Earth pillar formation on the Mountain Pine Ridge,Belize

The roadcuts of Belize's Mountain Pine Ridge feature numerous coarsely textured earth pillars less than 10 cm in height. Preferential impregnation of iron occurs over a buried pebble resulting in a dripline. The higher concentration of iron along the buried pebble's dripline is later oxidized and exposed to the surface by rainsplash erosion. For slopes greater than five degrees, the intensity of sheetwash erosion is great enough to remove pillars. Earth pillar genesis thus seems a function of laterization, slope angle, and sheetwash intensity.     

Argon diffusion domains in K-feldspar II: kinetic properties of MH-10

Viewing K-feldspars as containing a discrete distribution of diffusion domain sizes reconciles otherwise disconsonant features common in their ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age spectra and Arrhenius plots but raises a fundamental question. What are the features in K-feldspar that endow it with this behavior? We report here the results of two different kinds of experiments that help isolate the nature of the responsible diffusion properties. To assess the thermal stability of the diffusion domains during laboratory treatment, MH-10 K-feldspar was step-heated to 850°C, removed from the furnace and split. One split was reirradiated and the other returned to the furnace and completely degassed. Following re-irradiation, the original heating schedule was used to degas the second aliquot. Apart from the first 5% of gas released, the diffusion properties show little change relative to the original result but, it appears, the physical character of a portion of the smallest domain has been altered. Results of duplicate step-heating experiments of samples treated at 750°C, 950°C and 1100°C prior to irradiation are consistent with the conclusions of the double irradiation experiment. In a second series of experiments, sized aggregates of MH-10 K-feldspar were analyzed by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar step-heating method. The resultant log(r/r _o) plots reveal that the largest domain is annihilated when the particle size is reduced to about 50 μm. From this result we infer that the largest diffusion domain size is between 60 and about 130 μm in diameter. This estimate, together with knowledge of the relative domain size distribution obtained from modeling the log(r/r _o) plot, sets the size of the smallest domain to be less than about 1 μm. Microstructural examination of MH-10 K-feldspar identifies sub-grain features that correspond in size to our independent estimates for the largest and smallest diffusion domains. These results strongly support the view that low-temperature K-feldspars contain a distribution of diffusion length scales that are well approximated as discrete domain sizes and that laboratory heating below the onset of melting does not significatly affect the ability to obtain thermal reconstructions from the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar systematics.     

A field test of tubino's (1991) model of alternate bar formation

This study investigates the fluvial dynamics of straight natural stream channels. In particular, this experimental field study quantitatively assesses a physically based non-linear mathematical theory of alternate bar formation under unsteady natural flow conditions within a straight alluvial stream. The study site is an artificially straightened section of the Embarras River located approximately 16 km south of Champaign, Illinois. Data were collected on channel form, gradient, alternate bar dimensions, bed sediment size and flow stage over a 2 year study period. Both linear and non-linear steady flow hydrodynamic theories suggest that alternate bars are critical to the process of meander development. But these theories do not predict bar development for unsteady flow conditions, which typically occur in natural alluvial channels. Tubino (1991) suggests that bar evolution for a flood hydrograph can be divided into three parts: (1) a period of limited bar growth during the rising stage of the flood; (2) a stage of modest bar decay near the peak of the flood; and (3) a stage of non-linear bar growth during the prolonged falling stage of the flood. Bars developed during the falling limb of a hydrograph, and exhibited sequential development rather than the uniform growth along the reach predicted by Tubino's model. As flow stage decreased, short, low, fine-grained bars were superimposed on long, high and coarser-grained bars that developed under preceding high flow stages. These results suggest that the process of bar formation in artificially straightened natural streams with heterogeneous bed material may occur under different flow conditions and in a different manner than predicted by theoretical models. Further work should focus on attempting to isolate the physical mechanisms responsible for alternate bar formation in straight natural streams with heterogeneous bed material and flashy hydrologic flow regimes.     

Channel and floodplain response to recent abrupt climate change: The tyne basin,Northern England

This paper examines the timing, nature and magnitude of river response in upland, piedmont and lowland reaches of the Tyne basin, northern England, to high-frequency (20–30 year) changes in climate and flood regime since 1700 AD. Over this period fluvial activity has been characterized by alternating phases of river-bed incision and stability coinciding with non-random, decadal-scale fluctuations in flood frequency and hydroclimate that appear to be linked to changes in large-scale upper atmospheric circulation patterns. Episodes of widespread channel bed incision (1760–1799, 1875–1894, 1955–1969) result from a higher frequency of large floods (> 20 year return period) and cool, wet climate under meridional circulation regimes. Phases of more moderate floods (5–20 year return period), corresponding to zonal circulation types (1820–1874, 1920–1954), are characterized by enhanced lateral reworking and sediment transfer in upper reaches of the catchment, and channel narrowing and infilling downstream. Rates of fluvial activity are reduced in intermediate periods (1800–1819, 1895–1919) with no dominant circulation regime associated with lower flood frequency and magnitude. The results of this study provide a valuable guide for forecasting probable drainage basin and channel response to future climate change.     

Going Home: The Migration of Puerto Rican-Born Women from the United States to Puerto Rico*

This paper analyzes the migration of Puerto Rican-born women from the United States to Puerto Rico using longitudinal data. We hypothesize that sojourn length in the United States is a function of both structural (macro-level economic and cultural factors) and behavioral (micro-level life-cycle experiences and personal attributes) variables. We test these hypotheses by estimating a proportional hazards model. The parameter estimates of this model indicate that sojourn length in the United States, and thus the decision to return to Puerto Rico, is a function of wage trends and community characteristics on the mainland plus a number of individual attributes that include education, marriage, and childbirth.