Flexural deformation controls on Late Quaternary sediment dispersal in the Garo-Rajmahal Gap,NW Bengal Basin

Subsurface deformation is a driver for river path selection when deformation rates become comparable to the autogenic mobility rate of rivers. Here we combine geomorphology, soil and sediment facies analyses, and geophysical data of the Late Quaternary sediments of the central Garo-Rajmahal Gap in Northwest Bengal to link subsurface deformation with surface processes. We show variable sedimentation characteristics, from slow rates (<0.8 mm/year) in the Tista megafan at the foot of the Himalaya to nondeposition at the exposed surface of the Barind Tract to the south, enabling the development of mature soils. Combined subsidence in the Tista fan and uplift of the Barind Tract are consistent with a N-S flexural response of the Indian plate to loading of the Himalaya Mountains given a low value of elastic thickness (15–25 km). Provenance analysis based on bulk strontium concentration suggests a dispersal of sediment consistent with this flexural deformation—in particular the abandonment of the Barind Tract by a Pleistocene Brahmaputra River and the current extents of the Tista megafan lobes. Overall, these results highlight the control by deeply rooted deformation patterns on the routing of sediment by large rivers in foreland settings.     

Method for estimating available groundwater volume of small coral islands

We present a simple modelling method to estimate the volume of available groundwater in the freshwater lens of atoll islands under steady-state conditions. Model inputs include annual rainfall depth, island width for cross-sections along the length of the island, aquifer hydraulic conductivity, and depth to the contact between the upper sand aquifer and the lower limestone aquifer. The methodology is tested for nine islands of varying size in the Maldives and Micronesia. Sensitivity analysis indicates that lens volume on large islands typically is governed by the depth to the discontinuity, whereas lens volume for smaller islands is governed by rainfall rate and hydraulic conductivity. Volume curves, which relate lens volume to lens thickness, are developed for each of the nine islands and for three generic island shapes to allow rapid estimation of lens volume given field-estimated lens thickness. The methods presented in this study can be used for any small atoll island.     

Reply to the Discussion by Rose of Phelps et al. (2014) ‘Oceanographic and eustatic control of carbonate platform evolution and sequence stratigraphy on the Cretaceous (Valanginian–Campanian) passive margin,northern Gulf of Mexico’, Sedimentology, 61, 461–496

Discussion points raised by Rose ( 2016 ) concentrate on late Albian stratigraphic relationships between formations of the East Texas Basin and the San Marcos Arch of the Comanche Platform in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Criticisms of Phelps et al. (2014) regarding stratigraphic nomenclature, palaeogeography and regional lithostratigraphic correlations generally focus on interpretive aspects of the study or do not account for the full scope of published information. Revisions to the top Aptian–Albian Supersequence boundary by Rose are incompatible with the relative location of a subaerial unconformity, as well as deepening lithofacies trends and retrogradational stratigraphic patterns below the interpreted boundary. Rose's placement of the top Aptian–Albian Supersequence boundary precisely at the Albian–Cenomanian stage boundary also implies ca 1·4 Ma of diachroneity in second order sea‐level patterns between the northern Gulf of Mexico and other documented global sedimentary basins.     

The origins of marine and non-marine boulder deposits: a brief review

Natural Hazards - We identify 14 mechanisms, marine and non-marine, one man made, that result and could result in the formation of boulder deposits after reviewing issues associated with clast...     

Peaks of People: Using Topographic Prominence as a Method for Determining the Ranked Significance of Population Centers

This article borrows a statistical method from physical geography—topographical prominence—to suggest a new technique for measuring the relative significance or rank of population centers. Unlike raw population measures, prominence gives consideration to both the spatial intensity of concentrated population areas as well as the spatial dependence or independence of neighboring settlement clusters in relation to one another. We explain how to apply the topographic prominence calculation method to gridded population data and examine its practical utility through case studies of several U.S. states. We then discuss some ways in which parametric choices about point-to-surface transformations can result in considerably different outcomes and offer further suggestions for conceptualizing and measuring population center significance.     

'Driving people crazy': A geography of boy racers in Christchurch, New Zealand

Abstract:   So-called 'boy racers' form a subculture, which is subject to ongoing public scrutiny and media attention, usually negative. This study aimed to deconstruct the term 'boy racer' and to explore the subculture in detail, within the context of Christchurch, New Zealand, using a phenomenological ethnographic approach. This included conducting semistructured interviews and observing the activities of participants. Results show the subculture has a relatively diverse membership and a range of associated behaviours, activities and attitudes. Moreover, performances within the subculture are linked to place, and are seen by other members of the community as threats to normative boundaries.     

Reducing wind power curtailment in China: comparing the roles of coal power flexibility and improved dispatch

Renewable energy curtailment is a critical issue in China, impeding the country’s transition to clean energy and its ability to meet its climate goals. This paper analyzes the impacts of more flexible coal-fired power generation and improved power dispatch towards reducing wind power curtailment. A unit commitment model for power dispatch is used to conduct the analysis, with different scenarios demonstrating the relative impacts of more flexible coal-fired generation and improved power dispatch. Overall, while we find both options are effective in reducing wind power curtailment, we find that improved power dispatch is more effective: (1) the effect of ramping down coal-fired generators to reduce wind power curtailment lessens as the minimum output of coal-fired generation is decreased; and (2) as a result, at higher wind capacity levels, wind curtailment is much more significantly reduced with improved power dispatch than with decreased minimum output of coal-fired generation.

Key policy insights

• China should emphasize both coal power flexibility and dispatch in its policies to minimize renewable power curtailment and promote clean energy transition.

• China should accelerate the process of implementing spot market and marginal cost-based economic dispatch, while making incremental improvements to the existing equal share dispatch in places not ready for spot market.

• A key step in improving of dispatch is incorporating renewable power forecasts into the unit commitment process and updating the daily unit commitment based on the latest forecast result.

• China should expand the coal power flexibility retrofit programme and promote the further development of the ancillary service market to encourage more flexibility from coal-fired generation.

     

Efficacy of Annual Bacteria Monitoring and Shock Chlorination in Wells Finished in a Floodplain Aquifer

Public health authorities generally recommend annual water-quality monitoring of rural water wells and shock chlorination if coliforms are detected. It is implicitly assumed that shock chlorination is effective in ridding most wells of bacteriological pathogens for months to years. Neither annual monitoring nor shock chlorination was effective in addressing coliform contamination of selected water wells in a small town developed on an alluvial aquifer where septic system effluents are impacting well water quality. Considerable temporal variation in total and fecal coliforms was observed in water wells monitored for a six-month period. Individual wells intermittently met and exceeded the drinking water criteria, indicating annual sampling was insufficient. Shock chlorination of three contaminated wells and their associated distribution systems proved ineffective because colonies apparently originated from outside the wells and reappeared over relatively short time periods (ranging from less than one week up to 21 weeks). The relatively fast and similar rate of recovery of total heterotrophic bacteria suggested they are related to biofilm formation in the wells and not to ground water contamination.     

Adaptive co-management and the paradox of learning

Much emphasis has been placed on the importance of learning to support collaborative environmental management and achieve sustainability under conditions of social–ecological change. Yet, on-going struggles to learn from experience and respond to complex social–ecological conditions reflect an emerging paradox. Despite widespread support of learning as a normative goal and process, core concepts, assumptions and approaches to learning have been applied in vague and sometimes uncritical ways. Greater specificity with respect to learning goals, approaches and outcomes is required. In response to this gap, we examine five dimensions of the learning paradox in the context of adaptive co-management, where the learning and linking functions of governance are stressed: (i) definitions of learning; (ii) learning goals and expectations; (iii) mechanisms by which learning takes place; (iv) questions regarding who is involved in the process of learning; and (v) the risks and ethical ambiguities faced by different actors expected to willingly participate in a learning process, whether formal or informal. Lessons from experience with a series of cases from the global North and South illustrate the implications of these dimensions. Resolving the dimensions of this learning paradox will require greater attention to capacity-building, recognition of the role of risk, and consideration of how incentives could be used to encourage learning. Further consideration of the role of power and marginality among groups participating in the learning process is also needed, as is more systematic evaluation to monitor and measure learning outcomes.     

The structure of the stably stratified internal boundary layer in offshore flow over the sea

Observations obtained mainly from a research aircraft are presented of the mean and turbulent structure of the stably stratified internal boundary layer (IBL) over the sea formed by warm air advection from land to sea. The potential temperature and humidity fields reveal the vertical extent of the IBL, for fetches out to several hundred of kilometres, geostrophic winds of 20–25 m s^–1, and potential temperature differences between undisturbed continental air and the sea surface of 7 to 17 K. The dependence of IBL depth on these external parameters is discussed in the context of the numerical results of Garratt (1987), and some discrepancies are noted.Wind observations show the development of a low-level wind maximum (wind component normal to the coast) and rotation of the wind to smaller cross-isobar flow angles. Potential temperature () profiles within the IBL reveal quite a different structure to that found in the nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) over land. Over the sea, profiles have large positive curvature with vertical gradients increasing monotonically with height; this reflects the dominance of turbulent cooling within the layer. The behaviour is consistent with known behaviour in the NBL over land where curvature becomes negative (vertical gradients of decreasing with height) as radiative cooling becomes dominant.Turbulent properties are discussed in terms of non-dimensional quantities, normalised by the surface friction velocity, as functions of normalised height using the IBL depth. Vertical profiles of these and the normalised wavelength of the spectral maximum agree well with known results for the stable boundary layer over land (Caughey et al., 1979).