Regional and local controls on the spatial distribution of bedrock reaches in the Upper Guadalupe River, Texas

While studies on gravel mantled and mixed alluvial bedrock rivers have increased in recent decades, few field studies have focused on spatial distributions of bedrock and alluvial reaches and differences between reach types. The objective of this work is to identify the spatial distribution of alluvial and bedrock reaches in the Upper Guadalupe River. We compare reach length, channel and floodplain width, sinuosity, bar length and spacing, bar surface grain size, and slope in alluvial and bedrock reaches to identify whether major differences exist between channel reach types. We find that local disturbances, interaction of the channel and valley sides, variation in lithology, and regional structural control contribute to the distribution of bedrock reaches in the largely alluvial channel. Alluvial and bedrock channel reaches in the Upper Guadalupe River are similar, particularly with respect to the distribution of gravel bars, surface grain size distributions of bars, and channel slope and width. Our observations suggest that the fluvial system has adjusted to changes in base level associated with the Balcones Escarpment Fault Zone by phased incision into alluvial sediment and the underlying bedrock, essentially shifting from a fully alluvial river to a mixed alluvial bedrock river.     

TRIME-T3用于盐碱地土壤含水量测定的试验研究

以陕西省富平县卤泊滩盐碱地改良区为例,在其上游地段选取两块农田为研究对象,布置典型观测断面并埋设测管,运用TRIME-T3法和烘干法对观测断面土壤剖面含水量进行测定,并同步测定土壤含盐量。对两种方法测得的土壤含水量进行对比分析,研究土壤盐分对TRIME-T3法测定的土壤含水量影响以及该方法在盐碱地农田土壤剖面含水量测试中的应用。研究结果显示：（1）TRIME-T3法测量值较烘干法值偏大,但两者之间有较高的相关性,回归分析结果表明可以用y=0.866 3x+0.754 5的线性函数进行校正,校正后的TRIME-T3测量值中将有94.4%的值接近土壤含水量真实值。（2）通过对校正函数进行实例验证,结果表明TRIME-T3标定曲线值与烘干法测定值非常接近,绝对误差<1 cm³·cm^-3,相对误差在5%以下,表明TRIME-T3法通过一定的校正后可以很好地表达该盐碱地农田土壤剖面含水量信息。（3）通过对TRIME-T3测定的含水量与相应含盐量进行分析,发现两者之间的相关性并不显著,表明该方法可适用于盐碱地农田土壤剖面含水量测定。该研究结果可为类似地区盐碱地土壤剖面水分测定技术（TRIME-T3）的应用提供科学依据和理论参考。     

三江平原气候突变分析

采用累积距平法、J_y参数法和Mann-Kendall法联合检测1955~2000年三江平原气候变化过程中的突变现象,讨论了引发三江平原气候突变的可能原因。分析发现,三江平原年降水量在20世纪60年代发生了减少突变;而三江平原在20世纪70年代和80年代连续两次经历的增温突变,使其气温变化与东北北部平原其它地区明显不同;年日照时数和平均风速的减少突变均发生在20世纪80年代。总体来看,三江平原气候变化在20世纪80年代最明显。     

Embedding reach-scale fluvial dynamics within the CAESAR cellular automaton landscape evolution model

We introduce a new computational model designed to simulate and investigate reach-scale alluvial dynamics within a landscape evolution model. The model is based on the cellular automaton concept, whereby the continued iteration of a series of local process ‘rules’ governs the behaviour of the entire system. The model is a modified version of the CAESAR landscape evolution model, which applies a suite of physically based rules to simulate the entrainment, transport and deposition of sediments. The CAESAR model has been altered to improve the representation of hydraulic and geomorphic processes in an alluvial environment. In-channel and overbank flow, sediment entrainment and deposition, suspended load and bed load transport, lateral erosion and bank failure have all been represented as local cellular automaton rules. Although these rules are relatively simple and straightforward, their combined and repeatedly iterated effect is such that complex, non-linear geomorphological response can be simulated within the model. Examples of such larger-scale, emergent responses include channel incision and aggradation, terrace formation, channel migration and river meandering, formation of meander cutoffs, and transitions between braided and single-thread channel patterns. In the current study, the model is illustrated on a reach of the River Teifi, near Lampeter, Wales, UK.     

Use of Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) imagery to investigate upslope particle size controls on arid piedmont morphology

Geomorphic differences between slopes backing two distinct desert piedmont types provide a proxy indicator for the kind of landform developed at the corresponding mountain base. Here, the term ‘bedrock pediment’ describes subaerial bedrock platforms that emanate from a mountain base while ‘alluvial slope’ describes suballuvial bedrock platforms that extend from the mountain. Mountain slopes backing bedrock pediments have been demonstrated to be mantled by larger clast sizes than corresponding slopes backing alluvial slopes in the Phoenix region, Arizona, USA. The present research focuses on using the disparate particle sizes between slopes backing bedrock pediments and alluvial slopes as an indicator for the piedmont form developed at the mountain base, and uses high-resolution remotely sensed digital data as a medium for quantitative landform assessments. A gravel + bedrock versus soil index developed from airborne midinfrared multispectral imagery acquired by the Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) indicates the presence of slopes mantled with larger particle sizes versus slopes mantled with smaller particle sizes and greater soil coverage. Two test areas confirm the applicability of this method and further demonstrate the usefulness of high-resolution midinfrared multispectral imagery as a geomorphic tool in arid regions.     

The dynamic effects of moisture on the entrainment and transport of sand by wind

There is an increasing awareness of the influence of surface moisture on aeolian entrainment and transport of sediment. Existing wind tunnel studies have shown the impact of a limited range of moisture contents on entrainment thresholds but similar investigations are lacking in the field. The research reported here investigated the influence of changes in surface moisture content on sand entrainment and transport on a meso-tidal beach in Anglesey, North Wales.High frequency (1 Hz) wind velocities measured with hot-wire anemometers were combined with grain impact data from a Sensit monitor and mass flux measurements from a standard sand trap. Surface and near-surface moisture contents were assessed gravimetrically from surface sand scrapes and also directly by using a ThetaProbe. Critical threshold values for entrainment were specified using a modified form of the time fraction equivalence method (Stout, J.E., Zobeck, T.M., 1996a. Establishing the threshold condition for soil movement in wind-eroding fields. Proceedings of the International Conference on Air Pollution from Agricultural Operations. MWPS C-3, Kansas City, 7–9 February 1996, pp. 65–71).Results indicate a time-dependent change in dominant control of the sand transport system from moisture to wind speed, dependent upon the moisture content of the surface sediment. This interchange between controlling parameters on both entrainment and transport was very sensitive to prevailing moisture conditions and took place over a period of minutes to hours. Under conditions experienced in the experiments presented here, the critical moisture threshold for sediment entrainment was determined to be between 4% and 6%, higher than the 1–4% specified in previous wind tunnel experiments. Furthermore, a moisture content of nearly 2% (where moisture was adhered to transported sediment) appeared to have little or no impact on the rate of sand flux.     

Anabranching in mixed bedrock-alluvial rivers: the example of the Orange River above Augrabies Falls, Northern Cape Province, South Africa

Anabranching is characteristic of a number of rivers in diverse environmental settings worldwide, but has only infrequently been described from bedrock-influenced rivers. A prime example of a mixed bedrock-alluvial anabranching river is provided by a 150-km long reach of the Orange River above Augrabies Falls, Northern Cape Province, South Africa. Here, the perennial Orange flows through arid terrain consisting mainly of Precambrian granites and gneisses, and the river has preferentially eroded bedrock joints, fractures and foliations to form multiple channels which divide around numerous, large (up to 15 km long and 2 km wide), stable islands formed of alluvium and/or bedrock. Significant local variations in channel-bed gradient occur along the river, which strongly control anabranching style through an influence on local sediment budgets. In relatively long (>10 km), lower gradient reaches (<0.0013) within the anabranching reach, sediment supply exceeds local transport capacity, bedrock usually only crops out in channel beds, and channels divide around alluvial islands which are formed by accretion in the lee of bedrock outcrop or at the junction with ephemeral tributaries. Riparian vegetation probably plays a key role in the survival and growth of these islands by increasing flow roughness, inducing deposition, and stabilising the sediments. Less commonly, channels may form by eroding into once-continuous island or floodplain surfaces. In shorter (<10 km), higher gradient reaches (>0.0013) within the anabranching reach, local transport capacity exceeds sediment supply, bedrock crops out extensively, and channels flow over an irregular bedrock pavement or divide around rocky islands. Channel incision into bedrock probably occurs mainly by abrasion, with the general absence of boulder bedforms suggesting that hydraulic plucking is relatively unimportant in this setting. Mixed bedrock-alluvial anabranching also occurs in a number of other rivers worldwide, and appears to be a stable and often long-lived river pattern adjusted to a number of factors commonly acting in combination: (1) jointed/fractured granitoid rock outcrop; (2) erosion-resistant banks and islands; (3) locally variable channel-bed gradients; (4) variable flow regimes.     

柴达木盆地气温、降水突变与周期特征分析

利用柴达木盆地6个站1954—2003年逐月气温、降水量资料,分析其近50年来气温、降水突变和周期特征。结果表明,盆地年气温与夏、秋、冬季气温增加趋势超过0.01显著性水平临界值,春季气温增加和年较差减小趋势达到0.05显著性水平。降水序列中,只有年降水与夏季降水增加达到0.10显著性水平。盆地各气温序列均有突变发生,年气温在20世纪80年代前期发生极显著暖突变,秋、冬季气温突变较春、夏季显著,冬季气温突变时间较其他季节偏早,在各气温序列中年较差突变时间最早。年降水在1976年发生突变,四季降水中只有春、夏季有突变。周期分析显示,盆地年气温变化的主周期按强弱依次为12 a、7 a和3 a,年降水主周期则依次为9 a和4 a。     

Soil-water behaviour of sandy soils under semi-arid conditions in the Duero Basin (Spain)

This paper examines the soil-water behaviour of sandy soils representative of a broad area in the Duero river basin (Spain), with semi-arid bioclimatic characteristics. Soil-moisture measurements of the first 25 cm of soil profile were taken using time domain reflectometry (TDR) methodology. The infiltration process was studied by means of field experiments combining rainfall simulations and TDR techniques. Finally, a set of hydrodynamic variables was calculated in the laboratory (i.e. available soil-water content, soil-water-retention curves and hydraulic conductivity).The average available soil-water content is 0·07 cm³ cm⁻³, in accordance with the predominance of the sandy textural fraction (85%). The rainfall simulation experiments show that infiltration prevails over overland flow, with a steady-state infiltration rate higher than rainfall application (40mmh⁻¹) in most cases; a low water-retention capacity was also observed. The evolution of soil-moisture over time indicates a close dependence on intra-annual rainfall variability due to the low water-retention capacity of sandy soils. With a maximum water-storage capacity of around 0·18 cm³ cm⁻³, the soils studied show high sensitivity to dry spells and may remain with <50% of the available soil-water content for several months during the year.     

New constraints on the late Cenozoic incision history of the New River, Virginia

The New River crosses three physiogeologic provinces of the ancient, tectonically quiescent Appalachian orogen and is ideally situated to record variability in fluvial erosion rates over the late Cenozoic. Active erosion features on resistant bedrock that floors the river at prominent knickpoints demonstrate that the river is currently incising toward base level. However, thick sequences of alluvial fill and fluvial terraces cut into this fill record an incision history for the river that includes several periods of stalled downcutting and aggradation. We used cosmogenic ¹⁰Be exposure dating, aided by mapping and sedimentological examination of terrace deposits, to constrain the timing of events in this history. ¹⁰Be concentration depth profiles were used to help account for variables such as cosmogenic inheritance and terrace bioturbation. Fill-cut and strath terraces at elevations 10, 20, and 50 m above the modern river yield model cosmogenic exposure ages of 130, 600, and 600–950 ka, respectively, but uncertainties on these ages are not well constrained. These results provide the first direct constraint on the history of alluvial aggradation and incision events recorded by New River terrace deposits. The exposure ages yield a long-term average incision rate of 43 m/my, which is comparable to rates measured elsewhere in the Appalachians. During specific intervals over the last 1 Ma, however, the New River's incision rate reached 100 m/my. Modern erosion rates on bedrock at a prominent knickpoint are between 28 and 87 m/my, in good agreement with rates calculated between terrace abandonment events and significantly faster than 2 m/my rates of surface erosion from ancient terrace remnants. Fluctuations between aggradation and rapid incision operate on timescales of 10⁴− 10⁵ year, similar to those of late Cenozoic climate variations, though uncertainties in model ages preclude direct correlation of these fluctuations to specific climate change events. These second-order fluctuations appear within a longer-term signal of dominant aggradation (until 2 Ma) followed by dominant incision. A similar signal is observed on other Appalachian rivers and may be the result of sediment supply fluctuations driven by the increased frequency of climate changes in the late Cenozoic.     

苏宏图戈壁沉积物分形空间变异性及其成因

戈壁沉积物组分结构具有分形特征,能否利用分形特征及其变异性指示戈壁地表沉积物形成过程中的风沙作用目前认识不足.通过计算内蒙古苏宏图戈壁地表表层沉积物的分形维数值并分析了其空间变异性.结果 表明:沉积物分形维数值随0.050～0.179 mm跃移组分含量的增大而增大,随0.179～20.919 mm蠕移及风蚀残余组分含量...     

Geomorphology and dynamics of the Mfolozi River floodplain, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

The geomorphology and dynamics of the Mfolozi River floodplain and estuary, located in the subtropical region of northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, were considered with respect to existing models of avulsion and alluvial stratigraphy. The Mfolozi River floodplain may be divided into regions based on longitudinal slope and dominant geomorphic processes. Confinement of the Mfolozi River above the floodplain has led to the development of an alluvial fan at the floodplain head, characterized by a relatively high sedimentation rate and avulsion frequency, at a gradient of 0.10%. The lower floodplain is controlled by sea level, with an average gradient of 0.05%. Between the two lies an extremely flat region with an average gradient of 0.02%, which may be controlled by faulting of the underlying bedrock.Avulsion occurrences on the Mfolozi floodplain are linked to the two main zones of aggradation, the alluvial fan at the floodplain head, and toward the river mouth in the lower floodplain. On the alluvial fan, normal flow conditions result in scour from local steepening. During infrequent, large flood events, the channel becomes overwhelmed with sediment and stream flow, and avulses. The resulting avulsion is regional, and affects the location of the channel from the floodplain head to the river mouth. Deposits resulting from such avulsions contribute significantly to the total volume of sediment stored in the floodplain, and tend to persist for long periods after the avulsion. Contrastingly, on the lower floodplain, reaching of the avulsion threshold is not necessarily linked to large flood events, but rather to long-term aggradation on the channel that decreases the existing channels gradient while increasing its elevation above the surrounding floodplain. Resultant avulsions tend to be local and do not contribute significantly to the overall volume of floodplain alluvium.     

粤西河流阶地的分布与特征

依据广东西部超过18条河流、39处河流阶地、至少35个14C、热释光的冲积层测龄数据等情况,可知粤西最多有4级河流阶地(不包括湛江组和北海组阶地);多数河流最高阶地靠近现代主河床分布,深切曲流中有河流阶地,反映近数十万年来河床改道不大;西江在封开有广东高度最高(76 m)的河流阶地,而广东高度最高的地下河阶地是111 m,大致显示出地面与地下剥蚀强度的差异;通常山区河流长度越大,河漫滩和河流阶地的高度越大,河流阶地的级数和级别也常增加;在河流上游的下段和中游的上段,河流阶地的高度最大且级数也最多;在晚更新世之前与后,河谷中下游地区的新构造运动趋势由上升变为稳定或沉降;连滩盆地是广东全新世构造沉降最典型的山间盆地。     

冲积河流的河相关系

根据河流床沙的运动情况,将天然河流区分为三种类型,并分析其沿程河相关系。     

腾格里沙漠南缘土门剖面末次间冰阶层段的粒度特征及其反映的气候-沉积环境

腾格里沙漠南缘土门剖面末次间冰阶层段（TMS 3）由风成砂、黄土状亚砂土、砂黄土、古土壤、湖相沉积物和冲积黄土等6种沉积相相互叠覆构成。粒度分析结果显示,该层段以砂质沉积物为主,粉砂次之,黏土最少,平均值分别为65.45%、26.72%和8.83%;在砂粒级中,以细砂含量最高,其次为极细砂,其余为中砂-粗砂颗粒。粉砂含量、黏土含量、M_z和σ在风成砂中呈现谷值,在其他沉积相为峰值,中砂-粗砂和细砂则相反。粒度指标指示腾格里沙漠南缘土门剖面末次间冰阶至少经历了13次暖湿和12次冷干的气候波动,且可划分为TMS 3e（54 200~59 750 a BP）、TMS 3d （54 200~40 800 a BP）、TMS 3c （40 800~32 800 a BP）、TMS 3b （32 800~25 400 a BP）和TMS 3a （25 400~22 940 a BP）等5个亚段, 25次冷暖波动与格陵兰冰芯和中国南方石笋记录的D/O事件以及北大西洋深海沉积物记录的H事件具有很高的同步性。     

Wind tunnel investigation of the influence of surface moisture content on the entrainment and erosion of beach sand by wind using sands from tropical humid coastal southern China

Wind erosion has major impacts on dune growth, desertification, and architecture on sea coasts. The deflation threshold shear velocity is a crucial parameter in predicting erosion, and surface moisture greatly affects this threshold and thus sand stability. Wind tunnel studies have shown that reduced moisture contents decrease entrainment thresholds and increase wind erosion, but field and wind tunnel test data is lacking for tropical humid coastal areas. In this study, we investigated the influence of surface moisture contents (at 1 mm depth) on sand entrainment and erosion using tropical humid coastal sands from southern China. Shear velocities were deduced from velocity profiles above the sand. The threshold shear velocity increased linearly with increasing ln100M (M, gravimetric moisture content). The increase was steepest below a moisture content of 0.0124 (i.e., at M_1.5, the moisture content in the sand at a matric potential of − 1.5 MPa). We compared several popular models that predict threshold shear velocity of moisture sediment, and found substantial differences between their predicted results. At a surface moisture content of 0.0124, the predicted increase in the wet threshold shear velocity compared with the dry threshold shear velocity ranged from 34% to 195%. The empirical model of Chepil and Selah simulated the data well for M < 0.0062 (i.e., 0.5M_1.5), whereas Belly's empirical model simulated the data best for M > 0.0062. Wind erosion modulus increased with increasing effective wind velocity following a power function with a positive exponent at all moisture contents, but decreased with increasing surface moisture content following a power function with a negative exponent. When wind speed and moisture content varied simultaneously, wind erosion modulus was proportional to the 0.73 power of effective wind velocity, but inversely proportional to the 1.48 power of M. The increase in resistance to erosion at low moisture contents probably results from cohesive forces in the water films surrounding the sand particles. At a moisture content near M_1.5, wind erosion ceases nearly for all wind velocities that we tested.     

Contrasting transient and steady-state rivers crossing active normal faults: new field observations from the Central Apennines, Italy

We present detailed data on channel morphology, valley width and grain size for three bedrock rivers crossing active normal faults which differ in their rate, history and spatial distribution of uplift. We evaluate the extent to which downstream changes in unit stream power correlate with footwall uplift, and use this information to identify which of the channels are likely to be undergoing a transient response to tectonics, and hence clarify the key geomorphic features associated with this signal. We demonstrate that rivers responding transiently to fault slip-rate increase are characterised by significant long-profile convexities (over-steepened reaches), a loss of hydraulic scaling, channel aspect ratios which are a strong non-linear function of slope, narrow valley widths, elevated coarse-fraction grain-sizes and reduced downstream variability in channel planform geometry. We are also able to quantify the steady-state configurations of channels, that have adjusted to differing spatial uplift fields. The results challenge the application of steady-state paradigms to transient settings and show that assumptions of power-law width scaling are inappropriate for rivers, that have not reached topographic steady state, whatever exponent is used. We also evaluate the likely evolution of bedrock channels responding transiently to fault acceleration and show that the headwaters are vulnerable to beheading if the rate of over-steepened reach migration is low. We estimate that in this setting the response timescale to eliminate long-profile convexity for these channels is ∼1 Myr, and that typical hydraulic scaling is regained within 3 Myr.     

土壤含水率对风沙流结构及风蚀量的影响

通过对科尔沁沙地典型生境(流动沙丘、沙质草地和农田)的土壤进行风洞试验,分析了不同含水率下3类土壤的风沙流结构、输沙率及总输沙量的变化趋势.结果表明:(1)不同含水率下,3类土壤的输沙率随高度的增加均呈现减小趋势,且有良好的指数函数关系.(2)随含水率的增加,流动沙丘和沙质草地土壤风沙流沙粒的平均跃移高度增加、0-12...     

Copper content and its distribution in soils of Tibet

The copper (Cu) content in 205 soil samples (0-20 cm) of Tibet, covering 5 soil classes, were analyzed. The results showed as follows: (1) the average content of Cu was 19.6 mg kg-1 (CV=49.28%); (2) the content of Cu in Tibetan soils was lower than the average level of China; (3) the content of Cu gradually decreased from the southeast to the northwest which was consistent with the direction of changes in the zonal successions of soil in Tibet; (4) Cu contents in Tibetan soils varied with soil properties, particularly soil parent materials that Cu contents were remarkably enriched in soils derived from shale materials.