A one‐dimensional model for simulating armouring and erosion on hillslopes: 2. Long term erosion and armouring predictions for two contrasting mine spoils

This paper investigates the dynamics of soil armouring as a result of fluvial erosion for a non‐cohesive sandy gravel spoil from the Ranger Mine, Australia, and a cohesive silt loam spoil from the Northparkes Mine, Australia, using a model for hillslope soil armouring. These long term predictions concentrate on the temporal and spatial changes of the spoil grading and erosion over 100–200 years for the flat cap regions (1–2%) and steep batter edges (10–30%) typically encountered on waste rock dumps. The existence of a significant rock fragment fraction in the Ranger spoil means that it armours readily, while Northparkes does not. For Ranger the waste rock showed reductions in (1) cumulative erosion of up to 81% from that obtained by extrapolating the initial erosion rate out 100 years and (2) the erosion/year by more than 10‐fold. For Northparkes reductions were less marked, with the maximum reduction in erosion/year being 37% after 200 years. For Ranger the reductions were greatest and fastest for intermediate gradient hillslopes. For the steepest hillslopes the armouring decreased because the flow shear stresses were large enough to mobilize all material in the armour layer. Model uncertainty was assessed with probabilistic confidence limits demonstrating that these erodibility reductions were statistically significant. A commonly used hillslope erosion model (sediment flux = β₁ discharge m₁ slope n₁) was fitted to these predictions. The erodibility, β₁, and m₁ decreased with time, which was consistent with our physical intuition about armouring. At Ranger the parameter m₁ asymptoted to 1·5–1·6 while at Northparkes it asymptoted to 1·2–1·3. At Ranger transient spatial trends in armouring led to a short term (50–200 years in the future) reduction in n₁, to below zero under certain circumstances, recovering to an asymptote of about 0·5–1. At Northparkes n₁ asymptoted to about 0·6, with no negative transients predicted. The m₁ and n₁ parameters predicted for Ranger were shown to be consistent with field data from a 10‐year‐old armoured hillslope and consistent with published relationships between erodibility and rock content for natural hillslopes. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dust emission from wet and dry playas in the Mojave Desert,USA

The interactions between playa hydrology and playa‐surface sediments are important factors that control the type and amount of dust emitted from playas as a result of wind erosion. The production of evaporite minerals during evaporative loss of near‐surface ground water results in both the creation and maintenance of several centimeters or more of loose sediment on and near the surfaces of wet playas. Observations that characterize the texture, mineralogic composition and hardness of playa – surfaces at Franklin Lake, Soda Lake and West Cronese Lake playas in the Mojave Desert (California), along with imaging of dust emission using automated digital photography, indicate that these kinds of surface sediment are highly susceptible to dust emission. The surfaces of wet playas are dynamic surface texture and sediment availability to wind erosion change rapidly, primarily in response to fluctuations in water‐table depth, rainfall and rates of evaporation. In contrast, dry playas are characterized by ground water at depth. Consequently, dry playas commonly have hard surfaces that produce little or no dust if undisturbed except for transient silt and clay deposited on surfaces by wind and water. Although not the dominant type of global dust, salt‐rich dusts from wet playas may be important with respect to radiative properties of dust plumes, atmospheric chemistry, windborne nutrients and human health. Published in 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A portable rainfall simulator for field assessment of splash and slopewash in remote locations

This paper describes the design, operation and performance of a field‐portable ‘drip‐type’ simulator and erosion measurement system. The system was constructed specifically for soil erosion research in the humid tropics and has been used extensively in Malaysian Borneo. The simulator is capable of producing replicable storms of up to 200 mm h^?1 intensity and 20–30 minutes duration with a drop‐size distribution close to that of natural storms of such intensity (D₅₀ of simulated rainfall is 4·15 mm at 200 mm h^?1 and 3·65 mm at 160 mm h^?1, D⁵⁰ measured during natural rainfall = 3·25 mm). The simulator is portable and simply constructed and operates without a motor or electronics, thus making it particularly useful in remote, mountainous areas. The erosion measurement system allows assessment of: (1) rainsplash detachment and net downslope transport from the erosion plot; (2) slopewash (erosion transported by overland flow); and (3) infiltration capacity and overland flow. The performance of the simulator–erosion system compared with previous systems is assessed with reference to experiments carried out in primary and regenerating tropical rainforest at Danum Valley (Malaysian Borneo). The system was found to compare favourably with previous field simulators, producing a total storm kinetic energy of 727 J m^?2 (over a 20‐minute storm event) and a kinetic energy rate of 0·61 J m^?2 s^?1, approximately half that experienced on the ground during a natural rainfall event of similar intensity, despite the shorter distance to the ground. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Erosion in northwest Tibet from in‐situ‐produced cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al in bedrock

Concentrations of in‐situ‐produced cosmogenic nuclides ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al in quartz were measured by accelerator mass spectrometry for bedrock basalts and sandstones located in northwest Tibet. The effective exposure ages range between 23 and 134 ka (¹⁰Be) and erosion rates between 4·0 and 24 mm ka^?1. The erosion rates are significantly higher than those in similarly arid Antarctica and Australia, ranging between 0·1 and 1 mm ka^?1, suggesting that precipitation is not the major control of erosion of landforms. Comparison of erosion rates in arid regions with contrasting tectonic activities suggests that tectonic activity plays a more important role in controlling long‐term erosion rates. The obtained erosion rates are, however, significantly lower than the denudation rate of 3000–6000 mm ka^?1 beginning at c. 5‐3 Ma in the nearby Godwin Austen (K2) determined by apatite fission‐track thermochronology. It appears that the difference in erosion rates within different time intervals is indicative of increased tectonic activity at c. 5–3 Ma in northwest Tibet. We explain the low erosion rates determined in this study as reflecting reduced tectonic activity in the last million years. A model of localized thinning of the mantle beneath northwest Tibet may account for the sudden increased tectonic activity at c. 5–3 Ma and the later decrease. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Loss of soil and PM10 from agricultural fields associated with high winds on the Columbia Plateau

Winter wheat–summer fallow is the conventional cropping system employed on >1·5 million ha within the Columbia Plateau of eastern Washington and northern Oregon. Wind erosion contributes to poor air quality in the region, yet little is known concerning the magnitude of soil and PM10 (particulate matter of ≤10 µm in aerodynamic diameter) loss from agricultural lands. Therefore, loss of soil and PM10 was assessed from a silt loam in eastern Washington during 2003 and 2004. Field sites were maintained in fallow using conventional tillage practices in 2003 (9 ha field) and 2004 (16 ha field) and instrumented to assess horizontal soil flux and PM10 concentrations at the windward and leeward positions in the field during high‐wind events. Soil flux was measured using creep and airborne sediment collectors while PM10 concentrations were measured using high‐volume PM10 samplers. Aggregate size distribution of parent soil and eroded sediment was characterized by rotary and sonic sieving. Six high‐wind events occurred over the two year period, with soil loss ranging from 43 kg ha^?1 for the 12–22 September 2003 event to 2320 kg ha^?1 for the 27–29 October 2003 event. Suspension‐sized particulates (<100 µm in diameter) comprised ≥90 per cent of the eroded sediment, indicating that direct suspension may be an important process by which the silt loam eroded. The corresponding loss of PM10 for these two events ranged from 5 to 210 kg ha^?1. Loss of PM10 comprised 9–12 per cent of the total soil loss for the six events. This study suggests that the relatively small loss of PM10 from eroding agricultural fields maintained in summer fallow can affect air quality in the Columbia Plateau. Therefore, alternative tillage practices or cropping systems are needed for minimizing PM10 emissions and improving air quality in the region. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fire intensity,slopewash and bio‐transfer of sediment in eucalypt forest,Australia

Sediment movement (slopewash and bio‐transfer), runoff, and organic matter movement (mainly leaf litter, ash and charcoal) were monitored on ten plots for a six‐month period following bushfires in eastern Australia in the 1990s. Plots were installed in areas which had experienced high, moderate and low intensity burns. Although between‐plot variability was high, slopewash and organic matter amounts were greatest on the intensely burnt areas, and progressively less on moderate and low intensity burns. In contrast, most leaf litter input from scorched leaf fall was derived from, and collected in, moderately burnt areas. Bio‐transfer of sediment (direct downslope surface movement produced by faunal activity) occurred mainly by ant mounding, and was more than ten times greater on moderately burnt areas than on plots having high or low intensity burns. Bio‐transfer accounted for approximately 36 per cent of total sediment collected, with this material being recorded least often and in smallest quantities on areas of high intensity burns. Bio‐transfer by ant mounding and animal scratchings contributed loose surface sediment for transport by overland flow, disproportionately increasing total sediment movement to plot aprons in areas of moderate intensity burns. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the effect of moisture bonding forces in air-dry soils on threshold friction velocity of wind erosion

Wind erosion is a dominant geomorphological process in arid and semi-arid regions with major impacts on regional climate and desertification. The erosion process occurs when the wind speed exceeds a certain threshold value, which depends on a number of factors including surface soil moisture. The understanding and modelling of aeolian erosion requires a better understanding of the soil erodibility associated with different moisture conditions. In arid regions during the dry season, the atmospheric humidity plays an important role in determining the surface moisture content and the threshold shear velocity. By a series of wind tunnel tests and theoretical analyses, this dependence of threshold velocity on near surface air humidity is shown for three soils of different textures: sand, sandy loam, and clay loam. The results show that the threshold shear velocity decreases with increasing values of relative humidity for values of relative humidity between about 40% and 65%, while above and below this range the threshold shear velocity increases with air humidity. A theoretical framework is developed to explain these dependencies assuming an equilibrium between the surface soil moisture and the humidity of the overlying atmosphere. The conditions under which soil-atmosphere equilibrium occurs were tested experimentally in the laboratory for different soils in order to determine the effect of grain surface area and texture on the time required to reach equilibrium starting from different initial conditions.     

Environmental Impact of Artificial Harbors in Tropic Pacific Oceanic Islands

1　Introduction　Oceanicislandsfallintoseveraldifferenttypes .Thecommontypesarevolcanicislands ,atollsandemer gentlimestoneislands (ScottandRotondo ,1 983;Woodroffe ,1 992 ) .Avolcanicislandinthetropicshasfringingor andbarrierreefs .Anatollhasaring shaped…     

河北平原曲流河沉积特征及其模式

本文研究了河流沉积构造、结构、石英颗粒表面特征和沉积相特征,并提出组成曲流点坝标志的两个重要要素及沉积模式。有助于认识古代岩相中点坝层序和对此模式。     

Paleolimnological investigations of anthropogenic environmental change in Lake Tanganyika: I. An introduction to the project

We investigated paleolimnological records from a series of river deltas around the northeastern rim of Lake Tanganyika, East Africa (Tanzania and Burundi) in order to understand the history of anthropogenic activity in the lakes catchment over the last several centuries, and to determine the impact of these activities on the biodiversity of littoral and sublittoral lake communities. Sediment pollution caused by increased rates of soil erosion in deforested watersheds has caused significant changes in aquatic communities along much of the lakes shoreline. We analyzed the effects of sediment discharge on biodiversity around six deltas or delta complexes on the east coast of Lake Tanganyika: the Lubulungu River delta, Kabesi River delta, Nyasanga/Kahama River deltas, and Mwamgongo River delta in Tanzania; and the Nyamuseni River delta and Karonge/Kirasa River deltas in Burundi. Collectively, these deltas and their associated rivers were chosen to represent a spectrum of drainage-basin sizes and disturbance levels. By comparing deltas that are similar in watershed attributes (other than disturbance levels), our goal was to explore a series of historical experiments at the watershed scale, with which we could more clearly evaluate hypotheses of land use or other effects on nearshore ecosystems. Here we discuss these deltas, their geologic and physiographic characteristics, and the field procedures used for coring and sampling the deltas, and various indicators of anthropogenic impact.