Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Physical and Environmental Geography
Comparing patterns of hurricane washover into built and unbuilt environments
Published: 2020-10-23
Subjects: Geomorphology, Nature and Society Relations, Physical and Environmental Geography, Sustainability
Extreme geohazard events can change landscape morphology by redistributing huge volumes of sediment. Event-driven sediment deposition is typically studied in unbuilt settings – despite the ubiquity of occurrence and high economic cost of these geohazard impacts in built environments. Moreover, sedimentary consequences of extreme events in built settings tend to go unrecorded because they are [...]
Finding karstic caves and rockshelters in the Inner Asian mountain corridor using predictive modelling and field survey
Published: 2020-07-10
Subjects: Geographic Information Sciences, Geography, Physical and Environmental Geography, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Spatial Science
The area of the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor (IAMC) follows the foothills and piedmont zones around the northern limits of Asia’s interior mountains, connecting two important areas for human evolution: the Fergana valley and the Siberian Altai. Prior research has suggested the IAMC may have provided an area of connected refugia from harsh climates during the Pleistocene. To date, this region [...]
Climate has contrasting direct and indirect effects on armed conflicts
Published: 2020-07-08
Subjects: Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Geography, Human Geography, International and Area Studies, Library and Information Science, Life Sciences, Nature and Society Relations, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Remote Sensing, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Statistics and Probability
There is an active debate regarding the influence that climate has on the risk of armed conflict, which stems from challenges in assembling unbiased datasets, competing hypotheses on the mechanisms of climate influence, and the difficulty of disentangling direct and indirect climate effects. We use gridded historical non-state conflict records, satellite data, and land surface models in a [...]
A framework to quantify the human footprint in Africa using supply and demand of net primary production
Published: 2020-05-29
Subjects: Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Sciences, Geography, Nature and Society Relations, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Remote Sensing, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Spatial Science, Sustainability
The human-environment connection in the mostly rural drylands of Africa forms a complex, interlinked system that provides ecosystem services. This system is susceptible to climatic variability that impacts the supply of its products, and high population growth, which impacts the demand for these products. When plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through the process of photosynthesis, [...]
Coastal flooding will disproportionately impact people on river deltas
Published: 2020-01-09
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Studies, Geography, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Climate change is intensifying tropical cyclones, accelerating sea-level rise, and increasing coastal flooding. Coastal flooding will not affect all environments equally, and river deltas are especially vulnerable because of their low elevations, densely populated cities, and river channels that propagate coastal floods inland. Yet, we do not know how many people live on deltas and their exposure [...]
Convergent human and climate forcing of late-Holocene flooding in northwest England
Published: 2019-08-13
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geography, Geomorphology, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Concern is growing that climate change may amplify global flood risk but short hydrological data series hamper hazard assessment. Lake sediment reconstructions are capturing a fuller picture of rare, high-magnitude events but the UK has produced few lake palaeoflood records. We report the longest lake-derived flood reconstruction for the UK to date, a 1500-year record from Brotherswater, [...]
Neoglacial trends in diatom dynamics from a small alpine lake in the Qinling Mountains of central China
Published: 2019-07-05
Subjects: Geography, Life Sciences, Physical and Environmental Geography, Social and Behavioral Sciences
During the latter stages of the Holocene, and prior to anthropogenic global warming, the Earth underwent a period of cooling called the neoglacial. The neoglacial was associated with declining summer insolation and changes to Earth surface albedo. Although impacts varied globally, in China the neoglacial was generally associated with cooler, more arid climate, which led to renewed permafrost [...]
Decadal land-use/land-cover and land surface temperature change in Dubai and implications on the urban heat island effect: A preliminary assessment
Published: 2019-06-06
Subjects: Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Geographic Information Sciences, Geography, International and Area Studies, Near and Middle Eastern Studies, Other Environmental Sciences, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Remote Sensing, Social and Behavioral Sciences
The emirate of Dubai is the most populous and most developed of the seven emirates that comprise the United Arab Emirates. By the end of the 20th century, the emirate had shifted its economy from being primarily petroleum-based to a focus on tourism and financial services. The emirate’s capital, also named Dubai, has been growing at a rapid pace; the population in 1999 was 862,000 inhabitants, [...]
The El Niño – La Niña cycle and recent trends in supply and demand of net primary productivity in African drylands
Published: 2019-04-24
Subjects: Climate, Environmental Sciences, Geography, Nature and Society Relations, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Remote Sensing, Social and Behavioral Sciences
The role of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the balance between supply and demand of net primary productivity (NPP) over Africa is unclear. Here, we analyze the impact of ENSO on this balance in a spatially explicit framework using gridded population data from the WorldPop project, satellite-derived data on NPP supply, and statistical data from the United Nations. Our analyses demonstrate [...]
Current Development of Tourism and Recreation on Baltic Sea Coasts: New Directions and Perspectives
Published: 2019-02-14
Subjects: Education, Environmental Studies, Geography, Human Geography, Medicine and Health Sciences, Nature and Society Relations, Other Geography, Physical and Environmental Geography, Rehabilitation and Therapy, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Spatial Science
Research work analyses current situation and development of tourism in the region of Baltic Sea. Specific case study of this paper is Pärnu Bay, Estonia. This region is known for unique environmental settings: mild maritime climate, broad beaches, coniferous pine forests on the coastal zone and high aesthetic value of the surrounding landscapes. However, after the end of USSR, Estonia survived a [...]
Current Problems of Water Supply and Usage in Central Asia, Tian Shan Basin
Published: 2019-02-14
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Studies, Geography, Geology, Geomorphology, Glaciology, Hydrology, Life Sciences, Other Geography, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Spatial Science
The paper focuses on analysis of Central Asian hydro-energetic system and water usage in Tian Shan region. Tian Shan system is an important water resource in Central Asia: river waters are intensely taken for hydropower energy, urban systems, irrigation. But geopolitics in Tian Shan is difficult: it crosses five densely populated countries. The problem consists in water delivery between countries [...]
Opportunities for Classes of Geography in the High School: the Use of ’CORINE’ Project Data, Satellite Images and IDRISI GIS for Geovisualization
Published: 2019-02-14
Subjects: Adult and Continuing Education, Education, Educational Methods, Environmental Education, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Geographic Information Sciences, Geography, Higher Education, Human Geography, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Nature and Society Relations, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Remote Sensing, Science and Mathematics Education, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Spatial Science, Sustainability
Presented work illustrates application of the GIS based processing of various geographic data: satellite images and CORINE (Coordination of Information on the Environment) layers at the lessons of geography in the high schools and universities. The research illustrates GIS application for understanding, visualizing and modeling landscapes of the Earth. Practically, the work aims to demonstrate [...]
Factor Analysis by R Programming to Assess Variability Among Environmental Determinants of the Mariana Trench
Published: 2019-01-28
Subjects: Computer Sciences, Earth Sciences, Education, Engineering, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Geographic Information Sciences, Geography, Geology, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Oceanography, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Other Earth Sciences, Other Geography, Other Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Programming Languages and Compilers, Remote Sensing, Science and Mathematics Education, Sedimentology, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Spatial Science, Tectonics and Structure, Water Resource Management
The aim of this work is to identify main impact factors affecting variations in the geomorphology of the Mariana Trench which is the deepest place of the Earth, located in the west Pacific Ocean: steepness angle and structure of the sediment compression. The Mariana Trench presents a complex ecosystem with highly interconnected factors: geology (sediment thickness and tectonics including four [...]
Hierarchical Cluster Analysis by R language for Pattern Recognition in the Bathymetric Data Frame: a Case Study of the Mariana Trench, Pacific Ocean
Published: 2019-01-25
Subjects: Applied Statistics, Earth Sciences, Environmental Education, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Geographic Information Sciences, Geography, Geology, Geomorphology, Oceanography, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Other Earth Sciences, Other Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Other Statistics and Probability, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Spatial Science, Statistics and Probability, Tectonics and Structure
The geographic focus of the current study Mariana trench, the deepest point of the Earth located in the west Pacific Ocean. Mariana trench has unique structure and features formed in the complex process of the trench development. There is a range of the environmental factors affecting trench structure and functioning: bathymetry, geography, geology and tectonics. Current research aimed to study [...]
Sustainability of the Marine Environment Towards the Anthropogenic Impacts in the Ecosystem of the Barents Sea
Published: 2019-01-25
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Education, Environmental Education, Environmental Health and Protection, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Geography, Life Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Nature and Society Relations, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Science and Mathematics Education, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology, Water Resource Management
Among all Arctic seas, the Barents Sea is characterized by its unique environment and high level of the biodiversity. At the same time the Gulf Stream waters transport large amounts of pollutants in the Barents Sea bringing various contaminants and substances from the North Sea. Nowadays, there are in Timan Pechora-Carboniferous basin located in the Barents Sea with 76 oil and gas subsidies, [...]