Quantitative geomorphological analysis of drumlins in the Peterborough drumlin field,Ontario, Canada

Drumlins are enigmatic subglacial landforms that have been interpreted to form by a number of processes, including incremental accumulation of till, erosion of previously deposited sediment, catastrophic meltwater floods, and sediment deformation. However, relatively little is known about the controls on drumlin formation, such as spatially variable glacial processes or substrate characteristics, and how these controls may be identified from variations in drumlin morphology within a single drumlin field. This paper explores a computational method that allows identification of drumlins and extraction of their morphological characteristics from existing topographic digital data for a portion of the Peterborough drumlin field in Ontario, Canada. Spatial and non‐spatial analysis of the form and distribution of drumlins across the study area identifies drumlin characteristics such as size, elongation ratio, symmetry and long axis orientation and shows that drumlins are not randomly distributed across the region and their form characteristics have distinct regional trends. Kernel density analysis is used to identify the regional trends in drumlin characteristics. Factors that appear to influence the form and distribution of drumlins in the study area include sediment thickness, length of time beneath the ice, ice velocity and direction of ice movement. The distribution of particularly well developed asymmetric and elongate drumlins coincides with the location of a broad bedrock low and is interpreted to identify the former location of a fast‐flowing ice stream.     

Drumlin Formation Time: Evidence from Northern and Central Sweden

Large‐scale drumlins occur abundantly throughout central and northern Sweden. Whereas many drumlins in the north are an integral part of a relict glacial landscape >100,000 years old, those to the south are generally interpreted as of last deglaciation age. Typically, the latter ones have not been overprinted by younger glacial landforms. Despite this apparent difference in formation history, drumlins in both regions have similar directional and morphological characteristics. A systematic analysis of >3000 drumlins in (i) areas within relict landscapes, (ii) areas with an ambiguous deglaciation age assignment, and (iii) areas within deglacial landscapes, indicates that these latter deglaciation drumlins differ clearly in both shape and size from drumlins in the other two types of landscapes. In addition, numerical modelling indicates that basal melting conditions, a prerequisite for drumlin formation, prevailed only for a very limited time over much of northern Sweden during the last deglaciation, but lasted for longer periods of time during earlier stages of the Weichselian. A reconnaissance radionuclide bedrock exposure date from the crag of a large drumlin in the relict landscape indicates that glacial erosion, and presumably drumlin formation, at this location predated Marine Isotope Stage 7. We conclude, therefore, that the large‐scale drumlins of central and northern Sweden did not form during the last deglaciation, or during any other specific ice flow event. Instead, we suggest that they were formed by successive phases of erosion and deposition by ice sheets of similar magnitude and configuration.     

SOILS AND GEOMORPHIC EVIDENCE FOR A HIGH LAKE STAND IN A MICHIGAN DRUMLIN FIELD

The objectives of this study were to determine (1) if and where lithologic discontinuities are present in the late Pleistocene Northport drumlins of NW lower Michigan, and (2) the sedimentary processes responsible for the discontinuities. Determining the presence of lithologic discontinuities was achieved through field observations and laboratory analysis. Lithologic discontinuities with varying strengths of expression were found in all upland soils. Upland soils typically have a sedimentologic “cap” dominated by fine sands at the surface with dense, more gravelly till beneath. The occurrence of this cap on upland sites, as well as overlying laminated silts and clays in some inter-drumlin areas, suggests that upland soils in the Northport drumlin field formed from subaqueously reworked glacial till. To accomplish this, the Northport drumlin field must have been inundated by a previously unidentified proglacial lake, after recession of the ice margin during the terminal Pleistocene. The lake may have formed as ice blocks lay in the deep basins to either side of the drumlin field and high morainic uplands spanned the southern edge of the field, which at that time would have been severely isostatically depressed. [Key words: deglaciation, proglacial lakes, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, till, soils, flooding, Great Lakes region.]     

The Cookie Cutter: A method for obtaining a quantitative 3D description of glacial bedforms

Recording the position and attributes of subglacial bedforms, particularly drumlins, is paramount in determining the extent, and dynamics, of former ice sheets. This paper presents a method of deriving 3D properties of glacier bedforms (drumlins in this case) in order to quantify bedform dimensions and acquire information necessary for further investigations, such as calculating amounts of sediment moved subglacially and hence interactions between a glacier and a deformable bed. The method developed here is a semi-automated technique, called Cookie Cutter after the baking implement/process. This method is applied to 5 m spatial resolution DEM data and is based on manual geomorphological mapping of the DEM images, which forms the judgmental part of the process. The mapped bedforms are then processed individually using an automated technique which is described in detail with worked examples from western Central Scotland, which was last glaciated during the Last Glacial Maximum and the Younger Dryas. The advantages and potential sources of error are discussed and results from the sample area are used to compare the volumes of drumlins in an area of LGM glaciation with those in an area glaciated during the Younger Dryas.     

Identification of Quaternary subsurface glacial deposits using 3D databases and GIS

To solve the problem of handling numerous data from drillings and geophysical surveys for specific information of subsurface geological formations, the use of databases and geographic information systems (GIS) is demonstrated. Geological formations are in 3D and commercial GIS packages are normally in 2D. This problem is solved here by a 1D database of the layering of the drillings and export of query results from the database to a 2D GIS. The queries will ask for grain size and altitude for the actual sedimentary layers. To include point data from ground penetrating radar (GPR) data survey profiles in a 2D GIS, a stepwise technique of dynamic segmentation has been developed. The points are digitized along sedimentary boundaries from 2D GPR profiles. The concept was applied on a small area of glacial sediments in Telemark, Norway. Results from the processes were clustering of points with properties connected to specific geological formations. The clustering subsurface geological formations were moraine ridges, a diamict layer, gravel and coarse sand above and below the diamict layer, till above bedrock, and glaciomarine deposits of gravel and sand. Information about extension of these geological formations is useful and essential for modelling of sedimentary environments and for aquifer modelling.     

THE LANDFORMS AND PATTERN OF DEGLACIATION IN THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN AND BAHÍA INÚTIL, SOUTHERNMOST SOUTH AMERICA

ABSTRACT. We report the results of glacial geomorphological mapping of the Strait of Magellan and Bahía Inútil, southernmost South America. Our aims are to determine the pattern and process of deglaciation during the last glacial–interglacial transition, and to provide a firm geomorphological basis for the interpretation of radiocarbon, cosmogenic isotope and amino acid dates for the timing of deglaciation. The area is important because it lies in a southerly location, providing a link between Antarctica and southern mid‐latitudes, and also lies in the zone of the southern westerlies which are a key element in regional climate change. Our mapping shows that it is possible to make a clear weathering and morphological distinction between last glaciation and older landforms and sediments. Within the last glacial deposits we have identified a number of former glacier limits. The key to delineating many of these limits is continuous meltwater channels that run for several kilometres along the outer edge of discontinuous moraine belts. There are four distinct belts of moraines within the deposits of the last glaciation in the central part of the Strait of Magellan. There are two closely spaced major limits (Band C) at the north end of the Strait that reach Punta Arenas airport on the west side, and Península Juan Mazia on the east side. A third limit (D) terminates south of Punta Arenas on the west side, and passes close to Porvenir on the east. In Bahía Inútil there is a more complex pattern with a prominent outer limit (C) and a series of four equally prominent limits (D₁ to D₄) on both sides of the bay. South of these limits, there is a fourth group of moraine limits (E) on both coasts of the northern end of Isla Dawson, reflecting the last fluctuations of the Magellan glacier before final deglaciation of the southern end of the Strait. There are a number of drumlins within the outer moraine limits. The drumlins are draped by small, younger moraines showing that they have been overridden by subsequent advance(s). The coastlines of the study area are cut by a number of shorelines which record the presence of ice‐dammed lakes in the Strait of Magellan and Bahía Inútil during the later stages of deglaciation. We conclude that there are four main readvances or stillstands that marked the transition from the Last Glacial Maximum to the onset of the Holocene.     

Genesis of an Elongated Ridge at Jæren, Southwest Norway: Drumlin or Marginal Moraine?

Southeast-northwest trending longitudinal ridges are conspicuous morphological features at Lågjæaren, southwest Norway. They have been interpreted as either marginal push-moraines, deposited by a southwesterly flowing glacier, or drumlins, which originated during advance of a northwesterly flowing glacier. The paper presents results of morphological, sedimentological and glaciotectonic analyses of one of these ridges at Obrestad. It is suggested that the ridge has been formed by drumlinization of outwash deposits by a glacier advancing towards the northwest and subsequently deformed by a southwesterly flowing glacier.     

昌马断裂带活动构造地貌之研究

本文根据野外地质调查资料和人工探槽的剖折,并结合¹⁴C年龄数据,讨论了昌马活动断裂带晚更新世晚期以来形成的构造地貌的类型、特征及分期问题.     

Quaternary features beneath Lake Simcoe,Ontario, Canada: drumlins,tunnel channels,and records of proglacial to postglacial closed and overflowing lakes

Lake Simcoe is a large lake 45 km across and in places over 30 m deep, located between Lake Huron and Lake Ontario, in the glaciated terrain of southern Ontario, Canada. Seismostratigraphic analysis of high-resolution seismic reflection profiles, together with lakebed sediment sampling and pollen study, revealed distinctive sequences in the sediments beneath Lake Simcoe, Ontario. A surface unit (Blue Sequence) of soft Holocene mud (low-amplitude surface reflection, discontinuous parallel internal reflections) lies in the deeper basins of the lake. The underlying unit (Green Sequence) is characterized by high-amplitude parallel internal reflections; basal sediments of this sequence consist of clay rhythmites with dropstones. The Green Sequence was deposited by lacustrine sedimentation in proglacial Lake Algonquin; sedimentation persisted until the basin was isolated from other glacial lakes at about 10 ¹⁴C ka at the Penetang post-Algonquin phase. Subsequent erosion of the uppermost portion of the Green Sequence is attributed to wave action in a low-level early Holocene lake, possibly closed hydrologically and coeval with closed lowstands in the Huron and Georgian Bay basins. Two sequences with high-amplitude surface reflections and chaotic internal reflections (Purple and Red Sequences) lie below the Green Sequence. Northeast-southwest trending ridges, tens of metres in height, on the Red Sequence (the lowermost of these two units) are interpreted to be drumlins. An erosion surface descends into narrow valleys 50–80 m deep beneath the lake in bays to the west and south of the main lake basin. These depressions are interpreted as subglacial tunnel channels cut by rapid flows of meltwater. The sediments of Purple Sequence are interpreted as channel-fill sediments rapidly deposited during waning stages of the meltwater drainage. The Red Sequence is correlated with the Newmarket Till of the last glacial maximum identified beneath the Oak Ridges Moraine to the south.     

Combining land cover products using a minimum divergence and a Bayesian data fusion approach

Land cover mapping plays an important role for a wide spectrum of applications that are ranging from climate modeling to food security. However, it is a common case that several and partially conflicting land cover products are available at the same time over a same area, where each product suffers from specific limitations and lack of accuracy. In order to take advantage of the best features of each product while at the same time attenuating their respective weaknesses, this paper is proposing a methodology that allows the user to combine these products together based on a general framework involving maximum entropy/minimum divergence principles, Bayesian data fusion and Bayesian updating. First, information brought by each land cover product is coded in terms of inequality constraints so that a first estimation of their quality can be computed based on a maximum entropy/minimum divergence principle. Information from these various land cover products can then be fused afterwards in a Bayesian framework, leading to a single map with an associated measure of uncertainty. Finally, it is shown how the additional information brought by control data can help improving this fused map through a Bayesian updating procedure. The first part of the paper is briefly presenting the most important theoretical results, while the second part is illustrating the use of this suggested approach for a specific area in Belgium, where five different land cover products are at hand. The benefits and limitations of this approach are finally discussed by the light of the results for this case study.     

Post-Chippewa oxygen isotope record from Cowles Bog, southern Lake Michigan basin

Previous studies of sediments and molluscs recovered from vibracores at Cowles Bog, a fen located in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, along the south shore of Lake Michigan, reveal long and short term water level fluctuations during the last 6000 years. Low water events are indicated by zones of organic detritus, in which occasionally, iron oxide and calcium carbonate nodules, as well as selenite crystals have been precipitated. Oxygen isotope data from aragonitic shells of the gastropod Amnicola limosa (Say) collected from a sediment core provide a record of Middle to Late Holocene environmental changes for the fen. These data are in good agreement with previous interpretations of water level fluctuations based on changes in lithology and molluscan faunal abundance and composition. Below 366 cm the molluscan record is either absent or represented by shell fragments. The condition of shells in this interval suggests that the molluscs may have been exposed to subaerial weathering and reworking of older Holocene lake sediments, possibly during the low water Chippewa phase in the Lake Michigan basin (10000 YBP to 6000 YBP). Above 366 cm the core is characterized by a well preserved molluscan fauna. Relatively light isotopic values for the interval between 366 cm to 300 cm correlate with the transition from non-fossiliferous sands, peat and diamict to silty marl and calcareous sand, with a molluscan fauna dominated by taxa associated with permanent water bodies. The event producing these alterations, the Nipissing Transgression, marks a change from subaerial to permanent lacustrine conditions that were not characterized by high net evaporation. Evidence for another series of environmental changes occurs between 284 cm and 198 cm. This evidence includes the: (1) appearance of aquatic molluscs at 280 cm that are associated with water bodies subject to significant seasonal water level changes; (2) intermittent accumulations of iron oxide nodules, calcium carbonate nodules, and organic layers interbedded with crudely horizontal layers of fine, calcareous, sand, suggesting periodic water level oscillations; (3) onset of major excursions in the oxygen isotopic values between 260 cm to 198 cm. Relatively high ¹⁸O (PDB) values, possibly indicating evaporative enrichment of the water, correlate with a prominent shell debris layer at a depth of about 235 cm. Taken together, this evidence suggests that the core site was in the process of becoming isolated from Lake Michigan. This isolation occurred during a series of low water events during the later part of the Nipissing Transgression.     

Phase–velocity dispersion curves and small-scale geophysics using noise correlation slantstack technique

It has been demonstrated both theoretically and experimentally that the Green's function between two receivers can be retrieved from the cross-correlation of isotropic noise records. Since surface waves dominate noise records in geophysics, tomographic inversion using noise correlation techniques have been performed from Rayleigh waves so far. However, very few numerical studies implying surface waves have been conducted to confirm the extraction of the true dispersion curves from noise correlation in a complicated soil structure. In this paper, synthetic noise has been generated in a small-scale (<1 km) numerical realistic environment and classical processing techniques are applied to retrieve the phase velocity dispersion curves, first step toward an inversion. We compare results obtained from spatial autocorrelation method (SPAC), high-resolution frequency-wavenumber method (HRFK) and noise correlation slantstack techniques on a 10-sensor array. Two cases are presented in the (1–20 Hz) frequency band that corresponds to an isotropic or a directional noise wavefield. Results show that noise correlation slantstack provides very accurate phase velocity estimates of Rayleigh waves within a wider frequency band than classical techniques and is also suitable for accurately retrieving Love waves dispersion curves.     

Wave-induced responses in a fluid-filled poro-elastic solid with a free surface—a boundary layer theory

Summary. Wave-induced stress in a porous elastic medium is studied on the basis of Biot's linearized theory which is a special case of the mixture theory. For sufficiently high frequencies which are pertinent to ocean waves and seismic waves, a boundary layer of Stokes' type is shown to exist near the free surface of the solid. Outside the boundary layer, fluid and the solid skeleton move together according to the laws of classical elasticity for a single phase. This division simplifies the analysis of the equations governing the two phases; and several examples of potential interest to geophysics and foundation mechanics are treated analytically.     

可拓工程方法在自然地理界线划分中的应用

应用可拓工程方法和主成分分析方法,对福建省境内南亚热带北界最佳位置的确定建立了识别对象的物元模型,模型输出的结果获得满意的自然地理意义解释。     

黄河下游河相关系与平滩流量特征关系的随机演化模拟

Extreme weather is an important noise factor in affecting dynamic access to river morphology information.The response characteristics of river channel on climate disturbances draw us to develop a method to investigate the dynamic evolution of bankfull channel geometries(including the hydraulic geometry variables and bankfull discharges)with stochastic differential equations in this study.Three different forms of random inputs,including single Gaussian white noise and compound Gaussian/Fractional white noise plus Poisson noise,are explored respectively on the basis of the classical deterministic models.The model parameters are consistently estimated by applying a composite nonparametric maximum likelihood estimation(MLE)method.Results of the model application in the Lower Yellow River reveal the potential responses of bankfull channel geometries to climate disturbances in a probabilistic way,and,the calculated average trends mainly run to synchronize with the measured values.Comparisons among the three models confirm the advantage of Fractional jump-diffusion model,and through further discussion,stream power based on such a model is concluded as a better systematic measure of river dynamics.The proposed method helps to offer an effective tool for analyzing fluvial relationships and improves the ability of crisis management of river system under varying environment conditions.     

Numerical inversion of deformation caused by pressure sources: application to Mount Etna (Italy)

The interpretation of geodetic data in volcanic areas is usually based on analytical deformation models. Although numerical finite element (FE) modelling allows realistic features such as topography and crustal heterogeneities to be included, the technique is not computationally convenient for solving inverse problems using classical methods. In this paper, we develop a general tool to perform inversions of geodetic data by means of 3-D FE models. The forward model is a library of numerical displacement solutions, where each entry of the library is the surface displacement due to a single stress component applied to an element of the grid. The final solution is a weighted combination of the six stress components applied to a single element-source. The pre-computed forward models are implemented in a global search algorithm, followed by an appraisal of the sampled solutions. After providing extended testing, we apply the method to model the 1993–1997 inflation phase at Mt Etna, documented by GPS and EDM measurements. We consider four different forward libraries, computed in models characterized by homogeneous/heterogeneous medium and flat/topographic free surface. Our results suggest that the elastic heterogeneities of the medium can significantly alter the position of the inferred source, while the topography has minor effect.     

Re-interpretation of the classical geopolitical theories in a critical geopolitical perspective

Struggling for supremacy between great powers and the rise or fall and regime change of great powers are all subject to the Geopolitical Law. Geographers should keep in step with the times, accurately grasp the national interests, and seize the opportunity to contribute to the great rejuvenation of our nation. However, due to lack of criticism on the history and philosophy of geopolitics, we can neither accurately understand the geopolitical theory, nor effectively put the geopolitical theory into practice. This paper introduces the development of critical geopolitics, summarizes the three characteristics of critical geopolitics, and interprets the four classical geopolitical theories accordingly. In order to simplify the interpretation process, this paper firstly presents an analytical framework for interpretation of four classical geopolitical theories; secondly, focuses on interpretation of “The Geographical Pivot of History” put forward by Mackinder according to the analytical framework; finally, critically summarizes the four classical geopolitical theories. Through the critical interpretation, this paper draws a conclusion that there are the scientific, hypothetical and conceptual classical geopolitical theories. The construction of classical geopolitical theories is based on the international geopolitical structure, spatial distribution of national interests and inter-state spatial conflict, in order to show the identity of theoretical constructor, so as to reflect the historicality, sociality, situationality and geographical knowledge–power structure of geopolitical theories.     

多光谱与全色遥感影像像素级融合算法比较分析

简述了遥感影像融合的过程,并利用SPOT5的全色和多光谱影像在Envi软件里采用IHS、Gram-Schmidt、Brovey和Color Normalized （CN）的融合算法进行融合,然后对几种影像融合的结果进行定性定量的评价分析.分析的结果表明：与原多光谱相比,HIS融合方法的清晰度和信息的丰富度最高;Gram-Schmidt的光谱保真度和相关度最佳,清晰度和信息的丰富度也仅次于HIS融合结果;Brovey和CN的融合算法是最差的,但是在凸显植被和水体地物时Brovey和CN有优势.总而言之对于不同地物类型,每种融合方法具有各自的优势和限制,所以应根据不同的用途选择最佳的融合算法.     

描述黄河中下游河道横断面形态的新指标

描述河流横断面的窄深程度,无非是用来衡量它对过流能力和输沙能力的影响大小,及其在河流地貌方面的时空上的调整变化。回顾总结了以往描述横断面形态的常用指标,包括河相系数、宽深比,或湿周与平均水深的比值,指出这几种指标在描述黄河中下游河道时所存在的共同缺点:(1)缺乏物理意义;(2)不能真正代表断面的窄深程度;(3)明显的夸大了宽浅和窄深断面的差别。从表称流量的概念出发,作者认为,应该使用具有明确物理意义的等面积的表称流速来描述断面形态。如果用表称流速来衡量黄河下游河南和山东河道的断面形态的差别,就会发现,断面形态的不同,其对过流能力的影响不过1:2,远不象河相系数和宽深比所描述的达到1:6甚至1:11那样的悬殊程度;黄河下游河道主槽“多来多排”的主要影响因素是表称流速。