Quantification of bedform dynamics and bedload sediment flux in sandy braided rivers from airborne and satellite imagery

Images from specially-commissioned aeroplane sorties (manned aerial vehicle, MAV), repeat unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) surveys, and Planet CubeSat satellites are used to quantify dune and bar dynamics in the sandy braided South Saskatchewan River, Canada. Structure-from-Motion (SfM) techniques and application of a depth-brightness model are used to produce a series of Digital Surface Models (DSMs) at low and near-bankfull flows. A number of technical and image processing challenges are described that arise from the application of SfM in dry and submerged environments. A model for best practice is presented and analysis suggests a depth-brightness model approach can represent the different scales of bedforms present in sandy braided rivers with low-turbidity and shallow (< 2 m deep) water. The aerial imagery is used to quantify the spatial distribution of unit bar and dune migration rate in an 18 km reach and three ~1 km long reaches respectively. Dune and unit bar migration rates are highly variable in response to local variations in planform morphology. Sediment transport rates for dunes and unit bars, obtained by integrating migration rates (from UAV) with the volume of sediment moved (from DSMs using MAV imagery) show near-equivalence in sediment flux. Hence, reach-based sediment transport rate estimates can be derived from unit bar data alone. Moreover, it is shown that reasonable estimates of sediment transport rate can be made using just unit bar migration rates as measured from 2D imagery, including from satellite images, so long as informed assumptions are made regarding average bar shape and height. With recent availability of frequent, repeat satellite imagery, and the ease of undertaking repeat MAV and UAV surveys, for the first time, it may be possible to provide global estimates of bedload sediment flux for large or inaccessible low-turbidity rivers that currently have sparse information on bedload sediment transport rates. © 2018 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Geophysical Images of the North Anatolian Fault Zone in the Erzincan Basin, Eastern Turkey, and their Tectonic Implications

The collision between the Arabian and Eurasian plates in eastern Turkey causes the Anatolian block to move westward. The North Anatolian Fault (NAF) is a major strike-slip fault that forms the northern boundary of the Anatolian block, and the Erzincan Basin is the largest sedimentary basin on the NAF. In the last century, two large earthquakes have ruptured the NAF within the Erzincan Basin and caused major damage (M _s = 8.0 in 1939 and M _s = 6.8 in 1992). The seismic hazard in Erzincan from future earthquakes on the NAF is significant because the unconsolidated sedimentary basin can amplify the ground motion during an earthquake. The amount of amplification depends on the thickness and geometry of the basin. Geophysical constraints can be used to image basin depth and predict the amount of seismic amplification. In this study, the basin geometry and fault zone structure were investigated using broadband magnetotelluric (MT) data collected on two profiles crossing the Erzincan Basin. A total of 24 broadband MT stations were acquired with 1–2 km spacing in 2005. Inversion of the MT data with 1D, 2D and 3D algorithms showed that the maximum thickness of the unconsolidated sediments is ~3 km in the Erzincan Basin. The MT resistivity models show that the northern flanks of the basin have a steeper dip than the southern flanks, and the basin deepens towards the east where it has a depth of 3.5 km. The MT models also show that the structure of the NAF may vary from east to west along the Erzincan Basin.     

Distinction between amorphous and healed planar deformation features in shocked quartz using composite color scanning electron microscope cathodoluminescence (SEM‐CL) imaging

Planar deformation features (PDFs) in quartz are one of the most reliable and most widely used forms of evidence for hypervelocity impact. PDFs can be identified in scanning electron microscope cathodoluminescence (SEM‐CL) images, but not all PDFs show the same CL behavior: there are nonluminescent and red luminescent PDFs. This study aims to explain the origin of the different CL emissions in PDFs. Focused ion beam (FIB) thin foils were prepared of specific sample locations selected in composite color SEM‐CL images and were analyzed in a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The FIB preparation technique allowed a direct, often one‐to‐one correlation between the CL images and the defect structure observed in TEM. This correlation shows that composite color SEM‐CL imaging allows distinction between amorphous PDFs on one hand and healed PDFs and basal Brazil twins on the other: nonluminescent PDFs are amorphous, while healed PDFs and basal Brazil twins are red luminescent, with a dominant emission peak at 650 nm. We suggest that the red luminescence is the result of preferential beam damage along dislocations, fluid inclusions, and twin boundaries. Furthermore, a high‐pressure phase (possibly stishovite) in PDFs can be detected in color SEM‐CL images by its blue luminescence.     

Unbound planets

Current protostellar theory has determined a lower limit to the mass of a pre-stellar gas cloud fragment of ~0.01 M. This suggests that isolated interstellar bodies in the mass range ~10 M_-710_-2 M must have originated within a planetary system. Two possible mechanisms whereby planets are lost from their parental systems to interstellar space are discussed and the abundance and distribution of such unbound planets within the Galaxy is examined. It is found that, except within the central regions of the Galaxy, unbound planets are expected to be scarce. In the solar neighbourhood for instance, the number density ratio of unbound planets to stars is estimated to range between extremes of ~4 × 10^–4–3 × 10^–2 with a most probable value of ~6 x 10^–3. The faint possibility that the hypothetical Planet X might be of extra-solar origin is also discussed.