The hydrochemistry of meltwaters draining a polythermal-based,high Arctic glacier,south Svalbard: I. The ablation season

Solute and runoff time-series at Finsterwalderbreen, Svalbard, provide evidence for considerable basal routing of water and the existence of at least two contrasting subglacial chemical weathering environments. The hydrochemistry of a subglacial upwelling provides evidence for a snowmelt-fed subglacial reservoir that dominates bulk runoff during recession flow. High concentrations of Cl⁻ and crustal ions, high pCO₂ and ratios of [*SO²⁻₄/(*SO²⁻₄+HCO⁻₃)] close to 0·5 indicate the passage of snowmelt through a subglacial weathering environment characterized by high rock:water ratios, prolonged residence times and restricted access to the atmosphere. At higher discharges, bulk runoff becomes dominated by icemelt from the lower part of the glacier that is conveyed through a chemical weathering environment characterized by low rock:water ratios, short residence times and free contact with atmospheric gases. These observations suggest that icemelt is routed via a hydrological system composed of basal/ice-marginal, englacial and supraglacial components and is directed to the glacier margins by the ice surface slope. Upwelling water flows relatively independently of icemelt to the terminus via a subglacial drainage system, possibly constituting flow through a sediment layer. Cold basal ice at the terminus forces it to take a subterranean routing in its latter stages. The existence of spatially discrete flow paths conveying icemelt and subglacial snowmelt to the terminus may be the norm for polythermal-based glaciers on Svalbard. Proglacial mixing of these components to form the bulk meltwaters gives rise to hydrochemical trends that resemble those of warm-based glaciers. These hydrochemical characteristics of bulk runoff have not been documented on any other glacier on Svalbard to date and have significance for understanding interactions between thermal regime and glacier hydrology. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrochemistry of meltwaters draining a polythermal‐based,high‐Arctic glacier,south Svalbard: II. Winter and early Spring

The hydrochemistry of naled and upwelling water sampled from the forefields of Finsterwalderbreen, Svalbard, during spring are used for the first time to infer the hydrology of overwinter meltwaters at a polythermal‐based glacier. Hydrochemical variations in naled are explained in terms of different water sources and their chemical alteration during freezing. Two water sources to naled are identified: surficially routed snowmelt and subglacial water. Naled that results from the freezing of the former is enriched in atmospherically derived ions such as Na⁺ and Cl⁻, and is believed to be formed during winter warm periods. Naled of subglacial origin contains relatively high proportions of crustally derived solute. It reflects the freezing of subglacial meltwaters that continue to issue from a subterranean upwellling during winter. An increasing dominance of SO²⁻₄ Mg²⁺, Na⁺ and Cl⁻ in subglacial naled with increasing distance from the upwelling reflects the progressive freezing of this water body and the associated removal of Ca²⁺ and HCO by calcite precipitation. These spatial trends are accentuated by the leaching of soluble ions from the naled close to its source by subsequent upwelling waters. The chemistry of spring upwelling waters, also of subglacial origin, strongly reflects this process. Meltwater produced by geothermal heating of glacier basal ice is believed to be the principal source of water to the subglacial drainage system during winter. Solute acquisition by this meltwater is limited by a scarcity of proton suppliers. Evolution of this dilute meltwater carries an imprint of ion exchange processes. Some stored subglacial water from the end of the previous ablation season may supplement the basal meltwater component in early winter. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seasonal evolution of meltwater generation,storage and discharge at a non‐temperate glacier in Svalbard

In glacierized catchments, meteorological inputs driving surface melting are translated into runoff outputs mediated by the glacier hydrological system: analysis of the relationship between meteorology and diurnal and seasonal patterns of runoff should reflect the functioning of that system, with the role of meltwater storage likely to be of particular importance. Daily meltwater storage is determined for a glacier at 78 °N in the Svalbard archipelago, by comparing inputs calculated from a surface energy balance model with measured outputs (proglacial discharge). Solar radiation, air temperature, wind speed and proglacial discharge are then analysed by regression and time‐series methods, in order to assess the meteorology–discharge relationship and its variation at diurnal and seasonal time‐scales. The recorded discharge time‐series can be divided into two contrasting intervals: up to early August, proglacial discharge was high and variable, mean hydrographs showed little indication of diurnal cycling, ARIMA models of discharge indicated a non‐seasonal, moving‐average generating process, and there was a net loss of meltwater from storage; from early August, proglacial discharge was low and relatively invariable, but with clearer diurnal cycles, regression models of discharge showed substantially improved correlations with air temperature and solar radiation, ARIMA models indicated a non‐seasonal, autoregressive generating process, and eventually a seasonal component, and there was a net gain in meltwater storage. The transition between the two periods is brief compared with the duration of the melt season. The runoff response to meteorology therefore lacks the strongly progressive element previously identified in mid‐latitude glacierized catchments. In particular, the glacier hydrological system only appears responsive to diurnal forcing following the depletion of the seasonal snowpack meltwater store. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Prospects for crowdsourced information on the geomorphic ‘engineering’ by the invasive Coypu (Myocastor coypus)

Among the most invasive species, the Coypu (Myocastor coypus) best exemplifies the widespread effect of alien species on ecosystems. Among the impacts, the induced erosion in riverbanks has an increasing economic and social importance. Despite its significance, this type of erosion is rarely quantified, and the available information is limited to local knowledge, grey literature, and maintenance reports. This research shows the potential of freely and instantly available Structure‐from‐Motion (SfM) photogrammetry to obtain crowdsourced information based on smartphone images. The results highlight how it is possible to provide a rough estimate of the damages with relatively low or null cost of application, and limited expert knowledge and expenditure of time, depending on the scale of analysis. The proposed technique provides a fresh approach to a known long‐standing issue, offering a new source of information for farmers, researchers, wildlife managers, as well as for land managers and planners. The potential applications of such a technique and its unprecedented ease of use and very low cost offer effective tools for management plans and scientific research, providing a basis to relate eroded volumes to the functioning of the drainage system and the connected agroecosystem. The method would also enable the opportunity of participatory and opportunistic crowdsourced sensing. Further scientific research on the crowd‐based data on erosion should encourage standardisation of data gathering and accessibility, together with a public involvement in information exchange, to generate a better understanding and awareness of erosion problems also for other fields of research. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Proglacial sediment dynamics from daily to seasonal scales in a glaciated Alpine catchment (Bossons glacier,Mont Blanc massif,France)

The sediment yields of Alpine catchments are commonly determined from streamload measurements made some distance downstream from glaciers. However, this approach indiscriminately integrates erosion processes occurring in both the glacial and proglacial areas. A specific method is required to ascertain the respective inputs from (i) subglacial and supraglacial sediments, (ii) proglacial hillslopes and (iii) proglacial alluvial areas or sandurs. This issue is addressed here by combining high‐resolution monitoring (2 min) of suspended sediment concentrations at different locations within a catchment with discharge gauging and precipitation data. This methodological framework is applied to two proglacial streams draining the Bossons glacier (Mont Blanc massif, France): the Bossons and Crosette streams. For the Bossons stream, discharge and suspended load data were acquired from June to October 2013 at 1.15 and 1.5 km from the glacial terminus, respectively upstream and downstream from a small valley sandur. These hydro‐sedimentary data are compared with the Crosette stream dataset acquired at the outlet of the Bossons glacier subglacial drainage system. A fourfold analysis focusing on seasonal changes in streamload and discharge, multilinear regression modelling, evaluation of the sandur flux balance and probabilistic uncertainty assessment is used to determine the catchment sediment budget and to explain the proglacial sediment dynamics. The seasonal fluctuation of the sediment signal observed is related to the gradual closing of the subglacial drainage network and to the role of the proglacial area in the sediment cascade: the proglacial hillslopes appear to be disconnected from the main channel and the valley sandur acts as a hydrodynamic sediment buffer both daily and seasonally. Our findings show that an understanding of proglacial sediment dynamics can help in evaluating paraglacial adjustment and subglacial erosion processes. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Elimination of source-generated noise from correlated vibroseis data (the ‘ghost-sweep’ problem)

The most common noise-reduction methods employed in the vibroseis technique (e.g. spike and burst reduction, vertical stacking) are applied in the field to reduce noise at a very early stage. In addition, vibrator phase control systems prevent signal distortions produced by non-linearity of the source itself. However, the success of these automatic correction methods depends on parameter justification by the operator and the actual characteristics of the distorting noise. More specific noise-reduction methods (e.g. Combisweep (Trade mark of Geco-Prakla), elimination of harmonics) increase production costs or need uncorrelated data for the correction process. Because the field data are usually correlated and vertically stacked in the field to minimize logistical and processing costs, it is not possible to make subsequent parameter corrections to optimize the noise reduction after correlation and vertical stacking of a production record. The noise-reduction method described here uses the final recorded, correlated and stacked vibroseis field data. This method eliminates signal artifacts caused e.g. by incorrect vibroseis source signals being used in parameter estimation when a frequency–time analysis is combined with a standard convolution process. Depending on the nature of the distortions, a synthetically generated, nearly recursive noise-separation operator compresses the noise artifact in time using a trace-by-trace filter. After elimination of this compressed noise, re-application of the separation operator leads to a noise-corrected replacement of the input data. The method is applied to a synthetic data set and to a real vibroseis field record from deep seismic sounding, with good results.     

Concentrated, ‘pulsed’ axial glacier flow: structural glaciological evidence from Kvíárjökull in SE Iceland

A detailed structural glaciological study carried out on Kvíárjökull in SE Iceland reveals that recent flow within this maritime glacier is concentrated within a narrow corridor located along its central axis. This active corridor is responsible for feeding ice from the accumulation zone on the south‐eastern side of Öræfajökull to the lower reaches of the glacier and resulted in a c. 200 m advance during the winter of 2013–2014 and the formation of a push‐moraine. The corridor comprises a series of lobes linked by a laterally continuous zone of highly fractured ice characterised by prominent flow‐parallel crevasses, separated by shear zones. The lobes form highly crevassed topographic highs on the glacier surface and occur immediately down‐ice of marked constrictions caused by prominent bedrock outcrops located on the northern side of the glacier. Close to the frontal margin of Kvíárjökull, the southern side of the glacier is relatively smooth and pock‐marked by a number of large moulins. The boundary between this slow moving ice and the active corridor is marked by a number of ice flow‐parallel strike‐slip faults and a prominent dextral shear zone which resulted in the clockwise rotation and dissection of an ice‐cored esker exposed on the glacier surface. It is suggested that this concentrated style of glacier flow identified within Kvíárjökull has affinities with the individual flow units which operate within pulsing or surging glaciers. © 2017 The Authors Earth Surface Processes and Landforms © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of gypsum and/or dolomite dissolution in tufa precipitation: lessons from the hydrochemistry of a carbonate–sulphate karst system

The precipitation of freshwater carbonates (tufa) along karstic rivers is enhanced by degassing of carbon dioxide (CO₂) downstream of karstic springs. However, in most karstic springs CO₂ degassing is not enough to force the precipitation of tufa sediments. Little is known about the role of dissolution of gypsum or dolomite in the hydrochemistry of these systems and how this affects the formation of tufa deposits. Here we present a monitoring study conducted over a year in Trabaque River (Spain). The river has typical karst hydrological dynamics with water sinking upstream and re‐emerging downstream of the canyon. Mixing of calcium–magnesium bicarbonate and calcium sulphate waters downstream of the sink enhances the dissolution of carbonates and potentially plays a positive role in the formation of tufa sediments. However, due to the common‐ion effect, dissolution of dolomite and/or gypsum causes precipitation of underground calcite cements as part of the incongruent dissolution of dolomite/dedolomitization process, which limits the precipitation of tufa sediments. Current precipitation of tufa is scant compared to previous Holocene tufa deposits, which likely precipitated from solutions with higher saturation indexes of calcite (SIcc values) than nowadays. Limited incongruent dissolution of dolomite/dedolomitization favours higher SIcc values. This circumstance occurs when waters with relatively high supersaturation of dolomite and low SO₄^2? composition sink in the upper sector of the canyon. In such a scenario, the process of mixing waters enhances the exclusive dissolution of limestones, preventing the precipitation of calcite within the aquifer and favouring the increase of SIcc values downstream of the springs. Such conditions were recorded during periods of high water level of the aquifers and during floods. This research shows that the common‐ion effect caused by the dissolution of gypsum and/or dolomite rocks can limit [or favour] the precipitation of tufa sediments depending on the occurrence [or not] of incongruent dissolution of dolomite/dedolomitization. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of a new rubber seismic isolator: ‘Ball Rubber Bearing (BRB)’

This paper presents an experimental research aimed at developing a new rubber‐based seismic isolator called ‘Ball Rubber Bearing (BRB)’. The BRB is composed of a conventional steel‐reinforced multi‐layered rubber bearing with its central hole filled with small diameter steel balls that are used to provide energy dissipation capacity through friction. A large set of BRBs with different geometrical and material properties are manufactured and tested under reversed cyclic horizontal loading at different vertical compressive load levels. Extensive test results indicate that steel balls do not only increase the energy dissipation capacity of the elastomeric bearing (EB), but also increase its horizontal and vertical stiffness. It is also observed that the energy dissipation capacity of a BRB does not degrade as the number of loading cycles increases. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High flow events and sediment transport in small streams in the ‘tertiary basin’ area in piedmont (Northwest Italy)

Rainfall, peak discharges, and suspended sediment transport were surveyed for 280 events in three small (0.8 to 10 km²) catchments in a hilly area derived from Neogene marls, silts, and sands. Under similar hydrological input conditions, stream flow behaviour and sediment delivery differed considerably from one catchment to another, depending on topography, lithology, land use, and especially sediment availability. Analytical treatment of data showed a good fit between sediment yield and peak flow discharge. Less good, although still significant, was the correlation between sediment concentration and discharge values for different flow stages. Rainfall peak/basin lag time and rainfall/discharge showed poor or no correlation, mainly due to strong variations in rainfall distribution. Sediment concentration in the catchments varied enormously according to season, from zero up to 334 g 1^?1; sediment yield was 160-900 tonnes km^?2 yr^?1 in the two major catchments, and over 5200 tonnes km^?2 yr^?1 in the headwater catchment, stressing the importance of small tributaries not only in inducing floods in downstream channels, but also in sediment supply.     

Sulphate reduction as a geomorphological agent in tidal marshes (‘Great Marshes’ at Barnstable,Cape Cod,USA)

Many tidal marsh surfaces feature water-filled depressions, known as salt pans (shallow) or ponds (deeper). In the Great Marshes at Barnstable, Cape Cod, pond formation is an active process. We hypothesize that degradation of organic matter by sulphate-reducing bacteria in these peat-rich marsh deposits is the primary cause of pan and pond formation. Sulphate reduction below an actively developing pond is probably enhanced by higher temperature and salinity of the pond water. Computer simulation suggests that ponds with similar characteristics to those in the Barnstable marshes may develop by sulphate reduction. Necessary conditions are sufficiently deep percolation and diffusion of sulphate into the underlying marsh deposits, and a high decomposition rate stimulated by high water temperatures in the ponds. In areas with a high density of ponds, drainage of the ponds by headward erosion of tidal creeks may cause rapid disintegration of the marsh surface. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrogeochemical balance of forest umbrisol profiles (‘Sierra de Gata’, central western Spain)

Three techniques for obtaining soil water solutions (gravitational and matrical waters extracted using both in situ tension lysimeters and in vitro pressure chambers) and their later chemical analysis were performed in order to know the evolution of the soil‐solution composition when water moves down through the soil, from the Ah soil horizon to the BwC‐ or C‐horizons of forest soils located in western Spain. Additionally, ion concentrations and water volumes of input waters to soil (canopy washout) and exported waters (drainage solutions from C‐horizons) were determined to establish the net balance of solutes in order to determine the rates of leaching or retention of ions. A generalized process of sorption or retention of most components (even Cl^?) was observed, from the soil surface to the C‐horizon, in both gravitational and matrical waters, with H₄SiO₄, Mn²⁺, Na⁺, and SO₄^2? being the net exported components from the soil through the groundwater. These results enhance the role of the recycling effect in these forest soils. The net percentages of elements retained in these forest soils, considering the inputs and the outputs balance, were 68% K⁺, 85% Ca²⁺, 58% Mg²⁺, 7% Al³⁺, 5% Fe³⁺, 34% Zn²⁺, 57% Cl^?, and 20% NO₃^?, and about 75% of dissolved organic carbon was mineralized. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Origins of Birimian (ca 2.2 Ga) mafic magmatism and the Paleoproterozoic ‘greenstone belt’ metallogeny: a review

The Birimian of the West African Craton is an important repository of Paleoproterozoic mafic magmatism, described by many workers as petrologically dominated by basaltic to andesitic rocks. In spite of extensive work done, opinions still differ on the origin and other salient features in these globally significant igneous rocks. Even less well understood is the relationship that may exist between the mafic rocks and prolific metalliferous deposits such as manganese and gold that are hosted in these rocks. This review suggests that the frequently observed association between mafic rocks and important mineral deposits may have far more genetic implications than previously envisaged.     

Interannual variability in glacier contribution to runoff from a high‐elevation Andean catchment: understanding the role of debris cover in glacier hydrology

We present a field‐data rich modelling analysis to reconstruct the climatic forcing, glacier response, and runoff generation from a high‐elevation catchment in central Chile over the period 2000–2015 to provide insights into the differing contributions of debris‐covered and debris‐free glaciers under current and future changing climatic conditions. Model simulations with the physically based glacio‐hydrological model TOPKAPI‐ETH reveal a period of neutral or slightly positive mass balance between 2000 and 2010, followed by a transition to increasingly large annual mass losses, associated with a recent mega drought. Mass losses commence earlier, and are more severe, for a heavily debris‐covered glacier, most likely due to its strong dependence on snow avalanche accumulation, which has declined in recent years. Catchment runoff shows a marked decreasing trend over the study period, but with high interannual variability directly linked to winter snow accumulation, and high contribution from ice melt in dry periods and drought conditions. The study demonstrates the importance of incorporating local‐scale processes such as snow avalanche accumulation and spatially variable debris thickness, in understanding the responses of different glacier types to climate change. We highlight the increased dependency of runoff from high Andean catchments on the diminishing resource of glacier ice during dry years.