科尔沁沙地西部响水河河水与其河岸相互作用的初步研究

近年来,半干旱地区的风水相互作用正成为风沙地貌研究的新热点,为探讨科尔沁沙地西部响水河河水与其河岸间的相互作用,通过对科尔沁沙地西部响水河的3个典型河段的6个断面的断面形态、流速进行现场实测,同步采集了31个水样,然后在室内对其泥沙含量进行测试,并推算断面流量。结果表明：由南向北3个河段瞬时流量和泥沙含量呈递增的趋势,集水效应十分明显;该河丰水期水量较为丰沛,河流与河岸间的相互作用明显且活跃,主要存在河水掏蚀河岸陡坡等5种相互作用的方式;当下风向陡岸弯道的法线方向与当地盛行风向一致时,气流发生明显汇聚,侵蚀加强,形成风蚀槽,且当风蚀槽接近谷底时,又为曲流的摆动创造了有利条件;河流受到沙丘前移的压迫与下风向河谷陡坡的阻挡,曲流较为发育但不完美,属于非自由曲流。     

Clay slides in the Målselv valley, northern Norway: Characteristics, occurrence, and triggering mechanisms

The distribution of a large number of clay slides in the Målselv valley, northern Norway, is analysed and put into context with the stratigraphic organization of the valley-fill sediments. About 32% of the landslides larger than 10⁴ m³ occur close to the valley margins, where mud is either exposed or at shallow depth. About 57% of the landslides occur mid-valley, where relatively thin (< 15 m) coarse-grained deltaic sediments overlay fine-grained marine and glaciomarine sediments, and about 11% of the landslides occur in front of ice-contact deposits. The slide-prone areas are all characterized by the occurrence of heterogeneous sediments (interbedded clay, silt and sand), in addition to the presence of steep slopes eroded by rivers. The heterogeneous nature of the sediments probably enhanced groundwater drainage and leaching of salts from the clay, increasing sensitivity. Thus, the distribution and organization of the valley-fill sediments and groundwater drainage probably controlled the position of the slide scars and sliding planes. Since deglaciation of the valley (11,500 BP–present), isostatic rebound has enhanced fluvial incision and the creation of steep slopes due to a fall in relative sea level of up to 80 m.Arcuate-shaped, ‘bottleneck’ landslide scars ranging from c. 10⁴ to 10⁷ m³ in size is the dominant morphological signature of the slides, typical for quick clay slides or earth flows involving fluid mud. Their most common triggering mechanism is probably erosion at the toe slopes by the river Målselv or its tributaries. River erosion close to the valley margin, where glaciomarine and marine sediments are present, seems to give the most severe slides. The overall valley-fill organization controls the distribution of clay slides, which may apply to other fjord valleys having similar sediment distribution.     

Regional relief characteristics and denudation pattern of the western Southern Alps, New Zealand

The Southern Alps of New Zealand are the topographic expression of active oblique continental convergence of the Australian and Pacific plates. Despite inferred high rates of tectonic and climatic forcing, the pattern of differential uplift and erosion remains uncertain. We use a 25-m DEM to conduct a regional-scale relief analysis of a 250-km long strip of the western Southern Alps (WSA). We present a preliminary map of regional erosion and denudation by overlaying mean basin relief, a modelled stream-power erosion index, river incision rates, historic landslide denudation rates, and landslide density. The interplay between strong tectonic and climatic forcing has led to relief production that locally attains 2 km in major catchments, with mean values of 0.65–0.68 km. Interpolation between elevations of major catchment divides indicates potential removal of l0¹–10³ km³, or a mean basin relief of 0.51–0.85 km in the larger catchments. Local relief and inferred river incision rates into bedrock are highest about 50–67% of the distance between the Alpine fault and the main divide. The mean regional relief variability is ± 0.5 km.Local relief, valley cross-sectional area, and catchment width correlate moderately with catchment area, and also reach maximum values between the range front and the divide. Hypsometric integrals show scale dependence, and together with hypsometric curves, are insufficient to clearly differentiate between glacial and fluvial dominated basins. Mean slope angle in the WSA (ψ = 30°) is lower where major longitudinal valleys and extensive ice cover occur, and may be an insensitive measure of regional relief. Modal slope angle is strikingly uniform throughout the WSA (φ = 38–40°), and may record adjustment to runoff and landsliding. Both ψ and φ show non-linear relationships with elevation, which we attribute to dominant geomorphic process domains, such as fluvial processes in low-altitude valley trains, surface runoff and frequent landsliding on montane hillslopes, “relief dampening” by glaciers, and rock fall/avalanching on steep main-divide slopes.     

响水河中游右岸沙丘群粒度分布特征

在野外实地考察和测量的基础上,沿盛行风向,对西辽河平原西部响水河中游右岸普遍发育的新月形沙丘链进行样品采集。经室内激光粒度仪测定,研究了河岸沙丘粒度分布规律。结果表明：（1）响水河右岸沙丘及丘间地以中沙为主,而河谷谷底细沙含量最多,平沙地次之。（2）滨岸沙丘由迎风坡脚到丘顶平均粒径变小,远岸沙丘由迎风坡脚到丘顶平均粒径变大;多数沙丘分选性由两侧坡脚到丘顶变好;多数沙丘丘顶偏度值和峰态值大于两侧坡脚。（3）滨岸沙丘受风、水两相作用,能从较深地层获得沙源;其下风向沙丘主要受风力作用,沙源主要为丘间地沙及上风向风沙流携带的较细沙。     

Factors controlling the survival of coastal dunes during multiple hurricane impacts in 2004 and 2005: Santa Rosa barrier island, Florida

Santa Rosa Island is an 85 km-long, wave-dominated low-lying barrier island situated along the northwestern Florida coast, facing the Gulf of Mexico. The entire island was severely impacted by Ivan, a strong category 3 hurricane that made landfall about 45 km to the west in September of 2004. Ten months later in July of 2005, Dennis, another category 3 hurricane, made landfall about 30 km east of the western tip of the island. Santa Rosa Island is characterized by well-developed but relatively low dunefields, described in this paper as incipient and established dunes, based on the presence of grassy and woody types of vegetation, respectively. The dunes were severely eroded by the two hurricanes. This paper investigates the factors controlling the regional-scale destruction and survival of the dunefields.Dune survival is controlled by: 1) hurricane characteristics, including intensity, duration, and frequency, and 2) morphological parameters including width of the barrier island, height and width of the dunefields, vegetation type, distance of the dunes to the ocean, and continuity of the dunefields. Three processes of dune destruction are described including, from most to least severe, inundation, overwash, and scarping. The interaction of all the above factors determines the different dune responses to the storm impacts. In general, the extensive and densely woody vegetated dunefields near the bay-side shoreline survived the storms, while the discontinuous dunes with grassy vegetation near the Gulf shoreline were almost completely destroyed.     

Mineralogical maturity in dunefields of North America, Africa and Australia

Studies of dunefields in central and western North America show that mineralogical maturity can provide new insights into the origin and evolution of aeolian sand bodies. Many of the world's great sand seas in Africa, Asia and Australia are quartz-dominated and thus can be considered to be mineralogically mature. The Algodones (California) and Parker (Arizona) dunes in the southwestern United States are also mature, but have inherited a high degree of mineralogical maturity from quartz-rich sedimentary rocks drained by the Colorado River. In Libya, sediments of the Zallaf sand sea, which are almost pure quartz, may have originated in a similar fashion. The Fort Morgan (Colorado) and Casper (Wyoming) dunefields in the central Great Plains of North America, and the Namib sand sea of southern Africa have an intermediate degree of mineralogical maturity because their sources are large rivers that drained both unweathered plutonic and metamorphic rocks and mature sedimentary rocks. Mojave Desert dunefields in the southwestern United States are quite immature because they are in basins adjacent to plutonic rocks that were their sources. Other dunefields in the Great Plains of North America (those in Nebraska and Texas) are more mature than any possible source sediments and therefore reflect mineralogical evolution over time. Such changes in composition can occur because of either of two opposing long-term states of the dunefield. In one state, dunes are stable for long periods of time and chemical weathering depletes feldspars and other weatherable minerals in the sediment body. In the other state, which is most likely for the Great Plains, abrasion and ballistic impacts deplete the carbonate minerals and feldspars because the dunes are active for longer periods than they are stable.     

Limited change in dune mobility in response to a large decrease in wind power in semi-arid northern China since the 1970s

The climatic controls on dune mobility, especially the relative importance of wind strength, remain incompletely understood. This is a key research problem in semi-arid northern China, both for interpreting past dune activity as evidence of paleoclimate and for predicting future environmental change. Potential eolian sand transport, which is approximately proportional to wind power above the threshold for sand entrainment, has decreased across much of northern China since the 1970s. Over the same period, effective moisture (ratio of precipitation to potential evapotranspiration) has not changed significantly. This “natural experiment” provides insight on the relative importance of wind power as a control on dune mobility in three dunefields of northern China (Mu Us, Otindag, and Horqin), although poorly understood and potentially large effects of human land use complicate interpretation. Dune forms in these three regions are consistent with sand transport vectors inferred from weather station data, suggesting that wind directions have remained stable and the stations adequately represent winds that shaped the dunes. The predicted effect of weaker winds since the 1970s would be dune stabilization, with lower sand transport rates allowing vegetation cover to expand. Large portions of all three dunefields remained stabilized by vegetation in the 1970s despite high wind power. Since the 1970s, trends in remotely sensed vegetation greenness and change in mobile dune area inferred from sequential Landsat images do indicate widespread dune stabilization in the eastern Mu Us region. On the other hand, expansion of active dunes took place farther west in the Mu Us dunefield and especially in the central Otindag dunefield, with little overall change in two parts of the Horqin dunes. Better ground truth is needed to validate the remote sensing analyses, but results presented here place limits on the relative importance of wind strength as a control on dune mobility in the study areas. High wind power alone does not completely destabilize these dunes. A large decrease in wind power either has little short-term effect on the dunes, or more likely its effect is sufficiently small that it is obscured by human impacts on dune stability in many parts of the study areas.     

Fluvial diversity in relation to valley setting in the source region of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers

The spatial distribution of valley setting （laterally-unconfined, partly-confined, or confined） and fluvial morphology in the source region of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers is contrasted and analyzed. The source region of the Yangtze River is divided into 3 broad sections （I, II and III） based on valley setting and channel gradient, with the upstream and downstream sections being characterized by confined （some reaches partly-confined） valleys while the middle section is characterized with wide and shallow, laterally-unconfined valleys. Gorges are prominent in sections I and III, while braided channel patterns dominate section II. By contrast, the source region of the Yellow River is divided into 5 broad sections （sections I-V） based on valley characteristics and channel gradient. Sections I, II and IV are alluvial reaches with mainly laterally-unconfined （some short reaches partly-confined） valleys. Sections III and V are mainly confined or partly-confined. Greater morphological diversity is evident in the source region of the Yellow River relative to the upper Yangtze River. This includes braided, anabranching, anastomosing, meandering and straight alluvial patterns, with gorges in confined reaches. The macro-relief （elevation, gradient, aspect, valley alignment and confinement） of the region, linked directly to tectonic movement of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, tied to climatic, hydrologic and biotic considerations, are primary controls upon the patterns of river diversity in the region.     

Railroads, roads and lateral disconnection in the river landscapes of the continental United States

Railroads and roads are ubiquitous features in the river corridors of the United States. However, their impact on hydrologic, geomorphic, and ecological processes in fluvial and riparian landscapes has not been systematically explored at regional or continental extents. This study documents the geographic distribution of roads and railroads in the alluvial floodplains of the continental United States and the regional variability of their potential impacts on lateral connectivity and resultant channel and floodplain structure and function. We use national scale data sets and GIS analysis to derive data on stream–transportation network interactions in two broad categories: (1) crossing impacts, such as bridges and culverts, and (2) impacts where transportation infrastructure acts as a longitudinal dam along the stream channel, causing lateral floodplain disconnection. Potential stream crossing impacts are greatest in regions with long histories of road and railroad development and relatively low relief, such as the Mid-Atlantic, New England, and the Lower Mississippi and Ohio Valleys. Potential lateral disconnections are more prevalent in rugged regions such as the Western U.S. and Appalachians where transportation routes follow river corridors along valley bottoms. Based on these results, we develop a conceptual model that suggests that the area of lateral disconnection due to transportation infrastructure should be most extensive in mid-sized alluvial valleys in relatively rugged settings. The result of this disconnection is the disruption of the long-term, cut-and-fill alluviation and of the shorter-term flood and flow pulse processes that create and maintain ecosystem function in river landscapes. The tremendous extent of transportation infrastructure in alluvial valleys documented in this study suggests a revision to H.B.N. Hynes' statement that the valley rules the stream. Instead, it appears that in modern landscapes of the U.S. the valley rules the transportation network — and the transportation network rules the stream.     

禹门口南黄河东岸沙丘初步研究

在禹门口南山西省河津、万荣县境内黄河阶地上发育了一些固定、半固定沙丘,注入黄河的汾河将这些沙丘分成了南北两部分。北部的沙丘多在海拔400m左右,高出现代黄河约35m,位于黄河的第二级阶地上,由两条南北向的沙垄和两垄之间分布的抛物线形沙丘构成特殊的景观。这些抛物线形沙丘一般高度约7~8m,背风面突出,迎风坡坡度一般为15°~20°,背风坡坡度一般大于40°。风沙堆积下伏的河流堆积物的¹⁴C年龄为26.40±0.8kaBP,表明沙丘形成于距今26ka以来。南部沙丘海拔高度近500m,高出现代黄河水面150m,覆盖于黄河第三级阶地之上。一个天然剖面揭示,第三阶地的底部为黄色中粗砂与灰绿色粉砂粘土互层,中部为灰黄色黄土,顶部为黄色风沙层。在黄土地层中可以识别出S₁古土壤和位于风沙堆积下面的可能为L₁SS₁的弱成土层。由此推断风沙堆积于距今3万a以来。黄河阶地上的沙丘是在特殊的地区和特定的时期;强大的风力、丰富的沙源和气候变干条件下形成的。虽然东岸沙丘已是固定、半固定沙丘,但沙化仍然是该地区的一个问题。由于3~4a前开始在丘前洼地栽种苹果树,破坏了下风向沙丘迎风面的植被,造成了原来已固定沙丘的活化,在沙丘顶部生成了新的小抛物线形沙丘,高度大于1 m。沙丘上裸露的树根指示表土已被侵蚀0.3 m。南部沙丘区的风蚀作用也很强,例如,万荣县裴庄乡西范村北一片柿树林的树根由于风蚀已经裸露1.2 m。     

Development and setting of the Alcudia Bay beach–dune system (Mallorca, Spain)

The beach–dune system of Alcudia Bay is located in the north of the island of Mallorca. The system includes both simple and compound parabolic dunes formed by N to NNE winds and is made up of two dune areas with different dynamics: 1) the northern area, where, despite the fact that the source of beach sediment is from the south, dunes are formed by northerly winds and develop a narrow and linear barrier which separates a marsh from the bay; and 2) the southern area, where complex parabolic dunes formed by north-northeasterly winds, prograde south-southwest landward extending several kilometers inland. The broad pattern of the dunefield size is limited to the southeast by a mountain range and to the west by the effects of a topographic corridor, oriented north–south, which channels the prevailing northerly wind, causing a southward dune progression and limiting the westward extension of the dunefield.     

Reorganization of a deeply incised drainage: role of deformation,sedimentation and groundwater flow

Deeply incised drainage networks are thought to be robust and not easily modified, and are commonly used as passive markers of horizontal strain. Yet, reorganizations (rearrangements) appear in the geologic record. We provide field evidence of the reorganization of a Miocene drainage network in response to strike–slip and vertical displacements in Guatemala. The drainage was deeply incised into a 50‐km‐wide orogen located along the North America–Caribbean plate boundary. It rearranged twice, first during the Late Miocene in response to transpressional uplift along the Polochic fault, and again in the Quaternary in response to transtensional uplift along secondary faults. The pattern of reorganization resembles that produced by the tectonic defeat of rivers that cross growing tectonic structures. Compilation of remote sensing data, field mapping, sediment provenance study, grain‐size analysis and Ar⁴⁰/Ar³⁹ dating from paleovalleys and their fill reveals that the classic mechanisms of river diversion, such as river avulsion over bedrock, or capture driven by surface runoff, are not sufficient to produce the observed diversions. The sites of diversion coincide spatially with limestone belts and reactivated fault zones, suggesting that solution‐triggered or deformation‐triggered permeability have helped breaching of interfluves. The diversions are also related temporally and spatially to the accumulation of sediment fills in the valleys, upstream of the rising structures. We infer that the breaching of the interfluves was achieved by headward erosion along tributaries fed by groundwater flow tracking from the valleys soon to be captured. Fault zones and limestone belts provided the pathways, and the aquifers occupying the valley fills provided the head pressure that enhanced groundwater circulation. The defeat of rivers crossing the rising structures results essentially from the tectonically enhanced activation of groundwater flow between catchments.     

Simulating the development of Martian highland landscapes through the interaction of impact cratering, fluvial erosion, and variable hydrologic forcing

On the highlands of Mars early in the history of the planet precipitation-driven fluvial erosion competed with ongoing impact cratering. This disruption, and the multiple enclosed basins produced by impacts, is partially responsible for a long debate concerning the processes and effectiveness of fluvial erosion. The role of fluvial erosion in sculpting the early Martian landscape is explored here using a simulation model that incorporates formation of impact craters, erosion by fluvial and slope processes, deposition in basins, and flow routing through depressions. Under assumed arid hydrologic conditions, enclosed basins created by cratering do not overflow, drainage networks are short, and fluvial bajadas infill crater basins with sediment supplied from erosion of interior crater slopes and, occasionally from adjacent steep slopes. Even under arid conditions adjacent crater basins can become integrated into larger basins through lateral erosion of crater rims or by rim burial by sediment infilling. Fluvial erosion on early Mars was sufficient to infill craters of 10 km or more in diameter with 500–1500 m of sediment. When the amount of runoff relative to evaporation is assumed to be larger, enclosed basins overflow and deeply incised valleys interconnect basins. Examples of such overflow and interconnection on the Martian highlands suggest an active hydrological cycle on early Mars, at least episodically. When fluvial erosion and cratering occur together, the drainage network is often disrupted and fragmented, but it reintegrates quickly from smaller impacts. Even when rates of impact are high, a subtle fluvial signature is retained on the landscape as broad, smooth intercrater plains that feature craters with variable amounts of infilling and rim erosion, including nearly buried “ghost” craters. The widespread occurrence of such intercrater plains on Mars suggests a strong fluvial imprint on the landscape despite the absence of deep, integrated valley networks. Indisputable deltas and alluvial fans are rare in the crater basins on Mars, in part because of subsequent destruction of surficial fluvial features by impact gardening and eolian processes. Simulations, however, suggest that temporally-varying lake levels and a high percentage of suspended to bedload supplied to the basins could also result in poor definition of fan–delta complexes.     

Tectonic control of the Tejo river fluvial incision during the late Cenozoic, in Ródão—central Portugal (Atlantic Iberian border)

Staircases of strath terraces and strongly incised valleys are the most typical landscape features of Portuguese rivers. This paper examines the incision achieved during the late Cenozoic in an area crossed by the Tejo river between the border with Spain and the small town of Gavião. In the more upstream reach of this area, the Tejo crosses the Ródão tectonic depression, where four levels of terraces are distinguished. During the late Cenozoic fluvial incision stage, the Ródão depression underwent less uplift than the adjacent areas along the river. This is reflected by the greater thicknesses and spatial extent of the terraces; terrace genesis was promoted by impoundment of alluvium behind a quartzitic ridge and the local presence of a soft substratum. Outside this tectonic depression, the Tejo has a narrow valley incised in the Hercynian basement, with some straight reaches that probably correspond to NE–SW and NNW–SSE faults, the terraces being nearly absent. Geomorphological evidence of tectonic displacements affecting the Ródão dissected terrace remnants is described. Geochronological dating of the two younger and lower terrace levels of this depression suggests a time-averaged incision rate for the Tejo in the Ródão area, of ca. 1.0 m/ka over the last 60 thousand years. A clear discrepancy exists between this rate and the 0.1 m/ka estimated for the longer period since the end of the Pliocene. Although episodes of valley incision may be conditioned by climate and base-level changes, they may also have been controlled by local factors such as movement of small fault-bounded blocks, lithology and structure. Regional crustal uplift is considered to be the main control of the episodes of valley incision identified for this large, long-lived river. A model is proposed in which successive regional uplift events—tectonic phases—essentially determined the long periods of rapid river downcutting that were punctuated by short periods of lateral erosion and later by some aggradation, producing strath terraces.     

The evolution of Holocene coastal dunefields, Jutland, Denmark: A record of climate change over the past 5000 years

Coastal dunefields have developed on the west coast of Jutland in Denmark over the past 5000 years. The dunefields are situated in a temperate climate zone with frequent high energy wind events. Dunefield development was characterized by repeated periods of transgressive dune formation punctuated by periods of dune stabilization and soil formation. The chronology of dunefield evolution is based on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating of peaty palaeosols (24 samples) and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating of aeolian sand deposits (19 samples). These dates indicate that the completeness of the stratigraphic record varies considerably, but that the timing of aeolian activity events was identical in the dunefields examined here. Initiation of aeolian activity occurred around 2200 BC, 800 BC, AD 100, AD 1050–1200, and between AD 1550 and 1650. Proxy-climate data from bogs in southwestern Sweden suggest that these periods of dunefield activity were initiated during wet/cool summers. Most likely these climatic situations were associated with a more frequent passage of cyclones across Denmark in the summer seasons (increased storminess) causing aeolian sand movement and dune formation. The continued removal of vegetation in Jutland between 4000 BC and AD 1850 allowed the aeolian sand, when first activated, to move more and more easily across the coastal plains; the final phase of aeolian sand movement between AD 1550–1650 and 1900 had catastrophic implications for many coastal inhabitants in the region.     

克里雅河下游沉积物的光释光年龄与晚更新世末以来沙漠的形成

有关塔克拉玛干沙漠演化的年代学数据尚少,本文在地貌认知较少的克里雅河下游沙漠深处的圆沙和喀拉墩一带16处剖面获取了18件河流沉积光释光（OSL）年龄。新测得的年龄数据分布于3.4—44.1 ka。全新世样品多分布于圆沙与喀拉墩干三角洲及其之间的地区,年龄集中在11 ka、8—9 ka、5—6.5 ka、4.6 ka与3.4—3.7 ka。深海氧同位素3阶段（MIS3）样品位置在克里雅河与和田河之间,分布在约38—47 ka前后。末次冰期冰盛期（LGM）末样品分布在通往圆沙古河道的西侧,年龄在14.5 ka前后。根据沉积物样品及年代学数据认为：克里雅河下游曾在MIS3阶段末、LGM末与全新世多次发生洪泛;数次的洪泛事件对克里雅河下游地貌发育产生重要影响;克里雅河下游干三角洲及现代河流西侧的流动沙丘主要形成于全新世,与前人“发育于汉唐以来”的观点不完全一致。克里雅河下游河流沉积发生时间与塔里木盆地周缘山脉冰进冰消有一定对应,暗示气候变化可能间接影响着塔克拉玛干沙漠沙丘的发育。     

库布齐沙漠南缘风水交互特征及其对抛物线形沙丘发育的影响

通过对内蒙古库布齐沙漠南缘气象水文数据的监测、多期高分辨率遥感影像的分析以及实地考察,探讨区域风水交互特征及其对抛物线形沙丘形成发育的影响。结果表明：从1970年到2014年,研究区水沙作用方式逐渐由水沙平衡交互转变为流水侵蚀主导,期间叭尔洞沟发生多次高输沙量的洪水,河流大幅度改道,流水对上风向西岸横向沙丘的切割作用使得一部分残余沙丘留在东岸,成为沿岸抛物线形沙丘的初始沙源。在西北风作用下,河床内积累的沙物质通过东岸的输沙沟槽为沿岸抛物线形沙丘提供外来沙源。1970-2014年该区域合成输沙势持续下降,河床积累沙物质逐渐减少,在流水侵蚀主导阶段,洪水对河床沙丘的搬运以及降雨对河道沿岸阶地的坡面侵蚀使得河流对西岸沙丘的截沙作用增强,流水逐渐阻断外来沙源供给,为东岸首先发育新月形沙丘创造条件。随着风沙作用减弱,降水增加,新月形沙丘在植被"翼角固定"的转换机制下逐渐演变为抛物线形沙丘。库布齐沙漠南缘的风水交互作用对叭尔洞沟沿岸抛物线形沙丘形成发育产生较大影响,是区域风沙地貌形成演化的重要因素。     

Relative size of fluvial and glaciated valleys in central Idaho

Quantitative comparisons of the morphometry of glaciated and fluvial valleys in central Idaho were used to investigate the differences in valley relief and width in otherwise similar geologic and geomorphic settings. The local relief, width, and cross-sectional area of valleys were measured using GIS software to extract information from USGS digital elevation models. Hillslope gradients were also measured using GIS software. Power-law relationships for local valley relief, width, and cross-sectional area as a function of drainage area were developed. Local valley relief in glaciated valleys relates to drainage area with a power-law exponent similar to fluvial valleys, but glaciated valleys are deeper for a given drainage area. Local valley width in glaciated valleys is greater than in fluvial valleys, but the exponent of the power-law relationship to drainage area is similar in both valley types. Local valley cross-sectional area in glaciated valleys increases with drainage area with a power-law exponent similar to fluvial valleys, however, glacial valleys have roughly 80% greater cross-sectional area. Steep valley walls in glaciated basins increase the potential for bedrock landsliding relative to fluvial basins. Both the Olympic Mountains of Washington and valleys in central Idaho show relationships in which glaciated valleys are up to 30% deeper than fluvial valleys despite differences in lithology, tectonic setting, and climate.     

Variable vegetation cover and episodic sand movement on longitudinal desert sand dunes

Longitudinal (linear) sand dunes of the Simpson and Strzelecki dunefields in eastern central Australia present a paradox. Low levels of activity today stand in contrast to luminescence dating which has repeatedly shown deep deposits of sand on dune crests dating to within the late Holocene. In order to investigate the nature of dune activity in the Simpson–Strzelecki dunefield, vegetation and sand mobility were investigated by detailed vegetation survey and measurement of rippled area and loose sand depth of dunes at three sites along a climatic gradient. The response of both vegetation and sand movement to inter-annual climate variability was examined by repeat surveys of two sites in drought and non-drought conditions. Projected plant cover and plant + crust cover were found to have inverse linear relationships with rippled area and the area of deep loose sand. No relationship was found between these measures of sand movement and the plant frontal area index. A negative exponential relationship between equivalent mobile sand depth on dune surfaces and both vascular plant cover and vascular + crust cover was also found. There is no simple threshold of vegetation cover below which sand transport begins. Dunes with low perennial plant cover may form small dunes with slip faces leading to a positive feedback inhibiting ephemeral plant growth in wet years and accelerating sand transport rates. The linear dunefields are largely within the zone in which plant cover is sufficient to enforce low sand transport rates, and in which there is a strong response of vegetation and sand transport to inter-annual variation in rainfall. Both ephemeral plants (mostly forbs) and crust were found to respond rapidly to large (> 20 mm/month) rainfall events. On millennial time-scales, the level of dune activity is controlled by vegetation cover and probably not by fluctuations of wind strength. Land use or extreme, decadal time-scale, drought may destabilise dunes by removing perennial plant cover, accelerating wind erosion.     

雅鲁藏布江河谷风沙地貌的初步观察

青藏高原上发育有不少风沙堆积地貌,尤以雅鲁藏布江中上游宽谷中为普遍和典型,其主要形态类型有新月形沙丘、沙丘链、沙堆、沙包、沙坡地等,可分流动和半固定、固定两大类。其成因主要是雅鲁藏布江谷地与高空西风气流相一致,就地起沙所形成;并认为高原上的一些黄上状堆积物的形成与古风沙堆积有一定的关系。风沙作用对高原经济建设带来危害,目前,人类活动多集中在雅鲁藏布江中游,故这一地区有沙漠化扩大的趋势,应引起重视和注意。