Coastal cliff behaviour: Observations on the relationship between beach levels and recession rates

Beaches dissipate wave energy and regulate the frequency that the cliff foot is subject to wave attack. The relationship between beach levels and cliff recession rates has been established for Pleistocene soft rock cliffs along the North Norfolk and Suffolk coasts, UK. The results suggest that over a decadal timescale, there is a non-linear increase in the average recession rate as the beach profile area above High Water Mark (HWM) decreases. Small changes in beach level can result in significant differences in the recession rates. The impact of a unit change in beach level on the recession rate depends on the initial beach level. On a year-by-year basis, it is possible to divide the beach level and recession relationship into a series of zones with characteristic types of behaviour. At low beach levels there is high to extremely high recession with considerable variability, whereas at high beach levels there is almost zero recession with limited variability. It is concluded that historical recession rates are the product of both the past forcing events and changes in cliff–beach state. Extrapolation of historical rates can be extremely unreliable unless it is supported by an understanding of the dynamic behaviour of the cliff–beach system and the energy inputs over the observation period.     

Impact of grazing from capelin (Mallotus villosus) on zooplankton: a case study in the northern Barents Sea in August 1985

The distribution of capelin was mapped in the area east of Hopen. Zooplankton was sampled with Juday net and 1 m² MOCNESS sampler, and analysed with respect to hydrography and capelin abundance. The capelin "front" coincided more or less with the physical Polar Front, and this complicated the interpretation of the results. Strong indications for a grazing impact by capelin on zooplankton were nevertheless obtained. The zooplankton biomass was significantly lower in the area with high abundance of capelin than in the area with no capelin. This effect was due to a lower biomass of relatively large zooplankton (> 1 mm size fraction) and seen most clearly in data obtained with the MOCNESS. The biomass of zooplankton in the upper 100 m was very low where capelin was present, suggesting rapid depletion of the major prey items. The biomass (m ⁻²) of capelin in the capelin front area was about three times higher than the biomass of zooplankton in areas without capelin. The capelin front would therefore have the potential to graze down the available prey in 3-4 days. Light seems to be an important factor for the predation impact by capelin, resulting in strong interactions between capelin predation and zooplankton vertical distribution.     

Graphic symbols and local identity: the case of use and perception of municipal emblems in the Liberec Region (Czechia)

This paper analyses the role of graphic symbols in local representation and in the process of local identity formation. The extent of graphic symbols utilization by local development actors in the region, its importance for image formation of the locality (municipality) from the point of view of the local development actors and an assessment of the degree of identification with the municipal emblems among the local population are evaluated, based on the results of a corresponding survey targeted at municipal representatives. Municipal emblems tend to (and also should) have a local representative function. These should emphasize local specificity, uniqueness. Municipal emblems have a potential to play the role of connecting, mediating and activating factors also on a higher as well as a local level. Municipal emblems are still not used enough and in the right way by actors of municipality representations. These are often misunderstood and deemed unimportant for local development.     

Arcellaceans (thecamoebians) as indicators of land-use change: settlement history of the Swan Lake area, Ontario as a case study

Arcellaceans have been used as indicators of a variety of paleolimnological conditions including pH, eutrophication, oxygen level, and heavy metal contamination, but there has only been limited application of the group to climate and land-use change research. The limnological evolution of Swan Lake in southwestern Ontario was documented using arcellaceans as proxies, and compared to the results of a palynological analysis, with which it closely correlated. The palynological record documents the rapid disappearance of forest by around 1850 as the area was cleared for agriculture and settlements. The change was characterized by a shift in the palynological record from the Woodland to High Diversity assemblages. Similarly the arcellacean fauna changed from the Pre-European Settlement Assemblage to the distinctive low diversity, stressed environment European Deforestation Assemblage. The introduction of high-yield chemical fertilizers in the post World War II era, and the resultant eutrophication of the lake, was clearly recognizable in the palynological record as indicated by the dramatic increase in the algae Pediastrum (High Nutrient Assemblage). This change in farming practice was also identifiable with arcellacean proxies, as indicated by the appearance of the algalphilic Eutrophication Assemblage. The arcellacean Ecologically Destabilized Assemblage dominated the lake for short intervals during the transition between the Pre-European Settlement and European Deforestation assemblages and again at the transition between the European Deforestation and Eutrophication Assemblages, indicative of periods of ecological destabilization as the lake adjusted to new trophic inputs. A stressed environment arcellacean Ecologically Destabilized Assemblage found in a portion of the core estimated to have been deposited between AD 1350 and AD 1700 may provide evidence of an earlier phase of deforestation associated with Huron Indian agricultural practices. The close correlation between the palynological and arcellacean proxy data clearly demonstrates the potential of arcellaceans as land-use change proxies, and indicates that changes in land-use had an almost immediate impact on the Swan Lake ecosystem. This observation raises concerns about the impact that rapid urbanization is having on the environmentally sensitive Oak Ridges Moraine watershed, of which Swan Lake is a part.     

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.     

High rates of geomorphological processes in a tropical area: the Remparts River case study (Réunion Island, Indian Ocean)

Reunion Island is characterized by rapid landscape evolution resulting from its cyclonic tropical climate. However, local active surface processes are not well understood. The relationships between climatic events, large scale landslides and torrential transport of sediment by the rivers remain unclear. The Remparts River is an appropriate area for studying such geomorphological processes, as it deeply incises the active Piton de la Fournaise volcano. In this study, different approaches are used to analyze the morphological evolution of the river from the sediment production areas to the outlet over the last 40 years. Recurrent events of huge mass wasting occur at Mahavel Cliff, upstream of one of the river tributaries, the most recent producing around 50×10⁶ m³ of sediment in 1965. Combined analyses of the sequence of cyclonic events, major mass wasting events and aerial photography interpretation over the last 40 years led to the proposal of a functional model of river system responses to these events. The river system can be divided into three compartments, each affected by three classes of geomorphological events. The sedimentary response (erosion and/or aggradation) of each compartment to a triggering event, such as cyclonic rainfall and/or seasonal rise of water discharge, is controlled both by the magnitude of the climatic event and by the state of the compartment resulting from previous evolution. A set of five aerial photographs and a satellite image showing the evolution of the studied area during the last 40 years are examined in detail in the light of the functional model. Observations confirm a rapid and complex evolution of the river bed (erosion and aggradation), and provide information about the dynamics of the sediment transfer from the production areas to the ocean. Analysis of two distinct topographic datasets bracketing the last major cyclone Dina in 2002 allows the estimation of the river sediment budget resulting from this event. The net volume of aggraded sediments in the river bed is estimated at around 8×10⁶ m³.With no major collapse event recorded at Mahavel Cliff, sediment transfer due to the flood associated with the 3-day cyclone Dina event is responsible for this significant increase in river bed sediment volume. This quantification shows that several million cubic meters of sediment may take only a few years to spread over more than 5 km downstream. The river bed has now reached its highest elevation since the 1965 landslide, with potential consequences for natural hazards in the area of the outlet at the city of Saint-Joseph.     

Late Glacial and Holocene environmental history of the Pirin Mountains (SW Bulgaria): a paleolimnological study of Lake Dalgoto (2310 m)

Diatoms, Cladocera, and chironomids preserved in the sediments of Lake Dalgoto were studied to reconstruct the history of the lake ecosystem in the context of the vegetation history as represented by the pollen stratigraphy. Younger Dryas silty sediments at the base of the core are characterized by low diversity of aquatic organisms. The transition to the Holocene is indicated by a sharp change from silt to clay-gyttja. The migration and expansion of trees at lower elevations between 10200 and 8500 ¹⁴C-yr BP, along with higher diversities and concentrations of aquatic organisms and the decreased proportion of north-alpine diatoms, point to rapidly rising summer temperatures. After 6500 ¹⁴C-yr BP the expansion of Pinus mugo in the catchment coincides with signs of natural eutrophication as recorded by an increase of planktonic diatoms. In the late Holocene (4000–0 ¹⁴C-yr BP) Pinus peuce and Abies are reduced and Picea expands. Cereal grains and disturbance indicators suggest late-Holocene human modification of the vegetation.     

Trade-offs between food availability and predation risk in desert environments: The case of polygynous monomorphic guanaco (Lama guanicoe)

Habitat selection by ungulates is determined by the quantity, quality and distribution of trophic resources as well as by predation risk. It may also vary in relation to species-specific reproductive strategies and social organization. The guanaco (Lama guanicoe), a highly social and sexually size-monomorphic wild camelid typical of arid lands, is ideal for evaluating behavioural responses of this type, since most studies have done on dimorphic ungulates in temperate environments, where trophic resources are abundant. We recorded the group size and social structure of guanaco during both dry and wet seasons of 2005–2007 in an Argentinean desert, where pumas (Puma concolor) are the sole predators. Remote sensing data were used to calculate five variables that reflected trophic availability and terrain morphology for each guanaco group and for an equivalent number of random controls. Habitat use did not differ between types of social groups but differed between seasons. Guanacos used less productive and less steep areas during the breeding season, irrespective of juvenile:adult ratios in the family groups, and larger groups occupied flatter areas. Overall, guanaco habitat selection prioritizes reducing predation risk to the extent that animals occupy areas offering the minimum productivity capable of meeting their energy requirements.     

Measuring urban activities using Foursquare data and network analysis: a case study of Murcia (Spain)

Among social networks, Foursquare is a useful reference for identifying recommendations about local stores, restaurants, malls or other activities in the city. In this article, we consider the question of whether there is a relationship between the data provided by Foursquare regarding users’ tastes and preferences and fieldwork carried out in cities, especially those connected with business and leisure. Murcia was chosen for case study for two reasons: its particular characteristics and the prior knowledge resulting from the fieldwork. Since users of this network establish, what may be called, a ranking of places through their recommendations, we can plot these data with the objective of displaying the characteristics and peculiarities of the network in this city. Fieldwork from the city itself gives us a set of facilities and services observed in the city, which is a physical reality. An analysis of these data using a model based on a network centrality algorithm establishes a classification or ranking of the nodes that form the urban network. We compare the data extracted from the social network with the data collected from the fieldwork, in order to establish the appropriateness in terms of understanding the activity that takes place in this city. Moreover, this comparison allows us to draw conclusions about the degree of similarity between the preferences of Foursquare users and what was obtained through the fieldwork in the city.     

Upslope-climbing shelf-edge clinoforms and the stepwise evolution of the northern European glaciation (lower Pleistocene Eridanos Delta system,U.K. North Sea): When sediment supply overwhelms accommodation

Clinoforms are basinward-dipping and accreting palaeo-bathymetric profiles that record palaeo-environmental conditions and processes; thus, clinothems represent natural palaeo-archives. Here, we document shelf-edge scale clinoform sets which prograded through the entire width of an epicontinental marine basin (ca. 400 km), eventually encroaching onto the opposite basin flank, where they started to prograde upslope and landward, in defiance of gravity (“upslope-climbing clinoforms”). The giant westward-prograding Eridanos muddy shelf-edge clinothem originated from the Baltic hinterland in the Oligocene and achieved maximum regression in the Early Pleistocene, on the UK Central Graben (CG) and Mid North Sea High (MNSH), after crossing the whole North Sea mesopelagic depocentre and causing near complete basin infill. Here we integrate well and seismic data through the MNSH and CG and examine the Eridanos final heyday and demise, identifying five clinothem complexes (A1, A2, A3, B and C) and six depositional sequence boundaries (SB1 to SB6) in the Miocene-Recent section. Tectonic and climatic events drove the recent evolution of this system. Early Pleistocene climate cooling, in particular, resulted in a stepwise increase in sediment supply. This climaxed in the earliest Calabrian, following a likely Eburonian eustatic fall (=SB3) when the Eridanos clastic wedge was restructured from a 100–300 m thick compound shelf-edge and delta system to a “hybrid” shelf-edge delta at sequence boundary SB3 (ca. 1.75 Ma). In the ca. 40 kyr that followed SB3, a progradation rate peak (>1,000 m/kyr) is associated with clinoforms starting to accrete upslope, onto the east-dipping slope between CG and MNSH. This “upslope-climbing clinoform” phase was quickly followed by the maximum regression and final retreat of the Eridanos system in the Early Calabrian (=SB4), likely as the result of climate-driven changes in the Baltic hinterland and/or delta auto-retreat. To our knowledge, this contributions represents the first documentation of “upslope-climbing clinoforms” recorded in the stratigraphic record.     

Relationships between tectonic activity and sedimentary source-to-sink system parameters in a lacustrine rift basin: A quantitative case study of the Huanghekou Depression (Bohai Bay Basin,E China)

Lacustrine rift basins commonly preserve a fairly complete record of the sediment source-to-sink (S2S) system, and consequently may form an ideal natural laboratory for establishing quantitative relationships between the various elements within the S2S system. The tectonic-activity rate in the source (e.g., fault-growth rate and fault-activity rate), accommodation space and depositional system in the sink (e.g., areal extent and volume, as well as the depositional dip of the fan- and braid-deltas) are genetically related and their quantitative correlations are explored. The Palaeogene succession on the southwestern margin of the Huanghekou Depressionin the Bohai Bay Basin, one of the largest lacustrine rift basins in eastern China, was chosen to study these relationships, using 3-D seismic, core and well-log data. The tectonic activity was strongly related to the sediment supply, accommodation space and morphology of the sink area. Three different rates of tectonic activity are identified; these led to changes in the basic features of the S2S system that influenced each other. In Members 4 and 3 (lower unit) of the Shahejie Fm. (40.44–44.7 Ma), strong tectonic activity led to significant uplift, resulting in the widest exposure of the provenance area to erosion, to a high sediment-supply rate, to a steep slope and to a large accommodation space which controlled the development of several fan-deltas with steep progradational angles. In Member 3 (upper unit) of Shahejie Fm. (37.89–40.44 Ma) and Member 3 of Dongying Fm. (30.2–33.28 Ma), decreased tectonic activity led to slower uplifting, resulting in a wider alluvial plain, longer transport distances, a lower sediment-supply rate and less accommodation space, so that braid-deltas with larger volumes and a gentler slope developed; In Members 1 and 2 of Shahejie Fm. (33.28–37.89 Ma) and Member 2 of Dongying Fm. (26.71–30.2 Ma), still further decreasing tectonic activity led to a still lower sediment-supply rate, a more gentle depositional slope, less accommodation space, and the development of several braid-deltas with a gentle angle. The quantitative relationships established here advance our understanding of the relationships within lacustrine source-to-sink systems, especially for tectonically controlled rift basins.     

大河三角洲河口海岸演化机理模型研究:(II)模型构建与实证

本文以z坐标下的三维斜压海洋动力学数值模式为基本模式原型,在整理渤海基本数据并诊断计算风生环流和热盐环流作为背景环流场基础上,初步建立了渤海海域动力环境数值模式。模式采用了经校正的Bagnold型方程来计算渤海底移质沉积物输运,悬移质计算则是取二维深度平均悬移质输运方程和河床变形方程,计算含沙量分布以及由悬移物引起的冲淤厚度。利用这种方法建立的沉积物输运模式,定量模拟了渤海沿岸和海底的沉积物输运方向和冲淤分布。模拟结果与通过多年实测水深估算获得的渤海海底沉积物的冲淤变化分布相比较,两者之间在基本结论上是比较一致的     

大河三角洲河口海岸演化机理模型研究:(II)模型构建与实证

本文以z坐标下的三维斜压海洋动力学数值模式为基本模式原型 ,在整理渤海基本数据并诊断计算风生环流和热盐环流作为背景环流场基础上 ,初步建立了渤海海域动力环境数值模式。模式采用了经校正的Bagnold型方程来计算渤海底移质沉积物输运 ,悬移质计算则是取二维深度平均悬移质输运方程和河床变形方程 ,计算含沙量分布以及由悬移物引起的冲淤厚度。利用这种方法建立的沉积物输运模式 ,定量模拟了渤海沿岸和海底的沉积物输运方向和冲淤分布。模拟结果与通过多年实测水深估算获得的渤海海底沉积物的冲淤变化分布相比较 ,两者之间在基本结论上是比较一致的     

Urban forest loss using a GIS-based approach and instruments for integrated urban planning:A case study of Jo(a)o Pessoa,Brazil

Urban forests play an important role in the thermal comfort and overall life of local populations in large-and medium-sized cities.This study analyzes urban forest loss and maps land use and land cover (LULC) changes between 1991 and 2018 by evaluating the use of urban planning instruments for the mitigation of urban forest loss in Jo～o Pessoa,Brazil.For this purpose,satellite-derived LULC images from 1991,2006,2010 and 2018 and data on urban forest loss areas obtained using the Google Earth Engine were used.In addi-tion,this paper also discusses the instruments used for integrated urban planning,which are(a) the legal sector,responsibility and nature;(b) the urban expansion process;and (c) the elements of urban infrastructure.The results show a clear shift in land use in the study area.The major changes in LULC classes occurred in urban areas and herbaceous vegetation,while the greatest loss was in arboreal/shrub vegetation.Thus,an increase in the pressure to occupy zones intended for environmental preservation could be estimated.Our results showed similar accuracies with other studies and more spatial details.The characteristics of the patterns,traces,and hotspots of urban expansion and forest cover loss were explored.We highlighted the potential use of this proposed framework to be applied and validated in other parts of the world to help better understand and quantify various aspects of ur-ban-related problems such as urban forest loss mapping using instruments for integrated urban planning and low-cost approaches.     

3-D seismic velocities calculated from lattice-preferred orientation and reflectivity of a lower crustal section: examples of the Val Sesia section (Ivrea zone, northern Italy)

To quantify the seismic properties of lower crustal rocks and to better constrain the origin of the lower crustal seismic reflectivity, we determined the complete 3-D seismic properties of a lower crustal section. Eight representative samples of the main lithologic and structural units outcropping in the Val Sesia (Ivrea zone) were studied in detail. The seismic velocities were calculated using the single crystal stiffness coefficients and the lattice preferred orientation (LPO) of each mineral in all samples. The 21 stiffness coefficients characterizing the elastic behaviour of each rock are determined. Mafic and ultramafic rocks such as pyroxenite and pyroxene-bearing gabbros display complex shear wave properties. These rocks are weakly birefringent (maximum 0.1 kms⁻¹) and it is difficult to find consistent relationships between the seismic properties and the rock structure. On the other hand, seismic properties of deformed felsic rocks are essentially controlled by mica. They display strong S -wave birefringence (0.3 km s⁻¹) and relatively high V _p anisotropy (7.6 per cent). Amphibole also strongly influences the rock birefringence patterns. For both kind of rocks, the foliation is highly birefringent and the fast polarized shear wave is systematically oriented parallel to the foliation. We show that the number of mineral phases in the rock strongly controls the anisotropy. The seismic anisotropy has a complex role in the P -wave reflectivity. Compared to the isotropic case, anisotropy enhances the reflection coefficient for about 60 per cent of the possible lithological interfaces. For 40 per cent of the interfaces, the reflection coefficient is much lower when one considers the medium as anisotropic.     

Soil fertility evolution and landscape dynamics in a Mediterranean area: a case study in the Sant Llorenç Natural Park (Barcelona, NE Spain)

The cartography of land covers was used to study fertility and soil evolution in a mountainous Mediterranean area during the anthropocene period ( Crutzen P J 2002 Geology of mankind Nature 415 23). The aim was to determine changes in fertility as agricultural lands were abandoned in the 14 000 hectare area that constitutes Sant Llorenç del Munt Natural Park in a pre-coastal Catalan mountain range (north-eastern Iberian Peninsula). The analysis of land covers using vegetation maps, orthorectified images and aerial photography has allowed us to differentiate six vegetation groups: holm-oak wood, pine grove, oak wood, scrub, active agricultural fields and abandoned agricultural fields. The anthropic covers over the past 100 years were subdivided into five categories: active fields and those abandoned over four time periods. Study variables include field shape (concave, convex, flat), orientation (north, south) and slope (ranging from 12º to 24º). The parameters used for the physical-chemical soil analysis included organic material, phosphorous and potassium; fertility was classified based on groups, types and classes. The results indicate that even when the visual appearance of certain landscapes is similar, the edaphic characteristics may be very different. Changes induced by human disturbance share this phenomenon. Therefore, land management should be considered globally, taking into account vegetation, soils and water as interdependent factors, since it is their interaction that produces landscape and most affects its evolution over time.