重点刊物刊文是反映学科总体发展、内容结构、技术方法与机构分布的主要表现方式.以中国地球科学研究领域内综合性刊物《中国科学:地球科学》为来源,选取其中193篇地理学研究论文为数据,通过VOSViewer软件和可视化结构图结合的分析方法,从载文数量、发文作者、引用情况、研究机构、热点主题和研究方法,以及时空间尺度特征方面对地理学相关领域2001-2021年的研究成果进行了分析.研究发现《中国科学:地球科学》刊载的地理学论文呈现如下特点:①载文数量逐步增加,并呈现自然地理、GIS与遥感科学相对凸显,而人文与经济地理相对弱化的非均衡发展态势;②主要研究单位与学者相对集中,未能及时反映出学科发展新动向;③研究热点聚类表明传统地理学主题与新技术方法的结合已形成庞大的研究体系,与《地理学报》期刊相比呈现出明显错位;④研究方法上,自然地理与GIS、遥感技术的结合已成为主流,但人文与经济地理有待进一步与技术方法相结合;⑤论文研究的时空间尺度跨度大,更偏向中观、宏观层面的分析,微观层面视角的地理学研究成果目前尚未在该刊出现.总体上,现有研究都在一定程度上体现出地球科学系统内部对地理学的定位与表征方式.未来亟待打破学科间固有的界线和刻板的认知,加强学科交叉、促进学科融合成果的出现.

(1) Background: Population aging has been accelerating in China since the 1990s, and the number of people over 65 reached 190 million in 2020. However, the spatial distribution of the aged is not homogeneous; in rural areas, the aged population accounted for 17.72% of the total population, whereas in urban areas, it accounted for 11.11%, which is 6.61 p.p. less. Therefore, this study aims to examine the spatial heterogeneity and influencing factors of population aging in rural China from 2000 to 2020. (2) Methods: First, Getis–Ord Gi* was used to analyze the spatial clustering of the aged population in rural China. Then, standard deviational ellipse was used to characterize the temporal trend of the spatial clustering of population aging in rural China. Finally, potential influencing factors that could have contributed to the spatial–temporal patterns were analyzed using a novel spatial statistical package “Geographical Detector”. (3) Results: (a). Aging in rural populations increased and occurred throughout China from 2000 to 2020. (b). The spatial patterns of aging in China are roughly divided by the Hu Line, which is the population density boundary of China. (c). The mean center of the aged population tended to orient around a northeast-to-southwest major axis over the past 20 years, contrary to the internal migration pattern that flows from north to south. (d). The population age structure, longevity rate, and fertility rate were the predominant factors of aging in rural areas. (4) Conclusions: As the aged population is rapidly increasing in rural areas in China in a spatially heterogeneous fashion, governments and private sectors need to collaborate to alleviate the problem.