Variable hillslope-channel coupling and channel characteristics of forested mountain streams in glaciated landscapes

Channel morphology of forested, mountain streams in glaciated landscapes is regulated by a complex suite of processes, and remains difficult to predict. Here, we analyze models of channel geometry against a comprehensive field dataset collected in two previously glaciated basins in Haida Gwaii, B.C., to explore the influence of variable hillslope–channel coupling imposed by the glacial legacy on channel form. Our objective is to better understand the relation between hillslope–channel coupling and stream character within glaciated basins. We find that the glacial legacy on landscape structure is characterized by relatively large spatial variation in hillslope–channel coupling. Spatial differences in coupling influence the frequency and magnitude of coarse sediment and woody material delivery to the channel network. Analyses using a model for channel gradient and multiple models for width and depth show that hillslope–channel coupling and high wood loading induce deviations from standard downstream predictions for all three variables in the study basins. Examination of model residuals using Boosted Regression Trees and nine additional channel variables indicates that ~10 to ~40% of residual variance can be explained by logjam variables, ~15–40% by the degree of hillslope–channel coupling, and 10–20% by proximity to slope failures. These results indicate that channel classification systems incorporating hillslope–channel coupling, and, indirectly, the catchment glacial legacy, may present a more complete understanding of mountain channels. From these results, we propose a conceptual framework which describes the linkages between landscape history, hillslope–channel coupling, and channel form. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

What controls the disequilibrium state of gravel-bed rivers?

A river at equilibrium is described by a statistically-stationary mean bed elevation profile that arises in response to steady supplies of relief, water and sediment. Outside of the profile shape, how is the equilibrium state of a river most reliably identified and rigorously defined? Motivated by a proposed link between equilibrium and physical processes, we use scaling theory to develop the dimensionless channel response number ξ=KU_b/U_p. ξ is a metric for the local disequilibrium state of gravel-bed mountain streams, which reflects a balance between the rate of topographic adjustment U_b, and the rate of bed sediment texture adjustment U_p. The coefficient K can take one of two forms depending on choice of length scale for topographic adjustment. We hypothesize that equilibrium occurs where and when ξ≈O(1), and consequently, disequilibrium is the more general state captured by conditions of ξ≉O(1). The rates U_b and U_p are controlled by the mechanics of sediment deposition and entrainment at the local scale of the channel width. The extent to which either process regulates disequilibrium depends on the bed strength, which is set by the time-varying grain size distribution and packing. We use flume experiments to understand ξ and find that in the limit ξ>>1, the time-varying response of an experimental channel depends sensitively on the spatially-averaged bed shear stress ratio τ/τ_ref. When τ/τ_ref≈1.5, U_b was the dominant control on disequilibrium. However, when τ/τ_ref≈2.0, U_p contributed more significantly to disequilibrium. These results suggest that after an upstream supply perturbation, the equilibrium timescale is governed by U_p, which we show is consistent with expectations from linear damping theory. Our experimental test of ξ is promising, but inconclusive with respect to our hypothesis. This uncertainty can be readily addressed with numerical or additional physical experiments. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Co-evolution of coarse grain structuring and bed roughness in response to episodic sediment supply in an experimental aggrading channel

We use flume experiments to better understand how gravel-bed channels maintain bed surface stability in response to pulses of sediment supply. Bed elevations and surface imagery at high spatial resolutions were used to quantify the co-evolution of surface grain-size distribution (GSD), bed roughness statistics, and bed surface structures (clusters, cells and transverse features). Using a new semi-automated method, we identified individual stone structures over a 2 m × 1 m area throughout the experiments. After an initial coarsening, surface GSD and armouring ratio remained nearly stable as sediment pulses caused net bed aggradation. In contrast, individual grain structures continued to form, increase or decrease in size, and disappear throughout the experiments. The response of the bed to sediment pulses depended on the history of surface roughness evolution and bed surface structure development, as these factors changed much more in response to supply perturbations earlier in the experiments compared to later, even as the bed continued to aggrade. We interpret that the dynamic production and destruction of bed surface structures can act as a ‘buffer’ to sediment supply pulses, maintaining a stable bed surface during aggradation with minimal change in grain size or armouring. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dike intrusion under shear stress: Effects on magnetic and vesicle fabrics in dikes from rift zones of Tenerife (Canary Islands)

A theoretical model predicting how anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) and vesicle fabrics are modified by shear stress resolved on the dike walls prior to the final cooling of magma is developed for vertical dikes. The resulting fabrics are asymmetric with respect to initial fabrics assumed to be symmetric. Application of this model together with collected data on magma flow direction, dike propagation direction and mechanism, and shear sense, allow us to interpret dike fabrics in terms of shear resolved on the dike walls during intrusion (en echelon arrangement, offsetting, and dike curvature). The interpretation of AMS and vesicle fabrics of the margins of four dikes shows a reasonable agreement with the proposed theoretical models, suggesting that asymmetric fabrics can be used to infer magma flow and may provide valuable information on the shear resolved on the dike walls during intrusion.     

Modelling Compositional Change: The Example of Chemical Weathering of Granitoid Rocks

Perturbation on the simplex is an operation which can be used to numerically describe changes in the composition of, for example, soils, sediments, or rocks. The combination of perturbation and power transformation provides a strong tool for analyzing compositional linear processes in the simplex. When the process is constrained in the sense of a well-known starting (or final) composition, noncentred principal component analysis can be used to estimate the leading perturbation vector of the process. Applying these mathematical tools to chemical major element data from a weathering profile developed on granitoid rocks allows us to model the compositional changes associated with the process of chemical weathering. The comparison of these results with the compositional linear trend defined by erosional products of several of the world's major drainage systems yields close similarities. The latter observation allows for a mathematical formulation of a global mean weathering trend within the system Al₂O₃–CaO– Na₂O– K₂O. We further demonstrate the usefulness of the approach for validating processes behind individual trends and for combining the effects of different processes which modify the composition of soils, sediments, and rocks. Alternatives to the Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) are discussed to obtain a translation-invariant scale for the process of chemical weathering.     

Mineral assemblages of the Francisco I. Madero Zn–Cu–Pb–(Ag) deposit, Zacatecas, Mexico: Implications for ore deposit genesis

The Francisco I. Madero deposit, central Mexico, occurs in the Mesozoic Guerrero Terrane, which hosts many ore deposits, both Cretaceous (volcanogenic massive sulfides) and Tertiary (epithermal and skarn deposits). It is hosted by a 600 m-thick calcareous-pelitic unit, of Lower Cretaceous age, crosscut by porphyritic dikes that strike NW–SE. A thick felsic volcanic Tertiary sequence, consisting of andesites and rhyolitic ignimbrites, unconformably overlies the Cretaceous series. At the base, the mineralization consists of several mantos developed within calcareous beds. They are dominantly composed of sphalerite, pyrrhotite and pyrite with minor chalcopyrite, arsenopyrite and galena. At the top of the orebody, there are calcic skarns formed through prograde and retrograde stages. The resulting mineral assemblages are rich in manganoan hedenbergite (Hd_75–28Di_40–4Jh_40–20), andraditic garnets (Adr_100–62Grs_38–0), epidote (Ep_95–36Czo_60–5Pie_8–0), chamosite, calcite and quartz. The temperature of ore deposition, estimated by chlorite and arsenopyrite geothermometry, ranges from 243° to 277 °C and from 300° to 340 °C, respectively. The pressure estimated from sphalerite geobarometry averages 2.1 kbar. This value corresponds to a moderately deep skarn and agrees with the high Cu content of the deposit. Paragenesis, P–T conditions and geological characteristics are compatible with a distal, dike-related, Zn skarn deposit. Its style of mineralization is similar to that of many high-temperature carbonate replacement skarn deposits in the Southern Cordillera.     

The Iberian Pyrite Belt: a mineralized system dismembered by voluminous high-level sills

The Iberian Pyrite Belt is a world-ranking massive sulphide province in which a reassessment of the palaeovolcanology has dramatically changed understanding of the source of metals and mechanism of ore formation. In the northern sector, the deposits are hosted by a sill–sediment complex in which more than 90% of the sills post-date the sulphide sheets. Because of a very high sill/sediment ratio, these late intrusions dominate the host succession and have severely disrupted the post-mineralization configuration thus obscuring the true genetic relationships. For example, some oxide deposits have been separated by hectometric sills from sulphide deposits they originally capped, creating seemingly totally independent mineralizing systems. In addition, stratiform sulphide sheets without underlying stockworks are not necessarily allochthonous. An early timing for the mineralization with respect to volcanism means that metals had to be predominantly sourced from the sedimentary basin and the continental crust below the volcanogenic sequence.