Coastal dune areas (n=14) in the central west coast of North America are evaluated by bare earth lidar hill-shaded images for preserved dune migration directions (orientations) to establish seasonal ranges and means of paleo wind-stress directions (bearings ° TN) in the field region (~3,000 km distance, generally north-south). Three periods are targeted for measured parabolic and transverse dune form orientations, including historic time, late-Holocene time (5–1 ka), and latest-Pleistocene time (30–17 ka). These periods correspond to dated intervals (14C, TL, OSL or historic aerial photos) of transgressive dune mobility in the field region, prior to hiatuses of dune sand supply and prolonged vegetative stabilization. The 14 representative study sections were profiled for topsoil chronosequences (n=69) to confirm dune feature relative ages of emplacement and preservation. The measured dune feature orientations (° TN) from latest-Pleistocene time (n=44), late-Holocene time (n=48), and historic time (n=52) demonstrate increasing dune migration orientations or bearings from northeast to southeast with decreasing latitude for all three dune age groups. Conversion from dune migration direction to wind-stress direction (180° rotation) yields westerly wind-stress directions (means) at ~37.0° N, ~43.0° N, and ~44.5° N latitudes, respectively, during the latest-Pleistocene, late-Holocene, and historic periods. The westerly mean wind-stress latitudes (above) represent spatial/temporal balances between opposing seasonal wind-stress directions and little or no net-littoral (alongshore) transport. The changes in westerly wind-stress localities (latitudes) from latest-Pleistocene time (~37.0° N) to late-Holocene time (~43.0° N) are interpreted to represent a northward shift of northwest summer diurnal coastal winds and mean winter storm track landfalls of ~6.0° N latitude or a south to north distance of ~600 km. The empirically established changes in paleo wind-stress directions are consistent with modeled paleoclimate trends and could serve as analogs for future climate change impacts in the study region.
Reviewer Acknowledgements for Journal of Geography and Geology, Vol. 18, No. 1, 2026
The contamination of lotic surface waters, defined as freshwater bodies with continuous flow, such as rivers and streams, by domestic wastewater represents an urgent and growing threat to both human and environmental health. The objective was to analyze the scientific literature related to the impact of domestic wastewater on the quality of lotic surface waters, using a comparative approach by geographic region, to identify degradation factors, ecological impacts, and technological strategies applied for their treatment. The analysis focuses on the Americas, the area with the highest number of available studies, and is complemented by evidence from Africa, Europe, and Asia. Common patterns and regional differences are identified in the degradation factors, environmental impacts, and technological strategies used for wastewater treatment. The results demonstrate the priority of integrated approaches that consider technical, community-based and regulatory aspects. These approaches are crucial for addressing the critical factors, including untreated discharges, low sanitation coverage, and contamination by nutrients and pathogens. Documented impacts include eutrophication, biodiversity loss, and associated diseases. The technologies applied vary by region, ranging from conventional systems to natural and advanced solutions. Gaps persist in the integration of these approaches. This study contributes to a stronger global understanding of the impacts of domestic wastewater. It provides a scientific foundation for designing public policies, sanitation strategies, and community-based actions aimed at improving the sustainable quality of water.
Topographic map drainage system and erosional landform evidence is interpreted from a new geology and glacial history paradigm’s perspective and suggests headward erosion of the Appalachian Great Valley (Great Valley) through the Lake Champlain valley caused New England icesheet stagnation. The new paradigm interprets through valleys (including the Great Valley) now crossing the Lake Champlain-Hudson River drainage divide to have been eroded by huge and prolonged meltwater floods which flowed across the rising rim of an icesheet created and occupied deep “hole.” East of the Great Valley the floodwaters flowed southward across a rising Green Mountain region from the Lake Champlain area toward the Housatonic River valley until Batten Kill valley headward erosion from the actively eroding Great Valley captured that flow. Next Great Valley headward erosion into the Lake Champlain valley beheaded and reversed south-oriented floodwaters moving to Batten Kill on the now north-oriented Mettawee River and Otter Creek alignments. West of the Great Valley the floodwaters flowed in a southwest direction from the Lake Champlain area across a rising Adirondack Mountain region and into today’s northeast Susquehanna River drainage basin area until Great Valley headward erosion enabled Mohawk River valley headward erosion to capture that flow which headward erosion of the southeast-oriented Hudson River headwaters valley next captured. Subsequently Great Valley headward erosion through what is now the Lake Champlain valley beheaded and reversed southwest oriented flood flow routes to create northeast-oriented Lake Champlain tributaries such as the Ausable River. A thought experiment then demonstrates how during a thick continental icesheet’s decay ice-walled canyons carved by immense supraglacial meltwater rivers converged to the north of the Lake Champlain area and led to Saint Lawrence River formation and to New England icesheet stagnation.
This study develops a predictive framework to optimize site selection for tourist accommodations - including hotels, motels, resorts, and guest houses (HMRG) - across the central and northern regions of Vancouver Island, aiming to reduce investor uncertainty through data-driven decision support. Unlike traditional models that focus on price prediction, this research emphasizes predicting location scores, a less explored yet highly relevant metric for assessing accommodation desirability. Despite a relatively small sample size, the framework offers promising insights for early-stage modeling in emerging markets. By integrating geospatial analytics and customer sentiment data, the study evaluates three techniques - Ordinary Least Squares Regression (OLSR), Random Forest (RF) regression, and Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) regression - to identify key determinants of location suitability. A four-phase methodology was employed: (1) variable selection and preprocessing, prioritizing tourism-relevant spatial features extracted from user-generated content and refined through spatial data engineering; (2) evaluation of predictor effect sizes, directional relationships, and multicollinearity; (3) iterative model optimization through feature engineering and hyperparameter tuning; and (4) comparative validation using robustness metrics.
Better understanding of wildfire activity is critical because wildfire activity fluctuates with weather and climate trends. This study analyzes the impact of climate variability and land ownership on wildfire frequency in Missouri. The relationship between burnt area and climate variables (temperature and rainfall) from 2002 to 2017 for the state of Missouri were examined using a simple regression analysis. The results show that warmer annual temperatures have a low positive correlation with wildfire occurrence, and negative correlation exists with annual rainfall. Landowner characteristics were observed to have a profound influence on wildfire frequency, and the study concludes with some suggested strategies for reducing wildfire frequency in Missouri.
Two isolated dune complexes are developed in the Namibia and southern Angola coastlines in the southwest coast of Africa. They include the very-large Namibia Sand Sea or Namib dune sheet (35,000 km2 surface area) and two smaller dune sheets or ergs (~4,500 km2 combined surface areas) at the north end of the Skeleton Coast. In this article, 31 across-shelf and across-shore transects are used to test regional factors of 1) shelf width, 2) coastline orientation, 3) coastline elevation, and 4) alongshore eolian deflation corridors for controlling the localized development of the coastal dune sheets. A lack of apparent correspondence between the four factors and the isolated dune complexes prompted a search of the continental shelf for submerged barriers that could have bounded northward alongshore transport of Orange River sand during Pleistocene marine low-stands. Such localized entrapment of littoral sand could have enabled across-shelf sand supply by coast-oblique eolian transport and marine transgression wave transport to the Namib dune sheet and the Skeleton Coast dune sheets. Two mid-shelf paleo-headlands do correspond to the two anomalous dune complexes. They include a Namib paleo-headland with a 28 km projection distance (80° west-of-north offset of the -100 m MSL depth contour) and a north Skeleton Coast paleo-headland with a 14 km projection distance (50° west-of-north offset of the -100 m depth contour). Smaller offsets occur in the -75 m depth contour but not in the -50 m depth contour in both paleo-headlands. The Namib paleo-headland currently extends between -75 and -140 m depth or 60 % of the mid-shelf width. Together with alongshore sand supply from a southern eolian deflation plain corridor, the localized offshore sand supply from the Namib paleo-headland, and an associated low-stand depocenter, might have contributed to the origin of the Namib Sand Sea or Pleistocene coastal dune sheet.
As a consequence of the dual challenges of global warming and increasingly frequent extreme heatwaves, the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect has become a major threat to urban ecological environments and the quality of life in densely built-up areas. Heat risk (HR) poses significant challenges to public health and urban resilience. As nature-based solutions, urban parks play an important role in mitigating HR and enhancing urban adaptability. This study examines 45 urban parks of various types within Xi’an’s built-up area, integrating multi-source remote sensing data and machine learning approaches to evaluate their regulatory effects on land surface temperature (LST), capacity to alleviate summer HR, and the underlying mechanisms driving these effects. The results reveal that: (1) The cooling effects of urban parks in Xi’an exhibit marked seasonal variation, with the greatest cooling intensity and spatial extent of influence (typically within a 100–200 m radius) occurring in summer; (2) Ecological and comprehensive parks, characterized by abundant vegetation and integrated water features, exhibit year-round regulatory capacity, whereas community, recreational, and cultural heritage parks, predominantly composed of deciduous vegetation, demonstrate limited cooling effects during winter; and (3) The Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) exerts a greater cooling influence in high-LST areas than the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), highlighting the synergistic role of water and vegetation in enhancing park cooling efficacy. This study highlights the essential function of urban green spaces in sustainable urban development and offers scientific evidence and practical guidance for improving urban planning and optimizing the configuration of green and water elements.
This report compares the ability of two fundamentally different geology and glacial history paradigms to explain how eastern New York State’s unusual Schoharie Creek drainage route originated. What makes the drainage route unusual is west-oriented Schoharie Creek headwaters begin at two 300-meter-deep gaps in the 800-meter-high east-facing Catskill Eastern Escarpment (which is also the Hudson River valley’s western boundary) and then flow in a west, northwest, and north direction to eventually reach the southeast-flowing Mohawk River which flows to the south-oriented Hudson River. After traveling 280 kilometers in an almost complete circle Schoharie Creek headwaters eventually pass a point that is approximately 600 meters lower and 16 kilometers away from where Schoharie Creek begins. A geologic literature review demonstrates the Schoharie Creek drainage route origin problem attracted the attention of late 19th and early 20th century geologists and physical geographers, but the accepted geology and glacial history paradigm which has been evolving over the past 150 years did not and still does not provide the necessary mechanisms required for researchers to determine what formed the unusual Schoharie Creek drainage route. However, a new geology and glacial history paradigm which was developed by using Missouri River drainage basin drainage system and erosional landform evidence and which uses two linked icesheets, the first of which created and occupied a deep “hole” in the North American continent and which also generated immense and long-lived meltwater floods, is able to provide a logical, internally consistent, and simple Schoharie Creek drainage route origin problem solution that also explains how many other Catskill Mountain region drainage system and erosional landform features originated.
According to the dominant narrative, California has been experiencing a multi-year or long-term drought along with increasing temperatures that have exasperated or even been causative for a rash of forest and brush fires from 2010 through 2025. However, is this true? Long term precipitation records from San Francisco and Eureka along snow depth and water content from five stations placed at key headwater areas in the southern Cascades and Sierra Nevada were evaluated to see if climate change has really occurred, or whether California is simply more vulnerable to the inherent variation of its base Mediterranean climate which occurs in the context of population pressure, marginal growth in water storage and a massive accumulation of fuel stemming from long-term fire suppression that underpins a fire hazard exasperated by aging infrastructure and human caused fires.
Reviewer Acknowledgements for Journal of Geography and Geology, Vol. 17, No. 1, 2025
The fate of the Santo Cristo de Burgos galleon (1693) is established from 1) alongshore dispersals of shipwreck artifacts prior to the 1700 Cascadia earthquake, 2) shipwreck artifacts deposited by 1700 tsunami surges in beaches and estuary wetlands, and 3) post-1700 subsidence catastrophic beach retreat in the Manzanita-Nehalem study area. Shipwreck structures, unabraded sherds, and historically salvaged beeswax blocks and tropical wood timbers, are associated with the 1700 tsunami overtopping of the Nehalem Bay sand spit. However, a rapid ship breakup and alongshore dispersal of shipwreck debris must have occurred during the 7 years between the loss of the galleon and the 1700 great earthquake and associated nearfield tsunami surges. The pre-1700 alongshore distribution of recovered artifacts argue for a primary shipwreck site located offshore of the Nehalem Bay sand spit. Measured ocean beach tsunami runup, including high-velocity flow (8 m elevation) likely resulted in further dismemberment of shipwreck superstructures and remobilization of shipwreck flotsam to elevated dune ramps and the over-washed sand spit. Inshore tsunami runup elevations in the lower bay wetlands (3.5 m elevation) and upper bay floodplains (2.7 m elevation) permitted shipwreck flotsam dispersal to reach up-channel distances of 14 km. Catastrophic beach retreat (130 m landward of modern beaches) following the 1700 coseismic coastal subsidence (~1.0 m) would have further eroded beached shipwreck structures. However, backwashed ceramic artifacts could have been initially buried by accommodation space filling (£1.0 m) in the innermost shelf. Subsequent storm wave remobilization of buried sherds and their transport to headland bounded shoreline entrapments continues to the present. The rapid breakup and pre-1700 alongshore dispersal of the Beeswax Wreck debris, could explain the lack of remaining shipwreck structures for two other lost galleons, the San Agustín (1595) and San Juanillo (1578), on the high-energy central west coast of North America.
Pennsylvania’s Towanda Creek drainage basin geomorphic history is determined by using a recently proposed geology and glacial history paradigm (which predicts massive and prolonged southwest oriented continental ice sheet meltwater floods flowed across Pennsylvania) when interpreting previously unexplained topographic map drainage system and erosional landform evidence. The new paradigm explains most of the region’s erosional landforms including barbed tributaries, drainage divides, through valleys (valleys crossing drainage divides), water and wind gaps, valley orientations, entrenched meanders, through valley and gap floor elevations, regional ridge crest elevations, upland area elevations, and intervening lowland elevations. The new paradigm suggests the present-day northeast-oriented Towanda Creek drainage basin formed as immense and prolonged southwest-oriented floods first lowered a low relief surface (now preserved if preserved at all by the region’s highest elevations) in the area between the present-day northeast-trending Blossburg and Barclay synclinal uplands and also to the south of the Barclay synclinal upland. Those floodwaters after flowing across the present-day northeast-oriented Towanda Creek drainage basin flowed in a southwest direction through the now southwest-oriented Lycoming and Loyalsock Creek drainage basins and then to and along a now northeast oriented West Branch Susquehanna River valley segment before continuing in a southwest direction along what is now the Allegheny Front. Headward erosion of today’s southeast-oriented North Branch Susquehanna River valley segment between Pittston and Athens, Pennsylvania captured and reversed the beheaded southwest-oriented floodwaters to create the northeast-oriented Towanda Creek drainage system seen today.
Ecological sensitivity, as one of the most important indicators to evaluate regional environmental issues, holds significant implications for ecological governance and management in the related area. This study utilized remote sensing imagery of Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) from the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) in 2014 and 2018, combined with field surveys and socio-economic data. Considering the local ecological and environmental conditions in the region, nine factors related to seven aspects, soil erosion, topography, humidity, habitat, water environment, human interference, and climate, were selected to create an ecological sensitivity evaluation framework for the YRD urban agglomeration. The coefficient of variation method was applied to determine factor weights, while the zonal statistics and spatial overlay methods were used for a comprehensive analysis of ecological sensitivity in a geographic information system (GIS). The YRD urban agglomeration was categorized into five ecological sensitivity levels: extremely sensitive, highly sensitive, moderately sensitive, slightly sensitive, and insensitive. The analysis results revealed spatial variations in the distribution of ecological sensitivity across the YRD urban agglomeration, with the overall ecological sensitivity level being slightly sensitive. The proportions of the total area occupied by extremely sensitive, highly sensitive, moderately sensitive, slightly sensitive, and insensitive zones were 14.30%, 12.02%, 25.29%, 30.34%, and 18.05% in 2014, and 14.30%, 24.01%, 16.33%, 27.32%, and 18.05%, respectively, in 2018. Based on these results, relevant ecological vulnerabilities for the YRD urban agglomeration were discussed.
The eastern region of Taiwan is underpinned by a complex tectonic setting that forms the basis for numerous landforms, such as the Coast Range, Longitudinal Valley and Central Range, along with a rocky shoreline punctuated by a series of scenic beaches. In many ways, this tectonic setting resembles that of the west coast of North America. Taiwan’s climate ranges from tropical monsoon (Am) with periodic typhoons to temperate and even subalpine climates based on dramatic changes in altitude caused by the tectonic setting. This situation produces a host of different ecological zones based on vertical zonation. The physical setting, along with recent infrastructure improvements, forms a baseline for tourism. Moreover, comprehending the region’s structural geology is crucial for understanding the region’s risk of severe earthquakes, as exemplified by the recent 7.4 magnitude earthquake on April 2, 2024, near the east coast city of Hualien. Our methodology centers on a review of pertinent literature and field reconnaissance conducted in 2014, 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2024.
Reviewer Acknowledgements for Journal of Geography and Geology, Vol. 16, No. 1, 2024
The indices reflecting the warm or cold phases of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon are commonly based on sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in cleverly chosen sectors in the Tropical Pacific Ocean. These climate indices, used as predictors of remote climate oscillations, have been successful in most studies of the effects of ENSO forcings on drought anomalies or unexpected floods worldwide. However, there is one difficulty that bothers researchers: the diversity of these remote effects. One of the regions of the world that has attracted the attention of scholars of the remote effects of ENSO oscillations is Northeast Brazil. The main reason for this interest is the great vulnerability of this region to droughts due to the social and economic fragilities that have persisted there for more than two centuries. This study proposes the experimental use of essential atmospheric indices, such as convective instability, as indicators of the presence of cumulonimbus in the Tropical Pacific in response to El Niño episodes. It is well known that the remote effects of El Niño events occur due to cumulonimbus formation in the Tropical Pacific in response to the additional supply of heat and humidity in areas with warm surface waters. However, these tropical cumulus clusters respond not only to surface heating but also to other forces associated with atmospheric circulation. This study has shown that such cumulonimbi can form in areas that are slightly apart from the sectors with the greatest surface heating.
Published geology literature addresses only a small fraction of the Blacksburg, Virginia region topographic map drainage divide evidence. This situation probably arises because the accepted geology and glacial history paradigm (accepted paradigm) does not explain most topographic map drainage divide evidence (anywhere). A new and fundamentally different geology and glacial history paradigm (new paradigm) which appears to explain most topographic map drainage divide evidence sees the Eastern Continental Divide in the Blacksburg area as being located along the rim of a continental ice sheet created and occupied deep “hole” with the rim being uplifted as immense and prolonged southwest-oriented meltwater floods flowed across the region. From the new paradigm perspective northwest-oriented New River valley headward erosion into the rising deep “hole” rim (from the deep “hole”) upon reaching the Blacksburg region beheaded and reversed southwest-oriented floodwaters (probably aided by deep “hole” rim uplift) to create today’s northeast- and northwest-oriented New River. Headward erosion of the southeast-oriented Roanoke River valley and subsequently the southeast-oriented James River valley (both from the Atlantic Ocean) then created the Roanoke River-New River and James River-New River drainage divides (both are Eastern Continental Divide segments) and the James River-Roanoke River drainage divide by beheading and reversing southwest-oriented floodwaters which had been flowing in diverging and converging channels (which had been eroded headward in northeast directions along less resistant bedrock units from the New River valley). This scenario explains most through valleys (valleys crossed by drainage divides), barbed tributaries, river direction changes, and water gaps seen on Blacksburg area detailed topographic maps and does not see significant changes taking place since the southwest-oriented floods ended. The accepted and new paradigms are incommensurable which according to Thomas Kuhn means one paradigm should not be used to judge the other.
Topographic map evidence in the western North Carolina French Broad River drainage basin (upstream from Asheville) was used to determine if a new geology and glacial history paradigm (new paradigm) can explain previously unexplained (and anomalous) drainage system evidence. The new paradigm claims: 1) the Eastern Continental Divide was uplifted as the southeastern rim of a continental ice sheet created deep “hole” (in which the ice sheet was located) as immense and prolonged southwest-oriented meltwater floods flowed across it, 2) headward erosion of south and southeast-oriented valleys (in sequence from the southwest to the northeast) diverted floodwaters more directly to the Atlantic Ocean, and 3) headward erosion of north- and northwest-oriented valleys from the developing deep “hole” (in sequence from the southwest to the northeast) diverted floodwaters to deep “hole” space (located between the rising deep “hole” rim and the ice sheet margin) and then toward deep “hole” southern exits (eventually the Mississippi River valley became the only southern exit). The new paradigm permitted the following types of drainage system evidence to be explained:1) numerous barbed tributaries flowing to a northeast-oriented French Broad River segment, 2) a larger than required northeast-oriented French Broad River valley, 3) and diverging and converging valley complexes which are found throughout the northeast-oriented oriented French Broad River headwaters drainage basin. In addition, the map evidence could be interpreted to show: 1) headward erosion of the north- and northwest-oriented French Broad River valley captured southwest-oriented flow to the north-oriented Pigeon River valley which had captured flow to the northwest-oriented Little Tennessee River valley, 2) headward erosion of the south-oriented Broad River valley captured southwest-oriented flow to the northeast- and north-oriented French Broad River and the south-oriented Toxaway River and 3) and multiple gaps identify locations where southwest-oriented water entered and exited the present-day French Broad River headwaters drainage basin.
Spatial statistical measures have been applied to Ethiopia’s Demographic and Health Survey data (EDHS), mostly at the national level. However, there is concern that most applications violate basic principles of statistics regarding autocorrelation, or are not cognizant of the first law of geography which states that all things are related but near things are more related. This study investigates local variations in attitudes toward wife-beating in Ethiopia with education as the main correlate. It does so by using a spatial measure known as the geographically weighted regression (GWR) which is more appropriate in conditions of geographic non-stationarity than the ordinary least squares regression (OLS). Equally importantly, it examines the appropriateness of existing OLS-based spatial studies of EDHS data. We found that most studies inappropriately applied OLS despite findings of spatially autocorrelated data. The GWR model showed an association between acceptance of wife-beating and educational status. It also generated a list of twelve sampling clusters where most women respondents stated that wife-beating was acceptable while admitting to having had no formal education, and where local R2s exceeded 0.5 in GWR modeling involving 72 nearest neighbors per sampling cluster. An education-focused bi-variate rather than multi-variate GWR avoided issues of multicollinearity while keeping the model simple and its results actionable. Although the majority of the twelve sampling clusters are in Harari Wereda and Kilil, which got their name from members of the Harari ethnic group that are predominantly Muslim, it is difficult to pinpoint which factor or set of factors can be cited as causally associated with characteristics that placed them on the list. The study makes methodological contributions to spatial studies of sociodemographic characteristics of populations, especially those in developing countries such as Ethiopia where local factors show significant geographic variations. It also adds to the literature on applied geographically weighted regression.
