Sediment transport in high‐speed flows over a fixed bed: 2. Particle impacts and abrasion prediction

Single bed load particle impacts were experimentally investigated in supercritical open channel flow over a fixed planar bed of low relative roughness height simulating high‐gradient non‐alluvial mountain streams as well as hydraulic structures. Particle impact characteristics (impact velocity, impact angle, Stokes number, restitution and dynamic friction coefficients) were determined for a wide range of hydraulic parameters and particle properties. Particle impact velocity scaled with the particle velocity, and the vertical particle impact velocity increased with excess transport stage. Particle impact and rebound angles were low and decreased with transport stage. Analysis of the particle impacts with the bed revealed almost no viscous damping effects with high normal restitution coefficients exceeding unity. The normal and resultant Stokes numbers were high and above critical thresholds for viscous damping. These results are attributed to the coherent turbulent structures near the wall region, i.e. bursting motion with ejection and sweep events responsible for turbulence generation and particle transport. The tangential restitution coefficients were slightly below unity and the dynamic friction coefficients were lower than for alluvial bed data, revealing that only a small amount of horizontal energy was transferred to the bed. The abrasion prediction model formed by Sklar and Dietrich in 2004 was revised based on the new equations on vertical impact velocity and hop length covering various bed configurations. The abrasion coefficient k_v was found to be vary around k_v ~ 10⁵ for hard materials (tensile strength f_t > 1 MPa), one order of magnitude lower than the value assumed so far for Sklar and Dietrich's model. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

In-situ investigation on real-time suspended sediment measurement techniques: Turbidimetry,acoustic attenuation,laser diffraction (LISST) and vibrating tube densimetry

Real-time measurements of Suspended Sediment mass Concentration(SSC) and Particle Size Distribution(PSD) are of prime importance for the investigation and management of fine-sediment related processes in surface water systems and hydraulic schemes. In a field study at the waterway of the hydropower plant(HPP) Fieschertal in the Swiss Alps, the real-time measurement performance of the following techniques and instruments were assessed based on measurements in the sediment seasons of the years 2013 and 2014:(1) turbidimetry,(2) single-frequency acoustic attenuation using a standard acoustic discharge measurement(ADM) installation,(3) laser diffraction(Laser In-Situ Scattering and Transmissometry, LISST), and(4) vibrating tube densimetry using a Coriolis Flow and Density Meter(CFDM).Reference SSCs were obtained from gravimetric analysis of 219 automatically pumped water samples.LISST additionally supplied PSD every minute. The median particle diameter, d_(50), was usually 15μm and increased occasionally to 100μm. The turbidimeter and the ADM underestimated the SSC when the transported particles were coarser than usual. Such temporary biases resulted from the poor correlation between d_(50) and SSC at this study site. The SSCs from CFDM and LISST were not or less biased by PSD variations. Mainly due to angular and flaky particle shapes, SSC from LISST needed a correction by 79% on average. With the usually prevailing silt particles, an optical path length of 5 mm and no dilution, the SSC measurement range of LISST was limited to about 1.5 g/l. The CFDM allowed measuring higher SSC than the other investigated instruments(e.g. up to 13.5 g/l). With a periodic offset correction, its relative SSC measurement uncertainty was 20% for SSC≥ 1.5 g/I. To reliably measure a wide range of SSC with temporarily variable PSD, a combination of instruments is recommended: e.g. a standard LISST, a CFDM,and an automatic water sampler for gravimetric reference measurements.     

Structure and recent evolution of the Hazar Basin: a strike‐slip basin on the East Anatolian Fault,Eastern Turkey

The Hazar Basin is a 25 km‐long, 7 km‐wide and 216 m‐deep depression located on the central section of the East Anatolian Fault zone (eastern Turkey) and predominantly overlain by Lake Hazar. This basin has been described previously as a pull‐apart basin because of its rhombic shape and an apparent fault step‐over between the main fault traces situated at the southwestern and northeastern ends of the lake. However, detailed structural investigation beneath Lake Hazar has not been undertaken previously to verify this interpretation. Geophysical and sedimentological data from Lake Hazar were collected during field campaigns in 2006 and 2007. The analysis of this data reveals that the main strand of the East Anatolian Fault (the Master Fault) is continuous across the Hazar Basin, connecting the two segments previously assumed to be the sidewall faults of a pull‐apart structure. In the northeastern part of the lake, an asymmetrical subsiding sub‐basin, bounded by two major faults, is cross‐cut by the Master Fault, which forms a releasing bend within the lake. Comparison of the structure revealed by this study with analogue models produced for transtensional step‐overs suggests that the Hazar Basin structure represents a highly evolved pull‐apart basin, to the extent that the previous asperity has been bypassed by a linking fault. The absence of a step‐over structure at the Hazar Basin means that no significant segmentation boundary is recognised on the East Anatolian Fault between Palu and Sincik. Therefore, this fault segment is capable of causing larger earthquakes than recognised previously.     

A comparison of the sedimentary records of the 1960 and 2010 great Chilean earthquakes in 17 lakes: Implications for quantitative lacustrine palaeoseismology

Seismically‐induced event deposits embedded in the sedimentary infill of lacustrine basins are highly useful for palaeoseismic reconstructions. Recent, well‐documented, great megathrust earthquakes provide an ideal opportunity to calibrate seismically‐induced event deposits for lakes with different characteristics and located in different settings. This study used 107 short sediment cores to investigate the sedimentary impact of the 1960 M_w 9·5 Valdivia and the 2010 M_w 8·8 Maule earthquakes in 17 lakes in South‐Central Chile (i.e. lakes Negra, Lo Encañado, Aculeo, Vichuquén, Laja, Villarrica, Calafquén, Pullinque, Pellaifa, Panguipulli, Neltume, Riñihue, Ranco, Maihue, Puyehue, Rupanco and Llanquihue). A combination of image analysis, magnetic susceptibility and grain‐size analysis allows identification of five types of seismically‐induced event deposits: (i) mass‐transport deposits; (ii) in situ deformations; (iii) lacustrine turbidites with a composition similar to the hemipelagic background sediments (lacustrine turbidites type 1); (iv) lacustrine turbidites with a composition different from the background sediments (lacustrine turbidites type 2) and (v) megaturbidites. These seismically‐induced event deposits were compared to local seismic intensities of the causative earthquakes, eyewitness reports, post‐earthquake observations, and vegetation and geomorphology of the catchment and the lake. Megaturbidites occur where lake seiches took place. Lacustrine turbidites type 2 can be the result of: (i) local near‐shore mass wasting; (ii) delta collapse; (iii) onshore landslides; (iv) debris flows or mudflows; or (v) fluvial reworking of landslide debris. On the contrary, lacustrine turbidites type 1 are the result of shallow mass wasting on sublacustrine slopes covered by hemipelagic sediments. Due to their more constrained origin, lacustrine turbidites type 1 are the most reliable type of seismically‐induced event deposits in quantitative palaeoseismology, because they are almost exclusively triggered by earthquake shaking. Moreover, they most sensitively record varying seismic shaking intensities. The number of lacustrine turbidites type 1 linearly increases with increasing seismic intensity, starting with no lacustrine turbidites type 1 at intensities between V½ and VI and reaching 100% when intensities are higher than VII½. Combining different types of seismically‐induced event deposits allows the reconstruction of the complete impact of an earthquake.     

Laboratory investigation on measuring suspended sediment by portable laser diffractometer (LISST) focusing on particle shape

This paper deals with a laboratory investigation on measuring suspended sediment volume and mass concentration (SSC) and particle size distribution (PSD) by a portable submersible laser diffractometer (LISST-100X) focusing on effects of particle shape and inversion modes on the results. Experiments were carried out in a mixing tank using suspensions of glass beads, fine quartz sand, feldspar and mica powder particles of spherical, rounded, angular and flaky shapes respectively, at various SSCs. SSCs and PSDs measured by LISST were compared to SSCs from gravimetric analysis and to PSDs obtained from image analysis of dry particles and from a non-portable laser diffractometer. Experiments using spherical and rounded particles showed that LISST with the corresponding inversion modes, i.e. spherical and ‘random shaped’, provides PSD and SSC values similar to reference methods. For angular and flaky particles, however, SSCs were found to be overestimated by factors of 1.5 and 8 respectively. Measurements in a mixture of 70% feldspar and 30% mica powders showed that the SSC overestimation factor for mixed particle-type suspensions can be predicted as the weighted sum of the SSC factors of the components and their mixing ratio. For known highly non-spherical particle types, LISST SSCs can be corrected by a gravimetrically determined or predicted overestimation factor. Moreover, correction of overestimated contributions of lower size bins, the range of measureable SSC and time averaging of LISST measurements are addressed. Further investigations are necessary to assess effects of non-spherical particles and mixtures of various particle types on LISST SSC and PSD estimates.     

Shifting level modelling of hydrologic series

The potential of applying shifting level (SL) models to hydrologic processes is discussed in light of observed statistical characteristics of hydrologic data. An SL model and an ARMA (1, 1) model are fitted to an actual hydrologic series. Computer simulation experiments with these models are carried out to compare maximum accumulated deficit and run properties. Results obtained indicate that the mean maximum accumulated deficit, mean longest negative run length, and mean largest negative run sum for both models are similar while there are differences in their corresponding variances.     

Parameter estimation in low order fractionally differenced ARMA processes

A class of regression type estimators of the parameterd in a fractionally differencedARMA (p, q) process is introduced. This class is an extension of the estimator considered by Geweke and Porter-Hudak. In a simulation study, we compared three estimators from this class together with two approximate maximum likelihood estimators which are based on two separate approximations to the likelihood. One approximation ignores the determinant term in the likelihood and the other includes a compensating factor for the determinant. When the determinant term is included, the estimate tends to be much less biased and is in general superior to the other estimate. The approximate maximum likelihood estimator out performed, by a large margin, the regression type estimators for pureARIMA (0,d,0) processes. However, forARIMA (1,d,1) processes, a regression type estimator turned out to be the best for realizations of length 400 in 3 out of the 5 cases we tried.     

Sediment transport in high‐speed flows over a fixed bed: 1. Particle dynamics

Particle dynamics are investigated experimentally in supercritical high‐speed open channel flow over a fixed planar bed of low relative roughness height simulating flows in high‐gradient non‐alluvial mountain streams and hydraulic structures. Non‐dimensional equations were developed for transport mode, particle velocity, hop length and hop height accounting for a wide range of literature data encompassing sub‐ and supercritical flow conditions as well as planar and alluvial bed configurations. Particles were dominantly transported in saltation and particle trajectories on planar beds were rather flat and long compared with alluvial bed data due to (1) increased lift forces by spinning motion, (2) strongly downward directed secondary currents, and (3) a planar flume bed where variation in particle reflection and damping effects were minor. The analysis of particle saltation trajectories revealed that the rising and falling limbs were almost symmetrical contradicting alluvial bed data. Furthermore, no or negligible effect of particle size and shape on particle dynamics were found. Implications of experimental findings for mechanistic saltation‐abrasion models are briefly discussed. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Post-glacial regional climate variability along the East Antarctic coastal margin—Evidence from shallow marine and coastal terrestrial records

We review the post-glacial climate variability along the East Antarctic coastline using terrestrial and shallow marine geological records and compare these reconstructions with data from elsewhere. Nearly all East Antarctic records show a near-synchronous Early Holocene climate optimum (11.5–9 ka BP), coinciding with the deglaciation of currently ice-free regions and the optimum recorded in Antarctic ice and marine sediment cores. Shallow marine and coastal terrestrial climate anomalies appear to be out of phase after the Early Holocene warm period, and show complex regional patterns, but an overall trend of cooling in the terrestrial records. A Mid to Late Holocene warm period is present in many East Antarctic lake and shallow coastal marine records. Although there are some differences in the regional timing of this warm period, it typically occurs somewhere between 4.7 and 1 ka BP, which overlaps with a similar optimum found in Antarctic Peninsula terrestrial records. The differences in the timing of these sometimes abrupt warm events in different records and regions points to a number of mechanisms that we have yet to identify. Nearly all records show a neoglacial cooling from 2 ka BP onwards. There is no evidence along the East Antarctic coastline for an equivalent to the Northern Hemisphere Medieval Warm Period and there is only weak circumstantial evidence in a few places for a cool event crudely equivalent in time to the Northern Hemisphere's Little Ice Age. There is a need for well-dated, high resolution climate records in coastal East Antarctica and particularly in Terre Adélie, Dronning Maud Land and Enderby Land to fully understand the regional climate anomalies, the disparity between marine and terrestrial records, and to determine the significance of the heterogeneous temperature trends being measured in the Antarctic today.     

Erosion pattern of artificial gravel deposits

Sediment replenishment with artificial gravel deposits is an option to compensate for sediment deficits in rivers and to improve their ecological conditions. Predicting and quantifying the erosion rate of an artificial gravel deposit is important to successfully perform river restoration projects. Laboratory experiments have been done to investigate the influence of various parameters on the erosion pattern of artificial gravel deposits. In the present paper the effects of deposit geometry, bulk density, grain size distribution, and hydraulic load on the erosion process are described. The temporal evolution of the deposit geometry and the corresponding mean erosion rates were studied. The mean erosion rate increases with deposit height, deposit width, and decreasing grain size. Furthermore, no significant impact of the bulk density was observed. Equations to predict the mean erosion rate are proposed. This investigation helps to determine the design frequency of gravel dumping and deposit volumes for restoration projects.