Infiltration on mountain slopes: a comparison of three environments

Water is well established as a major driver of the geomorphic change that eventually reduces mountains to lower relief landscapes. Nonetheless, within the altitudinal limits of continuous vegetation in humid climates, water is also an essential factor in slope stability. In this paper, we present results from field experiments to determine infiltration rates at forested sites in the Andes Mountains (Ecuador), the southern Appalachian Mountains (USA), and the Luquillo Mountains (Puerto Rico). Using a portable rainfall simulator–infiltrometer (all three areas), and a single ring infiltrometer (Andes), we determined infiltration rates, even on steep slopes. Based on these results, we examine the spatial variability of infiltration, the relationship of rainfall runoff and infiltration to landscape position, the influence of vegetation on infiltration rates on slopes, and the implications of this research for better understanding erosional processes and landscape change.Infiltration rates ranged from 6 to 206 mm/h on lower slopes of the Andes, 16 to 117 mm/h in the southern Appalachians, and 0 to 106 mm/h in the Luquillo Mountains. These rates exceed those of most natural rain events, confirming that surface runoff is rare in montane forests with deep soil/regolith mantles. On well-drained forested slopes and ridges, apparent steady-state infiltration may be controlled by the near-surface downslope movement of infiltrated water rather than by characteristics of the full vertical soil profile. With only two exceptions, the local variability of infiltration rates at the scale of 10° m overpowered other expected spatial relationships between infiltration, vegetation type, slope position, and soil factors. One exception was the significant difference between infiltration rates on alluvial versus upland soils in the Andean study area. The other exception was the significant difference between infiltration rates in topographic coves compared to other slope positions in the tabonuco forest of one watershed in the Luquillo Mountains. Our research provides additional evidence of the ability of forests and forest soils to preserve geomorphic features from denudation by surface erosion, documents the importance of subsurface flow in mountain forests, and supports the need for caution in extrapolating infiltration rates.     

X-ray transient sources

The galactic distribution and physical nature of X-ray transient sources is investigated. Two types of transients are considered. The observational data on 41 X-ray transient sources are given, and the average parameters of hard and soft X-ray transients are estimated.     

Assessment of Nitrate—Nitrogen Distribution in Kansas Groundwater, 1990–1998

Nitrate-nitrogen (nitrate-N) in groundwater is a potential problem in many parts of Kansas.From 1990 to 1998, 747 water samples were collected from domestic, irrigation, monitoring,and public water supply wells primarily from the western two-thirds of the state, and analyzedfor nitrate-N by the Kansas Geological Survey. Nitrate-N concentrations of the 747 samplesanalyzed range from 29% with less than or equal to 3 mg/L, 51% between 3 and 10 mg/L,and 20% greater than or equal to 10 mg/L. Factors that show a statistically significantrelationship with the occurrence of nitrate-N in Kansas groundwater in this assessment includegeographic area of the state, depth of well, and age of well. Nitrate-N levels of wells screenedin the High Plains aquifer in south-central Kansas showed a statistically higher concentrationthan samples collected from the High Plains aquifer in the western portion of the state.Comparison of nitrate-N with depth of well indicated that shallower wells throughout the stategenerally have higher nitrate-N values than deeper wells. Irrigation wells older than 1975showed statistically higher nitrate-N concentration than wells installed during and since 1975,possibly related to changes in well-construction practices and regulations that occurred in 1975.     

A mass ratio limit for primordial black holes

We augment our scenario for the formation of astronomical objects from macroscopic superstrings by the assumption that the central matter keeps its identity in the fragmentation. From the condition that the angular momentum per mass squared of this matter should be less than the Kerr limit G/c, we obtain upper limits for the ratio of the mass of central black holes M(BH) to the mass M of the host object. This limit is M(BH)/M ≈ 0.001, and, expressed in observed quantities, approximately M(BH)/M ≈ σ²/(v · c) where σ is the r.m.s. velocity, v the rotational velocity and c the velocity of light. The valuesM(BH) agree with the observed behaviour both in order of magnitude and in the variation with velocity dispersion. (© 2003 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The Effect of Geomagnetic and Solar Activity on the Distribution of Controlling Pressure Formations in the Northern Hemisphere in Winter

The distribution of controlling pressure formations, occurring in the Northern Hemisphere during the winters (January and February) of the years 1952 – 1996, has been analysed. It was found that the deepening of the Icelandic and Aleutian pressure lows is connected not only with a particular QBO phase and level of geomagnetic activity (Bochníek et al., 1999) but also with a particular level of solar activity.     

The impact of binary-star yields on the spectra of galaxies

One of the complexities in modelling integrated spectra of stellar populations is the effect of interacting binary stars besides Type Ia supernovae (SNeIa). These include common envelope systems, cataclysmic variables, novae, and are usually ignored in models predicting the chemistry and spectral absorption line strengths in galaxies. In this paper, predictions of chemical yields from populations of single and binary stars are incorporated into a galactic chemical evolution model to explore the significance of the effects of these other binary yields. Effects on spectral line strengths from different progenitor channels of SNeIa are also explored. Small systematic effects are found when the yields from binaries, other than SNeIa, are included, for a given star formation history. These effects are, at present, within the observational uncertainties on the line strengths. More serious differences can arise in considering different types of SNIa models, their rates and contributions.     

Uniaxial creep tests on a morainic material from switzerland

To determine deformation and strength behaviour of a frozen morainic material uniaxial creep tests with constant load on remoulded samples have been carried out.

From the test results an analytical method describing the mechanical behaviour could be found.

In the following the results of this investigation are presented and an analytical solution is derived. In addition, other experimentally determined curves are compared with the calculated ones. For the material tested the proposed method leads to quite satisfactory results and is expected to do so also for other materials.     

A Wave-Front Curvature Approach to Computing Ray Amplitudes in Inhomogeneous Media with Curved Interfaces

A system of three ordinary non-linear first order differential equations is proposed for the computation of the geometrical spreading of the wave front of a seismic body wave in a three-dimensional medium. The variables of the system are the parameters which provide a second order approximation of the wave front.     

Observation of Precipitating Systems over Complex Orography with Meteorological Doppler Radars: A Feasibility Study

Summary  This paper concerns the use of airborne or ground-based Doppler radars to observe precipitating systems over complex orography. As nearly all of the previous experiments involving Doppler radars were conducted over flat surfaces over the continents or the oceans, new techniques are needed firstly to separate ground clutter from meteorological signal and, in the case of airborne Doppler observations, to deduce navigational errors. Secondly, it is necessary to take the atmospheric circulation induced by orography into account in the three-dimensional wind field analysis. Variational techniques are presented to solve these problems. The proposed methods are tested with simulated ground-based and airborne Doppler radar observations for analytic flows over analytic terrains and for numerically simulated wind and reflectivity fields for the Brig event (22 September 1993) of heavy precipitation over the southern flank of the Alps (Cosma and Richard, 1998), and with actual airborne Doppler data relative to weak snow showers over the Rocky Mountains on 12 March 1995. Received March 22, 1999/Revised June 1, 1999