The declining but non-rejuvenating base level—The Lisan lake,the Dead Sea area,Israel

Laboratory experiments investigating the effects of a lowering base level do not simulate natural eustatic lowering along concave river profiles. The field data on this issue are also quite limited. In evaluating the control exercised by lowering base level on a drainage network, distinction must be made between its influence and those of other hydromorphological processes operating within the basin. Field data on morphological relations, based on photogrammetric mapping and longitudinal profiling, have been gathered in the Dead Sea area, Israel, where a rapid fall in base level has occurred during the Holocene. The study area is an entrenched fan delta with a sequence of 14 unpaired fan terraces which die out at intersection points within an alluvial fan system. The results suggest that the intersection points did not function as base levels. The receding base level played only a passive role, allowing entrenchment without transmitting a head-cutting feedback basinwards. The arid environment caused a delay in transmission of information through the system. The results support the model of short, episodic, and discontinuous erosional events, inherent in the evolution of drainage basins. It is suggested that base level effects in temperate and humid regions are not transferrable to arid zones.     

Reversed responses within a segmented detached breakwater, the Tuscany coast Italy—a case study

A multiple detached breakwater system was designed to protect an extended length of shoreline in front of the presidential villa located in the Gombo region, Tuscany, Italy. The purpose of this empirical field study was to examine the impact of the surface-piercing segmented breakwater on the subaqueous morphology and to follow the effect of the breakwaters on the beach.Shoreline mapping was performed on rectified, stereo-plotted air photos and was also based on topographic field surveying. Bathymetric mapping was based on interpolation of profile lines extending to 10 m water depth.Building the breakwaters in a downstream order caused the trapping of the longshore-driven sediments mainly at the southernmost breakwaters that faced the longshore sediment supply. The longshore down-current direction controlled the hierarchy of the beach response. Two relatively coherent behavioral domains were found to exist: (1) the “permanent tombolo stage” of segments 1–3 and (2) the “no sinuosity” response of the beach opposite the northern segment no. 5. The segment no.4, in-between, did not exhibit a coherent behaviour, indicating a drastic reversal in the sedimentary regime.The three southernmost tombolos facing the longshore current became the main sediment trap, causing a lee-side erosional effect to emerge within the protection scheme of the segmented detached breakwaters. The oblique incident waves enter through the gaps and maintain in the inshore the depleted longshore drift, causing the shoreline configuration in the lee of the northern breakwaters to develop into a prograding log-spiral bay.     

The diurnal,annual and sunspot-cycle variations of ESFm at Huancayo compared with similar variations of spread-F occurrence at other longitudes and latitudes

Using the tabulations of spread-F data from ionosonde recordings the diurnal, annual and sunspot-cycle variations of this spread-F occurrence have been investigated for the equatorial station, Huancayo. Both R_z max and R_z min periods have been considered. The analyses suggest that some explanation of these variations can be made by involving two regimes, which have been called Regime A and Regime B. The Regime A is present throughout the night but this distribution is more obvious after midnight. This is because in the post-sunset period Regime B, which is associated with significant height rises, is dominant. The Regime A is the same as for similar distributions in mid-latitudes and is inversely related to sunspot activity. It maximizes in December solstice months. The Regime B is directly related to sunspot activity and maximizes in equinoctial months. Changes associated with the upper atmosphere neutral particle density have been found to be important, particularly for Regime A where an inverse relationship exists. The Regime A R_z min annual distributions reported here for Huancayo have been compared with similar distributions at other longitudes and latitudes.     

The numerical calculation of wave-fields for gravity waves propagating in an inhomogeneous atmosphere

Numerical solutions of the hydrodynamic equations are used to examine the wave-fields for gravity waves propagating upwards in a horizontally stratified inhomogeneous atmosphere. Calculations using a multilayer approach and also using a new direct integration method have been performed. These have shown that a pronounced reflection of the waves in the lower mesosphere is possible.     

Origins and effects of coagulation in lakes

A physical model for the transport and deposition of particles in lakes is formulated mathematically, solved numerically, compared with some field results available in the literature, and used to simulate the effects of coagulation and sedimentation in some limnetic systems. The results indicate that these processes exert significant and perhaps controlling effects on the transport and fate of particles and associated pollutants and nutrients in lakes.     

Late Quaternary evolution of coastal sand Barriers, Port Stephens-Myall Lakes Area, central New South Wales, Australia

The geomorphic and stratigraphic history of six coastal embayments has been studied in the vicinity of Newcastle, New South Wales (N.S.W.), Australia, in order to determine modes of deposition, and the degree to which marine and estuarine deposits can be correlated and dated. Each embayment possesses its own distinctive suite of landforms ranging from those dominated by coastal dunes to those in which beach ridges occur. In four of the bays dual sand barriers, comprising an Inner Barrier and an Outer Barrier, provide the framework for correlation between embayments. Six stages are recognized in the deposition of late Quaternary sediments in this area: (i) Pre-Last Interglacial, involving accumulation of separate composite units consisting of estuarine clays and transgressive dune complexes; (ii) Last Interglacial stage during which Inner Barriers were formed; (iii) Last Glacial reworking of barrier and dune sands by westerly winds; (iv) Postglacial Marine Transgression during which the Outer Barriers were initiated; (v) Mid-Holocene stage following cessation of sea-level rise ca. 6000–6500 yr B.P. on this coast, and involving progradation of Outer Barriers in some embayments; and (vi) Late Holocene episodic eolian reworking of dune complexes and Outer Barriers. The relatively high wave and wind energy as well as the tectonic setting of the central N.S.W. coast results in somewhat different geomorphic histories from barrier-island coasts in North America and Europe.