Embryo dune development drivers: beach morphology,growing season precipitation,and storms

For development of embryo dunes on the highly dynamic land–sea boundary, summer growth and the absence of winter erosion are essential. Other than that, however, we know little about the specific conditions that favour embryo dune development. This study explores the boundary conditions for early dune development to enable better predictions of natural dune expansion. Using a 30 year time series of aerial photographs of 33 sites along the Dutch coast, we assessed the influence of beach morphology (beach width and tidal range), meteorological conditions (storm characteristics, wind speed, growing season precipitation, and temperature), and sand nourishment on early dune development. We examined the presence and area of embryo dunes in relation to beach width and tidal range, and compared changes in embryo dune area to meteorological conditions and whether sand nourishment had been applied. We found that the presence and area of embryo dunes increased with increasing beach width. Over time, embryo dune area was negatively correlated with storm intensity and frequency. Embryo dune area was positively correlated with precipitation in the growing season and sand nourishment. Embryo dune area increased in periods of low storm frequency and in wet summers, and decreased in periods of high storm frequency or intensity. We conclude that beach morphology is highly influential in determining the potential for new dune development, and wide beaches enable development of larger embryo dune fields. Sand nourishment stimulates dune development by increasing beach width. Finally, weather conditions and non‐interrupted sequences of years without high‐intensity storms determine whether progressive dune development will take place. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

When epitaxy controls garnet growth

Within a mica schist from the coesite-bearing Brossasco-Isasca Unit (Western Alps), microstructural analysis shows that Alpine garnet grains are aligned with the crenulated foliation. Garnet crystallographic orientation was analysed with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD): the obtained crystallographic dispersion patterns and distribution patterns of misorientation axes suggest a strong parallelism of {110} garnet planes with a 56°W-dipping foliation. The data are interpreted as evidence for an epitaxial growth of garnet upon (001) biotite planes, sometime during and/or after dispersion of the biotite/garnet crystals from their initially foliation-parallel orientation by rotation about the Alpine crenulation axis. This interpretation is based on the comparison of the measured EBSD data with: (i) theoretical dispersion trajectories of garnet crystallographic data, (ii) numerically modelled pole figures, and (iii) numerically modelled misorientation axis distribution patterns. Our data suggest that epitaxial growth of garnet upon biotite is allowed by distortion of the pseudohexagonal basal oxygen ring structure on (001) biotite surfaces, and that distortion is driven by introduction of missing ions. Our data further suggest that the spatial distribution of precursor phases influences the distribution patterns of garnet within mica schists.     

Towards a Better Understanding of the Fibrolite Problem: the Effect of Reaction Overstepping and Surface Energy Anisotropy

Trachytes from the Euganean Hills District (Italy) contain metapeliticxenoliths that have been pyrometamorphosed during incorporationin the melt. In xenoliths containing sillimanite crystallizedduring a previous regional HT/LP metamorphism, fibrolite systematicallynucleates at the grain boundaries of sillimanite prisms andwithin plagioclase crystals. Ternary feldspar thermometry showsthat plagioclase in contact with sillimanite plots along the750°C solvus that reflects near-equilibrium conditions ofregional metamorphism. Plagioclase containing fibrolite plotscloser towards the 950°C solvus, reflecting the tendencyof plagioclase to re-equilibrate at high temperature duringpyrometamorphism by a fibrolite-forming reaction:     

MODIS Derived Equilibrium Line Altitude Estimates for Purogangri Ice Cap,Tibetan Plateau,and their Relation to Climatic Predictors (2001–2012)

The variation of the equilibrium line altitude can be used as an indicator for glacier mass balance variability. Snow lines at the end of the ablation period are suitable proxies for the annual equilibrium line altitude on glaciers. We investigate snow lines at Purogangri ice cap on the central Plateau in order to study the interannual variability of glacier mass balance. Datasets of the daily Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer snow product MOD10A1 were used to infer transient snow line variability during 2001–2012 and to derive regional‐scale, annual equilibrium line altitude. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer snow albedo embedded within the snow product was compared with high‐resolution Landsat imagery. An albedo threshold was established to differentiate between ice and snow and the 13th percentile of the altitudes of snow‐covered pixels was chosen to represent the snow line altitude. The second maximum of the snow line altitudes in the ablation period was taken as a proxy for the annual equilibrium line altitude. A linear correlation analysis was carried out (1) between interannual variability of the equilibrium line altitude at Purogangri ice cap and various climate elements derived from the High Asia Reanalysis, and (2) between interannual variability of the equilibrium line altitude and the circulation indices North Atlantic Oscillation and Indian Summer Monsoon. Results suggest that air temperature and meridional wind speed above ground in July, as well as the lower tropospheric zonal wind in June and August play a crucial role in the development of the annual equilibrium line altitude.     

Comparison of modelled- and remote sensing- derived daily snow line altitudes at Ulugh Muztagh,northern Tibetan Plateau

The ice cap Ulugh Muztagh in the central Kunlun Shan at the northern fringe of the Tibetan Plateau is a very isolated region with arid cold conditions. No observational, meteorological or glaciological ground truth data is available. Using the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS) Level 1 radiance Swath Data(MOD02QKM) with a spatial resolution of 250 m, transient snow lines during the months of July to September in 2001 to 2014 are derived. Results are used to calibrate the physical based Coupled Snowpack and Ice surface energy and Mass balance model(COSIMA). The model runs on a representative detail region of Ulugh Muztagh(UM) on a digital elevation model with the same spatial resolution as the MODIS bands. In the absence of field observations, the model is driven solely by dynamically downscaled global analysis data from the High Asia Refined analysis(HAR). We compare remote sensing derived and modelled mean regional transient snow line altitudes in the course of consecutive summer seasons in 2008 to 2010. The resulting snow line altitude(SLA) and annual equilibrium line altitude(ELA) proxy of both methods coincide very well in their interannual variability in accordance with interannual variability of climatic conditions. Since SLAs of both methods do notconsistently agree on a daily basis a usage of remote sensing derived SLAs for model calibration in the absence of field observation data is only limitedly feasible for daily analysis. ELA approximation using the highest SLA at the end of ablation period may not be applied to UM because the negative winter mass balance(MB) is not reflected in the summer SLA. The study reveals moderate negative MB for UM throughout the modelling period. The mean regional MB of UM accounts for-523±410 mm w.e. a-1 in the modelling period. Hence UM seems not to belong to the area of the ‘Karakorum anomaly' comprising a region of positive mass balances in recent years which has its centre presumably in the Western Kunlun Shan.     

Hydraulic and sedimentary processes causing anastomosing morphology of the upper Columbia River, British Columbia, Canada

The upper Columbia River, British Columbia, Canada, shows typical anastomosing morphology — multiple interconnected channels that enclose floodbasins — and lateral channel stability. We analysed field data on hydraulic and sedimentary processes and show that the anastomosing morphology of the upper Columbia River is caused by sediment (bedload) transport inefficiency, in combination with very limited potential for lateral bank erosion because of very low specific stream power (≤ 2.3 W/m²) and cohesive silty banks. In a diagram of channel type in relation to flow energy and median grain size of the bed material, data points for the straight upper Columbia River channels cluster separately from the data points for braided and meandering channels. Measurements and calculations indicate that bedload transport in the anastomosing reach of the upper Columbia River decreases downstream. Because of lateral channel stability no lateral storage capacity for bedload is created. Therefore, the surplus of bedload leads to channel bed aggradation, which outpaces levee accretion and causes avulsions because of loss of channel flow capacity. This avulsion mechanism applies only to the main channel of the system, which transports 87% of the water and > 90% of the sediment in the cross-valley transect studied. Because of very low sediment transport capacity, the morphological evolution of most secondary channels is slow. Measurements and calculations indicate that much more bedload is sequestered in the relatively steep upper anastomosing reach of the upper Columbia River than in the relatively gentle lower anastomosing reach. With anastomosing morphology and related processes (e.g., crevassing) being best developed in the upper reach, this confirms the notion of upstream rather than downstream control of upper Columbia River anastomosis.