Suspended sediment and phosphorus in proglacial rivers: bioavailability and potential impacts upon the P status of ice‐marginal receiving waters

This paper adopts standard tests developed in temperate catchment research to determine the total phosphorus (TP) and the algal available (base‐extractable) phosphorus (NaOH–P) content of a wide range of glaciofluvial sediments from the Northern Hemisphere. We find that the TP content of these sediments is broadly similar to the P content of major rock types in Earth's crust (230–670 µgP/g) and so the TP yields of glacier basins may be high owing to the efficacy of suspended sediment evacuation by glacial meltwaters. We show that this is best achieved where subglacial drainage systems are present. The NaOH–P pool of the sediments is found to be low (1–23 µgP/g) relative to the TP pool and also to the NaOH–P pool of suspended sediments in temperate, non‐glacierized catchments. This most probably reflects the restricted duration of intimate contact between dilute meltwaters and glacial suspended sediments during the ablation season. Thus, despite the high surface‐area:volume ratio of glacial suspended sediments, the potential for P adsorption to mineral surfaces following release by dissolution is also low. Further, sorption experiments and sequential extraction tests conducted using glacial suspended sediments from two Svalbard catchments indicate that the generation of reactive secondary minerals (e.g. Fe‐ and other hydroxides) with a strong capacity to scavenge P from solution (and thereby promote the continued dissolution of P) may also be limited by the short residence times. Most P is therefore associated with poorly weathered, calcite/apatite‐rich mineral phases. However, we use examples from the Svalbard glacier basins (Austre Brøggerbreen and Midre Lovénbreen) to show that the high sediment yields of glaciers may result in appreciable NaOH–P loading of ice‐marginal receiving waters. Again, the importance of subglacial drainage is highlighted, as it produces a major, episodic release of NaOH–P at Midre Lovénbreen that results in a yield (8·2 kg NaOH–P/km²/year) more than one order of magnitude greater than that at Austre Brøggerbreen (where subglacial drainage is absent and the yield is 0·48 kg NaOH‐P/km²/year). Therefore, as since both detrimental and beneficial effects of sediment‐bound P loading in ice marginal receiving waters are possible (i.e. either reduced primary productivity owing to increased turbidity or P fertilization following desorption) there is a pressing need to assess the ambient P status of such environments and also the capacity for ice‐marginal ecosystems to adapt to such inputs. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Importance of soil surface characteristics on water erosion in a small grazed Sahelian catchment

This study concerns the problem of water erosion in the Sahel. Surface water and sediment yields (suspended matter and bedload) were monitored for 3 years (1998–2000) at the outlet of a small grazed catchment (1·4 ha) in the northern part of Burkina Faso. The catchment consists of about 64% sandy deposits (DRY soil surface type), which support most of the vegetation, and about 34% of crusted bare soils (ERO soil surface type). The annual solid‐matter export is more than 90% suspended sediment, varying between 4·0 and 8·4 t ha^?1. The bedload represents less than 10% of soil losses. In a single flood event (10 year return period), the sediment yield can reach 4·2 t ha^?1. During the period studied, a small proportion (20 to 32%) of the floods was thus responsible for a large proportion (80%) of the solid transport. Seasonal variation of the suspended‐matter content was also observed: high mean values (9 g l^?1) in June, decreasing in July and stabilizing in August (between 2 and 4 g l^?1). This behaviour may be a consequence of a reorganization of the soil surfaces that have been destroyed by trampling animals during the previous long dry season, vegetation growth (increase in the protecting effect of the herbaceous cover) and, to a lesser extent, particle‐supply limitation (exhaustion of dust deposits during July). The particle‐size distribution in the suspended matter collected at the catchment outlet is 60% made up of clay: fraction ≤2 µ m. The contribution of this clay is maximum when the water rises and its kaolinite/quartz ratio is then close to that of the ERO‐type surfaces. This indicates that these surfaces are the main source of clay within the catchment. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How Fast the Nucleus of Comet Hale–Bopp was Rotating?

At the First International Conference on Comet Hale–Bopp(Canaries, 1998) many astronomers agreed with the value of theperiod of axial rotation of its nucleus, which was obtained byobservers by a comparison of the two sequential patterns of thedust arcs. It was noted that the pattern had been repeated each∼12 hours. The value 11.35^h was taken as the periodof axial rotation. However, alternative periods of 4 and 8 days havealso been suggested. The possible reasons for thisdiscrepancy are discussed. It is shown that a short period could be obtained by a misidentification of the same arc on twosequential images and, as a result, an overestimate of theradial velocity of dust in the arcs. To obtain the half day period one must take the projected velocity of the arc ∼ 1.6 km/s,which exceeds the H₂O gas expansion velocity. If one takes a lower expansion velocity a longer period would be obtained.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Books reviewed in this article: Boundary Control and Legal Priniciples . Curtis M. Brown , Walter G. Robillard and Donald A. Wilson . Lost Initiatives: Canada's Forest Industries, Forest Policy, and Forest Conservation . R. Peter Gillis and Thomas R. Roach . The Navajo Atlas: Resources, People, and History of the Dine Bikeyah . James M. Goodman . The City and the Sign . M. Gottdiener AND Alexandros Ph . Lagopoulos , EDS. The Comfortable House: North American Suburban Architecture 1890–1930 . Alan Gowans . Arabic-Islamic Cities. Building and Planning Principles . Besim Salim Hakim . Contemporary Climatology . Ann Henderson -Sellers and Peter J. Robinson . A Trace of Desert Waters . Samuel G. Houghton . Geography, Resources and Environment. Vol. 1: Selected Writings of Gilbert F. White. Vol. 2: Themes from the Work of Gilbert F. White . Robert W. Kates AND Ian Burton , ED. Spatial Dimensions of Unemployment and Underemployment (A Case Study of Rural Punjab) . Gopal Krishan . Maps of the Holy Land: Cartobibliography of Printed Maps, 1475–1900 . Compiled by Eran Laor , assisted by Shoshana Klein . The Geography of Third World Cities . Stella Lowder . A Perspective on U.S. Farm Problems and Agricultural Policy . Lance Mc Kinzie , Timothy G. Baker AND Wallace E. Tyner . Soil Erosion and Its Control. R.P.C . Morgan , ED Geopolitics . Patrick O'Sullivan . Landscape, Meanings and Values . Edmund C. Penning -Rowsell AND David Lowenthal , EDS.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Books reviewed in this article: Aerial Photography and Remote Sensing. Terrain Analysis and Remote Sensing . JOHN R. G. TOWNSHEND , ed. Environmental Data Use in Computer-assisted Data Handling Systems: The Results of a Survey of Applications in the Pacific Northwest States . KENNETH E. GORDON . Applied Land Use: A Spatial Approach . JOHN F. LOUNSBURY , LAWRENCE M. SOMMERS , AND EDWARD A. FERNALD , eds. The Second Battle of New Orleans: A History of the Vieux Carre Riverfront-Expressway Controversy . RICHARD O. BAUMBACH , JR. AND WILLIAM E. BORAH . Cultural Environmental Archaeology . MYRA SHACKLEY . The Immoral landscape: Female Prostitution in Western Societies . RICHARD SYMANSKI . life Among the Poor in Cairo . UNNI WIKAN , translated by Ann Henning. Women, Work and Property in Northwest India . URSULA SHARMA . The Domestication of Women: Discrimination in Developing Societies . BARBARA ROGERS Economic Optimization in Locational and Transport Analysis . A. G. WILSON , J. D. COELHO , S. M. MACGILL , H. C. W. L. WILLIAMS . New Tools for Economic Development: The Enterprise Zone, Development Bank, and RFC . GEORGE STERNLIEB AND DAVID LISTOKIN , eds. Regional Wage Inflation . R. L. MARTIN , ed. Finding A Place For Energy-Siting Coal Conversion Facilities . FRANK J. CALZONETTI WITH MARK S. ECKERT . Environmental Management, Resources, and Systems Environmentalism. Second Edition . T. O'RIORDAN . Countryside Conservation . BRYN GREEN . Medical Spatial Diffusion: An Historical Geography of Epidemics in an Island Community . A. D. CLIFF , P. HAGGETT , J. K. ORD , AND G. R. VERSEY . Philosophy and Geographic Thought Order and Skepticism: Human Geography and the Dialectic of Science . RICHARD SZYMANSKI AND JOHN A. AGNEW . Measurement of Subjective Phenomena . D. F. JOHNSTON , ed. Conceptions of Space in Social Thought: A Geographic Perspective . ROBERT DAVID SACK . The Association of American Geographers: The First Seventy-five Years: 1904-1979 . PRESTON E. JAMES AND GEOFFREY J. MARTIN . The Life and Thought of Isaiah Bowman . GEOFFREY J. MARTIN . Physical River Basin Planning: Theory and Practice . SURANJIT K. SAHA AND CHRISTOPHER J. BARROW , eds. Soils and landforms: An Integration of Ceomorphology and Pedology . A. I. GERRARD Climatic Change and Society. Consequences of Increasing Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide . WILLIAM W. KELLOGG AND ROBERT SCHWARE . Political Political Redistrictings and Geographic Theory . RICHARD L. MORRILL . Population Studies in Spanish American Population History: Dell Plain Latin American Studies NO. 8 . DAVID J. ROBINSON , ed. Population Redistribution in the Midwest . CURTIS C. ROSEMAN , ANDREW J. SOFRANKO , AND JAMES D. WILLIAMS , eds. Geographical Perspectives on the Elderly . A. M. WARNES , ed. Regional Perspective On the American South . MERLE BLACK AND JOHN SHELTON REED , eds. The Prairies and Plains: Prospects for the 80s . JOHN R. ROGGE , ed. Rural Rural Settlement in an Urban World . MICHAEL BUNCE . Social Accident at Three Mile Island: The Human Dimensions . DAVID L. SILLS , C. P. WOLF , AND VIVIEN B. SHELANSKI , eds. The American Small Town: Twentieth-Century Place Images . JOHN JAKLE . Urban A House of My Own . SUSAN LOBO . The City: Patterns and Processes in the Urban Ecosystem . CHRISTOPHER H. EXLINE , GARY L. PETERS , AND ROBERT P. LARKIN . Movement in Cities . P. W. DANIELS AND A. M. WARNES . Urbanization and Urban Planning in Capitalist Society . MICHAEL DEAR AND ALLEN J. SCOT , eds.     

长江口深水航道30年空间特征变化研究

根据1973-2003年6幅长江口海图资料,建立不同时期长江口深水航道水下数字高程模型, 对航道治理前后30 a的冲淤状况、纵剖面水深变化以及空间模拟等进行研究. 结果表明,30 a来深水航道冲淤交替出现,总变化趋势是冲刷.航道冲淤除与 水动力条件有关外,与治理工程也有密切联系.长江口深水航道治理一期工程结束后,水深明显加深,坡度比变大,主航道呈现平顺的“U”形河道景观.     

Paleolimnological investigations of anthropogenic environmental change in Lake Tanganyika: VI. Geochemical indicators

Geochemical signals of bulk sedimentary organic matter from three cores from Lake Tanganyika provided information about both internal processes and terrestrial inputs to the lake. Indications of land use change were detected in the geochemical records of the watersheds, and the timing of these changes was consistent with historical records of population demographics. While C:N ratios suggested that the distance from shore might be important in influencing the relative amount of allochthonous vs. autochthonous material, all cores were dominated by autochthonous organic matter. In general, nitrogen isotopes were more positive at disturbed sites, indicating inputs of enriched soil nitrate that was subsequently taken up by phytoplankton. In contrast, carbon isotopes did not reflect land use patterns, and a post-1950s decline in carbon isotope ratios found in all cores may indicate a lake-wide decrease in productivity. These interpretations were consistent with pollen and climate records.     

Sea-level rise and shoreline retreat of the Nile Delta promontories, Egypt

Studies of the Nile Delta coast have indicated wide values of local subsidence, ranging from 0.4 to 5 mm/yr. Trend analysis of sea-level rise and shoreline retreat at two Nile Delta promontories have been studied. Records from tide gauges at Alexandria (1944–1989) and Port Said (1926–1987), north of the Nile delta coast, indicate a submergence of the land and/or a rise of the sea-level of 2 and 2.4 mm/yr, respectively.Dramatic erosion has occurred on some beaches of the Nile Delta. This is greatest at the tips of the Rosetta and Damietta promontories, with shoreline retreat up to 58 m/yr. Relationship between the shoreline retreat and sea level trends in terms of correlation analysis and application of the Bruun Rule indicates that the sea level rise has, by itself, a relatively minor effect on coastal erosion. The sea-level trend at the Nile delta coast is found to be only one of several effects on shoreline retreat. Major recent effects include a combination of cut-off of sediment supply to the coast by damming the River Nile and local hydrodynamic forces of waves and currents. Estimates of local future sea-level rise by the year 2100 at Alexandria and Port Said, respectively, is expected to be 37.9 and 44.2 cm. These expectations, combined with other factors, could accelerate coastal erosion, inundate wetlands and lowlands, and increase the salinity of lakes and aquifers.     

Doppler radar sounding of volcanic eruption dynamics at Mount Etna

Besides their common use in atmospheric studies, Doppler radars are promising tools for the active remote sensing of volcanic eruptions but were little applied to this field. We present the observations made with a mid-power UHF Doppler radar (Voldorad) during a 7-h Strombolian eruption at the SE crater of Mount Etna on 11–12 October 1998. Main characteristics of radar echoes are retrieved from analysis of Doppler spectra recorded in the two range gates on either side of the jet axis. From the geometry of the sounding, the contribution of uprising and falling ejecta to each Doppler spectrum can be discriminated. The temporal evolution of total power backscattered by uprising targets is quite similar to the temporal evolution of the volcanic tremor and closely reproduces the overall evolution of the eruption before, during and after its paroxysm. Moreover, during the sharp decrease of eruptive activity following the paroxysm, detailed analysis of video (from camera recording), radar and seismic measurements reveals that radar and video signals start to decrease simultaneously, approximately 2.5 min after the tremor decline. This delay is interpreted as the ascent time through a magma conduit of large gas slugs from a shallow source roughly estimated at about 500 m beneath the SE crater. Detailed analysis of eruptive processes has been also made with Voldorad operating in a high sampling rate mode. Signature of individual outburst is clearly identified on the half part of Doppler spectra corresponding to rising ejecta: temporal variations of the backscattered power exhibit quasi periodic undulations, whereas the maximum velocity measured on each spectrum displays a sharp peak at the onset of each outburst followed by a slow decay with time. Periodicity of power variations (between 3.8 and 5.5 s) is in agreement with the occurrence of explosions visually observed at the SE vent. Maximum vertical velocities of over 160 m s^–1 were measured during the paraoxysmal stage and the renewed activity. Finally, by using a simplified model simulating the radar echoes characteristics, we show that when Voldorad is operating in high sampling rate mode, the power and maximum velocity variations are directly related to the difference in size and velocity of particles crossing the antenna beam.Editorial responsibility: A. Woods