Application of connectivity theory to model the impact of terrace failure on runoff in semi‐arid catchments

Terraces are a common feature of Mediterranean landscapes. In many places they are no longer maintained so that the number of intact terraces is in prolonged decline. The aim of this paper is to examine the effect of terrace removal and failure on hydrological connectivity and peak discharge in an agricultural catchment (475 ha) in south‐east Spain. The situation of 2006 is compared to that in 1956 and to a scenario without terraces (S2). The spatial distribution of concentrated flow was mapped after four storms in 2006. The degree of connectivity was quantified by means of connectivity functions and related to storm characteristics, land use and topography. For 1956, 2006 and scenario S2, connectivity functions and peak discharge to the river were determined for a storm with a return period of 8·2 years. The results show that the decrease in intact terraces has led to a strong increase in connectivity and discharge. The contributing area to the river system has increased by a factor 3·2 between 1956 and 2006. If all terraces were to be removed (scenario S2), the contributing area may further increase by a factor 6·0 compared to 2006. The spatial extent of concentrated flow and the degree of connectivity are related to storm magnitude as expressed by the erosivity index (EI₃₀). Although a large part of the concentrated flow (25–50%) occurs on dirt roads, it appears that croplands become a major source of runoff with increasing rainfall. The results suggest that connectivity theory can be used to improve rainfall–runoff models in semi‐arid areas. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Macrobenthic composition of the southeast continental shelf of India

Macrobenthic faunal composition was studied at six different depth ranges (30–50, 51–75, 76–100, 101–150, 151–175 and >176 m) in five transects (off Karaikkal, Parangipettai, Cuddalore‐SIPCOT, Cheyyur and Chennai) in the continental shelf of southeast coast of India. Eleven diverse taxa were found, comprising 113 species of polychaetes, 14 species of bivalves, 10 species of amphipods and ‘others’ (five tanaids, five crabs, four isopods, three echinoderms, two shrimps, two cnidarians, two fishes and one cephalochordate). Polychaetes were the dominant taxa, constituting 88.5% of the total abundance and 30.7% of the total biomass. The number of species (seven per 0.2 m² at >176 m depth range in Chennai to 46 per 0.2 m² at 30–50 m in Cheyyur), abundance (216 per 0.2 m² at >176 m in Karaikkal to 353 per 0.2 m² at 30–50 m in Cheyyur) and biomass (0.09 g per 0.2 m² at 151–175 m in Karaikkal and 4.6 g per 0.2 m² at 30–50 m in Cheyyur) of macrobenthos decreased with increase in depth. DO decreased gradually from 30 m depth; beyond 150 m, the decrease was pronounced due to the presence of the oxygen minimum zone. Using the distance based linear model (DISTLM), it was found that the environmental variables explained about 73.3% of the total variability in macrofaunal distribution. The heavy metals cobalt and mercury, as well as water pressure (proxy for depth), showed a significant relationship with macrofauna, explaining respectively 9, 7.3 and 7% of the total variability. The contribution of other variables was smaller.     

焦家断裂带南部覆盖区控矿构造带的研究及成矿前景分析

胶东西北部龙口莱州断裂带南段的朱宋朱桥段,俗称焦家断裂带,是胶东西北部三大控矿构造之一,相继勘查评价了焦家、新城、河西、河东、东季、马塘、望儿山、寺庄等一系列特大型、大型以及中小型金矿床,资源潜力巨大。由于焦家断裂带南段（寺庄以南）被第四系覆盖而去向不明,因此目前对焦家断裂带南延的位置争议较大。根据近年来在该区开展的一系列综合物探研究工作,初步建立了焦家主干断裂带南部覆盖区的断裂构造格架,认为其中F8（徐村院沟北王）断裂为焦家断裂的南延段,并对南部覆盖区的成矿前景进行了分析探讨。     

南太湖入湖口蓝藻生物量与CODMn和DO的相关性研究

采用水质监测方法对2008—2010年南太湖水域三个入湖口(小梅港、新塘港、大钱港)水体中蓝藻生物量、CODMn和DO的时空变化特征进行了监测和调查,并通过SPSS10.0软件对蓝藻生物量与CODMn和DO的相关性进行了分析。结果表明:(1)3年内南太湖入湖口蓝藻颗粒数在1.0×106个/L以上范围的频率每年超过50%,最高在3.0×107个/L左右;(2)南太湖入湖口CODMn指标大部分处于较高的污染水平,最高有6.5mg/L,最低约3.0mg/L;(3)蓝藻生物量与CODMn的相关性系数r介于0.3—0.7之间,呈现中低度正相关;(4)3年内蓝藻生物量与DO的相关性系数r介于0.30—0.50,呈现低度正相关,DO浓度有70%以上的频率大于6.0mg/L。结果表明,3个入湖口溶解氧指标能达Ⅱ—Ⅲ类地表水水质标准,但有机物污染已经不容忽视,并且与蓝藻暴发呈一定的相关性。     

浙江南部沿岸产卵场春、夏季鱼卵、仔稚鱼种类组成与分布

根据2011年4月、5月与6月对浙江南部沿岸产卵场进行的共3个航次的调查资料,对该海域的鱼卵、仔稚鱼的种类组成和数量分布进行了分析,结果表明,共发现鱼卵、仔稚鱼72个种类,分别隶属11目38科48属。其中鱼卵29种,分别隶属6目18科24属;仔稚鱼55种,分别隶属10目29科40属。4—6月仔稚鱼数量呈逐月递减的趋势,而鱼卵数量6月最多,5月最少。鱼卵优势种4月以斑鰶、棱鱚、小黄鱼与蓝点马鲛为主,5月以斑鰶、鳀、龙头鱼、银鲳、蓝点马鲛与石首鱼科为主,6月以鳀、龙头鱼、多鳞鱚与鲱科鱼类为主;仔稚鱼优势种4月以虾虎鱼类、褐菖鲉与平鲉科为主,5月以鳀、虾虎鱼类、棱鱚、斑鰶与长鳍篮子鱼为主,6月以鳀与虾虎鱼类为主。斑鰶、鲳鱼、小黄鱼、棱鱚、蓝点马鲛与褐菖鲉的产卵盛期为4月,而鳀与龙头鱼的产卵盛期为6月。     

Late Tertiary tectonic evolution of northern Iran: A case for simple crustal folding

Here we present a crustal folding or buckling mechanism to explain the rootless 3–5 km high Alborz Mountains in northern Iran as well as  10 km of Late Miocene to recent subsidence in the south Caspian basin and  3–6 km of subsidence in the central Iranian basin in the context of the middle Miocene to recent Arabia–Eurasia collision. A key element of the mechanism is the presence of lateral and vertical lithospheric strength contrasts between the north Iranian continental and south Caspian oceanic crusts: when compression from the collision is applied across the region, the strong south Caspian oceanic crust, buried under > 10 km of premiddle Miocene sediment, interacts with the bottom of the mechanically strong continental upper crust of northern Iran, resulting in upward buckling of the continental crust and downward buckling of the oceanic crust. We test this mechanism using a finite-element numerical model with a Maxwell rheology and obtain results that are consistent with the geological and geophysical observations. The observations compiled here and the model results demonstrate the potential for using this region as a natural laboratory for studying the early stages of continent–oceanic collision, including processes like basin inversion, fault localization and, potentially, subduction initiation.     

‘Unionising’ the new spaces of the new economy? Alternative labour organising in India’s IT Enabled Services-Business Process Outsourcing industry

This paper explores the lived experiences and aspirational social constructions of call centre work and employment in India’s high profile IT Enabled Services-Business Process Outsourcing (ITES-BPO) industry; the ways in which they differ from those previously documented amongst call centre workers in the Global North (specifically the UK); and the consequences of that geographical reconfiguration of offshored call centre work for the replicability in India of workplace collective bargaining strategies successfully developed in some UK call centres. These issues are analysed using new empirical evidence from a regional survey of 511 non-unionised ITES-BPO workers and 42 in-depth interviews in India’s National Capital Region. Based on this analysis, the paper then discusses the operation, outcomes and ongoing challenges faced by the newly formed ‘Union for ITES Professionals’ (UNITES Pro) in developing an alternative occupational organising model better suited to the particular needs, motivations and preferences of India’s young, mobile, call centre workers. The empirical analysis presented in the paper is located, therefore, within wider debates on the role of geographical context in shaping possibilities for organising white-collar service workers at different ends of global service chains in the new economy.     

南华北盆地青白口系—侏罗系层序界面时空分布特征研究

以位于秦岭—大别造山带之北、华北陆块南部、地跨华北陆块稳定块体、陆块南部边缘变形带的南华北盆地为研究对象,通过对研究区42条不同时代的野外剖面详细观测,运用层序地层学理论,把南华北盆地作为一个整体系统,对青白口系—侏罗系层序界面特征及时空分布规律进行了系统分析,共识别出了8种类型层序界面的物质表现形式,分别是不整合面、渣状层、古喀斯特作用面、冲刷侵蚀面、超覆面、岩性岩相转换面、最大海泛面、最大湖泛面。并重点讨论了各类型界面的时空分布特征。结果表明：在时间演化上,从早到晚由海相—海陆过渡相—陆相,层序界面经历了海相沉积不整合、古喀斯特作用面、渣状层到陆相不整合面、冲刷侵蚀面等;在空间上,同一层序界面在不同相带表现形式不同,同一种类型的界面可在不同相带出现,但不同相带表现特征有一定差异性。     

Geochemical signatures of Mesoproterozoic siliciclastic rocks of the Kaimur Group of the Vindhyan Supergroup,Central India

The Upper Kaimur Group of the Vindhyan Supergroup in Central India, primarily consists of three rock types-DhandraulSandstone, Scarp Sandstone and Bijaigarh Shale. Mineralogically and geochemically, they are quartz arenite, sublitharenite to litharenite and litharenite to shale in composition, respectively. The A-CN-K ternary plot and CIA and ICV values suggest that the similar source rocks suffered severe chemical weathering, under a hot-humid climate in an acidic environment with higher P _{CO 2}, which facilitated high sediment influx in the absence of land plants. Various geochemical discriminants, elemental ratios like K₂O/Na₂O, Al₂O₃/TiO₂, SiO₂/MgO, La/Sc, Th/Sc, Th/Cr, Gd_N/Yb_N and pronounced negative Eu anomalies indicate the rocks to be of post-Archean Proterozoic granitic source, with a minor contribution of granodioritic input, in a passive margin setting. The sediments of the Upper Kaimur Group were probably deposited in the interglacial period in between the Paleoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic glacial epochs.     

Forced regressive shoreface sandstone from Himalayan foreland: Implications to early Himalayan tectonic evolution

Sedimentology and sequence stratigraphic analysis of the ∼ 31 Ma old marker White sandstone unit from the Subathu Sub-basin, NW Himalayan foreland, suggest it to be a forced regressive wedge (FRW) formed during the transition from the marine Subathu Formation to the continental Dagshai Formation. The FRW is bounded between the “Surf diastem” below and type 1 unconformity at the top and differs from RSME (regressive surface of marine erosion, occurring below) bounded FRWs described from other classical coastal/foreland settings. Correct identification of bounding surfaces of a FRW has an important implication to the estimation of rate of relative sea-level (RSL) fall. A faster rate of RSL fall, higher than the sedimentation rate, has been postulated for the erosion of the lower shoreface and RSME. Using the logged thickness of the Subathu/Dagshai transition zone including the White sandstone (bounded between the “Surf diastem” and unconformity), available chronology and eustatic sea-level fall (0.023 mm/year at 31 Ma), a higher RSL fall than the sedimentation rate (0.07 mm/year) has been inferred during the deposition of the White sandstone. Petrography of sandstones and their Sr and Nd isotopic compositions indicate a major provenance switch-over from dominant mafic/ultramafic to metamorphic source from White sandstone (∼ 31 Ma) onwards attesting the link between hinterland tectonics, provenance and forced regression. The provenance switch-over at 31 Ma was earlier inferred to be driven by proto-Himalayan thrust propagation in the foreland. Using a simple isostatic model, on the contrary, a mechanism of accelerated surface uplift (at a rate of > 0.10-0.15 mm/year) is suggested for both provenance change and forced regression.