Risk assessment strategies for the reactivation of earth flows in the Northern Apennines (Italy)

The aim of this paper is to analyze the reactivation mechanism of ancient earth flows, with a view to gleaning information that can subsequently be utilized to formulate a risk-reduction strategy. All considerations made herein are the result of direct experience and observation of actual events which have occurred over the past few decades in the Northern Apennines. Particular attention has been paid to the analysis of the evolution of landslides during actual reactivation, acknowledging a typical, recurring succession of events that precede the failure of the slope. The hazard assessment of these large landslide bodies, which are of slope scale, constitutes a thorny problem, especially in view of the inapplicability of traditional deterministic models such as limit equilibrium stability analysis. Nevertheless, a site-specific assessment of probability of reactivation of these large and ancient earth flows is fundamental to effective land-use planning.     

Preservation conditions and the use of sediment pigments as a tool for recent ecological reconstruction in four Northern European estuaries

Down-core sediment pigment concentrations from four Northern European estuaries were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to investigate phytoplankton community structure and preservation conditions over the last ca. 100 years where all sites have experienced different levels of eutrophication. Phytoplankton pigments have been shown to be useful biomarkers for phytoplankton community structure and abundance due to their taxonomic specificity. The pigment concentrations and sediment pigment inventory showed large variation between the four sites. Concentrations ranged from more than 6000 nmol/g OC to less than 100 nmol/g OC and the inventory integrated over the top 10 cm from more than 300 nmol/cm² to less than 30 nmol/cm² for total identified pigments. Good pigment preservation in Mariager Fjord (Denmark) reflected the almost permanently anoxic conditions. Pigments in Laajalahti (Finland) showed peak concentrations around the time of highest nitrogen loading events known from historical and modelled records over the past 100 years. In contrast, poor down-core preservation of pigments (especially carotenoids) was observed in the Ems-Dollard (The Netherlands) and Himmerfjärden (Sweden) estuaries. The Ems-Dollard site is an intertidal mudflat that experiences daily exposure to light and air, which enhances pigment degradation. In Himmerfjärden, resuspension is an important process affecting both the sedimentation rate and degradation properties. The different preservation conditions at the four sites were supported by the differences in two degradation indicators; the ratio of pheopigment-a to chlorophyll-a and total carotenoids to total pigments. Class-specific carotenoid pigments represented the dominant algal groups reported from each site, however, no distinct down-core changes in the pigment composition were observed at any of the four sites. This indicated that changes in plankton community structure on the group level have been limited over this time period or masked by low preservation of pigments.     

利用卫星遥感资料对南海北部陆架海洋表层温度锋的分析

利用7年(1993～1999)月平均的SST卫星遥感资料，分析了南海北部陆架区域海洋表层温度锋在一年中的逐月变化特征，表明南海北部陆架海洋表层温度锋存在明显的季节内变化。结合风场的卫星遥感资料，分析了东北季风对南海北部陆架温度锋的影响，表明东北季风风速的增加有利于温度锋强度的增强。通过对黑潮南海流套入侵较强的1999年2月与流套入侵较弱的1998年2月的SST卫星遥感资料的对比分析，考察了黑潮南海流套的入侵对南海北部陆架温度锋的影响，结果表明黑潮流套的较强入侵能够增加陆架温度锋的强度，对温度锋的走向也会产生一定的影响。     

A pronounced dry event recorded around 4.2 ka in brine sediments from the northern Red Sea

Partly laminated sediments were sampled from the brine-filled, anoxic Shaban Deep basin in the northern Red Sea. At about 4200 cal yr BP more than two millennia of anoxic sedimentation is replaced by a sub-oxic facies strongly suggesting the episodic absence of the brine. At the same time stable oxygen isotopes from surface dwelling foraminifera show a sharp increase (within less than 100 yr) pointing to a strong positive salinity anomaly at the sea surface. This major evaporation event significantly enhanced the renewal of deep water and the subsequent ventilation of the small Shaban Deep basin. The timing and strength of the reconstructed environmental changes around 4200 cal yr BP suggest that this event is the regional expression of a major drought event, which is widely observed in the neighboring regions, and which strongly affected Middle East agricultural civilizations.     

Evolution from Oceanic Subduction to Continental Collision: a Case Study from the Northern Tibetan Plateau Based on Geochemical and Geochronological Data

Two apparently distinct, sub-parallel, paleo-subduction zonescan be recognized along the northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau:the North Qilian Suture Zone (oceanic-type) with ophioliticmélanges and high-pressure eclogites and blueschistsin the north, and the North Qaidam Belt (continental-type) inthe south, an ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic terrane comprisingpelitic and granitic gneisses, eclogites and garnet peridotites.Eclogites from both belts have protoliths broadly similar tomid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) or oceanic island basalts (OIB)in composition with overlapping metamorphic ages (480–440Ma, with weighted mean ages of 464 ± 6 Ma for North Qilianand 457 ± 7 Ma for North Qaidam), determined by zirconU–Pb sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe dating.Coesite-bearing zircon grains in pelitic gneisses from the NorthQaidam UHP Belt yield a peak metamorphic age of 423 ±6 Ma, 40 Myr younger than the age of eclogite formation, anda retrograde age of 403 ± 9 Ma. These data, combinedwith regional relationships, allow us to infer that these twoparallel belts may represent an evolutionary sequence from oceanicsubduction to continental collision, and continental underthrusting,to final exhumation. The Qilian–Qaidam Craton was probablya fragment of the Rodinia supercontinent with a passive marginand extended oceanic lithosphere in the north, which was subductedbeneath the North China Craton to depths >100 km at c. 423Ma and exhumed at c. 403 Ma (zircon rim ages in pelitic gneiss). KEY WORDS: HP and UHP rocks; subduction belts; zircon SHRIMP ages; Northern Tibetan Plateau     

VIETNAMESE AMERICAN PLACE MAKING IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA*

ABSTRACT. Vietnamese Americans have made places for themselves in Northern Virginia by reconfiguring the geography of the suburban places they inherited, including former high-order central-place nodes. Vietnamese American residences, churches, cemetery plots, and other distinctive ethnic markers are by and large dispersed and rarely noticeable. Their retail districts, however, serve them in multiple material and symbolic ways, not unlike suburban Chinatowns.     

天山山区近40a年降水变化特征与南、北疆的比较

本文分析了天山山区近40 a来年降水变化的基本特征，并与南疆、北疆进行了比较，所得的主要结果如下：(1)天山山区在年降水量干湿变化阶段上与北疆的相似性强于南疆。(2)年降水量的空间分布的同步变化性以北疆为最好，南疆最差，天山山区居中，而年降水量的空间分布的反向变化性，以天山山区为最大，北疆最小，南疆居中。(3)天山山区与南疆从60年代到90年代，年降水均表现出了持续的增加的趋势，北疆年降水从60年代到90年代，除70年代外，不断增多。     

秦末以来秦都咸阳地貌演变

秦都咸阳地貌演变研究是秦咸阳考古和关中地区历史环境演变研究不容忽视的问题。秦末以来，秦都咸阳地貌演变包括渭河河道北移和咸阳原边坡地貌变化两个方面。通过文献考证与实地考察恢复了秦末、唐、明、清各代渭河的河道位置，秦末以来秦都咸阳段渭河河道北移4100m，平均北移速度1．8764m／a，明代以前北移较慢，以后北移速度显著加快，清顺治至现代北移速度达到5．9701m／a。咸阳原南侧边坡上的中小切沟主要是秦以后形成的。原坡上的村庄平台是历史上人为斩齐原坡，挖掘窑洞，引起原边逐步后退的结果，是咸阳原边坡人为地貌演变的体现。     

江苏丰、沛、铜地区高氟地下水成因探讨

通过该区太古界一新生界氟的地层地球化学剖面及岩浆岩和土壤中氟的丰度的研究,论证了该区为一高氟的地球化学区。根据重矿物对比研究和地貌分析,阐明了泰沂隆起区太古界和元古界的高氟古老岩系为该区土壤沉积物源,黄河多次泛滥堆积（粘土矿物对氟的吸附）对土壤氟起了叠加富集的作用。研究揭示该区土壤水溶氟较高,经降水淋滤和浸取作用氟转入地下水,并在凹陷区或河间洼地中聚集,水体停泄、蒸发浓缩形成高氟地下水区。