The problem of underpowered rivers

This study has hypothesized that for many rivers the trade-off between flow accumulation and the decrease in slope along channel length means that stream power increases downstream and, moreover, that given the low slope angles in headwater and low-order streams, they would have insufficient stream power to erode let alone transport sediment. The study considered the stream power profile, the particle travel distances and the application of the Hjulström curve based on the velocity profile of nine, large UK catchments. The study showed that:

1. Some rivers never showed a maximum in their longitudinal stream power profile, implying that some rivers never develop a deposition zone before they discharge at the tidal limit.
2. Particle travel distances during a bankfull discharge event showed that for some rivers 91% of the upper main channel would not be cleared of sediment. Furthermore, while some rivers could transport a 2 mm particle their entire length in one bankfull event, for another river it would take 89 such events.
3. The Hjulström curve shows that for three of the study rivers the upper 20 km of the river was not capable of eroding a 2 μm particle.
4. The study has shown that for all rivers studied, erosion is focused downstream and deposition upstream. Many UK rivers have a dead zone where, on time scales of the order of centuries, no erosion or transport occurs and erosion only occurs in the lower courses of the channel where discharge rather than slope dominates – we propose these as underpowered rivers.

© 2020 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd     

Identity building and social transformation: the cases of Namibia and Botswana compared

Namibia and Botswana differ from other sub-Saharan nations in their record of stable political performance. However, both countries have to face increasing social problems. In the case of Namibia these are still mainly related to the process of post-apartheid national reconciliation and identity building, in the case of Botswana they refer to issues of growing tribal tensions and of a gradual interior restructuring of society. This paper analyzes the various patterns of social transformation in the two countries and examines in what ways state-society relations are different from other African nations. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Recrystallization of Magnesian Calcite Overgrowths on Calcite SeedsSuspended in Seawater

The formation and subsequent reactions of magnesiancalcite overgrowths on calcite were investigated bymeans of closed system seeded precipitationexperiments. These experiments demonstrated that(1) thin overgrowths of magnesian calcite are precipitatedon calcite seeds suspended in seawater;(2) the solubilities of the coatings increase outward from theseed crystals as a linear function of the log ofrelative coating thickness;(3) during the period ofthese experiments (up to 5.5 months), the magnesiancalcite coatings continued to increase in thickness,but became less soluble in composition. Thestabilization reaction, referred to asrecrystallization, can be described by the followingequation:Cax Mg(1-x) CO3 + [z + y(x + z)]Ca2++ 2yHCO3- ]= (1 + y)Ca(x + z)Mg(1 - x -z)CO3 + [z + y(x + z - 1)]Mg2++ y CO2 + yH20;]4) recrystallization rate is dependent on solutionsaturation state, with a reaction order of 3.2 forartificial seawater and 4.0 for natural seawater; and(5) by the cessation of the closed system experiments,overgrowth compositions approached that of the stablecalcite (a few mol % MgCO3).Armoring of suspended carbonate particles in thesurface oceans with magnesian calcite overgrowthswould provide an effective barrier to release of theoceanic supersaturation with respect to calcite. Thicknesses of such coatings would be limited by therecrystallization rate of the magnesian calcite. Estimates based on the recrystallization ratesdetermined in this work indicate coatings on the orderof 0.02 µm in thickness could form on particles asthey sink through the mixed layer. According to thesecalculations, the total amount of carbon precipitatedannually in magnesian calcite overgrowths iscomparable to the riverine flux of dissolved carbon tothe oceans. Field observations of severalinvestigators indicate the likely presence ofmagnesian calcite coatings on planktonic particles,and provide evidence for possible recrystallization ofbiogenic magnesian particles in the marineenvironment.     

Carbonaceous chondrites—I. Characterization and significance of carbonaceous chondrite (CM) xenoliths in the Jodzie howardite

Mineralogical, chemical, textural, and isotopic studies of the abundant carbonaceous inclusions in the Jodzie howardite are consistent with CM characteristics. These CM xenoliths show regolith alteration on a level comparable to the Murray and Murchison meteorites but less than Nogoya, flow-oriented development of phyllosilicates and ‘poorly characterized phases’, and partial oxidation of sulfides. Temperature-programmed pyrolysis mass spectrometry (25°–1400°C) indicates that gas release patterns of volatiles and hydrocarbon components and percent contents of N(0.15), C(2.3) and S(2.4) are typical of CM meteorites. Release of significant amounts of SO₂ is attributed to the thermal breakdown of ‘poorly characterized phases’ (Fe-Ni-C-S-O) that formed during low temperature aqueous alteration in the CM parent body.Noble gas abundances are well within the reported range of CM meteorites. The fact that the Ne composition is typical for ‘solar’ values and the isotopic structure of Xe is ‘planetary’ argues that these gases were entrapped by different mechanisms. Cosmic ray exposure ages for the xenoliths (³He, 5 × 10⁶; ²¹Ne, 6.7 × 10⁶; ³⁸Ar, 6.9 × 10⁶ yr) agree with the reported exposure age for the eucritic host. Volatile abundances, presence of intact organic molecules, and phyllosilicates in the CM xenoliths preclude regolith temperatures in excess of 200°C after CM incorporation. Mixing of the host and xenoliths probably occurred during a low-velocity collision of main belt asteroids.     

Meteoroid ablation spheres from deep-sea sediments

We present analyses of spheres magnetically extracted from mid-Pacific abyssal clays 0–500,000 years old. The concentration of spheres >200 μm is a few times 10 ppb. The spheres were divided into three groups using their dominant mineralogy, and are named iron, glassy, and silicate. Most spheres were formed from particles that completely melted as they separated from their parent meteoroids during the ablation process. However, some of the silicate spheres contain relict grains of the parent meteoroids that did not experience any melting. Typically, these relict grains are olivine crystals whose cores are Mg-rich (Fo_89–99). Commonly the outer rims of these grains were altered during heating. Other relict mineral grains include enstatite, ferrous spinel, chromite, and pentlandite.The three groups of spheres may possibly indicate some genetic significance. It seems reasonable to expect iron-rich spheres to be produced during ablation of iron and metal-rich silicate meteoroids. Metal spheres are probably not produced by ablation of predominantly silicate meteoroids because studies of fusion crusts and laboratory ablated silicate materials have never yielded separate metal spheres, but rather have produced spheres with intergrown iron oxide and silicate phases. The iron spheres possess identical mineralogy with the fusion crusts of Boguslavka, Norfork, and N'Kandhla iron meteorites as well as with the ablation debris created in the laboratory using iron and nickel-iron samples.The glassy spheres are considerably more Fe-rich than the silicate spheres. They consist of magnetite and a Fe-rich glass which is relatively low in Si. Some of these spheres may have experienced pronounced volatile depletion during the ablation process and could have been derived from silicate or metal-rich silicate meteoroids.The silicate spheres are undoubtedly derived from ablation of stony meteoroids. Two of the mineral assemblages occurring in these spheres (olivine-magnetite-glass and sulfide) are identical to those described in the natural fusion crusts of Allende, Orgueil, and Murchison meteorites, laboratory-made ablation debris, and melted interplanetary dust collected from the stratosphere. Bulk compositions and relict grains are useful for determining the parent meteoroid types for the silicate spheres. Bulk analyses of spheres have non-volatile elemental abundances similar to chondritic abundances. Analyses of relict grains identified high-temperature minerals which often occur as larger crystals in a fine-grained matrix that is characterized by voids. These voids were caused by escaping volatiles as minerals decomposed during ablation. Because larger crystals of higher-temperature minerals are associated with fine-grained, low-temperature, volatile-rich matrix, the obvious candidates for parent meteoroids of the silicate spheres containing relict grains are carbonaceous chondrites.     

Diatoms on earth,comets, europa and in interstellar space

There exists a close correspondence between the measured infrared properties of diatoms and the infrared spectrum of interstellar dust as observed in the Trapezium nebula and toward the galactic center source GC-IRS 7. Diatoms and bacteria also exhibit an absorbance peak near 2200 », which is found to agree with the observed ultraviolet absorbance properties of interstellar grains. We review the observational data and consider the known properties of diatoms and bacteria. It is suggested that these characteristics are consistent with the concept of a cosmic microbiological system in which these or similar microorganisms might exist on comets, Europa and in interstellar space.     

Isotopic fractionation of Cu in tektites

Tektites are terrestrial natural glasses of up to a few centimeters in size that were produced during hypervelocity impacts on the Earth’s surface. It is well established that the chemical and isotopic composition of tektites is generally identical to that of the upper terrestrial continental crust. Tektites typically have very low water content, which has generally been explained by volatilization at high temperature; however, the exact mechanism is still debated. Because volatilization can fractionate isotopes, comparing the isotopic composition of volatile elements in tektites with those of their source rocks may help to understand the physical conditions during tektite formation.Interestingly, volatile chalcophile elements (e.g., Cd and Zn) seem to be the only elements for which isotopic fractionation is known so far in tektites. Here, we extend this study to Cu, another volatile chalcophile element. We have measured the Cu isotopic composition for 20 tektite samples from the four known different strewn fields. All of the tektites (except the Muong Nong-types) are enriched in the heavy isotopes of Cu (1.98 < δ⁶⁵Cu < 6.99) in comparison to the terrestrial crust (δ⁶⁵Cu ≈ 0) with no clear distinction between the different groups. The Muong Nong-type tektites and a Libyan Desert Glass sample are not fractionated (δ⁶⁵Cu ≈ 0) in comparison to the terrestrial crust. To refine the Cu isotopic composition of the terrestrial crust, we also present data for three geological reference materials (δ⁶⁵Cu ≈ 0).An increase of δ⁶⁵Cu with decreasing Cu abundance probably reflects that the isotopic fractionation occurred by evaporation during heating. A simple Rayleigh distillation cannot explain the Cu isotopic data and we suggest that the isotopic fractionation is governed by a diffusion-limited regime. Copper is isotopically more fractionated than the more volatile element Zn (δ^66/64Zn up to 2.49‰). This difference of behavior between Cu and Zn is predicted in a diffusion-limited regime, where the magnitude of the isotopic fractionation is regulated by the competition between the evaporative flux and the diffusive flux at the diffusion boundary layer. Due to the difference of ionic charge in silicates (Zn²⁺ vs. Cu⁺), Cu has a diffusion coefficient that is larger than that of Zn by at least two orders of magnitude. Therefore, the larger isotopic fractionation in Cu than in Zn in tektites is due to the significant difference in their respective chemical diffusivity.     

Analysis and characterization of the synergistic AIRS and MODIS cloud-cleared radiances

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and MODerate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) Aqua spacecraft measure the upwelling infrared radiance used for numerous remote-sensing- and climate-related applications. AIRS provides high spectral resolution infrared radiances, while MODIS provides collocated high spatial resolution radiances at 16 broad infrared bands. An optimal algorithm for cloud-clearing has been developed for AIRS cloudy soundings at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where the spatially and spectrally collocated AIRS and MODIS data has been used to analyze the characteristic of this algorithm. An analysis and characterization of the global AIRS cloud-cleared radiances using the bias and the standard deviation between the cloud-cleared and the nearby clear measurements are studied. Scene inhomogeneity for both land- and water-surface types has been estimated to account for the assessed error. Both monthly and seasonal changes of global AIRS/MODIS cloud-clearing performance also have been analyzed.