Evaluation of recent hydro-climatic changes in four tributaries of the Niger River Basin (West Africa)

West Africa experienced severe drought during the 1970s and 1980s, posing a threat to water resources. A wetter climate more recently suggests recovery from the drought. The Mann-Kendall trend and Theil-Sen’s slope estimator were applied to detect probable trends in weather elements in four sub-basins of the Niger River Basin between 1970 and 2010. The cross-entropy method was used to detect breakpoints in rainfall and runoff, Spearman’s rank test for correlation between the two, and cross-correlation analysis for possible lags. Results showed an overall increase in rainfall and runoff and a decrease in sunshine duration. Spearman’s coefficients suggest significant (5%) moderate to strong rainfall–runoff correlation for three sub-basins. A significant lower runoff was observed around 1979, with a rainfall break around 1992, indicating possible cessation of the drought. Temperatures increased significantly, at 0.02–0.05°C year^-1, with a negative wind speed trend for most stations. Half of the stations exhibited an increase in potential evapotranspiration.

EDITOR M.C. Acreman

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Not assigned     

基于长时间序列遥感数据的鄱阳湖水面面积监测分析

国产高分辨率卫星的快速发展可有效弥补遥感湖泊监测中影像分辨率不足的问题,更加及时、准确地实现湖泊动态监测。利用1996～2012年155景Landsat影像和2013～2016年34景GF影像为数据源,结合湖口站水位监测数据,分别选用改进的归一化差异水体指数MNDWI和归一化差异水体指数NDWI方法提取卫星遥感影像的水体信息,同时采用统计分析的方法建立了4个时间段的鄱阳湖水体面积-水位关系模型。结果表明:在空间上,鄱阳湖水体面积整体呈现缓慢缩小的趋势;在时间上,除秋季鄱阳湖面积有明显下降趋势外,其他季节整体趋势变化不大;经验证,鄱阳湖四季水体面积-水位呈现二次函数关系。     

The role of salinity in fluvio-deltaic morphodynamics: A long-term modelling study

Salinity difference between terrestrial river discharge and oceanic tidal water plays a role in modifying the local flow field and, as a consequence, estuarine morphodynamics. Although widely recognized, recent numerical studies exploring the long-term morphological evolution of river-influenced estuaries with two-dimensional, depth-averaged models have mostly neglected salinity. Using a three-dimensional morphodynamic model, we aim to gain more insight into the effect of salinity on the morphodynamics of fluvio-deltaic systems. Model results indicate that the resultant estuarine morphology established after 600 years differs remarkably when a salinity gradient is included. A fan-shaped river-mouth delta exhibits less seaward expansion and is cut through by narrower channels when salinity is included. The inclusion of salinity tends to generate estuarine circulation, which favours landward sediment transport and hence limits the growth of the delta while enhancing the development of intertidal areas. The formation of deltaic channel–shoal patterns resulting from morphodynamic evolution tends to strengthen salinity stratification, which is characterized by an increased gradient Richardson number. The direction of the depth-averaged residual sediment transport over a tide may be opposite to the direction of residual velocity, indicating the significant influence of baroclinic effects on the net sediment transport direction (and hence morphological change). The effect of salinity on morphological evolution becomes less profound when the strength of tidal or fluvial forcing is dominant over the other. The effects of sediment type and flocculation, which are particularly important when salinity gradients are present, are also discussed. Overall, this study highlights that neglecting salinity to simulate long-term estuarine morphodynamics requires more careful justification, particularly when the environment is characterized by fine sediment types (favouring suspended transport), and relatively large river discharge and estuarine depth (favouring baroclinic effects). © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Estuarine biofilm patterns: Modern analogues for Precambrian self-organization

This field and laboratory study examines whether regularly patterned biofilms on present-day intertidal flats are equivalent to microbially induced bedforms found in geological records dating back to the onset of life on Earth. Algal mats of filamentous Vaucheria species, functionally similar to microbial biofilms, cover the topographic highs of regularly spaced ridge–runnel bedforms. As regular patterning is typically associated with self-organization processes, indicators of self-organization are tested and found to support this hypothesis. The measurements suggest that biofilm-induced sediment trapping and biostabilization enhance bedform relief, strength and multi-year persistence. This demonstrates the importance of primitive organisms for sedimentary landscape development. Algal-covered ridges consist of wavy-crinkly laminated sedimentary deposits that resemble the layered structure of fossil stromatolites and microbially induced sedimentary structures. In addition to layering, both the morphological pattern and the suggested formation mechanism of the recent bedforms are strikingly similar to microbialite strata found in rock records from the Precambrian onwards. This implies that self-organization was an important morphological process in times when biofilms were the predominant sessile ecosystem. These findings furthermore emphasize that self-organization dynamics, such as critical transitions invoking ecosystem emergence or collapse, might have been captured in fossil microbialites, influencing their laminae. This notion may be important for paleoenvironmental reconstructions based on such strata. © 2019 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd     

The effect of long-term aerial exposure on intertidal mudflat erodibility

Intertidal zones by definition are exposed to air at low tide, and the exposure duration can be weeks (e.g. during neap tides) depending on water level and bed elevation. Here we investigated the effect of varying exposure duration (6 h to 10 days) on intertidal mudflat erosion (measured using the EROMES device), where the effects of water content and biofilm biomass (using chlorophyll-a content as a proxy, Chl-a μg g⁻¹) were taken into account. Sediments were collected between spring and summer (in October 2018, January 2019 and February 2019) from an intertidal site in the Firth of Thames, New Zealand. Longer exposure duration resulted in more stable sediments [higher erosion threshold (Ƭ_cr, N m⁻²) and lower erosion rate (ER, g m⁻² s⁻¹)]. After 10 days, exposure increased Ƭ_cr by 1.7 to 4.4 times and decreased ER by 11.6 to 21.5 times compared with 6 h of exposure. Chl-a and water content changed with exposure duration and were significantly correlated with changes in Ƭ_cr and ER. The stability of sediments after two re-submersion periods following exposure was also examined and showed that the stabilizing effect of exposure persisted even though water content had increased to non-exposure levels. Re-submersion was associated with an increase in Chl-a content, which likely counteracted the destabilizing influence of increased water content. A site-specific model, which included the interplay between evaporation and biofilm biomass, was developed to predict water content as a function of exposure duration. The modelled water content (W_Mod.) explained 98% of the observed variation in water content (W_Obs.). These results highlight how the exposure period can cause subtle changes to erosion regimes of sediments. An understanding of these effects (e.g. in sediment transport modelling) is critical to predicting the resilience of intertidal zones into the future, when sea-level rise is believed to exacerbate erosion in low-lying areas. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

黄河流域气候与农业种植面积变化对径流的影响

根据黄河流域1960—2005年5个水文站逐日流量、77个气象站1959—2013年逐日降水数据,结合流域内主要农作物种植面积及大型水库资料,全面探讨气候与农业面积变化及人类活动对黄河流域径流变化的影响.研究表明:黄河流域所有流量分位数总体呈下降趋势,并于1980s中后期到1990s中期发生突变.降水变化是黄河流域径流变化的主要影响因素.在考虑不同流量分位数情况下,农作物种植面积变化对不同分位数径流变化的影响也有差异性.花园口站农作物种植面积变化对径流量量级和可变性均有显著影响;其余4站各项气候变化与农作物种植指标参数较大,虽均未达到10%的显著性水平,但仍会对径流的量级变化产生影响.对唐乃亥站,农作物耕作面积的下降减少了灌溉用水,在0.5流量分位数时有高达60%增加径流量的间接作用.对于头道拐站,农作物耕作面积的增加使得流域总蒸发量增加,灌溉用水增加,在0.3流量分位数时有高达40%减少径流量的间接作用.该研究为气候变化与人类活动影响下黄河流域水资源优化配置提供重要理论依据.     

近50a洱海水环境演变特征及其主要驱动因素

基于1971 2020年近50年洱海湖区主要水质指标的监测数据,采用M-K检验和GAMs模型定量解析了洱海水质的年际变化趋势,采用多元回归法综合分析了洱海水环境演变的驱动因素。结果表明,近50年来,在流域发展与湖泊保护双轮驱动的作用下,洱海水质年际波动明显,主要水质指标浓度也呈现出多个显著变化的趋势过程。1980s初至1985年间水质指标浓度显著上升,主要与流域南部城镇化发展有关;1986 1980s末显著下降,与南部截污干渠(管)建设密切相关;1990s末至2003年间显著上升,主要与南部城镇工业发展、农业种植结构调整等重要发展策略有关;20042008年间显著下降,主要与中心城区截污治污、环洱海湖滨带修复等重要工程实施有关。在此期间洱海发生过两次较为严重的规模化藻华事件,1996年在水质优良的情况下洱海首次发生蓝藻水华,这与长期低水位运行、网箱养鱼和银鱼引种等导致湖泊生态系统严重受损密切相关;2003年在水质污染加重、生态系统尚未恢复情况下洱海再次发生蓝藻水华。2次藻华事件也改变了流域发展政策,对洱海的科学认识和保护治理力度不断加大,特别是2016年以来高强度的湖泊保护工作,促使洱...     

高精度温度计在水温观测中的仪器稳定性分析

利用宁波地震台水温10年来的单测项、6年来的同层比测资料,对高精度温度计的仪器短期和长期稳定性进行分析对比。研究发现仪器长期存在漂移现象,漂移量的大小与每套仪器的系统特性有关,但随着观测时间的延续,漂移量逐渐减少,认为该现象对地震前兆观测影响不大;短期稳定性存在不明原因的阶跃和脉冲现象,但次数不多,幅度不大,如果不是并行观测,较难判别。因此,在资料分析时要考虑仪器的这些问题。有时仪器短期非常稳定,数天至20天整点值为同一测值。     

Spatial and seasonal patterns of flood change across Brazil

Brazil has some of the largest rivers in the world and has the second greatest flood loss potential among the emergent countries. Despite that, flood studies in this area are still scarce. In this paper, we used flood seasonality and trend analysis at the annual and seasonal scales in order to describe flood regimes and changes across the whole of Brazil in the period 1976–2015. We identified a strong seasonality of floods and a well-defined spatio-temporal pattern for flood occurrence. There are positive trends in the frequency and magnitude of floods in the North, South and parts of Southeast Brazil; and negative trends in the North-east and the remainder of Southeast Brazil. Trends in the magnitude (frequency) were predominant in the winter (summer). Overall, floods are becoming more frequent and intense in Brazilian regions characterized by wet conditions, and less frequent and intense in drier regions.     

湖泊蓝藻水华防控方法综述

由于人类活动和全球气候变化的叠加影响,湖泊富营养化和蓝藻水华仍是未来相当长一段时间内的水生态环境问题.蓝藻水华暴发会引发湖泊生态系统的灾害和饮用水安全风险,因此湖内蓝藻水华防控必不可少.现有蓝藻水华防控长效方法主要基于营养盐控制理论、浅水湖泊稳态转换理论和生物操纵理论,技术措施包括内源营养盐控制、生态修复、生物操纵.应...