Combining two filter paper‐based analytical methods to monitor temporal variations in the geochemical properties of fluvial suspended particulate matter

Many of the commonly used analytical techniques for assessing the properties of fluvial suspended particulate matter (SPM) are neither cost effective nor time efficient, making them prohibitive to long‐term high‐resolution monitoring. We present an in‐depth methodology utilizing two types of spectroscopy which, when combined with automatic water samplers, can generate accurate, high‐temporal resolution SPM geochemistry data, inexpensively and semi‐destructively, directly from sediment covered filter papers. A combined X‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy approach is developed to estimate concentrations for a range of elements (Al, Ca, Ce, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, Si, Ti) and compounds (organic carbon, Al_dithionate, Al_oxalate, Fe_dithionate, and Fe_oxalate) within SPM trapped on quartz fibre filters at masses as low as 3 mg. Calibration models with small prediction errors are derived, along with mass correction factor models to account for variations in retained SPM mass. Spectral pre‐processing methods are shown to enhance the reproducibility of results for some compounds, and the importance of filter paper selection and homogeneous sample preparation in minimizing spectral interference is emphasized. The geochemical signal from sediment covered filter papers is demonstrated to be time stable enabling samples to be stored for several weeks prior to analysis. Example results obtained during a heavy precipitation event in October 2012 demonstrate the methodology presented here has considerable potential to be utilized for high‐resolution monitoring of SPM geochemistry under a range of in‐stream hydrological conditions. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The potential for agricultural land use change to reduce flood risk in a large watershed

Effects of agricultural land management practices on surface runoff are evident at local scales, but evidence for watershed‐scale impacts is limited. In this study, we used the Soil and Water Assessment Tool model to assess changes in downstream flood risks under different land uses for the large, intensely agricultural, Raccoon River watershed in Iowa. We first developed a baseline model for flood risk based on current land use and typical weather patterns and then simulated the effects of varying levels of increased perennials on the landscape under the same weather patterns. Results suggest that land use changes in the Raccoon River could reduce the likelihood of flood events, decreasing both the number of flood events and the frequency of severe floods. The duration of flood events were not substantially affected by land use change in our assessment. The greatest flood risk reduction was associated with converting all cropland to perennial vegetation, but we found that converting half of the land to perennial vegetation or extended rotations (and leaving the remaining area in cropland) could also have major effects on reducing downstream flooding potential. We discuss the potential costs of adopting the land use change in the watershed to illustrate the scale of subsidies required to induce large‐scale conversion to perennially based systems needed for flood risk reduction. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The exponential decline in saturated hydraulic conductivity with depth: a novel method for exploring its effect on water flow paths and transit time distribution

The strong vertical gradient in soil and subsoil saturated hydraulic conductivity is characteristic feature of the hydrology of catchments. Despite the potential importance of these strong gradients, they have proven difficult to model using robust physically based schemes. This has hampered the testing of hypotheses about the implications of such vertical gradients for subsurface flow paths, residence times and transit time distribution. Here we present a general semi‐analytical solution for the simulation of 2D steady‐state saturated‐unsaturated flow in hillslopes with saturated hydraulic conductivity that declines exponentially with depth. The grid‐free solution satisfies mass balance exactly over the entire saturated and unsaturated zones. The new method provides continuous solutions for head, flow and velocity in both saturated and unsaturated zones without any interpolation process as is common in discrete numerical schemes. This solution efficiently generates flow pathlines and transit time distributions in hillslopes with the assumption of depth‐varying saturated hydraulic conductivity. The model outputs reveal the pronounced effect that changing the strength of the exponential decline in saturated hydraulic conductivity has on the flow pathlines, residence time and transit time distribution. This new steady‐state model may be useful to others for posing hypotheses about how different depth functions for hydraulic conductivity influence catchment hydrological response. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The tectono‐metamorphic evolution of the very low‐grade hangingwall constrains two‐stage gneiss dome formation in the Montagne Noire (Southern France)

The Montagne Noire in the southernmost French Massif Central is made of an ENE‐elongated gneiss dome flanked by Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks. The tectonic evolution of the gneiss dome has generated controversy for more than half a century. As a result, a multitude of models have been proposed that invoke various tectonic regimes and exhumation mechanisms. Most of these models are based on data from the gneiss dome itself. Here, new constraints on the dome evolution are provided based on a combination of very low‐grade petrology, K–Ar geochronology, field mapping and structural analysis of the Palaeozoic western Mont Peyroux and Faugères units, which constitute part of the southern hangingwall of the dome. It is shown that southward‐directed Variscan nappe‐thrusting (D₁) and a related medium‐P metamorphism (M₁) are only preserved in the area furthest away from the gneiss dome. The regionally dominant pervasive tectono‐metamorphic event D₂/M₂ largely transposes D₁ structures, comprises a higher metamorphic thermal gradient than M₁ (transition low‐P and medium‐P metamorphic facies series) and affected the rocks between c. 309 and 300 Ma, post‐dating D₁/M₁ by more than 20 Ma. D₂‐related fabrics are refolded by D₃, which in its turn, is followed by dextral‐normal shearing along the basal shear zone of both units at c. 297 Ma. In the western Mont Peyroux and Faugères units, D₂/M₂ is largely synchronous with shearing along the southern dome margin between c. 311 and 303 Ma, facilitating the emplacement of the gneiss dome into the upper crust. D₂/M₂ also overlaps in time with granitic magmatism and migmatization in the Zone Axiale between c. 314 and 306 Ma, and a related low‐P/high‐T metamorphism at c. 308 Ma. The shearing that accompanied the exhumation of the dome therefore was synchronous with a peak in temperature expressed by migmatization and intrusion of melts within the dome, and also with the peak of metamorphism in the hangingwall. Both, the intensity of D₂ fabrics and the M₂ metamorphic grade within the hangingwall, decrease away from the gneiss dome, with grades ranging from the anchizone–epizone boundary to the diagenetic zone. The related zonation of the pre‐D₃ metamorphic field gradients paralleled the dome. These observations indicate that D₂/M₂ is controlled by the exhumation of the Zone Axiale, and suggest a coherent kinematic between the different crustal levels at some time during D₂/M₂. Based on integration of these findings with regional geological constraints, a two‐stage exhumation of the gneiss dome is proposed: during a first stage between c. 316 and 300 Ma dome emplacement into the upper crust was controlled by dextral shear zones arranged in a pull‐apart‐like geometry. The second stage from 300 Ma onwards was characterized by northeast to northward extension, with exhumation accommodated by north‐dipping detachments and hangingwall basin formation along the northeastern dome margin.     

Interpreting zirconium‐in‐rutile thermometric results

At first sight, experimental results and observations on rocks suggest that the Zr content in rutile, where equilibrated with quartz and zircon, should be a useful thermometer for metamorphic rocks. However, diffusion data for Zr in rutile imply that thermometry should not, for plausible rates of cooling, give the high temperatures commonly observed in high‐grade metamorphic rocks. It is suggested here that such observations can be accounted for by high‐T diffusive closure of Si in rutile, causing the interior of rutile grains to become insensitive to the thermometer equilibrium well above the temperature of Zr diffusive closure. Paired with comparatively slow grain boundary diffusion and problematic zircon nucleation, this allows for cases of Zr retention in rutile through temperatures where Zr is still diffusively mobile within rutile grains. Other observations that may be accounted for in this context are large inter‐grain ranges of rutile Zr contents uncorrelated with rutile grain size, and flat Zr profiles across individual rutile grains, counter to what would be expected from diffusive closure. A consequence is that it is unlikely that Zr‐in‐rutile thermometry will be useful for estimating rock cooling rates.