Sonar acoustic facies and sediment distribution on an area of the deep ocean floor

Long-range sidescan sonar can be used to map sediment distributions over wide expanses of deep ocean floor. Seven acoustic facies that arise from differing sediment or rock types have been mapped over the low-relief Saharan continental rise and Madeira abyssal plain. These have been calibrated with sampling, profiling and camera studies and the facies can be traced confidently on a regional scale using the sidescan data. The mapping of the sediment distribution shows that a complex interplay of turbidity current and debris flow processes can occur at a continental rise/abysaal plain transition over 1000 km from the nearest continental slope.     

Impacts of land use and land cover changes on hydrological processes and sediment yield determined using the SWAT model

Land use and land cover (LULC) changes strongly affect local hydrology and sediment yields.The current study focused on a basin in the Brazilian Amazon and had the following three objectives:(1) to perform an effective diagnosis of flow and sediment yield,(2) to evaluate the impacts of LULC changes over the last 40 years on the hydro-sedimentological variables,and (3) to investigate the impacts of the possible trends or breaking points in the flow,surface runoff,and sediment yield series.The Soi...     

Spatio-temporal suspended sediment fingerprinting under different land management practices

Understanding spatio-temporal suspended sediment dynamics is more important in large watersheds due to the decisive role of local source apportionment in sediment transport and yield. The Talar River with a large mountainous watershed in northern Iran, which plays a vital role in water supply for agriculture and drinking, recently has faced quality degradation. The current study explores the relative contribution of suspended sediment sources using geochemical tracers and fingerprinting techniqu...     

Trace Metals in Selected Benthic Invertebrates from Belgian Coastal Waters (1981–1996)

Mercury, cadmium, lead, copper, zinc and chromium were assessed in brown shrimp (Crangon crangon), swimming crab (Liocarcinus holsatus), hermit crab (Pagurus bernhardus), starfish (Asterias rubens) and cut trough shell (Spisula subtruncata) from ten sampling stations off the Belgian coast, including three dredge spoils disposal sites. Calculations of time trends indicated that on the whole concentrations of trace metals had significantly decreased since 1981, also on dredged material dumping sites. Starfish and hermit crab were found to be the most promising benthic indicator species for metal contamination. Globally, the location of the sites, including the dredge spoils disposal zones, showed to be of little influence on the concentrations of trace metals.     

Experiments on the effect of inflow and outflow sequences on suspended sediment exchange rates

In laboratory experiments, the influence of inflow and outflow sequences on the behavior of fine sedi-ment was investigated. The experimental set-up consisted of two interconnected rectangular basins, between which water was moved back and forth. Suspended sediment concentration in the main basin as well as the sediment exchange rates were derived from turbidity measurements.The suspended sediment ratio, SSR, and sediment exchange rates (influx sediment rate, ISR, and evacuated sediment rate, ESR) were measured. In twenty test runs, a parametric study on the magnitude and frequency of inflow and outflow cycles, the relative duration between inflow and outflow sequences, the initial sediment concentration, and the intake position was done. An initial test with stagnant water described the set-tling behavior of fine sediment and served as a reference scenario.The test results show that settling of fine particles near the intake/outlet structure can be considerably reduced by the nature of the inflow and outflow sequences. High cycle magnitude and frequency lead to maximum suspended sediment ratio in the system. For low discharges, the evolution of suspended sediment concentration cannot be directly correlated to the inflow and outflow cycles. However, compared to"no operation"conditions, the suspended sediment ratio could be increased by 10%to 40%locally. For high discharge, the evolution of suspended sediment concentration correlated with discharge cycles and suspended sediment ratios between 50%and 80%higher than for stagnant water could be achieved. Similar ratios could be obtained when the intake is located closer to the bottom or to the free water surface.Meanwhile, the overall sediment balance remained in equilibrium over the test period, indicating that the influx and evacuated sediment rates are not significantly influenced by the inflow and outflow cycles.     

Time lag between reduction of sediment supply and coastal erosion

The disruption of sediment supply from river to coast by dam development has been a topic of global concern.In Japan,among the top 30 dams in terms of height,14 dams were constructed prior to 1970 and another 6 dams before 1980.However,the coastline erosion did not surface up as a grievous problem until the 1980s.According to the River Bureau of Japan,the overall erosion rate along the coastline of Japan was 0.72×10~6 m~2/yr prior to 1980,but sharply increased to 1.6×10~6 m~2/yr since 1980.Therefore,there was a time lag between the disruption of sediment supply by dam and beach erosion.This paper presents a case study on what may have delayed the response of beach to the effect of dam construction.     

Peak discharge increase in hyperconcentrated floods

The peak of river floods usually decreases in the downstream direction unless it is compensated by freshwater inflow from tributaries. In the Yellow River (China) the opposite is regularly observed, where the peak discharge of river floods increases in the downstream direction (at a rate far exceeding the contribution from tributaries). This flood peak discharge increase is probably related to rapid morphological changes, to a modified bed friction, or to a combination of both. Yet the relative role of these processes is still poorly understood. This paper aims to analyze the relative contribution of bed erosion and friction change to the peak discharge increase, based on available data and a recently developed numerical model. Using this high-resolution, fully coupled morphodynamic model of non-capacity sediment transport, two hyperconcentrated floods characterized by downstream peak discharge increase are numerically reproduced and analyzed in detail. The results reveal that although erosion effects may contribute to the downstream discharge increase (especially in case of extreme erosion), for most cases the increase must be mainly due to a reduction in bed friction during peak discharge conditions. Additionally, based on the concept of channel storage reduction, the effects of decreasing bed friction and (very strong) bed erosion can be integrated in explaining the peak discharge increase.     

Preservation conditions and the use of sediment pigments as a tool for recent ecological reconstruction in four Northern European estuaries

Down-core sediment pigment concentrations from four Northern European estuaries were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to investigate phytoplankton community structure and preservation conditions over the last ca. 100 years where all sites have experienced different levels of eutrophication. Phytoplankton pigments have been shown to be useful biomarkers for phytoplankton community structure and abundance due to their taxonomic specificity. The pigment concentrations and sediment pigment inventory showed large variation between the four sites. Concentrations ranged from more than 6000 nmol/g OC to less than 100 nmol/g OC and the inventory integrated over the top 10 cm from more than 300 nmol/cm² to less than 30 nmol/cm² for total identified pigments. Good pigment preservation in Mariager Fjord (Denmark) reflected the almost permanently anoxic conditions. Pigments in Laajalahti (Finland) showed peak concentrations around the time of highest nitrogen loading events known from historical and modelled records over the past 100 years. In contrast, poor down-core preservation of pigments (especially carotenoids) was observed in the Ems-Dollard (The Netherlands) and Himmerfjärden (Sweden) estuaries. The Ems-Dollard site is an intertidal mudflat that experiences daily exposure to light and air, which enhances pigment degradation. In Himmerfjärden, resuspension is an important process affecting both the sedimentation rate and degradation properties. The different preservation conditions at the four sites were supported by the differences in two degradation indicators; the ratio of pheopigment-a to chlorophyll-a and total carotenoids to total pigments. Class-specific carotenoid pigments represented the dominant algal groups reported from each site, however, no distinct down-core changes in the pigment composition were observed at any of the four sites. This indicated that changes in plankton community structure on the group level have been limited over this time period or masked by low preservation of pigments.     

Multi-sourced depositional sequences in the Neogene to Quaternary succession of the Venice area (northern Italy)

The Plio-Pleistocene succession of the Venice area represents part of the infill of a foreland region located between three mountain chains: the Northern Apennines, the Southern Alps and the Dinarides. This structural setting favored the development of a complex stratigraphic architecture of the succession, mostly due to the conveying of sediments from the Southern Alps to the north and the Northern Apennines to the south, in particular since the activation of strong subsidence related to the NE-ward migration of the Apennine foredeep in the early Pleistocene. Accordingly, the studied succession is composed of five third-order sequences mostly controlled by tectonics, the most recent of which display complex patterns due to the interfingering of sedimentary bodies showing contrasting directions of progradation and pinch-out. Despite this, the sequence stratigraphic method still can be applied in the present context, allowing to recognize diagnostic stratal architectures and reconstruct the relative sea-level history of the region. Moreover, the recognized peculiar stratigraphic architecture of the basin fill may serve as an analogue that needs to be taken into account to predict the distribution of porous coarse-grained sedimentary units in similar contexts, aiding for a profitable exploration and production of reservoirs and source/sealing rocks.