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Land Use/Cover Change (LUCC) has gradually became an important direction in the research of global changes. LUCC is a complex system, and entropy is a measure of the degree of disorder of a system. According to land use information entropy, this paper analyzes changes in land use from the perspective of the system. Research on the entropy of LUCC structures has a certain "guiding role" for the optimization and adjustment of regional land use structure. Based on the five periods of LUCC data from the year of 1990 to 2010, this paper focuses on analyzing three types of LUCC entropies among counties in China--namely, Shannon, Renyi, and Tsallis entropies. The findings suggest that: (1) Shannon entropy can reflect the volatility of the LUCC, that Renyi and Tsallis entropies also have this function when their parameter has a positive value, and that Renyi and Tsallis entropies can reflect the extreme case of the LUCC when their parameter has a negative value.; (2) The entropy of China's LUCC is uneven in time and space distributions, and that there is a large trend during 1990-2010, the central region generally has high entropy in space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the results of a study that examined the insoluble particles' strontium-neodymium (Sr-Nd) isotopic compositions in snow samples from 13 sites in order to apportion the dust sources of mountain glaciers in western China. A distinctive geographic patterns over western China was demonstrated by the combined plot of Sr-Nd which can be classified into three regions from north to south. Snow samples from the Alta mountains show similar data of deserts in the north China while those from the southern Tibetan Plateau (TP) and Himalaya show the highest Sr and lowest Nd values.

In this paper, the effect of cyclic loading on drained residual strength of over-consolidated silty clay is examined based on the results from ring shear tests which were conducted with a sophisticated ring shear apparatus. Initially sheared to form shear zones under different pre-consolidation pressures and at different shear rates (SRs), soil samples were then tested under cyclic loading. After the cyclic loading application, the samples were re-sheared while the corresponding shear strengths were measured. The results show that the effect of cyclic loading on residual strength is noticeable. The effect is related to pre-consolidation history and SR of the soil samples. Under conditions of relatively low over-consolidation ratio (OCR), the soil samples show an increase in residual strength with decreasing SR after cyclic loading. Most of the peak strength values after cyclic loading are higher than the residual strength values obtained before cyclic loading. Two effects of cyclic loading on the residual strength are identified: (a) If OCR is less than or equal to 3.0, the residual strengths measured after cyclic loading are larger than those before cyclic loading; (b) If OCR is greater than or equal to 3.5, the residual strengths after cyclic loading tend to become lower than those in the shear tests before cyclic loading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to investigate the land use intensity and land use change type at the basin scale in the middle and lower reaches of the Hanjiang River Basin (in Hubei Province, China) by combining the Landsat TM images in 1995 and 2000 with the land use database (in scale 1:10,000) and relative data. In this study, the basic data is acquired from the interpretation of remote sensing (RS) images. The intensity of land use and the rate of change in double-directions of land use dynamics are calculated with the support of software ARC/INFO. The intensity of land use is indicated by the intensity coefficient of land use, and the transition of land use types is quantified as the rate of change in double-direction of land use types and also expressed as the transition matrix of land use types. The results are expressed in space by Geographic Information System (GIS) software. Results of this study show that (1) the intensity of land use is high in the study region, the intensity coefficients of land use in 1995 and 2000 are 260.025 and 290.526, respectively, and the intensity of development and utilization of land is trend to increscent; and (2) the rate of land use change in double directions in the whole study region is 0.52 with great spatial variation and the differentiation of land use types. In the differentiation of land use types, the unutilized land (with the rate to 4.391) is developed fast, the grassland (with 2.836) and water area (with 1.664) are disturbed severely, and these changes will influence the eco-environment in the Hanjiang River Basin and all the Yangtze Basin. The rates of the farmland and the woodland are 0.424 and 0.344, respectively, meaning that the fundamentals of regional human-environmental system are relative stable. With this study, we can conclude that (1) the patterns of land use are increasingly changing in the study region, the environmental impacts are escalated on this stage, and the further outcomes are destined to change the stability of the regional human–environmental system; and (2) the most useful method to study the present land use and its change is through the use of the RS/GIS with the land use database (in scale 1:10,000). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to statistics, there are a total of 39 sites of palaeo-karst collapse pillars in Northern China, as well as 3,650 palaeo-karst collapse pillars. Through an overall survey and analysis of the distribution regularities and formation mechanisms of palaeo-karst collapse pillars in the northern coal mine regions, this paper found that the rock formation structures, geological structures, karst characters, underground hydrodynamic conditions of karst and neotectonic movement conditions are basic geological bases for the formation of karst collapse pillars and rule the distribution of them. Karst collapse pillars apparently have three south–north regularities in terms of distribution, and they have resulted in severe damages to geological resources and environment in their distribution areas: mine water inrush causing and coal resources damage and influencing the impounding of reservoirs as well as the stability of dam sites. Based on the basic geological features of palaeo-karst collapse pillars in northern China, this paper also introduces the new methods of integrated prospecting of successive approximation to determine hydraulic conductivity of palaeo-karst collapse pillars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of research and analysis of the landslide system of the Three Gorges Reservoir area, this paper systematically analyzes and studies the temporal–spatial distribution law of landslides of this reservoir area and their impacts on environment of this area. The paper puts forward that the temporal–spatial distribution of this area's landslides is mainly controlled by lithologic characters of strata, geological structure, valley landscape, and types of bank slope structure; landslide deformation and failure have such characteristics as simultaneity, laggardness, cyclical instability, and stage. Besides, the paper systematically analyzes and studies the main impacts of landslide on environment and points out that landslides and collapses will bring about relatively serious impacts on relocation and layout of cities and towns along the banks. These impacts mainly include the increase of relocation investment, number of migrants, and compensation for losses. Much attention and evaluation should be paid to the impacts of Xintan Landslide and Lianziya Landslide—large landslides near the Dam—on the construction and safety of the Three Gorges Project. However, landslides have relatively small impacts on shipping and reservoir capacity. The above-mentioned research is of great guiding significance for the construction of the Three Georges Project, planning and construction of cities and towns along the banks, and protection of geological environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]