Sources of Sediment in Lake Pepin on the Upper Mississippi River in Response to Holocene Climatic Changes

Sediments from Lake Pepin on the Mississippi River, southeastern Minnesota, are used as provenance tracers to assess variations in hydrology and sediment-transport during the middle Holocene. Three rivers contribute sediment to Lake Pepin, and each catchment is characterized by a distinctly different geologic terrain. The geochemical fingerprint for each drainage basin was determined from the elemental composition of heavy minerals in the silt-sized fraction of modern sediment samples. Down-core elemental abundances were compared with these fingerprints by use of a chemical-mass-balance model that apportions sediment to the source areas. We observed a decreased contribution from the Minnesota River during the interval ~6700–5500 ¹⁴C yr BP, which we attribute to decreased discharge of the Minnesota River, likely controlled by a combination of precipitation, snow melt, and groundwater input to the river. This hydrologic condition coincides with the mid-Holocene prairie period recorded by fossil pollen data. The occurrence of this feature in a proxy record for hydrologic variations supports the hypothesis that the mid-Holocene prairie period reflects drier conditions than before or after in midwestern North America.     

Application of a confluence‐based sediment‐fingerprinting approach to a dynamic sedimentary catchment,New Zealand

Fine sediment is a dynamic component of the fluvial system, contributing to the physical form, chemistry and ecological health of a river. It is important to understand rates and patterns of sediment delivery, transport and deposition. Sediment fingerprinting is a means of directly determining sediment sources via their geochemical properties, but it faces challenges in discriminating sources within larger catchments. In this research, sediment fingerprinting was applied to major river confluences in the Manawatu catchment as a broad‐scale application to characterizing sub‐catchment sediment contributions for a sedimentary catchment dominated by agriculture. Stepwise discriminant function analysis and principal component analysis of bulk geochemical concentrations and geochemical indicators were used to investigate sub‐catchment geochemical signatures. Each confluence displayed a unique array of geochemical variables suited for discrimination. Geochemical variation in upstream sediment samples was likely a result of the varying geological source compositions. The Tiraumea sub‐catchment provided the dominant signature at the major confluence with the Upper Manawatu and Mangatainoka sub‐catchments. Subsequent downstream confluences are dominated by the upstream geochemical signatures from the main stem of Manawatu River. Variability in the downstream geochemical signature is likely due to incomplete mixing caused in part by channel configuration. Results from this exploratory investigation indicate that numerous geochemical elements have the ability to differentiate fine sediment sources using a broad‐scale confluence‐based approach and suggest there is enough geochemical variation throughout a large sedimentary catchment for a full sediment fingerprint model. Combining powerful statistical procedures with other geochemical analyses is critical to understanding the processes or spatial patterns responsible for sediment signature variation within this type of catchment. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Indoor localization for pedestrians with real-time capability using multi-sensor smartphones

ABSTRACT

The localization of persons or objects usually refers to a position determined in a spatial reference system. Outdoors, this is usually accomplished with Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). However, the automatic positioning of people in GNSS-free environments, especially inside of buildings (indoors) poses a huge challenge. Indoors, satellite signals are attenuated, shielded or reflected by building components (e.g. walls or ceilings). For selected applications, the automatic indoor positioning is possible based on different technologies (e.g. WiFi, RFID, or UWB). However, a standard solution is still not available. Many indoor positioning systems are only suitable for specific applications or are deployed under certain conditions, e.g. additional infrastructures or sensor technologies. Smartphones, as popular cost-effective multi-sensor systems, is a promising indoor localization platform for the mass-market and is increasingly coming into focus. Today’s devices are equipped with a variety of sensors that can be used for indoor positioning. In this contribution, an approach to smartphone-based pedestrian indoor localization is presented. The novelty of this approach refers to a holistic, real-time pedestrian localization inside of buildings based on multi-sensor smartphones and easy-to-install local positioning systems. For this purpose, the barometric altitude is estimated in order to derive the floor on which the user is located. The 2D position is determined subsequently using the principle of pedestrian dead reckoning based on user's movements extracted from the smartphone sensors. In order to minimize the strong error accumulation in the localization caused by various sensor errors, additional information is integrated into the position estimation. The building model is used to identify permissible (e.g. rooms, passageways) and impermissible (e.g. walls) building areas for the pedestrian. Several technologies contributing to higher precision and robustness are also included. For the fusion of different linear and non-linear data, an advanced algorithm based on the Sequential Monte Carlo method is presented.     

Application of <Superscript>137</Superscript>Cs fingerprinting technique to interpreting sediment production records from reservoir deposits in a small catchment of the Hilly Loess Plateau,China

According to variations of 137Cs and clay contents, 44 flood couplets were identified in a profile of reservoir deposit with a vertical length of 28.12 m in the Yuntaishan Gully. Couplet 27 at the middle of the profile had the highest average 137Cs content of 12.65 Bq kg-1, which indicated the 1963s' deposits, then 137Cs content decreased both downward and upward in the profile. The second top and bottom couplets had average 137Cs contents of 2.15 Bq kg-1 and 0.92 Bq kg-1, respectively. By integrated analysis of reservoir construction and management history, variations of 137Cs contents over the profile, sediment yields of flood couplets and rainfall data during the period of 1958-1970, individual storms related to the flood couplets were identified. 44 floods with a total sediment yield of 2.36×104 m3 occurred and flood events in a year varied between 1 and 10 times during the period of 1960-1970. 7-10 flood events occurred during the wet period of 1961-1964 with very wet autumn, while only 1-2 events during the dry period of 1965-1969. Average annual specific sediment yield was 1.29×104 t km-2 a-1 for the Yuntaishan Gully during the period of 1960-1970, which was slightly higher than 1.11 ×104 t km-2 a-1 for the Upper Yanhe River Basin above the Ganguyi Hydrological Station and slightly lower than 1.40 ×104 t km-2 a-1 for the nearby Zhifang Gully during the same period. Annual specific sediment yields for the Yuntaishan Gully were correlated to the wet season's rainfalls well.     

塔里木盆地陆相烃源岩有机组分的分类及其岩石学特征

通过对塔里木盆地陆相烃源岩所作的详细有机岩石学研究，提出了适合该盆地的陆相烃源岩有机组分分类方案，并系统地阐述各有机组分的光性、成因及岩石学特性。     

Suspended‐sediment sources in an urban watershed,Northeast Branch Anacostia River,Maryland

Fine sediment sources were characterized by chemical composition in an urban watershed, the Northeast Branch Anacostia River, which drains to the Chesapeake Bay. Concentrations of 63 elements and two radionuclides were measured in possible land‐based sediment sources and suspended sediment collected from the water column at the watershed outlet during storm events. These tracer concentrations were used to determine the relative quantity of suspended sediment contributed by each source. Although this is an urbanized watershed, there was not a distinct urban signature that can be evaluated except for the contributions from road surfaces. We identified the sources of fine sediment by both physiographic province (Piedmont and Coastal Plain) and source locale (streambanks, upland and street residue) by using different sets of elemental tracers. The Piedmont contributed the majority of the fine sediment for seven of the eight measured storms. The streambanks contributed the greatest quantity of fine sediment when evaluated by source locale. Street residue contributed 13% of the total suspended sediment on average and was the source most concentrated in anthropogenically enriched elements. Combining results from the source locale and physiographic province analyses, most fine sediment in the Northeast Branch watershed is derived from streambanks that contain sediment eroded from the Piedmont physiographic province of the watershed. Sediment fingerprinting analyses are most useful when longer term evaluations of sediment erosion and storage are also available from streambank‐erosion measurements, sediment budget and other methods. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Heavy metal release by peat erosion in the Peak District,southern Pennines,UK

Upper North Grain (UNG) is a heavily eroding blanket peat catchment in the Peak District, southern Pennines, UK. Concentrations of lead in the near‐surface peat layer at UNG are in excess of 1000 mg kg⁻¹. For peatland environments, these lead concentrations are some of the highest globally. High concentrations of industrially derived, atmospherically transported magnetic spherules are also stored in the near‐surface peat layer. Samples of suspended sediment taken during a storm event that occurred on 1 November 2002 at UNG, and of the potential catchment sources for suspended sediments, were analysed for lead content and the environmental magnetic properties of anhysteretic remanent magnetization (ARM) and saturation isothermal remanent magnetization (SIRM). At the beginning of the storm event, there is a peak in both suspended sediment and associated lead concentration. SIRM/ARM values for suspended sediment samples throughout the storm reveal that the initial ‘lead flush’ is associated with a specific sediment source, namely that of organic sediment eroded from the upper peat layer. Using the magnetic ‘fingerprinting’ approach to discrimination of sediment sources, this study reveals that erosion of the upper peat layer at UNG is releasing high concentrations of industrially derived lead (and, by inference, other toxic heavy metals associated with industrial particulates) into the fluvial systems of the southern Pennines. Climate‐change scenarios for the UK, involving higher summer temperatures and stormier winters, may result in an increased flux both of sediment‐associated and dissolved heavy metals from eroding peatland catchments in the southern Pennines, adversely affecting the quality of sediment and water entering reservoirs of the region. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Integrative taxonomic description of Plakina kanaky,a new polychromatic sponge species from New Caledonia (Porifera: Homoscleromorpha)

Four similar sponges of different colors, all unknown to science, were collected in submarine caves of New Caledonia. We aimed at determining whether the four chromotypes represented different species or phenotypic variations of a unique new species. We used an integrative taxonomic approach combining morphologic, molecular and metabolomic analyses. The main traits that define these specimens are a skeleton made of monolophose, trilophose and tetralophose calthrops only, high chemical diversity and a high abundance and diversity of prokaryotic symbionts. The symbiotic community includes two unique prokaryote morphotypes, which are described for the first time in Homoscleromorpha, and appeared to be vertically transmitted. Although several features slightly differ among chromotypes, the most parsimonious conclusion was to propose a single new species Plakina kanaky sp. nov. Our phylogenetic analysis indicated the paraphyly of the Plakina genus, with P. kanaky sp. nov. belonging to a clade that includes Plakina jani and Plakina trilopha. The present work demonstrates that integrative taxonomy should be used in order to revise the entire Plakinidae family and especially the non‐monophyletic genus Plakina.     

基于iBeacon的精细室内定位方法研究

苹果公司发布的i Beacon作为一种粗精度位置感知服务体系,得到了广泛关注。针对更精细的广域位置服务,提出了基于i Beacon的无线指纹定位方法,并给出了图书馆的位置服务示例。     

Sediment provenance in a tropical fluvial and marine context by magnetic 'fingerprinting' of transportable sand fractions

The sources and fluxes of sediment to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon from north‐eastern Australian rivers have been the subject of much concern and study, with the large catchments of the Burdekin and Fitzroy Rivers thought to be the key sources at present. Here, the utility of newly developed magnetic ‘fingerprinting’ methods for identifying sediment provenance, both onshore and offshore, and in association with individual large flood events, is investigated. Within the Burdekin catchment, sediments are mobilized from different subcatchments by runoff generated by intense, localized rainfall events. Magnetic measurements were made on untreated and acid‐treated samples of river channel sediments within the Burdekin River subcatchments and from the estuarine and inner shelf depocentres of Burdekin River sediments. The acid treatment removes all discrete magnetic particles and coatings, and leaves magnetic inclusions (protected within host silicate grains) as the basis of the measured magnetic signature of a sample. The magnetic properties of the acid‐treated samples display statistically distinct sediment provenance groupings. Sand samples from the Upper Burdekin River appear magnetically distinct from samples from tributaries of the Burdekin (e.g. Hann Creek, Fanning River) and also from nearby coastal rivers, including the Haughton. Suspended sand samples from a Burdekin flood event in 2000 appear to have a different source compared with those from floods in 1998 and 1999. Comparisons of the terrestrial, acid‐treated sand fractions with the same, acid‐treated, sand‐size fractions from transects taken offshore suggest that the surface sediments in Upstart Bay and Bowling Green Bay have different sources. Some of these sources are as yet unidentified but may represent the unsampled, lower‐discharge south‐western Burdekin subcatchments, and/or along‐shore drift of sand from the south, perhaps even from the Fitzroy River, over millennial timescales of cyclone pumping. The magnetic inclusion method precludes any obfuscation or confounding of sediment source, which might arise from hydraulic sorting and/or post‐depositional magnetic diagenesis or authigenesis.