Assessing storm surge impacts on coastal inundation due to climate change: case studies of Baltimore and Dorchester County in Maryland

Natural Hazards - Hurricane Isabel (2003) generated record flooding around Chesapeake Bay and caused extensive damage in rural Eastern Shore of Maryland and metropolitan cities like Baltimore....     

Chemical weathering and CO2 consumption in the glaciated Karuxung River catchment,Tibetan Plateau

Climate factors play critical roles in controlling chemical weathering, while chemically weathered surface material can regulate climate change. To estimate global chemical weathering fluxes and CO₂ balance, it is important to identify the characteristics and driving factors of chemical weathering and CO₂ consumption on the Tibetan Plateau, especially in glaciated catchments. The analysis of the hydro-geochemical data indicated that silicate weathering in this area was inhibited by low temperatures, while carbonate weathering was promoted by the abundant clastic rocks with fresh surfaces produced by glacial action. Carbonate weathering dominated the riverine solute generation (with a contribution of 58%, 51%, and 43% at the QiangYong Glacier (QYG), the WengGuo Hydrological Station (WGHS), and the lake estuary (LE), respectively). The oxidation of pyrite contributed to 35%, 42%, and 30% of the riverine solutes, while silicate weathering contributed to 5%, 6%, and 26% of the riverine solutes at the QYG, WGHS, and LE, respectively. The alluvial deposit of easily weathering fine silicate minerals, the higher air temperature, plant density, and soil thickness at the downstream LE in comparison to upstream and midstream may lead to longer contact time between pore water and mineral materials, thus enhancing the silicate weathering. Because of the involvement of sulfuric acid produced by the oxidation of pyrite, carbonate weathering in the upstream and midstream did not consume atmospheric CO₂, resulting in the high rate of carbonate weathering (73.9 and 75.6 t km⁻² yr⁻¹, respectively, in maximum) and potential net release of CO₂ (with an upper constraint of 35.6 and 35.2 t km⁻² yr⁻¹, respectively) at the QYG and WGHS. The above results indicate the potential of the glaciated area of the Tibetan Plateau with pyrite deposits being a substantial natural carbon source, which deserves further investigation.     

Sedimentary evidence and luminescence and ESR dating of Early Pleistocene high lake levels of Megalake Tengger,northwestern China

The timing of high lake-level stands during the Late Pleistocene in western China remains controversial. Here we report new results from Megalake Tengger based on a study of palaeo-shorelines and a drill core from Baijian Lake in the northwestern Tengger Desert. Multiple dating methods, based on luminescence signals (quartz optically stimulated luminescence, K-feldspar post infrared-infrared stimulated luminescence) and electron spin resonance signals of quartz, were used to date beach sands from palaeo-shoreline profiles at altitudes of ~1310 m (+20 m above lake level), ~1320 m (+30 m) and ~1350 m (+60 m), and from the top 20 m of sandy sediments from the drill core obtained from the modern beach of Baijian Lake. The dating results show that high lake-level stands associated with the previously reported Megalake Tengger (~1310–1320 m) occurred during the late Early to Middle Pleistocene, which is much earlier than previously reported. In addition, no geomorphological evidence of shorelines and sedimentary evidence from the drill core profile were found to support the previously reported Late Pleistocene lake levels. Our results indicate that the exact age of the previously reported ‘high lake level event’ in a large part of northwestern China during the Late Pleistocene needs to be re-evaluated.     

This issue overview

正Electrical and electromagnetic method Wang et al.present an anomalous principal component decomposition method based on the Stratton-Chu integral.The airwaves and sea layers can be separated from the anomalous field,eliminating the airwave effect.The method is implemented in integral transform form,making it a robust processing method,is particularly effective for removing the effect of the entire sea layer.     

A nonstationary extreme value distribution for analysing the cessation of karst spring discharge

The effects of climate change and population growth in recent decades are leading us to consider their combined and potentially extreme consequences, particularly regarding hydrological processes, which can be modeled using a generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution. Most of the GEV models were based on a stationary assumption for hydrological processes, in contrast to the nonstationary reality due to climate change and human activities. In this paper, we present the nonstationary generalized extreme value (NSGEV) distribution and use it to investigate the risk of Niangziguan Springs discharge decreasing to zero. Rather than assuming the location, scale, and shape parameters to be constant as one might do for a stationary GEV distribution analysis, the NSGEV approach can reflect the dynamic processes by defining the GEV parameters as functions of time. Because most of the GEV model is designed to evaluate maxima (e.g. flooding, represented by positive numbers), and spring discharge cessation is a ?minima’, we deduced an NSGEV model for minima by applying opposite numbers, i.e. negative instead of positive numbers. The results of the model application to Niangziguan Springs showed that the probability of zero discharge at Niangziguan Springs will be 1/80 in 2025, and 1/10 in 2030. After 2025, the rate of decrease in spring discharge will accelerate, and the probability that Niangziguan Springs will cease flowing will dramatically increase. The NSGEV model is a robust method for analysing karst spring discharge. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geophysical constraints on mesozoic disruption of North China Craton by underplating‐triggered lower‐crust flow of the Archaean lithosphere

The mechanism of the disruption, both lithospheric thinning and oceanization of the commonly accepted long‐term‐stable Archaean craton, is still an open question. The available models, all imply a bottom to top process. With the construction of a 1660‐km‐long transect across the eastern North China Craton (NCC), we demonstrate that both the P‐wave velocity and density in the lowermost crust beneath the central section are significantly higher than in the corresponding parts of the south and north sections on the transect. These features are interpreted as geophysical signature of lower crustal underplating, which supplies sufficiently high gravitational potential energy to trigger lateral flow of the lower crust. This magma underplating‐triggered bilateral lower crust flow may facilitate the lithospheric thinning by means of asthenosphere upwelling and decompression melting, which infill the gap produced by the lower crust flow. The underplating‐triggered lower crustal flow can provide an alternative mechanism to explain the NCC lithosphere disruption, which highlights the crustal feedback to Archaean lithosphere disruption, from top to bottom.     

Thermal equation of state of natural tourmaline at high pressure and temperature

Synchrotron-based in situ angle-dispersive X-ray diffraction experiments were conducted on a natural uvite-dominated tourmaline sample by using an external-heating diamond anvil cell at simultaneously high pressures and temperatures up to 18 GPa and 723 K, respectively. The angle-dispersive X-ray diffraction data reveal no indication of a structural phase transition over the P–T range of the current experiment in this study. The pressure–volume–temperature data were fitted by the high-temperature Birch–Murnaghan equation of state. Isothermal bulk modulus of K ₀ = 96.6 (9) GPa, pressure derivative of the bulk modulus of \(K_{0}^{\prime } = 12.5 \;(4)\), thermal expansion coefficient of α ₀ = 4.39 (27) × 10^?5 K^?1 and temperature derivative of the bulk modulus (?K/?T) _P  = ?0.009 (6) GPa K^?1 were obtained. The axial thermoelastic properties were also obtained with K _a0 = 139 (2) GPa, \(K_{a0}^{\prime }\) = 11.5 (7) and α _a0 = 1.00 (11) × 10^?5 K^?1 for the a-axis, and K _c0 = 59 (1) GPa, \(K_{c0}^{\prime }\) = 11.4 (5) and α _c0 = 2.41 (24) × 10^?5 K^?1 for the c-axis. Both of axial compression and thermal expansion exhibit large anisotropic behavior. Thermoelastic parameters of tourmaline in this study were also compared with that of the other two ring silicates of beryl and cordierite.