Effect of ENSO events on sediment production in a large coastal basin in northern Peru

Although the importance of ENSO on hydrological anomalies has been recognized, variations in sediment fluxes caused by these extreme events are poorly documented. The effect of ENSO is not limited to changes in sediment mobilization. Since ENSO events can affect terrestrial ecosystems, they may have important effects on sediment production and transport in river basins over time spans that are longer than the duration of the event itself. The Catamayo‐Chira basin is an interesting casestudy for investigating these geomorphic implications. The objectives were: (i) to study the effect of ENSO on stream flow and sediment yields in the basin, (ii) to investigate if ENSO events affect sediment yields in the post‐ENSO period and (iii) to understand which factors control the ENSO and post‐ENSO basin response. During strong negative ENSO periods, mean annual stream flow discharge at the inlet of the Poechos reservoir in the lower basin was 5.4 times higher than normal annual discharges, while average sediment fluxes exceeded those of normal years by a factor of about 11. In two heavily affected periods, 45.9% of the total sediment yield in the 29 years observation period was generated. Sediment fluxes in the post‐ENSO period are lower than expected, which proves post‐ENSO event dynamics are significantly different from pre‐event dynamics. Our analysis indicates the increase of vegetation growth in the lower basin is not the main reason explaining considerable sediment flux decrease in post‐ENSO periods. During strong ENSO events, sediment in alluvial stores in the lower part of the basin is removed due to enlarging and deepening of channels. In post‐ENSO periods, normal discharges and persisting sediment supplies from the middle/upper basin lead to river aggradation and storage of large amounts of sediment in alluvial plains. The decrease in sediment export will last for several years until the equilibrium is re‐established. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

鄱阳湖沉积物间隙水中磷的含量及其分布特征

根据2010年1月对鄱阳湖各站点沉积物的采样分析,研究了鄱阳湖沉积物间隙水中总溶解性磷(DTP)与可溶性正磷酸盐(DIP)的含量及其分布特征,并对各站点表层沉积物间隙水中DTP和DIP的含量及其沉积物中TP与IP的含量进行了相关性分析.结果表明,鄱阳湖各站点表层沉积物(0 -2cm)间隙水中DTP的平均含量为0.134...     

The use of riparian vegetated filter strips to reduce river sediment loads: an overestimated control measure?

The spatially distributed soil erosion and sediment delivery model WATEM/SEDEM was used to simulate the impact of riparian vegetated filter strips (RVFSs) on river sediment delivery at different spatial scales. For a field plot with a straight slope, sediment reduction by the RVFSs is comparable to results obtained through experimental set‐ups elsewhere (i.e. >70%). However, at the scale of an entire catchment, sediment reduction is much less (i.e. ±20%) due to (1) overland flow convergence, which reduces the sediment trapping efficiency of an RVFS, and (2) because part of the sediment bypasses the RVFSs through ditches, sewers and road surfaces. These results suggest that, at the catchment scale, RVFSs should be accompanied with other conservation techniques that are more appropriate for reducing river sediment loads, and that also reduce on‐site soil erosion. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation and application of dialysis porewater samplers for microbiological studies at sediment-water interfaces

The equilibrium diffusion technique has become a valuable tool for ecological and biogeochemical studies in aquatic environments. In sediment ecosystems, changes in concentration of microbial metabolites with increasing depth can be determined dependably and reproducibly with this technique. Since the permeation characteristics of the membranes employed are crucial, selecting the proper membrane requires knowledge about its behavior under conditions which prevail in the natural environment. Thirteen polymer sheets were evaluated comparing permeation terms for biogeochemically relevant solutes, biodegradability, and mechanical strength. Cellulose-based dialysis membranes are most satisfactory when employed in low temperature anoxic environments. For this membrane, correction terms were calculated to account for diffusion losses during retrieval and sampling. Optimal incubation times can now be predicted from experimentally determined permeation coefficients for several porewater solutes. Dialysis porewater samplers (DPS) have been successfully applied during more than 100 independent experiments for the collection of interstitial water from surface sediments. DPS were used for water depths as deep as 290 meters.     

Temperature and heat flux spectra in the turbulent buoyancy subrange

The physical nature of motions with scales intermediate between approximately isotropic turbulence and quasi-linear internal gravity waves is not understood at the present time. Such motions play an important role in the energetics of small scales processes, both in the ocean and in the atmosphere, and in vertical transport of heat and constituents. This scale range is currently interpreted either as a saturated gravity waves field or as a buoyancy range of turbulence.We first discuss some distinctive predictions of the classical (Lumley, Phillips) buoyancy range theory, recently improved (Weinstock, Dalaudier and Sidi) to describe potential energy associated with temperature fluctuations. This theory predicts the existence of a spectral gap in the temperature spectra and of an upward mass flux (downward buoyancy and heat fluxes), strongly increasing towards large scales. These predictions are contrasted with an alternate theory, assuming energetically insignificant buoyancy flux, proposed by Holloway.Then we present experimental evidences of such characteristic features obtained in the lower stratosphere with an instrumented balloon. Spectra of temperature, vertical velocity, and cospectra of both, obtained in homogeneous, weakly turbulent regions, are compared with theoretical predictions. These results are strongly consistent with the improved classical buoyancy range theory and support the existence of a significant downward heat flux in the buoyancy range.The theoretical implications of the understanding of this scale range are discussed. Many experimental evidences consistently show the need for an anisotropic theory of the buoyancy range of turbulence.     

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION AND ANALYSIS OF HEC-6 RIVER MORPHOLOGICAL MODEL

Only comparatively few experimental studies have been carried out to investigate the performance of the HEC-6 river morphological model. The model was developed by the Hydrologic Engineering Center of the US Army Corps of Engineers. In this study, experiments were carried out in a 20 m long concrete flume 0.6 m wide with varying rectangular cross-sections. The channel bed is paved with uniform sand of D₅₀ = 0.9 mm and D₉₀ = 1.2 mm within the test reach of 12 m. Two types of experiments were carried out with sediment transport, one under steady uniform flow and another under steady non-uniform flow conditions. Nine steady uniform flow experiments were carried out to compare the measured equilibrium relationship of flow and sediment transport rate with two bedload formulae, namely, Du Boys and Meyer–Peter and Muller, and with three total load formulae, namely, Toffaleti, Laursen and Yang. It was found that even though the sediment transport consists of a certain portion of bedload, the total load formulae give satisfactory results and better agreement than the two bedload formulae. Five steady non-uniform flow experiments were carried out under various conditions of varying bed profile and channel width and also with sediment addition and withdrawal. The measured transient water surface and bed profiles are compared with the computed results from the HEC-6 model. It was found that the Toffaleti and Yang total load formulae used in the HEC-6 model give the most satisfactory prediction of actual bed profiles under various conditions of non-uniform flow and sediment transport. The effects of Manning's n, variations of sediment inflow, various sediment transport formulae, sediment grain size and the model numerical parameters, i.e. distance interval Δx and numerical weighting factor, on the computed water surface and bed profiles were determined. It was found that the selection of the sediment transport formulae has the most significant effect on the computed results. It can be concluded that the HEC-6 model can predict satisfactorily a long-term average pattern of local scour and deposition along a channel with either a small abrupt change in geometry or gradually varying cross-sections. However, the accuracy of the model prediction is reduced in the regions where highly non-uniform flow occurs.     

Hydrocarbons in surface sediments from the Changjiang (Yangtze River) Estuary, East China Sea

Sedimentary aliphatic (AH) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were studied in the Changjiang Estuary and the adjacent East China Sea. Total AH ranged from 2.20 to 11.82 μg g⁻¹ and consisted of n-alkanes and a dominant petroleum-related unresolved complex mixture (UCM). Within the n-alkanes, terrestrial plant wax compounds prevailed at nearly all stations. Of the PAHs, biogenic perylene dominated at stations receiving riverine inputs. Anthropogenic PAHs originating from combustion/pyrolysis processes varied from 17 to 157 ng g⁻¹, while fossil PAH concentrations ranged from 42 to 187 ng g⁻¹. Both biogenic and anthropogenic hydrocarbons are primarily derived from riverine discharges and accumulate at shallow-water stations. Distinct phase associations lead, nevertheless, to different sedimentation patterns. Fossil PAHs are enhanced at offshore stations where they are introduced directly by shipping activities. Biomarker fingerprints ascribe their source to Chinese crude oils. The overall levels of anthropogenic hydrocarbons are low compared to relevant areas worldwide and reveal a low/moderate level of hydrocarbon pollution.     

Derivation Of Refractive Index And Temperature Gradients From Optical Scintillometry To Correct Atmospherically Induced Errors For Highly Precise Geodetic Measurements

Refraction effects of optical beams are generally caused by an inhomogeneous propagation medium and are a major source of systematic errors in the precise optical determination of angles and distances in the atmospheric surface layer. In this contribution a method for deriving vertical temperature and refractive index gradients from optical scintillation is presented. Knowledge of these gradients is required for the compensation of atmospherically induced errors for highly precise terrestrial geodetic measurements, like direct transfer and levelling. The advantage of the present optical method is, that temperature and refractive index gradients can be derived as line-averaged values over the propagation path, which is not possible by meteorological point measurements. Field observations have been carried out with a displaced-beam scintillometer over flat terrain and under different atmospheric conditions in order to verify this method. The experiments show, that this method allows to derive accurate correction values for precise terrestrial geodetic measurements.     

Effects of copper and the sea lice treatment Slice on nutrient release from marine sediments

Copper-based antifoulant paints and the sea lice treatment Slice^® are widely used, and often detectable in the sediments beneath farms where they are administered. Ten-day, whole sediment mesocosm experiments were conducted to examine how increasing sediment concentrations of copper or Slice^® influenced final water column concentrations of ammonium-nitrogen (NH₄-N), nitrate + nitrite-nitrogen (NO_X-N) and phosphate-phosphorus (PO₄-P) in the presence of the non-target, benthic organisms Corophium volutator and Hediste diversicolor. Nominal sediment concentrations of copper and Slice^® had significant effects on the resulting concentrations of almost all nutrients examined. The overall trends in nutrient concentrations at the end of the 10-day incubations were highly similar between the trials with either copper or Slice^®, irrespective of the invertebrate species present. This suggests that nutrient exchange from the experimental sediments was primarily influenced by the direct effect of copper/Slice^® dose on the sediment microbial community, rather than the indirect effect of reduced bioturbation/irrigation due to increased macrofaunal mortality.     

Water and sediment outbursts from advanced Franz Josef Glacier,New Zealand

The Franz Josef Glacier, Westland, New Zealand, has a history of catastrophic sediment‐laden outburst ?oods associated with extreme rainfall events when the glacier toe is advanced over its own sediments. Consideration of these events and inspection of recent sediment deposits suggest that there are three distinct modes of outburst. The ?rst is associated with fans fed by over?ow along the glacier margin. As the glacier has advanced across its own fore?eld gravels, it is inferred that the primary drainage conduit has developed a reach of negative slope. In high ?ows massive boulders can block the conduit, trapping lesser clasts. The resulting backup of water causes over?ows through marginal moulins, producing the fan type of deposit. The second type of outburst deposits massive imbricated boulders at a greater or lesser distance from the glacier portal. In this case, pressure buildup drives the blockage out of the portal where the boulders deposit. Smaller materials are generally carried away. The third type consists of very shallow ?ows, and produces massive gravel deposits of uncertain provenance. In this condition, the excess pressure in the conduit results in slight uplift of the glacier and widespread discharge of water and sediment below the glacier snout; gravels and smaller sediments are laid down in a massive deposit across the fore?eld. The massive, boulder‐veneered deposit from the December 1995 outburst is interpreted in the light of the above mechanisms as a hyperconcentrated ?ow deposit from hydraulic jacking, overlain by boulders emplaced by a subsequent conduit outburst. A possible association of outbursts with the present advanced position of the glacier is suggested. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.