The 1786 earthquake-triggered landslide dam and subsequent dam-break flood on the Dadu River, southwestern China — Reply

A short reply to discussion by Chanson.     

Environmental Changes at the Desert Margin: An Assessment of Recent Paleolimnological Records in Lake Qarun, Middle Egypt

Lake Qarun has been profoundly affected by a combination of human activities and climatic changes during the past 5000 years. Instrumental records available for the 20th century show that during most of this period both lake water level and salinity increased and that by the late 1980s lake water salinity was approximately that of seawater. Sediment cores (c. 1 m long) were collected from this shallow (Z_max 8.4 m) saline lake in 1998 and the master core (QARU1) was used to examine the potential of paleolimnology for reconstructing the recent environmental history of the site. According to ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb radio-assay, the recent sediment accumulation rate in QARU1 was around 5 mm year⁻¹ during the latter half of the 20th century but radionuclide levels were low. Spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCPs) were present in the upper c. 30 cm of QARU1 and indicates contamination by low level particulate pollution, probably beginning around 1950. The record of exotic pollen (Casuarina) indicated that sediment at 51–52 cm depth dated to around 1930. Otherwise the pollen spectra indicated a strongly disturbed landscape with high ruderals and increased tree planting particularly since c. 1950. Diatom records were strongly affected by taphonomic processes including reworking and differential preservation but typical marine diatoms increased after the 1920s. Instrumental records show that the lake became more saline at this time. Freshwater taxa were present at approximately similar abundances throughout the core. This distribution probably reflected a combination of processes. Reworking of ancient freshwater diatomites is one likely source for freshwater diatoms in QARU1 but some taxa must also be contributed via the freshwater inflows. Overall, the diatom stratigraphy indicated increasingly salinity since the 1920s but provided no firm evidence of lake eutrophication. Diatom inferred salinity reconstructions were in only partial agreement with instrumental records but inferred for the lower section of the core (pre 20th century to the 1960s) accord with measured water salinity values. Surficial sediments of Lake Qarun contain environmental change records for the 20th century period but high sediment accumulation rate and pollen reflect the high degree of human disturbance in the region. Because of poor preservation and evidence of reworking, the relationships between diatom records and past water quality changes require careful interpretation, especially in the upper section of the core. Nevertheless, early to mid 20th century measurements of increasing lake water salinity are well supported by sediment records, a change that is probably linked to ingress of saline ground water     

Magnetic remanence acquisition in Finnish lake sediments

Summary. Magnetic studies have been carried out on organic sediments from five Finnish lakes to determine the carrier(s) of the stable NRM and to find how the remanence is acquired. Single or pseudo-single domain 'magnetite' is thought to carry the NRM. It was found that drying and cooling sediment samples resulted in a loss of NRM which was attributed to the misalignment of small magnetic particles. Low-field experiments were carried out on sediment samples in different physical states and from the results of these investigations it was concluded that post-depositional processes are important in the acquisition of an NRM. Stabilization of magnetic grains is thought to be due to the growth of gels in the organic sediment rather than to dewatering.     

Geomagnetic secular acceleration

Summary. A spherical harmonic model of the second time-derivative of the geomagnetic field is determined, for the first time, directly from measures of the secular acceleration based on observatory annual mean data. The data span the interval 1964.5–1975.5, and 165 observatories are included. The model comprises the 32 coefficients of degree and order up to 6 that are significant at the 5 per cent level. Its primary purpose is to aid in the reduction of data to epoch for the 1980 series of navigational charts. The model is compared with earlier estimates of secular acceleration, derived by less direct methods.     

Shock temperatures in anorthite glass

Summary. Temperatures of CaAl₂Si₂O₈ (anorthite glass) shocked to pressures between 48 and 117 GPa have been measured in the range from 2500 to 5600 K, using optical pyrometry techniques. The pressure dependence of the shock temperatures deviates significantly from predictions based on a single high-pressure phase. Either a variable specific heat, or the existence of three phase transitions, at pressures of about 55, 85 and 100 GPa and with transition energies of about 0.5 MJ kg⁻¹ each (∼ 1.5 MJ kg⁻¹ total) can explain the shock-temperature data. The proposed phase transition at 100 GPa can possibly be identified with the stishovite melting transition. Theoretical models of the time dependence of the thermal radiation from the shocked anorthite based on the geometry of the experiment and the absorptive properties of the shocked material yield good agreement with observations, indicating that it is not necessary to invoke intrinsic time dependences to explain the data in many cases. Observed time dependences were used to calculate absorption coefficients of the shocked material of from about 2 mm⁻¹ to greater than 24 mm⁻¹– an increasing function of shock pressure. The assumption that the shocked material radiates as a black body is supported by the theoretical model, and by the close agreement between measured and calculated black body spectral radiance as a function of wavelength.     

A Teleseismic Delay Time Study Across the Central African Shear Zone In the Adamawa Region of Cameroon, West Africa

Summary. P -wave relative teleseismic residuals were measured for a network of seismological stations along a 300 km profile across the Adamawa Plateau and the Central African Shear Zone of central Cameroon, to determine the variation in crust and upper mantle velocity associated with these structures. A plot of the mean relative residuals for the stations shows a long wavelength (> 300 km) variation of amplitude 0.45 s. the slowest arrivals are located over and just to the north, of the faulted northern margin of the Adamawa Plateau. the residuals do not correlate with topography, surface geology or the previously determined crustal structure, in any simple way.
The Aki inversion technique has been used to invert the relative residuals into a 3-D model of velocity perturbations from a mean earth model. the results show the region is divided roughly into three blocks by two subvertical boundaries, striking ENE and traversing both the crust and upper mantle down to depths greater than 190km. the central block, which is 2 per cent slower than the adjacent blocks, roughly corresponds to the Central African Shear Zone. the Adamawa Plateau, as an individual uplifted area, is explained by the interaction of a regional anomalous upper mantle associated with the West African Rift System, and the Central African Shear Zone, which provided a conduit for heat flow to the surface.     

Late Quaternary palaeolimnology of a tropical marl lake: Wallywash Great Pond,Jamaica

Wallywash Great Pond (17° 57 N, 77° 48 W, 7 m a.s.l.) is the largest perennial lake in Jamaica. It occupies a fault trough within the karstic White Limestone. The Great Pond is a hardwater lake with a pH of 8.2–8.6 and an alkalinity of 3.6–3.9 meq 1^–1. Its chemistry is strongly influenced by the spring discharge from the limestone. The lake water is subject to degassing, evaporation and bicarbonate assimilation by submerged plants and algae, resulting in marl precipitation. A 9.23 m core (WGP2), taken from a water depth of 2.8 m, was analysed for magnetic susceptibility, loss-on-ignition, carbonate content, mole % MgCO₃ in calcite, and stable isotopes in the fine carbonate fraction. The chronology is based on ten¹⁴C and four U/Th dates. Four main sediment types alternate in the core: marl; organic, calcareous mud; organic mud or peat; and earthy, brown, calcareous mud. The marls represent periods of wet/warm climate during sea-level highstands and the organic deposits, shallower, swampy conditions. In contrast, the brown, calcareous muds were laid down when the lake was dry or ephemeral. The last interglacial (120 000- 106 000 yr BP) is represented by three distinct marl units. After a dry interval, stable, wet/warm conditions set in from 106 000 to 93 000 yr BP. A dry/cool climate prevailed between 93 000 and at least 9500 yr BP. Three subsequent cycles of alternating wet and dry conditions culminated in flooding of the basin by the Black River during the late Holocene. These recent events cannot be accurately dated by¹⁴C due to significant and temporally-variable inputs of dead carbon from the springs.