QUANTIFYING SEDIMENT TRANSPORT PROCESSES IN PERIGLACIAL MOUNTAIN ENVIRONMENTS AT A CATCHMENT SCALE USING GEOMORPHIC PROCESS UNITS

The research record on the quantification of sediment transport processes in periglacial mountain environments in Scandinavia dates back to the 1950s. A wide range of measurements is available, especially from the Kärkevagge region of northern Sweden. Within this paper satellite image analysis and tools provided by geographic information systems (GIS) are exploited in order to extend and improve this research and to complement geophysical methods. The processes of interest include mass movements such as solifluction, slope wash, dirty avalanches and rock- and boulder falls. Geomorphic process units have been derived in order to allow quantification via GIS techniques at a catchment scale. Mass movement rates based on existing field measurements are employed in the budget calculations. In the Kärkevagge catchment, 80% of the area can be identified either as a source area for sediments or as a zone where sediments are deposited. The overall budget for the slopes beneath the rockwalls in the Kärkevagge is approximately 680 t a⁻¹ whilst about 150 t a⁻¹ are transported into the fluvial system.     

LAKE-ICE BLISTERS, TERRA NOVA BAY AREA, NORTHERN VICTORIA LAND, ANTARCTICA

Ice blisters, typically 0.2–0.8 m high and 5–20 m long, develop annually on perennially frozen lakes in Northern Victoria Land. They are believed to be caused by hydrostatic pressures generated through progressive freezing of solute-rich water beneath the lake-ice cover during winter. Lake-ice blisters in the study area differfrom icing blisters described from the northern hemisphere. The latter are caused by hydraulic pressures and are found at locations such as river beds or spring sites on sloping terrain. The Antarctic lake-ice blisters reflect the occurrence of dry-based perennially frozen lakes with high salt contents in an extremely cold and arid environment.     

SPATIAL ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN LONGEST-LASTING WINTER SNOW COVER AND COLD REGION LANDFORMS IN THE HIGH DRAKENSBERG, SOUTHERN AFRICA

Although snow is known to influence landform genesis and distribution, the spatial associations between snow and landforms within particular cold regions has received limited research attention. We present a case study from the high Drakensberg of southern Africa, comparing the contemporary spatial pattern of longest-lasting cold-season snow patches with the distribution patterns of active and relic cold region landforms. Two 30 m resolution sets of TM images dated 3 and 19 August 1990 and a DEM were used to demonstrate the geographic trends of snow patch depletion during late winter. Geomorphological phenomena with known coordinates were then incorporated into the GIS. The spatial distribution of several periglacial land-forms (earth hummocks, stone-/turf-banked lobes, block deposits, large sorted patterned ground) coincides with topographic positions that limit snow accumulation. However, the strong spatial association between longest-lasting snow patches and palaeo-moraines implies substantial snow accumulation at some high altitude south-facing sites during the last glacial cycle.     

PLANT COLONIZATION IN CONDESA NIVATION HOLLOW, SIERRA DE GUADARRAMA (SPANISH CENTRAL SYSTEM)

The purpose of this study was to determine plant distribution at a nivation hollow located in a Mediterranean high mountain area and to analyse the effects of snow cover, wind exposure, proximity to moisture and the characteristics of the substrate on the vegetation. We analyse these factors and interpret concurrent effects due to recent climate change.
The nivation hollow, called Ventisquero de la Condesa, is located at 2258 m a.s.l., 40°47'10"N and 3°58'35"W, in the Sierra de Guadarrama (Madrid, Spain). We established 579 small sample plots in the study area, and grouped them into 29 transects where snow duration, wind exposure, availability of meltwater, geomorphologic instability and surface rockiness were examined directly and indirectly. The types of plants and the number of individuals per species were registered for each plot to establish ecological affinities among the 28 distinguishable species. Six showed the highest level of chionophily while nine showed the lowest adaptation to snow cover duration. A statistical study incorporating other variables applied in the research revealed that wind exposure, moisture capture and the intensity of geomorphologic dynamics have a highly significant correlation with nivation, while surface rockiness is a virtually independent factor. Due to environmental changes caused by recent global warming, several plant species, especially adapted to survival in snow conditions, coexist in the hollow with saxicolous plants that have invaded the site from adjacent grass and shrublands.     

THE USE OF LICHEN GROWTH RINGS IN LICHENOMETRY: SOME PRELIMINARY FINDINGS

Certain species of crustose lichens have concentrically zoned margins which probably represent yearly growth rings. These marginal growth rings offer an alternative method of studying annual growth fluctuations, establishing growth rate–size curves, and determining the age of thalli for certain crustose species. Hence, marginal growth rings represent a potentially valuable, unexploited, tool in lichenometry. In a preliminary study, we measured the widths of the successive marginal rings in 25 thalli of Ochrolechia parella (L.) Massal., growing at a maritime site in north Wales. Mean ring widths of all thalli varied from a minimum of 1.02 mm (the outermost ring) to a maximum of 2.06 mm (the third ring from the margin). There is some suggestion that marginal ring width and thallus size are positively correlated; and hence that growth rates increase in larger thalli in this small population. In a further study on recently exposed bedrock adjacent to Breiðarlon, SE Iceland, we examined the potential for using marginal growth rings to estimate thallus age of a lichen tentatively identified as a Rhizocarpon (possibly R. concentricum (Davies) Beltram.) and thus confirm the timing of surface exposure ( c. 50 years). Collectively, these results suggest: 1) the measurement of marginal rings is a possible alternative method of studying the growth of crustose lichens; 2) O. parella may grow differently to other crustose species, exhibiting a rapidly increasing radial growth rate in thalli >40 mm; 3) where lichens with marginal rings grow on recently exposed surfaces (<60 yrs), minimum age estimates can be made using growth rings as an in situ indication of lichen growth rate; 4) it is suggested that this phenomenon could provide a valuable, previously unexploited, in situ lichenometric-dating tool in areas lacking calibration control.     

LICHEN GROWTH RATES ON GLACIER FORELANDS IN SOUTHERN NORWAY: PRELIMINARY RESULTS FROM A 25-YEAR MONITORING PROGRAMME

A unique 25-year lichen growth monitoring programme involving 2,795 individuals of the Rhizocarpon subgenus at 47 sites on 18 glacier forelands in the Jotunheimen–Jostedalsbreen regions of southern Norway is reported. The data are used to address fundamental questions relating to direct lichenometry: spatial and temporal variability in lichen growth rates, climatic effects on lichen growth rates, lichen growth models, and implications for lichenometric dating. Mean annual (diametral) growth rate ranged from 0.43 to 0.87 mm yr⁻¹ between sites, which is attributed primarily to local habitat differences. Interannual variability in annual mean growth rate exceeded 1.0 mm yr⁻¹ at some sites. Annual mean growth rates for all sites combined varied from 0.52 to 0.81 mm yr⁻¹ and was positively correlated with annual mean temperature and winter mean temperature (both r = 0.64, p <0.005) but not with summer seasonal temperature: positive correlations with annual and winter precipitation were less strong and the correlation with summer precipitation was marginally significant (r = 0.41 p <0.10). Growth-rate models characterized by annual growth rates that remain approximately constant or increase with lichen size up to at least 120 mm tended to fit the data more closely than a parabolic model. This is tentatively attributed to a long 'linear/mature' phase in the growth cycle. Comparison with growth rates inferred from indirect lichenometry suggest that such high measured growth rates could not have been maintained over the last few centuries by the largest lichens used in southern Norway for lichenometric dating. Several hypotheses, such as the effects of competition and climate change, which might explain this paradox, are discussed.     

GROWTH OF CRUSTOSE LICHENS: A REVIEW

Crustose species are the slowest growing of all lichens. Their slow growth and longevity, especially of the yellow-green Rhizocarpon group, has made them important for surface-exposure dating (lichenometry). This review considers various aspects of the growth of crustose lichens revealed by direct measurement including: 1) early growth and development; 2) radial growth rates (RGR, mm yr⁻¹); 3) the growth rate–size curve; and 4) the influence of environmental factors. Many crustose species comprise discrete areolae that contain the algal partner growing on the surface of a non-lichenized fungal hypothallus. Recent data suggest that 'primary' areolae may develop from free-living algal cells on the substratum while 'secondary' areolae develop from zoospores produced within the thallus. In more extreme environments, the RGR of crustose species may be exceptionally slow but considerably faster rates of growth have been recorded under more favourable conditions. The growth curves of crustose lichens with a marginal hypothallus may differ from the 'asymptotic' type of curve recorded in foliose and placodioid species; the latter are characterized by a phase of increasing RGR to a maximum and may be followed by a phase of decreasing growth. The decline in RGR in larger thalli may be attributable to a reduction in the efficiency of translocation of carbohydrate to the thallus margin or to an increased allocation of carbon to support mature 'reproductive' areolae. Crustose species have a low RGR accompanied by a low demand for nutrients and an increased allocation of carbon for stress resistance; therefore enabling colonization of more extreme environments.     

Hindered settling of sand grains

The sedimentation rate of sand grains in the hindered settling regime has been considered to assess particle shape effects. The behaviour of various particulate systems involving sand has been compared with the widely used Richardson–Zaki expression. The general form of the expression is found to hold, in as much as remaining as a suitable means to describe the hindered settling of irregular particles. The sedimentation exponent n in the Richardson–Zaki expression is found to be significantly larger for natural sand grains than for regular particles. The hindered settling effect is therefore greater, leading to lower concentration gradients than expected. The effect becomes more pronounced with increasing particle irregularity. At concentrations around 0·4, the hindered settling velocity of fine and medium natural sands reduces to about 70% of the value predicted using existing empirical expressions for n. Using appropriate expressions for the fluidization velocity and the clear water settling velocity, a simple method is discussed to evaluate the sedimentation exponent and to determine the hindered settling effect for sands of various shapes.     

MICROSCOPICAL STUDY OF THE SHUIKOUSHAN LEAD-ZINC DEPOSIT IN CHANGNING DISTRICT, S. HUNAN

INTRODUCTION Shuikoushan is the most important and well known mining district for production of silver, lead, zinc and pyrite in China. It is situated at about 65 li N. E. of Changning, 90 li S. of Hengyang and 620 li from Changsha, the Capital of Hunan. It has been visited by many geologists and mining