/ μM) in the Precambrian carbonate outcrops rules them out as a major source of Sr and⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr in the headwaters on a basin-wide scale, however, the high⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr (∼ 0.85) in a few of these carbonates suggests that they can be important for particular streams. The analysis of⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and Ca/Sr data of the source waters show that they diverge from a low⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and low Ca/Sr end member. The high Ca/Sr of the Precambrian carbonates precludes them from being this end member, other possible candidates being Tethyan carbonates and Sr rich evaporite phases such as gypsum and celestite. The results of this study should find application in estimating the present-day silicate and carbonate weathering rates in the Himalaya and associated CO₂ consumption rates and their global significance.     

大陆岛入海沉积物通量的估算研究

大陆岛入海沉积物通量（Q_s）信息对于精确解译大陆架沉积记录的研究是个重要补充。针对如何估算大陆岛Q_s的科学问题,本文以中国东南部海域的8 227个大陆岛为例,提出了一种基于邻近大陆中小型河流Q_s的经验公式计算大陆岛Q_s的解决方案。该方案在实施时需设置两个假定,即大陆岛的Q_s法则遵循邻近大陆中小河流的Q_s法则和可将1个大陆岛当作1个河流流域计算其Q_s。结果表明：（1）经验公式计算的大陆岛Q_s为其最小估计值;如考虑大陆岛流域的具体情况,实际的Q_s值会稍微增加,但其增幅不超过n^0.13（n为流域数量）;（2）经验公式能获取大陆岛Q_s的大致数量级信息;大陆岛的总面积为4 418.49 km²,对应Q_s的数量级为10⁶ t/a,与邻近大陆中型河流入海通量的数量级相当;（3）在大河河口湾充填阶段完成以前,大陆岛沉积物是内陆架泥质沉积体的主要物源之一。因此,大陆岛入海沉积物会对大陆架沉积体系的形成和演化造成一定程度的影响,需引起研究人员的高度重视。     

Invertebrate recolonisation of previously dry channels in the Rakaia River

Recolonisation of previously dry channels by stream invertebrates was studied in the Rakaia River during winter 1981 and summer 1982. The winter experiment continued for 42 days, with stable low flows, whereas the summer experiment was characterised by fluctuating large flows which caused it to be abandoned after 27 days. The fauna was dominated numerically by Chironomidae, a leptophlebiid mayfly (Deleatidium), and oligochaetes during the winter, and by Deleatidium alone during the summer. Recolonisation was considered complete after 33 days in winter and 15 days in summer. Flow fluctuations were the main factor affecting colonisation rates, and it was assumed that drift was the main source of colonising animals. Small freshes during low‐flow periods in winter resulted in a rapid increase in total density of invertebrates and number of taxa present and also affected the population structure of Deleatidium larvae in colonisation baskets. Before these freshes numbers had increased steadily over a 27 day period. In summer large floods during high flow periods initially decreased benthic invertebrate numbers in samples but numbers increased rapidly once the flood had passed. This appears to be the first study of its kind on a large unstable river system.     

山东半岛南部近岸海域碎屑矿物对中小河流的物源响应

对山东半岛南部近岸海域的106个表层沉积物样品及大沽河、五龙河和乳山河的94个表层沉积物样品进行碎屑矿物分析,系统地研究了碎屑矿物的分布特征及物源指示。研究区共鉴定出40种重矿物和13种轻矿物,重矿物以普通角闪石、绿帘石、黑云母和自生黄铁矿为主,轻矿物以石英、斜长石、钾长石和风化云母为主。根据碎屑矿物组合特征,将研究区分为4个矿物区:Ⅰ区为胶州湾口至崂山头的附近海域;Ⅱ1亚区为丁字湾和鳌山湾附近水深约15 m以浅的海域,Ⅱ2亚区为研究区东南部水深＞20 m的远岸区;Ⅲ区处于Ⅱ区和Ⅳ区的过渡带;Ⅳ区为乳山口西南部近岸海域。Ⅰ区和Ⅱ区的矿物组合均为普通角闪石-绿帘石-石英-长石,Ⅰ区和Ⅱ1亚区受大沽河、五龙河和乳山河输入的物质及沿岸基岩、岛屿风化碎屑的影响较大,Ⅱ2亚区主要为晚更新世低海平面时形成的陆架残留沉积。Ⅲ区矿物组合为普通角闪石-石英-长石-片状矿物,Ⅳ区矿物组合为云母类-自生黄铁矿-普通角闪石-石英,Ⅲ区、Ⅳ区物源多样,黄河物质对两区贡献显著。     

Silver in Tokyo Bay estuarine waters and Japanese rivers

Dissolved and particulate concentrations of silver in Tokyo Bay estuarine waters and Japanese rivers were determined in this study. The dissolved silver concentrations in the surface water of Tokyo Bay range from 5.9 to 15.1 pmol kg⁻¹, which is comparable to those in the surface water of the Japan Sea, but two or three times higher than those in the surface water of the open ocean. However, elevated concentrations of dissolved silver are not found in Tokyo Bay compared with those in other highly urbanized estuaries, such as San Francisco Bay (20∼243 pmol kg⁻¹). In the Tokyo Bay estuary, silver typically exhibits non-conservative mixing behavior, which is a common feature in the other estuaries reported previously. Dissolved silver concentrations decrease with salinity from the rivers to the mouth of Tokyo Bay. Silver is efficiently scavenged by suspended particulates, as evidenced by the high conditional distribution coefficients for silver throughout the estuary (log K_d > 5.0 ± 0.6). The silver fluxes into Tokyo Bay via inflowing rivers and atmospheric deposition were estimated as 83 kg y⁻¹ and 15 kg y⁻¹, respectively. A simple budget calculation shows that the silver supplied from rivers and atmosphere must be rapidly scavenged within the Tokyo Bay estuary.     

Pinpointing the sources and measuring the lengths of the principal rivers of the world

Abstract

Cultures throughout the world are associating with the rivers. People depend upon the rivers and their tributaries for food, water, transport, and many other aspects of their daily lives. Unfortunately, human beings have not calculated the accurate lengths for the great rivers even today. The lengths of the rivers are very different in popular textbooks, magazines, atlases and encyclopedias, etc. To accurately determine the lengths of the principal rivers of the world, the combination of satellite image analysis and field investigations to the source regions is proposed in this paper. The lengths of the Nile, Amazon, Yangtze, Mississippi, Yellow, Ob, Yenisey, Amur, Congo and Mekong, with lengths over or close to 5000 km, were calculated using the proposed method. The results may represent the most reliable and accurate lengths of the principal rivers of the world that are currently achievable.     

环太湖河道污染物负荷量的初步研究

根据１９８７－１９８８年环太湖河道水质，水量实测资料以及环湖主要河道的流量和水质的历史资料，结合平原水网地区的水情特征，提出了环太湖河道污染物负荷量的计算方法，并分析探讨了不同设计水情下环太湖河道污染物负荷量及其时空变化。结果表明，污染物负荷量与水情关系密切，枯水年的河道入湖污染物负荷量大于丰水年。环湖２２条主要河道的入湖污染物负荷量占全部河道入湖总量的７２％－９１％，且不同污染物入湖负荷量的分布     

第四纪以来塔里木河流域对罗布泊的钾离子输运量

研究塔里木盆地周边河流对罗布泊盐湖的盐分补给,对于研究罗布泊盐湖钾盐物质来源具有重要意义。文章在分析前人对塔里木盆地气候、温度、径流量变化等研究的基础上,分别根据竺可桢近5000年的古温度曲线、青藏高原古里雅冰芯δ¹⁸O记录的古气候变化及六盘山朝那黄土剖面磁化率记录的古温度变化,得出了近5000年、12万年、200万年的温度变化,并根据温度-径流量变化模型,估算了塔里木河流域三源流在研究时段内的径流总量。根据径流总量和河水中的K⁺浓度,估算了第四纪200万年以来塔里木河流域河水对罗布泊钾离子的输运量。     

Assessment of environmental flows under limited data availability: case study of the Acheloos River,Greece

Abstract

The lower course of the Acheloos River is an important hydrosystem in Greece, heavily modified by a cascade of four hydropower dams upstream, which is now being extended by two more dams in the upper course. The design of the dams and hydropower facilities that are in operation has not considered any environmental criteria. However, in the last 50 years, numerous methodologies have been proposed to assess the negative impacts of such projects to both the abiotic and biotic environment, and to provide decision support towards establishing appropriate constraints on their operation, typically in terms of minimum flow requirements. In this study, seeking a more environmentally-friendly operation of the hydrosystem, we investigate the outflow policy from the most downstream dam, examining alternative environmental flow approaches. Accounting for data limitations, we recommend the basic flow method, which is parsimonious and suitable for Mediterranean rivers, whose flows exhibit strong variability across seasons. We also show that the wetted perimeter–discharge method, which is an elementary hydraulic approach, provides consistent results, even without using any flow data. Finally, we examine the adaptation of the proposed flow policy (including artificial flooding) to the real-time hydropower generation schedule, and the management of the resulting conflicts.

Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz; Guest editor M. Acreman

Citation Efstratiadis, A., Tegos, A., Varveris, A., and Koutsoyiannis, D., 2014. Assessment of environmental flows under limited data availability: case study of the Acheloos River, Greece. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 59 (3–4), 731–750.