Ephemeral rollover points and clinothem evolution in the modern Po Delta based on repeated bathymetric surveys     

Fabio Trincardi  Alessandro Amorosi  Alessandro Bosman  Annamaria Correggiari  Fantina Madricardo  Claudio Pellegrini 《Basin Research》2020,32(2):402-418

Reconstructions of ancient delta systems rely typically on a two-dimensional (2D) view of prograding clinothems but may miss their three-dimensional (3D) stratigraphic complexity which can, instead, be best documented on modern delta systems by integrating high-resolution geophysical data, historical cartography, core data and geomorphological reconstructions offshore. We quantitatively compare three precisely positioned, high-resolution multi-beam bathymetry maps in the delta front and pro delta sectors (0.3 to 10 m water depth) of Po di Pila, the most active of the modern Po Delta five branches. By investigating the detailed morphology of the prograding modern Po Delta, we shed new light on the mechanisms that control the topset to foreset transition in clinothems and show the temporal and spatial complexity of a delta and its pro delta slope, under the impact of oceanographic processes. This study documents the ephemeral nature of the rollover point at the transition between sandy topset (fluvial, delta plain to mouth-bar) and muddy seaward-dipping foreset deposits advancing, in this case, in >20 m of water depth. Three multibeam surveys, acquired between 2013 and 2016, document the complexity in space and time of the topset and foreset regions and their related morphology, a diagnostic feature that could not be appreciated using solely 2D, even very high-resolution, seismic profiles. In addition, the comparison of bathymetric surveys gathered with one-year lapses shows the migration of subaqueous sand dunes on the clinothem topset, the formation of ephemeral cut-and-fill features at the rollover point (few m below mean sea level), the presence of collapse depressions derived by sagging of sediments and fluid expulsion (possibly induced by storm waves) on the foreset, and splays of sand likely reflecting gravity flows on the lower foreset. Though the modern Po Delta is anthropogenic in many respects, its subaqueous clinothem can be studied as a scale model for ancient clinothems that are less resolved geometrically and far less constrained chronologically.  相似文献   

Area usage estimation and spatiotemporal variability in distribution patterns of southern right whales,Eubalaena australis,of southern Brazil          下载免费PDF全文

Eduardo Pires Renault‐Braga  Karina Rejane Groch  Paulo A. de Carvalho Flores  Eduardo R. Secchi  Luciano Dalla‐Rosa 《Marine Ecology》2018,39(3)

Southern right whales—Eubalaena australis (Desmoulins, 1822)—migrate seasonally from high‐latitude feeding grounds to coastal breeding and calving grounds at lower latitudes such as the southern coast of Brazil. Understanding how these whales are distributed along the coast is important for monitoring their postwhaling recovery and defining management strategies. In this study, we applied Kernel density estimators to aerial survey data to determine main occurrence and concentration areas of right whales in southern Brazil and investigate inter‐ and intra‐annual distribution patterns between 2003 and 2012. Our results show considerable variation in area usage within and among years, and changes in the general distribution pattern of right whales in the last years of the study. Intra‐annually, higher concentration area tended to expand from July to September and decrease in November. Some areas stood out as high‐density areas for right whales: Ribanceira/Ibiraquera, Itapirubá Sul/Sol, and from Arroio to Gaivota. Some evidences also suggest preferential areas for mother–calf pairs. The higher concentration area of right whales in southern Brazil was estimated at 52,541 km² and the occurrence area was 682.69 km², which is the whole study area. As right whale distribution in the region is likely expanding due to this population's current recovery, our study provides essential information for management plan of the Right Whale Environmental Protection Area.  相似文献   

The northern Patagonia Somuncura plateau basalts: a product of slab‐induced,shallow asthenospheric upwelling?     

Cristina de Ignacio  Ivan López  Roberto Oyarzun  & Alvaro Márquez 《地学学报》2001,13(2):117-121

The Meseta de Somuncura forms the largest basaltic plateau (20 000 km²) of southern Argentina (extra-Andean domain). Most of these tholeiitic to alkaline rocks were extruded at ˜ 25 Ma (late Oligocene). The absence of rifting–thinning processes, plume activity, or slab-window phenomena leaves only one major possibility for the generation of Somuncura: asthenospheric ('OIB-like') corner flow leading to a transient thermal anomaly above the subducting plate. It is suggested herein that the intake of hot asthenosphere was forced into a favourable topography (concave-up) of the subducting plate, when a major plate reorganization event (Farallon to Nazca) was taking place in late Oligocene to early Miocene time. The fast and vigorous intake of asthenosphere would have been induced by slab roll-back, leading to decoupling of the subducting plate. The Somuncura volcanic episode can be regarded as a marker of the passage from the extremely oblique subduction of Farallon, to the birth of the Nazca plate and roughly perpendicular convergence between South America and Nazca.  相似文献   

Merging of low-mass systems and the origin of the fundamental plane     

E.A. Evstigneeva  R.R. de Carvalho  A.L. Ribeiro  H.V. Capelato 《Astrophysics and Space Science》2003,284(2):487-490

We present the preliminary results of a study of how small stellar systems merge to form larger ones. As we display the families of galaxies in the μ_e - R_e plane (effective surface brightness versus effective radius) we realize that different morphological types occupy different loci, evidencing the different physical mechanisms operating in each family. As proposed by Capaccioli et al. (1992) this diagram is the logical equivalent of the HR diagram for stars. Here we take some initial steps in understanding of how we can establish the evolutionary tracks, solely due to dynamical processes, in the μ_e - R_e plane, ultimately making a dwarf elliptical to turn into a normal elliptical galaxy. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.  相似文献   

Reliability assessment of granular filters in embankment dams     

Roberto Mínguez  Fernando Delgado  Ignacio Escuder  Manuel G. de Membrillera 《国际地质力学数值与分析法杂志》2006,30(10):1019-1037

Empirical criteria have been used successfully to design filters of most embankment large dam projects throughout the world. However, these empirical rules are only applicable to a particular range of soils tested in laboratory and do not take into account the variability of the base material and filter particle sizes. In addition, it is widely accepted that the safety of fill dams is mainly dependent on the reliability of their filter performance. The work herein presented consists in a new general method for assessing the probability of fulfilling any empirical filter design criteria accounting for base and filter heterogeneity by means of first‐order reliability methods (FORM), so that reliability indexes and probabilities of fulfilling any particular criteria are obtained. This method will allow engineers to estimate the safety of existing filters in terms of probability of fulfilling their design criteria and might also be used as a decision tool on sampling needs and material size tolerances during construction. In addition, sensitivity analysis makes possible to analyse how reliabilities are influenced by different sources of input data. Finally, in case of a portfolio risk assessment, this method will allow engineers to compare the safety of several existing dams in order to prioritize safety investments and it is expected to be a very useful tool to evaluate probabilities of failure due to internal erosion. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Use of multi‐platform,multi‐temporal remote‐sensing data for calibration of a distributed hydrological model: an application in the Arno basin,Italy     

Lorenzo Campo  Francesca Caparrini  Fabio Castelli 《水文研究》2006,20(13):2693-2712

Images from satellite platforms are a valid aid in order to obtain distributed information about hydrological surface states and parameters needed in calibration and validation of the water balance and flood forecasting. Remotely sensed data are easily available on large areas and with a frequency compatible with land cover changes. In this paper, remotely sensed images from different types of sensor have been utilized as a support to the calibration of the distributed hydrological model MOBIDIC, currently used in the experimental system of flood forecasting of the Arno River Basin Authority. Six radar images from ERS‐2 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors (three for summer 2002 and three for spring–summer 2003) have been utilized and a relationship between soil saturation indexes and backscatter coefficient from SAR images has been investigated. Analysis has been performed only on pixels with meagre or no vegetation cover, in order to legitimize the assumption that water content of the soil is the main variable that influences the backscatter coefficient. Such pixels have been obtained by considering vegetation indexes (NDVI) and land cover maps produced by optical sensors (Landsat‐ETM). In order to calibrate the soil moisture model based on information provided by SAR images, an optimization algorithm has been utilized to minimize the regression error between saturation indexes from model and SAR data and error between measured and modelled discharge flows. Utilizing this procedure, model parameters that rule soil moisture fluxes have been calibrated, obtaining not only a good match with remotely sensed data, but also an enhancement of model performance in flow prediction with respect to a previous calibration with river discharge data only. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Large-scale structure in the NIR-selected MUNICS survey     

C.S. Botzler  J. Snigula  R. Bender  N. Drory  G. Feulner  G.J. Hill  U. Hopp  C. Maraston  C. Mendes de Oliveira 《Astrophysics and Space Science》2003,284(2):393-396

The Munich Near-IR Cluster Survey (MUNICS) is a wide-area, medium-deep, photometric survey selected in the K' band. The project's main scientific aims are the identification of galaxy clusters up to redshifts of unity and the selection of a large sample of field early-type galaxies up to z < 1.5 for evolutionary studies. We created a Large Scale Structure catalog, using a new structure finding technique specialized for photometric datasets, that we developed on the basis of a friends-of-friends algorithm. We tested the plausibility of the resulting galaxy group and cluster catalog with the help of Color-Magnitude Diagrams (CMD), as well as a likelihood- and Voronoi-approach. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.  相似文献   

Cosmological tensor perturbations in brane world models     

Andrew Mennim  Richard A. Battye  Carsten van de Bruck 《Astrophysics and Space Science》2003,283(4):633-638

We discuss the problems faced in trying to deduce the evolution of cosmological perturbations in brane-world models. There are two natural ways to formulate the problem: one which makes the equations of motion simple and the other which makes the boundary condition simple. Unfortunately the problem is difficult to solve, even numerically, in either formalism. We present a more phenomenological approach which, while it does not solve the problem for any given model, illustrates some generic features one might expect to see in the tensor part of the cosmic microwave background power spectrum. We find that the observed scale invariance of the cosmic microwave background provides bounds on brane world models. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.  相似文献   

Dynamical implications of Jupiter's tropospheric ammonia abundance     

Adam P. Showman  Imke de Pater 《Icarus》2005,174(1):192-204

Groundbased radio observations indicate that Jupiter's ammonia is globally depleted from 0.6 bars to at least 4-6 bars relative to the deep abundance of ∼3 times solar, a fact that has so far defied explanation. The observations also indicate that (i) the depletion is greater in belts than zones, and (ii) the greatest depletion occurs within Jupiter's local 5-μm hot spots, which have recently been detected at radio wavelengths. Here, we first show that both the global depletion and its belt-zone variation can be explained by a simple model for the interaction of moist convection with Jupiter's cloud-layer circulation. If the global depletion is dynamical in origin, then important endmember models for the belt-zone circulation can be ruled out. Next, we show that the radio observations of Jupiter's 5-μm hot spots imply that the equatorial wave inferred to cause hot spots induces vertical parcel oscillation of a factor of ∼2 in pressure near the 2-bar level, which places important constraints on hot-spot dynamics. Finally, using spatially resolved radio maps, we demonstrate that low-latitude features exceeding ∼4000 km diameter, such as the equatorial plumes and large vortices, are also depleted in ammonia from 0.6 bars to at least 2 bars relative to the deep abundance of 3 times solar. If any low-latitude features exist that contain 3-times-solar ammonia up to the 0.6-bar ammonia condensation level, they must have diameters less than ∼4000 km.  相似文献   

IUGS and the State of the Geosciences——Based on a speech delivered at the Opening Ceremony of the 32nd International Geological Congress in Florence, August 2004     

Eduardo F.J. de Mulder 《《幕》》2005,28(3):224-225

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