Wetlands and low-gradient topography are associated with longer hydrologic transit times in Precambrian Shield headwater catchments

The estimation of hydrologic transit times in a catchment provides insights into the integrated effects of water storage, mixing dynamics, and runoff generation processes. There has been limited effort to estimate transit times in southern boreal Precambrian Shield landscapes, which are characteristically heterogeneous with surface cover including till, thin soils, bedrock outcrops, and depressional wetland features that play contrasting hydrologic roles. This study presents approximately 3.5 years of precipitation and streamflow water isotope data and estimates mean transit times (MTTs) and the young water fraction (p_y) across six small catchments in the Muskoka-Haliburton region of south-central Ontario. The main objectives were to define a typical range of MTTs for headwater catchments in this region and to identify landscape variables that best explain differences in MTTs/p_y using airborne light detection and ranging and digital terrain analysis. Of the transit time distributions, the two parallel linear reservoir and gamma distributions best describe the hydrology of these catchments, particularly because of their ability to capture more extreme changes related to events such as snowmelt. The estimated MTTs, regardless of the modelling approach or distribution used, are positively associated with the percent wetland area and negatively with mean slope in the catchments. In this landscape, low-gradient features such as wetlands increase catchment scale water storage when antecedent conditions are dryer and decrease transit times when there is a moisture surplus, which plausibly explains the increases in MTTs and mean annual runoff from catchments with significant coverage of these landscape features.     

Sonographs of submarine sediment failure caused by the 1980 earthquake off northern California

In 1980, a large earthquake caused extensive sediment failure on the shallow continental shelf off the Klamath River in northern California. Side-scan sonography was used to complement detailed geophysical profiling in identifying specific features and resolving modes of failure. The features include a nearly flat failure terrace mantled with sand boils, collapse craters and sediment flows, and bounded on the seaward side by a meandering continuous toe ridge. Seaward of the terrace lies a compression zone delineated by small pressure ridges. Our findings indicate a temporal progression of failure from lique-faction of shallow subsurface sand to lateral spread of intact blocks to sediment collapse and flow.     

Storm-built sand ridges on the Maryland inner shelf: a preliminary report

Several aspects of the Maryland ridge field are pertinent to the problem of ridge genesis in response to Holocene sea-level rise. There is a systematic morphologic change fromshoreface ridges throughnearshore ridges tooffshore ridges, which reflects the changing hydraulic regime. Grain size is 90° out of phase with topography, so that the coarsest sand lies between the axis of each trough and the adjacent seaward ridge crest, while the finest sand lies between each ridge crest and the axis of the adjacent seaward trough. Finally, analysis over a 43-year period on an outer ridge reveals a systematic pattern of landward flank erosion, seaward flank deposition, and seaward crest migration. These relationships support a model which explains the ridges as consequences of the up-current shift of maximum bottom shear stress with respect to the crests of initial bottom irregularities. The oblique orientation of the ridges with respect to the beach may be at least partly due to the more rapid migration rate of the ridges’ inshore ends.     

Interpreting tracer breakthrough tailing in a conduit-dominated karstic aquifer

Breakthrough tailing has been observed during dye-tracing recovery tests in the Norville aquifer system (chalk), France. Karst-conduit flow and transport parameters were assessed using two different interpretative methods: the linear graphical method and the Chatwin method (implemented in the Qtracer2 program). The linear graphical method was used to model the observed tailing effects, which was explained by a second smaller delayed breakthrough curve. By comparing the results of tracer-test interpretation for the two methods, it was possible to relate the area of this second curve to the importance of turbulent flow in spring discharge. The more turbulent the flow, the less important the contribution of the second breakthrough curve and the tailing effect. The observed tailing could possibly be controlled by hydrodynamics to a greater extent than usually expected, the tailing effects being mostly attributed to diffusion phenomena. Tailing effects were expected to increase with discharge and the piezometric level, which would have resulted in overpressure in conduits, fissure flooding, etc. Instead, breakthrough tailing tended to disappear with increasing aquifer discharge, which would support the hypothesis of there being mostly hydrodynamic-controlled tailing effects instead of matrix- or fissure-diffusion.An erratum to this article can be found at     

二维地震观测系统合理性的论证方法

已知勘查区深度范围前提下,最大炮检X和道间距ΔX,不可以太大也不可以太小,施工前能够计算出它的允许值范围。     

基于广义Kопытов模型及乙型水驱曲线的综合预测法

将广义Kопытов预测模型和乙型水驱曲线方法有机的结合起来，得到了油田开发中后期——递减时期的一种预测水驱开发油田的含水率、产油量、产水量及其相应的累积产量随开发时间变化的方法，此方法克服了在水驱油田预测开发指标中二者所存在的局限性。     

Climate change impacts on U.S. Coastal and Marine Ecosystems

Increases in concentrations of greenhouse gases projected for the 21st century are expected to lead to increased mean global air and ocean temperatures. The National Assessment of Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change (NAST 2001) was based on a series of regional and sector assessments. This paper is a summary of the coastal and marine resources sector review of potential impacts on shorelines, estuaries, coastal wetlands, coral reefs, and ocean margin ecosystems. The assessment considered the impacts of several key drivers of climate change: sea level change; alterations in precipitation patterns and subsequent delivery of freshwater, nutrients, and sediment; increased ocean temperature; alterations in circulation patterns; changes in frequency and intensity of coastal storms; and increased levels of atmospheric CO₂. Increasing rates of sea-level rise and intensity and frequency of coastal storms and hurricanes over the next decades will increase threats to shorelines, wetlands, and coastal development. Estuarine productivity will change in response to alteration in the timing and amount of freshwater, nutrients, and sediment delivery. Higher water temperatures and changes in freshwater delivery will alter estuarine stratification, residence time, and eutrophication. Increased ocean temperatures are expected to increase coral bleaching and higher CO₂ levels may reduce coral calcification, making it more difficult for corals to recover from other disturbances, and inhibiting poleward shifts. Ocean warming is expected to cause poleward shifts in the ranges of many other organisms, including commercial species, and these shifts may have secondary effects on their predators and prey. Although these potential impacts of climate change and variability will vary from system to system, it is important to recognize that they will be superimposed upon, and in many cases intensify, other ecosystem stresses (pollution, harvesting, habitat destruction, invasive species, land and resource use, extreme natural events), which may lead to more significant consequences.     

河南东濮凹陷古近系沙河街组盐岩沉积特征及成因

东濮凹陷是渤海湾盆地的一个次级构造单元，其古近系的两个沉积旋回发育了四套盐岩，分别位于沙河街组第三段的第四亚段(S34)、第三亚段(S33)、第二亚段(S32)和沙河街组的第一段(S1)。主要分布在凹陷北部。每套盐岩又由若干个盐韵律组成，每一单韵律由盐岩和泥岩组成。两套等时对比标志层（深湖沉积）之间盐岩与砂泥岩存在着相变关系。盐岩是在深盆背景下干旱成因的，盐类物质来自地下深处上涌的卤水，分层卤水是盐形成的基本形式，上涌通道是基底大断裂，动力基础是岩浆活动。盐的阻隔作用使其对下部地层的温度、压力均有影响，这种影响有利于加快盐下地层中的有机质成熟与演化。盐又是良好的盖层，且在高温、高压下盐呈塑性状态。勘探实践看出东濮凹陷的岩性油气藏与盐岩的沉积有密切的关系，因此搞清盐岩的分布规律对东濮凹陷下步勘探有着极为重要的意义。