Erodibility of low‐compaction steep‐sloped reclaimed surface mine lands in the southern Appalachian region,USA

The use of loose spoils on steep slopes for surface coal mining reclamation sites has been promoted by the US Department of Interior, Office of Surface Mining for the establishment of native forest, as prescribed by the Forest Reclamation Approach (FRA). Although low‐compaction spoils improve tree survival and growth, erodibility on steep slopes was suspected to increase. This study quantified a combined K_C factor (combining the effects of the soil erodibility K factor and cover management C) for low compaction, steep‐sloped (>20°) reclaimed mine lands in the Appalachian region, USA. The combined K_C factor was used because standard Unit Plot conditions required to separate these factors, per Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) experimental protocols, were not followed explicitly. Three active coal mining sites in the Appalachian region of East Tennessee, each containing four replicate field plots, were monitored for rainfall and sediment yields during a 14‐month period beginning June 2009. Average cumulative erosivity for the study sites during the monitoring period was measured as 5248.9 MJ·mm·ha^?1·h^?1. The K_C ranged between 0.001 and 0.05 t·ha·h·ha^?1·MJ^?1·mm^?1, with the highest values occurring immediately following reclamation site construction as rills developed (June – August 2009). The K_C for two study sites with about an 18–20 mm spoil D₈₄ were above 0.01 t·ha·h·ha^?1·MJ^?1·mm^?1 during rill development, and below 0.003 t·ha·h·ha^?1·MJ^?1·mm^?1 after August 2009 for the post‐rill development period. The K_C values for one site with a 40 mm spoil D₈₄ were never above 0.008 t·ha·h·ha^?1·MJ^?1·mm^?1 and also on average were lower, being more similar to the other two sites after the rill development period. Based on an initial K_C factor (K_e) measured during the first few storm events, the average C factor (C_e) was estimated as 0.58 for the rill development period and 0.13 for the post‐rill development period. It appears that larger size fractions of spoils influence K_C and C_e factors on low‐compaction steep slopes reclamation sites. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tectono-sedimentary evolution of Jurassic–Cretaceous diapiric structures: Miravete anticline,Maestrat Basin,Spain

Integration of extensive fieldwork, remote sensing mapping and 3D models from high-quality drone photographs relates tectonics and sedimentation to define the Jurassic–early Albian diapiric evolution of the N–S Miravete anticline, the NW-SE Castel de Cabra anticline and the NW-SE Cañada Vellida ridge in the Maestrat Basin (Iberian Ranges, Spain). The pre shortening diapiric structures are defined by well-exposed and unambiguous halokinetic geometries such as hooks and flaps, salt walls and collapse normal faults. These were developed on Triassic salt-bearing deposits, previously misinterpreted because they were hidden and overprinted by the Alpine shortening. The Miravete anticline grew during the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous and was rejuvenated during Cenozoic shortening. Its evolution is separated into four halokinetic stages, including the latest Alpine compression. Regionally, the well-exposed Castel de Cabra salt anticline and Cañada Vellida salt wall confirm the widespread Jurassic and Early Cretaceous diapiric evolution of the Maestrat Basin. The NE flank of the Cañada Vellida salt wall is characterized by hook patterns and by a 500-m-long thin Upper Jurassic carbonates defining an upturned flap, inferred as the roof of the salt wall before NE-directed salt extrusion. A regional E-W cross section through the Ababuj, Miravete and Cañada-Benatanduz anticlines shows typical geometries of salt-related rift basins, partly decoupled from basement faults. These structures could form a broader diapiric region still to be investigated. In this section, the Camarillas and Fortanete minibasins displayed well-developed bowl geometries at the onset of shortening. The most active period of diapiric growth in the Maestrat Basin occurred during the Early Cretaceous, which is also recorded in the Eastern Betics, Asturias and Basque-Cantabrian basins. This period coincides with the peak of eastward drift of the Iberian microplate, with speeds of 20 mm/year. The transtensional regime is interpreted to have played a role in diapiric development.     

The geomorphic function and characteristics of large woody debris in low gradient rivers, coastal Maine, USA

The role, function, and importance of large woody debris (LWD) in rivers depend strongly on environmental context and land use history. The coastal watersheds of central and northern Maine, northeastern U.S., are characterized by low gradients, moderate topography, and minimal influence of mass wasting processes, along with a history of intensive commercial timber harvest. In spite of the ecological importance of these rivers, which contain the last wild populations of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in the U.S., we know little about LWD distribution, dynamics, and function in these systems. We conducted a cross-basin analysis in seven coastal Maine watersheds, documenting the size, frequency, volume, position, and orientation of LWD, as well as the association between LWD, pool formation, and sediment storage. In conjunction with these LWD surveys, we conducted extensive riparian vegetation surveys. We observed very low LWD frequencies and volumes across the 60 km of rivers surveyed. Frequency of LWD ≥ 20 cm diameter ranged from 15–50 pieces km^− 1 and wood volumes were commonly < 10–20 m³ km^− 1. Moreover, most of this wood was located in the immediate low-flow channel zone, was oriented parallel to flow, and failed to span the stream channel. As a result, pool formation associated with LWD is generally lacking and < 20% of the wood was associated with sediment storage. Low LWD volumes are consistent with the relatively young riparian stands we observed, with the large majority of trees < 20 cm DBH. These results strongly reflect the legacy of intensive timber harvest and land clearing and suggest that the frequency and distribution of LWD may be considerably less than presettlement and/or future desired conditions.     

Seamount gravity anomaly modelling with variably thick sediment cover

Inversion modelling of marine gravity anomalies to derive predicted seafloor topography has provided significant advance in delineating deep-ocean bathymetry where the seafloor both conforms to the half-space cooling model of seafloor spreading, and largely sediment-free. Similar modelling for elevated ridges and seamounts, that are formed by processes other than seafloor spreading and/or have proximal sediment sources (e.g., continental margins and volcanic arcs), have significantly higher errors when validated against modern shipborne echo-sounding data. A three-dimensional, five-layer gravity model is emulated for the cases of both synthetic and real seamounts, with varying degrees of sediment burial, to establish the sensitivity of variable sediment cover as a source of error. A simple `Gaussian' seamount with base radius of 30 km, 2000 m of relief, has a maximum 140–160 mGal anomaly, that decreases to 50 mGal with the addition of 1 km of sediment cover with simple `flood' geometry. Complete burial, with a typical sediment density of 2300 kg m^–3, results in a 120 mGal difference from a sediment-free seamount model. Increasing sediment density results in an exponential decay of the seamount anomaly. More complex synthetic geometries of varying basement relief and sediment thickness show that the anomaly amplitude remains significant, especially where the latter is >700–800 m thick. For the real case, seamounts of the Three Kings Ridge (northern New Zealand) imaged with seismic reflection data, with varying degrees of sediment cover of up to 1 km, when modelled both with and with-out the inclusion of a sediment layer, typically have rms differences of 30 mGal between observed and modelled gravity anomalies. Significantly, the rms errors are reduced by 50% with the inclusion of a sediment layer that corresponds to a reduction of predicted seafloor topography rms errors of 192–684 m to 78–360 m.     

Pyrite formation and the drowning of a palaeosol

Palaeosols may be modified in a variety of ways during burial diagenesis but significant alteration can take place during the earliest phases of burial caused by rising groundwaters. A calcrete palaeosol, the Heatherslade Geosol, from the Lower Carboniferous of South Wales, contains abundant pyrite which overprinted the original soil fabrics. The pyrite is interpreted as the product of anaerobic conditions caused by drowning during the early stages of a marine transgression. Unusual diamond-shaped forms of pyrite occur which possibly represent pseudomorphs after gypsum.     

Sixty thousand years of magmatic volatile history before the caldera-forming eruption of Mount Mazama, Crater Lake, Oregon

The well-documented eruptive history of Mount Mazama, Oregon, provides an excellent opportunity to use pre-eruptive volatile concentrations to study the growth of an explosive silicic magmatic system. Melt inclusions (MI) hosted in pyroxene and plagioclase crystals from eight dacitic–rhyodacitic eruptive deposits (71–7.7?ka) were analyzed to determine variations in volatile-element concentrations and changes in magma storage conditions leading up to and including the climactic eruption of Crater Lake caldera. Temperatures (Fe–Ti oxides) increased through the series of dacites, then decreased, and increased again through the rhyodacites (918–968 to ~950 to 845–895?°C). Oxygen fugacity began at nickel–nickel-oxide buffer (NNO) +0.8 (71?ka), dropped slightly to NNO +0.3, and then climbed to its highest value with the climactic eruption (7.7?ka) at NNO +1.1 log units. In parallel with oxidation state, maximum MI sulfur concentrations were high early in the eruptive sequence (~500?ppm), decreased (to ~200?ppm), and then increased again with the climactic eruption (~500?ppm). Maximum MI sulfur correlates with the Sr content (as a proxy for LREE, Ba, Rb, P₂O₅) of recharge magmas, represented by basaltic andesitic to andesitic enclaves and similar-aged lavas. These results suggest that oxidized Sr-rich recharge magmas dominated early and late in the development of the pre-climactic dacite–rhyodacite system. Dissolved H₂O concentrations in MI do not, however, correlate with these changes in dominant recharge magma, instead recording vapor solubility relations in the developing shallow magma storage and conduit region. Dissolved H₂O concentrations form two populations through time: the first at 3–4.6 wt% (with a few extreme values up to 6.1 wt%) and the second at ≤2.4 wt%. CO₂ concentrations measured in a subset of these inclusions reach up to 240?ppm in early-erupted deposits (71?ka) and are below detection in climactic deposits (7.7?ka). Combined H₂O and CO₂ concentrations and solubility models indicate a dominant storage region at 4–7?km (up to 12?km), with drier inclusions that diffusively re-equilibrated and/or were trapped at shallower depths. Boron and Cl (except in the climactic deposit) largely remained in the melt, suggesting vapor–melt partition coefficients and gas fractions were low. Modeled Li, F, and S vapor–melt partition coefficients are higher than those of B and Cl. The decrease in maximum MI CO₂ concentration following the earliest dacitic eruptions is interpreted to result from a broadening of the shallow storage region to greater than the diameter of subjacent feeders, so that greater proportions of reservoir magma were to the side of CO₂-bearing vapor bubbles ascending vertically from the locus of recharge magma injection, thereby escaping recarbonation by streaming vapor bubbles. The Mazama melt inclusions provide a picture of a growing magma storage region, where chemical variations in melt and magma occur due to changes in the nature and supply rate of magma recharge, the timing of degassing, and the possible degree of equilibration with gases from below.     

Short period internal waves over the Huanghe (Yellow River) delta front

Internal waves with periods of about 5 minutes and trough to crest heights of up to 6.2 m were observed acoustically over the actively accreting delta front of the Huanghe (Yellow River) in the western portion of the Gulf of Bohai, Peoples Republic of China. The radian frequency of the internal waves was close to the locally-observed Brunt-Vaisala frequency. Through the relatively short (one hour) duration of an internal wave train, the amplitude was observed to decrease progressively with time. These internal waves may cause resuspension of delta-front sediments.     

Subaqueous pyroclastic flows and ignimbrites: an assessment

An assessment of the literature on subaqueous pyroclastic flows and their deposits shows that the term pyroclastic flow is frequently used loosely to describe primary, hot gas-rich pyroclastic flows, mass-flows which resulted from the transformation of gassupported flows into water-supported ones, and secondary mass-flows carrying redeposited pyroclastic debris. Based on subaerial pyroclastic flows, the term pyroclastic flow should be restricted to demonstrably hot, gas-rich mass-flows of pyroclastic debris. Using this definition, very few examples of subaqueous pyroclastic deposits with evidence for hot emplacement and of having been wholly submerged have been described. In the majority of these cases, the evidence for a hot state of emplacement and for the subaqueous nature of the host depositional environment is inadequate. The only unequivocal cases of hot pyroclastic flow deposits with adequate supporting evidence are the Ordovician nearshore, shallow marine ignimbrites of Ireland and Wales, and Miocene ignimbrites of southwest Japan, resulting from the passage of subaerially erupted pyroclastic flows into shallow water. Other possible examples are near-vent dense clast deposits in the Donzurobo Formation of Japan, possible submarine intra-caldera ponded ignimbrite successions in California and Wales, and near-vent pumiceous deposits of Ramsay Island, Wales. All other purported cases are either clearly the result of water-supported mass-flow transportation and deposition (debris avalanches, debris flows, turbidity currents), or lack adequate supporting evidence regarding the heat state or the palaeoenvironment. Only the shallow marine ignimbrites of Ireland and Wales show adequate evidence of welding, but even these could have been nearly wholly exposed above sea-level when welding occurred. We conclude that when pyroclastic flows enter water they are generally disrupted explosively and/or ingest water and transform into water-supported mass-flows, and we suggest the various scenarios in which this occurs. There is no evidence to suggest that welding in wholly subaqueous environments is common.     

The cosmological dependence of galactic specific angular momenta

Hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation in spatially flat cold dark matter (CDM) cosmologies with and without a cosmological constant (Λ) are described. A simple star formation algorithm is employed and radiative cooling is allowed only after redshift z =1 so that enough hot gas is available to form large, rapidly rotating stellar discs if angular momentum is approximately conserved during collapse. The specific angular momenta of the final galaxies are found to be sensitive to the assumed background cosmology. This dependence arises from the different angular momenta contained in the haloes at the epoch when the gas begins to collapse and the inhomogeneity of the subsequent halo evolution. In the Λ-dominated cosmology, the ratio of stellar specific angular momentum to that of the dark matter halo (measured at the virial radius) has a median value of ∼0.24 at z =0. The corresponding quantity for the Λ=0 cosmology is over three times lower. It is concluded that the observed frequency and angular momenta of disc galaxies pose significant problems for spatially flat CDM models with Λ=0 but may be consistent with a Λ-dominated CDM universe.