Epigenetic gorges in fluvial landscapes

Epigenetic gorges form when channels that have been laterally displaced during episodes of river blockage or aggradation incise down into bedrock spurs or side‐walls of the former valley rather than excavating unconsolidated fills and reinhabiting the buried paleovalley. Valley‐filling events that promote epigenetic gorges can be localized, such as a landslide dam or an alluvial/debris flow fan deposit at a tributary junction, or widespread, such as fluvial aggradation in response to climate change or fluctuating base‐level. The formation of epigenetic gorges depends upon the competition between the resistance to transport, strength and roughness of valley‐filling sediments and a river's ability to sculpt and incise bedrock. The former affects the location and lateral mobility of a channel incising into valley‐filling deposits; the latter determines rates of bedrock incision should the path of the incising channel intersect with bedrock that is not the paleovalley bottom. Epigenetic gorge incision, by definition, post‐dates the incision that originally cut the valley. Strath terraces and sculpted bedrock walls that form in relation to epigenetic gorges should not be used to directly infer river incision induced by tectonic activity or climate variability. Rather, they are indicative of the variability of short‐term bedrock river incision and autogenic dynamics of actively incising fluvial landscapes. The rate of bedrock incision associated with an epigenetic gorge can be very high (>1 cm/yr), typically orders of magnitude higher than both short‐ and long‐term landscape denudation rates. In the context of bedrock river incision and landscape evolution, epigenetic gorges force rivers to incise more bedrock, slowing long‐term incision and delaying the adjustment of rivers to regional tectonic and climatic forcing. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A planetary boundary-layer study in the Mackenzie Valley,Canada

Detailed wind velocity profiles were obtained by means of a rocket-sonde technique to a height of about 700 m at a site in the Canadian Northwest Territories. Less detailed temperature observations were also made using a balloon sonde. The site was some 100 km east of the easternmost range of the Rocky Mountains. The observations took place in mid-February when the overall atmospheric static stability was considerable. The results showed the presence of an arctic, atmospheric ‘thermocline’ some 500 m above ground, which sloped up or down considerably, with the generators of isothermal surfaces usually parallel to the nearby mountains, in the manner of upwelled or downwelled thermoclines in the ocean near shore. There was often strong baroclinic flow parallel to the mountain range. Noticeable frictional effects were confined to a near-ground layer always less than 100 m and mostly no more than 10 m in height. An Ekman-type boundary layer could only be identified in about one-third of the velocity profiles. The non-dimensionalized depth coefficient of such layers was close to 0.1, the geostrophic drag coefficient about 2.5×10^?4.     

Numerically based proposals for the stiffness and strength of masonry infills with openings in reinforced concrete frames

Aimed at investigating the effect of openings on the in‐plane behaviour of masonry infills in reinforced concrete frames, a parametric study is presented based on model calibration via experimental tests. Two types of openings are investigated: central window openings and different combinations of door and window openings based on the typologies of southern European countries. First, a finite element model of the structure is made using the DIANA software program. Then, after calibration with experimental results, a parametric analysis is carried out to investigate the effect of the presence and location of the different types of openings on the in‐plane behaviour of the infilled frame. Finally, different equations for predicting the initial stiffness and lateral strength of infilled frames with any types of openings were obtained. An α factor related to the geometry of the piers between openings is proposed to take into account the location of the openings in the developed equations. Subsequently, the masonry infill panel is replaced by a diagonal strut. An empirical equation is also proposed for the width of an equivalent strut to replace a masonry infill panel with openings in such a way that they possess the same initial stiffness. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The geomorphic function and characteristics of large woody debris in low gradient rivers, coastal Maine, USA

The role, function, and importance of large woody debris (LWD) in rivers depend strongly on environmental context and land use history. The coastal watersheds of central and northern Maine, northeastern U.S., are characterized by low gradients, moderate topography, and minimal influence of mass wasting processes, along with a history of intensive commercial timber harvest. In spite of the ecological importance of these rivers, which contain the last wild populations of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in the U.S., we know little about LWD distribution, dynamics, and function in these systems. We conducted a cross-basin analysis in seven coastal Maine watersheds, documenting the size, frequency, volume, position, and orientation of LWD, as well as the association between LWD, pool formation, and sediment storage. In conjunction with these LWD surveys, we conducted extensive riparian vegetation surveys. We observed very low LWD frequencies and volumes across the 60 km of rivers surveyed. Frequency of LWD ≥ 20 cm diameter ranged from 15–50 pieces km^− 1 and wood volumes were commonly < 10–20 m³ km^− 1. Moreover, most of this wood was located in the immediate low-flow channel zone, was oriented parallel to flow, and failed to span the stream channel. As a result, pool formation associated with LWD is generally lacking and < 20% of the wood was associated with sediment storage. Low LWD volumes are consistent with the relatively young riparian stands we observed, with the large majority of trees < 20 cm DBH. These results strongly reflect the legacy of intensive timber harvest and land clearing and suggest that the frequency and distribution of LWD may be considerably less than presettlement and/or future desired conditions.     

Risk Assessment and Disaster Management for Natural and Anthropogenically Induced Geologic Hazards: Application to the Preolkhon Region,Western Lake Baikal,Siberia, Russia

In the Western Lake Baikal, recent Baikal Rift's tectonics control the topography, seismicity, climate, geomorphology, and economy. Scarps, facets, structural terraces, horsts and grabens, and trapezoid valleys can be clearly observed. They have been generated by the recent tectonic movements along the faults and represent a serious geologic hazard. The specific geological conditions predetermine a unique variety of landscapes. Thus, the main type of the economy is tourism. However, unorganized tourism leads to the degradation of the unique landscapes. It increases risk and requires disaster management. Three criteria has been used for risk assessment: (1) degree of geologic hazard; (2) degree of landscape degradation; and (3) degree of the economy's vitality. The high ecological significance and low stability to antropogeneous pressure are typical for landscapes of the Western Lake Baikal. Thus, some special activities of disaster management should be implemented based on our investigation.     

Organic-walled Microfossils from the Early Middle Cambrian sediments of the Holy Cross Mountains, Poland: Possible Implications for Sedimentary Environment in the SE Margin of the Baltica

An association of organic-walled microfossils consisting of filamentous cyanobacteria, algal coenobia and acanthomorphic acritarch have been documented from non-calcareous claystones and mudstones of the Pepper Mountains Shale Formation(PMSF), located in its stratotype area in the Pepper Mountains, which are part of the Holy Cross Mountains in Poland. These sediments represent the oldest strata of the ?ysogóry Unit, deposited on the edge of the East European Craton(Baltica). Non-branched, ribbon-like and thread-like cyanobacteria trichomes exhibit morphological similarities to families Nostocaceae and Oscillatoriaceae. Cells assembled in rounded to irregular clusters of monospecific agglomerations represent multicellular algal coenobia, attributed to the family Scenedesmaceae. The co-occurrence of acritarchs belonging to species as Eliasum llaniscum, Cristallinium ovillense and Estiastra minima indicates that the studied material corresponds to the lower Middle Cambrian. Deposition of the PMSF took place in shallow marine environment, influenced by periodical freshwater inputs. The varying degree of coloration of organic-walled microfossils is interpreted in this study as factor indication of possible different source of their derivation. Dark brown walls of cells assembled in algal coenobia might have sustained previous humification in humid, terrestrial environments, which preceded their river transport into the sea together with nutrients, causing occasional blooms of cyanobacteria in the coastal environment and the final deposition of both groups of organisms in marine deposits.     

Detection of regional phases of seismic body waves using an array of three-component sensors

A small-aperture seismic array consisting of seven three-component seismometers carried out continuous measurements of regional seismicity in a selected area of the Nizhni Novgorod nuclear power plant during four months of 2013. Automatic signal detection using beamforming was applied separately for each motion component. Two horizontal components were transformed into radial and transverse components for the given values of the velocity and azimuth of the plane wave front. We have investigated the dependence of the coherence of microseismic noise on frequency, azimuth, and slowness, as well as determining the level of cross-correlation between signals on separate channels in order to estimate expected improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio, which is crucial for signal detection. Most signals detected by the seismic array from regional sources are associated with quarry blasts. Using repetitive explosions at seven quarries, we have quantitatively estimated and compared the increase in detection efficiency of regional seismic phases using a three-component small aperture seismic array and a subarray of vertical sensors. Horizontal sensors showed a higher efficiency in the detection of transverse waves, while the subarray of vertical sensors missed S-waves from certain events. For one of the nearby quarries, the vertical subarray missed up to 25% of events (5 of 20). The results of the investigation point to the need for the use of three-component seismic arrays for the study of regional seismicity.     

TRANSFORMATION OF DIPOLAR,WENNER AND TWO-ELECTRODE CURVES TO SCHLUMBERGER APPARENT RESISTIVITY SOUNDING CURVES*

A simple mathematical technique based on regressional analysis allows the transformation of dipolar, Wenner and two-electrode apparent resistivity sounding curves to Schlumberger ones. The algorithm is suitable for a programmable pocket calculator and the accuracy is very high. This has been demonstrated by comparing Schlumberger master curves with transformations of master curves for the other configurations for the same model.