Impacts of Holocene climatic variations on alluvial fan activity below snowpatches in subarctic Québec

In the Lake Guillaume-Delisle area of subarctic Québec, storm-generated alluvial fans have been active sporadically throughout the Holocene. In this study, we propose that the persistence of late-lying snowpatches in fan catchments during Holocene cold episodes promoted alluvial fan activity by lowering the precipitation threshold required to trigger a torrential event. This hypothesis was tested by characterizing the depositional processes responsible for alluvial fan formation below snowpatches, and by reconstructing the Holocene alluvial fan activity. Stratigraphic and sedimentary analyses conducted on seven alluvial fans revealed that they were deposited by torrential activity leading to waterlaid, transient, or hyperconcentrated deposition. The chronology of the storm-generated alluvial fans — based on 22 radiocarbon dates — indicates that torrential activity was enhanced during the cooler Late Holocene (i.e., after ca. 3500 cal. yr BP). Snowier winters and cooler summers were beneficial to nival activity, allowing the persistence of larger snowpatches throughout the summer and fall seasons. Rainfall-induced thaw of such snowpatches during rainstorm events is inferred to have contributed to alluvial fan activity by increasing water availability. Three peaks of alluvial activity occurred during the Late Holocene (2950–2750, 1900–1400, and 800–300 cal. yr BP) and are indicative of increased storminess resulting in higher fan activity. Increased fan activity during cooler episodes was concurrent with increased runoff activity in the immediate pronival area. This stresses the importance of nivation below snowpatches and pinpoints the role of nivation in enhancing geomorphological activity during period of cooler and more humid climate in subarctic environments.     

Factors influencing the presence or absence of tributary-junction fans in the Iberian Range, Spain

This paper analyses the factors which influence the presence or absence of tributary-junction fans in the Iberian Range, northern Spain. Two valleys were selected, both characterised by wide variations in lithology, altitude, land use and plant cover. Two groups of factors were studied: those related to the internal characteristics of the drainage basins, which particularly control sediment generation; and those related to the characteristics of the depositional area which control accommodation space and main river power. Among the internal factors, the development of alluvial fans was related to: (i) the capacity of the basin to yield large volumes of sediment, (ii) the occurrence of intense human pressure until recent times, a good indicator of sediment yield, and (iii) the capacity of the basin to quickly increase discharge during rainstorms (discharge density and torrentiality). It is suggested that the areas that were intensively cultivated in the past, and have therefore been affected by intense erosion, have played a decisive role on the development of alluvial fans. This would imply that many of these alluvial fans have a relatively recent origin, perhaps related to the beginning of a widespread deforestation. The basins without alluvial fans are characterised by relatively steep hillslope gradients (that is, slopes that never were subjected to historical cultivation), low drainage densities and dense forest and shrub cover, mostly coinciding with high altitude basins composed of quartzite and shale bedrocks. Regarding the external factors, the shape, size and longitudinal gradient of the main river to which the fans are tributary are the most relevant conditioning factors determining the development of alluvial fans.     

Hydrochemistry and isotope geochemistry as tools for groundwater hydrodynamic investigation in multilayer aquifers: a case study from Lomellina, Po plain, South-Western Lombardy, Italy

A multicriteria approach in studying hydrodynamics of a multilayer aquifer system has been used in the Lomellina region (Northern Italy). It involves the reconstruction of the hydrogeological framework coupled to the definition of the hydrochemical and isotopic features of the aquifers. A shallow phreatic aquifer, reaching depths of about 60–80 m from the surface, and deeper aquifers containing confined groundwater, were distinguished. Groundwater generally shows mineralisation decreasing with depth; dissolved ions depict calcium-bicarbonate hydrochemical facies and stable isotopes define the recharge mechanisms, the origin of groundwater, and the hydraulic confinement of deep aquifers. The phreatic aquifer is fed by local infiltration and by streams and irrigation channels. Tritium and Carbon-14 groundwater dating indicate long residence times (on the order of thousands of years) for confined aquifers. The confined aquifers show essentially passive hydrodynamic conditions and maintain a higher piezometric level than the phreatic aquifer. This inhibits the possibility of recent water penetrating far below the surface. The hydrogeological setting of the Lomellina region displays features which are common to other sectors of the Po plain. As a consequence, the results of this study, although conducted on a restricted area, are highly illustrative of groundwater hydrodynamics in large sedimentary aquifers.     

Spatial variation of overbank aggradation rate and its influence on avulsion frequency

Abstract River avulsions are commonly considered to be driven by the aggradation and growth of alluvial ridges, and the associated increase in cross‐valley slope relative to either the down‐channel slope or the down‐valley slope (the latter is termed the slope ratio in the present paper). Therefore, spatial patterns of overbank aggradation rate over stratigraphically relevant time scales are critical in avulsion‐dominated models of alluvial architecture. Detailed evidence on centennial‐ to millennial‐scale floodplain deposition has, to date, been largely unavailable. New data on such long‐term overbank aggradation rates from the Rhine–Meuse and Mississippi deltas demonstrate that the rate of decrease of overbank deposition away from the channel belt is much larger than has been supposed hitherto, and can be similar to observations for single overbank floods. This leads to more rapid growth of alluvial ridges and more rapid increase in slope ratios, potentially resulting in increased avulsion frequencies. A revised input parameter for overbank aggradation rate was used in a three‐dimensional model of alluvial architecture to study its effect on avulsion frequency. Realistic patterns of avulsion and interavulsion periods (≈1000 years) were simulated with input data from the Holocene Rhine River, with avulsions occurring when the slope ratio is in the range 3–5. However, caution should be practised with respect to uncritical use of these numbers in different settings. Evidence from the two study areas suggests that the avulsion threshold cannot be represented by one single value, irrespective of whether critical slope ratios are used, as in the present study, or superelevation as has been proposed by other investigators.     

城市地区抗御地震灾害风险评估项目综述

城市地区抗御地震灾害风险评估项目系联合国在上世纪末为减轻地震灾害所实施的规模宏大，影响甚远的国际性研究项目，其宗旨是为了提高社会公众防灾意识，有效地减轻城市地区的地震灾害。这一历时2年的项目在有限的经费支持下，取得了令人瞩目的成绩。结合自贡市开展这个项目的实践。综合介绍和总结了该项目的情况及经验。     

Effective timescales of coupling within fluvial systems

This paper presents a review of the coupling concept in fluvial geomorphology, based mainly on previously published work. Coupling mechanisms link the components of the fluvial system, controlling sediment transport down the system and the propagation of the effects of base-level change up the system. They can be viewed at several scales: at the local scale involving within-hillslope coupling, hillslope-to-channel coupling, and within-channels, tributary junction and reach-to-reach coupling. At larger scales, coupling can be considered as zonal coupling, between major zones of the system or as regional coupling, relating to complete drainage basins. These trends are illustrated particularly by the examples of hillslope-to-channel coupling in the Howgill Fells, northwest England, badland systems in southeast Spain, alluvial fans in Spain, USA and UAE, and base-level-induced dissection of Neogene sedimentary basins in southeast Spain. As the spatial scales increase, so do the timescales involved. Effective temporal scales relate to magnitude and frequency characteristics, recovery time and propagation time, the relative importance changing with the spatial scale. For downsystem coupling at the local scale, the first two are important, with propagation time increasing in importance in larger systems, especially in those involving upsystem coupling related to base-level change. The effective timescales range from the individual event, with a return period of decades, through decadal to century timescales for downsystem coupling, to tens to hundreds of thousands of years for the basinwide response to base-level change. The effective timescales influence the relative importance of factors controlling landform development.     

粘性泥石流残留层的形成及减阻作用--以云南蒋家沟泥石流为例

通过对云南蒋家沟粘性泥石流的野外观测 ,讨论了粘性泥石流残留层的定义特征 ,在大量实测数据基础上 ,分析了残留层易形成时段的特性 ;分别对一次泥石流过程、若干阵泥石流和一阵泥石流残留层的变化进行了相关分析 ;最后用观测数据分析了泥石流残留层的减阻作用     

Late Pleistocene–Holocene hydrologic changes in the interfluve areas of the central Ganga Plain, India

Abandoned channel belts, ponds and point bar deposits of palaeochannels in the interfluve regions of the central Ganga Plain suggest changes in the morphohydrologic conditions during the Latest Pleistocene–Holocene. Stratigraphy of these ponds comprises channel sand at the base overlain by shell-bearing clayey silt. The contact of the two facies marks the phase when channels converted into standing water bodies. Point bar deposits of some palaeochannels are overlain by oxidised aeolian sand, indicating that the channel abandonment possibly occurred due to the desiccation and aridity in the region.Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) chronometry of the pond sediments suggests that the deposition of the basal channel sand started before 13 ka and continued up to 8 ka. The ponds formed around 8–6 ka when the channel activity ceased. Evidence from the point bar deposits also indicates that the fluvial activity in the region ended sometime during 7–5 ka. This was followed by aeolian aggradation. The present study thus suggests that the hydrologic conditions in the Gangetic plains, i.e. initiation of channels and their abandonment, formation of microgeomorphologic features such as ponds and their eventual siltation, were controlled largely by climatic changes (i.e. monsoon changes) supported by tectonic activity. For the past 2 ka, increasing human and related agricultural activity has substantially accentuated the natural siltation rate of ponds.     

Inferring erosional resistance of bedrock units in the east Tennessee mountains from digital elevation data

Measures of local relief, regional relief, and slope were calculated from digital elevation models (DEMs) for 50 bedrock units in the Ridge and Valley and Blue Ridge provinces of Tennessee. Each of these measures was normalized and the three were then averaged to produce the erosional resistance index (ERI). Bedrock units with higher ERI values include coarse clastics, intermediate clastics, and metaplutonics. Units with lower values include shales, limestones, limestones plus dolostones, and carbonates plus fine clastics. Dolostones tend to have intermediate values. The calculated ERI values were compared with subjective ratings by a geologist with decades of field experience in east Tennessee. Generally, the agreement between the two ratings was good, the most glaring exception being several shales with improbably high ERI values. These turned out to be thin units cropping out beneath very hard sandstones, allowing them to stand higher and steeper than would otherwise be possible. A systematic method for detecting such erroneously high ERI values is suggested. Inspection of a drainage map superimposed on the geology map shows that in a given area, streams tend to flow on rock units with the lowest ERI values. In addition, statistical analysis shows that bedrock units with the lowest ERI values are, on average, almost three times closer to the nearest stream and six times as likely to have streams flowing on them than are units with highest values. Further, the effect of ERI on stream location is strongest for streams with drainage areas between 1 and 30 km². Thus, small streams appear to be subject to greater lithologic control than are larger streams.     

抗拔桩设计方法

当地下水位较高时,地下车库等附属建筑物不得不对抗浮问题进行考虑,抗拔桩被越来越多的应用于工程中。依据工程实例对抗拔桩设计荷载条件、抗浮桩单桩承载力设计、抗浮桩桩身结构设计、群桩地基整体稳定性、单位面积抗浮力、抗拔桩抗裂分别进行了阐述,以及抗拔桩设计中应考虑的问题进行了论述。