Lowland Slopes Research Articles

Flood Disaster Prediction Model Using Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) in Pekalongan, Central Java.

Pekalongan is located in the northern part of Java Island, directly adjacent to the sea in the north. Natural disasters that often occur in Pekalongan are floods, especially in the north of the area, which has a height of 0 meters above sea level. In addition, Pekalongan also has a relatively low land slope of around 0 – 5%, which makes it challenging to distribute water and construct drainage. This study aims to be able to perform predictive modeling of flood-prone areas for the next five years. This study used eight parameters: rainfall, elevation, slope, distance to the river, distance to the sea, groundwater table to surface, soil type, and land use. This research used the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) method to predict rainfall parameters using the Python programming language with Jupyter Notebook software. Later, the data will be used as training and test data. Training data testing and tests are conducted to find the minimum failure or error value. The weight scoring method is carried out on each parameter to indicate areas with a high flood vulnerability level. The results showed that Pekalongan has a medium to very high vulnerability level, with a dominant high vulnerability level. The very high level of vulnerability is prevalent in the northern part of the research area, which is directly adjacent to the sea or in the North Pekalongan District. Floods that occur in the northern part of the study area are not only due to high levels of rainfall but can also occur due to the inflow of seawater towards the mainland resulting from high tides and high sea waves. The southern region of the study area has a smaller vulnerability level than the northern region, which has a medium to high vulnerability level.Keywords: Flood ∙ Hazard ∙ Precipitation ∙ LSTM ∙ Rainfall

Microbial farming for habitat recovery in the Taiwanese mountains

Microbial farming for habitat recovery in the Taiwanese mountains Professor Tzen-Yuh Chiang's team at National Cheng Kung University looks toward microbial farming in the mountains slopes of South Taiwan to aid habitat recovery, as low-land slopes have been affected by climate change. The team have taken soil structures and underground water into account when helping these slope habitats recover, using sustainable engineering methodologies to stabilize the slopes with vegetation, allowing new species to grow strong roots to increase the adhesive forces in soil. Their other methodologies of accelerating habitat recovery for slope farms include through the revegetation of native plants from neighboring forests, and understanding the importance of soil health with a high diversity of microbes that can interact with plant roots.

Hilly environment and physical activity among community-dwelling older adults in Japan: a cross-sectional study

ObjectivesWe investigated whether a moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) level and walking time were associated with a hilly environment in rural Japanese older adults.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingUnnan city, Ohnan and Okinoshima towns in...

Scientific and spiritual significance of advanced irrigation technology for increasing the fertility and biological activity of lowland slopes of the small Caucasus: (As an example of the Garabagh region)

Scientific and spiritual significance of advanced irrigation technology for increasing the fertility and biological activity of lowland slopes of the small Caucasus: (As an example of the Garabagh region)

Global terrain classification using 280\xa0m DEMs: segmentation, clustering, and reclassification

Polygon-based terrain classification data were created globally using 280 m digital elevation models (DEMs) interpolated from the multi-error-removed improved-terrain DEM (MERIT DEM). First, area segmentation was performed globally with the logarithmic value of slope gradient and the local convexity calculated from the DEM. Next, by adding surface texture, k-means clustering was performed globally and the polygons were grouped into 40 clusters. Then, we tried to reclassify these 40 clusters into geomorphologic terrain groups. In this study, we attempted reclassification and grouping using local information from Japan as a test case. The 40 clusters were compared with Japanese geological and geomorphological data and were then reclassified into 12 groups that had different geomorphological and geological characteristics. In addition, large shape landforms, mountains, and hills were subdivided by using the combined texture. Finally, 15 groups were created as terrain groups. Cross tabulations were performed with geological or lithological maps of California and Australia in order to investigate if the Japanese grouping of the clusters was also meaningful for other regions. The classification is improved from previous studies that used 1-km DEMs, especially for the representation of terrace shapes and landform elements smaller than 1 km. The results were generally suitable for distinguishing bedrock mountains, hills, large highland slopes, intermediate landforms (plateaus, terraces, large lowland slopes), and plains. On the other hand, the cross tabulations indicate that in the case of gentler landforms under different geologic provinces/climates, similar topographies may not always indicate similar formative mechanisms and lithology. This may be solved by locally replacing the legend; however, care is necessary for mixed areas where both depositional and erosional gentle plains exist. Moreover, the limit of the description of geometric signatures still appears in failure to detect narrow valley bottom plains, metropolitan areas, and slight rises in gentle plains. Therefore, both global and local perspectives regarding geologic province and climate are necessary for better grouping of the clusters, and additional parameters or higher resolution DEMs are necessary. Successful classification of terrain types of geomorphology may lead to a better understanding of terrain susceptibility to natural hazards and land development.

DIFFERENT MODELS OF SETTLEMENT OF THE UPPER PALEOLITHIC CULTURES IN THE NORTHERN FORELAND OF THE MORAVIAN GATE (CENTRAL EUROPE)

Based on 94 sites of the Bohunician, Szeletian, Aurignacian, and Gravettian cultures, marking the Neanderthal to Homo sapiens sapiens transition, stages in the evolution of the Paleolithic settlement north of the Moravian Gate are described with special reference to environmental adaptation. Relevant factors include climate, relief, altitude, proximity of water sources, availability of lithic raw material and fl oral and faunal resources as well as the socio-cultural level of the respective groups. While being similar in terms of habitat choice, these cultures differed in placement of sites and the exploitation of resources. The most conservative style of exploiting the environment is evidenced by Bohunician sites, which are mostly situated on the southeastern, eastern, and southern slopes, 205.5–310.0 m asl. The typical feature of Szeletian sites is central placement on elevations; they are situated in lowland slopes facing north and southwest, mostly at 217–316 m asl. Areas preferred by Aurignacians and Gravettians were larger, with diverse, often rugged terrains. Aurignacians preferred northern mountain slopes, 205–378 m asl. Gravettians settled mostly in lowlands, on southern slopes and terraces, 220–286 m asl. This territorial expansion testifi es to growing opportunities caused by higher sociocultural potential, enabling people to inhabit formerly uninhabited zones.

Pleistocene–Holocene transition in the central Mississippi River valley

Within the northern Mississippi embayment the ancestral Mississippi River flowed south through the Western Lowlands and the ancestral Ohio River flowed through the Eastern Lowlands for most of the Pleistocene. Previous investigators have mapped and dated the terraces of their respective braid belts. This current research investigates the three-dimensional aspect of the Quaternary alluvium north of Memphis, Tennessee, through the interpretation of 3374 geologic well logs that are 91.4m (300ft) deep. The braid belts are capped by a thin silt/clay horizon (Pleistocene loess) that overlies gravelly sand, which in turn overlies sandy gravel. The base of the Pleistocene alluvium beneath the Ash Hill (27.3–24.6ka), Melville Ridge (41.6–34.5ka), and Dudley (63.5–50.1ka) terraces of the Western Lowland slope southerly by 0.275m/km and all have an average basal elevation of 38m. Near Beedeville, Arkansas, the bases of these terraces descend 20m across a northeast-striking down-to-the-southeast fault that coincides with the western margin of the Cambrian Reelfoot rift.The maximum depth of flow (lowest elevation of base of alluvium) occurred in the Eastern Lowlands and appears to have been the downstream continuation of the ancestral Ohio River Cache valley course in southern Illinois. In traversing from west to east in the Eastern Lowlands, the Sikeston braid belt (19.7–17.8ka) has a basal elevation averaging 7m, the Kennett braid belt (16.1–14.4ka) averages 13m, the Morehouse (12ka) braid belt averages 24m, and the Holocene (≤10ka) Mississippi River floodplain has the highest average basal elevation at 37m. Along this easterly traverse the base of the Quaternary alluvium rises and the age of alluvium decreases. The eastward thinning of the floodplain alluvium in the Eastern Lowlands appears to be caused by decreasing Mississippi River discharge as it transitioned from the Wisconsinan glacial maximum to the Holocene.The base of the Holocene Mississippi River floodplain averages 23m higher in elevation than the Pleistocene floodplain bases in the Eastern Lowlands. This high suballuvial surface (platform) is bound by the tectonically uplifted Joiner ridge, Blytheville arch, Charleston uplift, and Bluff Line fault. The spatial relationship and similar histories of the platform and bounding structures suggest that Quaternary erosion and tectonics are related.

History of plains resurfacing in the Scandia region of Mars

We present a preliminary photogeologic map of the Scandia region of Mars with the objective of reconstructing its resurfacing history. The Scandia region includes the lower section of the regional lowland slope of Vastitas Borealis extending about 500–1800 km away from Alba Mons into the Scandia sub-basin below −4800 m elevation. Twenty mapped geologic units express the diverse stratigraphy of the region. We particularly focus on the materials making up the Vastitas Borealis plains and its Scandia sub-region, where erosional processes have obscured stratigraphic relations and made the reconstruction of the resurfacing history particularly challenging. Geologic mapping implicates the deposition, erosion, and deformation/degradation of geologic units predominantly during Late Hesperian and Early Amazonian time (∼3.6–3.3 Ga). During this time, Alba Mons was active, outflow channels were debouching sediments into the northern plains, and basal ice layers of the north polar plateau were accumulating. We identify zones of regional tectonic contraction and extension as well as gradation and mantling. Depressions and scarps within these zones indicate collapse and gradation of Scandia outcrops and surfaces at scales of meters to hundreds of meters. We find that Scandia Tholi display concentric ridges, rugged peaks, irregular depressions, and moats that suggest uplift and tilting of layered plains material by diapirs and extrusion, erosion, and deflation of viscous, sedimentary slurries as previously suggested. These appear to be long-lived features that both pre-date and post-date impact craters. Mesa-forming features may have similar origins and occur along the southern margin of the Scandia region, including near the Phoenix Mars Lander site. Distinctive lobate materials associated with local impact craters suggest impact-induced mobilization of surface materials. We suggest that the formation of the Scandia region features potentially resulted from crustal heating related to Alba Mons volcanism, which acted upon a sequence of lavas, outflow channel sediments, and polar ice deposits centered within the Scandia region. These volatile-enriched sediments may have been in a state of partial volatile melt, resulting in the mobilization of deeply buried ancient materials and their ascent and emergence as sediment and mud breccia diapirs to form tholi features. Similar subsurface instabilities proximal to Alba Mons may have led to surface disruption, as suggested by local and regional scarps, mesas, moats, and knob fields.

Agricultural Shifts in the Ventura Lowland of California

N x Do student of American agriculture can fail to be impressed by the present intensity of California's farming and the variety of crops produced in the state. But even more impressive has been the rapidly shifting emphasis from one crop to another in the course of the state's agricultural development. Contrary to the belief of many, several important crop changes are still occurring. One of the best examples of an area of these past and present shifts is the Ventura Lowland, about 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles (Fig. 1). An old delta-fan surface, the lowland slopes gently toward the ocean and is surrounded by hills and mountains on its landward side. Relatively flat terrain, augmented by rich alluvial soils and a mild Mediterranean climate, has combined with equally favorable cultural factors to make this area a currently-leading national producer of certain fruits, nuts, and vegetables. This fact is even more striking when it is observed that the lowland is only about 150 square miles in extent.