Evaluating a process‐based model for use in streambank stabilization: insights on the Bank Stability and Toe Erosion Model (BSTEM)

Streambank retreat is a complex cyclical process involving subaerial processes, fluvial erosion, seepage erosion, and geotechnical failures and is driven by several soil properties that themselves are temporally and spatially variable. Therefore, it can be extremely challenging to predict and model the erosion and consequent retreat of streambanks. However, modeling streambank retreat has many important applications, including the design and assessment of mitigation strategies for stream revitalization and stabilization. In order to highlight the current complexities of modeling streambank retreat and to suggest future research areas, this paper reviewed one of the most comprehensive streambank retreat models available, the Bank Stability and Toe Erosion Model (BSTEM), which has recently been integrated with several popular hydrodynamic and sediment transport models including the Hydrologic Engineering Center's River Analysis System (HEC‐RAS). The objectives of this paper were to: (i) comprehensively review studies that have utilized BSTEM and report their findings, (ii) address the limitations of the model so that it can be applied appropriately in its current form, and (iii) suggest directions of research that will help make the model a more useful tool in future applications. The paper includes an extensive overview of peer reviewed studies to guide future users of BSTEM. The review demonstrated that the model needs further testing and evaluation outside of the central United States. Also, further development is needed in terms of accounting for spatial and temporal variability in geotechnical and fluvial erodibility parameters, incorporating subaerial processes, and accounting for the influence of riparian vegetation on streambank pore‐water pressure dynamics, applied shear stress, and erodibility parameters. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluating a modified point-based method to downscale cell-based climate variable data to high-resolution grids

To address the demand for high spatial resolution gridded climate data, we have advanced the Daymet point-based interpolation algorithm for downscaling global, coarsely gridded data with additional output variables. The updated algorithm, High-Resolution Climate Downscaler (HRCD), performs very good downscaling of daily, global, historical reanalysis data from 1° input resolution to 2.5 arcmin output resolution for day length, downward longwave radiation, pressure, maximum and minimum temperature, and vapor pressure deficit. It gives good results for monthly and yearly cumulative precipitation and fair results for wind speed distributions and modeled downward shortwave radiation. Over complex terrain, 2.5 arcmin resolution is likely too low and aggregating it up to 15 arcmin preserves accuracy. HRCD performs comparably to existing daily and monthly US datasets but with a global extent for nine daily climate variables spanning 1948–2006. Furthermore, HRCD can readily be applied to other gridded climate datasets.     

Heterogeneity influences on stream water–groundwater interactions in a gravel-dominated floodplain

ABSTRACT

Floodplains are composed of complex depositional patterns of ancient and recent stream sediments, and research is needed to address the manner in which coarse floodplain materials affect stream–groundwater exchange patterns. Efforts to understand the heterogeneity of aquifers have utilized numerous techniques typically focused on point-scale measurements; however, in highly heterogeneous settings, the ability to model heterogeneity is dependent on the data density and spatial distribution. The objective of this research was to investigate the correlation between broad-scale methodologies for detecting heterogeneity and the observed spatial variability in stream/groundwater interactions of gravel-dominated alluvial floodplains. More specifically, this study examined the correlation between electrical resistivity (ER) and alluvial groundwater patterns during a flood event at a site on Barren Fork Creek, in the Ozark ecoregion of Oklahoma, USA, where chert gravels were common both as streambed and as floodplain material. Water table elevations from groundwater monitoring wells for a flood event on 1–5 May 2009 were compared to ER maps at various elevations. Areas with high ER matched areas with lower water table slope at the same elevation. This research demonstrated that ER approaches were capable of indicating heterogeneity in surface water–groundwater interactions, and that these heterogeneities were present even in an aquifer matrix characterized as highly conductive. Portions of gravel-dominated floodplain vadose zones characterized by high hydraulic conductivity features can result in heterogeneous flow patterns when the vadose zone of alluvial floodplains activates during storm events.

EDITOR D. Koutsoyiannis; ASSOCIATE EDITOR X. Chen     

Holocene environmental changes in the Whitefish Dunes Area, Door Peninsula, Northern Lake Michigan Basin, USA

A two meter sediment core taken from an inter-dune pond in Whitefish Dunes State Park, Door Peninsula, Wisconsin, provides a record of paleoenvironmental changes in the area from approximately 3600 RCYBP to 5100 RCYBP. The hydrology of the Whitefish Dunes pond is now apparently dependent on ground water recharge from local precipitation that infiltrates into the dunes and from Clark Lane, making it very sensitive to low magnitude, short term climate fluctuations.Changes in lithology, molluscan species diversity, oxygen isotopes from gastropod shells, and sediment organic content permit division of the core into several intervals representing different environmental regimes. The basal sediments are older than 5130 RCYBP and resemble those of the Liberty Grove Member of the Pleistocene Horicon Formation. The oldest Holocene sediments recorded in the core are an organic rich layer dated at 5130 RCYBP, which accumulated in a depression on the surface of a sand bar. Continued rise in the local water table during the Nipissing Transgression produced paludal conditions in the area, which were followed by the onset of lacustrine conditions. During this interval, the area supported a diverse molluscan fauna. Minor, short term climate fluctuations are reflected in sediment and oxygen isotope changes which are absent from the record in deep water cores from Lake Michigan. This phase in the history of the area ended with the eutrophication of the pond and the development of dunes. Information from Whitefish Dunes pond and other onshore sites within the Lake Michigan basin are an important source of data for reconstructing the history of water levels and climate changes for this area of the Great Lakes drainage.     

Three-dimensional calculations of high- and low-mass planets embedded in protoplanetary discs

We analyse the non-linear, three-dimensional response of a gaseous, viscous protoplanetary disc to the presence of a planet of mass ranging from 1 Earth mass (1 M_⊕) to 1 Jupiter mass (1 M_J) by using the zeus hydrodynamics code. We determine the gas flow pattern, and the accretion and migration rates of the planet. The planet is assumed to be in a fixed circular orbit about the central star. It is also assumed to be able to accrete gas without expansion on the scale of its Roche radius. Only planets with masses   M _p≳ 0.1 M_J  produce significant perturbations in the surface density of the disc. The flow within the Roche lobe of the planet is fully three-dimensional. Gas streams generally enter the Roche lobe close to the disc mid-plane, but produce much weaker shocks than the streams in two-dimensional models. The streams supply material to a circumplanetary disc that rotates in the same sense as the orbit of the planet. Much of the mass supply to the circumplanetary disc comes from non-coplanar flow. The accretion rate peaks with a planet mass of approximately 0.1 M_J and is highly efficient, occurring at the local viscous rate. The migration time-scales for planets of mass less than 0.1 M_J, based on torques from disc material outside the Roche lobes of the planets, are in excellent agreement with the linear theory of type I (non-gap) migration for three-dimensional discs. The transition from type I to type II (gap) migration is smooth, with changes in migration times of about a factor of 2. Starting with a core which can undergo runaway growth, a planet can gain up to a few M_J with little migration. Planets with final masses of the order of 10 M_J would undergo large migration, which makes formation and survival difficult.     

Ion winds in Saturn's southern auroral/polar region

We present profiles of the line-of-sight (l.o.s.) ionospheric wind velocities in the southern auroral/polar region of Saturn. Our velocities are derived from the measurement of Doppler shifting of the H₃⁺ν₂Q(1,0⁻) line at 3.953 microns. The data for this study were obtained using the facility high-resolution spectrometer CSHELL on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, during the night of February 6, 2003 (UT). The l.o.s. velocity profiles finally derived are consistent with an extended region of the upper atmosphere sub-corotating with the planet: the ion velocities in the inertial reference are only 1/3 of those expected for full planetary corotation. We discuss the results in the light of recent proposals for the kronian magnetosphere, and suggest that, in this region, Saturn's ion winds may be under solar wind control.     

The Port Mouton Shear Zone: intersection of a regional fault with a crystallizing granitoid pluton

The peraluminous tonalite–monzogranite Port Mouton Pluton is a petrological, geochemical, structural, and geochronological anomaly among the many Late Devonian granitoid intrusions of the Meguma Lithotectonic Zone of southern Nova Scotia. The most remarkable structural feature of this pluton is a 4-km-wide zone of strongly foliated (040/subvertical) monzogranites culminating in a narrow (10–30 m), straight, zone of compositionally banded rocks that extends for at least 3 km along strike. The banded monzogranites consist of alternating melanocratic and leucocratic compositions that are complementary to the overall composition of that part of the pluton, suggesting an origin by mineral–melt and mineral–mineral sorting. Biotite and feldspar are strongly foliated in the plane of the compositional bands. These compositional variations and foliations originated by a process of segregation flow during shearing of the main magma with a crystallinity of 55–75%. Subsequent minor brittle fracturing of feldspars, twinning of microcline, development of blocky sub-grains in quartz, and kinking of micas demonstrate overprinting by a high-temperature deformation straddling the monzogranite solidus. Small folds and late sigmoidal dykes indicate dextral movement on the shear zone. This Port Mouton Shear Zone (PMSZ) is approximately co-linear with the only outcrops of Late Devonian mafic intrusions in the area, two of which are syn-plutonic with well-developed mingling textures in the marginal tonalite of the Port Mouton Pluton. Also closely co-linear with the mafic intrusions are a granitoid dyke that extends well beyond the outer contact of the Port Mouton Pluton, a swarm of large aligned angular xenolithic slabs, a zone of thin wispy schlieren banding, a large Be-bearing pegmatite, and a breccia pipe with abundant garnetiferous metapelitic xenoliths. In various ways, the shear zone may control all of these features. The Port Mouton Shear Zone is parallel to many other NE-trending faults and shear zones in the northern Appalachians, probably related to the docking of the Meguma Zone along the Cobequid–Chedabucto Fault system.     

Assessing the Measurement Consistency Between the Jason-2/AMR and SARAL/AltiKa/DFMR Microwave Radiometers Using Simultaneous Nadir Observations

SARAL/AltiKa has a Dual Frequency Microwave Radiometer (DFMR), and Jason-2 has an Advanced Microwave Radiometer (AMR). Both microwave radiometer sensors include a 23.8 GHz primary water sensing channel. The measurement consistencies between DFMR and AMR are important for establishing a consistent altimetry data set between SARAL/AltiKa and Jason-2 in order to accurately assess sea level rise in a long-term time series. This study investigates the measurement consistency in the 23.8 GHz channel between DFMR and AMR at the Simultaneous Nadir Overpasses (SNO's) between the two satellites and also at coldest ocean brightness temperature locations. Preliminary results show that while both instruments show no significant trends over the one year since the launch of SARAL, a consistent relative bias of 2.88 K (DFMR higher than AMR) with a standard deviation of 0.98 K is observed. The relative bias at the lowest brightness temperature from the SNO method (-3.82 K) is consistent with that calculated from coldest ocean method (-3.74 K). The relative bias exhibits strong latitude (and scene temperature) dependency, changing from -3.82 K at high latitudes to -0.92 K near the equator. There also exists an asymmetry between the northern and southern hemisphere. The relative bias increases toward the lower end of brightness temperature.     

Part II. Evaluation of Ar-Ar quartz ages: Implications for fluid inclusion retentivity and determination of initial Ar/Ar values in Proterozoic samples

The argon isotope systematics of vein-quartz samples with two different K-reservoirs have been evaluated in detail. Potassium is hosted by ultra-high-salinity fluid inclusions in quartz samples from the Eloise and Osborne iron-oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposits of the Mt Isa Inlier, Australia. In contrast, K is hosted by accidentally trapped mica within lower-salinity fluid inclusions of a sample selected from the Railway Fault, 13 km south of the Mt Isa copper mine, Australia. Imprecise apparent ages have been obtained for all of the samples studied and conclusively demonstrate that quartz fluid inclusions are retentive to Ar and have not leaked over billions of years. IOCG samples that host K in fluid inclusions only, have K/Cl values of <1 and the ages obtained represent the maximum ages for mineralization. In contrast, the Railway Fault samples that include accidentally trapped mica have K/Cl values of ?1. Excess ⁴⁰Ar_E plus Cl hosted by fluid inclusions, and radiogenic ⁴⁰Ar_R plus K, are strongly correlated in these samples and define a plane in 3D ⁴⁰Ar-³⁶Ar-K-Cl space. In this case, the plane yields an ‘excess ⁴⁰Ar_E’ corrected age of ∼1030 Ma that is 100’s of Ma younger than nearby Cu-mineralization at Mt Isa. The age is interpreted to reflect ⁴⁰Ar-loss from the accidentally trapped mica into the surrounding fluid inclusions, and is not related to the samples’ age of formation. The initial ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar value of fluid inclusions is widely used to provide information on fluid origin. For the IOCG samples that host K in fluid inclusions only, the initial ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar values are close to the measured values at every temperature of stepped heating experiments. For samples that include accidentally trapped mica, the correction for post-entrapment radiogenic ⁴⁰Ar_R production is significant. Furthermore, because ³⁹Ar_K present in accidentally trapped mica crystals is released at different temperatures to radiogenic ⁴⁰Ar_R lost to the surrounding fluid inclusions, intra-sample ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar variation cannot be reliably documented. The results demonstrate that noble gas analysis is readily applicable to Proterozoic, or older, samples but that if K-mineral impurities are present within quartz the abundance of K must be determined before calculation of mean ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar values that are representative of the samples’ initial composition.