Pore water transport of enterococci out of beach sediments

Enterococci are used to evaluate the safety of beach waters and studies have identified beach sands as a source of these bacteria. In order to study and quantify the release of microbes from beach sediments, flow column systems were built to evaluate flow of pore water out of beach sediments. Results show a peak in enterococci (average of 10% of the total microbes in core) released from the sand core within one pore water volume followed by a marked decline to below detection. These results indicate that few enterococci are easily removed and that factors other than simple pore water flow control the release of the majority of enterococci within beach sediments. A significantly larger quantity and release of enterococci were observed in cores collected after a significant rain event suggesting the influx of fresh water can alter the release pattern as compared to cores with no antecedent rainfall.     

Behaviour of beach profiles during accretion and erosion dominated periods

Beach profiles have been surveyed at monthly intervals between 1972 and 1988 at Moruya on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia. Four profile sites have been used as a data set to provide an understanding of changes to beach volume, width, and shape. Moruya beach represents a moderately high energy, microtidal environment, which responds in a dramatic way to major storm events such as those experienced in the mid-1970s. This study distinguishes between profile characteristics associated with such a period (erosion-dominated or EDP) compared with periods when accretion dominated (ADP) accompanied by foredune expansion in both height and width.     

Estimation of enterococci input from bathers and animals on a recreational beach using camera images

Enterococci, are used nationwide as a water quality indicator of marine recreational beaches. Prior research has demonstrated that enterococci inputs to the study beach site (located in Miami, FL) are dominated by non-point sources (including humans and animals). We have estimated their respective source functions by developing a counting methodology for individuals to better understand their non-point source load impacts. The method utilizes camera images of the beach taken at regular time intervals to determine the number of people and animal visitors. The developed method translates raw image counts for week days and weekend days into daily and monthly visitation rates. Enterococci source functions were computed from the observed number of unique individuals for average days of each month of the year, and from average load contributions for humans and for animals. Results indicate that dogs represent the larger source of enterococci relative to humans and birds.     

Spatial and seasonal aspects of beach stability

Recent work at three contrasting sites in England and Wales has shown characteristics atypical of those frequently reported elsewhere. These differences are:

• (a) Taking each entire beach system there is no uniform trend of erosion or accretion, nor a progressive variation in beach elevation or volume alongshore, from one survey to the next. However, for Swansea Bay the ‘long-term’ (i. e. 18 months) range in profile height along that stretch of coast where the alignment of the beach is normal to the direction of wave approach, correlates well with computed wave energy derived from relevant offshore wave directions.
• (b) While beach variability is greatest during the ‘winter’ (i. e. storm) period there is no overall tendency for a drawdown of sediment from the intertidal zone at that time. Response times are relatively short. Thus high beach levels need not necessarily be associated with ‘summer’ conditions.
• (c) Although in Swansea Bay there is a tendency for the beach height to fluctuate least at mid-tide level this is not true of the other two sites. In no area does sediment eroded from the upper exposed part of the beach regularly appear to be deposited on the lower exposed part, or vice versa.

     

Matching disc and curtain flows in magnetically disrupted accretion discs

An accretion curtain forms when a strongly magnetic star disrupts the inner region of its surrounding disc. It was previously shown that the disc expands vertically due to rapidly growing thermal pressure caused by magnetic heating over a narrow radial transition region inside the corotation radius. This allows material to flow from the disc into a magnetically channelled curtain through which it is transferred to the star. The curtain flow is trans-sonic and sub-Alfvénic, with small distortions of the stellar magnetic field. In the present paper, the disc and curtain flows are matched across the upper boundary of the disc transition region, and this is shown to determine the width of this region as a function of the stellar rotation rate. The sonic point position can adjust to allow steady mass transfer from the disc to the curtain flow. An upper limit can be defined for the rotation period of the star below which a strong magnetic channelling regime applies, with the outer edge of the disruption region lying inside a spherical Alfvén radius. The picture of a thin, magnetically channelled curtain flow fed from a thermally disrupted disc is self-consistent in this regime. A lower limit arises for the stellar angular velocity below which the sonic point merges with the curtain base, resulting in excessive mass loss from the disc which would be inconsistent with a steady solution. This corresponds to a lower limit on the disruption radius as a fraction of the corotation radius. It is noted that the spin-up timescale of the accreting star is significantly less than the lifetime of the system so that typical observed systems should lie in the strong magnetic regime.     

Magnitude and distribution of rates of river bank erosion

Measurements of bank erosion on rivers in Devon over a 2½ year period produced mean rates ranging from 0.08 to 1.18 metres per year and a maximum rate of 2.58 metres per year. These values are compared with rates derived from maps for various time periods between 1840 and 1975. The map rates are generally lower than the field rates and the question of whether this difference is due to the method of measurement, the magnitude-frequency of events, a change in discharge conditions or the inherent variation in channel activity is discussed. Published data on bank erosion rates are reviewed and the Devon rates are found to coincide with the worldwide distribution. An analysis of factors likely to influence the spatial distribution of erosion rates reveals a square-root relationship to catchment area and the importance of bank material. Implications of the measured rates for development of flood plains are examined.     

The stabilizing effect of viscosity on magnetic wind flows from accretion discs

Magnetically channelled winds are believed to be a feature of most accretion discs. It has been shown that such flows can remove significant amounts of angular momentum from the disc and make a major contribution to driving the inflow. For a suitable range of poloidal magnetic field bending, only a small fraction of the disc mass is lost in the wind flow, so most material reaches the inner region of the disc. However, discs driven purely by such a process are prone to a field-bending instability which can lead to runaway mass loss. It is shown here that a small amount of disc viscosity can quench such an instability and allow steady disc-wind models to be constructed. The effects of perturbations to the coupling between the radial and vertical structures are allowed for, with the thermal balance having particular relevance. Runaway increases in field bending are prevented by increases in the disc temperature and magnetic diffusivity mainly caused by viscous dissipation.     

Prevalence and distribution of fecal indicator organisms in South Florida beach sand and preliminary assessment of health effects associated with beach sand exposure

Fecal indicator levels in nearshore waters of South Florida are routinely monitored to assess microbial contamination at recreational beaches. However, samples of sand from the surf zone and upper beach are not monitored which is surprising since sand may accumulate and harbor fecal-derived organisms. This study examined the prevalence of fecal indicator organisms in tidally-affected beach sand and in upper beach sand and compared these counts to levels in the water. Since indicator organisms were statistically elevated in sand relative to water, the study also considered the potential health risks associated with beach use and exposure to sand. Fecal coliforms, Escherichia coli, enterococci, somatic coliphages, and F(+)-specific coliphages were enumerated from sand and water at three South Florida beaches (Ft. Lauderdale Beach, Hollywood Beach, and Hobie Beach) over a 2-year period. Bacteria were consistently more concentrated in 100g samples of beach sand (2-23 fold in wet sand and 30-460 fold in dry sand) compared to 100ml samples of water. Somatic coliphages were commonly recovered from both sand and water while F(+)-specific coliphages were less commonly detected. Seeding experiments revealed that a single specimen of gull feces significantly influenced enterococci levels in some 3.1m(2) of beach sand. Examination of beach sand on a micro-spatial scale demonstrated that the variation in enterococci density over short distances was considerable. Results of multiple linear regression analysis showed that the physical and chemical parameters monitored in this study could only minimally account for the variation observed in indicator densities. A pilot epidemiological study was conducted to examine whether the length of exposure to beach water and sand could be correlated with health risk. Logistic regression analysis results provided preliminary evidence that time spent in the wet sand and time spent in the water were associated with a dose-dependent increase in gastrointestinal illness.     

Textural and compositional controls on modern beach and dune sands,New Zealand

Textural, compositional, physical and geophysical determinations were carried out on 111 beach and dune sand samples from two areas in New Zealand: the Kapiti–Foxton coast sourced by terranes of andesite and greywackes and the Farewell Spit–Wharariki coast sourced by a wide variety of Paleozoic terranes. Our aim is to understand how long‐shore drift, beach width and source rock control the sedimentological and petrographic characteristics of beach and dune sands. Furthermore, this study shows the usefulness of specific minerals (quartz, plagioclase with magnetite inclusions, monomineralic opaque grains) to interpret the physical processes (fluvial discharges, long‐shore currents, winds) that distribute beach and dune sands in narrow and wide coastal plains. This was done by means of direct (grain size and modal analyses) and indirect (specific gravity, magnetic/non‐magnetic separations M/NM, magnetic susceptibility measurements, hysteresis loops) methods. Results are compared with beach sands from Hawaii, Oregon, the Spanish Mediterranean, Elba Island and Southern California. Compositionally, the Kapiti–Foxton sands are similar to first‐order immature sands, which retain their fluvial signature. This results from the high discharge of rivers and the narrow beaches that control the composition of the Kapiti–Foxton sands. The abundance of feldspar with magnetite inclusions controls the specific gravity of the Kapiti–Foxton sands due to their low content of opaque minerals and coarse grain size. Magnetic susceptibility of the sands is related mainly to the abundance of feldspars with Fe oxides, volcanic lithics and free‐opaque minerals. The Farewell Spit–Wharariki sands are slightly more mature than the Kapiti–Foxton sands. The composition of the Farewell Spit–Wharariki sands does not reflect accurately their provenance due to the prevalence of long‐shore drift, waves, little river input and a wide beach. Low abundance of feldspar with magnetite inclusions and free opaque grains produces poor correlations between specific gravity (Sg) and Fe oxide bearing minerals. The small correlation between opaque grains and M/NM may be related to grain size. The magnetic susceptibility of Farewell Spit–Wharariki sands is low due to the low content of grains with magnetite inclusions. Hysteresis and isothermal remnant magnetization (IRM) agree with the magnetic susceptibility values. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cenozoic erosion and flexural isostasy of Scandinavia

The presence of Cenozoic deposits along the Norwegian Atlantic margin required extensive erosion of the Scandinavian Mountains in a generally cooling climate from the Oligocene to the present. The volume of the deposits implies that the transfer of mass from the inland area to the offshore shelf induced isostatic displacements on a kilometer scale. However, except for glacial excavation of the deep fjords, little is known about the distribution of Cenozoic inland erosion. A long-lasting paradigm incorporates remnants of peneplains at high elevation and assumes very little Cenozoic erosion on these surfaces through time. This scenario has recently been challenged by quantitative geomorphological studies indicating that the matrix of Cenozoic sediments deposited offshore must have been sourced from these surfaces. An alternative explanation for the present-day high-elevation low-relief surfaces is therefore that they evolved throughout the Cenozoic because of glacial and periglacial erosion processes that are known to vary strongly with altitude. Here we explore the implications of the latter scenario by reconstructing a pre-Cenozoic fluvial landscape without elevated low-relief surfaces. We use the present-day offshore sediment volumes for constraining the total Cenozoic erosion, and we find that a likely pre-Cenozoic fluvial landscape is only in few places more than 1 km higher than today. The rock mass of the offshore sediments is generally used for filling the fjords created during the Quaternary glaciations and for restoring concave river profiles from sea level to the peaks. Our reconstruction is based on a fluvial landscape algorithm and considers the isostatic response to the transfer of rock mass – from the basins onto the onshore area. A comparison between the reconstructed and the present-day topography demonstrates that offshore tilting of pre-Cenozoic strata can be partly explained by flexural isostatic compensation in response to the Cenozoic erosion and deposition. Locations of future thermochronometry studies for testing Scandinavian landscape evolution models are suggested based on temperature estimates of the present-day surface buried beneath the erosion products restored from the offshore basins.     

Mathematical model for evaluation of the effect of soil erosion on soil productivity

This paper is concerned with the development of a stochastic model for evaluating the long-term effect of soil erosion on soil productivity. Due to random variations in annual crop yield, the effect of erosion on crop production is not easily detectable in the short run, but becomes gradually evident over a sufficiently long time period. Under these circumstances, it seems that an experimental approach to this problem may be very difficult. The long period of time over which such an experiment has to be conducted may result in prohibitively high costs. In addition, it also means that eventual resolution of this problem must be postponed until a distant future time. The stochastic model formulated here provides us with a useful tool to assess the trend in quantitative changes in crop production due to erosion and to project future crop losses. The model is a discrete parameter stochastic process. Its derivation is based on a single assumption that the annual loss rates form a sequence of independent random variables {Z_i}₁∞ (in this paper, we consider only two particular cases: (a) {Z_i}₁∞ is a sequence of constants; (b) {Z_i}₁∞ is a sequence of independent identically distributed random variables). For these particular cases, we obtained its marginal n-dimensional distribution function and correlation function. One of the principal model features is its simple structure and remarkable lack of restrictive and unrealistic assumptions.     

Fingered flow: The creator of sand columns in dune and beach sands

Sand columns, sand cones, sand mushrooms and other striking sand forms are frequently observed in the Dutch and German beach and dune sands. This paper aims to clarify the mechanism of sand column formation. Recently it has become evident that homogeneous beach and dune sands often become irregularly wetted by infiltrating rainwater. In otherwise dry sandy soils, wet preferential flow paths (‘fingers’) may develop. At two test sites the volumetric soil moisture content varied between 0·2 and 12·0 per cent. The wet fingers represent the premature state of sand columns. When the dry sand in between these fingers is blown away by the wind, the more resistant wet sand of the fingers will remain in its place and appear as sand columns at the surface. As a result of wind and erosive sand drifts, striking sand forms may be formed.     

Gas-induced erosion features in the North Sea

Pockmarks are prominent features on the seafloor at two main regions of the North Sea, the South Fladen area and the Norwegian Trench. The pockmarks vary in size from 5 m across to about 150 m and in depth from 1 m to about 20 m. Some of the features consist of several very small ‘unit-pockmarks’. These are probably gas-induced erosion features and found only in soft, finegrained, marine and glaciomarine sediments. They are probably caused by shallow- or deep-seated gas (or fluid) release through the seabed, whereby the finest particles are thrown into suspension and redistributed by nearbottom currents. On the North Sea Plateau a small pockmarked area has recently been found. A close relationship exists here between mobile gas in the upper sediments, faulting in the soft sediments and the morphology of the seabed. Other morphological features in the North Sea such as ‘coast parallel depressions’ and ‘elongated depressions’ or terraces are also interpreted here as gas-induced erosion products. This applies, yet again, to the ‘mottled seabed’ features, which appear as patches of high reflectivity on side scan sonar records from the North Sea Plateau; they correspond to shallow seabed depressions on the deep towed boomer records. Judging from reported observations from several shallow seas world wide volatile transport through the seabed is probably quite common and several morphological features are undoubtably induced by this process. Several erosion features of similar origin are probably common, also, in deep ocean basins.     

The determination of erosion rates from exposed tree roots in the piceance basin,colorado

Tree roots, exposed by hillslope erosion in the Piceance basin of Colorado, were inspected to determine average net erosion rates during the last four centuries. Twenty pinyon pine and juniper root sections were obtained from each of five sites in this region. The date when a root was first exposed by erosion was determined, for 83 of the sections collected, by one of three methods: 1. time of initial cambium dieback; 2. interpretation of annual ring growth pattern; and 3. the earliest occurrence of reaction wood. Analysis indicated no significant difference in erosion rates between the five study sites. However, a strong difference in erosion rates was noted between north-facing (0–56 mm/yr) and south-facing (1.18 mm/yr) slopes. No significant difference in erosion rates were found between various south-facing aspects and local steepness of slopes. Significant differences were noted between erosion rate and the length of time the root was exposed to erosion. Rates of erosion on south-facing slopes in the pinyon-juniper community during the last four centuries are as follows: period (years ago) 0-99 100-199 200-299 300-399 erosion rate (mm/yr) 1-79 0-49 0-33 0-22. Although there appears to be a slow increase in erosion rates during the three earliest centuries the dramatic increase during the last century may have been substantially augmented by the introduction of cattle into this region approximately one hundred years ago.     

Rates of erosion of till in the nearshore zone

Measurements of vertical erosion of till in water depths ranging from 1.1 m to 5 m have been obtained using a modified micro-erosion meter. Measurements in this environment are hindered by poor underwater visibility and losses due to high erosion rates and ice action. There is considerable spatial and temporal variability in the erosion rates measured but average values show a general increase from 11 mm y^?1 in 6 m of water to about 35 mm y^?1 in 2.3 m of water and even higher rates closer to shore. The measured values in shallow water are in good agreement with long-term rates extrapolated from shoreline recession. It is suggested that erosion occurs through abrasion and fluid stressing, and that these mechanisms are aided by softening of the upper surface of the till, possibly through cyclic ‘fatigue failure’.     

Temporal and spatial variations of runoff and rainwash erosion on an agricultural field

This paper investigates the spatial and temporal variations of runoff, erosion and rate of sediment transport on an agricultural field submitted to natural rainfalls. The site, located in the Eastern Townships (Québec, Canada), is a corn field (10000 m²) where sheetwash erosion is active. Water (Q) and sediment (Qs) discharges were measured from June to October at eight locations on the field and for ten rainfall events. Analysis of the data was carried out on an aggregate data set and on the distributed measurements in time and space. The results showed that changes in vegetation, soil compaction and crusting are critical in determining temporal variations of runoff and erosion. Until August, the increase in soil compaction reduced infiltration capacity and depression storage and generated greater runoff for a given rainfall intensity (I). Sediment transport decreased as particle detachment is less likely to occur when vegetation breaks the drop impact and the soil surface is sealed. Later in the season, we observed an increase in sediment concentration associated with the presence of burrowing insects and harvest activity, providing loose sediments to the broken down surface. Intercepts and slopes of the relationship between Q and Qs also vary during the period of measurement. High sediment availability over the soil surface in June and October gives high intercept values. The slope of the relationship is more stable but difficult to estimate for extreme events (high values of I or low Q values) where the number of sampled points are small. During a rainfall, the response of the field is dominated by the topography and drainage area. The largest amount of runoff and erosion occurred on straight and steep slopes with small drainage areas, and on converging gentle slopes with large drainage areas. Although aggregate runoff and erosion values are decreasing with drainage area, parameters of the Qs-Q relationship for different locations on the field are not statistically different. These results bear important consequences for models of sheetwash erosion on agricultural fields.     

Quantitative estimation of sediment erosion and accretion processes in a micro-tidal coast

Spatio-temporal cross-shore profiles and textural characteristics are the key parameters for understanding dynamics of the inter-tidal sedimentary environment.This study describes short-term dynamics of the inter-tidal sedimentary environment at beaches along the micro-tidal coast.Further a correlation is estimated in cross-shore morphodynamics and textural characteristics of surface sediments.The sedimentary environment is examined for a complete annual cycle using monthly collected cross-shore profiles and sediment samples.The Devbag beach（northern side） and Ravindranath Tagore beach（southern side） at the Kali river mouth,Karwar,west coast of India are characterized from extremely gentle to average slope,and broadly composed of unimodal sands.The sedimentary environment is significantly composed of textures having fine to medium sand,well to moderately sorted,fine to coarse skewed,and platykurtic to leptokurtic in nature.During the annual cycle a reversal pattern is observed between the two adjacent beaches,where a slower rate of sediment accretion is observed at Devbag beach while Ravindranath Tagore beach exhibited erosion.The beach dynamics along with the propagation of south-west（SW） and south-west-west（SWW） waves towards the coast significantly exhibit a dominance of northward sediment transport with the existence of a northerly alongshore current.In addition,the study reveals that an eroded beach may not be significantly identified composed of coarse grains.The poor correlation in morpho-sedimentary characteristics reveals the prediction of grain characteristics based on beach profile and vice-versa is unrealistic.     

Metal contaminants for modelling lobster (Homarus americanus) migration patterns in the Inner Bay of Fundy, Atlantic Canada

A method, which uses metal compositions in lobster digestive glands as natural environmental tags, has been developed to trace lobster movements. Lobsters were collected from three selected sites, Minas Channel, Minas Basin, and Cobequid Bay, Inner Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada, that were known to be contaminated with Cu. Five metal variables (Ag, Cd, Cu, Mn and Zn) were processed for principal component analysis (PCA). Metal concentration and burden models were investigated and PCA was able to differentiate lobsters from the respective catch sites. The method was applied to investigate the May and June lobsters collected at the three sites to determine the migration rate during this period of the fishing season. The results show a high level of mixing at Minas Basin and Cobequid Bay in June, and lobster movement inward toward the inner reaches of the bay, with very limited movement outward from the inner bay.     

Design and installation of a novel automatic erosion monitoring system

Process inference in geomorphology is hindered by a lack of information on the true temporal distribution of contemporary erosional and depositional activity. To tackle this problem a low-cost, automatic monitoring system based on the photo-electronic erosion pin (PEEP) sensor has been developed. The PEEP is essentially an array of photosensitive cells enclosed within a transparent tube and connected by cable to a datalogger. When inserted into an eroding landform, subsequent retreat of the face exposes more photosensitive cells to light which increases PEEP voltage output. Deposition decreases sensor outputs. The logged signals thus reveal the magnitude, timing and frequency of erosion and deposition events with much greater precision than has hitherto been possible. Measurement principles, electronic and physical design, calibration, field installation, problems and prospects and pilot results from a river bank erosion site are discussed. The PEEP system appears to have great potential for disentangling competing hypotheses in geomorphological process studies, and in building and testing erosion and sediment transport models of high temporal resolution.     

Heavy Air Pollution in Beijing and Possible Impact on Olympic Athletes

In 2001 the Olympic Games were awarded to the city of Beijing, China's second‐largest industrial center after Shanghai. Although the extreme air pollution in Greater Beijing has already been examined for some time in the scientific literature, it only gained public interest recently. The article summarizes the scientific facts.