Paysages identitaires et ruralité de proximité: regards croisés à Petit-Saguenay (Québec)

Au Québec, plusieurs groupes d'acteurs travaillent à structure? un pmjet d'avenir pour le monde rural. La question identitaire traverse leurs réflexions. Le rapport au territoire est conçu comme un trait spécifique de l'identité rurale contemporaine. Par ailleurs, le paysage offre un cadre de référence pertinent à l'analyse de cette identité façonnée par les acteurs. Cela suppose que, d'un point de vue théorique, le paysage soit envisagé selon une approche construc‐tiviste, qui va au‐delà des formes visibles pour englober aussi les références aux pratiques territori‐ales et les intentions des acteurs sociaux, de même que des dimensions immatérielles, telles les représentations et l'affectivité. En d'autres mots, le paysage est id défini comme un construit social. En confrontant ce cadre de référence à une enquête réalisée dans un village d'une région du Québec, nous avons constaté que les acteurs locaux lisent le paysage à partir de critères endogènes, c'est‐à‐dire propres à leur vécu territorial. Pour ces acteurs, le paysage agit à la fois comme agent de médiation et de communication de même qu'il participe à la construction de l'être‐ensemble. In Quebec, there are a number of groups actively engaged in structuring future plans for the rural milieu. The question of identity runs throughout their reflections, and the relationship between actors and territory is seen as a specific trait of contemporary rural identity. Furthermore, the concept of landscape provides a pertinent frame of reference for the analysis of this identity. From a theoretical point of view, this presupposes that landscape be envisaged according to a constructivist approach which would go beyond the visible forms to include territorial practices and intentions of the social actors as well as the immaterial dimensions such as the perceptions. In other words, landscape is seen as a social construction. This frame of reference was used to analyse observations gathered in a village situated in an outlying region of Quebec, and it was noticed that the local actors perceive the landscape according to endogenous criteria, i.e.: criteria specific to their real‐life territorial experience. For these actors, the landscape is both an agent of mediation and communication and a participant in the construction of a whole, a way of being or living together (“l'etre‐ensemble”).     

Variabilité et fréquence des cycles de gel‐dégel dans la région de Québec, 1977–2006

Freeze‐thaw cycles are most common at the beginning or near the end of the winter season. These cycles have various effects on the ecosystems of Eastern Canada, affecting both biotic and abiotic components of temperate cold environments. Using air temperature minima and maxima from four meteorological stations close to Québec City, we determined the frequency of daily freeze‐thaw cycles for the last 30 years. The results show no significant increase in the number of freeze‐thaw cycles despite a small increase in air temperature. Polynomial curves describing the relationship between mean air temperatures and the number of freeze‐thaw cycles were calculated. Based on these equations and anticipating a climate change scenario, we projected future freeze‐thaw cycles. Assuming a 5 °C increase in mean air temperatures by 2100, we estimated that the number of days with a freeze‐thaw cycle could increase by approximately 20 days per winter. The increase in the number of such cycles will be concentrated during the coldest months of the winter (January and February).     

ESPACE SOCIAL COMMUNAUTAIRE ET VIRTUEL: CONTINUITÉS ET DISCONTINUITÉS

Pour appréhender l'espace électronique qui se construit sur Internet et ses liens avec l'espace géographique, nous avons élaboré une typologie des pages Web et des indicateurs permettant de saisir l'insertion de divers sites dans un espace social et électronique. II appert que la relation entre l'espace électronique régional (pages Web), et l'espace social et territorial de la collectivité qui le soutient est complexe et ambigu. À travers les sites Web, les communautés projettent des identités et des projets de développement, ce qui suggère des questions fondamentales à propos du fondement géographique du lien social.
In order to better understand the electronic spaces that are being created on the Internet, along with their relationship to actual (social) geography, the authors propose a typology of web pages and indicators that will help locate various sites in social and electronic space. The relationship between the electronic space in the regions (represented through web pages) and the social and territorial space of the community which supports these pages appears complex and ambiguous. Through their web pages, communities project identities and developmental aspirations, and this raises various questions in relation to the spatial basis of social relationships.     

EUROCODE 8 DESIGN RESPONSE SPECTRA EVALUATION USING THE K-NET JAPANESE DATABASE

The Eurocode 8 (EC8) currently proposes two standard shapes for the design response spectra. Type 1 spectra are enriched in long period and are suggested for high seismicity regions. Conversely, Type 2 spectra are proposed for low to moderate seismicity areas (like France), and exhibit both a larger amplification at short period, and a much smaller long period contents, with respect to Type 1 spectra. These propositions, however, were constrained using few events mostly recorded on analogical instruments. In the present study, we use the Japanese high quality digital K-net array in order to evaluate the proposed ECS response spectra. Furthermore, all K-net stations have geotechnical characterisation. We first constructed a database of shallow events, depth less than 25 km, to avoid subduction related records. The database spans six years of seismicity from 1996 until 2003. Thus, 591 events were selected with moment magnitude between 4 and 7.3, recorded at 691 stations, giving a total of 6812 two horizontal components accelerograms. Using these records, we computed spectral ground-motion prediction equations and we used them to review the shape of the proposed EC8 spectra. In particular, we studied the plateau-PGA ratio level, the period interval where this plateau is constant, and site amplification effects. The results show surprisingly that the Type 2 rock better envelope the Japanese data. Another interesting observation is that the K-net data corresponding to all soil classes are rich in short periods around 0.1 s. This characteristic has not been observed in other worldwide databases. Normalised empirical predictions show a widening of the plateau as the soil conditions degrade. This suggests that the Type 2 EC8 spectra do not cover enough the long periods for EC3-soil classes C, D and E. Finally, the computed ground-motion prediction equations show that the peak ground acceleration (PGA) is nearly invariant to the soil conditions. Soil effects are mainly seen in the shape and plateau level.     

Research in the spatial sciences: how are Canadian geographers contributing?

Geographic data collection, manipulation, analysis and visualization options have experienced substantial improvements during the past several decades, largely spurred by advancements in computing capabilities. While geographers are often credited with identifying and expanding many of the emerging application areas and innovations for the analysis of spatially (and sometimes temporally) referenced data, we are specifically interested in the role of Canadian geographers in the rapidly evolving domain of spatial science. We pose the following provocative question with the intent of not only summarizing the Canadian literature, but also to stimulate an informed discussion: ‘are Canadian geographers developers or users of spatial analytical methods?’ We review the refereed literature from 1980 to 2008 to describe the nature of contributions by Canadian geographers, beginning at about the time of widely accessible computing (1980s). Our summary broadly classifies subdisciplinary contribution areas as being best described as GIS, remote sensing, or spatial statistics, while each contribution area may take the type of algorithm development, advancement and synthesis of theory, or the application of existing methods. We paint a picture of the current contribution landscape and reflect on significant achievements while commenting on some potential weakness that with increased resources and focus might become future realms of advancement.     

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE: NEW RECORDINGS OF MEGALITHIC ART IN NORTH‐WEST IRELAND

In this paper new and previously known passage tomb art in north‐west Ireland is recorded using an innovative recording technique. The use of this method, which involves vector drawing from digital photographs taken with oblique lighting (VeDPOL), has clarified and increased the instances of megalithic carving in the north‐west of Ireland. At two monuments – Listoghil and Heapstown Cairn – the new recordings have allowed us to contextualize the art within the broader corpus of passage tomb motifs. Additionally, it is proposed that one of the carvings from Listoghil is of later prehistoric origin and not Neolithic as previously believed. Finally, and most importantly, this paper highlights a group of motifs recently found at Cairn B in the Carrowkeel‐Keashcorran complex. This discovery demonstrates for the first time that megalithic art was a feature of all four major passage tomb complexes in Ireland.