Development and utilization of a national web-based chronology of hydrological events/Développement et utilisation sur internet d’une chronologie nationale d’événements hydrologiques

Abstract

Abstract The Chronology of British Hydrological Events (CBHE) has been created as an on-line information resource (http://www.dundee.ac.uk/geography/cbhe/) in order to enhance access to and use of historical facts pertaining to British hydrological phenomena. Its scope covers floods, droughts and all other notable historical phenomena of hydrological interest. This paper sets out the technical means by which the CBHE has been created, explains the benefits to hydrologists in creating such a facility, and illustrates its utility with a number of examples. Benefits include hydrological risk assessments, historical studies of individual events and objectives in environmental education. The scope for establishing comparable national chronologies for other countries is identified, along with prospects for enhancing the utility of such systems with additional functionality such as links to on-line gazetteers and maps.     

Environmental change recorded in sediments from the Marmes rockshelter archaeological site, southeastern Washington state, USA

The Marmes Rockshelter archaeological site in southeastern Washington state contains a > 11 kyr stratigraphic record that was excavated in the 1960s but only recently analyzed in detail. We present the results of physical, chemical, and isotopic analyses of archived Marmes sediments from rockshelter, hillslope, and floodplain locations. Multiple lines of evidence including éboulis production, soil chemistry, and δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O signatures in soil organic matter and calcium carbonate suggest that relatively cool, moist conditions 10,600 to 9700 ¹⁴C yr BP were followed by relatively warm and dry conditions as early as 9000 ¹⁴C yr BP. Warm and dry conditions extended to the late Holocene, followed by a return to cooler and moister climate. The limited range of δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values in Marmes paleosols suggests that the magnitude of moisture and temperature shifts was locally buffered in the lower Snake River Canyon but adequate to generate significant changes in sedimentation and soil formation, possibly due to nonlinear geological and pedological processes. These buffered canyon environments were well suited for establishing residential bases associated with foraging and logistical collecting strategies and may have minimized the influence of climate changes in food resource abundance.     

Shoreline variability via empirical orthogonal function analysis: Part I temporal and spatial characteristics

Empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) or principal components were used to extract the significant modes of shoreline variability from several data sets collected at three very different locations. Although EOFs have proven to be a valuable tool in the analysis of nearshore data, most applications have focused on the ability of the technique to describe cross-shore or profile variability. Here however, EOFs were used to help identify the dominant modes of longshore shoreline variability at Duck, North Carolina, the Gold Coast, Australia, and at several locations within the Columbia River Littoral Cell in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. In part one of this analysis, characteristic patterns of shoreline variability identified by the EOF analysis are described in detail. At each site, the dominant modes consisting of the first four eigenfunctions were found to describe nearly 95% of the total shoreline variability. At both Duck and the Gold Coast, several interesting longshore periodic features suggestive of sand waves were identified, while boundary effects related to natural headlands and navigational structures/entrances dominated the Pacific Northwest data sets.     

扬子陆块西缘古元古代基性侵入岩LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb年龄和Hf同位素及其地质意义

扬子陆块西缘康滇南北向构造带内发育大量古元古代基性岩脉（墙）,它们对于认识扬子陆块早期的构造演化具有重要意义。对四川会理地区侵入到元古界通安组内的辉长岩进行LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Th-Pb同位素测定,获得的207Pb/206Pb加权平均年龄为1694Ma±16Ma（MSWD=0.9）,代表了该辉长岩的形成和侵位时代,这一结果指示会理地区通安组应为古元古代地层。辉长岩全岩地球化学具有类似于N-MORB的特征。辉长岩锆石初始（176Hf/177Hf）i值为0.281881~0.281982,对应的εHf（t）为6.2~9.8,单阶段亏损地幔Hf模式年龄tDM1为1738~1883Ma,平均值为1803Ma。这些数据表明古元古代辉长岩来源于亏损地幔,指示古元古代晚期扬子西缘之下存在亏损地幔。结合扬子西缘大量古老的碎屑锆石,推测扬子陆块西缘存在太古宙—古元古代的结晶基底。与扬子陆块西缘古元古代晚期基性侵入岩形成有关的幔源岩浆事件明显晚于扬子陆块古元古代碰撞造山及造山后的伸展作用,记录了扬子陆块古元古代晚期一次伸展过程,可能是Columbia超大陆裂解作用在扬子陆块的响应。     

Capture-zone design in an aquifer influenced by cyclic fluctuations in hydraulic gradients

Design of a groundwater pumping and treatment system for a wood-treatment facility adjacent to the tidally influenced Fraser River estuary required the development of methodologies to account for cyclic variations in hydraulic gradients. Design of such systems must consider the effects of these cyclic fluctuations on the capture of dissolved-phase contaminants. When the period of the cyclic fluctuation is much less than the travel time of the dissolved contaminant from the source to the discharge point, the hydraulic-gradient variations resulting from these cycles can be ignored. Capture zones are then designed based on the average hydraulic gradient determined using filter techniques on continuous groundwater-level measurements. When the period of cyclic fluctuation in hydraulic gradient is near to or greater than the contaminant travel time, the resulting hydraulic-gradient variations cannot be ignored. In these instances, procedures are developed to account for these fluctuations in the capture-zone design. These include proper characterization of the groundwater regime, assessment of the average travel time and period of the cyclic fluctuations, and numerical techniques which allow accounting for the cyclic fluctuations in the design of the capture zone. Electronic Publication     

Linking invertebrate burrow distributions (neoichnology) to physicochemical stresses on a sandy tidal flat: implications for the rock record

Invertebrate burrow distributions (neoichnology) across a modern tidal flat are presented as an analogue for interpreting the ichnology of palaeo‐tidal‐flat successions. Burrow distributions are linked to physical and chemical (physicochemical) stresses to establish the main controls on the distribution of biosedimentary structures. Across the tidal flat, there is clear heterogeneity in both the diversity of traces and the intensity of burrowing. This heterogeneity reflects a myriad of physicochemical stresses, with the sedimentation rate dominating burrow distributions. Across all substrates, the total area occupied by organisms rarely exceeds 3% of the tidal‐flat surface, and is commonly <1%; this equates to a bioturbation index value of one. To reach bioturbation index values of two to six, sediments must be available to biogenic reworking and/or recolonization. With an increasing sedimentation rate, substrates are rapidly buried and re‐exposed, which limits the time when a substrate is available to colonization. For palaeo‐ichnological studies, this research presents several key results. (i) Burrow cross‐cutting relationships in tidal‐flat successions commonly reflect natural heterogeneities in the areal distribution of infaunal communities, rather than infaunal tiering. (ii) Ichnofabric analysis of palaeo‐tidal flats with a high sedimentation rate would yield fabrics that reflect heterogeneities in the areal distribution of infaunal communities rather than variability in the physicochemical stresses of the environment. (iii) The composite trace‐fossil assemblage of tidal flats cannot be attributed to a single ichnofacies, but instead comprises elements typical of multiple ichnofacies. (iv) The main controls on trace assemblages across tidal flats in fully marine settings are sedimentological and include the sedimentation rate and, to a lesser extent, grain size.     

Tectonics and surface effects of the supercontinent Columbia

Assembly of the supercontinent Columbia at about 1.85–1.90 Ga coincided with several events that affected the entire earth. The oldest worldwide network of orogenic belts formed at the same time. Although some granite–granodiorite (GG) suites had formed earlier, the GG suites became common in the 1.8–1.9 Ga orogenic belts. These suites succeeded the older tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite (TTG) suites, which were not produced after 1.8 Ga. Changes on the earth's surface at 1.8–1.9 Ga include rapid increase in the concentration of oxygen in the atmosphere and oceans and probably the evolution of eukaryotes. All of these surface changes occurred as Columbia accreted, and the assembly of Columbia may have contributed to the drastic changes in the earth's surface environment as well as to the evolution of primitive life forms.     

海南公爱地区抱板群花岗片麻岩的年代学、地球化学及其构造意义

海南岛地处华南陆块南缘,紧邻印支陆块,大地构造位置独特,其地质特征一直备受关注。厘定该地区中元古代岩石的成因对恢复华南中元古代构造演化具有重要意义。海南岛西部公爱地区花岗质岩石与围岩抱板群变沉积岩呈侵入接触关系,绝大部分岩石片麻状构造发育、韧性剪切标志明显。这些岩石高SiO_2、K_2O、Al_2O_3、Rb、U,贫CaO、MgO、FeO~T、TiO_2,铝饱和指数A/CNK1.1,具S型花岗岩特点,稀土元素配分模式类似于抱板群变沉积岩,全岩ε_(Nd)(t)=-2.02~-2.38,Nd同位素二阶段亏损模式年龄(t_(DM2)~(Nd))为2.2~2.3 Ga,锆石Hf同位素ε_(Hf)(t)=-5.4~4.0,Hf同位素二阶段亏损模式年龄t_(DM2)~(Hf)=1.71~2.53 Ga。对四个代表性花岗片麻岩样品进行LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb定年,其~(207)Pb/~(206)Pb加权平均年龄为1444±15 Ma、1439±19 Ma、1433±31 Ma和1450±23 Ma,属中元古代。综合区域研究资料认为,海南岛西部公爱地区中元古代花岗质岩石的熔融源区为类似抱板群变沉积岩组分,推测其产出于大陆边缘构造背景,是哥伦比亚超大陆边缘的增生产物。     

Central England temperature since AD 1850: the potential of stable carbon isotopes in British oak trees to reconstruct past summer temperatures

In regions with seasonal temperate climatic regimes, tree growth is rarely controlled by any single environmental factor. As a consequence, the development of robust palaeoclimate reconstructions has proved challenging. Tree‐ring stable carbon isotope ratios (δ¹³C), however, are controlled primarily by photosynthetic rate, not by net growth. Therefore, at sites where climatic controls on tree‐ring growth are not strongly expressed, a robust (isotopic) palaeoclimate signal may still potentially be preserved. This hypothesis was tested using a 160‐year record of δ¹³C measured from the pooled latewood cellulose of six Quercus petraea L. (sessile oak) trees from Allt Lan‐las in West Wales, UK. Raw δ¹³C values were corrected for changes in the isotopic ratio of atmospheric carbon dioxide and for changes in the behaviour of trees due to the increasing availability of atmospheric CO₂ since AD 1850. Strong correlations with local summer temperature and sunshine are reported, and also with the Central England Temperature record over the full length of the isotopic chronology (AD 1850–2010) (r = 0.69, P < 0.001). We conclude that tree‐ring stable isotopes can be used to extract strong palaeoclimate signals even from oak trees growing in a temperate maritime climate. This demonstrates the potential for extracting robust palaeoclimatic information from the very long and well‐replicated oak chronologies which have been developed in western and central Europe primarily for dating rather than palaeoclimatic research purposes. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamic characteristics and horizontal transports of internal solitons generated at the Columbia River plume front

River plume front-generated internal solitons play an important role in the interaction between the plume and coastal waters. The internal solitons drive a non-harmonic velocity field, resulting in a horizontal transport that carries plume water seaward and redistributes nutrients and sediments. In this study, we present observations of internal solitons generated at the Columbia River plume front that separates the new, tidal plume, older plume and coastal waters. Scale analyses suggest that the plume front-generated internal solitons are highly non-linear waves, and their dynamic properties do not conform to any weakly non-linear theory. Thus, a high-order Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) theory is used to analyze the internal solitons. The comparison between theoretical values and cruise data shows that the high-order KdV model is much better than the weakly non-linear theories for prediction of the soliton dynamic parameters. Based on the model, we develop theoretical and numerical solutions of the soliton-induced upper layer horizontal transport and Lagrangian water parcel transport distance, which shows that the water particle drift, during the internal soliton passage, is as far as 1 km, and demonstrates the role of the internal solitons on the exchange between the plume and ambient coastal water. Energy fluxes caused by the internal solitons are estimated using the high-order KdV theory. The leading soliton fluxes 2.0×10³ W m⁻¹ per unit crest length, and carries energy of 4.2×10⁵ J m⁻¹. The total energy carried by the eight internal solitons is 1.6×10⁶ J m⁻¹, about 70% of the total frontal energy.