Vegetation-Climate Relationship and Its Application in the Division of Vegetation Zone in China

Distribution of vegetation is closely coupled with climate; the climate controls distribution of vegetation and the vegetation type reflects regional climates. To reveal vegetation_climate relationships is the foundation for understanding the vegetation distribution and theoretically serving vegetation regionalization. Vegetation regionalization is a theoretical integration of vegetation studies and provides a base for physiogeographical regionalization as well as agriculture and forestry regionalization. Based on a brief historical overview on studies of vegetation_climate relationships and vegetation regionalization conducted in China, we review the principles, bases and major schemes of previous vegetation regionalization and discuss on several contentious boundaries of vegetation zones in the present paper. We proposed that, under the circumstances that the primary vegetation has been destroyed in most parts of China, the division of vegetation zones/regions should be based on the distribution of primary and its secondary vegetation types and climatic indices that delimit distribution of the vegetation types. This not only reveals the closed relationship between vegetation and climate, but also is feasible practically. Although there still are divergence of views on the name and their boundaries of the several vegetation zones, it is commonly accepted that there are eight major vegetation regions in China, i.e. cold temperate needleleaf forest region, temperate needleleaf and broadleaf mixed forest region, warm temperate deciduous broadleaf forest region, subtropical evergreen broadleaf forest region, tropical monsoon forest and rain forest region, temperate steppe region, temperate desert region, and Qinghai_Xizang (Tibetan) Plateau high_cold vegetation region. Analyzing characteristics of vegetation and climate of major vegetation boundaries, we suggested that: 1) Qinling Mountain_Huaihe River line is an important arid/humid climatic, but not a thermal climatic boundary, and thus can not also be regarded as the northern limit of the subtropical vegetation zone; 2) the northern limit of subtropical vegetation zone in China is along the northern coast of the Yangtze River, from Hangzhou Bay, via Taihu Lake, Xuancheng and Tongling in Anhui Province, through by southern slope of the Dabie Mountains, to Wuhan and its west, coinciding with a warmth index ( WI ) value of 130-140 ℃·month; 3) the tropical region is limited in a very small area in southeastern Hainan Island and southern edge of Taiwan Island; and 4) considering a significant difference in climates between the southern and northern parts of the warm temperate zone, we suggested that the warm temperate zone in China is divided into two vegetation regions, deciduous broadleaf woodland region and deciduous and evergreen broadleaf mixed forest region, the Qinling Mountain_Huaihe River line being as their boundary. We also claimed that the zonal vegetation in North China is deciduous broadleaf woodland. Finally, we emphasized the importance of dynamic vegetation regionalization linked to climate changes.

Effects of river width changes on flow characteristics based on flume experiment

The rapid changes in flow pattern due to varying channel widths will make significantly impact on the hydraulic structures and evolutions of open channel. To better understand the impact of varying width, a flume experiment with adjustable width and a depth-averaged two-dimension numerical model were used to analyze the variations of flow parameters. Our experimental results showed that flow velocity gradually increased with decreasing water depth in converging region, and decreased with increasing water depth in diverging zones. It was also found that the turbulence intensity laws in three directions were not agreed with the theoretical relationships proposed by Nezu and Nakagawa in 1993 in straight open channel flows. The flow in the channel with varying width may change from the supercritical flow to the subcritical flow as a function of Froude number. Our numerical simulations with different flow rates showed that most of the hydraulic jumps in diverging region were submerged jump and the degree of submergence increased with increasing flow rate in gradual channel transition. When the flow rate increased, the range of supercritical flow rapidly decreased and the flow changed from the supercritieal condition to the subcritical condition in diverging sections.

How Waterways, Glacial Melt Waters, and Earthquakes Re-aligned Ancient Rivers and Changed Illinois Borders

The borders of Illinois were established when Illinois became a state in 1818. The western border was delineated using the Mississippi River, and the Ohio River was used as the southern border. The eastern border was formed by the Ohio and Wabash Rivers plus the line along latitude 42030＇30＇＇ connecting the Wabash River to Lake Michigan. As initially proposed, the northern border of Illinois would have been 82 km （51 mi） to the south of the current longitude line of 87~31 ＇. This 2,160,000 ha （5,440,000 ac） addition to Illinois resulted in the territory having the required minimum of 40,000 people to qualify as a state. The northern border was moved to allow the linkage of the Great Lakes shipping route to the Illinois and Mississippi River navigation channels. Illinois thus gained a valuable shoreline on Lake Michigan and a location for a shipping port hub which became Chicago. Initially the transfer of goods between these waterways required a portage, but later a shipping canal was created to link the waterways. During the Civil War, Union forces used the connected waterway systems as a northern supply route to avoid the contested Ohio River.

Groundwater Quality and Arsenic Contamination in Amphoe Khemmarat, Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand

Arsenic （As） is one of the most important elemental pollutants in groundwater and drinking water because it causes health problem of arsenicosis after consumption of drinking arsenic-rich water more than 5-10 years. Arsenic contamination of groundwater is an emerging issue in Mekong Basin including Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand. In Thailand, information about arsenic contamination in drinking water resources are quite rare due to that arsenic is not the main element in water qualification assay. The objective of this study is to determine groundwater quality and arsenic contamination in rural Mekong Basin, Ubon Ratchathani. Groundwater samples were collected from 20 different sampling points, between August 2009 and February 2010 in Amphoe Khemmarat, Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand. Physical and chemical characteristics of groundwater were determined. It was observed that the groundwater was 27.9-30.3 ~C, pH 5.7-6.9. The conductivity was 707-767 p.S.cm＂. Dissolved oxygen was 2.04-5.12 mg.L-1 and TDS was 352-384 mg.L~. The samples showed soft- to very hardness-water properties. In some area, few parameters like CI, Fe, Mn, and As exceeded the WHO guideline limits. This result represents basic information for quality of groundwater and the arsenic contamination in rural Mekong Basin, Ubon Ratchathani. Thus, it is probably useful for arsenic standard level assignment and public health authorities. Moreover, it also leads to establish research activity in treatment of arsenic-contaminated groundwater for different purposes

Ancient Canal Town——Tai’erzhuang

IN June 2014,the 2,500-year-old Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal,running a length of 1,797 kilometers,made the World Cultural Heritage list.The 42.5-kilometer-long stretch at Tai’erzhuang（now a district of Zaozhuang City,Shandong Province）,at the junction of the upper and middle sections,is widely known as the sole east-west waterway of the Grand Canal.

Boundary of Cretaceous and Paleogene continental deposits in Zeya-Bureya Basin,Amur(Heilongjiang)River region

It was conducted the comparison of palynological assemblages of the Middle Tsagayan,Upper Tsagayan subformations,Furao and Wuyun formations from Zeya-Bureya Basin of Amur (Heilongjiang) River region with assemblages obtained from the marine deposits of Northeast Russia,Sakhalin,Kuril,and Hokkaido Islands,dated by ammonites,foraminifers and other invertebrates. Based on detail correlation,the geological age of the terrestrial beds was defined. The guide fossils are recognized Marsypiletes cretacea,Tricolpites variexi- nus,Aquilapollenites conatus,A. stelkii,A. rombicus,Integricorpus bellum,Pseudointegricorpus clarireticula- tus,Triprojectus amoenus,Orbiculapollis lucidus,Wodehouseia aspera,Quercoidites minor,which had last oc- currence in the late Maastrichtian. The Danian palynofloras usually are dominated by Triatriopollenites plicoides and T. confusus. The species Anacolosidites subtrudens,Aquilapollenites proceros,A. spinulosus have last occurrence in the Danian. The K-T (K-Pg) boundary in the terrestrial deposits is defined in the base of the Upper Tsagayan Subformation and the base of the lower part of the Wuyun Formation. The latter is represented by aleuropelite to fine-grained sandstones. The change of taxonomical composition of palynospectra in similar environments could be determined by real change of flora at the Mesozoic and Cenozoic boundary,but not by changes of lithological facies or depositional environment,generally.

Three-dimensional Scattering of Obliquely Incident Plane SH Waves by an Alluvial Valley in a Layered Half-space

The indirect boundary element method （IBEM） is used to study three-dimensional scattering of obliquely incident plane SH waves by an alluvial valley embedded in a layered half-space. The free-field response of the layered half-space is calculated by the direct stiffness method, and dynamic Green＇s functions of moving distributed loads acting on inclined lines in a layered half-space are calculated to simulate the scattering wave field. The presented method yields very accurate results since the three-dimensional dynamic stiffness matrix is exact and the moving distributed loads can act directly on the valley boundary without singularity. Numerical results and analyses are performed for amplification of obliquely incident plane SH waves around an alluvial valley in a uniform half-space and in single layer over half-space. The results show that the three-dimensional responses are distinctly different from the two-dimensional responses, and the displacement amplitudes around alluvial valleys in a uniform haft-space are obviously different from those in a layered half-space.

Phosphorus Behavior at Sediment-Water Interface in Coastal Wetland

[Objective] The aim was to explore the role of coastal wetlands in phosphorus fixation in the Yellow River Delta.[Method] The research analyzed phosphorus behavior at sediment-water interface by static water column test. [Result] The research concluded that phosphorus concentration was in the range of 0.051-0.322 mg/L in overlying water, and phosphorus was effectively removed by degradation and adsorption. The static water column test has demonstrated that phosphorus concentration of coastal wetlands plays the role of accumulation when phosphorus concentration is lower than 7 mg/L in overlying water of coastal wetlands. It is notable that substrates of overlying water all perform well in adsorption, and the adsorption reaches saturation if the concentration goes up to 10 mg/L. [Conclusion] Coastal wetlands would significantly adsorb and degrade phosphorus in overlying water, controlling phosphorus within a lower range.

界河

边防派出所门前有一条宽宽的、弯弯的、浅浅的、清水荡漾的小河。小河轻柔地抚摸过草地转身又羞涩地穿梭于崇山峻岭间。谁能看出,就是这条静静流淌着的河水,把这块同样的土地分成了两个国家。

界河

命令很明确：禁止下河洗澡!同时规定沿岸二百公尺内为禁区。大约三周之前，他们来到河岸这边驻扎下来，

Dinosaur-bearing strata and K/T boundary in the Luanchuan-Tantou Basin of western Henan Province,China

The sequence stratigraphy and geochronology of the terrestrial dinosaur-bearing strata,i.e.,the Qiupa Formation,were poorly studied in the Luanchuan-Tantou Basin in western Henan,China.This study shows that these strata represent a complete succession from the Late Cretaceous to the early Paleogene,including the K/T boundary,in this area.Here we report a detailed study of the K/T boundary,especially its stratigraphic sequence,sedimentary characteristics,integrity,continuity,and geological implications.

The dynamic stability of the flow in a meander channel

The meander channel is one of the most common channel patterns in nature.The characteristics of the flow and sediment in a meander channel which have significant effect on the development of watercourse are important subjects in river dynamics.The transition of the flow patterns in a meander channel concerns with the development mode of the channel pattern and the river regime including the generation conditions of the three-dimensional coherent vortex and secondary flow,the hierarchical scale of coherent vortex in different flow conditions,the large-scale turbulent eddy structure adapted to a meander,etc.In this paper we study the laminar flow instability of the two-dimensional channel in a meander channel.It is essentially different from that in a straight channel:The neutral curve will move forward and the critical Reynolds number will decrease.The flow is unstable in response to a wider range of the disturbance wave number,or the laminar flow instability can happen more easily.The above results could not be obtained in the traditional hydrodynamic stability theory so that our work in this paper would make up for the deficiency and blank in this aspect.