Detecting changing river temperatures in England and Wales

Changes in water temperature can have important consequences for aquatic ecosystems, with some species being sensitive even to small shifts in temperature during some or all of their life cycle. While many studies report increasing regional and global air temperatures, evidence of changes in river water temperature has, thus far, been site specific and often from sites heavily influenced by human activities that themselves could lead to warming. Here we present a tiered assessment of changing river water temperature covering England and Wales with data from 2773 locations. We use novel statistical approaches to detect trends in irregularly sampled spot measurements taken between 1990 and 2006. During this 17‐year period, on average, mean water temperature increased by 0.03 °C per year (±0.002 °C), and positive changes in water temperature were observed at 2385 (86%) sites. Examination of catchments where there has been limited human influence on hydrological response shows that changes in river flow have had little influence on these water temperature trends. In the absence of other systematic influences on water temperature, it is inferred that anthropogenically driven climate change is driving some of this trend in water temperature. © 2014 The Authors. Hydrological Processes published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

The formation of farm mounds on the Island of Sanday,Orkney

A recent archaeological site survey of the island of Sanday on Orkney has identified a distinct concentration of 15 farm mounds. An immediate need is to determine the nature, age, and processes of formation of these very distinctive landform features. This paper reports a geoarchaeological investigation of three mounds at Westbrough, Langskaill, and Skelbrae. For the island as a whole, the mounds vary in diameter from 50 to 205 m, with deposits up to a thickness of 4.3 m. The mounds vary in their morphology, reflecting complex processes of accumulation, often intense disturbance, and in some cases, erosion by the sea. Sections at the three sites are described with analytical data also being given for particle size, percent loss-on-ignition, total phosphate, δ¹³C, and radiocarbon dating. The Westbrough and Skelbrae mounds were formed post-7th century A.D.; more detailed dating was possible for the Langskaill site, which was initiated in the early to mid 13th century. A steady and relatively rapid sedimentation rate (ca. 1.9 cm year⁻¹) took place over the 200 years following the initiation of the mound. The lower part of the Westbrough mound is distinguished by the presence of peat, interpreted as discarded bedding material, but the remainder of the investigated sections are composed dominantly of mineral sediments containing organic matter of terrestrial origin. It is suggested that these materials accumulated from the ash of domestic hearths as well as from the residues of bedding material from the byres (cattle sheds). Turves (vegetation plus some underlying soil) would have been cut, dried, and then used in the byres and such turves would have retained a significant mineral content. The implication is that the inherent fertility of the island made it unnecessary for the farmers to spread the dung over the fields. This may explain why there is the distinct concentration of these mounds on the island of Sanday, an island noted in earlier times for its fertile soils developed on calcareous sands.     

Simultaneous measurements of transparency and irradiance in the coastal waters of North Wales

Simultaneous measurements of the diffuse attenuation coefficient, k, and the collinated beam attenuation coefficient, c, were made on a continuous basis at a near-shore site off the north coast of Anglesey, North Wales. A statistical approach to calculating the diffuse attenuation coefficient, k, in coastal waters allowed variations in transparency to be taken into consideration. The ratio of c:k varied throughout the year between approximately 11:1 and 5:1, indicating the changes in the scattering and absorption properties of the water column. The major contribution to coastal turbidity was from the scattering of light by suspended material with the relationship between scattering and absorption being dependent on the nature of the suspended matter.     

Strain and shape-fabric variations associated with ductile shear zones

The foliated and compositionally-banded granitic orthogneisses in the central core of the Maggia Nappe, a Lower Pennine basement nappe of the Central Swiss Alps, are shown to be the sheared equivalent of late-Hercynian age granitic intrusions. These ductile shear zones show mineral assemblages in amphibolite facies, are Alpine in age and form an anastomosing network enclosing remnant lozenge-shaped pods of relatively undeformed rock.The foliation developed within the shear zones concomitantly with a change in shape of quartz grain aggregates from initially equidimensional, through ‘tear-drop’ shapes, to ribbon-like aggregates. These shape changes occurred by intracrystalline glide together with intercrystalline slip on deformation-induced planar surfaces.     

The role of biodegradation and photo-oxidation in the transformation of terrigenous organic matter

Microbial and photochemical decomposition are two major processes regulating organic matter (OM) transformation in the global carbon cycle. However, photo-oxidation is not as well understood as biodegradation in terms of its impact on OM alteration in terrigenous environments. We examined microbial and photochemical transformation of OM and lignin derived phenols in two plant litters (corn leaves and pine needles). Plant litter was incubated in the laboratory over 3 months and compositional changes to OM were measured using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. We also examined the susceptibility of soil organic matter (SOM) to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Solid-state ¹³C NMR spectra showed that O-alkyl type structures (mainly from carbohydrates) decreased during biodegradation and the loss of small carbohydrates and aliphatic molecules was observed by solution-state ¹H NMR spectra of water extractable OM from biodegraded litters. Photochemical products were detected in the aliphatic regions of NaOH extracts from both litter samples by solution-state ¹H NMR. Photo-oxidation also increased the solubility of SOM, which was attributed to the enhanced oxidation of lignin derived phenols and photochemical degradation of macromolecular SOM species (as observed by diffusion edited ¹H NMR). Overall, our data collectively suggests that while biodegradation predominates in litter decomposition, photo-oxidation alters litter OM chemistry and plays a role in destabilizing SOM in soils exposed to UV radiation.     

An unusual fluvial to tidal transition in the mesoarchean Moodies Group, South Africa: A response to high tidal range and active tectonics

The Moodies Group in the Dycedale Syncline, Barberton Greenstone Belt consists of a 100–130 m-thick upward-fining succession that exhibits a transition from fluvial to tide-modified sedimentation. A basal, 10–30 m-thick conglomerate–sandstone interval of alluvial origin is overlain by stacked upward-fining, decimeter- to meter-scale cycles within which three facies are recognized: 1) conglomerate lag; 2) cross-bedded sandstone; and 3) interlaminated sandstone–siltstone and mudstone. Within the cycles, the abundance of mudstone drapes increases upwards. Structureless conglomerates and cross-beds lacking mudstone drapes record braided-alluvial processes. In contrast, cross-beds with mudstone drapes and interlaminated sandstone–siltstone and mudstone are products of flows modified by various tidal beats. Sand and/or silt transport took place during the ebb and flood stages and mudstone accumulated during slack water phases. Alternating thick–thin laminations reflect dominant and subordinate, twice-daily tides. Thicker groupings of foresets and thicker intervals of vertically stacked sandstone–siltstone and mudstone laminations are interpreted as spring tide deposits whereas thinner groupings of foresets and thinner laminations record neap tides. Desiccated mudstone drapes on foresets indicate that bedforms rarely were locally exposed during some portion of the tidal cycle. Abundant exposure structures in the interlaminated sandstone–siltstone and mudstone facies indicate that the cycles are upward shoaling. The stacked upward-fining cycles are attributed to alternating subaerial exposure and fluvial influx followed by marine inundation, probably related to absolute sea level fluctuations. Lack of high-order vegetation on the Archean landscape promoted rapid lateral migration or avulsion of tidally influenced fluvial channels.

The association of facies within the 100–130 m-thick upward-fining succession is comparable to Holocene and ancient paleovalley fills characterized by basal alluvial gradational upwards into estuarine facies. However, in the absence of vegetation, the land–ocean interface in the Archean probably consisted of laterally extensive fan or braid deltas rather than point sources of sediment characteristic of most modern rivers. The abrupt up-section change from syntectonic, high-energy, alluvial–fluvial flash flood deposits to tide-influenced sedimentation implies a proximal source that provided sediment to a shoreline influenced by strong tidal action. Possible Holocene analogues are orogenic settings such as the Canterbury Plains of New Zealand, the Indo-Gangetic Plains of India and strike-slip settings such as the Gulf of Aqaba but all three examples lack a direct transition to tidally influenced sedimentation.     

Quantification of braided river channel change using archival digital image analysis

Historical archives of grey‐scale river channel imagery are extensive. Here, we present and test a methodology to extract detailed quantitative topographic data from such imagery of sand‐bed rivers. Extracting elevation information from rivers is difficult as they are characterized by a low relative relief (<4 m); the area of interest may be spatially extensive (e.g. active channel widths >500 m in large braided rivers); the rate of change of surface elevation is generally low except in the vicinity of individual channel banks where the rate of change is very high; there is the complication that comes from inundation; and there may be an added complication caused by blockage of the field of view by vegetation. Here, we couple archival photogrammetric techniques with image processing methods and test these for quantification of sand‐bed braided river dynamics, illustrated for a 500 m wide, 3 km long reach of the South Saskatchewan River, Canada. Digital photogrammetry was used to quantify dry areas and water edge elevations. A methodology was then used to calibrate the spectral signature of inundated areas by combining established two media digital photogrammetric methods and image matching. This allowed determination of detailed depth maps for inundated areas and, when combined with dry area data, creation of complete digital elevation models. Error propagation methods were used to determine the erosion and deposition depths detectable from sequential digital elevation models. The result was a series of elevation models that demonstrate the potential for acquiring detailed and precise elevation data from any historical aerial imagery of rivers without needing associated calibration data, provided that imagery is of the necessary scale to capture the features of interest. We use these data to highlight several aspects of channel change on the South Saskatchewan River, including bar movement, bank erosion and channel infilling. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.