Short-term dispersion and turbulence in a complex-shaped estuarine embayment

Initial dispersion of material in complex-shaped embayments is examined using observations and scaling based in Crail Bay, Pelorus Sound, New Zealand in autumn of 2005. These observations show the highly variable nature of dispersive transport in an embayment with multiple headlands. Acoustic current profiler-derived typical flow speeds were around 0.05 m s⁻¹ which resulted in drifter-derived short-term (<6 h) horizontal eddy diffusivities of the order of 1 m² s⁻¹ which is somewhat larger than the empirical paradigm. Microstructure estimates of the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate were in the range 10⁻⁹–10⁻⁷ m² s⁻³, with some evidence that sidewalls influence the variability and that headlands increase the dissipation rate by at least and order of magnitude. A new parameter relating horizontal diffusivity to circulation and the tide is proposed. This and other scaling comparisons indicate that the headlands in Crail Bay create similar effects to those studied in other systems. However, the long decay times estimated for eddies here implies that they likely interact with other headlands, unlike some previously studied examples.     

Sedimentology,stratigraphy and architecture of the Nicobar Fan (Bengal–Nicobar Fan System), Indian Ocean: Results from International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 362

Drill sites in the southern Bay of Bengal at 3°N 91°E (International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 362) have sampled for the first time a complete section of the Nicobar Fan and below to the oceanic crust. This generally overlooked part of the Bengal–Nicobar Fan System may provide new insights into uplift and denudation rates of the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau. The Nicobar Fan comprises sediment gravity-flow deposits, mostly turbidites, that alternate with hemipelagite drapes and pelagite intervals of varying thicknesses. The decimetre-thick to metre-thick oldest pre-fan sediments (limestones/chalks) dated at 69 Ma are overlain by volcanic material and slowly accumulated pelagites (0.5 g cm⁻² kyr⁻¹). At Expedition 362 Site U1480, terrigenous input began in the early Miocene at ca 22.5 Ma as muds, overlain by very thin-bedded and thin-bedded muddy turbidites at ca 19.5 Ma. From 9.5 Ma, sand content and sediment supply sharply increase (from 1–5 to 10–50 g cm⁻² kyr⁻¹). Despite the abundant normal faulting in the Nicobar Fan compared with the Bengal Fan, it offers a better-preserved and more homogeneous sedimentary record with fewer unconformities. The persistent connection between the two fans ceased at 0.28 Ma when the Nicobar Fan became inactive. The Nicobar Fan is a major sink for Himalaya-derived material. This study presents integrated results of International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 362 with older Deep Sea Drilling Project/Ocean Drilling Program/International Ocean Discovery Program sites that show that the Bengal–Nicobar Fan System experienced successive large-scale avulsion processes that switched sediment supply between the Bengal Fan (middle Miocene and late Pleistocene) and the Nicobar Fan (late Miocene to early Pleistocene). A quantitative analysis of the submarine channels of the Nicobar Fan is also presented, including their stratigraphic frequency, showing that channel size/area and abundance peaked at ca 2 to 3 Ma, but with a distinct low at 3 to 7 Ma: the intervening stratigraphic [sub]unit was a time of reduced sediment accumulation rates.     

Hillslope scale surface runoff,sediment and nutrient losses associated with tramline wheelings

Research on arable sandy loam and silty clay loam soils on 4° slopes in England has shown that tramlines (i.e. the unseeded wheeling areas used to facilitate spraying operations in cereal crops) can represent the most important pathway for phosphorus and sediment loss from moderately sloping fields. Detailed monitoring over the October–March period in winters 2005–2006 and 2006–2007 included event‐based sampling of surface runoff, suspended and particulate sediment, and dissolved and particulate phosphorus from hillslope segments (each ～300–800 m²) established in a randomized block design with four replicates of each treatment at each of two sites on lighter and heavier soils. Experimental treatments assessed losses from the cropped area without tramlines, and from the uncropped tramline area, and were compared to losses from tramlines which had been disrupted once in the autumn with a shallow tine. On the lighter soil, the effects of removal or shallow incorporation of straw residues was also determined. Research on both sandy and silty clay loam soils across two winters showed that tramline wheelings represented the dominant pathway for surface runoff and transport of sediment, phosphorus and nitrogen from cereal crops on moderate slopes. Results indicated 5·5–15·8% of rainfall lost as runoff, and losses of 0·8–2·9 kg TP ha^?1 and 0·3–4·8 t ha^?1 sediment in tramline treatments, compared to only 0·2–1·7% rainfall lost as runoff, and losses of 0·0–0·2 kg TP ha^?1 and 0·003–0·3 t ha^?1 sediment from treatments without tramlines or those where tramlines had been disrupted. The novel shallow disruption of tramline wheelings using a tine once following the autumn spray operation consistently and dramatically reduced (p < 0·001) surface runoff and loads of sediment, total nitrogen and total phosphorus to levels similar to those measured in cropped areas between tramlines. Results suggest that options for managing tramline wheelings warrant further refinement and evaluation with a view to incorporating them into spatially‐targeted farm‐level management planning using national or catchment‐based agri‐environment policy instruments aimed at reducing diffuse pollution from land to surface water systems. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantitative provenance of silt and clay within sandy deposits of the Lithuanian coastal zone (Baltic Sea)

A quantitative provenance approach is developed and in this study applied for the silt and clay fractions of sandy, coastal deposits. Mineralogical composition of 37 surface samples was determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Grain-size distributions were obtained by standard dry sieving and pipette techniques. The characterization of mineralogical provenance is based upon known compositional information of possible sources, logical models for mineral combinations related to regional geological provinces and processes, and geographical features of the documented mineral distribution in the area of investigation. These interpretations are further supported by results of correlation and principal component analyses of mineral varieties, grain-size parameters and bathymetric features of the area. Partitioning of source contributions specific for each site of deposition is derived by solving simultaneous equations. Then, the quantified mineral composition at the initial source is reconstructed in the SE Baltic Sea along the Lithuanian coast, exemplifying this new methodology for quantification of sediment sources. The main sources supplying sediment to the area are: 1) Sambian Peninsula to the south (erosion of Pleistocene till and “Blue Earth” Paleogene sediments), supplying 33% of fine-grained sediment on average, 2) Nemunas River, the discharge of which passes through Curonian Lagoon and supplies an average 17% of the coastal fine sediments, and 3) Pleistocene till, eroded on the sea floor in the north and at the Olando Kepur? shore cliff and contributing an average of 50% of the sediment. Although we use the mineralogy within the environmentally important fine-grained fraction, this mathematically simple approach could be used with any other parameters characterizing the identified sources. A quantification of the separate source contributions to each individual site of accumulation studied, using the stable, mineralogical components of the “sediment archive”, offers a time-integrated, net-effect reflection of the combined processes of an entire environmental system.     

Rossby wave dynamics of the North Pacific extra-tropical response to El Niño: importance of the basic state in coupled GCMs

The extra-tropical response to El Niño in a “low” horizontal resolution coupled climate model, typical of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change fourth assessment report simulations, is shown to have serious systematic errors. A high resolution configuration of the same model has a much improved response that is similar to observations. The errors in the low resolution model are traced to an incorrect representation of the atmospheric teleconnection mechanism that controls the extra-tropical sea surface temperatures (SSTs) during El Niño. This is due to an unrealistic atmospheric mean state, which changes the propagation characteristics of Rossby waves. These erroneous upper tropospheric circulation anomalies then induce erroneous surface circulation features over the North Pacific. The associated surface wind speed and direction errors create erroneous surface flux and upwelling anomalies which finally lead to the incorrect extra-tropical SST response to El Niño in the low resolution model. This highlights the sensitivity of the climate response to a single link in a chain of complex climatic processes. The correct representation of these processes in the high resolution model indicates the importance of horizontal resolution in resolving such processes.     

东秦岭南洛河上游黄土地层年代的初步研究 及其在旧石器考古中的意义*

近年来,在东秦岭南洛河流域发现了大批旧石器地点,该区域被认为是中国南北方旧石器工业的交汇和过渡地带。但是,早期人类在这一带的活动时间和环境背景尚不清楚。由于第四纪黄土的定年方法相对成熟,旧石器遗址的黄土堆积可为解决这些问题提供重要证据。对洛南盆地上白川和刘湾两个遗址的黄土剖面进行土壤地层和磁性地层研究以及光释光年龄和磁化率测定结果显示,该地区的黄土堆积可能从110万年前就已经开始,地层有明显的黄土-古土壤旋回,指示了气候和环境在冰期-间冰期时间尺度的变化。黄土地层下部出土的石制品表明,至少在约80万年前后人类就在这一带活动并制作工具。石制品两面加工技术被广泛采用,大量制作精美的手斧和薄刃斧等Acheulian工业类型工具的发现,显示洛南盆地的旧石器工业可能已经突破了"莫氏线(Movius Line)"的框架。     

Climate feedback efficiency and synergy

Earth’s climate sensitivity to radiative forcing induced by a doubling of the atmospheric CO₂ is determined by feedback mechanisms, including changes in atmospheric water vapor, clouds and surface albedo, that act to either amplify or dampen the response. The climate system is frequently interpreted in terms of a simple energy balance model, in which it is assumed that individual feedback mechanisms are additive and act independently. Here we test these assumptions by systematically controlling, or locking, the radiative feedbacks in a state-of-the-art climate model. The method is shown to yield a near-perfect decomposition of change into partial temperature contributions pertaining to forcing and each of the feedbacks. In the studied model water vapor feedback stands for about half the temperature change, CO₂-forcing about one third, while cloud and surface albedo feedback contributions are relatively small. We find a close correspondence between forcing, feedback and partial surface temperature response for the water vapor and surface albedo feedbacks, while the cloud feedback is inefficient in inducing surface temperature change. Analysis suggests that cloud-induced warming in the upper tropical troposphere, consistent with rising convective cloud anvils in a warming climate enhances the negative lapse-rate feedback, thereby offsetting some of the warming that would otherwise be attributable to this positive cloud feedback. By subsequently combining feedback mechanisms we find a positive synergy acting between the water vapor feedback and the cloud feedback; that is, the combined cloud and water vapor feedback is greater than the sum of its parts. Negative synergies surround the surface albedo feedback, as associated cloud and water vapor changes dampen the anticipated climate change induced by retreating snow and ice. Our results highlight the importance of treating the coupling between clouds, water vapor and temperature in a deepening troposphere.     

The rate of granule ripple movement on Earth and Mars

The rate of movement for 3- and 10-cm-high granule ripples was documented in September of 2006 at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve during a particularly strong wind event. Impact creep induced by saltating sand caused ∼24 granules min⁻¹ to cross each cm of crest length during wind that averaged ∼9 m s⁻¹ (at a height well above 1 m), which is substantially larger than the threshold for saltation of sand. Extension of this documented granule movement rate to Mars suggests that a 25-cm-high granule ripple should require from hundreds to thousands of Earth-years to move 1 cm under present atmospheric conditions.     

Rapid evolution from sediment to anatectic granulite in an Archean continental collision zone: the example of the Bandelierkop Formation metapelites,South Marginal Zone,Limpopo Belt,South Africa

The metamorphic history of the Southern Marginal Zone (SMZ) of the Limpopo Belt, South Africa, possibly provides insight into one of the oldest preserved continental collision zones. The SMZ consists of granitoid gneisses (the Baviaanskloof Gneiss) and subordinate, infolded metasedimentary, metamafic and meta‐ultramafic lithologies (the Bandelierkop Formation) and is regarded as the c. 2700 Ma granulite facies reworked equivalent of the Kaapvaal craton basement. The granulite facies metamorphism is proposed to have occurred in response to collision between the Kaapvaal and Zimbabwe cratons. Previous studies have proposed a wide variety of P–T loops for the granulites, with considerable discrepancy in both the shapes of the retrograde paths and the magnitude of the peak P–T conditions. To date, the form of the prograde path and the timing of the onset of metamorphism remain unknown. This study has used a range of different metasedimentary rocks from a large migmatitic quarry outcrop to better constrain the metamorphic history and the timing of metamorphism in the SMZ. Detrital zircon ages reveal that the protoliths to the metasedimentary rocks were deposited subsequent to 2733 ± 13 Ma. Peak metamorphic conditions of 852.5 ± 7.5 °C and 11.1 ± 1.3 kbar were attained at 2713 ± 8 Ma. The clockwise P–T path is characterized by heating in the sillimanite field along a P–T trajectory which approximately parallels the kyanite to sillimanite transition, followed by near‐isothermal decompression at peak temperature and near‐isobaric cooling at ~6.0 kbar. These results support several important conclusions. First, the sedimentary rocks from the Bandelierkop Formation are not the equivalent of any of the greenstone belt sedimentary successions on the Kaapvaal craton, as has been previously proposed. Rather, they post‐date the formation of the Dominion and Witwatersrand successions on the Kaapvaal craton. From the age distribution of detrital zircon, they appear to have received significant input from various origins. Consequently, at c. 2730 Ma, the Baviaanskloof Gneiss most likely acted as basement onto which the sedimentary succession represented by the Bandelierkop Formation metapelites was deposited. Second, the rocks of the SMZ underwent rapid evolution from sediment to granulite facies anatexis, with a burial rate of ~0.17 cm yr^?1. Peak metamorphism was followed by an isothermal decompression to 787.5 ± 32.5 °C and 6.7 ± 0.5 kbar and isobaric cooling to amphibolite facies conditions, below 640 °C prior to 2680 ± 6 Ma. This age for the end of the high‐grade metamorphic event is marked by the intrusion of crosscutting, undeformed pegmatites that are within error the same age as the crosscutting Matok intrusion (2686 ± 7 Ma). Collectively, the burial rate of the sedimentary rocks, the shape of the P–T path, the burial of the rocks to in excess of 30 km depth and the post‐peak metamorphic rapid decompression argue strongly that the SMZ contains sediments deposited along an active margin during lateral convergence, and that the SMZ was metamorphosed as a consequence of continental collision along the northern margin of the Kaapvaal craton at c. 2700 Ma.     

Rcrust: a tool for calculating path‐dependent open system processes and application to melt loss

Earth's continental crust is stabilized by crustal differentiation that is driven by partial melting and melt loss: Magmas segregate from their residuum and migrate into the upper crust, leaving the deep crust refractory. Thus, compositional change is an integral part of the metamorphic evolution of anatectic granulites. Current thermodynamic modelling techniques have limited abilities to handle changing bulk composition. New software is developed (Rcrust) that via a path‐dependent iteration approach enables pressure, temperature and bulk composition to act as simultaneous variables. Path‐dependence allows phase additions or extractions that will alter the effective bulk composition of the system. This new methodology leads to a host of additional investigative tools. Singular paths within pressure–temperature–bulk composition (P–T–X) space give details of changing phase proportions and compositions during the anatectic process, while compilations of paths create path‐dependent P–T mode diagrams. A case study is used to investigate the effects of melt loss in an open system for a pelite starting bulk composition. The study is expanded upon by considering multiple P–T paths and considering the effects of a lower melt threshold. It is found that, for the pelite starting composition under investigation, open systems produce less melt than closed systems, and that melt loss prior to decompression drastically reduces the ability of the system to form melt upon decompression.