The changes in La Niña induced summertime interannual variability of sea level anomaly along the western boundary of the Bay of Bengal

Ocean Dynamics - In this study, interannual variability and associated dynamics of sea level anomaly (SLA) along the western boundary of the Bay of Bengal (WBoB) during the summer...     

Evaluating the impacts of watershed management on runoff storage and peak flow in Gav-Darreh watershed,Kurdistan, Iran

Recently, water and soil resource competition and environmental degradation due to inadequate management practices have been increased and pose difficult problems for resource managers. Numerous watershed practices currently being implemented for runoff storage and flood control purposes have improved hydrologic conditions in watersheds and enhanced the establishment of riparian vegetation. The assessment of proposed management options increases management efficiency. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of watershed managements on runoff storage and peak flow, and determine the land use and cover dynamics that it has induced in Gav-Darreh watershed, Kurdistan, Iran. The watershed area is 6.27 km² which has been subjected to non-structural and structural measures. The implemented management practices and its impact on land use and cover were assessed by integrating field observation and geographic information systems (GIS). The data were used to derive the volume of retained water and determine reduction in peak flow. The hydrology of the watershed was modeled using the Hydrologic Engineering Center–Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC–HMS) model, and watershed changes were quantified through field work. Actual storms were used to calibrate and validate HEC–HMS rainfall–runoff model. The calibrated HEC–HMS model was used to simulate pre- and post-management conditions in the watershed. The results derived from field observation and HEC–HMS model showed that the practices had significant impacts on the runoff storage and peak flow reduction.     

Folding by cataclastic flow: evolution of controlling factors during deformation

Folding at upper crustal levels occurs by bending of beds and flexural slip between beds. As a fold's interlimb angle decreases, changes in bed thickness and limb rotation are accommodated by various mechanisms, depending on deformation conditions. In the elastico-frictional (EF) regime, cataclastic flow may be the dominant mechanism for fold tightening. The Canyon Range (CR) syncline, located in the Sevier belt of central Utah, shows this type of deformation. The fold involves three thick quartzite units, with slight lithological variations between them. Fold tightening took place in the EF regime (<2 km overburden) by cataclastic flow, involving collective movement on a distributed network of fractures and deformation zones (DZs) from the micro- to the outcrop-scale. In detail, the degree of cataclastic deformation varies significantly across the fold due to minor variations in initial bedding thickness, grain size, matrix composition, etc. A cooperative relationship exists across different scales, and the fracture networks result in a fracture shape fabric that is relatively homogeneous at the outcrop-scale.The initial outcrop scale fracture/DZ network geometry is a product of the growth and linking of micro-scale cataclasite zones, which in turn is controlled by primary lithological variations. Once a fracture network forms, the material behavior of the fractured rock is unlike that of the original rock, with sliding of fracture-bound blocks accomplishing ‘block-controlled’ cataclastic flow. Thus, initial lithological variations at the micro-scale largely control the final deformation behavior at the largest scale. During progressive fold tightening, additional factors regulate cataclastic flow, such as fracture/DZ reactivation or healing, during folding. Although initial lithological variations in different units may produce unique network geometries, each unit's behavior may also depend upon the behavior of adjacent units. In the CR syncline, during the initial stages of cataclastic flow, the inherent nature of each quartzite unit results in unit-specific fracture network geometries. As deformation progresses, unit-specific networks begin to interact with those in surrounding units, resulting in feedback mechanisms regulating the later stages of network development. Thus, the nature of cataclastic flow changes dramatically from the initial to the final stages of folding.     

Biomarker evidence of macrophyte and plankton community changes in Zeekoevlei,a shallow lake in South Africa

Zeekoevlei is the largest freshwater lake in South Africa and has a century-long history of anthropogenic impact that caused hyper-eutrophic conditions. We used biomarkers (alkanes and pigments), stable isotopes (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N), rates of primary palaeoproduction and total inorganic carbon (TIC) accumulation rates in the lake sediments to investigate changes in plankton and macrophyte communities in response to anthropogenic activities in this shallow lake. Specific alkanes (ΣC_15,17,19, pristane, phytane and n-C₂₉/n-C₁₇ ratio) and pigment (chlorophyll a, β,β-carotene, echinenone, fucoxanthin and zeaxanthin) concentrations in lake waters indicated the present-day hyper-eutrophic condition and seasonal fluctuations of cyanobacteria, zooplankton and diatom populations. Eutrophic conditions were initiated in the lake with the start of recreational activities and construction of a sewage treatment plant in the early 1920s. The lake transformed from a eutrophic to a hyper-eutrophic waterbody following damming, pondweed eradication and accelerated catchment-derived nutrient input. The change in lake trophic state was recorded by a sharp decline in the terrestrial to aquatic ratio (TAR) of specific n-alkanes, low carbon preference index (CPI) and increased δ¹³C values in the sediment core. In addition, the aquatic macrophyte n-alkane proxy (P_aq) values (~1) indicated a slow takeover by floating macrophytes after the eradication of submerged pondweeds in 1951. Elevated n-alkane (ΣC_15,17,19), total alkane and pigment (chlorophyll a, β,β-carotene, zeaxanthin and zeaxanthin to β,β-carotene ratio) concentrations, low δ¹⁵N values and low TIC accumulation rates in the upper middle section of the core indicated the beginning of intense cyanobacterial blooms after the dredging in 1983. Although the cyanobacterial population has decreased in recent years, hyper-eutrophic conditions are reflected by low CPI <0.04 and TAR <1 values at the top of the sediment core.     

Kinematics-Based Mathematical Model for Deforming Thrust Wedges

Given the wealth of data concerning the kinematics of deforming fold-thrust belts (FTBs), first-order generalizations about how the major strain components vary within a deforming thrust wedges are considered. These generally observed strain patterns are used to constrain a general, kinematics-based, FTB-wedge model. We considered five strain components within a deforming thrust sheet: (1) thrust-parallel simple shear, (2) horizontal contractional strain, (3) thrust-normal reaction strain, (4) gravitational strain, and (5) a lateral confining boundary condition. After making assumptions about how these strain components vary within a model FTB-wedge, the incremental deformation matrix can be calculated for any given point within the deforming wedge. Thus, the material path of a given marker can be determined and an initially spherical marker’s strain path can be calculated as it moves through the deforming wedge. Furthermore, by illustrating various kinematic parameters of many initially spherical markers (for example, Flinn’s k-value, incremental octahedral shear strain, transport-perpendicular stretch), we have assembled representations of the kinematic properties of the entire model wedge. By including a flat-ramp-flat fault surface geometry for the model wedge, we are able to examine the kinematic effects of this relatively common structural geometry. Within the fault ramp segment there are greater incremental strain magnitudes, out-of-the-plane motion, and flattening strains. Additionally, data from this model suggests that gravitational strains potentially have a significant effect on the strain distribution within a deforming thrust wedge. M. Mookerjee is formerly Matthew Strine.     

Book reviews

Mechanics of Sediment Transport. Edited by B. Mutlu Sumer and A. Muller. Proceedings of Euromech 156, Istanbul, 12–14 July 1982. Rotterdam: A. A. Balkema, 1983. 285 pp. $45.00.

Gear Drive Systems: Design and Application, Peter Lynwander, New York and Basel: Marcel Dekker, Inc., 1983. Price: $49.50.     

On the subpulse modulation, polarization and sub-beam carousel configuration of pulsar B1857−26

New Giant Metre-Wave Radio Telescope (GMRT) observations of the five-component pulsar B1857−26 provide detailed insight into its pulse-sequence modulation phenomena for the first time. The outer conal components exhibit a 7.4-rotation period, longitude-stationary modulation. Several lines of evidence indicate a carousel circulation time     of about 147 stellar rotations, characteristic of a pattern with 20 beamlets. The pulsar nulls some 20 per cent of the time, usually for only a single pulse, and these nulls show no discernible order or periodicity. Finally, the pulsar's polarization-angle traverse raises interesting issues: if most of its emission comprises a single polarization mode, the full traverse exceeds 180°; or if both polarization modes are present, then the leading and the trailing halves of the profiles exhibit two different modes. In either case, the rotating-vector model fails to fit the polarization-angle traverse of the core component.     

The helicity constraint in spherical shell dynamos

The motivation for considering distributed large scale dynamos in the solar context is reviewed in connection with the magnetic helicity constraint. Preliminary accounts of 3-dimensional direct numerical simulations (in spherical shell segments) and simulations of 2-dimensional mean field models (in spherical shells) are presented. Interesting similarities as well as some differences are noted. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)