Journal of Geography (Chigaku Zasshi)
Online ISSN : 1884-0884
Print ISSN : 0022-135X
ISSN-L : 0022-135X
Volume 115, Issue 4
Displaying 1-16 of 16 articles from this issue
  • A Case Study of the Halifax Region, Nova Scotia
    Taro OISHI
    2006 Volume 115 Issue 4 Pages 431-447
    Published: August 25, 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: February 25, 2010
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    After 1969 when the French language became one of Canada's two official languages its sta tus gradually improved. In particular, the Canadian Charter of Freedom and Human Rights, included in the Constitution Act 1982, and the Mahé case heard by the federal Supreme Court in 1990 as a clarification of the charter promoted improvements to the education system for francophones outside Quebec. In other words, institutional support for francophones has been developed especially in the realm of education. While traditional francophone communities outside Quebec are mostly situated in rural and remote areas, francophone communities have been developed in English-dominant Canadian cities as a result of migration. This study, therefore, attempts to examine language maintenance of francophones and development of their community in the Halifax region, Nova Scotia, as a case of English-dominant Canadian cities, based on the author's field survey carried out in 2003, and which included some interviews.
    Concerning the demolinguistic situation in Nova Scotia, an analysis of census data from 1951 to 2001 confirms that the French mother tongue population and the bilingual population in Halifax County increased. In addition, age composition among francophones in Halifax County is much healthier than that of traditional francophone counties.
    Most francophones in the Halifax region were born in Quebec or the Maritimes, and moved to the Halifax region to work or enter university, and in some cases, met their future spouses there. Because Halifax is the most important city in Atlantic Canada, many departments and agencies of the federal government have a regional office. Consequently, there are many job opportunities for bilingual people. As a result, it is natural for francophones to work in the Halifax region as bilingual. In 1991, a French school and francophone school board was established in the Halifax region : finally the provincial-wide francophone school board was established in 1996. Of course, education is an important factor for language maintenance. However, the francophones in the Halifax region who want their children to keep the French language not only send their children to a French school in the region, but also make them speak French in conversations with the family members. Much effort is required to keep the French language in English-dominant Canadian cities. However, they succeeded in overcoming these difficulties and developing their community.
    Previous studies on language maintenance emphasized institutional support such as education, and its importance is clear in this study. However, institutional support since the 1980s in Nova Scotia seems to be belated in rural and remote areas. On the other hand, the social characteristics of the francophones in the Halifax region make institutional support effective.
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  • Wanglin YAN
    2006 Volume 115 Issue 4 Pages 448-465
    Published: August 25, 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: November 12, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The thermal textures of satellite sensed images, caused by homogeneity and heterogeneity of urban canopy layers, indicate the objective existence of local urban heat islands or cool islands in a city. Extracting and analyzing such textures helps us to identify the thermal environment on a community scale, and take countermeasures against urban heat islands that better suit the local context. Conventional research with satellite thermal images has paid most attention to energy exchanges between canopy layers and the above atmospheric layers in pixel-based ways, but missed features appearing on the images and the mechanism by which they are formed.
    Instead of a statistical comparison of brightness temperatures and environmental conditions pixel by pixel, this study extracts thermal features from satellite sensed images by a Rater-Patch-Cluster Scheme (RPCS), and discusses their thermal characteristics on a local scale. This scheme is applied to Yokohama City with ASTER/TIR observed on October 30, 2003 to identify the spatial structure of urban heat islands and the characteristics of local thermal features in the late autumn. As a result, the following knowledge is obtained.
    1) The Rater-Patch-Cluster scheme is an efficient procedure for abstracting the spatial structure of urban heat islands over a wide area, and assessing the intensities of heat islands or cool islands locally.
    2) There exist significant logarithmic relationships between feature areas and local heat island intensities and significant linear relationships between feature areas and local cool island intensities. That is, the larger the area of heat islands (cool islands), the stronger the intensity of heat islands (cool islands) within a city.
    3) The differences in brightness temperatures in the city were complicated by two dominant factors of urban canopy layers : land use and topographical characteristics. It was observed through the thermal image that the cold air generated by grasslands and bare land after sunset could flow down along valleys or slopes of hills so that the spatial extent of cool islands were expanded.
    The above conclusions show that thermal features are important elements of the local environment, and thermal images such as ASTER/TIR were useful thermal information resources for land use planning or natural land conservation.
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  • Motohiko HAKUNO
    2006 Volume 115 Issue 4 Pages 466-469
    Published: August 25, 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: November 12, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Recent earthquake damage in Japan has the following features. 1) Damage is not proportional to the recorded acceleration of earthquake. 2) Damage on the soft ground is severer. 3) Most of damage comes from the collapse of old wooden houses. 4) 40% of fires after earthquake are related to electricity.
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  • Toshifumi KOMATSU, Huyen DANG TRAN, Jin-Hua CHEN
    2006 Volume 115 Issue 4 Pages 470-483
    Published: August 25, 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: November 12, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The Lower Triassic Hong Ngai Formation crops out in Ha Giang Province, North Vietnam. The lowermost part of this formation is composed of calcareous hummocky cross-stratified sandy mudstone, calcareous mudstone, and marlstone, and is interpreted to have accumulated in a deep ramp environment. Pteria ussurica, Towapteria scythica, Claraia wangi, Eumorphotis teilhardi, and Promyalina sp. are found in these sediments, and indicate parautochthonous occurrences.
    In Huangzishan, Zhejiang Province, South China, the lower part of the Yinkeng Formation consisting of marlstone and calcareous mudstone yields Lower Triassic bivalves, such as Pteria ussurica variabilis, T. scythica, C. wangi, Claraia sp., Eumorphotis sp., and Promyalina sp., although basal parts yield Permian fossils. Besides, in the Meishan section (GSSP of P-T boundary), Zhejiang Province, the lower part of the Yinkeng Formation is predominated by basin mudstone containing abundant parautochthonous and allochthonous Claraia wangi. C. wangi probably widely inhabits basin to storm-dominated shallow marine environments. T. scythica and most species of Eumorphotis are characteristic bivalves in the Lower Triassic shallow marine environments above the storm wave base.
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  • Toshiro NARUSE, Yukiya TANAKA, Sang-Il HWANG, Soon-Ock YOON
    2006 Volume 115 Issue 4 Pages 484-491
    Published: August 25, 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: November 12, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Loess began to deposit at the Chinese Loess Plateau and in Central Asia in 2.5 Ma, at the beginning of 41 ka climate cycle. After 0.78 Ma, loess was deposited at the beginning of the 0.1 Ma climate cycle around the world. Loess in East China started to be deposited in 0.78 Ma, while Korean loess-paleosols deposited from MIS 11 (0.4 Ma) have been observed in many places recently. In the near future, a continuous loess-paleosol sequence from MIS 18 (0.78 Ma) to MIS 1 (present) might be found in Korea. Korean paleosols are characterized by MIS 3 brown soils and MIS 5 red soils and MIS 11 more reddish soils. Chongokni loess-paleosol stratigraphy is defined from MIS 9 at least on Chongok basalt (0.5 Ma). Loess-paleosols from MIS 6 were deposited on Chatan basalt (0.15 Ma). Loess consists of a mixture of eolian dust from the northern Asian continent and from the dried sea floor of the Yellow Sea dating from the glacial ages. There are four river terraces along the middle reaches of the Hongcheon River. From the stratigraphy of loess-paleosol on the Hongcheon terraces, the development age of river terraces I to IV can be correlated with MIS 7, 6, 4, and 2, respectively. Pediments developed during the initial stages and the final stages of each glacial age. Loess is a useful material for determining the geomorphological chronology of such features as pediments, and river and marine terraces, as well as the archaeological chronology of paleolith. Using loess-paleosol stratigraphy, we can easily estimate the age of paleolith. It also provides a key to correlations in other regions within East Asia. Korean loess represents the most significant terrestrial proxy of Late Quaternary climatic change and paleo-environmental data in East Asia.
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  • for Establishment on Definition of an Alluvial Fan:
    Kyoji SAITO
    2006 Volume 115 Issue 4 Pages 492-499
    Published: August 25, 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: November 12, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Not only outwash fans but also stream-flow fans have been discussed as to whether or not they are involved in alluvial fans. In this study the Skeiðarä outwash fan in Iceland is examined by checking various definitions on alluvial fans. The criterion that alluvial fans are steeper than 1.5 degrees is not acceptable in humid regions, because there is no gap between depositional slopes ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 degrees. Gentle stream-flow fans with mean slopes steeper than 2%0 or 0.11 degrees in Japan are recognized as alluvial fans; therefore, the Skeiðarä outwash fan with a mean slope of 3.9%0 or 0.22 degrees can also be regarded as an alluvial fan on the basis of its longitudinal profile. Although the apex is around the valley mouth of Morsärdalur, it is at the front of the Vatna glacier. Therefore, the fan is not considered to be an alluvial fan in the narrow sense that it is formed at the valley mouth. However, the possibility of it being an alluvial fan in a narrow sense remains because of the following probable events-the main fan body had been built at the valley mouth, and the body was modified subsequently by outwash flow.The problem is whether or not such events occurred.
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  • Takeshi ENDOH
    2006 Volume 115 Issue 4 Pages 500-507
    Published: August 25, 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: November 12, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Modern manufacturing factories in the Tokyo Lowland-the developing eastern part of Tokyo Metropolis-were originally constructed by the national government at the beginning of the Meiji era in about 1870. Subsequently, the area developed as one of the important industrial areas in Japan. In particular, industrial development was remarkable during the period from about 1950 to about 1960. However, this extreme industrial development brought overpopulation and public nuisances such as air and noise pollution and vibration from plants and manufacturing sites in the Lowland. To ease this serious situation, the national government and the Tokyo metropolitan government took measures such as restricting construction of new factories and strengthening regulations on the operation of factories.
    Through these measurements, the increase of manufactories in the area stopped in about 1955, and many have disappeared since about 1960 because of their transfer to other cities or manufacturing operations shutting down.
    According to this investigation, many sites of factories and warehouses had their use diverted by citizens to facilities such as condominiums, general residential areas, parking lots, schools, and parks. In particular, conversion to residential use has been remarkable.
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  • Hiroyasu MURAKAMI, Shunso ISHIHARA
    2006 Volume 115 Issue 4 Pages 508-515
    Published: August 25, 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: November 12, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Rare earth elements (REE) are attractive mineral resources for modern high-technology industries. Here, we report the potential of REE mineralization as ion-adsorption type deposits, which are now known only in southern China, in weathered granitic crust and clay sediment in SW Japan, i.e., Ashizuri-misaki, Tanakami (Shigaraki), and Naegi areas.
    The weathered crust in the Ashizuri-misaki area records an average ΣREE of 310 ppm (N=17); this reflects the higher REE content of the original granitic rocks with an averageΣREE of 366 ppm. The weathered crusts in the Tanakami and Naegi areas record an averageΣREE of 182 ppm (N=20) and 171 ppm (N=15), respectively. The weathered crust is depletedslightly more in REE than in the bedrock granite (211 ppm and 224 ppm, respectively). In the Tanakami and Naegi areas, it was discovered that halloysite-rich clay sediments have an average ΣREE of 288 ppm (N=6) and 341 ppm (N=4), respectively; In the Naegi area, the halloysite-rich clay sediments have higher I REE contents (> 400 ppm); they are equivalent to those of the ion-adsorption type REE deposits (ca. ΣREE 400-650 ppm) in southern China. Therefore, in Japan, REE mineralization tends to occur not in the weathered crust but reworked clay sediments derived from the weathering product of granitic rocks.
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  • Yuki SAWADA
    2006 Volume 115 Issue 4 Pages 516-523
    Published: August 25, 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: November 12, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    A 3 m-long frozen core of perennial ice and sediments were sampled by shallow drilling on the block slope of Mt. Nishi-nupukaushinupuri (1251 m), central Hokkaido, where the extrazonal permafrost is preserved even under the current warm climate. Sediments can be classified into 4 parts based on description of pit and core samples : (A) ice and rock mixture, (B) blocky sediment without ice, (C) sand with gravel and charcoal, and (D) silt with gravel and ice lens. The upper 2 layers (A, B), down to a depth of -3.2 m from the ground surface, correspond to the ice-cemented blocky layer. AMS14C age of a leaf within the ice at -2.5 m is 3540 ± 40 yBP, indicating that the ground ice can be preserved for some thousands of years. The lower layers (C, D) are composed of fine sediments (sand, silt) and gravels. AMS14C age of the charcoal mixed in sand layer (C) is 7530 ± 40 yBP, suggesting that the sediments were unstable in the early Holocene. The perennial ice in the block slope is possibly the oldest in Japan, and it might contain a lot of information on palaeo-climate changes in the mountain region.
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  • Masafumi AOYAMA
    2006 Volume 115 Issue 4 Pages 524-530
    Published: August 25, 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: November 12, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The relationships between the formation of accumulation terraces and climatic changes, especially changes in the mountain permafrost environment, were investigated in the upper reaches of the Gamata River on the western side of the Yari-Hotaka Mountains, northern Japanese Alps. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of these river terrace deposits is now in progress. The present distributions of mountain permafrost and permafrost-related landforms (e.g. rock glaciers) were investigated around Mt. Shirouma, located in the northern part of the northern Japanese Alps, and Mt. Suisyo, located in the central part of the northern Japanese Alps. The low bottom temperature of the winter snow cover (BTS <- 3 °C) and the negative mean annual ground surface temperature (MAST) on the blocky landform (protalus lobe) in the Suisyo C cirque indicate the presence of permafrost.
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  • Jiro KOMORI
    2006 Volume 115 Issue 4 Pages 531-535
    Published: August 25, 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: November 12, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Records of recent changes in growing ice-contact lakes in the Bhutan-China border region are investigated using satellite imagery. The results show that lake growth has continued at a growth rate of< 70 m/year in length and < 0.04 km2/year in area. In the debris-covered area of the glacier, the lake expands in stages through the initial appearance of supraglacial lakes and subsequent expansion of a coalesced lake. In the small debris-free or partially debris-covered glacier, the lake expands simply from a single lake. The initial year of appearance of most of the lakes at the southern and northern sides of the Himalayan mountains ranges from the 1950s to the 1970s and before the 1950s, respectively. Furthermore, the trace of the glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) in the Hinku valley, and the present situation of the glaciers and the glacial lakes in the Hongu valley in eastern Nepal are confirmed by the field survey. Many boulders and coarse sands generated from the GLOF in 1998 remain distinctly and continuously at least 10 km downstream from the collapsed lake as a bare river bed with thick debris flow deposit. The assessment considered that there are no serious conditions regarding the GLOF given the present situation of both valleys. Comparison with previous data shows that the retreat speed of glaciers at the headwater of the Hongu valley is approximately 8 m/year.
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  • Yuji MURAYAMA
    2006 Volume 115 Issue 4 Pages 536-539
    Published: August 25, 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: November 12, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    International Geographical Union (IGU) is the principal international forum for geographers. A series of specialist commissions have been set up at its meetings, which are held once every four years in different cities around the world. The primary objective of the Commission on 'Monitoring Cities of Tomorrow' is to identify, interpret, and monitor the processes and the patterns of urban change in the contemporary world. Its specific goals are to advance understanding of the processes of urban change and resultant urban forms in different regions of the world; to promote national and cross-national studies of urban dynamics at both the inter- and intra-urban scales ; and, to stimulate exchanges of information on urban processes, structures, problems, and strategies with a view to identifying urban strategies and policies that will improve urban living environments across the globe. More than 100 urban geographers convened. in Tokyo, Japan from August 20th to 28th, 2005, to present their research on urban issues in different countries and regions.
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  • [in Japanese], [in Japanese]
    2006 Volume 115 Issue 4 Pages 540-543
    Published: August 25, 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: November 12, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • Junzo KASAHARA, Annakaisa KORJA
    2006 Volume 115 Issue 4 Pages Plate1-Plate2
    Published: August 25, 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: November 12, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • Junzo KASAHARA
    2006 Volume 115 Issue 4 Pages Plate3-Plate4
    Published: August 25, 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: November 12, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • Jiro KOMORI
    2006 Volume 115 Issue 4 Pages Plate5-Plate6
    Published: August 25, 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: November 12, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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