Grain sorting in gravel-bed streams and the choice of particle sizes for flow-competence evaluations

Flow-competence assessments of floods have been based on the largest particle sizes transported, and yield either the mean flow stress, mean velocity, or discharge per unit flow width. The use of extreme particle sizes has potential problems in that they may have been transported by debris flows rather than by the flood, it may be difficult to locate the largest particles within the flood deposits, and there are questions concerning how representative one or a few large particles might be of the transported sediments and therefore of the flood hydraulics. Such problems would be eliminated for the most part if competence evaluations are based on median grain sizes of transported sediments, or perhaps on some coarse percentile that is established by a reasonable number of grains. In order to examine such issues, the gravel-transport data of Milhous from Oak Creek, Oregon, and of Carling from Great Eggleshope Beck, England, have been analysed in terms of changing grain-size percentiles with varying flow stresses. A comparison between these two data sets is of added interest because the bed material in Oak Creek is segregated into well-developed pavement and subpavement layers, while such a layering of bed materials is largely absent in Great Eggleshope Beck. The analyses show that the trend of increasing sizes of the largest particles in the bedload samples (diameter D_m) with increasing flow stresses is consistent with similar dependencies based on sieve percentiles ranging from the medians (D₅₀) to the 95th percentiles (D₉₅). This indicates that the largest particles are an integral part of the overall distributions of bedload grain sizes, and respond to changing flow hydraulics along with the rest of the size distribution. In Oak Creek, the median grain size shows the largest change with increasing flow stresses, followed by D₆₀, and so on to D₉₅ which shows the smallest change. The variations in D_m continue this trend, and are similar to those for D₉₅. This systematic variation of grain-size percentiles in Oak Creek is consistent with changes in the overall distributions which tend to be symmetrical and Gaussian for low discharges, but become skewed Rosin distributions for high discharges. In contrast, in Great Eggleshope Beck the several percentiles and D_m show the same rate of shift to coarser sizes as flow stresses increase. This results in part from differences in sampling techniques wherein the bedload samples from Great Eggleshope Beck represent a complete flood event, while shorterterm samples at a specific flow stage were obtained in Oak Creek. As a result of the integrated sampling in Great Eggleshope Beck, the bedload grain-size distributions are more complex, commonly with a bimodal pattern. However, after accounting for differences in sampling schemes in the two streams, contrasting patterns in changing grain-size distributions remain, and these are concluded to reflect grain sorting differences as the bedload grain-size distributions approach the distributions of the bed materials. It is surprising that if criteria commonly employed to demonstrate the equal mobility of different grain sizes are used in the comparison, then Great Eggleshope Beck is far closer to this condition in spite of its minimal development of a pavement. It is concluded that the respective shapes of the bed-material grain-size distributions, in particular their degrees of skewness, are more important to the observed sorting patterns than are the effects of a pavement layer regulating grain entrapment to produce an equal mobility of different grain sizes. Therefore, the comparison has established that flow-competence relationships will differ from one stream to another, depending on the pattern of grain sorting which is a function of the bedmaterial grain-size distribution.     

Volatiles in Submarine Basaltic Glasses from the Northern Kerguelen Plateau (ODP Site 1140): Implications for Source Region Compositions, Magmatic Processes, and Plateau Subsidence

Submarine pillow basalts (34 Ma) recovered from the NorthernKerguelen Plateau at ODP Site 1140 contain abundant unalteredglass, providing the first opportunity to measure the volatilecontents of tholeiitic basaltic magmas related to the Kerguelenmantle plume. The glasses have La/Sm and Nb/Zr ratios that varyfrom values similar to Southeast Indian Ridge (SEIR) MORB (Unit1), to slightly more enriched (Unit 6), to values transitionalbetween SEIR MORB and basaltic magmas formed by melting of theKerguelen plume (Units 2 and 3). Volatile contents for glassesin Units 1 and 6 are similar to depleted mid-ocean ridge basalt(MORB) values (0·25–0·27 wt % H₂O, 1240–1450ppm S, 42–54 ppm Cl). In contrast, H₂O contents are higherfor the enriched glasses (Unit 2, 0·44 wt % H₂O; Unit3, 0·69 wt %), as are S (1500 ppm) and Cl (146–206ppm). Cl/K ratios for all glasses are relatively low (0·03–0·04),indicating that assimilation of hydrothermally altered materialdid not occur during shallow-level crystallization. H₂O/Ce forthe enriched glasses (Units 2 and 3) is significantly lowerthan Pacific and South Atlantic MORB values, suggesting thatlow H₂O/Ce may be an inherent characteristic of the Kerguelenplume source. Vapor saturation pressures calculated using theH₂O and CO₂ contents of the glasses indicate that     

Burial diagenesis and crystal diminution. The origin of crystal diminution in some limestones from South Wales

ABSTRACT Carboniferous speleothem calcites in un-metamorphosed limestones from South Wales exhibit crystal diminution (degrading neomorphism) textures. These textures result from processes which have been considered only important under metamorphic conditions. The textures are interpreted as the result of recrystallization associated with dislocation processes. These processes relate to low temperature creep associated with low strain rates extended over long periods of time. The textures described here occur in unusually large crystals but similar textures have been described in limestones from deep boreholes. Dislocation processes, recovery and recrystallization are likely to be important processes operating during deep burial diagenesis.     

The hierarchical tessellation model and its use in spatial analysis

The hierarchid tessellation model belongs to a class of spatial data models based on the recursive decomposition of space. The quadtree is one such tessellation and is characterized by square cells and a 1:4 decomposition ratio. To relax these constraints in the tessellation, a generalized hierarchical tessellation data model, called Adaptive Recursive Tessellations (ART), has been proposed. ART increases flexibility in the tessellation by the use of rectangular cells and variable decomposition ratios. In ART, users can specify cell sizes which are intuitively meaningful to their applications, or which can reflect the scales of data. ART is implemented in a data structure called Adaptive Recursive Run-Encoding (ARRE), which is a variant of two-dimensional run-encoding whose running path can vary with the different tessellation structures incorporated in an ART model. Given the recognition of the benefits of implementing statistical spatial analysis in GIS, the use of hierarchical tessellation models such as ART in spatial analysis is discussed. Three examples are introduced to show how ART can: (1) be applied to solve the quadrat size problem in quadrat analysis of point patterns; (2) act as the data model in the variable resolution block kriging technique for geostatistical data to reduce variation in kriging error; and (3) facilitate the evaluation of spatial autocorrelation for area data at multiple map resolutions via the construction of a connectivity matrix for calculating spatial autocorrelation indices based on ARRE.     

Identifying Accessory Mineral Saturation during Differentiation in Granitoid Magmas: an Integrated Approach

Numerical reconstructions of processes that may have operatedduring igneous petrogenesis often model the behaviour of importanttrace elements. The geochemistry of these trace elements maybe controlled by accessory mineral saturation and fractionation.Determination of the saturation point of accessory mineralsin granitoid rocks is ambiguous because assumptions about crystalmorphology and melt compositions do not always hold. An integratedapproach to identifying accessory mineral saturation involvingpetrography, whole-rock geochemical trends, saturation calculationsand mineral chemistry changes is demonstrated here for a compositionallyzoned pluton. Within and between whole-rock samples of the BoggyPlain zoned pluton, eastern Australia, the rare earth element(REE)-enriched accessory minerals zircon, apatite and titaniteexhibit compositional variations that are related to saturationin the bulk magma, localized saturation in intercumulus meltpools and fractionation of other mineral phases. Apatite isidentified as having been an early crystallizing phase overnearly the whole duration of magma cooling, with zircon (andallanite) only saturating in more felsic zones. Titanite andmonazite did not saturate in the bulk magma at any stage ofdifferentiation. Although some trace elements (P, Ca, Sc, Nb,Hf, Ta) in zircon exhibit compositional variation progressingfrom mafic to more felsic whole-rock samples, normalized REEpatterns and abundances (except Ce) do not vary with progressivedifferentiation. This is interpreted to be a result of limitationsto both simple ‘xenotime’ and complex xenotime-typecoupled substitutions. Our data indicate that zircon REE characteristicsare not as useful as those of other REE-rich accessory mineralsas a petrogenetic indicator. KEY WORDS: saturation; zircon; apatite; titanite; magma differentiation; trace elements; REE patterns     

Composition and Textual Characterization of Platinum-group Mineral (PGM) in Chromites from Zedang Ophiolite in Tibet, China

<正>1 Introduction Platinum-group elements(PGE)are mainly concentrated in some specific minerals known as PGMs,which commonly occur in podiform chromites of ophiolites.In-situ PGM assemblages in chromites can provide valuable information on the physico-chemical nature of the parental melt(s)from which chromitite     

MEASURING AND MODELLING OF SOIL WATER DYNAMICS AND RUNOFF GENERATION IN AN AGRICULTURAL LOESSIAL HILLSLOPE

Surface runoff may be generated when the rainfall intensity exceeds the infiltration capacity, or when the soil profile is saturated with water. Indications exist that both types of overland flow may occur in hilly agricultural loess regions. Here, for a loessial hillslope under maize in the southern part of The Netherlands, it was shown, with pressure head and runoff measurements, that Hortonian overland flow occurs during typical summer rain events. Surface runoff was initiated after saturation of the top 5–10 cm of the soil. Deeper in the soil, unsaturated conditions prevailed while runoff took place. Peak runoff discharges at the outlet of the subcatchment occurred a few minutes after peak rainfall intensities were measured. It appeared that SWMS_2D, a two-dimensional water flow model, was capable in simulating observed pressure head changes and runoff. Simulated potential runoff for the transect studied was higher by a magnitude of three than the measured areal average. This indicates effects of surface ponding, and the probable location of this particular transect in a region with high runoff production.     

Diamond Discovered in Dangqiong Ophiolite, Western Yarlung-Zangbu Suture Zone, Tibet

<正>The first diamonds from ophiolite were found in peridotite of Luobusa ophiolite along Yarlung Zangbu suture zone in Tibet,China(IGCAGS,1981),and then more and more diamonds found in harzgurgite(Bai et al.,1993;Yang et al.,2007a;Robinson et al.,2014;Xu et al.,