Grazing impacts on gully dynamics indicate approaches for gully erosion control in northeast Australia

Drainage network extension in semi‐arid rangelands has contributed to a large increase in the amount of fine sediment delivered to the coastal lagoon of the Great Barrier Reef, but gully erosion rates and dynamics are poorly understood. This study monitored annual erosion, deposition and vegetation cover in six gullies for 13 years, in granite‐derived soils of the tropical Burdekin River basin. We also monitored a further 11 gullies in three nearby catchments for 4 years to investigate the effects of grazing intensity. Under livestock grazing, the long‐term fine sediment yield from the planform area of gullies was 6.1 t ha^‐1 yr^‐1. This was 7.3 times the catchment sediment yield, indicating that gullies were erosion hotspots within the catchment. It was estimated that gully erosion supplied between 29 and 44% of catchment sediment yield from 4.5% of catchment area, of which 85% was derived from gully wall erosion. Under long‐term livestock exclusion gully sediment yields were 77% lower than those of grazed gullies due to smaller gully extent, and lower erosion rates especially on gully walls. Gully wall erosion will continue to be a major landscape sediment source that is sensitive to grazing pressure, long after gully length and depth have stabilised. Wall erosion was generally lower at higher levels of wall vegetation cover, suggesting that yield could be reduced by increasing cover. Annual variations in gully head erosion and net sediment yield were strongly dependent on annual rainfall and runoff, suggesting that sediment yield would also be reduced if surface runoff could be reduced. Deposition occurred in the downstream valley segments of most gullies. This study concludes that reducing livestock grazing pressure within and around gullies in hillslope drainage lines is a primary method of gully erosion control, which could deliver substantial reductions in sediment yield. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Circulation in the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon using numerical tracers and in situ data

Numerical hydrodynamic models of the northeastern Queensland shelf, forced by regional winds and modelled boundary currents in the northern Coral Sea, are used to provide improved estimates of general flow trajectories and water residence times within the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) shelf system. Model performance was checked against a limited set of current metre records obtained at Lark Reef (16°S) and the Ribbon Reefs (15.5°S). Estimates of water parcel trajectories are derived from a series of numerical tracer experiments, with daily releases of neutrally buoyant, un-reactive particles at 320 sites along the coast between Cape York (10.7°S) and Hervey Bay (25°S). Flow trajectories and residence times for tracer particles introduced to the GBR lagoon in the southern—ca. 22°S, central—19°S, and northern reef—14°S are emphasised. For purposes of the analysis, the year was divided into two seasons based on mean alongshore current direction. Most coastal sourced tracers entering the central GBR lagoon between 16° and 20°S during the northward-current season (January–August) primarily encounter the outer-shelf reef matrix after exiting the lagoon at its northern “head” (nominally 16°S), after 50–150 days. Up to 70% of tracer particles entering in the southward-current season (August–December) eventually crossed the lagoon to the outer-shelf reef matrix, with median crossing times between 20 and 330 days. During favourable wind conditions, tracers introduced at the coast may move rapidly across the lagoon into the reef matrix. The tracer experiments indicate that most coastal-sourced tracers entering the GBR lagoon remain near the coast for extended periods of time, moving north and south in a coastal band. Residence times for conservative tracer particles (and implied residence times for water-borne materials) within the GBR shelf system ranged from ca. 1 month to 1 year—time frames that are very long relative to development times of planktonic larvae and cycling times for nutrient materials in the water column, implying they are transformed long before reaching the outer reef matrix.     

南沙群岛永暑礁澙湖沉积的晚全新世风暴事件记录

位于南沙群岛永暑礁西南小澙湖的南永4井岩芯柱中含多层珊瑚枝和珊瑚砾石的堆积,反映了突发性风暴事件造成的珊瑚碎屑快速搬运和堆积。全新世晚期约4 000 aBP以来,澙湖珊瑚砾堆积记录了1 400870BC、660BC390AD、600770AD和940-1992AD 4个主要的风暴事件频发时期,并且风暴的强度呈阶段性增强。风暴事件还表现出千年和百年尺度的周期性波动,具有1 280 a、370 a、210230 a、140150 a和90 a的准周期,与全新世气候环境的周期性变化相对应,很大程度上受太阳活动周期变化的影响。     

十万大山盆地下二叠统生物礁古油藏剖析及其地下隐伏礁的分布预测

广西宁明亭亮茅口组生物礁古油藏为十万大山盆地已暴露破坏的礁石油藏之一。亭亮生物礁为大新（崇左）台地边缘发展起来的大型堤礁。礁的主要造架生物为海绵、水螅、苔藓虫及藻类等，其沉积组合具礁基、礁核、礁盖、礁间滩及礁前等亚相。该石油藏的含沥青储层主要位于礁体的上部和顶部，含沥青礁灰岩厚达９８ｍ以上。礁储层次生溶孔的形成与分布主要受控于深埋有机溶蚀作用，同时在空间上还与礁顶部古风化壳和不整合面密切相关。烃源     

Impact of sea-level rise and coral mortality on the wave dynamics and wave forces on barrier reefs

A one-dimensional wave model was used to investigate the reef top wave dynamics across a large suite of idealized reef-lagoon profiles, representing barrier coral reef systems under different sea-level rise (SLR) scenarios. The modeling shows that the impacts of SLR vary spatially and are strongly influenced by the bathymetry of the reef and coral type. A complex response occurs for the wave orbital velocity and forces on corals, such that the changes in the wave dynamics vary reef by reef. Different wave loading regimes on massive and branching corals also leads to contrasting impacts from SLR. For many reef bathymetries, wave orbital velocities increase with SLR and cyclonic wave forces are reduced for certain coral species. These changes may be beneficial to coral health and colony resilience and imply that predicting SLR impacts on coral reefs requires careful consideration of the reef bathymetry and the mix of coral species.     

Influence of the turbulence closure scheme on the finite-element simulation of the upwelling in the wake of a shallow-water island

A three-dimensional finite-element model is used to investigate the tidal flow around Rattray Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Field measurements and visual observations show both stable eddies developing at rising and falling tide in the wake of the island. The water turbidity suggests intense upwelling able to carry bed sediments upwards. Based on previous numerical studies, it remains unclear at this point whether the most intense upwelling occurs near the centre of the eddies or off the island's tips, closer to the island. All these studies resorted to a very simple turbulence closure, with a zero-equation model whereby the coefficient of vertical viscosity is computed via an algebraic expression. In this work, we aim at studying the influence of the turbulence closure on model results, with emphasis on the prediction of vertical motions. The Mellor and Yamada level 2.5 closure scheme is used and an increase in the intensity of vertical transport is observed. This increase is partly explained by the fact that the Mellor and Yamada model takes into account the hysteresis effect in the time variation of turbulence variables. The influence of the advection of turbulence variables is estimated to be negligible. By a better representation of transient coastal phenomena, the Mellor and Yamada level 2.5 turbulence closure improves the model to a significant degree.     

Selenium and sulfur concentrations in the Bushveld Complex of South Africa and implications for formation of the platinum-group element deposits

We have determined the S, Se, Cu and La contents through a complete stratigraphic section of the Bushveld Complex. The principle aim was to determine which phases controlled these elements. S, Se and Cu show positive correlations, but these elements do not correlate with La. In most cases, the concentration of S, Se and Cu in rocks containing greater than 800 ppm S can be modeled by segregation of a Fe–Ni–Cu sulfide liquid from a fractionating magma. As the magma evolved, Se and Cu were depleted by the continual segregation of sulfide liquid and the S/Se and S/Cu of the rocks increased. The Se/Cu ratio is higher in the more evolved rocks, which suggests that Se has a slightly lower partition coefficient than Cu into sulfide liquid (1,200 versus 1,700). The Lower and lower Critical Zone of the complex contains on average only 99 ppm S. The low S content of these rocks has led some authors to suggest that these rocks do not contain cumulate sulfides, despite the fact that they are moderately enriched in PGE. These samples fall along the same trend as the S-rich samples on the S-versus-Se plot and the S/La and Se/La ratios are greater than the initial magmas suggesting that despite the low S contents cumulate sulfides are present. Three models may be suggested in order to explain the low S content in the Lower and Critical Zone rocks: (a) the sulfides that were present have migrated away from the cumulate pile into the footwall or center of the intrusion; (b) the magma was saturated in sulfides at depth and during transport some sulfides lagged in embayments; (c) the rocks have lost both S and Se at high temperature. The first two models have important implications for exploration.     

永暑海区波浪要素变化特征分析

利用永暑礁测站1988-2009年共22a的波浪实测资料,对永暑海区的波浪要素的基本特征、变化规律、风与浪的相关规律进行分析研究,阐明了海区海浪的特点及其年变化规律。该区是热带季风气候区,海区的波浪主要受季风影响,季风时期的风向、风浪传播方向、涌浪传播方向基本一致。波高以轻浪和中浪为主,小波分析表明波高在6-9月具有3-6年的变化周期。提供了较详实的海浪资料及变化规律。     

A stream sediment geochemical re-investigation of the discovery of the platiniferous Merensky Reef, Bushveld Complex

The platiniferous Merensky Reef was discovered on the farm Maandagshoek in the Bushveld Complex in August 1924. A historical review of these events is presented, based partly on an unpublished report and a map by Dr Hans Merensky. It has been supposed that Merensky first traced the platinum to discordant ultramafic pipes. However, a re-examination of the topography and river systems in the area shows that this was not possible. A stream sediment study from this area has been undertaken to determine the source of the platinum originally panned at the discovery site. Determination of the Pt:Pd:Au ratio in these samples indicates a strong similarity with ratios in the Merensky Reef, and is completely different from the ratio found in the pipes, which are deficient in Pd and Au. These ratios also suggest that weathering and transportation has occurred predominantly due to physical rather than chemical processes. Two platinum-group element anomalies in the stream sediments are found upstream from the Merensky Reef outcrops. This results from a change in the fluvial system due to Pliocene to recent up warping with a reversal in flow direction.