Proceedings of the General Meeting of the Association of Japanese Geographers

In order to clarify the geomorphic development of the Koriyama Basin and northwest part of Abukuma Mountains, Northeast Japan, geomorphological and geological survey were carried out. Low-relief surfaces named Funahiki, Kumagami, Miharu, Upper Moki, and Lower Moki low-relief surfaces (Koike, 1969) were recognized in this study. Kumagami and Miharu surfaces were covered by the Miharu pyroclastic flow deposits (Kubo et al., 2003) dated at 4.82+-0.12 Ma and 4.86+-0.12 Ma by K-Ar dating method. Upper Moki and Lower Moki low-relief surfaces were not covered only by the Miharu pyroclastic flow deposits but also by Ashino pyroclastic flow deposits (1.5-2.0 Ma), one of the Shirakawa pyroclastic flow deposits group. Koriyama Basin located west side of Abukuma Mountains was filled with sands and silts. It was only clarified that deposition of these sediments forming Koriyama Surface terminated at 120-60 ka by previous study. In this study, it is found that these sediments contain Nishigo pyroclastic flow deposits, one of the Shirakawa pyroclastic flow deposits group. The geomorphic development established from formation of low-relief surfaces and deposition of basin filling sediments by tephrochronology can provide data for the reconstruction of the history of Abukuma Mountains.

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Study area is Tomari-no-tai (3.8km² in area) in Shirakami mountains, located northern part of Mt. Futatsumori (1,086m in elevation) on the boundary of Akita and Aomori prefectures. In the study area main vegetation is beech forest, and landslide landform is remarkable. Eight-classes vegetation map was produced using 1.5m-resolution airborne hyperspectral sensor data and 12-classes landform classification map was produced using airborne LIDAR data whose density is a few reflected points per 1m². In advance, the relation between these maps was investigated, finally, 12-classes geoecological map was produced by combining them.

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In USA's metropolitan areas, suburban shopping centers have developed since 1950s, and downtowns have declained. But, since 1970s, there are many actions for revitalizing downtowns in USA. The Main Street Program, which is a part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is one of programs for revitalizing communities in inner city. Since 1980, over 1,000 of comunities joined this program. The City of Boston was the first city which used to revitalize neighborhoods in inner city. In 1985, the City of Boston adopted Main Street Program to Roslindale Village neighborhood district. This Program focused on land use, housing, open space, the public realm, institutional growth, transportation and urban design. Roslindale has experienced steady revitalization and recently received a Main Street award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. This award acknowledges the neighborhoods efforts for historic and aesthetic preservation in conjunction with local economic revitalization. In 1995, the City of Boston applyed this program to ten neighborhoods in inner city. In 2003, twenty-three neighborhoods in inner city joined the Boston Main Street Program. This program not only revitalized retail shops in inner city but also supported new businesses and expanded local businesses by improving the business environment in neighborhoods. Community residents and businesses located in those neighborhoods have the tight partnership in this program. This created the identities of those neighborhoods and sustained community.

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