Computerized streamflow measurement using slug injection

Using current meters to estimate flows in fast mountain streams is difficult and inaccurate. The salt dilution method offers an easier and more accurate alternative. The method has been used for many years but is time consuming and messy because of the need to mix chemical solutions and measure chemical concentrations in the field. A computer program has been developed which uses a laptop computer to calculate the mixing length and the mass of salt needed. The program controls the conductivity measurements and calculates the streamflow directly in the field. The development of this program is described and examples are presented of the application of the method in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta and British Columbia.     

Supercritical gas sorption on moist coals

The effect of moisture on the CO₂ and CH₄ sorption capacity of three bituminous coals from Australia and China was investigated at 55 °C and at pressures up to 20 MPa. A gravimetric apparatus was used to measure the gas adsorption isotherms of coal with moisture contents ranging from 0 to about 8%. A modified Dubinin–Radushkevich (DR) adsorption model was found to fit the experimental data under all conditions. Moisture adsorption isotherms of these coals were measured at 21 °C. The Guggenheim–Anderson–de Boer (GAB) model was capable of accurately representing the moisture isotherms over the full range of relative pressures.Moist coal had a significantly lower maximum sorption capacity for both CO₂ and CH₄ than dry coal. However, the extent to which the capacity was reduced was dependent upon the rank of the coal. Higher rank coals were less affected by the presence of moisture than low rank coals. All coals exhibited a certain moisture content beyond which further moisture did not affect the sorption capacity. This limiting moisture content was dependent on the rank of the coal and the sorbate gas and, for these coals, corresponded approximately to the equilibrium moisture content that would be attained by exposing the coal to about 40–80% relative humidity. The experimental results indicate that the loss of sorption capacity by the coal in the presence of water can be simply explained by volumetric displacement of the CO₂ and CH₄ by the water. Below the limiting moisture content, the CO₂ sorption capacity reduced by about 7.3 kg t^− 1 for each 1% increase in moisture. For CH₄, sorption capacity was reduced by about 1.8 kg t^− 1 for each 1% increase in moisture.The heat of sorption calculated from the DR model decreased slightly on addition of moisture. One explanation is that water is preferentially attracted to high energy adsorption sites (that have high energy by virtue of their electrostatic nature), expelling CO₂ and CH₄ molecules.     

Meadow fragmentation and reproductive output of the SE Asian seagrass Enhalus acoroides

Flower and fruit production of the abundant, tall, long-lived, dioecious, surface-pollinating seagrass species Enhalus acoroides (L.) Royle were estimated at seven sites in the reef flats off Bolinao (NW Luzon, The Philippines) featuring different fragmentation of the seagrass meadows. Fragmentation of the seagrass meadow was quantified as cover of E. acoroides and all seagrass species present in 20×20 m plots. E. acoroides and overall seagrass cover were correlated positively. The proportion of female flowers of E. acoroides that developed a fruit increased sharply as overall seagrass cover was around 50%. Apparent sex ratio bore no relationship with overall seagrass cover. This threshold-type of relationship suggests that fragmentation of seagrass meadows can have a major effect on the reproductive output of this species. A possible mechanism underlying these results would be a non-linear increase of the efficiency of trapping the surface-dispersed pollen with increasing seagrass canopy density. This provides the first evidence based on real data that fragmentation can affect the population dynamics of seagrass species.     

Factors affecting spatial and temporal variability in material exchange between the Southern Everglades wetlands and Florida Bay (USA)

Physical and biological processes controlling spatial and temporal variations in material concentration and exchange between the Southern Everglades wetlands and Florida Bay were studied for 2.5 years in three of the five major creek systems draining the watershed. Daily total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) fluxes were measured for 2 years in Taylor River, and ten 10-day intensive studies were conducted in this creek to estimate the seasonal flux of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), total organic carbon (TOC), and suspended matter. Four 10-day studies were conducted simultaneously in Taylor, McCormick, and Trout Creeks to study the spatial variation in concentration and flux. The annual fluxes of TOC, TN, and TP from the Southern Everglades were estimated from regression equations. The Southern Everglades watershed, a 460-km² area that includes Taylor Slough and the area south of the C-111 canal, exported 7.1 g C m⁻², 0.46 g N m⁻², and 0.007 g P m⁻², annually. Everglades P flux is three to four orders of magnitude lower than published flux estimates from wetlands influenced by terrigenous sedimentary inputs. These low P flux values reflect both the inherently low P content of Everglades surface water and the efficiency of Everglades carbonate sediments and biota in conserving and recycling this limiting nutrient. The seasonal variation of freshwater input to the watershed was responsible for major temporal variations in N, P, and C export to Florida Bay; approximately 99% of the export occurred during the rainy season. Wind-driven forcing was most important during the later stages of the dry season when low freshwater head coincided with southerly winds, resulting in a net import of water and materials into the wetlands. We also observed an east to west decrease in TN:TP ratio from 212:1 to 127:1. Major spatial gradients in N:P ratios and nutrient concentration and flux among the creek were consistent with the westward decrease in surface water runoff from the P-limited Everglades and increased advection of relatively P-rich Gulf of Mexico (GOM) waters into Florida Bay. Comparison of measured nutrient flux from Everglades surface water inputs from this study with published estimates of other sources of nutrients to Florida Bay (i.e. atmospheric deposition, anthropogenic inputs from the Florida Keys, advection from the GOM) show that Everglades runoff represents only 2% of N inputs and 0.5% of P input to Florida Bay.     

Springs of Great Britain

Predictably, in a country such as Britain, with its preponderance of consolidated, sedimentary, mainly fissure-flow aquifers, there is a very large number of springs, many of which are, or have been, used for public supply. Migratory springs are a feature of the British (Ur. Cretaceous) Chalk, the most important British aquifer. The Chalk's low specific yield and high capillary moisture retention together give rise to very considerable fluctuations (more than 33 m in some areas) of the unconfined water table. Along the gentle dip slopes of the Chalk (North and South Downs of southern and southeastern England) springs may migrate laterally for several miles, giving rise to seasonal streams locally known as bournes or lavants. However, springs such as at Duncton, West Sussex, at the base of the much steeper scarp slopes of the Chalk, form point sources, the flows from which tend to be relatively steady; such springs commonly supply and are the original reason for the existence of many of the small towns and villages which nestle along the bases of the chalk scarps of Sussex and Kent.Where the Chalk forms coastal cliffs, a number of springs break out at the base of the cliff between high and low tide levels; there are major chalk coastal springs, for instance, at St. Margaret's Bay (Kent) and at Arish Mells, east of Lulworth Cove, Dorset. Such springs are not used for direct supply (their salinity is usually too high) but are indicators of the presence of local reserves of groundwater for possible future development.     

Variation in the composition of Lake Bonneville marl: a potential key to lake-level fluctuations and paleoclimate

Lake Bonneville marl provides a stratigraphic record of lake history preserved in its carbonate minerals and stable isotopes. We have analyzed the marl in shallow cores taken at three localities in the Bonneville basin. Chronology for the cores is provided by dated volcanic ashes, ostracode biostratigraphy, and a distinctive lithologic unit believed to have been deposited during and immediately after the Bonneville Flood.A core taken at Monument Point at the north shore of Great Salt Lake encompasses virtually the entire Bonneville lake cycle, including the 26.5 ka Thiokol basaltic ash at the base and deposits representing the overflowing stage at the Provo shoreline at the top of the core. Two cores from the Old River Bed area near the threshold between the Sevier basin and the Great Salt Lake basin (the main body of Lake Bonneville) represent deposition from the end of the Stansbury oscillation ( 20 ka) to post-Provo time ( 13 ka), and one core from near Sunstone Knoll in the Sevier basin provides a nearly complete record of the period when Lake Bonneville flooded the Sevier basin (20–13 ka).In all cores, percent calcium carbonate, the aragonite to calcite ratio, and percent sand were measured at approximately 2-cm intervals, and ¹⁸O and ¹³C were determined in one core from the Old River Bed area. The transgressive period from about 20 ka to 15 ka is represented in all cores, but the general trends and the details of the records are different, probably as a result of water chemistry and water balance differences between the main body and the Sevier basin because they were fed by different rivers and had different hypsometries. The Old River Bed marl sections are intermediate in position and composition between the Monument Point and Sunstone Knoll sections. Variations in marl composition at the Old River Bed, which are correlated with lake-level changes, were probably caused by changes in the relative proportions of water from the two basins, which were caused by shifts in water balance in the lake.This is the second paper in a series of papers published in this issue on Climatic and Tectonic Rhythms in Lake Deposits.