Geomorphic Controls on Historical Channel Planform Changes on the Lower Pages River,Hunter Valley,Australia

Historical planform changes in a 14.7 km reach of the lower Pages River were determined to assess whether they were autogenic (inherent in the river regime) or allogenic (driven by external changes) in nature so as to better focus river management activities and river restoration works. A pattern metamorphosis or complete change in river morphology occurred during the February 1955 flood. The peak discharge of this event exceeded the slope and grain size (intrinsic) threshold for braiding, converting the narrow, slightly sinuous stream to a wide, braided-like river. Five subsequent intrinsic threshold-exceeding floods did not cause further bar development because an over-widened channel already existed. Autogenic channel planform changes included sinuosity variations due to lateral migration and pattern metamorphosis due to the exceedance of a discharge–slope–grain size geomorphic threshold. Allogenic channel planform changes included: (1) realignment/channel straightening and artificial cutoffs by river training works; (2) lateral migration by increased bank erodibility due to riparian vegetation clearing; (3) lateral migration by the operation of a transitive geomorphic threshold involving the onset of a flood-dominated regime after 1946 and increased catchment runoff after 1830 due to large-scale clearing of catchment vegetation; and (4) the occurrence of a large flood in February 1955. Multiple forcing factors have clearly caused historical channel planform changes of the lower Pages River, making the design of river management and restoration works a complex matter outside the scope of simple formulaic protocols.     

泗滨砭石冲泡水的微量元素成分特征

泗滨砭石是一种产于山东古泗水流域的结构致密、含CaCO3高达96%的微晶灰岩,本文分别用超纯开水和加入多元素等离子体标准溶液的开水,对泗滨砭石碎块进行冲泡实验,在不同时段用ICP-AES和ICP-MS分别测定冲泡液中微量元素的含量,以了解饮用砭石泡水的水质状况。实验取得了如下结果:(1)超纯开水的冲泡液不含对人体有害的Cd、Cr、Cu、Pb和Zn等重金属元素,但含有很微量的Ca、Mg、Sr、Na、K和Si等常见元素,其含量随着冲泡时间的延长呈现上升的趋势,但都大大低于国家对生活用水质量标准的指标,且冲泡液的pH值稳定在8.1~8.2之间,呈弱碱性,口感较好。(2)在加入标准溶液的冲泡液中,主要常见元素的含量,均随着冲泡时间的延长和pH值的上升呈连续增高趋势,但稀土元素和对人体有害重金属元素,以及绝大多数金属离子的含量都呈连续下降的趋势。(3)CaCO3的溶解、金属离子碳酸盐沉淀和金属离子与CaCO3表面之间的吸附,是导致冲泡液中绝大多数金属离子浓度呈连续下降趋势的三个主要因素。(4)砭石冲泡的水虽无毒无害,口感较好,并具有降低冲泡用水中有害重金属元素浓度和对人体适当补充Ca和K的功能,但由于各种离子的浓度都比较低,饮用砭石冲泡水与饮用一般的弱碱性瓶装水的差别并不很大。     

Assessing Nitrogen Dynamics Throughout the Estuarine Landscape

Assessing nitrogen dynamics in the estuarine landscape is challenging given the unique effects of individual habitats on nitrogen dynamics. We measured net N₂ fluxes, sediment oxygen demand, and fluxes of ammonium and nitrate seasonally from five major estuarine habitats: salt marshes, seagrass beds (SAV), oyster reefs, and intertidal and subtidal flats. Net N₂ fluxes ranged from 332?±?116 μmol?N-N₂?m^?2?h^?1 from oyster reef sediments in the summer to ?67?±?4 μmol?N-N₂?m^?2?h^?1 from SAV in the winter. Oyster reef sediments had the highest rate of N₂ production of all habitats. Dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) was measured during the summer and winter. DNRA was low during the winter and ranged from 4.5?±?3.0 in subtidal flats to 104?±?34 μmol?¹⁵NH ₄ ⁺ ?m^?2?h^?1 in oyster reefs during the summer. Annual denitrification, accounting for seasonal differences in inundation and light, ranged from 161.1?±?19.2 mmol?N-N₂?m^?2?year^?1 for marsh sediments to 509.9?±?122.7 mmol?N-N₂?m^?2?year^?1 for SAV sediments. Given the current habitat distribution in our study system, an estimated 28.3?×?10⁶?mol of N are removed per year or 76 % of estimated watershed nitrogen load. These results indicate that changes in the area and distribution of habitats in the estuarine landscape will impact ecosystem function and services.     

Sediment shear properties from seafloor compliance measurements: Faroes-Shetland basin case study

Shear properties provide important information about the lithology, fluid content and stability of sediments but are difficult to measure using conventional seismics in the marine environment. Seafloor compliance measurements are sensitive to subsurface shear properties but have only been used in the Pacific Ocean and on shallow coastal shelves, where the source wave energy is known to be strong. We show here that seafloor compliance measurements can provide useful information about shear properties of marine sediments in less energetic settings and under high noise conditions caused by strong seafloor currents. We measured compliance at three sites in the Faroes‐Shetland sedimentary basin north of the Atlantic ocean. The sites have 1000 times higher noise levels than quiet seafloor sites and the source wave power is highly variable, but the data still reveal significant differences in sediment properties between two sites down to 2 kilometres beneath the seafloor. The first site, at the northern end of the basin, has an average shear velocity of 400 m/s in the upper 0.6 kilometres beneath the seafloor, increasing to approximately 2100 m/s at 2 kilometres beneath the seafloor. The second site, further south and to the west of the basin axis, has an average shear velocity of 150 m/s in the upper 0.6 kilometres beneath the seafloor, increasing to 1400 m/s at 2 kilometres beneath the seafloor. The sediments are probably unconsolidated in the upper 0.6 kilometres beneath the seafloor at both sites, with a mean grain size of 1 μm at the southern site and 20 μm at the northern site. The southern site has higher porosity at all depths and a higher risk of borehole collapse during drilling.     

Role of a rheophyte in bench development on a sand‐bed river in southeast Australia

Casuarina cunninghamiana Miq. is an important rheophytic tree in New South Wales, Australia because it is fast growing and can tolerate flood disturbance. Widden Brook is an active sand‐bed stream that has widened substantially since initial European settlement in the early 1800s and is characterized by high flood variability and multi‐decadal periods of alternating high and low flood frequency, called flood‐ and drought‐dominated regimes. Channel contraction by bench formation is currently occurring. Conversion of coarse‐grained point bars to benches is an important process of channel contraction. When point bars grow to a height where suspended sediment is first deposited to thicknesses of at least 50 mm by sub‐bankfull floods, rapid establishment of C. cunninghamiana occurs. As the trees grow they partially block bankside flows, thereby locally reducing flow velocity and inducing further deposition on the benches. Such synergistic relationships between bar height and inundation, fine‐grained sediment deposition, tree establishment and the development of a bankside low current velocity zone are fundamental for bench development. Size‐class frequency data demonstrate that C. cunninghamiana on the benches consists of pure even‐aged stands with most trees clustering near the average diameter. Two benches have similar size class frequency distributions but a third has significantly smaller trees. Recruitment on benches is episodic, may occur in areas open to grazing and is dependent on favourable conditions that allow tree survival. These favourable conditions include high seed availability, low levels of competition, deposition of fine sediments and adequate moisture for tree growth. Although C. cunninghamiana germinates on bars, seedlings are eliminated by prolonged inundation or flood scour and do not reach maturity. Recurring catastrophic floods or a sequence of large floods in rapid succession episodically destroy benches by substantial channel widening and initiate a new phase of bar and bench development. A conceptual model of the conversion of point bars to benches by thick mud deposition and C. cunninghamiana recruitment has been developed for sand‐bed streams draining similar sandstone catchments. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cases-97: Late-Morning Warming And Moistening Of The Convective Boundary Layer Over The Walnut River Watershed

Aircraft, radiosonde, surface-flux, and boundary-layer windprofiler data from the Cooperative Atmosphere Surface Exchange Study's 1997 field project, CASES-97, are combined with synoptic data to study the evolution of the vertically-averaged mixed-layerpotential temperature []and mixing-ratio [Q] onthree nearly-cloudless days from 1000 CST to 1200CST (local noon is approximately 1230 CST). This was achieved through examination of the terms in the time-tendency (`budget')equations for []and [Q]. We estimate three of the terms –local time rate of change, vertical flux divergence, andhorizontal advection. For the [Q]-budget, vertical flux divergence usually dominates, buthorizontal advection is significant on one of the three days. The [Q]-budget balances for two of the three days to within the large experimental error. For the -budget,vertical flux divergence accounts for most of the morningwarming, with horizontal advection of secondary importance.The residual in the -budget has the same sign for all three days, indicating that not all the heating is accounted for. We can balance the []-budgets to within experimental error on two of the three days by correcting the vertical-flux divergence for apparent low biases in the flux measurements of one of the aircraft and in the surface fluxes, and accounting for direct heating of the mixed layer by radiative flux divergence allowing for the effects of carbonaceous aerosols. The [];-budget with these corrections also balances on the third day if horizontal gradients from synoptic maps are used to estimate the horizontal advection. However, the corrected budget for this day does not balance if the horizontal gradient in the advection term is estimated using CASES-97aircraft and radiosondes; we suggest that persistent mesoscale circulations led to an overestimate of the horizontal gradient andhence horizontal advection.     

Boundary-layer depth and entrainment zone characterization with a boundary-layer profiler

A technique for determining the height of the convective atmospheric boundary layer (CBL) with a 915 MHz boundary-layer profiler is discussed. The results are compared with CBL heights determined from radiosonde measurements. The profiler provides continuous CBL height measurements with very good time resolution (30 minutes or less), allowing for detailed understanding of the growth and fluctuations of the CBL. In addition, the profiler provides information about the degree of definition of the CBL top and the thickness of the entrainment zone. The measurements discussed were taken during the Rural Oxidants in the Southern Environment II (ROSE II) experiment.     

Preparation and Measurement of Cassiterite for Sn Isotope Analysis

Increased interest in the fractionation of Sn isotopes has led to the development of several techniques for preparing cassiterite (SnO₂, the primary ore of Sn) for isotopic analysis. Two distinct methods have been applied in recent isotopic studies of cassiterite: (a) reduction to tin metal with potassium cyanide (KCN) at high temperature (800 °C), with subsequent dissolution in HCl, and (b) reduction to a Sn solution with hydriodic acid (HI) at low temperature (100 °C). This study compares the effectiveness and accuracy of these two methods and contributes additional methodological details. The KCN method consistently yielded more Sn (> 70% in comparison with < 5%), does not appear to fractionate Sn isotopes at high temperatures over a 2‐hour period and produced consistent Sn isotope values at flux mass ratios of ≥ 4:1 (flux to mineral) with a minimum reduction time of 40 min. By means of a distillation experiment, it was demonstrated that HI could volatilise Sn, explaining the consistently low yields by this method. Furthermore, the distillation generated Sn vapour, which is up to 0.38‰ per mass unit different from the starting material, the largest induced Sn fractionation reported to date. Accordingly, the HI method is not recommended for cassiterite preparation for Sn isotopic analysis.     

Oxygen and sulfur isotope systematics of sulfate produced by bacterial and abiotic oxidation of pyrite

To better understand reaction pathways of pyrite oxidation and biogeochemical controls on δ¹⁸O and δ³⁴S values of the generated sulfate in acid mine drainage (AMD) and other natural environments, we conducted a series of pyrite oxidation experiments in the laboratory. Our biological and abiotic experiments were conducted under aerobic conditions by using O₂ as an oxidizing agent and under anaerobic conditions by using dissolved Fe(III)_aq as an oxidant with varying δ¹⁸O_H2O values in the presence and absence of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans. In addition, aerobic biological experiments were designed as short- and long-term experiments where the final pH was controlled at ∼2.7 and 2.2, respectively. Due to the slower kinetics of abiotic sulfide oxidation, the aerobic abiotic experiments were only conducted as long term with a final pH of ∼2.7. The δ³⁴S_SO4 values from both the biological and abiotic anaerobic experiments indicated a small but significant sulfur isotope fractionation (∼−0.7‰) in contrast to no significant fractionation observed from any of the aerobic experiments. Relative percentages of the incorporation of water-derived oxygen and dissolved oxygen (O₂) to sulfate were estimated, in addition to the oxygen isotope fractionation between sulfate and water, and dissolved oxygen. As expected, during the biological and abiotic anaerobic experiments all of the sulfate oxygen was derived from water. The percentage incorporation of water-derived oxygen into sulfate during the oxidation experiments by O₂ varied with longer incubation and lower pH, but not due to the presence or absence of bacteria. These percentages were estimated as 85%, 92% and 87% from the short-term biological, long-term biological and abiotic control experiments, respectively. An oxygen isotope fractionation effect between sulfate and water (ε¹⁸O_SO4-H2O) of ∼3.5‰ was determined for the anaerobic (biological and abiotic) experiments. This measured value was then used to estimate the oxygen isotope fractionation effects between sulfate and dissolved oxygen in the aerobic experiments which were −10.0‰, −10.8‰, and −9.8‰ for the short-term biological, long-term biological and abiotic control experiments, respectively. Based on the similarity between δ¹⁸O_SO4 values in the biological and abiotic experiments, it is suggested that δ¹⁸O_SO4 values cannot be used to distinguish biological and abiotic mechanisms of pyrite oxidation. The results presented here suggest that Fe(III)_aq is the primary oxidant for pyrite at pH < 3, even in the presence of dissolved oxygen, and that the main oxygen source of sulfate is water-oxygen under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions.     

XPS identification of bulk hole defects and itinerant Fe 3d electrons in natural troilite (FeS)

XPS measurements have been made of vacuum-fractured monoclinic pyrrhotite and troilite that highlight sulfur coordination (S 2p) and iron electronic state (Fe 2p) differences between these two minerals as a result of iron lattice site occupancy. Metal-like Fe states are observed in the Fe 2p spectrum of troilite due to increased occupancy of Fe lattice sites and increased Fe-Fe 3d orbital interaction within the constraints of the mineral structure. Additional electron population near the top of the troilite valence band is confirmed by XPS measurement. These results provide comprehensive experimental evidence for itinerent 3d electrons in the natural iron sulfides.