使用差分GPS方法,测量西宁盆地内部各级阶地参数,对比野外阶地特征,探讨区域新构造时期活动特征,以及西宁城市周缘活断层的分布及活动特征。通过这一区域的实践,认为DGPS方法能够快速、精确的获得区域内阶地面的坐标和高程,是确定弱活...使用差分GPS方法,测量西宁盆地内部各级阶地参数,对比野外阶地特征,探讨区域新构造时期活动特征,以及西宁城市周缘活断层的分布及活动特征。通过这一区域的实践,认为DGPS方法能够快速、精确的获得区域内阶地面的坐标和高程,是确定弱活动或隐伏断裂的可行方法。南川河断裂错断T3、T4、T5阶地,断裂的活动时间为T3阶地形成后,T2级阶地形成前的0.10 Ma B.P.至0.05 Ma B.P.。垂直断距15~20 m,最小垂直活动速率约为0.30mm/a。展开更多
Agri-cultural Heritage Systems(AHS) have not only various values but also important enlightening roles for modern agriculture.With agro-scientific and technological progress,the traditional agriculture that has last...Agri-cultural Heritage Systems(AHS) have not only various values but also important enlightening roles for modern agriculture.With agro-scientific and technological progress,the traditional agriculture that has lasted for thousands of years is declining gradually,thus is attached the importance of exploring and protecting our AHS.As a traditional agricultural system for 1300 years,the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces System(HHRTS) has many significant characteristics such as beautiful landscapes,distinctive rice varieties,ecologically clean agricultural production systems,systematic methods of managing water and soil and special ethnic culture.It was designated successively as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System(GIAHS) in 2010 and as a World Heritage(WH) in 2013.In this paper,taking HHRTS as an example,we analyzed the economic,ecological,aesthetic,cultural,and social values,as well as the research values,of the GIAHS.We conclude that the restrictions on increasing peasant earnings and improving their living standards are difficult with the low efficiency of traditional planting patterns and the single-industry structure of farming in rugged terrain.However,these restrictive factors are beneficial for developing some industries like green agriculture,organic agriculture or ecological food production because of the clean farmland environment.In the end,we propose the basic approaches to protect the Hani terraces agriculture system should include the local governments to encourage the development of ecotourism,organic agriculture and featuring agriculture by multi-mode economic compensation.It is very important for protecting terraces to coordinate benefits among corporations,governments and villagers by making reasonable policies of compensation.展开更多
Transportation as a means to support industrial development can impact the economic development of important agricultural heritage sites. Because the central towns in mountainous areas have weak economic interactions ...Transportation as a means to support industrial development can impact the economic development of important agricultural heritage sites. Because the central towns in mountainous areas have weak economic interactions with each other, an appropriate method is needed to evaluate their transportation accessibility. This paper takes the Honghe Hani Rice Terraced System(HHRTS) as a study area and develops a model to determine shortest time-distances from central towns in the study area to the nearest high-grade city as a way to evaluate transportation accessibility(TA). We then analyze the relationship between the accessibility of these towns and their economies. The study finds that the TA of the central towns in HHRTS is not good as a whole. More than 70% of the towns are more than 1 hour away from their nearest high-grade city. Of the four counties in the study area, Yuanyang County has the best traffic conditions, while Lvchun County has the worst traffic conditions. The central towns in the northern and middle regions have better TA than those in the west, southwest and east margin regions. The small-scale rural economy has little dependence on the transportation network, while secondary industries are obviously impacted by the transportation network. In the future, to support the integrated development of industries in HHRTS, traffic conditions in each town should be improved appropriately according to the industrial orientation of the town, but excessive investments to construct roads irrespective of eco-environmental impacts and economic benefits should be avoided. Especially in the case of ecologically vulnerable towns, the building high-grade roads should be banned.展开更多
Hani rice terraces system is one of the Globaly Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) pilot sites selected by FAO. Soil nutrients are an important symbol of soil fertility, and play an important role in th...Hani rice terraces system is one of the Globaly Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) pilot sites selected by FAO. Soil nutrients are an important symbol of soil fertility, and play an important role in the sustainable utilization of land. Based on geo-statistics and GIS, the spatial variation of pH, organic matter, total nitrogen, alkaline hydrolyzable nitrogen, available phosphorus and available potassium in the soil in Yisa (a town in Honghe County, Yunnan Province) was studied. The results show that the spatial variability of pH, organic matter, total nitrogen, alkaline hydrolyzable nitrogen and available potassium exhibited medium spatial variability, and the coefficients of variation are 12.54%, 40.14%, 40.00%, 34.89%, and 40.00% respectively. Available phosphorus exhibited strong spatial variability, and the coefifcient of variation is 102.13%. The spatial variation of pH, organic matter, total nitrogen, alkaline hydrolyzable nitrogen and available potassium fit the index mode, however, the spatial variation of available phosphorus ifts the spherical model. Total nitrogen, available phosphorus and available potassium were greatly affected by soil structural factors, while pH, organic matter and alkaline hydrolyzable nitrogen were affected by both structural and random factors. The spatial distribution of soil nutrients in Yisa was intuitively characterized by Kriging interpolation. It is very important to understand the spatial distribution of soil nutrients, which wil provide the guidance for adjusting agricultural management measures such as fertilization.展开更多
The Late Quaternary slip rate along the Maqu segment of the eastern Kunlun Fault was estimated using a combination of high-resolution remote sensing imagery interpretation, field observations and differential Global P...The Late Quaternary slip rate along the Maqu segment of the eastern Kunlun Fault was estimated using a combination of high-resolution remote sensing imagery interpretation, field observations and differential Global Positioning System(GPS) measurements of offset river terraces, and 14 C dating of snail shells collected from offset risers. The results show that the left-slip rate along the segment is 3–5 mm/a, and that the vertical slip rate is 0.3–0.5 mm/a. Both the horizontal and vertical slips on the segment remain consistent over a distance of ~100 km. It means that no slip gradient as previously suggested occurred along the Maqu segment, and which thus might behave as an independent seismogenic fault. Judging from multiple relationships among young terrace offsets, we infer that co-seismic surface rupture produced by a characteristic earthquake with a magnitude of Ms7.0–7.5 on the Maqu fault could generate a horizontal slip of 4.5–5 m and a vertical slip of 0.45–0.5 m, with a corresponding ratio(Dh/Dv) of about 9. Two surface rupture events must have occurred over the past 3300 years, the latest one possibly between 1485 cal BP and 1730 cal BP.展开更多
The calcium carbonate coats on stones developed in soil on the geomorphic surfaces of coarse clastic sediments in arid-semiarid regions contain evident information of age. The thickness of coats can be used not only a...The calcium carbonate coats on stones developed in soil on the geomorphic surfaces of coarse clastic sediments in arid-semiarid regions contain evident information of age. The thickness of coats can be used not only as a good age indicator for the geomorphic surfaces but also coats themselves can be directly used as dating materials in the ESR method. Through measuring the thickness of carbonate coats on stones in soils on the alluvial terraces in the mouth of the Heishanxia gorge of the Yellow River and ESR dating of layers separated from the carbonate coats, the average of accumulation rates of the thickness of carbonate coats on stones since 1.57 Ma was calculated to be 0.10 mm/ka in the studied area, and a regression equation between carbonate coat thickness and age was also generated. From these research results, ages of T2-T11 terraces of the Yellow River in the studied area were systematically determined, and their values are in turn 18 ka, 94 ka, 139 ka, 215 ka, 305 ka, 410 ka, 495 ka, 742 ka,展开更多
Agricultural biodiversity has a high importance in social-cultural,economic,and environmental aspects,and can help in adapting to and withstanding climate change.Conserving the GIAHS sites and the important components...Agricultural biodiversity has a high importance in social-cultural,economic,and environmental aspects,and can help in adapting to and withstanding climate change.Conserving the GIAHS sites and the important components within them can help conserve the agricultural biodiversity and traditional agricultural culture of the whole country.This study considered Ifugao Rice Terraces,Dong’s Rice-Fish-Duck System,and Hani Rice Terraces System as three examples which show that traditional culture can be used to protect agricultural biodiversity,while as a carrier of traditional culture,agricultural biodiversity also conveys and protects the traditional culture of the nation.According to the analyses,through several years of efforts,the status of agricultural biodiversity and traditional culture in them has improved.Then,to further promote agricultural biodiversity conservation and traditional culture protection,several suggestions are made,such as establishing community seed banks;documenting and preserving traditional farming methods,techniques,and tools and developing participatory activities which encourage more farmers to participate in the protection work.展开更多
For thousands of years,terracing has been one of the most important systems for preventing soil erosion,conserving water,and increasing agricultural production.Despite having a long history,the wide-ranging effects an...For thousands of years,terracing has been one of the most important systems for preventing soil erosion,conserving water,and increasing agricultural production.Despite having a long history,the wide-ranging effects and mechanisms of terracing are poorly understood owing to large-scale spatial and temporal distribution patterns and the challenges related to assessing the ecosystem services of terraced landscapes.Thus,our study aims to review comprehensively the effect of terraces by describing the mechanisms behind terraced systems.Terraces provide many ecosystem services,including the reduction of runoff and sediment by over 41.9%and 52%,respectively,and the improvement of grain yields and soil moisture content by 44.8%and 12.9%,respectively.In addition,terracing can also contribute toward the conservation of plant biodiversity on a local scale.However,as terraces age,a number of disadvantages gradually emerge,including interference with water circulation and the development of serious environmental problems caused by poorly designed or mismanaged terraces,where the average runoff and soil loss can be 1—5 times that of well-managed terraces.Although understanding the complexity and multifaceted effects of terracing is vital for terrace construction and management,the negative effects of terracing are often not considered,and existing studies have several shortcomings.Within this context,this paper aims to describe both the benefits and disadvantages of terracing,investigate the gaps in current research,as well as discuss preventive and remedial measures so as to negate the possible bad impacts of terracing.展开更多
Marginalization and abandonment of paddy terraces are widespread,but their effects on the sustainability of subsequent agricultural production are still unknown.Hani Paddy Terraces,included in Globally Important Agric...Marginalization and abandonment of paddy terraces are widespread,but their effects on the sustainability of subsequent agricultural production are still unknown.Hani Paddy Terraces,included in Globally Important Agriculture Heritage Systems,are threatened by paddy fields drainage.Here,changes in terrace structure,the productivity of topsoil(0-20 cm),and soil water holding capacity at 0-70 cm depth were determined in a case study of Hani Paddy Terraces in Amengkong River Basin in Yuanyang County in Southwestern China,which had been converted into dryland terraces for 2-14 years.Our results showed that:(1)The degree of terrace structures degradation exhibited a U-shaped curve with increasing time since draining,with those drained for 5-9 years having the best structure;(2)Soil productivity index decreased first and then increased with time after conversion;(3)Maximum water holding capacity at 0-70 cm soil depth dramatically decreased after conversion and such trend became increasingly obvious with increasing time since conversion.Our study revealed that drainage of paddy terraces along with associated changes in crop and field management led to an increase in soil productivity,but degradation of terrace structures and a decrease in water holding capacity will inhibit restoration to paddy terraces.These findings enhance the understanding of the biophysical changes due to marginalization in paddy terraces.展开更多
The geomorphological evolution of the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau (NETP) could provide valuable information for reconstructing the tectonic movements of the region. And the considerable uplift and climatic changes ...The geomorphological evolution of the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau (NETP) could provide valuable information for reconstructing the tectonic movements of the region. And the considerable uplift and climatic changes at here, provide an opportunity for studying the im- pact of tectonic and monsoon climate on fluvial morphological development and sedimentary architecture of fluvial deposits. The development of peneplain-like surface and related land- scape transition from basin filling to incision indicate an intense uplift event with morphologi- cal significance at around 10-17 Ma in the NETP. After that, incision into the peneplain was not continuous but a staircase of terraces, developed as a result of climatic influences. In spite of the generally persisting uplift of the whole region, the neighbouring tectonic blocks had different uplift rates, leading to a complicated fluvial response with accumulation terraces alternating with erosion terraces at a small spatial and temporal scale. The change in fluvial activity as a response to climatic impact is reflected in the general sedimentary sequence on the terraces from high-energy (braided) channel deposits (at full glacial) to lower-energy de- posits of small channels (towards the end of the glacial), mostly separated by a rather sharp boundary from overlying flood-Ioams (at the glacial-interglacial transition) and overall soil formation (interglacial). Pronounced incision took place at the subsequent warm-cold transi- tions. In addition, it is hypothesized that in some strongly uplifted blocks energy thresholds could be crossed to allow terrace formation as a response to small climatic fluctuations (10^3-10^4 year timescale). Although studies of morpho-tectonic and geomorphological evolu- tion of the NETP, improve understanding on the impacts of tectonic motions and monsoonal climate on fluvial processes, a number of aspects, such as the distribution and correlation of peneplain and the related morphological features, the extent and in展开更多
文摘使用差分GPS方法,测量西宁盆地内部各级阶地参数,对比野外阶地特征,探讨区域新构造时期活动特征,以及西宁城市周缘活断层的分布及活动特征。通过这一区域的实践,认为DGPS方法能够快速、精确的获得区域内阶地面的坐标和高程,是确定弱活动或隐伏断裂的可行方法。南川河断裂错断T3、T4、T5阶地,断裂的活动时间为T3阶地形成后,T2级阶地形成前的0.10 Ma B.P.至0.05 Ma B.P.。垂直断距15~20 m,最小垂直活动速率约为0.30mm/a。
基金The Youth Talent Supporting Project of China Association for Science and Technology(2016010103)The International Exchange and Cooperation Project of Ministry of Agriculture“Conservation of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems(GIAHS)in China in 2016”Open fund project of Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory for Technology and Application of Cultural Heritage Digitalization(JL14K06,CT14K05)
文摘Agri-cultural Heritage Systems(AHS) have not only various values but also important enlightening roles for modern agriculture.With agro-scientific and technological progress,the traditional agriculture that has lasted for thousands of years is declining gradually,thus is attached the importance of exploring and protecting our AHS.As a traditional agricultural system for 1300 years,the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces System(HHRTS) has many significant characteristics such as beautiful landscapes,distinctive rice varieties,ecologically clean agricultural production systems,systematic methods of managing water and soil and special ethnic culture.It was designated successively as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System(GIAHS) in 2010 and as a World Heritage(WH) in 2013.In this paper,taking HHRTS as an example,we analyzed the economic,ecological,aesthetic,cultural,and social values,as well as the research values,of the GIAHS.We conclude that the restrictions on increasing peasant earnings and improving their living standards are difficult with the low efficiency of traditional planting patterns and the single-industry structure of farming in rugged terrain.However,these restrictive factors are beneficial for developing some industries like green agriculture,organic agriculture or ecological food production because of the clean farmland environment.In the end,we propose the basic approaches to protect the Hani terraces agriculture system should include the local governments to encourage the development of ecotourism,organic agriculture and featuring agriculture by multi-mode economic compensation.It is very important for protecting terraces to coordinate benefits among corporations,governments and villagers by making reasonable policies of compensation.
基金The International Exchange and Cooperation Project of Ministry of Agriculture "Conservation of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems(GIAHS)in China in 2018"The Third-party Monitor and Assessment on Honghe Hani Rice Terraces Systems in 2018
文摘Transportation as a means to support industrial development can impact the economic development of important agricultural heritage sites. Because the central towns in mountainous areas have weak economic interactions with each other, an appropriate method is needed to evaluate their transportation accessibility. This paper takes the Honghe Hani Rice Terraced System(HHRTS) as a study area and develops a model to determine shortest time-distances from central towns in the study area to the nearest high-grade city as a way to evaluate transportation accessibility(TA). We then analyze the relationship between the accessibility of these towns and their economies. The study finds that the TA of the central towns in HHRTS is not good as a whole. More than 70% of the towns are more than 1 hour away from their nearest high-grade city. Of the four counties in the study area, Yuanyang County has the best traffic conditions, while Lvchun County has the worst traffic conditions. The central towns in the northern and middle regions have better TA than those in the west, southwest and east margin regions. The small-scale rural economy has little dependence on the transportation network, while secondary industries are obviously impacted by the transportation network. In the future, to support the integrated development of industries in HHRTS, traffic conditions in each town should be improved appropriately according to the industrial orientation of the town, but excessive investments to construct roads irrespective of eco-environmental impacts and economic benefits should be avoided. Especially in the case of ecologically vulnerable towns, the building high-grade roads should be banned.
基金National Natural Science Fund of China(31200376)
文摘Hani rice terraces system is one of the Globaly Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) pilot sites selected by FAO. Soil nutrients are an important symbol of soil fertility, and play an important role in the sustainable utilization of land. Based on geo-statistics and GIS, the spatial variation of pH, organic matter, total nitrogen, alkaline hydrolyzable nitrogen, available phosphorus and available potassium in the soil in Yisa (a town in Honghe County, Yunnan Province) was studied. The results show that the spatial variability of pH, organic matter, total nitrogen, alkaline hydrolyzable nitrogen and available potassium exhibited medium spatial variability, and the coefficients of variation are 12.54%, 40.14%, 40.00%, 34.89%, and 40.00% respectively. Available phosphorus exhibited strong spatial variability, and the coefifcient of variation is 102.13%. The spatial variation of pH, organic matter, total nitrogen, alkaline hydrolyzable nitrogen and available potassium fit the index mode, however, the spatial variation of available phosphorus ifts the spherical model. Total nitrogen, available phosphorus and available potassium were greatly affected by soil structural factors, while pH, organic matter and alkaline hydrolyzable nitrogen were affected by both structural and random factors. The spatial distribution of soil nutrients in Yisa was intuitively characterized by Kriging interpolation. It is very important to understand the spatial distribution of soil nutrients, which wil provide the guidance for adjusting agricultural management measures such as fertilization.
基金support of the Natural Science Foundation of China(41472178)the China Geological Survey projects(1212011120167,12120114002211)
文摘The Late Quaternary slip rate along the Maqu segment of the eastern Kunlun Fault was estimated using a combination of high-resolution remote sensing imagery interpretation, field observations and differential Global Positioning System(GPS) measurements of offset river terraces, and 14 C dating of snail shells collected from offset risers. The results show that the left-slip rate along the segment is 3–5 mm/a, and that the vertical slip rate is 0.3–0.5 mm/a. Both the horizontal and vertical slips on the segment remain consistent over a distance of ~100 km. It means that no slip gradient as previously suggested occurred along the Maqu segment, and which thus might behave as an independent seismogenic fault. Judging from multiple relationships among young terrace offsets, we infer that co-seismic surface rupture produced by a characteristic earthquake with a magnitude of Ms7.0–7.5 on the Maqu fault could generate a horizontal slip of 4.5–5 m and a vertical slip of 0.45–0.5 m, with a corresponding ratio(Dh/Dv) of about 9. Two surface rupture events must have occurred over the past 3300 years, the latest one possibly between 1485 cal BP and 1730 cal BP.
基金This work was supportedby the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 49732095)Joint Foundation of Earthquake Science (Grant Nos. 197021 and 9507422)and the State Major Basic Research Development Plan (Grant No. 95130102).
文摘The calcium carbonate coats on stones developed in soil on the geomorphic surfaces of coarse clastic sediments in arid-semiarid regions contain evident information of age. The thickness of coats can be used not only as a good age indicator for the geomorphic surfaces but also coats themselves can be directly used as dating materials in the ESR method. Through measuring the thickness of carbonate coats on stones in soils on the alluvial terraces in the mouth of the Heishanxia gorge of the Yellow River and ESR dating of layers separated from the carbonate coats, the average of accumulation rates of the thickness of carbonate coats on stones since 1.57 Ma was calculated to be 0.10 mm/ka in the studied area, and a regression equation between carbonate coat thickness and age was also generated. From these research results, ages of T2-T11 terraces of the Yellow River in the studied area were systematically determined, and their values are in turn 18 ka, 94 ka, 139 ka, 215 ka, 305 ka, 410 ka, 495 ka, 742 ka,
基金Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA23100203)。
文摘Agricultural biodiversity has a high importance in social-cultural,economic,and environmental aspects,and can help in adapting to and withstanding climate change.Conserving the GIAHS sites and the important components within them can help conserve the agricultural biodiversity and traditional agricultural culture of the whole country.This study considered Ifugao Rice Terraces,Dong’s Rice-Fish-Duck System,and Hani Rice Terraces System as three examples which show that traditional culture can be used to protect agricultural biodiversity,while as a carrier of traditional culture,agricultural biodiversity also conveys and protects the traditional culture of the nation.According to the analyses,through several years of efforts,the status of agricultural biodiversity and traditional culture in them has improved.Then,to further promote agricultural biodiversity conservation and traditional culture protection,several suggestions are made,such as establishing community seed banks;documenting and preserving traditional farming methods,techniques,and tools and developing participatory activities which encourage more farmers to participate in the protection work.
基金Financial support for this research was provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.U19A2047,41877084)the Key Project of Department of Education of Hunan Province(No.18A044)the Water Resources Science and Technology Project of Hunan Province(Xiang shui ke ji[2017]230-40).
文摘For thousands of years,terracing has been one of the most important systems for preventing soil erosion,conserving water,and increasing agricultural production.Despite having a long history,the wide-ranging effects and mechanisms of terracing are poorly understood owing to large-scale spatial and temporal distribution patterns and the challenges related to assessing the ecosystem services of terraced landscapes.Thus,our study aims to review comprehensively the effect of terraces by describing the mechanisms behind terraced systems.Terraces provide many ecosystem services,including the reduction of runoff and sediment by over 41.9%and 52%,respectively,and the improvement of grain yields and soil moisture content by 44.8%and 12.9%,respectively.In addition,terracing can also contribute toward the conservation of plant biodiversity on a local scale.However,as terraces age,a number of disadvantages gradually emerge,including interference with water circulation and the development of serious environmental problems caused by poorly designed or mismanaged terraces,where the average runoff and soil loss can be 1—5 times that of well-managed terraces.Although understanding the complexity and multifaceted effects of terracing is vital for terrace construction and management,the negative effects of terracing are often not considered,and existing studies have several shortcomings.Within this context,this paper aims to describe both the benefits and disadvantages of terracing,investigate the gaps in current research,as well as discuss preventive and remedial measures so as to negate the possible bad impacts of terracing.
基金This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China[grant numbers 41501592,42061044,42061074].The authors would like to thank Professor Xingwu Duan of Yunnan University for suggestions for experimental design and Jiancheng Deng of Yunnan University and the villagers of Amengkong for their assistance in fieldwork.
文摘Marginalization and abandonment of paddy terraces are widespread,but their effects on the sustainability of subsequent agricultural production are still unknown.Hani Paddy Terraces,included in Globally Important Agriculture Heritage Systems,are threatened by paddy fields drainage.Here,changes in terrace structure,the productivity of topsoil(0-20 cm),and soil water holding capacity at 0-70 cm depth were determined in a case study of Hani Paddy Terraces in Amengkong River Basin in Yuanyang County in Southwestern China,which had been converted into dryland terraces for 2-14 years.Our results showed that:(1)The degree of terrace structures degradation exhibited a U-shaped curve with increasing time since draining,with those drained for 5-9 years having the best structure;(2)Soil productivity index decreased first and then increased with time after conversion;(3)Maximum water holding capacity at 0-70 cm soil depth dramatically decreased after conversion and such trend became increasingly obvious with increasing time since conversion.Our study revealed that drainage of paddy terraces along with associated changes in crop and field management led to an increase in soil productivity,but degradation of terrace structures and a decrease in water holding capacity will inhibit restoration to paddy terraces.These findings enhance the understanding of the biophysical changes due to marginalization in paddy terraces.
基金Foundation: National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.41522101 National Key Research and Development Program, No.2016YFA0600500 Dutch-Chinese Exchange Program
文摘The geomorphological evolution of the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau (NETP) could provide valuable information for reconstructing the tectonic movements of the region. And the considerable uplift and climatic changes at here, provide an opportunity for studying the im- pact of tectonic and monsoon climate on fluvial morphological development and sedimentary architecture of fluvial deposits. The development of peneplain-like surface and related land- scape transition from basin filling to incision indicate an intense uplift event with morphologi- cal significance at around 10-17 Ma in the NETP. After that, incision into the peneplain was not continuous but a staircase of terraces, developed as a result of climatic influences. In spite of the generally persisting uplift of the whole region, the neighbouring tectonic blocks had different uplift rates, leading to a complicated fluvial response with accumulation terraces alternating with erosion terraces at a small spatial and temporal scale. The change in fluvial activity as a response to climatic impact is reflected in the general sedimentary sequence on the terraces from high-energy (braided) channel deposits (at full glacial) to lower-energy de- posits of small channels (towards the end of the glacial), mostly separated by a rather sharp boundary from overlying flood-Ioams (at the glacial-interglacial transition) and overall soil formation (interglacial). Pronounced incision took place at the subsequent warm-cold transi- tions. In addition, it is hypothesized that in some strongly uplifted blocks energy thresholds could be crossed to allow terrace formation as a response to small climatic fluctuations (10^3-10^4 year timescale). Although studies of morpho-tectonic and geomorphological evolu- tion of the NETP, improve understanding on the impacts of tectonic motions and monsoonal climate on fluvial processes, a number of aspects, such as the distribution and correlation of peneplain and the related morphological features, the extent and in