Flood-tide Delta Morphological Change at the Gippsland Lakes Artificial Entrance,Australia (1889–2009)

Analysis of historical survey and navigation charts, aerial imagery, and digital hydro-data (representing a time-series of 1889–2009) allows the morphological evolution of a flood-tide delta at the artificial entrance to the Gippsland Lakes (Victoria, Australia) to be visualised and quantified. Analysis shows that flood-tide delta growth has imposed progressively greater demands upon port managers for publicly funded maintenance dredging. This flood-tide delta growth corresponds with a progressive diminution of Gippsland Lakes catchment river discharge volumes, and dampening of flow variability, due to both regional precipitation pattern changes and changes in catchment water resource allocation. Future climate change predictions for the Gippsland Lakes catchment and coastal area suggest both further decreases in catchment river discharge, and changing sediment flux along this sector of the Ninety Mile Beach. Thus, scope for flood-tide delta nourishment will probably increase, as will the demand for mitigation of the inevitable effects upon entrance channel navigability. Information derived from the analysis of time-series bathymetry used for this study offers baseline information in support of stakeholder consensus building regarding options for maintaining navigability. Analysis points to the merit of considering (and testing via morphological modelling) alternative options for navigation channel maintenance than those in present practice. We argue that the circumstances prevailing at the artificial entrance call for consideration of engineered configuration changes practised elsewhere by entrance managers faced with similar issues.     

TRACKING THE BABY BOOM,THE BABY BUST,AND THE ECHO GENERATIONS: HOW AGE COMPOSITION REGULATES US MIGRATION*

US regional and state migration data from the 1940s–80s, when members of the baby boom generation aged into their years of peak labor force mobility, suggest ways in which changing age composition regulates geographical mobility and interregional migration. Labor supply pressure plays a key role in the dynamics of the national migration system. A “delayed mobility” effect in the 1980s similar to the delayed fertility of the baby boom cohorts appears to be a result of the depressed rates of mobility experienced by members of this generation when they flooded regional labor markets with record numbers of entrants in the 1970s. Recent temporal shifts in age-specific volumes of interregional migration help predict the future pace of migration based upon the projected age distribution of the nation.     

Putting Japanese investment in Europe in its place

Summary Research on Japanese economic activity in Europe concentrates almost exclusively on investment in manufacturing. However, this paper demonstrates that this emphasis both underestimates the longevity of Japanese direct investment in Europe and also grossly underdefines the importance of services. Not only does Japanese direct investment have a much longer history in Europe than is usually recognized but also—and perhaps more significantly—the bulk of that investment is not in manufacturing production per se but in a variety of circulation services. Using establishment-level data, this paper shows that the spatial manifestation of these circulation services is very different from that of manufacturing production.     

On the use of geochronology of detrital grains in determining the time of deposition of clastic sedimentary strata

Placing geologic events in a temporal framework is essential to telling the story of Earth history. However, clastic sedimentary rocks can be difficult to date in an absolute reference because they are made up of grains that are older than the rock in which they are now found, and some clastic rocks do not contain fossils that allow precise reference to the Geologic Timescale. For such rocks, the isotopic dating of detrital minerals can be used to estimate the time of deposition; the clastic rock must be younger than the youngest grain analysed. However, many researchers eschew this simple and straightforward approach in favour of schemes that estimate the maximum allowable depositional age as the weighted mean of the age of several grains, chosen by a variety of selection criteria. This is a mistake; in the absence of a geochemical resemblance apart from the similarity of their age, detrital grains should not be assumed to have originated in the same system and therefore any averaging or other manipulation of such data is statistically invalid and produces results without geologic significance. In the absence of interbedded volcanic rocks or index fossils, dating of detrital minerals can be an important aid in understanding the time of deposition of clastic rocks, but the best estimate will come from taking note of the youngest single grain and not by inappropriately averaging data.     

DEVELOPING SCENARIOS OF TEMPERATURE THRESHOLDS

Scenarios of future climates must be made so that the potential impacts of climatic change can be assessed. A simple method is presented for developing regional scenarios of the number of days per month above a selected temperature. The method uses the observational record of daily maximum temperatures to develop linear regressions between monthly average temperature and the number of days above the threshold. The relationships are then extrapolated to the average temperature conditions estimated by General Circulation Models (GCMs) and the new number of days determined. The method is demonstrated by developing a set of scenarios for the United States for a 90° F threshold. The validity of the approach, including consideration of the linearity of the relationships and the amount of extrapolation needed, is discussed. The regional variability of the results can be explained in climatological terms while local variations are associated with topographic and hydrologic effects. The results are in general agreement with estimates obtained directly from GCM results.     

Lake Floor Morphology and Sediment Architecture of Lake Torneträsk,Northern Sweden

Here we present datasets from a hydroacoustic survey in July 2011 at Lake Torneträsk, northern Sweden. Our hydroacoustic data exhibit lake floor morphologies formed by glacial erosion and accumulation processes, insights into lacustrine sediment accumulation since the beginning of deglaciation, and information on seismic activity along the Pärvie Fault. Features of glacial scouring with a high‐energy relief, steep slopes, and relative reliefs of more than 50 m are observed in the large W‐basin. The remainder of the lacustrine subsurface appears to host a broad variety of well preserved formations from glacial accumulation related to the last retreat of the Fennoscandian ice sheet. Deposition of glaciolacustrine and lacustrine sediments is focused in areas situated in proximity to major inlets. Sediment accumulation in distal areas of the lake seldom exceeds 2 m or is not observable. We assume that lack of sediment deposition in the lake is a result of different factors, including low rates of erosion in the catchment, a previously high lake level leading to deposition of sediments in higher elevated paleodeltas, tributaries carrying low suspension loads as a result of sedimentation in upstream lakes, and an overall low productivity in the lake. A clear off‐shore trace of the Pärvie Fault could not be detected from our hydroacoustic data. However, an absence of sediment disturbance in close proximity to the presumed fault trace implies minimal seismic activity since deposition of the glaciolacustrine and lacustrine sediments.     

The application of GPR to barrier-lagoon sedimentation study in Boao of Hainan Island

Sedimentary successions and internal structure of the coastal barrier-lagoon system of Boao, eastern Hainan Island were studied through utilizing data from test holes and trenches and ground-penetrating-radar (GPR) profiles. During late Pleistocene, fluvial and delta plains developed over an unevenly eroded bedrock during low sea level stand, followed by the formation of littoral and lagoon facies and defined coastal barrier-lagoon-estuary system during the post-glacial uppermost Pleistocene-lower Holocene eustatic rise of the sea level, and the upper Holocene high stand. GPR results show that Yudaitan, a sandy coastal bar backed by a low-laying land (shoal) just east of the active lagoon, is a continuous, parallel and slightly-wavy reflectors indicating homogeneous sandy or sandy gravel sediments, and inclined reflectors partly caused by progradation and accumulation of beach sand and gravel. Quasi-continuous, hummocky and chaotic reflectors from the shoal of Nangang village correspond to mixed accumula