Researching the South African tourism and development nexus

Under apartheid, tourism was essentially anti-developmental in focus and tourism research largely centred on the recreation of white South Africans. Since the 1994 democratic transition tourism has become recognised as an increasingly important sector for South Africa's economy and for achieving the government's goals for reconstruction and development. In this paper a review and critical analysis is presented of the changing directions and foci of tourism scholarship in South Africa. It is shown that South African scholars are beginning to respond to the challenges posed by tourism as a developmental focus. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Modélisation morphodynamique cross-shore d'un estran vaseux

Numerical experiments were performed to simulate the profile evolution of an intertidal mudflat with a 1D cross-shore morphodynamical model. First, the hydrodynamical forcing is a cross-shore tidal current due to semi-diurnal variations of the free surface elevation at the open boundary. Further, considering the conservation of the action density of surface gravity waves, a wave height (and resulting bottom shear stress) calculation is added to the morphodynamical model. Results of the numerical experiments show that the shape of the profile reaches equilibrium. The mudflat progrades continually when the forcing is tide only, whereas it can be steady under the simultaneous action of tide and waves. To cite this article: B. Waeles et al., C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).     

The Singapore River thematic zone: sustainable tourism in an urban context

This paper explores the concept of sustainable tourism and how it applies to urban destinations such as Singapore. As tourism is an important industry in Singapore, in terms of employment, business activity and an income generator, the Singapore Tourism Board is continuously looking at potential avenues to make Singapore a competitive destination. We examine the use of thematic zones in Singapore as a strategy to achieve its ambition of becoming a tourism capital of the world. By focusing on a case study of the Singapore River thematic zone (one of the 11 thematic zones identified by the Singapore Tourism Board), we assess the viability of thematic zones in ensuring sustainable urban tourism. The paper closes with some theoretical reflections and policy implications arising from our key findings.     

世界政治新形势下的中国经济安全观

当前，世界政治形势处于动荡催生调整，调整蕴含机遇，在单极与多极矛盾的碰撞与互动中，正在形成某种更有效的机制，培育更为成熟、理性竞争的意识，促使各主要大国为世界的持久和平与繁荣共同担负起应有的责任。因此，国家经济安全是世界各国都普遍关注的战略问题。本文首先总结了就当今世界政治发展的四个特点，并在分析国际形势新变化对中国经济安全影响的基础上，提出了维护我国经济安全的六点思考。     

电子地图商务网站应用探析

从WebGIS的产生背景和特点入手,阐述了WebGIS的应用现状,分析了WebGIS的重要应用之一--电子地图商务网站,剖析了其服务对象、系统需求、市场预测及策略等.     

Mapping the Bonanza: Geographies of Mining Investment in an Era of Neoliberal Reform*

Geographic analyses of how national policies of economic liberalization influence global patterns of economic activity often draw their conclusions from studies of the paradigmatic sectors of manufacturing and, to a lesser extent, services. There is, by contrast, relatively little work examining how neoliberal policy reforms in the developing world may be driving changes in the geography of primary sector (i.e., extractive) activities at the global scale. This article presents and analyzes new data on direct investment in the international mining industry. It reports methods and results from a research project to systematically map and evaluate changes in the commodity mix and geographical spread of mining‐related investment in the world economy since 1990. It confirms and quantifies what was hitherto anecdotal evidence of a geographic shift in investment during the 1990s away from mature targets toward a small number of “rising stars” in the developing world, following the adoption in many countries of neoliberal economic policies from the mid‐1980s onward. However, the findings challenge conventional interpretations of this shift as an investment “bonanza” in the periphery and highlight how recent investment trends are highly specific in geographical scope, concentrated within a few commodities, and how the allocation of investment between established and emerging targets is variable over both time and space.     

Magma generation and crustal accretion as evidenced by supra-subduction ophiolites of the Albanide–Hellenide Subpelagonian zone

Abstract Ophiolites of the Mirdita–Subpelagonian zone form a nearly continuous belt in the Albanide–Hellenide orogen, including mid‐ocean ridge basalt (MORB) associations in the western Mirdita sector and supra‐subduction zone (SSZ) complexes, with prevalent island arc tholeiitic (IAT) and minor boninitic affinities in the eastern part of the belt (i.e. eastern Mirdita, Pindos, Vourinos). In addition, basalts with geochemical features intermediate between MORB and IAT (MORB/IAT) are found in the central Mirdita and in the Aspropotamos sequence (Pindos). These basalts alternate with pure MORB and are cut by boninitic dykes. The distinctive compositional characteristics of the mafic magmas parental to the different ophiolitic suites can be accounted for by partial melting of mantle sources progressively depleted by melt extractions. Partial melting processes (10–20%) of lherzolitic sources generated pure MORB, leaving clinopyroxene‐poor lherzolite as a residuum. Approximately 10% water‐assisted partial melting of this latter source, in an SSZ setting, may in turn generate basalts with MORB/IAT intermediate characteristics, whereas IAT basalts and boninites may have been derived from 10–20% and 30% partial melting, respectively, of the same source variably enriched by subduction‐derived fluids. In addition, boninites may also have been derived by comparatively lower degrees of hydrated partial melting of more refractory harzburgitic sources. A generalized petrologic model based on mass balance calculations between bulk rock and mineral compositions, indicate that most of the intrusives (from ultramafic cumulates to gabbronorites and plagiogranites), as well as sheeted dykes and volcanics (from basalts to rhyodacites) forming the bulk crustal section of the SSZ ophiolites, may be accounted for by shallow fractional crystallization from low‐Ti picritic parental magmas very similar in composition to IAT picrites from Pacific intraoceanic arcs. The most appropriate tectono‐magmatic model for the generation of the SSZ Tethyan ophiolites implies low velocity plate‐convergence of the intraoceanic subduction and generation of a nascent arc with IAT affinity and progressive slab roll‐back, mantle diapirism and extension from the arc axis to the forearc region, with generation of MORB/IAT intermediate basalts and boninitic magmas.