the localized role of base level lowering on channel adjustment of tributary streams in the trinity river basin downstream of livingston dam texas usa the purpose of this study is to describe and explain river channel cross sectional change in tributary streams within the 60 km scour zone of the trinity river texas downstream of livingston dam this study investigates changes within the tributary systems to base level changes triggered by incision associated with scour and channel migration within the dammed trunk stream the dam represents a precise moment and place of a system perturbation and therefore represents an opportunistic geomorphic experiment geomorphological effects of the lower trinity river tributaries were investigated through three different types of data resurveys of bridge cross sections planform change as measured from aerial photographs and field mapping of changes in channel geometry using fallen trees undercut banks and other geomorphic indicators of change while field evidence of channel change was found at sites well upstream of tributary confluences with the trinity these were not consistent with responses to lower base level downcutting and lateral changes in response to lowered base level were confined to lower tributary reaches this suggests distance decay and lag times in transmission of responses upstream and or masking of dam induced effects by other processes and controls the most dynamic locations of geomorphic change are near the confluences of the tributaries with the trinity river where the response to dam induced incision is strongly influenced by local trunk stream morphology indicating a high degree of historical and geographical contingency

some effects of human modifications on sand bed channels in southwestern mississippi u s a this study examines the effects of land use changes and channel foreshortening on the sediment regime and channel morphology of two sand bed rivers in southwestern mississippi historical data including sequences of channel surveys at various bridge sites document the impact of these human modifications land use changes caused an increase in point bar size but this trend was found to be reversed as the result of conservation and reforestation practices channel foreshortening has produced a knickpoint that has migrated 50 km upriver river response to this disturbance included 5 m of channel incision a 4 5 fold increase in bankfull width and a fourfold increase in point bar size

persistent solar influence on north atlantic climate during the holocene surface winds and surface ocean hydrography in the subpolar north atlantic appear to have been influenced by variations in solar output through the entire holocene the evidence comes from a close correlation between inferred changes in production rates of the cosmogenic nuclides carbon 14 and beryllium 10 and centennial to millennial time scale changes in proxies of drift ice measured in deep sea sediment cores a solar forcing mechanism therefore may underlie at least the holocene segment of the north atlantic9s 1500 year cycle the surface hydrographic changes may have affected production of north atlantic deep water potentially providing an additional mechanism for amplifying the solar signals and transmitting them globally

rapid changes of glacial climate simulated in a coupled climate model abrupt changes in climate termed dansgaard oeschger and heinrich events have punctuated the last glacial period approximately 100 10 kyr ago but not the holocene the past 10 kyr here we use an intermediate complexity climate model to investigate the stability of glacial climate and we find that only one mode of atlantic ocean circulation is stable a cold mode with deep water formation in the atlantic ocean south of iceland however a warm circulation mode similar to the present day atlantic ocean is only marginally unstable and temporary transitions to this warm mode can easily be triggered this leads to abrupt warm events in the model which share many characteristics of the observed dansgaard oeschger events for a large freshwater input such as a large release of icebergs the model s deep water formation is temporarily switched off causing no strong cooling in greenland but warming in antarctica as is observed for heinrich events our stability analysis provides an explanation why glacial climate is much more variable than holocene climate

incorporation of bed texture into a channel evolution model abstract channel evolution models cem have been developed to qualitatively describe the morphological adjustments of channels undergoing incision but the grain size of the river bed material has not been addressed in existing evolution models herein bed material grain size is incorporated into an existing cem to describe the sequence of grain size changes the analysis is based on the data from bed material that were available from a 1986 sampling program in northwestern mississippi samples were taken along three sand and gravel bed channels at 300 m intervals to provide a comparable data set sampling was repeated in 1996 observed longitudinal grain size distributions were highly variable in space and time overall downstream fining trends were absent bed texture in incising channels is as dynamic as channel morphology with composition shifting from a mixture dominated by sand to one dominated by gravel or vice versa within a decade or less the modified cem predicted direction of changes in grain size in a meandering incising channel but not within two straightened incising channels most likely due to the complex influence of upstream and lateral sediment sources bed and bank erosion we suggest that over the temporal 10 years and spatial scales 10 to 20 km of this study sediment sources are the dominant factor in the development of longitudinal grain size distributions

modeling north american freshwater runoff through the last glacial cycle the northern hemisphere ice sheets decayed rapidly during deglacial phases of the ice age cycle producing meltwater fluxes that may have been of sufficient magnitude to perturb oceanic circulation the continental record of ice sheet history is more obscured during the growth and advance of the last great ice sheets ca 120 000 20 000 yr b p but ice cores tell of high amplitude millennial scale climate fluctuations that prevailed throughout this period these climatic excursions would have provoked significant fluctuation of ice sheet margins and runoff variability whenever ice sheets extended to mid latitudes giving a complex pattern of freshwater delivery to the oceans a model of continental surface hydrology is coupled with an ice dynamics model simulating the last glacial cycle in north america meltwater discharged from ice sheets is either channeled down continental drainage pathways or stored temporarily in large systems of proglacial lakes that border the retreating ice sheet margin the coupled treatment provides quantitative estimates of the spatial and temporal patterns of freshwater flux to the continental margins results imply an intensified surface hydrological environment when ice sheets are present despite a net decrease in precipitation during glacial periods diminished continental evaporation and high levels of meltwater production combine to give mid latitude runoff values that are highly variable through the glacial cycle but are two to three times in excess of modern river fluxes drainage to the north atlantic via the st lawrence hudson and mississippi river catchments averages 0 356 sv for the period 60 000 10 000 yr b p compared to 0 122 sv for the past 10 000 yr high amplitude meltwater pulses to the gulf of mexico north atlantic and north pacific occur throughout the glacial period with ice sheet geometry controlling intricate patterns of freshwater routing variability runoff from north america is staged in the final deglaciation with a stepped sequence of pulses through the mississippi st lawrence arctic and hudson strait drainages

strong coherence between solar variability and the monsoon in oman between 9 and 6 kyr ago variations in the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth are thought to influence climate but the extent of this influence on timescales of millennia to decades is unclear a number of climate records show correlations between solar cycles and climate1 but the absolute changes in solar intensity over the range of decades to millennia are small2 and the influence of solar flux on climate is not well established the formation of stalagmites in northern oman has recorded past northward shifts of the intertropical convergence zone3 whose northward migration stops near the southern shoreline of arabia in the present climate4 here we present a high resolution record of oxygen isotope variations for the period from 9 6 to 6 1 kyr before present in a th u dated stalagmite from oman the 18o record from the stalagmite which serves as a proxy for variations in the tropical circulation and monsoon rainfall allows us to make a direct comparison of the 18o record with the 14c record from tree rings5 which largely reflects changes in solar activity6 7 the excellent correlation between the two records suggests that one of the primary controls on centennial to decadal scale changes in tropical rainfall and monsoon intensity during this time are variations in solar radiation

modeling the effect of freshwater pulses on the early holocene climate the influence of high frequency climate variability freshwater 4 67 10 14 m 3 into the labrador sea at three different constant rates 1 5 sv 1 sv 1 10 6 m 3 s 1 i n 10 years 0 75 sv in 20 years and 0 3 sv in 50 years for each rate five ensemble experiments have been performed varying in initial conditions the freshwater pulses produce a weakening of the thermohaline circulation the perturbed state is in agreement with proxy evidence for the 8 2 ka event two types of recovery of the thermohaline circulation occurred differing in time scale 1 200 years and 2 200 years in the experiments with 10 year and 20 year pulses both types of recovery were observed this suggests that the model response is unpredictable in the range of parameters studied here it is hypothesized that the unpredictability is associated with annual to decadal climate variability our results demonstrate that several types of recovery may exist with the same kind of perturbation the interpretation of events observed in proxy data may be thus more complex than realized until now since the magnitude and duration of climatic events caused by freshwater pulses is likely to depend strongly on nonlinear dynamics inside the coupled atmosphere sea ice ocean system index terms 3344 meteorology and atmospheric dynamics paleoclimatology 4255 oceanography general numerical modeling 4532 oceanography physical general circulation 4215 oceanography general climate and interannual variability 3309 9325 information related to geographic region atlantic ocean keywords holocene thermohaline circulation predictability meltwater coupled climate model

holocene climatic instability a prominent widespread event 8200 yr ago the most prominent holocene climatic event in greenland ice core proxies with approximately half the amplitude of the younger dryas occurred 8000 to 8400 yr ago this holocene event affected regions well beyond the north atlantic basin as shown by synchronous increases in windblown chemical indicators together with a significant decrease in methane widespread proxy records from the tropics to the north polar regions show a short lived cool dry or windy event of similar age the spatial pattern of terrestrial and marine changes is similar to that of the younger dryas event suggesting a role for north atlantic thermohaline circulation possible forcings identified thus far for this holocene event are small consistent with recent model results indicating high sensitivity and strong linkages in the climatic system

morphological evolution of a rural headwater stream after channelisation in recent decades stream valleys have been profoundly modified by the construction of weirs and dams and by channelisation channelisation modifies the morphology of streams and induces changes in their energy regime and sediment transport capacity these types of changes in the channel morphology have to be quantified to allow the implementation of management strategies to regulate sediment transfer however studies over an entire stream using historical comparisons remain scarce and the associated uncertainties have not yet been resolved in this study the sedimentary response to channelisation on a medium time scale 42 years of a french river known as the ligoire is investigated this river is the main channel of a small rural headwater catchment that has been channelised over 21 km we have used the historical cross sections before and after channelisation and the current ones and the objectives of this study were as follows 1 to develop a methodology of cross section superposition and the associated uncertainties 2 to quantify the erosion and aggradation processes in the bed and on the banks along the bed profile and 3 to calculate a sediment budget for the entire stream and determine the relative contributions of the banks and the streambed to this budget a comparison of the cross sections before and after the channelisation shows that the morphology of the stream has been completely altered the main channel length was reduced by 10 the bankfull width was increased on average by 63 and the slopes were smoothed a total of 60 000 m3 of sediments was excavated during the channelisation works our results indicate that erosion is the dominant process over 63 of its length the streambed was incised by 0 41 m on average and over 60 of its length the banks were eroded by 0 20 m on average the successive patterns of erosion and deposition along the stream are the result of the cumulative effects of channelisation and of the presence of weirs and artificial knickpoints in the ligoire channel the vertical uncertainty of the elevation of the historical cross section is an important parameter for controlling the areas and sediment budget values using monte carlo methods we found that 1000 sediment budgets from different profile shiftings are necessary to obtain a variation coefficient below 0 1 the overall mean stream sediment budget for the period 1970 2012 is 9358 412 m3 with 66 originating from the banks and 34 from the streambed relative to the ligoire watershed surface the stream sediment yield is 2 71 0 12 m3 km 2 y 1 the approach developed in this study is easily replicable and relatively cheap and provides an integrated quantified overview of the morphological adjustments after channelisation works on a stream

oxygen isotope and palaeotemperature records from six greenland ice core stations camp century dye 3 grip gisp2 renland and northgrip oxygen isotope variations spanning the last glacial cycle and the holocene derived from ice core records for six sites in greenland camp century dye 3 grip gisp2 renland and northgrip show strong similarities this suggests that the dominant influence on oxygen isotope variations reflected in the ice sheet records was regional climatic change differences in detail between the records probably reflect the effects of basal deformation in the ice as well as geographical gradients in atmospheric isotope ratios palaeotemperature estimates have been obtained from the records using three approaches i inferences based on the measured relationship between mean annual 18o of snow and of mean annual surface temperature over greenland ii modelled inversion of the borehole temperature profile constrained either by the dated isotopic profile or iii by using monte carlo simulation techniques the third of these approaches was adopted to reconstruct holocene temperature variations for the dye 3 and grip temperature profiles which yields remarkably compatible results a new record of holocene isotope variations obtained from the northgrip ice core matches the grip short term isotope record and also shows similar long term trends to the dye 3 and grip inverted temperature data the northgrip isotope record reflects i a generally stronger isotopic signal than is found in the grip record ii several short lived temperature fluctuations during the first 1500 yr of the holocene iii a marked cold event at ca 8 2 ka the 8 2 ka event iv optimum temperatures for the holocene between ca 8 6 and 4 3 ka a signal that is 0 6 stronger than for the grip profile v a clear signal for the little ice age and vi a clear signal of climate warming during the last century these data suggest that the northgrip stable isotope record responded in a sensitive manner to temperature fluctuations during the holocene copyright 2001 john wiley sons ltd

the evolution of the shiwanghe river valley in response to the yellow river incision in the hukou area shaanxi china abstract tributary response to mainstream incision is an important landscape evolution process the objective of this study is to examine tributary valley evolution in response to mainstream incision the shiwanghe river a tributary of the yellow river in the hukou area was chosen for a case study the terraces and knickpoints of the shiwanghe river were investigated and correlated to those of the mainstream optically stimulated luminescence osl was applied to date fluvial terraces longitudinal profiles of river and terraces were used to analyze valley evolution the terrace sequence of the shiwanghe river near their confluence is almost identical to the yellow river terraces at the hukou area this suggests that terrace formations of the tributary and the mainstream are synchronous and influenced by similar factors but the formation age of the same tributary terrace varies from downstream to the upper reaches of the river valley for such terraces their formation should be controlled by knickpoint migration a sudden drop in base level caused by the yellow river incision would trigger the formation of a knickpoint in the tributary a new terrace would be formed as the knickpoint propagated upstream throughout the tributary valley due to the different erodibility of bedrock a set of interbedded sandstone and shale the major knickpoint would disassemble into a cluster of small ones during its propagation the age of terrace formation with various valley segments depends on knickpoint migration rate and distance from the confluence vertical incision of the yellow river results in knickpoint recession of its tributaries the migration rate of knickpoints was affected by climate lithologic variation and to some extent structural control

abrupt climate oscillations during the last deglaciation in central north america evidence from stable isotopes and a variety of proxies from two ontario lakes demonstrate that many of the late glacial to early holocene events that are well known from the north atlantic seaboard such as the gerzensee killarney oscillation also known as the intra allerod cold period younger dryas and preboreal oscillation also occurred in central north america these results thus imply that climatic forcing acted in the same manner in both regions and that atmospheric circulation played an important role in the propagation of these events

delta15n measurements as a calibration tool for the paleothermometer and gas ice age differences a case study for the 8200 b p event on grip ice isotopic composition measurement on atmospheric nitrogen 15n trapped in ice cores is established as a gravitational enrichment indicator recently it was discovered that thermal diffusion has a significant influence on this parameter during periods of large temperature fluctuations severinghaus et al 1998 here we present results for the 8200 b p event the largest temperature excursion during the holocene which underpin this view and extend it to medium range temperature changes the thermal diffusion component is about one third of the gravitational enrichment for this event the shortness of this cooling event does not significantly affect the gravitational enrichment as documented by rather constant close off depths therefore the 15n residuals can be directly used to estimate temperature changes hence calibrating the paleothermometer since our 15n record can resolve temperature variations as short as a few decades it complements the calibration technique of borehole temperature measurements for which the resolution decreases rapidly with increasing age we obtained a relation 18oice temperature of 0 30 0 11 k which agrees nicely with the temporal dependence for cold periods about 0 30 k and is significantly lower than today s greenland spatial relation 0 67 k this corresponds to a range of the surface temperature shift for the 8200 b p event in central greenland between 5 4 and 11 7 k with a best estimate of 7 4 k by matching the 15n variations with 18oice variations we estimate the mean gas ice age difference to be 209 15 years which is in good agreement with model estimates

simulation of abrupt climate change induced by freshwater input to the north atlantic ocean temperature records from greenland ice cores1 2 suggest that large and abrupt changes of north atlantic climate occurred frequently during both glacial and postglacial periods one example is the younger dryas cold event broecker3 speculated that these changes result from rapid changes in the thermohaline circulation of the atlantic ocean which were caused by the release of large amounts of melt water from continental ice sheets here we describe an attempt to explore this intriguing phenomenon using a coupled ocean atmosphere model in response to a massive surface flux of fresh water to the northern north atlantic of the model the thermohaline circulation weakens abruptly intensifies and weakens again followed by a gradual recovery generating episodes that resemble the abrupt changes of the ocean atmosphere system recorded in ice and deep sea cores4 the associated change of surface air temperature is particularly large in the northern north atlantic ocean and its neighbourhood but is relatively small in the rest of the world

a comparison of average rates of alluvial erosion between the south western and south eastern united states alluvial channel bed incision and bank widening have been reported in both the south western and south eastern us throughout the past century distinct regional differences in climate and landscape properties likely influence the rate of erosion this study discusses regional differences in hydraulic driving forces and substrate resistance and tests the hypothesis that regional differences exist in average rates of channel incision bank erosion and knickpoint retreat specifically we hypothesize that erosion rates are higher in south western us streams and reason that this is because of greater flood magnitudes and limited substrate resistance a review of the literature documenting incision bank erosion and knickpoint retreat however indicates that intra regional differences are larger than inter regional differences and that average rates in the south western us are either statistically similar or less than the rates in parts of the south eastern us this could either be a result of strong intra regional hydroclimatic and substrate variability or because average erosion rate may not be an appropriate metric for inter regional comparisons because of the variability between case studies associated with the field methods to measure erosion duration of study period and time since disturbance to the channel nevertheless these findings provide a basis for future evaluations of the relative importance of different controls on driving and resisting forces in these and other landscapes characterized by rapid channel incision and arroyo formation copyright 2010 john wiley sons ltd

freshwater outbursts to the oceans from glacial lake agassiz and their role in climate change during the last deglaciation abstract lake agassiz was the largest lake in north america during the last deglaciation as the laurentide ice sheet lis retreated large volumes of water stored in this proglacial lake were episodically released into the oceans these waters were variably routed to the gulf of mexico arctic ocean north atlantic ocean and hudson bay during this period the three largest cooling events in the northern hemisphere closely followed 4 of the 5 largest outbursts from lake agassiz 1 the younger dryas which was preceded by a release of 9500 km 3 2 the preboreal oscillation preceded by releases of 9300 km 3 and 5900 km 3 and 3 the 8 2 ka cold event preceded by a 163 000 km 3 outburst these are respectively fluxes of 0 30 sv 0 29 sv 0 19 sv and 5 2 sv if released in 1 year because the influx of freshwater reaching the north atlantic ocean can inhibit thermohaline circulation partly depending on whether the ocean was in a glacial interglacial or transitional mode of circulation we believe that at least these large outbursts from lake agassiz may have provided the triggers for changes in ocean circulation and in turn for widespread climate change

early holocene change in atmospheric circulation in the northern great plains an upstream view of the 8 2 ka cold event elk lake in northwestern minnesota contains numerous proxy records of climatic and environmental change contained in varved sediments with annual resolution for the last 10 000 years these proxies show that about 8200 calendar years ago 8 2 cal ka 7300 radiocarbon years elk lake went froma well stratified lake that was wind protected in a boreal forest to a wellmixed lake in open prairie savanna receiving northwesterly wind blown dust probably from the dry floor of lake agassiz this change in climate marks the initiation of the widely recognized mid holocene altithermal in central north america the coincidence of this change with the so called 8 2 cal ka cold event recognized in ice core and other records fromthe circum north atlantic and thought by some to be caused by catastrophic discharge of freshwater from proglacial lakes agassiz and ojibway suggests that the two events might be related our interpretation of the elk lake proxy records and of other records from less accurately dated sites suggests that change in climate over north america was the result of a fundamental change in atmospheric circulation in response to marked changes in the relative proportions of land water and especially glacial ice in north america during the early holocene this change in circulation probably post dates the final drainage of proglacial lakes along the southern margin of the laurentide ice sheet and may have produced a minor perturbation in climate over greenland that resulted in a brief cold pulse detected in ice cores r 2002 elsevier science ltd all rights reserved

temporal geographical meltwater influences on the north atlantic conveyor implications for the younger dryas the temporal and geographical roles of meltwater discharge from the laurentide ice sheet on north atlantic deep water nadw production are investigated utilizing a global realistic geometry coupled climate model which does not require the use of flux adjustments model results suggest that preconditioning by meltwater discharge to the mississippi prior to the younger dryas yd is capable of pushing nadw beyond the limit of its sustainability the diversion of meltwater to the st lawrence then merely serves to completely inhibit nadw production the modeled change in surface air temperature generally agrees with the global pattern and magnitude of temperature change seen in paleoclimatic reconstructions of the yd and is intimately linked to changes in nadw formation the global thermohaline circulation provides an interhemispheric teleconnection with the southern oceans while changes in the atmospheric heat transport reacting to a global redistribution of oceanic heat transport provide a mechanism for interbasin teleconnection although the primary thermodynamic and hydrological cycle feedback processes are included within the atmospheric model in the absence of additional feedbacks an equilibrium without the presence of nadw is possible the inclusion of the wind stress speed feedback is found to significantly contribute to the resumption of nadw production as suggested by previous studies contrary to these same studies however the coupled model indicates an advective spin up timescale is required for resumption of nadw production and hence the termination of the modeled yd like climate event as opposed to a decadal century timescale the reason for the discrepancy is unclear but may be associated with the use of fixed salt flux fields applied in previous studies or the duration strength and geographical location of the imposed meltwater applied

holocene periodicity in north atlantic climate and deep ocean flow south of iceland climate fluctuations during the past millennium are relatively well documented1 on a longer timescale there is growing evidence of millennial scale variability of holocene climate at periodicities of 2 500 and 950 years possibly caused by changes in solar flux 2 3 and 1 500 years maybe related to an internal oscillation of the climate system 4 5 6 but the involvement of deep water masses in these holocene climate changes has yet to be established here we use sediment grain size data from the iceland basin to reconstruct past changes in the speed of deep water flow the study site is under the influence of iceland scotland overflow water isow the flow of which is an important component of the thermohaline circulation that modulates european climate flow changes coincide with some known climate events the little ice age and the mediaeval warm period and extend over the entire holocene epoch with aquasi periodicity of 1 500 years the grain size data indicate afaster isow flow when the climate of northern europe is warmer however a second mode of operation is observed in the early holocene when warm climate intervals are associated with slower isow flow at that time the melting remnant of land based glacial age ice may have provided a sufficient source of fresh water to the ocean to reduce isow flow south of iceland

abrupt changes in north american climate during early holocene times recent studies of the greenland ice cores have offered many insights into holocene climatic dynamics at decadal to century timescales1 2 3 despite the abundance of continental records of holocene climate few have sufficient chronological control and sampling resolution to compare with the greenland findings4 butannually laminated sediments varves from lakes can provide high resolution continental palaeoclimate data with secure chronologies here we present analyses of varved sediments from deep lake in minnesota usa trends in the stable oxygen isotope composition of the sedimentary carbonate indicate a pronounced climate cooling from 8 9 to 8 3 kyr before present probably characterized by increased outbreaks of polar air decreased precipitation temperatures and a higher fraction of the annual precipitation falling as snow the abrupt onset of this climate reversal over several decades was probably caused by a reorganization of atmospheric circulation and cooling of the arctic airmass in summer that resulted from the final collapse of the laurentide ice near hudson bay and the discharge of icebergs from the quebec and keewatin centres into the tyrell sea the timing and duration of this climate reversal suggest that it is distinct from the prominent widespread cold snap that occurred 8 200 years ago in greenland and other regions1 5 6 no shifts in the oxygen isotope composition of sediment carbonate occurred at 8 2 kyr before present at deep lake but varve thickness increased dramatically probably as a result of increased deposition of aeolian dust taken together our data suggest that two separate regional scale climate reversals occurred between 9 000 and 8 000 years ago and that they were driven by different mechanisms

conformable late jurassic oxfordian to early cretaceous strata northern bowser basin british columbia a sedimentological and paleontological model reply the upper jackson unit in the northern bowser basin includes marine strata of late jurassic middle oxfordian to tithonian age on the basis of the presence of vaugonia doroschini eichwald buchia concentrica sowerby buchia mosquensis von buch buchia piochii gabb and buchia fischeriana d orbigny herzogina chavan and plant macrofossils in the overlying currier formation indicate an early cretaceous age macrofloras of the overlying mcevoy and devils claw formations are most similar to early cretaceous pre albian floras of the western interior basin of north america a model of continuous sedimentation from the jurassic to early cretaceous time is proposed with a progression from marine conditions of the jackson unit to marginal marine conditions with lower delta plant deposition in the currier formation to nonmarine fluvial conditions with upper delta plain deposition in the mcevoy formation this stratigraphic sequence culminated in alluvial deposits of the devils claw formation the pres

channel adjustments to historical disturbances along the lower brazos and sabine rivers south central usa historical channel adjustments are documented and discussed in context with anthropogenic disturbances along two meandering coastal plain rivers the lower brazos and sabine rivers in the south central united states hard copy streamflow measurement notes of the u s geological survey were utilized to render historical cross sections 1925 2007 at nine gauging stations which were complemented with repeat photographs and flood frequency analysis to assess trajectories of channel change and interpret causative mechanisms downstream and upstream propagating disturbances caused episodes of channel bed incision and aggradation at different locations for distinct time periods along both rivers incision associated with upstream dams is detected but channels are compensated downstream with sediment inputs from lateral channel migration and tributaries in one case temporary aggradation along the brazos river at waco was likely caused by a combination of dam construction and regional soil erosion channel bed incision on the lowermost brazos river is unrelated to dams but is associated with instream aggregate extraction possibly in conjunction with downstream channelization on the sabine river extensive aggradation during the 1930s might be associated with logging activities 1880s 1930s but whether the cause is pervasive regional scale hillslope erosion or local scale mill site activities is indeterminate following passage of this sediment the river generally recovered to pre disturbance conditions and has exhibited stability despite a mainstem reservoir translation of this sediment slug is attenuated by a transition to a flood prone distributary dominated system downstream of the holocene pleistocene terrace onlap position additional findings include cross channel hingepoints separating thalweg incision from simultaneous point bar or bank accretion at meander bends which indicates channel adjustment occurs along non cohesive beds in preference to cohesive or artificially reinforced banks also flood reduction has resulted in bankfull stages that are higher than levels associated with the post regulation 2 year return period finally vegetation encroachment along banks since the 1970s coupled with reduced flooding along the lower brazos river has promoted bank accretion deposits that when fully developed serve as morphologic indicators of the post regulation 1 to 2 year return period stage

simulation of the cold climate event 8200 years ago by meltwater outburst from lake agassiz meltwater pulse is assumed to have a volume of 1 6 10 14 m 3 and a period of discharge of 2 years on the basis of glaciological modeling of the decay of the laurentide ice sheet lis we present a possible mechanism which can explain the centennial duration of the 8 2 ka cold event the mechanism is related to the existence of an additional equilibrium climate state with reduced north atlantic deep water nadw formation and a southward shift of the nadw formation area hints at the additional climate state were obtained from the largely varying duration of the pulse induced cold episode in response to overlaid random freshwater fluctuations in monte carlo simulations the model equilibrium state was attained by releasing a weak multicentury freshwater flux through the st lawrence pathway completed by the meltwater pulse the existence of such a climate mode appears essential for reproducing climate anomalies in close agreement with paleoclimatic reconstructions of the 8 2 ka event the results furthermore suggest that the temporal evolution of the cold event was partly a matter of chance index terms 3344 meteorology and atmospheric dynamics paleoclimatology 4255 oceanography general numerical modeling 4532 oceanography physical general circulation 4215 oceanography general climate and interannual variability 3309 9325 information related to geographic region atlantic ocean

experimental study of knickpoint and longitudinal profile evolution in cohesive homogeneous material a series of experiments were conducted in homogeneous bedrock to study knickpoint and longitudinal profile evolution knickpoints are created by successive drops in base level which simulate intermittent uplift channel morphology and flow characteristics vary systematically along a knickpoint reach as the knickpoint lip is approached width decreases but depth velocity and bottom shear stress increase as a result knickpoints are rapidly destroyed through the process of 1 knickpoint replacement and 2 subsequent knickpoint inclination knickpoint replacement consists of two morphologically distinct erosional reaches the knickpoint face below the knickpoint lip which decreases in slope and an incising reach above the knickpoint lip which increases in slope knickpoint replacement is a significant process in the evolution of knickpoints in homogeneous bedrock within experimental limits this study supports the notion that knickpoints do not undergo parallel head ward retreat in homogeneous bedrock given intermittent uplift except in those possible cases of extensive and pervasive bedrock jointing only the erosional sediment transport discontinuity above the knickpoint is developed in cohesive sediments below the knickpoint a steep bedrock channel slope low sediment load and rapid decrease in grain size of sediment load preclude development of the aggradational sediment transport discontinuity knickpoint evolution can be characterized by three general models parallel retreat replacement and inclination these models are based on the following criteria within the knickpoint reach 1 relationship between bottom shear stress 0 and critical shear stress needed to initiate motion c 2 nature of the bed load transport discontinuities and 3 spatial variability of bedrock resistance to fluvial erosion

multiproxy evidence of an early holocene 8 2 kyr climate oscillation in central nova scotia canada an early holocene lake sediment record from central nova scotia contains a minerogenic oscillation that is closely correlative with the 8 2 kyr event ca 8200 cal yr bp an event that has not been reported elsewhere in atlantic canada a variety of biological and sedimentological indicators have been examined to characterise autochthonous and allochthonous changes that occurred during this time the minerogenic upper oscillation uo ca 8400 cal yr bp is marked by an increase in the chrysophyte diatom ratio following the oscillation the diatom community reflects a shift to more productive less acidic conditions the pollen record shows no major response to this short lived event lithostratigraphic analyses indicates that the uo is characterised by an increase in clastic content magnetic susceptibility and mean sediment grain size all indicators of changing environmental conditions most likely the result of regional cooling the taylor lake record adds to a growing body of evidence for a widespread hemispheric climate oscillation at 8 2 kyr copyright 2002 john wiley sons ltd

evidence for general instability of past climate from a 250 kyr ice core record recent results1 2 from two ice cores drilled in central greenland have revealed large abrupt climate changes of at least regional extent during the late stages of the last glaciation suggesting that climate in the north atlantic region is able to reorganize itself rapidly perhaps even within a few decades here we present a detailed stable isotope record for the full length of the greenland ice core project summit ice core extending over the past 250 kyr according to a calculated timescale we find that climate instability was not confined to the last glaciation but appears also to have been marked during the last interglacial as explored more fully in a companion paper3 and during the previous saale holstein glacial cycle this is in contrast with the extreme stability of the holocene suggesting that recent climate stability may be the exception rather than the rule the last interglacial seems to have lasted longer than is implied by the deep sea specmap record4 in agreement with other land based observations5 6 we suggest that climate instability in the early part of the last interglacial may have delayed the melting of the saalean ice sheets in america and eurasia perhaps accounting for this discrepancy

lower mississippi river tributaries contributions to the collective science concerning the father of waters abstract the geological and geomorphic information preserved in the tributary valleys of the lower mississippi river lmr contributes to our understanding of the lower valley s quaternary geological history prominent pleistocene terraces are preserved in the tributary valleys fisk first formulated his four terraces framework on the red river caution needs to be followed in projecting the red river terraces across the entire lower mississippi valley lmv the tributary system cannot be assumed to operate in a synchronized fashion in response to changes in climate and base level to compare the collective contribution of the tributaries of the lmr the streams are described in terms of 1 their characteristics 2 geomorphic development 3 process and response of the tributaries to and from the lmr and 4 engineering investigations and implications the characteristics of the tributaries are a direct function of their drainage basin size and geology the tributary system drains portions of six physiographic provinces synoptically the tributaries can be viewed as two groups the eastern and western tributaries all of the eastern tributaries are intra regional i e they drain only one physiographic province the coastal plain and therefore have a restricted sediment source generally the eastern tributaries are more numerous and shorter than the western tributaries the longer western tributaries drain outside the coastal plain the extra regional nature of the western tributaries adds to the variability of discharge and sediment types the sediment record of the tributaries reflects response to the trunk mississippi during glacial outwash flushes many of the tributaries were alluvially drowned producing alluvial cones expressed as flattened longitudinal profiles more recently a number of tributaries in the state of mississippi have experienced episodes of accelerated channel erosion the effects of navigation and flood control modification of the mississippi river on the tributaries have not been fully studied therefore fluvial geomorphic research in the tributaries is essential to understanding ways to mitigate the adverse effects of river engineering thereby designing engineering works in balance with the alluvial architecture and processes of the stream system