Access to supermarkets among poorer neighborhoods: a comparison of time and distance measures

This research assesses neighborhood differences in access to supermarkets for the Portland, Oregon region. Five-year American Community Survey data for the 2006–2010 period are used to compare a travel time and distance measure of supermarket access for neighborhoods of concentrated poverty relative to other neighborhoods, taking into account their distance to the city center. Poor and nonpoor outer neighborhoods have longer average travel times and distances to nearby supermarkets than their more centralized counterparts. Poor outer neighborhoods fare better on travel distance than nonpoor outer neighborhoods do, but endure penalties in longer travel times. This research demonstrates the potential for variation in results across methods measuring access to neighborhood amenities and suggests that more nuanced methodology will be required for us to understand sociospatial disparities in access.     

The evolution of deserts with climatic changes in China since 150 ka B.P.

According to the bioclimatic zones, dune mobility and the fabric characteristics of stratigraphic sedimentary facies, the deserts in China are divided into Eastern, Western, Central and Northwestern deserts. Based on the records of stratigraphical facies, climatic proxies, historical data, etc. in each desert region, the evolution of deserts with climatic changes in time and space since 150 ka B. P. in China are dealt with; then the evolution of deserts in relation to the glacial climatic fluctuations caused by solar radiation changes, underlying surface variation and their feedback mechanism is discussed through comparison with global records; finally, in consideration of global warming due to increasing of greenhouse gases such as C0₂, the possible tendency of the evolution of deserts and the climatic changes is discussed.     

Fish persistence and fluvial geomorphology in central Australia

The purposes of this paper are to document the composition and distribution of fishes in the Alice Springs region of Australia, and discuss constraints on fish persistence in this arid region. Nine native and six exotic species were recorded; most exotics no longer exist. Except in Finke River, only one or no native species were found. Fish survival in the area is ameliorated by the exceptionally broad environmental tolerances and migratory abilities of many species, but ultimately depends upon the effects of geology, geomorphology, and the vagaries in pattern of sediment transport on water persistence.     

Seed reserves in the central Monte Desert, Argentina: implications for granivory

It has been suggested that lower rates of granivory in South American warm deserts compared to their North American counterparts arose from a reduction of seed reserves in the former owing to the extinction of argyrolagid marsupials. We measured seed reserves in two habitats of the central Monte Desert in an attempt to detect such seed decline, but to no avail. After moderate rainfall, maximum seed standing crops reached 16,000 and 23,000 seeds m⁻²in shrublands and open forests, respectively. Under the canopy of trees and shrubs there were 19,000 and 37,000 seeds m⁻²; whereas in exposed areas there werec. 10,000 seeds m⁻²in both habitats. Seed banks in other South American semi-arid areas showed similar values. Total grass seeds as well as those presumably preferred by ants also seem to be similar in both continents. Hence, granivory in South America, as has been already reported for Australia, is lower than in North America in spite of the great similarity of seed bank sizes. Moreover, argyrolagids were unlikely seed-hoarding granivores, therefore some other reason than argyrolagid extinction should be sought to explain the lack of specialized seed-eating mammals, and the smaller overall seed consumption rates in South American deserts.     

中国陆架沙漠形成原因探讨

中国陆架沙漠的形成与大陆荒漠的形成一个统一的根本内因，古老沉积层的油气矿床中的碳氢化合物由于地壳运动而不断渗透、扩散、挥发。这些混合物的分子长期运动，透过层、砂层殃及植被，使植物污染萎。植被的破坏，消失是形成荒漠的关键。     

OSL dating of sediments from deserts in northern China

Aeolian samples from deserts in northern China were studied using the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) of quartz and potassium (K) feldspar separates. K-feldspar has shown advantages over quartz for dating samples younger than 100 years, due to its more homogeneous equivalent dose (D_e) values, higher internal dose rate and higher luminescence sensitivity to dose. Without additional measurements, the luminescence characteristics of quartz obtained in D_e determination procedures can be used to reveal the source material and/or quartz thermal history for the deserts in northern China. The results indicated that the duration of paleosol formation in desert areas reflects regional paleoenvironments.     

Ant assemblages at their dry limits: the northern Atacama Desert, Peru, and the Chott El Djerid, Tunisia

Ants do not occur in the rocky desert of the Nazca Plain, Peru, except in the vicinity of shrubs in outwash gulleys, where there are two species that have similar activity periods and microhabitats and exhibit interference competition. Only one species of ant was found on the Chott El Djerid, Tunisia, a large, dry salt lake, devoid of vegetation.     

中国北方沙漠风成沙不同粒级组分的Sr-Nd 同位素特征

古尔班通古特、腾格里和鄂尔多斯三个沙漠不同粒级组分的风成沙具有不同的εNd（0）和87Sr/86Sr 比值：古尔班通古特沙漠中分别为-3~-5.3 和0.712452~0.716895;腾格里沙漠中分别为-9.9~-12.3 和0.716753~0.723033;鄂尔多斯沙漠中分别在-13.1~-18 和0.714028~0.71678。三个沙漠不同的Sr-Nd 同位素特征,表明它们可能有各自的物质源区。Nd 同位素主要受各沙漠所处的地质、地貌单元所控制,Sr 同位素还要受气候变化诱导的矿物差异风化与粒度分选作用的影响。同位素组成在古尔班通古特、腾格里沙漠风成沙不同粒度组分中有相似的变化规律,但在鄂尔多斯沙漠中明显不同。鄂尔多斯沙漠风成沙粗、细颗粒组分有不同的物质来源,细颗粒组分,特别是<2μm 组分可能有沙漠区外远源的贡献,而其他沙漠各自的风成沙不同颗粒组分则来自相同的物源区,沙漠区外远源输入的可能性较小。这一研究对深入认识北方沙漠物质的成因机制有重要的理论意义。     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviewed in this article: Latin America: Case Studies . Richard G. Boehm and Sent Visser Locality and Rurality: Economy and Society in Rural Regions . Tony Bradley And Philip Lowe The City and the Grassroots . Manuel Castells Geopolitics and Conflict in South America. Quarrels among Neighbors . Jack Child Post-Industrial America: A Geographical Perspective . David Clark Coastal Research: UK Perspectives . Malcolm W. Clark A Rural Policy for the EEC? Hugh Clout Peasant Agriculture in Assam: A Structural Analysis . M. M. Das . Environmental Change and Tropical Geomorphology . I. Douglas and T. Spencer Advances in Abandoned Settlement Analysis: Application to Prehistoric Anthrosols in Colombia, South America . Robert C. Eidt Measuring Culture . Jonathan L. Gross and Steve Rayner North America: A Human Geography . Paul Guinness and Michael Bradshaw A Geographical Bibliography for American Libraries . Chauncy D. Harris et al. Geography and the Urban Environment: Progress in Research and Applications, Vol. VI . D. T. Herbert and R. J. Johnston Changes in Global Climate: A Study of the Effect of Radiation and Other Factors During the Present Century . K. Ya . Kondrat'ev . Rural Development and the State: Contradictions and Dilemmas in Developing Countries . David A. M. Lea and D. P. Chaudhri The Martial Metropolis: U.S. Cities in War and Peace . Roger W. Lotchin The Climate of the Earth . Paul E. Lydolph . Weather and Climate . Paul E. Lydolph . Spatial Divisions of Labor: Social Structures and the Geography of Production . Doreen Massey . Panorama of the Soviet Union . N. Mikhailov . Soviet Armenia . K. S. Demirchian . USSR: Geography of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan Period . K. Spidchenko . Planung und Verwirklichung der Wiener Ringstrassenzone (Planning and Materialization of the Ringstrasse-Zone of Vienna). Kurt Mollik , Hermann Reining , Rudolf Wurzer . The American West Transformed: The Impact of the Second World War Gerald D. Nash . An Overview of the Survey of Income and Program Participation . Dawn Nelson , David Mc Millen, and Daniel Kasprzyk . Phenomenology, Science and Geography: Spatiality and the Human Sciences . John Pickles . Biological Diversification in the Tropics . Ghillean T. Prance Die Wanderviehwirtschaft im gebirgigen Westen der U.S.A. und ihre Auswirkungen im Naturraum . Gisbert Rinschede . Social and Economic Aspects of Radioactive Waste Disposal: Considerations for Institutional Management . World-Wide Weather . K. Takahashi Coastal Geomorphology in Australia . B. G. Thom Settlement System in Rural India: A Case Study of the Lower Ganga-Yamuna Doab . Ram Chandra Tiwari . Computer Programming for Geographers . David J. Unwin and John A. Dawson . Late Quaternary Environments of the Soviet Union . A. A. Velichko, ed . H. E. Wright , Jr. and C. W. Barnosky Ethics in Planning . Martin Wachs     

中纬度荒漠区河西走廊沙丘地貌的演化特征及其环境指示

北半球中纬度地区的沙丘地貌变化和粉尘活动历史是探索全球环境变化与景观响应问题的良好档案。本文从风沙地貌学、粒度沉积学、地球化学和气候学等方面综合分析了中纬度典型荒漠区河西走廊的典型沙丘动态变化、物质来源、粉尘活动历史及其影响因素等。结果表明,20世纪60年代以来研究区典型新月形沙丘和新月形沙丘链等发生了较大的移动或摆动,平均移动速度介于0.8~6.2 m/a之间。沙丘的动态变化主要受年降水量、年平均风速和年大风日数的影响,表明气候是沙丘地貌变化的首要影响因素。沙丘沙（三段式）与戈壁沉积物的两段式粒度曲线模式明显不同,揭示了后者在沉积学上的“不成熟性”而前者经历了高效的风成分异作用且非局地起源。古地理、沉积学和地球化学综合证据揭示沙丘沙的母源物质主要是冲洪积物和古河流沉积物等,包括南北山麓剥蚀带的碎屑沉积等。地表细颗粒物质的比例、表层盐结皮的覆盖率和可蚀性砂质物质含量等指标指示了西部戈壁区不是中东部风尘的主要来源区。沙丘移动方向与区域性主导风向在空间分布上具有相似性,表明河西走廊东、西部间之间在沙丘地貌动态演化上的差异应受控于区域尺度的环流风系,即受控于动力机制而不是物质来源上的差异。区域气候的暖湿化是对全球增温和亚洲夏季风增强的同步响应,也是研究区沙尘暴减少的主要原因,同期河西走廊潜在的逆沙漠化过程亦受控于气候变化;但绿洲区沙漠化过程还是起因于人类活动影响的地下水波动。