Transport and concentration controls for chloride, strontium, potassium and lead in Uvas Creek, a small cobble-bed stream in Santa Clara County, California, U.S.A. 1. Conceptual model

Science.gov (United States)

Kennedy, V.C.; Jackman, A.P.; Zand, S.M.; Zellweger, G.W.; Avanzino, R.J.

1984-01-01

Stream sediments adsorb certain solutes from streams, thereby significantly changing the solute composition; but little is known about the details and rates of these adsorptive processes. To investigate such processes, a 24-hr. injection of a solution containing chloride, strontium, potassium, sodium and lead was made at the head of a 640-m reach of Uvas Creek in west-central Santa Clara County, California. Uvas Creek is a cobble-bed pool-and-riffle stream draining the eastern slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains. By September 12, 1973, after a long dry season, Uvas Creek had a low (0.0215 m3s-1 average) flow which varied diurnally, from 0.018 to 0.025 m3s-1. Because stream discharge varied while the injection rate was constant, the concentration of tracers (injected solutes), after mixing in the stream, varied inversely with discharge. Chloride, a nonreactive solute, served as a tracer of water movement. Analysis of extensive chloride concentration data at five sites below the injection point during and after the injection demonstrated that there was considerable underflow of water through the stream gravels; however, the extent of underflow varied greatly within the study reach. Pre-injection water, displaced by tracer-laden water percolating through the gravels, diluted tracers in the stream channel, giving the mistaken impression of groundwater inflow at some points. Accurate measurement of total discharge in such streams requires prolonged tracer injection unless a reach can be found where underflow is negligible. Strontium and potassium were adsorbed by the bed sediments to a moderate extent and lead was strongly adsorbed. A high proportion of these metals could be removed by adsorption from percolating underflow because of extensive and intimate contact with bed sediments. After channel clearing following injection cutoff, 51% of the added strontium and 96% of the lead remained in the study reach, whereas only 19% of the chloride remained. Packets of sized

Remedial Action Plan and site design for stabilization of the inactive uranium mill tailings site at Gunnison, Colorado

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-10-01

Diffusion coefficients for radon gas in earthen materials are required to design suitable radon-barrier covers for uranium tailings impoundments and other materials that emit radon gas. Many early measurements of radon diffusion coefficients relied on the differences in steady-state radon fluxes measured from radon source before and after installation of a cover layer of the material being tested. More recent measurements have utilized the small-sample transient (SST) technique for greater control on moistures and densities of the test soils, greater measurement precision, and reduced testing time and costs. Several of the project sites for the US Department of Energy's Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Program contain radiologically contaminated subsurface material composed predominantly of cobbles, gravels andsands. Since remedial action designs require radon diffusion coefficients for the source materials as well as the cover materials, these cobbly and gravelly materials also must be tested. This report contains the following information: a description of the test materials used and the methods developed to conduct the SST radon diffusion measurements on cobbly soils; the protocol for conducting radon diffusion tests oncobbly soils; the results of measurements on the test samples; and modifications to the FITS computer code for analyzing the time-dependent radon diffusion data

Clay-oil flocculation during surf washing at the Sea Empress incident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wood, P.; Lunel, T.; Bailey, N.; Lee, K.

1997-01-01

Results of investigations into clay-oil flocculation during surf washing of oiled cobbles at Marros Beach, as a response to oiling during the Sea Empress incident, were summarized. Stranded oil on the cobble storm beach was found to associate with fine minerals and form flocs when introduced into sea water. The emulsions persisted for about 14 days after the oiling, after which it begun to disintegrate. After 50 days the remaining emulsion was found to be unstable and penetrated the beach to depths of up to three meters. Since no evidence of biodegradation was found during this period, oil reduction was attributed to sheening, facilitated by tidal fluctuations. Surf washing operation was undertaken over a seven day period beginning 47 days after the spill. Some 8150 tonnes of oiled cobbles were moved a distance of between 12 and 18 m seaward along a length of 850 m. Analysis of samples after two days following surf washing showed that oil concentration did not exceed 22 ppm, compared to 700 ppm before relocation. The significant reduction was considered to have been the result of enhanced oil dispersion coupled with the effects of the surf washing operations. 10 refs., 7 tabs., 10 figs

Pop / Tõnu Kaalep

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Kaalep, Tõnu, 1966-

2004-01-01

Heliplaatidest: John Martyn "On the Cobbles", Vägilased "Väga ilusad", Magnetic Fields "I", Kim Richey "The Collection", Christina Milian "It's About Time", Devendra Banhart "Rejoicing in the Hands"

Diagnosis-Driven Prognosis for Decision Making, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — One cannot build a system-level Prognosis and Health Management (PHM) solution by cobbling together a bunch of existing prognostic techniques; it will have a very...

Chemical profiling of PM10 from urban road dust.

Science.gov (United States)

Alves, C A; Evtyugina, M; Vicente, A M P; Vicente, E D; Nunes, T V; Silva, P M A; Duarte, M A C; Pio, C A; Amato, F; Querol, X

2018-09-01

Road dust resuspension is one of the main sources of particulate matter with impacts on air quality, health and climate. With the aim of characterising the thoracic fraction, a portable resuspension chamber was used to collect road dust from five main roads in Oporto and an urban tunnel in Braga, north of Portugal. The PM 10 samples were analysed for: i) carbonates by acidification and quantification of the evolved CO 2 , ii) carbonaceous content (OC and EC) by a thermo-optical technique, iii) elemental composition by ICP-MS and ICP-AES after acid digestion, and iv) organic speciation by GC-MS. Dust loadings of 0.48±0.39mgPM 10 m -2 were obtained for asphalt paved roads. A much higher mean value was achieved in a cobbled pavement (50mgPM 10 m -2 ). In general, carbonates were not detected in PM 10 . OC and EC accounted for PM 10 mass fractions up to 11% and 5%, respectively. Metal oxides accounted for 29±7.5% of the PM 10 mass from the asphalt paved roads and 73% in samples from the cobbled street. Crustal and anthropogenic elements, associated with tyre and brake wear, dominated the inorganic fraction. PM 10 comprised hundreds of organic constituents, including hopanoids, n-alkanes and other aliphatics, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), alcohols, sterols, various types of acids, glycerol derivatives, lactones, sugars and derivatives, phenolic compounds and plasticizers. In samples from the cobbled street, these organic classes represented only 439μgg -1 PM 10 , while for other pavements mass fractions up to 65mgg -1 PM 10 were obtained. Except for the cobbled street, on average, about 40% of the analysed organic fraction was composed of plasticizers. Although the risk via inhalation of PAH was found to be insignificant, the PM 10 from some roads can contribute to an estimated excess of 332 to 2183 per million new cancer cases in adults exposed via ingestion and dermal contact. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Distribution patterns of terricolous and saxicolous lichens in extreme desert conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Temina, M.

2012-04-01

The investigation of biodiversity in stressful habitats is of great interest because it elucidates relationships between organisms and their environment, as well as revealing the mechanisms of their survival and adaptation to extreme conditions. Deserts represent such stressful habitats where harsh climate and limited resources greatly influence the formation of biota. In order to understand the link between microscale environmental variability in extreme arid conditions and lichen biodiversity patterns, we conducted the present study. For this purpose, the structure and distribution of lichen communities on soil and cobbles at six stations at "Evolution Canyon" III (EC III), Nahal Shaharut, in the extreme southern Negev, Israel, were examined. The opposite slopes of the canyon represented specific ecological niches characterized by sharply different microclimatic conditions. The following characteristics of lichen communities were studied: species richness, systematic diversity, biogeographical elements, frequencies and distribution of species, their morphological and anatomical characteristics, reproductive strategy, and ecological peculiarities. In the research site three environmental variables were evaluated: soil moisture, and temperatures of soil and cobbles. The Canonical Correspondence Analysis was used to study the influence of these ecological variables on the distribution of lichen species. The lichen diversity of EC III was very poor and comprised 12 species (3 cyanoliches on soil vs. 9 phycolichens on cobbles). Most of them belong to a specific group of arid endemic elements, adapted to survive in extreme arid conditions in the deserts of the Levant. The harsh desert conditions of the canyon negatively influence the reproductive ability of lichens. This influence is expressed in the decreased sizes of fruit bodies in some species, and the frequent occurrence of sterile specimens among lichens found in the canyon. A comparative analysis of structure

Species coexistence and the superior ability of an invasive species to exploit a facilitation cascade habitat

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew H. Altieri

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Facilitation cascades generated by co-occurring foundation species can enhance the abundance and diversity of associated organisms. However, it remains poorly understood how differences among native and invasive species in their ability to exploit these positive interactions contribute to emergent patterns of community structure and biotic acceptance. On intertidal shorelines in New England, we examined the patterns of coexistence between the native mud crabs and the invasive Asian shore crab in and out of a facilitation cascade habitat generated by mid intertidal cordgrass and ribbed mussels. These crab species co-occurred in low intertidal cobbles adjacent to the cordgrass–mussel beds, despite experimental findings that the dominant mud crabs can kill and displace Asian shore crabs and thereby limit their successful recruitment to their shared habitat. A difference between the native and invasive species in their utilization of the facilitation cascade likely contributes to this pattern. Only the Asian shore crabs inhabit the cordgrass–mussel beds, despite experimental evidence that both species can similarly benefit from stress amelioration in the beds. Moreover, only Asian shore crabs settle in the beds, which function as a nursery habitat free of lethal mud crabs, and where their recruitment rates are particularly high (nearly an order of magnitude higher than outside beds. Persistence of invasive adult Asian shore crabs among the dominant native mud crabs in the low cobble zone is likely enhanced by a spillover effect of the facilitation cascade in which recruitment-limited Asian shore crabs settle in the mid intertidal cordgrass–mussel beds and subsidize their vulnerable populations in the adjacent low cobble zone. This would explain why the abundances of Asian shore crabs in cobbles are doubled when adjacent to facilitation cascade habitats. The propensity for this exotic species to utilize habitats created by facilitation cascades

Characterization of Rock Types at Meridiani Planum, Mars using MER 13-Filter Pancam Spectra

Science.gov (United States)

Nuding, D. L.; Cohen, B. A.

2009-01-01

The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has traversed more than 13 km across Meridiani Planum, finding evidence of ancient aqueous environments that, in the past, may have been suitable for life. Meridiani bedrock along the rover traverse is a mixture in composition and bulk mineralogy between a sulfate-rich sedimentary rock and hematite spherules ("blueberries"). On top of the bedrock, numerous loose rocks exist. These rocks consist of both local bedrock and "cobbles" of foreign origin. The cobbles provide a window into lithologic diversity and a chance to understand other types of martian rocks and meteorites. This study was also an attempt to establish a method to expand upon those of Mini-TES to remotely identify rocks of interest to make efficient use of the rover s current resources.

Hierarchically nested river landform sequences

Science.gov (United States)

Pasternack, G. B.; Weber, M. D.; Brown, R. A.; Baig, D.

2017-12-01

River corridors exhibit landforms nested within landforms repeatedly down spatial scales. In this study we developed, tested, and implemented a new way to create river classifications by mapping domains of fluvial processes with respect to the hierarchical organization of topographic complexity that drives fluvial dynamism. We tested this approach on flow convergence routing, a morphodynamic mechanism with different states depending on the structure of nondimensional topographic variability. Five nondimensional landform types with unique functionality (nozzle, wide bar, normal channel, constricted pool, and oversized) represent this process at any flow. When this typology is nested at base flow, bankfull, and floodprone scales it creates a system with up to 125 functional types. This shows how a single mechanism produces complex dynamism via nesting. Given the classification, we answered nine specific scientific questions to investigate the abundance, sequencing, and hierarchical nesting of these new landform types using a 35-km gravel/cobble river segment of the Yuba River in California. The nested structure of flow convergence routing landforms found in this study revealed that bankfull landforms are nested within specific floodprone valley landform types, and these types control bankfull morphodynamics during moderate to large floods. As a result, this study calls into question the prevailing theory that the bankfull channel of a gravel/cobble river is controlled by in-channel, bankfull, and/or small flood flows. Such flows are too small to initiate widespread sediment transport in a gravel/cobble river with topographic complexity.

Photo-geomorphologic study of representative islands of Lakshadweep

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Wagle, B.G.; Kunte, P.D.

by beach material all around the island. They are largely composed of course sand, disintegrated corals, shell fragments and uncemented pebbles, shingles, cobbles and boulders. The western side of most of the islands is fringed by coralline reef enclosing...

Dynamic revetments for coastal erosion in Oregon : final report.

Science.gov (United States)

2005-08-01

Gravel beaches have long been recognized as one of the most efficient forms of "natural" coastal protection, and have been suggested as a form of shore protection. "Cobble berms," "dynamic revetments" or "rubble beaches" involve the construction of a...

Beaches and Bluffs of Puget Sound and the Northern Straits

Science.gov (United States)

2007-04-01

sand up to pebbles, cobbles, and occasionally boulders, often also containing shelly material. Puget Sound beaches commonly have two distinct...very limited historic wind records (wave hind- casting ). Drift directions indicated in the Atlas have repeatedly been proven inaccurate (Johannessen

76 FR 68741 - Notice of Intent To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environment Impact Report...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-07

... Wildlife Service (Service), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and Environmental Protection Agency... habitats and increasing freshwater wetland and riparian habitats. Sensitive flora and fauna currently... in each alternative, such as micro-grading and the use of short cobble-blocking structures at the...

Life-cycle cost comparison of alternative surfacing for steep slopes on low-volume roads in Ghana

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Anochie-Boateng, Joseph K

2017-05-01

Full Text Available surfacing options to gravel wearing courses used on steep gradients (in excess of 12%) of feeder roads in Ghana. A major outcome was three surfacing options (i.e. concrete, bituminous and stone setts/cobbles) that would be more effective to address drainage...

Base Camp Life Cycle Management: Focusing on the Critical Elements

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-01

needs of the occupants, although “building” this infrastructure often meant cobbling together prefabricated buildings or tents as much as it meant...as System Boundaries.” Journal of Industrial Ecology 10, no. 1 (2006): 61-77. Rebitzer, G. and Hunkeler, D. Life Cycle Costing in LCM: Ambitions

Repair, Evaluation, Maintenance, and Rehabilitation Research Program: Geotechnical Aspects of Rock Erosion in Emergency Spillway Channels. Report 3. Remediation

Science.gov (United States)

1988-09-01

exposed, hard sandstone ledge which floors the upper portion of the unlined channel at the Saylorville (Iowa) spillway still bears the elongate scars ...this alluvium was placed 60-cm (2-ft) armour of angular cobble and boulder-size basalt riprap (US Soil Conservation Services 1932). All of the riprap

Granulomatous colitis: findings on double contrast barium enema and follow-up studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Jong Gi; Han, Joon Koo; Kim, Seung Hoon; Choo, Sung Wook; Kim, Seung Cheol; Choi, Byung Ihn

1995-01-01

To evaluate the radiologic findings of granulomatous colitis on double contrast barium enema and changes on follow-up studies. Serial double contrast barium enema of six patients with granulomatous colitis confirmed by endoscopic biopsy were reviewed. We analyzed the radiologic findings and their follow-up changes, including aphthous ulcers, lymphoid hyperplasia, deep ulcers, cobble stone appearance, geographic ulcers, asymmetric involvement of ulcers, skip lesions, sinus tract, fistula formation, pseudosacculation, focal stricture, and small bowel involvement. Pretreatment double contrast barium enema findings were aphthous ulcers in five patients, deep ulcer in six, cobble stone appearance in five, longitudinal geographic ulcers in two, fistulas in one, pseudosacculations in two, focal stricture in one, and pseudopolyps in six. Also, anal ulcers were observed in two patients, asymmetric involvement of ulcers in three, skip lesions in four, and small bowel involvement in five in five patients proved to have inactive disease after treatment, aphthous ulcers and deep ulcers disappeared. Geographic ulcers of two patients and anal ulcer of one patients decreased in size or depth. Pseudosacculation in one patient disappeared. Pseudopolyps decreased in two patients, increased in one, and decreased after increase in two. One patient whose disease remained active after treatment showed maintenance or increase of ulcers or fistula. And their pseudosacculation or focal stricture unchanged and pseudopolyps decreased. The major radiologic findings of chronic granulomatous colitis on double contrast barium enema are aphthous ulcer, deep ulcer, cobble stone appearance, discontinuity of the lesion and coexistence of ulcers and pseudopolyps. And, double contrast barium enema is good follow-up modality because its findings correlate with clinical course of the granulomatous colitis after treatment

Marine Mammal Necropsy: An Introductory Guide for Stranding Responders and Field Biologists

Science.gov (United States)

2007-09-01

increasing friction we have found that the easiest to hardest surfaces are as follows: wet slab rock such as basalt , cobble, slick mud, gravel, sand...Flagging tape, biodegradable Laundry tags- www.golps.com,Daily Delivery Tag, 1-Ply fiber ; Label tape- www.VWR.com Tyveck tags-www.LSS.com; Blank tags

Age of a prehistoric "Rodedian" cult site constrained by sediment and rock surface luminescence dating techniques

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sohbati, Reza; Murray, Andrew; Porat, N.

2015-01-01

The construction age of a pavement in a “Rodedian” prehistoric cult site in Negev desert, Israel, is established by determining the burial age of (i) a cobble used in the pavement, and (ii) the underlying sediment. The quartz OSL age and the K-feldspar corrected IR50 age from the sediment...

Controls on the size and occurrence of pools in coarse-grained forest rivers

Science.gov (United States)

John M. Buffington; Thomas E. Lisle; Richard D. Woodsmith; Sue Hilton

2002-01-01

Controls on pool formation are examined in gravel- and cobble-bed rivers in forest mountain drainage basins of northern California, southern Oregon, and southeastern Alaska. We demonstrate that the majority of pools at our study sites are formed by flow obstructions and that pool geometry and frequency largely depend on obstruction characteristics (size, type, and...

Opening Spaces of Possibility: The Teacher as Bricoleur

Science.gov (United States)

Reilly, Mary Ann

2009-01-01

Bricolage is the make-do activities a handyperson employs while working. The bricoleur is one who tinkers with the materials at hand. Teachers can act as a bricoleur by continually cobbling materials together in the course of teaching. Such intellectual activity requires flexibility and the capacity to work with what is given while being…

Preliminary assessment of geologic materials to minimize biological intrusion of low-level waste trench covers and plans for the future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hakonson, T.E.; White, G.C.; Gladney, E.S.; Muller, M.

1981-01-01

The long-term integrity of low-level waste shallow land burial sites is dependent on the interaction of physical, chemical, and biological factors that modify the waste containment system. Past research on low-level waste shallow land burial methods has emphasized physical (i.e., water infiltration, soil erosion) and chemical (radionuclide leaching) processes that can cause radionuclide transport from a waste site. Preliminary results demonstrate that a sandy backfill material offers little resistance to root and animal intrusion through the cover profile. However, bentonite clay, cobble, and cobble-gravel combinations do reduce plant root and animal intrusion through cover profiles compared with sandy backfill soil. However, bentonite clay barrier systems appear to be degraded by plant roots through time. Desiccation of the clay barrier by invading plant roots may limit the usefulness of bentonite clay as a moisture and/or biological carrier unless due consideration is given to this interaction. Future experiments are described that further examine the effect of plant roots on clay barrier systems and that determine the effectiveness of proposed biological barriers on larger scales and under various stress conditions

Characterization of channel substrate, and changes in suspended-sediment transport and channel geometry in white sturgeon spawning habitat in the Kootenai River near Bonners Ferry, Idaho, following the closure of Libby Dam

Science.gov (United States)

Barton, Gary J.

2004-01-01

spawning reach. Since the closure of Libby Dam, the most notable change in channel geometry at the Copeland streamflow gaging station was the initiation of cyclical aggradation and degradation of the riverbed in the center of the channel. The aggradation and degradation of the riverbed are reflected in a twofold increase, from 1.3 to 2.5 meters, in the fluctuation of the minimum riverbed elevation, which suggests that during the Libby Dam era, parts of the riverbed in the spawning reach may have aggraded or degraded by as much as 2.5 meters. Before the closure of Libby Dam, there was a greater propensity for aggradation and degradation of sand over the discontinuous gravel and cobble layers in the buried gravelcobble reach at Bonners Ferry. The gravel and cobble in this reach, 111.3 to 115.9 kilometers below Libby Dam, are buried by sand. Unregulated spring snowmelt-runoff flows flushed part of the sand layer and exposed some of the buried gravel-cobble layer because streamflow velocities were higher at that time. Unregulated autumn-winter base flows gradually deposited silt and sand and reestablished a sand layer, burying the gravel-cobble layer. This cyclical process of aggradation and degradation of the riverbed sediment is reflected in the alternating gravel-cobble layers and sand layers found in sediment core K18-TH taken as part of this project. White sturgeon spawning substrate in the Kootenai River meander reach is currently composed of alluvial sand that forms sand dunes and of minor amounts of lacustrine clay and silt that generally are found in the river's thalweg. The present substrate composition in the meander reach is considered similar to that which existed prior to closure of Libby Dam, with one possible exception. Prior to closure of Libby Dam, minor amounts of gravel and cobble may have been exposed on the riverbed in the spawning reach just below the mouth of Myrtle Creek 230 kilometers below Libby Dam. The substrate composition near Shorty Island, 234

The Muralla Pircada: an ancient Andean debris flow retention dam, Santa Rita B archaeological site, Chao Valley, Northern Peru

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, William E.; Willett, Jason C.; Kent, Jonathan D.; Vasquez, Victor; Rosales, Teresa

2005-01-01

Debris flows caused by El Niño events, earthquakes, and glacial releases have affected northern Perú for centuries. The Muralla Pircada, a northeast-trending, 2.5 km long stone wall east of the Santa Rita B archaeological site (Moche-Chimú) in the Chao Valley, is field evidence that ancient Andeans recognized and, more importantly, attempted to mitigate the effects of debris flows. The Muralla is upstream from the site and is perpendicular to local drainages. It is 1–2 m high, up to 5 m wide, and is comprised of intentionally-placed, well-sorted, well-rounded, 20–30 cm cobbles and boulders from nearby streams. Long axes of the stones are gently inclined and parallel local drainage. Case-and-fill construction was used with smaller cobbles and pebbles used as fill. Pre-Muralla debris flows are indicated by meter-sized, angular boulders that were incorporated in-place into construction of the dam and are now exposed in breeches in the dam. Post-Muralla debris flows in the Chao Valley are indicated by meter-sized, angular boulders that now abut the retention dam.

Calzadas y soleras de Santiago como elementos patrimoniales: los casos de las calles Lira y Antonio Ricaurte, una tentativa polémica. /The pavements of the streets: Lira and Antonio Ricaute in Santiago, Chile. Heritage objects.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Larrañaga, Itxiar

2006-06-01

Full Text Available La calle Lira, desde Avda. del Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins hasta Manuel Antonio Matta, destaca por su admirable adoquinado en granito entre soleras del mismo material, y la línea central de tranvía con las tapas de alcantarillado en el centro de la línea. La factura del adoquinado refleja que su realización es de una época del siglo XX en que ya se tenía madurez en el arte de su construcción. Se reflexiona sobre la eventual consideración de estos elementos como objetos culturales y patrimoniales./Lira street, from Libertador Bernardo O’higgins Avenue to Manuel Antonio Matta Avenue, features an admirable cobbled pavement made out of granite as well as the curbs on each side. Along the middle of the street there is a streetcar line, and in between its rails there are sewer lids along the line.The quality of the placing of the cobbles and their materials is proof of a certain maturity in the art of construction during the 20th century. The article proposes that these elements should be considered as cultural heritage objects.

Economical Treatment of Dredged Material to Facilitate Beneficial Use

Science.gov (United States)

2014-08-01

reduction, dewatering and drying ; and the treatment ( kiln ) phase. Debris and solids larger than 1.3 cm (0.5 in.) (gravel, and cobbles) are removed and...11 ii Abstract Growing constraints on conventional dredged material disposal are motivating movement toward more sustainable alternatives. Given...Sediment Washing for the Treatment of Saginaw River Sediments (EPA 1994e) ................. 40 MetPro Maximum Density Separator and Dry Screening

Analysis of Three Cobble Ring Sites at Abiquiu Reservoir, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

1989-01-01

included cutthroat trout, channel catfish, various suckers and chubs, and crayfish. The Rio Chama probably was too cold for most edible turtles. 9 3.0...expectations for aggregated specialized big game hunters would be use of local settings in areas of maximum diversity and abundance of edible plants...to be the first man ever to carry a line of cutlery samples west of the Mississippi River (Ferguson 1974:47). This artifact thus postdates 1840

Environmental Assessment for Taxiway Whiskey Supplemental Projects at Joint Base Andrews-Naval Air Facility Washington, Prince George’s County, Maryland

Science.gov (United States)

2015-09-01

are made of unconsolidated sand, gravel, silt, clay , and organic materials that overlay bedrock. The surficial geologic deposits range in thickness from...10 to 20 feet and include irregularly bedded cobbles, gravel, and fine sand that are mixed with silt and clay . Surface formations at JBA have largely...systems on JBA (e.g., natural gas, sanitary sewer, potable water) would be unaffected by the proposed action. 3.6.2 Environmental Consequences

Metacognition and reasoning

Science.gov (United States)

Fletcher, Logan; Carruthers, Peter

2012-01-01

This article considers the cognitive architecture of human meta-reasoning: that is, metacognition concerning one's own reasoning and decision-making. The view we defend is that meta-reasoning is a cobbled-together skill comprising diverse self-management strategies acquired through individual and cultural learning. These approximate the monitoring-and-control functions of a postulated adaptive system for metacognition by recruiting mechanisms that were designed for quite other purposes. PMID:22492753

Turkana Grits - a Cretaceous braided alluvial system in northern Kenya

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Handford, C.R.

1987-05-01

Rather spotty but excellent exposures of the Cretaceous-age Turkana Grits occur near the western shore of Lake Turkana, northern Kenya. These very coarse to pebbly arkosic sandstones and sandy conglomerates were derived from and rest unconformably upon Precambrian metamorphic basement; they are overlain by late Tertiary basaltic flows that comprise much of the volcanics in the East African Rift Zone. The formation ranges up to 2000 ft thick in the Laburr Range. Several outcrops contain sauropod, crocodile, and tortoise remains as well as abundant trunks of petrified wood (Dryoxylon). Five major facies make up the Turkana Grits and record a major episode of continental fluvial deposition in basins flanked by Precambrian basement. Facies 1 is crudely stratified, cobble and boulder conglomerate (clast-supported); Facies 2 is crudely stratified pebble-cobble conglomerate and pebbly sandstone; Facies 3 is trough cross-bedded, very coarse sandstones containing fossils wood and vertebrate remains; Facies 4 is crudely stratified to massive sandstones with ironstone nodules; and Facies 5 is red, purple, and gray mudstone and mud shale with carbonate nodules. Facies 1 through 3 record deposition in proximal to medial braided-stream channel, longitudinal bar and dune complexes. Facies 4 is a lowland, hydromorphic paleosol, and Facies 5 represents overbank and abandoned channel-fill sedimentation in an alluvial plain.

Commercially important species associated with horse mussel (Modiolus modiolus) biogenic reefs: A priority habitat for nature conservation and fisheries benefits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kent, Flora E.A.; Mair, James M.; Newton, Jason; Lindenbaum, Charles; Porter, Joanne S.; Sanderson, William G.

2017-01-01

Horse mussel reefs (Modiolus modiolus) are biodiversity hotspots afforded protection by Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the NE Atlantic. In this study, horse mussel reefs, cobble habitats and sandy habitats were assessed using underwater visual census and drop-down video techniques in three UK regions. Megafauna were enumerated, differences in community composition and individual species abundances were analysed. Samples of conspicuous megafauna were also collected from horse mussel reefs in Orkney for stable isotope analysis. Communities of conspicuous megafauna were different between horse mussel habitats and other habitats throughout their range. Three commercially important species: whelks (Buccinum undatum), queen scallops (Aequipecten opercularis) and spider crabs (Maja brachydactyla) were significantly more abundant (by as much as 20 times) on horse mussel reefs than elsewhere. Isotopic analysis provided insights into their trophic relationship with the horse mussel reef. Protection of M. modiolus habitat can achieve biodiversity conservation objectives whilst benefiting fisheries also. - Highlights: • Communities of conspicuous megafauna were assessed on Modiolus modiolus reefs, sand and cobble habitats. • Tissue samples from reef fauna were subject to stable isotope analysis to investigate trophic structure. • Reef associated species included Aequipecten opercularis, Buccinum undatum and Maja brachydactyla. • Evidence of the commercial value of M. modiolus reefs in the UK.

Guidelines for using bedload traps in coarse-bedded mountain streams: Construction, installation, operation, and sample processing

Science.gov (United States)

Kristin Bunte; Kurt W. Swingle; Steven R. Abt

2007-01-01

A bedload trap is a portable sampler designed specifically for collecting gravel and cobble bedload (4 to 180 mm in diameter) in wadeable streams. Bedload traps consist of an aluminum frame with a 12 by 8 inch (0.3 by 0.2 m) opening to which a 3- to 5.5-ft (0.9 to 1.65 m) long trailing net is attached. Bedload traps are installed on ground plates that are anchored to...

Cleanup Verification Package for the 118-F-3, Minor Construction Burial Ground

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Appel, M.J.

2007-01-01

This cleanup verification package documents completion of remedial action for the 118-F-3, Minor Construction Burial Ground waste site. This site was an open field covered with cobbles, with no vegetation growing on the surface. The site received irradiated reactor parts that were removed during conversion of the 105-F Reactor from the Liquid 3X to the Ball 3X Project safety systems and received mostly vertical safety rod thimbles and step plugs

Vehicle Test Facilities at Aberdeen Test Center and Yuma Test Center

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-27

fiber optic and bi-directional microwave telemetry links that provide high speed data transfer and real-time test control, and secure, single...Patton Hilly Trails is a 4.2 km (2.6 mi) loop course situated on a Basalt Hill Range site which is located on a series of relic beach terraces. The...Mountain and consists of primarily stretches of very cobbled surface interspersed with rock outcrops and bedrock. The course terrain is basalt hills

Runoff and sediment yield from rural roads, trails and settlements in the upper Konto catchment, East Java, Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Rijsdijk, Anton; Sampurno Bruijnzeel, L. A.; Sutoto, C. Kukuh

2007-06-01

The potential importance of roads and settlements for the generation of storm runoff and sediment in tropical steeplands is increasingly recognised but rarely quantified. This paper presents runoff and sediment yield data for a cobbled and an unpaved road section, two large unbounded settlement plots, and several trails draining residential areas or terraced fields in a volcanic upland catchment in East Java. In addition, the sediment yield of major landslides associated with roads was quantified. The unpaved road section exhibited an average runoff coefficient of about 65% and yielded about 7 kg m - 2 yr - 1 of sediment. Both the runoff coefficient and the sediment yield for the cobbled road section (plus adjacent yards) were lower (38% and 1.9 kg m - 2 yr - 1 ). Sediment output from a 4160-m 2 hillside plot including a network of trails draining terraced fields (for which runoff and sediment outputs were shown to be negligible) was similar to that for the cobbled road (2-3 kg m - 2 yr - 1 depending on rainfall). However, a much higher value was obtained when the overall soil loss from the plot was expressed per square metre of trail surface area (ca. 42 kg m - 2 yr - 1 ) whereas the associated trail runoff coefficient was about 70%. The results obtained for several trails and large unbounded plots draining residential areas at two locations were less extreme (runoff coefficients of 24-43%; soil loss 1.3-3.5 kg m - 2 yr - 1 ). Landsliding occurred mainly at the end of the rainy season (March) and was estimated to have contributed ca. 2365 m 3 of sediment to the main road network during the 1988/89 wet season vs. ca. 905 m 3 in 1989/90 and only ca. 150 m 3 in 2000/01. It is concluded that, despite their relatively small areal extent (5% in the study area), rural roads, trails and settlements are significant producers of runoff and sediment at the catchment scale and should be included in watershed management programmes designed to reduce catchment sediment yields

Two Martian Winters at Gusev Crater and Meridiani Planum: New Results From the MER Mossbauer Spectrometers

Science.gov (United States)

Klingelhoefer, Goestar; Morris, Richard V.; Schroeder, Christian; Rodionov, Daniel S.; Yen, Albert S.; Ming, Douglas W.; Cohen, Barbara A.; Fleischer, Iris; Mittlefehldt, David W.; McCoy, Tim;

An Archaeological Survey of the Galisteo Dam and Reservoir Area Santa Fe County, New Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

1982-01-01

earliest in situ remains of this tradition are those of the Jay Phase (5500-480O--T; these remains bear little resemblance to those of the Paleo-Indian...Pueblo occupa- tion as an in situ development must account for the occupational hiatus that occurred in the Galisteo Basin and elsewhere...a plaza area containing a kiva. Walls were coursed adobe with cobble footings, or else of masonry. Dominant pottery at the Wheeler Site was Agua Fria

The water retention of a granite rock fragments in High Tatras stony soils

OpenAIRE

Novák, Viliam; Šurda, Peter

2010-01-01

The water retention capacity of coarse rock fragments is usually considered negligible. But the presence of rock fragments in a soil can play an important role in both water holding capacity and in hydraulic conductivity as well. This paper presents results of maximum water holding capacity measured in coarse rock fragments in the soil classified as cobbly sandy loam sampled at High Tatra mountains. It is shown, that those coarse rock (granite) fragments have the maximum retention capacity up...

Surgical wound healing in radio-tagged adult Pacific lamprey Entosphenus tridentatus held on different substrata

Science.gov (United States)

Mesa, M.G.; Magie, R.J.; Copeland, E.S.; Christiansen, H.E.

2011-01-01

Radio-tagged adult Pacific lamprey Entosphenus tridentatus held in a raceway with Plexiglas-lined walls and bottom healed more slowly and retained sutures longer than fish held in an all-concrete raceway or one with Plexiglas walls and a cobble-lined bottom. On all substrata, healing depended on when sutures were lost, and fish that lost their sutures in healed faster than those that kept sutures longer. Long-term suture retention led to tissue trauma, infection and poor survival.

Characterizing leachate contamination in a landfill site using Time Domain Electromagnetic (TDEM) imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Baawain, Mahad S.; Al-Futaisi, Ahmed M.; Ebrahimi, A.; Omidvarborna, Hamid

2018-04-01

Time Domain Electromagnetic (TDEM) survey as well as drilling investigations were conducted to identify possible contamination of a dumping site in an unsaturated zone located in Barka, Oman. The method was applied to evaluate conductivity of the contaminated plumes in hot and arid/semiarid region, where high temperatures commonly ranged between 35 and 50 °C. The drilling investigation was carried out over the survey area to verify the geophysical results. The low-resistivity zone (90 Ωm) was correlated with compacted or cemented gravels and cobbles, particularly that of medium dense to very dense gravels and cobbles. Additionally, the TDEM profiles suggested that the plume migration followed a preferential flow path. The resistivity range 40-80 Ωm considered as contaminated areas; however, the drilling results showed the close resistivity domain in the depth >70 m below water table for some profiles (BL1, BL2, BL3, BL4 and BL5). The combined results of drilling wells, piezometers, and TDEM apparent resistivity maps showed a coincidence of the migrated leachate plume and water table. Predicted zone of the probable contamination was located at the depth of around 65 m and horizontal offset ranges 0-280 m, 80-240 m, and 40-85 m in the sounding traverses of BL4, BL6 and BL7, respectively.

Precursory activity of the 161 ka Kos Plateau Tuff eruption, Aegean Sea (Greece)

Science.gov (United States)

Piper, David J. W.; Pe-Piper, Georgia; Lefort, Darren

2010-08-01

The Kos Plateau Tuff (KPT) eruption of 161 ka was the largest explosive Quaternary eruption in the eastern Mediterranean. We have discovered an uplifted beach deposit of abraded pumice cobbles, directly overlain by the KPT. The pumice cobbles resemble pumice from the KPT in petrography and composition and differ from Plio-Pleistocene rhyolites on the nearby Kefalos Peninsula. The pumice contains enclaves of basaltic andesite showing chilled lobate margins, suggesting co-existence of two magmas. The deposit provides evidence that the precursory phase of the KPT eruption produced pumice rafts, and defines the paleoshoreline for the KPT, which elsewhere was deposited on land. The beach deposit has been uplifted about 120 m since the KPT eruption, whereas the present marine area south of Kos has subsided several hundred metres, as a result of regional neotectonics. The basaltic andesite is more primitive than other mafic rocks known from the Kos-Nisyros volcanic centre and contains phenocrysts of Fo89 olivine, bytownite, enstatite and diopside. Groundmass amphibole suggests availability of water in the final stages of magma evolution. Geochemical and mineralogical variation in the mafic products of the KPT eruption indicate that fractionation of basaltic magma in a base-of-crust magma chamber was followed by mixing with rhyolitic magma during eruption. Low eruption rates during the precursory activity may have minimised the extent of mixing and preserved the end-member magma types.

Use of CREAMS model in experimental designs for shallow land burial of low level wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Devaurs, M.

1985-01-01

A state-of-the art model developed by the US Department of Agriculture called CREAMS (A Field Scale Model for Chemicals, Runoff, and Erosion from Agricultural Management Systems) is used to simulate the hydrologic processes in soil and rock covers at shallow land waste disposal sites. Application of the CREAMS model in management of soil moisture and percolation at waste disposal sites is discussed for diverse topsoil-backfill-cobble-gravel trench cap designs tested at different field scales. 8 references, 7 figures, 3 tables

Bioremediation of oil on shoreline environments: development of techniques and guidelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, K.; Merlin, F.X.

1999-01-01

Over the last 20 years, the development of operational procedures to accelerate the natural biodegradation rates of oil spilled on shoreline environments has been the focus of numerous research programs. As a result, bioremediation has been demonstrated to be an effective oil spill countermeasure for use in cobble, sand beach, salt marsh, and mudflat environments. Today, studies are directed towards improving the efficacy and evaluating the ecological impacts of available bioremediation agents and/or procedures. This review describes the latest developments in bioremediation strategies and their key success factors. (author)

Optically stimulated luminescence dating of rock surfaces

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sohbati, Reza

There are many examples of rock surfaces, rock art and stone structures whose ages are of great importance to the understanding of various phenomena in geology, climatology and archaeology. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating is a well-established chronological tool that has successfully...... to include the effects of the environmental dose rate. By fitting the model to the dose-depth variation from a single clast, four events (two light exposures of different durations each followed by a burial period) in the history of a single cobble are identified and quantified. However, the use of model...

Life history and habitat preference in the Darling hardyhead, Craterocephalus amniculus (Teleostei, Atherinidae) in the northern Murray-Darling Basin, Australia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Moy, Karl G.; Wilson, G. Glenn; Ellison, Tanya L.

2018-01-01

and spatial variation in diet, and habitat selection in this species across multiple sites and years in the upper Macintyre River, northern New South Wales. Preserved specimens from a separate study were used to obtain information on diet and size structure. Size structures suggested a single annual spawning...... most of the diet while over half the gut contents at the downstream site was unidentified detritus. Preference was shown for pool habitats with a sand or cobble substrate, increased channel depth and width and distance from the bank, and reduced flow velocity. Overhanging exotic riparian vegetation...

Studies of quaternary deposits in Olkiluoto in 2004; Maaperaetutkimukset tutkimuskaivannoissa TKB ja TK9 Olkiluodossa 2004

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huhta, P. [Geological Survey of Finland, Espoo (Finland)

2005-04-15

The study sections (trenches) TK 8 and TK 9 in Olkiluoto were studied according to the contract in autumn 2004. The investigations were carried out in three phases as the excavation progressed. Samples for grain size determinations were taken from vertical profiles, placed 25 m apart along the trench, with the profiles extending from the soil surface down to bedrock or, if the bedrock was covered with water, to the water table. Between 6 and 7 kg of sediment was taken in a bucket with a shovel and placed in plastic bags for transport to the laboratory. The samples were first dried in the laboratory after which they were sieved. In addition, grain size distribution of the < 63 {mu}m fraction was analyzed with the Micromeritics 5000 ET Sedigraph. Sedimentological observations of the sampling profiles were documented in field by drawing (on a field observation form) and the profiles were photographed using a digital camera. In addition, the excavated sections were photographed along their whole length. The length of the TK 8 trench is approximately 730 m and 30 profiles were sampled from it. The height of the profiles varied from 6 m to 0.8 m with an average of 2.6 m. The till in the trench TK 8 is classified as having a normal amount of cobbles and boulders with the size of the larger clasts varying from 6 to 60 cm. The clasts are normally rounded or sub-angular. Both the size and number of cobbles increases with depth, as does their angularity. In places the till is overlain by postglacial clays/silts and littoral sands. With the exception of one sample, all samples from the TK 8 section can be classified as sandy tills based on the d50 grain size. According to the guidelines for mapping of Quatemary deposits one third of the samples is classified as fine-grained tills. This is because of the high percentages of silt and clay size particles that affect the frost heaving properties of the tills as well as their suitability for construction. A till is considered fine

Geologic evidence northeast of Puerto Rico for an Atlantic tsunami in the last 500 years

Science.gov (United States)

Atwater, B. F.; Tuttle, M. P.

2008-12-01

A historical tsunami of undetermined origin best explains a suite of probably related features at Anegada, British Virgin Islands: shore-normal scours, fields of cobbles and boulders, a horizon of sand and shell, and salt ponds. Anegada's exposed location and low-lying landscape make the island a natural tsunami recorder. Facing the Puerto Rico Trench at the northeast corner of the Caribbean, barely 10 km from the top of the continental slope, Anegada can receive tsunamis almost directly from the open North Atlantic. The island's highest ground consists of a limestone platform that crests 8 m above sea level. Many of Anegada's shores adjoin beach ridges, composed of distinctively pink bioclastic sand, that stand less than 5 m above sea level. Behind the ridges are salt ponds that rarely rise above high tide levels of the surrounding sea. The island's name, coined in 1493 during Columbus's second voyage, means "drowned." Local eyewitnesses to Hurricane Donna, at category 4 when its eye crossed Anegada in 1960, recounted no storm-caused versions of the following features: SCOURS. Dozens of coast-normal scours cut across beach ridges of the island's north-central shore. The largest of them holds a pond 200 m long and a few tens of meters wide. The scours are better explained by overwash of the ridges than by inheritance of any pre-existing carbonate landform; they differ in size and shape from spurs and grooves of the island's barrier reef and from the sinkholes of the limestone platform. More than one time of overwash is permitted by differences among the headward limits of the scours. COBBLES AND BOULDERS. Inland from the scours, as much as 1 km inland of Anegada's north-central shore, fields of limestone cobbles and boulders extend tens of meters southward from limestone knolls. Like the scours, they imply overwash from the north. SAND AND SHELL BED. An event horizon as much as 25 cm thick probably extends 2 km southward beneath bottom sediments and fringing

Site-specific analysis of radiological and physical parameters for cobbly soils at the Gunnison, Colorado, processing site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-10-01

The remedial action at the Gunnison, Colorado, processing site is being performed under the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) of 1978 [Public Law (PL) 95-6041]. Under UMTRCA, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is charged with the responsibility of developing appropriate and applicable standards for the cleanup of radiologically contaminated land and buildings at 24 designated sites, including the Gunnison, Colorado, inactive processing site. The remedial action at the processing site will be conducted to remove the tailings and contaminated materials to meet the EPA bulk soil cleanup standards for surface and subsurface soils. The site areas disturbed by remedial action excavation will be either contoured or backfilled with radiologically uncontaminated soil and contoured to restore the site. The final contours will produce a final surface grade that will create positive drainage from the site

Site-specific analysis of radiological and physical parameters for cobbly soils at the Gunnison, Colorado, processing site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-01-01

The remedial action at the Gunnison, Colorado, processing site is being performed under the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) of 1978. Under UMTRCA, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is charged with the responsibility of developing appropriate and applicable standards for the cleanup of radiologically contaminated land and buildings at 24 designated sites, including the Gunnison, Colorado, inactive processing site. Section 108 of Public Law 95-604 states that the US Department of Energy (DOE) shall ''select and perform remedial actions at the designated processing sites and disposal sites in accordance with the general standards'' prescribed by the EPA. Regulations governing the required remedial action at inactive uranium processing sites were promulgated by the EPA in 1983 and are contained in 40 CFR Part 192 (1993), Health and Environmental Protection Standards for Uranium and Thorium Mill Tailings. This document describes the radiological and physical parameters for the remedial action of the soil

Plant species from coal mine overburden dumping site in Satui, South Kalimantan, Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vivi Novianti

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Coal mine overburden (OB materials were nutrient-poor, loosely adhered particles of shale, stones, boulders, and cobbles, also contained elevated concentration of trace metals. This condition cause OB substrate did not support plants growth. However, there were certain species that able to grow on overburden dumping site. This investigation sought to identify plants species that presence on coal mine overburden. The research was conducted on opencast coal mine OB dumping site in Satui, South Kalimantan. Vegetation sampling was carried out on six different ages of coal mine OB dumps (7, 10, 11, 42, 59 and 64 month using line transect. Species identification used information from local people, AMDAL report of PT Arutmin Indonesia-Satui mine project, and website. There were 123 plant species, consisted of 79 herbs (Cyperaceae, Poaceae and Asteraceae, 10 lianes, bryophyte, 9 ferns, 10 shrubs, and 14 trees. A number of Poaceae, i.e., Paspalumconjugatum, Paspalumdilatatum, and Echinochloacolona generally present among the stones, boulders, and cobbles. While Cyperaceae such as Fimbristylis miliaceae, Cyperus javanicus, Rhyncospora corymbosa and Scleria sumatrensis most often foundinand around thebasin/pond with its smooth and humid substrate characteristics. Certain species of shrubs and trees present on the 7 month OB dumping site. They wereChromolaena odorata, Clibadium surinamense, Melastoma malabathricum, Trema micrantha, and Solanum torvum (Shrubs, Ochroma pyramidale and Homalanthus populifolius (trees. This plant species could be used for accelerating primary succession purpose on coal mine overburden dumping site. Nevertheless, species selection was needed to avoid planting invasive species.

Carotenoids in the cells of the alga Trentepohlia gobii Meyer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bazyli Czeczuga

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Column-, and thin-layer chromatography revealed the presence of the following carotenoids in the cells of the species Trentepohlia gobii Meyer from cobbles in the river Urmi in the Badzhal mountains of Khabarovsk Territory in the Far East: ß, ß-carotene, ß, ε-carotene, ß, ß-carotene-2-ol, ß, ε-carotene-2-ol, ß, ß-carotene-2, 2'-diol, 5,6-epoxy-5,6-dihydro-ß, ß-carotene-2-ol, 5,6-epoxy-5,6-dihydro-ß, ε-carotene-2-ol and 5,6,5',6'-diepoxy-5,6,5',6'-tetrahydro-ß, ß-carotene-2,2'-diol.

Archaeological Investigations at a Wisconsin Petroglyph Site

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jack Steinbring

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Preliminary test excavations at the Hensler Petroglyph Site in East Central Wisconsin, U.S.A. have disclosed the remains of aboriginal engravings below Aeolian sediments dated to ca. 15,000 years B.P. The stratified deposits lying adjacent to an engraved panel, containing 35 pecked images, have yielded animal-like cobbles, some covered with red ochre, apparently picked for some esoteric use. The site itself has unusual natural shapes in the rock formation, along with acoustical properties, lightning strikes, a magnetic anomaly, and geographic prominence. Collectively these factors are thought to have attracted the ancient rock artists to the site.

Status of corrective measures technology for shallow land burial at arid sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abeele, W.V.; Nyhan, J.W.; Drennon, B.J.; Lopez, E.A.; Herrera, W.J.; Langhorst, G.J.

1985-01-01

The field research program involving corrective measure technologies for arid shallow land burial sites is described. Soil erosion and infiltration of water into a simulated trench cap with various surface treatments was measured and compared with similar data from agricultural systems across the United States. Report of field testing of biointrusion barriers continues at a closed-out waste disposal site at Los Alamos. Final results of an experiment designed to determine the effects of subsidence on the performance of a cobble-gravel biobarrier system are reported, as well as the results of hydrologic modeling activities involving biobarrier systems. 11 refs., 10 figs

Fine particle retention within stream storage areas at base flow and in response to a storm event

Science.gov (United States)

Drummond, J. D.; Larsen, L. G.; González-Pinzón, R.; Packman, A. I.; Harvey, Judson

2017-01-01

Fine particles (1–100 µm), including particulate organic carbon (POC) and fine sediment, influence stream ecological functioning because they may contain or have a high affinity to sorb nitrogen and phosphorus. These particles are immobilized within stream storage areas, especially hyporheic sediments and benthic biofilms. However, fine particles are also known to remobilize under all flow conditions. This combination of downstream transport and transient retention, influenced by stream geomorphology, controls the distribution of residence times over which fine particles influence stream ecosystems. The main objective of this study was to quantify immobilization and remobilization rates of fine particles in a third-order sand-and-gravel bed stream (Difficult Run, Virginia, USA) within different geomorphic units of the stream (i.e., pool, lateral cavity, and thalweg). During our field injection experiment, a thunderstorm-driven spate allowed us to observe fine particle dynamics during both base flow and in response to increased flow. Solute and fine particles were measured within stream surface waters, pore waters, sediment cores, and biofilms on cobbles. Measurements were taken at four different subsurface locations with varying geomorphology and at multiple depths. Approximately 68% of injected fine particles were retained during base flow until the onset of the spate. Retention was evident even after the spate, with 15.4% of the fine particles deposited during base flow still retained within benthic biofilms on cobbles and 14.9% within hyporheic sediment after the spate. Thus, through the combination of short-term remobilization and long-term retention, fine particles can serve as sources of carbon and nutrients to downstream ecosystems over a range of time scales.

Fine particle retention within stream storage areas at base flow and in response to a storm event

Science.gov (United States)

Drummond, J. D.; Larsen, L. G.; González-Pinzón, R.; Packman, A. I.; Harvey, J. W.

2017-07-01

Fine particles (1-100 µm), including particulate organic carbon (POC) and fine sediment, influence stream ecological functioning because they may contain or have a high affinity to sorb nitrogen and phosphorus. These particles are immobilized within stream storage areas, especially hyporheic sediments and benthic biofilms. However, fine particles are also known to remobilize under all flow conditions. This combination of downstream transport and transient retention, influenced by stream geomorphology, controls the distribution of residence times over which fine particles influence stream ecosystems. The main objective of this study was to quantify immobilization and remobilization rates of fine particles in a third-order sand-and-gravel bed stream (Difficult Run, Virginia, USA) within different geomorphic units of the stream (i.e., pool, lateral cavity, and thalweg). During our field injection experiment, a thunderstorm-driven spate allowed us to observe fine particle dynamics during both base flow and in response to increased flow. Solute and fine particles were measured within stream surface waters, pore waters, sediment cores, and biofilms on cobbles. Measurements were taken at four different subsurface locations with varying geomorphology and at multiple depths. Approximately 68% of injected fine particles were retained during base flow until the onset of the spate. Retention was evident even after the spate, with 15.4% of the fine particles deposited during base flow still retained within benthic biofilms on cobbles and 14.9% within hyporheic sediment after the spate. Thus, through the combination of short-term remobilization and long-term retention, fine particles can serve as sources of carbon and nutrients to downstream ecosystems over a range of time scales.

Jökulhlaup deposits in proglacial areas

Science.gov (United States)

Maizels, Judith

This paper discusses the main causes and characteristics of jökulhlaup ('glacier burst') floods, and explores the extent to which they generate depositional landform and sediment assemblages that are distinct from those of 'normal', braided river outwash ('Type I' outwash). Two main jökulhlaup outwash environments are identified: Type II outwash, produced by sudden drainage of ice-dammed lakes; and Type III, associated with drainage during subglacial geothermal activity, and distinguished by deposits resulting from high sediment concentrations and hyperconcentrated flows. In fluid flows, especially ones yielding Type II outwash, the most common deposits are large-scale expansion bars (and locally, eddy and pendant bars), and 'mega-ripples' or dunes, both forms normally composed of large-scale gravel-cobble cross-bedding, often capped by an imbricated boulder lag (a 'Type B2' lithofacies sequence). The armour is absent only where runoff decreased too rapidly to allow surface winnowing. Other jökulhlaup facies include extensive boulder beds (Type C), inverse-normally graded cobble beds (Type DS), ice-proximal debris flow deposits and deformed bedding containing diamicton clasts (Types G and H), and slack-water sediments (Type A). Type III outwash is dominated by massive, homogeneous, flood surge granules, underlain by pre-surge gravels, and capped by post-surge fluid bedforms, reflecting deposition during both the rising and falling limbs of the flood hydrograph (Type E4). The paper demonstrates that jökulhlaups do generate distinctive assemblages of depositional landforms and sediments, and concludes with a model of the dominant lithofacies sequences and associated landforms in proglacial environments subject to jökulhlaup drainage.

Physical data and biological data for algae, aquatic invertebrates, and fish from selected reaches on the Carson and Truckee rivers, Nevada and California, 1993-97

Science.gov (United States)

Lawrence, S.J.; Seiler, R.L.

2002-01-01

This report, a product of the National Water- Quality Assessment Program, is a compilation of physical data and biological data for algae, aquatic invertebrates, and fish collected in the Carson and Truckee River Basins, Nevada and California. Most of the data were collected between 1993 and 1996 at selected reaches on the Carson and Truckee Rivers. Algae and aquatic invertebrate samples were collected from cobble riffles, submerged woody-snag habitats, and from depositional areas such as pools. Between 1993 and 1996, fish and crayfish were collected from all wadeable habitats at each of seven basic-fixed sites using either electroshocking methods or seining. Additional fish and crayfish were collected at one site on the Truckee River in 1997. Fish were identified to species, measured for total and standard length, checked for anomalies, and weighed at the collection site. Fish were returned to the stream after measurements were taken. Measurements of water depth, stream velocity, determinations of substrate type and substrate embeddedness were made at each sampling site. Algae and aquatic invertebrate samples were sent to the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Laboratory for identification and enumeration. A total of 103 semi-quantitative and 55 qualitative algae samples were collected at 20 river reaches on the Carson and Truckee Rivers between 1993 and 1996. These samples represent algae in cobble riffles, on submerged woody snags, and on sediment surfaces in depositional areas. In those 158 samples, 514 algal species, varieties, or forms were identified. Of the 8 algal phyla represented, the diatoms (Phylum Bacillariophyta) were the most abundant with 351 species, varieties, or forms. The green algae (Phylum Chlorophyta) were next in abundance with 108 species, varieties, or forms followed by the blue-green algae (Phylum Cyanophyta) with 41 species, varieties, or forms. A total of 49 semi-quantitative aquatic invertebrate samples were collected at 27

Characterisation of hard-substrate habitats in the German Bight (SE North Sea) from video observation

Science.gov (United States)

Michaelis, Rune; Mielck, Finn; Papenmeier, Svenja; Sander, Lasse; Hass, H. Christian

2017-04-01

Accumulations of cobble- to boulder-sized material provide important habitat functions for many plant and animal species in the marine environment. These include nursery for fish, anchor point for sessile marine species and feeding ground for many different organisms. Detailed knowledge of such reef habitats and their properties is thus crucial for the determination of marine protected areas and consequently also for the management of the North Sea. As stones and boulders usually cannot be recovered from the seafloor to be investigated in the lab most analyses have to rely on non-invasive methods like e.g. underwater video- and diver-observation data. Due to these limitations these habitats are not well understood with regard to their spatial distribution, temporal development and ecology. Furthermore, there is no standardized way to assess the structure and cover of biological communities on such hard-substrates, which discourages comparison of data between different regions. We here present a standardized workflow to analyse underwater videos of hard-substrate habitats recorded in different areas of the North Sea. The idea is to combine these detailed information with an area-wide habitat classification based on sidescan sonar data. For image-based evaluation, the videos are transformed into single frames, extracted every five seconds of video running time and imported into a self-developed image analysis script. This script allows the user to select and count different descriptors in numerical categories. These include amongst others the different size classes of stones, the areal coverage of sessile marine organisms, the surrounding sediment properties or the presence of grazers. These semi-quantitative data are subsequently statistically analysed to produce a set of standardized characteristics of the hard-substrate habitats and the controlling factors of their current state and development. Preliminary results show that boulders in sandy environments are

Mechanisms of Cottonwood Establishment in Gravel-Bed Rivers, across Scales from the Bar to the Reach

Science.gov (United States)

Meier, C. I.

2017-12-01

Riparian cottonwoods are pioneer trees adapted to colonizing fluvial corridors, with strong effects on ecosystem structure and function. As their populations are being affected by flow alterations and invasive species, their recruitment mechanisms need to be understood, to support scientifically-based restoration efforts. I propose new concepts for cottonwood establishment in gravelly streams, from the local to the reach scale. These notions complement the currently-accepted ideas, which apply only to the landscape scale, and whose basic assumptions (existence of an alluvial water table, which is planar, almost horizontal, and linked to the river stage, with a parallel, spatially-uniform capillary fringe) seem to be based on a physical template that is only valid in the case of sand-bed streams. At the local, within-the-bar scale, two concepts drive establishment success. First, a finer matrix material helps retain more capillary water after the yearly snowmelt flood or a precipitation event. Second, the coarse surface layer of clean gravel and cobble acts as rock mulch, strongly decreasing evaporative losses. At the reach scale, we find that the commonly reported arcuate bands of cottonwoods do not depend on groundwater, but are caused by water dispersal (hydrochory). Wind-dispersed seeds fall into the river, are entrained into the drift, and start germinating as they travel under water. Some of the seeds and germinants find their way into the shallow, high relative roughness flow along the cobble shoreline. They are able to deposit in this environment, where they start growing, also under water. As waters recede, during the period of seed availability in the drift, the river seeds its banks and bars. Thus, the boundaries of observed bands and patches with successful seedling recruitment correspond to the location of flow profiles at different dates during the flood recession.

Leaf-jams - A new and unique leaf deposit in the ephemeral Hoanib River, NW Namibia: Origin and plant taphonomic implications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hofmann, Christa-Ch. [University of Vienna, Department of Palaeontology, Palaeobotany Studies Group, Althanstrasse 14, 1090, Vienna (Austria); Rice, A. Hugh N. [University of Vienna, Department of Geodynamics and Sedimentology, Althanstrasse 14, 1090, Vienna (Austria)

2010-08-01

This paper documents a previously unrecorded type of leaf deposit, comprising essentially monospecific linear accumulations of Colophospermum mopane leaves on a point bar of the ephemeral Hoanib River, NW Namibia. In these 'leaf-jams', leaf laminae stand on edge, orientated more-or-less normal to bedding. Leaf-jams, which formed upstream of cobbles, clumps of grass and sticks wedged against the former two, were orientated subparallel to the adjacent meandering river-bed, such that over the 40 m of their occurrence, their mean azimuth changed by 59 anticlockwise downstream. The longest leaf-jam was 50 cm and contained approximately 500 leaves, as well as grass culms, twigs (C. mopane, Tamarix usneoides and unidentified) and medium- to fine-grained sand and silt. Individual leaf-jams were partially buried in the point bar sediments up to a depth of 3 cm. Leaf-jam formation occurred in the austral summer of 2006, during the waning stage of a major flood caused by anomalous tropical to extra-tropical storms. Their monospecifity is due to the overwhelming preponderance of the zonal taxon C. mopane in the catchment area, although the Khowarib Gorge contains a quite diverse azonal plant association due to the presence of a permanent water-seep. During leaf-jam formation, the water depth was less than the height of the cobbles (0.1 m), with stream flow-rates competent to transport medium-grained sand (velocity estimated at 0.5 m s{sup -} {sup 1}). Leaves must have been partially or fully waterlogged to inhibit buoyancy forces tending to lift them out of the developing leaf-jams, which propagated upstream in a manner comparable to longitudinal bars in a braided river. If fossilised, such deposits would probably lead to a very biased interpretation of the composition of the surrounding flora; the correct interpretation would be the one least favoured by palaeobotanists. (author)

Non-Fluvial Controls of Erosion, Sediment Transport and Fluvial Morphology in a mid-Atlantic Piedmont Watershed, White Clay Creek, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Science.gov (United States)

McCarthy, K.; Affinito, R. A.; Pizzuto, J. E.; Stotts, S.; Henry, T.; Krauthauser, M.; O'Neal, M. A.

2017-12-01

Quantifying contemporary sediment budgets is essential for restoration and ecosystem management of mid-Atlantic watersheds, but relevant processes and controls are poorly understood. In the 153 km2 White Clay Creek watershed in southeastern Pennsylvania, longitudinal profiles reflect migration of knickpoints though bedrock over Quaternary timescales. In bank exposures along stream valleys, saprolite, bedrock, and matrix-supported cobbly and bouldery diamicton (likely colluvial) commonly underlie finer-grained clay, silt, sand, and gravel deposits of valley floor depositional environments. Overbank sedimentation rates were quantified by measuring the thickness of sediment deposited over the roots of floodplain trees. The sampled trees range in age from 25-270 years with median sediment accumulation rates of approximately 2 mm/yr (range 0-10 mm/yr). Rates of bank retreat (measured from historical aerial imagery or root-exposure dendrochronology) vary from 6-36 cm/yr, with median rates of 10 cm/yr. While bank erosion rates are subject to a variety of controls, including channel curvature, the density of riparian trees, and freeze-thaw processes, the strongest influence appears to be the grain size and thickness of bouldery diamicton exposed along the toes of retreating banks. Cobbles and boulders supplied by eroding diamicton also mantle the bed of the channel, such that 33- 80% of the bed material remains immobile at bankfull stage. A conceptual model of fluvial processes and sediment budgets for these channels must account for the watershed's history of changing climate, tectonics, and land use, requiring mapping of bedrock, colluvium, former mill dam sediments, and other non-alluvial deposits and controls. Efforts to apply hydraulic geometry principles (requiring a precise adjustment to contemporary hydraulic and sediment regime) or to treat these channels as traditional "threshold" rivers are unlikely to be successful.

Tritium dating of underground water from the Jian River valley and Houjialiang loess platform in the basin side-band of the East-Mountain Region of Taiyuan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu Songsheng; Wu Qinghua

1991-01-01

The tritium content is measured in underground water from the basin side-band of the East-Mountain Region of Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, and hence the age, i.e. resident time, of underground water is estimated. The region belongs to deep water-poor zone in a long loess ridge situated in a loess hill plateau. The level of underground water is 40-80 m deep hidden. In the runway and the scouring channel the aqueous bed is of river pebble and cobble, with a level of 2-10 m in depth. The age of underground water from different wells were determined to be 23a, 14a, 25a, 41a and 53a respectively

Fission-track dating of pumice from the KBS Tuff, East Rudolf, Kenya

Science.gov (United States)

Hurford, A.J.; Gleadow, A.J.W.; Naeser, C.W.

1976-01-01

Fission-track dating of zircon separated from two pumice samples from the KBS Tuff in the Koobi Fora Formation, in Area 131, East Rudolf, Kenya, gives an age of 2.44??0.08 Myr for the eruption of the pumice. This result is compatible with the previously published K-Ar and 40Ar/ 39Ar age spectrum estimate of 2.61??0.26 Myr for the KBS Tuff in Area 105, but differs from the more recently published K-Ar date of 1.82??0.04 Myr for the KBS Tuff in Area 131. This study does not support the suggestion that pumice cobbles of different ages occur in the KBS Tuff. ?? 1976 Nature Publishing Group.

Establishment of human iPSC line NCCSi003-A from CD34+cells of peripheral blood collected during apheresis of healthy donor from Indian ethnicity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sophia Fernandes

2018-03-01

Full Text Available We present generation of iPSCs from CD34+ cells isolated from peripheral blood, collected during apheresis of a healthy female individual. We nucleofected the CD34+cells by episomal vectors containing Oct4, Sox2, L-Myc, Lin28, Klf4 and p53DD (dominant negative mutation in p53. The resultant colonies showed cobble-stone appearance and stained positive for alkaline phosphatase. The colonies demonstrated presence of pluripotency markers by immunofluorescence, flow-cytometry and PCR. The plasmids were lost from cells subsequently during passages as assessed by PCR. Karyotype analysis demonstrated a stable genome. The cells had capability to differentiate to cells from all three-germ lineages in vitro.

Cluster analysis on a sphere: Application to magnetizations from metasediments of the Jack Hills, Western Australia

Science.gov (United States)

Bono, Richard K.; Tarduno, John A.; Dare, Matthew S.; Mitra, Gautam; Cottrell, Rory D.

2018-02-01

Metasediments of the Jack Hills contain the oldest known terrestrial minerals in the form of zircons nearly 4.4 billion years old. Paleointensity data from these zircons provide evidence for a Hadean geodynamo as old as 4.2 billion years old. Given the importance of these zircons for constraining the earliest history of the core, it is vital to understand the fidelity of the zircon record. A fundamental aspect providing context for the preservation of primary magnetic signals is the nature of overprints predicted to have been imparted on rocks of the Jack Hills due to Archean to Proterozoic metamorphic events. To be viable magnetic records of a Hadean geodynamo, zircon magnetization directions should differ from these secondary magnetizations. To evaluate these secondary magnetizations, we report paleomagnetic analyses of a comprehensive sampling of 68 quartzite cobble-sized clasts from the Jack Hills metasediments ∼0.5 to 1.0 km from the Discovery Site (which has yielded the oldest zircons and paleofield estimates). While application of standard paleomagnetic tests suggests that the ensemble of cobble directions cannot be distinguished from those drawn from a random distribution, a new cluster analysis of directions on a sphere and non-parametric resampling approaches reveal significant directions amongst subsets of the data. One, isolated at the lowest temperature analyzed [200 to 300 °C, Declination (Dec.) = 316.8°, Inclination (Inc.) = - 51.1 °] appears to be dominated by the present day field. Another, isolated at higher (but still relatively low unblocking temperatures that we call "intermediate", of ∼350-500 °C, Dec. = 243.8°, Inc. = 9.5°) agrees with a magnetic overprint isolated from the secondary Cr-Fe mica fuchsite isolated from the Jack Hills Discovery site, passing a field test at the 80% confidence level. No evidence is found in our data, or in the data of others collected on similar Jack Hills lithologies, for a widespread 1 Ga

Long-term stabilization of uranium mill tailings: effects of rock material on vegetation on soil moisture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beedlow, P.A.; Carlile, D.W.

1982-11-01

A field-scale experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of pit-run rock and washed cobble on vegetation and soil moisture. The success of various seed mixtures, transplanting and irrigation levels were evaluated. Total cover changed negligibly from the first growing season to the next, but the structure of the vegetation changed markedly. Moderate levels of irrigation increased the establishment of perennial grasses and shrubs. Rock placed on the surface prior to planting resulted in increased cover of weeds, shrubs and forbs and decreased grass cover relative to soil without surface rock. The most successful seed mixture was one of predominantly shrub and forb species adapted to the local environment. No significant differences in soil moisture were found between surface cover types. 6 references, 7 figures

The role of water chemistry and geomorphic control in the presence of Didymosphenia geminata in Quebec

Science.gov (United States)

Gillis, C.; Gabor, R. S.; Cullis, J. D.; Ran, L.; Hassan, M. A.

2010-12-01

Didymosphenia geminata (didymo), an invasive diatom, was first officially observed and identified in the Matapedia River in Eastern Quebec in July 2006. This Atlantic salmon fishing river has several characteristics shown to favor didymo's ability to form thick, extensive benthic mats, including stable flow and oligotrophic nutrient conditions. Since the incursion, rapid colonization and inter-catchment transfer processes were observed, notably in surrounding watersheds on the Gaspé Peninsula as well as in northern New-Brunswick. All affected watersheds share favorable characteristics for didymo growth, including high light, low nutrient waters, and stable substrate. The nearby North Shore of the St. Lawrence, which also contains rivers with conditions that would favor didymo growth, has not yet shown didymo presence. This system provides a comparison to identify necessary parameters for didymo growth, with differences primarily due to geology-driven water chemistry. Pre-incursion water chemistry was compared between the two regions. Rivers in the region where didymo is present displayed a high alkalinity and corresponding higher pH, due to increases concentrations of magnesium and calcium, than rivers in regions where didymo has not appeared. Also, rivers with didymo show a lower amount of color-causing compounds, such as organic carbon, and clearer water, which supports the theory that high light levels encourage didymo growth. In addition to water chemistry, channel morphology, bed stability and flow patterns are also believed to be key elements in determining the presence of this benthic diatom. In 2007, channel morphology, bed texture, bankfull depth and width, local bed slope and didymo presence were surveyed on a 65 km stretch of the Matapedia River. Relative frequency of didymo presence showed that didymo blooms are most likely to appear in cobble-riffles than in any other morphologies. In fact, cobble riffles promote didymo establishment due to shallow

Electrical imaging for localizing historical tunnels at an urban environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Osella, Ana; Martinelli, Patricia; De la Vega, Matías; Bonomo, Néstor; Grunhut, Vivian; Weissel, Marcelo

2015-01-01

We performed a geophysical study at a historical site in Buenos Aires, Argentina, corresponding to the location of a Jesuit Mission established during the 17 th century, remaining there until the 18th century. The site consisted of a church, cloisters, a school, orchards and a procurator’s office; also several tunnels were built, connecting the mission with different public buildings in the town. In the 19th century the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires was built in a sector of the site originally occupied by an orchard, functioning until its demolition in 1973. At present, this area is a cobbled square. With the aim of preserving and restoring the buried structures, work was carried out in this square looking for tunnels and remains of the basement of the old building.Considering the conductive features of the subsoil, mainly formed by clays and silt, the complex characteristics of the buried structures, and the urban localization of the study area with its consequent high level of environmental electromagnetic noise, we performed pre-feasibility studies to determine the usefulness of different geophysical methods. The best results were achieved from the geoelectrical method. Dipole–dipole profiles with electrode spacings of 1.5 and 3 m provided enough lateral and vertical resolution and the required penetration depth. Reliable data were obtained as long as the electrodes were buried at least 15 cm among the cobble stones. Nine 2D electrical resistivity tomographies were obtained by using a robust inversion procedure to reduce the effect of possible data outliers in the resulting models. The effect on these models of different error estimations was also analyzed. Then, we built up a pseudo-3D model by laterally interpolating the 2D inversion results. Finally, by correlating the resulting model with the original plans, the remains of the expected main structures embedded in the site were characterized. In addition, an anomaly was

Climate change in southern Illinois, USA, based on the age and δ13C of organic matter in cave sediments

Science.gov (United States)

Panno, Samuel V.; Curry, B. Brandon; Wang, Hongfang; Hackley, Keith C.; Liu, Chao-Li; Lundstrom, Craig; Zhou, Juanzuo

2004-01-01

Matrix-supported diamicton and uniform to laminated, silty, fine-grained sediment deposited from about 42,500 to 27,600 cal yr B.P. under slackwater conditions nearly filled two caves in southwestern Illinois. At some point, most of the sediment was flushed from the caves and from about 22,700 to 4000 cal yr B.P., floods deposited a drape of sandy and silty sediment on remnant slackwater successions, cobbly alluvium, and bedrock (especially from 7700 to 4000 cal yr B.P.). Clay mineral analyses of the slackwater cave sediment reveal a provenance of chiefly Petersburg Silt, a smectite- and illite-rich proglacial lacustrine unit present in the overlying Illinois Episode glacial succession. Today, remnants of the ancient subterranean slackwater deposits nearly fill several secondary passages and, in at least two locations, cover a cobble-mantled strath terrace 1.3 to 1.5 m above active stream channels. Slumping and sinkhole formation appear to have been important mechanisms for deposition of the ancient subterranean deposits. Slumping of these surficial deposits and associated vegetation can occur along the flanks of sinkholes (in addition to sinkhole formation) and enter caves; however, the finer organics, some of them comminuted during transport into the caves, become part of the cave alluvium. This finer organic fraction is the modern analog of the humified organic matter disseminated in slackwater sediment dated in this investigation by radiocarbon methods. Twenty-four 14C ages on humified organic matter provide chronologic control. The ??13C values of the organic matter reflect the proportion of C4-type to C3-type vegetation growing in and around swallets and sinkholes at the time of redeposition. Drought-tolerant C4-type vegetation was more prevalent relative to C3-type vegetation from 42,500 to 31,200 cal yr B.P. compared to conditions from 28,800 cal yr B.P. to the present. The ??13C values are consistent with the results from other investigations of

The Berk-Breizman Model as a Paradigm for Energetic Particle-driven Alfven Eigenmodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lesur, M.

2010-01-01

The achievement of sustained nuclear fusion in magnetically confined plasma relies on efficient confinement of alpha particles. Such particles can excite instabilities in the frequency range of Alfven Eigenmodes (AEs), which significantly degrade their confinement and threatens the vacuum vessel of future reactors. In the case of an isolated single resonance, the description of AE destabilization by high-energy ions is homothetic to the so-called Berk-Breizman (BB) problem. A semi-Lagrangian simulation code, COBBLES, is developed to solve the initial-value BB problem in both perturbative (δf) and self-consistent (full-f) approaches. Two collision models are considered, namely a Krook model, and a model that includes dynamical friction (drag) and velocity-space diffusion. The nonlinear behavior of instabilities in experimentally-relevant conditions is categorized into steady-state, periodic, chaotic, and frequency-sweeping (chirping) regimes, depending on external damping rate and collision frequency. The chaotic regime is shown to extend into a linearly stable region, and a mechanism that solves the paradox formed by the existence of such subcritical instabilities is proposed. Analytic and semi-empirical laws for nonlinear chirping characteristics, such as sweeping-rate, lifetime, and asymmetry, are developed and validated. Long-time simulations demonstrate the existence of a quasi-periodic chirping regime. Although the existence of such regime stands for both collision models, drag and diffusion are essential to reproduce the alternation between major chirping events and quiescent phases, which is observed in experiments. A new method for analyzing fundamental kinetic plasma parameters, such as linear drive and external damping rate, is developed. The method, which consists of fitting procedures between COBBLES simulations and quasi-periodic chirping AE experiments, does not require any internal diagnostics. This approach is applied to Toroidicity-induced AEs

Electrical imaging for localizing historical tunnels at an urban environment

Science.gov (United States)

Osella, Ana; Martinelli, Patricia; Grunhut, Vivian; de la Vega, Matías; Bonomo, Néstor; Weissel, Marcelo

2015-08-01

We performed a geophysical study at a historical site in Buenos Aires, Argentina, corresponding to the location of a Jesuit Mission established during the 17th century, remaining there until the 18th century. The site consisted of a church, cloisters, a school, orchards and a procurator’s office; also several tunnels were built, connecting the mission with different public buildings in the town. In the 19th century the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires was built in a sector of the site originally occupied by an orchard, functioning until its demolition in 1973. At present, this area is a cobbled square. With the aim of preserving and restoring the buried structures, work was carried out in this square looking for tunnels and remains of the basement of the old building. Considering the conductive features of the subsoil, mainly formed by clays and silt, the complex characteristics of the buried structures, and the urban localization of the study area with its consequent high level of environmental electromagnetic noise, we performed pre-feasibility studies to determine the usefulness of different geophysical methods. The best results were achieved from the geoelectrical method. Dipole-dipole profiles with electrode spacings of 1.5 and 3 m provided enough lateral and vertical resolution and the required penetration depth. Reliable data were obtained as long as the electrodes were buried at least 15 cm among the cobble stones. Nine 2D electrical resistivity tomographies were obtained by using a robust inversion procedure to reduce the effect of possible data outliers in the resulting models. The effect on these models of different error estimations was also analyzed. Then, we built up a pseudo-3D model by laterally interpolating the 2D inversion results. Finally, by correlating the resulting model with the original plans, the remains of the expected main structures embedded in the site were characterized. In addition, an anomaly was

Damage to and recovery of coastlines polluted with C-heavy oil spilled from the Nakhodka.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayakawa, Kazuichi; Nomura, Maki; Nakagawa, Takuya; Oguri, Seiji; Kawanishi, Takuya; Toriba, Akira; Kizu, Ryoichi; Sakaguchi, Toshifumi; Tamiya, Eiichi

2006-03-01

The damage to and recovery of the Japanese coastline from Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture to Mikuni, Fukui Prefecture was investigated visually over three years after a C-heavy oil spill from the Russian tanker "Nakhodka" in the Japan Sea on January 2, 1997. The beached C-heavy oil tended to remain for a long time on coasts of bedrock and boulder/cobble/pebble but it was removed rapidly from coasts of gravel/sand and man-made structures such as concrete tetrapods. On the coasts of the latter type, wave energy appeared to be the main force removing the oil. One year after the spill, C-heavy oil tended to remain strongly on the sheltered coasts of bedrock and boulder/cobble/pebble. Even on coasts of this type, the contamination was remarkably absent by 2 years after the spill. The concentration levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in oil lumps, sand and seawater were monitored during 3 years following the spill. The concentrations of PAHs having 2 or 3 rings decreased more quickly than did those of PAHs having 4 or more rings, suggesting that volatilization was the main cause of the decrease. On the other hand, the concentrations of PAHs having 4 to 6 rings did not start to decrease until 7 months after the spill. The main cause of the decrease seemed to be photolysis. The concentration of BaP in seawater off the polluted coasts was high 1 month after the spill and then decreased. Three years after the spill, the level fell to the sub ng/L level, which was as low as the level in seawater along unpolluted clean coasts in Japan. The concentration of BaP in greenling was higher than the normal level only during the first two months after the spill. These results suggest that the coastlines in Ishikawa and Fukui Prefectures that were polluted with C-heavy oil recovered in 3 years.

Fish population and habitat analysis in Buck Creek, Washington, prior to recolonization by anadromous salmonids after the removal of Condit Dam

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, M. Brady; Burkhardt, Jeanette; Munz, Carrie; Connolly, Patrick J.

2012-01-01

We assessed the physical and biotic conditions in the part of Buck Creek, Washington, potentially accessible to anadromous fishes. This creek is a major tributary to the White Salmon River upstream of Condit Dam, which was breached in October 2011. Habitat and fish populations were characterized in four stream reaches. Reach breaks were based on stream gradient, water withdrawals, and fish barriers. Buck Creek generally was confined, with a single straight channel and low sinuosity. Boulders and cobble were the dominant stream substrate, with limited gravel available for spawning. Large-cobble riffles were 83 percent of the available fish habitat. Pools, comprising 15 percent of the surface area, mostly were formed by bedrock with little instream cover and low complexity. Instream wood averaged 6—10 pieces per 100 meters, 80 percent of which was less than 50 centimeters in diameter. Water temperature in Buck Creek rarely exceeded 16 degrees Celsius and did so for only 1 day at river kilometer (rkm) 3 and 11 days at rkm 0.2 in late July and early August 2009. The maximum temperature recorded was 17.2 degrees Celsius at rkm 0.2 on August 2, 2009. Minimum summer discharge in Buck Creek was 3.3 cubic feet per second downstream of an irrigation diversion (rkm 3.1) and 7.7 cubic feet per second at its confluence with the White Salmon River. Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) was the dominant fish species in all reaches. The abundance of age-1 or older rainbow trout was similar between reaches. However, in 2009 and 2010, the greatest abundance of age-0 rainbow trout (8 fish per meter) was in the most downstream reach. These analyses in Buck Creek are important for understanding the factors that may limit fish abundance and productivity, and they will help identify and prioritize potential restoration actions. The data collected constitute baseline information of pre-dam removal conditions that will allow assessment of changes in fish populations now that Condit Dam has

Biotope Determinants of EPT Assamblages Structure – Târnava Watershed (Transylvania, Romania Case Study

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Curtean-Bănăduc Angela

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This study aims to analyze the biotopic factors affecting the EPT assemblage diversity in the rivers of the Târnava Watershed. Our research revealed that the high diversity of the Plecoptera communities is associated with river reaches with boulder and cobble lithological substrate, accentuated slope and natural bank dynamics, and also it is directly correlated with dissolved oxygen and inversely correlated with chemical and biochemical oxygen demand, total hardness, nitrates and total nitrogen in the water. The high diversity of the Trichoptera communities is associated with water which presents moderate quantities of nutrients (total phosphorus, phosphates and with river reaches with heterogeneous structures (where runs and bends were present. The diversity of the Ephemeroptera communities is positively correlated with the multiannual average flow and riverbed width.

Visual observations of historical lake trout spawning grounds in western Lake Huron

Science.gov (United States)

Nester, Robert T.; Poe, Thomas P.

1987-01-01

Direct underwater video observations were made of the bottom substrates at 12 spawning grounds formerly used by lake trout Salvelinus namaycush in western Lake Huron to evaluate their present suitability for successful reproduction by lake trout. Nine locations examined north of Saginaw Bay in the northwestern end of the lake are thought to provide the best spawning habitat. The substrate at these sites consisted of angular rough cobble and rubble with relatively deep interstitial spaces (a?Y 0.5 m), small amounts of fine sediments, and little or no periphytic growth. Conditions at the three other sampling locations south of Saginaw Bay seemed much less suitable for successful reproduction based on the reduced area of high-quality substrate, shallow interstitial spaces, high infiltration of fine sediments, and greater periphytic growth.

Development of corrective measures technology for shallow land burial facilities at arid sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nyhan, J.W.; Abeele, W.V.; Perkins, B.A.; Lane, L.J.

1984-01-01

The field research program involving corrective measure technologies for arid shallow land burial (SLB) sites is described. Soil erosion and infiltration of water into a simulated trench cap with various surface treatments was measured and compared with similar data from agricultural systems across the United States. Field testing of biointrustion barriers at closed-out waste disposal sites at Los Alamos and in the experimental clusters are reported. The final results of an experiment designed to measure the extent of contaminant transport to the surface of a SLB facility, and the influence of plants on this relationship, are presented. An experiment designed to determine the effects of subsidence on the performance of a cobble-gravel biobarrier system is described and current field data are presented. 11 references, 11 figures, 5 tables

River Discharge and Local Scale Habitat Influence LIFE Score Macroinvertebrate LIFE Scores

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dunbar, Michael J.; Pedersen, Morten Lauge; Cadman, Dan

2010-01-01

Midlands of the U.K., we describe how local-scale habitat features (indexed through River Habitat Survey or Danish Habitat Quality Survey) and changing river flow (discharge) influence the response of a macroinvertebrate community index. The approach has broad applicability in developing regional flow...... Invertebrate index for Flow Evaluation (LIFE), an average of abundance-weighted flow groups which indicate the microhabitat preferences of each taxon for higher velocities and clean gravel/cobble substrata or slow/still velocities and finer substrata. 3. For the Danish fauna, the LIFE score responded to three...... of the channel (negative). In both cases, LIFE responded negatively to features associated with historical channel modification. We suggest that there are several mechanisms for these relationships, including the narrower tolerances of taxa preferring high velocity habitat; these taxa are also continually...

Bed-material entrainment and associated transportation infrastructure problems in streams of the Edwards Plateau, central Texas

Science.gov (United States)

Heitmuller, Franklin T.; Asquith, William H.

2008-01-01

The Texas Department of Transportation commonly builds and maintains low-water crossings (LWCs) over streams in the Edwards Plateau in Central Texas. LWCs are low-height structures, typically constructed of concrete and asphalt, that provide acceptable passage over seasonal rivers or streams with relatively low normal-depth flow. They are designed to accommodate flow by roadway overtopping during high-flow events. The streams of the Edwards Plateau are characterized by cobble- and gravel-sized bed material and highly variable flow regimes. Low base flows that occur most of the time occasionally are interrupted by severe floods. The floods entrain and transport substantial loads of bed material in the stream channels. As a result, LWCs over streams in the Edwards Plateau are bombarded and abraded by bed material during floods and periodically must be maintained or even replaced.

The radiological and endoscopie appearances of Crohn's disease of the upper gastro-intenstinal tract

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kurtz, B.; Steinhardt, H.J.; Malchow, H.; Tuebingen Univ.

1982-01-01

Involvement of the upper gastrointestinal tract (oesophagus, stomach, duodenum, jejunum) accounted for 13% of endoscopically proven Crohn's disease in patients at the University Clinic, Tuebingen between 1973 and 1980. The basis for the diagnosis was the presence of epitheloid granulomas. The diagnosis was suspected in 26% of patients in endoscopic appearances alone. In these two groups, the appearances were similar, consisting of atypical or linear ulcers, cobble-stone lesions, chronic erosions, aphthous ulcers, stenoses, coarsening of the mucosa and areas of engorgement and granularity. Most patients were also examined radiologically. The radiological findings correspond with the endoscopic observations. Using a double contrast technique, mucosal changes could be demonstrated which, up to now, were only seen by endoscopy. If these findings are observed either radiologically or endoscopically, it is essential to examine the distal portions of the gut. (orig.) [de

Neutron Scattering at HIFAR—Glimpses of the Past

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margaret Elcombe

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This article attempts to give a description of neutron scattering down under for close on forty-six years. The early years describe the fledgling group buying parts and cobbling instruments together to its emergence as a viable neutron scattering group with up to ten working instruments. The second section covers the consolidation of this group, despite tough higher level management. The Australian Science and Technology Council (ASTEC enquiry in 1985 and the Government decision not to replace the HIgh Flux Australian Reactor (HIFAR, led to major expansion and upgrading of the existing neutron beam facilities during the 1990s. Finally, there were some smooth years of operation while other staff were preparing for the replacement reactor. It has concentrated on the instruments as they were built, modified, replaced with new ones, and upgraded at different times.

The Cannery Formation--Devonian to Early Permian arc-marginal deposits within the Alexander Terrane, Southeastern Alaska

Science.gov (United States)

Karl, Susan M.; Layer, Paul W.; Harris, Anita G.; Haeussler, Peter J.; Murchey, Benita L.

2011-01-01

The Cannery Formation consists of green, red, and gray ribbon chert, siliceous siltstone, graywacke-chert turbidites, and volcaniclastic sandstone. Because it contains early Permian fossils at and near its type area in Cannery Cove, on Admiralty Island in southeastern Alaska, the formation was originally defined as a Permian stratigraphic unit. Similar rocks exposed in Windfall Harbor on Admiralty Island contain early Permian bryozoans and brachiopods, as well as Mississippian through Permian radiolarians. Black and green bedded chert with subordinate lenses of limestone, basalt, and graywacke near Kake on Kupreanof Island was initially correlated with the Cannery Formation on the basis of similar lithology but was later determined to contain Late Devonian conodonts. Permian conglomerate in Keku Strait contains chert cobbles inferred to be derived from the Cannery Formation that yielded Devonian and Mississippian radiolarians. On the basis of fossils recovered from a limestone lens near Kake and chert cobbles in the Keku Strait area, the age of the Cannery Formation was revised to Devonian and Mississippian, but this revision excludes rocks in the type locality, in addition to excluding bedded chert on Kupreanof Island east of Kake that contains radiolarians of Late Pennsylvanian and early Permian age. The black chert near Kake that yielded Late Devonian conodonts is nearly contemporaneous with black chert interbedded with limestone that also contains Late Devonian conodonts in the Saginaw Bay Formation on Kuiu Island. The chert cobbles in the conglomerate in Keku Strait may be derived from either the Cannery Formation or the Saginaw Bay Formation and need not restrict the age of the Cannery Formation, regardless of their source. The minimum age of the Cannery Formation on both Admiralty Island and Kupreanof Island is constrained by the stratigraphically overlying fossiliferous Pybus Formation, of late early and early late Permian age. Because bedded radiolarian

An Investigation into the Mechanics of Windblown Dust Entrainment from Nickel Slag Surfaces Resembling Armoured Desert Pavements

Science.gov (United States)

Sanderson, Robert Steven

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the dynamics of PM 10 emission from a nickel slag stockpile that closely resembles a desert pavement in physical characteristics. In the field, it was observed that slag surfaces develop by natural processes into a well-armoured surface over some period of time. The surface then consists of two distinct layers; a surficial armour layer containing only non-erodible gravel and cobble-sized clasts, and an underlying dust-laden layer, which contains a wide size range of slag particles, from clay-sized to cobble-sized. This surficial armour layer protects the underlying fines from wind entrainment, at least under typical wind conditions; however, particle emissions still do occur under high wind speeds. The dynamics of particle entrainment from within these surfaces are investigated herein. It is shown that the dynamics of the boundary layer flow over these lag surfaces are influenced by the inherent roughness and permeability of the surficial armour layer, such that the flow resembles those observed over and within vegetation canopies, and those associated with permeable gravel-bed river channels. Restriction of air flow within the permeable surface produces a high-pressure zone within the pore spaces, resulting in a Kelvin-Helmholtz shear instability, which triggers coherent motions in the form of repeating burst-sweep cycles. Using Laser Doppler Anemometry (LDA), it is demonstrated that the lower boundary layer is characterized by both Q4 sweeping motions and Q2 bursting motions, while the upper boundary layer is dominated by Q2 bursts. Pore air motions within the slag material were measured using buried pressure ports. It is shown that the mean pressure gradient which forms within the slag material results in net upward displacement of air, or wind pumping. However, this net upward motion is a result of rapid oscillatory motions which are directly driven by coherent boundary layer motions. It is also demonstrated that

Location of quarries of magnesian lime used as raw material of Roman plasters in western Lombardy (Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberto Bugini

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Lime as building material was widely diffused in Roman architecture of western Lombardy. The presence of magnesite (magnesium carbonate was detected in painted plasters coming from roman sites of Milano: magnesite indicates the use of dolomite to make the lime. Dolomite rocks widely outcrop in the Lombard Prealps: light grey dolomites and dolomitic limestones (Dolomia del Salvatore, Ladinian-Anisian; grey dolomites, sometimes with cyclothemes (Dolomia Principale, Norian. There is no evidence of Roman lime quarries or kilns in this area; the Romans probably exploited the same dolomite outcrops, located along the eastern shore of lake Maggiore, where lime was produced from the Middle Ages onwards. The glacio-fluvial deposits of the middle course of the river Adda (cobbles, pebbles of siliceous limestone together with limestone and dolomite outcropping in the river basin were another medieval and modern source of raw material, mainly to make a moderately hydraulic lime (called “calce forte”, but this kind of lime is lacking in Roman plasters.

Investigating the resetting of OSL signals in rock surfaces

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sohbati, Reza; Murray, Andrew S.; Jain, Mayank

2011-01-01

were insensitive. Dose recovery tests using solar simulator and IR diodes on both K-feldspar grains and solid slices taken from the inner parts of the rocks are discussed. Preheat plateau results using surface grains and slices show that significant thermal transfer in naturally bleached samples can...... be avoided by keeping preheat temperatures low. Equivalent doses from surface K-feldspar grains were highly scattered and much larger than expected (0.02 Gy to >100 Gy), while solid surface slices gave more reproducible small doses (mean = 0.17±0.02 Gy, n = 32). Neither crushing nor partial bleaching were...... factors were derived for two samples. These indicate that, for instance, bleaching at a depth of 2 mm into these samples occurs at about ∼28% of the rate at the surface. We conclude that it should be possible to derive meaningful burial doses of >1 Gy from such cobbles; younger samples would probably...

Quantifying traces of tool use: a novel morphometric analysis of damage patterns on percussive tools.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew V Caruana

Full Text Available Percussive technology continues to play an increasingly important role in understanding the evolution of tool use. Comparing the archaeological record with extractive foraging behaviors in nonhuman primates has focused on percussive implements as a key to investigating the origins of lithic technology. Despite this, archaeological approaches towards percussive tools have been obscured by a lack of standardized methodologies. Central to this issue have been the use of qualitative, non-diagnostic techniques to identify percussive tools from archaeological contexts. Here we describe a new morphometric method for distinguishing anthropogenically-generated damage patterns on percussive tools from naturally damaged river cobbles. We employ a geomatic approach through the use of three-dimensional scanning and geographical information systems software to statistically quantify the identification process in percussive technology research. This will strengthen current technological analyses of percussive tools in archaeological frameworks and open new avenues for translating behavioral inferences of early hominins from percussive damage patterns.

Climate change law and politics in the United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gerrard, Michael B.

2014-01-01

The United States has an extensive system of environmental law. Congress has passed numerous environmental statutes, but no major ones since 1990. While there was a general consensus on the need for environmental regulation during the 1970s and 1980s, it has broken down and the issue has become the subject of bitter partisan division. One consequence is that the U.S. has no comprehensive statute on climate change, and none appears imminent. A sweeping climate change bill passed the House of Representatives in 2009 but died in the Senate in 2010, and the political situation is such that it now appears that it will be at least several years before Congress enacts any serious climate change legislation. Meanwhile, the federal government is utilizing old statutes, especially the Clean Air Act of 1970, to cobble together a regulatory program. States and regional groupings of states, as well as cities, are also playing important roles in formulating climate change strategies.

ECOLOGY OF CLADOPHORA GLOMERATA (L.) KÜTZ IN SOUTHERN ONTARIO(1).

Science.gov (United States)

Bellis, V J; McLarty, D A

1967-06-01

Cladophora glomerata (L.) Kütz. was the dominant attached alga in streams and along lake shores in southern Ontario. Maximum production occurred in summer and resulted from 2 short periods of intensive vegetative growth (June and September). Optimum habitat conditions consist of a firm substrate in shallow alkaline water. These conditions are provided by harbor facilities where man-made structures supplement naturally occurring rock outcrops or cobble beaches and where nutrients are available from tributaries draining agricultural and urban land areas. Periodicity appears to be related to temperature; the interval between the 2 periods of intensive growth during warm weather decreases at successively more northern locations. Frequent observation of Cladophora growing at a single stream station revealed that variations in thallus morphology and relative cell dimensions of C. glomerata are greater than has generally been recognized. These variations can be attributed to changes in environmental conditions and events in the annual life cycle of the alga.

Automated lake-wide erosion predictions and economic damage calculations upstream of the Moses-Saunders power dam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zuzek, P.; Baird, W.F.; International Joint Commission, Ottawa, ON

2008-01-01

This presentation discussed an automated flood and erosion prediction system designed for the upstream sections of the Moses-Saunders power dam. The system included a wave prediction component along with 3-D maps, hourly run-ups, geographic information system (GIS) tools and a hazard analysis tool. Parcel, reach, township, and county databases were used to populate the system. The prediction system was used to develop detailed study sites of shore units in the study area. Shoreline classes included sand and cohesive buffs, low banks, coarse beaches, and cobble or boulder lags. Time series plots for Lake Ontario water and wave levels were presented. Great Lakes ice cover data were also included in the system as well as erosion predictions from 1961 to 1995. The system was also used to develop bluff recession equations and cumulative recession analyses for different regulation plans. Cumulative bluff recession and protection requirements were outlined. Screenshots of the flood and erosion prediction system interface were also included. tabs., figs

Streamflow measurements in the oil sands region of northeastern Alberta[General Conference

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ashiq, M.; Ade, F. [Golder Associates Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada). Water Resources Engineering Group

2006-07-01

Oil sands mining in the muskeg terrain of north-eastern Alberta will result in changes to the natural landscape, including changes to the morphology of receiving streams. The streams in the oil sands region are fed by constricted flows through the muskeg terrain. The roughness of the stream is attributed to sporadic cobbles and boulders, in-stream vegetation, over hanging vegetation and large quantities of wooden debris from beaver activities. This paper discussed stream roughness features in the oil sands region and compared the velocity profiles in these streams to the normal channel velocity profile. The study also included a comparison of computed discharges based on a simple method and a detailed method. The sources of errors in velocity measurements were then discussed. It was noted that before any oil sand mining project is approved, flows in receiving streams are monitored as part of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA). The flows are then monitored again after project approval as part of project approval conditions.

Quantifying Traces of Tool Use: A Novel Morphometric Analysis of Damage Patterns on Percussive Tools

Science.gov (United States)

Caruana, Matthew V.; Carvalho, Susana; Braun, David R.; Presnyakova, Darya; Haslam, Michael; Archer, Will; Bobe, Rene; Harris, John W. K.

2014-01-01

Percussive technology continues to play an increasingly important role in understanding the evolution of tool use. Comparing the archaeological record with extractive foraging behaviors in nonhuman primates has focused on percussive implements as a key to investigating the origins of lithic technology. Despite this, archaeological approaches towards percussive tools have been obscured by a lack of standardized methodologies. Central to this issue have been the use of qualitative, non-diagnostic techniques to identify percussive tools from archaeological contexts. Here we describe a new morphometric method for distinguishing anthropogenically-generated damage patterns on percussive tools from naturally damaged river cobbles. We employ a geomatic approach through the use of three-dimensional scanning and geographical information systems software to statistically quantify the identification process in percussive technology research. This will strengthen current technological analyses of percussive tools in archaeological frameworks and open new avenues for translating behavioral inferences of early hominins from percussive damage patterns. PMID:25415303

Substrate choice of territorial male topeka shiners (notropis topeka) in the absence of sunfish (lepomis sp.)

Science.gov (United States)

Witte, C.C.; Wildhaber, M.L.; Arab, A.; Noltie, Douglas B.

2009-01-01

Topeka shiners (Notropis topeka), an endangered minnow species, typically spawn on or around breeding Lepomis sunfish (Centrarchidae) nests. Why spawning Topeka shiners are attracted to these nests is unclear, but having the nesting sunfish provide shiner eggs with improved aeration, a lessening of siltation, and protection from egg predators are possibilities. We tested the substrate utilisation of Topeka shiners in outdoor tanks in the absence of sunfish to determine the shiner's fundamental choice. Shiners were provided with substrate patches of cleaned sand, small gravel, large gravel, and small cobble, and the bare floor of the tank. The substrate above which a male shiner established his territory was used as evidence of choice. A statistically significant choice for sand substrates was demonstrated. This fundamental choice might influence which sunfish nests Topeka shiners use, given that nest substrate characteristics differ both between sunfish species and within species by spawning site location. ?? 2009 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Cone penetrometer testing at the Hanford Site: Final performance evaluation report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Richterich, L.R.; Cassem, B.R.

1994-08-01

The Volatile Organic Compounds-Arid Integrated Demonstration (VOC-Arid ID) is one of several US Department of Energy (DOE) integrated demonstrations designed to support the testing of emerging environmental characterization and remediation technologies in support of the Environmental Restoration (ER) and Waste Management (WM) Programs. The primary objective of the VOC Arid ID at the Hanford Site is to characterize, remediate, and monitor arid and semi-arid sites containing volatile organic compounds with or without associated contamination. The main objective of the Arid Drilling Technology Technical Task Plan is to demonstrate promising subsurface access technologies; this includes using the cone penetrometer (CPT) system for source detection, characterization, monitoring, and remediation in support of environmental activities. The utility of the CPT for performing site characterization work has been the subject of much discussion and speculation at the Hanford Site and other arid sites because of the preponderance of thick units of coarse cobbles and gravel in the subsurface

Emplacement of Xenolith Nodules in the Kaupulehu Lava Flow, Hualalai Volcano, Hawaii

Science.gov (United States)

Guest, J. E.; Spudis, P. D.; Greeley, R.; Taylor, G. J.; Baloga, S. M.

1995-01-01

The basaltic Kaupulehu 1800-1801 lava flow of Hualalai Volcano, Hawaii contains abundant ultramafic xenoliths. Many of these xenoliths occur as bedded layers of semi-rounded nodules, each thinly coated with a veneer (typically 1 mm thick) of lava. The nodule beds are analogous to cobble deposits of fluvial sedimentary systems. Although several mechanisms have been proposed for the formation of the nodule beds, it was found that, at more than one locality, the nodule beds are overbank levee deposits. The geological occurrence of the nodules, certain diagnostic aspects of the flow morphology and consideration of the inferred emplacement process indicate that the Kaupulehu flow had an exceptionally low viscosity on eruption and that the flow of the lava stream was extremely rapid, with flow velocities of at least 10 m/s (more than 40 km/h. This flow is the youngest on Hualalai Volcano and future eruptions of a similar type would pose considerable hazard to life as well as property.

Climate change law and politics in the United States

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gerrard, Michael B. [Columbia Law School New York, NY (United States). Center for Climate Change Law

2014-07-01

The United States has an extensive system of environmental law. Congress has passed numerous environmental statutes, but no major ones since 1990. While there was a general consensus on the need for environmental regulation during the 1970s and 1980s, it has broken down and the issue has become the subject of bitter partisan division. One consequence is that the U.S. has no comprehensive statute on climate change, and none appears imminent. A sweeping climate change bill passed the House of Representatives in 2009 but died in the Senate in 2010, and the political situation is such that it now appears that it will be at least several years before Congress enacts any serious climate change legislation. Meanwhile, the federal government is utilizing old statutes, especially the Clean Air Act of 1970, to cobble together a regulatory program. States and regional groupings of states, as well as cities, are also playing important roles in formulating climate change strategies.

Experiences with the Twitter Health Surveillance (THS) System.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez-Martínez, Manuel

2017-06-01

Social media has become an important platform to gauge public opinion on topics related to our daily lives. In practice, processing these posts requires big data analytics tools since the volume of data and the speed of production overwhelm single-server solutions. Building an application to capture and analyze posts from social media can be a challenge simply because it requires combining a set of complex software tools that often times are tricky to configure, tune, and maintain. In many instances, the application ends up being an assorted collection of Java/Scala programs or Python scripts that developers cobble together to generate the data products they need. In this paper, we present the Twitter Health Surveillance (THS) application framework. THS is designed as a platform to allow end-users to monitor a stream of tweets, and process the stream with a combination of built-in functionality and their own user-defined functions. We discuss the architecture of THS, and describe its implementation atop the Apache Hadoop Ecosystem. We also present several lessons learned while developing our current prototype.

Experiences with the Twitter Health Surveillance (THS) System

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez-Martínez, Manuel

2018-01-01

Social media has become an important platform to gauge public opinion on topics related to our daily lives. In practice, processing these posts requires big data analytics tools since the volume of data and the speed of production overwhelm single-server solutions. Building an application to capture and analyze posts from social media can be a challenge simply because it requires combining a set of complex software tools that often times are tricky to configure, tune, and maintain. In many instances, the application ends up being an assorted collection of Java/Scala programs or Python scripts that developers cobble together to generate the data products they need. In this paper, we present the Twitter Health Surveillance (THS) application framework. THS is designed as a platform to allow end-users to monitor a stream of tweets, and process the stream with a combination of built-in functionality and their own user-defined functions. We discuss the architecture of THS, and describe its implementation atop the Apache Hadoop Ecosystem. We also present several lessons learned while developing our current prototype. PMID:29607412

The evolution of a colluvial hollow to a fluvial channel with periodic steps following two transformational disturbances: A wildfire and a historic flood

Science.gov (United States)

Rengers, Francis K.; McGuire, Luke; Ebel, Brian A.; Tucker, G. E.

2018-01-01

The transition of a colluvial hollow to a fluvial channel with discrete steps was observed after two landscape-scale disturbances. The first disturbance, a high-severity wildfire, changed the catchment hydrology to favor overland flow, which incised a colluvial hollow, creating a channel in the same location. This incised channel became armored with cobbles and boulders following repeated post-wildfire overland flow events. Three years after the fire, a record rainstorm produced regional flooding and generated sufficient fluvial erosion and sorting to produce a fluvial channel with periodically spaced steps. An analysis of the step spacing shows that after the flood, newly formed steps retained a similar spacing to the topographic roughness spacing in the original colluvial hollow (prior to channelization). This suggests that despite a distinct change in channel form roughness and bedform morphology, the endogenous roughness periodicity was conserved. Variations in sediment erodibility helped to create the emergent steps as the largest particles ( >D84) remained immobile, becoming step features, and downstream soil was easily winnowed away.

A case of fulminating amebic colitis associated with toxic megacolon

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, Kyung Sik; Lee, Joong Suk; Suh, Soo Jhi [Kyung Hee University Hospital. Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

1985-12-15

Amebic colitis was common disease in Korea as well as in the world especially frequent in tropical area such as Africa, India and South America. Clinicopathological forms of this condition were ulcerative rectocolitis (95%), typhloappendicitis (3%), ameboma (1.5%), and fulminating colitis with toxic megacolon (0.5%). The fulminating amebic colitis with toxic megacolon was very rare and dangerous condition which was reported by Wruble on 1966. Toxic megacolon was seen in the cases of ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, typhoid fever, cholera, and acute bacillary dysentery. Radiological findings of fulminating amebic colitis with toxic megacolon were megacolon, multiple polypoid filling defects, thumbprinting, and cobble stone appearance, which were resemble with ulcerative colitis. The cause of toxic megacolon was not well known, but it has been speculated that this results from transmural disease with destruction of muscle and the myenteric plexus with resultant loss of muscle tone. Authors experienced a case of fulminating amebic colitis with toxic megacolon which was resemble with ulcerative colitis by radiologically at Kyung Hee University Hospital and reported it with review of the literatures.

A case of fulminating amebic colitis associated with toxic megacolon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Kyung Sik; Lee, Joong Suk; Suh, Soo Jhi

1985-01-01

Amebic colitis was common disease in Korea as well as in the world especially frequent in tropical area such as Africa, India and South America. Clinicopathological forms of this condition were ulcerative rectocolitis (95%), typhloappendicitis (3%), ameboma (1.5%), and fulminating colitis with toxic megacolon (0.5%). The fulminating amebic colitis with toxic megacolon was very rare and dangerous condition which was reported by Wruble on 1966. Toxic megacolon was seen in the cases of ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, typhoid fever, cholera, and acute bacillary dysentery. Radiological findings of fulminating amebic colitis with toxic megacolon were megacolon, multiple polypoid filling defects, thumbprinting, and cobble stone appearance, which were resemble with ulcerative colitis. The cause of toxic megacolon was not well known, but it has been speculated that this results from transmural disease with destruction of muscle and the myenteric plexus with resultant loss of muscle tone. Authors experienced a case of fulminating amebic colitis with toxic megacolon which was resemble with ulcerative colitis by radiologically at Kyung Hee University Hospital and reported it with review of the literatures.

Sea-floor morphology and sedimentary environments in western Block Island Sound, offshore of Fishers Island, New York

Science.gov (United States)

McMullen, Katherine Y.; Poppe, Lawrence J.; Danforth, William W.; Blackwood, Dann S.; Winner, William G.; Parker, Castle E.

2015-01-01

Multibeam-bathymetric and sidescan-sonar data, collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in a 114-square-kilometer area of Block Island Sound, southeast of Fishers Island, New York, are combined with sediment samples and bottom photography collected by the U.S. Geological Survey from 36 stations in this area in order to interpret sea-floor features and sedimentary environments. These interpretations and datasets provide base maps for studies on benthic ecology and resource management. The geologic features and sedimentary environments on the sea floor are products of the area’s glacial history and modern processes. These features include bedrock, drumlins, boulders, cobbles, large current-scoured bathymetric depressions, obstacle marks, and glaciolacustrine sediments found in high-energy sedimentary environments of erosion or nondeposition; and sand waves and megaripples in sedimentary environments characterized by coarse-grained bedload transport. Trawl marks are preserved in lower energy environments of sorting and reworking. This report releases the multibeam-bathymetric, sidescan-sonar, sediment, and photographic data and interpretations of the features and sedimentary environments in Block Island Sound, offshore Fishers Island.

The evolution of a colluvial hollow to a fluvial channel with periodic steps following two transformational disturbances: A wildfire and a historic flood

Science.gov (United States)

Rengers, F. K.; McGuire, L. A.; Ebel, B. A.; Tucker, G. E.

2018-05-01

The transition of a colluvial hollow to a fluvial channel with discrete steps was observed after two landscape-scale disturbances. The first disturbance, a high-severity wildfire, changed the catchment hydrology to favor overland flow, which incised a colluvial hollow, creating a channel in the same location. This incised channel became armored with cobbles and boulders following repeated post-wildfire overland flow events. Three years after the fire, a record rainstorm produced regional flooding and generated sufficient fluvial erosion and sorting to produce a fluvial channel with periodically spaced steps. An analysis of the step spacing shows that after the flood, newly formed steps retained a similar spacing to the topographic roughness spacing in the original colluvial hollow (prior to channelization). This suggests that despite a distinct change in channel form roughness and bedform morphology, the endogenous roughness periodicity was conserved. Variations in sediment erodibility helped to create the emergent steps as the largest particles (>D84) remained immobile, becoming step features, and downstream soil was easily winnowed away.

Case history: Vertical barrier wall system for Superfund Site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koelling, M.A.; Kovac, C.P.; Norris, J.E.

1997-01-01

Design considerations and construction aspects are presented for the installation of a vertical barrier wall system for the Boeing Company at a Superfund Site near Seattle, WA. The construction was performed during 1996. The vertical barrier wall system included: (1) a soil-bentonite (SB) slurry wall, approximately 670 meters (2200 feet) in length, ranging from 12 to 21 meters (40 to 70 feet) in depth; (2) expansion of a cover system over the area enclosed by the SB wall; and (3) surface drainage improvements. Design and construction of the system addressed requirements of a Consent Decree for the site issued in 1993. The paper discusses the development of the design to meet remedial performance goals of preventing migration of contaminants in the soil/groundwater system and aiding aquifer restoration. Secondly, the paper details installation of the SB wall, highlighting the more significant construction issues, which included excavation of the wall through glacially deposited cobbles/boulders/till as well as addressing the severe elevation changes along the wall alignment. Thirdly, the paper presents Quality Assurance (QA) monitoring and testing performed during the construction phase

A case of fulminating amebic colitis associated with toxic megacolon

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, Kyung Sik; Lee, Joong Suk; Suh, Soo Jhi [Kyung Hee University Hospital. Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

1985-12-15

Amebic colitis was common disease in Korea as well as in the world especially frequent in tropical area such as Africa, India and South America. Clinicopathological forms of this condition were ulcerative rectocolitis (95%), typhloappendicitis (3%), ameboma (1.5%), and fulminating colitis with toxic megacolon (0.5%). The fulminating amebic colitis with toxic megacolon was very rare and dangerous condition which was reported by Wruble on 1966. Toxic megacolon was seen in the cases of ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, typhoid fever, cholera, and acute bacillary dysentery. Radiological findings of fulminating amebic colitis with toxic megacolon were megacolon, multiple polypoid filling defects, thumbprinting, and cobble stone appearance, which were resemble with ulcerative colitis. The cause of toxic megacolon was not well known, but it has been speculated that this results from transmural disease with destruction of muscle and the myenteric plexus with resultant loss of muscle tone. Authors experienced a case of fulminating amebic colitis with toxic megacolon which was resemble with ulcerative colitis by radiologically at Kyung Hee University Hospital and reported it with review of the literatures.

Biogeomorphological influence of slope processes and sedimentology on vascular talus vegetation in the southern Cascades, California

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez, Francisco L.

2012-02-01

The vascular vegetation of alpine talus slopes between 2035 and 3095 m altitude was studied at Lassen Volcanic National Park (California) in the Cascade Range. Taluses show a diverse flora, with 79 plant species; growth forms include coniferous trees, shrubs, suffrutices, herbs, graminoids, and ferns. Spatial patterns of plant distribution were studied along 40 point-intercept transects. Plant cover was low (0-32.7%) on all slopes, spatially variable, and showed no consistent trends. Sedimentological characteristics were determined by photosieving next to 1500 plants; this census indicated preferential plant growth on blocks and cobbles, with 43.2% and 23.3% of the plants growing on these stones, respectively; fewer specimens were rooted on pebbles (13%) or on stone-free gravel areas (20.5%). Growth forms displayed different substrate preferences: 92.5% of the shrubs and 83% of the suffrutices colonized blocks or cobbles, but only 57.2% of the herbs and 59.8% of the graminoids grew on large stones. Plants are associated with large clasts because (1) coarse talus is more stable than fine sediment areas, which are more frequently disturbed by various geomorphic processes, and (2) large stones help conserve substrate water beneath them while moisture quickly evaporates from fine debris. Root patterns were studied for 30 plant species; 10 specimens for each species were excavated and inspected, and several root growth ratios calculated. All species exhibited pronounced root asymmetry, as roots for most plants grew upslope from their shoot base. For 23 species, all specimens had 100% of their roots growing upslope; for the other 7 species, 92.2-99.3% of below-ground biomass extended uphill. This uneven root distribution is ascribed to continual substrate instability and resulting talus shift; as cascading debris progressively buries roots and stems, plants are gradually pushed and/or stretched downhill. Various disturbance events affect root development. Slope erosion

Steady as a rock: Biogeomorphic influence of nurse rocks and slope processes on kūpaoa (Dubautia menziesii) shrubs in Haleakalā Crater (Maui, Hawai'i)

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez, Francisco L.

2017-10-01

This study examines biogeomorphic interactions between nurse rocks, slope processes, and 300 kūpaoa (Dubautia menziesii) shrubs in Haleakalā Crater (Maui, Hawai'i). Research objectives were to: assess the association of kūpaoa with substrates upslope and downslope of plants, and proximity to the closest rock uphill; contrast shrub/substrate relationships with site frequency of sediment types; measure surface soil shear-strength and compressibility on 50 paired locations near boulders; and investigate the aggregation characteristics and spatial patterns of kūpaoa in relation to rock and substrate variation. Data analyzed came from three 100-plant surveys at 3 sites: a plant census at 2720-2975 m altitude, and wandering-quarter transects (WQTs) across two areas (2610-2710 m); ground sediment cover was estimated along four phototransects on these sites. Data for the three 100-plant surveys included substrate type-outcrops, blocks, cobbles, pebbles, exposed soil, organic litter-upslope from each plant, and distance to the largest rock upslope. The two surveys examined along WQTs included substrate type found downslope from kūpaoa, plant height, plant diameters across and along the slope, and distance between successively censused plants. Most plants grew downslope of nurse rocks; > 74% were adjacent to blocks or outcrops, and > 17% near cobbles. Plants showed avoidance for finer substrates; only 5.3% and 2.7% grew on/near bare soils and pebbles, respectively. About 92% of kūpaoa were ≤ 10 cm downslope of rocks; > 89% grew ≤ 2 cm away, and 83% in direct contact with a rock. Some seedlings also grew on pukiawe (Leptecophylla tameiameiae) nurse plants. Several stable rock microsites protected plants from disturbance by slope processes causing debris shift. Site sediments were significantly finer than substrates near plants; shrubs grew preferentially adjacent to boulders > 20 cm wide, which were more common near plants than across sites. Soils downslope of 50

The Berk-Breizman Model as a Paradigm for Energetic Particle-driven Alfven Eigenmodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lesur, M.

2010-01-01

The achievement of sustained nuclear fusion in magnetically confined plasma relies on efficient confinement of alpha particles, which are high-energy ions produced by the fusion reaction. Such particles can excite instabilities in the frequency range of Alfven Eigenmodes (AEs), which significantly degrade their confinement and threatens the vacuum vessel of future reactors. In order to develop diagnostics and control schemes, a better understanding of linear and nonlinear features of resonant interactions between plasma waves and high-energy particles, which is the aim of this thesis, is required. In the case of an isolated single resonance, the description of AE destabilization by high-energy ions is homothetic to the so-called Berk-Breizman (BB) problem, which is an extension of the classic bump-on-tail electrostatic problem, including external damping to a thermal plasma, and collisions. A semi-Lagrangian simulation code, COBBLES, is developed to solve the initial-value BB problem in both perturbative (δ f) and self-consistent (full-f) approaches. Two collision models are considered, namely a Krook model, and a model that includes dynamical friction (drag) and velocity-space diffusion. The nonlinear behavior of instabilities in experimentally-relevant conditions is categorized into steady-state, periodic, chaotic, and frequency-sweeping (chirping) regimes, depending on external damping rate and collision frequency. The chaotic regime is shown to extend into a linearly stable region, and a mechanism that solves the paradox formed by the existence of such subcritical instabilities is proposed. Analytic and semi-empirical laws for nonlinear chirping characteristics, such as sweeping-rate, lifetime, and asymmetry, are developed and validated. Long-time simulations demonstrate the existence of a quasi-periodic chirping regime. Although the existence of such regime stands for both collision models, drag and diffusion are essential to reproduce the alternation between

Long-term background denudation rates of southern and southeastern Brazilian watersheds estimated with cosmogenic 10Be

Science.gov (United States)

Sosa Gonzalez, Veronica; Bierman, Paul R.; Fernandes, Nelson F.; Rood, Dylan H.

2016-09-01

In comparison to humid temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, less is known about the long-term (millennial scale) background rates of erosion in Southern Hemisphere tropical watersheds. In order to better understand the rate at which watersheds in southern and southeastern Brazil erode, and the relationship of that erosion to climate and landscape characteristics, we made new measurements of in situ produced 10Be in river sediments and we compiled all extant measurements from this part of the country. New data from 14 watersheds in the states of Santa Catarina (n = 7) and Rio de Janeiro (n = 7) show that erosion rates vary there from 13 to 90 m/My (mean = 32 m/My; median = 23 m/My) and that the difference between erosion rates of basins we sampled in the two states is not significant. Sampled basin area ranges between 3 and 14,987 km2, mean basin elevation between 235 and 1606 m, and mean basin slope between 11 and 29°. Basins sampled in Rio de Janeiro, including three that drain the Serra do Mar escarpment, have an average basin slope of 19°, whereas the average slope for the Santa Catarina basins is 14°. Mean basin slope (R2 = 0.73) and annual precipitation (R2 = 0.57) are most strongly correlated with erosion in the basins we studied. At three sites where we sampled river sand and cobbles, the 10Be concentration in river sand was greater than in the cobbles, suggesting that these grain sizes are sourced from different parts of the landscape. Compiling all cosmogenic 10Be-derived erosion rates previously published for southern and southeastern Brazil watersheds to date (n = 76) with our 14 sampled basins, we find that regional erosion rates (though low) are higher than those of watersheds also located on other passive margins including Namibia and the southeastern North America. Brazilian basins erode at a pace similar to escarpments in southeastern North America. Erosion rates in southern and southeastern Brazil are directly and positively related to

TextureCam Field Test Results from the Mojave Desert, California: Autonomous Instrument Classification of Sediment and Rock Surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Castano, R.; Abbey, W. J.; Bekker, D. L.; Cabrol, N. A.; Francis, R.; Manatt, K.; Ortega, K.; Thompson, D. R.; Wagstaff, K.

2013-12-01

TextureCam is an intelligent camera that uses integrated image analysis to classify sediment and rock surfaces into basic visual categories. This onboard image understanding can improve the autonomy of exploration spacecraft during the long periods when they are out of contact with operators. This could increase the number of science activities performed in each command cycle by, for example, autonomously targeting science features of opportunity with narrow field of view remote sensing, identifying clean surfaces for autonomous placement of arm-mounted instruments, or by detecting high value images for prioritized downlink. TextureCam incorporates image understanding directly into embedded hardware with a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). This allows the instrument to perform the classification in real time without taxing the primary spacecraft computing resources. We use a machine learning approach in which operators train a statistical model of surface appearance using examples from previously acquired images. A random forest model extrapolates from these training cases, using the statistics of small image patches to characterize the texture of each pixel independently. Applying this model to each pixel in a new image yields a map of surface units. We deployed a prototype instrument in the Cima Volcanic Fields during a series of experiments in May 2013. We imaged each environment with a tripod-mounted RGB camera connected directly to the FPGA board for real time processing. Our first scenario assessed ground surface cover on open terrain atop a weathered volcanic flow. We performed a transect consisting of 16 forward-facing images collected at 1m intervals. We trained the system to categorize terrain into four classes: sediment, basalt cobbles, basalt pebbles, and basalt with iron oxide weathering. Accuracy rates with regards to the fraction of the actual feature that was labeled correctly by the automated system were calculated. Lower accuracy rates were

Physical modelling of tsunamis generated by three-dimensional deformable granular landslides on planar and conical island slopes.

Science.gov (United States)

McFall, Brian C; Fritz, Hermann M

2016-04-01

Tsunamis generated by landslides and volcanic island collapses account for some of the most catastrophic events recorded, yet critically important field data related to the landslide motion and tsunami evolution remain lacking. Landslide-generated tsunami source and propagation scenarios are physically modelled in a three-dimensional tsunami wave basin. A unique pneumatic landslide tsunami generator was deployed to simulate landslides with varying geometry and kinematics. The landslides were generated on a planar hill slope and divergent convex conical hill slope to study lateral hill slope effects on the wave characteristics. The leading wave crest amplitude generated on a planar hill slope is larger on average than the leading wave crest generated on a convex conical hill slope, whereas the leading wave trough and second wave crest amplitudes are smaller. Between 1% and 24% of the landslide kinetic energy is transferred into the wave train. Cobble landslides transfer on average 43% more kinetic energy into the wave train than corresponding gravel landslides. Predictive equations for the offshore propagating wave amplitudes, periods, celerities and lengths generated by landslides on planar and divergent convex conical hill slopes are derived, which allow an initial rapid tsunami hazard assessment.

Shoreline ecology program for Prince William Sound, Alaska, following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Part 3: Biology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gilfillan, E.S.; Page, D.S.; Harner, E.J.; Boehm, P.D.

1995-01-01

This study describes the biological results of a comprehensive shoreline ecology program designed to assess ecological recovery in Prince William Sound following the Exxon Valdez oil spill on march 24, 1989. The program is an application of the ''Sediment Quality Triad'' approach, combining chemical, toxicological, and biological measurements. The study was designed so that results could be extrapolated to the entire spill zone in Prince William Sound. The spill affected four major shoreline habitat types in Prince William Sound: pebble/gravel, boulder/cobble, sheltered bedrock, and exposed bedrock. The study design had two components: (1) one-time stratified random sampling at 64 sites representing four habitats and four oiling levels (including unoiled reference sites) and (2) periodic sampling at 12 nonrandomly chosen sites that included some of the most heavily oiled locations in the sound. Biological communities on rock surfaces and in intertidal and shallow subtidal sediments were analyzed for differences resulting from to oiling in each of 16 habitat/tide zone combinations. Statistical methods included univariate analyses of individual species abundances and community parameter variables (total abundance, species richness, and Shannon diversity), and multivariate correspondence analysis of community structure. 58 refs., 13 figs., 9 tabs

General morphology of the oral cavity of the Nile crocodile, Crocodylus niloticus (Laurenti, 1768. I. Palate and gingivae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J.F. Putterill

2003-11-01

Full Text Available The heads of nine 2.5 to 3-year-old Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus were obtained from a commercial farm where crocodiles are raised for their skins and meat. The animals from which these specimens originated were clinically healthy at the time they were slaughtered. A detailed description of the macroscopic and microscopic features of the palate and gingivae of the Nile crocodile is presented and the results are compared with published information on this species and other Crocodylia. The histological features are supplemented by information supplied by scanning electron microscopy. Macroscopic features of interest are the small conical process situated at the base of the first two incisors of the maxilla, the distribution of cobbled units on the palate, and the broad dentary shelf forming the rostral aspect of the mandible. Histologically the palate and gingivae did not differ significantly from each other and both regions showed a presence of Pacinian-type corpuscles. Two types of sensory structures (taste receptors and pressure receptors were identified in the regions examined, both involving modification of the epithelium and the underlying connective tissue.

Subsurface moisture regimes and tracer movement under two types of trench-cap designs for shallow land burial sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perkins, B.A.; Cokal, E.J.

1986-03-01

The Los Alamos work has focused on proper design of shallow land burial (SLB) sites in arid and semiarid regions and on applying corrective measures to existing sites. One of the most important design features affecting the probability of movement of radionuclides in SLB sites is the type of trench cap placed over the waste. The cap influences such interdependent parameters as erosion, water infiltration and percolation, and biointrusion. To obtain experimental data for arid and semiarid sites, two different designs of trench caps, one with topsoil underlain with a cobble/gravel biobarrier and one with topsoil underlain with crushed tuff, were compared with respect to (1) seasonal changes in volumetric soil water content, and (2) downward migration of tracers emplaced directly below each type of trench cap. The causes for the large differences in concentrations found in this experiment need to be investigated further. Problems in environmental modeling and monitoring of arid and semiarid SLB sites because of heterogeneities in the soil profiles and their implications for SLB waste management need to be better understood. More work in trench-cap design and its influence on the many pathways available for mobilization is needed

Surface and subsurface cleanup protocol for radionuclides, Gunnison, Colorado, UMTRA project processing site: Final

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-01-01

Thorium 230 (Th-230) at the Gunnison, Colorado processing site will require remediation, however, a seasonally fluctuating groundwater table at the site significantly complicates conventional remedial action with respect to cleanup. Therefore, to effectively remediate the site with respect to Radium 226 (Ra-226) and Th-230, the following supplemental standard is proposed: In situ Ra-26 will be remediated to the EPA soil cleanup standards independent of groundwater considerations. In situ Th-230 concentrations will be remediated in the region above the encountered water table so the 1000-year projected Ra-226 concentration complies with the EPA soil cleanup concentration limits. If elevated Th-230 persists to the water table, an additional foot of excavation will be performed and the grid will be backfilled. Excavated grids will be backfilled to the final remedial action grade with clean cobbly soil. Final grid verification that is required below the water table will be performed by extracting and analyzing a single bulk soil sample with the bucket of a backhoe. Modeled surface radon flux values will be estimated and documented. A recommendation will be made that land records should be annotated to identify the presence of residual Th-230

Evaluation of PAH depletion of subsurface Exxon Valdez oil residues remaining in Prince William Sound in 2007-2008 and their likely bioremediation potential

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Atlas, R. [Louisville Univ., Louisville, KY (United States); Bragg, J.R. [Creative Petroleum Solutions LLC, Houston, TX (United States)

2009-07-01

This study examined the extent of oil weathering at the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) sites and estimated the bioremediation potential for shoreline segments by examining the depletion of total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) relative to an estimated applicability threshold of 70 per cent. The distribution of oil was examined by location and current ratios of nitrogen and non-polar oil in order to assess if biodegradation rates were nutrient-limited. The impact of sequestration on the effectiveness of bioremediation was also studied. Results of the study showed that the EVOS residues are patchy and infrequently found on sites that were heavily oiled in 1989. Only 0.4 per cent of the oil originally stranded in 1989 remained. The remaining EVOS residues are sequestered under boulder and cobble armour in areas with limited contact with flowing water. The study also showed that concentrations of nitrogen and dissolved oxygen in pore waters within strata adjacent to the sequestered oil can support biodegradation. Most remaining EVOS residues are highly weathered and biodegraded. It was concluded that nutrients added to the shorelines are unlikely to effectively contact the sequestered oil. 31 refs., 2 tabs., 14 figs.

Persistence of the longnose darter (P. nasuta) in Lee Creek, Oklahoma

Science.gov (United States)

Gatlin, Michael R.; Long, James M.

2011-01-01

The longnose darter Percina nasuta (Bailey) is one of Oklahoma’s rarest fish species (1) and is listed by the state as endangered. Throughout the rest of its range, which includes Missouri, Arkansas and the far eastern portion of Oklahoma, the longnose darter is classified as “rare” or “threatened” (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1). This species inhabits both slow- and fast-water habitats with cobble and gravel substrates in medium to large streams (7, 8, 1). Oklahoma populations of longnose darter are known to occur only in the Poteau River and Lee Creek drainages in Le Flore and Sequoyah counties, respectively (9, 10). Cross and Moore (9) collected longnose darters from the Poteau River in 1947. The species was not collected in a subsequent survey of the Poteau River in 1974 (11), possibly because of the effects from the Wister Dam, which was completed in 1949. Darters are especially susceptible to flow alterations from dams (2, 12). This, together with the 1992 completion of Lee Creek Reservoir in Arkansas, has raised concern for the Lee Creek population of longnose darters (13).

Per l'analisi dell'oralità nei cantari

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Spiazzi

2016-12-01

The cantare, a genre which is difficult to define, spreads along a two centuries space of time (between the XIVth and the XVIth century and can be identified with a corpus of greatly varied texts. A broad series of performativity  traces and clues, able to give further evidence of the real recitative essence of the texts, will be anlysed, aiming to ivestigate the question on the performative tradition of the cantari and on the complex alternation between orality and writing, easily detectable in many canterini texts. In this study we will investigate all these components both from their outer and more explicit appearance, with all its formulas and recurrent themes, and through the anlysis of rhetorical and formal constructions, such as: the peculiar structure of the octave, the paratactic construction, references and repetitions, identical, desinantial and cobbled together rhymes, anisosyllabism, a common and general use of correspondence between metre and syntax, minimizing the cases of enjambement. The filing of some texts from the tradition, searching for traces of orality, identified earlier, and the comparison among the respective files, urges to a closer examination of the genre and the texts.

Predictive techniques for river channel evolution and maintenance

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, J.M.

1996-01-01

Predicting changes in alluvial channel morphology associated with anthropogenic and natural changes in flow and/or sediment supply is a critical part of the management of riverine systems. Over the past few years, advances in the understanding of the physics of sediment transport in conjunction with rapidly increasing capabilities in computational fluid dynamics have yielded now approaches to problems in river mechanics. Techniques appropriate for length scales ranging from reaches to bars and bedforms are described here. Examples of the use of these computational approaches are discussed for three cases: (1) the design of diversion scenarios that maintain channel morphology in steep cobble-bedded channels in Colorado, (2) determination of channel maintenance flows for the preservation of channel islands in the Snake River in Idaho, and (3) prediction of the temporal evolution of deposits in lateral separation zones for future assessment of the impacts of various dam release scenarios on lateral separation deposits in the Colorado River in Grand Canyon. With continued development of their scientific and technical components, the methodologies described here can provide powerful tools for the management of river environments in the future.

The variation of riverbed material due to tropical storms in Shi-Wen River, Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Chin-Ping; Wang, Yu-Min; Tfwala, Samkele S; Chen, Ching-Nuo

2014-01-01

Taiwan, because of its location, is a flood prone region and is characterised by typhoons which brings about two-thirds to three quarters of the annual rainfall amount. Consequently, enormous flows result in rivers and entrain some fractions of the grains that constitute the riverbed. Hence, the purpose of the study is to quantify the impacts of these enormous flows on the distribution of grain size in riverbeds. The characteristics of riverbed material prior to and after the typhoon season are compared in Shi-Wen River located at southern Taiwan. These include grain size variation, bimodality, and roughness coefficient. A decrease (65%) and increase (50%) in geometric mean size of grains were observed for subsurface and surface bed material, respectively. Geometric standard deviation decreased in all sites after typhoon. Subsurface material was bimodal prior to typhoons and polymodal after. For surface material, modal class is in the gravel class, while after typhoons it shifts towards cobble class. The reduction in geometric mean resulted to a decrease in roughness coefficient by up to 30%. Finally, the relationship of Shields and Froude numbers are studied and a change in the bed form to antidunes and transition form is observed, respectively.

GPR Imaging of Clastic Dikes at the Hanford Site, Hanford, Washington

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clement, William P.; Murray, Christopher J.

2007-01-01

We use ground penetrating radar (GPR) data to help determine the spatial distribution and the subsurface geometry of clastic injection dikes at the Hanford site. This information will help to improve the understanding of the hydrological role of these ubiquitous clastic dikes at the Hanford Site. We collected 100 MHz ground penetrating radar (GPR) 3D surface reflection data at two sites, the S-16 Pond and the Army Loop Road sites, and 2D reflection data along a 6.9 km linear transect near the Army Loop Road site. The dikes are distinguished in the GPR data by a strongly attenuated zone, disruptions in the continuity of reflections, and diffractions where reflections are disrupted. In general, the data quality is better at the Army Loop Road and Traverse sites than at the S-16 Pond site, probably due to the presence of cobbles at the S-16 Pond site. A high-moisture, fine-grained unit probably causes the strong reflections at the Army Loop Road site and the Traverse survey site. The signal penetration varies between 5 to 12 m below the land surface

Midwest Lake uranium discovery, Saskatchewan, Canada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scott, F.

1981-01-01

The discovery of the Midwest Lake uranium deposit in Saskatchewan came some ten years after the start of exploration. The original mining rights were acquired on the basis of regional published, geology and proximity to the earlier discovery. Aerial radiometric surveys led to the location of a train of radioactive, glacially transported sandstone boulders and cobbles. The source of these mineralized erratics did not outcrop, and an extensive series of magnetic, electromagnetic, seismic and gravity surveys was carried out in an unsuccessful attempt to identify the source location. These surveys were followed by several programmes of diamond drilling, geochemical surveys and Pleistocene geological studies. None of these programmes or surveys encountered bedrock mineralization. When information about ore controls in the Athabasca Basin became available, a limited programme of three 300-m wildcat diamond-drill holes was proposed. The second of these holes cut weak radioactivity in a poorly cored intersection. This intersection was at an unconformity at a depth of 200 m. The programme terminated prematurely with early melting of lake ice. The first hole in the subsequent winter's follow-up drilling intersected uranium values in excess of 8%. (author)

A treatment of expansive soil using different additives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bestun J. Nareeman

2010-11-01

Full Text Available There are many factors that govern the expansion behavior of soil. The primary factors are a change in water contentand the amount and type of clay size particles in the soil. Other important factors affecting the expansion behavior include the typeof soil (natural or fill, condition of the soil in terms of dry density and moisture content, magnitude of the surcharge pressure,and amount of no expansive material such as gravel or cobble size particles.In this paper, a swelling soil from the site Hamamuk earth dam, which is located in Koya town north of Iraq, is treated by fourtypes of additives; cement, steel fibers, gasoline fuel and injection by cement grout.The treatment of the expansive soil with 5 % of cement or steel fibers or the injection with cement grout revealed a betterimprovement while 4 % of gasoline oil is sufficient to reveal the optimum treatment by this material. The angle of internal friction is notaffected by the treatment while the cohesion between particles is slightly affected by these additives due to a change in the adhesionbetween the additive and soil particles.

Beyond assemblies: system convergence and multi-materiality.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiscombe, Tom

2012-03-01

The architectural construction industry has become increasingly more specialized over the past 50 years, creating a culture of layer thinking over part-to-whole thinking. Building systems and technologies are often cobbled together in conflicting and uncorrelated ways, even when referred to as 'integrated', such as by way of building information modeling. True integration of building systems requires rethinking how systems and architectural morphologies can push and pull on one another, creating not only innovation in technology but in aesthetics. The revolution in composite materials, with unprecedented plasticity and performance features, opens up a huge range of possibilities for achieving this kind of convergence. Composites by nature fuse envelope and structure, but through various types of inflections, they can also be made to conduct air and fluids through cavities and de-laminations, as well as integrate lighting and energy systems. Assembly as we know it moves away from mineral materials and hardware and toward polymers and 'healing'. Further, when projected into the near-future realm of multi-materiality and 3D manufacturing, possibilities for embedding systems and creating gradients of rigidity and opacity open up, pointing to an entirely new realm of architectural thinking.

Beyond assemblies: system convergence and multi-materiality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wiscombe, Tom

2012-01-01

The architectural construction industry has become increasingly more specialized over the past 50 years, creating a culture of layer thinking over part-to-whole thinking. Building systems and technologies are often cobbled together in conflicting and uncorrelated ways, even when referred to as 'integrated', such as by way of building information modeling. True integration of building systems requires rethinking how systems and architectural morphologies can push and pull on one another, creating not only innovation in technology but in aesthetics. The revolution in composite materials, with unprecedented plasticity and performance features, opens up a huge range of possibilities for achieving this kind of convergence. Composites by nature fuse envelope and structure, but through various types of inflections, they can also be made to conduct air and fluids through cavities and de-laminations, as well as integrate lighting and energy systems. Assembly as we know it moves away from mineral materials and hardware and toward polymers and 'healing'. Further, when projected into the near-future realm of multi-materiality and 3D manufacturing, possibilities for embedding systems and creating gradients of rigidity and opacity open up, pointing to an entirely new realm of architectural thinking.

Geomorphic and stratigraphic evidence for an unusual tsunami or storm a few centuries ago at Anegada, British Virgin Islands

Science.gov (United States)

Atwater, Brian F.; ten Brink, Uri S.; Buckley, Mark; Halley, Robert S.; Jaffe, Bruce E.; López-Venegas, Alberto M.; Reinhardt, Eduard G.; Tuttle, Maritia P.; Watt, Steve; Wei, Yong

2012-01-01

Waters from the Atlantic Ocean washed southward across parts of Anegada, east-northeast of Puerto Rico, during a singular event a few centuries ago. The overwash, after crossing a fringing coral reef and 1.5 km of shallow subtidal flats, cut dozens of breaches through sandy beach ridges, deposited a sheet of sand and shell capped with lime mud, and created inland fields of cobbles and boulders. Most of the breaches extend tens to hundreds of meters perpendicular to a 2-km stretch of Anegada’s windward shore. Remnants of the breached ridges stand 3 m above modern sea level, and ridges seaward of the breaches rise 2.2–3.0 m high. The overwash probably exceeded those heights when cutting the breaches by overtopping and incision of the beach ridges. Much of the sand-and-shell sheet contains pink bioclastic sand that resembles, in grain size and composition, the sand of the breached ridges. This sand extends as much as 1.5 km to the south of the breached ridges. It tapers southward from a maximum thickness of 40 cm, decreases in estimated mean grain size from medium sand to very fine sand, and contains mud laminae in the south. The sand-and-shell sheet also contains mollusks—cerithid gastropods and the bivalve Anomalocardia—and angular limestone granules and pebbles. The mollusk shells and the lime-mud cap were probably derived from a marine pond that occupied much of Anegada’s interior at the time of overwash. The boulders and cobbles, nearly all composed of limestone, form fields that extend many tens of meters generally southward from limestone outcrops as much as 0.8 km from the nearest shore. Soon after the inferred overwash, the marine pond was replaced by hypersaline ponds that produce microbial mats and evaporite crusts. This environmental change, which has yet to be reversed, required restriction of a former inlet or inlets, the location of which was probably on the island’s south (lee) side. The inferred overwash may have caused restriction

N-Isopropylacrylamide-co-glycidylmethacrylate as a Thermoresponsive Substrate for Corneal Endothelial Cell Sheet Engineering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernadette K. Madathil

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Endothelial keratoplasty is a recent shift in the surgical treatment of corneal endothelial dystrophies, where the dysfunctional endothelium is replaced whilst retaining the unaffected corneal layers. To overcome the limitation of donor corneal shortage, alternative use of tissue engineered constructs is being researched. Tissue constructs with intact extracellular matrix are generated using stimuli responsive polymers. In this study we evaluated the feasibility of using the thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-glycidylmethacrylate polymer as a culture surface to harvest viable corneal endothelial cell sheets. Incubation below the lower critical solution temperature of the polymer allowed the detachment of the intact endothelial cell sheet. Phase contrast and scanning electron microscopy revealed the intact architecture, cobble stone morphology, and cell-to-cell contact in the retrieved cell sheet. Strong extracellular matrix deposition was also observed. The RT-PCR analysis confirmed functionally active endothelial cells in the cell sheet as evidenced by the positive expression of aquaporin 1, collagen IV, Na+-K+ ATPase, and FLK-1. Na+-K+ ATPase protein expression was also visualized by immunofluorescence staining. These results suggest that the in-house developed thermoresponsive culture dish is a suitable substrate for the generation of intact corneal endothelial cell sheet towards transplantation for endothelial keratoplasty.

An ecological engineering approach for keeping water from reaching interred wastes in arid or semiarid regions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, J.E.

1997-01-01

This paper describes application of a soil-plant cover system (SPCS) to preclude water from reaching interred wastes in arid and semiarid regions. Where potential evapotranspiration far exceeds precipitation, water can be kept from reaching buried wastes by (1) providing a sufficiently deep cap of soil to store precipitation that falls while plants are dormant and (2) maintaining plant cover to deplete soil moisture during the growing season, thereby emptying the storage reservoir. Research at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) has shown that 2 m of soil is adequate to store moisture from snowmelt and spring rains. Healthy stands of perennial grasses and shrubs adapted to the INEL climate use all available soil moisture, even during a very wet growing season. However, burrowing by small mammals or ants may affect the performance of a SPCS by increasing infiltration of water. Intrusion barriers of gravel and cobble can be used to restrict burrowing, but emplacement of such barriers affects soil moisture storage and plant rooting depths. A replicated field experiment to investigate the implications of those effects is in progress. Incorporation of an SPCS should be considered in the design of isolation barriers for shallow land burial of hazardous wastes in and regions

Hysterosalpingographic Appearances of Female Genital Tract Tuberculosis: Part I. Fallopian Tube

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Firoozeh Ahmadi

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Female genital tuberculosis (TB remains as a major cause of tubal obstruction leading to infertility, especially in developing countries. The global prevalence of genital tuberculosis has increased during the past two decades due to increasing acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS. Genital TB is commonly asymptomatic, and it is diagnosed during infertility investigations. Despite of recent advances in imaging tools, such as computerized tomography (CT scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI and ultrasongraphy, hysterosalpingography is still the standard screening test for evaluation of tubal infertility and a valuable tool for diagnosis of female genital tuberculosis. Tuberculosis gives rise to various appearances on hysterosalpingography (HSG from non-specific changes to specific findings. The present pictorial review illustrates and describes specific and non-specific radiographic features of female genital tuberculosis in two parts. Part I presents specific findings of tuberculosis related to tubes such as "beaded tube", "golf club tube", "pipestem tube", "cobble stone tube" and "leopard skin tube". Part II describes adverse effects of tuberculosis on structure of endometrium and radiological specific findings such as "dwarfed" uterus with lymphatic intravasation and occluded tubes, "T-shaped" tuberculosis uterus, "pseudounicornuate" uterus and "Collar-stud abscess", which have not been encountered in the majority of non-tuberculosis cases.

Design It Yourself Surabaya: Reflective Notes on Designing a Festival

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kathleen Azali

2016-08-01

Full Text Available As a relatively new, imported word, the term desain (design in Indonesian is still mostly understood within its relations to three common academic fields—graphic, interior, and product design—and thus tends to be viewed as belonging to the ‘merely’ visual. While local cultural events and festivals have proliferated in Indonesia, the scope for a conference or a festival that explicitly address design therefore tends to be rather limited. This is not to say that design exhibitions and festivals do not exist. In fact, they have flourished in the country, particularly among university students, reflecting the growth of university design programs and schools to meet contemporary demand. Yet visual-based, market-led development has not been accompanied by institutional development in research and outreach (in the form of dialogues or critical publications, particularly ones that connect that development across different fields. Attaching the word desain to an event in Indonesia invariably means it is associated with either design student exhibitions, or an industrial expo showcasing printers or interior furnitures. This curated piece emerges as our reflection on designing—cobbling up, and calibrating—a design conference-festival from Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia in light of the national context in which desain is received and made meaningful.

Power Scaling of the Mainland Shoreline of the Atlantic Coast of the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Vasko, E.; Barton, C. C.; Geise, G. R.; Rizki, M. M.

2017-12-01

The fractal dimension of the mainland shoreline of the Atlantic coast of the United Stated from Maine to Homestead, FL has been measured in 1000 km increments using the box-counting method. The shoreline analyzed is the NOAA Medium Resolution Shoreline (https://shoreline.noaa.gov/data/datasheets/medres.html). The shoreline was reconstituted into sequentially numbered X-Y coordinate points in UTM Zone 18N which are spaced 50 meters apart, as measured continuously along the shoreline. We created a MATLAB computer code to measure the fractal dimension by box counting while "walking" along the shoreline. The range of box sizes is 0.7 to 450 km. The fractal dimension ranges from 1.0 to1.5 along the mainland shoreline of the Atlantic coast. The fractal dimension is compared with beach particle sizes (bedrock outcrop, cobbles, pebbles, sand, clay), tidal range, rate of sea level rise, rate and direction of vertical crustal movement, and wave energy, looking for correlation with the measured fractal dimensions. The results show a correlation between high fractal dimensions (1.3 - 1.4) and tectonically emergent coasts, and low fractal dimensions (1.0 - 1.2) along submergent and stable coastal regions. Fractal dimension averages 1.3 along shorelines with shoreline protection structures such as seawalls, jetties, and groins.

Field evaluation of two shallow land burial trench cap designs for long-term stabilization and closure of waste repositories at Los Alamos, New Mexico

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nyhan, J.; Drennon, B.; Hakonson, T.

1989-02-01

The results from several field experiments on methods to control soil erosion, biointrusion, and water infiltration were used to design and test a burial site cover which improves the ability of the disposal site to isolate the wastes. The performance of the improved cover design in managing water and biota at the disposal site was compared with a more conventional design widely used in the industry. The conventional trench cover design consists of 15 cm of sandy loam topsoil over 75 cm of sandy silt backfill, whereas the improved trench cover design consists of 75 cm of topsoil over a minimum of 25 cm of gravel and 90 cm of river cobble. Each plot was lined with an impermeable liner to allow for mass balance calculation of water dynamics and contains hydrologic tracer ions (iodide and bromide) to demonstrate movement of water through the various zones of the trench cap. Cesium was emplaced beneath the trench cap to indicate root penetration through the trench cap, observed by sampling plant samples collected on the plots and assaying them for cesium. The field data are summarized and discussed in terms of its usefulness for waste management decisions. 67 refs., 44 figs., 4 tabs

The impact of episodic fault-related folding on Late Holocene degradation terraces along Waipara River, New Zealand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nicol, A.; Campbell, J.K.

2001-01-01

The Waipara River flows eastwards through growing folds in the tectonically active foothills of New Zealand's Southern Alps. In the middle Waipara region, flights of degradation terraces are widespread and rise to 55 m above river channels. Ages of terrace surfaces and paleoearthquakes on four faults are constrained by radiocarbon samples and weathering-rind dates from surface cobbles of Torlesse Group sandstone. Terrace ages indicate rapid incision (c. 30-100 mm/yr) of Waipara River and three tributaries during the Late Holocene. Cumulative-incision curves suggest a 15-25 m lowering of regional base level over the last thousand years and an additional 20-25 m of local incision 200-600 yr BP along Waipara River where it crosses Doctors Anticline. Rapid river incision was strongly influenced by rock uplift on the anticline associated with fault rupture during an earthquake 300-400 yr BP. From incision data we infer that the earthquake was preceded and followed by aseismic fold growth. Tectonic uplift during folding was probably, at most, one-third of local river incision; this discrepancy may relate to the short sample period and to locally elevated stream erosive power due in part to a reduction in floodplain width. (author). 41 refs., 12 figs., 2 tabs

The Variation of Riverbed Material due to Tropical Storms in Shi-Wen River, Taiwan

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Chin-Ping Lin

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Taiwan, because of its location, is a flood prone region and is characterised by typhoons which brings about two-thirds to three quarters of the annual rainfall amount. Consequently, enormous flows result in rivers and entrain some fractions of the grains that constitute the riverbed. Hence, the purpose of the study is to quantify the impacts of these enormous flows on the distribution of grain size in riverbeds. The characteristics of riverbed material prior to and after the typhoon season are compared in Shi-Wen River located at southern Taiwan. These include grain size variation, bimodality, and roughness coefficient. A decrease (65% and increase (50% in geometric mean size of grains were observed for subsurface and surface bed material, respectively. Geometric standard deviation decreased in all sites after typhoon. Subsurface material was bimodal prior to typhoons and polymodal after. For surface material, modal class is in the gravel class, while after typhoons it shifts towards cobble class. The reduction in geometric mean resulted to a decrease in roughness coefficient by up to 30%. Finally, the relationship of Shields and Froude numbers are studied and a change in the bed form to antidunes and transition form is observed, respectively.

Improvised Performances: Urban Ethnography and the Creative Tactics of Montreal’s Metro Buskers

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Nick Wees

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Buskers—street performers—evince the creative tactics of self-conscious agents who are both produced by and productive of the social and material conditions within which they carry out their practices. In this article, I discuss my ethnographic research among buskers in Montreal’s underground transit system—the metro—and examine their highly variable and improvisational practices (musical and spatial. I detail how buskers work with and against the constraints and possibilities posed by the material characteristics of those spaces (especially in terms of acoustics as well as formal regulations and prevailing social norms. This suggests understanding busking as a relational process of “cobbling together” that is never entirely fixed or bounded, but dispersed and always in-the-making. Further, I demonstrate how the research process in this context is itself a creative, improvisational approach, guided as much by the conditions at hand as by an overarching research design. By drawing parallels between the busker-performer and my role as researcher and creative producer, particularly in my use of audio-visual production, I argue that ethnographic research is, itself, a form of assemblaging, of bricolage—an embodied, relational process that involves multiple participants (human and material of varying influences, bound together by the tactical activities of the researcher.

Effectiveness of bioremediation for the Prestige fuel spill : a summary of case studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gallego, J.R. [Oviedo Univ., Asturias (Spain); Gonzalez-Rojas, E.; Pelaez, A.I.; Sanchez, J [Oviedo Univ., Asturias (Spain). Inst. de Biotecnologia de Asturias; Garcia-Martinez, M.J.; Llamas, J.F. [Univ. Polictenica de Madrid, Madrid (Spain). Laboratorio de Estratigrafia Biomolecular

2006-07-01

This paper described novel bioremediation strategies used to remediate coastal areas in Spain impacted by the Prestige fuel oil spill in 2002. The bioremediation techniques were applied after hot pressurized water washing was used to remove hydrocarbons adhering to shorelines and rocks. Bioremediation strategies included monitored natural attenuation as well as accelerating biodegradation by stimulating indigenous populations through the addition of exogenous microbial populations. The sites selected for bioremediation were rocky shorelines of heterogenous granitic sediments with grain sizes ranging from sands to huge boulders; limestone-sandstone pebbles and cobbles; and fuel-coated limestone cliffs. Total surface area covered by the fuel was determined through the use of image analysis calculations. A statistical measurement of the fuel layer thickness was calculated by averaging the weights of multiple-fuel sampling increments. Bioremediation products included the use of oleophilic fertilizers; a biodegradable surfactant; and a microbial seeding agent. Determinations of saturate, aromatic, resins, and asphaltene (SARA) were performed using maltenes extraction and liquid chromatography. Microbial plating and selective enrichment with fuel as the sole carbon source were used to monitor the evolution of microbial populations in a variety of experiments. It was concluded that the biostimulation technique enhanced the efficiency of the in situ oleophilic fertilizers. 17 refs., 2 tabs., 6 figs.

Effectiveness of bioremediation for the Prestige fuel spill : a summary of case studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gallego, J.R.; Gonzalez-Rojas, E.; Pelaez, A.I.; Sanchez, J; Garcia-Martinez, M.J.; Llamas, J.F.

2006-01-01

This paper described novel bioremediation strategies used to remediate coastal areas in Spain impacted by the Prestige fuel oil spill in 2002. The bioremediation techniques were applied after hot pressurized water washing was used to remove hydrocarbons adhering to shorelines and rocks. Bioremediation strategies included monitored natural attenuation as well as accelerating biodegradation by stimulating indigenous populations through the addition of exogenous microbial populations. The sites selected for bioremediation were rocky shorelines of heterogenous granitic sediments with grain sizes ranging from sands to huge boulders; limestone-sandstone pebbles and cobbles; and fuel-coated limestone cliffs. Total surface area covered by the fuel was determined through the use of image analysis calculations. A statistical measurement of the fuel layer thickness was calculated by averaging the weights of multiple-fuel sampling increments. Bioremediation products included the use of oleophilic fertilizers; a biodegradable surfactant; and a microbial seeding agent. Determinations of saturate, aromatic, resins, and asphaltene (SARA) were performed using maltenes extraction and liquid chromatography. Microbial plating and selective enrichment with fuel as the sole carbon source were used to monitor the evolution of microbial populations in a variety of experiments. It was concluded that the biostimulation technique enhanced the efficiency of the in situ oleophilic fertilizers. 17 refs., 2 tabs., 6 figs

Efficiency of portable antennas for detecting passive integrated transponder tags in stream-dwelling salmonids

Science.gov (United States)

Banish, Nolan P.; Burdick, Summer M.; Moyer, Katherine R.

2016-01-01

Portable antennas have become an increasingly common technique for tracking fish marked with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags. We used logistic regression to evaluate how species, fish length, and physical habitat characteristics influence portable antenna detection efficiency in stream-dwelling brown trout (Salmo trutta), bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus), and redband trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss newberrii) marked with 12-mm PIT tags. We redetected 56% (20/36) of brown trout, 34% (68/202) of bull trout, and 33% (20/61) of redband trout after a recovery period of 21 to 46 hours. Models indicate support for length and species and minor support for percent boulder, large woody debris, and percent cobble as parameters important for describing variation in detection efficiency, although 95% confidence intervals for estimates were large. The odds of detecting brown trout (1.5 ± 2.2 [mean ± SE]) are approximately four times as high as bull trout (0.4 ± 1.6) or redband trout (0.3 ± 1.8) and species-specific differences may be related to length. Our reported detection efficiency for brown trout falls within the range of other studies, but is the first reported for bull trout and redband trout. Portable antennas may be a relatively unbiased way of redetecting varying sizes of all three salmonid species.

Floodplain inundation response to climate, valley form, and flow regulation on a gravel-bed river in a Mediterranean-climate region

Science.gov (United States)

Cienciala, P.; Pasternack, G. B.

2017-04-01

Floodplain inundation regime defines hydrological connectivity between river channel and floodplain and thus strongly controls structure and function of these highly diverse and productive ecosystems. We combined an extensive LiDAR data set on topography and vegetation, long-term hydrological records, as well as the outputs of hydrological and two-dimensional hydraulic models to examine how floodplain inundation regimes in a dynamic, regulated, gravel-cobble river in a Mediterranean-climate region are controlled by reach-scale valley morphology, hydroclimatic conditions, and flow regulation. Estimated relative differences in the extent, duration, and cumulative duration of inundation events were often as large as an order of magnitude and generally greatest for large and long duration events. The relative impact of flow regulation was greatest under dry hydroclimatic conditions. Although the effects of hydroclimate and flow impairment are larger than that of valley floor topography, the latter controls sensitivity of floodplain hydroperiod to flow regime changes and should not be ignored. These quantitative estimates of the relative importance of factors that control floodplain processes in Mediterranean, semiarid rivers contributes to better understanding of hydrology and geomorphology of this important class of channels. We also discuss implications of our findings for processes that shape floodplain habitat for riparian vegetation and salmonid fish, especially in the context of ecological restoration.

Paleoseismology and slip rate of the Conway Segment of the Hope Faultat Greenburn Stream, South Island, New Zealand

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B. Estrada

2003-06-01

Full Text Available The Conway Segment of the dextral-slip Hope Fault is one of the fastest slipping fault segments along New Zealand s plate boundary, but has not ruptured co-seismically in the historic period and little paleoseismic data exist to constrain its large earthquake record. Two paleoseismic trenches were opened adjacent to Greenburn Stream near Kaikoura for the 2001 ILP Paleoseismology Conference. Both trenches were excavated into deposits ponded against an uphill-facing shutter scarp. Trench 1, dug through a cobbly soil and surface deposit was dominated by a thick fan/fluvial sequence that was radiocarbon dated at 4409 ± 60 C14 years BP (4844-5288 cal years BP at the base of the trench. This trench exhibited evidence of complex deformation from many paleoseismic events. The most recent earthquakes are difficult to constrain due to a lack of cover stratigraphy on the fan deposits. However, the modern soil appears to be faulted and is covered by cobbles with a weathering rind-derived age of 220 ± 60 years. Trench 2, dug ?? 50 m to the west has an expanded sequence of the younger cover deposits. Paleoseismic event horizons have been recognised from the combined evidence of upwardterminating faults, offset and mismatched units, a sandblow deposit, and abrupt landscape change shown by the burial of paleosol surfaces that form the event horizons. Two paleosols underlying the modern soil are clearly faulted by two separate rupture events. A dome of sand interpreted as a liquefaction sandblow deposit overlies the lower paleosol (event horizon. Both paleosols are overlain by metre-thick debris deposits, interpreted as earthquake-induced rock avalanches that cascaded off the hillslope following Mw 7 + events. Four radiocarbon dates place some constraints on the timing of the three recent surface-rupturing events. The youngest and lowest date is 548 ± 60 C14 years BP (504-656 cal years BP and occurs below the lower paleosol. It constrains the

Tsunami deposits at MIS Stages 5e and 9 on Oahu, Hawaii: implications for sea level at interglacial stages

Science.gov (United States)

McMurtry, G. M.; Campbell, J. F.; Fryer, G. J.; Tappin, D. R.; Fietzke, J.

2010-12-01

Sandy, basalt-coral conglomerates associated with both beachrock and coral reefs are found at high elevations on Oahu, Hawaii. They have been attributed to either brief, sea level high-stands or storms. The Kahe Point conglomerates are at 12.5 m elevation, whereas the main stage MIS-5e reef at this location has a maximum elevation of 8.2 m. They are loosely consolidated and poorly cemented, graded, poorly sorted, and with varying amounts of basalt and coral clasts ranging from cobble to boulder size. Coral in these deposits has been U-series dated by us at between 120-125 ka (n=5). Four distinct beds, with a gently seaward tilt, are recognized in a road cut section, with each bed composed of a few cm-thick topset bed of fine-grained, shelly, calcareous sand to silt. Similar high elevation conglomerates and 5e reefs are also described at Mokapu and Kaena Points on Oahu, indicating an island-wide deposit. Older coral clasts, dated at 130 to 142 ka (n=6; oldest by alpha spectrometry) found in association with the stage 5e corals suggest reworking and incorporation of older low-stand reef material. The coarse grain size of the conglomerates indicates deposition from a high-energy event; thus a high-stand source is ruled out. We also consider that the overall lithology and up to 0.5 m bed thickness not to be the result of storms; a series of high frequency storm events is considered unlikely. The weight of the evidence in our opinion clearly indicates deposition by a series of tsunami waves. If correct, this has implications for “probabilistic” models of sea level peaks at least 6.6 m higher than present at stage 5e that use such data in their models (e. g., Kopp et al., 2009), at least for Oahu. Within about 2 km of the Kahe deposit, in a road cut at Ko Olina, there is another markedly similar high-energy, sandy basalt-bearing coral conglomerate sequence at 21 to 25 m elevation. There are at least two distinct beds about one meter in thickness, both gently seaward

Studies of quaternary deposits of investigation trench OL-TK13 at the Olkiluoto study site, Eurajoki, SW Finland

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huhta, P. [Geological Survey of Finland, Espoo (Finland)

2007-05-15

The Quaternary deposits in investigation trench OL-TK13 were studied by the Geological Survey of Finland in autumn 2006. The investigations were carried out in three phases as the excavation progressed. Samples for grain size determinations were taken from vertical profiles, placed 25 m apart along the trench. The profiles extended from the soil surface down to bedrock or, if the bedrock was covered with water, to the water table. Between 6 and 7 kg of sediment was taken in a bucket with a shovel and placed in plastic bags for transport to the laboratory. The samples were first dried in the laboratory after which they were sieved. In addition, grain size distribution of the < 63 {mu}m fraction was analyzed with the Sedigraph 5100 instrument. Sedimentological observations of the sampling profiles were documented in field by drawing on a field observation form and the profiles were photographed using a digital camera except profiles 7 and 8. In addition, the excavated section was photographed along their whole length. The length of OL-TK13 is approximately 250 m and 11 profiles were studied. The height of the profiles varied from 7.3 m to 2.3 m, with an average of 4.6 m. The till cover in OL-TK13 consist of two parts. The upper till has three layers. Surface layer is oxidized, brown sandy till, which is underlain by grayish brown intermediate layer of sandy till. This layer represents the grounwater table, which is moving up and down. The lower layer is unoxidized, grey sandy till. The thickness of the upper till varies from 2.3 to 5.5 meters. The upper till in OL-TK13 is classified as having a normal amount of cobbles and boulders with the size of the larger clasts varying from 6 to 60 cm. The edges of clasts have been eroded and rounded. The upper till has normal compactness. The lower till has been spared in bedrock depressions. Part of it's material has ascended the upper till. The lower till is compact, dark grey silty till with over 15 % of fine material

Studies of quaternary deposits of investigation trench OL-TK13 at the Olkiluoto study site, Eurajoki, SW Finland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huhta, P.

2007-05-01

The Quaternary deposits in investigation trench OL-TK13 were studied by the Geological Survey of Finland in autumn 2006. The investigations were carried out in three phases as the excavation progressed. Samples for grain size determinations were taken from vertical profiles, placed 25 m apart along the trench. The profiles extended from the soil surface down to bedrock or, if the bedrock was covered with water, to the water table. Between 6 and 7 kg of sediment was taken in a bucket with a shovel and placed in plastic bags for transport to the laboratory. The samples were first dried in the laboratory after which they were sieved. In addition, grain size distribution of the < 63 μm fraction was analyzed with the Sedigraph 5100 instrument. Sedimentological observations of the sampling profiles were documented in field by drawing on a field observation form and the profiles were photographed using a digital camera except profiles 7 and 8. In addition, the excavated section was photographed along their whole length. The length of OL-TK13 is approximately 250 m and 11 profiles were studied. The height of the profiles varied from 7.3 m to 2.3 m, with an average of 4.6 m. The till cover in OL-TK13 consist of two parts. The upper till has three layers. Surface layer is oxidized, brown sandy till, which is underlain by grayish brown intermediate layer of sandy till. This layer represents the grounwater table, which is moving up and down. The lower layer is unoxidized, grey sandy till. The thickness of the upper till varies from 2.3 to 5.5 meters. The upper till in OL-TK13 is classified as having a normal amount of cobbles and boulders with the size of the larger clasts varying from 6 to 60 cm. The edges of clasts have been eroded and rounded. The upper till has normal compactness. The lower till has been spared in bedrock depressions. Part of it's material has ascended the upper till. The lower till is compact, dark grey silty till with over 15 % of fine material (under 0

Shoreline oiling conditions in Prince William Sound following the Exxon Valdez oil spill

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neff, J.M.; Owens, E.H.; Stoker, S.W.; McCormick, D.M.

1995-01-01

Following the Exxon Valdez oil spill of March 24, 1989, in Prince William Sound, Alaska, Exxon conducted comprehensive, systematic shoreline surveys in cooperation with federal and state authorities to obtain information on the distribution and magnitude of shoreline oiling and to identify natural and cultural resources requiring special protection. Similar joint surveys were performed during the springs of 1990, 1991, and 1992 on all Prince william Sound and Gulf of Alaska shorelines that were suspected of having remnants of weathered oil and that would benefit from further cleanup. In the springs of 1990, 1991, and 1992, isolated pockets of subsurface oil were found, chiefly in small scattered zones in coarse cobble/boulder sediments in the upper intertidal or supratidal zones. In 1991, about one-third of the subdivisions in Prince William Sound with surface oil also contained some subsurface oil. The areal extent of this subsurface oil declined by nearly 70% between 1991 and 1992, from about 37,000 m 2 to about 12,000 m 2 . Moreover, where subsurface oil remained in 1992, it was present in lesser amounts. Rates of oil removal were greatest on coastal sections treated early in the spring and summer of 1989. Where shoreline treatment was delayed, the subsequent rate of removal of oil from the shore by natural processes was slower. 27 refs., 10 figs., 3 tabs

Assessment of the Species Composition, Densities, and Distribution of Native Freshwater Mussels along the Benton County Shoreline of the Hanford Reach, Columbia River, 2004

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mueller, Robert P.; Tiller, Brett L.; Bleich, Matthew D.; Turner, Gerald; Welch, Ian D.

2011-01-31

The Hanford Reach of the Columbia River is the last unimpounded section of the river and contains substrate characteristics (cobble, gravel, sand/silt) suitable for many of the native freshwater mussels known to exist in the Pacific Northwest. Information concerning the native mussel species composition, densities, and distributions in the mainstem of the Columbia River is limited. Under funding from the U.S. Department of Energy Richland Operations Office (DOE-RL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory conducted an assessment of the near-shore habitat on the Hanford Reach. Surveys conducted in 2004 as part of the Ecological Monitoring and Compliance project documented several species of native mussels inhabiting the near-shore habitat of the Hanford Reach. Findings reported here may be useful to resource biologists, ecologists, and DOE-RL to determine possible negative impacts to native mussels from ongoing near-shore remediation activities associated with Hanford Site cleanup. The objective of this study was to provide an initial assessment of the species composition, densities, and distribution of the freshwater mussels (Margaritiferidae and Unionidae families) that exist in the Hanford Reach. Researchers observed and measured 201 live native mussel specimens. Mussel density estimated from these surveys is summarized in this report with respect to near-shore habitat characteristics including substrate size, substrate embeddedness, relative abundance of aquatic vegetation, and large-scale geomorphic/hydrologic characteristics of the Hanford Reach.

Coupling fine particle and bedload transport in gravel-bedded streams

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Jungsu; Hunt, James R.

2017-09-01

Fine particles in the silt- and clay-size range are important determinants of surface water quality. Since fine particle loading rates are not unique functions of stream discharge this limits the utility of the available models for water quality assessment. Data from 38 minimally developed watersheds within the United States Geological Survey stream gauging network in California, USA reveal three lines of evidence that fine particle release is coupled with bedload transport. First, there is a transition in fine particle loading rate as a function of discharge for gravel-bedded sediments that does not appear when the sediment bed is composed of sand, cobbles, boulders, or bedrock. Second, the discharge at the transition in the loading rate is correlated with the initiation of gravel mobilization. Third, high frequency particle concentration and discharge data are dominated by clockwise hysteresis where rising limb discharges generally have higher concentrations than falling limb discharges. These three observations across multiple watersheds lead to a conceptual model that fine particles accumulate within the sediment bed at discharges less than the transition and then the gravel bed fluidizes with fine particle release at discharges above the transition discharge. While these observations were individually recognized in the literature, this analysis provides a consistent conceptual model based on the coupling of fine particle dynamics with filtration at low discharges and gravel bed fluidization at higher discharges.

Comparing two periphyton collection methods commonly used for stream bioassessment and the development of numeric nutrient standards.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodman, Ashley R; Scott, J Thad

2017-07-01

Periphyton is an important component of stream bioassessment, yet methods for quantifying periphyton biomass can differ substantially. A case study within the Arkansas Ozarks is presented to demonstrate the potential for linking chlorophyll-a (chl-a) and ash-free dry mass (AFDM) data sets amassed using two frequently used periphyton sampling protocols. Method A involved collecting periphyton from a known area on the top surface of variably sized rocks gathered from relatively swift-velocity riffles without discerning canopy cover. Method B involved collecting periphyton from the entire top surface of cobbles systematically gathered from riffle-run habitat where canopy cover was intentionally avoided. Chl-a and AFDM measurements were not different between methods (p = 0.123 and p = 0.550, respectively), and there was no interaction between method and time in the repeated measures structure of the study. However, significantly different seasonal distinctions were observed for chl-a and AFDM from all streams when data from the methods were combined (p methods may effectively be used together with some minor considerations due to potential confounding factors. This study provides motivation for the continued investigation of combining data sets derived from multiple methods of data collection, which could be useful in stream bioassessment and particularly important for the development of regional stream nutrient criteria for the southern Ozarks.

Characterizing riverbed sediment using high-frequency acoustics 2: scattering signatures of Colorado River bed sediment in Marble and Grand Canyons

Science.gov (United States)

Buscombe, Daniel D.; Grams, Paul E.; Kaplinski, Matt A.

2014-01-01

In this, the second of a pair of papers on the statistical signatures of riverbed sediment in high-frequency acoustic backscatter, spatially explicit maps of the stochastic geometries (length- and amplitude-scales) of backscatter are related to patches of riverbed surfaces composed of known sediment types, as determined by geo-referenced underwater video observations. Statistics of backscatter magnitudes alone are found to be poor discriminators between sediment types. However, the variance of the power spectrum, and the intercept and slope from a power-law spectral form (termed the spectral strength and exponent, respectively) successfully discriminate between sediment types. A decision-tree approach was able to classify spatially heterogeneous patches of homogeneous sands, gravels (and sand-gravel mixtures), and cobbles/boulders with 95, 88, and 91% accuracy, respectively. Application to sites outside the calibration, and surveys made at calibration sites at different times, were plausible based on observations from underwater video. Analysis of decision trees built with different training data sets suggested that the spectral exponent was consistently the most important variable in the classification. In the absence of theory concerning how spatially variable sediment surfaces scatter high-frequency sound, the primary advantage of this data-driven approach to classify bed sediment over alternatives is that spectral methods have well understood properties and make no assumptions about the distributional form of the fluctuating component of backscatter over small spatial scales.

Vadose-zone instrumentation in coarse alluvial deposits of the Amargosa Desert near Beatty, Nevada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morgan, D.S.; Fischer, J.M.

1984-01-01

A vadose-zone monitoring shaft near Beatty, NV, is 1.52 m in diameter and penetrates nearly 14 m of unsaturated fluvial sediments. These sediments are comprised of silty sand, coarse sandy gravel, and poorly cemented sand, with gravel and occasional cobbles and boulders. Thirty-three lateral ports at 11 levels between 3 and 13 m deep allow access to undisturbed sediments outside the vertical shaft. The prefabricated metal shaft was emplaced in a 2.44-m-diameter hole excavated by using a crane drill with bucket and flight augers. Laboratory-calibrated thermocouple-psychrometers are being used to measure soil-matrix potential. A method of installing the phychrometers was developed which will allow their retrieval, after extended periods in the soil, for cleaning, recalibration, and reinstallation. Primary access holes 2.5 cm in diameter are drilled laterally outward from the monitoring shaft to a distance of approximately 4 m. The psychrometer is then inserted into the primary access hole and sealed into a smaller diameter boring in the undisturbed material at the outer end of the primary access hole. Data are collected and stored by a programmable measurement-control and data-logger system powered by photovoltaic cells. Magnetic-tape data storage is used to back up daily data retrieval via telecommunication with the project headquarters in Carson City, Nev., 520 km north of the study

Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR and Multispectral Scanner (MSS Studies Examine Coastal Environments Influenced by Mining

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Charles Kerfoot

2014-01-01

Full Text Available There are numerous examples of past and present mine disposal into freshwater and marine coastal bays and riverine environments. Due to its high spatial resolution and extended water penetration, coastal light detection and ranging (LiDAR, coupled with multispectral scanning (MSS, has great promise for resolving disturbed shoreline features in low turbidity environments. Migrating mine tailings present serious issues for Lake Superior and coastal marine environments. Previous investigations in Lake Superior uncovered a metal-rich “halo” around the Keweenaw Peninsula, related to past copper mining practices. For over a century, waste rock migrating from shoreline tailing piles has moved along extensive stretches of coastline, compromising critical fish breeding grounds, damming stream outlets, transgressing into wetlands and along recreational beaches and suppressing benthic invertebrate communities. In Grand (Big Traverse Bay, Buffalo Reef is an important spawning area for lake trout and whitefish threatened by drifting tailings. The movement of tailings into Buffalo Reef cobble fields may interfere with the hatching of fish eggs and fry survival, either by filling in crevices where eggs are deposited or by toxic effects on eggs, newly hatched larvae or benthic communities. Here, we show that the coastal tailing migration is not “out of sight, out of mind”, but clearly revealed by using a combination of LiDAR and MSS techniques.

Efficiency of Portable Antennas for Detecting Passive Integrated Transponder Tags in Stream-Dwelling Salmonids.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nolan P Banish

Full Text Available Portable antennas have become an increasingly common technique for tracking fish marked with passive integrated transponder (PIT tags. We used logistic regression to evaluate how species, fish length, and physical habitat characteristics influence portable antenna detection efficiency in stream-dwelling brown trout (Salmo trutta, bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus, and redband trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss newberrii marked with 12-mm PIT tags. We redetected 56% (20/36 of brown trout, 34% (68/202 of bull trout, and 33% (20/61 of redband trout after a recovery period of 21 to 46 hours. Models indicate support for length and species and minor support for percent boulder, large woody debris, and percent cobble as parameters important for describing variation in detection efficiency, although 95% confidence intervals for estimates were large. The odds of detecting brown trout (1.5 ± 2.2 [mean ± SE] are approximately four times as high as bull trout (0.4 ± 1.6 or redband trout (0.3 ± 1.8 and species-specific differences may be related to length. Our reported detection efficiency for brown trout falls within the range of other studies, but is the first reported for bull trout and redband trout. Portable antennas may be a relatively unbiased way of redetecting varying sizes of all three salmonid species.

Potential of radioactive and other waste disposals on the continental margin by natural dispersal processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ryan, W.B.F.; Farre, J.A.

1983-01-01

Mass wasting, an erosional process, has recently been active at deepwater waste disposal sites on the mid-Atlantic margin of the United States. On the continental slope there is a subsea drainage network consisting of canyons, gullies, and chutes, and there are meandering channels, erosional scars, and debris aprons present on the continental rise. Fresh-looking blocks of 40 to 45 million-year-old marl and chalk (from cobble to boulder size) are strewn among canisters of low-level radioactive wastes. Some of the blocks have traveled from their original place of deposition for distances in excess of 170 km. Waste containers on the continental slope and rise cannot be considered to be disposed of permanently. The drainage network of the slope provides a natural process for collecting wastes over a catchment area, and for concentrating it with interim storage in canyons. Erosion by slumping, sliding, and debris flows ultimately will transport the wastes from the continental slope and disperse it over potentially large areas on the continental rise and abyssal plain. If it is desirable that the wastes be buried in the seafloor and isolated from the environment, then the continental slope and rise are not attractive repositories. If, however, it is deemed beneficial that the wastes ultimately be dispersed over a wide area, then the continental slope could be used as a disposal site

Optimizing hydraulic cleaning techniques for oiled coarse sediment beaches : long-term monitoring results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mauseth, G.S.; Graham, A.W.; Simon, J.; Sergy, G.A.

2004-01-01

This paper presents the results of a study in which shoreline cobbles in British Columbia were oiled with Bunker C oil and then hydraulically cleaned using a variety of water pressures and temperatures. The oiling took place in 1997. Epifauna and epiflora abundances were quantified prior to exposure, 28 to 72 hours and one year following treatment, and up to 6 years post-treatment. The study revealed that after six years of treatment, there was no statistical difference between any of the treatment groups, including the un-oiled, un-treated control or the oiled, treated control. The exposure to oil and a variety of pressure and temperature washing treatments did not differentially influence epibiota abundances 6 years after treatment. It was concluded that there is no long-term increased benefit or damage to the epibiota from hydraulic washing treatments. However, hydraulic cleaning can cause negative, short-term effects. Therefore, the immediate priority after an oil spill should be to remove the oil in order to limit remobilization. Organism abundances did not return to pre-treatment values. Even the un-oiled/un-treated control substances were significantly lower after 6 years, suggesting that extreme cold temperatures may have played a more important role in controlling organism abundances than did the oiling or treatments. 10 refs., 1 tab., 10 figs

Substrate and flow characteristics associated with White Sturgeon recruitment in the Columbia River Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Hatten, James R.; Parsley, Michael; Barton, Gary; Batt, Thomas; Fosness, Ryan L.

2018-01-01

A study was conducted to identify habitat characteristics associated with age 0+ White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus Richardson, 1863) recruitment in three reaches of the Columbia River Basin: Skamania reach (consistent recruitment), John Day reach (intermittent/inconsistent recruitment), and Kootenai reach (no recruitment). Our modeling approach involved numerous steps. First, we collected information about substrate, embeddedness, and hydrodynamics in each reach. Second, we developed a set of spatially explicit predictor variables. Third, we built two habitat (probability) models with Skamania reach training data where White Sturgeon recruitment was consistent. Fourth, we created spawning maps of each reach by populating the habitat models with in-reach physical metrics (substrate, embeddedness, and hydrodynamics). Fifth, we examined model accuracy by overlaying spawning locations in Skamania and Kootenai reaches with habitat predictions obtained from probability models. Sixth, we simulated how predicted habitat changed in each reach after manipulating physical conditions to more closely match Skamania reach. Model verification confirmed White Sturgeon generally spawned in locations with higher model probabilities in Skamania and Kootenai reaches, indicating the utility of extrapolating the models. Model simulations revealed significant gains in White Sturgeon habitat in all reaches when spring flow increased, gravel/cobble composition increased, or embeddedness decreased. The habitat models appear well suited to assist managers when identifying reach-specific factors limiting White Sturgeon recruitment in the Columbia River Basin or throughout its range.

Sedimentological processes in a scarp-controlled rocky shoreline to upper continental slope environment, as revealed by unusual sedimentary features in the Neogene Coquimbo Formation, north-central Chile

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Le Roux, J. P.; Gómez, Carolina; Fenner, Juliane; Middleton, Heather

2004-03-01

Exceptionally good outcrops of Miocene to Pliocene deposits in the vicinity of submarine Paleozoic basement scarps at Carrizalillo, north of La Serena, reveal a wealth of sedimentary features not commonly observed. The most proximal facies consist of rock fall and coarse-grained debris flow deposits directly abutting the basement wall from which they originated. Angular basement clasts are mixed with well-rounded cobbles, which probably formed as a basal gravel on a wave-cut platform at the beginning of marine flooding, subsequently accumulated at the scarp edge and were incorporated into the debris when the latter collapsed. The poor sorting, inverse grading, and protruding cobbles and boulders are classical debris flow features, with good clast imbrication indicating a laminar shearing action. A medial facies is represented by secondary channels running parallel to the major scarp about 1 km downslope of the first locality. In the largest channel, megaflutes at the base indicate the passage of highly turbulent, nondepositing flows eroding the soft, silty substrate. In the deepest, central part of the channel, a pebbly coquina shows horizontal and trough cross-stratification, with most of the bivalves oriented convex side up. Meter-scale rip-up clasts of the underlying siltstone are also present, indicating turbulent flow with a density sufficiently high to retard settling. The coquina is interpreted as a detachment deposit resulting from a hydroplaning debris flow along the central part of the channel, where the velocity and rate of pore pressure decay were highest. This deposit is overlain by fining upward, massive to horizontally stratified sandstone very similar in texture and composition to the matrix of the debris flow, suggesting its formation by surface transformation and elutriation of the latter. Along the channel margin, a basal centimeter-scale sandstone layer is virtually unaffected by the megaflute topography and clearly represents a subsequent event

Bioremediation of marine oil spills: when and when not--the Exxon Valdez experience.

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Atlas, Ronald; Bragg, James

2009-03-01

In this article we consider what we have learned from the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) in terms of when bioremediation should be considered and what it can accomplish. We present data on the state of oiling of Prince William Sound shorelines 18 years after the spill, including the concentration and composition of subsurface oil residues (SSOR) sampled by systematic shoreline surveys conducted between 2002 and 2007. Over this period, 346 sediment samples were analysed by GC-MS and extents of hydrocarbon depletion were quantified. In 2007 alone, 744 sediment samples were collected and extracted, and 222 were analysed. Most sediment samples from sites that were heavily oiled by the spill and physically cleaned and bioremediated between 1989 and 1991 show no remaining SSOR. Where SSOR does remain, it is for the most part highly weathered, with 82% of 2007 samples indicating depletion of total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (Total PAH) of >70% relative to EVOS oil. This SSOR is sequestered in patchy deposits under boulder/cobble armour, generally in the mid-to-upper intertidal zone. The relatively high nutrient concentrations measured at these sites, the patchy distribution and the weathering state of the SSOR suggest that it is in a form and location where bioremediation likely would be ineffective at increasing the rate of hydrocarbon removal. © 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2009 Society for Applied Microbiology and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) Efforts and Observations at the Rocknest Eolian Sand Shadow in Curiosity's Gale Crater Field Site

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Edgett, K. S.; Yingst, R. A.; Minitti, M. E.; Goetz, W.; Kah, L. C.; Kennedy, M. R.; Lipkaman, L. J.; Jensen, E. H.; Anderson, R. C.; Beegle, L. W.;

Predictive models for fish assemblages in eastern USA streams: implications for assessing biodiversity

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Meador, Michael R.; Carlisle, Daren M.

2009-01-01

Management and conservation of aquatic systems require the ability to assess biological conditions and identify changes in biodiversity. Predictive models for fish assemblages were constructed to assess biological condition and changes in biodiversity for streams sampled in the eastern United States as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water Quality Assessment Program. Separate predictive models were developed for northern and southern regions. Reference sites were designated using land cover and local professional judgment. Taxonomic completeness was quantified based on the ratio of the number of observed native fish species expected to occur to the number of expected native fish species. Models for both regions accurately predicted fish species composition at reference sites with relatively high precision and low bias. In general, species that occurred less frequently than expected (decreasers) tended to prefer riffle areas and larger substrates, such as gravel and cobble, whereas increaser species (occurring more frequently than expected) tended to prefer pools, backwater areas, and vegetated and sand substrates. In the north, the percentage of species identified as increasers and the percentage identified as decreasers were equal, whereas in the south nearly two-thirds of the species examined were identified as decreasers. Predictive models of fish species can provide a standardized indicator for consistent assessments of biological condition at varying spatial scales and critical information for an improved understanding of fish species that are potentially at risk of loss with changing water quality conditions.

Design tradeoffs in long-term research for stream salamanders

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Brand, Adrianne B,; Grant, Evan H. Campbell

2017-01-01

Long-term research programs can benefit from early and periodic evaluation of their ability to meet stated objectives. In particular, consideration of the spatial allocation of effort is key. We sampled 4 species of stream salamanders intensively for 2 years (2010–2011) in the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Maryland, USA to evaluate alternative distributions of sampling locations within stream networks, and then evaluated via simulation the ability of multiple survey designs to detect declines in occupancy and to estimate dynamic parameters (colonization, extinction) over 5 years for 2 species. We expected that fine-scale microhabitat variables (e.g., cobble, detritus) would be the strongest determinants of occupancy for each of the 4 species; however, we found greater support for all species for models including variables describing position within the stream network, stream size, or stream microhabitat. A monitoring design focused on headwater sections had greater power to detect changes in occupancy and the dynamic parameters in each of 3 scenarios for the dusky salamander (Desmognathus fuscus) and red salamander (Pseudotriton ruber). Results for transect length were more variable, but across all species and scenarios, 25-m transects are most suitable as a balance between maximizing detection probability and describing colonization and extinction. These results inform sampling design and provide a general framework for setting appropriate goals, effort, and duration in the initial planning stages of research programs on stream salamanders in the eastern United States.

A reassessment of the early archaeological record at Leang Burung 2, a Late Pleistocene rock-shelter site on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi

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Hakim, Budianto; Ramli, Muhammad; Aubert, Maxime; van den Bergh, Gerrit D.; Li, Bo; Burhan, Basran; Saiful, Andi Muhammad; Siagian, Linda; Sardi, Ratno; Jusdi, Andi; Abdullah; Mubarak, Andi Pampang; Moore, Mark W.; Roberts, Richard G.; Zhao, Jian-xin; McGahan, David; Jones, Brian G.; Perston, Yinika; Szabó, Katherine; Mahmud, M. Irfan; Westaway, Kira; Jatmiko; Saptomo, E. Wahyu; van der Kaars, Sander; Grün, Rainer; Wood, Rachel; Dodson, John

2018-01-01

This paper presents a reassessment of the archaeological record at Leang Burung 2, a key early human occupation site in the Late Pleistocene of Southeast Asia. Excavated originally by Ian Glover in 1975, this limestone rock-shelter in the Maros karsts of Sulawesi, Indonesia, has long held significance in our understanding of early human dispersals into ‘Wallacea’, the vast zone of oceanic islands between continental Asia and Australia. We present new stratigraphic information and dating evidence from Leang Burung 2 collected during the course of our excavations at this site in 2007 and 2011–13. Our findings suggest that the classic Late Pleistocene modern human occupation sequence identified previously at Leang Burung 2, and proposed to span around 31,000 to 19,000 conventional 14C years BP (~35–24 ka cal BP), may actually represent an amalgam of reworked archaeological materials. Sources for cultural materials of mixed ages comprise breccias from the rear wall of the rock-shelter–remnants of older, eroded deposits dated to 35–23 ka cal BP–and cultural remains of early Holocene antiquity. Below the upper levels affected by the mass loss of Late Pleistocene deposits, our deep-trench excavations uncovered evidence for an earlier hominin presence at the site. These findings include fossils of now-extinct proboscideans and other ‘megafauna’ in stratified context, as well as a cobble-based stone artifact technology comparable to that produced by late Middle Pleistocene hominins elsewhere on Sulawesi. PMID:29641524

Valley-scale morphology drives differences in fluvial sediment budgets and incision rates during contrasting flow regimes

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Weber, M. D.; Pasternack, G. B.

2017-07-01

High-resolution topographic surveys using LiDAR and multibeam sonar can be used to characterize and quantify fluvial change. This study used repeat surveys to explore how topographic change, fluvial processes, sediment budgets, and aggradation and incision rates vary across spatial scales and across two contrasting decadal flow regimes in a regulated gravel/cobble river. A novel method for quantifying digital elevation model uncertainty was developed and applied to a topographic change detection analysis from 2006/2008 to 2014. During this period, which had four modest 3-5 year floods, most sediment was laterally redistributed through bank erosion and channel migration. Erosion primarily occurred in the floodplain (97,000 m3), terraces (80,000 m3), and lateral bars (58,000 m3); while deposition occurred in the adjacent pools (73,000 m3), fast glides (48,000 m3), and runs (36,000 m3). In contrast, significantly higher magnitude and longer duration floods from 1999 to 2006/2008 caused sediment to be displaced longitudinally, with the upstream reaches exporting sediment and the downstream reaches aggrading. The river maintained floodplain connectivity during both periods, despite different processes dominating the type of connectivity. Larger floods promoted overbank scour and avulsion, while smaller floods promoted bank erosion and lateral migration. This study explores and illustrates how the geomorphic response to contrasting flood regimes in a nonuniform river is highly dependent on which landforms are controlling hydraulics.

Surveying Small Streams with COTS UAVs

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McKean, J. A.; Wright, C. W.; Tonina, D.

2017-12-01

We tested the ability to make high resolution surveys of stream bathymetry and exposed banks using a commercial off-the-shelf unmanned quadcopter equipped with a 12 megapixel, gimbal stabilized, RGB camera, and L1-code-only GPS.Our study site is a canyon-wall confined gravel bed river with pool-riffle morphology. The survey reach was 15 m wide and on average 0.3 m deep with a maximum water depth during survey of approximately 1.2 m. Streambed material ranged between pea gravel to boulders. For accuracy comparison we field-surveyed the reach with an RTK GPS. The survey mapped large boulders and cobbles, stream banks and bed morphology, as well as the center of each of 9 black/white photo targets with a surface area of 22" x 16" that were placed around the perimeter of the reach. The water was clear, and the bottom substrate reflectivity was highly variable and rich in texture Nearly 1,000 photos were captured, many with sub-centimeter pixels. The photos were processed using Agisoft Photoscan and the resulting point cloud linked to the GPS coordinate system via the surveyed photo targets. The submerged portion of the data was separated from the sub-aerial data, corrected for refraction using external software and then rejoined to produce a seamless point cloud. Comparison between the merged results and ground-survey point shows good agreement with less than 10cm rmse.

Investigating the development of less-mobile porosity in realistic hyporheic zone sediments with COMSOL Multiphysics

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MahmoodPoorDehkordy, F.; Briggs, M. A.; Day-Lewis, F. D.; Bagtzoglou, A. C.

2017-12-01

Although hyporheic zones are often modeled at the reach scale as homogeneous "boxes" of exchange, heterogeneity caused by variations of pore sizes and connectivity is not uncommon. This heterogeneity leads to the creation of more- and less-mobile zones of hydraulic exchange that influence reactive solute transport processes. Whereas fluid sampling is generally sensitive to more-mobile zones, geoelectrical measurement is sensitive to ionic tracer dynamics in both less- and more-mobile zones. Heterogeneity in pore connectivity leads to a lag between fluid and bulk electrical conductivity (EC) resulting in a hysteresis loop, observed during tracer breakthrough tests, that contains information about the less-mobile porosity attributes of the medium. Here, we present a macro-scale model of solute transport and electrical conduction developed using COMSOL Multiphysics. The model is used to simulate geoelectrical monitoring of ionic transport for bed sediments based on (1) a stochastic sand-and-cobble mixture and (2) a dune feature with strong permeability layering. In both of these disparate sediment types, hysteresis between fluid and bulk EC is observed, and depends in part on fluid flux rate through the model domain. Using the hysteresis loop, the ratio of less-mobile to mobile porosity and mass-transfer coefficient are estimated graphically. The results indicate the presence and significance of less-mobile porosity in the hyporheic zones and demonstrate the capability of the proposed model to detect heterogeneity in flow processes and estimate less-mobile zone parameters.

Evaluation of the potential for debris and hyperconcentrated flows in Capulin Canyon as a result of the 1996 Dome fire, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico

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Cannon, Susan H.

1997-01-01

The Dome fire of April 1996 burned 6684 ha in Bandelier National Monument and the adjacent Sante Fe National Forest. The potential for significant debris- and hyperconcentrated-flow activity in Capulin Canyon is evaluated through 1) a systematic consideration of geologic and geomorphic factors that characterize the condition of the hillslope materials and channels following the fire, 2) examination of sedimentologic evidence for past debris-flow activity in the canyon, and 3) evaluation of the response of the watershed through the 1996 summer monsoon season. The lack of accumulations of dry-ravel material on the hillslopes or in channels, the absence of a continuous hydrophobic layer, the relatively intact condition of the riparian vegetation and of the fibrous root mat on the hillslopes, and the lack of evidence of widespread past debris- and hyperconcentrated-flow activity, even with evidence of past fires, indicate a low potential for debris-flow activity in Capulin Canyon. In addition, thunderstorms during the summer monsoon of 1996 resulted in abundant surface overland flow on the hillslopes which transported low-density pumice, charcoal, ash and some mineral soil downslope as small-scale and non-erosive debris flows. In some places cobble- and boulder-sized material was moved short distances. A moderate potential for debris- and hyperconcentrated-flow activity is identified for the two major tributary canyons to Capulin Canyon based on evidence of both summer of 1996 and possible historic significant debris-flow activity.

REPRESENTING ROAD RELATED LASERSCANNED DATA IN CURVED REGULAR GRID: A SUPPORT TO AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

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V. Potó

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The terrestrial and mobile laser scanning has become nowadays a mature technology applied in several technical and non-technical applications. The transportation infrastructure can be surveyed by these technologies in an excellent way, then 3D maps, fly-through videos and road furniture inventories can be derived among many other applications. The very detailed measurement and the realistic feature enable even to be used in games or simulators. This advantage was to be analyzed in vehicular simulation environment; the primary goal of the paper was to demonstrate a potential workflow and use case for such laser scanning data. The selected simulation package was the OpenCRG, which is being a component of OpenDRIVE-OpenCRG-OpenSCENARIO system, where it has been developed for microscopic simulations, e.g. vibrations, tire models or vehicle suspension systems. Because of the realistic visualization of CRG models it is very popular in the design and development of autonomous vehicles. The paper presents two different paved pilot sites surveyed by these technologies, then the raw data preparation is described and the details of the CRG model building is shown. The results of the experiments bring an overview, how the captured field data can be represented and interpreted in road surface context. The diagrams illustrate the potential of the very high resolution (1 cm model, which allows to identify each separate cobble stone or to study surface roughness.

Large wood and in-stream habitat for juvenile coho salmon and larval lampreys in a Pacific Northwest stream

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Gonzalez, Rosalinda; Dunham, Jason B.; Lightcap, Scott W.; McEnroe, Jeffery R.

2017-01-01

The influences of large wood on Pacific salmon are well-studied, but studies of nonsalmonid species such as lampreys are uncommon. To address this need, we evaluated the potential effects of large wood on larval lampreys (Pacific Lamprey, Entosphenus tridentatus; and potentially Western Brook Lamprey Lampetra richardsoni), as well as juvenile Coho Salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch, in a small coastal Oregon stream. Our objectives were to 1) identify in-stream habitat characteristics associated with the presence of larval lampreys and abundance of juvenile Coho Salmon; and 2) evaluate how these characteristics were associated with in-stream wood. To address habitat use, we quantified presence of larval lampreys in 92 pools and abundance of juvenile Coho Salmon in 44 pools during summer low flows. We focused on a study reach where large wood was introduced into the stream between 2008 and 2009. Results indicated that presence of larval lampreys was significantly associated with availability of fine sediment and deeper substrate. The abundance of juvenile Coho Salmon (fish/pool) was strongly associated with pool surface area and to a weaker extent with the proportion of cobble and boulder substrates in pools. Pools with wood, regardless of whether they were formed by wood, had significantly greater coverage of fine sediment, deeper substrate, and greater pool surface area. Taken together, these results suggest that in-stream wood can provide habitat associated with presence of larval lampreys and greater abundance of juvenile Coho Salmon.

Discovery of modern (post-1850 CE) lavas in south-central British Columbia, Canada: Origin from coal fires or intraplate volcanism?

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Canil, Dante; Mihalynuk, Mitch; Lacourse, Terri

2018-01-01

We describe three unusual lavas in the Northern Cordillera in south-central British Columbia, Canada, occurring as spatter, scoria and blocks over small 400 m2 areas. The lavas coat and weld cobbles and pebbles in glacial till and are vesicular and glassy with microlites of clinopyroxene and plagioclase, and xenocrysts of quartz, feldspar or clinopyroxene. Chemically the lavas are basaltic trachyandesite (55-61 wt% SiO2) with trace element patterns similar to average British Columbia upper crust, except for having higher V and lower Zr, Hf, Nb, Th and U. Melting experiments and plagioclase-melt thermometry on the glasses, and phase equilibrium in simple systems, require liquidus temperatures of 1150-1300 °C. Interaction of the liquids with carbonaceous matter at low pressure formed Fe metal spherules and SiC. Radiocarbon ages of charcoal and dendrochronology show the lavas are modern, emplaced in the last 120 years. The similar bulk composition of these lavas to several other Quaternary-aged volcanic centers in the North American Cordillera, some of which show recent seismic activity, could suggest a possible tectonic origin, but the deposits are unusually small and show no central vent for emplacement. Conversely, the balance of evidence would suggest an origin from coal fires or hot gas venting, but is less consistent with the observed calc- and per-alkaline lava compositions, and the lack of known local coal-bearing strata as a heat source. Other anthropogenic origins for the lavas are considered less plausible.

Habitat Preferences and Distribution of the Freshwater Shrimps of the Genus Caridina (Crustacea: Decapoda: Atyidae in Lake Lindu, Sulawesi, Indonesia

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Annawaty Annawaty

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The objectives of this study were to reveal ecological preferences and distribution of all species of Caridina found in Lake Lindu and their catchment area. Specimens from 39 sampling sites were caught using tray net and hand net. There are three species of Caridina found in the lake system, i.e. Caridina linduensis, Caridina kaili and Caridina dali. There is no overlapping distribution among the species. Caridina kaili is a true riverine species and it is never encountered sympatric with C. dali nor C. linduensis. This species is abundant in streams and ditches with moderate flow running water and gravel–cobble substrate. It is mainly spread within streams west to the lake. Both C. dali and C. linduensis can be found in the lake and streams with very slow current to almost stagnant water, muddy sand substrate and associated with roots of water plants and leaf litter. However, C. dali is never occurred together with C. linduensis and they are less abundant compare to C. kaili. Distribution of Caridina spp. in Lake Lindu is probably affected by the temperature of their habitats and the occurrence of introduced fish such as Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus, common carp (Cyprinus carpio, and an alien riceland prawn (Macrobrachium lanchesteri. These introduced and alien species can have the potency to become predators or competitors for the Caridina spp. It is also the first record for M. lanchesteri present in Lake Lindu.

Spawning and rearing behavior of bull trout in a headwaterlake ecosystem

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Lora B. Tennant,; Gresswell, Bob; Guy, Christopher S.; Michael H. Meeuwig,

2015-01-01

Numerous life histories have been documented for bull trout Salvelinus confluentus. Lacustrine-adfluvial bull trout populations that occupy small, headwater lake ecosystems and migrate short distances to natal tributaries to spawn are likely common; however, much of the research on potamodromous bull trout has focused on describing the spawning and rearing characteristics of bull trout populations that occupy large rivers and lakes and make long distance spawning migrations to natal headwater streams. This study describes the spawning and rearing characteristics of lacustrine-adfluvial bull trout in the Quartz Lake drainage, Glacier National Park, USA, a small headwater lake ecosystem. Many spawning and rearing characteristics of bull trout in the Quartz Lake drainage are similar to potamodromous bull trout that migrate long distances. For example, subadult bull trout distribution was positively associated with slow-water habitat unit types and maximum wetted width, and negatively associated with increased stream gradient. Bull trout spawning also occurred when water temperatures were between 5 and 9 °C, and redds were generally located in stream segments with low stream gradient and abundant gravel and cobble substrates. However, this study also elucidated characteristics of bull trout biology that are not well documented in the literature, but may be relatively widespread and have important implications regarding general characteristics of bull trout ecology, use of available habitat by bull trout, and persistence of lacustrine-adfluvial bull trout in small headwater lake ecosystems.

Field tests of acoustic telemetry for a portable coastal observatory

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Martini, M.; Butman, B.; Ware, J.; Frye, D.

2006-01-01

Long-term field tests of a low-cost acoustic telemetry system were carried out at two sites in Massachusetts Bay. At each site, an acoustic Doppler current profiler mounted on a bottom tripod was fitted with an acoustic modem to transmit data to a surface buoy; electronics mounted on the buoy relayed these data to shore via radio modem. The mooring at one site (24 m water depth) was custom-designed for the telemetry application, with a custom designed small buoy, a flexible electro-mechanical buoy to mooring joint using a molded chain connection to the buoy, quick-release electro-mechanical couplings, and dual hydrophones suspended 7 m above the bottom. The surface buoy at the second site (33 m water depth) was a U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) channel buoy fitted with telemetry electronics and clamps to hold the hydrophones. The telemetry was tested in several configurations for a period of about four years. The custom-designed buoy and mooring provided nearly error-free data transmission through the acoustic link under a variety of oceanographic conditions for 261 days at the 24 m site. The electro mechanical joint, cables and couplings required minimal servicing and were very reliable, lasting 862 days deployed before needing repairs. The acoustic communication results from the USCG buoy were poor, apparently due to the hard cobble bottom, noise from the all-steel buoy, and failure of the hydrophone assembly. Access to the USCG buoy at sea required ideal weather. ??2006 IEEE.

Geologic evidence for catastrophic marine inundation in 1200–1480 C.E. near the Puerto Rico Trench at Anegada, British Virgin Islands

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Atwater, Brian F.; ten Brink, Uri S.; Cescon, Anna Lisa; Feuillet, Nathalie; Fuentes, Zamara; Halley, Robert B.; Nuñez, Carlos; Reinhardt, Eduard G.; Roger, Jean; Sawai, Yuki; Spiske, Michaela; Tuttle, Martitia P.; Wei, Yong; Weil-Accardo, Jennifer

2017-01-01

Extraordinary marine inundation scattered clasts southward on the island of Anegada, 120 km south of the Puerto Rico Trench, sometime between 1200 and 1480 calibrated years (cal yr) CE. Many of these clasts were likely derived from a fringing reef and from the sandy flat that separates the reef from the island’s north shore. The scattered clasts include no fewer than 200 coral boulders, mapped herein for the first time and mainly found hundreds of meters inland. Many of these are complete colonies of the brain coral Diploria strigosa. Other coral species represented include Orbicella (formerly Montastraea) annularis, Porites astreoides, and Acropora palmata. Associated bioclastic carbonate sand locally contains articulated cobble-size valves of the lucine Codakia orbicularis and entire conch shells of Strombus gigas, mollusks that still inhabit the sandy shallows between the island’s north shore and a fringing reef beyond. Imbricated limestone slabs are clustered near some of the coral boulders. In addition, fields of scattered limestone boulders and cobbles near sea level extend mainly southward from limestone sources as much as 1 km inland. Radiocarbon ages have been obtained from 27 coral clasts, 8 lucine valves, and 3 conch shells. All these additional ages predate 1500 cal yr CE, all but 2 are in the range 1000–1500 cal yr CE, and 16 of 22 brain coral ages cluster in the range 1200–1480 cal yr CE. The event marked by these coral and mollusk clasts likely occurred in the last centuries before Columbus (before 1492 CE).The pre-Columbian deposits surpass Anegada’s previously reported evidence for extreme waves in post-Columbian time. The coarsest of the modern storm deposits consist of coral rubble that lines the north shore and sandy fans on the south shore; neither of these storm deposits extends more than 50 m inland. More extensive overwash, perhaps by the 1755 Lisbon tsunami, is marked primarily by a sheet of sand and shells found mainly

Human virus and microbial indicator occurrence in public-supply groundwater systems: meta-analysis of 12 international studies

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Fout, G. Shay; Borchardt, Mark A.; Kieke, Burney A.; Karim, Mohammad R.

2017-06-01

Groundwater quality is often evaluated using microbial indicators. This study examines data from 12 international groundwater studies (conducted 1992-2013) of 718 public drinking-water systems located in a range of hydrogeological settings. Focus was on testing the value of indicator organisms for identifying virus-contaminated wells. One or more indicators and viruses were present in 37 and 15% of 2,273 samples and 44 and 27% of 746 wells, respectively. Escherichia coli ( E. coli) and somatic coliphage are 7-9 times more likely to be associated with culturable virus-positive samples when the indicator is present versus when it is absent, while F-specific and somatic coliphages are 8-9 times more likely to be associated with culturable virus-positive wells. However, single indicators are only marginally associated with viruses detected by molecular methods, and all microbial indicators have low sensitivity and positive predictive values for virus occurrence, whether by culturable or molecular assays, i.e., indicators are often absent when viruses are present and the indicators have a high false-positive rate. Wells were divided into three susceptibility subsets based on presence of (1) total coliform bacteria or (2) multiple indicators, or (3) location of wells in karst, fractured bedrock, or gravel/cobble settings. Better associations of some indicators with viruses were observed for (1) and (3). Findings indicate the best indicators are E. coli or somatic coliphage, although both indicators may underestimate virus occurrence. Repeat sampling for indicators improves evaluation of the potential for viral contamination in a well.

Habitat structure and zonation patterns of northwestern Mediterranean shoreline strands

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Simone Mariani

2017-06-01

Full Text Available We studied the habitat structure (macrofaunal assemblages and bottom types and zonation patterns of 29 unvegetated shoreline strands along the 900-km coast of Catalonia (NW Mediterranean Sea. Organisms were sampled with grabs, pitfall traps, sticky traps, clam nets and spades to ensure capture of the different proportions of macrofaunal assemblages from the supra-, medio- and infralittoral levels. We collected 211 taxa: 194 animals and 17 algae. The most abundant and dominant organisms collected with van Veen grabs were Nematoda, Oligochaeta and Collembola at the supralittoral level; the polychaetes Saccocirrus spp. and Pisione remota, the amphipod Corophium orientale, Nematoda, and Turbellaria at the mediolittoral level; and Nematoda at the upper infralittoral level. SIMPER analysis revealed great dissimilarity between the organisms inhabiting the supralittoral and the other littoral levels. Regarding the epifauna, the sticky traps used at the supralittoral level mainly collected Collembola, which were nearly absent in pitfall traps. The qualitative study performed with a clam net and a small spade revealed that Nematoda, Saccocirrus spp., Turbellaria, Nemertea and the polychaete P. remota were the most abundant animals at both the medio- and the infralittoral levels and no differences were found between these levels. Different qualitative sampling methodologies showed that in fine sediments the bivalves Donax trunculus and D. semistriatus determined more than 97% of dissimilarity from coarse-sand sites. Richness increased in protected sandy and cobble shores. Littoral level and bottom-type features were only to a certain extent valid indicators of specific biotic components for a specific habitat.

IODP Expedition 351 Lithostratigraphy: Volcaniclastic Record of Izu-Bonin-Mariana (IBM) Arc Initiation

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Barth, A. P.; Brandl, P. A.; Li, H.; Hickey-Vargas, R.; Jiang, F.; Kanayama, K.; Kusano, Y.; Marsaglia, K. M.; McCarthy, A.; Meffre, S.; Savov, I. P.; Tepley, F. J., III; Yogodzinski, G. M.

2014-12-01

The destruction of lithospheric plates by subduction is a fundamentally important process leading to arc magmatism and the creation of continental crust, yet subduction initiation and early magmatic arc evolution remain poorly understood. For many arc systems, onset of arc volcanism and early evolution are obscured by metamorphism or the record is deeply buried; however, initial products of arc systems may be preserved in forearc and backarc sedimentary records. IODP Expedition 351 recovered this history from the dispersed ash and pyroclast record in the proximal rear-arc of the northern IBM system west of the Kyushu-Palau Ridge. Drilling at Site U1438 in the Amami Sankaku Basin recovered a thick volcaniclastic record of subduction initiation and the early evolution of the Izu-Bonin Arc. A 160-m thick section of Neogene sediment overlies 1.3 kilometers of Paleogene volcaniclastic rocks with andesitic average composition; this volcaniclastic section was deposited on mafic volcanic basement rocks. The thin upper sediment layer is primarily terrigenous, biogenic and volcaniclastic mud and ooze with interspersed ash layers. The underlying Eocene to Oligocene volcaniclastic rocks are 33% tuffaceous mudstone, 61% tuffaceous sandstone, and 6% conglomerate with volcanic and rare sedimentary clasts commonly up to pebble and rarely to cobble size. The clastic section is characterized by repetitive conglomerate and sandstone-dominated intervals with intervening mudstone-dominated intervals, reflecting waxing and waning of coarse arc-derived sediment inputs through time. Volcanic lithic clasts in sandstones and conglomerates range from basalt to rhyolite in composition and include well-preserved pumice, reflecting a lithologically diverse and compositionally variable arc volcanic source.

Hyporheic less-mobile porosity and solute transport in porous media

Science.gov (United States)

MahmoodPoorDehkordy, F.; Briggs, M. A.; Day-Lewis, F. D.; Scruggs, C.; Singha, K.; Zarnetske, J. P.; Lane, J. W., Jr.; Bagtzoglou, A. C.

2017-12-01

Solute transport and reactive processes are strongly influenced by hydrodynamic exchange with the hyporheic zone. Contaminant transport and redox zonation in the hyporheic zone and near-stream aquifer can be impacted by the exchange between mobile and less-mobile porosity zones in heterogeneous porous media. Less-mobile porosity zones can be created by fine materials with tight pore throats (e.g. clay, organics) and in larger, well-connected pores down gradient of flow obstructions (e.g. sand behind cobbles). Whereas fluid sampling is primarily responsive to the more-mobile domain, tracking solute tracer dynamics by geoelectrical methods provides direct information about both more- and less-mobile zones. During tracer injection through porous media of varied pore connectivity, a lag between fluid and bulk electrical conductivity is observed, creating a hysteresis loop when plotted in conductivity space. Thus, the combination of simultaneous fluid and bulk electrical conductivity measurements enables a much improved quantification of less-mobile solute dynamics compared to traditional fluid-only sampling approaches. We have demonstrated the less-mobile porosity exchange in laboratory-scale column experiments verified by simulation models. The experimental approach has also been applied to streambed sediments in column and reach-scale field experiments and verified using numerical simulation. Properties of the resultant hysteresis loops can be used to estimate exchange parameters of less-mobile porosity. Our integrated approach combining field experiments, laboratory experiments, and numerical modeling provides new insights into the effect of less-mobile porosity on solute transport in the hyporheic zone.

Catalase inhibits ionizing radiation-induced apoptosis in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Xia; Luo, Hongmei; Vanek, Kenneth N; LaRue, Amanda C; Schulte, Bradley A; Wang, Gavin Y

2015-06-01

Hematologic toxicity is a major cause of mortality in radiation emergency scenarios and a primary side effect concern in patients undergoing chemo-radiotherapy. Therefore, there is a critical need for the development of novel and more effective approaches to manage this side effect. Catalase is a potent antioxidant enzyme that coverts hydrogen peroxide into hydrogen and water. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of catalase as a protectant against ionizing radiation (IR)-induced toxicity in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs). The results revealed that catalase treatment markedly inhibits IR-induced apoptosis in murine hematopoietic stem cells and hematopoietic progenitor cells. Subsequent colony-forming cell and cobble-stone area-forming cell assays showed that catalase-treated HSPCs can not only survive irradiation-induced apoptosis but also have higher clonogenic capacity, compared with vehicle-treated cells. Moreover, transplantation of catalase-treated irradiated HSPCs results in high levels of multi-lineage and long-term engraftments, whereas vehicle-treated irradiated HSPCs exhibit very limited hematopoiesis reconstituting capacity. Mechanistically, catalase treatment attenuates IR-induced DNA double-strand breaks and inhibits reactive oxygen species. Unexpectedly, we found that the radioprotective effect of catalase is associated with activation of the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) signaling pathway and pharmacological inhibition of STAT3 abolishes the protective activity of catalase, suggesting that catalase may protect HSPCs against IR-induced toxicity via promoting STAT3 activation. Collectively, these results demonstrate a previously unrecognized mechanism by which catalase inhibits IR-induced DNA damage and apoptosis in HSPCs.

Radiocarbon ages of 'exposed reef' at Minamitori-shima (Marcus Island), Central Pacific

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Konishi, Kenji; Tanaka, Takeo; Omura, Akio

1985-01-01

Studies were carried out on the geoscientific features of bench-like steps and exposed or elevated reef on the coast of Minamitori-shima (Marcus Island) by referring mainly Bryan's report in 1903. Field work were carried out in May, 1979 for geoscientific survey and coral sample collection. Features of the bench-like steps survey clarified that only four steps were found for those reported by Bryan. As for the exposed reef reported by him, it was found at the northern corner of the western beach in contact with the moat of present reef. Across the northern part of the western coast two transects, A and B, were selected, and cobble-size fossils of corals composed by mainly Favia and Favites were collected from beach conglomerate at 6 and 8 sampling points of the A and B transects, respectively. Except one specimen, all the collected corals of the both transects showed their age by radiocarbon dating of 2,430 to 3,210 y B.P. and their average value was 2,838 +- 206 y B.P. As for ages of reef creast and reef flat, they were 2,130 and 2,880 y B.P., and 540 and 1,280 y B.P., respectively. Based on these coral age data and related geoscientific understandings, it was speculated that the origin of beach conglomerate was a tempesite deposited above mean sea level through stormy high tide. In addition to this speculation, geotectonic movement and geological features are also discussed in this paper. (Takagi, S.)

Aquatic macroinvertebrates and water quality of Sandia Canyon, Los Alamos National Laboratory, December 1992--October 1993. Status report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cross, S.

1994-09-01

In the summer of 1990, an accidental spill from the TA-3 Power Plant Environment Tank released more than 3,785 liters of sulfuric acid into upper Sandia Canyon. The Biological Resource Evaluation Team (BRET) of EM-8 at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has collected aquatic samples from the stream within Sandia Canyon since then. These field studies gather water quality measurements and collect macroinvertebrates from permanent sampling sites. An earlier report by Bennett (1994) discusses previous BRET aquatic studies in Sandia Canyon. This report updates and expands Bennett's initial findings. During 1993, BRET collected water quality data and aquatic macroinvertebrates at five permanent stations within the canyon. The substrates of the upper three stations are largely sands and silts while the substrates of the two lower stations are largely rock and cobbles. The two upstream stations are located near outfalls that discharge industrial and sanitary waste effluent. The third station is within a natural cattail marsh, approximately 0.4 km (0.25 mi) downstream from Stations SC1 and SC2. Water quality parameters are slightly different at these first three stations from those expected of natural streams, suggesting slightly degraded water quality. Correspondingly, the macroinvertebrate communities at these stations are characterized by low diversities and poorly-developed community structures. The two downstream stations appear to be in a zone of recovery, where water quality parameters more closely resemble those found in natural streams of the area. Macroinvertebrate diversity increases and community structure becomes more complex at the two lower stations, which are further indications of improved water quality downstream

Compositional Signatures in Acoustic Backscatter Over Vegetated and Unvegetated Mixed Sand-Gravel Riverbeds

Science.gov (United States)

Buscombe, D.; Grams, P. E.; Kaplinski, M. A.

2017-10-01

Multibeam acoustic backscatter has considerable utility for remote characterization of spatially heterogeneous bed sediment composition over vegetated and unvegetated riverbeds of mixed sand and gravel. However, the use of high-frequency, decimeter-resolution acoustic backscatter for sediment classification in shallow water is hampered by significant topographic contamination of the signal. In mixed sand-gravel riverbeds, changes in the abiotic composition of sediment (such as homogeneous sand to homogeneous gravel) tend to occur over larger spatial scales than is characteristic of small-scale bedform topography (ripples, dunes, and bars) or biota (such as vascular plants and periphyton). A two-stage method is proposed to filter out the morphological contributions to acoustic backscatter. First, the residual supragrain-scale topographic effects in acoustic backscatter with small instantaneous insonified areas, caused by ambiguity in the local (beam-to-beam) bed-sonar geometry, are removed. Then, coherent scales between high-resolution topography and backscatter are identified using cospectra, which are used to design a frequency domain filter that decomposes backscatter into the (unwanted) high-pass component associated with bedform topography (ripples, dunes, and sand waves) and vegetation, and the (desired) low-frequency component associated with the composition of sediment patches superimposed on the topography. This process strengthens relationships between backscatter and sediment composition. A probabilistic framework is presented for classifying vegetated and unvegetated substrates based on acoustic backscatter at decimeter resolution. This capability is demonstrated using data collected from diverse settings within a 386 km reach of a canyon river whose bed varies among sand, gravel, cobbles, boulders, and submerged vegetation.

Riparian soil development linked to forest succession above and below dams along the Elwha River, Washington, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Perry, Laura G; Shafroth, Patrick B.; Perakis, Steven

2017-01-01

Riparian forest soils can be highly dynamic, due to frequent fluvial disturbance, erosion, and sediment deposition, but effects of dams on riparian soils are poorly understood. We examined soils along toposequences within three river segments located upstream, between, and downstream of two dams on the Elwha River to evaluate relationships between riparian soil development and forest age, succession, and channel proximity, explore dam effects on riparian soils, and provide a baseline for the largest dam removal in history. We found that older, later-successional forests and geomorphic surfaces contained soils with finer texture and greater depth to cobble, supporting greater forest floor mass, mineral soil nutrient levels, and cation exchange. Forest stand age was a better predictor than channel proximity for many soil characteristics, though elevation and distance from the channel were often also important, highlighting how complex interactions between fluvial disturbance, sediment deposition, and biotic retention regulate soil development in this ecosystem. Soils between the dams, and to a lesser extent below the lower dam, had finer textures and higher mineral soil carbon, nitrogen, and cation exchange than above the dams. These results suggested that decreased fluvial disturbance below the dams, due to reduced sediment supply and channel stabilization, accelerated soil development. In addition, reduced sediment supply below the dams may have decreased soil phosphorus. Soil δ15N suggested that salmon exclusion by the dams had no discernable effect on nitrogen inputs to upstream soils. Recent dam removal may alter riparian soils further, with ongoing implications for riparian ecosystems.

Palaeoart at Two Million Years Ago? A Review of the Evidence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James B. Harrod

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Current archaeological evidence supports the claim that symbolic behavior, including palaeoart, first emerged in human evolution around 1 million years ago. The purpose of this article is to review archaeological studies that might support the hypothesis that the earliest palaeoart actually is evident around 2 million years ago. This review identifies nine Oldowan artifacts that have been proposed as possible non-utilitarian and possibly symbolic behavior. Among seven stone tools, the three strongest candidates are the Olduvai Gorge, the FLK North grooved and pecked cobble, ~1.80 million years ago, and MNK Main subspheroid with hexagon shape framing an apparent natural dot-and-undulating-line motif, ~1.5–1.6 million years ago, both initially reported and described by Mary Leakey; and the curated Koobi Fora FxJj1 “broken core” with inner rhomboid shape, ~1.87 million years ago. All six stone tools from Olduvai Gorge need scientific re-examination to determine their chaîne opératoire and assess non-utilitarian features. If even one of the Olduvai Gorge artifacts were validated as symbolic behavior this would indicate the emergence of palaeoart one million years earlier than current proposals. It would also suggest that Homo habilis/rudolfensis or a very early Homo erectus had substantially more advanced cognitive, design and symbolic competencies than inferred in current theories. It would constitute a challenge to develop more advanced cognitive semiotic and art-theoretic analytical tools for illuminating the role of such palaeoart in hominin cultural evolution.

Compositional signatures in acoustic backscatter over vegetated and unvegetated mixed sand-gravel riverbeds

Science.gov (United States)

Buscombe, Daniel; Grams, Paul E.; Kaplinski, Matt A.

2017-01-01

Multibeam acoustic backscatter has considerable utility for remote characterization of spatially heterogeneous bed sediment composition over vegetated and unvegetated riverbeds of mixed sand and gravel. However, the use of high-frequency, decimeter-resolution acoustic backscatter for sediment classification in shallow water is hampered by significant topographic contamination of the signal. In mixed sand-gravel riverbeds, changes in the abiotic composition of sediment (such as homogeneous sand to homogeneous gravel) tend to occur over larger spatial scales than is characteristic of small-scale bedform topography (ripples, dunes, and bars) or biota (such as vascular plants and periphyton). A two-stage method is proposed to filter out the morphological contributions to acoustic backscatter. First, the residual supragrain-scale topographic effects in acoustic backscatter with small instantaneous insonified areas, caused by ambiguity in the local (beam-to-beam) bed-sonar geometry, are removed. Then, coherent scales between high-resolution topography and backscatter are identified using cospectra, which are used to design a frequency domain filter that decomposes backscatter into the (unwanted) high-pass component associated with bedform topography (ripples, dunes, and sand waves) and vegetation, and the (desired) low-frequency component associated with the composition of sediment patches superimposed on the topography. This process strengthens relationships between backscatter and sediment composition. A probabilistic framework is presented for classifying vegetated and unvegetated substrates based on acoustic backscatter at decimeter resolution. This capability is demonstrated using data collected from diverse settings within a 386 km reach of a canyon river whose bed varies among sand, gravel, cobbles, boulders, and submerged vegetation.

Opportunity Mars Rover mission: Overview and selected results from Purgatory ripple to traverses to Endeavour crater

Science.gov (United States)

Arvidson, R. E.; Ashley, James W.; Bell, J.F.; Chojnacki, M.; Cohen, J.; Economou, T.E.; Farrand, W. H.; Fergason, R.; Fleischer, I.; Geissler, P.; Gellert, Ralf; Golombek, M.P.; Grotzinger, J.P.; Guinness, E.A.; Haberle, R.M.; Herkenhoff, K. E.; Herman, J.A.; Iagnemma, K.D.; Jolliff, B.L.; Johnson, J. R.; Klingelhofer, G.; Knoll, A.H.; Knudson, A.T.; Li, R.; McLennan, S.M.; Mittlefehldt, D. W.; Morris, R.V.; Parker, T.J.; Rice, M.S.; Schroder, C.; Soderblom, L.A.; Squyres, S. W.; Sullivan, R.J.; Wolff, M.J.

2011-01-01

Opportunity has been traversing the Meridiani plains since 25 January 2004 (sol 1), acquiring numerous observations of the atmosphere, soils, and rocks. This paper provides an overview of key discoveries between sols 511 and 2300, complementing earlier papers covering results from the initial phases of the mission. Key new results include (1) atmospheric argon measurements that demonstrate the importance of atmospheric transport to and from the winter carbon dioxide polar ice caps; (2) observations showing that aeolian ripples covering the plains were generated by easterly winds during an epoch with enhanced Hadley cell circulation; (3) the discovery and characterization of cobbles and boulders that include iron and stony-iron meteorites and Martian impact ejecta; (4) measurements of wall rock strata within Erebus and Victoria craters that provide compelling evidence of formation by aeolian sand deposition, with local reworking within ephemeral lakes; (5) determination that the stratigraphy exposed in the walls of Victoria and Endurance craters show an enrichment of chlorine and depletion of magnesium and sulfur with increasing depth. This result implies that regional-scale aqueous alteration took place before formation of these craters. Most recently, Opportunity has been traversing toward the ancient Endeavour crater. Orbital data show that clay minerals are exposed on its rim. Hydrated sulfate minerals are exposed in plains rocks adjacent to the rim, unlike the surfaces of plains outcrops observed thus far by Opportunity. With continued mechanical health, Opportunity will reach terrains on and around Endeavour's rim that will be markedly different from anything examined to date. Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.

In situ bioremediation strategies for oiled shoreline environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, K.; Mora, S. de

1999-01-01

Despite advances in preventative measures, recent events have demonstrated that accidental oil spills at sea will still occur. While physical (e.g. booms and skimmers) and chemical (e.g. chemical dispersants) methods have been developed to recover and/or disperse oil spilled at sea, they are not 100% effective and are frequently limited by operational constraints attributed to sea state and/or nature of the contamination. As a result, oil spills frequently impact shoreline environments. In situ bioremediation, the addition of substances or modification of habitat at contaminated sites to accelerate natural biodegradation processes, is now recognised as an alternative spill response technology of the remediation of these sites. Recommended for use following the physical removal of bulk oil, this treatment strategy has an operational advantage in that it breaks down and/or removes the residual contamination in place. Laboratory experiments and field trials have demonstrated the feasibility and success of bioremediation strategies such as nutrient enrichment to enhance bacterial degradation of oil on cobble, sand beach and salt marsh environments. With improved knowledge of the factors that limit natural oil degradation rates, the feasibility of other strategies such as phytoremediation, enhanced oil-mineral fines interaction and the addition of oxygen or alternative electron acceptors are now being evaluated. Laboratory and field test protocols are being refined for the selection of effective bioremediation agents and methods of application. It is recommended that future operational guidelines include real time product efficacy test and environmental effects monitoring programs. Termination of treatment should be implemented when: 1) it is no longer effective; 2) the oil has degraded to acceptable biologically benign concentrations; or 3) toxicity due to the treatment is increasing. (Author)

The effects of green infrastructure on exceedance of critical shear stress in Blunn Creek watershed

Science.gov (United States)

Shannak, Sa'd.

2017-10-01

Green infrastructure (GI) has attracted city planners and watershed management professional as a new approach to control urban stormwater runoff. Several regulatory enforcements of GI implementation created an urgent need for quantitative information on GI practice effectiveness, namely for sediment and stream erosion. This study aims at investigating the capability and performance of GI in reducing stream bank erosion in the Blackland Prairie ecosystem. To achieve the goal of this study, we developed a methodology to represent two types of GI (bioretention and permeable pavement) into the Soil Water Assessment Tool, we also evaluated the shear stress and excess shear stress for stream flows in conjunction with different levels of adoption of GI, and estimated potential stream bank erosion for different median soil particle sizes using real and design storms. The results provided various configurations of GI schemes in reducing the negative impact of urban stormwater runoff on stream banks. Results showed that combining permeable pavement and bioretention resulted in the greatest reduction in runoff volumes, peak flows, and excess shear stress under both real and design storms. Bioretention as a stand-alone resulted in the second greatest reduction, while the installation of detention pond only had the least reduction percentages. Lastly, results showed that the soil particle with median diameter equals to 64 mm (small cobbles) had the least excess shear stress across all design storms, while 0.5 mm (medium sand) soil particle size had the largest magnitude of excess shear stress. The current study provides several insights into a watershed scale for GI planning and watershed management to effectively reduce the negative impact of urban stormwater runoff and control streambank erosion.

Selection indicates preference in diverse habitats: a ground-nesting bird (Charadrius melodus) using reservoir shoreline.

Science.gov (United States)

Anteau, Michael J; Sherfy, Mark H; Wiltermuth, Mark T

2012-01-01

Animals use proximate cues to select resources that maximize individual fitness. When animals have a diverse array of available habitats, those selected could give insights into true habitat preferences. Since the construction of the Garrison Dam on the Missouri River in North Dakota, Lake Sakakawea (SAK) has become an important breeding area for federally threatened piping plovers (Charadrius melodus; hereafter plovers). We used conditional logistic regression to examine nest-site selection at fine scales (1, 3, and 10 m) during summers 2006-2009 by comparing characteristics at 351 nests to those of 668 random sites within nesting territories. Plovers selected sites (1 m(2)) that were lower than unused random sites, increasing the risk of nest inundation. Plovers selected nest sites that were flat, had little silt, and at least 1 cobble; they also selected for 3-m radius nest areas that were relatively flat and devoid of vegetation and litter. Ninety percent of nests had nest sites (11% median), but against in the area 10-m from the nest, suggesting plovers select for patches or strips of gravel. Although elevation is rarely evaluated in studies of ground-nesting birds, our results underscore its importance in habitat-selection studies. Relative to where plovers historically nested, habitat at SAK has more diverse topography, substrate composition, vegetation communities, and greater water-level fluctuations. Accordingly, our results provide an example of how habitat-selection results can be interpreted as habitat preferences because they are not influenced by desired habitats being scarce or absent. Further, our results will be useful for directing habitat conservation for plovers and interpreting other habitat-selection studies.

Rotenone persistence model for montane streams

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Peter J.; Zale, Alexander V.

2012-01-01

The efficient and effective use of rotenone is hindered by its unknown persistence in streams. Environmental conditions degrade rotenone, but current label instructions suggest fortifying the chemical along a stream based on linear distance or travel time rather than environmental conditions. Our objective was to develop models that use measurements of environmental conditions to predict rotenone persistence in streams. Detailed measurements of ultraviolet radiation, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, total dissolved solids (TDS), conductivity, pH, oxidation–reduction potential (ORP), substrate composition, amount of organic matter, channel slope, and travel time were made along stream segments located between rotenone treatment stations and cages containing bioassay fish in six streams. The amount of fine organic matter, biofilm, sand, gravel, cobble, rubble, small boulders, slope, pH, TDS, ORP, light reaching the stream, energy dissipated, discharge, and cumulative travel time were each significantly correlated with fish death. By using logistic regression, measurements of environmental conditions were paired with the responses of bioassay fish to develop a model that predicted the persistence of rotenone toxicity in streams. This model was validated with data from two additional stream treatment reaches. Rotenone persistence was predicted by a model that used travel time, rubble, and ORP. When this model predicts a probability of less than 0.95, those who apply rotenone can expect incomplete eradication and should plan on fortifying rotenone concentrations. The significance of travel time has been previously identified and is currently used to predict rotenone persistence. However, rubble substrate, which may be associated with the degradation of rotenone by adsorption and volatilization in turbulent environments, was not previously considered.

Geomorphology of the Elwha River and its Delta: Chapter 3 in Coastal habitats of the Elwha River, Washington--biological and physical patterns and processes prior to dam removal

Science.gov (United States)

Warrick, Jonathan A.; Draut, Amy E.; McHenry, Michael L.; Miller, Ian M.; Magirl, Christopher S.; Beirne, Matthew M.; Stevens, Andrew Stevens; Logan, Joshua B.; Duda, Jeffrey J.; Warrick, Jonathan A.; Magirl, Christopher S.

2011-01-01

The removal of two dams on the Elwha River will introduce massive volumes of sediment to the river, and this increase in sediment supply in the river will likely modify the shapes and forms of the river and coastal landscape downstream of the dams. This chapter provides the geologic and geomorphologic background of the Olympic Peninsula and the Elwha River with emphasis on the present river and shoreline. The Elwha River watershed was formed through the uplift of the Olympic Mountains, erosion and movement of sediment throughout the watershed from glaciers, and downslope movement of sediment from gravitational and hydrologic forces. Recent alterations to the river morphology and sediment movement through the river include the two large dams slated to be removed in 2011, but also include repeated bulldozing of channel boundaries, construction and maintenance of flood plain levees, a weir and diversion channel for water supply purposes, and engineered log jams to help enhance river habitat for salmon. The shoreline of the Elwha River delta has changed in location by several kilometers during the past 14,000 years, in response to variations in the local sea-level of approximately 150 meters. Erosion of the shoreline has accelerated during the past 80 years, resulting in landward movement of the beach by more than 200 meters near the river mouth, net reduction in the area of coastal wetlands, and the development of an armored low-tide terrace of the beach consisting primarily of cobble. Changes to the river and coastal morphology during and following dam removal may be substantial, and consistent, long-term monitoring of these systems will be needed to characterize the effects of the dam removal project.

Experimental Study of Irregular Waves on a Gravel Beach

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Nai-Ren; Wu, Yun-Ta; Hwung, Hwung-Hweng; Yang, Ray-Yeng

2017-04-01

In the east coast of Taiwan, the sort grain size more belongs to cobble or gravel, which is physically distinct compared to the sandy beach in the west coast of Taiwan. Although gravel beaches can dissipate more of wave energy, gravel beaches were eroded and coastal road were damaged especially during typhoons. The purpose of this study is to investigate the geomorphological response of gravel beach due to irregular waves. This experiment was carry out in a 21m long, 50 cm wide, 70 cm high wave tank at Tainan Hydraulics Laboratory, National Cheng-Kung University, Taiwan. To simulate of the geometry in the east coast of Taiwan, a physical model with 1/36 scale-down was used, in which the seawall was 10cm built upon a 1:10 slope and gravel grains with D50 being 3.87 mm was nourished in front of the seawall. In terms of typhoon-scale wave condition, irregular waves with scale-down conditions were generated for 600 s for each scenarios and, three different water levels with respect to the gravel beach are designed. Application of laser combined with image processing to produce 3D topographic map, the erosion zone and accretion zone would be found. The resulting morphological change of gravel beach will be measured using an integrated laser and image processing tool to have 3D topographic maps. It is expected to have more understanding about under what conditions the gravel coasts suffer the least damage. In particular, the relation between erosion rates of gravel beach, the angle of gravel slope and the length of the plane on the gravel slope will be achieved

The Abundance of Toxic Genotypes Is a Key Contributor to Anatoxin Variability in Phormidium-Dominated Benthic Mats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susanna A. Wood

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The prevalence of benthic proliferations of the anatoxin-producing cyanobacterium Phormidium are increasing in cobble-bed rivers worldwide. Studies to date have shown high spatial and temporal variability in anatoxin concentrations among mats. In this study we determined anatoxin quotas (toxins per cell in field samples and compared these results to the conventionally-used concentrations (assessed per dry weight of mat. Three mats were selected at sites in two rivers and were sampled every 2–3 h for 24–26 h. The samples were lyophilized and ground to a fine homogenous powder. Two aliquots of known weights were analyzed for anatoxin congeners using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, or digital droplet PCR with Phormidium-specific anaC primers to measure absolute quantities of gene copies. Anatoxin concentrations in the mats varied 59- and 303-fold in the two rivers over the study periods. A similar pattern was observed among gene copies (53- and 2828-fold. When converted to anatoxin quotas there was markedly less variability (42- and 16-fold, but significantly higher anatoxin quotas were observed in mats from the second river (p < 0.001, Student’s t-test. There were no obvious temporal patterns with high and low anatoxin concentrations or quotas measured at each sampling time and across the study period. These results demonstrate that variability in anatoxin concentrations among mats is primarily due to the abundance of toxic genotypes. No consistent modulation in anatoxin production was observed during the study, although significant differences in anatoxin quotas among rivers suggest that site-specific physiochemical or biological factors may influence anatoxin production.

Dynamics and mechanics of bed-load tracer particles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. B. Phillips

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Understanding the mechanics of bed load at the flood scale is necessary to link hydrology to landscape evolution. Here we report on observations of the transport of coarse sediment tracer particles in a cobble-bedded alluvial river and a step-pool bedrock tributary, at the individual flood and multi-annual timescales. Tracer particle data for each survey are composed of measured displacement lengths for individual particles, and the number of tagged particles mobilized. For single floods we find that measured tracer particle displacement lengths are exponentially distributed; the number of mobile particles increases linearly with peak flood Shields stress, indicating partial bed load transport for all observed floods; and modal displacement distances scale linearly with excess shear velocity. These findings provide quantitative field support for a recently proposed modeling framework based on momentum conservation at the grain scale. Tracer displacement is weakly negatively correlated with particle size at the individual flood scale; however cumulative travel distance begins to show a stronger inverse relation to grain size when measured over many transport events. The observed spatial sorting of tracers approaches that of the river bed, and is consistent with size-selective deposition models and laboratory experiments. Tracer displacement data for the bedrock and alluvial channels collapse onto a single curve – despite more than an order of magnitude difference in channel slope – when variations of critical Shields stress and flow resistance between the two are accounted for. Results show how bed load dynamics may be predicted from a record of river stage, providing a direct link between climate and sediment transport.

Sediment Transport Over Run-of-River Dams

Science.gov (United States)

O'Brien, M.; Magilligan, F. J.; Renshaw, C. E.

2016-12-01

Dams have numerous documented effects that can degrade river habitat downstream. One significant effect of large dams is their ability to trap sediment delivered from upstream. This trapping can alter sediment transport and grain size downstream - effects that often motivate dam removal decisions. However, recent indirect observations and modeling studies indicate that small, run-of-river (ROR) dams, which do not impede discharge, may actually leak sediment downstream. However, there are no direct measurements of sediment flux over ROR dams. This study investigates flow and sediment transport over four to six different New England ROR dams over a summer-fall field season. Sediment flux was measured using turbidity meters and tracer (RFID) cobbles. Sediment transport was also monitored through an undammed control site and through a river where two ROR dams were recently removed. These data were used to predict the conditions that contribute to sediment transport and trapping. Year 1 data show that tracer rocks of up to 61 mm were transported over a 3 m ROR dam in peak flows of 84% of bankfull stage. These tracer rocks were transported over and 10 m beyond the dam and continue to move downstream. During the same event, comparable suspended sediment fluxes of up to 81 g/s were recorded both upstream and downstream of the dam at near-synchronous timestamps. These results demonstrate the potential for sediment transport through dammed rivers, even in discharge events that do not exceed bankfull. This research elucidates the effects of ROR dams and the controls on sediment transport and trapping, contributions that may aid in dam management decisions.

A Review of distribution and quantity of lingering subsurface oil from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

Science.gov (United States)

Nixon, Zachary; Michel, Jacqueline

2018-01-01

Remaining lingering subsurface oil residues from the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) are, at present, patchily distributed across the geologically complex and spatially extensive shorelines of Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska. We review and synthesize previous literature describing the causal geomorphic and physical mechanisms for persistence of oil in the intertidal subsurface sediments of these areas. We also summarize previous sampling and modeling efforts, and refine previously presented models with additional data to characterize the present-day linear and areal spatial extent, and quantity of lingering subsurface oil. In the weeks after the spill in March of 1989, approximately 17,750 t of oil were stranded along impacted shorelines, and by October of 1992, only 2% of the mass of spilled oil was estimated to remain in intertidal areas. We estimate that lingering subsurface residues, generally between 5 and 20 cm thick and sequestered below 10-20 cm of clean sediment, are present over 30 ha of intertidal area, along 11.4 km of shoreline, and represent approximately 227 t or 0.6% of the total mass of spilled oil. These residues are typically located in finer-grained sand and gravel sediments, often under an armor of cobble- or boulder-sized clasts, in areas with limited groundwater flow and porosity. Persistence of these residues is correlated with heavy initial oil loading together with localized sheltering from physical disturbance such as wave energy within the beach face. While no longer generally bioavailable and increasingly chemically weathered, present removal rates for these remaining subsurface oil residues have slowed to nearly zero. The only remaining plausible removal mechanisms will operate over time scales of decades.

Physical characteristics of the lower San Joaquin River, California, in relation to white sturgeon spawning habitat, 2011–14

Science.gov (United States)

Marineau, Mathieu D.; Wright, Scott A.; Whealdon-Haught, Daniel R.; Kinzel, Paul J.

2017-07-19

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed that white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) recently spawned in the lower San Joaquin River, California. Decreases in the San Francisco Bay estuary white sturgeon population have led to an increased effort to understand their migration behavior and habitat preferences. The preferred spawning habitat of other white sturgeon (for example, those in the Columbia and Klamath Rivers) is thought to be areas that have high water velocity, deep pools, and coarse bed material. Coarse bed material (pebbles and cobbles), in particular, is important for the survival of white sturgeon eggs and larvae. Knowledge of the physical characteristics of the lower San Joaquin River can be used to preserve sturgeon spawning habitat and lead to management decisions that could help increase the San Francisco Bay estuary white sturgeon population.Between 2011 and 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, assessed selected reaches and tributaries of the lower river in relation to sturgeon spawning habitat by (1) describing selected spawning reaches in terms of habitat-related physical characteristics (such as water depth and velocity, channel slope, and bed material) of the lower San Joaquin River between its confluences with the Stanislaus and Merced Rivers, (2) describing variations in these physical characteristics during wet and dry years, and (3) identifying potential reasons for these variations.The lower San Joaquin River was divided into five study reaches. Although data were collected from all study reaches, three subreaches where the USFWS collected viable eggs at multiple sites in 2011–12 from Orestimba Creek to Sturgeon Bend were of special interest. Water depth and velocity were measured using two different approaches—channel cross sections and longitudinal profiles—and data were collected using an acoustic Doppler current profiler.During the first year of data collection (water

In plain sight: the Chesapeake Bay crater ejecta blanket

Science.gov (United States)

Griscom, D. L.

2012-02-01

The discovery nearly two decades ago of a 90 km-diameter impact crater below the lower Chesapeake Bay has gone unnoted by the general public because to date all published literature on the subject has described it as "buried". To the contrary, evidence is presented here that the so-called "upland deposits" that blanket ∼5000 km2 of the U.S. Middle-Atlantic Coastal Plain (M-ACP) display morphologic, lithologic, and stratigraphic features consistent with their being ejecta from the 35.4 Ma Chesapeake Bay Impact Structure (CBIS) and absolutely inconsistent with the prevailing belief that they are of fluvial origin. Specifically supporting impact origin are the facts that (i) a 95 %-pure iron ore endemic to the upland deposits of southern Maryland, eastern Virginia, and the District of Columbia has previously been proven to be impactoclastic in origin, (ii) this iron ore welds together a small percentage of well-rounded quartzite pebbles and cobbles of the upland deposits into brittle sheets interpretable as "spall plates" created in the interference-zone of the CBIS impact, (iii) the predominantly non-welded upland gravels have long ago been shown to be size sorted with an extreme crater-centric gradient far too large to have been the work of rivers, but well explained as atmospheric size-sorted interference-zone ejecta, (iv) new evidence is provided here that ~60 % of the non-welded quartzite pebbles and cobbles of the (lower lying) gravel member of the upland deposits display planar fractures attributable to interference-zone tensile waves, (v) the (overlying) loam member of the upland deposits is attributable to base-surge-type deposition, (vi) several exotic clasts found in a debris flow topographically below the upland deposits can only be explained as jetting-phase crater ejecta, and (vii) an allogenic granite boulder found among the upland deposits is deduced to have been launched into space and sculpted by hypervelocity air friction during reentry. An

Experiences from using Autonomous Underwater Vehicles and Synthetic Aperture Sonar for Sediment and Habitat Mapping

Science.gov (United States)

Thorsnes, T.; Bjarnadóttir, L. R.

2017-12-01

Emerging platforms and tools like autonomous underwater vehicles and synthetic aperture sonars provide interesting opportunities for making seabed mapping more efficient and precise. Sediment grain-size maps are an important product in their own right and a key input for habitat and biotope maps. National and regional mapping programmes are tasked with mapping large areas, and survey efficiency, data quality, and resulting map confidence are important considerations when selecting the mapping strategy. Since 2005, c. 175,000 square kilometres of the Norwegian continental shelf and continental slope has been mapped with respect to sediments, habitats and biodiversity, and pollution under the MAREANO programme (www.mareano.no). At present the sediment mapping is based on a combination of ship-borne multibeam bathymetry and backscatter, visual documentation using a towed video platform, and grab sampling. We have now tested a new approach, using an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) as the survey platform for the collection of acoustic data (Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS), EM2040 bathymetry and backscatter) and visual data (still images using a TFish colour photo system). This pilot project was conducted together the Norwegian Hydrographic Service, the Institute of Marine Research (biology observations) and the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (operation of ship and AUV). The test site reported here is the Vesterdjupet area, offshore Lofoten, northern Norway. The water depth is between 170 and 300 metres, with sediments ranging from gravel, cobbles and boulders to sandy mud. A cold-water coral reef, associated with bioclastic sediments was also present in the study area. The presentation will give an overview of the main findings and experiences gained from this pilot project with a focus on geological mapping and will also discuss the relevance of AUV-based mapping to large-area mapping programmes like MAREANO.

Abundance of non-native crabs in intertidal habitats of New England with natural and artificial structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Lovely, Christina M; O'Connor, Nancy J; Judge, Michael L

2015-01-01

Marine habitats containing complex physical structure (e.g., crevices) can provide shelter from predation for benthic invertebrates. To examine effects of natural and artificial structure on the abundance of intertidal juvenile crabs, 2 experiments were conducted in Kingston Bay, Massachusetts, USA, from July to September, 2012. In the first experiment, structure was manipulated in a two-factor design that was placed in the high intertidal for 3 one-week periods to test for both substrate type (sand vs. rock) and the presence or absence of artificial structure (mesh grow-out bags used in aquaculture, ∼0.5 m(2) with 62 mm(2) mesh openings). The Asian shore crab, Hemigrapsus sanguineus, and small individuals of the green crab, Carcinus maenas, were observed only in the treatments of rocks and mesh bag plus rocks. Most green crabs were small (<6 mm in carapace width) whereas H. sanguineus occurred in a wide range of sizes. In the second experiment, 3 levels of oyster-shell treatments were established using grow-out bags placed on a muddy sand substrate in the low intertidal zone: mesh grow-out bags without shells, grow-out bags with oyster shells, and grow-out bags containing live oysters. Replicate bags were deployed weekly for 7 weeks in a randomized complete block design. All crabs collected in the bags were juvenile C. maenas (1-15 mm carapace width), and numbers of crabs differed 6-fold among treatments, with most crabs present in bags with live oysters (29.5 ± 10.6 m(-2) [mean ± S.D.]) and fewest in bags without shells (4.9 ± 3.7 m(-2)). Both C. maenas and H. sanguineus occurred in habitats with natural structure (cobble rocks). The attraction of juvenile C. maenas to artificial structure consisting of plastic mesh bags containing both oyster shells and living oysters could potentially impact oyster aquaculture operations.

Interplay of anthropogenic and natural disturbance impacts on the hyporheic ecology

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Mori, N.; Brancelj, A.; Simčič, T.; Lukančič, S.

2009-04-01

The hyporheic invertebrate community from the pre-alpine river (W Slovenia) was studied in order to analyze the impacts of high discharge and in-stream gravel extraction. Two distinct river reaches were sampled from June 2004 to May 2005. At impacted site, where gravel extraction was carried out, the response of hyporheic community to the anthropogenic disturbance was studied. Physical and chemical parameters, together with the amounts organic matter and activity of the biofilm were measured. Invertebrates were sampled by Bou-Rouch pumping method. Discharge of the Bača River varied from 108 m3s-1 in October 2004 to 1.6 m3s-1 in March 2005. Streambed sediments at both sites were composed of heterogeneous mixture of boulders, cobbles, pebbles, gravel, sand and silt. Oxygen saturation was close to 100 %, indicating good sediment permeability. A total of 75 invertebrate taxa were identified, 40 of which belonged to the occasional hyporheos, 26 to the permanent hyporheos and 9 were stygobites. At both sites, fauna was dominated numerically by juveniles of Cyclopoida and early stages of Leuctra larvae (Plecoptera). Chironomidae (Diptera) contributed significantly to the total invertebrate density at reference site and Baetoidea (Ephemeroptera) to the total density at impacted site. At both sites a decrease in density occurred immediately after disturbance. The recovery was relatively fast (two and a half months). The CCA analysis revealed the importance of fine sediment amounts for hyporheic invertebrate distribution. The results indicated that discharge play an important role in shaping hyporheic invertebrate community in the Bača River and that the removal of sediments due to gravel extraction led to the impoverishment of the structural characteristics of the hyporheic community.

a Standardized Approach to Topographic Data Processing and Workflow Management

Science.gov (United States)

Wheaton, J. M.; Bailey, P.; Glenn, N. F.; Hensleigh, J.; Hudak, A. T.; Shrestha, R.; Spaete, L.

2013-12-01

An ever-increasing list of options exist for collecting high resolution topographic data, including airborne LIDAR, terrestrial laser scanners, bathymetric SONAR and structure-from-motion. An equally rich, arguably overwhelming, variety of tools exists with which to organize, quality control, filter, analyze and summarize these data. However, scientists are often left to cobble together their analysis as a series of ad hoc steps, often using custom scripts and one-time processes that are poorly documented and rarely shared with the community. Even when literature-cited software tools are used, the input and output parameters differ from tool to tool. These parameters are rarely archived and the steps performed lost, making the analysis virtually impossible to replicate precisely. What is missing is a coherent, robust, framework for combining reliable, well-documented topographic data-processing steps into a workflow that can be repeated and even shared with others. We have taken several popular topographic data processing tools - including point cloud filtering and decimation as well as DEM differencing - and defined a common protocol for passing inputs and outputs between them. This presentation describes a free, public online portal that enables scientists to create custom workflows for processing topographic data using a number of popular topographic processing tools. Users provide the inputs required for each tool and in what sequence they want to combine them. This information is then stored for future reuse (and optionally sharing with others) before the user then downloads a single package that contains all the input and output specifications together with the software tools themselves. The user then launches the included batch file that executes the workflow on their local computer against their topographic data. This ZCloudTools architecture helps standardize, automate and archive topographic data processing. It also represents a forum for discovering and

Coastal change analysis of Lovells Island using high resolution ground based LiDAR imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Ly, Jennifer K.

Many methods have been employed to study coastline change. These methods range from historical map analysis to GPS surveys to modern airborne LiDAR and satellite imagery. These previously used methods can be time consuming, labor intensive, and expensive and have varying degrees of accuracy and temporal coverage. Additionally, it is often difficult to apply such techniques in direct response to an isolated event within an appropriate temporal framework. Here we utilize a new ground based Canopy Biomass LiDAR (CBL) system built at The University of Massachusetts Boston (in collaboration with the Rochester Institute of Technology) in order to identify and analyze coastal change on Lovells Island, Boston Harbor. Surveys of a bluff developing in an eroding drumlin and beach cusps on a high-energy cobble beach on Lovells Island were conducted in June, September and December of 2013. At each site for each survey, the CBL was set up and multiple scans of each feature were taken on a predetermined transect that was established parallel to the high-water mark at distances relative to the scale of the bluff and cusps. The scans from each feature were compiled, integrated and visualized using Meshlab. Results from our surveys indicate that the highly portable and easy to deploy CBL system produces images of exceptional clarity, with the capacity to resolve small-scale changes to coastal features and systems. The CBL, while still under development (and coastal surveying protocols with it are just being established), appears to be an ideal tool for analyzing coastal geological features and is anticipated to prove to be a useful tool for the observation and analysis of coastal change. Furthermore, there is significant potential for utilizing the low cost ultra-portable CBL in frequent deployments to develop small-scale erosion rate and sediment budget analyses.

Archaeological investigations on the Buckboard Mesa Road Project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amick, D.S.; Henton, G.H.; Pippin, L.C.

1991-10-01

In 1986, the Desert Research Institute (DRI) conducted an archaeological reconnaissance of a new alignment for the Buckboard Mesa Road on the Nevada Test Site for the Department of Energy (DOE). During this reconnaissance, several archaeological sites of National Register quality were discovered and recorded including a large quarry, site 26Ny4892, and a smaller lithic scatter, site 26Ny4894. Analysis of the debitage at 26Ny4892 indicates that this area was used primarily as a quarry for relatively small cobbles of obsidian found in the alluvium. Lithic reduction techniques used here are designed for efficiently reducing small pieces of toolstone and are oriented towards producing flake blanks from small cores and bifacially reducing exhausted cores. Projectile point cross references indicate that the area has seen at least casual use for about 10,000 years and more sustained use for the last 3,000 years. Initial obsidian hydration measurements indicate sustained use of the quarry for about the last 3,000 years although the loci of activities appear to change over time. Based on this study, the DRI recommends that quarrying activities in the area of 26Ny4892 are sufficiently sampled and that additional investigations into that aspect of prehistoric activity in the area are not necessary. This does not apply to other aspects of prehistoric use. DRI recommends that preconstruction surveys continue to identify nonquarrying, prehistoric utilization of the area. With the increased traffic on the Buckboard Mesa Road, there is a greater potential for vandalism to sites of National Register-quality located near the road. The DRI recommends that during the orientation briefing the workers at the Test Site be educated about the importance of cultural resources and the need for their protection. 202 refs., 41 figs., 52 tabs.

Does Nature and Persistence of Substrate at a Mesohabitat Scale Matter for Chironomidae Assemblages? a Study of Two Perennial Mountain Streams in Patagonia, Argentina

Science.gov (United States)

Epele, Luis Beltrán; Miserendino, María Laura; Brand, Cecilia

2012-01-01

Chironomid substrate—specific associations regarding the nature (organic—inorganic) and stability (stable—unstable) of different habitats were investigated at two low order Patagonian streams, during high and low water periods. Nant y Fall and Glyn rivers were visited twice (October 2007 and March 2008) and seven different habitat types were identified. A total of 60 samples were collected using a Surber sampler (0.09 m -2 and 250 µm) and a set of 23 environmental descriptors including physicochemical parameters and different fractions of particulate organic matter were assessed. 35 Chironomidae taxa were recorded with Orthocladiinae (20), Chironominae (7), and Podonominae (4) being the most well—represented subfamilies. Paratrichocladius sp. 1, Parapsectrocladius sp. 2, Parametriocnemus sp. 1, Pseudochironomus sp., and Rheotanytarsus sp. were the most abundant taxa. According to the relative preference index, at least 14 taxa showed strong affinity for a particular substrate. The structurally complex macrophyte Myriophyllum quitense supported 11 taxa compared with only five taxa found on the less complex Isoetes savatieri. Generally, stable substrates (boulders, cobbles, and rooted plants) supported significantly higher chironomids richness, abundance, and diversity than unstable ones (gravel—sand). Canonical correspondence analysis revealed that detritus (leaves, seeds, and biomass), macrophyte biomass, and secondarily hydraulic variables had high explanatory power on chironomids species composition and structure. This work suggests that more complex substrates showing persistence in the temporal dimension supported a diverse array of chironomids, meaning that the maintenance of natural habitat heterogeneity is essential for the community. Land—use practices having significant effects on ecological stream attributes such as increased turbidity, sediment deposition, and runoff patterns will alter assemblages. Understanding environmental associations

The inverse microconglomerate test: Definition and application to the preservation of Paleoarchean to Hadean magnetizations in metasediments of the Jack Hills, Western Australia

Science.gov (United States)

Cottrell, Rory; Tarduno, John; Bono, Richard; Dare, Matthew

2016-04-01

We introduce a new paleomagnetic field test, the inverse microconglomerate test. In contrast with traditional conglomerate tests, which target specimens that might preserve primary magnetizations, the inverse microconglomerate test focuses on magnetic carriers having unblocking temperatures less than peak metamorphic temperatures. These mineral carriers are expected to carry a consistent direction of remagnetization. Hence, the inverse microconglomerate test evaluates whether coherent magnetizations are retained on a grain/mineral scale in a given sedimentary rock sample. By defining the remagnetization direction, it also serves as a benchmark for comparison of magnetizations from other grains/minerals having unblocking temperatures higher than peak metamorphic conditions (i.e., potential primary magnetizations). We apply this new test to sediments of the Jack Hills (JH), Yilgarn craton, Western Australia. For the JH sediments we focus on fuchsite, a secondary Cr-mica that contains relict Cr-Fe spinels capable of recording remanent magnetizations. We find that JH fuchsite grains retain consistent magnetic directions at unblocking temperatures between ˜270 and 340 oC, which defines a positive test. This direction does not reproduce a nominal 1078-1070 Ma remagnetization reported by Weiss et al. (EPSL, 2015) that we interpret as an artifact of inappropriate use of averaging and statistics. The thermochemical remanent magnetization recorded by the fuchsite was most likely imparted during peak JH metamorphic conditions at ˜2650 Ma. Our inverse microconglomerate test complements a positive microconglomerate test and large scale positive conglomerate test conducted on JH cobbles (Tarduno and Cottrell, EPSL, 2013), further supporting evidence that JH zircons record Paleoarchean to Hadean primary magnetizations at high (greater than 550 oC) unblocking temperatures (Tarduno et al., Science, 2015). More generally, the new inverse microconglomerate test may aid in

Exhumation of the Cordillera de Domeyko: Implications for Andean retroarc evolution between the Late Cretaceous and the Oligocene

Science.gov (United States)

Henriquez, S.; Carrapa, B.; DeCelles, P. G.

2017-12-01

In Cordilleran-type orogens, exhumation of the thrust belt records the kinematic history of the orogenic system. In the Central Andes, the widest and thickest part of this orogen, several authors have documented the exhumation of the thrust belt in the modern forearc (Chile) and retroarc region (Bolivia and Argentina) showing an overall eastward propagation of deformation since the late Eocene. However, the exhumation of earlier Andean retroarc tectonic events remains poorly documented. In the forearc, the Cordillera de Domeyko and Salar de Atacama basin exhibit multiple pieces of evidence for earlier Andean orogenesis. The goal of this study is to document the thermal record of Late Cretaceous to Eocene retroarc deformation. To this end, this study investigates the cooling history of the easternmost basement uplift of the Cordillera de Domeyko. We couple this record with detrital thermochronology from cobbles in the Late Cretaceous to Miocene sedimentary units from the Salar de Atacama basin which records the unroofing history of this uplift. We employed a multi-dating approach combining apatite fission track (AFT) and apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He (AHe) thermochronology to constrain the timing and amount of exhumation in the early Andean retroarc region. Our results show episodic cooling ca. 90-80, 65-60 and 45-40 Ma. This new data provides a thermochronologic record of Late Cretaceous and Paleocene deformation in the retroarc region as well as of the widely recognized Eocene deformation event. The cooling signal is interpreted to reflect exhumation controlled by uplift and erosion in the retroarc region. These exhumation events reflect episodes of internal deformation, crustal thickening, and roughly similar amounts of local erosion. Exhumation in this region decreased by the late Oligocene; by this time the orogenic front was established to the east, in the Eastern Cordillera.

Selection indicates preference in diverse habitats: a ground-nesting bird (Charadrius melodus using reservoir shoreline.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael J Anteau

Full Text Available Animals use proximate cues to select resources that maximize individual fitness. When animals have a diverse array of available habitats, those selected could give insights into true habitat preferences. Since the construction of the Garrison Dam on the Missouri River in North Dakota, Lake Sakakawea (SAK has become an important breeding area for federally threatened piping plovers (Charadrius melodus; hereafter plovers. We used conditional logistic regression to examine nest-site selection at fine scales (1, 3, and 10 m during summers 2006-2009 by comparing characteristics at 351 nests to those of 668 random sites within nesting territories. Plovers selected sites (1 m(2 that were lower than unused random sites, increasing the risk of nest inundation. Plovers selected nest sites that were flat, had little silt, and at least 1 cobble; they also selected for 3-m radius nest areas that were relatively flat and devoid of vegetation and litter. Ninety percent of nests had <38% coverage of silt and <10% slope at the site, and <15% coverage of vegetation or litter and <31% slope within the 3-m radius. Gravel was selected for at nest sites (11% median, but against in the area 10-m from the nest, suggesting plovers select for patches or strips of gravel. Although elevation is rarely evaluated in studies of ground-nesting birds, our results underscore its importance in habitat-selection studies. Relative to where plovers historically nested, habitat at SAK has more diverse topography, substrate composition, vegetation communities, and greater water-level fluctuations. Accordingly, our results provide an example of how habitat-selection results can be interpreted as habitat preferences because they are not influenced by desired habitats being scarce or absent. Further, our results will be useful for directing habitat conservation for plovers and interpreting other habitat-selection studies.

Shoreline type and subsurface oil persistence in the Exon Valdez spill zone of Prince William Sound, Alaska

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Page, D.S. [Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME (United States). Dept. of Chemistry; Boehm, P.D. [Exponent Inc., Maynard, MA (United States); Neff, J.M. [Neff and Associates, Duxbury, MA (United States)

2008-07-01

The grounding of the Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska in the spring of 1989 resulted in the release of 258,000 barrels of Alaska North Slope crude oil into the marine environment. Nearly 800 km of shoreline were oiled to some degree. There was an unprecedented oil spill cleanup effort following the spill. The shoreline surveys of the spill zone were synthesized in this paper in an effort to demonstrate the relationship between shoreline type and persistence of subsurface oil (SSO) residues. Shoreline surveys of surface and SSO indicate rapid initial oil loss with a decline from about 800 linear km of PWS shoreline in 1989 to about 10 km of oiled shoreline in 1992. The period of rapid loss was attributed to natural physical process, biodegradation and cleanup activities that removed accessible spill remnants from shorelines. This was followed by a slower natural average loss rate for less accessible surface and SSO deposits of about 22 per cent per year for the period 1992-2001. This paper emphasized that shoreline type plays a key role in determining SSO persistence. The geology of PWS is complex. Many of the shorelines where SSO persists have armouring layers composed of hard, dense clasts, such as the quartzite boulders and cobblestones that can protect SSO deposits. Eighteen years after the spill, persistent SSO deposits in PWS shorelines remain protected from tidal water-washing and biodegradation by a surface boulder/cobble armour and low sediment porosity. The SSO deposits are in a physical/chemical form and location where they do not pose a health risk to intertidal biological communities and animals. The surveys continue to substantiate that remaining SSO deposits in PWS continue to degrade and go away slowly. 37 refs., 5 tabs., 7 figs.

Whole-stream metabolism of a perennial spring-fed aufeis field in Alaska, with coincident surface and subsurface flow

Science.gov (United States)

Hendrickson, P. J.; Gooseff, M. N.; Huryn, A. D.

2017-12-01

Aufeis (icings or naleds) are seasonal arctic and sub-arctic features that accumulate through repeated overflow and freeze events of river or spring discharge. Aufeis fields, defined as the substrate on which aufeis form and the overlaying ice, have been studied to mitigate impacts on engineering structures; however, ecological characteristics and functions of aufeis fields are poorly understood. The perennial springs that supply warm water to aufeis fields create unique fluvial habitats, and are thought to act as winter and summer oases for biota. To investigate ecosystem function, we measured whole-stream metabolism at the Kuparuk River Aufeis (North Slope, AK), a large ( 5 km2) field composed of cobble substrate and predominately subsurface flow dynamics. The single-station open channel diel oxygen method was utilized at several dissolved oxygen (DO) stations located within and downstream of the aufeis field. DO loggers were installed in August 2016, and data downloaded summer 2017. Daily ecosystem respiration (ER), gross primary production (GPP) and reaeration rates were modeled using BASE, a package freely available in the open-source software R. Preliminary results support net heterotrophy during a two-week period of DO measurements in the fall season when minimum ice extent is observed. GPP, ER, and net metabolism are greater at the upstream reach near the spring source (P/R = 0.53), and decrease as flow moves downstream. As flow exits the aufeis field, surface and subsurface flow are incorporated into the metabolism model, and indicate the stream system becomes dependent on autochthonous production (P/R = 0.91). Current work is directed towards spring and summer discharge and metabolic parameter estimation, which is associated with maximum ice extent and rapid melting of the aufeis feature.

Past surface conditions and speleogenesis as inferred from cave sediments in the Great Cave of Șălitrari Mountain (SW Romania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristina M. Pușcaș

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract In one of the passages in the Great Cave of Șălitrari Mountain the floor is completely covered by an alluvial deposit at least 6 m in thickness, ranging from boulders, and cobbles, to sand and clay, topped by a layer of dry bat guano. Sediment and mineral samples collected from six profiles underwent broad analyses to determine their petrological and mineralogical makeup, grain-size distribution, and paleoclimatic significance. The complicated facies alternation suggests frequent changes in the former stream’s hydrological parameters, with frequent flooding, leading to the hypothesis that the climate was somewhat wetter than today. Both the mineralogical composition of the sediment (ranging from quartz, mica, gypsum, phosphates, and calcite to garnet, zircon, titanite, olivine, serpentine, tourmaline, sphalerite, pyrite/chalcopyrite, and feldspars and the petrological composition of the larger clasts (limestone, sandstone, mudstone, granitoids, serpentinite, amphibolite, diorite, gneiss, quartzite, microconglomerate, and schist ascribe the potential source rocks to an area with contrasting lithologies, such as amphibolites, felsic and basic metaigneous, and metasedimentary rocks, mixed with a variety of detritic rocks. These rock types are not entirely comprised by the catchment area of the modern Presacina Brook, thus implying that due either to hydrological conditions, or to changes in the base level caused by river down cutting or active tectonics, the former source area was much more extensive. Based on morphological and sedimentological criteria, the cave started under pipe-full flow conditions, and further evolved during a prolonged and complex vadose phase. Evidence to support the existence of hypogene conditions is also present. Once the underground stream left the cave and most of the sediment was removed, speleothem precipitation was initiated. In this contribution we put forward evidence that argue for an extra

The gravel sand transition in a disturbed catchment

Science.gov (United States)

Knighton, A. David

1999-03-01

More than 40 million cubic metres of mining waste were supplied to the Ringarooma River between 1875 and 1984, leading to successive phases of aggradation and degradation. The natural bed material is gravel but, given the volume of introduced load and the fact that much of the input was less than 5 mm in diameter, the size composition of the bed changed from gravel to sand during the phase of downstream progressive aggradation. A very sharp gravel-sand transition developed in which median grain size decreased from over 30 mm to under 3 mm in less than 500 m. With upstream supplies of mining debris becoming depleted first, degradation followed the same downstream progressive pattern as aggradation, causing the transition to migrate downstream. By 1984, the river could be regarded as a series of zones, each characterized by a particular bed condition: a natural cobble-gravel bed, unaffected by mining inputs (0-32 km); pre-disturbance bed re-exposed by degradation over 35-40 years (32-53 km); sandy substrate with a gravel armour produced by differential transport during degradation (53-65 km); sand dominated but with developing surface patches of coarser material (65-75 km); sandy bed reflecting the size composition of the original mining input (75-118 km). Although the gravel-sand transition itself is sharp, the transitional zone is lengthy (53-75 km). As degradation continues, the gravel-sand transition is expected to progress downstream but it has remained in a stable position for 12 years. Indeed, two major floods during the period released large quantities of sand from the sub-armour layer and newly-formed banks of mine tailings, causing fining both above and below the transition. Surface grain size is an adjustable component in the transitional zone as the river strives to recover from a major anthropogenic disturbance.

Does nature and persistence of substrate at a mesohabitat scale matter for Chironomidae assemblages? A study of two perennial mountain streams in Patagonia, Argentina.

Science.gov (United States)

Epele, Luis Beltrán; Miserendino, María Laura; Brand, Cecilia

2012-01-01

Chironomid substrate-specific associations regarding the nature (organic-inorganic) and stability (stable-unstable) of different habitats were investigated at two low order Patagonian streams, during high and low water periods. Nant y Fall and Glyn rivers were visited twice (October 2007 and March 2008) and seven different habitat types were identified. A total of 60 samples were collected using a Surber sampler (0.09 m(-2) and 250 µm) and a set of 23 environmental descriptors including physicochemical parameters and different fractions of particulate organic matter were assessed. 35 Chironomidae taxa were recorded with Orthocladiinae (20), Chironominae (7), and Podonominae (4) being the most well-represented subfamilies. Paratrichocladius sp. 1, Parapsectrocladius sp. 2, Parametriocnemus sp. 1, Pseudochironomus sp., and Rheotanytarsus sp. were the most abundant taxa. According to the relative preference index, at least 14 taxa showed strong affinity for a particular substrate. The structurally complex macrophyte Myriophyllum quitense supported 11 taxa compared with only five taxa found on the less complex Isoetes savatieri. Generally, stable substrates (boulders, cobbles, and rooted plants) supported significantly higher chironomids richness, abundance, and diversity than unstable ones (gravel-sand). Canonical correspondence analysis revealed that detritus (leaves, seeds, and biomass), macrophyte biomass, and secondarily hydraulic variables had high explanatory power on chironomids species composition and structure. This work suggests that more complex substrates showing persistence in the temporal dimension supported a diverse array of chironomids, meaning that the maintenance of natural habitat heterogeneity is essential for the community. Land-use practices having significant effects on ecological stream attributes such as increased turbidity, sediment deposition, and runoff patterns will alter assemblages. Understanding environmental associations of the

Volcanic geology and geochemistry of Motuhora (Whale Island), Bay of Plenty, New Zealand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burt, R.M.; Cole, J.W.; Vroon, P.Z.

1996-01-01

Motuhora (Whale Island) lies c. 11 km offshore from Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, and comprises tuffaceous marine sediments of the Camp Bay and Motuhora Formations separated by lavas, volcanic breccias, and slope-wash deposits of the Whale Volcanics. Whale Volcanics can be divided into East Dome, Central Dome Complex, and Pa Hill Dome. East Dome is a flow banded, chaotically jointed dacite that is probably extrusive. Central Dome comprises lava flows, and extensive volcanic breccias and tuffs which thicken into a local depression to the north of the central high, suggesting rapid growth and erosion of the dome. Pa Hill Dome is largely intrusive into Camp Bay Formation, although blocks of Pa Hill dacite in an upper slope-wash cobble bed suggest it was partially extrusive. The lavas are porphyritic with phenocrysts of plagioclase, orthopyroxene, and titanomagnetite with subordinate clinopyroxene and amphibole (particularly in Pa Hill Dome), and rare biotite. Rounded or broken and embayed quartz crystals are found in the Central Dome Complex and Pa Hill domes. Magmatic xenoliths are common in all lavas. Chemically the lavas are medium-K, calc-alkaline andesites and dacites, and show relative LILE enrichment and HFSE depletion typical of arc volcanics. Isotopically, samples tend to have more radiogenic Sr and less radiogenic Nd than volcanics from neighbouring White Island. It is likely that Motuhora lavas were formed by a multi-stage process involving partial melting of N-MORB-type mantle that had been fluxed by fluids rich in incompatible elements derived from the dehydrating downgoing slab and followed by crystal fractionation of the magma. As the magma rose through the lower continental crust it was contaminated, probably by Torlesse metasediment. Petrographic textures and mineral chemistry indicate that magma mixing, while in an upper crustal magma chamber, is the norm for Motuhora lavas. (author). 69 refs., 12 figs., 2 tabs

Improved Geologic Interpretation of Non-invasive Electrical Resistivity Imaging from In-situ Samples

Science.gov (United States)

Mucelli, A.; Aborn, L.; Jacob, R.; Malusis, M.; Evans, J.

2016-12-01

Non-invasive geophysical techniques are useful in characterizing the subsurface geology without disturbing the environment, however, the ability to interpret the subsurface is enhanced by invasive work. Since geologic materials have electrical resistivity values it allows for a geologic interpretation to be made based on variations of electrical resistivity measured by electrical resistivity imaging (ERI). This study focuses on the pre-characterization of the geologic subsurface from ERI collected adjacent to the Montandon Marsh, a wetland located near Lewisburg, PA within the West Branch of the Susquehanna River watershed. The previous invasive data, boreholes, indicate that the subsurface consists of limestone and shale bedrock overlain with sand and gravel deposits from glacial outwash and aeolian processes. The objective is to improve our understanding of the subsurface at this long-term hydrologic research site by using excavation results, specifically observed variations in geologic materials and electrical resistivity laboratory testing of subsurface samples. The pre-excavation ERI indicated that the shallow-most geologic material had a resistivity value of 100-500 ohm-m. In comparison, the laboratory testing indicated the shallow-most material had the same range of electrical resistivity values depending on saturation levels. The ERI also showed that there was an electrically conductive material, 7 to 70 ohm-m, that was interpreted to be clay and agreed with borehole data, however, the excavation revealed that at this depth range the geologic material varied from stratified clay to clay with cobbles to weathered residual clay. Excavation revealed that the subtle variations in the electrical conductive material corresponded well with the variations in the geologic material. We will use these results to reinterpret previously collected ERI data from the entire long-term research site.

Distribution and Genetic Structure of Fucus distichus Linnaeus 1953 (formerly F. gardneri within Central San Francisco Bay

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Stephen G. Whitaker

2017-09-01

Full Text Available doi: https://doi.org/10.15447/sfews.2017v15iss3art4Fucus distichus, a rockweed common to the mid-intertidal shoreline within the San Francisco Estuary (previously known as F. gardneri, was injured during the Cosco Busan oil spill in November 2007 and subsequent clean-up actions. Restoration planning activities are underway to help recover F. distichus at sites within central San Francisco Bay where damage occurred. As a first step, we conducted shoreline surveys during the summers of 2012–2013 to map the occurrence of this rockweed. Of the 151.73 km of rocky shoreline within the central bay, F. distichus covered 32.16 km of shoreline. The alga generally occurred in narrow bands but formed expansive beds at locations with natural, flat bedrock benches. We also observed F. distichus on artificial substrata such as seawalls and riprap, but not on pilings. Samples of F. distichus from 11 sites throughout the central / east San Francisco Bay were genetically analyzed (microsatellite genotyping. The populations analyzed (1 had low genetic diversity, (2 the frequency of homozygotes was higher than expected (suggesting high inbreeding, and (3 also displayed geographic population structure, in part driven by very small differences in the midst of extremely low within-population genetic diversity. However, these genetic data do not raise concerns for restoration methods in terms of choosing donor populations and mixing F. distichus from different sites within the central bay. The choice of donor populations should be based on practical criteria for effective restoration; individuals will nonetheless be taken from locations as nearby to donor sites as possible. Various locations throughout the central San Francisco Bay are composed of cobble or small riprap that are populated with F. distichus, which could provide efficient means of translocating rockweed for future restoration activities.

Red River Stream Improvement Final Design Nez Perce National Forest.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Watershed Consulting, LLC

2007-03-15

This report details the final stream improvement design along the reach of Red River between the bridge below Dawson Creek, upstream for approximately 2 miles, Idaho County, Idaho. Geomorphic mapping, hydrologic profiles and cross-sections were presented along with existing fish habitat maps in the conceptual design report. This information is used to develop a stream improvement design intended to improve aquatic habitat and restore riparian health in the reach. The area was placer mined using large bucket dredges between 1938 and 1957. This activity removed most of the riparian vegetation in the stream corridor and obliterated the channel bed and banks. The reach was also cut-off from most valley margin tributaries. In the 50 years since large-scale dredging ceased, the channel has been re-established and parts of the riparian zone have grown in. However, the recruitment of large woody debris to the stream has been extremely low and overhead cover is poor. Pool habitat makes up more than 37% of the reach, and habitat diversity is much better than the project reach on Crooked River. There is little large woody debris in the stream to provide cover for spawning and juvenile rearing, because the majority of the woody debris does not span a significant part of the channel, but is mainly on the side slopes of the stream. Most of the riparian zone has very little soil or subsoil left after the mining and so now consists primarily of unconsolidated cobble tailings or heavily compacted gravel tailings. Knapweed and lodgepole pine are the most successful colonizers of these post mining landforms. Tributary fans which add complexity to many other streams in the region, have been isolated from the main reach due to placer mining and road building.

Geochemistry and petrology of basaltic rocks from the Marshall Islands

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Alice S.; Schwab, William C.; Haggerty, Janet A.

1986-01-01

A variety of volcanic rock was recovered from the flanks of seamounts, guyots, atolls, and islands in the Ratak chain of the Marshall Islands on the U.S. Geological Survey cruise L9-84-CP. The main objective of this cruise was to study the distribution and composition of ferromanganese oxide crusts. Preliminary results of managanese crust composition are reported by Schwab et al. (1985) and detailed studies are in preparation (Schwab et al., 1986). A total of seven seafloor edifices were studied using 12 khz, 3.5 khz and air gun seismic reflection, chain dredge and box corer. Bathymetry and ship track lines are presented by Schwab and Bailey (1985). Of the seven edifices surveyed two support atolls (Majuro and Taongi) and one is a tiny island (Jemo). Dredge locations and water depths are given in Table 1 and dredge locations are shown in Figure 1. Due to equipment failures depths of dredge hauls were limited to shallow depth for all except the first two sites occupied. Recovery consisted mostly of young, poorly-consolidated limestone of fore-reef slope deposit and minor volcanogenic breccia and loose talus. The breccia and pieces of talus are thickly encrusted with ferromanganese oxide, whereas the young limestone is only coated by a thin layer. Four of the seven sites surveyed yielded volcanic rock. The volcanic rock, volumetrically a minor part of each dredge haul, consists mostly of lapilli and cobble-size clasts in a calcareous matrix or as loose talus. Most clasts show evidence of reworking, being sub- to well rounded, sometimes with a thin ferromanganese crust of their own. This paper reports preliminary findings on the petrology and geochemistry of volcanic rock recovered.

Shoreline clean-up methods : biological treatments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Massoura, S.T. [Oil Spill Response Limited, Southampton (United Kingdom)

2009-07-01

The cleanup of oil spills in shoreline environments is a challenging issue worldwide. Oil spills receive public and media attention, particularly in the event of a coastal impact. It is important to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of cleanup methods when defining the level of effort and consequences that are appropriate to remove or treat different types of oil on different shoreline substrates. Of the many studies that have compared different mechanical, chemical and biological treatments for their effectiveness on various types of oil, biological techniques have received the most attention. For that reason, this paper evaluated the effectiveness and effects of shoreline cleanup methods using biological techniques. It summarized data from field experiments and oil spill incidents, including the Exxon Valdez, Sea Empress, Prestige, Grand Eagle, Nakhodka, Guanabara Bay and various Gulf war oil spills. Five major shoreline types were examined, notably rocky intertidal, cobble/pebble/gravel, sand/mud, saltmarsh, and mangrove/sea-grass. The biological techniques that were addressed were nutrient enrichment, hydrocarbon-utilizing bacteria, vegetable oil biosolvents, plants, surf washing, oil-particle interactions and natural attenuation. The study considered the oil type, volume and fate of stranded oil, location of coastal materials, extent of pollution and the impact of biological techniques. The main factors that affect biodegradation of hydrocarbons are the volume, chemical composition and weathering state of the petroleum product as well as the temperature, oxygen availability of nutrients, water salinity, pH level, water content, and microorganisms in the shoreline environment. The interaction of these factors also affect the biodegradation of oil. It was concluded that understanding the fate of stranded oil can help in the development of techniques that improve the weathering and degradation of oil on complex shoreline substrates. 39 refs.

Character, distribution, and ecological significance of storm wave-induced scour in Rhode Island Sound, USA

Science.gov (United States)

McMullen, Katherine Y.; Poppe, Lawrence J.; Parker, Castle E.

2015-01-01

Multibeam bathymetry, collected during NOAA hydrographic surveys in 2008 and 2009, is coupled with USGS data from sampling and photographic stations to map the seabed morphology and composition of Rhode Island Sound along the US Atlantic coast, and to provide information on sediment transport and benthic habitats. Patchworks of scour depressions cover large areas on seaward-facing slopes and bathymetric highs in the sound. These depressions average 0.5-0.8 m deep and occur in water depths reaching as much as 42 m. They have relatively steep well-defined sides and coarser-grained floors, and vary strongly in shape, size, and configuration. Some individual scour depressions have apparently expanded to combine with adjacent depressions, forming larger eroded areas that commonly contain outliers of the original seafloor sediments. Where cobbles and scattered boulders are present on the depression floors, the muddy Holocene sands have been completely removed and the winnowed relict Pleistocene deposits exposed. Low tidal-current velocities and the lack of obstacle marks suggest that bidirectional tidal currents alone are not capable of forming these features. These depressions are formed and maintained under high-energy shelf conditions owing to repetitive cyclic loading imposed by high-amplitude, long-period, storm-driven waves that reduce the effective shear strength of the sediment, cause resuspension, and expose the suspended sediments to erosion by wind-driven and tidal currents. Because epifauna dominate on gravel floors of the depressions and infauna are prevalent in the finer-grained Holocene deposits, it is concluded that the resultant close juxtaposition of silty sand-, sand-, and gravel-dependent communities promotes regional faunal complexity. These findings expand on earlier interpretations, documenting how storm wave-induced scour produces sorted bedforms that control much of the benthic geologic and biologic diversity in Rhode Island Sound.

Colour Sonar: Multi-Frequency Sidescan Sonar Images of the Seabed in the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth, Scotland

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Duncan Tamsett

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The backscatter response of a seabed to an incident sonar signal is dependent on the carrier wave frequency: i.e., the seabed is acoustically colourful. Colour is implemented in a prototype three-frequency sidescan sonar system deployed in the Pentland Firth, north Scotland. Sonar amplitude data as a function of frequency are processed to render them an unconfounded effect of the seabed normalized to the response at a reference inclination angle, for colour to be a meaningful property of the seabed. Methods for mapping data at sonar frequencies to optical primary colours for human visualisation are explored. We recommend methods that in our opinion generate colour characteristics harmonious with human vision in which: shadow is white; saturation black; colour shade darkness is proportional to backscatter strength; and shades of red, green and blue are seen in proportion to the backscatter amplitudes of the low-, mid- and high-frequency sonar data. Frequency equalisation is applied to achieve a balance in colour responses in images. The seabed in the survey area is acoustically colourful. Using the “negative BGR” colour mapping method: a weakly backscattering sand dune in the north of the survey area appears as shades of light blue and purple; a strongly backscattering halo of cobbles around the dune appears as shades of hazel brown; a strongly backscattering gravel ridge across the south of the survey area appears as shades of royal blue; and exposed rock as textures ranging in colour from light brown to light blue/green. There is evidence for colour anisotropy (a dependence of colour on the direction of ensonification. Similarities between anthropic colour sonar and the natural sonar of Microchiropteran bats are noted. Bats’ sonar satisfies the information criteria for acoustic colour, and it is hypothesized that it informs a colourfully-perceived world view.

Soils of the Eastern mountainsides of the southern Sikhote-Alin (on the example of Lazovsky nature reserve, Russia)

Science.gov (United States)

Tregubova, Valentina; Semal, Victoria; Nesterova, Olga; Yaroslavtsev, Alexis

2017-04-01

The most common soils of the southern Far East are Brownzems under Russian classification (Cambisols), which are the zonal ones, emerging on the steep slopes and tops of hills, on high river terraces under broad-leaved and cedar-broad-leaved forests. Those soils formed due to two processes: organic matter metamorphism and clayization by siallite, leading to the formation of clay-metamorphic horizon Bw. The main morphological features of Cambisols are not deep soil profile (50 - 70 cm), weak horizons differentiation, with lots of cobble. Chemically those soils are low saturated, even in the humus horizon. Distribution of total absorbed bases is mostly accumulative, which is related to the distribution of humus in these soils, and the predominant type of clay fraction distribution of. The only exception are Humic Cambisols and Humic Cambisols Calcic which were formed on redeposited products of limestone rock weathering. Fine-grained deposits are mainly loams with a low content of silt. Silt distribution has an accumulative character with a gradual decrease in the content of silt down from the top of the profile. Layer of fresh leaf fall is very common for the Humic Cambisols surfaces, and under it there is the litter of plant residues with different degrees of decomposition. Accumulative humus horizon is dark gray with brownish tint, thin, from 10 to 15 cm in depth, loose, crumbly, highly penetrated by roots, with a strong granular structure, with aggregates tightly attached to the root hairs, sandy loam or sandy clay loam. The middle horizon is brown, yellowish-brown, divided into sub-horizons, with different color intensity, density, soil texture and amount of cobble. Dystric Cambisols are acidic or strongly acidic with low saturation of soil absorbing complex. Due to amount and distribution of organic matter these soils can be divided into two groups. The first group is soils with accumulative humus distribution: with a low depth humus-accumulative horizon (11

Abundance of non-native crabs in intertidal habitats of New England with natural and artificial structure

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Christina M. Lovely

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Marine habitats containing complex physical structure (e.g., crevices can provide shelter from predation for benthic invertebrates. To examine effects of natural and artificial structure on the abundance of intertidal juvenile crabs, 2 experiments were conducted in Kingston Bay, Massachusetts, USA, from July to September, 2012. In the first experiment, structure was manipulated in a two-factor design that was placed in the high intertidal for 3 one-week periods to test for both substrate type (sand vs. rock and the presence or absence of artificial structure (mesh grow-out bags used in aquaculture, ∼0.5 m2 with 62 mm2 mesh openings. The Asian shore crab, Hemigrapsus sanguineus, and small individuals of the green crab, Carcinus maenas, were observed only in the treatments of rocks and mesh bag plus rocks. Most green crabs were small (<6 mm in carapace width whereas H. sanguineus occurred in a wide range of sizes. In the second experiment, 3 levels of oyster-shell treatments were established using grow-out bags placed on a muddy sand substrate in the low intertidal zone: mesh grow-out bags without shells, grow-out bags with oyster shells, and grow-out bags containing live oysters. Replicate bags were deployed weekly for 7 weeks in a randomized complete block design. All crabs collected in the bags were juvenile C. maenas (1–15 mm carapace width, and numbers of crabs differed 6-fold among treatments, with most crabs present in bags with live oysters (29.5 ± 10.6 m−2 [mean ± S.D.] and fewest in bags without shells (4.9 ± 3.7 m−2. Both C. maenas and H. sanguineus occurred in habitats with natural structure (cobble rocks. The attraction of juvenile C. maenas to artificial structure consisting of plastic mesh bags containing both oyster shells and living oysters could potentially impact oyster aquaculture operations.

Stargate: An Open Stellar Catalog for NASA Exoplanet Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Tanner, Angelle

NASA is invested in a number of space- and ground-based efforts to find extrasolar planets around nearby stars with the ultimate goal of discovering an Earth 2.0 viable for searching for bio-signatures in its atmosphere. With both sky-time and funding resources extremely precious it is crucial that the exoplanet community has the most efficient and functional tools for choosing which stars to observe and then deriving the physical properties of newly discovered planets via the properties of their host stars. Historically, astronomers have utilized a piecemeal set of archives such as SIMBAD, the Washington Double Star Catalog, various exoplanet encyclopedias and electronic tables from the literature to cobble together stellar and planetary parameters in the absence of corresponding images and spectra. The mothballed NStED archive was in the process of collecting such data on nearby stars but its course may have changed if it comes back to NASA mission specific targets and NOT a volume limited sample of nearby stars. This means there is void. A void in the available set of tools many exoplanet astronomers would appreciate to create comprehensive lists of the stellar parameters of stars in our local neighborhood. Also, we need better resources for downloading adaptive optics images and published spectra to help confirm new discoveries and find ideal target stars. With so much data being produced by the stellar and exoplanet community we have decided to propose for the creation of an open access archive in the spirit of the open exoplanet catalog and the Kepler Community Follow-up Program. While we will highly regulate and constantly validate the data being placed into our archive the open nature of its design is intended to allow the database to be updated quickly and have a level of versatility which is necessary in today's fast moving, big data exoplanet community. Here, we propose to develop the Stargate Open stellar catalog for NASA exoplanet exploration.

Sheet-gravel evidence for a late Holocene tsunami run-up on beach dunes, Great Barrier Island, New Zealand

Science.gov (United States)

Nichol, Scott L.; Lian, Olav B.; Carter, Charles H.

2003-01-01

A semi-continuous sheet of granule to cobble-size clasts forms a distinctive deposit on sand dunes located on a coastal barrier in Whangapoua Bay, Great Barrier Island, New Zealand. The gravel sheet extends from the toe of the foredune to 14.3 m above mean sea level and 200 m landward from the beach. Clasts are rounded to sub-rounded and comprise lithologies consistent with local bedrock. Terrestrial sources for the gravel are considered highly unlikely due to the isolation of the dunes from hillslopes and streams. The only source for the clasts is the nearshore to inner shelf of Whangapoua Bay, where gravel sediments have been previously documented. The mechanism for transport of the gravel is unlikely to be storm surge due to the elevation of the deposit; maximum-recorded storm surge on this coast is 0.8 m above mean high water spring tide. Aeolian processes are also discounted due to the size of clasts and the elevation at which they occur. Tsunami is therefore considered the most probable mechanism for gravel transport. Minimum run-up height of the tsunami was 14.3 m, based on maximum elevation of gravel deposits. Optical ages on dune sands beneath and covering the gravel allow age bracketing to 0-4.7 ka. Within this time frame, numerous documented regional seismic and volcanic events could have generated the tsunami, notably submarine volcanism along the southern Kermadec arc to the east-southeast of Great Barrier Island where large magnitude events are documented for the late Holocene. Radiocarbon ages on shell from Maori middens that appear to have been reworked by tsunami run-up constrain the age of this event to post ca. 1400 AD. Regardless of the precise age of this event, the well-preserved nature of the Whangapoua gravel deposit provides for an improved understanding of the high degree of spatial variability in tsunami run-up.

Investigation into the Origin and Character of Surficial Sedimentary Deposits at the Midshore Regional Solid Waste Facility near Easton, Maryland

Science.gov (United States)

Smoot, Joseph P.; Newell, Wayne L.; DeJong, Benjamin D.

2009-01-01

A temporary exposure at the Midshore Regional Solid Waste Facility near Easton, MD, provided an opportunity to document the characteristics of the complex assemblage of surficial facies in that area. This unusually large cross section allowed interpretation of the changing processes that shaped the landscape in response to climate change through the late Pleistocene. Eight stratigraphic units were recognized: (1) gray, fossiliferous, muddy silt of the marine Miocene Choptank Formation; (2) coarse, crossbedded conglomerate of the late Miocene to Pliocene fluvial Pensauken Formation; (3) bioturbated muddy conglomerate interpreted as deposits of small colluvial fans; (4) pebbly, quartzose sand overlying a planar erosional surface reflecting a marine transgression; (5) irregular pods and lenses of sand and gravel deformed into bowl-shaped folds and faulted, which are interpreted as wind deposits over a semipermanent snow cover (niveo-aeolian deposits); (6) crossbedded sand and conglomerate with abundant mud partings indicating tidal influences on sinuous stream channels; (7) heavily bioturbated silt and sand with abundant root casts and flattened vesicles interpreted as aeolian loess deposits in marshy fens; and (8) pebbly sand and mud with scattered boulders and cobbles that reflect modern infill of the excavation by the operators. Soils formed on units 3, 4, and 7. Superimposed on units 4, 5, and 7 is evidence of deep freezing and permafrost development and subsequent thermokarst development after thawing, which includes large, complexly filled wedge-shaped cracks, deformed bedding and faults, fluid-injection structures, and spherical blobs of sand and mud. Each of the stratigraphic units has irregular distributions and lateral changes. The results of this study provide a unique insight into the geometry of surficial deposits that will help facilitate mapping of units, interpretation of cored intervals, and understanding of ground-penetrating radar profiles. The

Biological conditions of shorelines following the Exxon Valdez spill

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoker, S.W.; Neff, J.M.; Schroeder, T.R.; McCormick, D.M.

1993-01-01

This report is based primarily on survey results from Prince William Sound, where most of the heavy shoreline oiling occurred. Although not strictly quantitative, the shoreline surveys provide an unprecedented, broad base of professional observations covering the entire spill-affected area from 1989 through 1992 by which to evaluate spill impacts and recovery. Shoreline surveys documented that the extent of shoreline oiling declined substantially from 1989 to 1992. In 1989, oil was found on about 16 percent of the 3,000 miles of shoreline in Prince William Sound; by the spring of 1991, oil was found on only about 2 percent of the shoreline; and by May of 1992, on only 0.2 percent. In all years, most of this oil was located in the biologically least productive upper intertidal and supratidal zones. In both 1991 and 1992, small, isolated pockets of subsurface oil were found on some boulder/cobble beaches. Most of these deposits were also located in the upper intertidal and were usually buried beneath clean sediments. In almost all cases, the condition of intertidal biological communities improved correspondingly from 1989 to 1992. By the spring of 1991, recovery appeared to be well under way on virtually all previously oiled shores, with species composition, abundance, and diversity levels usually comparable to those of nearby shores that were not oiled in 1989. Recruitment of intertidal plants and animals was observed as early as the summer of 1989, and increasingly through 1991 and 1992. Recruitment was evident even in areas with remnant deposits of surface and subsurface oil, indicating that toxicity levels of the oil had declined substantially and that, in most cases, the residual oil no longer interfered with biological recovery. Observations of birds and marine mammals on or near shorelines surveyed during 1991 and 1992 confirmed that species present before the spill were still present and were feeding and reproducing in areas affected by oil in 1989

Insights from Askja sand sheet, Iceland, as a depositional analogue for the Bagnold Dune Field, Gale Crater, Mars.

Science.gov (United States)

Ukstins, I.; Sara, M.; Riishuus, M.; Schmidt, M. E.; Yingst, R. A.; Berger, J.

2017-12-01

Examining the compositional effect of aeolian transport and sorting processes on basaltic sands is significant for understanding the evolution of the Bagnold dune field, as well as other martian soils and sedimentary units. We use the Askja sand sheet, Iceland, as a testbed to quantify the nature of soil production and aeolian transport processes in a mafic system. Basalts from Askja and surrounding volcanic units, which can have high MgO (5-18 wt %) and high Fe2O3 (5-18 wt %), have been weathered to form mafic volcaniclastic deposits which are incorporated into a 40-km long sand sheet to the E-SE of the caldera, ranging from 10 cm to 10 m thick, and covering 240 km2. Ash and lava from the 2014-2015 Holuhraun eruption were emplaced onto the southeastern part of the sand sheet. The SW section is deflationary and defined by very fine to medium grained basaltic sand with ventifact cobbles and boulders. The central part is inflating and dominated by very fine-grained sand, relict lava fields, and small to large sand ripples (1 to 30 cm). The NE portion is also inflating but accumulation is limited to topographic depressions. Bulk chemistry of >200 sand samples are similar to Martian crust (SiO2: 48-52 wt %, MgO: 5-8 wt %, Fe2O3: 13-15 wt %). MgO concentrations vary with distance along the sand sheet, increasing by 1.5% over 10 km in the downwind direction (E, NE), then maintaining a relatively consistent concentration of 6.75 wt % over 18 km. Mean equancy of grains decreases 15 % to the E over 10 km followed by a plateau at 65 to 75 %. Material at depth tends to be of higher sphericity than material on or near the surface. Notably, MgO increases while the sphericity decreases and both data sets level off at 10 km, which suggests these two variables are related. These indicate input of material with prismoidal morphology around 10 km, and may be due to the Holuhraun eruption.

Quaternary deposits and landscape evolution of the central Blue Ridge of Virginia

Science.gov (United States)

Eaton, L. Scott; Morgan, Benjamin A.; Kochel, R. Craig; Howard, Alan D.

2003-01-01

A catastrophic storm that struck the central Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains in June 1995 delivered over 775 mm (30.5 in) of rain in 16 h. The deluge triggered more than 1000 slope failures; and stream channels and debris fans were deeply incised, exposing the stratigraphy of earlier mass movement and fluvial deposits. The synthesis of data obtained from detailed pollen studies and 39 radiometrically dated surficial deposits in the Rapidan basin gives new insights into Quaternary climatic change and landscape evolution of the central Blue Ridge Mountains.The oldest depositional landforms in the study area are fluvial terraces. Their deposits have weathering characteristics similar to both early Pleistocene and late Tertiary terrace surfaces located near the Fall Zone of Virginia. Terraces of similar ages are also present in nearby basins and suggest regional incision of streams in the area since early Pleistocene–late Tertiary time. The oldest debris-flow deposits in the study area are much older than Wisconsinan glaciation as indicated by 2.5YR colors, thick argillic horizons, and fully disintegrated granitic cobbles. Radiocarbon dating indicates that debris flow activity since 25,000 YBP has recurred, on average, at least every 2500 years. The presence of stratified slope deposits, emplaced from 27,410 through 15,800 YBP, indicates hillslope stripping and reduced vegetation cover on upland slopes during the Wisconsinan glacial maximum.Regolith generated from mechanical weathering during the Pleistocene collected in low-order stream channels and was episodically delivered to the valley floor by debris flows. Debris fans prograded onto flood plains during the late Pleistocene but have been incised by Holocene stream entrenchment. The fan incision allows Holocene debris flows to largely bypass many of the higher elevation debris fan surfaces and deposit onto the topographically lower surfaces. These episodic, high-magnitude storm events are responsible for

Microbial Response to UV Exposure and Nitrogen Limitation in Desert Soil Crusts

Science.gov (United States)

Fulton, J. M.; Van Mooy, B. A.

2016-12-01

Microbiotic soil crusts have diverse biomarker distributions and C and N stable isotopic compositions that covary with soil type. Sparse plant cover and the relative lack of soil disturbance in arid/semi-arid landscapes allows populations of soil cyanobacteria to develop along with fungi and heterotrophic bacteria. Microbial communities in this extreme environment depend in part on the production of scytonemin, a UV protective pigment, by cyanobacteria near the top of the crust. N limitation of microbial growth also affects soil crust population dynamics, increasing the requirement of N2fixation by diazotrophic cyanobacteria. We collected 56 soil crust samples from 27 locations throughout the Great Salt Lake Desert, including four transects spanning high-elevation, erosion-dominated soils to lower elevation soils dominated by silt-accumulation. Erosion-dominated soil surfaces included rounded gravel and cobbles; in the interstices there were poorly-developed microbiotic crusts on sandy loam with low δ15N values near 0‰ that point toward microbial growth dependent on cyanobacterial N2 fixation. Nutrients regenerated by heterotrophic bacteria may have been eroded from the system, providing a positive feedback for N2 fixation. High scytonemin:chlorophyll a ratios suggest that cyanobacteria required enhanced protection from UV damage in these crusts. A similar increase in scytonemin:chlorophyll a ratio during soil crust rehydration experiments also points toward the importance of UV protection. Glycolipid:phospholipid ratios were lowest where N2 fixation was favored, however, suggesting that the cyanobacterial population was relatively small, possibly because of the metabolic cost of N2fixation. Microbiotic crusts on silt loam soils, on the other hand, had higher δ15N values between 3.5 and 7.8‰, consistent with heterotrophic growth and nutrient recycling. Lower scytonemin:chlorophyll a ratios suggest that relatively high photosynthetic activity was supported in

Mapping coral and sponge habitats on a shelf-depth environment using multibeam sonar and ROV video observations: Learmonth Bank, northern British Columbia, Canada

Science.gov (United States)

Neves, Bárbara M.; Du Preez, Cherisse; Edinger, Evan

2014-01-01

Efforts to locate and map deep-water coral and sponge habitats are essential for the effective management and conservation of these vulnerable marine ecosystems. Here we test the applicability of a simple multibeam sonar classification method developed for fjord environments to map the distribution of shelf-depth substrates and gorgonian coral- and sponge-dominated biotopes. The studied area is a shelf-depth feature Learmonth Bank, northern British Columbia, Canada and the method was applied aiming to map primarily non-reef forming coral and sponge biotopes. Aside from producing high-resolution maps (5 m2 raster grid), biotope-substrate associations were also investigated. A multibeam sonar survey yielded bathymetry, acoustic backscatter strength and slope. From benthic video transects recorded by remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) six primary substrate types and twelve biotope categories were identified, defined by the primary sediment and dominant biological structure, respectively. Substrate and biotope maps were produced using a supervised classification mostly based on the inter-quartile range of the acoustic variables for each substrate type and biotope. Twenty-five percent of the video observations were randomly reserved for testing the classification accuracy. The dominant biotope-defining corals were red tree coral Primnoa pacifica and small styasterids, of which Stylaster parageus was common. Demosponges and hexactinellid sponges were frequently observed but no sponge reefs were observed. The substrate classification readily distinguished fine sediment, Sand and Bedrock from the other substrate types, but had greater difficulty distinguishing Bedrock from Boulders and Cobble. The biotope classification accurately identified Gardens (dense aggregations of sponges and corals) and Primnoa-dominated biotopes (67% accuracy), but most other biotopes had lower accuracies. There was a significant correspondence between Learmonth's biotopes and substrate types

Role of hydrous iron oxide formation in attenuation and diel cycling of dissolved trace metals in a stream affected by acid rock drainage

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, S.R.; Gammons, C.H.; Jones, Clain A.; Nimick, D.A.

2007-01-01

Mining-impacted streams have been shown to undergo diel (24-h) fluctuations in concentrations of major and trace elements. Fisher Creek in south-central Montana, USA receives acid rock drainage (ARD) from natural and mining-related sources. A previous diel field study found substantial changes in dissolved metal concentrations at three sites with differing pH regimes during a 24-h period in August 2002. The current work discusses follow-up field sampling of Fisher Creek as well as field and laboratory experiments that examine in greater detail the underlying processes involved in the observed diel concentration changes. The field experiments employed in-stream chambers that were either transparent or opaque to light, filled with stream water and sediment (cobbles coated with hydrous Fe and Al oxides), and placed in the stream to maintain the same temperature. Three sets of laboratory experiments were performed: (1) equilibration of a Cu(II) and Zn(II) containing solution with Fisher Creek stream sediment at pH 6.9 and different temperatures; (2) titration of Fisher Creek water from pH 3.1 to 7 under four different isothermal conditions; and (3) analysis of the effects of temperature on the interaction of an Fe(II) containing solution with Fisher Creek stream sediment under non-oxidizing conditions. Results of these studies are consistent with a model in which Cu, Fe(II), and to a lesser extent Zn, are adsorbed or co-precipitated with hydrous Fe and Al oxides as the pH of Fisher Creek increases from 5.3 to 7.0. The extent of metal attenuation is strongly temperature-dependent, being more pronounced in warm vs. cold water. Furthermore, the sorption/co-precipitation process is shown to be irreversible; once the Cu, Zn, and Fe(II) are removed from solution in warm water, a decrease in temperature does not release the metals back to the water column. ?? 2006 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Marine biodiversity at the end of the world: Cape Horn and Diego Ramírez islands

Science.gov (United States)

Ballesteros, Enric; Bell, Tom W.; Giddens, Jonatha; Henning, Brad; Hüne, Mathias; Muñoz, Alex; Salinas-de-León, Pelayo; Sala, Enric

2018-01-01

The vast and complex coast of the Magellan Region of extreme southern Chile possesses a diversity of habitats including fjords, deep channels, and extensive kelp forests, with a unique mix of temperate and sub-Antarctic species. The Cape Horn and Diego Ramírez archipelagos are the most southerly locations in the Americas, with the southernmost kelp forests, and some of the least explored places on earth. The giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera plays a key role in structuring the ecological communities of the entire region, with the large brown seaweed Lessonia spp. forming dense understories. Kelp densities were highest around Cape Horn, followed by Diego Ramírez, and lowest within the fjord region of Francisco Coloane Marine Park (mean canopy densities of 2.51 kg m-2, 2.29 kg m-2, and 2.14 kg m-2, respectively). There were clear differences in marine communities among these sub-regions, with the lowest diversity in the fjords. We observed 18 species of nearshore fishes, with average species richness nearly 50% higher at Diego Ramírez compared with Cape Horn and Francisco Coloane. The number of individual fishes was nearly 10 times higher at Diego Ramírez and 4 times higher at Cape Horn compared with the fjords. Dropcam surveys of mesophotic depths (53–105 m) identified 30 taxa from 25 families, 15 classes, and 7 phyla. While much of these deeper habitats consisted of soft sediment and cobble, in rocky habitats, echinoderms, mollusks, bryozoans, and sponges were common. The southern hagfish (Myxine australis) was the most frequently encountered of the deep-sea fishes (50% of deployments), and while the Fueguian sprat (Sprattus fuegensis) was the most abundant fish species, its distribution was patchy. The Cape Horn and Diego Ramírez archipelagos represent some of the last intact sub-Antarctic ecosystems remaining and a recently declared large protected area will help ensure the health of this unique region. PMID:29364902

New insights into broad spectrum communities of the Early Holocene Near East: The birds of Hallan Çemi

Science.gov (United States)

Zeder, Melinda A.; Spitzer, Megan D.

2016-11-01

The Early Holocene in Near East was a pivotal transitional period that witnessed dramatic changes in climate and environment, human settlement, major changes in subsistence strategies focusing on a broad range of different plant and animal resources, and a radical restructuring of social relations. The remarkable corpus of avifauna from the Early Holocene site of Hallan Çemi in southeastern Turkey sheds new light on key issues about this dynamic period that has been termed the ;Broad Spectrum Revolution;. The avifauna from this important site demonstrate how Hallan Çemi occupants took advantage of the site's strategic location at the junction of multiple environmental zones by extracting a diverse range of seasonally available resources from both near-by and more distant eco-zones to cobble together a stable subsistence economy capable of supporting this small community throughout the year. They give testimony to the impacts of resource utilization over time, especially on species unable to rebound from sustained human hunting. At the same time, they show how Hallan Çemi residents mitigated these impacts by replacing depleted resources with alternative, more resilient ones that could be more sustainably harvested. They open a window onto the growing investment in feasting and ritual activity that helped bind this community together. In so doing they provide a means of empirically evaluating the efficacy of contrasting explanatory frameworks for the Broad Spectrum Revolution that gave rise to the subsequent domestication of plant and animals in the Near East. Contrary to frameworks that cast these developments as responses to resource depression, lessons learned from the Hallan Çemi avifauna lend support to frameworks that emphasize the human capacity to strategically target, capitalize, and improve upon circumscribed resource rich environments in a way that permits more permanent occupation of these niches. And they underscore the degree to which social and

The Impacts of flow alterations to crayfishes in Southeastern Oklahoma, with an emphasis on the mena crayfish (orconectes menae)

Science.gov (United States)

Brewer, Shannon K.; Dyer, Joseph J.

2016-01-01

Human activities can alter the environment to the point that it is unsuitable to the native species resulting in a loss of biodiversity. Ecologists understand the importance of biodiversity and the conservation of vulnerable species. Species that are narrowly endemic are considered to be particularly vulnerable because they often use specific habitats that are highly susceptible to human disturbance. The basic components of species conservation are 1) delineation of the spatial distribution of the species, 2) understanding how the species interacts with its environment, and 3) employing management strategies based on the ecology of the species. In this study, we investigated several crayfish species endemic to the Ouachita Mountains in Oklahoma and Arkansas. We established the spatial distributions (i.e., range) of the crayfish using Maximum Entropy species distribution modeling. We then investigated crayfish habitat use with quantitative sampling and a paired movement study. Finally, we evaluated the ability of crayfish to burrow under different environmental conditions in a controlled laboratory setting. Crayfish distribution at the landscape scale was largely driven by climate, geology and elevation. In general, the endemic crayfish in this study occurred above 300-m elevation where the geology was dominated by sandstone and shale, and rainfall totals were the highest compared to the rest of the study region. Our quantitative data indicated crayfish did not select for specific habitat types at the reach scale; however, crayfish appeared to continue to use shallow and dry habitat even as the streams dried. Movement by passive integrated transponder (PIT) tagged crayfish was highly variable but crayfish tended to burrow in response to drought rather than migrate to wet habitat. Controlled laboratory experiments revealed smaller substrate size (pebble) restricted crayfish burrowing more than larger substrates (cobble). We also found excess fine sediment restricted

Wood Export and Deposition Dynamics in Mountain Watersheds

Science.gov (United States)

Senter, Anne Elizabeth

using decision tree analyses. Digital imagery collected via kite-blimp was mosaicked into a geographic information system and all resolvable wood pieces greater then 2.5 cm in one dimension were delineated and categorized into piece count density classes. Visual imagery was also key in identifying two river corridor terrains: bedrock outcrops and cobble-boulder-vegetation patches. A conceptual model framed an investigation into how topographic variability and structural elements might influence observed wood deposition dynamics. Forage ratio test results that quantified wood piece utilization versus interval availability revealed that high-density wood deposition patterns were most significantly co-located with five discrete bedrock outcrops that dominated small portions of the river corridor in high flow conditions. Topographic variations and cobble-boulder-vegetation patches were found to be subordinate factors in wood deposition patterns. Bedrock outcrops with specific structural components were the primary depositional environments that acted as floodplain extents for coarse wood deposition, with mechanisms such as topographic steering, eddying, trapping, stranding, backwater effects, and lateral roughness features inferred to be responsible for observed wood deposition patterns.

Reconstructing the Waipaoa Sedimentary System at the LGM

Science.gov (United States)

Upton, P.; Kettner, A. J.; Litchfield, N. J.; Orpin, A. R.

2009-12-01

The Waipaoa River catchment on New Zealand’s north-eastern coast has a mean annual suspended yield of 6780 t km-2 yr-1. The compact, mountainous and short reach of the Waipaoa River watershed produces among the highest sediment yields per unit area globally. Here, deforested and steep hillslopes composed of extremely weak mudstone argillite lithologies are exposed to a vigorous maritime climate. Sediment from the Waipaoa River is trapped in active tectonic basins on the shelf and slope. Waipaoa River water and sediment discharge have been modeled for the past 3000 years using HydroTrend, a climate-driven hydrological model and the results compared with floodplain and shelf sediment records (Kettner et al., 2007; 2009). In this study, we extend the existing HydroTrend model back to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, just prior to 18 ka), to investigate changes in suspended sediment load and bedload since that time. During the LGM the Waipaoa River catchment was approximately twice its current size, with the river mouth and coastline located near the current shelf break as a consequence of lower sea level. LGM pebble-cobble gravels in terraces and in relict shelf deposits indicate the river transported coarser bedload than during the Holocene. Climate models suggest that the region was colder and drier than present (Drost et al., 2007), consistent with the presence of loess and recycled pollen (Berryman et al. 2000; McGlone, 2001). The LGM vegetation was dominated by scrub and grassland (McGlone et al. 1984; McGlone, 2001), similar to the deforested vegetation cover in the watershed today. Preliminary HydroTrend simulations predict that, given the increased catchment, similar vegetation cover and landscape susceptibility to erosion, the suspended sediment flux of the LGM Waipaoa catchment was 10-15% higher than during the late Holocene. However, when considered relative to unit area, the LGM suspended sediment yield was perhaps 60% lower than during the late Holocene

Active Features of Guguan-Guizhen Fault at the Northeast Margin of Qinghai-Tibet Block since Late Quaternary

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Yaqin; Feng, Xijie; Li, Gaoyang; Ma, Ji; Li, Miao; Zhang, Yi

2015-04-01

Guguan-Guizhen fault is located at the northeast margin of Qinghai-Tibet Block and northwest margin of Ordos Block; it is the boundary of the two blocks, and one of the multiple faults of northwest Haiyuan-Liupanshan-Baoji fault zone. Guguan-Guizhen fault starts from Putuo Village, Huating County, Gansu Province, and goes through Badu Town, Long County in Shaanxi Province ends in Guozhen Town in Baoji City, Shaanxi Province. The fault has a full length of about 130km with the strike of 310-330°, the dip of SW and the rake of 50-60°, which is a sinistral slip reverse fault in the north part, and a sinistral slip normal fault in the southeast part. Guguan-Guizhen fault has a clear liner structure in satellite images and significant landform elevation difference with a maximum difference of 80m, and is higher in the east lower in the west. The northwest side of Guguan-Guizhen fault is composed of purplish-red Lower Cretaceous sandstones and river terrace; the northeast side is composed of Ordovician Limestone. Shigou, Piliang, Songjiashan, Tianjiagou and Chenjiagou fault profiles are found to the south of Badu Village. After 14C and optically stimulated luminescence dating, the fault does not dislocate the stratum since late Pleistocene (90.5±4.4ka) in Shigou, Piliang and Songjiashan fault profiles, and does not dislocate the cobble layer of Holocene first terrace and recent sliderock (3180±30 BP). But the fault dislocated the stratum of middle Pleistocene in some of the fault profiles. All the evidences above indicate that the fault is active in middle Pleistocene, and being silence since late Pleistocene. It might be active in Holocene to the north of Badu Village due to collapses are found in a certain area. The cause of these collapses is Qinlong M6-7 earthquake in 600 A.D., and might be relevant with Guguan-Guizhen fault after analysis of the scale, feature and age determination of the collapse. If any seismic surface rupture and ancient earthquake traces

Structure from Motion vs. the Kinect: Comparisons of River Field Measurements at the 10-2 to 102 meter Scales

Science.gov (United States)

Fonstad, M. A.; Dietrich, J. T.

2014-12-01

At the very smallest spatial scales of fluvial field analysis, measurements made historically in situ are often now supplemented, or even replaced by, remote sensing methods. This is particularly true in the case of topographic and particle size measurement. In the field, the scales of in situ observation usually range from millimeters up to hundreds of meters. Two recent approaches for remote mapping of river environments at the scales of historical in situ observations are (1) camera-based structure from motion (SfM), and (2) active patterned-light measurement with devices such as the Kinect. Even if only carried by hand, these two approaches can produce topographic datasets over three to four orders of magnitude of spatial scale. Which approach is most useful? Previous studies have demonstrated that both SfM and the Kinect are precise and accurate over in situ field measurement scales; we instead turn to alternate comparative metrics to help determine which tools might be best for our river measurement tasks. These metrics might include (1) the ease of field use, (2) which general environments are or are not amenable to measurement, (3) robustness to changing environmental conditions, (4) ease of data processing, and (5) cost. We test these metrics in a variety of bar-scale fluvial field environments, including a large-river cobble bar, a sand-bedded river point bar, and a complex mountain stream bar. The structure from motion approach is field-equipment inexpensive, is viable over a wide range of environmental conditions, and is highly spatially scalable. The approach requires some type of spatial referencing to make the data useful. The Kinect has the advantages of an almost real-time display of collected data, so problems can be detected quickly, being fast and easy to use, and the data are collected with arbitrary but metric coordinates, so absolute referencing isn't needed to use the data for many problems. It has the disadvantages of its light field

The nature of Mesoarchaean seawater and continental weathering in 2.85 Ga banded iron formation, Slave craton, NW Canada

Science.gov (United States)

Haugaard, Rasmus; Ootes, Luke; Creaser, Robert A.; Konhauser, Kurt O.

2016-12-01

Banded iron formations (BIF) have been extensively used as proxies to infer the chemical composition of ancient bulk seawater. However, their proximity to ancient crust suggests that they might also be used to reveal the composition of emergent continental landmass at the time of their deposition. Here we use the combination of geochemistry and Sm-Nd isotopes on a layer-by-layer basis to interpret the relative contributions of hydrothermal, hydrogenous and terrestrial input to one of the oldest documented Superior-type BIF in the world. The ∼2.85 Ga Central Slave Cover Group BIF is deposited within a rift basin related to a continental margin and is found associated with basement gneisses, as well as shoreline and shallow-shelf type facies, such as fuchsitic quartzite and pebble-to-cobble conglomerate, that confirm a near-shore depositional setting for the BIF. The BIF ranges from a pure chemical oxide (magnetite)-silicate (grunerite + actinolite) sediment with low Al2O3 (aged BIF. High-resolution geochemistry shows that there is more silica (19.4 wt.% SiO2) in the iron bands than iron (8.7 wt.% Fe2O3) in the silica bands, implying that dissolved Fe2+ came to the BIF site in pulses and that silica likely represents background deposition. Consistently radiogenic εNd(t) values for the iron bands (average +1.7) show that the dissolved REY in the source water during ferric iron precipitation was provided by submarine hydrothermal fluids with relatively uniform 143Nd/144Nd. The silica bands, by contrast, reveal high variation in seawater 143Nd/144Nd as evident from the bimodal εNd(t) distribution with one segment exhibiting negative εNd(t) values averaging -1.1 and another with positive εNd(t) values averaging +2.5. This suggests input of dissolved REY into the upper seawater from weathering of isotopically different crustal components in the source region. Collectively, we speculate that the low REY in the upper seawater and the overall low Ni content implies a

Illuminating wildfire erosion and deposition patterns with repeat terrestrial lidar

Science.gov (United States)

Rengers, Francis K.; Tucker, G.E.; Moody, J.A.; Ebel, Brian

2016-01-01

Erosion following a wildfire is much greater than background erosion in forests because of wildfire-induced changes to soil erodibility and water infiltration. While many previous studies have documented post-wildfire erosion with point and small plot-scale measurements, the spatial distribution of post-fire erosion patterns at the watershed scale remains largely unexplored. In this study lidar surveys were collected periodically in a small, first-order drainage basin over a period of 2 years following a wildfire. The study site was relatively steep with slopes ranging from 17° to > 30°. During the study period, several different types of rain storms occurred on the site including low-intensity frontal storms (2.4 mm h−1) and high-intensity convective thunderstorms (79 mm h−1). These storms were the dominant drivers of erosion. Erosion resulting from dry ravel and debris flows was notably absent at the site. Successive lidar surveys were subtracted from one another to obtain digital maps of topographic change between surveys. The results show an evolution in geomorphic response, such that the erosional response after rain storms was strongly influenced by the previous erosional events and pre-fire site morphology. Hillslope and channel roughness increased over time, and the watershed armored as coarse cobbles and boulders were exposed. The erosional response was spatially nonuniform; shallow erosion from hillslopes (87% of the study area) contributed 3 times more sediment volume than erosion from convergent areas (13% of the study area). However, the total normalized erosion depth (volume/area) was highest in convergent areas. From a detailed understanding of the spatial locations of erosion, we made inferences regarding the processes driving erosion. It appears that hillslope erosion is controlled by rain splash (for detachment) and overland flow (for transport and quasi-channelized erosion), with the sites of highest erosion corresponding to locations

Evaluation of the natural background radiation in City Sopron

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spaits, T.; Divos, F.; Kavasi, N.; Boka, Z.

2006-01-01

In the Postgraduate School of the Faculty of Forestry of the University of West Hungary a project with the topic Research of natural radioactive isotopes in our built and natural environs is being run. Preparing this map is an organic part of this PhD research. The measurements are being made in Sopron city and in its next surroundings, trying to estimate, which dose of radiation a citizen of Sopron is exposed, according to his age and lifestyle. The measurements completely cover the built-up area of Sopron, moreover they exceed the confines, so thus they provide information about the natural areas in the vicinity of the city. In figures, the detection carried out in an area of 24 square kilometres, working with a grid mesh of 200 metres. A sodium-iodide detector was used. We have faced several anomalies while mapping. These are the following: On Main Square (Foter), Ursulin Square (Orsolya ter), Paulites Square (Palosok tere, where a higher dose can be measured, due to granite cobbles, used to cover the pavements of the squares and streets. This was confirmed by the gamma spectrometric examination of the granite stones. In these areas, a triple of the mean dose-rate of 70-90 n Sv/h in Sopron was detected. The highest values of 400 n Sv/h were detected in the cinder-covered car-park of the paint store in Koszegi Street. The total gamma activity concentration of the cinder used in the car-park was nearly 2000 Bq/kg. A triple to a quadruple of the natural level was detected in the vicinity of the chimney of the former thermal power plant and the brick factory. The detection was carried out in four directions with raising range starting by the chimneys, which has spectacularly shown, that the sedimentation of the aerosols can be tracked is a function of distance. The measurements have also shown, that there is a significant difference between dose-levels of the natural areas beyond the eastern and western edge of the city, which can be explained with the different

MULTI-FOLD, SEISMIC-STYLE TDEM INDUCTION OFFSET PROFILING AT KENTLAND FARMS, VA

Science.gov (United States)

Kazlauskas, E. M.; Weiss, C. J.

2009-12-01

An outstanding question in Valley and Ridge geology is the geomorphological history and hydrologic framework of the New River terraces. And while depth to bedrock on the upper terraces remains unknown, knowledge of the bedrock interface is key to addressing two specific issues: What is the geometry and connectivity of karst features such as sinkholes and what is the structure and depositional history of these terraces? To answer these questions, Kentland Farms (located in the Valley and Ridge of Southwest Virginia) has been chosen as the study site for its exceptional development of terrace deposits, nearly unrestricted access to its grounds, sparse vegetation coverage, and numerous sinkholes with a clear topographic expression. The Kentland Farms study area is characterized by heavily weathered, fluvial terrace deposits ranging from a few meters thickness to an estimated 70 m, overlying a karstic, Cambrian aged Elbrook Formation limestone. The terrace deposits consist of weathered clay units of varying composition with interbedded cobble and gravel horizons. The nature of the underlying bedrock coupled with the complex structure of the terrace deposits present difficulties in location of the bedrock interface. Due to complicated geology, a novel, multi-fold, seismic-style, Time Domain Electromagnetic (TDEM) induction survey was conducted in order to provide a more robust data set than a traditional common offset survey as well as to increase lateral resolution. This approach consists of taking multiple transmitter “shots” at a fixed position with a spread of receiver locations at fixed offset intervals (10m in this survey). The procedure is then repeated by moving the transmitter one interval at a time until the line is complete. 1-D inversions generated by using different transmitter-receiver offsets were analyzed to create a set of laterally constrained vertical profiles. In addition, multi-fold, seismic-style TDEM induction offset profiling allowed for

Recent results from the first polar direct drive plastic capsule implosions on NIF

Science.gov (United States)

Schmitt, Mark J.

2012-10-01

Polar direct drive (PDD) offers a simplified platform for conducting strongly driven implosions on NIF to investigate mix, hydro-burn and ignition-relevant physics. Its successful use necessitates a firm understanding and predictive capability of its implosion characteristics including hydro performance, symmetry and yield. To assess this capability, the first two PDD implosions of deuterium filled CH capsules were recently conducted at NIF. The P2 Legendre mode symmetry seen in these implosions agreed with pre-shot predictions even though the 700kJ drive energy produced intensities that far exceeded thresholds for both Raman and Brillouin stimulated scattering. These shots were also the first to employ image backlighting driven by two laser quads. Preliminary results indicate that the yield from the uncoated 2.25 mm diameter, 42 μm thick, CH shells was reduced by about a factor of two owing to as-shot laser drive asymmetries. Similarly, a small (sim50 μm) centroid offset between the upper and lower shell hemispheres seen in the first shot appears to be indicative of the laser quad energies. Overall, the implosion trajectories agreed with pre-shot predictions of bangtime. The second shot incorporated an 80 ?m wide,10 ?m deep depression encircling the equator of the capsule. This engineered feature was imposed to test our capability to predict the effect of high-mode features on yield and mix. A predicted yield reduction factor of 3 was not observed.[4pt] In collaboration with P. A. Bradley, J. A. Cobble, P. Hakel, S. C. Hsu, N. S. Krasheninnikova, G. A. Kyrala, G. R. Magelssen, T. J. Murphy, K. A. Obrey, R. C. Shah, I. L. Tregillis and F. J. Wysocki of Los Alamos National Laboratory; M. Marinak, R. Wallace, T. Parham, M. Cowan, S. Glenn, R. Benedetti and the NIF Operations Team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; R. S. Craxton and P. W. McKenty of the Univ. Rochester; P. Fitzsimmons and A. Nikroo of General Atomics; H. Rinderknecht, M. Rosenberg, and M. G

Effects of depth and crayfish size on predation risk and foraging profitability of a lotic crayfish

Science.gov (United States)

Flinders, C.A.; Magoulick, D.D.

2007-01-01

We conducted field surveys and experiments to determine whether observed distributions of crayfish among habitats were influenced by differential resource availability, foraging profitability, and predation rates and whether these factors differed with crayfish size and habitat depth. We sampled available food resources (detritus and invertebrates) and shelter as rock substrate in deep (>50 cm) and shallow (<30 cm) habitats. We used an enclosure-exclosure experiment to examine the effects of water depth and crayfish size on crayfish biomass and survival, and to determine whether these factors affected silt accrual, algal abundance (chlorophyll a [chl a]), and detritus and invertebrate biomass (g ash-free dry mass) differently from enclosures without crayfish. We conducted tethering experiments to assess predation on small (13-17 mm carapace length [CL]) and large (23-30 mm CL) Orconectes marchandi and to determine whether predation rates differed with water depth. Invertebrate biomass was significantly greater in shallow water than in deep water, whereas detritus biomass did not differ significantly between depths. Cobble was significantly more abundant in shallow than in deep water. Depth and crayfish size had a significant interactive effect on change in size of enclosed crayfish when CL was used as a measure of size but not when biomass was used as a measure of size. CL of small crayfish increased significantly more in enclosures in shallow than in deep water, but CL of large crayfish changed very little at either depth. Silt, chl a, and detritus biomass were significantly lower on tiles in large- than in small- and no-crayfish enclosures, and invertebrate biomass was significantly lower in large- than in no-crayfish enclosures. Significantly more crayfish were consumed in deep than in shallow water regardless of crayfish size. Our results suggest that predation and resource availability might influence the depth distribution of small and large crayfish. Small

Investigation of Mineral Alteration in Andesite and Dacite from Three Different Volcano Hydrothermal Systems on Dominica, Lesser Antilles

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, C. I. V.; Frey, H. M.; Joseph, E. P.; Manon, M. R. F.

2017-12-01

The thermal discharges of Dominica are classified as steam-heated acidic-sulphate waters, produced by the mixing of shallow ground waters heated by sulphur bearing gases coming from magmatic sources. This study investigates the mineral alteration associated with three hydrothermal areas in Dominica that exhibit different temperature, pH, water composition and surface water abundance. Hydrothermal features (fumaroles, pools, springs) from Sulphur Springs ranged in temperature from 41 - 97 °C and pH from 1-3 in a predominantly gaseous environment, whereas the Valley of Desolation (69-98 °C and pH 1- 4) and the Cold Soufriere (18-32 °C and pH 1-4) have significant inputs of surface water. At each location, the host andesite-dacite rock was enveloped by a thin rind (up 2 cm) of precipitates, but the degree of alteration and rind thickness/composition varied with location. Cobbles from Sulphur Springs (SS) are grayish white in color with a thin outer rind (3-13 mm), and seemingly unaltered cores. Valley of Desolation (VoD) samples have a variety of patterns of alteration, with some clasts a uniform white-orange color, whereas others have variable thicknesses of an altered rind (1-20 mm), with relatively unaltered cores. Multiple hydrothermal minerals precipitated in the outer rinds display distinctive colors, suggestive of sulphides (dark gray), sulphates (orange and yellow), and iron oxides(?) (pink and purple). Cold Soufriere (CS) samples appear to be the most altered, often crumbling at touch. Others had rinds (2-10 mm) and pinkish gray cores that suggest more alteration compared to VoD and SS samples. Preliminary mineral identification of rind compositions was determined by XRD. Scans indicate the presence of silica polymorphs cristobalite and tridymite, as well as pyrite and sulphur. Elemental maps created using a SEM to identify any gradation caused by the elemental leaching and/or precipitation show that the boundaries between the weathering rind and the host

Past sea-level data from Lakse Bugt, Disko Island, West Greenland from ground-penetrating radar data

Science.gov (United States)

Souza, Priscila E.; Nielsen, Lars; Kroon, Aart; Clemmensen, Lars B.

2016-04-01

Beach-ridge deposits have been used as sea-level indicators in numerous studies from temperate coastal regions. However, their present surface morphology in artic regions may not accurately correspond to past sea-level, because subsequent surface erosion, solifluction processes and/or later sediment deposition may have altered the surface significantly. The internal structure of these beach ridges, however, is often well-preserved and thus constitutes an important key to reconstruction of past sea levels as seen elsewhere. In the present study, high-resolution reflection GPR data and high-precision topographic data were collected at Lakse Bugt (Disko Island, West Greenland) using a shielded 250 MHz antennae system and a RTK-Trimble R8 DGPS, respectively. Three transects were collected across a sequence of fossil, raised beach ridge deposits, and two transects were obtained across modern beach deposits at the shoreline of the mesotidal regime. Along all radar profiles we observed downlap reflection points, which we interpret to represent the boundary between sediments deposited on the beachface and sediments deposited in the upper shoreface regime. Both the upper shoreface and the beachface deposits exhibit reflection patterns dipping in the seaward direction. The beachface deposits show the strongest dip. At or just below the downlap points strong diffractions are often observed indicating the presence of a layer containing stones. These stones are large enough to generate significant signal scattering. At the present day beach a sharp transition defined by the presence of large stones is observed near the low tide water level: cobbles characterize the seaside, while the land side is characterized by sand and gravel. Therefore, it seems reasonable to conclude that downlap points observed in the GPR data serve as indicators of past low-tide levels (at the time of deposition). The downlap points show a consistent offset with respect to present surface topography

Identification of discontinuous sand pulses on the bed of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon

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Mueller, E. R.; Grams, P. E.; Buscombe, D.; Topping, D. J.

2017-12-01

Decades of research on alluvial sandbars and sand transport on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon has contributed to in-depth understanding of the sand budget and lead to management actions designed to rebuild eroded sandbars. However, some basic, but difficult to address, questions about the processes and rates of sand movement through the system still limit our ability to predict geomorphic responses. The coarse fraction of the bed is heterogeneous and varies among boulders, cobble, gravel, and bedrock. Sand covers these substrates in patches of variable size and thickness, fills interstices to varying degrees, and forms mixed sand/coarse bed configurations such as linear stripes. Understanding the locations of sand accumulation, the quantities of sand contained in those locations, and the processes by which sand is exchanged among depositional locations is needed to predict the morphological response of sandbars to management actions, such as the controlled flood releases, and to predict whether sandbars are likely to increase or decrease in size over long (i.e. decadal) time periods. Here, we present evidence for the downstream translation of the sand component of tributary sediment inputs as discontinuous sand pulses. The silt and clay (mud) fraction of sediment introduced episodically by seasonal floods from tributary streams is transported entirely in suspension and moves through the 400 km series of canyons in a few days. The sand fraction of this sediment, which is transported on the bed and in suspension, moves downstream in sand pulses that we estimate range in length from a few km to tens of km. Owing to the complex geomorphic organization, the sand pulses are not detectable as coherent bed features; each individual sand pulse is comprised of many isolated storage locations, separated by rapids and riffles where sand cover is sparse. The presence of the sand pulses is inferred by the existence of alternating segments of sand accumulation and depletion

Assessing geomorphic sensitivity in relation to river capacity for adjustment

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Reid, H. E.; Brierley, G. J.

2015-12-01

River sensitivity describes the nature and rate of channel adjustments. An approach to analysis of geomorphic river sensitivity outlined in this paper relates potential sensitivity based on the expected capacity of adjustment for a river type to the recent history of channel adjustment. This approach was trialled to assess low, moderate and high geomorphic sensitivity for four different types of river (10 reaches in total) along the Lower Tongariro River, North Island, New Zealand. Building upon the River Styles framework, river types were differentiated based upon valley setting (width and confinement), channel planform, geomorphic unit assemblages and bed material size. From this, the behavioural regime and potential for adjustment (type and extent) were determined. Historical maps and aerial photographs were geo-rectified and the channel planform digitised to assess channel adjustments for each reach from 1928 to 2007. Floodplain width controlled by terraces, exerted a strong influence upon reach scale sensitivity for the partly-confined, wandering, cobble-bed river. Although forced boundaries occur infrequently, the width of the active channel zone is constrained. An unconfined braided river reach directly downstream of the terrace-confined section was the most geomorphically sensitive reach. The channel in this reach adjusted recurrently to sediment inputs that were flushed through more confined, better connected upstream reaches. A meandering, sand-bed river in downstream reaches has exhibited negligible rates of channel migration. However, channel narrowing in this reach and the associated delta indicate that the system is approaching a threshold condition, beyond which channel avulsion is likely to occur. As this would trigger more rapid migration, this reach is considered to be more geomorphically sensitive than analysis of its low migration rate alone would indicate. This demonstrates how sensitivity is fashioned both by the behavioural regime of a reach

Sediment Dynamics Affecting the Threatened Santa Ana Sucker in the Highly-modified Santa Ana River and Inset Channel, Southern California, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Minear, J. T.; Wright, S. A.

2015-12-01

In this study, we investigate the sediment dynamics of the low-flow channel of the Santa Ana River that is formed by wastewater discharges and contains some of the last remaining habitat of the Santa Ana Sucker (Catostomus santaanae). The Santa Ana River is a highly-modified river draining the San Bernardino Mountains and Inland Empire metropolitan area east of Los Angeles. Home to over 4 million people, the watershed provides habitat for the federally-threatened Santa Ana Sucker, which presently reside within the mainstem Santa Ana River in a reach supported by year-round constant discharges from water treatment plants. The nearly constant low-flow wastewater discharges and infrequent runoff events create a small, approximately 8 m wide, inset channel within the approximately 300 m wide mainstem channel that is typically dry except for large flood flows. The sediment dynamics within the inset channel are characterized by constantly evolving bed substrate and sediment transport rates, and occasional channel avulsions. The sediment dynamics have large influence on the Sucker, which rely on coarse-substrate (gravel and cobble) for their food production. In WY 2013 through the present, we investigated the sediment dynamics of the inset channel using repeat bathymetric and substrate surveys, bedload sampling, and discharge measurements. We found two distinct phases of the inset channel behavior: 1. 'Reset' flows, where sediment-laden mainstem discharges from upstream runoff events result in sand deposition in the inset channel or avulse the inset channel onto previously dry riverbed; and 2. 'Winnowing' flows, whereby the sand within the inset channel is removed by clear-water low flows from the wastewater treatment plant discharges. Thus, in contrast to many regulated rivers where high flows are required to flush fine sediments from the bed (for example, downstream from dams), in the Santa Ana River the low flows from wastewater treatment plants serve as the flushing

“All the world's a stage”: Creating Guanajuato, Mexico’s Tourism Image

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Claudia Asch

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Cette étude analyse l'image touristique et le projet touristique des municipalités et des offices de tourisme de l'État de Guanajuato, au Mexique. La «ville de Cervantès dans les Amériques" (un titre décerné par l'UNESCO en 2005 pour honorer la tradition théâtrale de Cervantès joue dans Guanajuato semble vouloir assoir une image de tranquillité et d'espace, alors que la réalité est bien différente: l’image projetée de la ville de Guanajuato est loin de refléter la vie animée des places et jardins, des ruelles étroites coloniales. Force est de constater que la ville n’a pas encore su tirer profit de sa reconnaissance en tant que site du patrimoine mondial. Les slogans évoluent au gré des fonctionnaires qui organisent en charge de ce secteur. Par le biais d'entrevues avec des fonctionnaires du tourisme et une sélection de matériaux recueillis tourisme, l’auteure montre comment la ville passe par différentes phases marketing sans avoir établie une  image cohérente de la destination.This paper will analyze the tourism image the municipal and state tourism offices of Guanajuato, Mexico, a World Heritage site, aim to project through their promotional materials: a small, colonial city, whose streets are shown as empty, cobble-stoned, and set in romantic light. The "city of Cervantes in the Americas" (a title bestowed by UNESCO in 2005 to honor the theatrical tradition of Cervantes plays in Guanajuato appears to want to set forth an image of tranquility and spaciousness, while the reality is much different: Guanajuato's mainly narrow and windy streets typically bustle, plazas and gardens are full of activity, in short, the town is alive, yet its projected image lacks liveliness. Furthermore, although it is a World Heritage site, Guanajuato has thus far not used that brand to its advantage; instead, Guanajuato has recently had a variety of slogans to promote itself, seemingly at the whim of officials.  Through interviews

Textural and Compositional Characterization of Wadi Feiran Deposits, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, Using Radarsat-1, PALSAR, SRTM and ETM+ Data

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Ahmed Gaber

2009-12-01

hybrid classes showed some variations due to the greater discrimination power of surface texture by Radarsat-1 C-band despite its lower spatial resolution. Furthermore, both hybrid classification results showed that regardless of elevation, areas that are covered by fine and moderate grains (fine sand to pebble and are located along gentle terrains are favorable for groundwater recharge; while areas that are covered by very coarse grains (cobble to boulder and are located along steep terrains are more likely to be affected by flash floods.

Denudational slope processes on weathered basalt in northern California: 130 ka history of soil development, periods of slope stability and colluviation, and climate change

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McDonald, Eric; Harrison, Bruce; Baldwin, John; Page, William; Rood, Dylan

2017-04-01

The geomorphic history of hillslope evolution is controlled by multiple types of denudational processes. Detailed analysis of hillslope soil-stratigraphy provides a means to identify the timing of periods of slope stability and non-stability, evidence of the types of denudational processes, and possible links to climatic drivers. Moreover, the degree of soil formation and the presence of buried or truncated soils provide evidence of the relative age of alternating periods of colluviation and stability. We use evaluation of soil stratigraphy, for a small forested hillslope (soils and slope colluvium are derived from highly weathered basalt. Stratigraphic interpretation is reinforced with soil profile development index (PDI) derived age estimates, tephrochronology, luminescence ages on colluvium, and He3 nuclide exposure dates. Soils formed along hilltop ridges are well developed and reflect deep (>2-3 m) in-situ weathering of the basalt bedrock. PDI age estimates and He3 exposure dates indicate that these hilltop soils had been in place for 100-130 ka, implying a long period of relative surface stability. At about 40-30 ka, soil stratigraphy indicates the onset of 3 distinct cycles of denudation of the hilltop and slopes. Evidence for changes in stability and onset of soil erosion is the presence of several buried soils formed in colluvium downslope of the hilltop. These buried soils have formed in sediment derived from erosion of the hilltop soils (i.e. soil parent material of previously weathered soil matrix and basalt cobbles). The oldest buried soil indicates that slope stability was re-established between 32-23 ka, with stability and soil formation lasting to about 10 ka. Soil-stratigraphy indicates that two additional intervals of downslope transport of sediment between 6-10 ka, and 2-5 ka. Soil properties indicate that the primary method of downslope transport is largely due to tree throw and faunal burrowing. Onset of slope instability at 40-30 ka appears to

Medial moraines of glaciers of the Copper River Basin, Alaska: Discrete landslides dominate over other sources

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Kargel, J. S.; Fischer, L.; Furfaro, R.; Huggel, C.; Korup, O.; Leonard, G. J.; Uhlmann, M.; Wessels, R. L.; Wolfe, D. F.

2009-12-01

subglacially pulverized glacial rock flour to the overall rock mass budget of Allen Glacier. Each of the components of the rock mass budget differs in its probable distribution on the surface and within a typical glacier. We will present some preliminary empirical determinations of the influence of various thicknesses of supraglacial rock debris on the local mass balance of Allen Glacier; the net zero influence is exhibited for debris thicknesses on the order of 1 cm of fine debris or ~50% coverage by cobbles or boulders.

Erosion and Sedimentation from the Bagley Fire, Eastern Klamath Mountains, Northern CA

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De La Fuente, J. A.; Bachmann, S.; Mai, C.; Mikulovsky, R.; Mondry, Z. J.; Rust, B.; Young, D.

2014-12-01

The Bagley Fire burned about 19,000 hectares on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in the late summer of 2012, with soil burn severities of 11% high, 19% moderate and 48% low. Two strong storms in November and December followed the fire. The first storm had a recurrence interval of about 2 years, and generated runoff with a return interval of 10-25 years, causing many road stream crossing failures in parts of the fire. The second storm had a recurrence interval of 25-50 years, and initiated more severe erosion throughout the fire area. Erosional processes were dominated by sheet, rill and gully erosion, and landslides were uncommon. A model predicted high potential for debris flows, but few were documented, and though most stream channels exhibited fresh scour and deposition, residual deposits lacked boulder levees or other evidence of debris flow. Rather, deposits were stratified and friable, suggesting a sediment laden flood flow rather than debris flow origin. The resulting sediment was rich in gravel and finer particles, and poor in larger rock. Soil loss was estimated at 0.5-5.6 cm on most hillslopes. A high resolution DEM (LiDAR) was used to measure gullies, small landslides, and stream scour, and also to estimate sedimentation in Squaw Creek, and Shasta Lake. A soil erosion model was used to estimate surface erosion. Total erosion in the Squaw Creek watershed was estimated at 2.24 million metric tons, which equates to 260 metric tons/hectare. Of this, about 0.89 million metric tons were delivered to the stream system (103 metric tons/hectare). Nearly half of this sediment, 0.41 million metric tons, was temporarily stored in the Squaw Creek channel, and around 0.33 million metric tons of fine sediment were carried into Shasta Lake. Squaw Creek also delivered about 0.17 million metric tons of sand, gravel and cobbles to the lake. This estimate is very tenuous, and was made by measuring the volume of a delta in Shasta Lake from a tributary to Squaw Creek and

Investigation of pier scour in coarse-bed streams in Montana, 2001 through 2007

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Holnbeck, Stephen R.

2011-01-01

A primary goal of ongoing field research of bridge scour is improvement of scour-prediction equations so that pier-scour depth is predicted accurately-an important element of hydraulic analysis and design of highway bridges that cross streams, rivers, and other waterways. Scour depth for piers in streambeds with a mixture of sand, gravel, cobbles, and boulders (coarse-bed streams, which are common in Montana) generally is less than the scour depth in finer-grained (sandy) streambeds under similar conditions. That difference is attributed to an armor layer of coarser material. Pier-scour data from the U.S. Geological Survey were used in this study to develop a bed-material correction factor, which was incorporated into the Federal Highway Administration's recommended equation for computing pier scour. This report describes results of a study of pier scour in coarse-bed streams at 59 bridge sites during 2001-2007 in the mountain and foothill regions of western Montana. Respective drainage areas ranged from about 3 square miles (mi2) to almost 20,000 mi2. Data collected and analyzed for this study included 103 pier-scour measurements; the report further describes data collection, shows expansion of the national coarse pier-scour database, discusses use of the new data in evaluation of relative accuracy of various predictive equations, and demonstrates how differences in size and gradation between surface bed material and shallow-subsurface bed material might relate to pier scour. Nearly all measurements were made under clear-water conditions with no incoming sediment supply to the bridge opening. Half of the measurements showed approach velocities that equaled or surpassed the critical velocity for incipient motion of bed material, possibly indicating that measurements were made very near the threshold between clear-water and live-bed scour, where maximum scour was shown in laboratory studies. Data collected in this study were compared to selected pier-scour data from

Variations in clast morphology for different till fractions: implementation of digital imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Dominiczak, Aleksander

2014-05-01

surface sediments, cobbles axes were measured, their roundness was evaluated with comparison charts and additionally photographs of debris from a bird's eye were taken. Further analyzes were performed in the laboratory using automated imaging for fractions less than 2 mm and digital photography for gravels. All the information, describing in detail the shape of the particles in the different fractions of tills, allowed to verify of the existence of statistically significant differences between the deposits of different sizes. The study was funded by the National Science Centre as granted by decision number DEC-2011/01/D/ST10/06494

Lagoon microbialites on Isla Angel de la Guarda and associated peninsular shores, Gulf of California (Mexico)

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Johnson, Markes E.; Ledesma-Vázquez, Jorge; Backus, David H.; González, Maria R.

2012-07-01

Examples of two closed lagoons with extensive growth of Recent microbialites showing variable surface morphology and internal structure are found on Isla Angel de la Guarda in the Gulf of California. Comparable lagoonal microbialites also occur ashore from Ensenada El Quemado on the adjacent peninsular mainland of Baja California. The perimeters of all three lagoons feature crusted structures indicative of thrombolites with a knobby surface morphology 2 cm to 3 cm in relief and internal clotting without any sign of laminations. Outward from this zone, thrombolitic construction thins to merge with a white calcified crust below which a soft substratum of dark organic material 4 cm to 6 cm in thickness is concealed. The substratum is laminated and heavily mucilaginous, as observed along the edges of extensive shrinkage cracks in the overlying crust. The thrombolitic crust is anchored to the shore, while the thinner crust and associated stromatolitic mats float on the surface of the lagoons. Laboratory cultures of the dark organic material yielded the solitary cyanobacterium Chroococcidiopsis as the predominant taxon interspersed with filamentous forms. In decreasing order of abundance, other morphotypes present include Phormidium, Oscillatoria, Geitlerinema, Chroococus, and probably Spirulina. The larger of the two island lagoons follows an east-west azimuth and covers 0.225 km2, while the smaller lagoon has a roughly north-south axis and covers only 0.023 km2. The salinity of water in the smaller lagoon was measured as148 ppt. Pliocene strata along the edge of the smaller modern lagoon include siltstone bearing calcified platelets suggestive of a microbial origin. Dry lagoons abandoned during the later Quaternary occur inland at higher elevations on the island, but retain no fossils except for sporadic white crusts cemented on cobbles around distinct margins. Raised Quaternary lagoons parallel to the big lagoon on Isla Angel de la Guarda are partly obscured by flood

Steelhead Spawning Surveys Near Locke Island, Hanford Reach of the Columbia River; TOPICAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

DR Geist; RP Mueller

1999-01-01

conducted in July 1999. The survey area was divided into an area adjacent to the erosion zone and an area immediately upstream of this zone. The majority of the survey area was composed of gravel and medium cobble (particle sizes 0.6 to 15.2 cm). Aquatic vegetation (milfoil) was found in the upstream section, indicating lower water velocities not conducive to steelhead spawning. Based on the available substrate within the entire survey area, we estimate 81% of survey site could be used by adult steelhead for spawning

Integrating isotopic tracer techniques with Bayesian modelling for improved assessment and management of sedimentation problems in the Gilgel-Gibe catchment, Ethiopia

Science.gov (United States)

Dume, Bayu; Amsalu, Nebiyu; Bode, Samuel; Mtei, Kelvin; Munishi, Linus; Navas, Ana; Semmens, Brice; Smith, Hugh; Stock, Brian; Blake, Will; Boeckx, Pascal

2017-04-01

receptor cobble bed river after the 2016 rainy season. In order to extract reliable information on the sources of fine sediment delivered into rivers and dam, new isotopic techniques (e.g., Compound Specific Stable Isotopes (CSSIs)) combined with other isotopic techniques (fallout radionuclides) and geochemical tracer properties (via WD-XRF) were employed to quantify sediment sources. Results from this demonstration catchment are discussed in the context of the wider sediment pressures on the Hydro-Electric Power infrastructure of the Gilgel Gibe system.

Point-of-care Ultrasound for the Diagnosis of a Gluteal Abscess

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Kevin Roy

2018-01-01

Full Text Available History of present illness: A 57-year-old male with a history of intravenous drug use presented to the emergency department with four days of progressively worsening pain and swelling to his left buttock after injecting heroin subcutaneously (i.e., “skin popping”. Labs were significant for a white blood cell count (WBC of 26,700/mm3. Using the high frequency, linear probe, a point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS was performed and revealed a large soft tissue abscess. Significant findings: POCUS reveals a large, hypoechoic soft tissue abscess with debris and tracks extending to the bottom of the image. Furthermore, when compressed, movement of the abscess contents is appreciated. There is also superficial cobble-stoning consistent with overlying cellulitis and soft tissue edema. Discussion: In the United States, there are over 14 million outpatient visits per year related to soft tissue infections, with nearly one-third being seen in the emergency department.1,2 22%-65% of intravenous drug users experience abscesses and cellulitis.3 Soft tissue abscesses are commonly encountered in the emergency department and the diagnosis is often made by history and physical exam.5 However, imaging modalities are more accurate than physical exam alone. When comparing ultrasound to physical exam in the diagnosis of soft tissue abscesses, one study suggests that ultrasound has a sensitivity and specificity of 96% and 87%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the physical exam is 84% and 60%, respectively.4 Another study comparing computed tomography (CT to ultrasound in the diagnosis of abscesses found ultrasound to have a sensitivity and specificity of 96.7% and 85.7%, respectively, while the overall sensitivity and specificity of CT was 76.7% and 91.4%, respectively. Ultrasound was superior in overall image detail ratings and demonstrated more visible detail within the abscess cavity. 5 When utilizing POCUS to evaluate for an abscess, look for an

Physical Modeling of Tsunamis Generated By 3D Deformable Landslides in Various Scenarios From Fjords to Conical Islands

Science.gov (United States)

McFall, B. C.; Fritz, H. M.

2013-12-01

Tsunamis generated by landslides and volcano flank collapse can be particularly devastative in the near field region due to locally high wave amplitudes and runup. The events of 1958 Lituya Bay, 1963 Vajont reservoir, 1980 Spirit Lake, 2002 Stromboli and 2010 Haiti demonstrate the danger of tsunamis generated by landslides or volcano flank collapses. Unfortunately critical field data from these events is lacking. Source and runup scenarios based on real world events are physically modeled using generalized Froude similarity in the three dimensional NEES tsunami wave basin at Oregon State University. A novel pneumatic landslide tsunami generator (LTG) was deployed to simulate landslides with varying geometry and kinematics. Two different materials are used to simulate landslides to study the granulometry effects: naturally rounded river gravel and cobble mixtures. The LTG consists of a sliding box filled with 1,350 kg of landslide material which is accelerated by means of four pneumatic pistons down a 2H:1V slope. The landslide is launched from the sliding box and continues to accelerate by gravitational forces up to velocities of 5 m/s. The landslide Froude number at impact with the water is in the range 1

Latest Miocene-earliest Pliocene evolution of the ancestral Rio Grande at the Española-San Luis Basin boundary, northern New Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Daniel J. Koning,; Aby, Scott B.; Grauch, V. J.; Matthew J. Zimmerer,

2016-01-01

We use stratigraphic relations, paleoflow data, and 40Ar/39Ar dating to interpret net aggradation, punctuated by at least two minor incisional events, along part of the upper ancestral Rio Grande fluvial system between 5.5 and 4.5 Ma (in northern New Mexico). The studied fluvial deposits, which we informally call the Sandlin unit of the Santa Fe Group, overlie a structural high between the San Luis and Española Basins. The Sandlin unit was deposited by two merging, west- to southwest-flowing, ancestral Rio Grande tributaries respectively sourced in the central Taos Mountains and southern Taos Mountains-northeastern Picuris Mountains. The river confluence progressively shifted southwestward (downstream) with time, and the integrated river (ancestral Rio Grande) flowed southwards into the Española Basin to merge with the ancestral Rio Chama. Just prior to the end of the Miocene, this fluvial system was incised in the southern part of the study area (resulting in an approximately 4–7 km wide paleovalley), and had sufficient competency to transport cobbles and boulders. Sometime between emplacement of two basalt flows dated at 5.54± 0.38 Ma and 4.82±0.20 Ma (groundmass 40Ar/39Ar ages), this fluvial system deposited 10–12 m of sandier sediment (lower Sandlin subunit) preserved in the northern part of this paleovalley. The fluvial system widened between 4.82±0.20 and 4.50±0.07 Ma, depositing coarse sand and fine gravel up to 14 km north of the present-day Rio Grande. This 10–25 m-thick sediment package (upper Sandlin unit) buried earlier south- to southeast-trending paleovalleys (500–800 m wide) inferred from aeromagnetic data. Two brief incisional events are recognized. The first was caused by the 4.82±0.20 Ma basalt flow impounding south-flowing paleodrainages, and the second occurred shortly after emplacement of a 4.69±0.09 Ma basalt flow in the northern study area. Drivers responsible for Sandlin unit aggradation may include climate

Chemical, multispectral, and textural constraints on the composition and origin of rocks at the Mars Pathfinder landing site

Science.gov (United States)

McSween, H.Y.; Murchie, S.L.; Crisp, J.A.; Bridges, N.T.; Anderson, R.C.; Bell, J.F.; Britt, D.T.; Brückner, J.; Dreibus, G.; Economou, T.; Ghosh, A.; Golombek, M.P.; Greenwood, J.P.; Johnson, J. R.; Moore, H.J.; Morris, R.V.; Parker, T.J.; Rieder, R.; Singer, R.; Wänke, H.

1999-01-01

Rocks at the Mars Pathfinder site are probably locally derived. Textures on rock surfaces may indicate volcanic, sedimentary, or impact-generated rocks, but aeolian abration and dust coatings prevent unambiguous interpretation. Multispectral imaging has resolved four spectral classes of rocks: gray and red, which occur on different surfaces of the same rocks; pink, which is probably soil crusts; and maroon, which occurs as large boulders, mostly in the far field. Rocks are assigned to two spectral trends based on the position of peak reflectance: the primary spectral trend contains gray, red, and pink rocks; maroon rocks constitute the secondary spectral trend. The spatial pattern of spectral variations observed is oriented along the prevailing wind direction. The primary spectral trend arises from thin ferric coatings of aeolian dust on darker rocks. The secondary spectral trend is apparently due to coating by a different mineral, probably maghemite or ferrihydrite. A chronology based on rock spectra suggests that rounded maroon boulders constitute the oldest petrologic unit (a flood deposit), succeeded by smaller cobbles possibly deposited by impact, and followed by aeolian erosion and deposition. Nearly linear chemical trends in alpha proton X-ray spectrometer rock compositions are interpreted as mixing lines between rock and adhering dust, a conclusion supported by a correlation between sulfur abundance and red/blue spectral ratio. Extrapolations of regression lines to zero sulfur give the composition of a presumed igneous rock. The chemistry and normative mineralogy of the sulfur-free rock resemble common terrestrial volcanic rocks, and its classification corresponds to andesite. Igneous rocks of this composition may occur with clastic sedimentary rocks or impact melts and breccias. However, the spectral mottling expected on conglomerates or breccias is not observed in any APXS-analyzed rocks. Interpretation of the rocks as andesites is complicated by absence

Early Neogene unroofing of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta along the Bucaramanga -Santa Marta Fault

Science.gov (United States)

Piraquive Bermúdez, Alejandro; Pinzón, Edna; Bernet, Matthias; Kammer, Andreas; Von Quadt, Albrecht; Sarmiento, Gustavo

2016-04-01

Plate interaction between Caribbean and Nazca plates with Southamerica gave rise to an intricate pattern of tectonic blocks in the Northandean realm. Among these microblocks the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (SNSM) represents a fault-bounded triangular massif composed of a representative crustal section of the Northandean margin, in which a Precambrian to Late Paleozoic metamorphic belt is overlain by a Triassic to Jurassic magmatic arc and collateral volcanic suites. Its western border fault belongs to the composite Bucaramanga - Santa Marta fault with a combined left lateral-normal displacement. SE of Santa Marta it exposes remnants of an Oligocene marginal basin, which attests to a first Cenoizoic activation of this crustal-scale lineament. The basin fill consists of a sequence of coarse-grained cobble-pebble conglomerates > 1000 m thick that unconformably overlay the Triassic-Jurassic magmatic arc. Its lower sequence is composed of interbedded siltstones; topwards the sequence becomes dominated by coarser fractions. These sedimentary sequences yields valuable information about exhumation and coeval sedimentation processes that affected the massif's western border since the Upper Eocene. In order to analyse uplifting processes associated with tectonics during early Neogene we performed detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology, detrital thermochronology of zircon and apatites coupled with the description of a stratigraphic section and its facies composition. We compared samples from the Aracataca basin with analog sequences found at an equivalent basin at the Oca Fault at the northern margin of the SNSM. Our results show that sediments of both basins were sourced from Precambrian gneisses, along with Mesozoic acid to intermediate plutons; sedimentation started in the Upper Eocene-Oligocene according to palynomorphs, subsequently in the Upper Oligocene a completion of Jurassic to Cretaceous sources was followed by an increase of Precambrian input that became the dominant

A multiple-proxy approach to understanding rapid Holocene climate change in Southeast Greenland

Science.gov (United States)

Davin, S. H.; Bradley, R. S.; Balascio, N. L.; de Wet, G.

2012-12-01

The susceptibility of the Arctic to climate change has made it an excellent workshop for paleoclimatological research. Although there have been previous studies concerning climate variability carried out in the Arctic, there remains a critical dearth of knowledge due the limited number of high-resolution Holocene climate-proxy records available from this region. This gap skews our understanding of observed and predicted climate change, and fuels uncertainty both in the realms of science and policy. This study takes a comprehensive approach to tracking Holocene climate variability in the vicinity of Tasiilaq, Southeast Greenland using a ~5.6 m sediment core from Lower Sermilik Lake. An age-depth model for the core has been established using 8 radiocarbon dates, the oldest of which was taken at 4 m down core and has been been dated to approximately 6.2 kyr BP. The bottom meter of the core below the final radiocarbon date contains a transition from cobbles and coarse sand to organic-rich laminations, indicating the termination of direct glacial influence and therefore likely marking the end of the last glacial period in this region. The remainder of the core is similarly organic-rich, with light-to-dark brown laminations ranging from 0.5 -1 cm in thickness and riddled with turbidites. Using this core in tandem with findings from an on-site assessment of the geomorphic history of the locale we attempt to assess and infer the rapid climatic shifts associated with the Holocene on a sub-centennial scale. Such changes include the termination of the last glacial period, the Mid-Holocene Climatic Optimum, the Neoglacial Period, the Medieval Climatic Optimum, and the Little Ice Age. A multiple proxy approach including magnetic susceptibility, bulk organic geochemistry, elemental profiles acquired by XRF scanning, grain-size, and spectral data will be used to characterize the sediment and infer paleoclimate conditions. Additionally, percent biogenic silica by weight has been

Patrones de distribución espacial de ensambles de macroinvertebrados bentónicos de un sistema fluvial Andino Patagónico Spatial distribution patterns of benthic macroinvertebrates assemblages in an Andean Patagonian fluvial system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CAROLINA MOYA

2009-01-01

taxa, Plecoptera (8 taxa and Trichoptera (8 taxa. The classification and ordination analyses carried out with the data of abundance, allowed to recognize seven groups stations (A-F statistically significant (P < 0.05. The múltiple regression analysis, showed that the environmental variable that accounts for the observed biological patterns, was coverage cobble, explaining 45.1 % the variance of the biological data (r² = 0.44 P < 0.05.

Temporal change in biological community structure in the Fountain Creek basin, Colorado, 2001-2008

Science.gov (United States)

Zuellig, Robert E.; Bruce, James F.; Stogner, Sr., Robert W.

2010-01-01

In 2001, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Colorado Springs City Engineering, began a study to better understand the relations between environmental characteristics and biological communities in the Fountain Creek basin in order to aide water-resource management and guide future monitoring activities. To accomplish this task, environmental (streamflow, habitat, and water chemistry) and biological (fish and macroinvertebrate) data were collected annually at 24 sites over a 6- or 8-year period (fish, 2003 to 2008; macroinvertebrates, 2001 to 2008). For this report, these data were first analyzed to determine the presence of temporal change in macroinvertebrate and fish community structure among years using nonparametric multivariate statistics. Where temporal change in the biological communities was found, these data were further analyzed using additional nonparametric multivariate techniques to determine which subset of selected streamflow, habitat, or water-chemistry variables best described site-specific changes in community structure relative to a gradient of urbanization. This study identified significant directional patterns of temporal change in macroinvertebrate and fish community structure at 15 of 24 sites in the Fountain Creek basin. At four of these sites, changes in environmental variables were significantly correlated with the concurrent temporal change identified in macroinvertebrate and fish community structure (Monument Creek above Woodmen Road at Colorado Springs, Colo.; Monument Creek at Bijou Street at Colorado Springs, Colo.; Bear Creek near Colorado Springs, Colo.; Fountain Creek at Security, Colo.). Combinations of environmental variables describing directional temporal change in the biota appeared to be site specific as no single variable dominated the results; however, substrate composition variables (percent substrate composition composed of sand, gravel, or cobble) collectively were present in 80 percent of the environmental

Monitor and Protect Wigwam River Bull Trout for Koocanusa Reservoir; Skookumchuck Creek Juvenile Bull Trout and Fish Habitat Monitoring Program, Annual Report 2002.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cope, R.

2003-06-01

The Skookumchuck Creek juvenile bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) and fish habitat-monitoring program is a co-operative initiative of the British Columbia Ministry of Water, Land, and Air Protection and Bonneville Power Administration. This project was commissioned in planning for fish habitat protection and forest development within the Skookumchuck Creek watershed and was intended to expand upon similar studies initiated within the Wigwam River from 2000 to 2002. The broad intent is to develop a better understanding of juvenile bull trout and Westslope cutthroat trout recruitment and the ongoing hydrologic and morphologic processes, especially as they relate to spawning and rearing habitat quality. The 2002 project year represents the first year of a long-term bull trout-monitoring program with current studies focused on collecting baseline information. This report provides a summary of results obtained to date. Bull trout represented 72.4% of the catch. Fry dominated the catch because site selection was biased towards electrofishing sample sites which favored high bull trout fry capture success. The mean density of all juvenile bull trout was estimated to be 6.6 fish/100m{sup 2}. This represents one-half the densities reported for the 2002 Wigwam River enumeration program, even though enumeration of bull trout redds was an order of magnitude higher for the Wigwam River. Typically, areas with combined fry and juvenile densities greater than 1.5 fish per 100 m{sup 2} are cited as critical rearing areas. Trends in abundance appeared to be related to proximity to spawning areas, bed material size, and water depth. Cover components utilized by juvenile and adult bull trout and cutthroat trout were interstices, boulder, depth, overhead vegetation and LWD. The range of morphological stream types encompass the stable and resilient spectrum (C3(1), C3 and B3c). The Skookumchuck can be generalized as a slightly entrenched, meandering, riffle-pool, cobble dominated

Tsunami Generation and Propagation by 3D deformable Landslides and Application to Scenarios

Science.gov (United States)

McFall, Brian C.; Fritz, Hermann M.

2014-05-01

Tsunamis generated by landslides and volcano flank collapse account for some of the most catastrophic natural disasters recorded and can be particularly devastative in the near field region due to locally high wave amplitudes and runup. The events of 1958 Lituya Bay, 1963 Vajont reservoir, 1980 Spirit Lake, 2002 Stromboli and 2010 Haiti demonstrate the danger of tsunamis generated by landslides or volcano flank collapses. Unfortunately critical field data from these events is lacking. Source and runup scenarios based on real world events are physically modeled using generalized Froude similarity in the three dimensional NEES tsunami wave basin at Oregon State University. A novel pneumatic landslide tsunami generator (LTG) was deployed to simulate landslides with varying geometry and kinematics. The bathymetric and topographic scenarios tested with the LTG are the basin-wide propagation and runup, fjord, curved headland fjord and a conical island setting representing a landslide off an island or a volcano flank collapse. The LTG consists of a sliding box filled with 1,350 kg of landslide material which is accelerated by means of four pneumatic pistons down a 2H:1V slope. The landslide is launched from the sliding box and continues to accelerate by gravitational forces up to velocities of 5 m/s. The landslide Froude number at impact with the water is in the range 1 cobble mixtures. Water surface elevations are recorded by an array of resistance wave gauges. The landslide deformation is measured from above and underwater camera recordings. The landslide deposit is measured on the basin floor with a multiple transducer acoustic array (MTA). Landslide surface reconstruction and kinematics are determined with a stereo particle image velocimetry (PIV) system. Wave runup is recorded with resistance wave gauges along the slope and verified

Splitting strength and abrasion resistance of concrete paving blocks as a function of dry bulk specific gravity and ultrasonic pulse velocity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haktanir, T.

2005-06-01

Full Text Available Artificial Portland cement concrete paving blocks are widely used in many countries. These paving blocks come in a variety of designs with names such as "Interlocking" and "Italian Flower", and are manufactured with special machinery using rather high quality concrete having a compressive strength of about 50 MPa. Concrete blocks are employed instead of natural cobble stones for essentially economic reasons. The laboratoiy equipment required to measure paving block splitting strength and abrasion resistance, two of the chief properties to be tested in quality checks, is costly and the tests are time-consuming and labour-intensive. The present paper reports on a detailed experimental study performed to relate the splitting strength and abrasion resistance of concrete paving blocks to "dry bulk specific gravity" (DBSG and "ultrasonic pulse velocity" (UPV, respectively. Statistically significant regression equations describing the dependence of splitting strength on DBSG and abrasion resistance on UPV were obtained with data from random samples of material provided by seven different manufacturers.

RESUMEN Los bloques para pavimentos (adoquines elaborados con hormigón se utilizan habitualmente en numerosos países. Estos bloques de pavimentación se diseñan de diversas formas, como por ejemplo "Entrelazado " ("Interlocking " o "Flor Italiana " ("Italian Flower"; se fabrican con maquinaria especial y con frecuencia se utiliza hormigón de la más alta calidad, con resistencia a la compresión de alrededor de 50 MPa. La razón de utilizar bloques de hormigón en lugar de bloques de piedra natural es básicamente económica. Los equipos de laboratorio necesarios para medir la resistencia a la compresión y a la abrasión -dos de las propiedades más importantes para determinar la calidad de los bloques en estudio- son costosos y los ensayos requieren tiempo y mano de obra considerables. En el presente trabajo se exponen ensayos experimentales

Interrelations among pyroclastic surge, pyroclastic flow, and lahars in Smith Creek valley during first minutes of 18 May 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Brantley, S.R.; Waitt, R.B.

1988-01-01

A devastating pyroclastic surge and resultant lahars at Mount St. Helens on 18 May 1980 produced several catastrophic flowages into tributaries on the northeast volcano flank. The tributaries channeled the flows to Smith Creek valley, which lies within the area devastated by the surge but was unaffected by the great debris avalanche on the north flank. Stratigraphy shows that the pyroclastic surge preceded the lahars; there is no notable "wet" character to the surge deposits. Therefore the lahars must have originated as snowmelt, not as ejected water-saturated debris that segregated from the pyroclastic surge as has been inferred for other flanks of the volcano. In stratigraphic order the Smith Creek valley-floor materials comprise (1) a complex valley-bottom facies of the pyroclastic surge and a related pyroclastic flow, (2) an unusual hummocky diamict caused by complex mixing of lahars with the dry pyroclastic debris, and (3) deposits of secondary pyroclastic flows. These units are capped by silt containing accretionary lapilli, which began falling from a rapidly expanding mushroom-shaped cloud 20 minutes after the eruption's onset. The Smith Creek valley-bottom pyroclastic facies consists of (a) a weakly graded basal bed of fines-poor granular sand, the deposit of a low-concentration lithic pyroclastic surge, and (b) a bed of very poorly sorted pebble to cobble gravel inversely graded near its base, the deposit of a high-concentration lithic pyroclastic flow. The surge apparently segregated while crossing the steep headwater tributaries of Smith Creek; large fragments that settled from the turbulent surge formed a dense pyroclastic flow along the valley floor that lagged behind the front of the overland surge. The unusual hummocky diamict as thick as 15 m contains large lithic clasts supported by a tough, brown muddy sand matrix like that of lahar deposits upvalley. This unit contains irregular friable lenses and pods meters in diameter, blocks incorporated from

Malheur River Wildlife Mitigation Project, Annual Report 2003.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ashley, Paul

2004-01-01

Hydropower development within the Columbia and Snake River Basins has significantly affected riparian, riverine, and adjacent upland habitats and the fish and wildlife species dependent upon them. Hydroelectric dams played a major role in the extinction or major loss of both anadromous and resident salmonid populations and altered instream and adjacent upland habitats, water quality, and riparian/riverine function. Hydroelectric facility construction and inundation directly affected fish and wildlife species and habitats. Secondary and tertiary impacts including road construction, urban development, irrigation, and conversion of native habitats to agriculture, due in part to the availability of irrigation water, continue to affect wildlife and fish populations throughout the Columbia and Snake River Basins. Fluctuating water levels resulting from facility operations have created exposed sand, cobble, and/or rock zones. These zones are generally devoid of vegetation with little opportunity to re-establish riparian plant communities. To address the habitat and wildlife losses, the United States Congress in 1980 passed the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act (Act) (P.L. 96-501), which authorized the states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington to create the Northwest Power Planning Council (Council). The Act directed the Council to prepare a program in conjunction with federal, state, and tribal wildlife resource authorities to protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife species affected by the construction, inundation and operation of hydroelectric dams in the Columbia River Basin (NPPC 2000). Under the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Program (Program), the region's fish and wildlife agencies, tribes, non-government organizations (NGOs), and the public propose fish and wildlife projects that address wildlife and fish losses resulting from dam construction and subsequent inundation. As directed by the Council, project

Temporal Variability in Vertical Groundwater Fluxes and the Effect of Solar Radiation on Streambed Temperatures Based on Vertical High Resolution Distributed Temperature Sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Sebok, E.; Karan, S.; Engesgaard, P. K.; Duque, C.

2013-12-01

Due to its large spatial and temporal variability, groundwater discharge to streams is difficult to quantify. Methods using vertical streambed temperature profiles to estimate vertical fluxes are often of coarse vertical spatial resolution and neglect to account for the natural heterogeneity in thermal conductivity of streambed sediments. Here we report on a field investigation in a stream, where air, stream water and streambed sediment temperatures were measured by Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) with high spatial resolution to; (i) detect spatial and temporal variability in groundwater discharge based on vertical streambed temperature profiles, (ii) study the thermal regime of streambed sediments exposed to different solar radiation influence, (iii) describe the effect of solar radiation on the measured streambed temperatures. The study was carried out at a field site located along Holtum stream, in Western Denmark. The 3 m wide stream has a sandy streambed with a cobbled armour layer, a mean discharge of 200 l/s and a mean depth of 0.3 m. Streambed temperatures were measured with a high-resolution DTS system (HR-DTS). By helically wrapping the fiber optic cable around two PVC pipes of 0.05 m and 0.075 m outer diameter over 1.5 m length, temperature measurements were recorded with 5.7 mm and 3.8 mm vertical spacing, respectively. The HR-DTS systems were installed 0.7 m deep in the streambed sediments, crossing both the sediment-water and the water-air interface, thus yielding high resolution water and air temperature data as well. One of the HR-DTS systems was installed in the open stream channel with only topographical shading, while the other HR-DTS system was placed 7 m upstream, under the canopy of a tree, thus representing the shaded conditions with reduced influence of solar radiation. Temperature measurements were taken with 30 min intervals between 16 April and 25 June 2013. The thermal conductivity of streambed sediments was calibrated in a 1D flow

The circular Uneged Uul structure (East Gobi Basin, Mongolia) - Geomorphic and structural evidence for meteorite impact into an unconsolidated coarse-clastic target?

Science.gov (United States)

Schmieder, Martin; Seyfried, Hartmut; Gerel, Ochir

2013-03-01

The Uneged Uul structure is a ˜10 km circular, complex, multi-ridged domal feature in the Unegt subbasin of the East Gobi Basin, southeastern Mongolia. As revealed by remote sensing and recent field reconnaissance, the central part of the Uneged Uul structure comprises a complex central peak of outward-radiating curved ridges, composed of stratigraphically uplifted greenschist-facies basement schists, surrounded by an annular moat. The most prominent feature of the structure is a central annular ridge ˜3 km in diameter composed of pebble-boulder conglomerates and gravels of the Upper Jurassic Sharilyn Formation, surrounded by three outer domal ridges composed of Lower Cretaceous conglomeratic sandstones and gypsum clays. Jurassic conglomerates forming the main part of the central annular ridge show effects of severe internal deformation. The original population of pebbles, cobbles and boulders appears moderately displaced and mostly broken but nowhere aligned along shear planes or foliated. Primary sedimentary features, such as cross-lamination or imbrication, have been obliterated. We explain this penetrative brecciation as a result of dissipative shearing caused by a strong and rapid singular event that in magnitude was beyond the range of the common crustal tectonics recorded elsewhere in this region. Disrupted and chaotically distributed conglomeratic sandstone beds in the central annular ridge dip in highly variable directions on a local scale but show an apparent SE-NW trend of bedding plane alignment. Further outside, the tilted and uplifted Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous strata of the domal area are overlain by the flat-lying Upper Cretaceous, which stratigraphically constrains the timing of deformation at the Uneged Uul structure to most likely the Early Cretaceous. Endogenic formation models, such as magmatism and salt, gypsum, or mud diapirism, fail to explain the nature of the Uneged Uul structure. The Uneged Uul structure bears a set of

Redd Site Selection and Spawning Habitat Use by Fall Chinook Salmon, Hanford Reach, Columbia River : Final Report 1995 - 1998.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Geist, David R.

1999-05-01

year to year. The tendency to spawn in clusters suggests fall chinook salmon's use of spawning habitat is highly selective. Hydraulic characteristics of the redd clusters were significantly different than the habitat surrounding them. Velocity and lateral slope of the river bottom were the most important habitat variables in predicting redd site selection. While these variables explained a large proportion of the variance in redd site selection (86 to 96%), some unmeasured factors still accounted for a small percentage of actual spawning site selection. Chapter three describes the results from an investigation into the hyporheic characteristics of the two spawning areas studied in chapter two. This investigation showed that the magnitude and chemical characteristics of hyporheic discharge were different between and within two spawning areas. Apparently, fall chinook salmon used chemical and physical cues from the discharge to locate spawning areas. Finally, chapter four describes a unique method that was developed to install piezometers into the cobble bed of the Columbia River.

Drilling, construction, geophysical log data, and lithologic log for boreholes USGS 142 and USGS 142A, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho

Science.gov (United States)

Twining, Brian V.; Hodges, Mary K.V.; Schusler, Kyle; Mudge, Christopher

2017-07-27

Starting in 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, drilled and constructed boreholes USGS 142 and USGS 142A for stratigraphic framework analyses and long-term groundwater monitoring of the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at the Idaho National Laboratory in southeast Idaho. Borehole USGS 142 initially was cored to collect rock and sediment core, then re-drilled to complete construction as a screened water-level monitoring well. Borehole USGS 142A was drilled and constructed as a monitoring well after construction problems with borehole USGS 142 prevented access to upper 100 feet (ft) of the aquifer. Boreholes USGS 142 and USGS 142A are separated by about 30 ft and have similar geology and hydrologic characteristics. Groundwater was first measured near 530 feet below land surface (ft BLS) at both borehole locations. Water levels measured through piezometers, separated by almost 1,200 ft, in borehole USGS 142 indicate upward hydraulic gradients at this location. Following construction and data collection, screened water-level access lines were placed in boreholes USGS 142 and USGS 142A to allow for recurring water level measurements.Borehole USGS 142 was cored continuously, starting at the first basalt contact (about 4.9 ft BLS) to a depth of 1,880 ft BLS. Excluding surface sediment, recovery of basalt, rhyolite, and sediment core at borehole USGS 142 was approximately 89 percent or 1,666 ft of total core recovered. Based on visual inspection of core and geophysical data, material examined from 4.9 to 1,880 ft BLS in borehole USGS 142 consists of approximately 45 basalt flows, 16 significant sediment and (or) sedimentary rock layers, and rhyolite welded tuff. Rhyolite was encountered at approximately 1,396 ft BLS. Sediment layers comprise a large percentage of the borehole between 739 and 1,396 ft BLS with grain sizes ranging from clay and silt to cobble size. Sedimentary rock layers had calcite cement. Basalt flows

Level II scour analysis for Bridge 8 (BARTTH00020008) on Town Highway 2, crossing Roaring Brook, Barton, Vermont

Science.gov (United States)

Boehmler, Erick M.; Ivanoff, Michael A.

1996-01-01

This report provides the results of a detailed Level II analysis of scour potential at structure BARTTH00020008 on town highway 2 crossing Roaring Brook, Barton, Vermont (figures 1–8). A Level II study is a basic engineering analysis of the site, including a quantitative analysis of stream stability and scour (U.S. Department of Transportation, 1993). Results of a Level I scour investigation also are included in Appendix E of this report. A Level I investigation provides a qualitative geomorphic characterization of the study site. Information on the bridge, gleaned from VTAOT files, was compiled prior to conducting Level I and Level II analyses and can be found in Appendix D. The site is in the New England Upland section of the New England physiographic province of North-central Vermont in the town of Barton. The 9.89-mi2 drainage area is in a predominantly rural and forested basin. In the vicinity of the study site, the banks have woody vegetation coverage except for the downstream left bank, which has a few trees and grass and brush coverage. In the study area, Roaring Brook has an incised, sinuous channel with a slope of approximately 0.019 ft/ft, an average channel top width of 35 ft and an average channel depth of 3 ft. The predominant channel bed material is gravel/cobble (D50 is 49.1 mm or 0.161 ft). The geomorphic assessment at the time of the Level I and Level II site visit on October 18, 1994 indicated that the reach was laterally unstable. A cut-bank on the downstream right bank and overall channel configuration in the valley are indications of the lateral instability at this site. The town highway 2 crossing of Roaring Brook is a 30-ft-long, two-lane bridge consisting of one 26-foot span concrete T-beam type superstructure (Vermont Agency of Transportation, written communication, August 4, 1994). The bridge is supported by vertical, concrete abutments. The channel is skewed approximately 15 degrees to the opening while the opening-skew-to-roadway is

Carbonate deposition, Pyramid Lake subbasin, Nevada: 1. Sequence of formation and elevational distribution of carbonate deposits (Tufas)

Science.gov (United States)

Benson, L.

1994-01-01

During the late Quarternary, the elevation of terrace cutting and carbonate deposition in the Pyramid Lake subbasin were controlled by constancy of lake level imposed by spill to adjoining subbasins. Sill elevations are 1177-1183 m (Mud Lake Slough Sill), 1207 m (Emerson Pass Sill), and 1265 m (Darwin Pass Sill). Carbonate deposition was favored by: (1) hydrologic closure, (2) proximity to a source of calcium, (3) elevated water temperature, and (4) a solid substrate. The thickness and aspect of tufa are a function oflake-level dynamics. Relatively thin sheets and pendant sheets were deposited during a rising or falling lake. The upper parts of thick reef-form tufas have a horizontal aspect and were deposited in a lake which was stabilized by spill to the Carson Desert subbasin. The lower parts of the reef-form tufas are thinner and their outer surface has a vertical aspect, indicating that the lower part formed in a receding lake. The thickest and most complete sequences of tufa are mounds that border the Pyramid Lake shore. The tops of the tallest mounds reach the elevation of the Darwin Pass Sill and many mounds have been eroded to the elevations of the Mud Lake Slough Sill of the Emerson Pass Sill. The sequence of tufa formation (from oldest to youngest) displayed in these mounds is: (1) a beachrock containing carbonate-cemented volcanic cobbles, (2) broken and eroded old spheroids that contain thinolitic tufa and an outer rind of dense laminated tufa, (3) large cylindrical (tubular) tufas capped by (4) coatings of old dense tufas, and (5) several generations of old branching tufa commonly associated with thin, platy tufas and coatings of thinolitic tufa, (6) young spheroids that contain poorly oriented young thinolitic tufa in the center and several generations of radially oriented young thinolitic tufas near the outer edge, (7) a transitional thinolite-to-branching tufa, (8) two or more layers of young branching tufa, (9) a 0.5-cm-thick layer of fine

Channel planform evolution: Spatial and temporal aspect

Science.gov (United States)

Rusnák, M.; Frandofer, M.; Lehotský, M.

2012-04-01

The recent period is characterized by impacts of climate change. Increasing magnitude and frequency of flood events results in morphological and morphodynamical changes of river channels. It is a challenge for the fluvial geomorphology to highlight the morphological response to these events, because the knowledge of the morphological-sedimentological attributes of the river channel is the first step in pursue of a comprehensive knowledge of the riverine landscape and impact on its sustainable management. Research of the spatial variability of landforms and the regime of processes creates an appropriate knowledge base for other sciences interested in the riverine as well as terrestrial systems. The contribution deals with the morphological changes of the channel pattern of the River Topľa (115 km in total length, 1506 km2 of catchment area, average annual discharge 8.08 m3.s-1 in mouth). The 72.5 km long segment has been studied (Strahler ord. 4-7). It represents a transient from the mountain cobble-bed to the basin fine gravel-bed river. The Topľa is a less regulated and laterally partly confined river in northeastern Slovakia, with flysch geology. Three time horizons of the remote sensing imagery (1987, 2002 and 2009) have been analyzed using the GIS, with the reference time horizon of 1987. The analysis consists of identification and delimitation of an active channel bank line and the delimitation of the channel bars in the mentioned series of imageries. The active channel width, area of channel bars, lateral channel shift and area stricken by bank erosion were studied via overlaying layers. The last attribute showed a significant increase: during the 1987-2002 period the area of 32.6 ha was eroded, whereas during the following period (2002-2009) of frequent and intensive floods up to 70.0 ha was eroded. Likewise, the maximum channel shift was 260 m and 443 m in 1987-2002 and in 2002-2009 respectively. The key results are not only the values of these parameters

Multiscale Terrain Analysis of Multibeam Bathymetry Data for Lake Trout Spawning Habitat Mapping in the Drummond Island Refuge, northern Lake Huron

Science.gov (United States)

Wattrus, N. J.; Binder, T.

2012-12-01

. Bottom classification based upon backscatter measurements from the collected multibeam sonar data using Quester Tangent's Multiview software does not appear to readily resolve the various classes of rocky substrate, for example it appears to have difficulty differentiating between areas dominated by boulder sized rocks from areas covered predominantly by cobble sized fragments. The extremely shallow nature of the reef areas utilized by the spawning fish (z_av < 10 m) ensures that the bathymetric data has a very high spatial resolution (dx ~ 0.1m). Visual inspection of the bathymetry of the reefs clearly show variations in the texture and morphology of the lake floor that correlate with divers' observations of aggregations of fish in spawning condition. We describe the results of a study to investigate the application of terrain analysis for subdividing the reefs into regions based upon their texture and morphology. A variety of descriptors are evaluated as is the influence of scale on the analyses.

Explaining linkages (and lack of) between riparian vegetation biodiversity and geomorphic complexity in restored streams of northern Sweden

Science.gov (United States)

Polvi, Lina; Maher Hasselquist, Eliza; Nilsson, Christer

2014-05-01

Ecological theory suggests that species richness and habitat heterogeneity are positively correlated; therefore stream restoration often relies on increasing geomorphic complexity to promote biodiversity. However, past studies have failed to demonstrate a link between post-restoration biodiversity and geomorphic complexity. These studies have usually relied on only one metric for quantifying complexity, rather than a holistic metric for complexity that represents several aspects of the channel morphology, and have based their observations in catchments with widespread land-use impacts. We use a geomorphic complexity gradient based on five geomorphic aspects (longitudinal, cross-sectional, planform, sediment texture, and instream wood) to determine whether streams with higher levels of complexity also have greater riparian vegetation biodiversity. We also compare biodiversity values with the potential complexity of reaches based on the large-scale controls of valley and channel gradient and the presence of large glacial legacy sediment (boulders). We focus on tributary channels in boreal forests of northern Sweden, where stream modification associated with log-floating from the 1850s to the 1960s created highly simplified channels. Driven by concerns for fish, restoration began in the 1970s by returning large cobbles and boulders into the main channel from the channel edge, and evolved into 'demonstration restoration,' placing very large boulders and trees into the channel, reopening side channels, and constructing fish spawning areas. We evaluate 22 reaches along tributaries of the Vindel River in northern Sweden with four restoration statuses: channelized, restored, demonstration restored, and unimpacted. Detailed morphologic, sediment, and instream wood data allow calculation of 29 metrics of geomorphic complexity, from which a complexity gradient was identified using multivariate statistics. The percent cover of riparian vegetation was identified in 0.5 x 0.5 m

A sandpile model of grain blocking and consequences for sediment dynamics in step-pool streams

Science.gov (United States)

Molnar, P.

2012-04-01

Coarse grains (cobbles to boulders) are set in motion in steep mountain streams by floods with sufficient energy to erode the particles locally and transport them downstream. During transport, grains are often blocked and form width-spannings structures called steps, separated by pools. The step-pool system is a transient, self-organizing and self-sustaining structure. The temporary storage of sediment in steps and the release of that sediment in avalanche-like pulses when steps collapse, leads to a complex nonlinear threshold-driven dynamics in sediment transport which has been observed in laboratory experiments (e.g., Zimmermann et al., 2010) and in the field (e.g., Turowski et al., 2011). The basic question in this paper is if the emergent statistical properties of sediment transport in step-pool systems may be linked to the transient state of the bed, i.e. sediment storage and morphology, and to the dynamics in sediment input. The hypothesis is that this state, in which sediment transporting events due to the collapse and rebuilding of steps of all sizes occur, is analogous to a critical state in self-organized open dissipative dynamical systems (Bak et al., 1988). To exlore the process of self-organization, a cellular automaton sandpile model is used to simulate the processes of grain blocking and hydraulically-driven step collapse in a 1-d channel. Particles are injected at the top of the channel and are allowed to travel downstream based on various local threshold rules, with the travel distance drawn from a chosen probability distribution. In sandpile modelling this is a simple 1-d limited non-local model, however it has been shown to have nontrivial dynamical behaviour (Kadanoff et al., 1989), and it captures the essence of stochastic sediment transport in step-pool systems. The numerical simulations are used to illustrate the differences between input and output sediment transport rates, mainly focussing on the magnification of intermittency and

Does what you know matter? Investigating the relationship between mental models of climate change and pro-environmental behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, R.

2013-12-01

The purpose of this study is to test the conjecture that environmentally sustainable decisions and behaviors are related to individuals' conceptions of the natural world, in this case climate change; individuals' attitudes towards climate change; and the situations in which these decisions are made. The nature of mental models is an ongoing subject of disagreement. Some argue that mental models are coherent theories, much like scientific theories, that individuals employ systematically when reasoning about the world (Gopnik & Meltzoff, 1998). Others maintain that mental models are cobbled together from fragmented collections of ideas that are only loosely connected and context dependent (Disessa, 1988; Minstrell, 2000). It is likely that individuals sometimes reason about complex phenomena using systematic mental models and at other times reason using knowledge that is organized in fragmented pieces (Steedle & Shavelson, 2009). Thus, in measuring mental models of complex environmental systems, such as climate change, the assumption of systematicity may not be justified. Individuals may apply certain chains of reasoning in some contexts but not in others. The current study hypothesizes that an accurate mental model of climate change enables an individual to make effective evaluative judgments of environmental behavior options. The more an individual's mental model resembles that of an expert, the more consistent, accurate and automatic these judgments become. However, an accurate mental model is not sufficient to change environmental behavior. Real decisions and behaviors are products of a person-situation interaction: an interplay between psychosocial factors (such as knowledge and attitudes) and the situation in which the decision is made. This study investigates the relationship between both psychosocial and situational factors for climate change decisions. Data was collected from 436 adult participants through an online survey. The survey was comprised of

The crazy hollow formation (Eocene) of central Utah

Science.gov (United States)

Weiss, M.P.; Warner, K.N.

2001-01-01

The Late Eocene Crazy Hollow Formation is a fluviatile and lacustrine unit that was deposited locally in the southwest arm of Lake Uinta during and after the last stages of the lake the deposited the Green River Formation. Most exposures of the Crazy Hollow are located in Sanpete and Sevier Counties. The unit is characterized by a large variety of rock types, rapid facies changes within fairly short distances, and different lithofacies in the several areas where outcrops of the remnants of the formation are concentrated. Mudstone is dominant, volumetrically, but siltstone, shale, sandstone, conglomerate and several varieties of limestone are also present. The fine-grained rocks are mostly highly colored, especially in shades of yellow, orange and red. Sand grains, pebbles and small cobbles of well-rounded black chert are widespread, and "salt-and-pepper sandstone" is the conspicuous characteristic of the Crazy Hollow. The salt-and-pepper sandstone consists of grains of black chert, white chert, quartz and minor feldspar. The limestone beds and lenses are paludal and lacustrine in origin; some are fossiliferous, and contain the same fauna found in the Green River Formation. With trivial exceptions, the Crazy Hollow Formation lies on the upper, limestone member of the Green River Formation, and the beds of the two units are always accordant in attitude. The nature of the contact differs locally: at some sites there is gradation from the Green River to the Crazy Hollow; at others, rocks typical of the two units intertongue; elsewhere there is a disconformity between the two. A variety of bedrock units overlie the Crazy Hollow at different sites. In the southeasternmost districts it is overlain by the late Eocene formation of Aurora; in western Sevier County it is overlain by the Miocene-Pliocene Sevier River Formation; in northernmost Sanpete County it is overlain by the Oligocene volcanics of the Moroni Formation. At many sites bordering Sanpete and Sevier Valleys

Engineered Barrier Testing at the INEEL Engineered Barriers Test Facility: FY-1997 and FY-1998

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keck, K. N.; Porro, I.

1998-01-01

Engineered barriers of two designs are being tested at the Engineered Barriers Test Facility (EBTF) at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. This report describes the test facility, barrier designs, and instruments used to monitor the test plots. Wetting tests conducted on the test plots in FY-97 are described and data collected from monitoring the test plots before, during and after the wetting tests are used to evaluate the performance of the covers during FY-97 and FY-98. Replicates of two engineered barrier designs were constructed in the EBTF cells. The first design comprises a thick, vegetated soil cover. The second design incorporates a capillary/biobarrier within the vegtated soil cover. The capillary barrier uses the textural break between an upper, fine textured soil and a lower, coarser-textured gravel layer to inhibit drainage under unsaturated conditions while increasing soil moisture storage in the root zone. Evaporation and transpiration by plants (although the test plots have not yet been vegetated) are used to recycle water stored in the soil back to the atmosphere. A geotextile fabric is used to maintain separation of the soil and gravel layers. A thick layer of cobbles beneath the gravel layer serves as a biobarrier to prevent intrusion of plant roots and burrowing animals into underlying waste (there is no waste in the test plots). Each test plot was instrumented with time domain reflectometry probes and neutron probe access tubes to measure moisture contents, tensiometers, heat dissipation sensors, and thermocouple psychrometers to measure matric potentials, thermocouples to measure soil temperature, and ion-exchange resin beads to monitor tracer movement. Each drainage sump is equipped with a tipping bucket instrument and pressure transducer to measure drainage. Precipitation is measured using a heated rain gauge located at the EBTF. Instrument calibration equation coefficients are presented, and data reduction

Filtering mountain landscapes and hydrology through sediment transport

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, C. B.; Jerolmack, D. J.

2013-12-01

Long-term denudation of landscapes is balanced, and sometimes limited by, the sediment mass flux leaving the system through rivers. Suspended sediment represents the largest fraction of mass exiting the landscape, however coarse bed load transport may be the rate-limiting process of landscape denudation through its control on bedrock channel erosion and incision. We present research linking particle mechanics for a coarse alluvial gravel stream at the flood scale to particle dynamics at the annual timescale, and examine the implications of these results on channel geometry and the hydrology of mountain rivers. We examine the transport dynamics of individual cobbles tagged with passive radio transponder tags from the Mameyes River in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico, in both bedrock and alluvial stretches. These data are composed of measured 'flight' lengths for each transported particle, the fraction of tagged particles mobilized, and high-resolution river stage measurements. At the single flood scale, measured tracer particle flight lengths are exponentially distributed, and modal flight lengths scale linearly with excess shear velocity (U*-U*c). This is in quantitative agreement with recent theory and laboratory experiments, suggesting that moving particles' velocity is determined by momentum balance with the fluid. Examining tracer displacement at long timescales we use a dimensionless impulse (I*) - obtained by integrating the cumulative excess shear velocity over the duration of a flood (normalized by grain size) - and find that the mean travel distance collapses onto a linear relationship. Data show that partial bed load transport with intermittent motion is the dominant mode for the duration of record. Examining flood statistics, we find that the frequency-magnitude distribution of shear velocity is a power law; however, this scaling is truncated at the threshold of motion, beyond which it displays exponential scaling. The thin-tailed scaling of (U

Studies on the gamma radiation environment in Sweden with special reference to 137Cs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Almgren, Sara

2008-09-01

Gamma radiation in the environment today mainly originates from naturally occurring radionuclides, but anthropogenic radionuclides, such as 137 Cs, contribute in some areas. In order to assess population exposure in case of fallout from nuclear weapons (NWF) or accidents, knowledge and monitoring of external gamma radiation and radionuclide concentrations in the environment is important. For this purpose 34 sampling sites were established in western Sweden and repeated soil sampling, field gamma spectrometry (in situ measurements), and dose rate measurements were performed. The variations in the activities between the different sampling occasions were found to be quite large. The naturally occurring radionuclides were the main source of outdoor dose rates. The uranium and thorium decay series contributed about equally to the total dose while the contribution from 40 K was somewhat higher. The dose rates were mainly correlated to the ground cover, with higher levels on asphalt and cobble stones than on grass. The large scale deposition densities from NWF and the Chernobyl accident could be relatively well estimated by a model including the amount of precipitation and measured deposition at few reference sites. The deposition density from nuclear weapons tests in Sweden between 1962 and 1966 was found to be 1.42-2.70 kBq/m 2 and the deposition density from Chernobyl in western Sweden ranged between 0.82-2.61 kBq/m 2 . The vertical migration of 137 Cs was studied at the sampling sites in western Sweden and a solution to the convection-diffusion equation (CDE) was fitted to depth profiles. The vertical migration of 137 Cs was found to be very slow and diffusive transport was dominant at most locations. The apparent convection velocity and diffusion coefficient were found to be 0-0.35 cm/year and 0.06-2.63 cm 2 /year, respectively. The average depth of the maximum activity was 5.4±2.2 cm. The fitted depth distributions for each location were used to correct in situ

Characterizing aerodynamic roughness length (z0) for a debris-covered glacier: aerodynamic inversion and SfM-derived microtopographic approaches

Science.gov (United States)

Miles, Evan; Steiner, Jakob; Brun, Fanny; Detert, Martin; Buri, Pascal; Pellicciotti, Francesca

2016-04-01

) regression-fits based on topographic metrics produced intermediate values. A tower of wind and temperature sensors was installed in the depression in October 2014. Using an iterative method to derive friction velocity and temperature scale, we derive the Monin-Obukov length and subsequently surface roughness values for each data pair (Garratt 1992, Hogstrom 1988, Brock 2006). Values range from 0.01 to 0.2 m over the observation period for this single location. Clearly, the surface of debris-covered glaciers is extremely variable spatially and temporally, so what should be used in models? Our results suggest z0 varies between 0.004 m (smooth cobbles) to 0.5m (large boulders), and that 0.015m is a reasonable central value for Lirung Glacier. As the grain-size distributions closely reproduce the distribution of obstacle sizes determined by the zero-up-crossing method, and d80 preserves the plot ranking of z0 magnitudes, it may be possible to develop a representative z0 lookup table based on grain sizes, which would provide a straightforward method to roughly vary z0 across the debris surface for energy-balance modelling applications.

Changes of porosity due to weathering in quartzites and slates of a Raña profile (Montes de Toledo, Central Spain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Molina Ballesteros, E.

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Rañas are alluvial fan deposits of Plio-Pleistocene age that form the piedmont platforms around the mountains in the interior of the Iberian Peninsula. They are composed of cobbles, pebbles and gravels of quartzite and some quartz, all embedded within a clayey matrix displaying striking changes in hues due to hydromorphism. Beneath these platforms, the Hercynian basement is consistently deeply weathered. In the profile of the Raña, the quartzite stones located into the clayey horizon have a weathering rind that is whitish to ochre in colour, in contrast to the dark reddish hue of those located within the leaching horizon, just below the land surface. These differences are related to changes in the physical properties (e.g., bulk density and porosity, mineralogy (presence of oxyhydroxides and weathering processes that have taken place in the profile. Such processes have led to the corrosion and replacement of the quartz grains by the iron oxyhydroxides. The main cause is the dramatic changes in the water regime occurring in the pores at the surfaces of the quartzite stones. Due to weathering the slates outcropping beneath the Raña have undergone important release of matter (ca. 30%, together with changes in the mineral association, with a progressive reduction in the component of the unweathered slates and an increase in new minerals (smectites, kaolinite and iron oxyhydroxides upwards.Las Rañas son depósitos de abanicos aluviales del Plio-Pleistoceno que forman plataformas de piedemonte alrededor de las montanas del interior de la Peninsula Iberica. Estan formadas de bloques, cantos y gravas de cuarcita dominantes y algún cuarzo engastados en una matriz arcillosa que muestra importantes contrastes de color causados por hidromorfismo. Bajo estas plataformas, el zocalo hercinico se encuentra profundamente alterado. En un perfil de Rana se distinguen dos tipos de horizontes: i el superior, de pocos decimetros de grosor, rico en cantos, gravas

Channel change and bed-material transport in the Umpqua River basin, Oregon

Science.gov (United States)

Wallick, J. Rose; O'Connor, Jim E.; Anderson, Scott; Keith, Mackenzie K.; Cannon, Charles; Risley, John C.

2011-01-01

The Umpqua River drains 12,103 square kilometers of western Oregon; with headwaters in the Cascade Range, the river flows through portions of the Klamath Mountains and Oregon Coast Range before entering the Pacific Ocean. Above the head of tide, the Umpqua River, along with its major tributaries, the North and South Umpqua Rivers, flows on a mixed bedrock and alluvium bed, alternating between bedrock rapids and intermittent, shallow gravel bars composed of gravel to cobble-sized clasts. These bars have been a source of commercial aggregate since the mid-twentieth century. Below the head of tide, the Umpqua River contains large bars composed of mud and sand. Motivated by ongoing permitting and aquatic habitat concerns related to in-stream gravel mining on the fluvial reaches, this study evaluated spatial and temporal trends in channel change and bed-material transport for 350 kilometers of river channel along the Umpqua, North Umpqua, and South Umpqua Rivers. The assessment produced (1) detailed mapping of the active channel, using aerial photographs and repeat surveys, and (2) a quantitative estimation of bed-material flux that drew upon detailed measurements of particle size and lithology, equations of transport capacity, and a sediment yield analysis. Bed-material transport capacity estimates at 45 sites throughout the South Umpqua and main stem Umpqua Rivers for the period 1951-2008 result in wide-ranging transport capacity estimates, reflecting the difficulty of applying equations of bed-material transport to a supply-limited river. Median transport capacity values calculated from surface-based equations of bedload transport for each of the study reaches provide indications of maximum possible transport rates and range from 8,000 to 27,000 metric tons per year (tons/yr) for the South Umpqua River and 20,000 to 82,000 metric tons/yr for the main stem Umpqua River upstream of the head of tide; the North Umpqua River probably contributes little bed material. A

The Gabbs Valley, Nevada, geothermal prospect: Exploring for a potential blind geothermal resource

Science.gov (United States)

Payne, J.; Bell, J. W.; Calvin, W. M.

2012-12-01

The Gabbs Valley prospect in west-central Nevada is a potential blind geothermal resource system. Possible structural controls on this system were investigated using high-resolution LiDAR, low sun-angle aerial (LSA) photography, exploratory fault trenching and a shallow temperature survey. Active Holocene faults have previously been identified at 37 geothermal systems with indication of temperatures greater than 100° C in the western Nevada region. Active fault controls in Gabbs Valley include both Holocene and historical structures. Two historical earthquakes occurring in 1932 and 1954 have overlapping surface rupture patterns in Gabbs Valley. Three active fault systems identified through LSA and LiDAR mapping have characteristics of Basin and Range normal faulting and Walker Lane oblique dextral faulting. The East Monte Cristo Mountains fault zone is an 8.5 km long continuous NNE striking, discrete fault with roughly 0.5 m right-normal historic motion and 3 m vertical Quaternary separation. The Phillips Wash fault zone is an 8.2 km long distributed fault system striking NE to N, with Quaternary fault scarps of 1-3 m vertical separation and a 500 m wide graben adjacent to the Cobble Cuesta anticline. This fault displays ponded drainages, an offset terrace riser and right stepping en echelon fault patterns suggestive of left lateral offset, and fault trenching exposed non-matching stratigraphy typical of a significant component of lateral offset. The unnamed faults of Gabbs Valley are a 10.6 km long system of normal faults striking NNE and Quaternary scarps are up to 4 m high. These normal faults largely do not have historic surface rupture, but a small segment of 1932 rupture has been identified. A shallow (2 m deep) temperature survey of 80 points covering roughly 65 square kilometers was completed. Data were collected over approximately 2 months, and continual base station temperature measurements were used to seasonally correct temperature measurements. A 2

Geology along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, Mark W.; Southworth, C. Scott; Tollo, Richard P.; Merschat, Arthur J.; Wagner, Sara; Lazor, Ava; Aleinikoff, John N.

2017-01-01

Back Formations. These rocks are bound by numerous faults, including the Rock Castle Creek fault that separates Ashe Formation rocks from Alligator Back Formation rocks in the core of the Ararat River synclinorium. The lack of unequivocal paleontologic or geochronologic ages for any of these rock sequences, combined with fundamental and conflicting differences in tectonogenetic models, compound the problem of regional correlation with Blue Ridge cover rocks to the north.The geologic transition from the central to southern Appalachians is also marked by a profound change in landscape and surficial deposits. In central Virginia, the Blue Ridge consists of narrow ridges that are held up by resistant but contrasting basement and cover lithologies. These ridges have shed eroded material from their crests to the base of the mountain fronts in the form of talus slopes, debris flows, and alluvial-colluvial fans for perhaps 10 m.y. South of Roanoke, however, ridges transition into a broad hilly plateau, flanked on the east by the Blue Ridge escarpment and the eastern Continental Divide. Here, deposits of rounded pebbles, cobbles, and boulders preserve remnants of ancestral west-flowing drainage systems.Both bedrock and surficial geologic processes provide an array of economic deposits along the length of the Blue Ridge Parkway corridor in Virginia, including base and precious metals and industrial minerals. However, common stone was the most important commodity for creating the Blue Ridge Parkway, which yielded building stone for overlooks and tunnels, or crushed stone for road base and pavement.

Streambed infiltration and ground-water flow from the trout creek drainage, an intermittent tributary to the Humboldt River, north-central Nevada: Chapter K in Ground-water recharge in the arid and semiarid southwestern United States (Professional Paper 1703)

Science.gov (United States)

Prudic, David E.; Niswonger, Richard G.; Harrill, James R.; Wood, James L.; Stonestrom, David A.; Constantz, Jim; Ferré, Ty P.A.; Leake, Stanley A.

2007-01-01

Ground water is abundant in many alluvial basins of the Basin and Range Physiographic Province of the western United States. Water enters these basins by infiltration along intermittent and ephemeral channels, which originate in the mountainous regions before crossing alluvial fans and piedmont alluvial plains. Water also enters the basins as subsurface ground-water flow directly from the mountains, where infiltrated precipitation recharges water-bearing rocks and sediments at these higher elevations. Trout Creek, a typical intermittent stream in the Middle Humboldt River Basin in north-central Nevada, was chosen to develop methods of estimating and characterizing streambed infiltration and ground-water recharge in mountainous terrains. Trout Creek has a drainage area of about 4.8 × 107 square meters. Stream gradients range from more than 1 × 10–1 meter per meter in the mountains to 5 × 10–3 meter per meter at the foot of the piedmont alluvial plain. Trout Creek is perennial in short reaches upstream of a northeast-southwest trending normal fault, where perennial springs discharge to the channel. Downstream from the fault, the water table drops below the base of the channel and the stream becomes intermittent.Snowmelt generates streamflow during March and April, when streamflow extends onto the piedmont alluvial plain for several weeks in most years. Rates of streambed infiltration become highest in the lowest reaches, at the foot of the piedmont alluvial plain. The marked increases in infiltration are attributed to increases in streambed permeability together with decreases in channel-bed armoring, the latter which increases the effective area of the channel. Large quartzite cobbles cover the streambed in the upper reaches of the stream and are absent in the lowest reach. Such changes in channel deposits are common where alluvial fans join piedmont alluvial plains. Poorly sorted coarse and fine sediments are deposited near the head of the fan, while

Summary of Surface-Water Quality Data from the Illinois River Basin in Northeast Oklahoma, 1970-2007

Science.gov (United States)

Andrews, William J.; Becker, Mark F.; Smith, S. Jerrod; Tortorelli, Robert L.

2009-01-01

periods. Concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment, and counts of bacteria generally increased with streamflow at the five sites, probably due to runoff from the land surface and re-suspension of streambed sediments. Phosphorus concentrations typically exceeded the Oklahoma standard of 0.037 milligrams per liter for Scenic Rivers. Concentrations of chlorophyll-a in phytoplankton in water samples collected at the five sites were not well correlated with streamflow, nor to concentrations of the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus, probably because much of the algae growing in these streams are periphyton attached to streambed cobbles and other debris, rather than phytoplankton in the water column. Sediment concentrations correlated with phosphorus concentrations in water samples collected at the sites, probably due to sorption of phosphorus to soil particles and streambed sediments and runoff of soils and animal wastes at the land surface and resuspension of streambed sediments and phosphorus during wet, high-flow periods. Fecal coliform bacteria counts at the five sites sometimes exceeded the Oklahoma Primary Body Contact Standard of 400 colonies per 100 milliliters when streamflows were greater than 1000 cubic feet per second. Ultimately, Lake Tenkiller, an important ecological and economic resource for the region, receives the compounds that runoff the land surface or seep to local streams from groundwater in the basin. Because of eutrophication from increased nutrient loading, Lake Tenkiller is listed for impairment by diminished dissolved oxygen concentrations, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a by the State of Oklahoma in evaluation of surface-water quality required by section 303d of the Clean Water Act. Stored phosphorus in soils and streambed and lakebed sediments may continue to provide phosphorus to local streams and lakes for decades to come. Steps are being made to reduce local sources of phosphorus, including upgrades in capacity and effective

Geology of the Cupsuptic quadrangle, Maine

Science.gov (United States)

Harwood, David S.

1966-01-01

The Cupsuptic quadrangle, in west-central Maine, lies in a relatively narrow belt of pre-Silurian rocks extending from the Connecticut River valley across northern New Hampshire to north-central Maine. The Albee Formation, composed of green, purple, and black phyllite with interbedded-quartzite, is exposed in the core of a regional anticlinorium overlain to the southeast by greenstone of the Oquossoc Formation which in turn is overlain by black slate of the Kamankeag Formation. In the northern part of the quadrangle the Albee Formation is overlain by black slate, feldspathic graywacke, and minor greenstone of the Dixville Formation. The Kamankeag Formation is dated as 1-ate Middle Ordovician by graptolites (zone 12) found near the base of the unit. The Dixville Formation is correlated with the Kamankeag Formation and Oquossoc Formation and is considered to be Middle Ordovician. The Albee Formation is considered to be Middle to Lower Ordovician from correlations with similar rocks in northeastern and southwestern Vermont. The Oquossoc and Kamankeag Formations are correlated with the Amonoosuc and Partridge Formations of northern New Hampshire. The pre-Silurian rocks are unconformably overlain by unnamed rocks of Silurian age in the southeast, west-central, and northwest ninths of the quadrangle. The basal Silurian units are boulder to cobble polymict conglomerate and quartz-pebble conglomerate of late Lower Silurian (Upper Llandovery) age. The overlying rocks are either well-bedded slate and quartzite, silty limestone, or arenaceous limestone. Thearenaceous limestone contains Upper Silurian (Lower Ludlow) brachiopods. The stratified rocks have been intruded by three stocks of biotite-muscovite quartz monzonite, a large body of metadiorite and associated serpentinite, smaller bodies of gabbro, granodiorite, and intrusive felsite, as well as numerous diabase and quartz monzonite dikes. The metadiorite and serpentinite, and possibly the gabbro and granodiorite are Late

Classification of wetlands and deepwater habitats of the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Cowardin, L.M.; Carter, V.; Golet, F.C.; LaRoe, E.T.

1985-01-01

This classification, to be used in a new inventory of wetlands and deepwater habitats of the United States, is intended to describe ecological taxa, arrange them in a system useful to resource managers, furnish units for mapping, and provide uniformity of concepts and terms. Wetlands are defined by plants (hydrophytes), soils (hydric soils), and frequency of flooding. Ecologically related areas of deep water, traditionally not considered wetlands, are included in the classification as deepwater habitats.Systems form the highest level of the classification hierarchy; five are defined-Marine, Estuarine, Riverine, Lacustrine, and Palustrine. Marine and Estuarine Systems each have two Subsystems, Subtidal and Intertidal; the Riverine System has four Subsystems, Tidal, Lower Perennial, Upper Perennial, and Intermittent; the Lacustrine has two, Littoral and Limnetic; and the Palustrine has no Subsystems.Within the Subsystems, Classes are based on substrate material and flooding regime, or on vegetative life form. The same Classes may appear under one or more of the Systems or Subsystems. Six Classes are based on substrate and flooding regime: (1) Rock Bottom with a substrate of bedrock, boulders, or stones; (2) Unconsolidated Bottom with a substrate of cobbles, gravel, sand, mud, or organic material; (3) Rocky Shore with the same substrates as Rock Bottom; (4) Unconsolidated Shore with the same substrates as Unconsolidated Bottom; (5) Streambed with any of the substrates; and (6) Reef with a substrate composed of the living and dead remains of invertebrates (corals, mollusks, or worms). The bottom Classes, (1) and (2) above, are flooded all or most of the time and the shore Classes, (3) and (4), are exposed most of the time. The Class Streambed is restricted to channels of intermittent streams and tidal channels that are dewatered at low tide. The life form of the dominant vegetation defines the five Classes based on vegetative form: (1) Aquatic Bed, dominated by plants

Bed-material entrainment potential, Roaring Fork River at Basalt, Colorado

Science.gov (United States)

Elliott, John G.

2002-01-01

The Roaring Fork River at Basalt, Colorado, has a frequently mobile streambed composed of gravel, cobbles, and boulders. Recent urban and highway development on the flood plain, earlier attempts to realign and confine the channel, and flow obstructions such as bridge openings and piers have altered the hydrology, hydraulics, sediment transport, and sediment deposition areas of the Roaring Fork. Entrainment and deposition of coarse sediment on the streambed and in large alluvial bars have reduced the flood-conveying capacity of the river. Previous engineering studies have identified flood-prone areas and hazards related to inundation and high streamflow velocity, but those studies have not evaluated the potential response of the channel to discharges that entrain the coarse streambed. This study builds upon the results of earlier flood studies and identifies some potential areas of concern associated with bed-material entrainment. Cross-section surveys and simulated water-surface elevations from a previously run HEC?RAS model were used to calculate the boundary shear stress on the mean streambed, in the thalweg, and on the tops of adjacent alluvial bars for four reference streamflows. Sediment-size characteristics were determined for surficial material on the streambed, on large alluvial bars, and on a streambank. The median particle size (d50) for the streambed samples was 165 millimeters and for the alluvial bars and bank samples was 107 millimeters. Shear stresses generated by the 10-, 50-, and 100-year floods, and by a more common flow that just inundated most of the alluvial bars in the study reach were calculated at 14 of the cross sections used in the Roaring Fork River HEC?RAS model. The Shields equation was used with a Shields parameter of 0.030 to estimate the critical shear stress for entrainment of the median sediment particle size on the mean streambed, in the thalweg, and on adjacent alluvial bar surfaces at the 14 cross sections. Sediment

Bathymetric and Velocimetric Survey and Assessment of Habitat for Pallid Sturgeon on the Mississippi River in the Vicinity of the Proposed Interstate 70 Bridge at St. Louis, Missouri

Science.gov (United States)

Huizinga, Richard J.; Elliott, Caroline M.; Jacobson, Robert B.

2010-01-01

the large dune features in mid-channel and a shift in the channel thalweg from the Illinois bank to the Missouri bank. The near-bottom velocities acquired with the acoustic Doppler current profiler ranged from 0.3 to 7.0 feet per second (0.09 to 2.13 meters per second), and the effects of the large dune features were apparent in the more random scattering of the velocity vectors, the low velocities downstream from the dunes, and higher velocities near the crests of the dunes. Despite the considerable physical complexity of this site because of the arrangement of large sand dunes in the middle of the channel, existing studies do not document persistent use of these deep, fast, main-channel habitats by pallid sturgeon. Narrow channel-margin areas on both banks having relatively low velocity, high depth slope, and high velocity gradients are similar to adult migration habitats as documented on the Missouri River downstream from Kansas City, Missouri. Although the reach generally lacks features associated with sturgeon habitat selection on the Middle Mississippi River, the barge mooring areas on the right descending bank have topographic complexity and contain large woody debris and small patches of probable gravel-cobble substrate that may have positive habitat value for sturgeon or other species. Furthermore, telemetry studies have documented sturgeon migrating upstream and downstream through this reach as adults, and they probably drift downstream through this reach as free-embryo larvae. Successful upstream migration may depend on availability of areas with hydraulic complexity and relatively low velocities, as presently exist on the margins of the site. Additionally, complexity at the channel margin may provide areas where larvae settle out from drifting in the main current or may act to slow bulk drift rates. Construction of bridge piers close to the banks will likely alter hydraulics and sediment transport on the channel margins and may result in substanti

Electron spin resonance dating of human teeth from Toca da Santa shelter of Sao Raimundo Nonato, Piaui, Brazil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kinoshita, A. [Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciencias e Letras de Ribeirao Preto, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Av. Bandeirantes, 3900, 14040-901 Ribeirao Preto, SP (Brazil); Universidade do Sagrado Coracao, Rua Irma Arminda 10-50, 17011-160 Bauru, SP (Brazil); Figueiredo, A.M.G. [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN), Av. Lineu Prestes, 2242, Cidade Universitaria, 5422-970 Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil); Felice, G.D. [Fundacao Museu do Homem Americano-FUNDHAM, Rua Abdias Neves, no. 551, Centro, 64770-000 Sao Raimundo Nonato, Piaui (Brazil); Lage, M.C.S.M. [Universidade Federal do Piaui, Departamento de Quimica, Campus da Ininga, Ininga, 64049-550 Teresina, Piaui (Brazil); Guidon, N. [Fundacao Museu do Homem Americano-FUNDHAM, Rua Abdias Neves, no. 551, Centro, 64770-000 Sao Raimundo Nonato, Piaui (Brazil); Baffa, O. [Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciencias e Letras de Ribeirao Preto, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Av. Bandeirantes, 3900, 14040-901 Ribeirao Preto, SP (Brazil)], E-mail: baffa@usp.br

2008-02-15

'Archeometrie, 1999, p. 327, ]. Seventy C-14 dates were obtained going from 59,000 yBP to 5000 yBP at the actual soil [G.M. Santos, M.I., Bird, F. Parenti, L.K. Fifield, N. Guidon, P.A. Hausladen, Quaternary Sci. Rev. 22 (2003) 2303, ]. Beneath the date of 59,000 yBP it was found 1.5 m of archaeological layers, till the rock base. The cobbles that composed the structure of the hearths placed on top of the rock base were dated by thermoluminescence and the date of them is 100,000 yBP [H. Valladas, N. Mercier, M. Michab, J.L. Joron, J.L. Reiss, N. Guidon, N., Quaternary Sci. Rev. 22 (2003) 1257, ; H. Valladas, N. Mercier, M. Michab, J.L. Joron, J.L. Reyss, N. Guidon, Datacoes por Termoluminescencia de Seixos de Quartzo Queimados da Toca do Boqueirao da Pedra Furada (Piaui, Nordeste do Brasil), Fumdhamentos III, 1 (2003) 35 (in Portuguese), ]. Thus chronological information is of paramount importance to contextualize and to understand the many questions regarding the human occupation of these sites [N. Guidon, A.M. Pessis, G. Martin, O Povoamento Pre-Historico do Nordeste do Brasil, Proposta da: Fundacao Museu do Homem Americano, e do Nucleo de Estudos Arqueologicos, da UFPE, CLIO ARQ, Recife 1 (6) (1990) 123, ]. To obtain more information Toca da Santa shelter, the nearest site to Toca do Gordo do Garrincho shelter, was also excavated and three incomplete skeletons with teeth were found at 80 cm depth. The teeth were cleaned and acid etched and enamel completely removed from dentine and crushed in particles smaller than 0.5 mm. Enamel was irradiated with a Co-60 source and measured with an ESR spectrometer (X-band) to obtain the signal versus dose curve. The archeological doses obtained by the fitting were (5.94 {+-} 0.07) Gy and (5.97 {+-} 0.08) Gy. Using the ROSY program an age of 5,700 {+-} 200 yBP was found for both teeth.

Status of the Island Night Lizard and Two Non-Native Lizards on Outlying Landing Field San Nicolas Island, California

Science.gov (United States)

Fellers, Gary M.; Drost, Charles A.; Murphey, Thomas G.

2008-01-01

More than 900 individually marked island night lizards (Xantusia riversiana) were captured on San Nicolas Island, California, between 1984 and 2007 as part of an ongoing study to monitor the status of this threatened species. Our data suggest that at least a few lizards are probably more than 20 years old, and one lizard would be 31.5 years old if it grew at an average rate for the population. Ages of 20 and 30 years seem reasonable given the remarkably slow growth during capture intervals of more than a decade for five of the lizards which we estimated to be 20 or more years old. Like other lizards, island night lizard growth rates vary by size, with larger lizards growing more slowly. In general, growth rates were somewhat greater on San Nicolas Island (compared with Santa Barbara Island), and this increase was sustained through all of the intermediate size classes. The higher growth rate may account for the somewhat larger lizards present on San Nicolas Island, although we cannot discount the possibility that night lizards on San Nicolas are merely living longer. The high percentage of small lizards in the Eucalyptus habitat might seem to reflect a healthy population in that habitat, but the high proportion of small lizards appears to be caused by good reproduction in the 1900s and substantially poorer reproduction in subsequent years. The Eucalyptus habitat has dried quite a bit in recent years. Night lizards in the Haplopappus/Grassland habitat have shown an increase in the proportion of larger lizards since 2000. There has also been an increase in the proportion of large lizards in the Rock Cobble habitat at Redeye Beach. However, there are has been some change in habitat with more elephant seals occupying the same area just above the high tide as do the night lizards. Southern alligator lizards and side-blotched lizards are both non-native on San Nicolas Island. Neither lizard causes obvious harm to island night lizards, and management time and effort should

Determination of the manning coefficient from measured bed roughness in natural channels

Science.gov (United States)

Limerinos, John Thomas

1970-01-01

difference in reliability was found between the results obtained using minimum diameters and those obtained using intermediate diameters. In analyzing the field data, the roughness parameter, n/R1/6 (where R is hydraulic radius), was related to relative smoothness, R/d (where d is a characteristic, or weighted characteristic, particle size). The parameter n/R1/6, rather than n, was used because it is directly proportional to the square root of the Darcy-Weisbach friction factor, f, which is more widely used in theoretical studies of hydraulic friction. If the transformation of n/R1/6 to vf is made, the relations obtained in this study are of a form that is identical with that of the theoretical friction equation obtained by several investigators and that derived from field data by Leopold and Wolman (1957). The constants in the equation vary, of course, with the characteristic particle size used. The relations best fitting the field data for this study were obtained by using either a characteristic particle diameter equal to the 84-percentile size (d84, the size equal to, or exceeding, that of 84 percent of the streambed particles), or a diameter obtained by weighting three characteristic particle sizes (dw, the size obtained by assigning a weight of 0.1 to d16 , a weight of 0.3 to d50 , and a weight of 0.6 to d84). The use of d84 alone gave slightly better results than the use of dw, and, in addition, the use of d84 alone is attractive from a standpoint of simplicity. It is difficult, however, to rationalize the use of d84 alone because of the implication that the distribution of sizes is irrelevant, and it matters not at all whether 84 percent of the bed material is sand or whether it is large cobbles, as long as 16 percent of the material is of greater size. Consequently, the author recommends the use of dw rather than d84 , although there was no unanimity of opinion on this recommendation among his colleagues who reviewed this paper. The reader is free to

Electron spin resonance dating of human teeth from Toca da Santa shelter of Sao Raimundo Nonato, Piaui, Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kinoshita, A.; Figueiredo, A.M.G.; Felice, G.D.; Lage, M.C.S.M.; Guidon, N.; Baffa, O.

2008-01-01

'Archeometrie, 1999, p. 327, ]. Seventy C-14 dates were obtained going from 59,000 yBP to 5000 yBP at the actual soil [G.M. Santos, M.I., Bird, F. Parenti, L.K. Fifield, N. Guidon, P.A. Hausladen, Quaternary Sci. Rev. 22 (2003) 2303, ]. Beneath the date of 59,000 yBP it was found 1.5 m of archaeological layers, till the rock base. The cobbles that composed the structure of the hearths placed on top of the rock base were dated by thermoluminescence and the date of them is 100,000 yBP [H. Valladas, N. Mercier, M. Michab, J.L. Joron, J.L. Reiss, N. Guidon, N., Quaternary Sci. Rev. 22 (2003) 1257, ; H. Valladas, N. Mercier, M. Michab, J.L. Joron, J.L. Reyss, N. Guidon, Datacoes por Termoluminescencia de Seixos de Quartzo Queimados da Toca do Boqueirao da Pedra Furada (Piaui, Nordeste do Brasil), Fumdhamentos III, 1 (2003) 35 (in Portuguese), ]. Thus chronological information is of paramount importance to contextualize and to understand the many questions regarding the human occupation of these sites [N. Guidon, A.M. Pessis, G. Martin, O Povoamento Pre-Historico do Nordeste do Brasil, Proposta da: Fundacao Museu do Homem Americano, e do Nucleo de Estudos Arqueologicos, da UFPE, CLIO ARQ, Recife 1 (6) (1990) 123, ]. To obtain more information Toca da Santa shelter, the nearest site to Toca do Gordo do Garrincho shelter, was also excavated and three incomplete skeletons with teeth were found at 80 cm depth. The teeth were cleaned and acid etched and enamel completely removed from dentine and crushed in particles smaller than 0.5 mm. Enamel was irradiated with a Co-60 source and measured with an ESR spectrometer (X-band) to obtain the signal versus dose curve. The archeological doses obtained by the fitting were (5.94 ± 0.07) Gy and (5.97 ± 0.08) Gy. Using the ROSY program an age of 5,700 ± 200 yBP was found for both teeth

Landslides triggered by the storm of November 3-5, 1985, Wills Mountain Anticline, West Virginia and Virginia: Chapter C in Geomorphic studies of the storm and flood of November 3-5, 1985, in the upper Potomac and Cheat River basins in West Virginia and Virginia

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobson, Robert B.; McGeehin, John P.; Cron, Elizabeth D.; Carr, Carolyn E.; Harper, John M.; Howard, Alan D.

1993-01-01

allowed soil moisture to accumulate under the moderate intensities of the rainfall. Slopes covered by coarse, cobbly debris flow and alluvial deposits, mostly of Pleistocene age, were very stable due to their low slope angles and high frictional strength. For a particular bedrock lithology, the spatial distribution of landslides appears controlled by interdependent influences of slope morphology and land cover. On the Reedsville Shale, most landslides occurred on north- to northeast-facing slopes, which might have had higher antecedent levels of soil moisture; these slopes have also been preferentially cleared because they produce better pasture forage for livestock. A secondary concentration of landslides on south- to southwest-facing slopes cannot be explained by conventional soil-moisture models. Landslide density was 100--200 percent higher on cleared land than on forested land. On pastured land, most landslides occurred on laterally planar slopes, but on forested land, most landslides occurred in slope positions that were laterally concave (hillslope hollows). Compared with other documented Appalachian storms that have triggered landslides, the November 1985 storm had lower rainfall intensities over longer durations. Comparison with these other storms suggests that the anomalously high degree of slope instability in 1985 is due to the long duration of low-intensity rainfall on fine-grained regolith derived from shale; the triggering rainfall can be approximated by the 48-h storm total. Landslide density in Reedsville Shale regolith is linearly related to the varying 48-h rainfall along the anticline. These data define a probabilistic model that estimates return intervals of 43 to 300 yr for landslide densities ranging from 1 to 70 landslides/km2. Analysis of flood-induced geomorphic changes in 79 small drainage basins that received 210-240 mm of rainfall showed a clear local association between landslides and channel erosion or deposition adjacent to where the

Hydrogeologic framework, groundwater and surface-water systems, land use, pumpage, and water budget of the Chamokane Creek basin, Stevens County, Washington

Science.gov (United States)

Kahle, Sue C.; Taylor, William A.; Lin, Sonja; Sumioka, Steven S.; Olsen, Theresa D.

2010-01-01

A study of the water resources of the unconsolidated groundwater system of the Chamokane Creek basin was conducted to determine the hydrogeologic framework, interactions of shallow and deep parts of the groundwater system with each other and the surface-water system, changes in land use and land cover, and water-use estimates. Chamokane Creek basin is a 179 mi2 area that borders and partially overlaps the Spokane Indian Reservation in southern Stevens County in northeastern Washington State. Aquifers within the Chamokane Creek basin are part of a sequence of glaciofluvial and glaciolacustrine sediment that may reach total thicknesses of about 600 ft. In 1979, most of the water rights in the Chamokane Creek basin were adjudicated by the United States District Court requiring regulation in favor of the Spokane Tribe of Indians' senior water right. The Spokane Tribe, the State of Washington, and the United States are concerned about the effects of additional groundwater development within the basin on Chamokane Creek. Information provided by this study will be used to evaluate the effects of potential increases in groundwater withdrawals on groundwater and surface-water resources within the basin. The hydrogeologic framework consists of six hydrogeologic units: The Upper outwash aquifer, the Landslide Unit, the Valley Confining Unit, the Lower Aquifer, the Basalt Unit, and the Bedrock Unit. The Upper outwash aquifer occurs along the valley floors of the study area and consists of sand, gravel, cobbles, boulders, with minor silt and (or) clay interbeds in places. The Lower aquifer is a confined aquifer consisting of sand and gravel that occurs at depth below the Valley confining unit. Median horizontal hydraulic conductivity values for the Upper outwash aquifer, Valley confining unit, Lower aquifer, and Basalt unit were estimated to be 540, 10, 19, and 3.7 ft/d, respectively. Many low-flow stream discharge measurements at sites on Chamokane Creek and its tributaries

Compilation of geologic, hydrologic, and ground-water flow modeling information for the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie aquifer, Spokane County, Washington, and Bonner and Kootenai Counties, Idaho

Science.gov (United States)

Kahle, Sue C.; Caldwell, Rodney R.; Bartolino, James R.

2005-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Idaho Department of Water Resources and Washington Department of Ecology compiled and described geologic, hydrologic, and ground-water flow modeling information about the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie (SVRP) aquifer in northern Idaho and northeastern Washington. Descriptions of the hydrogeologic framework, water-budget components, ground- and surface-water interactions, computer flow models, and further data needs are provided. The SVRP aquifer, which covers about 370 square miles including the Rathdrum Prairie, Idaho and the Spokane valley and Hillyard Trough, Washington, was designated a Sole Source Aquifer by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1978. Continued growth, water management issues, and potential effects on water availability and water quality in the aquifer and in the Spokane and Little Spokane Rivers have illustrated the need to better understand and manage the region's water resources. The SVRP aquifer is composed of sand, gravel, cobbles, and boulders primarily deposited by a series of catastrophic glacial outburst floods from ancient Glacial Lake Missoula. The material deposited in this high-energy environment is coarser-grained than is typical for most basin-fill deposits, resulting in an unusually productive aquifer with well yields as high as 40,000 gallons per minute. In most places, the aquifer is bounded laterally by bedrock composed of granite, metasedimentary rocks, or basalt. The lower boundary of the aquifer is largely unknown except along the margins or in shallower parts of the aquifer where wells have penetrated its entire thickness and reached bedrock or silt and clay deposits. Based on surface geophysics, the thickness of the aquifer is about 500 ft near the Washington-Idaho state line, but more than 600 feet within the Rathdrum Prairie and more than 700 feet in the Hillyard trough based on drilling records. Depth to water in the aquifer is greatest in the northern

The case of the Upper Rhine: unravelling the past, wrapping up the future

Science.gov (United States)

Ergenzinger, P.; Bölscher, J.; de Jong, C.

2003-04-01

The southern Upper Rhine was once the most prominent braided river system in Germany. However it lost its character during the last 200 years and is now a trained river used for electricity and carrying ships to Basel(CH). The river sector between Basel and Strasburg(F) was always different to the Hochrhein (Lake Constance Basel) and to the lower Upper Rhine (Strasburg Bingen(D)). This ancient braided river system changed downstream according to the transition of grain sizes from cobbles to gravel and sand. Between Strasburg and Lauterburg(F) the braids were replaced by meanders and this geomorphological change induced many other changes. At thesed times the ecology, including the use of water and land, riparian forests, the development of flood defence and navigation were different. In addition there was a further problem for people living in the time of enlightment: how should the boundary of a state be defined within a braided river? In the German language braided rivers were and are still called “verwildert” and this means the river is going wild. As such, somebody who was able to improve this situation would gain merits. This happened to Johann Gottfried Tulla. He became the responsible engineer for river construction in the Great Duchy Baden. In 1812 he created a memorandum with recommodations for the future development of the river Rhine. Only 5 years later he succeeded with the first cutoff of a meander next to Karlsruhe. After his death a treaty between France and Baden regulated the elimination of the braided system between Basel and Lauterburg. The construction took place between 1840 and 1875. This development was opposed locally and by the Prussian and Dutch authorities who claimed - after the huge flood of 1824 - that the abnormal flood peak was a result of the meander cutoffs created in Baden. Nevertheless the results of training the braided system were technically convincing: a deeper river channel, less floods, a well defined border and finally

Level II scour analysis for Bridge 63 (MTH0TH00120063) on Town Highway 12, crossing Russell Brook, Mount Holly, Vermont

Science.gov (United States)

Wild, Emily C.; Severance, Timothy

1998-01-01

This report provides the results of a detailed Level II analysis of scour potential at structure MTHOTH00120063 on Town Highway 12 crossing Russell Brook, Mount Holly, Vermont (figures 1–8). A Level II study is a basic engineering analysis of the site, including a quantitative analysis of stream stability and scour (FHWA, 1993). Results of a Level I scour investigation also are included in appendix E of this report. A Level I investigation provides a qualitative geomorphic characterization of the study site. Information on the bridge, gleaned from Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTAOT) files, was compiled prior to conducting Level I and Level II analyses and is found in appendix D. The site is in the Green Mountain section of the New England physiographic province in south-central Vermont. The 3.6-mi2 drainage area is in a predominantly rural and forested basin. In the vicinity of the study site, the surface cover is forest upstream and downstream of the bridge. In the study area, Russell Brook has an incised, sinuous channel with a slope of approximately 0.0263 ft/ft, an average channel top width of 29 ft and an average bank height of 3 ft. The channel bed material ranges from cobbles to boulders with a median grain size (D50) of 97.1 mm (0.318 ft). The geomorphic assessment at the time of the Level I and Level II site visit on October 4, 1995, indicated that the reach was stable. The Town Highway 12 crossing of Russell Brook is a 29-ft-long, one-lane bridge consisting of a 26-foot steel-stringer span (Vermont Agency of Transportation, written communication, March 21, 1995). The opening length of the structure parallel to the bridge face is 23.5 ft. The bridge is supported by vertical, concrete abutments with wingwalls. The channel is skewed approximately 40 degrees to the opening while the computed opening-skew-to-roadway is 35 degrees. During the Level I assessment, it was observed that the upstream left wingwall footing was exposed 0.2 ft, in reference to

Level II scour analysis for Bridge 28 (ROCHTH00370028) on Town Highway 37, crossing Brandon Brook, Rochester, Vermont

Science.gov (United States)

Wild, Emily C.; Weber, Matthew A.

1998-01-01

This report provides the results of a detailed Level II analysis of scour potential at structure ROCHTH00370028 on Town Highway 37 crossing Brandon Brook, Rochester, Vermont (figures 1–8). A Level II study is a basic engineering analysis of the site, including a quantitative analysis of stream stability and scour (FHWA, 1993). Results of a Level I scour investigation also are included in appendix E of this report. A Level I investigation provides a qualitative geomorphic characterization of the study site. Information on the bridge, gleaned from VTAOT files, was compiled prior to conducting Level I and Level II analyses and is found in appendix D. The site is in the Green Mountain section of the New England physiographic province in central Vermont. The 8.0-mi2 drainage area is in a predominantly rural and forested basin. In the vicinity of the study site, the surface cover is pasture on the upstream left overbank although the immediate banks have dense woody vegetation. The upstream right overbank and downstream left and right overbanks are forested. In the study area, the Brandon Brook has an incised, sinuous channel with a slope of approximately 0.01 ft/ft, an average channel top width of 44 ft and an average bank height of 7 ft. The channel bed material ranges from gravel to cobbles with a median grain size (D50) of 84.2 mm (0.276 ft). The geomorphic assessment at the time of the Level I site visit on April 12, 1995 and Level II site visit on July 8, 1996, indicated that the reach was stable. The Town Highway 37 crossing of the Brandon Brook is a 33-ft-long, one-lane bridge consisting of a 31-foot timber-stringer span (Vermont Agency of Transportation, written communication, March 22, 1995). The opening length of the structure parallel to the bridge face is 29.6 ft. The bridge is supported by vertical, timber log cribbing abutments with wingwalls. The channel is skewed approximately 5 degrees to the opening while the computed opening-skew-to-roadway is zero

California State Waters Map Series--Offshore of Ventura, California

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Samuel Y.; Dartnell, Peter; Cochrane, Guy R.; Golden, Nadine E.; Phillips, Eleyne L.; Ritchie, Andrew C.; Kvitek, Rikk G.; Greene, H. Gary; Krigsman, Lisa M.; Endris, Charles A.; Seitz, Gordon G.; Gutierrez, Carlos I.; Sliter, Ray W.; Erdey, Mercedes D.; Wong, Florence L.; Yoklavich, Mary M.; Draut, Amy E.; Hart, Patrick E.; Johnson, Samuel Y.; Cochran, Susan A.

2013-01-01

Barbara Channel region consist of significant amounts of soft sediment and isolated areas of rocky habitat that support kelp-forest communities nearshore and rocky-reef communities in deep water. The potential marine benthic habitat types mapped in the Offshore of Ventura map area are directly related to its Quaternary geologic history, geomorphology, and active sedimentary processes. These potential habitats lie within the Shelf (continental shelf) megahabitat, dominated by a flat seafloor and substrates formed from deposition of fluvial and marine sediment during sea-level rise. This flat, fairly homogeneous seafloor, composed primarily of unconsolidated sand and mud and local deposits of gravel, cobbles, and pebbles, provides promising habitat for groundfish, crabs, shrimp, and other marine benthic organisms. The only significant interruptions to this homogeneous habitat type are exposures of hard, irregular sedimentary bedrock and coarse-grained sediment where potential habitats for rockfish and related species exist.

Level II scour analysis for Bridge 28 (STRATH00020028) on Town Highway 2, crossing the West Branch Ompompanoosuc River, Strafford, Vermont

Science.gov (United States)

Wild, Emily C.

1998-01-01

This report provides the results of a detailed Level II analysis of scour potential at structure STRATH00020028 on Town Highway 2 crossing the West Branch Ompompanoosuc River, Strafford, Vermont (figures 1–8). A Level II study is a basic engineering analysis of the site, including a quantitative analysis of stream stability and scour (FHWA, 1993). Results of a Level I scour investigation also are included in appendix E of this report. A Level I investigation provides a qualitative geomorphic characterization of the study site. Information on the bridge, gathered from Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTAOT) files, was compiled prior to conducting Level I and Level II analyses and is found in appendix D. The site is in the New England Upland section of the New England physiographic province in central Vermont. The 25.4-mi2 drainage area is in a predominantly rural and forested basin. In the vicinity of the study site, the surface cover is pasture upstream and downstream of the bridge. In the study area, the West Branch Ompompanoosuc River has a sinuous channel with a slope of approximately 0.002 ft/ft, an average channel top width of 34 ft and an average bank height of 6 ft. The channel bed material ranges from silt and clay to cobbles with a median grain size (D50) of 20.4 mm (0.0669 ft). The geomorphic assessment at the time of the Level I and Level II site visit on July 24, 1996, indicated that the reach was laterally unstable, because of moderate fluvial erosion. The Town Highway 2 crossing of the West Branch Ompompanoosuc River is a 31-ft-long, twolane bridge consisting of a 26-foot concrete tee-beam span (Vermont Agency of Transportation, written communication, October 23, 1995). The opening length of the structure parallel to the bridge face is 24.6 ft. The bridge is supported by vertical, concrete abutments with wingwalls. The channel is skewed approximately 45 degrees to the opening while the computed opening-skew-toroadway is 5 degrees. A scour hole 3

Level II scour analysis for Bridge 51 (JERITH00590051) on Town Highway 59, crossing The Creek, Jericho, Vermont

Science.gov (United States)

Wild, Emily C.

1998-01-01

This report provides the results of a detailed Level II analysis of scour potential at structure JERITH00590051 on Town Highway 59 crossing The Creek, Jericho, Vermont (figures 1– 8). A Level II study is a basic engineering analysis of the site, including a quantitative analysis of stream stability and scour (Federal Highway Administration, 1993). Results of a Level I scour investigation also are included in appendix E of this report. A Level I investigation provides a qualitative geomorphic characterization of the study site. Information on the bridge, gleaned from Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTAOT) files, was compiled prior to conducting Level I and Level II analyses and is found in appendix D. The site is in the Green Mountain section of the New England physiographic province and the Champlain section of the St. Lawrence physiographic province in northwestern Vermont. The 10.9-mi2 drainage area is in a predominantly rural and forested basin. In the vicinity of the study site, the surface cover is pasture on the left and right overbanks, upstream and downstream of the bridge while the immediate banks have dense woody vegetation. In the study area, The Creek has a sinuous channel with a slope of approximately 0.004 ft/ft, an average channel top width of 45 ft and an average bank height of 6 ft. The channel bed material ranges from silt to cobble with a median grain size (D50) of 58.6 mm (0.192 ft). The geomorphic assessment at the time of the Level I and Level II site visit on July 3, 1996, indicated that the reach was stable. The Town Highway 59 crossing of The Creek is a 33-ft-long, two-lane bridge consisting of a 28-foot steel-stringer span (Vermont Agency of Transportation, written communication, December 11, 1995). The opening length of the structure parallel to the bridge face is 26 ft. The bridge is supported by vertical, concrete abutments with wingwalls. The channel is skewed approximately 10 degrees to the opening while the computed opening

Level II scour analysis for Bridge 40 (ROCKTH00140040) on Town Highway 14, crossing the Williams River, Rockingham, Vermont

Science.gov (United States)

Burns, Ronda L.; Wild, Emily C.

1998-01-01

This report provides the results of a detailed Level II analysis of scour potential at structure ROCKTH00140040 on Town Highway 14 crossing the Williams River, Rockingham, Vermont (figures 1–8). A Level II study is a basic engineering analysis of the site, including a quantitative analysis of stream stability and scour (FHWA, 1993). Results of a Level I scour investigation also are included in appendix E of this report. A Level I investigation provides a qualitative geomorphic characterization of the study site. Information on the bridge, gleaned from Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTAOT) files, was compiled prior to conducting Level I and Level II analyses and is found in appendix D. The site is in the New England Upland section of the New England physiographic province in southeastern Vermont. The 99.2-mi2 drainage area is in a predominantly rural and forested basin. In the vicinity of the study site, the surface cover is pasture downstream of the bridge. Upstream of the bridge, the left bank is forested and the right bank is suburban. In the study area, the Williams River has an incised, sinuous channel with a slope of approximately 0.005 ft/ft, an average channel top width of 154 ft and an average bank height of 11 ft. The channel bed material ranges from silt and clay to cobble with a median grain size (D50) of 45.4 mm (0.149 ft). The geomorphic assessment at the time of the Level I and Level II site visit on September 4, 1996, indicated that the reach was stable. The Town Highway 14 crossing of the Williams River is a 106-ft-long, one-lane covered bridge consisting of two steel-beam spans with a maximum span length of 73 ft (Vermont Agency of Transportation, written communication, April 6, 1995). The opening length of the structure parallel to the bridge face is 94.5 ft. The bridge is supported by a vertical, concrete abutment with wingwalls on the left, a vertical, laid-up stone abutment on the right and a concrete pier. The channel is skewed

Level II scour analysis for Bridge 34 (ROCHTH00210034) on Town Highway 21, crossing the White River, Rochester, Vermont

Science.gov (United States)

Wild, Emily C.; Degnan, James

1997-01-01

This report provides the results of a detailed Level II analysis of scour potential at structure ROCHTH00210034 on Town Highway 21 crossing the White River, Rochester, Vermont (figures 1–8). A Level II study is a basic engineering analysis of the site, including a quantitative analysis of stream stability and scour (U.S. Department of Transportation, 1993). Results of a Level I scour investigation also are included in Appendix E of this report. A Level I investigation provides a qualitative geomorphic characterization of the study site. Information on the bridge, obtained from Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTAOT) files, was compiled prior to conducting Level I and Level II analyses and is found in Appendix D.The site is in the Green Mountain section of the New England physiographic province in central Vermont. The 74.8-mi2 drainage area is in a predominantly rural and forested basin. In the vicinity of the study site, the surface cover is suburban on the upstream and downstream left overbanks, though brush prevails along the immediate banks. On the upstream and downstream right overbanks, the surface cover is pasture with brush and trees along the immediate banks.In the study area, the White River has an incised, straight channel with a slope of approximately 0.002 ft/ft, an average channel top width of 102 ft and an average bank height of 5 ft. The channel bed material ranges from sand to cobble with a median grain size (D50) of 74.4 mm (0.244 ft). The geomorphic assessment at the time of the Level I and Level II site visit on July 23, 1996, indicated that the reach was stable.The Town Highway 21 crossing of the White River is a 72-ft-long, two-lane bridge consisting of 70-foot steel stringer span (Vermont Agency of Transportation, written communication, March 22, 1995). The opening length of the structure parallel to the bridge face is 67.0 ft. The bridge is supported by vertical, concrete abutments with wingwalls. The channel is skewed approximately 15

Level II scour analysis for Bridge 13 (LINCTH00010013) on Town Highway 1, crossing Cota Brook, Lincoln, Vermont

Science.gov (United States)

Wild, Emily C.

1998-01-01

This report provides the results of a detailed Level II analysis of scour potential at structure LINCTH00010013 on Town Highway 1 crossing Cota Brook, Lincoln, Vermont (figures 1–8). A Level II study is a basic engineering analysis of the site, including a quantitative analysis of stream stability and scour (FHWA, 1993). Results of a Level I scour investigation also are included in appendix E of this report. A Level I investigation provides a qualitative geomorphic characterization of the study site. Information on the bridge, gleaned from Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTAOT) files, was compiled prior to conducting Level I and Level II analyses and is found in appendix D. The site is in the Green Mountain section of the New England physiographic province in west-central Vermont. The 3.0-mi2 drainage area is in a predominantly rural and forested basin. In the vicinity of the study site, the surface cover is forest along the upstream right bank and brushland along the upstream left bank. Downstream of the bridge, the surface cover is pasture along the left and right banks. In the study area, Cota Brook has an sinuous channel with a slope of approximately 0.01 ft/ ft, an average channel top width of 30 ft and an average bank height of 2 ft. The channel bed material ranges from sand to cobble with a median grain size (D50) of 34.7 mm (0.114 ft). The geomorphic assessment at the time of the Level I and Level II site visit on June 10, 1996, indicated that the reach was laterally unstable due to cut-banks and wide, vegetated point bars upstream and downstream of the bridge. The Town Highway 1 crossing of Cota Brook is a 38-ft-long, two-lane bridge consisting of a 36-foot steel-stringer span (Vermont Agency of Transportation, written communication, December 14, 1995). The opening length of the structure parallel to the bridge face is 34.4 ft. The bridge is supported by vertical, concrete abutments. The channel is skewed approximately 15 degrees to the opening while

Level II scour analysis for Bridge 30 (NEWHTH00050030) on Town Highway 5, crossing the New Haven River, New Haven, Vermont

Science.gov (United States)

Burns, Ronda L.; Wild, Emily C.

1998-01-01

This report provides the results of a detailed Level II analysis of scour potential at structure NEWHTH00050030 on Town Highway 5 crossing the New Haven River, New Haven, Vermont (figures 1–8). A Level II study is a basic engineering analysis of the site, including a quantitative analysis of stream stability and scour (Federal Highway Administration, 1993). Results of a Level I scour investigation also are included in appendix E of this report. A Level I investigation provides a qualitative geomorphic characterization of the study site. Information on the bridge, gleaned from Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTAOT) files, was compiled prior to conducting Level I and Level II analyses and is found in appendix D.The site is in the Champlain section of the St. Lawrence Valley physiographic province in west-central Vermont. The 115-mi2 drainage area is in a predominantly rural and forested basin. In the vicinity of the study site, the surface cover is pasture on the right bank upstream and downstream of the bridge while the immediate banks have dense woody vegetation. The upstream left bank is also pasture. The downstream left bank is forested.In the study area, the New Haven River has an incised, sinuous channel with a slope of approximately 0.01 ft/ft, an average channel top width of 127 ft and an average bank height of 5 ft. The channel bed material ranges from silt to cobble with a median grain size (D50) of 20.4 mm (0.067 ft). The geomorphic assessment at the time of the Level I and Level II site visit on June 19, 1996, indicated that the reach was laterally unstable. The stream bends through the bridge and impacts the left bank where there is a cut bank and scour hole.The Town Highway 5 crossing of the New Haven River is a 181-ft-long, two-lane bridge consisting of four 45-ft concrete tee-beam spans (Vermont Agency of Transportation, written communication, December 15, 1995). The opening length of the structure parallel to the bridge face is 175.9 ft. The

Level II scour analysis for Bridge 34 (WWINTH00370034) on Town Highway 37, crossing Mill Brook, West Windsor, Vermont

Science.gov (United States)

Boehmler, Erick M.; Wild, Emily C.

1998-01-01

This report provides the results of a detailed Level II analysis of scour potential at structure WWINTH00370034 on Town Highway 37 crossing Mill Brook, West Windsor, Vermont (figures 1–8). A Level II study is a basic engineering analysis of the site, including a quantitative analysis of stream stability and scour (FHWA, 1993). Results of a Level I scour investigation also are included in appendix E of this report. A Level I investigation provides a qualitative geomorphic characterization of the study site. Information on the bridge, gleaned from Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTAOT) files, was compiled prior to conducting Level I and Level II analyses and is found in appendix D. The site is in the New England Upland section of the New England physiographic province in east-central Vermont. The 16.6-mi2 drainage area is in a predominantly rural and forested basin. In the vicinity of the study site, the surface cover is pasture except for the upstream left bank where there is mostly shrubs and brush. In the study area, Mill Brook has a sinuous channel with a slope of approximately 0.003 ft/ ft, an average channel top width of 52 ft and an average bank height of 5 ft. The channel bed material ranges from sand to cobbles with a median grain size (D50) of 43.4 mm (0.142 ft). The geomorphic assessment at the time of the Level I and Level II site visit on June 5, 1996, indicated that the reach was laterally unstable. Point bars were observed upstream and downstream of this site. Furthermore, slip failure of the bank material was noted downstream at a cut-bank on the left side of the channel across from a point bar. The Town Highway 37 crossing of Mill Brook is a 37-ft-long, one-lane covered bridge consisting of one 32-foot wood thru-truss span (Vermont Agency of Transportation, written communication, March 23, 1995). The opening length of the structure parallel to the bridge face is 29.6 ft. The bridge is supported by vertical, laid-up stone abutment walls with

Level II scour analysis for Bridge 15 (BOLTTH00150015) on Town Highway 15, crossing Joiner Brook, Bolton, Vermont

Science.gov (United States)

Burns, Ronda L.; Wild, Emily C.

1998-01-01

This report provides the results of a detailed Level II analysis of scour potential at structure BOLTTH00150015 on Town Highway 15 crossing Joiner Brook, Bolton, Vermont (figures 1–8). A Level II study is a basic engineering analysis of the site, including a quantitative analysis of stream stability and scour (FHWA, 1993). Results of a Level I scour investigation also are included in appendix E of this report. A Level I investigation provides a qualitative geomorphic characterization of the study site. Information on the bridge, gleaned from Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTAOT) files, was compiled prior to conducting Level I and Level II analyses and is found in appendix D. The site is in the Green Mountain section of the New England physiographic province in north central Vermont. The 9.6-mi2 drainage area is in a predominantly rural and forested basin. In the vicinity of the study site, the surface cover is pasture (lawn) downstream of the bridge and on the upstream right bank. The surface cover on the upstream left bank is shrub and brushland. In the study area, Joiner Brook has an incised, straight channel with a slope of approximately 0.01 ft/ft, an average channel top width of 61 ft and an average bank height of 7 ft. The channel bed material ranges from gravel to cobble with a median grain size (D50) of 43.6 mm (0.143 ft). The geomorphic assessment at the time of the Level I and Level II site visit on June 27, 1996, indicated that the reach was stable. The Town Highway 15 crossing of Joiner Brook is a 39-ft-long, two-lane bridge consisting of one 36-foot concrete tee-beam span (Vermont Agency of Transportation, written communication, November 3, 1995). The opening length of the structure parallel to the bridge face is 34.6 ft. The bridge is supported by nearly vertical, concrete abutments with wingwalls. The channel is skewed approximately 10 degrees to the opening while the opening-skew-to-roadway is zero degrees. A scour hole 1.5 ft deeper than the

Ecological responses of epilithic diatoms and aquatic macrophytes to fish farm pollution in a Spanish river

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Camargo, Julio A.

2007-12-01

Full Text Available We examined the ecological responses of epilithic diatoms and aquatic macrophytes to organic pollution and nutrient enrichment caused by a trout farm effluent in the upper Tajuña River (Guadalajara, Spain. Four sampling sites were selected over the study area: one site (S-1 placed upstream from the trout farm was used as a reference station; sampling sites S-2, S-3 and S-4 were set, respectively, about 10, 100 and 1000 metres downriver of the trout farm outlet. The river bottom was mainly stony with cobbles and pebbles at S-1, S-3 and S-4, but at S-2 it was covered by a thick layer of organic sediment. Although some macrophyte species (Apium nodiflorum, Groenlandia densa were either absent or fewer downstream of the farm, abundance (% coverage and diversity (number of species for the aquatic macrophyte community as a whole increased. In contrast, epilithic diatoms were completely absent at S-2, and some species (Diploneis parma, Fragilaria ulna, Gomphonema angustatum, Nitzschia dissipata were also absent at S-3 and S-4. Indeed, diatom diversity (number of species was lower at S-3 and S-4 than at S-1. However, diatom abundance (cells/cm2 was higher at S-3 and S-4 than at S-1. Biological indices for diatoms (IBD, TDI indicated a better water quality at S-1 than at S-3 and S-4, with a clear tendency to improve with distance from the fish farm. In contrast, biological indices of macrophytes (IM, IVAMG indicated a similar water quality at S-1, S-3 and S-4, but with bad water quality at S-2. We conclude that epilithic diatoms may be more useful than aquatic macrophytes for biological monitoring of fish farm pollution in fluvial ecosystems. However, as historical and seasonal factors may be relevant to understanding the distribution, abundance and diversity of primary producers in running waters, further studies on long-term seasonal changes are needed to improve the use of macrophyte and diatom indices in assessing fish farm pollution.En este trabajo

In-Tank Elutriation Test Report And Independent Assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burns, H. H.; Adamson, D. J.; Qureshi, Z. H.; Steeper, T. J.

2011-01-01

a period of decades. 2. The radionuclides were apparently either in the form of soluble compounds, like cesium, or micrometer sized particles of actinide oxides or hydroxides. 3. After the initial tank retrieval the tank contained cobble which is not conducive to elutriation. Only after the tank contents were treated with thousands of gallons of 50 wt% caustic, were the solids converted to sand which is compatible with elutriation. Discussions between SRNL and PNNL resulted in plans to test elutriation in two phases; in Phase 1 particles would be separated by differences in settling velocity in an existing scaled tank with its associated hardware and in Phase 2 additional hardware, such as a hydrocyclone, would be added downstream to separate slow settling partciels from liquid. Phase 1 of in-tank elutriation was tested for Proof of Principle in theEngineering Development Laboratory of SRNL in a 41' diameter, 87 gallon tank. The tank had been previously used as a 1/22 scale model of Hanford Waste Tank AY-102. The objective of the testing was to determine which tank operating parameters achieved the best separation between fast- and slow-settling particles. For Phase 1 testing a simulated waste tank supernatant, slow-settling particles and fast-settling particles were loaded to the scaled tank. Because this was a Proof of Principle test, readily available solids particles were used that represented fast-settling and slow-settling particles. The tank contents were agitated using rotating mixer jet pumps (MJP) which suspended solids while liquids and solids were drawn out of the tank with a suction tube. The goal was to determine the optimum hydraulic operating conditions to achieve clean separation in which the residual solids in the tank were nearly all fast-settling particles and the solids transferred out of the tank were nearly all slow-settling particles. Tests were conducted at different pump jet velocities, suction tube diameters and suction tube elevations

Characterization of water quality and biological communities, Fish Creek, Teton County, Wyoming, 2007-2011

Science.gov (United States)

Eddy-Miller, Cheryl A.; Peterson, David A.; Wheeler, Jerrod D.; Edmiston, C. Scott; Taylor, Michelle L.; Leemon, Daniel J.

2013-01-01

Wyoming. Especially in the winter, the proportionately large, continuous gain of groundwater into Fish Creek in the perennial section keeps most of the creek free of ice. Because sunlight can still reach the streambed in Fish Creek and the water is still flowing, aquatic plants continue to photosynthesize in the winter, albeit at a lower level of productivity. Additionally, the cobble and large gravel substrate in Fish Creek provides excellent attachment points for aquatic plants, and when combined with Fish Creek’s channel stability allows rapid growth of aquatic plants once conditions allow during the spring. The aquatic plant community of Fish Creek was different than most streams in Wyoming in that it contains many different macrophytes—including macroalgae such as long streamers of Cladophora, aquatic vascular plants, and moss; most other streams in the state contain predominantly algae. From the banks of Fish Creek, the bottom of the stream sometimes appeared to be a solid green carpet. A shift was observed from higher amounts of microalgae in April/May to higher amounts macrophytes in August and October, and differences in the relative abundance of microalgae and macrophytes were statistically significant between seasons. Differences in dissolved-nitrate concentrations and in the nitrogen-to-phosphorus ratio were significantly different between seasons, as concentrations of dissolved nitrate decreased from April/May to August and October. It is likely that dissolved-nitrate concentrations in Fish Creek were lower in August and October because macrophytes were quickly utilizing the nutrient, and a negative correlation between macro-phytes and nitrate was found. Macroinvertebrates also were sampled because of their role as indicators of water quality and their documented responses to perturbation such as degradation of water quality and habitat. Statistically significant seasonal differences were noted in the macroinvertebrate community. Taxa richness and

Geology, water-quality, hydrology, and geomechanics of the Cuyama Valley groundwater basin, California, 2008--12

Science.gov (United States)

Everett, Rhett; Gibbs, Dennis R.; Hanson, Randall T.; Sweetkind, Donald S.; Brandt, Justin T.; Falk, Sarah E.; Harich, Christopher R.

2013-01-01

To assess the water resources of the Cuyama Valley groundwater basin in Santa Barbara County, California, a series of cooperative studies were undertaken by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Santa Barbara County Water Agency. Between 2008 and 2012, geologic, water-quality, hydrologic and geomechanical data were collected from selected sites throughout the Cuyama Valley groundwater basin. Geologic data were collected from three multiple-well groundwater monitoring sites and included lithologic descriptions of the drill cuttings, borehole geophysical logs, temperature logs, as well as bulk density and sonic velocity measurements of whole-core samples. Generalized lithologic characterization from the monitoring sites indicated the water-bearing units in the subsurface consist of unconsolidated to partly consolidated sand, gravel, silt, clay, and occasional cobbles within alluvial fan and stream deposits. Analysis of geophysical logs indicated alternating layers of finer- and coarser-grained material that range from less than 1 foot to more than 20 feet thick. On the basis of the geologic data collected, the principal water-bearing units beneath the monitoring-well sites were found to be composed of younger alluvium of Holocene age, older alluvium of Pleistocene age, and the Tertiary-Quaternary Morales Formation. At all three sites, the contact between the recent fill and younger alluvium is approximately 20 feet below land surface. Water-quality samples were collected from 12 monitoring wells, 27 domestic and supply wells, 2 springs, and 4 surface-water sites and were analyzed for a variety of constituents that differed by site, but, in general, included trace elements; nutrients; dissolved organic carbon; major and minor ions; silica; total dissolved solids; alkalinity; total arsenic and iron; arsenic, chromium, and iron species; and isotopic tracers, including the stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen, activities of tritium, and carbon-14 abundance. Of the 39

Results of Characterization and Retrieval Testing on Tank 241-C-109 Heel Solids

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Callaway, William S.

2013-09-26

Eight samples of heel solids from tank 241-C-109 were delivered to the 222-S Laboratory for characterization and dissolution testing. After being drained thoroughly, one-half to two-thirds of the solids were off-white to tan solids that, visually, were fairly evenly graded in size from coarse silt (30-60 μm) to medium pebbles (8-16 mm). The remaining solids were mostly strongly cemented aggregates ranging from coarse pebbles (16-32 mm) to fine cobbles (6-15 cm) in size. Solid phase characterization and chemical analysis indicated that the air-dry heel solids contained ≈58 wt% gibbsite [Al(OH){sub 3}] and ≈37 wt% natrophosphate [Na{sub 7}F(PO{sub 4}){sub 2}·19H{sub 2}O]. The strongly cemented aggregates were mostly fine-grained gibbsite cemented with additional gibbsite. Dissolution testing was performed on two test samples. One set of tests was performed on large pieces of aggregate solids removed from the heel solids samples. The other set of dissolution tests was performed on a composite sample prepared from well-drained, air-dry heel solids that were crushed to pass a 1/4-in. sieve. The bulk density of the composite sample was 2.04 g/mL. The dissolution tests included water dissolution followed by caustic dissolution testing. In each step of the three-step water dissolution tests, a volume of water approximately equal to 3 times the initial volume of the test solids was added. In each step, the test samples were gently but thoroughly mixed for approximately 2 days at an average ambient temperature of 25 °C. The caustic dissolution tests began with the addition of sufficient 49.6 wt% NaOH to the water dissolution residues to provide ≈3.1 moles of OH for each mole of Al estimated to have been present in the starting composite sample and ≈2.6 moles of OH for each mole of Al potentially present in the starting aggregate sample. Metathesis of gibbsite to sodium aluminate was then allowed to proceed over 10 days of gentle mixing of the

Geomorphic response of the North Fork Stillaguamish River to the State Route 530 landslide near Oso, Washington

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Scott W.; Keith, Mackenzie K.; Magirl, Christopher S.; Wallick, J. Rose; Mastin, Mark C.; Foreman, James R.

2017-08-03

On March 22, 2014, the State Route 530 Landslide near Oso, Washington mobilized 8 million cubic meters of unconsolidated Pleistocene material, creating a valley‑spanning deposit that fully impounded the North Fork Stillaguamish River. The river overtopped the 8-meter high debris impoundment within 25 hours and began steadily incising a new channel through the center of the deposit. Repeat topographic surveys, sediment transport measurements, bedload transport models, and observations of downstream channel change were used to document the establishment of that new channel through the landslide and assess the potential for downstream aggradation or channel change that might increase downstream flood hazards.Efficient erosion of the landslide deposit, associated with the steep knickzone formed by the downstream edge of the deposit, resulted in the re-establishment of a 20–40 meters wide, deeply inset channel through the entire deposit by May 2014, 2 months after the landslide. The mean water-surface elevation of the channel through the landslide decreased 7 meters during that 2-month period, and was about 1 meter above the pre-landslide profile in July 2014. The 2014–15 flood season, which included flows near the 0.5 annual exceedance probability discharge (2-year flood), widened the channel tens of meters, and further lowered the water-surface profile 0.5 meter. The planform position evolved slowly as a result of 5–20-meter high banks predominantly composed of clay-rich, cohesive lacustrine material. Erosion of the landslide deposit delivered a total of 820 thousand metric tons of sediment to the North Fork Stillaguamish River over the 18 months following the landslide. The sediment delivery from the deposit was predominantly fine grained: 77 percent (by mass) of the eroded material was silt or clay (less than 0.063 millimeter [mm]), 19 percent sand (0.063–2 mm), and 4 percent pebbles and cobbles (greater than 2 mm).Over the 18 months following the

Hydraulic and Geomorphic Assessment of the Merced River and Historic Bridges in Eastern Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California: Sacramento, California

Science.gov (United States)

Minear, J. Toby; Wright, Scott A.

2013-01-01

grain size, was used to simulate historical conditions, and the planning scenarios were developed by altering the present-day topography. Roughness was estimated independently of measured water-surface elevations by using the mapped grain-size data and the Keulegan relation of grain size to drag coefficient. The FaSTMECH hydrodynamic model was evaluated against measured water levels by using a 130.9 m3 s-1 flow (approximately a 33-percent annual exceedance probability flood) with 36 water-surface elevations measured by YNP personnel on June 8, 2010. This evaluation run had a root mean square error of 0.21 m between the simulated- and observed water-surface elevations (less than 10 percent of depth), though the observed water-surface elevations had relatively high variation due to the strong diurnal stage changes over the course of the 4.4-hour collection period, during which discharge varied by about 15 percent. There are presently no velocity data with which to test the model. A geomorphic assessment was performed that consisted of an estimate of the magnitude and frequency of bedload and suspended-sediment transport at “Tenaya Bar”, an important gravel-cobble bar located near the upstream end of the study site that determines the amount of flow across the floodplain at the Sugar Pine – Ahwahnee bend. An analysis of select repeat cross-sections collected by YNP since the late 1980s was done to investigate changes in channel cross-sectional area near the Tenaya Bar site. The results of the FaSTMECH models indicate that the maximum velocities in the present-day channel within the study reach are associated with Stoneman and Sugar Pine Bridges, at close to 3.0 m s-1 for the 5-percent annual exceedance probability flood. The modeled maximum velocities at Ahwahnee Bridge are comparatively low, at between 1.5 and 2.0 m s-1, most likely due to the bridge's orientation parallel to down-valley floodplain flows. The results of the FaSTMECH models for the bridge removal

Ma'adim Vallis Estuarine Delta in Elysium Basin and Its Relevance as a Landing Site for Exobiology Exploration on Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Grin, E. A.; Cabrol, N. A.

1998-01-01

layers of region A are predicted frequent and abundant coarse material, sandy lenses lamination grading downward from sand to cobbles. Volcanic debris from the Noachian crustal Plateau unit material, hydrothermal altered rocks, carbonates, Hesperian and possibly Amazonian volcanic material, from Apollinaris Patera, altered rocks and carbonates from Zephiria Mensae are expected. As a favorable environment for inception of life, possible biological records are expected in transported rock, (2) At the surface, and subsurface (<=100 m), large deposits sandy to silted material from Elysium paleolake basin mixed with fine-grained sediments from Ma'adim Vallis are expected mostly in the upstream part of region B, (3) on the shoreline of the estuarine delta, abundant fine material from Elysium paleolake basin (evaporites, carbonates), mostly Amazonian in age are expected. The Ma'adini estuary is a favorable landing site for all the above mentioned science aspects, and .for its location. The site lies near the equator, which is favorable for the rover solar power supply, and at 1000m elevation, which is a favorable configuration for the descent system braking. Another advantage is the extent of the area of high scientific interest (33,000 sq km), which provides a good ellipse, and potential long study traverses.

Geology and ground-water hydrology of the Mokelumne area, California

Science.gov (United States)

Piper, A.M.; Gale, H.S.; Thomas, H.E.; Robinson, T.W.

1939-01-01

resistant breccia or agglomerate, which are presumed to have originated as mud flows. Nonfragmental andesite is not known to occur in the Mokelumne area, although several possible vents occur farther east. In the eastern part of the area the Mehrten formation truncates in turn the Valley Springs and lone formations and the pre-Cretaceous rocks; in the western part the Mehrten formation (andesitic) interfingers with the underlying Valley Springs formation (rhyolitic). Its maximum measured thickness is 400 feet. Few of the irrigation wells are so deep that they can be said with assurance to reach the Mehrten formation. The Laguna formation (Pliocene? and possibly lower Pleistocene) comprises poorly sorted, nonandesitic fluviatile sedimentary that overlie the Mehrten formation. It is inferred to be essentially parallel to and tilted equally with the Mehrten formation and to be about 400 feet thick. The Arroyo Seco gravel (presumably middle Pleistocene) veneers the Arroyo Seco pediment. At its easternmost outcrops the formation is composed of pebbles, cobbles, and boulders in a matrix of brick-red sand and silt; farther west, down the slope of the pediment, it becomes pr9gressively finer. It is inferred that the Arroyo Seco gravel is a coarse fraction of the rock waste that was transported from the Sierra Nevada after the Sierran.block was tilted in Pleistocene time. It is inferred further that the correlative of the Arroyo Seco gravel in the California Trough is a wedge-shaped mass of sediments whose base is the tilted Laguna formation and whose top can be interpolated by projecting a hypothetical surface through the remnants of the pediment. The Victor formation comprises the fluviatile sand, silt, and gravel that built the Victor alluvial plain over the hypothetical equivalent of the Arroyo' Seco gravel along the axis of the California Trough and against the western front of the dissected pediment to the east. The formation is thought to be about 100 feet thick along the

Reminiscing about thesis work with E T Jaynes at Stanford in the 1950s

Science.gov (United States)

Cummings, Frederick W.

2013-11-01

work there. I thought it sounded about right as an approximately two-three year position: repay some debts and look around at other possibilities (especially academe?). I left around June 1960 to take up this position in the research lab in Newport Beach. At about this same time (~late 1959), Ed was moving to his new 'chair' at Washington University in St Louis. I proceeded as quickly as I could to put together a thesis after arriving in Newport Beach; I wrote about what I had done, as best as I could in my naiveté about such undertakings. I wrote of the work I had done under Ed's kind and patient guidance for the two years in Palo Alto. I soon remembered that Ed had done a recent Stanford Microwave Lab report on our project; his writing was so much better than mine that I thought it witless to put out something as 'uneven' as I had written by then. At just this time that I was cobbling together a thesis, a consultant at Aeroneutronic, Jay Singer of UC Berkeley EE department, approached me in the hall, (no tele-commuting then!) asking if I might have something to contribute to a special issue of a journal of the IEEE he was editing, on the subject of 'Quantum Electronics'. (Comment: One of the earliest predecessors to the MRI, Jay Singer was then measuring the blood flow in rat tails and human arms; he holds two key MRI patents). I said I thought I did have something. The journal sounded appropriate, so I soon handed my 'thesis' to Jay, put Ed's name first (of course, since it consisted so largely of his words from the Microwave Lab report, but also since Ed was my 'guru'), ...and that was that...done [4]. From my perspective, it seemed to subsequently sink to the bottom of the sea, not to be seen by me again for many years until the elegant Walther-Rempe-Klein (WRK) experiments of 1987 on long-time coherent radiative behavior appeared [5]. They confirmed the long-time quantum-theoretical results of Eberly, Narozhny and Sanchez-Mondragon [6]. Bob Buley and I, while at

MOC's Highest Resolution View of Mars Pathfinder Landing Site

Science.gov (United States)

2000-01-01

) can be seen near the crater in the lower left corner. The texture that runs diagonally across the scene from upper left toward lower right consists of ridges created by the giant floods that washed through the Pathfinder site from Ares and/or Tiu Vallis many hundreds of millions of years ago. These ridges and the troughs between them were also seen by the Pathfinder lander; their crests often covered with boulders and cobbles (which cannot be seen at the resolution of the MOC image). The 100 m scale bar is equal to 109 yards (which can be compared with a 100 yard U.S. football field). The Mars Pathfinder landing site is located near the center of this view.The fourth picture, Figure D (above), shows a feature that was initially thought to be the Mars Pathfinder lander by MOC investigators. This and the following figures point out just how difficult it is to find a lander on the martian surface using the MGS MOC. Figure D was prepared early in the week following receipt of the new MOC image on January 17, 2000, and for several days it was believed that the lander had been found. As the subsequent two figures will show (E, and F, below), this location appears to be in error. How the features were misidentified is discussed below. Both Figure D and Figure F, showing possible locations of the Pathfinder lander in the MOC image, are enlarged by a factor of three over the intrinsic resolution of that image (that is, to a scale of 0.5 meters or about 1 ft, 7 inch per pixel). The right picture in Figure D shows sight-lines to the large horizon features--Big Crater, Twin Peaks, and North Peak--that were derived by the MOC team by looking at the images taken by the lander in 1997. After placing these lines on the overall image, there appeared to be two features close to the intersection of the sight-lines. Based upon the consistency of the size and shape of the lander as illuminated by sunlight in this image, the northern of the two candidate features (the small 'hump' at the

Effects of the earthquake of March 27, 1964, at Seward, Alaska: Chapter E in The Alaska earthquake, March 27, 1964: effects on communities

Science.gov (United States)

Lemke, Richard W.

1967-01-01

area, where the rocks consist almost entirely of graywacke and phyllite, is from near north to N. 20° E. Beds and cleavage of the rocks commonly dip 70° W. or NW. to near vertical. Locally, the rocks are complexly folded or contorted. So major faults were found in the mapped area, but small faults, shear zones, and joints are common. Surficial deposits of the area hare been divided for mapping into the following units: drift deposits, alluvial fan deposits, valley alluvium, intertidal deposits, landslide deposits, and artificial fill. Most of these units intergrade and were deposited more or less contemporaneously. The drift deposits consist chiefly of till that forms moraines along the lower flanks of the Resurrection River valley and up tributary valleys. The till is predominantly silt and sand and lesser amounts of clay-size particles, gravel, cobbles, and boulders. Glacial outwash and stratified ice-contact deposits constitute the remainder of the drift deposits. Fans and fan-deltas have been deposited at the valley mouths of tributary streams. Some, including the one upon which Seward built, project into Resurrection Bay, and deltaic-type deposits form their distal edges. The larger fans—composed chiefly of loosely compacted and poorly sorted silt, sand, and gravel—form broad aprons having low gradients. The fan deposits range in thickness from about 100 feet to possibly several hundred feet and, at least in some places, lie on a platform of compact drift. Smaller fans at the mouths of several canyons have steep gradients and considerable local relief. Valley alluvium, deposited chiefly by the Resurrection River, consists mostly of coarse sand and fine to medium gravel. In the axial part of the valley it is probably more than 100 feet thick. Near the head of Resurrection Bay, the alluvium is underlain by at least 75 feet of marine deltaic sediments, which are in turn underlain by 600 or more feet of drift in the deepest part of the bedrock valley. Beach

Preliminary assessment of channel stability and bed-material transport in the Rogue River basin, southwestern Oregon

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Krista L.; O'Connor, Jim E.; Keith, Mackenzie K.; Mangano, Joseph F.; Wallick, J. Rose

2012-01-01

This report summarizes a preliminary assessment of bed-material transport, vertical and lateral channel changes, and existing datasets for the Rogue River basin, which encompasses 13,390 square kilometers (km2) along the southwestern Oregon coast. This study, conducted to inform permitting decisions regarding instream gravel mining, revealed that: * The Rogue River in its lowermost 178.5 kilometers (km) alternates between confined and unconfined segments, and is predominately alluvial along its lowermost 44 km. The study area on the mainstem Rogue River can be divided into five reaches based on topography, hydrology, and tidal influence. The largely confined, active channel flows over bedrock and coarse bed material composed chiefly of boulders and cobbles in the Grants Pass (river kilometers [RKM] 178.5-152.8), Merlin (RKM 152.8-132.7), and Galice Reaches (RKM 132.7-43.9). Within these confined reaches, the channel contains few bars and has stable planforms except for locally wider segments such as the Brushy Chutes area in the Merlin Reach. Conversely, the active channel flows over predominately alluvial material and contains nearly continuous gravel bars in the Lobster Creek Reach (RKM 43.9-6.7). The channel in the Tidal Reach (RKM 6.7-0) is also alluvial, but tidally affected and unconfined until RKM 2. The Lobster Creek and Tidal Reaches contain some of the most extensive bar deposits within the Rogue River study area. * For the 56.6-km-long segment of the Applegate River included in this study, the river was divided into two reaches based on topography. In the Upper Applegate River Reach (RKM 56.6-41.6), the confined, active channel flows over alluvium and bedrock and has few bars. In the Lower Applegate River Reach (RKM 41.6-0), the active channel alternates between confined and unconfined segments, flows predominantly over alluvium, shifts laterally in unconfined sections, and contains more numerous and larger bars. * The 6.5-km segment of the lower

Surficial geology and geomorphology of Potter County, Pennsylvania

Science.gov (United States)

Denny, C.S.

1956-01-01

alluvium and alluvial fans include sand and sandy loams, 1 to 3 feet thick, that overlie gravel. The alluvium contains organic matter and lenses of finer materials. Thickness ranges from a few to more than 100 feet. Along the principal streams the alluvium probably overlies Pleistocene deposits. Most of the alluvial fans are composed of unstratified rubbly, pebbly, cobbly. or bouldery sandy loams to silty clay loams with local lenses of stratified sand and gravel. The alluvial fans mapped in the Genesee quadrangle probably include both Wisconsin stage and Recent deposits. The summits of the A.ppalachian Plateaus in north-central Pennsylvania have long been recognized as the remnants or traces of one or more peneplains. To test this hypothesis, a restored contour map was prepared to show the configuration of a supposed peneplain on the assumption that the plateau tops are remnants of such an old erosion surface. The restored contours delineate a surface that corresponds roughly to rock structure. In general, the uplands slope parallel to the dip of the bedrock. The major streams, such as the West Branch Susquehanna River, cross the ridges and valleys of the restored surface in such a way that it is difficult to suppose that the restored surface was ever graded to these streams. On the contrary, it is probable that the restored surface never existed and that the plateau tops are structurally controlled surfaces held up by sandstone and conglomerate beds in the Pottsville and Pocono formations. The plateau tops may have been lowered by erosion as much as 200 feet during the Pleistocene-in other words, after the major streams were incised. If this portion of the Appalachian Plateaus was ever reduced to a peneplain, such a hypothetical surface must have lain many hundreds of feet above the uplands of the present day. The only alternative that might involve peneplanation is the improbable hypothesis that the plateau tops are remnants of a slightly deformed peneplain and that the