Anabranching in mixed bedrock-alluvial rivers: the example of the Orange River above Augrabies Falls, Northern Cape Province, South Africa

Anabranching is characteristic of a number of rivers in diverse environmental settings worldwide, but has only infrequently been described from bedrock-influenced rivers. A prime example of a mixed bedrock-alluvial anabranching river is provided by a 150-km long reach of the Orange River above Augrabies Falls, Northern Cape Province, South Africa. Here, the perennial Orange flows through arid terrain consisting mainly of Precambrian granites and gneisses, and the river has preferentially eroded bedrock joints, fractures and foliations to form multiple channels which divide around numerous, large (up to 15 km long and 2 km wide), stable islands formed of alluvium and/or bedrock. Significant local variations in channel-bed gradient occur along the river, which strongly control anabranching style through an influence on local sediment budgets. In relatively long (>10 km), lower gradient reaches (<0.0013) within the anabranching reach, sediment supply exceeds local transport capacity, bedrock usually only crops out in channel beds, and channels divide around alluvial islands which are formed by accretion in the lee of bedrock outcrop or at the junction with ephemeral tributaries. Riparian vegetation probably plays a key role in the survival and growth of these islands by increasing flow roughness, inducing deposition, and stabilising the sediments. Less commonly, channels may form by eroding into once-continuous island or floodplain surfaces. In shorter (<10 km), higher gradient reaches (>0.0013) within the anabranching reach, local transport capacity exceeds sediment supply, bedrock crops out extensively, and channels flow over an irregular bedrock pavement or divide around rocky islands. Channel incision into bedrock probably occurs mainly by abrasion, with the general absence of boulder bedforms suggesting that hydraulic plucking is relatively unimportant in this setting. Mixed bedrock-alluvial anabranching also occurs in a number of other rivers worldwide, and appears to be a stable and often long-lived river pattern adjusted to a number of factors commonly acting in combination: (1) jointed/fractured granitoid rock outcrop; (2) erosion-resistant banks and islands; (3) locally variable channel-bed gradients; (4) variable flow regimes.     

Distribution of trace metals in the Odra River system: Water–suspended matter–sediments

Extensive investigations of trace metals concentrations in water, suspended particulate matter (SPM) and bottom sediments of the whole Odra River system were carried out over the years 1997–2000. The vertical distribution of selected metals and their mobility were also studied in the sediment cores from upper and middle river sections. Significant levels of metal contamination were found. Median concentrations (Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn and As) in the SPM and sediments were (mg kg⁻¹) 7.1 and 8.9 Cd, 128 and 146 Pb, 81 and 119 Cu, 1198 and 1204 Zn, 48 and 54 As, respectively. The highest metal pollution of the Odra River solids was found with cadmium, zinc, lead and arsenic, showing high similarity in their frequency distributions in both SPM and sediments. Cd, Zn and As appear to be of particular concern because of the high levels, that appear to be bioavailable, and their high mobility. The exchangeable and carbonate chemical forms of Cd and Zn reached up to 50% of their total amount. Besides the determination of total metal concentration, the metal chemical forms in river solids were investigated. The results of very wide studies of the Odra River system through 4 years suggest that metal pollution decreased, especially for Zn, Pb and Cu. Among all metals studied in the Odra River sediments, substantial reductions of Cd contamination were observed neither in the period after ’97 flood, nor if compared with the earlier results obtained before ’97. No essential differences of the metal contents were observed among the samples for the same river compartment, from the same locality, taken within the five sampling campaigns. The pattern of spatial and vertical metal distributions in the river solids indicates that a variety of sources might be responsible for the contamination; very intensive, historical and current mining and smelting activities probably are the most important ones.     

Causes for continuous siltation of the lower Yellow River

Previous studies indicate that aggradation of a river channel is caused by upriver and/or downriver controls, but the evaluation of their relative importance is often difficult. A method is proposed to isolate the effect of the downriver control based on the slopes of the existing river profile, those of the graded profile estimated from the discharge-sediment relationship and slope reduction due to local base-level rise. The method was applied to the rapidly aggrading lower Yellow River. The downriver control in this case refers to the local base-level rise associated with deltaic extension during the period under discussion. The result shows that the main portion of siltation along the river is not caused by downriver control but by the slope difference between the existing and the graded profiles over a period within the last 700 years, assuming conditions of discharge and sediment load during the period from 1962 to 1985 are reflective of the long term. The marked slope difference between the existing and the graded profiles of the river is a result of changes in the river environment in the past several thousand years including the increase of sediment load, local base-level rise associated with river lengthening by deltaic growth, and relative sea-level rise due to tectonic subsidence of the coastal alluvial plain.     

Influence of vegetation on aeolian sand transport rate from a backshore to a foredune at Hasaki, Japan

The influence of vegetation on aeolian sediment transport rate in the region from a backshore to a foredune was investigated at the Hasaki Coast in Japan, where an onshore wind was predominant and the creeping beach grasses Carex kobomugi and Calystegia soldanella were major species. The comparison of cross-shore distributions of the cross-shore component of aeolian sand transport rate with and without vegetation, which were estimated on the basis of the beach profile changes and a mass conservation equation, showed that the creeping grasses influenced the aeolian sand transport rate. The landward aeolian sand transport rate rapidly decreased landward from the seaward limit of vegetation when the grasses grew. The aeolian sand transport rate reduced by 95% with a vegetation cover of 28%. On the other hand, when the grasses were absent, the landward aeolian sand transport rate did not decrease near the seaward vegetation limit, but near the foot of the foredune.     

燕山中段南麓蓟县北部常州沟-杨庄一带地质构造基本特征

在燕山中段南麓的蓟县北部山区有着中国国家地质公园，中国北方中-新元古代正层型剖面标志碑就耸立在那里。对这一地区基本地质事实和地质体真实位态的研究，不仅关系着对华北地区晚前寒武纪标准剖面可靠性的评价，也关系着燕山运动命名地的基本地壳结构的合理解析和我国北方中生代以来构造一岩浆活动序列的正确建立。本文展示的基础地质调查成果可揭示：蓟县北部常州沟-杨庄一带的地质结构构造远不是我国大多数地学学者们对此描述的那样简单。调查区约200km。面积可代表燕山中段南麓的大面积中-新元古界分布区的基本地质结构构造特征。已识别出的18条断层和由其限制的21个以上构造岩片的现实位态表明，该地区地壳上部是由多个复杂地块堆叠构成的，主体构造形成于燕山晚期，在形成方式上以大规模多次不同方向运移的薄皮构造岩片叠覆为主要特征。     

Groundwater recharge in an arid grassland as indicated by soil chloride profile and multiple tracers

Previous studies have shown that shallow groundwater in arid regions is often not in equilibrium with near‐surface boundary conditions due to human activities and climate change. This is especially the case where the unsaturated zone is thick and recharge rate is limited. Under this nonequilibrium condition, the unsaturated zone solute profile plays an important role in estimating recent diffuse recharge in arid environments. This paper combines evaluation of the thick unsaturated zone with the saturated zone to investigate the groundwater recharge of a grassland in the arid western Ordos Basin, NW China, using the soil chloride profiles and multiple tracers (²H, ¹⁸O, ¹³C, ¹⁴C, and water chemistry) of groundwater. Whereas conventional water balance and Darcy flux measurements usually involve large errors in recharge estimations for arid areas, chloride mass balance has been widely and generally successfully used. The results show that the present diffuse recharge beneath the grassland is 0.11–0.32 mm/year, based on the chloride mass balance of seven soil profiles. The chloride accumulation age is approximately 2,500 years at a depth of 13 m in the unsaturated zone. The average Cl content in soil moisture in the upper 13 m of the unsaturated zone ranges from 2,842 to 7,856 mg/L, whereas the shallow groundwater Cl content ranges from 95 to 351 mg/L. The corrected ¹⁴C age of shallow groundwater ranges from 4,327 to 29,708 years. Stable isotopes show that the shallow groundwater is unrelated to modern precipitation. The shallow groundwater was recharged during the cold and wet phases of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene humid phase based on palaeoclimate, and consequently, the groundwater resources are nonrenewable. Due to the limited recharge rate and thick unsaturated zone, the present shallow groundwater has not been in hydraulic equilibrium with near‐surface boundary conditions in the past 2,500 years.     

豫西洛宁县铁炉坪Ag多金属矿床的CSAMT剖面及找矿意义

为获得新的深部找矿靶区,在铁炉坪Ag多金属矿床实施了CSAMT法测深。CSAMT剖面中,高、中、低电阻率异常体边界清晰、形态各异,高阻异常体具有上、下双层结构,低阻异常体出露较小,多呈孤立形态产出,主要有400m低阻异常体和1400m低阻异常体。高阻异常体被解释为浅部和深部两层岩浆和深部流体活动的产物,推测深部高阻异常体以岩浆体系为主,浅部高阻异常体应是岩浆体系、深部流体体系及围岩硅化蚀变等的综合反映。400m低阻异常体对应于于地表剖面线400m~600m之间的主矿脉,表明它是深部成矿流体的显示,提出1400m低阻异常体为新的深部找矿靶区。     

雨滴谱仪与风廓线雷达反射率对比试验

针对风廓线雷达估算的反射率数据需要进行验证。开展雨滴谱仪与风廓线雷达反射率对比试验,通过两种不同探测设备观测数据的对比,以验证风廓线反射率数据的可靠性和可用性。结果表明:确定了以风廓线低模360~1440 m采样体积内的反射率与3 min雨滴谱反射率数据对比方法能最大程度的减少时空差异;在雨滴谱仪反射率小于40 dBz时,对应的风廓线雷达反射率数据是可靠和可用的;同时由于风廓线雷达有限的动态范围造成反射率低估的现象,使得风廓线雷达反射率在大气垂直结构以及微物理特性等方面应用受到一定的局限性。     

强台风海鸥登陆期间近地层风特性分析

利用位于海南文昌市的90 m测风塔观测的强台风海鸥多层测风数据,分析了台风海鸥登陆期间近地层风场时空特征、湍流强度、垂直风切变及阵风因子等风场特性,分析结果表明:台风海鸥登陆期间,近地层各高度风速呈现"M"型双峰特征,最大风速出现在台风后风圈;台风过境前后,风向旋转了180°;近地层风速随高度升高而增大,各高度风速垂直切变符合对数和指数规律;粗糙度长度、风廓线幂指数、湍流强度、阵风系数等风场特性与风速呈负相关关系,随着风速的增加而降低;从台风外围至台风眼,粗糙度长度随风速呈现"增大-减小-增大"特征;台风眼内部风速垂直切变剧烈,前后风圈的风速垂直切变较弱;强风区湍流强度较弱,弱风区湍流强度较强;台风风圈的湍流强度随高度增加而减小,台风眼内湍流强度随高度先减小再增加;台风影响各阶段阵风系数随高度升高而减小,各高度层阵风系数遵循指数定律;阵风系数随风速的增大而减小,当风速达到一定强度时,阵风系数随风速变化不明显。     

中国东部夏季暴雨的年代际跃变及其大尺度环流背景

本文利用1960~2011年中国东部地面测站的逐日降水资料和JRA-55再分析资料探讨了夏季暴雨分布的年代际跃变及其相关联的大尺度环流异常特征。基于暴雨频数和占比(夏季暴雨占比是指5~8月暴雨降水量对总降水量的贡献百分比)的分析结果表明:中国东部夏季暴雨分布在20世纪70年代末和90年代初经历两次反相的经向"三极子"跃变。中国东部夏季暴雨的年代际演变过程可分为三个时段:1960~1979年为华南和华北暴雨偏多、江淮流域暴雨偏少的经向"三极子"分布;1980~1991年为南方和华北暴雨偏少、江淮流域暴雨偏多的经向三极子"分布;1992~2011年为南方暴雨显著偏多、华北暴雨持续偏少,逐渐形成经向"偶极子"分布,并导致近十多年我国夏季"南涝北旱"的整体格局。1970年代末(1990年代初)跃变相关联的大尺度环流异常配置:东亚夏季风的减弱(增强),西太平洋副高的增强西伸但南撤(北抬),南亚高压的减弱南缩(增强东扩),以及蒙古高原中低层的气旋式(反气旋式)环流异常。与此同时,低层局地环流也发生调整:华北和黄淮地区以及华南和江南地区均为反气旋式(气旋式)环流异常,而江淮流域和四川盆地受控于风场切变式辐合(辐散)异常;涡度场发生相应变化,南北方大部分地区的负(正)涡度异常不(有)利于低涡的发展,而江淮流域和四川盆地的正(负)涡度异常有(不)利于低涡的发展,进而引发江南和华南暴雨减少(增加)、江淮流域和四川盆地暴雨增加(减少)、黄淮和华北暴雨减少(增加)的经向"三极子"跃变。