Fractionation of grain size in terrestrial sediment routing systems

Sediment is fractionated by size during its cascade from source to sink in sediment routing systems. It is anticipated, therefore, that the grain size distribution of sediment will undergo down‐system changes as a result of fluvial sorting processes and selective deposition. We assess this hypothesis by comparing grain size statistical properties of samples from within the erosional source region with those that have undergone different amounts of transport. A truncated Pareto distribution describes well the coarser half of the clast size distribution of regolith, coarse channel bed sediment and proximal debris flows (particularly their levees), as well as the coarser half of the clast size distribution of gravels that have undergone considerable amounts of transport in rivers. The Pareto shape parameter a evolves in response to mobilization, sediment transport and, importantly, the selective extraction of particles from the surface flow to build underlying stratigraphy. A goodness of fit statistic, the Kolmogorov–Smirnov vertical difference, illustrates the closeness of the observed clast size distributions to the Pareto, Weibull and log‐normal models as a function of distance from the depositional apex. The goodness of fit of the particle size distribution of regolith varies with bedrock geology. Bedload sediment at catchment outlets is fitted well by the log‐normal and truncated Pareto models, whereas the exponential Weibull model provides a less good fit. In the Eocene Escanilla palaeo‐sediment routing system of the south‐central Pyrenees, the log‐normal and truncated Pareto models provide excellent fits for distances of up to 80 km from the depositional apex, whereas the Weibull fit progressively worsens with increasing transport distance. A similar trend is found in the Miocene–Pliocene gravels of the Nebraskan Great Plains over a distance of >300 km. Despite the large fractionation in mean grain size and gravel percentage from source region to depositional sink, particle size distributions therefore appear to maintain log‐normality over a wide range of transport distance. Use of statistical models enables down‐system fractionation of sediment released from source regions to be better understood and predicted and is a potentially valuable tool in source‐to‐sink approaches to basin analysis.     

He I 1083 nm OSCILLATIONS AND DOWNFLOWS NEAR THE NORTH SOLAR POLE

Imaging spectroscopic data of the Sii 1082.7 nm (photospheric) and Hei 1083.0 nm (chromospheric) spectral lines were taken starting 22:05 UT on 23 July, 1996 with the NASA/NSO Spectromagnetograph at the NSO/Kitt Peak Vacuum Telescope. Observations were made near the north solar pole, with a field of view of 100 by 400 arc sec and with a temporal cadence of 53 s for 2 hr. Simple fitting to the line profiles measured the line position, depth, and spectral full-width at half-maximum. Power spectra of the velocity oscillations in each line were computed, and the oscillation power in the 2 to 6 mHz frequency band versus view angle was measured to search for horizontal oscillations. Horizontal waves are not detected to limiting amplitudes (1) of 22 m s^-1 in the chromosphere and 9 m s^-1 in the photosphere. These values are used to estimate limits for the energy flux into the corona. The amplitude of radial oscillations in the chromosphere is twice that of the photosphere. No statistically meaningful oscillation power is measured in the spectral parameters of the Hei line in the emission shell seen above the continuum limb. Finally, rapidly evolving red-shift events are observed in the Hei 1083 nm line on the disk; these events are some sort of coronal rain, and there are about 40 of these events on the solar disk at any moment.     

Cognitive Abilities in the Service of Wayfinding: A Functional Approach

A functionally oriented framework for examining the cognitive abilities that are involved in human wayfinding is suggested. The framework includes a categorical distinction among types of wayfinding tasks (commutes, explores, and quests) and means used most frequently to accomplish these tasks (piloting, repetition of locomotor pattern, path integration, and navigation by cognitive map). The cognitive abilities contributing to these wayfinding means have been demonstrated by research on spatial cognition and behavior or can be inferred from relevant research and theory.     

Sediment type distribution in reservoirs: sediment source versus morphometry

 Bottom sediments were collected from seven Texas reservoirs to assess the spatial distribution of sediment types in reservoirs. The sediment samples were analyzed for water content, organic content, and grain-size distributions. The reservoirs are characterized by distinct water content patterns (referred to in this paper as Types I, II, and III) that reflect the lithologic units comprising their drainage area. The water content, organic content, and percent mud decreases from Type I (shale, marl) through Type II (limestone-marl-sandstone) to Type III (granite-gneiss-schist-sandstone) reservoirs. Reported elemental concentrations in the reservoir sediments are consistent with concentrations in the dominant rocks within their drainage area. While water depth accounts for part of the spatial distribution, sediment source explains the overall distribution of sediment types. Coarse-grained source rocks, multiple source rocks, and multiple tributaries which input sediment at different points contribute to an inconsistent sediment type distribution. Depending on the sediment source, sand and gravel-size sediments are present in the deeper regions of some reservoirs. This disrupts the classical morphometry (water depth, slope) controlled sediment distribution pattern (coarser sediments in shallower regions and finer sediments in deeper regions) of natural lakes. Thus, the location of tributaries and the type of sediments they carry are the dominant factors that control the sediment type distribution in reservoirs. Received: 16 June 1998 · Accepted: 24 August 1998     

Checking for model consistency in optimal fingerprinting

 Current approaches to the detection and attribution of an anthropogenic influence on climate involve quantifying the level of agreement between model-predicted patterns of externally forced change and observed changes in the recent climate record. Analyses of uncertainty rely on simulated variability from a climate model. Any numerical representation of the climate is likely to display too little variance on small spatial scales, leading to a risk of spurious detection results. The risk is particularly severe if the detection strategy involves optimisation of signal-to-noise because unrealistic aspects of model variability may automatically be given high weight through the optimisation. The solution is to confine attention to aspects of the model and of the real climate system in which the model simulation of internal climate variability is adequate, or, more accurately, cannot be shown to be deficient. We propose a simple consistency check based on standard linear regression which can be applied to both the space-time and frequency domain approaches to optimal detection and demonstrate the application of this check to the problem of detection and attribution of anthropogenic signals in the radiosonde-based record of recent trends in atmospheric vertical temperature structure. The influence of anthropogenic greenhouse gases can be detected at a high confidence level in this diagnostic, while the combined influence of anthropogenic sulphates and stratospheric ozone depletion is less clearly evident. Assuming the time-scales of the model response are correct, and neglecting the possibility of non-linear feedbacks, the amplitude of the observed signal suggests a climate sensitivity range of 1.2–3.4 K, although the upper end of this range may be underestimated by up to 25% due to uncertainty in model-predicted response patterns. Received: 9 December 1997 / Accepted: 24 December 1998     

Contributing Areas to Domestic Wells in Dipping Sedimentary Rocks under Extreme Recharge Events

We use particle tracking to determine contributing areas (CAs) to wells for transient flow models that simulate cyclic domestic pumping and extreme recharge events in a small synthetic watershed underlain by dipping sedimentary rocks. The CAs consist of strike-oriented bands at locations where the water table intersects high-hydraulic conductivity beds, and from which groundwater flows to the pumping well. Factors that affect the size and location of the CAs include topographic flow directions, rock dip direction, cross-bed fracture density, and position of the well relative to streams. For an effective fracture porosity (n_e) of 10⁻⁴, the fastest advective travel times from CAs to wells are only a few hours. These results indicate that wells in this type of geologic setting can be highly vulnerable to contaminants or pathogens flushed into the subsurface during extreme recharge events. Increasing n_e to 10⁻³ results in modestly smaller CAs and delayed well vulnerability due to slower travel times. CAs determined for steady-state models of the same setting, but with long-term average recharge and pumping rates, are smaller than CAs in the models with extreme recharge. Also, the earliest-arriving particles arrive at the wells later in the steady-state models than in the extreme-recharge models. The results highlight the importance of characterizing geologic structure, simulating plausible effective porosities, and simulating pumping and recharge transience when determining CAs in fractured rock aquifers to assess well vulnerability under extreme precipitation events.     

Marine algae are ‘taught’ the basics of angular momentum

Advanced modelling studies and high-resolution observations have shown that flows related to instability of the mesoscale (~ 1–10 km scale) may provide both the fertilisation mechanism for nutrient-depleted (oligotrophic) surface waters and a subduction mechanism for the rapid export of phytoplankton biomass to the deep ocean. Here, a detailed multidisciplinary analysis of the data from an example high-resolution observational campaign is presented. The data provide direct observations of the transport of phytoplankton through baroclinic instability. Furthermore, the data confirm that this transport is constrained by the requirement to conserve angular momentum, expressed in a stratified water column as the conservation of potential vorticity. This constraint is clearly seen to produce long thin filaments of phytoplankton populations strained out along isopycnal vorticity annuli associated with mesoscale frontal instabilities.