Tidal Habitats Support Large Numbers of Invasive Blue Catfish in a Chesapeake Bay Subestuary

The introduction of a non-native freshwater fish, blue catfish Ictalurus furcatus, in tributaries of Chesapeake Bay resulted in the establishment of fisheries and in the expansion of the population into brackish habitats. Blue catfish are an invasive species in the Chesapeake Bay region, and efforts are underway to limit their impacts on native communities. Key characteristics of the population (population size, survival rates) are unknown, but such knowledge is useful in understanding the impact of blue catfish in estuarine systems. We estimated population size and survival rates of blue catfish in tidal habitats of the James River subestuary. We tagged 34,252 blue catfish during July–August 2012 and 2013; information from live recaptures (n = 1177) and dead recoveries (n = 279) were used to estimate annual survival rates and population size using Barker’s Model in a Robust Design and allowing for heterogeneity in detection probabilities. The blue catfish population in the 12-km study area was estimated to be 1.6 million fish in 2013 (95% confidence interval [CI] adjusted for overdispersion: 926,307–2,914,208 fish). Annual apparent survival rate estimates were low: 0.16 (95% CI 0.10–0.24) in 2012–2013 and 0.44 (95% CI 0.31–0.58) in 2013–2014 and represent losses from the population through mortality, permanent emigration, or both. The tagged fish included individuals that were large enough to exhibit piscivory and represented size classes that are likely to colonize estuarine habitats. The large population size that we estimated was unexpected for a freshwater fish in tidal habitats and highlights the need to effectively manage such species.     

Great South Bay After Sandy: Changes in Circulation and Flushing due to New Inlet

The coastal ocean model FVCOM is applied to quantify the changes in circulation, flushing, and exposure time in Great South Bay, New York, after Superstorm Sandy breached the barrier island in 2012. Since then, the lagoon system is connected to the Atlantic via five instead of four inlets. The model simulations are run on two high-resolution unstructured grids, one for the pre-breach configuration, one including the new inlet, with tidal-only forcing, and summer and winter forcing conditions. Despite its small cross-sectional size, the breach has a relatively large net inflow that leads to a strengthening of the along-bay through-flow in Great South Bay (GSB); the tidally driven volume transport in central GSB quadrupled. The seasonal forcing scenarios show that the southwesterly sea breeze in summer slows down the tidally driven flow, while the forcing conditions in winter are highly variable, and the circulation is dependent on wind direction and offshore sea level. Changes in flushing and exposure time associated with the modified transport patterns are evaluated using a Eulerian passive tracer technique. Results show that the new inlet produced a significant decrease in flushing time (approximately 35% reduction under summer wind conditions and 20% reduction under winter wind conditions). Maps of exposure time reflect the local changes in circulation and flushing.     

Weathering characterization for landslides modeling in granitoid rock masses of the Capo Vaticano promontory (Calabria,Italy)

This work focuses on developing multidisciplinary researches concerning weathering profiles related to landscape evolution of the Capo Vaticano promontory on the Calabria Tyrrhenian side (southern Italy). In this area, the tectonic uplift, occurred at least since Pleistocene, together with the Mediterranean climatic conditions, is the main cause of deep weathering and denudation processes. The latter occurred on the outcropping rocks of the crystalline-metamorphic basement, made up of weathered granitoids, in turn belonging to the Monte Poro granitoid complex (intermediate to felsic plutonic rocks covered by Cenozoic sedimentary successions). Field observations coupled to borehole explorations, geophysical surveys, and minero-petrographical analyses allowed the characterization of the granitoid outcrops typical of the studied area in terms of kind and degree of slope instability. This characterization was based on suitable correlations verified between several factors as weathering degree, elastic properties of rocks, and discontinuity features. Weathering profiles are mainly composed by rock masses varying from completely weathered rock with corestones of highly weathered rock (classes IV–V) to slightly weathered rocks (class II). The weathered rocks are involved in several landslide typologies such as debris flow (frequency 48.5%), translational slide (frequency 33.3%), and minor rock fall and rotational slide (frequency 9%). The achieved data allowed the establishment of a general correlation between weathering degree and type of slope instability. Debris flow-type instabilities are predominant on the steeper slopes, involving very poor rock masses ascribed to the shallowest portions of the weathering class IV. Translational slides are less widespread than the previous ones and often involve a mixture of soil and highly weathered rocks. Rotational slides are more frequently close to the top of the slopes, where the thicknesses of more weathered rocks increase, and involve mainly rock masses belonging to the weathering classes IV and V. Rock falls mostly occur on the vertical escarpments of the road cuts and are controlled by the characteristics of the main discontinuities. The assessment of rock mass rating and slope mass rating, based on the application of the discontinuity data, allowed respectively an evaluation of the quality of rock masses and of the susceptibility of rock slopes to failure. The comparison between the last one and the real stability conditions along the cut slopes shows a good correspondence. Finally, the geological strength index system was also applied for the estimation of rock mass properties. The achieved results give a worthy support for a better understanding of the relationship between the distribution of landslides and the geological features related to different weathering degrees. Therefore, they can provide a reliable tool to evaluate the potential stability conditions of the rock slopes in the studied area and a general reference framework for the study of weathering processes in other regions with similar geological features.     

Testing for Sediment Acidification Effects on Within-Season Variability in Juvenile Soft-Shell Clam (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Mya arenaria</Emphasis>) Abundance on the Northern Shore of the Bay of Fundy

Soft-shell clams (Mya arenaria) can serve important ecological roles in intertidal mudflats and are an important economic and recreational resource in the northwestern Atlantic. However, environmental factors affecting newly-settled and juvenile clam abundances within a given settlement season remain uncertain. We conducted a field study assessing relationships between juvenile soft-shell clam abundance and spatial, temporal, and environmental variables in coastal mudflats of the northern shore of the Bay of Fundy. Sediment pH and low-tide water temperature (tide pools) were monitored in situ on a biweekly–monthly basis over the course of the M. arenaria settlement season in 2012 at four study sites to quantify diel variation in sediment pH and temperature. Core samples were also collected to quantify M. arenaria (<6 mm) abundance. Sea-surface and air temperature, and in situ sediment pH and water temperature were then used to predict clam abundance. Sediment pH was spatially and temporally variable, while in situ temperature was stable and declined over the sampling season. Akaike’s information criterion model selection indicated that models incorporating site, date, and air temperature best predicted 2012 recruitment patterns in linear models when all variables were included. When only environmental variables were included, the best linear model included minimum air temperature and sediment pH. When data were averaged across dates for each site to remove potential temporal effects, mean clam abundance displayed a significant positive relationship with sediment pH and sediment grain size, but not minimum air temperature. The results of this study suggest that sediment pH and/or sediment grain size may influence within-season juvenile soft-shell clam abundances across mudflats in the Bay of Fundy. Field experiments at the same (or similar) sites are now needed to confirm the mechanism driving the observed relationships.     

2018 International Summer School on rockslides and related phenomena in the Kokomeren River valley (Kyrgyzstan)

Information about the next Kokomeren Summer School that will take place on August 15–30, 2018, is provided.     

Hydrogeochemical Features of Thermal Waters of South Trungbo (Central Vietnam)

The results of studying the features of the hydrogeological structure and chemical and isotope composition of thermal waters from the central part of Vietnam that are characterized by intense manifestations of intrusive magmatism are presented. It is established that low–and high–thermal waters with temperature varying within 30–85°C are developed in the area under study. The value of total mineralization of the hydrotherms ranges from 0.05 to 10.05 g/dm³. It is assumed that the circulation of thermal waters that are different in temperature and chemical composition occurs at two levels. The regular change of the hydrotherm composition in the direction from mineralized chloride sodium, including with increased Ca content, to fresh sodium bicarbonate is revealed. The ratio of δ¹⁸O–δ²H isotopes indicates that the water component is based on meteoric water. In the coastal areas, there is an isotope shift towards the ocean waters, which is also confirmed by the hydrogeochemical data. The key factors for forming the chemical composition of the thermal waters in South Trungbo are their genetic type, the interaction processes in the “water–rock–gas–organic substance” system, and their equilibrium–nonequilibrium state.     

An orthotropic interface damage model for simulating drying processes in soils

The study of drying process in soils has received an increased attention in the last few years. This is very complex phenomenon that generally leads to the formation and propagation of desiccation cracks in the soil mass. In recent engineering applications, high aspect ratio elements have proved to be well suited to tackle this type of problem using finite elements. However, the modeling of interfaces between materials with orthotropic properties that generally exist in this type of problem using standard (isotropic) constitutive model is very complex and challenging in terms of the mesh generation, leading to very fine meshes that are intensive CPU demanding. A novel orthotropic interface mechanical model based on damage mechanics and capable of dealing with interfaces between materials in which the strength depends on the direction of analysis is proposed in this paper. The complete mathematical formulation is presented together with the algorithm suggested for its numerical implementation. Some simple yet challenging synthetic benchmarks are analyzed to explore the model capabilities. Laboratory tests using different textures at the contact surface between materials were conducted to evaluate the strengths of the interface in different directions. These experiments were then used to validate the proposed model. Finally, the approach is applied to simulate an actual desiccation test involving an orthotropic contact surface. In all the application cases the performance of the model was very satisfactory.     

Characterization of the mechanical properties of a claystone by nano-indentation and homogenization

Based on the analyses of mineralogical compositions by X-ray diffraction and microstructure by optical microscopy, the Young’ modulus and hardness of a claystone were characterized by the nano-indentation technique and homogenization method. Three distinct microstructural zones are identified in the claystone: clay matrix, a composite matrix of clay and small mineral grains and imbedded quartz grains. The elastic modulus and hardness of different zones were determined by nano-indentation testing. Based on the statistical analysis of nano-indentation results, the spatial mappings and frequency distributions of elastic modulus and hardness of the different zones were obtained. The elastic moduli of main constituent phases of the claystone are then estimated from the nano-indentation tests. These values were further used for the determination of the macroscopic elastic modulus of the claystone using two different homogenization schemes: the dilute scheme and Mori–Tanaka scheme. The predicted values by the homogenization schemes are compared with experimental data obtained from conventional uniaxial compression tests.     

Correlation analysis between drought indices and terrestrial water storage from 2002 to 2015 in China

Drought monitoring is a key topic in environmental monitoring and assessment although there is still a need to determine the correlation between drought monitoring indices and remote sensing products. We analyzed the correlation between the self-calibrating Palmer Drought Severity Index (sc_PDSI), the Standardized Precipitation Index and the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and terrestrial water storage monitored through the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) on a monthly timescale from 2002 to 2015 in China. As a consequence of anomalies in the soil water budget, the highly significant correlation between the sc_PDSI and the GRACE satellite-observed terrestrial water storage suggested that these two datasets are the most suitable for use in monitoring droughts. In comparing the three drought indices, the sc_PDSI was introduced as a means of drought monitoring in the Yangtze, Pearl, Huaihe, Southeast and Songhua River Basins, whereas the SPEI was found to be more applicable to other major river basins, such as the Inland River Basin. These diverse spatial behaviors are caused by the differences between the hydrological droughts characterized by these three drought indices.