PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Author: LÓPEZ MORENO JUAN IGNACIO.
Year: 2004.
University: ZARAGOZA [www.unizar.es].
Place of defense: DEP. DE GEOGRA.Y ORDE. DEL TERRITORIO.
Place of preparation: INSTITUTO PIRENAICO DE ECOLOGÍA (CSIC).

Summary: The construction of large dams in the central Pyrenees accelerated dramatically in the second half of the twentieth century to meet two main objectives: hydropower production and the supply of water to agricultural areas. Thus, the Pyrenean reservoirs provide water to 38% of irrigated area and produce more than 50% of hydropower from the Ebro basin. The management of each reservoir and hydrological or ecological consequences producing depend on the relationship between demand and flow regime. Both variables, especially the latter are subject to a strong temporal variability, which is a complex system clima-cubierta soil. There are several signs that suggest the existence of environmental changes that may be changing in response hydrological basins Pyrenean. The most important changes are: i) trends in various climate variables (precipitation, temperature, potential evapotranspiration, snow accumulation), and ii) a sharp increase in the vegetative cover. This paper analyzes the effect of the two processes in the availability of water resources. In addition, it has introduced the management of reservoirs in the study of the hydrological system in the Pyrenees considering what the relationship between variation in water availability and management that applies to dams, and to describe and quantify the changes that hydrological management produced in the stretch downstream of the dams. The results have shown that changes in climate variables in the last few decades are resulting in a decrease in the production of runoff. Special impact has been the decline in snow accumulation in the header, which has been a notable decrease in the availability of water in the spring. However, the magnitude of decline in flow rates could not be explained if it does not take into account water consumption of the new vegetation that has grown in recent decades. Along with the changes brought about by the changing hydrological climate and vegetation cover, the reservoirs are introducing major changes in the same stretch of river downstream from the dam. The most important are: i) a decrease in flow at dams intended for agricultural use; ii) profound changes in the flow regime, and iii) a decrease in the intensity and frequency of floods river. But the form and intensity of these conditions vary depending on the flow regime they receive, the characteristics of the reservoir and demand that must be met. The reduced availability of water in recent decades has changed management being applied to the reservoirs. So many times has changed the pace of filling and emptying the reservoirs that are submitted. Generally, the reservoirs are producing regime change intensified decades ago, and can control the avenues with greater intensity. So far, it has not decreased the supply of water to irrigation areas, but their managers have been forced to dramatically reduce the desembalses downstream from the dams to increase the negative trend of contributions that already were important natural causes. Moreover, although information about them is limited, the decline in the activity of hydrological basins Pyrenean and increased soil protection by vegetation cover appear to be the cause of a decrease in the accumulation of sediment in the glass of reservoirs. This work has highlighted once again that any human activity on the evolution of the landscape and its vegetation cover has a major impact on the availability and quality of water resources. Therefore, any kind of action involving territorial changes in vegetation cover or land use must assess its possible impact on the generation of runoff and the activation process or slowdown ge 8 omórfico 280 s.

Author: Sanjurjo Sánchez Jorge.
Year: 2005.
University: A CORUÑA [www.udc.es].
Place of defense: Inst.Univ.Geología Isidro Parga Pondal.
Place of preparation: Instituto Universitario de Geología Isidro Parga Pondal.

Summary: The need to preserve the Heritage Monumental has led to a boom in studies of conservation of monuments, but to be effective, requires a prior knowledge of the processes meteiorización that afectaros the stone from its formation until his employment in construction. The shortage of work is even more acudsada in granitic rocks. Data on processes of weathering of granite in natural resources and the formation of coatings, pátinas and cobalt are large, but have not been considered in comparative studies between processes in natural environments and building materials. Thus has done a study of the chemical, physical and meneralógicas of different types of granite and the processes of weathering and erosion of the granite surfaces of known age, as well as a comparative study of alteration as a construction material. They also have studied the chemical and mineralogical characteristics of coatings observed in granite and the formation processes of these granite surfaces with different ages. They have selected surfaces granitic old known in two different areas of Galicia (Massif O Pindo, A Coruña, and Serra de Queixa, Orense), and several historic buildings in the villages of A Coruna and Betanzos. The results of both studies señalean the importance of the characteristics intrísnsecas of rocks in the process of deterioration and the importance of factors relating to the characteristics of each building. Moreover, it has studied the qualitative importance of the processes of weathering bialógica resulting from the colonization of granite surfaces. We also noted the importance of considering the existence of artificial coatings and materials aglomerantes buildings for the development of coatings in ornamental granites.

Author: RUESCAS ORIENT ANA BELEN.
Year: 2005.
University: JAUME I DE CASTELLON [www.uji.es].
Place of defense: ESC. SUP.DE TECN. Y CIENCIAS EXPERIMENTALES.
Place of preparation: FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS HUMANAS Y SOCIALES.

Summary: The entire work is framed in the western Mediterranean and its surrounding lands, including those belonging to the east coast of the Iberian peninsula and the Balearic Islands. His description geographical and climate is the first chapter. The second chapter discusses the methods and techniques of remote sensing: It provides a brief historical introduction to remote sensing and establishing what their physical fundamentals, and there is a technical explanation of satellites used. Particular emphasis is placed on the methodology used for the extraction of surface temperature. The third and fourth chapters are thermal applications of remote sensing in the study area. The third chapter focuses on the applications on the earth's surface, implementing the algorithm and derive information to the study of two real things: the computation of the air temperature from the LST (Land Surface Temperature) and the detection of ICUS (Urban Heat Island Surface). In the fourth chapter discusses applications on the sea surface is divided into three blocks: the first provides the basis of theoretical interpretations of the OSH (Sea Surface Temperature), the second section introduces the validation of the calculated temperature compared with the satellite with in situ data, and the third section shows the various options for implementing OSH to the study of natural phenomena such as the thermal dynamics of OSH in an annual cycle, the influence of OSH in the generation or regeneration of depressions, and the impact of dust or aerosols Saharan can have on the measures undertaken by the satellite. The last chapter examines and summarizes the main conclusions drawn after an analysis of the applications of the third and fourth chapters. It also raises new lines of research topics that have remained open through matters not properly resolved and they deserve further.

Author: Balaguer Huguet Pablo.
Year: 2005.
University: ISLAS BALEARES [www.uib.es].
Place of defense: Facultad de Filosofía y Letras.
Place of preparation: Facultad de Filosofía y Letras.

Summary: Types and evolution of rocky coasts of Majorca is a doctoral dissertation which deals with aspects relating to the study of the rocky shores of Majorca. The structure of memory can be divided into four parts. The first part is an introduction in which he describes the physical context in which the island of Majorca, describes the main types of costs (beach systems playa-duna, lagoons and marshes and rocky coasts) with the aim of provide an overall picture of the study area before focusing solely on the rocky shores. The first part ends with a detailed literature review in which contemplated work, type descriptivo-evolutivo, which deal with various aspects of the geomorphological rocky shores of Majorca (Quaternary, Morphogenesis bays, coastal karst studies, classification and dynamics). The second part is based on the implementation of a classification of the rocky shores of Majorca as criteria form, height, provision of materials and lithology. The scheme tries to establish a relationship between units morfoestructurales de Mallorca (Serra de Tramuntana, Serres de Llevant, Marine Migjorn and Llevant and Watershed Postorogénicas Palma, Campos Alcudia and Pollença-). The third part explores a number of erosion processes that affect the rocky shores of Majorca terms macroescalar (mass movements and landslides), mesoescalar (study of the fragments rocky displaced or uprooted) and microescalar (study the granular disintegration of the walls of cliffs and processes bioerosivos of agencies -gasterópodos and moluscos- living in the interface tierra-mar of rocky coasts), calculated for each process, the rates of linear regression of the shoreline . Finally establishing some general conclusions and identifies some applications of these studies in emergency planning and integrated management of the coastal zone.

Author: MARTINEZ MURILLO JUAN FRANCISCO.
Year: 2005.
University: MÁLAGA [www.uma.es].
Place of defense: FACULTAD DE FILOSOFÍA Y LETRAS.
Place of preparation: BOTÁNICA.

Summary: The spatial and temporal variability of water and erosional processes has been analyzed in a slope of the Montes de Málaga. This slope has been characterized by a system eco-geomorfológico, with clear symptoms of an ancient agricultural work and an active water erosion. Both factors together with other elements of the system, such as rainfall, the topographic features of the hillside, its vegetation or soil conditions have had a direct influence on the operation and water erosion of the slope. The operation has changed over the year as a result of the temporary modifications suffered by the elements of the system. Thus, under climatic conditions of a transitional regime to another humid semiarid Mediterranean, in a hillside coexist factors of various kinds which generates a change in the hydrological parameters and erosional wide slope, both in space and in time. And that is reflected in changes to the generation models runoff over the year under changing environmental conditions. In addition, the analysis carried out under the above-mentioned conditions is very useful to determine the possible conditions of environmental changes (increased activity livestock aridización climate ..) on the operation and the degradation of water resources Mediterranean.

Author: PEÑAS SANCHEZ VÍCTOR.
Year: 2005.
University: PAÍS VASCO [www.ehu.es].
Place of defense: FACULTAD DE FILOLOGIA, GEOGRAFÍA E HISTORIA.
Place of preparation: FACUTLAD DE FILOLOGIA, GEOGRAFÍA E HISTORIA.

Summary: This doctoral thesis analyzed the alteration of the river ecosystem River Zadorra, due to human interventions in iodine per between 1932 and 2004. Over these seventy-two years there has been a profound shift in the river ecosystem River Zadorra due mainly to works by encuazamientos River at its current high, the construction of the reservoir Ullíbarri-Gamboa, corrections hydraulic, the elimination of riparian vegetation, the direct and indirect discharges reaching deep channel and the transformation of land use in the floodplain, which among others, have been the main factors that have transformed the landscape of the river waterway most important of Alava. Analysis of anthropogenic interventions in the river ecosystem River Zadorra, in the temporal and spatial scale defined ermitirá closer to better understanding of certain processes altered river very precisely by those human interventions, which have altered, in some cases irreversibly The functionality of the natural river ecosystem. Thus human actions on the ecosystem became seen as a distorting factor determining that there is a need to assess the level of impact on the middle river. The casuistry of conditions on the river ecosystem and its interpretation will permit also develop a corps of strategies for management and environmental recovery River Zadorra.

Author: SALINAS TORRES MARCELA PATRICIA.
Year: 2006.
University: BARCELONA [www.ub.es].
Place of defense: FACULTAD DE GEOGRAFÍA E HISTORIA.
Place of preparation: UNIVERSIDAD DE BARCELONA.

Summary: The landscape and unique dynamic reality, it is a system that has a life of its own, whose condition that develops depends on the interaction of their components. The image that man modeled this geosistema depends on its way, lifestyle and perception, as well as their senses -olfato, touch, sight and audición-, which are plug-ins that support in turn the ability to associate values and experience with information obtained from the medium. This geosistema-model real-abstract landscape consists of natural elements and anthropic, which together, respond to the needs and inconsistencies environmental men. This partnership in many cases does not have the capability of space that assimilates all the components and interactions imposed by man. There are a number of impacts generated at the expense of the landscape along the history and given the population growth experienced by cities, every day, governments generally only create new methods and strategies that meet financial demands that no economic value fact of environmental value. Thus the most serious attempts to raise strategies and solutions we see that only centers or universities hosting chores among their tasks, as this thesis, which meets the objectives of transfer of know-how and pure science, to the fields of application programmatic environmental impact studies, derived from the power lines. This research analyzes one of the most important energy demands that the city is currently experiencing, electric power consumption and its impacts on the territory, especially negative effects on the visual field that handles the population. The higher demand for electricity increased need to implement structures that sustain the guidelines of energy. The towers have been emplaced along rural and urban areas without distinction, which is used in the landscape little impact beyond the absorptive capacity of the same. The dissertation presents a method that identifies, evaluates and analyzes the level of environmental impact generated by high-tension towers, by analyzing the spatial and visual interplay of biotic and abiotic factors of the environment. To that end, a matrix of the impact assessment, evaluate the level of impact on the landscape landscape of the towers. This parent applied in the province of Santiago (Metropolitan Region of Chile), where there are over 1400 high-tension towers that degrade urban and rural areas. In seeking a solution academic scientist, to the need to meet the rising demand for energy and environmental protection of the landscape, a proposed assessment merológica and ecocentrista to replace the wiring for the air soterramiento the lines.