中国崛起的国际地缘战略研究

围堵与反围堵是世界历史上大国崛起的常态。本文立足于结构现实主义的国际关系原理,运用地理学的空间相互作用和区位选择等理论,探讨中国在和平崛起过程中权力一利益半径外延的必然性、与本文为竞争利益空间而发生的全球性战略互动,以及由此诱发的周边地缘风险。作者指出,由于区域的非均质性,中国向外实现战略突破时只能依循非均衡路径,即集中优势资源在空间阻滞效应较弱、"投资"回报较高的局部地区率先实现突破,并以此为"极轴"向其他地区辐射战略影响。在全球层面上,由于综合国力的结构性缺陷,目前中国宜把战略资源优先投放到"低政治"领域,运用渗透性较强的经济手段,争取尽快在非洲、拉美与西欧等地获取必要的战略立足点;而在区域层面上,中国应追求在"高政治"领域有所建树,选择与中国在地理上接近、文化亲缘性较强、战略互信度较高的国家进行对外拓展,如:巴基斯坦、缅甸、蒙古、塔吉克斯坦和哈萨克斯坦等地。两者相辅相成,共同组成了21世纪中国和平崛起的国际地缘战略。     

基于QTM的海平面上升分析与模拟

针对海平面上升影响范围分析与模拟这一国际前沿问题,通过研究基于球面四元三角网(QTM)的关键技术问题,包括复杂拓扑关系计算、LOD剖分、球面水淹分析、基于QTM的多分辨率的DEM数据组织方法和分析精度的相关性评定等,以.Net和Direct3D为开发工具,设计开发了基于QTM的海平面上升影响范围评估模型。该研究结果可为全球海平面上升影响的防灾减灾决策提供有效支撑,并推动了球面数据模型和球面格网拓扑分析的理论成果在全球变化预测相关领域的应用进展。     

近540 a东亚夏季海平面气压场的重建及其与数值模拟的比较

 基于中国东部地区旱涝分布和东亚夏季海平面气压存在密切关系的基础上,利用1470—2008年中国东部地区旱涝等级资料、1850—2008年东亚夏季海平面气压资料,运用主成分回归的方法重建了1470—2008年的东亚地区夏季海平面气压场,并对重建结果进行了检验,同时对1470—2008年东亚夏季海平面气压重建场和FGOALS_gl数值模式模拟的海平面气压场进行了对比分析。结果表明:①1850—2008年重建的东亚夏季海平面气压场在东亚夏季风关键区（中国内陆地区以及西北太平洋部分地区）重建效果相对于其他地区要好。②1470—2008年重建的东亚夏季海平面气压场主要存在高纬与中纬气压差异、海洋与陆地差异的两种空间分布型;1470—1999年FGOALS_gl数值模拟的东亚夏季海平面气压主要体现了海陆气压差异。③根据重建的东亚夏季海平面气压场定义的1470—2008年东亚夏季风指数的演变具有明显的阶段性,16世纪中期到17世纪初东亚夏季风偏强,17世纪偏弱,18世纪经历了“弱-强-弱-强-弱”的变化,19世纪则是“强-弱-强-弱”的变化,20世纪是明显的“弱-强-弱”变化。而1470—1999年数值模拟的东亚夏季风指数序列与重建序列的主要差异出现在16世纪末和18世纪末,两者的变化趋势相反,其他时段的变化趋势基本一致。     

中国近海海平面变化趋势的对比分析

本文分析了近40年的中国近海验潮站资料海表面高度的线性变化趋势,并与卫星高度计资料进行了对比。通过对验潮站资料的分析发现,中国海域无论是近40年(1970~2013年)、还是近20年(1993~2013年)海平面均显著上升。各海区近20年的海平面上升有加速的趋势,且各时段上升速率大于全球平均海平面上升率。但是,受到海平面的年际和年代际变化的影响,近10年海平面上升趋势放缓。同时,本文也分析了不同季节海平面变化的趋势,北部海域秋季最大,冬季最小;南海海域春季最大,秋季最小。通过AVISO资料和验潮站资料的对比可以发现,AVISO资料在描述近20年海平面变化的线性趋势上与验潮站资料接近,较大的差异主要是由验潮站地表发生升降引起的。同时,通过对比也发现了用验潮站资料估算海域平均的海平面高度变化会有一定的误差,在黄海、渤海、东海海域验潮站估计的数值偏高,而在南海海域则偏低。     

The Great Barrier Reef: a 700 000 year diagenetic history

A deep borehole through Ribbon Reef 5 in the Great Barrier Reef off north‐eastern Australia has identified a variety of cements, including epitaxial, radial prismatic and spherular aragonite, together with blocky, prismatic and fibrous calcite. These cements are discontinuously arranged within the sequence that consists predominantly of grainstones but locally includes clotted muddy and filamentous textures that may be of microbial origin. Calcite cements vary in morphology with groups of crystals that include acute scalenohedral, rhombohedral and flattened concordant terminations; these show varying densities of inclusions that locally define growth zones and in some terminations divide in the manner of ‘split crystals’ to form fibrous fringes. Morphological changes in calcite are inferred to reflect changes in water chemistry and crystal growth rates at the time of growth, allied to their relationship to the palaeo‐water table, and linked in turn to changes in sea‐level. Neomorphism and dissolution are widespread and variations in the severity of both imply response to the degree of undersaturation of pore waters that at times were probably balanced within very narrow limits. A total of 10 depositional units are identified. Those units at the base of the borehole reflect deposition and diagenesis within a marine environment. The influence of meteoric waters, indicated by stable isotopes, is first apparent at the top of Unit 1 and in Unit 2 (184 to 155 m below sea floor). Petrographic evidence of vadose conditions appears at the tops of Unit 3 (131 to 99 m below sea floor). Units 4 to 8, all deposited under marine conditions, provide isotopic evidence of meteoric or mixing‐zone waters and petrographic indicators of vadose conditions, typically at the top of the units. Evidence indicates that in Unit 5 the water table was mobile and Units 6a, 6b, 7 and 8, all characterized by ultraviolet fluorescent cements, are capped by sub‐aerial erosion surfaces. Unit 9 (the Holocene) reflects the recent re‐establishment of marine conditions. The extent of alteration of the entire sequence reflects the substantial and pervasive influence of meteoric waters. This effect is interpreted as a result of a greater rainfall and river flow from the mainland during early and late stages of interstadial periods. The study reflects progress in the ability to recognize the diagenetic signal generated by sea‐level change. However, whereas the isotopic results reflect the changing relationships between vadose and phreatic zones in groundwater systems beneath successive emergent surfaces, their correspondence with petrographic features is expressed only weakly and commonly lacks the systematic sequential overprinting implied by the distribution of cathodoluminescent zones of cements in many ancient limestones.     

A morphological investigation of marine transgression in estuaries

The landscape setting of estuaries varies widely and is an important aspect of determining how they evolve. This paper focusses on alluvial estuaries in river valleys and how they respond to sea level rise. We examine the implications of marine transgression, as a response to sea level rise, where the estuary moves upwards and landwards to maintain its position in the tidal frame (so-called stratigraphic rollover). Here we encapsulate such kinematic movement of the estuary morphology using a ‘morphokinematic’ model, to assess the potential response to sea level rise and sediment supply. The model of the estuary form includes a single convergent channel, intertidal and surrounding floodplains (the valley) and allows the relative importance of the space available for deposition of sediments, the accommodation space, to be investigated as a function of rates of sea level rise and sediment supply. The transgression of the system is determined using a sediment mass balance, taking account of any supply from the river and marine environment. Model results confirm that the transgression distance, measured as the distance the entity moves landward, varies in proportion to the change in accommodation space, which mainly depends on the floodplain area. As the size of the floodplain reduces, the transgression distance is less and the system becomes much more sensitive to changes in the rate of sea level rise or changes in sediment supply. The greater demand for sediment when a floodplain is present results in greater cannibalization of the estuary form (i.e. greater landward movement) to meet the sediment demand. When the floodplain is disconnected from the estuary, the synergistic relationship is lost and the accommodation space increases. The capacity for restoration will depend on the availability of sediment and the prevailing rate of sea level rise.     

Spatial and seasonal variability of sediment accumulation potential through controlled flooding of the beels located in the polders of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta of Southwest Bangladesh

The Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) delta plain within Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable to relative sea level rise (RSLR) in the world especially under current anthropogenically modified (i.e., embanked) conditions. Tidal river management (TRM) as practiced in coastal regions of Bangladesh may provide an opportunity to combat RSLR by raising the land level through controlled sedimentation inside beels (depression within embanked polders) with re-opening of polders. To date, TRM has been applied to tide-dominated coastal regions, but the potential applicability of TRM for the beels within the polders of river-dominated and mixed flow (MF) regimes remains to be assessed. We apply a calibrated 2D numerical hydromorphodynamic model to quantify sediment deposition in a beel flooded through breaching of the polder dike under conditions of river-dominated, tide-dominated and MF regimes for different seasons and applying different regulation schemes for the flow into the beel. Simulation results show considerable seasonality in sediment deposition with largest deposition during the monsoon season. The potential of controlled flooding is highest in the tide-dominated region, where sediment accumulation can be up to 28 times higher than in the river-dominated region. Regulating flow into a beel increases trapping efficiency, but results in slightly lower total deposition than without regulation. We conclude that re-establishing flooding of the beel within the polder without regulating the flow into the beel through breaching of the polder dike is a promising strategy for the mixed and tide-dominated flow regions in the delta as the sediment accumulation can raise the land surface at a higher rate than RSLR and effective SLR (ESLR). In the more upstream river-dominated section of the delta, accumulation rates would be much lower, but the pressure of sea level rise on these areas is lower as well. Owing to the abundant availability of sediment, application of controlled flooding like TRM therefore provides an opportunity to counteract the impact of RSLR and ESLR by means of land raising, particularly along the tidal river reaches in the GBM delta.     

Land water storage contribution to sea level from GRACE geoid data over 2003–2006

Seasonal and inter-annual change in land water storage (expressed in terms of water volume change) over 27 large river basins worldwide are estimated from monthly GRACE geoids solutions computed at GFZ from February 2003 to February 2006. The largest annual water volume change is found in the Amazon basin, followed by the Parana, Ob, Orinoco, Tocantins, Niger, Congo, Ganges, Mekong, and Brahmaputra. In terms of trend over the 3-year period, positive and negative values are observed but in a number of cases computed trends are at the noise level. However significant negative trends are found in the Amazon, Ganges, Mississippi, Nile, Parana, and Zambezi basins, indicating water mass loss over that period. Positive trends (water mass gain) are marginally significant. We have computed the land water contribution to sea level change. On average over the 3-year time span, we find that the net effect is positive (net loss of water in terrestrial reservoirs), on the order of 0.19 +/− 0.06 mm/yr. If sustained over a longer time span than considered here, such a value may become comparable to the ice sheets contribution to sea level rise.     

Reef-island topography and the vulnerability of atolls to sea-level rise

Low-lying reef islands on the rim of atolls are perceived as particularly vulnerable to the impacts of sea-level rise. Three effects are inferred: erosion of the shoreline, inundation of low-lying areas, and saline intrusion into the freshwater lens. Regional reconstruction of sea-level trends, supplementing the short observational instrumental record, indicates that monthly mean sea level is rising in the eastern Indian and western Pacific Oceans. This paper reviews the morphology and substrate characteristics of reef islands on Indo-Pacific atolls, and summarises their topography. On most atolls across this region, there is an oceanward ridge built by waves to a height of around 3 m above MSL; in a few cases these are topped by wind-blown dunes. The prominence of these ridges, together with radiocarbon dating and multi-temporal studies of shoreline position, indicate net accretion rather than long-term erosion on most of these oceanward shores. Less prominent lagoonward ridges occur, but their morphology and continuity are atoll-specific, being a function of the processes operating in each lagoon. Low-lying central areas are a feature of many islands, often locally excavated for production of taro. These lower-lying areas are already subject to inundation, which seems certain to increase as the sea rises. Tropical storms play an important role in the geomorphology of reef islands in those regions where they are experienced. Topographical differences, as well as features such as emergence of the reef flat and the stability of the substrate, mean that islands differ in terms of their susceptibility to sea-level rise. Further assessment of variations in shoreline vulnerability based on topography and substrate could form the basis for enhancing the natural resilience of these islands.     

Low post-Cenomanian denudation depths across the Brazilian Northeast: Implications for long-term landscape evolution at a transform continental margin

The Brazilian Northeast affords good opportunities for obtaining reliable timings and rates of landscape evolution based on stratigraphic correlations across a vast region. The landscape formed in the context of an episodically fluctuating but continuously falling base level since the Cenomanian. After formation of the transform passive margin in Aptian times, landscape development was further driven by a swell-like uplift with its crest situated  300 km from the coastline. The seaward flank of this swell or broad monocline between the interior Araripe and coastal Potiguar basins was eroded, and currently forms a deeply embayed plain bordered by a semi-circular, north-facing erosional escarpment. The post-Cenomanian uplift caused an inversion of the Cretaceous basins and generated a landscape in which the most elevated landforms correspond either to resistant Mesozoic sedimentary caprock, or to eroded stumps of syn-rift Cretaceous footwall uplands. Denudation in the last 90 My never exceeded mean rates of 10 m·My^− 1 and exhumed a number of Cretaceous stratigraphic unconformities. As a result, some topographic surfaces at low elevations are effectively Mesozoic land surfaces that became re-exposed in Cenozoic times. The Neogene Barreiras Formation forms a continuous and mostly clastic apron near the coast. It testifies to the last peak of erosion in the hinterland and coincided with the onset of more arid climates at  13 Ma or earlier. The semi-circular escarpment is not directly related to the initial breakup rift flanks, which had been mostly eroded before the end of the Mesozoic, but the cause and exact timing of post-Cenomanian crustal upwarping are poorly constrained. It could perhaps have been a flexural response of the low-rigidity lithosphere to sediment loads on the margin, and thus a slowly ongoing process since the late Cretaceous. Uplift could instead be the consequence of a more discrete dynamic event related either to Oligocene magmatism in the region, or to continental-scale far-field stresses determined by Andean convergence.