Stable carbon isotope variations in northwest Europe during the last glacial–interglacial transition

Stable carbon isotope data that span part of the last glacial–interglacial transition (ca. 14-9 ka ¹⁴C BP; ca. 15–11 ka cal. BP), and which derive from organ-specific plant macrofossils recovered from two lake sediment profiles in the UK and one in Norway, are compared. The recorded temporal variations show similar trends, which, over a millennial time-scale appear to parallel the main drift in δ¹⁸O as determined for the GRIP ice-core. It is postulated that some smaller scale variations in the δ¹³C profiles may reflect the shorter term oscillations in δ¹⁸O values evident in the GRIP record, although this is less certain. Overall, however, the results suggest that stable carbon isotope measurements based on organ-specific terrestrial plant macrofossils may provide (i) a means for establishing correlations between terrestrial successions and (ii) additional paleoenvironmental information, as the apparent ‘shadowing’ of the GRIP record indicates a common forcing mechanism for both Greenland δ¹⁸O and northwest European δ¹³C variations. From the evidence available we suggest that the recorded δ¹³C variations reflect fluctuations in air temperature and/or changes in water vapour pressure in the atmosphere. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Integrated UAS and LiDAR reveals the importance of land cover and flood magnitude on the formation of incipient chute holes and chute cutoff development

Meandering river sinuosity increases until the channel erodes into itself (neck cutoff) or forms a new channel over the floodplain (chute cutoff) and sinuosity is reduced. Unlike neck cutoff, which can be measured or modelled without considering overbank processes, chute cutoff must be at least partially controlled by channel-forming processes on the floodplain. Even though chute cutoff controls meandering river form, the processes that cause chute cutoff are not well understood. This study analyses the morphology of two incipient chute cutoffs along the East Fork White River, Indiana, USA, using high temporal and spatial resolution UAS-based LiDAR and aerial photography. LiDAR and aerial imagery obtained between 1998 and 2019 reveals that large scour holes formed in the centre of both chutes sometime after chute channel initiation. A larger analysis within the study watershed reveals that scour holes within incipient chutes can be stable or unstable, and tend to stabilize when the chute is colonized by native vegetation and forest. When the scour holes form in farmed floodplain, they enlarge rapidly after initial formation and contribute to complete chute cutoff. In addition, this study shows that the formation of scour holes can occur in response to common, relatively low-magnitude floods and that the amount of incipient chute erosion does not depend on peak flood magnitude. The role of scour holes in enlarging chute channels could be an important mechanism for chute channel evolution in meandering rivers. This study also confirms that understanding the relationships among flow, land cover, and cutoff morphology is substantially improved with on-demand remote sensing techniques like integrated UAS and LiDAR. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Enhancing Microbial Sulfate Reduction of Hydrocarbons in Groundwater Using Permeable Filled Borings

At a service station closed in 1993, groundwater contained benzene that persisted above the cleanup goal of 1 mg/L in zones depleted of background sulfate. The benzene and other petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) were present as much as 36 feet (11 m) below the water table and therefore remediation of a thick saturated zone interval was required. Microcosms using site sediments demonstrated that anaerobic benzene biodegradation occurred only if sulfate was added, suggesting sulfate addition as a remediation approach. Twenty-four boreholes (9.1″ diameter and 56′ deep) were drilled around four monitoring wells, in which benzene concentrations exceeded 1 mg/L. The boreholes were backfilled with a mixture of gravel and 15,000 pounds of gypsum (which releases sulfate as it dissolves) to create “Permeable Filled Borings” (PFBs). Concurrently, nine high pressure injections (HPIs) of gypsum slurry were conducted in other site locations (312 pounds of gypsum total). PFBs were expected to release sulfate for up to 20 years, whereas HPIs were expected to produce a short-lived plume of sulfate. Concentrations of benzene and sulfate in groundwater were monitored over a 3-year period in six monitoring wells. In two wells near PFBs, benzene concentrations dropped below the cleanup goal by two to three orders of magnitude; in one well, sulfate concentrations exceeded 500 mg/L for the most recent 18 months. Benzene concentrations in two other PFB monitoring wells declined by a factor of 2 to 4, but remained above 1 mg/L, presumably due to high-dissolved PHC concentrations and possibly greater residual PHC mass in adjacent sediments, and therefore greater sulfate demand. However, hydrogen and sulfur isotopic enrichment in benzene and sulfate, respectively, confirmed biodegradation of benzene and stimulation of sulfate-reducing conditions. Thus, it is hypothesized that the PHC mass in adjacent sediments will decline over time, as will dissolved PHC concentrations, and eventually benzene concentrations will decrease below the cleanup goal. Benzene in two HPI monitoring wells was below the cleanup goal for all but one sampling event before HPIs were conducted and remained below the cleanup goal after HPIs; there was no stimulation of sulfate-reducing conditions. It is concluded that sulfate released from PFBs contributed to declining benzene concentrations.     

Controls on the lateral channel-migration rate of braided channel systems in coarse non-cohesive sediment

Lateral movements of alluvial river channels control the extent and reworking rates of alluvial fans, floodplains, deltas, and alluvial sections of bedrock rivers. These lateral movements can occur by gradual channel migration or by sudden changes in channel position (avulsions). Whereas models exist for rates of river avulsion, we lack a detailed understanding of the rates of lateral channel migration on the scale of a channel belt. In a two-step process, we develop here an expression for the lateral migration rate of braided channel systems in coarse, non-cohesive sediment. On the basis of photographic and topographic data from laboratory experiments of braided channels performed under constant external boundary conditions, we first explore the impact of autogenic variations of the channel-system geometry (i.e. channel-bank heights, water depths, channel-system width, and channel slope) on channel-migration rates. In agreement with theoretical expectations, we find that, under such constant boundary conditions, the laterally reworked volume of sediment is constant and lateral channel-migration rates scale inversely with the channel-bank height. Furthermore, when channel-bank heights are accounted for, lateral migration rates are independent of the remaining channel geometry parameters. These constraints allow us, in a second step, to derive two alternative expressions for lateral channel-migration rates under different boundary conditions using dimensional analysis. Fits of a compilation of laboratory experiments to these expressions suggest that, for a given channel bank-height, migration rates are strongly sensitive to water discharges and more weakly sensitive to sediment discharges. In addition, external perturbations, such as changes in sediment and water discharges or base level fall, can indirectly affect lateral channel-migration rates by modulating channel-bank heights. © 2019 The Author. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. © 2019 The Author. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Attributes and uncertainty of dissolved zinc data from a mined catchment

This study evaluated the attributes and uncertainty of non‐point source pollution data derived from synoptic surveys in a catchment affected by inactive metal mines in order to help to identify and select appropriate methods for data analysis/reporting and information use. Dissolved zinc data from the Upper Animas River Basin, Colorado, USA, were the focus of the study. Zinc was evaluated because concentrations were highest relative to national water quality criteria for brown trout, and zinc had the greatest frequency of criteria exceedances compared with other metals. Data attributes evaluated included measurement and model error, sample size, non‐normality, seasonality and uncertainty. The average measurement errors for discharges, concentrations and loadings were 0·15, 0·1 and 0·18, respectively. The 90 and 95% coefficients of confidence intervals for mean concentrations based on a sample size of four were 0·48 and 0·65, respectively, and ranged between 0·15 and 0·23 for sample sizes greater than 40. Aggregation of data from multiple stations decreased the confidence intervals significantly, but additional aggregation of all data increased them as a result of increasing spatial variability. Unit area loading data were approximately log‐normal. Concentration data were right‐skewed but not log‐normal. Differences in median concentrations were appreciable between snowmelt and both storm flow and baseflow, but not between storm flow and baseflow. Differences in unit area loadings between all flow events were large. It was determined that the average concentration and unit area loading values should be estimated for each flow event because of significant seasonality. Time weighted values generally should be computed if annual information is required. The confidence in average concentrations and unit area loadings is dependent on the computation method used. Both concentrations and loadings can be significantly underestimated on an annual basis when using data from synoptic surveys if the first flush of contaminants during the initial snowmelt runoff period is not sampled. The ambient standard for dissolved zinc for all events was estimated as 1600 μg l⁻¹ using the 85th percentile of observed concentration data, with a 90% confidence interval width of 200 μg l⁻¹. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical simulations of a highway bridge structure employing passive negative stiffness device for seismic protection

A new passive seismic response control device has been developed, fabricated, and tested by the authors and shown to be capable of producing negative stiffness via a purely mechanical mechanism, thus representing a new generation of seismic protection devices. Although the concept of negative stiffness may appear to be a reversal on the desired relationship between the force and displacement in structures (the desired relationship being that the product of restoring force and displacement is nonnegative), when implemented in parallel with a structure having positive stiffness, the combined system appears to have substantially reduced stiffness while remaining stable. Thus, there is an ‘apparent weakening and softening’ of the structure that results in reduced forces and increased displacements (where the weakening and softening is of a non‐damaging nature in that it occurs in a seismic protection device rather than within the structural framing system). Any excessive displacement response can then be limited by incorporating a damping device in parallel with the negative stiffness device. The combination of negative stiffness and passive damping provides a large degree of control over the expected performance of the structure. In this paper, a numerical study is presented on the performance of a seismically isolated highway bridge model that is subjected to various strong earthquake ground motions. The Negative Stiffness Devices (NSDs) are described along with their hysteretic behavior as obtained from a series of cyclic tests wherein the tests were conducted using a modified design of the NSDs (modified for testing within the bridge model). Using the results from the cyclic tests, numerical simulations of the seismic response of the isolated bridge model were conducted for various configurations (with/without negative stiffness devices and/or viscous dampers). The results demonstrate that the addition of negative stiffness devices reduces the base shear substantially, while the deck displacement is limited to acceptable values. This assessment was conducted as part of a NEES (Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation) project which included shaking table tests of a quarter‐scale highway bridge model. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Eurocode 8-compatible synthetic time-series as input to dynamic analysis

Nonlinear dynamic analysis of existing or planned structures often requires the use of accelerograms that match a target design spectrum. Here, our main concern is to generate a set of motions with a good level of fit to the Eurocode 8 design spectra for France. Synthetic time series are generated by means of a non-stationary stochastic method. To calibrate the input parameters in the stochastic approach, we select a reference set of accelerograms for a Eurocode 8 type B site category from the PEER Ground-Motion Database, which are then adjusted to the target spectrum through wavelet addition. Then, we compute nonlinear seismic responses of a soil column, including pore pressure effects, and brittle and ductile structures to the stochastic time-series, the natural accelerograms and time-series generated using stationary stochastic approaches. The results of these calculations reveal considerable variability in response despite the similarities in terms of spectral acceleration.     

Cement Deep Soil Mixing (CDSM) for Solidification of Soft Estuarine Sediments

A preliminary study was conducted to determine the potential for cement deep soil mixing (CDSM) technology as a method for in-situ solidification of contaminated river and estuarine sediments. The study was conducted in Newark Bay, near the mouth of the Passaic River, New Jersey. The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the viability of CDSM for the in-situ S/S with a focus on: 1) determining the correct mix of the cement slurry, which provides rapid stabilization of the sediment matrix, 2) potential resuspension of solids during CSDM operations, 3) the effects of high organic content on the solidification process, and 4) the feasibility of using conventional dredging/extraction methods once the sediments have been stabilized and allowed to cure. The results of the study show CDSM slurry mixtures, as low as 7% in cement content, result in significant solidification and strength gain of in-situ sediments under ambient conditions. In sediments with very high organic contents (> 20%), the slurry mix would need to be adjusted to account for retardation effects of organics on cement hydration. Sediment resuspension during application was shown to be minimal at a distance of as little as 75 feet from the mixing head. Strength gains were considerable, effectively consolidating the sediment particles in a secure matrix, but not so high as to preclude extraction of solidified sediments with conventional dredging equipment. Dredged solidified sediment exhibited characteristics of a stiff glacial clay, and as such was easier to handle and transport than untreated dredged sediments. This technique has high potential to be used as an interim remedial measure prior to either extraction and decontamination/disposal or proper capping.