Geomorphology of the eastern Badia basalt plateau, Jordan

The eastern Badia of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a landscape developed predominantly on late Tertiary and Quaternary basalt lava flows, which vary in age between 8.9 million and 0.1 million years. Pyroclastic deposits are associated with remnant volcanic cones. There is limited, seasonal rainfall. Natural vegetation regenerates during cool, damp months. Slopes, which range from concave to convex forms and have varying relief, can be related to different basalts and the time since emplacement. Much of the ground surface is mantled with boulders. In many places the continuity of boulder cover produces a desert pavement. Clasts show differing degrees of burial or exhumation, depending on the surrounding topography. Water and sediment movement are important to landscape development. Much sediment is deposited in pans, which evolve at topographic lows. The pans, known locally as Qa, vary in form depending on drainage network development. Transitional forms, known as Marab, develop where wadis widen out and sediments are deposited along ephemeral channels. Groundwater is significant, with three aquifers beneath much of the eastern Badia. Recharge of the upper aquifer is predominantly on the footslopes of the Druze Mountains, with north to south flow. Groundwater extraction has resulted in the expansion of agriculture, with consequent changes in soil and water quality.     

Evidence for magma mixing in the Mariana arc system

Volcanoes of the Mariana arc system produce magmas that belong to several liquid lines of descent and that originated from several different primary magmas. Despite differences in parental magmas, phenocryst assemblages are very similar throughout the arc. The different liquid lines of descent are attributed to differences in degree of silica saturation of the primary liquids and in the processes of magmatic evolution (fractional crystallization vs magma mixing). Pseudoternary projections of volcanic rocks from several arc volcanoes are used to show differences between different magmatic suites. In most of the arc, parental liquids were Ol- and Hy-normative basalts that crystallized olivine, augite, and plagioclase (± iron-titanium oxide) and then plagioclase and two pyroxenes, apparently at low pressure. Eruptive rocks follow subparallel liquid lines of descent on element–element diagrams and on pseudoternary projections. Magmas at North Hiyoshi are Ne-normative and have a liquid line of descent along the thermal divide due to precipitation of olivine, augite, and plagioclase. Derived liquids are large ion lithophile element (LILE)-rich. Magmas at other Hiyoshi seamounts included an alkaline component but had more complex evolution. Those at Central Hiyoshi formed by a process dominated by mixing alkaline and subalkaline magmas, whereas those at other Hiyoshi seamounts evolved by combined magma mixing and fractional crystallization. Influence of the alkaline component wanes as one goes south from North Hiyoshi. Alkaline and subalkaline magmas were also mixed to produce magmas erupted at the Kasuga seamounts that are behind the arc front. The alkaline magmas at both Hiyoshi and Kasuga seamounts had different sources from those of the subalkaline magmas at those sites as indicated by trace element ratios and by _Nd.     

The Rio Dell Formation: a Plio-Pleistocene basin slope deposit in Northern California

The Rio Dell Formation (Pleistocene and Pliocene), exposed south of Eureka, California, is a prograded sequence of basinal turbidites overlain by basin slope and shelf deposits. The slope deposits studied in the Centerville Beach section accumulated in a steadily shallowing environment delineated by analysis of palaeobathymetrically significant benthonic foraminiferal biofacies in turn suggesting deposition at depths of 1000–100 m. Lower slope deposits interfinger with basinal turbidites derived from the Eel River delta to the north. Slumped blocks of silty mudstone, and associated silt and mud beds, are common. The middle slope deposits are mudstones; coarser sediments bypassed this zone. Mudstones and muddy siltstones alternate on the upper slope. Shallow depressions, probably slump scars, that have been rapidly filled by upper slope sediment are common. The transition to shelf deposits is marked by an increase in sediment grain size, in the degree of oxidation, and in the abundance of megafossils. High percentages of benthonic foraminifera displaced from shelf depths indicate that resedimentation processes are most important on the upper slope.     

Aeolian saltation threshold: the effect of density ratio

Saltation threshold data from three wind tunnels and from hydraulic flumes are presented to show that the dimensionless threshold friction speed for small particles is a continuous function of particle-to-fluid-density ratio. In addition, the dimensionless threshold speed is a function of the grain-friction Reynolds number and an interparticle force term. The variation with density ratio seems to be due to the relative energy with which particles impact other particles to initiate saltation.     

The orientation of helical flow in curved channels

The planform patterns of meandering submarine channels and subaerial fluvial bends show many similarities that have given rise to strong analogies concerning the fluid dynamics of these channel types. Existing models of helical motion in open‐channel bends depict flow that is characterized by surface flow towards the outer bank, and basal flow towards the inner bank. This paper investigates and compares, through an analytical model and physical experiment, flows within fluvial meanders, and submarine channel bends that contain density‐driven gravity currents. The results indicate that the sense of helical motion can be reversed in submarine bends that contain density currents when compared with fluvial bends, and that the orientation of the helical flow is dependent on the vertical distribution of downstream velocity. Specifically, the sense of helical motion is reversed in bends when the maximum downstream velocity is near the bed, resulting in near‐bed flow towards the outer bank. These findings suggest that the dynamics of sediment transport and deposition in curved channels with such velocity profiles will be fundamentally different to those currently assumed from sinuous open‐channels.     

CROSS-BOREHOLE OBSERVATION OF MODE CONVERSION FROM BOREHOLE STONELEY WAVES TO CHANNEL WAVES AT A COAL LAYER1

Conversion of borehole Stoneley waves to channel waves was observed in data from a seismic cross-borehole experiment conducted between wellbores penetrating a thin coal layer at 2022 m depth, near Rifle, Colorado. Traveltime moveout observations show that borehole Stoneley waves underwent partial conversion to channel waves at the coal layer. The channel waves were detected directly in an adjacent borehole 35 m away at receiver positions within the coal. Stoneley waves, subsequently produced by partial conversion of channel waves, were also detected at receiver positions located up to 50 m above and below the coal layer in the adjacent borehole. We infer the channel wave to be the first-higher Rayleigh mode by comparing the observed group velocity with theoretically derived dispersion curves. Identifying the conversion between borehole and stratigraphically guided waves is significant because coal penetrated by multiple wells may be detected without placing a transmitter or receiver in the coal itself.     

Watershed science: Linking hydrological science with sustainable management of river basins

Over the past decades, a number of water sciences and management programs have been developed to better understand and manage the water cycles at multiple temporal and spatial scales for various purposes, such as ecohydrology,global hydrology, sociohydrology, supply management, demand management, and integrated water resources management(IWRM). At the same time, rapid advancements have also been taking place in tracing, mapping, remote sensing, machine learning, and modelling technologies in hydrological research. Despite those programs and advancements, a water crisis is intensifying globally. The missing link is effective interactions between the hydrological research and water resource management to support implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) at multiple spatial scales. Since the watershed is the natural unit for water resources management, watershed science offers the potential to bridge this missing link.This study first reviews the advances in hydrological research and water resources management, and then discusses issues and challenges facing the global water community. Subsequently, it describes the core components of watershed science:(1)hydrological analysis;(2) water-operation policies;(3) governance;(4) management and feedback. The framework takes into account water availability, water uses, and water quality; explicitly focuses on the storage, fluxes, and quality of the hydrological cycle; defines appropriate local water resource thresholds through incorporating the planetary boundary framework; and identifies specific actionable measures for water resources management. It provides a complementary approach to the existing water management programs in addressing the current global water crisis and achieving the UN SDGs.