Effective resource estimates for primary diamond deposits from the EKATI Diamond Mine™, Canada

Primary economic diamond deposit modelling has rarely been documented in the public domain. This paper presents information collected from significantly diamondiferous kimberlite pipes located near Lac de Gras in the Arctic region of Canada's Northwest Territories. The resource estimation process is widely accepted as a cyclical iteration of data collection and evaluation processes. A resource database is typically assembled from a large inventory of exploration data. These data must be methodically quality checked before accepting the information for interpretive analysis. The foundation of a mineral resource model is based on clear understanding of the geology model along with subsidiary grade, volume, and density models. Defining these models is an iterative process of statistical analyses and interpretation. As a deposit progresses along a path towards development, reducing risk to acceptable levels is critical for identifying and realizing its maximum value.     

Leaf area index retrieval based on canopy reflectance and vegetation index in eastern China

The aim of this paper is to investigate the feasibility of using Landsat TM data to retrieve leaf area index (LAI). To get a LAI retrieval model based ground reflectance and vegetation index, detailed field data were collected in the study area of eastern China, dominated by bamboo, tea plant and greengage. Plant canopy reflectance of Landsat TM wavelength bands has been inversed using software of 6S. LAI is an important ecological parameter. In this paper, atmospheric corrected Landsat TM imagery was utilized to calculate different vegetation indices (VI), such as simple ratio vegetation index (SR), shortwave infrared modified simple ratio (MSR), and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Data of 53 samples of LAI were measured by LAI-2000 (LI-COR) in the study area. LAI was modeled based on different reflectances of bands and different vegetation indices from Landsat TM and LAI samples data. There are certainly correlations between LAI and the reflectance of Tm3, TM4, TM5 and TM7. The best model through analyzing the results is LAI = 1.2097*MSR + 0.4741 using the method of regression analysis. The result shows that the correlation coefficient R2 is 0.5157, and average accuracy is 85.75%. However, whether the model of this paper is suitable for application in subtropics needs to be verified in the future.     

Towards a moral socio-environmental economy: A reconsideration of values

In this intervention article I contribute to discussions of moral economy by arguing that scholars should reconsider the nature of value. Neoliberalism considers only exchange value. As a consequence neoliberal policies try to manage problems such as climate change with economic systems and instruments that are mis-calibrated to the material realities they are meant to represent. Value has spatial and temporal characteristics. Recognizing the spatial and temporal dynamics of value leads to new means of resource valuation, such as extending the time-frame of instruments and changing the nature of privatization. In conclusion, I argue for the need for new theories of use value.     

The tectono‐metamorphic evolution of the very low‐grade hangingwall constrains two‐stage gneiss dome formation in the Montagne Noire (Southern France)

The Montagne Noire in the southernmost French Massif Central is made of an ENE‐elongated gneiss dome flanked by Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks. The tectonic evolution of the gneiss dome has generated controversy for more than half a century. As a result, a multitude of models have been proposed that invoke various tectonic regimes and exhumation mechanisms. Most of these models are based on data from the gneiss dome itself. Here, new constraints on the dome evolution are provided based on a combination of very low‐grade petrology, K–Ar geochronology, field mapping and structural analysis of the Palaeozoic western Mont Peyroux and Faugères units, which constitute part of the southern hangingwall of the dome. It is shown that southward‐directed Variscan nappe‐thrusting (D₁) and a related medium‐P metamorphism (M₁) are only preserved in the area furthest away from the gneiss dome. The regionally dominant pervasive tectono‐metamorphic event D₂/M₂ largely transposes D₁ structures, comprises a higher metamorphic thermal gradient than M₁ (transition low‐P and medium‐P metamorphic facies series) and affected the rocks between c. 309 and 300 Ma, post‐dating D₁/M₁ by more than 20 Ma. D₂‐related fabrics are refolded by D₃, which in its turn, is followed by dextral‐normal shearing along the basal shear zone of both units at c. 297 Ma. In the western Mont Peyroux and Faugères units, D₂/M₂ is largely synchronous with shearing along the southern dome margin between c. 311 and 303 Ma, facilitating the emplacement of the gneiss dome into the upper crust. D₂/M₂ also overlaps in time with granitic magmatism and migmatization in the Zone Axiale between c. 314 and 306 Ma, and a related low‐P/high‐T metamorphism at c. 308 Ma. The shearing that accompanied the exhumation of the dome therefore was synchronous with a peak in temperature expressed by migmatization and intrusion of melts within the dome, and also with the peak of metamorphism in the hangingwall. Both, the intensity of D₂ fabrics and the M₂ metamorphic grade within the hangingwall, decrease away from the gneiss dome, with grades ranging from the anchizone–epizone boundary to the diagenetic zone. The related zonation of the pre‐D₃ metamorphic field gradients paralleled the dome. These observations indicate that D₂/M₂ is controlled by the exhumation of the Zone Axiale, and suggest a coherent kinematic between the different crustal levels at some time during D₂/M₂. Based on integration of these findings with regional geological constraints, a two‐stage exhumation of the gneiss dome is proposed: during a first stage between c. 316 and 300 Ma dome emplacement into the upper crust was controlled by dextral shear zones arranged in a pull‐apart‐like geometry. The second stage from 300 Ma onwards was characterized by northeast to northward extension, with exhumation accommodated by north‐dipping detachments and hangingwall basin formation along the northeastern dome margin.     

基于温度植被干旱指数的电网输电线路走廊干旱分析

以湖北省输电线路走廊地区作为研究区,利用2013年1~9月MODIS卫星影像数据,处理得到月尺度的归一化植被指数(Normalized Differential Vegetation Index,NDVI)与地表温度(Land Surface Temperature,LST)数据,构建NDVI-Ts特征空间,计算得到温度植被干旱指数(Temperature Vegetation Dryness Index,TVDI),用TVDI监测结果分析湖北省输电线路走廊区域2013年干旱时空分布情况。结果表明,湖北省输电线路走廊地区TVDI和土壤含水量之间存在显著的负相关,相关系数达到0.525(p0.05),由MODIS卫星影像计算得到TVDI影像可以有效表明湖北省输电线路走廊地区的土壤含水情况。     

Missing the boat: Critical threats to coral reefs are neglected at global scale

Coral reefs have experienced a global decline due to overfishing, pollution, and warming oceans that are becoming increasingly acidic. To help halt and reverse this decline, interventions should be aimed at those threats reef experts and managers identify as most severe. The survey included responses from 170 managers, representing organizations from 50 countries and territories, and found that respondents generally agreed on the two major threats: overfishing and coastal development. However, resource allocation did not match this consensus on major threats. In particular, while overfishing receives much attention, coastal development and its attendant pollution are largely neglected and underfunded. These results call for a re-examination of how resources are allocated in coral reef conservation, with more attention given to aligning how money is spent with what are perceived to be the primary threats.     

内蒙古东南部暴雨洪涝灾害风险评估与区划——以通辽市为例

文章选取通辽市各气象站点气象数据、基础地理信息数据、历史灾情数据、第二次土地调查数据及相关社会经济等统计数据,基于自然灾害风险原理,利用数理统计、层次分析法及空间叠加分析等方法,提出了通辽市暴雨洪涝灾害风险评价指标体系,得到通辽市暴雨洪涝灾害风险评估空间分布图。结果表明:高风险区主要分布在通辽市北部山区、中东部地区及偏南部地区,包括扎鲁特旗鲁北镇、科尔沁区、科左中旗东南部及库伦旗东南部;而科左后旗大部地区易形成由短时强降水引发的洪涝,为次高风险区;低风险区及次低风险区主要分布在通辽市中部、西南部地区,包括开鲁县、奈曼旗北部、科左中旗西部。     

中国入境旅游的区域差异特征分析

采用可以多层次分解的Theil系数测量1990～2004年我国入境旅游时间尺度上的地带间、地带内和省际差异变化状况。结果表明,1990～2004年中国入境旅游省际差异逐渐缩小,变化速度变缓;地带内差异大于地带间差异,地带内差异是构成省际差异的主要因素,特别是东部地带内差异是我国入境旅游区域差异的主要贡献者。总体上看,中国入境旅游省际差异20世纪90年代初居高不下,90年代中期急剧缩小,21世纪初持续下降,并有小幅波动;地带间差异除1991年和2003年急剧上升外,其余年份持续下降;东部地带内差异较大,但差异迅速缩小,中部地带内差异居高不下,变化明显,西部地带内差异较小,波动不明显。结合中国区域经济差异的时空变化进行比较研究,有两个有意义的发现：一是入境旅游区域差异逐渐缩小和经济差异逐渐加大的发展方向刚好是相反的。研究结果验证了发展入境旅游可以起到调整区域经济差异的作用,能起到缩小区域经济发展差距的作用。二是中国入境旅游地带间差异逐渐缩小,而中国区域经济差异地带间差异却逐渐扩大,说明入境旅游在缩小地带间差异方面也发挥一定的作用。     

不同发展模式下资源环境承载力评价——以海南省为例

文章关注于产业、人口与资源环境要素的作用关系,建构了资源环境承载力综合评价框架,并以海南省为案例区开展应用研究。该框架首先对区域产业重要性进行评价并分级,为产业结构调整提供依据;其次解析了区域产业、人口资源消耗与污染排放强度,最后,基于产业评价结果设定不同的产业结构调整情景,结合产业和人口的资源消耗与污染排放强度评价不同产业结构下的资源环境承载力,即产业和人口的规模上限。结果表明：2016年海南省的经济规模并未超载,产业有进一步发展空间。其中土地资源成为海南省发展的首要限制因素,其次是水环境;海南经济效益较高的支柱产业和基础性产业多为高耗水、高污染的产业,亟需加强水资源的集约利用,并降低污染排放强度。为提升经济发展规模上限,需要培育低能耗、低排放的产业。文章建构的资源环境承载力评价方法将产业、人口与资源环境相联系,其评价结果政策意义更为明确,可为优化产业结构调整、控制产业及人口发展规模提供决策参考。     

2007-2016年四川省土壤干旱时空动态分析

四川作为农业大省,旱灾是导致农业减产最主要的因素。通过遥感和GIS手段进行四川省土壤干旱程度的时空分析,提高干旱的空间可视化程度,加强干旱监测的时效性尤为重要。本研究基于四川省2007—2016年逐季度的MODIS数据和1961—2011年40个气象站的月降水资料,采用温度植被干旱指数(TVDI)计算得到四川省干旱等级分布情况,辅以标准化降雨指数(SPI)进行相关性分析,并通过线性回归、反距离权重空间插值、GIS空间分析模型重建等方法,分析近十年来四川省地区以季度为时间尺度的土壤干旱时空变化特征,制作各时相土壤干旱分布图展示其微变化。结果表明:(1)在月时间尺度上,SPI-1与TVDI呈中等至强负相关关系,即TVDI值越小,SPI值越大,干旱程度越轻;验证结果表明TVDI都能够较好地对四川省的干旱空间分布状况进行反映。(2)四川省各区域、各季节干旱分布不均:空间上,干旱频发的区域集中在四川盆地及攀西南部区域。时间上,在春季,四川盆地区域的土壤干旱程度大致呈现加剧—持续—减缓的趋势;夏季,四川盆地的干旱变化趋势是加剧—减缓—加剧;秋季,四川盆地的干旱变化趋势是加剧—减缓—持续减缓;冬季,全川干旱程度变化不明显。本文的研究结果对四川省开展农业防灾减灾,引导农业灌溉具有指导意义。