Rugged Land Research Articles

Lake Superior Basin and its Development

Lake Superior is unique in having the largest surface area of any freshwater lake in the world; in volume it is second only to Lake Baikal. Its location on the edge of the Canadian Shield, in a rugged land and in a northern climate, has delayed and limited the cultural development of the basin. Natural loadings to the lake are small since the bedrock is resistant to weathering; man-made pollution is slight because of the low population density in the watershed. The lake surface occupies more than one-third of the basin area with the result that direct precipitation on the lake surface is the major source of water input. Atmospheric transport is considered to be one of the most important sources of chemical loadings, the ultimate origin of which may be quite remote from the watershed. The present state of our knowledge about the Lake Superior basin is reviewed from several points of view which include the historical, geological, physical, chemical and biological aspects. It is apparent that the influence of man-made pollution has not yet affected the lake-wide water quality, and most of the lake remains in a largely unaltered oligotrophic condition. In 1972 the two bordering countries, Canada and United States, entered into an agreement aimed at preserving this major resource. During 1976 the International Joint Commission received a report which described the baseline water quality conditions of the lake. This report provides much of the information on which managerial practices in the basin will be based during the next decade.

Cambrian System in Black Warrior Basin: GEOLOGIC NOTE

Three wells completed since early 1972 in northern Mississippi and one in northern Alabama have provided information regarding the previously unknown subsurface thickness and lithology of strata of the Cambrian System in these areas. Deposition apparently was on a rugged Precambrian land surface with more than 2,000 ft (610 m) of relief, to which compactional structures and other geologic features may be related.

Rise and Decline of the "Miracle Vine": Kudzu in the Southern Landscape

RISE AND DECLINE OF THE 'MIRACLE VINE": KUDZU IN THE SOUTHERN LANDSCAPE John J. Winberry and David M. Jones* Characteristic of the southern rural landscape are areas overwhelmed by a lush viny plant, which has engulfed fields, trees, poles, billboards, and abandoned dwellings in a sea of leafy green tendrils. The perpetrator of these eerie, fantastic scenes is Kudzu (Piieraria lobata), also known to southern rural folk as "porch vine," "wonder vine," "miracle vine," "mile-a-minute vine," "foot-a-night vine," or simply "the vine." (Jj Its apparent ubiquity suggests an indigenous origin but, in fact, it has been in the South less than a century. Like water hyacinth, an introduced plant which infests canals and rivers, kudzu today is considered a nuisance. In contrast, however, it has played a variety of roles since its late nineteenth century introduction. This paper traces kudzu as a southern landscape element through four periods corresponding to these changing roles: (1) 1876-1910, introduction and use as an ornamental , (2) 1910-1935, limited use as pasturage and for hay production, (3) 1935-1955, widespread use in soil conservation and recognition by some as a panacea for southern agriculture, and (4) 1955 to present, decline to the status of general pest. DISTRIBUTION AND PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. Kudzu is a climbing, perennial legume, characterized by broad, tri-foliate leaves and woody stems. The vine thrives in areas with a minimum annual rainfall of 40 inches, a long growing season, and a mild winter; as a result, its distribution in the United States is generally restricted to the southeastern states (Figure 1). (2) The vine has been reported in Washington, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and even Nova Scotia, but in none of these areas does it establish large, viable stands. (3) Kudzu can grow on almost any soil, establish itself on rugged land that will support neither trees nor crops, and because of its deep tap root (which extends three to six feet below the surface), flourish during relatively dry periods. (4) The plant is seldom bothered by insects or plant diseases, and any damage to its leaves is overcome by a prolific production of foliage.(5) Kudzu begins its growing season in the early spring as green tendrils radiate from the tap root. These often extend sixty feet and climb obstacles as high as forty feet during a season (they supposedly can * Dr. Winberry is assistant professor and Mr. Jones is instructor of geography at the University of South Carolina. This paper was accepted for publication in August 05 0 i > O W 8 a > a M Fieure 1. Distribution of Kudzu in the Southeastern United States—1970 Vol. XIII, No. 2 63 grow twelve inches a day under ideal conditions!) By late summer the twining vines establish a ground cover two to four feet thick. In late August or early September, suspended clusters of fragrant purple flowers appear. Hairy pods about two inches long then form, but in the United States these seldom contain seed. At the first killing frost, kudzu loses its green leaves and dies down to the root leaving only a tangle of woody stems and a mat of brown leaves until the following April. Because it infrequently sets seed in the United States, kudzu is started by crowns or by seedlings grown from imported seed. Despite its ability to grow under adverse conditions, the establishment of a new plot is not easy and requires preparation of the soil and fertilization. (6)Once established, however, kudzu tends to dominate by overwhelming all other vegetation and quickly spreads beyond the limits of its initial planting. This rapid spread is facilitated by the vine's ability to establish crowns or new tap roots at nodes along the stems. During the following growing season these new roots independently send out their own tendrils to repeat the process. INTRODUCTION-USE AS AN ORNAMENTAL (1876-1910). Kudzu is indigenous to China and occurs also in Japan. The Chinese value the plant primarily for its root; this provides a starch from which is made a popular kind of flour (ko-fen). In ancient China, various parts of the plant had medicinal uses. A decoction from the root...

Five Years of the Sinkiang-Uighur Autonomous Region, 1955–60

Sinkiang, that vast, rugged land in Inner Asia, rich in undeveloped resources and peopled by farmers and nomads of many races and creeds with deeply-rooted differences in ways of life and long years of conflict over political aspirations, is today in the throes of a revolution of unprecedented magnitude and intensity aimed at the achievement of sweeping cultural, social and economic changes. This prodigious effort at transformation is the keynote of Chinese Communist rule of Sinkiang. Its groundwork was laid in the first years after the Chinese Communists took control in 1949.

Development of the Sagami Sedimentary Basin

The Sagami group, the lower Pleistocene deposit, distributes into the South Yokohama Hills, Sagamino Upland, and Oiso Hills in the southern Kanto region. The stratigraphy and sedimentation of the group in those aeas have been re-examined, and it has been known that the development of the Sagami sedimentary basin has the following three stages.1. After folding in the Miura group, the initial subsidence of the Sagami sedimentary basin began, and a part of the rugged land surface was covered by a rush marine transgression. Thus the Naganuma and Ninomiya formations deposited.2. Thereafter the basin spread with the progress of the basin-forming movement, while the regressive facies remained there, and volcanism began to the western district. The estuarine Byobugaura and lacustrine Tsuchizaw a formations deposited overlapping the Naganuma and Ninomiya formations respectively.3. Towards the end of the deposition of the Byobugaura-Tsuchizawa formations a large quantity of volcanic ashes and lapilli (Tama Loam member) was supplied and the tectonic movement occurred in the Oiso Hills. In the meantime the Sagami sedimentary basin emerged in the whole area and the basin became extinct.

CHANGING SIGNIFICANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AT BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA

C OMPARATIVELY little on the changes with time in the significance of local geographic factors has been reported in geographic literature. One consequence has been a wide difference of opinion among geographers and others as to the significance of geographic factors. Indiana, affords an instructive case-study of such changes and the need for repeated re-evaluation as man's technology evolves and as other areas develop. This city is selected because for 37 years it has been the subject of study by me (commencing four years after receiving the Ph. D. at Chicago). Little that is directly geographic has been published on it, except on its climate and limestone industry.' Here are discussed the changing significance of Bloomington's location in the state, of its rolling topography, of its site on a drainage divide in a depression between more rugged land, of its being underlain by an exceptional limestone, and of its situation in a wooded, unglaciated area. Considered also are its accessibility, the quality of the soil, the feasibility of dams to create reservoirs, and its attractiveness as a residence city. Bloomington was established where it is largely because of the selection of the site for the Seminary township. In the enabling act that created Indiana the federal government provided for a donation of a township of public land in support of an institution of higher learning.2 seminary established in that township in 1824 has grown into Indiana University. committee appointed to select the township made its recommendation in time for President Monroe to designate it on July 10, 1816.3 county created two years later surrounding it was named after President Monroe. township later was named after Commodore Perry. selected township was near the northern margin of the part of Indiana which had been surveyed in 1812 into sections and townships. Nearly all central and northern Indiana remained Indian territory until 1818 when The New Purchase was made of much of that region. selected township was nearly midway between the northern parts of the lower Wabash Valley at the southwest and the Whitewater Valley at the southeast. In July 1816 most of the people of Indiana lived in or near those valleys, south from near Terre Haute and Richmond, respec1 S. S. Visher, The Indiana Oolitic Limestone Industry, Economic Geography, Vol. 7 (1931), pp. 50-58, and of Bloomington, Chapter 26 of Climate of Indiana (Bloomington: Indiana 1944). 2 David D. Banta, History of Indiana University, in Centennial Memorial Volume (Indiana 1921), pp. 11, 12. Judge Banta was dean of the Indiana University Law School, 1889-96. 3Ibid., p. 12.

Franciscan-Knoxville Problem

Franciscan-Knoxville Problem

Transhumance in the Land Economy of Schachenthal

CATTERED pasture lands and long, discontinuous slopes where herds and flocks may browse and graze over wide range, both areally and vertically, impose upon the folk of such a high rugged land as Switzerland, a high degree of movement that approaches nomadism through much of the year. Montane Switzerland has long been characterized by such quasi-nomadic pastoral economy. Ruins of ancient huts, antedating the beginnings of Swiss history, and occupying high elevations in many of the valleys indicate exceedingly remote origins for the utilization of the alps. Lack of cooking utensils and other equipment for permanent occupancy suggests that the huts served only as temporary residences, in much the same way as similar huts are employed today by the folk who take their sheep, and goats and cattle onto the mountain heights and meadows for the nutritious summer browse and pasturage. After many centuries, transhumance continues to dominate the economy of many valleys.

Notes on a Physiographic Diagram of Japan

C OMPLEXITY and fineness of pattern are the keynote of the surface configuration of Japan. Even within small areas there is often the greatest diversity in earth materials, their structures, and the land forms resulting. Lofty folded ranges forming the axis of the archipelago have been altered by block movements so that faulted and folded forms are intermingled. Peneplain remnants at relatively high altitudes are widespread throughout the country, contrasting curiously with the steep slopes and high relief. Repeated volcanic eruptions and intrusions, extensive and widespread, have added further complications. Moreover, none of these tectonic forces are at present quiescent; on the contrary, their current activity is conspicuously evident in the recurring showers of volcanic ash, outpourings of lava, numerous earthquakes, and changing strand lines. Short streams of steep gradient, acting upon these complex structures and materials, have sculptured a land surface whose lineaments are varied and intricate. A thick core of moderately rugged hill and mountain land, containing numerous tectonic depressions with a narrow and discontinuous perimeter of terraces and less elevated delta fans-such is the gross pattern. Roughly 75 per cent of the area is hill or mountain country in which slopes are usually too steep and soils too thin for normal cultivation. As a result of recent and rapid uplift, with associated vigorous erosion, the rounded land forms and deep regolith cover typical of mature climatic landscapes in the rainy subtropics are not predominant except where granite weathers to rounded cupola features. Fault and flexure scarps are conspicuous and commonly serve as boundary lines between the geomorphological subdivisions. Scores of volcanic cones, in various stages of activity and dissection, accounting for some of the highest elevations of the archipelago, together with their associated lava and ash plateaus, are both widespread and strikingly prominent. The widespread Tertiary sediments are geographically significant, first, because they are the sources of much of Japan's mineral wealth, more especially coal, and, second, because