Vulnerability to Hurricane Damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast Since 1950

We study hurricane risk on the U.S. Gulf Coast during 1950‐2005, estimating the wind damage and storm surge from every hurricane in this extended period. Wind damage is estimated from the known path and wind speeds of individual storms and calibrated to fit actual damage reports for a sample of Gulf Coast storms. Storm surge is estimated using the SLOSH model developed by NOAA. These models provide the first comprehensive overview of the hurricane storm hazard as it has been experienced over a fifty‐six‐year period. We link the estimated damage with information on the population and specific socio‐demographic components of the population (by age, race, and poverty status). Results show that white, young adult, and nonpoor populations have shifted over time away from zones with higher risk of wind damage, while more vulnerable population groups–the elderly, African Americans, and poor—have moved in the opposite direction. All groups have moved away from areas with high risk of storm surge since 1970. But in this case, perhaps because living near the water is still perceived as an amenity, those at highest risk are whites, elderly, and nonpoor households. Here exposure represents a trade‐off between the risk and the amenity.     

Patterns and Controls of Hurricane-Caused Forest Damage: A Landscape-Scale Analysis of Treefall Direction Following Hurricane Katrina∗

To clarify broad-scale patterns and controls of treefall directionality from Hurricane Katrina, we examined fall directions across a 4,500 km² landscape mosaic in southern Mississippi using georeferenced, planar-rectified aerial photographs. Analyses using directional statistics, measures of local spatial autocorrelation, and general linear modeling indicated that treefall was significantly directional for nearly all of our locations and constrained primarily by mesoscale surface wind directions and landscape setting. None of our plots exhibited fall angles consistent with damage caused by wind reversals following the passage of the storm or by microbursts or tornadoes spawned by the hurricane. When coupled with results from other studies focused on hurricane-caused damage, these results suggest that it is possible to develop empirical, landscape-scale models of wind impacts or stand vulnerability using basic site information (e.g., topography, soils), biotic conditions (e.g., land cover, forest attributes), and generalized, but readily available, estimates of surface wind flow patterns.     

The Relationship between El Niño and the Duration and Frequency of the Santa Ana Winds of Southern California

This study examines the variability of the duration and frequency of Santa Ana winds due to El Niño over a thirty‐three‐year period. Daily Weather Maps and NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis were used to study large‐scale upper‐level and surface circulation patterns during wind events. A Student's t‐test was used to determine statistically significant changes in the winds during March of El Niño winters. A significant decrease in the duration and frequency of wind events was found in March during El Niño. This can be attributed to the decrease in strength and frequency of the Great Basin high pressure and the increase in wintertime cyclones in southern California.     

Event sedimentation in low‐latitude deep‐water carbonate basins,Anegada passage,northeast Caribbean

The Virgin Islands and Whiting basins in the Northeast Caribbean are deep, structurally controlled depocentres partially bound by shallow‐water carbonate platforms. Closed basins such as these are thought to document earthquake and hurricane events through the accumulation of event layers such as debris flow and turbidity current deposits and the internal deformation of deposited material. Event layers in the Virgin Islands and Whiting basins are predominantly thin and discontinuous, containing varying amounts of reef‐ and slope‐derived material. Three turbidites/sandy intervals in the upper 2 m of sediment in the eastern Virgin Islands Basin were deposited between ca. 2000 and 13 600 years ago, but do not extend across the basin. In the central and western Virgin Islands Basin, a structureless clay‐rich interval is interpreted to be a unifite. Within the Whiting Basin, several discontinuous turbidites and other sand‐rich intervals are primarily deposited in base of slope fans. The youngest of these turbidites is ca. 2600 years old. Sediment accumulation in these basins is low (<0.1 mm year^?1) for basin adjacent to carbonate platform, possibly due to limited sediment input during highstand sea‐level conditions, sediment trapping and/or cohesive basin walls. We find no evidence of recent sediment transport (turbidites or debris flows) or sediment deformation that can be attributed to the ca. M7.2 1867 Virgin Islands earthquake whose epicentre was located on the north wall of the Virgin Islands Basin or to recent hurricanes that have impacted the region. The lack of significant appreciable pebble or greater size carbonate material in any of the available cores suggests that submarine landslide and basin‐wide blocky debris flows have not been a significant mechanism of basin margin modification in the last several thousand years. Thus, basins such as those described here may be poor recorders of past natural hazards, but may provide a long‐term record of past oceanographic conditions in ocean passages.     

Forthcoming events

Tropical cyclones (hurricanes and typhoons) produce high winds that can generate waves capable of damaging coral reefs. As cyclones frequently pass through northeast Australia's Great Barrier Reef (GBR), it is important to understand how the spatial distribution of reef damage changes over time. However, direct measurements of wave damage, or even wave heights or wind speeds, are rare within the GBR. An important factor in estimating whether cyclone damage was possible is the magnitude and duration of high‐energy wind and waves. Thus, before the spatio‐temporal dynamics of past cyclone damage can be modelled, it is necessary to reconstruct the spread, intensity, and duration of high‐energy conditions during individual cyclones. This was done every hour along the track taken by each of 85 cyclones that passed near the GBR from 1969 to 2003, by implementing a cyclone wind hindcasting model directly within a raster GIS using cyclone data available from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Three measures of cyclone energy (maximum wind speed—MAX, duration of gales—GALES, and continuous duration of gales—CGALES) were derived from these data. For three cyclones, where field data documenting actual reef damage from cyclone‐generated waves were available, the predictive ability of each measure was assessed statistically. All three performed better in predicting reef damage at sites surveyed along the high‐energy reef front than those surveyed along the more protected reef back. MAX performed best for cyclone Joy (r ² = 0.5), while CGALES performed best for cyclones Ivor (r ² = 0.23) and Justin (r ² = 0.48). Using thresholds for MAX and GALES obtained via comparison with field data of damage, it was possible to produce a preliminary prediction of the risk of wave damage across the GBR from each of the 85 cyclones. The results suggest that while up to two‐thirds of the GBR was at risk from some damage for 30–50% of the time series (～18 out of 35 years), only scattered areas of the region were at risk more frequently than that.     

Basin evolution,diagenesis and uranium mineralization in the Paleoproterozic Thelon Basin,Nunavut, Canada

The Paleoproterozoic (Statherian) Thelon Basin is located in the Churchill Province of the Canadian Shield, formed following the Trans‐Hudson Orogeny. Basin formation followed an interval of felsic volcanism and weathering of underlying bedrock. The diagenetic evolution of the Thelon lasted about one billion years and was punctuated by fluid movement influenced by tectonic events. Early quartz cements formed in well‐sorted, quartz‐rich facies during diagenetic stage 1; fluids in which these overgrowths formed had δ¹⁸O values near 0‰ (Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water). Uranium‐rich apatite cement (P1) also formed during diagenetic stage 1 indicating that oxygenated, uranium‐bearing pore water was present in the basin early in its diagenetic history. Syntaxial quartz cement (Q1) formed in water with δ¹⁸O from ?4 to ?0.8‰ in diagenetic stage 2. Diagenetic stage 3 occurred when the Thelon Formation was at ca. 5 km depth, and was marked by extensive illitization, alteration of detrital grains, and uranium mineralization. Basin‐wide, illite crystallized at ～200 °C by fluids with δ¹⁸O values of 5–9‰ and δD values of ?60 to ?31‰, consistent with evolved basinal brines. Tectonism caused by the accretion of Nena at ca. 1600 Ma may have provided the mechanism for brine movement during deep burial. Diagenetic stage 4 is associated with fracturing and emplacement of mafic dikes at ca. 1300 Ma, quartz cement (Q3) in fractures and vugs, further illitization, and recrystallization of uraninite (U2). Q3 cements have fluid inclusions that suggest variable salinities, δ¹⁸O values of 1.5–9‰, and δD values of ?97 to ?83‰ for stage 4 brines. K‐feldspar and Mg‐chlorite formed during diagenetic stage 5 at ca. 1000 Ma in upper stratigraphic sequences, and in the west. These phases precipitated from low‐temperature, isotopically distinct fluids. Their distribution indicates that the basin hydrostratigraphy remained partitioned for >600 Ma.     

Splash-saltation trajectories of soil particles under wind-driven rain

It is usually recognized that relatively large amounts of soil particles cannot be transported by raindrop splashes under windless rain. However, the splash-saltation process can cause net transportation in the prevailing wind direction since variations in splash-saltation trajectory due to the wind are expected in wind-driven rain. Therefore, determining the combined effect of rain and wind on the process should enable improvement of the estimation of erosion for any given prediction technique. This paper presents experimental data on the effects of slope aspect, slope gradient, and horizontal wind velocity on the splash-saltation trajectories of soil particles under wind-driven rain. In a wind tunnel facility equipped with a rainfall simulator, the rains driven by horizontal wind velocities of 6, 10, and 14 m s⁻¹ were allowed to impact three agricultural soils packed into 20×55 cm soil pans placed at both windward and leeward slopes of 7%, 15%, and 20%. Splash-saltation trajectories were measured by trapping the splashed particles at distances downwind on a 7-m uniform slope segment in the upslope and downslope directions, respectively, for windward and leeward slopes. Exponential decay curves were fitted for the mass distribution of splash-saltation sediment as a function of travel distance, and the average splash-saltation trajectory was derived from the average value of the fitted functions. The results demonstrated that the average trajectory of a raindrop-induced and wind-driven soil particle was substantially affected by the wind shear velocity, and it had the greatest correlation (r=0.96 for all data) with the shear velocity; however, neither slope aspect nor slope gradient significantly predicted the splash-saltation trajectory. More significantly, a statistical analysis conducted with nonlinear regression model of C₁(u_*²/g) showed that average trajectory of splash saltation was approximately three times greater than that of typical saltating sand grain.     

乌兰布和沙漠东北缘地表风沙流结构特征

在国家林业局磴口荒漠生态站长期监测的基础上,利用多种积沙仪,对乌兰布和沙漠东北缘流动沙丘、油蒿半固定沙丘、白刺半固定沙丘、油蒿固定沙丘、白刺固定沙丘5种典型下垫面近地面（0～100 cm）的风沙流输沙量进行了实地观测和对比分析。结果表明：（1） 输沙率（q）随高度（h）增加呈幂函数（q=ah^-b,R²≥0.8409）规律衰减,随风速（v）增大呈幂函数（q=av^b,R²≥0.9256）规律增加,42.8%～70.7%的输沙量分布在10 cm高度内,67.6%～90.0%的输沙量分布于30 cm高度内。当地表植被盖度达到40%以上时,输沙率下降至无植被覆盖地表输沙率的6.6%以下,可有效阻止地表风蚀。（2） 沙物质主要由粒径为50～250 μm的细沙和极细沙构成,各高度层风蚀物粒度组成服从单峰态分布,峰值在100～250 μm。随高度增加,风蚀物粒径范围趋于变窄,粒径趋于更细。（3） 起沙风多出现在WSW和NW方向,占全年起沙风的53.19%。风沙流中跃移输沙、蠕移输沙的空间分布在理论上应与风向频率分布基本一致,差异性主要由各方位风的强度和持续时间等因素导致。研究结果可为该区域防沙工程设计提供理论参考。     

Catastrophic hurricane history revealed by organic geochemical proxies in coastal lake sediments: a case study of Lake Shelby,Alabama (USA)

We developed a new method for reconstructing millennia-long hurricane records from coastal environments that uses Organic Geochemical Proxies (OGPs) of organic carbon and nitrogen concentrations and their δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N compositions. The new method is independent of presence/absence of sand layers and improves significantly the severe-storm history resolution. The subject of this investigation is a 1.5 m long sediment core raised at 2.8 m water depth from the center of Lake Shelby, Alabama, a freshwater lake located approximately 250 m from the Gulf of Mexico, from which an overwash sand-layer based record was previously derived. The core contains two distinct sediment units; an upper 62 cm thick, fine-grained, organic-rich lacustrine sapropel (gyttja) that shows no visible structures except one sand lamina at 23.7 cm depth, and an underlying 90 cm thick, organic-poor lagoon/estuary clay unit. The sapropel unit was deposited over a 682 ± 30 cal year time interval (1320–2002 A.D.) with a mean sedimentation rate of 0.79 ± 0.04 mm/year. Lake Shelby’s water column exhibits two contrasting states based on water chemistry surveys (i) an “isolated”, stratified, mode under calm weather conditions with a relatively low trophic state, and (ii) a “flooded” mode occurring during storm surges when nutrient-rich seawater floods the lake. Statistically significant δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N positive excursions in organic matter, up to maximum values of −25 (‰ PDB) and 4 (‰ Air N₂), respectively, are interpreted as geochemical responses to the marine intrusions that fertilize the lake, increase light availability, and cause eutrophication spikes. Detailed OGPs analyses crossing a sand layer that offers visual evidence of a catastrophic hurricane overwash event at 1717 A.D. exhibit large δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N positive shifts bounded by rapid returns to base values, thus confirming the validity of the hurricane identification by the OGPs model. Our data indicate that 11 catastrophic hurricanes hit the Alabama coast over the past 682 years with a rough recurrence interval of one in 62 years.     

Impacts of reduced wind speed on physiology and ecosystem carbon flux of a semi-arid steppe ecosystem

Decreasing wind speed is one aspect of global climate change as well as global warming, and has become a new research orientation in recent decades. The decrease is especially evident in places with frequent perennially high wind speeds. We simulated decreased wind speed by using a steel-sheet wind shield in a temperate grassland in Inner Mongolia to examine the changes in physical environmental variables, as well as their impacts on the photosynthesis of grass leaves and net ecosystem exchange （NEE）. We then used models to calculate the variation of boundary layer conductance （BLC） and its impact on leaf photosynthesis, and this allowed us to separate the direct effects of wind speed reduction on leaf photo- synthesis （BLC） from the indirect ones （via soil moisture balance）. The results showed that reduced wind speed primarily resulted in higher moisture and temperature in soil, and indirectly affected net assimilation and water use efficiency of the prevalent bunch grass Stipa krylovii. Moreover, the wind-sheltered plant community had a stronger ability to sequester carbon than did the wind-exposed community during the growing season.     

Wind tunnel investigation of the influence of surface moisture content on the entrainment and erosion of beach sand by wind using sands from tropical humid coastal southern China

Wind erosion has major impacts on dune growth, desertification, and architecture on sea coasts. The deflation threshold shear velocity is a crucial parameter in predicting erosion, and surface moisture greatly affects this threshold and thus sand stability. Wind tunnel studies have shown that reduced moisture contents decrease entrainment thresholds and increase wind erosion, but field and wind tunnel test data is lacking for tropical humid coastal areas. In this study, we investigated the influence of surface moisture contents (at 1 mm depth) on sand entrainment and erosion using tropical humid coastal sands from southern China. Shear velocities were deduced from velocity profiles above the sand. The threshold shear velocity increased linearly with increasing ln100M (M, gravimetric moisture content). The increase was steepest below a moisture content of 0.0124 (i.e., at M_1.5, the moisture content in the sand at a matric potential of − 1.5 MPa). We compared several popular models that predict threshold shear velocity of moisture sediment, and found substantial differences between their predicted results. At a surface moisture content of 0.0124, the predicted increase in the wet threshold shear velocity compared with the dry threshold shear velocity ranged from 34% to 195%. The empirical model of Chepil and Selah simulated the data well for M < 0.0062 (i.e., 0.5M_1.5), whereas Belly's empirical model simulated the data best for M > 0.0062. Wind erosion modulus increased with increasing effective wind velocity following a power function with a positive exponent at all moisture contents, but decreased with increasing surface moisture content following a power function with a negative exponent. When wind speed and moisture content varied simultaneously, wind erosion modulus was proportional to the 0.73 power of effective wind velocity, but inversely proportional to the 1.48 power of M. The increase in resistance to erosion at low moisture contents probably results from cohesive forces in the water films surrounding the sand particles. At a moisture content near M_1.5, wind erosion ceases nearly for all wind velocities that we tested.     

Role of autoretreat and A/S changes in the understanding of deltaic shoreline trajectory: a semi-quantitative approach

ABSTRACT There is continued interest in how the rate of relative sea‐level rise [A ( > 0)] and the rate of sediment supply [S] function during the growth and evolution of deltaic shorelines. The theory of shoreline autoretreat, recently corroborated in flume experiments, claims that (1) A( > 0) and S can never be in equilibrium, and (2) shoreline or shelf‐edge progradation inevitably turns to retrogradation, when relative sea level is rising even modestly and even if A/S = const (> 0). Autoretreat arises because the area of the clinoform surface of the delta (or shelf edge) per kilometer of shoreline must increase as the relative sea level rises, and the delta (or shelf edge) progrades into deeper water. A finite sediment supply rate is thus liable to become inadequate to sustain progradation. The problem increases further as a rising sea level also greatly increases the delta‐plain volume that needs to be filled, further limiting the progradation of the system. The fundamental trajectory of shoreline migration is thus one characterized by a concave‐landward shape, even under the steady forcing of the basin. The magnitudes of A (> 0) and S, or A/S do not determine whether the landward turnaround of the shoreline is realized or not, but affect merely the length and height of the fundamental trajectory curve. Thus, any attempt to detect and interpret temporal changes in A and S from the observed stratigraphic record of shoreline trajectory needs first to take full account of the inbuilt autoretreat mechanism. We develop here a simple, semi‐quantitative method of reconstructing the basin conditions (A and S) from the stratigraphic record of prograding deltaic shorelines (or prograding shelf‐margin clinoforms) on the basis of the theory of shoreline autoretreat. The deterministic nature of the autoretreat theory is advantageous in managing this latter issue, because any expected or unexpected change emerges as some discrepancy from a trajectory that was predicted for the initial conditions. The autoretreat theory also provides a convenient graphical method of dealing with the uncertainty of the field data, and with evaluating the accuracy of any reconstruction. Our methodology has been developed to deal with the behaviour of deltaic shorelines, but is basically applicable to any clinoform system, the development of which is affected by relative sea level. The suggested method is applied to an Early Eocene (Ypresian) regressive shoreline succession in the Central Tertiary Basin on Spitsbergen. The studied regressive wedge developed as a delta‐driven, progradational shelf‐margin system under a regime of overall (i.e. long‐term) rise of relative sea level, but also suffered short‐term sea‐level falls associated with valley incisions on the coastal plain and shelf. On the assumption that S was constant or was steadily decreasing, the analysis of field data obtained from three sites within the basin suggests that the initial water depth in the basin was around 0.45 km, and that the overall relative sea‐level rise (c. 0.80 km) happened largely during an early time period and was followed by a longer period of much lower rate of rise. This pattern of relative sea‐level rise is consistent with the Palaeogene tectonic subsidence trend of the basin which was determined independently through a geohistory analysis. The uncertainty of the field data does not negate our reconstruction. The combined effects of autoretreat and A/S changes on a deltaic shoreline trajectory are confirmed through the development of an autoretreat‐based methodology. Conventional sequence stratigraphic models that assume a possible equilibrium condition between A and S are both conceptually misleading and insufficient to analyse basin conditions quantitatively. Sequence stratigraphic analyses of shorelines need to incorporate the autoretreat concept.     

Climate‐driven generation of a fluvial sheet sand body at the Paleocene–Eocene boundary in north‐west Wyoming (USA)

An unusually thick and laterally persistent fluvial sand body crops out at the Paleocene–Eocene boundary within the northern part of the Bighorn Basin in northwest Wyoming, USA. The generation of this ‘Boundary Sandstone’ was previously ascribed to a period of reduced subsidence; however, a new carbon isotope record presented herein shows it to be intimately correlated to the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), an extreme global warming event ca. 56 Ma. This study evaluates the impacts of the PETM on fluvial deposition in the basin by integrating sedimentological data with geochemical, palaeoichnological, and palaeobotanical proxy records. Compared to pre‐ and post‐PETM fluvial sand bodies, the Boundary Sandstone is more highly amalgamated, both vertically and laterally, but shows no changes in lithofacies associations, palaeodispersal directions, palaeoflow depths, or palaeochannel widths. At its thickest, the Boundary Sandstone resides entirely within the main body of the PETM, an ca. 113 kyr time interval when global pCO₂ levels and temperatures were at their highest, and local mean annual rainfall low, floodplains well drained and vegetation comparatively sparse. The totality of data sets imply that the Boundary Sandstone is related to the preferential removal of fine‐grained floodplain deposits by either: (i) rapid readjustments in river gradients related to documented short‐term precipitation oscillations or (ii) reductions in the cohesiveness of overbank sediments related to decreased rooting density and water table fluctuations. Hence, short‐term climate perturbations may manifest within large‐scale depositional patterns in ways ostensibly like tectonics.     

Characteristics of land-atmosphere energy and turbulent fluxes over the plateau steppe in central Tibetan Plateau

The land-atmosphere energy and turbulence exchange is key to understanding land surface processes on the Tibetan Plateau(TP). Using observed data for Aug. 4 to Dec. 3, 2012 from the Bujiao observation point(BJ) of the Nagqu Plateau Climate and Environment Station(NPCE-BJ), different characteristics of the energy flux during the Asian summer monsoon(ASM) season and post-monsoon period were analyzed. This study outlines the impact of the ASM on energy fluxes in the central TP. It also demonstrates that the surface energy closure rate during the ASM season is higher than that of the post-monsoon period. Footprint modeling shows the distribution of data quality assessments(QA) and quality controls(QC) surrounding the observation point. The measured turbulent flux data at the NPCE-BJ site were highly representative of the target land-use type. The target surface contributed more to the fluxes under unstable conditions than under stable conditions. The main wind directions(180° and 210°) with the highest data density showed flux contributions reaching 100%, even under stable conditions. The lowest flux contributions were found in sectors with low data density, e.g., 90.4% in the 360° sector under stable conditions during the ASM season. Lastly, a surface energy water balance(SEWAB) model was used to gap-fill any absent or corrected turbulence data. The potential simulation error was also explored in this study. The Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficients(NSEs) of the observed fluxes with the SEWAB model runs were 0.78 for sensible heat flux and 0.63 for latent heat flux during the ASM season, but unrealistic values of-0.9 for latent heat flux during the post-monsoon period.     

Wind erodibility of major soils in the farming-pastoral ecotone of China

Wind erosion and desertification are severe problems in China's farming-pastoral ecotone. In this study, wind erodibility of five major soils in both uncultivated and simulated cultivated conditions, were determined through wind tunnel tests at nine wind speeds ranging from 10 to 26 m s⁻¹. The average wind erosion rate (g m⁻² min⁻¹) under the uncultivated condition (q₀) for the five soils could be set in the order: chestnut soil (28.5)>brown soil (24.8)>sierozem (21.8)>chernozem (19.9)>fixed sandy soil (11.4). The highest natural wind erosion might take place in the semi-arid steppe zone where the Chestnut soils predominate. Cultivation can significantly accelerate wind erosion, the mean wind erosion rate under the cultivated condition (q_c) for all five soils was 743.7 g m⁻² min⁻¹ in the following order: sandy soil (3313.2)>brown soil (227.2)>chernozem (221.8)>sierozem (85.1)>chestnut soil (81.2). For both the uncultivated and cultivated soil samples, the relationship between wind erosion rate (q) and wind speed (U) could be expressed in general as q=A e^BU (A and B are constant coefficients). There was a critical wind speed for each soil type except for the sandy soil. Below the critical wind speed, cultivation reduced wind erosion rate possibly due to soil clodiness and roughness effects. Above the critical speed, cultivation greatly intensified wind erosion rates due to the break down of the original soil structure. The critical wind speed measured at 20 cm above the soil surface was 20 m s⁻¹ for the brown soil, 14 m s⁻¹ for chernozem and the chestnut soils, and 10 m s⁻¹ for the sierozem. Among the five tested soils, the high wind erosion rate of the cultivated sandy soil showed its extreme sensitivity to cultivation, possibly because of the structureless nature of the loose sand. The “effect of cultivation on wind erosion” index, η (=q_c/q₀), increased exponentially with the increase of wind speed, indicating that under higher wind speed conditions, cultivation could result in more severe wind erosion.     

Quantifying the sequence stratigraphy and drowning mechanisms of atolls using a new 3-D forward stratigraphic modelling program (CARBONATE 3D)

This paper describes a new 3‐D forward numerical model (CARBONATE 3D) that simulates the stratigraphic and sedimentological development of carbonate platforms and mixed carbonate–siliciclastic shelves by simulating the following sedimentary processes: (1) Carbonate shallow, open‐marine production, dependent on water depth, restriction and sediment input; (2) Carbonate shallow, restricted‐marine production, dependent on water restriction; (3) Pelagic sediment production and deposition; (4) Coarse and fine siliciclastic input; (5) Erosion, transport and redeposition of sediment, dependent on currents, slope, depth and restriction as well as sediment grain‐size and composition; (6) Dissolution of subaerially exposed carbonate. In this paper the model is used to investigate the controlling mechanisms on the sequence stratigraphy of isolated carbonate platforms and atolls and to predict distinctive architectural signatures from different drowning mechanisms. Investigation of the mechanisms controlling atoll strata shows that although relative sea‐level is the major control, antecedent topography, environmental setting and early diagenesis have profound influence on what stratigraphic geometries and facies develop. Hence care must be taken if sea‐level curves are interpreted from real stratigraphies. Atoll drowning by fast sea‐level rise, by lowered production and by repeated exposure and fast subsequent sea‐level rises are investigated and different stratigraphic signatures for the respective mechanisms predicted. A fast relative sea‐level rise results in a bucket‐shaped morphology developed prior to drowning and a sharp transition from the platform margin facies to a pelagic cover. Drowning caused by lowered platform margin production is predicted to result in the development of a dome‐shaped, shallow‐water shoal over the whole platform top prior to drowning. Fourth order amplitudes of several tens of metres, typical of ‘icehouse’ settings, cause atoll drowning at subsidence rates where atolls subject to fourth order amplitude of only a few metres, typical of ‘greenhouse’ settings, can keep up with the rising sea‐level. In the resultant strata, vertical facies belts are less well developed but horizontally extensive facies bands are more prominent. High fourth order amplitudes (up to 80 m) without sufficient third order scale subsidence will not lead to drowning, however, as the platform can recover in each fourth order lowstand. These results suggest that atolls might be easier to drown in ‘icehouse’ rather than in ‘greenhouse’ conditions but only in situations with suitably high rates of longer‐term relative sea‐level rise or sufficient lag times.     

Tectonic and climatic control on the Late Messinian sedimentary evolution of the Nijar Basin (Betic Cordillera,Southern Spain)

The Late Messinian fill of the Nijar Basin (Betic Cordillera, southeastern Spain) mainly consists of clastic deposits of the Feos Formation that at basin margins rest unconformably above the primary evaporites of the Yesares Formation, the local equivalent of the Mediterranean Lower Gypsum. The Feos Fm. records the upward transition towards non‐marine environments before the abrupt return to fully marine conditions at the base of the Pliocene. The Feos Fm. is clearly two‐phase, with ‘lower’ and ‘upper’ members, which exhibit substantial differences in terms of facies, thickness, depositional trends and cyclical organization. These members record two distinct sedimentary and tectonic stages of Nijar Basin infilling. A high‐resolution, physical‐stratigraphic framework is proposed based on key beds and stratigraphic cyclicity and patterns that differ largely from those of most previously published studies. The predominant influence on stratigraphic cyclicity is interpreted to be precessionally driven climate changes, allowing their correlation to the Late Messinian astronomically calibrated chronostratigraphic framework. Detailed correlations suggest a phase of enhanced tectonic activity, possibly related to the Serrata‐Carboneras strike‐slip fault zone, during the first stage (‘lower’ member), resulting in a strongly articulated topography with structural lows and highs controlling sediment thickness and facies variation. Tectonic activity decreased during the second stage (‘upper’ member), which is characterized by (1) a progressively dampened and homogenized, (2) overall relative base‐level rise and (3) gradual establishment of hypohaline environments. Facies characteristics, overall stacking patterns and depositional trends of the Feos Fm. are analogous with uppermost Messinian successions of the Northern Apennines, Piedmont Basin and Calabria. Despite minor differences related to the local geodynamic setting, these basins experienced a common Late Messinian history that supports the development of a single, large Mediterranean water body characterized by high‐frequency, climatically‐driven changes in sediment flux and base‐level.     

The Characteristics and Formation of A High-Arctic Proglacial Icing

Well‐known from permafrost hydrology, icings (naled or Aufeis) are also frequently encountered at the margins of high‐latitude glaciers. The morphology of a proglacial icing at Scott Turnerbreen in the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard is described, and the process of formation is considered in detail. Ground thermal‐regime modelling indicates an equilibrium permafrost depth of at least 200 m in the studied catchment, and it appears unlikely that groundwater contributes to icing formation. Meltwater flow through ice‐marginal drainage channels is accompanied by estimated heat fluxes of up to about 190 W m^?2, suggesting that stored meltwater may continue to percolate through thawed sub‐channel sediments when surface runoff is absent during winter. A hydraulic conductivity of 6.9 × 10^?3 m s^?1 is implied, which is consistent with other studies of glacier drainage systems. The long residence time of winter‐draining meltwater, and solute rejection by refreezing water, account for high observed concentrations of solute in interstitial water in the icing. It has often been asserted that the presence of a proglacial icing indicates that a glacier is polythermal. However, as Scott Turnerbeen is entirely non‐temperate, the presence of an icing cannot always be treated as a reliable guide to the thermal regime of a glacier.     

The flux profile of a blowing sand cloud: a wind tunnel investigation

The flux profile of a blowing sand cloud, or the variation of blown sand flux with height, is the reflection of blown sand particles that move in different trajectories, and also the basis for checking drifting sand. Here we report the wind tunnel results of systematic tests of the flux profiles of different sized sands at different free-stream wind velocities. The results reveal that within the 60-cm near-surface layer, the decay of blown sand flux with height can be expressed by an exponential function: q_h=aexp(−h/b), where, q_h is the blown sand transport rate at height h, a and b are parameters that vary with wind velocity and sand size. The significance of coefficient a and b in the function is defined: a represents the transport rate in true creep and b implies the relative decay rate with height of the blown sand transport rate. The true creep fraction, the ratio of the sand transported on the surface (h=0) to the total transport varies widely, decreasing with both sand size and wind speed. The flux profiles are converted to straight lines by plotting sand transport rate, q_h, on a log-scale. The slope of the straight lines that represents the relative decay rate with height of sand transport rate decreases with an increase in free-stream wind velocity and sand grain size, implying that relatively more of the blown sand is transported to greater heights as grain size and wind speed increase. The average saltating height represented by the height where 50% of the cumulative flux percentage occurs increases with both wind speed and grain size, implying that saltation becomes more intense as grain size and/or wind velocity increase.