Cretaceous amber inclusions of Spain and Myanmar demonstrate early diversification and wide dispersal of Cephenniitae (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae)

The taxonomic status of previously misplaced species of an ant-like stone beetle from Spanish amber (Albian) is clarified. Specimens of Kachinus magnificus (originally placed as incertae sedis within Scydmaenitae) were re-examined and their characters were found different from those of the type species of Kachinus from Myanmar amber. Consequently, Archeutheia gen. nov. is proposed to accommodate the Spanish species, resulting in Archeutheia magnifica comb. nov. Moreover, in a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis Archeutheia was placed as a sister group to extant Eutheia, within the tribe Eutheiini of Cephenniitae. A specimen of an undetermined genus from Myanmar amber clearly belonging in Cephenniini is also recorded. Both taxa represent the first definite Cretaceous Cephenniitae, a supertribe whose recent members are distributed on all continents but are especially diverse in the Oriental and East Palaearctic regions. This finding demonstrates a diversification of two presently most species-rich tribes of Cephenniitae already in Early Cretaceous. Archeutheia is strikingly similar to the extant species of Eutheia and Veraphis, showing male dimorphic characters (modified protrochanters) and antennal cavities characteristic of Palaearctic Eutheiini. This fact suggests a long morphological stability in the supertribe. A previously proposed hypothesis of an early presence of the Cephenniitae in the Northern Hemisphere is for the first time supported by the fossil record, and the palaeolocalities (western Europe and Southeast Asia) demonstrate a wide distribution of Cephenniitae in the Cretaceous and an early split of its ancestral lineage.     

Oceanographic Research Vessel Sharing Plan—A Significant Creation of the National Natural Science Foundation of China

To settle the difficulties of the shortage of oceanographic research vessels in our country, the National Natural Science Foundation Committee of China founded Oceanographic Research Vessel Sharing Plan in 2009. It is aimed at enhancing efficiency and optimization of the vessel resources,and coordinating the use demands of vessels for the different foundation projects and the efficient use of the research vessels. We have summarized the achievements made in the Plan from 2010 to 2014, as well as the use system of the research vessels sharing, the specific operating mode ,the organization and the management framework of the Plan. In the end, we put forward our suggestions on the improvement of the Plan after the primary analysis of the present situation of the sharing of the survey data and the existing problems.     

Establishing a framework for Open Geographic Information science

When conducting research within a framework of Geographic Information Science (GISc), the scientific validity of this work can be argued as highly dependent upon the extent to which the methods employed are reproducible, and that, in the strictest sense, can only be fully achieved by implementing transparent workflows that utilize both open source software and openly available data. After considering the scientific implications of non-reproducible methods, we provide a review of both open source Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and openly available data, before describing an integrated model for Open GISc. We conclude with a critical review of this embryonic paradigm, with directions for future development in supporting spatial data infrastructure.     

Citation Impacts of AAG Presidential Addresses

The American Association of Geographers (AAG) president's annual address is considered an important statement about how she or he views the state of the discipline or one's research specialties. Building on previous studies on journal and individual impacts, this study measures the impacts of addresses using Google Scholar data and the Web of Science score. Using these data I classify the addresses into three distinct categories: alpha, beta, and gamma. The results reveal wide and substantial differences in Scholar ratings and Web of Science scores. A few have very high ratings, but many more are in the gamma category. Addresses by women and men presidents that promote new fields of study, extend geographic research to interdisciplinary audiences, and encourage the topics and frameworks of existing fields have higher ratings than those that appeal to more specialized audiences.     

基于唐宋文人足迹集聚性分析的中心文化城市变迁

中国历史文化研究一直是中国文学研究的热点,大量的研究都是基于文学作品本身或文人个体特征进行,缺乏大数据的支持;历史的发展是大量个体共同驱动的结果,文化地理中众多文人的行为潜在影响着古代文化分布和变迁。本文提出基于文人群体运动行为的位置关联和聚合的大数据分析方法,根据唐宋时期文人的移动足迹数据来论证中国历史上的文化中心城市的变迁。文化地理领域中的3次文化中心转移的观点,是基于3次历史事件驱动的定性推理分析,缺乏有效的古代文化方面的数据支撑。本文力图从数据科学、信息科学和GIS分析角度来审视这一结论。从人文领域已经出版的学术研究著作中采集唐宋时期具有代表性作家的11万条足迹数据,利用GIS的位置关联技术形成足迹图,构建了文人迁徙网络图;并采用空间化的PageRank算法计算出唐宋时期各城市的文化吸引力,直观地呈现出了不同时期文人聚集的中心城市,重塑唐宋文化中心变迁。同时,从定量、地理位置变化和时序角度剖析了中国不同时期城市的文化吸引力的分布和变化。为论证中国文化中心的南北变迁,对唐宋时期的城市文化吸引力聚合,以20年间隔来科学计算出南北文化中心的对比和演变,科学表现文化中心的南北随时间的变化,论证了中国文化中心3次南移的后2次,发现中国文化中心南移的时间早在北宋时期就已完成。     

唐山市曹妃甸地区大气降尘矿物学特征及环境意义——以华北理工大学校区为例

大气降尘矿物学特征研究具有重要的环境学意义。文章以华北理工大学校区采集样品为例,应用激光粒度分析仪、扫描电镜、X射线粉末衍射、电感耦合等离子体质谱等对河北省唐山市曹妃甸地区大气降尘矿物学特征进行了初步分析研究。结果表明,曹妃甸地区大气降尘粒径较粗,颗粒物包括块状、柱状、片状、球状及不规则粒状集合体,主要由石英、长石、石膏、云母、绿泥石、角闪石、白云石、方解石和赤铁矿等矿物组成;降尘样品中Cr、Cu、Zn、As、Cd、Pb等重金属元素含量均较高。研究分析表明,降尘样品中硅酸盐矿物主要源自地面扬尘,而石膏、方解石等碳酸盐矿物可能为环境中的次生矿物,样品中重金属污染主要来源于燃煤、工矿企业生产排放和少部分汽车尾气排放。     

Geographic Information Technologies + Project-Based Science: A Contextualized Professional Development Approach

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of using a long-duration, project-based science professional development model on the acquisition of declarative knowledge and basic terminology associated with the use of geographic information technologies (GIT), teachers' self-assessed confidence in using GIT skills, and the implementation of GIT in participants' classrooms. Results suggest that a long-duration, project-based science model was effective in teaching GIT declarative knowledge and raising teachers' self-confidence in using GIT tools. The academy was funded through a grant from the US Department of Education with additional support from Environmental Science Resources Institute (ESRI), Inc., and members of the New Mexico Geographic Information Council.     

Geo-political genetics: Claiming the commons through species mapping

Genetic techniques are increasingly employed in the field of conservation biology; our understanding of sea turtle biology, and particularly of sea turtle migrations and population structures, has increased through genetic analyses that ‘match’ turtles found in various and often widely distributed habitats (e.g. nesting beaches, foraging grounds, migratory corridors). This relatively recent technological development has implications for how sea turtles are conceived, both as resources and as objects of conservation. Traditionally, sea turtle populations have been identified with nesting beaches, and most conservation efforts have been focused on these discrete geographic locations and undertaken by the state. The more complete understanding of relationships among turtles found in geographically disparate areas, achieved via genetic analysis, can take conservation beyond the beaches and territorial waters of individual states; foraging populations can now be linked to nesting populations sometimes hundreds of kilometers distant. In this paper, we explore the implications of genetic analysis for sea turtle conservation, the scale at which it is undertaken, and the variety of actors with competing interests in it. We focus on the case of hawksbill sea turtles in the Caribbean, where genetic data are invoked in conservation conflicts. We are particularly interested in the way genetic data can support the scaling-up of sea turtle conservation, creating new ‘conservation territories,’ and we draw on political ecology and common pool resource theory to explore the implications thereof.     

我国地震地下流体科学40年探索历程回顾

通过回顾40年来中国大陆地震地下流体科学研究与实践的发展历程,总结了早期在该领域具启迪性的研究工作和主要成果。纵观历史,无论是观测技术和理论方法的创新,还是对各种参量的观测分析以及预测方法的研究,地震地下流体科学都与地震监测预报这一关键需求紧密相关。地下流体观测网建设的历史沿革表明,对强地震的监测与预测需求推进了观测网的建设和发展;观测技术的发展过程体现出基于多手段、综合性和数字化的趋势;地下流体理论与前兆机理的研究成果表明,前兆模型(或模式)、数值模拟、室内和野外实验研究等是推进学科创新工作的主要技术途径;地震预测方法的研究成果体现出探索基于具有物理基础的预报技术,以及重视实用性与科学性相统一的思想;预测实践证明,地下流体学科在我国大陆地震预测实践中发挥着重要作用。文章最后介绍了本学科主要的论著及技术规范,简要回顾了不同的历史发展阶段、有关学术团体和专家对地下流体学科主要科学问题的认识以及该学科的重点发展方向。     

西南科大西部滑坡形成机制分析及稳定性评价

在西南科技大学新校区建设中,由于人工平整场地开挖而形成临空面,引起污染控制中心西部的滑坡发生。为确保污染控制中心的安全和工程治理提供设计依据,文章通过对滑坡区地形地貌、气象水文、地层岩性、地质构造及水文地质条件等地质环境的分析,以及基于滑坡体、滑面(带)、滑床及变形等特征的阐述,对其稳定性和形成机制做出了定性分析。结果表明:该滑坡的形成是在以岩土体物理力学性质、特殊的地形地貌条件为主控因素与以人工开挖坡脚、地下水及大气降水作用为诱发因素的共同作用下,致使该滑坡目前仍处于蠕滑变形阶段。另外,采用分段传递系数法对滑坡的稳定性进行了定量评价。结果为:天然状态下,整体稳定性相对较好,处于暂时稳定状态。但在滑坡前缘的次级地带仍处于缓慢活动状态。这与滑坡的现状基本相符,也使定性评价得到了验证。饱水状态下,稳定性系数大幅度下降,滑坡的稳定性差,表明在持续饱水或降雨的条件下发生斜坡整体失稳。同时,两种工况条件下的稳定性系数相差较大,说明滑带土的内摩擦角和粘聚力对稳定性系数影响较大,也提出了相应的治理措施。