A model for debris accumulation and mobilization in steep mountain streams

Abstract

Previous work on the initiation of debris flows has emphasized the roles played by material strength, stream gradient, and fluid pressure, but in most published models the friction angle (φ′) of the channel material is assigned some characteristic or constant value. The model presented here retains gradient and pressure as variables, and considers the probable changes in φ′ and hydraulic conductivity, K, of channel debris over time. Preliminary results from the Howe Sound area in southwest British Columbia suggest that stream reworking may lead to small increases in φ′ and large increases in K, rendering channel debris more stable with time. This is partially offset by a local increase in channel gradient as debris accumulates. These factors favour the growth of large, marginally stable debris deposits, and may lead to high-magnitude, low-frequency debris torrents in channels not steep enough to produce torrents directly from hillslope failure events.     

Climatic control of fluvial-lacustrine cyclicity in the Cretaceous Cordilleran Foreland Basin, western United States

Tectono-stratigraphic models of foredeep sedimentation have generally presumed a direct link between changing rates of tectonism and concomitant sedimentological response as manifested by change in thickness, composition or depositional environment of sediment accumulating in adjacent basins. Lacustrine limestone units within the early Cretaceous fluvial/lacustrine Gannett Group of western Wyoming exhibit systematic variation in several geochemical proxies of relative rates of precipitation and evaporation, indicating that lakewater chemistry was controlled by variation in regional climate. Change in proportion of allochthonous terrigenous clastic vs. autochthonous carbonate deposition, as well as carbonate Mg/Ca ratio and stable isotopic composition, occurs at two scales. Metre-scale alternation of micritic limestone and argillaceous marl is accompanied by mineralogical and isotopic variation within individual beds, indicating preferential carbonate accumulation during intervals of decreased regional meteoric precipitation relative to lake-surface evaporation. Limestone deposition began during intervals of maximum aridity, and decreased as increased meteoric precipitation-driven flux of terrigenous clastic sediment overwhelmed sites of carbonate accumulation. Similar upsection variation in limestone mineralogy and isotopic composition at a scale of tens of metres reflects the multiple processes of long-term increase in meteoric precipitation and lakewater freshening prior to influx of terrigenous sediment, across-basin fluvial-deltaic progradation, and renewed accumulation of riverine terrigenous units. Such trends suggest that formation-scale alternation between fluvial clastic and lacustrine carbonate deposition was controlled by climate change.     

SHORT COMMUNICATION THE RELATIONSHIP OF CLOSURE,MEAN CENTERING AND MATRIX RANK INTERPRETATION

This paper describes an investigation into the relationship of closure,a baseline offset and mean centeringto the interpretation of matrix rank.The equivalence of a certain type of closure to a constant baseline(i.e.a simple numerical offset which may vary between response channels but is constant over all samples)is demonstrated.A systematic approach to the interpretation of the rank of a matrix is given.     

THE EFFECT OF MEAN CENTERING ON PREDICTION IN MULTIVARIATE CALIBRATION

Traditionally,one form of preprocessing in multivariate calibration methods such as principal componentregression and partial least squares is mean centering the independent variables(responses)and thedependent variables(concentrations).However,upon examination of the statistical issue of errorpropagation in multivariate calibration,it was found that mean centering is not advised for some datastructures.In this paper it is shown that for response data which(i)vary linearly with concentration,(ii)have no baseline(when there is a component with a non-zero response that does not change inconcentration)and(iii)have no closure in the concentrations(for each sample the concentrations of allcomponents add to a constant,e.g.100%)it is better not to mean center the calibration data.That is,the prediction errors as evaluated by a root mean square error statistic will be smaller for a model madewith the raw data than a model made with mean-centered data.With simulated data relativeimprovements ranging from 1% to 13% were observed depending on the amount of error in thecalibration concentrations and responses.     

MODELLING CHANNEL WAVES WITH SYNTHETIC SEISMOGRAMS IN AN ANISOTROPIC IN-SEAM SEISMIC SURVEY1

In-seam seismic surveys with channel waves have been widely used in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to map coal-seams and to detect anomalous features such as dirt bands, seam thinning and thickening, and particularly in-seam faulting. Although the presence of cleat-induced anisotropy has been recognized in the past, almost all previous analyses have assumed homogeneous isotropic or transversely isotropic coal-seams. Channel waves, however, exhibit properties which cannot be fully explained without introducing anisotropy into the coal-seam. In particular, Love-type channel waves are observed for recording geometries where, in a homogeneous isotropic or transversely isotropic structure, the source would not be expected to excite transverse motion. Similarly, modes of channel-wave propagation display the coupled three-component motion of generalized modes in anisotropic substrates, which would not be expected for Rayleigh and Love wave motion in isotropy or in transversely isotropic media with azimuthal isotropy. We model the observed in-seam seismic channel waves with synthetic seismograms to gain an understanding of the effects of cleat-induced anisotropy on the behaviour of channel waves. The results show a reasonable good match with the observations in traveltime, relative amplitudes, dispersion characteristics and particle motions. We demonstrate that anisotropy in the surrounding country rocks contributes significantly to the coupling of channel wave particle motion, although its effect is not as strong as the anisotropy in the coal-seam. We conclude that the effects of cleat- and stress-induced anisotropy are observed and can be modelled with synthetic seismograms, and that anisotropy must be taken into account for the detailed interpretation of channel waves.     

SEDIMENT SIZE DISTRIBUTION PROFILE ON THE CONTINENTAL SHELF OFF NEW JERSEY1

A series of samples from the continental shelf off New Jersey reveals a continuous surface layer of fine sand overlying a variety of sediment type. Ripples and shell debris suggest the fine sand is reworked and is in adjustment with the present shelf environment.     

Inquisitiones Post Mortem,GIS, and the creation of a land-use map of medieval England

Although GIS are used extensively in modern socio-economic studies, their application to historical analysis, especially of relatively early periods, is in its infancy. Yet, as this paper demonstrates, GIS has particular utility both for combining information from disparate and unstandardized historical sources and for reconstructing broad distribution patterns from spatially discontinuous data. When combined with cluster analysis, it also provides a powerful tool for analysing and classifying data sets and representing the results thereby obtained. This paper describes the stages whereby data extracted from almost 10 000 original Inquisitiones Post Mortem, dating from 1300 to 1349, are ultimately transformed into a national land-use classification map for the critical period immediately prior to the Black Death of 1348.