Late Cambrian microbial build-ups,Llano Area,Central Texas: A three-phase morphological evolution     

Pankaj Khanna  Heath H. Hopson  André W. Droxler  Dylan A. Droxler  Daniel Lehrmann  Brian Kubik  Jacob Proctor  Pulkit Singh  Paul M. Harris 《Sedimentology》2020,67(2):1135-1160

Although Late Cambrian microbial build-ups were recognized in the Point Peak Member of the Wilberns Formation in Central Texas (USA) nearly 70 years ago, only a few studies focused specifically on the build-ups themselves. This study focuses on the interpretation of the regional (15 measured sections described in literature representing an area of 8000 km²) and local (field and drone photogrammetry studies in a 25 km² area from within south Mason County) microbial build-up occurrence, describes their growth phases and details their interactions with the surrounding inter-build-up sediments. The study establishes the occurrence of microbial build-ups in the lower and upper Point Peak members (the Point Peak Member is informally broken up into the lower Point Peak and the upper Point Peak members separated by Plectotrophia zone). The lower Point Peak Member consists of three <1 m thick microbial bioherms and biostrome units, in addition to heterolithic and skeletal/ooid grainstone and packstone beds. One, up to 14 m thick, microbial unit associated with inter-build-up skeletal and ooid grainstone and packstone beds, intercalated with mixed siliciclastic–carbonate silt beds, characterizes the upper Point Peak member. The microbial unit in the upper Point Peak member displays a three-phase growth evolution, from an initial colonization phase on flat based, rip-up clast lenses, to a second aggradation and lateral expansion phase, into a third well-defined capping phase. The ultimate demise of the microbial build-ups is interpreted to have been triggered by an increase of water turbidity caused by a sudden influx of fine siliciclastics. The lower Point Peak member represents inner ramp shallow subtidal and intertidal facies and the upper Point Peak member corresponds to mid-outer ramp subtidal facies. Understanding the morphological architecture and depositional context of these features is of importance for identifying signatures of early life on Earth.  相似文献   

Evolution of permafrost in China during the last 20 ka     

Jin  Huijun  Jin  Xiaoying  He  Ruixia  Luo  Dongliang  Chang  Xiaoli  Wang  Shaoling  Marchenko  Sergey S  Yang  Sizhong  Yi  Chaolu  Li  Shijie  Harris  Stuart A 《中国科学:地球科学(英文版)》2019,62(8):1207-1223

The formation and evolution of permafrost in China during the last 20 ka were reconstructed on the basis of large amount of paleo-permafrost remains and paleo-periglacial evidence, as well as paleo-glacial landforms, paleo-flora and paleofauna records. The results indicate that, during the local Last Glacial Maximum(LLGM) or local Last Permafrost Maximum(LLPMax), the extent of permafrost of China reached 5.3×106-5.4×106 km2, or thrice that of today, but permafrost shrank to only0.80×106-0.85×106 km2, or 50% that of present, during the local Holocene Megathermal Period(LHMP), or the local Last Permafrost Minimum(LLPMin). On the basis of the dating of periglacial remains and their distributive features, the extent of permafrost in China was delineated for the two periods of LLGM(LLPMax) and LHMP(LLPMin), and the evolution of permafrost in China was divided into seven periods as follows:(1) LLGM in Late Pleistocene(ca. 20000 to 13000-10800 a BP)with extensive evidence for the presence of intensive ice-wedge expansion for outlining its LLPMax extent;(2) A period of dramatically changing climate during the early Holocene(10800 to 8500-7000 a BP) when permafrost remained relatively stable but with a general trend of shrinking areal extent;(3) The LHMP in the Mid-Holocene(8500-7000 to 4000-3000 a BP)when permafrost degraded intensively and extensively, and shrank to the LLPMin;(4) Neoglaciation during the late Holocene(4000-3000 to 1000 a BP, when permafrost again expanded;(5) Medieval Warming Period(MWP) in the late Holocene(1000-500 a BP) when permafrost was in a relative decline;(6) Little Ice Age(LIA) in the late Holocene(500-100 a BP), when permafrost relatively expanded, and;(7) Recent warming(during the 20 th century), when permafrost continuously degraded and still is degrading. The paleo-climate, geography and paleopermafrost extents and other features were reconstructed for each of these seven periods.  相似文献   

Frontiers and route‐ways from Europe: the Early Middle Palaeolithic of Britain          下载免费PDF全文

Nick Ashton  Claire R. E. Harris  Simon G. Lewis 《第四纪科学杂志》2018,33(2):194-211

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A method for uncertainty constraint of catchment discharge and phosphorus load estimates          下载免费PDF全文

Michael J. Hollaway  Keith J. Beven  Clare Mc W. H. Benskin  Adrian L. Collins  Robert Evans  Peter D. Falloon  Kirsty J. Forber  Kevin M. Hiscock  Ron Kahana  Christopher J. A. Macleod  Mary C. Ockenden  Martha L. Villamizar  Catherine Wearing  Paul J. A. Withers  Jian G. Zhou  Nicholas J. Barber  Philip M. Haygarth 《水文研究》2018,32(17):2779-2787

River discharge and nutrient measurements are subject to aleatory and epistemic uncertainties. In this study, we present a novel method for estimating these uncertainties in colocated discharge and phosphorus (P) measurements. The “voting point”‐based method constrains the derived stage‐discharge rating curve both on the fit to available gaugings and to the catchment water balance. This helps reduce the uncertainty beyond the range of available gaugings and during out of bank situations. In the example presented here, for the top 5% of flows, uncertainties are shown to be 139% using a traditional power law fit, compared with 40% when using our updated “voting point” method. Furthermore, the method is extended to in situ and lab analysed nutrient concentration data pairings, with lower uncertainties (81%) shown for high concentrations (top 5%) than when a traditional regression is applied (102%). Overall, for both discharge and nutrient data, the method presented goes some way to accounting for epistemic uncertainties associated with nonstationary physical characteristics of the monitoring site.  相似文献   

North American Earth Science Megaproject Continuum, Part 1: LITHOPROBE (1984-2005)     

Ron M. Clowes 《《地质学报》英文版》2018,92(Z1):27-28

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Shaking table tests of a resilient bridge system with precast reinforced concrete columns equipped with springs     

Natalia Reggiani Manzo  Michalis F. Vassiliou  Harris Mouzakis  Efstratios Badogiannis 《地震工程与结构动力学》2022,51(1):213-239

This paper presents the shake table test results of a novel system for the design of precast reinforced concrete bridges. The specimen comprises a slab and four precast columns. The connections are dry and the columns are connected to the slab by an ungrouted tendon. One of the tendon ends is anchored above the slab, in series with a stack of washer springs, while the other end is anchored at the bottom of the column. The addition of such a flexible restraining system increases the stability of the system, while keeping it relatively flexible allowing it to experience negative post-uplift stiffness. It is a form of seismic isolation. Anchoring the tendon within the column, caps the design moment of the foundation, and reduces its size. One hundred and eighty-one shake table tests were performed. The first 180 caused negligible damage to the specimen, mainly abrasion at the perimeter of the column top ends. Hence, the system proved resilient. The 181^st excitation caused collapse, because the tendons unexpectedly failed at a load less than 50% of their capacity (provided by the manufacturer), due to the failure of their end socket. This highlights the importance of properly designing the tendons. The tests were used to statistically validate a rigid body model. The model performed reasonably well never underestimating the median displacement response of the center of mass of the slab by more than 30%. However, the model cannot predict the torsion rotation of the slab that was observed in the tests and is due to imperfections.  相似文献   

Stable isotope constraints on the fluid source of hydrothermal breccia pipes in the Tankwa Karoo depocentre,South Africa: Breakdown of authigenic minerals during sill intrusion     

Chris Harris  Nonkululeko Buthelezi  Beth Kahle  Richard Kahle  Kathlego Ramahala  George Smith 《Basin Research》2019,31(1):114-135

The Karoo Basin covers much of South Africa and is an area of prospective shale gas exploration, with the Whitehill Formation the target shale unit. However, the sedimentary succession, including the Whitehill, has been intruded by a series of sills and dykes associated with the Karoo Large Igneous Province (~183 Ma), which are expected to have modified the thermal history of the basin dramatically. Here, we investigate a secondary effect of these intrusions: a series of hydrothermal vent complexes, or breccia pipes, focusing on using O, H, and C isotopes to constrain the origin and evolution of fluids produced during the intrusion of basaltic sills. A cluster of breccia pipes have been eroded down to the level of the Ecca Group at Luiperdskop on the western edge of the Karoo basin; a small isolated pipe of similar appearance crops out 13 km to the east. The Luiperdskop pipes are underlain by a Karoo dolerite sill that is assumed to provide the heat driving fluidization. The pipes consist of fine‐grained matrix and about 8% clasts, on average, of mostly sedimentary material; occasional large rafts of quartzite and dolerite are also present. The presence of clasts apparently from the Dwyka Group is consistent with the depth of formation of the pipes being at, or near, the base of the Karoo Supergroup, between 400 and 850 m below present surface. The presence of chlorite as the dominant hydrous mineral is consistent with an emplacement temperature between 300 and 350°C. The major and trace element, and O‐ and H‐isotope composition of the Tankwa breccias is homogenous, consistent with them being derived from the same source. The δ¹⁸O values (vsVSMOW) of the breccias are relatively uniform (7.1‰–8.7‰), and are similar to that of the country rock shale, and both are lower than expected for shale. The water content of the breccia is between 2.7 and 3.1 wt.% and the δD values range from ?109‰ to ?144‰. Calcite in vesicles has δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O (VSMOW) values of ?4.2‰ and 24.0‰, respectively. The low δD value of the breccia rocks does not appear to be due to the presence of methane in the fluid. Instead, it is proposed that low δD and δ¹⁸O values are the result of the fluid being derived from the breakdown of clay minerals that formed and were deposited at a time of cold climate at ~290 Ma.  相似文献   

Evaluating a process‐based model for use in streambank stabilization: insights on the Bank Stability and Toe Erosion Model (BSTEM)          下载免费PDF全文

Kate Klavon  Garey Fox  Lucie Guertault  Eddy Langendoen  Holly Enlow  Ron Miller  Anish Khanal 《地球表面变化过程与地形》2017,42(1):191-213

Streambank retreat is a complex cyclical process involving subaerial processes, fluvial erosion, seepage erosion, and geotechnical failures and is driven by several soil properties that themselves are temporally and spatially variable. Therefore, it can be extremely challenging to predict and model the erosion and consequent retreat of streambanks. However, modeling streambank retreat has many important applications, including the design and assessment of mitigation strategies for stream revitalization and stabilization. In order to highlight the current complexities of modeling streambank retreat and to suggest future research areas, this paper reviewed one of the most comprehensive streambank retreat models available, the Bank Stability and Toe Erosion Model (BSTEM), which has recently been integrated with several popular hydrodynamic and sediment transport models including the Hydrologic Engineering Center's River Analysis System (HEC‐RAS). The objectives of this paper were to: (i) comprehensively review studies that have utilized BSTEM and report their findings, (ii) address the limitations of the model so that it can be applied appropriately in its current form, and (iii) suggest directions of research that will help make the model a more useful tool in future applications. The paper includes an extensive overview of peer reviewed studies to guide future users of BSTEM. The review demonstrated that the model needs further testing and evaluation outside of the central United States. Also, further development is needed in terms of accounting for spatial and temporal variability in geotechnical and fluvial erodibility parameters, incorporating subaerial processes, and accounting for the influence of riparian vegetation on streambank pore‐water pressure dynamics, applied shear stress, and erodibility parameters. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Incorporating climate change and morphological uncertainty into coastal change hazard assessments     

Heather M. Baron  Peter Ruggiero  Nathan J. Wood  Erica L. Harris  Jonathan Allan  Paul D. Komar  Patrick Corcoran 《Natural Hazards》2015,75(3):2081-2102

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Bandpass calibration of a wideband spectrometer using coherent pulse injection     

Nipanjana Patra  Justin D. Bray  Paul Roberts  Ron D. Ekers 《Experimental Astronomy》2017,43(2):119-129

We present a relatively simple time domain method for determining the bandpass response of a system by injecting a nanosecond pulse and capturing the system voltage output. A pulse of sub-nanosecond duration contains all frequency components with nearly constant amplitude up to 1 GHz. Hence, this method can accurately determine the system bandpass response to a broadband signal. In a novel variation on this impulse response method, a train of pulses is coherently accumulated providing precision calibration with a simple system. The basic concept is demonstrated using a pulse generator-accumulator setup realised in a Bedlam board which is a high speed digital signal processing unit. The same system was used at the Parkes radio telescope between 2–13 October 2013 and we demonstrate its powerful diagnostic capability. We also present some initial test data from this experiment.  相似文献