The influence of relative sediment supply on riverine habitat heterogeneity

The diversity of aquatic habitats in streams is linked to physical processes that act at various spatial and temporal scales. Two components of many that contribute to creating habitat heterogeneity in streams are the interaction between sediment supply and transport capacity and the presence of local in-stream structures, such as large woody debris and boulders. Data from previously published flume and field studies and a new field study on tributaries to the South Yuba River in Nevada County, California, USA, were used to evaluate the relationship between habitat heterogeneity, local in-stream structural features and relative sediment supply. Habitat heterogeneity was quantified using spatial heterogeneity measures from the field of landscape ecology. Relative sediment supply, as expressed by the sediment supply/transport capacity ratio, which controls channel morphology and substrate textures, two key physical habitat characteristics, was quantified using a dimensionless bedload transport ratio, q. Calculated q values were plotted against an ecologically meaningful heterogeneity index, Shannon's Diversity Index, measured for each study reach, as well as the percent area of in-stream structural elements. The results indicate two potential mechanisms for how relative sediment supply may drive geomorphic diversity in natural river systems at the reach scale. When less mobile structural elements form a small proportion of the reach landscape, the supply/capacity ratio dictates the range of sediment textures and geomorphic features observed within the reach. In these settings, channels with a moderate relative sediment supply exhibit the highest textural and geomorphic diversity. In contrast, when less mobile structural elements are abundant, forced local scour and deposition creates high habitat heterogeneity, even in the presence of high relative sediment supply.     

杀虫剂在地下环境中的存在与分布

杀虫剂在环境中的存在与分布取决于其类型、施用量、次数、时间、方法以及一系列天然和人为因素,包括水文、地貌、土壤、地表植被、水文地质和气象等条件。文中使用模拟技术定量研究杀虫剂在地下环境中的存在和分布规律;运用一个综合的杀虫剂运移模型(IPTM-CS)模拟了五种不同杀虫剂在耦合植被-土壤系统中的运移过程;通过考察四个不同的方案,综合评价了这些杀虫剂的特性及使用情况对它们在地下系统中存在和分布的影响。研究表明:杀虫剂的形成模式非常复杂,而且时空分布变异性强;尽管杀虫剂的持久性和移动性主要取决于它们本身内在的特性,但杀虫剂的使用情况,包括施用时间、地点和方法确实会对它们在地下环境中的运移途径、迁移过程、机理以及存在和分布产生深刻的影响。     

On Outflow Passages in the South China Sea

Both box and inverse methods are used to study the relative importance of outflow passages of the South China Sea.The physical meaning of the box model is described in detail,and its optimization is based on the most efficient way to remove the warm and fresh water in terms of the heat and salt budgets.The box model results suggest that the Kalimantan Strait is the main outflow passage,because the water near the Kalimantan is the warmest and freshest.The system of the South China Sea advects the warmest and...     

水下碎屑流沉积：深水沉积研究热点与进展

自20世纪50年代以来,作为沉积物搬运两大主要动力之一的重力流因其在记录地质事件、改造地表地貌和勘查油气资源方面的特殊意义而引起广泛关注。重力流研究历史经历了现象观测、概念体系建立、沉积模式建立、工业应用与质疑和碎屑流研究深化5个阶段。近期,以深海水下碎屑流为核心的研究重建了"砂质碎屑流"概念,新建立了以碎屑流细分为主要内容的3套重力流分类,提出并讨论了水下碎屑流"滑水"搬运机制特征、形成条件,系统分析沉积物浓度、粘土含量及成分对水下重力流性质及搬运沉积过程的影响。继20世纪60~70年代重力流研究热潮后,1996年以来水下碎屑流为主的研究再次掀起新一轮研究热潮。综合沉积物重力流研究现状、进展和当前油气工业勘探开发需求,指出未来水下碎屑流研究动态包括:①水下碎屑流成因分类体系的建立及重力流分类体系的完善;②实地观测与模拟实验结合下水下碎屑流发育机制深化;③重力流泥岩沉积机制及油气意义和④水下碎屑流主控型重力流沉积模式的建立及其在油气勘探开发中的应用。     

The atmospheric general circulation: Some unresolved issues

Several questions concerning the general circulation for which satisfactory answers are not yet available are discussed. The focus is on the zonal mean heat balance, since problems in our understanding of this balance are a fundamental limitation on our ability to model climate and climate change. The questions are: How strong is the atmosphere's poleward heat transport? What are the relative roles of large-scale eddies and small-scale convection in stabilizing the mid-latitude atmosphere? What are the dynamical mechanisms that maintain the time mean zonal mean state in mid-latitudes? Some suggestions for addressing these questions are given.     

Numerical modelling of channel migration with application to laboratory rivers

The paper presents the development of a morphological model and its application to experimental model rivers.The model takes into account the key processes of channel migration,including bed deformation,bank failure and wetting and drying.Secondary flows in bends play an important role in lateral sediment transport,which further affects channel migration.A new formula has been derived to predict the near-bed secondary flow speed,in which the magnitude of the speed is linked to the lateral water level gradient.Since only non-cohesive sediment is considered in the current study,the bank failure is modelled based on the concept of submerged angle of repose.The wetting and drying process is modelled using an existing method.Comparisons between the numerical model predictions and experimental observations for various discharges have been made.It is found that the model predicted channel planform and cross-sectional shapes agree generally well with the laboratory observations.A scenario analysis is also carried out to investigate the impact of secondary flow on the channel migration process.It shows that if the effect of secondary flow is ignored,the channel size in the lateral direction will be seriously underestimated.     

Aeolian sediment transport and deposition in a modern high‐latitude glacial marine environment

Aeolian sand and dust in polar regions are transported offshore over sea ice and released to the ocean during summer melt. This process has long been considered an important contributor to polar sea floor sedimentation and as a source of bioavailable iron that triggers vast phytoplankton blooms. Reported here are aeolian sediment dispersal patterns and accumulation rates varying between 0·2 g m^?2 yr^?1 and 55 g m^?2 yr^?1 over 3000 km² of sea ice in McMurdo Sound, south‐west Ross Sea, adjacent to the largest ice free area in Antarctica. Sediment distribution and the abundance of southern McMurdo Volcanic Group‐derived glass, show that most sediment originates from the McMurdo Ice Shelf and nearby coastal outcrops. Almost no sediment is derived from the extensive ice free areas of the McMurdo Dry Valleys due to winnowed surficial layers shielding sand‐sized and silt‐sized material from wind erosion and because of the imposing topographic barrier of the north‐south aligned piedmont glaciers. Southerly winds of intermediate strength (ca 20 m sec^?1) are primarily responsible for transporting sediment northwards and offshore. The results presented here indicate that sand‐sized sediment does not travel more than ca 5 km offshore, but very‐fine sand and silt grains can travel >100 km from source. For sites >10 km from the coast, the mass accumulation rate is relatively uniform (1·14 ± 0·57 g m^?2 yr^?1), three orders of magnitude above estimated global atmospheric dust values for the region. This uniformity represents a sea floor sedimentation rate of only 0·2 cm kyr^?1, well below the rates of >9 cm kyr^?1 reported for biogenic‐dominated sedimentation measured over much of the Ross Sea. These results show that, even for this region of high‐windblown sediment flux, aeolian processes are only a minor contributor to sea floor sedimentation, excepting areas proximal to coastal sources.     

Airflow and aeolian sediment transport patterns within a coastal trough blowout during lateral wind conditions

Blowouts are depressions that occur on coastal dunes, deserts and grasslands. The absence of vegetation in blowouts permits high speed winds to entrain and remove sediment. Whereas much research has examined patterns of wind flow and sediment transport on the stoss slopes and lee of sand dunes, no study has yet investigated the connections between secondary air‐flow structures and sediment transport in a blowout where zones of streamline compression, expansion and steering are less clearly delineated. In this study we investigated the variability of sediment flux and its relation to near‐surface wind speed and turbulence within a trough blowout during wind flow that was oblique to the axis of the blowout. Wind flow was measured using six, three‐dimensional (3D) ultrasonic anemometers while sediment flux by eight sand traps, all operating at 25 Hz. Results demonstrated that sediment flux rates were highly variable throughout the blowout deflation basin, even over short distances (< 0.5 m). Where flow was steadiest, flux was greatest. Consequently the highest rates of sediment transport were recorded on the erosional wall crest where flow was compressed and accelerated. The strength of correlation between sediment flux and wind parameter improved with an increase in averaging interval, from 10 seconds to 1 minute. At an interval of 10 seconds, however, wind speed correlated best with flux at seven of eight traps, whereas at an interval of one minute Turbulent Kinetic Energy (TKE) provided the best correlation with flux at six of the eight traps. Correlation between sediment flux and wind parameters was best in the centre of the blowout and poorest on the erosional wall crest. The evidence from this paper suggests, for the first time, that TKE may be a better predictor of sediment transport at minute scale averaging intervals, particularly over landforms where wind flow is highly turbulent. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Further perspectives on the evolution of bed material waves in alluvial rivers

In one‐dimensional mathematical models of ?uvial ?ow, sediment transport and morphological evolution, the governing equations based on mass and momentum conservation laws constitute a hyperbolic system. Succinctly, the hyperbolic nature excludes dispersion or diffusion operators, which is well known in the context of differential equations. There is no doubt that the so‐called ‘dispersion’ argument for bed material wave evolution is questionable, as we have explicitly asserted. Surprisingly, in a recent communication, the authors of the ‘dispersion’ argument suggest that dispersion is not precluded in hyperbolic systems. We provide herein further perspectives to help explain that the dispersion argument is neither appropriate nor necessary for interpreting bed material wave evolution. Also the continuity equations involved are addressed to prompt wider understanding of their signi?cance. In particular, the continuity equation of the water–sediment mixture proposed by the authors of the ‘dispersion’ argument is proved to be incorrect, and inevitably their reasoning based on it is problematic. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.