Memorial facilities and sites (MFASs) of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (the War of Resistance) are a precious cultural heritage that preserves the nation’s collective memory and the history of the war. To elucidate the spatial distribution patterns of China’s MFASs and inform conservation practices, this study focuses on their spatial patterns, influencing factors, and conservation strategies. It utilizes Geographic Information System (GIS) spatial analysis methods, including kernel density estimation, average nearest neighbor, and spatial autocorrelation analysis. The results indicate that: (1) The War of Resistance MFASs exhibit uneven distribution characteristics, with high density in the east and low density in the west. The highest density and hotspot areas are concentrated in North and East China. (2) Significant spatial distribution differences exist among different types of the War of Resistance MFASs, though all exhibit varying degrees of clustering. (3) Key factors influencing the spatial distribution of MFASs include elevation, rivers, campaigns, battles, minor skirmishes, occupied areas, significant massacres, and railways. This finding aims to promote global awareness of the War of Resistance’s heritage and to support its conservation, management, and revitalization.
Wildfires are a major natural hazard with serious impacts on ecosystems, human safety, and economic activities in the City of Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina). This study uses multi-criteria GIS analysis to map wildfire risk across 1,239 km2, integrating eight variables: land cover, elevation, slope, aspect, temperature, precipitation, and distance from roads and settlements. Weighting coefficients were derived using the Analytic Hierarchy Process and validated through consultation with local fire protection experts. The resulting risk map shows that moderate-risk (61.61 %) and high-risk zones (32.79 %) dominate, with the most extensive high-risk areas in the western, central, and northern parts of the city. Analysis of 182 MODIS-detected fires (2017–2021) indicates that anthropogenic factors, especially proximity to roads and settlements, are key drivers of ignition, with 60 % of fires on agricultural land and most within 400 m of roads. A network of 21 fire watchtowers was designed based on risk zoning and viewshed analysis, providing monitoring coverage of 957.67 km2. A composite priority scoring system further identified 9 priority tower locations that maximize monitoring effectiveness while minimizing infrastructure investment, offering practical guidance for local wildfire prevention and preparedness.
Landslides along the right bank of the Danube in northern Serbia form an important slope instability system where loess and paleosol sequences, heterogeneous substrates, riparian hydrological conditions, and urban expansion interact. This study investigates the recently activated Sremska Kamenica landslide in Novi Sad, Serbia, by assessing natural and anthropogenic factors affecting landslide activity in an urbanized Danube slope environment. An integrated framework combined hydroclimatic analysis, Geographic Information System (GIS) based topographic, geological, and pedological assessment, land use monitoring, and urbanization indicators. Monthly precipitation and air temperature data from the Novi Sad meteorological station for 1961–2024 were used to calculate precipitation totals, the Precipitation Concentration Index (PCI), Fournier Index (FI), Modified Fournier Index (MFI), Lang’s Aridity Index (AILang), and Pálfai Drought Index (PaDI). Trends were assessed using the Mann–Kendall test with prewhitening correction. Spatial analyses used SRTM DEM data, geological and pedological maps, Dynamic World land use data, and census based demographic and housing indicators. Results show a statistically significant annual precipitation increase of 2.08 mm yr-1, accompanied by significant spring and autumn increases and rising PCI, FI, and MFI trends, indicating a growing role of temporally uneven precipitation. AILang and PaDI reveal mainly humid and mild drought conditions, while 2024 was characterized by arid conditions and heavy drought. Spatial results show that the landslide is situated on a moderately inclined but morphologically sensitive Danube riparian slope, at geological and pedological contact zones that may favour localized wetting. In Sremska Kamenica, built-up areas increased by 0.80 km2 (+2.63 %) between 2017 and 2024, indicating growing urban pressure that may modify runoff and drainage. Overall, the findings highlight the combined influence of hydroclimatic variability, substrate heterogeneity, local morphology, and anthropogenic transformation on landslide activity in urbanized Danube slope environments.
Dolostone reservoirs in the Upper–Middle Member of the Ordovician Majiagou Formation (Yan’an Gas Field, Ordos Basin) host significant natural gas resources, yet their origin remains enigmatic. By integrating petrographic observations and geochemical analyses of 103 core samples from 22 wells, we tentatively identify six dolostone textural types, which are shaped by syndepositional evaporative dolomitization and subsequent post-diagenetic processes (hydrothermal alteration, freshwater leaching, and mineral infilling). Rare earth element (REE) patterns – characterized by light REE (LREE) and middle REE (MREE) enrichment, negative δCe anomalies, and positive δEu excursions (all based on North American Shale Composite (NASC) normalized data) – suggest high-salinity, weakly reducing conditions during early diagenesis, with subsequent overprinting by deep-sourced hydrothermal fluids and meteoric water (interpretations are constrained by limited sample coverage across stratigraphic horizons). Low δ18O values in saddle dolomite and associated fluorite provide preliminary evidence for hydrothermal activity, distinguishing these reservoirs from typical marine carbonates. Three preliminary formative mechanisms are proposed: (1) hydrothermal fluid-driven REE mobilization and LREE fractionation; (2) early evaporative dolomitization under restricted lagoon conditions during the deposition of the Fifth Member of the Majiagou Formation; and (3) post-depositional freshwater leaching that enhances porosity and induces Ce anomalies. Critically, the highest reservoir quality is tentatively observed near faults and within evaporative platform intervals, and this conclusion is jointly supported by petrographic characteristics, sedimentary facies distribution and geochemical data, providing a preliminary predictive framework for hydrocarbon exploration in intracratonic basins.
Wildfires are an increasingly significant environmental and socio-economic problem in Mediterranean and mountainous regions. This study evaluates the wildfire surveillance potential of an existing commercial antenna tower network in Montenegro, an infrastructure designed for telecommunications rather than terrain visibility, using a multi-scenario cumulative viewshed approach. Ninety-nine antenna towers operated by One Crna Gora were analysed as potential locations for wildfire monitoring cameras. The methodology integrated Geographic Information Systems (GIS), automated processing with the Geospatial Data Abstraction Library (GDAL), and Copernicus Digital Surface Models (DSM) at 10, 30 and 90 m resolution. In total, 108 cumulative scenarios were generated by varying observer height (10, 20, 30 m), target height (0, 20, 50, 100 m) representing successive wildfire development stages, and visibility radius (5, 10, 15 km). Coverageranged from 8.6 to 58.5 % of the national territory. Target height proved the dominant control, while the effect of DSM resolution was strongly conditional: the 90 m dataset overestimated coverage by up to 41 % relative to the 10 m dataset at ground level, but by only about 3 % for a 100 m smoke plume. This dependence, quantified here across the full parameter space, indicates that resolution requirements should follow from the intended detection objective. The results provide a preliminary geometric basis for wildfire monitoring planning in complex mountainous Mediterranean environments.
