Wind waves and sediment transport regime off the south-central Kerala coast,India

Wind waves in the innershelf of the south-central Kerala coast, south-west India were measured at four locations during different seasons. Simultaneously, numerical models were developed to simulate the wave and sediment transport regime of the innershelf. Strong monsoonal influence is seen in the wave characteristics with greater amplitudes, lower periods and switch-over from SW to SWW–W direction. The net annual longshore sediment transport is southerly in the innershelf and northerly in the surf zone. These counter-directional transports are linked by seasonally reversing the cross-shore transports. In the locations where the transports in the longshore and cross-shore directions are balanced, stable beaches prevail. Erosion/accretion tendency prevails in locations where these transports are not balanced. The southern and northern parts of the coast where onshore transports are predominant could be accreting zones. The erosion/accretion pattern deduced from the sediment transport model corresponds well with the long-term erosion/accretion trend for this coast.     

渤海海域庙西凹陷中南洼古近纪盆地原始形态恢复

庙西凹陷中南洼位于渤中凹陷与胶辽隆起过渡带, 受胶辽隆起差异隆升作用控制, 古近系孔店组、沙四段、沙三段以及东营组沉积之后各组遭受了不同程度的剥蚀。 本文综合 利用声波时差法、镜质体反射率法以及地层厚度变化率法恢复了庙西凹陷中南洼各关键期剥蚀厚度, 再现了庙西凹陷中南洼古近系演化过程。 结果表明, 该区古近纪各沉积期在沉积之后普遍遭受了阶段性抬升剥蚀, 致使各期盆地边界形成多个扩大-收缩旋回, 盆地原形并非小而浅;孔店期-东营期原始盆地沉积边界较现今盆地边界可向东外推 18～25 km;孔店期盆地为统一凹陷, 孔店期之后中、南部洼陷区开始出现差异性隆升-沉降作用, 沙四段沉积期继承孔店期的特点, 差异进一步加大, 沙三段沉积期南、北两个次洼彻底分离, 形成两个孤立洼陷, 东营组披覆沉积两洼之上, 并遭受区域性剥蚀。     

GENERAL GEOLOGY

正20140580 Ding Yongjian (State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science,Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Lanzhou 730000,China);Zhou Chenghu Studies of Earth Surface Processes:Progress and Prospect(Advances in Earth Science,ISSN1001-8166,CN62-1091/P,28(4),     

南黄海盆地南部坳陷南五凹三垛组剥蚀量研究

南黄海盆地南五凹自白垩纪以来经历了4期构造运动,其中古近纪末期三垛运动最为强烈,造成大范围的剥蚀。结合井资料,综合利用泥页岩声波时差法、镜质体反射率Ro差值法,从点上对三垛组剥蚀量进行了恢复;然后依托二维地震剖面,利用地层趋势法对该期剥蚀量进行了区域成图。结果表明,该事件中南五凹最大剥蚀厚度在凹陷西部,一般为700~950 m;东部剥蚀厚度一般为300~500 m,整体剥蚀厚度小于新近系地层补偿厚度。三垛组剥蚀量的研究对认识南五凹的成藏史及油气分布规律具有重要意义。     

Relationship of environmental geochemistry to soil degradation in Helwan catchment, Egypt

Environmental geochemistry plays an important role in understanding the distribution of major cations (Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺, K⁺) in Helwan catchment, south Cairo, Egypt. Evaluation of soil mechanical erosion rate, depletion rate, exchangeable rates of base cations and sodium adsorption ratios are essential for understanding soil degradation problems in the representative Helwan catchment. Soil erosion is a natural process. It often becomes a problem when human activity causes it to occur much faster than under natural conditions. The results of the mechanical erosion rate of soil and the exchangeable rates of base cations are 1845 and 80.3 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹, respectively. The high intensity of the mechanical erosion rate is probably attributed to the high specific surface area of the studied type of Vertisol, intensive application of fertilizer and industrial activities. Mechanical erosion of soil, exchangeable rate of base cations and the depletion rate of base cations are almost inexhaustible sources of sodium, and all these increase the problem of sodic soils and may affect plant productivity in Helwan catchment.     

Mesozoic–Tertiary exhumation history of the Altai Mountains, northern Xinjiang, China: New constraints from apatite fission track data

This study uses apatite fission track (FT) analysis to constrain the exhumation history of bedrock samples collected from the Altai Mountains in northern Xinjiang, China. Samples were collected as transects across the main structures related to Palaeozoic crustal accretion events. FT results and modeling identify three stages in sample cooling history spanning the Mesozoic and Tertiary. Stage one records rapid cooling to the low temperature part of the fission track partial annealing zone circa 70 ± 10 °C. Stage two, records a period of relative stability with little if any cooling taking place between 75 and 25–20 Ma suggesting the Altai region had been reduced to an area of low relief. Support for this can be found in the adjacent Junngar Basin that received little if any sediment during this interval. Final stage cooling took place in the Miocene at an accelerated rate bringing the sampled rocks to the Earth's surface. This last stage, linked to the far field effects of the Himalayan collision, most likely generated the surface uplift and relief that define the present-day Altai Mountains.     

ASSESSMENT OF SOIL LOSS ON UNCULTIVATED SLOPE LAND BY USING 137CS TECHNIQUE IN THE UPPER YANGTZE RIVER BASIN OF CHINA

Radionuclides are used as tracers of sediments in areas where no plot data or field monitoring data are not available. Caesium-137 can provide important information on both soil loss rates and sediment sources. The 137Cs technique is employed to assess soil erosion rates in forest and grass lands in the Upper Yangtze River Basin, China. The study area includes 6 forestlands and 4 grasslands in 8 counties and cities over the eastern part of the basin. The ^137Cs reference inventories ranged from 620.9 Bq m-2 to 2560.3 Bq m^-2. For the 6 forestlands, the average 137Cs inventory over a field ranges from 960.8 Bq m^-2 to 2560.3 Bq m^-2. The average erosion rate is estimated from the ^137Cs measurements between 0 to 588 t km^-2yr^-1. For the 4 grasslands, the average ^137Cs inventory ranges from 119.0 Bq m2 to 869.7 Bq m^-2. The average rate of erosion from grassland varies from 0 to 4435 t km^-2 yrl. Where the erosion was more severe, the ^137Cs inventory was lower. The results showed that there is no clear relationship between ^137Cs inventory, slope length and slope gradient on uncultivated land. The erosion rates for uncultivated land and cultivated land is compared. The result indicates that the erosion rates on uncultivated land is much lower than those on cultivated slopes and the severity of the soil erosion is closely related to vegetation cover.     

A linear erosion/elevation measuring instrument (LEMI)

The Linear Erosion/Elevation Measuring Instrument (LEMI) offers an alternative to erosion pins for assessing changes in the ground surface that need not disturb the soil at the point of measurement. The device, fabricated from two carpenter's levels, is mounted on each of a series of support rods implanted along a hillslope profile. The vertical distance between the LEMI and the surface may be recorded to the nearest one-half millimetre. Testing indicates that the use of the LEMI sacrifices about one millimetre of measurement replicability while obtaining undisturbed site data.     

Flow dynamics and erosion rate of a representative karst basin (Upper Aniene River,Central Italy)

Experimental data refer to a preliminary estimate of suspended solid and solute load of a perennial river. The basin is composed almost entirely of bare mesozoic, highly fractured, karstified carbonate rocks of the central Apennine range. The suspended solid load related to stormflow events in 1991 corresponds to about 14,970 t yr^–1. For the same period the solute load is 60,060 t yr^–1 for a mean base flow discharge of 9.4 m³ s^–1. Based on the mean concentration of Ca + Mg in water, the value of dissolution of carbonate rocks of 37.1 m³ km^–2 (equivalent approximately to 0.04 mm yr^–1) was calculated. Physical and chemical variations that occur during storm events indicate the complex dynamic processes in the karst aquifer and the role undertaken by the epikarst as perched water reservoir and by the major conduits that develop through the vadose and saturated zones of the karst system.