A history of the global understanding of the Earth

The author contributes to the development of a history of the global understanding of the Earth. He summarizes the main steps in the knowledge of the Earth's interior from antiquity to the present time and draws some lessons from this history.     

3D GIS支持下的盐腔三维表面拓扑重建技术研究

在分析了盐岩特性和盐腔作为地下能源储备库等应用可行性和重要性的基础上,详细阐述了利用声纳探测技术进行盐腔测量的原理及测腔数据的组织方式。利用HalfEdge数据结构和边界表示模型,对声纳测腔数据进行了盐腔三维表面拓扑重建技术的研究。并对构建的表面模型进行了有效性检查和可能存在的缺陷进行了修复,得到了正确、有效的盐腔三维表面模型,为盐腔的稳定性分析、蠕变特性分析等数值模拟过程,提供了有效的数据基础。该方法具有重要的经济意义和社会意义,可以为盐腔的建造,尤其是安全合理地利用盐腔提供科学依据和技术支持。     

Forecasting prices of single family homes using GIS-defined neighborhoods

We estimate spatiotemporal models of average neighborhood single family home prices to use in predicting individual property prices. Average home-price variations are explained in terms of changes in average neighborhood house attributes, spatial attributes, and temporal economic variables. Models adopting three different definitions of neighborhoods are estimated with quarterly cross-sectional data over the period 2000–2004 from four cities in Southern California. Heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation problems are detected and adjusted for via a sequential routine. Results of these models suggest that forecasts obtained using city neighborhood average price equations may have advantage over forecasts obtained using city aggregated price equations.      

土壤盐渍化量化的遥感与GIS实验

为对土壤盐渍化程度做更为科学的定量分析，该文重点研究了地下水埋深，地下水矿化度和地貌因子对土壤盐渍化影响以及这种影响的定量化，研究区为吉林省长岭县实验区。利用地理信息系统作为支持工具，结合遥感数据和专家经验，建立数学模型，进行综合分析，获得了较好的结果，这种方法为分析土壤盐渍化问题的有效途径之一。     

Visualizing Patterns of Genetic Landscapes and Species Distribution of Taxus wallichiana (Taxaceae), Based on GIS and Ecological Niche Models

The Chinese yew (Taxus wallichiana), which is widely distributed in the Himalayas and in southern China, is now on the edge of extinction. In order to understand the evolutionary processes that control the current diversity within this species at the genetic and ecological levels, its genetic patterns and range dynamics must first be identified and mapped. This knowledge can then be applied in the development of an effective conservation strategy. Based on molecular data obtained from 48 populations of T. wallichiana, we used GIS-based interpolation approach for the explicit visualization of patterns of genetic divergence and diversity, and a number of potential evolutionary hotspots have been specifically identified within the genetic landscape maps. Within the maps of genetic divergence and diversity, five areas of high inter-population genetic divergence and six areas of high intra-population genetic diversity have been highlighted in a number of separate mountain regions, and these evolutionary hotspots should have the priority to be protected. Furthermore, four geographical barriers have been identified: the eastern Himalayas, the Yunnan Plateau, the Hengduan Mountains and the Taiwan Strait. According to ecological niche modeling (ENM), the populations of T. wallichiana within the Sino-Himalayan Forest floristic subkingdom experienced westward expansion from the periods of Last Inter-glacial to Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Following the LGM, the distribution range overall became reduced and fragmented. These findings challenge the classic mode of contraction-expansion in response to the last glaciation. In conclusion, our findings suggest that the changes in geographical landscapes and climate that occurred during the Quaternary resulted in current genetic landscape patterns.     

Horton's slope function

An error is pointed out in Robert Horton's (1945) presentation of his ‘slope function’. The history of its apparent non-detection provides an interesting perspective on the development of geomorphology as a science.     

基于投影寻踪与可拓学方法的泥石流危险度评价

泥石流危险度评价是地质灾害评估与治理的一项重要内容。选取金沙江流域典型泥石流影响因子指标值作为原始数据,基于投影寻踪法与可拓学相结合的方法建立危险度评价模型,根据原始数据的结构特征搜索出最符合实际情况的投影方式,从而映射出最客观的综合数据特征值。并通过可拓学理论解决泥石流体系的模糊性、不确定性与泥石流危险度评价的客观性、确定性之间的矛盾,将评价因子与评价标准之间的从属关系拓展到因子与标准之间的距离,从而定量化地描述出研究区泥石流危险度的特征。     

Improving the performance of precipitation outputs from Global Climate Models to predict monthly and seasonal rainfall over the Indian subcontinent

Skilful prediction of the monthly and seasonal summer monsoon rainfall over India at a smaller spatial scale is a major challenge for the scientific community. The present study is aimed at achieving this objective by hybridising two mathematical techniques, namely synthetic superensemble (SSE) and supervised principal component regression (SPCR) on six state-of-the art Global Climate Models (GCMs). The performance of the mathematical model is evaluated using correlation analysis, the root mean square error, and the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency index. Results feature reasonable improvement over central India, which is a zone of maximum rainfall activity in the summer monsoon season. The study also highlights improvement in the monthly prediction of rainfall over raw GCMs (15–20% improvement) with exceptional improvement in July. The developed model is also examined for anomalous years of monsoon and it is found that the model is able to capture the signs of anomalies over different gridpoints of the Indian domain.     

Paleovalley-related uranium deposits in Australia and China: A review of geological and exploration models and methods

The features and similarities in the geology of paleovalley-related uranium mineralizing systems in Australia and China can be used to refine strategies for exploration. Paleovalley-related uranium resources include sandstone-, lignite- and calcrete-style deposits that are developed within the host sediments deposited in paleovalleys. The paleovalleys incise either crystalline bedrock or older sedimentary rocks, and uranium was deposited and concentrated by the influx of oxidized/reduced groundwaters flowing in aquifers within the paleovalley fill. The critical features of paleovalley-related uranium deposits include sediment and uranium sources, geological setting, depositional environment, age and relative timing of mineralization, aquifer characteristics, availability and distribution of reductants, and preservation potential of the uranium mineral system. This set of information provides a basis to establish the uranium mineralization model, which can then be used to assist with generating targets for uranium exploration and prospectivity analysis of a region. With respect to Sino-Australian examples, paleovalley-related uranium deposits form mostly around the margins of sedimentary basins and the mineralization is commonly hosted within channel fills contained within paleovalleys developed upon, or proximal to, Precambrian crystalline rocks that contain primary uranium sources. The deposits that have been well studied show remarkably similar factors that controlled the formation of paleovalley-related uranium deposits. Basement/bedrocks with above-background (2.8 ppm U) levels of uranium (10–100 ppm) that are linked to, and/or, incised by paleovalleys are associated with these deposits and are the inferred source of the uranium. In these regions, extensive fluvial systems developed particularly during Mesozoic and Cenozoic times, uranium from the bedrock was first dispersed into the sediments, and then concentrated to form deposits through successive chemical remobilization, precipitation and concentration. The deposits formed in continental or marginal marine environments, and commonly are associated with reduced lithologies, containing pyrite and dispersed organic matter and/or seams of lignite, or show evidence of infiltrated hydrocarbons. The mineralization is developed where oxidizing fluids (carrying dissolved U) reacted with reductants in the sediments. Geological, geophysical and geochemical features of the paleovalleys and related uranium deposits are used to construct models to understand host sediment distribution, fluid flow and ore genesis that can assist exploration for paleovalley-hosted uranium deposits. Precise geometric definition of the basin margin and paleovalley architecture is important in identifying exploration targets and improving the effectiveness of drilling. Refinements in remote sensing, geophysical and data processing techniques, in combination with sedimentological and depositional interpretations, provide an efficient approach for outlining the principal drainage patterns and channel dimensions. To help reduce risk, an exploration strategy should combine these technologies with a detailed understanding of the physicochemical parameters controlling uranium mobilization, precipitation and preservation.