A furrow runs through it: An example of sustainable traditional irrigation in Western Cape Province,South Africa

Water and water related matters are important issues in water scarce countries like the Republic of South Africa. This is especially true for the agricultural sector that relies heavily on the availability of water for irrigation to ensure a secure food supply. In South Africa, present day irrigation projects rely on government subsidies and are usually large undertakings beyond the reach of individuals or small communities. The sustainability of such large irrigation projects is still a matter of debate. A 100 years ago a different set of rules applied. Irrigation could only be achieved by hand-dug furrows that supplied water in relatively small quantities to small farming communities. This paper investigated such a small community, the Leeukloof farming community in the Western Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa. For the past 93 years this community has maintained a furrow that supplies water not only to farms bordering the Perdeberg River, which supplies the furrow with water, but also to farms not bordering the river. The authors try to reconstruct the changes in agricultural practices brought about by the furrow, methods of water extraction during each phase, as well as the development and role of the furrow system. The perception by the community of the necessity of this method of water extraction from the river system is also investigated. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Minority women’s microenterprises in rural areas of the United States of America: African American,Hispanic American and Native American case studies

Women in many rural areas of the US often engage in small-scale businesses as one of several avenues for contributing to household incomes. In those geographical areas that contain a significant minority population, many of the women's businesses display the cultural diversity of the regions in which they live. Likewise, women's roles as economic providers as well as wives and mothers are reflected in the manner in which they operate their businesses. Candida Brush suggests that women's strategies for operating their businesses are highly integrative because women's business decisions are intertwined with familial responsibilities, household economic demands and desires to contribute to their communities. Hispanic and Native American women in the Four Corners region of southwestern US and African American women in central Virginia participated in interviews in which they responded to numerous short answer and open-ended questions about their businesses and decision-making strategies. From these interviews an image emerges of rural minority business women who are operating their businesses at the nexus of family obligations, economic necessities, cultural ties and with a commitment for serving their communities. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Relationship between solar radiation and the development and morphology of small cirque glaciers (Maladeta Mountain massif, Central Pyrenees, Spain)

Abstract Spatial and temporal variations in radiative fluxes influence glacier mass‐balance in mountain areas. The primary goal of this study was to assess differences in solar radiation on three glacial cirques located in the Maladeta Mountain massif (Central Spanish Pyrenees), and analyse their implications on glacier development and morphology. A quantitative approach is adopted to obtain the values of solar radiation (direct, diffuse and global radiation), combining several field data parameters (measured at 55 control‐points) with the solar radiation modelling package Ecosim. The data obtained confirm that the morphologies of the glacial bodies developed in the three cirques have a good correlation with the spatial variation on solar radiation inputs, favouring also the conservation (Aneto and Coronas cirques) or total vanishing (Llosás cirque) of the glacial remnants analysed here. The study shows how strongly in this Alpine‐Mediterranean context solar radiation — firstly as a function of latitude and time of year, and locally as a function of topographic slope, aspect and shadowing — controls the mass‐balance and the spatial distribution of melting in small glaciers, having an effect on the development of their morphologies.     

关于数字化记录中前兆信号的分析

介绍了如何用MATLAB工具软件—小波分析的基本理论对数字信号进行数字滤波,着重分析和研究了呼和浩特地震台形变观测资料出现各种信号,提出了小波分析理论对台站实际工作的重要性。     

中国陆块海相盆地成钾条件与预测研究进展综述

中国古代海相钾盐找矿是一个"久攻不破"的难题,古代海相及海陆交互相盆地能否成钾也是长期争议的问题,也就是中国小陆块能否成钾、成大钾矿的关键问题。为此,本文以板块构造运动为主线,对中国主要小陆块漂移历史、成盆构造、古气候、古地理及海相/海陆交互相蒸发岩沉积特征进行了系统梳理和总结;在此基础上,基于盆地"构造-物源-气候"三要素耦合成钾理论,分析中国小陆块海相盆地成钾条件、成矿机理;同时,总结和借鉴全球海相钾盐成矿标志,建立钾盐成矿评价指标体系。基于这些研究基础,借助对主要陆块的区域构造和古地理特征、物质来源、古气候面貌等恢复及分析,对主要陆块的海相成钾潜力进行评价,同时预测找钾战略靶区。钾盐成矿模式研究表明:兰坪—思茅盆地白垩系、上扬子陆块四川盆地中—下三叠统、华北陆块陕北盆地中奥陶统及塔里木陆块库车盆地古近系等盆地及其层位具有较大的成钾潜力。结合成钾指标对比分析,优选圈定了思茅盆地南部、四川盆地中东部及塔里木的库车盆地等战略靶区内较为明确的重点靶区,可以进一步开展钻探验证。这些研究成果为在中国继续开展海相钾盐成矿研究和找钾提供科学依据。     

黄海南部小黄鱼洄游分布及种群结构特征

Monthly fishery survey data of the small yellow croaker Larimichthys polyactis in the southern Yellow Sea from2003 and 2013 were employed to evaluate the variation in the resource distribution and biological characteristics(especially body length and sex ratio) in the population on a decadal scale.The results indicated that the small yellow croaker migrated from the Shawai fishing ground to the Dasha fishing ground in spring and was mainly distributed in the central and western parts of the Dasha fishing ground in April and May.Larimichthys polyactis in the Dasha fishing ground migrated eastward to offshore wintering grounds in autumn and reached the central Dasha fishing ground in October and November.The small yellow croaker entered the western waters of the Shawai fishing ground in winter.A large number of age 0+ fish occurred in the Shawai and Jiangwai fishing grounds in October of 2003 and 2013.The body lengths of the spawning stock and wintering stock in 2013 were larger than those in 2003,and the monthly sex ratios(female to male) were significantly less than 1 in both years.The monthly distribution of this fish in the southern Yellow Sea was consistent with a previous finding that "the stock migrated between the wintering grounds in the west of Jeju Island and the Lüsi spawning grounds" but tended to move more northward,with the spawning grounds extending outward.In the past decade,body length variation experienced a decline after an increase,rather than a steady decrease.The sex ratio in the single-stick stow net showed a tendency to increase over the decade,but was either less than or more than 1 depending on the fishing gear;therefore,further studies should be conducted to determine the sex structure.     

矿石体重回归分析在新疆乌宗布拉克矿区的应用研究

在资源储量估算的过程中,矿石小体重的准确与否将直接影响到资源储量估算的客观程度。对矿石小体重的准确预测将需要通过大量的统计分析工作,传统的方法是利用矿石小体重的算术平均值进行估算矿床资源储量,并没有考虑到多矿种对矿石小体重的影响程度。本文利用Excel软件"数据分析"的"回归"功能模块,对实验室所测定的矿石小体重值与其对应品位进行二元线性回归分析,快速、准确地构建矿石体重与其品位的数学模型,从而为资源储量估算提供了更客观、更科学的矿石体重模型。     

小体积液液萃取气相色谱-质谱法测定地下水中的克百威与3-羟基克百威

克百威和3-羟基克百威是一对典型的农药母体及其代谢产物,由于其水溶性高、毒性大,可通过地表水或地下水进行长距离迁移,对人类健康和环境安全造成危害.以往通常采用液相萃取或固相萃取的方式提取样品中的克百威和3-羟基克百威,但这些方法操作繁琐、耗时较长,不利于室内模拟实验中多组样品的检测.为实现克百威与3-羟基克百威在地下水...     

Vulnerable groups and preliminary insights into intersecting categories of identity in Laamu Atoll,Maldives

The notion of vulnerability has acquired a significant role in discussions around reducing risk and identifying vulnerable groups, which is particularly important for targeting risk‐reducing policy and practice. Through ten semi‐structured interviews with 24 stakeholders, this study collected local perceptions on the following groups considered most vulnerable in Laamu Atoll, Maldives: youth and children, women, the elderly, people with disabilities, displaced persons and migrants, and farmers. In doing this, the significance of intersecting categories of identity for understanding vulnerability emerged and was explored; an approach that is often absent or scarcely applied in studies that identify vulnerable groups in the Maldives and elsewhere. Intersections between location, youth and gender or disability, as well as gender and marital status emerged as relevant for the Laamu Atoll context. Although this study acknowledges the incompleteness of its intersectional analysis, these findings provide important preliminary insights into the role of intersectionality in shaping vulnerability experience. To enhance scholarship on vulnerability, future studies could further explore intersectionality in Laamu Atoll and the Maldives using this study as a base and also improve its practical applicability for policy and practice.     

Spatio-temporal variability of small fishes related with environmental factors in a typical domestic tap water lake,Eastern China

The knowledge of prey small ?sh stock, distribution and abundance is necessary to guide stocking of piscivorous ?sh for the biomanipulation in domestic tap water lakes. This study describes the current status of small ?sh community in Kuilei Lake(China), and examines the spatial and seasonal variations of the community in relation to key environmental factors. Based on submerged macrophyte cover and water depth, the lake was divided into ?ve major habitats:(1) macrophyte covered shallow habitat of water depth< 2.00 m,(2) uncovered or less-covered shallow habitat(2.00 m–3.50 m),(3) uncovered medium shallow habitat(3.50 m–5.00 m),(4) uncovered medium deep habitat(5.00 m–6.50 m) and(5) uncovered deep habitat(6.50 m–8.50 m). The abundance and composition of small ?sh were monitored by benthic fykenet sampling from April 2013 to January 2014. A total of 2881 individuals belonging to 5 families and 21 species were collected. Based on their abundance(accounted for 88.96% of the total) and occurrence(more than 33.33%), Acheilognathus chankaensis, Acheilognathus macropterus, Microphysogobio microstomus,Pseudorasbora parva and Rhinogobius giurinus were recognized as dominant small ?sh species. The results of correlation analysis identi?ed that species richness( Sr), Shannon-Wiener diversity index( H′)and Margalef′s richness index( D) were signi?cantly negatively correlated with water depth, but positively correlated with biomass of submerged macrophytes.Redundancy analysis(RDA) revealed that the spatial distributions of most small ?shes were negatively associated with water depth. The details of these ?ndings are bene?cial to understanding the adaptation of the small ?shes in degraded environments, and to developing suitable biomanipulation strategies for the management of ?sh resources and water quality in the lakes along the lower reach of the Changjiang(Yangtze) River basin.