A multimetric fish index, the Estuarine Fish Community Index (EFCI) of Harrison and Whitfield (2004), was applied to data
collected for 190 South African estuaries. Estuaries spanned three biogeographic regions and included three distinct estuarine
typologies. The EFCI is based on 14 metrics or measures that represent four broad fish community attributes: species diversity
and composition, species abundance, nursery function, and trophic integrity. Metric reference conditions and scoring criteria
were developed separately for each estuary type within each zoogeographic region. The final EFCI was applied to each estuary
by comparing its fish community with the appropriate reference. Index values ranged between 18 (very poor) and 66 (very good).
A comparison of the EFCI with independent measures of estuarine condition revealed that the index was able to effectively
differentiate between poor and good quality sites. Applying the EFCI to estuaries in which multiple samples were taken also
showed that the index is reproducible. The EFCI is both a robust and sensitive method for assessing the ecological condition
of estuarine systems; it is also an effective communication tool for converting ecological information into an easily understood
format for managers, policy makers, and the general public. 相似文献
The “region” and “regional change” have been elusive ideas within political and economic geography, and in essence require a greater understanding of their dynamic characteristics. Trailing in the backwaters of the devolution to the Celtic nations of Britain, the contemporary era of New Labour’s political-economic ideology, manifest through “third-way” governance in England places the region and its functional capacity into the heart of geographical inquiry. Drawing upon a new regionalist epistemology, this paper seeks to recover a sense of (regional) political economy through a critical investigation of the development and formulation of Blair’s “New Regional Policy” (NRP). I address how New Labour has attempted to marry economic regionalisation on the one hand, and democratic regionalism on the other. This paper specifically questions the wisdom of such a marriage of politically distinct ideologies through a critical investigation of the underlying contradictions of their strategy from both a theoretical and empirical standpoint. Demonstrated both in the North East “no” vote in 2004, and in the post-mortem undertaken by the ODPM Select Committee in 2005, the paper illustrates how a loss of political drive gradually undermined the capacity of devolution to deliver in England. Finally, I argue that through the lens of the NRP we can speculate on some of the wider issues and implications for the study of regional governance. 相似文献
The Bandombaai Complex (southern Kaoko Belt, Namibia) consists of three main intrusive rock types including metaluminous hornblende- and sphene-bearing quartz diorites, allanite-bearing granodiorites and granites, and peraluminous garnet- and muscovite-bearing leucogranites. Intrusion of the quartz diorites is constrained by a U–Pb zircon age of 540±3 Ma.
Quartz diorites, granodiorites and granites display heterogeneous initial Nd- and O isotope compositions (Nd (540 Ma)=−6.3 to −19.8; δ18O=9.0–11.6‰) but rather low and uniform initial Sr isotope compositions (87Sr/86Srinitial=0.70794–0.70982). Two leucogranites and one aplite have higher initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.70828–0.71559), but similar initial Nd (−11.9 to −15.8) and oxygen isotope values (10.5–12.9‰). The geochemical and isotopic characteristics of the Bandombaai Complex are distinct from other granitoids of the Kaoko Belt and the Central Zone of the Damara orogen. Our study suggests that the quartz diorites of the Bandombaai Complex are generated by melting of heterogeneous mafic lower crust. Based on a comparison with results from amphibolite-dehydration melting experiments, a lower crustal garnet- and amphibole-bearing metabasalt, probably enriched in K2O, is a likely source rock for the quartz diorites. The granodiorites/granites show low Rb/Sr (<0.6) ratios and are probably generated by partial melting of meta-igneous (intermediate) lower crustal sources by amphibole-dehydration melting. Most of the leucogranites display higher Rb/Sr ratios (>1) and are most likely generated by biotite-dehydration melting of heterogeneous felsic lower crust. All segments of the lower crust underwent partial melting during the Pan-African orogeny at a time (540 Ma) when the middle crust of the central Damara orogen also underwent high T, medium P regional metamorphism and melting. Geochemical and isotope data from the Bandombaai Complex suggest that the Pan-African orogeny in this part of the orogen was not a major crust-forming episode. Instead, even the most primitive rock types of the region, the quartz diorites, represent recycled lower crustal material. 相似文献
Three major, interdependent processes control the genesis and distribution of mineral and thermal waters in the Rhenish Massif,
Central Europe: (a) Magmatic processes in the upper mantle provide most of the CO2 to produce bicarbonate waters in shallow aquifers. (b) Extension of the brittle upper crust enables the ascent of sodium
chloride waters. (c) Uplift and erosion shape the massif's relief, which determines the extent of flow systems and the distribution
of thermal springs. The chemistry of mineral waters further depends on the aquifers' mineral composition. A comprehensive
set of hydrological, chemical, tectonic and geophysical data on the Rhenish Massif has been compiled. It was used to classify
the mineral waters and to map the spatial distribution of water properties. The composition of cuttings from several representative
wells producing different water types shows that the hydrothermal alteration of the aquifer rocks consists mainly of kaolinization
of chlorite and dissolution of feldspar. Numerical transport simulations favour two modes of groundwater flow: topography-driven
flow and the pressure-driven ascent of basement brines along active faults. Thermal convection is less important. 相似文献
