An open source high-performance solution to extract surface water drainage networks from diverse terrain conditions

This paper describes a workflow for automating the extraction of elevation-derived stream lines using open source tools with parallel computing support and testing the effectiveness of procedures in various terrain conditions within the conterminous United States. Drainage networks are extracted from the US Geological Survey 1/3 arc-second 3D Elevation Program elevation data having a nominal cell size of 10 m. This research demonstrates the utility of open source tools with parallel computing support for extracting connected drainage network patterns and handling depressions in 30 subbasins distributed across humid, dry, and transitional climate regions and in terrain conditions exhibiting a range of slopes. Special attention is given to low-slope terrain, where network connectivity is preserved by generating synthetic stream channels through lake and waterbody polygons. Conflation analysis compares the extracted streams with a 1:24,000-scale National Hydrography Dataset flowline network and shows that similarities are greatest for second- and higher-order tributaries.     

Long-term trends in the recreational shore-fishery for elf Pomatomus saltatrix (Pomatomidae) along the KwaZulu-Natal coast,South Africa

Elf Pomatomus saltatrix account for between 28% and 80% of the annually recorded recreational shore-angling catch in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and have been subjected to various management regimes over the past 33 years. Management of the elf fishery was amended in 2005 to reduce fishing mortality and enhance egg production, following an assessment in 1997, which considered the elf stock to be overexploited and in need of rebuilding. A compromise was reached whereby the bag limit was reduced from five to four elf per angler per day, but the closed season was shortened, allowing an extra month of fishing for elf. A total of 33 years of recreational elf catches recorded on the National Marine Linefish System was investigated for any long-term trends and how they related to management of this species. Over 3 million angler-outings from the recreational shore-fishery in KZN were analysed, including more than 1.5 million elf in the catch. Despite the fast growth of elf and the latest management intervention seven years ago, which was based on a rigorous investigation of life-history parameters, the present study showed no evidence of an improvement in catch rate. It could not be determined whether this was due to a reduction in the bag limit, which would naturally reduce catch rates or whether other factors, including the shortened closed season, had been detrimental to elf stocks. Some shortfalls in the management of elf are discussed and possible reasons for the great variability in catches, which complicated the assessment of trends, are explored.     

Anthropogenic hillslope terraces and swidden agriculture in Jiuzhaigou National Park, northern Sichuan, China

Small, irregular terraces on hillslopes, or terracettes, are common landscape features throughout west central China. Despite their prevalence, there is limited understanding of the nature of these topographic features, the processes that form them, and the role humans played in their formation. We used an interdisciplinary approach to investigate the geology, ecology, and cultural history of terracette development within Jiuzhaigou National Park, Sichuan Province, China. Terracettes occur on south facing, 20° slopes at 2500 m elevation, which appears to coincide with places people historically preferred to build villages. Ethnographic interviews suggest that traditional swidden agricultural cycles removed tree roots, causing the loess sediments to lose cohesion, slump, and the terrace risers to retreat uphill over time. This evidence is supported by landslide debris at terracette faces. Archaeological analysis of terracette sites reveal remains of rammed spread soil structures, bones, stone tools, and ceramics dating from at least 2200 years before present within a distinct paleosol layer. Radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating of terracette sediments ranged in age from between 1500 and 2000 ¹⁴C yr BP and between 16 and 0.30 ka, respectively. These multiple lines of evidence indicate a long history of human habitation within Jiuzhaigou National Park and, taken together, suggest strong links between terracette formation and human-landuse interactions.     

页岩气的赋存形式研究及其石油地质意义

页岩气是以游离、吸附和溶解状态赋存于暗色泥页岩中的天然气,其赋存形式具有多样性,但以游离态和吸附态为主,溶解态仅少量存在。综述了页岩气的赋存形式及其影响因素,包括页岩气成因、页岩的物质组成(有机碳含量、矿物成分、岩石含水量)、岩石结构(孔隙度、渗透率)和温度、压力等。认识影响不同形式页岩气赋存量的地质因素,有助于利用容积法评估页岩气地质储量的水平,因为游离态页岩气的含量取决于页岩的有效孔隙度和含气饱和度,而吸附态页岩气的含量则受页岩的气体吸附能力影响。认为发展页岩孔隙结构表征技术,研究页岩气在粘土矿物表面和纳米孔隙中的吸附行为,可以进一步了解不同地质条件下页岩气的赋存形式,并为页岩气的资源评价提供更为准确的参数,因此它们将是页岩气下一步研究的重点之一。     

昆明东川一、四棵树铜矿成矿规律

落雪组是主要含矿层位。底部过渡层以斑铜矿、黄铜矿为主,中部含较多铜矿结核,顶部发育网脉状铜矿。具层控性,铜矿的规模与地层厚度有一定的关系。     

Cosmogenic isotope (Cl) surface exposure dating of the Norber erratics, Yorkshire Dales: Further constraints on the timing of the LGM deglaciation in Britain

Cosmogenic isotope (³⁶Cl) surface exposure dating of four of the erratic boulders at Norber in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, northwest England, yielded mean ages of ∼22.2 ± 2.0 ka BP and ∼18.0 ± 1.6 ka BP for their emplacement. These two mean values derive from different ³⁶Cl production rates used for exposure age calculation. The ages are uncorrected for temporal variations in production rates and may underestimate the true ages by 5-7%. The former age, although implying early deglaciation for this area of the British ice sheet, is not incompatible with minimum deglaciation ages from other contexts and locations in northwest England. However, the latter age is more consistent with the same minimum deglaciation ages and geochronological evidence for ice-free conditions in parts of the northern sector of the Irish Sea. Within uncertainties, the younger of the mean ages from Norber may indicate that boulder emplacement was associated with North Atlantic Heinrich event 1. The limited spatial (downvalley) extent of the Norber boulders implies that at the time of their deposition the ice margin was coincident with the distal margin of the erratic train. Loss of ice cover at Norber was followed by persistent stadial conditions until the abrupt opening of the Lateglacial Interstadial when large carnivorous mammals colonised the area. The ³⁶Cl ages are between ∼3.0 ka and ∼13.0 ka older than previous estimates based on rates of limestone dissolution derived from the heights of pedestals beneath the erratics.     

Using Action Research to Implement the National Geography Standards: Teachers as Researchers

Abstract

Action research is defined as systematic classroom-based inquiry to solve teacher-perceived problems. It has been a component of education, particularly professional staff development, for the past century under several names although geography educators in the United States have rarely used it for this, or any other, purpose. This paper reviews the literature on action research in order to argue for its use in geography education. A preliminary exploration of action research-based professional staff development is described. The results of the project indicate that action research is potentially useful as a way to guide teachers to reflect on their practice. It is argued that geography educators should include it in their repertoire of reform techniques.     

The Value of Place Geography in a Commercial Geography Course

Abstract

This article summarizes methods used in a secondary school geography class to interest students in geography through examples drawn from local geography. Instead of relying on examples taken from exotic places to illustrate geographic concepts, the local landscape is used in the classroom to teach students about geography. The article is arranged according to the six essential elements of the National Geography Standards, but it does not imply that the methods presented should be used to teach the standards. Rather, the examples presented are used throughout a course in the geography of North and South America to develop an interest among students and, with examples from the local landscape, to increase student understanding of geographic concepts related to issues presented in the course.     

Preservice Geography Education

Abstract

Improving preservice education, especially geography preservice education, is difficult because few geography faculty understand the teacher education process, many education professors who prepare geography teachers are not geographically well-educated, education and geography faculties do not communicate effectively, and efforts by alliances and other organizations have focused on inservice teachers, for the most part. Recommendations to improve preservice education in geography are offered. The authors argue that none of these recommendations should be implemented without considering its relationship with all of the components of the geography education system.     

Strengthening Certification Guidelines

Abstract

The teacher certification process is complex, confusing, and important. After explaining the fundamentals of certification, this article suggests pragmatic strategies geographers can use to influence state certification procedures and requirements. The most effective way to change certification guidelines in order to require more geography for preservice teachers may be to change the problems certification guidelines are intended to solve. However, it is important to remember that more geography and better education are not synonymous phrases.