Great Victoria Desert: Development and sand provenance

Sands of the Great Victoria Desert, south‐central Australia, can be divided into three main groups on the basis of their physical and chemical characteristics (colour, grainsize parameters, mineralogy of heavy‐mineral suites, quartz oxygen isotopic composition, zircon U–Pb ages). The groups occupy the western, central and eastern Great Victoria Desert respectively, boundaries between them corresponding approximately to changes in the underlying rocks associated with the Yilgarn Craton to Officer Basin to Arckaringa Basin. Several lines of evidence suggest derivation of the sands mainly from local bedrock with very little subsequent aeolian transport. Ultimate protosources for the sands, each in order of importance, are: western Great Victoria Desert—Yilgarn Craton, Albany‐Fraser Orogen, Musgrave Complex; central Great Victoria Desert—Musgrave Complex; eastern Great Victoria Desert—Gawler and Curnamona Blocks, Adelaide Geosyncline, Musgrave Complex. Sediment from the Adelaide Geosyncline includes in addition an ‘exotic’ component from Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks probably derived mainly from Antarctica. Sediment transport of several hundred kilometres from these protosources to the sedimentary basins was dominantly by fluvial, not aeolian, means. Post‐Tertiary aeolian transport or reworking has been minimal, serving only to shape sand eroded from underlying sedimentary rocks or residual products of local basement weathering into the current dunes.     

Local government, local economic development and quality of life in Poland

The establishment of local self-government was a key part of the post-1989 transformation in East and Central Europe. Local government in both Western and East and Central Europe has increasingly been expected to play a role in local economic development (LED). Local government is one important agent in the complex processes of building 'institutional thickness' to ensure the development of local economies and the quality of life of inhabitants. This paper presents the results of a national postal questionnaire survey of the LED role of the lowest level of local self-government in Poland, the gmina or commune. The paper establishes a baseline of knowledge regarding: the local economic problems faced by communes; their attitudinal, strategic and organisational responses; and the main factors which are hindering the communes' LED role. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Interpreting What is Rural and Urban for Western U.S. Counties

The paper examines how rural and urban are interpreted and applied to counties in eleven states in the western United States. After reviewing various conceptual approaches, we turn to a three‐part analysis of county commissioners' perceptions and census data to identify characteristics associated with urban‐ness and rurality. The analysis involves comparing qualitative and quantitative survey and interview data, using a multiple regression analysis to correlate census variables with commissioners' perceptions of their home counties, and using cluster analysis techniques on census variables to identify patterns and unevenness in rurality and urbanness. Three characteristics mentioned by the widest range of commissioners and found to be statistically significant in the regression analysis were population concentration, total population, and the agricultural land base. Population concentration, in particular, was identified most frequently by interviewees as the single most important variable in characterizing an urban county and had the most meaningful contribution to predicting commissioners' perceptions of their home counties in the regression analysis. The cluster analysis identified five county types: largest urban centers, growing regional hubs, high growth rural, dispersed rural, and stable rural agriculture. These county types were widely distributed, reflecting the spatial unevenness of macroscale processes operating across eleven western states.     

从行政分权到跨域治理:我国地方政府治理方式变革研究

从集权到分权再到伙伴关系,从统治到治理再到跨域治理,西方发达国家地方政府治理方式呈现出螺旋式发展路径。我国的分权化改革打破了计划经济体制下地方政府被动羸弱的状态,在激发了地方政府发展经济的动力的同时,引发了"地方政府企业化"倾向,形成了分割的"行政区经济"。市场化改革在引入和整合体制外社会经济资源的同时,也导致政府与市场结合成"不受约束"的增长联盟,反而削弱了政府的权威。跨域治理理念旨在强化政府组织、市场组织和社会组织之间的资源整合,鼓励各种治理组织的参与,以共同应对跨行政区、跨部门、跨领域的公共事务。该文结合我国地方政府的实际情况,认为通过以下途径可以实现地方政府跨域治理:1)分权与赋权相结合,引进并整合体制外的社会经济资源,把决策权力向企业、社区和非营利组织转移;2)统筹协调各治理组织间的关系,促进城市政体内的权力平衡,以利益协调为基点,促使治理规则由支配性规则向共识性规则转变;3)综合运用行政化手段和市场化手段调整地方政府间关系,实现府际合作,促使地方政府由竞争型政府向合作型政府转变。     

北京交通拥堵的外部性及其政府解决方法初探

本文针对北京市日益严重的交通拥堵及由此引起的大气污染和安全问题, 结合环境经济 学的外部性理论, 提出应该重视汽车交通的外部性, 认为北京市的交通拥堵症结在于外部性引起 的市场失效。由于汽车交通的群体性特点, 应该使用政府方法来解决城市汽车交通的外部性, 文 章结合英国伦敦市、新加坡和日本名古屋市的交通管理措施, 建议采取管制和经济手段相结合的 方式, 从控制机动车拥有量和机动车出行率及鼓励市民采取公共交通方式出行等各个方面加强 对北京市交通的管理。     

Funding low carbon cities: local perspectives on opportunities and risks

There are compelling reasons for policy makers to be interested in the low-carbon agenda. More than half of the world's population lives in, and more than half of the world's economic output comes from, cities. Up to 70% of global carbon emissions can also be attributed to consumption that takes place in cities. Recent research has shown that cost-effective investments in low-carbon options could deliver a 40% reduction in GHG emissions from cities by 2020, while also providing wider economic benefits such as enhanced competitiveness and increased employment. As yet, however, investments in low-carbon cities have not been made at scale due mainly to the scale of the finance required, local government budgetary constraints, and perceptions about their costs and benefits. With a focus on the UK, a contemporary account is provided of what local authorities see as the major financial risks associated with funding low-carbon cities. Practical proposals – which also have more general relevance to the future financing of low-carbon cities around the world – are offered on how local authorities, in conjunction with central government, the private sector, and institutional investors, can effectively manage these risks.

Policy relevance

Cities house more than half of the world's population, generate more than half of the world's economic output, and produce between 40% and 70% of all anthropogenic GHG emissions. In the UK, 70% of such emissions are under the influence of its local authorities. Thus, one of the key public policy challenges for the low-carbon transition is how it should be financed. There are several obstacles and related risks to this transition, including financial and legal obstacles and the differing views and perceptions of stakeholders. These can be attenuated, somewhat, by national government support at scale, local authority leadership, and cooperation between other authorities and the private sector, and the development of tools and guidance to reduce transaction costs.     

与西澳州西南部冬季降水相联系的大气环流特征分析

西澳大利亚州西南部(SWWA)是西澳大利亚州首府Perth的所在地,也是西澳州政治、经济、文化、教育和旅游的中心.自20世纪中期以来,SWWA地区雨季降水持续减少.本文利用近60年的观测及再分析数据,分析了已知的影响澳大利亚降水的热带海洋模态:厄尔尼诺—南方涛动(ENSO)、印度洋偶极子(IOD)和ENSOModoki...     

澳洲冷空气活动的季节内和年际变化特征

用澳洲850 hPa上空的变温和温度权重相结合的冷空气活动日数定义了澳洲冷空气活动指标（cold air index,CAI）,据CAI分析了澳洲冷空气活动的季节内和年际变化特征,结果表明：澳洲西南部地区是冷空气活动的关键区,5月其收缩于澳洲西南角,7月和8月其中心及影响范围均向北移动,主要分布区向澳洲东部伸展;整个冬季（6—8月）的澳洲冷空气活动没有显著的年际差异,而5—8月各月的冷空气活动却存在明显的年际变化特征。     

尧都区雾害的分析

尧都区工业、交通业的快速发展和对空气污染治理的滞后，是当地雾El随年增多的主要原因。浓雾遮光挡阳有碍交通运输，有碍大棚农业生产，有碍幼儿正常发育；雾中含有亚硫酸等有毒物质，有害人们身体健康，有害室外农业和有损外露金属材料，属气象灾害。     

BOOK REVIEWS

Books reviewed in this article: The Mexican Colonial Copper Industry. Elinore M. Barrett . The Control Revolution: Technological and Economic Origins of the Information Society . James R. Beniger . Land Degradation and Society . Piers M. Blaikie And Harold C. Brookfield , Eds . La carte, mode d'emploi. Roger Brunet . France: les dynamiques du territoire . Roger Brunet AND Jacques Sallois , EDS. At the Crossroads—The Mineral Problems of the United States . Eugene N. Cameron . A Census of One Billion People , Papers for International Seminar on China's 1982 Population Census. Li Chengrui , ED. Les Milieux “Naturels” du Globe . Jean Demangeot . The Geophysiology of Amazonia: Vegetation and Climate Interactions : Robert E. Dickinson , ED. Tenn-Tom Country . James F. Doster And David C. Weaver . Family Farming in Europe and America . Boguslaw Galeski And Eugene Wilkening , EDS. The Geography of Urban Transportation . Susan Hanson , Ed. Combating Desertification in Developing Countries . J. K. Jain , ED. Cartography in France—1660–1848. Science, Engineering and Statecraft . Josef W. Konvitz . Distribution of Distances in Pregeographical Space . Hans Kuiper . Physical Geography Lab Manual: A New Experimental Approach . Neal G. Lineback And John M. Harlin . Physical Geography: A Landscape Appreciation , 2nd ed. Tom L. Mc Knight . The Desert Is No Lady: Southwestern Landscapes in Women's Writing and Art . Vera Norwood And Janice Monk , EDS. France: A Geographical, Social, and Economic Survey . Philippe Pinchemel , translated, by D. Elkins and T. H. Elkins. Gene Banks and the World's Food . Donald L. Plucknett , Nigel J. H. Smith , J. T. Williams , And N. Murthi Anishetty . Latin American Development: Geographical Perspectives . David Preston , Ed. Making Sense of Development: An Introduction to Classical and Contemporary Theories of Development and Their Application to Southeast Asia . P. W. Preston . The History of the Countryside. Oliver Rackham . The Third World in Perspective . H. A. Reitsma AND J. M. G. Kleinpenning . The Industrial Geography of Australia . David C. Rich . The Recruiting Game , 2nd Ed., revised. John F. Rooney , JR. A Cultural Geography of North American Indians . Thomas E. Ross AND Tyrel G. Moore , EDS. Eastern Europe . Dean S. Rugg . Human Territoriality: Its Theory and History . Cambridge Studies in Historical Geography: 7. Robert David Sack . Experimental Fluvial Geomorphology . Stanley A. Schumm , M. Paul Mosley , AND William E. Weaver . The New Urban Landscape . David Schuyler . Atlas of American Women . Barbara Gimla Shortridge . Impacts of Hazardous Technology: The Psycho-Social Effects of Restarting TMI-1 . John Sorensen , Jon Soderstrom , Emily Copenhaver , Sam Carnes AND Robert Bolin . Modern Physical Geography , 3rd Ed., (Third Edition). Arthur N. Strahler AND Alan H. Strahler . India: Economic Resource Base and Contemporary Political Patterns . B. L. Sukhwal .