Storm Tide Recurrence Intervals – A Statistical Approach Using Beach Ridge Plains in Northern Australia

The marine inundation generated by Tropical Cyclone Yasi, north Queensland, February 2011, flooded at least 130 beachfront homes and many commercial businesses, becoming the most substantial marine inundation impact in Australia's modern history. As a consequence, guidelines for building in storm tide impact areas have been developed and discussions are beginning on whether Australia needs a national standard for buildings impacted by these events. Central to this will be determining which areas of coastal land need to be subjected to the standard, and this will likely be based upon the magnitude of a particular return interval event. The veracity of the current method for determining these return intervals is difficult to determine as there has been no objective way to assess the accuracy of this approach. One such method is developed here – applying extreme value theory statistics to millennial scale sedimentary records of tropical cyclone marine inundations. The approach is applied to a 5000‐year‐long beach ridge record of tropical cyclone inundations near Tully Heads and the results suggest that the inundation generated by Tropical Cyclone Yasi here had a return interval of approximately 1000 years. This is a substantially lower figure than the approximately 5000‐year return interval suggested by the currently accepted approach. Irrespective of which method is more accurate, the marine inundation generated by Yasi was a very rare event and one that may become more common under a future altered climate.     

西津渡历史文脉及文化价值探析

西津渡是古代长江下游的重要渡口,相关史料主要涉及历史事件、渡口建设和官设机构等方面.西津渡遗址考古发掘揭示了千年古渡的历史面貌和演变轨迹,其文化价值体现在对我国交通史的重要性、遗址时空的完整性以及文化景观的独特性等三方面.     

论遗产的价值

肇始于法国的遗产保护运动已有两百余年的历史,而遗产价值却一直是个近乎扑朔迷离的话题。与一般商品相比,遗产有何特殊的价值与使用价值,遗产价值如何衡量及其对对现代社会的意义都有待于思考。从某种意义上看,过去之于现在,是古为今用的过程,亦是遗产价值从神圣走向世俗的关键缘由。无论是遗产保护热、遗产研究热,还是遗产旅游热,都在判断、建构、计算与赋予这四个面相上论证着遗产的价值,进而揭示遗产价值表象下人类集团的精神实践活动。     

人的全面发展：社会主义的最高价值目标

在社会主义条件下,人的自由而全面发展的最高价值目标是在社会主义经济价值目标、政治价值目标、文化价值目标、社会价值目标及生态价值目标实现的基础上才能得以实现的,离开任何一个或强调任何一个价值目标,人的全面发展就无＂全面＂可谈。因此,经济、政治、文化的发展、社会文明的增进、生态文明的提出,都只是人自身发展的手段,都是为人的解放和全面发展这个最终目的、最高价值目标服务的。把握人的全面发展的内涵及其实现途径有利于我们更加自觉地坚定社会主义信念,建设中国特色社会主义。     

论青海藏族传统文化与社会主义核心价值体系的和谐发展

青海藏族的传统文化作为中华文化的重要组成部分具有独特的文化思想基础,在价值追求、思想道德教育功能和社会文化功能方面与社会主义核心价值体系具有一致性,促进青海藏族传统文化与社会主义核心价值体系的和谐发展对于构建社会主义和谐社会具有重要意义。     

玉树抗震救灾精神与社会主义核心价值

玉树抗震救灾精神就是大爱同心、众志成城的民族精神,就是坚韧不拔、百折不挠的革命英雄主义精神,就是挑战极限、全心全意为人民服务的精神,就是感恩奋进、自力更生、艰苦奋斗的精神。玉树抗震救灾精神是社会主义核心价值的时代表达,彰显了社会主义核心价值体系的现实要求。     

浅论唐卡的美学特征及价值

唐卡是藏族文化中独具特色的绘画艺术形式,其风格细腻、精美、富丽,体现了精巧的艺术构思和高超的绘画技巧,唐卡本身具有色彩美、内涵美、意蕴美等特点。前人在这方面已经有所探讨,但欠具体、系统。本文在前人论述的基础上,对唐卡的美学特征和美学价值作以论述。     

The social value of culture: learning from revolutionary Cuba

As the tide turns against econometric calculations of cultural value, scope exists for careful reconsideration of the social value of culture. In Cuba after 1959, culture was placed at the heart of a society undergoing radical transformation. This article examines the socially orientated initiatives to which this revalidation gave rise. It shows that substantial changes were wrought in professional circles as art was acknowledged as a form of social production and remunerated accordingly. It also outlines the sustained efforts that were made to diminish the gap between creative intellectuals and the rest of society, by encouraging widespread appreciation of, and participation in, creative activity. This comprehensive programme was underscored by ideas around democratisation and emancipation that remain vital to contemporary discussions.     

Pre-Columbian Ring Ditches along the Yacuma and Rapulo Rivers,Beni, Bolivia: A Preliminary Review

Abstract

Pre-Columbian farmers built a variety of earthworks in the Llanos de Mojos, part of the Bolivian Amazon. Raised fields, canals, causeways, and mounds of various types in this region date to ca. 800 B.C.–A.D. 1600. In central Mojos, archaeological work was carried out along the Yacuma, a large west-bank tributary of the Mamoré River. Four ring ditches and two areas of associated raised agricultural fields were mapped. The Global Positioning System was used to document earthworks under the forest canopy which were analyzed within a Geographic Information System. Ceramic evidence is also included. The ring ditches in this study expand the known range of such earthworks in Mojos by 200 km. This revised distribution of ring ditches changes interpretations of the long-term history of Arawak speakers in Mojos and throughout Amazonia. While earthworks in Mojos clearly represent systems of intensive agriculture, they cannot be associated only with Arawak speakers or with Arawak languages.