The droughts of 1996–1997 and 2004–2005 in Amazonia: hydrological response in the river main‐stem

Severe hydrological droughts in the Amazon have generally been associated with strong El Niño events. More than 100 years of stage record at Manaus harbour confirms that minimum water levels generally coincide with intense warming in the tropical Pacific sea waters. During 2005, however, the Amazon experienced a severe drought which was not associated with an El Niño event. Unless what usually occurs during strong El Niño events, when negative rainfall anomalies usually affect central and eastern Amazon drainage basin; rainfall deficiencies in the drought of 2005 were spatially constrained to the west and southwest of the basin. In spite of this, discharge stations at the main‐stem recorded minimum water levels as low as those observed during the basin‐wide 1996–1997 El Niño‐related drought. The analysis of river discharges along the main‐stem and major tributaries during the drought of 2004–2005 revealed that the recession on major tributaries began almost simultaneously. This was not the case in the 1996–1997 drought, when above‐normal contribution of some tributaries for a short period during high water was crucial to partially counterbalance high discharge deficits of the other tributaries. Since time‐lagged contributions of major tributaries are fundamental to damp the extremes in the main‐stem, an almost coincident recession in almost all tributaries caused a rapid decrease in water discharges during the 2005 event. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Macrofaunal density and biomass in the Campeche Canyon, Southwestern Gulf of Mexico

The composition, density and community structure of the benthic macrofauna were investigated in sediments of the Campeche Canyon in the SW Gulf of Mexico. Total macrofaunal density ranged from 9466±2736 ind m⁻² at the continental shelf station to 1550±195 ind m⁻² in the canyon. Density values significantly diminished with distance from the coast and depth; only a few stations in the center of the canyon displayed larger density values (E-37 with 4666±1530 ind m⁻², E-36 with 5791±642 ind m⁻² and E-26 with 6925±2258 ind m⁻²). Densities were positively correlated to organic nitrogen in the sediment (r=0.82) and coarse silt (r=0.43), and negatively with depth (r=−0.74) and distance from the coast (r=−0.68). At all stations, the polychaete worms contributed most to the multi-species community structure. The nematodes and Foraminifera displayed their highest densities in the center of the canyon. The biomass values declined significantly with depth. We conclude that the macrofauna density and biomass changed in response to organic matter contents in the sediment, both with distance from the coast and with depth.     

The fusion crust of the Winchcombe meteorite: A preserved record of atmospheric entry processes

Fusion crusts form during the atmospheric entry heating of meteorites and preserve a record of the conditions that occurred during deceleration in the atmosphere. The fusion crust of the Winchcombe meteorite closely resembles that of other stony meteorites, and in particular CM2 chondrites, since it is dominated by olivine phenocrysts set in a glassy mesostasis with magnetite, and is highly vesicular. Dehydration cracks are unusually abundant in Winchcombe. Failure of this weak layer is an additional ablation mechanism to produce large numbers of particles during deceleration, consistent with the observation of pulses of plasma in videos of the Winchcombe fireball. Calving events might provide an observable phenomenon related to meteorites that are particularly susceptible to dehydration. Oscillatory zoning is observed within olivine phenocrysts in the fusion crust, in contrast to other meteorites, perhaps owing to temperature fluctuations resulting from calving events. Magnetite monolayers are found in the crust, and have also not been previously reported, and form discontinuous strata. These features grade into magnetite rims formed on the external surface of the crust and suggest the trapping of surface magnetite by collapse of melt. Magnetite monolayers may be a feature of meteorites that undergo significant degassing. Silicate warts with dendritic textures were observed and are suggested to be droplets ablated from another stone in the shower. They, therefore, represent the first evidence for intershower transfer of ablation materials and are consistent with the other evidence in the Winchcombe meteorite for unusually intense gas loss and ablation, despite its low entry velocity.     

Flow dynamics at the origin of thin clayey sand lacustrine turbidites: Examples from Lake Hazar,Turkey

Turbidity currents and their deposits can be investigated using several methods, i.e. direct monitoring, physical and numerical modelling, sediment cores and outcrops. The present study focused on thin clayey sand turbidites found in Lake Hazar (Turkey) occurring in eleven clusters of closely spaced thin beds. Depositional processes and sources for three of those eleven clusters are studied at three coring sites. Bathymetrical data and seismic reflection profiles are used to understand the specific geomorphology of each site. X‐ray, thin sections and CT scan imagery combined with grain‐size, geochemical and mineralogical measurements on the cores allow characterization of the turbidites. Turbidites included in each cluster were produced by remobilization of surficial slope sediment, a process identified in very few studies worldwide. Three types of turbidites are distinguished and compared with deposits obtained in flume studies published in the literature. Type 1 is made of an ungraded clayey silt layer issued from a cohesive flow. Type 2 is composed of a partially graded clayey sand layer overlain by a mud cap, attributed to a transitional flow. Type 3 corresponds to a graded clayey sand layer overlain by a mud cap issued from a turbulence‐dominated flow. While the published experimental studies show that turbulence is damped by cohesion for low clay content, type 3 deposits of this study show evidence for a turbulence‐dominated mechanism despite their high clay content. This divergence may in part relate to input variables, such as water chemistry and clay mineralogy, that are not routinely considered in experimental studies. Furthermore, the large sedimentological variety observed in the turbidites from one coring site to another is related to the evolution of a sediment flow within a field‐scale basin made of a complex physiography that cannot be tackled by flume experiments.     

The seagrass skeletal assemblage from modern to fossil and from tropical to temperate: Insight from Maldivian and Mediterranean examples

Seagrasses are marine angiosperms that form extensive submarine meadows in the photic zone where carbonate producing biota dwell as epiphytes on the leaves or as infaunal forms, and act as prolific carbonate sediment factories. Because seagrasses have a low preservation potential and records of exceptionally well‐preserved and plant material from marine settings are rare, these palaeoenvironments are difficult to identify in the rock record. Consequently, sedimentological and palaeontological proxies are the main indicators of the presence of seagrass‐dominated ecosystems. This work investigates the skeletal assemblage of Modern (Maldivian and western Mediterranean) and fossil (Eocene; Apula and Oman carbonate platforms and Oligocene; Malta platform) seagrass examples to characterize the skeletal assemblage of modern and fossil seagrasses. Two main types of grains, calcareous algae and foraminifera, constitute around 50% of the bioclastic sediment in both tropical Maldivian and temperate Mediterranean scenarios. However, in the tropical setting they are represented by green algae (Halimeda), while in the Mediterranean they are represented by corallinacean red algae. In contrast, in the Eocene examples, the foraminifera are the most conspicuous group and the green algae are also abundant. The opposite occurs in the Maltese Chattian, which is dominated by coralline algae (mean 42%), although the foraminifera are still abundant. It is suggested to use the term foralgal to identify the seagrass skeletal assemblage. To discriminate between red algae and green algae dominance, the introduction of the prefixes ‘GA’ (green algae) and ‘RA’ (red algae) is proposed. The investigated examples provide evidence that the green algae–foralgal assemblage is typical of tropical, not excessively dense seagrass meadows, characterized by a well‐illuminated substrate to support the development and calcification of the Halimeda thallus. Contrarily, the red algae‐foralgal assemblage is typical of high density tropical to subtropical seagrass meadows which create very dense oligophotic conditions on the sea floor or in temperate settings where Halimeda cannot calcify.     

A water retention model accounting for void ratio changes in double porosity clays

This paper presents a constitutive model that predicts the water retention behaviour of compacted clays with evolving bimodal pore size distributions. In line with previous research, the model differentiates between the water present inside the saturated pores of the clay aggregates (the microstructure) and the water present inside the pores between clay aggregates (the macrostructure). A new formulation is then introduced to account for the effect of the macrostructural porosity changes on the retention behaviour of the soil, which results in a consistent evolution of the air-entry value of suction with volumetric deformations. Data from wetting tests on three different active clays (i.e. MX-80 bentonite, FEBEX bentonite, and Boom clay), subjected to distinct mechanical restraints, were used to formulate, calibrate, and validate the proposed model. Results from free swelling tests were also modelled by using both the proposed double porosity model and a published single porosity model, which confirmed the improvement in the predictions of degree of saturation by the present approach. The proposed retention model might be applied, for example, to the simulation of the hydromechanical behaviour of engineered bentonite barriers in underground nuclear waste repositories, where compacted active clays are subjected to changes of both suction and porosity structure under restrained volume conditions.

     

Runoff-generated debris flows: Observation of initiation conditions and erosion–deposition dynamics along the channel at Cancia (eastern Italian Alps)

In the Dolomitic region, abundant coarse hillslope sediment is commonly found at the toe of rocky cliffs. Ephemeral channels originate where lower permeability bedrock surfaces concentrate surface runoff. Debris flows initiate along such channels following intense rainfall and determine the progressive erosion and deepening of the channels. Sediment recharge mechanisms include rock fall, dry ravel processes and channel-bank failures. Here we document debris flow activity that took place in an active debris flow basin during the year 2015. The Cancia basin is located on the southwestern slope of Mount Antelao (3264 m a.s.l.) in the dolomitic region of the eastern Italian Alps. The 2.5 km² basin is incised in dolomitic limestone rocks. The data consist of repeated topographic surveys, distributed rainfall measurements, time-lapse (2 s) videos of two events and pore pressure measurements in the channel bed. During July and August 2015, two debris flow events occurred, following similarly intense rainstorms. We compared rainfall data to existing rainfall triggering thresholds and simulated the hydrological response of the headwater catchment with a distributed model in order to estimate the total and peak water discharge. Our data clearly illustrate how debris entrainment along the channel is the main contributor to the overall mobilized volume and that erosion is dominant when the channel slope exceeds 16°. Further downstream, sediment accumulation and depletion occurred alternately for the two successive events, indicating that sediment availability along the channel also influences the flow behaviour along the prevailing-transport reach. The comparison between monitoring data, topographical analysis and hydrological simulation allows the estimation of the average solid concentration of the two events and suggests that debris availability has a significant influence on the debris flow volume. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.