Low post-Cenomanian denudation depths across the Brazilian Northeast: Implications for long-term landscape evolution at a transform continental margin

The Brazilian Northeast affords good opportunities for obtaining reliable timings and rates of landscape evolution based on stratigraphic correlations across a vast region. The landscape formed in the context of an episodically fluctuating but continuously falling base level since the Cenomanian. After formation of the transform passive margin in Aptian times, landscape development was further driven by a swell-like uplift with its crest situated  300 km from the coastline. The seaward flank of this swell or broad monocline between the interior Araripe and coastal Potiguar basins was eroded, and currently forms a deeply embayed plain bordered by a semi-circular, north-facing erosional escarpment. The post-Cenomanian uplift caused an inversion of the Cretaceous basins and generated a landscape in which the most elevated landforms correspond either to resistant Mesozoic sedimentary caprock, or to eroded stumps of syn-rift Cretaceous footwall uplands. Denudation in the last 90 My never exceeded mean rates of 10 m·My^− 1 and exhumed a number of Cretaceous stratigraphic unconformities. As a result, some topographic surfaces at low elevations are effectively Mesozoic land surfaces that became re-exposed in Cenozoic times. The Neogene Barreiras Formation forms a continuous and mostly clastic apron near the coast. It testifies to the last peak of erosion in the hinterland and coincided with the onset of more arid climates at  13 Ma or earlier. The semi-circular escarpment is not directly related to the initial breakup rift flanks, which had been mostly eroded before the end of the Mesozoic, but the cause and exact timing of post-Cenomanian crustal upwarping are poorly constrained. It could perhaps have been a flexural response of the low-rigidity lithosphere to sediment loads on the margin, and thus a slowly ongoing process since the late Cretaceous. Uplift could instead be the consequence of a more discrete dynamic event related either to Oligocene magmatism in the region, or to continental-scale far-field stresses determined by Andean convergence.     

Late Holocene environmental changes and anthropogenic impact in Dee Why Lagoon,New South Wales

Late Holocene environmental changes were examined in Dee Why Lagoon, New South Wales, based on the sedimentological, geochemical and geochronological analysis of six cores collected from the fluvial delta and lagoon basin. The lagoon formed about 7300–7200?cal yr BP, following the post-glacial marine transgression and establishment of a sand barrier. Infilling of the lagoon occurred at a rate of 0.09–0.15?mm/yr until about 3300–3200?cal yr BP, when the barrier closed, resulting in mostly freshwater conditions, as evidenced by a change from pyrite-rich units to sediment containing little sulfur and a lack of foraminifera. Sedimentation rates increased to 0.23 then 0.43?mm/yr until about 100?years ago. Post-European land clearance led to an increase in sedimentation rates to 1.0–1.3?mm/yr on the fluvial delta, which are lower than those from other wave-dominated estuaries in New South Wales as well as those estimated by previous studies in Dee Why Lagoon. Our study shows that the fluvial delta started forming much earlier than originally thought, based on results of radiometric dating, and confirmed using sedimentological and geochemical data, as well as a critical examination of historic aerial photographs. Human impact has resulted in an increase in heavy metal (Cu, Pb, Zn) and metalloid (As) concentrations in the recent sediment, most likely attributed to stormwater discharge. Pb and As concentrations are above the ANZECC high sediment quality guideline values at the site closest to the stormwater outlet, with As-based pesticides one of the possible sources. Using the mean enrichment quotient, which is based on normalised Cu, Pb and Zn concentrations over their normalised background concentrations, we show that the surface sediments in Dee Why Lagoon are severely enriched, reflecting the recent anthropogenic impact that has also led to an increase in sedimentation rates.     

Downscaling climate-model output in mountainous terrain using local topographic lapse rates for hydrologic modeling of climate-change impacts

One of the challenges in using general circulation model (GCM) output is the need to downscale beyond the model’s coarse spatial grid for use in hydrologic modeling of climate-change impacts. In mountainous terrain, using elevation as a primary control on temperature and precipitation at the local scale provides the potential for topographic variables to be used to adjust climate-model output. Here, local topographic lapse rates (LTLR) were estimated from gridded climate data for the Pacific Northwest of the United States and used to downscale GCM output. Skill scores were calculated for the LTLR-downscaled climate-model output relative to an existing set of model output downscaled using the established statistical downscaling technique of localized constructed analogs (LOCA). The results indicate that the LTLR method performs well in the mountainous study region relative to the LOCA method. LTLR downscaling offers a promising method for downscaling climate-model output in regions in which elevation strongly controls climate, particularly for studying impacts of future climate change on water resources.     

Detrital zircon and apatite constraints on depositional ages,sedimentation rates and provenance: Pliocene Productive Series,South Caspian Basin,Azerbaijan

We used detrital zircon U/Pb geochronology and apatite (U–Th–Sm)/He thermochronology to better constrain depositional ages and sedimentation rates for the Pliocene Productive Series in Azerbaijan. U/Pb analysis of 1,379 detrital zircon grains and (U–Th–Sm)/He analysis of 57 apatite grains—from Kirmaky Valley and Yasamal Valley onshore sections, Absheron Peninsula—yielded two distinct sub‐populations: “young” Neogene grains and “old” Mesozoic, Palaeozoic and Proterozoic/Archean grains. The large numbers of Neogene age grains (around 10% of all grain ages) provided a new absolute age constraint on the maximum depositional age of the Lower Productive Series of 4.0 Myr. These “young” Neogene zircon grains most likely originated from volcanic ash falls sourced from the Lesser Caucasus or Talesh Mountains. In this paper we propose a timescale scenario using the maximum depositional age of the Productive Series from detrital zircon grain U/Pb constraints. Potential consequences and limitations of using apatite (U–Th–Sm)/He dating method in estimating maximum depositional ages are also discussed. These new age constraints for the Lower Productive Series gave much faster sedimentation rates than previously estimated: 1.3 km/Myr in the South Caspian Basin margin outcrops and up to 3.9 km/Myr in the basin centre. The sedimentation rates are one of the highest in comparison to other sedimentary basins and coeval to global increase in sedimentation rates 2–4 Myr. The older group of detrital zircon grains constitutes the majority of grains in all sample sets (~80%). These older ages are inferred to reflect the provenance of the Productive Series sediment. This sediment is interpreted to have been derived from the Proterozoic and Archean crystalline basement rocks and Phanerozoic cover of the East European Craton, Proterozoic/Palaeozoic rocks of the Ural Mountains and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks of the Greater Caucasus. This sediment was likely supplied from northerly sourced drainage that emptied into the South Caspian Basin.     

Population dynamics, socioeconomic change and land colonization in northern Jordan, with special reference to the Badia Research and Development Project area

The paper reports on preliminary observations from northern Jordan aimed at testing the view that people migrate from areas of relatively high potential for cultivation to the marginal semi-arid/arid frontier because of social differentiation, political factors or environmental constraints. Cultivated areas have been mapped from multi-date remotely sensed imagery, a typology of fields in the area has been constructed, and their dynamics between 1972 and 1992 analysed. In addition, semi-structured interviews with farmers attempted to understand the reasoning behind village growth, changing farming systems and cultivation practices. The findings are discussed in the context of the area's demography and national and regional shifts in economic policy.     

Observations of Dynamic Turbulence in the Lower Stratosphere over Inner Mongolia Using a High-resolution Balloon Sensor Constant Temperature Anemometer

We present characterizations of the dynamic turbulence in the lower stratosphere measured by a new balloon-based system designed for detecting finer scale dynamic turbulence. The balloon-based system included a constant temperature anemometer(CTA) operating at a sampling rate of 2 k Hz at an ascent speed of 5 m s^-1(corresponding to a vertical resolution of 2.5 mm), an industrial personal computer, batteries, sensors for ambient temperature and humidity, an A/D converter, and others. The system was successfully launched to 24 km altitude over Bayannur City, Inner Mongolia Province. Results show the spatial intermittence of the turbulence layers, with clear boundaries between turbulent and nonturbulent regions. This is the first time that the dynamic turbulence spectrum down to the viscous sub-range has been obtained throughout the lower stratosphere over China. With that, the energy dissipation rates of dynamic turbulence could be calculated with high precision. The profile of the dissipation rates varied from 7.37 × 10^-7 to 4.23 W kg^-1 and increased with altitude in the stratosphere.     

Participation in higher education: A geodemographic perspective on the potential for further expansion in student numbers

Higher education in England has expanded rapidly in the last ten years with the result that currently more than 30% of young people go on to university. Expansion is likely to continue following the recommendations of a national committee of inquiry (the Dearing Committee). The participation rate is known to vary substantially among social groups and between geographical areas. In this paper the participation rate is calculated using a new measure, the Young Entrants Index (YEI), and the extent of variation by region, gender and residential neighbourhood type established. The Super Profiles geodemographic system is used to facilitate the latter. This is shown to be a powerful discriminator and to offer great potential as an alternative analytical approach to the conventional social class categories, based on parental occupation, that have formed the basis of most participation studies to date. Received: 20 October 1998/Accepted: 5 May 1999     

THE STABILITY OF ROCK-VENEERED HILLSLOPES

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A new concept to forecast the process of suspended sediment accumulation in the bottom sediment of small reservoirs

The new concept presented for forecasting the rate of accumulation of suspended sediment in reservoir water in the bottom sediment allows reasonable estimates of the siltation process globally, regionally, or locally, to be obtained without the need for costly research. The method draws on three key parameters, i.e., the concentration of suspended sediments (SS), and its organic matter (OM_SS) content, as well as the storage capacity (V_R) (i.e., the water storage in the reservoir). All of these parameters easy to determine, with information on them, in fact, made widely available by most agencies managing reservoirs in different parts of the world. In practice, the proposed method can represent a missing link in the precise determination of a reservoirs rate of siltation (and hence, losses of storage capacity).     

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.