Al/Si interdiffusion in albite: effect of pressure and the role of hydrogen

The effect of pressure on the rate of Al/Si disorder in albite has been determined at temperatures from 800° C to 1050° C and at pressures up to 24 kbar, using dried samples in welded Pt containers, in piston-cylinder devices and internally-heated gas apparatus. In the piston-cylinder device with NaCl medium, the effect of pressure is profound. A pure low albite from Clear Creek, California reaches the equilibrium state of disorder at 850° C and 22 kbar in 10 h, whereas at 6 kbar it has not equilibrated in three weeks, and at one bar it probably cannot be disordered at 850° C in the laboratory. The enhancement of Al/Si interdiffusion takes place under dry conditions: any H₂O penetrating the samples would have produced melting, and none was observed. Hydrogen, however, is produced by dissociation of moisture in the pressure medium and can penetrate the Pt sample capsules. If the samples are deprived of hydrogen by replacing NaCl with glass or by embedding the samples in a hydrogen getter such as Fe₂O₃ or ZnO, the order-disorder reaction is greatly inhibited.A mechanism is suggested in which OH^– groups are formed by hydrogen hopping in albite. The smaller charge on the tetrahedral complex induces transient coordination of Al greater than four at elevated pressures, facilitating Al/Si interchange during the bond-breaking process. This results in an exponential pressure dependence of diffusion. It is also suggested that the presence of hydrogen at high pressures can greatly effect the mechanical properties and reactivity of deep crustal and mantle rocks. In nature, as well as in the laboratory, equilibration at elevated pressures may be as much dependent on the availability of hydrogen as on time or temperature.     

Earthquake-induced landslides in Central America

Central America is a region of high seismic activity and the impact of destructive earthquakes is often aggravated by the triggering of landslides. Data are presented for earthquake-triggered landslides in the region and their characteristics are compared with global relationships between the area of landsliding and earthquake magnitude. We find that the areas affected by landslides are similar to other parts of the world but in certain parts of Central America, the numbers of slides are disproportionate for the size of the earthquakes. We also find that there are important differences between the characteristics of landslides in different parts of the Central American isthmus, soil falls and slides in steep slopes in volcanic soils predominate in Guatemala and El Salvador, whereas extensive translational slides in lateritic soils on large slopes are the principal hazard in Costa Rica and Panama. Methods for assessing landslide hazards, considering both rainfall and earthquakes as triggering mechanisms, developed in Costa Rica appear not to be suitable for direct application in the northern countries of the isthmus, for which modified approaches are required.     

Assessment of temporal changes in coastal sand dune environments using the log-hyperbolic grain-size method

Abstract Three cores (<9 m long) recovered from late Holocene coastal sand dunes in Northumberland, north‐eastern England, were examined stratigraphically and dated by the infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) method to the time period between the Medieval Warm Period (MWP; ≈ 900–1200 AD) and Little Ice Age (LIA; ≈ 1550–1800 AD). Grain‐size variability and CaCO₃ content were determined at 10‐mm intervals throughout parts of the cores. The sahara computer program was used to plot the log‐hyperbolic distribution (LHD) of grain‐size spectra from different stratigraphic levels and estimate the LHD's statistical components. Core samples plot variously in the depositional and erosional domains of the hyperbolic chi (χ) vs. xi (ξ) shape triangle, which describes components of sediment sorting. Depositional and erosional phases, discriminated within the LHD's shape triangle, cannot readily be resolved from core stratigraphies or correlated between cores. IRSL dates from single cores show a clustering about the period 1430–1540. Between the dated horizons, dunes accreted at ≈ 0·02–0·05 m year^?1, enabling the timing of excursions in χ and ξ to be estimated. These excursions, which can be resolved to the subannual level between the dated horizons, may be related to deposition by episodic storms or storm surges in the North Sea region, which is supported by historical documentary evidence. This innovative use of the LHD method and its derived statistics can be used successfully to describe temporal trends in coastal depositional environments and identify likely storm events in dune sediment records.     

A surge of Perseibreen, Svalbard, examined using aerial photography and ASTER high resolution satellite imagery

The identification of surge activity is important in assessing the duration of the active and quiescent phases of the surge cycle of Svalbard glaciers. Satellite and aerial photographic images are used to identify and describe the form and flow of Perseibreen, a valley glacier of 59 km² on the east coast of Spitsbergen. Heavy surface crevassing and a steep ice front, indicative of surge activity, were first observed on Perseibreen in April 2002. Examination of high resolution (15 m) Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) satellite imagery confirmed this surge activity. Perseibreen retreated by almost 750 m between 1961 and 1990. Between 1990 and the summer of 2000, Perseibreen switched from retreat and its front began to advance. Rapid advance was underway during the period June 2000 to May 2001, with terminus advance at over 400 m yr⁻¹. Between May and August 2001 the rate increased to over 750 m yr⁻¹. The observed crevasse orientation indicates that ice was in longitudinal tension, suggesting the down-glacier transfer of mass. Ice surface velocities, derived from image correlation between ASTER images, were 2-2.5 m d⁻¹ between May and August 2001. The glacier was flowing at a relatively uniform speed with sharp velocity gradients located close to its lateral margins, a velocity structure typical of ice masses in the active phase of the surge cycle. The stress regime is extensional throughout and the surge appears to be initiated low on the glacier. This is similar to the active-phase dynamics of other Svalbard tidewater glaciers. Perseibreen has probably been inactive since at least 1870, a period of about 130 years to the present surge which defines a minimum length for the quiescent phase.     

An investigation into the efficiency of particle size separation using Stokes’ Law

The accuracy of gravimetric fractionation as a means of obtaining size fractions from marine sediments has been explored. Analysis of the particle size distribution and sediment properties of fractions obtained using this method was undertaken. This has highlighted the extent to which experimental artefacts rather than variations in sediment characteristics may adversely affect the efficiency of the fractionation process. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Extreme flood‐driven fluvial bank erosion and sediment loads: direct process measurements using integrated Mobile Laser Scanning (MLS) and hydro‐acoustic techniques

This methods paper details the first attempt at monitoring bank erosion, flow and suspended sediment at a site during flooding on the Mekong River induced by the passage of tropical cyclones. We deployed integrated mobile laser scanning (MLS) and multibeam echo sounding (MBES), alongside acoustic Doppler current profiling (aDcp), to directly measure changes in river bank and bed at high (~0.05 m) spatial resolution, in conjunction with measurements of flow and suspended sediment dynamics. We outline the methodological steps used to collect and process this complex point cloud data, and detail the procedures used to process and calibrate the aDcp flow and sediment flux data. A comparison with conventional remote sensing methods of estimating bank erosion, using aerial images and Landsat imagery, reveals that traditional techniques are error prone at the high temporal resolutions required to quantify the patterns and volumes of bank erosion induced by the passage of individual flood events. Our analysis reveals the importance of cyclone‐driven flood events in causing high rates of erosion and suspended sediment transport, with a c. twofold increase in bank erosion volumes and a fourfold increase in suspended sediment volumes in the cyclone‐affected wet season. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bedrock geology controls on catchment storage,mixing, and release: A comparative analysis of 16 nested catchments

The bedrock controls on catchment mixing, storage, and release have been actively studied in recent years. However, it has been difficult to find neighbouring catchments with sufficiently different and clean expressions of geology to do comparative analysis. Here, we present new data for 16 nested catchments (0.45 to 410 km²) in the Alzette River basin (Luxembourg) that span a range of clean and mixed expressions of schists, phyllites, sandstones, and quartzites to quantify the relationships between bedrock permeability and metrics of water storage and release. We examined 9 years' worth of precipitation and discharge data, and 6 years of fortnightly stable isotope data in streamflow, to explore how bedrock permeability controls (a) streamflow regime metrics, (b) catchment storage, and (c) isotope response and catchment mean transit time (MTT). We used annual and winter precipitation–run‐off ratios, as well as average summer and winter precipitation–run‐off ratios to characterise the streamflow regime in our 16 study catchments. Catchment storage was then used as a metric for catchment comparison. Water mixing potential of 11 catchments was quantified via the standard deviation in streamflow δD (σδD) and the amplitude ratio (A_S/A_P) of annual cycles of δ¹⁸O in streamflow and precipitation. Catchment MTT values were estimated via both stable isotope signature damping and hydraulic turnover calculations. In our 16 nested catchments, the variance in ratios of summer versus winter average run‐off was best explained by bedrock permeability. Whereas active storage (defined here as a measure of the observed maximum interannual variability in catchment storage) ranged from 107 to 373 mm, total catchment storage (defined as the maximum catchment storage connected to the stream network) extended up to ~1700 mm (±200 mm). Catchment bedrock permeability was strongly correlated with mixing proxies of σδD in streamflow and δ¹⁸O A_S/A_P ratios. Catchment MTT values ranged from 0.5 to 2 years, based on stable isotope signature damping, and from 0.5 to 10 years, based on hydraulic turnover.     

The relevance of preferential flow in catchment scale simulations: Calibrating a 3D dual-permeability model using DREAM

The occurrence of preferential flow in the subsurface has often been shown in field experiments. However, preferential flow is rarely included in models simulating the hydrological response at the catchment scale. If it is considered, preferential flow parameters are typically determined at the plot scale and then transferred to larger-scale simulations. Here, we successfully used the optimization algorithm DiffeRential Evolution Adaptive Metropolis (DREAM) to calibrate a 3D physics-based dual-permeability model directly at the catchment scale. In order to keep computational costs of the optimization routine at a reasonable level, we limited the number of parameters to be calibrated to the ones that had been shown before to be most influential for the simulation of discharge. We also calibrated parameters of the matrix domain and the macropore domain with a fixed parameter ratio between soil layers instead of calibrating every layer separately. These ratios reflected observed depth profiles of soil hydraulic properties at our study site. The dual-permeability parameter sets identified during calibration were able to simulate observed discharge time series satisfactorily but did not outperform a calibrated single-domain reference model scenario. Saturated hydraulic conductivities of the macropore domain were calibrated such that they became very similar to matrix saturated hydraulic conductivities, thereby effectively removing the effect of macropores. This suggests that the incorporation of vertical preferential flow as represented by the dual-permeability approach was not relevant for reproducing the hydrometric response reasonably well in the studied catchment. We also tested the scale-invariance of the calibrated dual-permeability parameter sets by using the parameter sets performing best at catchment scale to simulate plot-scale bromide depth profiles obtained from tracer irrigation experiments. This parameter transfer proved to be not successful, indicating that soil hydraulic parameters are scale-variant, independent of the direction of parameter transfer.     

Multi-attribute machine learning analysis for weak BSR detection in the Pegasus Basin,Offshore New Zealand

Marine Geophysical Research - Much of our knowledge of gas hydrate in the Dongsha area of the South China Sea has been gained through intensive geophysical surveys and drilling. However, many...