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At least 379 records · Page 21Linked to original sources

Sand dunes, modern and ancient, on southern Colorado Plateau tribal lands, southwestern USA

A mantle of both active and stable aeolian sand covers approximately 34,000 km 2 of northern Arizona, western New Mexico and southern Utah on the southern Colorado Plateau. From west to east, these deposits can be subdivided into the Kaibab-Moenkopi dunes, Chinle Valley dunes, and Chaco dunes, all of which include relict, partly stable and mobile aeolian sand. Locally, these deposits have distinct compositional characteristics. An examination of previous studies into disparate aspects of Colorado Plateau dunes, taken in the context of local geology, Quaternary landscape history and geomorphic processes, provides new insights into interpretation of this regional aeolian sedimentary record. Additional new data about the characteristics of the deposits, and an assessment of present-day climatic conditions enhances our ability to interpret the relative influences of ecosystem and geomorphologic processes with climate variability that continue to influence both new dune formation and reactivation of older deposits. Taken as a whole, the data emphasizes the role that local landscape conditions and history play in providing the context for correctly interpreting aeolian activity and depositional environments, and whether sediment supply or climate play a dominant role in sand dune formation. This is particularly true in the Little Colorado River Valley of northeastern Arizona, where Quaternary volcanic activity has significantly influenced the local landscape processes, deposit characteristics, and dune paleohistory.

Book chapter↗

Ice resource mapping on Mars

This chapter explains the rationale for considering shallowly buried (0 to >5 m depth) water ice in the mid-latitudes of Mars as a resource to support future human missions, and describes a NASA-funded effort to map that ice with existing orbital remote-sensing data. In recent decades, numerous studies have used various datasets to investigate the presence and stability of water ice in the Martian shallow subsurface, with the aim of understanding the planet’s recent climate history. As part of a renewed effort to prepare for human Mars missions, NASA has undertaken a more resource-focused approach. Here we describe the Mars Subsurface Water Ice Mapping (SWIM) team’s efforts to characterize the distribution of buried water-ice resources across all longitudes from 60°S to 60°N latitude through the integration of multiple datasets. Deriving composite measures for the presence of accessible ice from a diverse range of remote sensing techniques with unique resolutions and caveats is a challenging problem. To enable data synthesis, the team developed a methodology that assigns values of ice consistency for mapped detections of hydrogen from a neutron spectrometer, thermal behavior from various thermal spectrometers, multiscale geomorphology from imagery and elevation data, and surface and subsurface echoes from a radar sounder. Faced with diverse sensing depths and footprints for these datasets, the team has been pursuing an optimal approach to best represent multi-dataset ice consistency. The current formulation includes the use of weighting factors tuned to depth zones of interest for resource extraction. In the absence of dedicated ground-truth data, the validity of the team’s efforts is assessed by comparing the maps to the locations of fresh, ice-exposing impacts. The highest ice-consistency values occur within discrete zones poleward of ~40° latitude, where ice is relatively shallow, but positive values extend well into the ~20°–30° latitude zone, which is preferable for landing sites due to engineering considerations.

Book chapter↗

Controls on distribution patterns of biological soil crusts at micro- to global scales

Biocrusts are heterogeneously distributed in space. The drivers of their distribution patterns vary depending on the spatial scale of observation. Globally, there are about 1337 cyanobacteria, algae, bryophyte, and lichen species reported as components of biocrusts. At the broadest biogeographical scales, the degree and age of isolation of land masses may dictate distribution of these species and the similarities of the floras of different continents. At intra-continental and smaller scales, climate strongly influences abundance and community composition of biocrusts. Within drylands, biocrusts become more abundant as precipitation increases. The seasonality of rainfall is about equally important, with regions receiving most precipitation as winter rain and snow exhibiting the highest abundance and greatest relative cover of bryophyte and lichens vs. cyanobacteria. Temperature gradients may dictate the dominant cyanobacterium present in the community. At eco-regional and smaller scales, edaphic gradients determined by either soil parent materials or geomorphology or both become particularly influential. Globally, the most significant soil properties influencing the eco-regional scale cover and richness of biocrusts in dryland environments are soil texture, pH, and soil CaCO3 content. Sandier soils tend to favour development of cyanobacterial biocrusts, whereas mosses and lichens tend to be more abundant on finer textured soils. The alkalinity and CaCO3 content of soils are associated with greater bioocrust abundance in some regions, and dictates the species composition in the bryophyte and lichen component. Globally, gypsiferous soils are often associated with distinct floras and high abdundances of biocrusts, especially lichens. At local to micro-scales, biocrusts often are better developed in habitats with lower radiation loads such as polar-oriented slopes, or shaded habitats. Also at small scales, vascular plant canopies buffer microclimate for biocrusts, but also exert negative influences such as burial by litter. While our knowledge of biocrust distribution has advanced rapidly, there are considerable geographic and taxonomic gaps in our knowledge and a pronounced lack of truly global studies.

Book chapter↗

Fishing activities

Unlike the major anthropogenic changes that terrestrial and coastal habitats underwent during the last centuries such as deforestation, river engineering, agricultural practices or urbanism, those occurring underwater are veiled from our eyes and have continued nearly unnoticed. Only recent advances in remote sensing and deep marine sampling technologies have revealed the extent and magnitude of the anthropogenic impacts to the seafloor. In particular, bottom trawling, a fishing technique consisting of dragging a net and fishing gear over the seafloor to capture bottom-dwelling living resources has gained attention among the scientific community, policy makers and the general public due to its destructive effects on the seabed. Trawling gear produces acute impacts on biota and the physical substratum of the seafloor by disrupting the sediment column structure, overturning boulders, resuspending sediments and imprinting deep scars on muddy bottoms. Also, the repetitive passage of trawling gear over the same areas creates long-lasting, cumulative impacts that modify the cohesiveness and texture of sediments. It can be asserted nowadays that due to its recurrence, mobility and wide geographical extent, industrial trawling has become a major force driving seafloor change and affecting not only its physical integrity on short spatial scales but also imprinting measurable modifications to the geomorphology of entire continental margins.

Book chapter↗

Submarine landslides in Arctic sedimentation: Canada Basin

Canada Basin of the Arctic Ocean is the least studied ocean basin in the World. Marine seismic field programs were conducted over the past 6 years using Canadian and American icebreakers. These expeditions acquired more than 14,000 line-km of multibeam bathymetric and multi-channel seismic reflection data over abyssal plain, continental rise and slope regions of Canada Basin; areas where little or no seismic reflection data existed previously. Canada Basin is a turbidite-filled basin with flat-lying reflections correlateable over 100s of km. For the upper half of the sedimentary succession, evidence of sedimentary processes other than turbidity current deposition is rare. The Canadian Archipelago and Beaufort Sea margins host stacked mass transport deposits from which many of these turbidites appear to derive. The stratigraphic succession of the MacKenzie River fan is dominated by mass transport deposits; one such complex is in excess of 132,000 km2 in area and underlies much of the southern abyssal plain. The modern seafloor is also scarred with escarpments and mass failure deposits; evidence that submarine landsliding is an ongoing process. In its latest phase of development, Canada Basin is geomorphologically confined with stable oceanographic structure, resulting in restricted depositional/reworking processes. The sedimentary record, therefore, underscores the significance of mass-transport processes in providing sediments to oceanic abyssal plains as few other basins are able to do.

Alaska↗

Response of salt marsh and mangrove wetlands to changes in atmospheric CO2, climate, and sea-level

Coastal salt marsh and mangrove ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations and associated climate and climate-induced changes. We provide a review of the literature detailing theoretical predictions and observed responses of coastal wetlands to a range of climate change stressors, including CO2, temperature, rainfall, and sea-level rise. This review incorporates a discussion of key processes controlling responses in different settings and thresholds of resilience derived from experimental and observational studies. We specifically consider the potential and observed effects on salt marsh and mangrove vegetation of changes in (1) elevated [CO2] on physiology, growth, and distribution; (2) temperature on distribution and diversity; (3) rainfall and salinity regimes on growth and competitive interactions; and (4) sea level on geomorphological, hydrological, and biological processes.

Book chapter↗

Cryovolcanism on the icy satellites

Evidence of past cryovolcanism is widespread and extremely varied on the icy satellites. Some cryovolcanic landscapes, notably on Triton, are similar to many silicate volcanic terrains, including what appear to be volcanic rifts, calderas and solidified lava lakes, flow fields, breached cinder cones or stratovolcanoes, viscous lava domes, and sinuous rilles. Most other satellites have terrains that are different in the important respect that no obvious volcanoes are present. The preserved record of cryovolcanism generally is believed to have formed by eruptions of aqueous solutions and slurries. Even Triton's volcanic crust, which is covered by nitrogen-rich frost, is probably dominated by water ice. Nonpolar and weakly polar molecular liquids (mainly N2, CH4, CO, CO2, and Ar), may originate by decomposition of gas-clathrate hydrates and may have been erupted on some icy satellites, but without water these substances do not form rigid solids that are stable against sublimation or melting over geologic time. Triton's plumes, active at the time of Voyager 2's flyby, may consist of multicomponent nonpolar gas mixtures. The plumes may be volcanogenic fumaroles or geyserlike emissions powered by deep internal heating, and, thus, the plumes may be indicating an interior that is still cryomagmatically active; or Triton's plumes may be powered by solar heating of translucent ices very near the surface. The Uranian and Neptunian satellites Miranda, Ariel, and Triton have flow deposits that are hundreds to thousands of meters thick (implying highly viscous lavas); by contrast, the Jovian and Saturnian satellites generally have plains-forming deposits composed of relatively thin flows whose thicknesses have not been resolved in Voyager images (thus implying relatively low-viscosity lavas). One possible explanation for this inferred rheological distinction involves a difference in volatile composition of the Uranian and Neptunian satellites on one hand and of the Jovian and Saturnian satellites on the other hand. Perhaps the Jovian and Saturnian satellites tend to have relatively "clean" compositions with water ice as the main volatile (ammonia and water-soluble salts may also be present). The Uranian and Neptunian satellites may possess large amounts of a chemically unequilibrated comet-like volatile assemblage, including methanol, formaldehyde, and a host of other highly water- and ammonia-water-soluble constituents and gas clathrate hydrates. These two volatile mixtures would produce melts that differ enormously in viscosity The geomorphologic similarity in the products of volcanism on Earth and Triton may arise partly from a rheological similarity of the ammonia-water-methanol series of liquids and the silicate series ranging from basalt to dacite. An abundance of gas clathrate hydrates hypothesized to be contained by the satellites of Uranus and Neptune could contribute to evidence of explosive volcanism on those objects. ?? 1995 Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Earth, Moon and Planets↗

Error bounds in cascading regressions

Cascading regressions is a technique for predicting a value of a dependent variable when no paired measurements exist to perform a standard regression analysis. Biases in coefficients of a cascaded-regression line as well as error variance of points about the line are functions of the correlation coefficient between dependent and independent variables. Although this correlation cannot be computed because of the lack of paired data, bounds can be placed on errors through the required properties of the correlation coefficient. The potential meansquared error of a cascaded-regression prediction can be large, as illustrated through an example using geomorphologic data.

Journal of the International Association for Mathe↗

Sediment retention in a bottomland hardwood wetland in eastern Arkansas

One of the often-stated functions of wetlands is their ability to remove sediments and other particulates from water, thus improving water quality in the adjacent aquatic system. However, actual rates of suspended sediment removal have rarely been measured in freshwater wetland systems. To address this issue, suspended sediment dynamics were measured in a 85-km 2 bottomland hardwood (BLH) wetland adjacent to the highly turbid Cache River in eastern Arkansas during the 1988–1990 water years. A suspended sediment mass balance was calculated using depth-integrated, flow-weighted daily measurements at wetland inflow and outflow points. Over the three-year period, suspended sediment load decreased an average of 14% between upstream and downstream sampling points. To test the idea that the suspended sediments were retained by the adjacent wetland and to determine what portion of the BLH forest was most responsible for retaining the suspended sediments, concurrent measurements of sediment accretion were made at 30 sites in the wetland using feldspar clay marker horizons, sedimentation disks, the 137 cesium method, and dendrogeomorphic techniques. Sedimentation rates exceeding 1 cm/yr were measured in frequently flooded areas dominated by Nyssa aquatica and Taxodium distichum . Maximum sedimentation rates did not occur on the natural levee, as would be predicted by classical fluvial geomorphology, but in the “first bottom,” where retention time of the water reached a maximum. Multiple regression was used to relate sedimentation rates with several physical and biological factors. A combination of distance from the river, flood duration, and tree basal area accounted for nearly 90% of the variation in sedimentation rates.

Arkansas↗

Trace elements in seep waters along Whitewood Creek, South Dakota, and their toxicity to fathead minnows

Whitewood Creek, located in the Black Hills of southwestern South Dakota, has a long history of contamination from mining activity. Gold exploration began in the 1870s, and has continued since that time. Whitewood Creek received direct releases of tailings from 1870 to 1977 from Gold Run Creek in Lead, SD. It has been estimated that approximately 100 million to 1 billion tons of mining, milling, and ore processing wastes have been released by mining activity in the last century in to Whitewood Creek, the Belle Fourche river, and the Cheyenne River (Fox Consultants, Inc. 1984). Tailings deposition has altered the geomorphology of Whitewood Creek, and deposits up to 4.6 m. deep, have become stabilized by vegetation. Several other streams in the Black Hills also have been adversely affected by mining operations (Rahn 1996). As water leaches through rock strata that are disturbed by surface and subsurface mining, it dissolves inorganic elements and carries them to the groundwater. Groundwater movement through the extensive tailings deposits in the Whitewood Creek valley enter the creek at various seeps along its downstream course to the Belle Fourche river, and the Belle Fourche River itself, which empties into the Cheyenne River and eventually into Lake Oahe.

South Dakota↗

Identification, prediction, and mitigation of sinkhole hazards in evaporite karst areas

Sinkholes usually have a higher probability of occurrence and a greater genetic diversity in evaporite terrains than in carbonate karst areas. This is because evaporites have a higher solubility and, commonly, a lower mechanical strength. Subsidence damage resulting from evaporite dissolution generates substantial losses throughout the world, but the causes are only well understood in a few areas. To deal with these hazards, a phased approach is needed for sinkhole identification, investigation, prediction, and mitigation. Identification techniques include field surveys and geomorphological mapping combined with accounts from local people and historical sources. Detailed sinkhole maps can be constructed from sequential historical maps, recent topographical maps, and digital elevation models (DEMs) complemented with building-damage surveying, remote sensing, and high-resolution geodetic surveys. On a more detailed level, information from exposed paleosubsidence features (paleokarst), speleological explorations, geophysical investigations, trenching, dating techniques, and boreholes may help in investigating dissolution and subsidence features. Information on the hydrogeological pathways including caves, springs, and swallow holes are particularly important especially when corroborated by tracer tests. These diverse data sources make a valuable database-the karst inventory. From this dataset, sinkhole susceptibility zonations (relative probability) may be produced based on the spatial distribution of the features and good knowledge of the local geology. Sinkhole distribution can be investigated by spatial distribution analysis techniques including studies of preferential elongation, alignment, and nearest neighbor analysis. More objective susceptibility models may be obtained by analyzing the statistical relationships between the known sinkholes and the conditioning factors. Chronological information on sinkhole formation is required to estimate the probability of occurrence of sinkholes (number of sinkholes/km2 year). Such spatial and temporal predictions, frequently derived from limited records and based on the assumption that past sinkhole activity may be extrapolated to the future, are non-corroborated hypotheses. Validation methods allow us to assess the predictive capability of the susceptibility maps and to transform them into probability maps. Avoiding the most hazardous areas by preventive planning is the safest strategy for development in sinkhole-prone areas. Corrective measures could be applied to reduce the dissolution activity and subsidence processes. A more practical solution for safe development is to reduce the vulnerability of the structures by using subsidence-proof designs. ?? 2007 Springer-Verlag.

Conference Paper↗

Application of effective discharge analysis to environmental flow decision-making

Well-informed river management decisions rely on an explicit statement of objectives, repeatable analyses, and a transparent system for assessing trade-offs. These components may then be applied to compare alternative operational regimes for water resource infrastructure (e.g., diversions, locks, and dams). Intra- and inter-annual hydrologic variability further complicates these already complex environmental flow decisions. Effective discharge analysis (developed in studies of geomorphology) is a powerful tool for integrating temporal variability of flow magnitude and associated ecological consequences. Here, we adapt the effectiveness framework to include multiple elements of the natural flow regime (i.e., timing, duration, and rate-of-change) as well as two flow variables. We demonstrate this analytical approach using a case study of environmental flow management based on long-term (60 years) daily discharge records in the Middle Oconee River near Athens, GA, USA. Specifically, we apply an existing model for estimating young-of-year fish recruitment based on flow-dependent metrics to an effective discharge analysis that incorporates hydrologic variability and multiple focal taxa. We then compare three alternative methods of environmental flow provision. Percentage-based withdrawal schemes outcompete other environmental flow methods across all levels of water withdrawal and ecological outcomes.

Environmental Management↗

Theme section on “Mesophotic coral ecosystems: Characterization, ecology, and management”

Mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) are characterized by the presence of light-dependent corals and associated communities that are typically found at depths ranging from 30 to 40 m and extending to over 150 m in tropical and subtropical regions. The dominant communities providing structural habitat in the mesophotic zone can be comprised of coral, sponge, and algal species. Because working in this depth range is constrained by traditional SCUBA limits, less is known about corals and associated organisms there compared to shallower coral communities. Following the first-ever gathering of international scientists to review and discuss existing knowledge of MCEs, this issue focuses on the ecological characterization, geomorphology, and concept of MCEs as refugia for shallow-water populations. The review and research papers comprising this special issue reflect the current scientific understanding of these ecosystems and the underlying mechanisms that regulate them, as well as potential resource management implications. It is important to understand the value and role of mesophotic coral ecosystems in tropical and subtropical regions as these areas face increasing environmental change and human impacts

Coral Reefs↗

Meteorologic, oceanographic, and geomorphic controls on circulation and residence time in a coral reef-lined embayment: Faga’alu Bay, American Samoa

Water circulation over coral reefs can determine the degree to which reef organisms are exposed to the overlying waters, so understanding circulation is necessary to interpret spatial patterns in coral health. Because coral reefs often have high geomorphic complexity, circulation patterns and the duration of exposure, or “local residence time” of a water parcel, can vary substantially over small distances. Different meteorologic and oceanographic forcings can further alter residence time patterns over reefs. Here, spatially dense Lagrangian surface current drifters and Eulerian current meters were used to characterize circulation patterns and resulting residence times over different regions of the reefs in Faga’alu Bay, American Samoa, during three distinct forcing periods: calm, strong winds, and large waves. Residence times varied among different geomorphic zones of the reef and were reflected in the spatially varying health of the corals across the embayment. The relatively healthy, seaward fringing reef consistently had the shortest residence times, as it was continually flushed by wave breaking at the reef crest, whereas the degraded, sheltered, leeward fringing reef consistently had the longest residence times, suggesting this area is more exposed to land-based sources of pollution. Strong wind forcing resulted in the longest residence times by pinning the water in the bay, whereas large wave forcing flushed the bay and resulted in the shortest residence times. The effect of these different forcings on residence times was fairly consistent across all reef geomorphic zones, with the shift from wind to wave forcing shortening mean residence times by approximately 50%. Although ecologically significant to the coral organisms in the nearshore reef zones, these shortened residence times were still 2–3 times longer than those associated with the seaward fringing reef across all forcing conditions, demonstrating how the geomorphology of a reef environment sets a first-order control on reef health.

Coral Reefs↗

Introduction to "northern Gulf of Mexico ecosystem change and hazards susceptibility"

The northern Gulf of Mexico and its diverse natural resources are threatened by population and development pressure, and by the impacts of rising sea level and severe storms. In the wake of the devastating 2005 hurricane season, and in response to the complex management issues facing the region, the U.S. Geological Survey organized the multidisciplinary “Northern Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem Change and Hazards Susceptibility” project. This special issue of Geo-Marine Letters hosts a few of the early results in the form of 11 papers covering three themes: (1) the control exerted by the underlying geologic framework on geomorphology and nearshore processes and features; (2) impact of human activities on nearshore water quality; and (3) hurricanes and associated effects.

Geo-Marine Letters↗

Gas hydrate accumulation at the Hakon Mosby Mud Volcano

Gas hydrate (GH) accumulation is characterized and modeled for the Hakon Mosby mud volcano, ca. 1.5 km across, located on the Norway-Barents-Svalbard margin. Pore water chemical and isotopic results based on shallow sediment cores as well as geothermal and geomorphological data suggest that the GH accumulation is of a concentric pattern controlled by and formed essentially from the ascending mud volcano fluid. The gas hydrate content of sediment peaks at 25% by volume, averaging about 1.2% throughout the accumulation. The amount of hydrate methane is estimated at ca. 108 m3 STP, which could account for about 1-10% of the gas that has escaped from the volcano since its origin.

Geo-Marine Letters↗

Spatial variation among lakes within landscapes: Ecological organization along lake chains

Although limnologists have long been interested in regional patterns in lake attributes, only recently have they considered lakes connected and organized across the landscape, rather than as spatially independent entities. Here we explore the spatial organization of lake districts through the concept of landscape position, a concept that considers lakes longitudinally along gradients of geomorphology and hydrology. We analyzed long-term chemical and biological data from nine lake chains (lakes in a series connected through surface or groundwater flow) from seven lake districts of diverse hydrologic and geomorphic settings across North America. Spatial patterns in lake variables driven by landscape position were surprisingly common across lake districts and across a wide range of variables. On the other hand, temporal patterns of lake variables, quantified using synchrony, the degree to which pairs of lakes exhibit similar dynamics through time, related to landscape position only for lake chains with lake water residence times that spanned a wide range and were generally long (close to or greater than 1 year). Highest synchrony of lakes within a lake chain occurred when lakes had short water residence times. Our results from both the spatial and temporal analyses suggest that certain features of the landscape position concept are robust enough to span a wide range of seemingly disparate lake types. The strong spatial patterns observed in this analysis, and some unexplained patterns, suggest the need to further study these scales and to continue to view lake ecosystems spatially, longitudinally, and broadly across the landscape.

Ecosystems↗

Effect of antecedent-hydrological conditions on rainfall triggering of debris flows in ash-fall pyroclastic mantled slopes of Campania (southern Italy)

Mountainous areas surrounding the Campanian Plain and the Somma-Vesuvius volcano (southern Italy) are among the most risky areas of Italy due to the repeated occurrence of rainfallinduced debris flows along ash-fall pyroclastic soil-mantled slopes. In this geomorphological framework, rainfall patterns, hydrological processes taking place within multi-layered ash-fall pyroclastic deposits and soil antecedent moisture status are the principal factors to be taken into account to assess triggering rainfall conditions and the related hazard. This paper presents the outcomes of an experimental study based on integrated analyses consisting of the reconstruction of physical models of landslides, in situ hydrological monitoring, and hydrological and slope stability modeling, carried out on four representative source areas of debris flows that occurred in May 1998 in the Sarno Mountain Range. The hydrological monitoring was carried out during 2011 using nests of tensiometers and Watermark pressure head sensors and also through a rainfall and air temperature recording station. Time series of measured pressure head were used to calibrate a hydrological numerical model of the pyroclastic soil mantle for 2011, which was re-run for a 12-year period beginning in 2000, given the availability of rainfall and air temperature monitoring data. Such an approach allowed us to reconstruct the regime of pressure head at a daily time scale for a long period, which is representative of about 11 hydrologic years with different meteorological conditions. Based on this simulated time series, average winter and summer hydrological conditions were chosen to carry out hydrological and stability modeling of sample slopes and to identify Intensity- Duration rainfall thresholds by a deterministic approach. Among principal results, the opposing winter and summer antecedent pressure head (soil moisture) conditions were found to exert a significant control on intensity and duration of rainfall triggering events. Going from winter to summer conditions requires a strong increase of intensity and/or duration to induce landslides. The results identify an approach to account for different hazard conditions related to seasonality of hydrological processes inside the ash-fall pyroclastic soil mantle. Moreover, they highlight another important factor of uncertainty that potentially affects rainfall thresholds triggering shallow landslides reconstructed by empirical approaches.

Campania↗