Upper Cretaceous marine‐continental transition (Leonese Area,NW Spain) defined from integrated outcrop and seismic stratigraphy

The Upper Cretaceous succession of the Leonese Area (NW Spain) comprises mixed clastic and carbonate sediments. This succession is divided into two lithostratigraphic units, the Voznuevo Member and the Boñar Formation, which represent fluvial, shoreface, intertidal, subtidal and open‐shelf sedimentary environments. Regional seismic interpretation and sequence stratigraphic analysis have allowed the study of lateral and vertical changes in the sedimentary record and the definition of third‐order levels of stratigraphic cyclicity. On the basis of these data, the succession can be divided into two second‐order depositional sequences (DS‐1 and DS‐2), incorporating three system tracts in a lowstand to transgressive to highstand system tract succession (LST–TST–HST). These sequences are composed of fluvial systems at the base with palaeocurrents that flowed westward and south‐westward. The upper part of DS‐1 (Late Albian–Middle Turonian) shows evidence of intertidal to subtidal and offshore deposits. DS‐2 (Late Turonian–Campanian) comprises intertidal to subtidal, tidal flat, shallow marine and lacustrine deposits and interbedded fluvial deposits. Two regressive–transgressive cycles occurred in the area related to eustatic controls. The evolution of the basin can be explained by base‐level changes and associated shifts in depositional trends of successive retrogradational episodes. By using isobath and isopach maps, the main palaeogeographic features of DS‐1 and DS‐2 were constrained, namely coastline positions, the existence and orientation of corridors through which fluvial networks were channelled and the location of the main depocentres of the basin. Sedimentation on the Upper Cretaceous marine platform was mainly controlled by (i) oscillations of sea level and (ii) the orientation of Mesozoic faults, which induced sedimentation along depocentres. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

2000～2015年会理县地表覆盖变化监测

以LandSat多时相影像为数据源,采用基于规则的面向对象分类方法,监测会理县2000～ 2015年地表覆盖变化.结合1∶50 000 DEM数据,分析了会理县地表覆盖构成与转移、变化动态度及潜在退耕地情况.监测分析结论能为会理县加强空间管制、促进土地资源集约利用、指导生态文明建设等提供决策信息支撑.     

Scaling the Anthropocene: How the stories we tell matter

Ongoing debates in the Earth, planetary, and social sciences examine the merits and implications of traces in the stratigraphic record that would indicate that humans are now one of the ‘great forces of nature’. Candidates for key marker horizons in such a stratal section include noted changes in carbon and nitrogen concentrations, plastics, radionuclides, and metals. Candidates for determining calendar age, include the tipping point in land cover from wildlands to agriculture and the first nuclear detonation. Here we offer a critical review of recent literature contributing to delineating an Anthropogenic stratum, by exploring their interpretation as initiating, sustaining, or indeed ending an Anthropocene epoch. We also offer a reflection on the layer not representing a new period, any more than, for instance, iridium marks a ‘meteoritic’ epoch between the Cretaceous and Palaeogene. We examine temporal scales for their accord with geological methods of definition and delineation, and for the opportunities and constraints each presents for understanding and responding to transformations in the Earth system. Our thesis is that increasingly fortified stances on the ‘right’ definition of the Anthropocene epoch follow traditions of linear and authoritarian historical accounts, and prevent discovering epistemes of human-environment interactions that are open for coexistence. The co-existence of many key transitions will sustain ongoing and fruitful deliberations over human-environment interactions that the Anthropocene proposal has initiated, promoting research that can work with the many scales, discourses, and narratives of environmental change.     

Landscape pattern and transition under natural and anthropogenic disturbance in an arid region of northwestern China

There is a pressing need to determine the relationships between driving variables and landscape transformations. Human activities shape landscapes and turn them into complex assemblages of highly diverse structures. Other factors, including climate and topography, also play significant roles in landscape transitions, and identifying the interactions among the variables is critical to environmental management. This study analyzed the configurations and spatial-temporal processes of landscape changes from 1998 to 2011 under different anthropogenic disturbances, identified the main variables that determine the landscape patterns and transitions, and quantified the relationships between pairs of driver sets. Landsat images of Baicheng and Tekes from 1998, 2006 and 2011 were used to classify landscapes by supervised classification. Redundancy analysis (RDA) and variation partitioning were performed to identify the main driving forces and to quantify the unique, shared, and total explained variation of the sets of variables. The results indicate that the proportions of otherwise identical landscapes in Baicheng and Tekes were very different. The area of the grassland in Tekes was much larger than that of the cropland; however, the differences between the grassland and cropland in Baicheng were not as pronounced. Much of the grassland in Tekes was located in an area that was near residents, whereas most of the grassland in Baicheng was far from residents. The slope, elevation, annual precipitation, annual temperature, and distance to the nearest resident were strong driving forces influencing the patterns and transitions of the landscapes. The results of the variation partitioning indicated complex interrelationships among all of the pairs of driver sets. All of the variable sets had significant explanatory roles, most of which had both unique and shared variations with the others. The results of this study can assist policy makers and planners in implementing sustainable landscape management and effective protection strategies.     

Remote sensing and information value (IV) model for regional mapping of fluvial channels and topographic wetness in the Saudi Arabia

This study aims to map regions of near surface fluvial channels, mega-basins and topographic wetness in Saudi Arabia using remote sensing data and an information value (IV) model, which is a modified approach of weight of evidence. We used the new version of the Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) to delineate the fluvial channels, mega-basin, and slope. These hydrological parameters were used to index the topographic wetness of each mega-basin in the region based on IV in a Geographic Information System. We validated our method using the Space Imaging Radar-C and Landsat 8 images and compared the textural features (fluvial channels) evident from SRTM digital elevation model and to determine whether these patterns were different. Our results revealed that the region is drained by nine tributaries and that the Err Rub Al Khali and Sahba mega-basins have the highest value of the IV and topographic wetness values; the Arran and coastal mega-basins have the lowest value of the IV and topographic wetness values. An integrated approach is timely and economically effective and can be applied throughout the arid and semi-arid regions to help hydrologists and urban developers.     

中国北方三流域河流—沙漠过渡带地表沉积物化学元素空间差异分析

通过对克里雅河、毛布拉格孔兑以及西拉木伦河三流域的河流-沙漠过渡带地表沉积物的7种常量氧化物以及15种微量元素进行因子分析,结果显示:三个流域之间或不同河段因子分析提取的公因子均可以概括为较稳定的铁锰矿物、较不稳定的长石类和方解石（白云石）类等硅酸盐矿物以及稳定的稀土元素和重矿物等类别;河流间因子分析结果表明,自西向东三个流域沿河地表沉积物的化学元素富集与迁移程度呈递增趋势,化学风化程度增强;流域内因子分析结果表明,自上游至下游,样点化学组成均愈变复杂,不同河段或不同河岸沉积物化学元素空间分布规律与其物源、地貌格局以及水分条件等因素有关;自河床至阶地,不同地貌单元地表沉积物化学元素呈相异的递变规律,这与在距离河道远近不同,物源、动力因素的分配不同有关。     

Role of hydrological regime and floodplain sediments in channel instability of the Bhagirathi River,Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta,India

Abstract

This research deals with the surface dynamics and key factors – hydrological regime, sediment load, and erodibility of floodplain facies – of frequent channel shifting, intensive meandering, and lateral instability of the Bhagirathi River in the western part of the Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta (GBD). At present, the floodplain of the Bhagirathi is categorized as a medium energy (specific stream power of 10–300 W m^?2), non-cohesive floodplain, which exhibits a mixed-load and a meandering channel, an entrenchment ratio >2.2, width–depth ratio >12, sinuosity >1.4, and channel slope <0.02. In the study area, since 1975, four meander cutoffs have been shaped at an average rate of one in every 9–10 years. In the active meander belt and sand-silt dominated floodplains of GBD, frequent shifting of the channel and meander migration escalate severe bank erosion (e.g. 2.5 × 10⁶ m³ of land lost between 1999 and 2004) throughout the year. Remote sensing based spatio-temporal analysis and stratigraphic analysis reveal that the impact of the Farakka barrage, completed in 1975, is not the sole factor of downstream channel oscillation; rather, hydrogeomorphic instability induced by the Ajay–Mayurakshi fluvial system and the erodibility of floodplain sediments control the channel dynamics of the study area.     

Unconsolidated sediment distribution patterns in the KwaZulu-Natal Bight,South Africa: the role of wave ravinement in separating relict versus active sediment populations

This paper examines the distribution of unconsolidated sediment in the KwaZulu-Natal Bight located along the east coast of South Africa. Results show that there is a general shelf-wide sediment distribution of coarser grain sizes between depths of 60 and 100?m, punctuated by a broad swathe of mud offshore of the Thukela River. Seasonal changes in sediment distribution patterns are small, being restricted to seaward fining on the inner shelf off the fluvial sources. Sediment distribution reflects a partitioning between sediment populations that are current- influenced and relict (palimpsest) populations associated with submerged shorelines. Wave ravinement during the deglacial transgression, the reworking of submerged shorelines during sea-level stillstands and, to a lesser extent, the Agulhas Current system, are the dominant controls on sediment distribution.     

Evolution of Siderian juvenile crust to Rhyacian high Ba-Sr magmatism in the Mineiro Belt,southern São Francisco Craton

Plutonic rocks from the Mineiro Belt, Brazil record a delayed onset of the transition from TTG to sanukitoid-type magmatism(high Ba-Sr), starting during the Siderian magmatic lull when little juvenile magma was added to the continental crust. Rocks mostly belong to the calc-alkaline series, meta-to peraluminous and originally "Ⅰ-type",meaning that oxidized magmas were formed by partial melting of subducted material. The temporal distribution and apparent secular changes of the magmas are consistent with the onset of subduction-driven plate tectonics due to an increase of the subduction angle and opening of the mantle wedge. New isotopic analyses(Sm-Nd whole rock and Lu-Hf in zircon)corroborate the restricted juvenile nature of the Mineiro Belt and confirm the genetic link between the Lagoa Dourada Suite,a rare ca. 2350 Ma high-Al tonalite-trondhjemite magmatic event, and the sanukitoid-type ca. 2130 Ma Alto Maranhao Suite. U-Pb dating of zircon and titanite constrain the crystallisation history of plutonic bodies; coupled with major and trace element analyses of the host rocks, they distinguish evolutionary trends in the Mineiro Belt. Several plutons in the region have ages close to 2130 Ma but are distinguished by the lower concentration of compatible elements in the juvenile high Ba-Sr suite.     

Dynamic land use change simulation using cellular automata with spatially nonstationary transition rules

The dynamic relationships between land use change and its driving forces vary spatially and can be identified by geographically weighted regression (GWR). We present a novel cellular automata (GWR-CA) model that incorporates GWR-derived spatially varying relationships to simulate land use change. Our GWR-CA model is characterized by spatially nonstationary transition rules that fully address local interactions in land use change. More importantly, each driving factor in our GWR model contains effects that both promote and resist land use change. We applied GWR-CA to simulate rapid land use change in Suzhou City on the Yangtze River Delta from 2000 to 2015. The GWR coefficients were visualized to highlight their spatial patterns and local variation, which are closely associated with their effects on land use change. The transition rules indicate low land conversion potential in the city’s center and outer suburbs, but higher land conversion potential in the inner near suburbs along the belt expressway. Residual statistics show that GWR fits the input data better than logistic regression (LR). Compared with an LR-based CA model, GWR-CA improves overall accuracy by 4.1% and captures 5.5% more urban growth, suggesting that GWR-CA may be superior in modeling land use change. Our results demonstrate that the GWR-CA model is effective in capturing spatially varying land transition rules to produce more realistic results, and is suitable for simulating land use change and urban expansion in rapidly urbanizing regions.