Sediment transport and trapping in the Hudson River estuary

The Hudson River estuary has a pronounced turbidity maximum zone, in which rapid, short-term deposition of sediment occurs during and following the spring freshet. Water-column measurements of currents and suspended sediment were performed during the spring of 1999 to determine the rate and mechanisms of sediment transport and trapping in the estuary. The net convergence of sediment in the lower estuary was approximately 300,000 tons, consistent with an estimate based on sediment cores. The major input of sediment from the watershed occurred during the spring freshet, as expected. Unexpected, however, was that an even larger quantity of sediment was transported landward into the estuary during the 3-mo observation period. The landward movement was largely accomplished by tidal pumping (i.e., the correlation between concentration and velocity at tidal frequencies) during spring tides, when the concentrations were 5 to 10 times higher than during neap tides. The landward flux is not consistent with the long-term sediment budget, which requires a seaward flux at the mouth to account for the excess input from the watershed relative to net accumulation. The anomalous, landward transport in 1999 occurred in part because the freshet was relatively weak, and the freshet occurred during neapetides when sediment resuspension was minimal. An extreme freshet occurred during 1998, which may have provided a repository of sediment just seaward of the mouth that re-entered the estuary in 1999. The amplitude of the spring freshet and its timing with respect to the spring-neap cycle cause large interannual variations in estuarine sediment flux. These variations can result in the remobilization of previously deposited sediment, the mass of which may exceed the annual inputs from the watershed.     

Effect of faceting on pore geometry in texturally equilibrated rocks: implications for low permeability at low porosity

The pore geometry of texturally equilibrated rocks is controlled by the interfacial energy ratio between grain boundaries and solid–liquid boundaries. Faceting at pore walls, which is a common feature of pore networks in rocks, strongly affects the liquid distribution. We investigated the effects of faceting on the equilibrium pore geometries based on image analysis of several systems with various degrees of faceting and dihedral angles. The degree of faceting was assessed by the F value, which is the ratio of the flat interface length at the pore wall to the length of total interfacial boundary between solid and liquid. The F values tend to increase with increasing liquid volume fraction. Little-faceted systems show relatively homogeneous liquid distribution. Moderately-faceted systems with a higher dihedral angle (∼55°) are characterized by development of large pores surrounded by faceted walls and complementary shrinkage of triple junction tubes, whereas strongly faceted systems with a low dihedral angle show no evidence of shrinking triple junction tubes, although most pores are surrounded by faceted pore walls. The faceted systems tend to produce more facet boundaries at the pore walls due to the difference of interfacial energies between the flat and curved surfaces. In the systems with the same degree of faceting, heterogeneity of liquid distribution tends to decrease with dihedral angle. For faceting systems, the permeability of texturally equilibrated rocks with low liquid fraction would be significantly decreased by the relative reduction of triple junction volumes or by closure of channels along grain edge due to the truncation of facet walls.     

Geochemistry of Neogene sedimentary rocks from Borneo Basin,East Malaysia: Paleo-weathering,provenance and tectonic setting

Multi-element geochemistry and mineralogy are used to characterize the chemical composition, degree of paleo-weathering, provenance and tectonic settings of the Neogene sedimentary rocks of Borneo Basin of east Malaysia. Sedimentary rocks are classified as extremely weathered sandstones (i.e. wacke, arkose, litharenite, Fe-sandstone and quartz arenite). Wacke, arkose, litharenite and Fe-sandstone are characterized by post-depositional K-metasomatism and zircon enrichment through sediment recycling. Geochemical characteristics suggest a mixed-nature provenance for the sandstones and the variable tectonic settings possibly mirror the complexity of the basin. Enriched Cr in quartz arenite and Fe-sandstone are related to the contribution from ophiolite or fractionation of Cr-bearing minerals.     

Seasonal ground ice impacts on spring ecohydrological conditions in a western boreal plains peatland

Peatlands in the Western Boreal Plains act as important water sources in the landscape. Their persistence, despite potential evapotranspiration (PET) often exceeding annual precipitation, is attributed to various water storage mechanisms. One storage element that has been understudied is seasonal ground ice (SGI). This study characterized spring SGI conditions and explored its impacts on available energy, actual evapotranspiration, water table, and near surface soil moisture in a western boreal plains peatland. The majority of SGI melt took place over May 2017. Microtopography had limited impact on melt rates due to wet conditions. SGI melt released 139mm in ice water equivalent (IWE) within the top 30cm of the peat, and weak significant relationships with water table and surface moisture suggest that SGI could be important for maintaining vegetation transpiration during dry springs. Melting SGI decreased available energy causing small reductions in PET (<10mm over the melt period) and appeared to reduce actual evapotranspiration variability but not mean rates, likely due to slow melt rates. This suggests that melting SGI supplies water, allowing evapotranspiration to occur at near potential rates, but reduces the overall rate at which evapotranspiration could occur (PET). The role of SGI may help peatlands in headwater catchments act as a conveyor of water to downstream landscapes during the spring while acting as a supply of water for the peatland. Future work should investigate SGI influences on evapotranspiration under differing peatland types, wet and dry spring conditions, and if the spatial variability of SGI melt leads to spatial variability in evapotranspiration.     

Examining the geometry,age and genesis of buried Quaternary valley systems in the Midland Valley of Scotland,UK

Buried palaeo‐valley systems have been identified widely beneath lowland parts of the UK including eastern England, central England, south Wales and the North Sea. In the Midland Valley of Scotland palaeo‐valleys have been identified yet the age and genesis of these enigmatic features remain poorly understood. This study utilizes a digital data set of over 100 000 boreholes that penetrate the full thickness of deposits in the Midland Valley of Scotland. It identified 18 buried palaeo‐valleys, which range from 4 to 36 km in length and 24 to 162 m in depth. Geometric analysis has revealed four distinct valley morphologies, which were formed by different subglacial and subaerial processes. Some palaeo‐valleys cross‐cut each other with the deepest features aligning east–west. These east–west features align with the reconstructed ice‐flow direction under maximum conditions of the Main Late Devensian glaciation. The shallower features appear more aligned to ice‐flow direction during ice‐sheet retreat, and were therefore probably incised under more restricted ice‐sheet configurations. The bedrock lithology influences and enhances the position and depth of palaeo‐valleys in this lowland glacial terrain. Faults have juxtaposed Palaeozoic sedimentary and igneous rocks and the deepest palaeo‐valleys occur immediately down‐ice of knick‐points in the more resistant igneous bedrock. The features are regularly reused and the fills are dominated by glacial fluvial and glacial marine deposits. This suggests that the majority of infilling of the features happened during deglaciation and may be unrelated to the processes that cut them.     

Modeling the hydroclimatology of the midwestern United States. Part 2: future climate

An ensemble of six 22-year numerical experiments was conducted to quantify the response of soil moisture to multiple climate change scenarios over the American Midwest. Regional Climate Model version 3 (RegCM3) was run using two surface physics schemes: Integrated Biosphere Simulator (IBIS) and Biosphere-Atmosphere Transfer Scheme 1e (BATS1e); and two convective closure assumptions: Fritsch and Chappell and Arakawa and Schubert. Experiments were forced with a surrogate climate change scenario constructed using the National Centers for Environmental Prediction-Department of Energy Reanalysis 2 dataset and the ECHAM5 A1B climate change scenario. RegCM3-IBIS and RegCM3-BATS1e simulate increased two-meter air temperature and downward longwave radiation throughout the year under both climate change scenarios. While differences in shortwave radiation are relatively small; some model configurations and climate change scenarios produce additional precipitation, evapotranspiration, and total runoff during the spring and summer. Soil moisture is unchanged or increased throughout the growing season as enhanced rainfall offsets greater evaporative demand. Negligible drying in root zone soil moisture is found in all climate change experiments conducted, regardless of surface physics scheme, boundary conditions, or convective closure assumption.     

Development of a GIS model to enhance macrophyte re-establishment projects

Diverse native aquatic macrophytes serve a number of physical and biological functions in the aquatic environment and provide essential habitat for several fish species. In systems that lack submersed macrophytes, native macrophyte re-establishment can be used to revitalize the aquatic community. Planning re-establishment projects requires knowledge of the system along with the growth requirements of macrophytes. Prior studies have identified factors that are important for macrophyte colonization, persistence, and dispersal. However, deductive approaches to identify macrophyte habitat that is suitable for management application have not been developed. A potential solution to this problem is the incorporation of waterscape-wide variables into a Geographic Information System (GIS) and the use of spatial modeling techniques to identify suitable macrophyte habitat. This provides a scientifically based approach to macrophyte re-establishment planning to make efforts more efficient and to recognize potential coverage. The flexibility, scalability, and topological advantages of using a GIS to identify and visualize habitat allow integration with other spatial ecological variables to improve the management of aquatic resources from plants to fish, including invasive species mitigation. Using Little Bear Creek Reservoir, Alabama, as an example system, we illustrate a GIS modeling process that can be applied to any system where the identification of macrophyte habitat is relevant to aquatic resource management goals.     

Estimating the number of impact flashes visible on the Moon from an orbiting camera

Abstract— Using a dust flux model and experimental data on the efficiency of light emission upon impact, the number of impact flashes visible on the Moon by a camera on a lunar orbiter is estimated.