Consequences of hyperconcentrated flow for process‐based soil erosion modelling on the Chinese Loess Plateau

High sediment concentrations in runoff are a characteristic feature of the Chinese Loess Plateau, and are probably caused by factors such as the occurrence of erodible materials on steep slopes, the characteristics of the loess and the harsh climate that results in low plant cover. When sediment concentration increases, fluid density increases, viscosity increases and settling velocity decreases. These effects become increasingly important with increasing concentration and can result in flow behaviour that is quite different from that of clear water flow. Although the net effect of these changes on the flow is not always apparent, erosion models that deal with high sediment concentrations should consider such effects and could include corrections for some of these effects. A case study in a small catchment on the Loess Plateau indicated that sediment concentrations were considerable, and literature data suggested that for such sediment concentrations, corrections for settling velocity, fluid density and viscosity are needed. Furthermore, a number of corrections are necessary to be able to compare field measurements with results of soil erosion models: sediment volume should be subtracted from runoff volume and a density correction is needed to use data from a pressure transducer. For flumes that were used to measure discharge from smaller areas inside the catchment, the measured water level should be corrected by subtracting the sediment level in the flume from the water level, while the sediment volume should also be subtracted from the discharge. Finally, measured concentration should be corrected to give concentration expressed as grams per litre of clear water, since soil erosion models express sediment concentration in this way. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Neotectonic Crustal Uplift on the Continents and its Possible Mechanisms. The Case of Southern Africa

According to a large volume of data an intensive crustal uplift began in the Oligocene over most of the continental areas after a long period of relative tectonic stability. This Neotectonic uplift formed most of the present positive topographic features on the continents, and its strong acceleration took place during the last several million years. In many regions the uplift was associated with magmatism. The main methods of studying the Neotectonic uplift are considered together with the data on the uplift of Southern Africa. In this area the uplift took place in the Early Miocene (up to 300 m) and in the Late Pliocene and Pleistocene (up to 900 m). It occurred without stretching or shortening of the crust. Rapid erosion of the lower part of mantle lithosphere by a plume material is proposed as a mechanism of the uplift. This material ascended from below and rapidly spread along the base of the lithosphere. Its spreading for 1000 km during a few million years is possible only under a low viscosity of normal asthenosphere (1019 Pa s) and a much lower viscosity of a plume material (2 × 1016 Pa s). As in Southern Africa, in most of the regions the Neotectonic uplift was associated with insignificant shortening or stretching of the crust. This indicates that in some regions a plume material ascended from below and rapidly spread along the base of the lithosphere and eroded the mantle lithosphere in vast areas beneath the continents. In regions with a hot asthenosphere a strong weakening of the mantle lithosphere which allows its erosion can be associated with a high temperature of the plume material. In regions where the asthenosphere is at moderate temperature weakening of the mantle lithosphere can result from infiltration of volatiles from the plume material.     

The influence of a stratified rheology on the flexural response of the lithosphere to (un)loading by extensional faulting

We present a two-layered finite difference model for the flexural response of the lithosphere to extensional faulting. The model allows for three modes of flexure: (1) fully coupled, with the upper crust and mantle welded together by the lower crust; (2) fully decoupled, with the upper crust and mantle behaving as independent layers; and (3) partly decoupled, signifying that the response of the upper crust to small-wavelength loads is superimposed on the response of the entire lithosphere to long-wavelength loads. Which of these modes of flexure is to be expected depends on the rheology and especially the thermal state of the lithosphere. Coupled behaviour is related to a cold and strong lithosphere. The Baikal Rift Zone provides a typical example for this mode of flexure. A fully decoupled lithosphere is an exceptional case, related to anomalous high temperatures in the lower crust, and is observed in the Basin and Range province. The most common case is a partly decoupled lithosphere, with the degree of decoupling depending on the thickness and viscosity of the lower crust. This is inferred, for example, for the Bay of Biscay margin.     

Mantle convection with a brittle lithosphere: thoughts on the global tectonic styles of the Earth and Venus

Plates are an integral part of the convection system in the fluid mantle, but plate boundaries are the product of brittle faulting and plate motions are strongly influenced by the existence of such faults. The conditions for plate tectonics are studied by considering brittle behaviour, using Byerlee's law to limit the maximum stress in the lithosphere, in a mantle convection model with temperature-dependent viscosity.
When the yield stress is high, convection is confined below a thick, stagnant lithosphere. At low yield stress, brittle deformation mobilizes the lithosphere which becomes a part of the overall circulation; surface deformation occurs in localized regions close to upwellings and downwellings in the system. At intermediate levels of the yield stress, there is a cycling between these two states: thick lithosphere episodically mobilizes and collapses into the interior before reforming.
The mobile-lid regime resembles convection of a fluid with temperature-dependent viscosity and the boundary-layer scalings are found to be analogous. This regime has a well defined Nusselt number–Rayleigh number relationship which is in good agreement with scaling theory. The surface velocity is nearly independent of the yield stress, indicating that the 'plate' motion is resisted by viscous stresses in the mantle.
Analysis suggests that mobilization of the Earth's lithosphere can occur if the friction coefficient in the lithosphere is less than 0.03–0.13—lower than laboratory values but consistent with seismic field studies. On Venus, the friction coefficient may be high as a result of the dry conditions, and brittle mobilization of the lithosphere would then be episodic and catastrophic.     

岩浆岩的熔点、粘度及其与化学成分的关系

本文研究了我国中、新生代一些岩浆岩的化学成分、熔点、人工玻璃的折射率和比重以及它们在不同温度下的粘度。在常压下岩石酸度愈大,熔点愈高。熔点与岩石的Fe~(2+(+Fe~(3+)+Mn+Mg±Ca为反相关;与Si+Al+K+Na为正相关。计算粘度与温度的关系表明,酸度愈大,粘度愈大;碱度愈大,粘度愈小,温度愈高,粘度愈低;同一温差下,酸度愈大,粘度变化愈大。     

Factors controlling the lengths of channel-fed lava flows

Factors which control lava flow length are still not fully understood. The assumption that flow length as mainly influenced by viscosity was contested by Walker (1973) who proposed that the length of a lava flow was dependent on the mean effusion rate, and by Malin (1980) who concluded that flow length was dependent on erupted volume. Our reanalysis of Malin's data shows that, if short duration and tube-fed flows are eliminated, Malin's Hawaiian flow data are consistent with Walker's assertion. However, the length of a flow can vary, for a given effusion rate, by a factor of 7, and by up to 10 for a given volume. Factors other than effusion rate and volume are therefore clearly important in controlling the lengths of lava flows. We establish the relative importance of the other factors by performing a multivariate analysis of data for recent Hawaiian lava flows. In addition to generating empirical equations relating flow length to other variables, we have developed a non-isothermal Bingham flow model. This computes the channel and levee width of a flow and hence permits the advance rates of flows and their maximum cooling-limited lengths for different gradients and effusion rates to be calculated. Changing rheological properties are taken into account using the ratio of yield strength to viscosity; available field measurements show that this varies systematically from the vent to the front of a lava flow. The model gives reasonable agreement with data from the 1983–1986 Pu'u Oo eruptions and the 1984 eruption of Mauna Loa. The method has also been applied to andesitic and rhyolitic lava flows. It predicts that, while the more silicic lava flows advance at generally slower rates than basaltic flows, their maximum flow lengths, for a given effusion rate, will be greater than for basaltic lava flows.     

Characterizing the rheology of laterite slurries

The viscous behaviour of laterite slurries was characterized by measurements of shear stress at constant and changing shear rates. Steady state stresses were obtained after accounting for the settling solids: the values show that the fluids possess viscosities of order 100 mPa s and are moderately shear-thinning, for solid volume fractions from 0.06 to 0.18 and for shear rates between 10 and 1000 s⁻¹. Transient stress measurements were made for steps down in shear rate and for ramps down and up in shear rate. It was found that the Bingham–Maxwell model provides good fits to the transient data, both at low concentrations, where yield behaviour is dominant, and at high concentrations, where elasticity is dominant. For volume fractions of 0.10 or greater, relaxation times were found from step tests to be of order 10 s, but relaxation times found from the ramp tests were generally several times higher.