bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Changing Pattern of Coastline and its Impact on Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) in the Lower Meghna River Region of Bangladesh
Authors: Islam Md Sariful , Crawford Thomas W.
Published: June 2022

Coastal erosion is one of the major natural hazards issue throughout the world. Due to erosion, people living in the coast lose their houses, land, and livelihood. Due to anthropogenic and climatic influences, it is predicted that the erosion will be increased in the future. With an aim to assess the impacts of changing coastline, this study investigates the spatio-temporal changes in coastline movement and its impact on coastal land use and land cover in the lower Meghna river region of Bangladesh. Multi-temporal Landsat imagery from 1988 to 2021 (34 years) were used to quantify the rate of annual shoreline movement. The End Point Rate (EPR), Linear Regression Rate (LRR), and Weighted Linear Regression (WLR) were used to quantify the erosion rates. To assess the impacts of coastline movement on different LULC, twelve different images were classified using Random Forest and Support Vector Machine supervised algorithm. Our results revealed that this region is experiencing dominant erosion over the last three decades. The south region experienced extreme erosion while central region had dominant accretion over the studied period. Our results also found that the agricultural lands are the dominant form of land cover that has been eroded most over time. While empirical results are specific to the project’s study area, results can inform this region’s mitigation and adaptation strategies. We believe that the findings of this study will be helpful for policy makers in managing and developing associated mitigation and adaptation measures for this part of the coast in Bangladesh.
Indices Based Approach Appraisal of Anthropogenic Activities and its Impacts on Stream Power of a Plateau Origin River in India
Authors: Biswas Sumantra Sarathi , Pani Padmini
Published: June 2022

Anthropogenic activities are one of the extrinsic factors that significantly alter the fluvial processes. The stream power is the primary agent of a river that controls the natural processes of a channel. It is influenced by hydrology, natural configuration and artificial constructions of a river. The Damodar River runs through the plateau, plateau fringe and plain region of eastern India has been selected for the study. It is altered by several anthropogenic activities such as dam and barrage constructions, sand mining, industries and coal mining, landuse changes etc. The upper and middle sections (~180 km) of the river have been taken for the study as stream power variation is significant in these sections. The flow velocity is measured from eleven sites from the upper and middle sections of the river to estimate stream power. The Integrated Anthropogenic Index (IAI) has been generated for the identification of the natural and anthropogenic dominant reaches. The IAI includes various types of indices such as artificial water surface ratio (AWSR), road along river ratio (RARR), road density (RD), artificial river ratio (ARR), artificial coal mining ratio (ACMR), and bridge along river ratio (BARR). The anthropogenic controlled reaches are characterised by the drastic increase of stream power with some exceptional knicks. The multimodal stream power distribution of the river is associated with energy alteration. It reflects in the development of various types of bars which are inversely related to stream power. Innumerable human activities produce slope irregularities resulting in stream power and eventually, it reflects on the processes and landform development of the river.
On pointcloud analysis for geomorphologic and morphostructural mapping
Authors: Cunha Marco , Lopes Fernando , Dinis Pedro
Published: June 2022

The usage of Digital Elevation Maps, either from Satellite Altimetric Radar Missions (such as SRTM, Jaxa and others), large scale or high-resolution Lidar surveys and Multibeam bathymetric surveys, small to medium scale photogrammetric surveys, or any other tridimensional surface restitution technique, have been widely used to assess terrain features such as morphostructural, watershed and hydrogeologic features, sometimes involving geomorphologic classification. Commonly, fast DEM analysis highlights abrupt slope change, producing mainly ridge lines and crevices/valleys like features. On applying a first order derivate to the elevation data, easily it is mapped those sudden changes on the terrain morphology.

The following work suggests the conversion of the DEM data to pointcloud, where, with specialized software (like freely distributed open-source CloudCompare), further analysis can be done, allowing fast analysis of big data, and with possible segmentation of the data into families. Depending on the user's objectives and applied analysis, segmented families can be geomorphologic features, morphostructural features, or any other.

CloudCompare allows the fast calculation of geometric features of pointcloud data, such as roughness, curvature, density (surface or volume), 1st order derivate, linearity, planarity, sphericity and others. The desired geometric attribute is then stored to scalar data, that can be split by value (split the original pointcloud to segmented pointclouds), representing families by feature. When existent, other features from pointcloud can also be converted to scalar values, and can also be split by value. Example, from colored pointcloud (commonly Lidar or Photogrammetry), RGB data can be split, revealing to be an extreme valuable tool, for example to extract low height vegetation data from bare ground (green tones from brownish tones), where ground points automatic classification (example, CSF addon on CloudCompare) wasn’t as precise as desired. CloudCompare allows to re-interpolate data by scalar field or by elevation, reproducing a 2.5D elevation raster, that can be reimported to Remote Sense and GIS specialized software, such as QGIS, for further integration or data interpretation, where Remote Sensing common techniques may allow, as example, data integration, weighted-sum composite analysis, automatic or semi-automatic classification, or other.

It is presented the proposed pipeline for this analysis, using large scale Satellite data (Santo António, Benguela, Angola), high-resolution medium scale bathymetric data (multibeam survey in Porto Amboím bay, Angola), and high-resolution Digital Terrain Model from SFM photogrammetric survey (Miradouro da Lua, Belas, Angola).
Chemical Weathering Indices for Fire-Impacted Soils
Authors: Pope Gregory , Callanan Jennifer
Published: June 2022

In previous research, we noted the presence of major, minor, and trace elements in soils following forest fires.  In case studies from wildfires and experimental burns from the Rocky Mountain conifer forest (Colorado, USA), Appalachian mixed hardwood forests (Pennsylvania and New Jersey, USA), and sandy pine barrens (New Jersey, USA), we identified increases in most of the major elements and some minor elements in soils following forest fires, identified with ICP-MS analysis. Elements such as Mn, Mg, Na, Ca, Na, K, Cu, and Ba derived from an infusion of biomass ash. Some elements present were distinctly different from any mineral parent material contribution to the soil, and were therefore unique signatures of fire contribution. Signature post-fire elements persisted in some cases more than one year following the fire, and were found in both topsoil horizons and into illuvial soil horizons.

Beyond detecting the presence of post-fire signature elements, we investigate here a quantification of the soil chemical impact by means of widely use weathering indices. Fires do contribute to mechanical weathering of rock, though the impact on chemical weathering is less studied. Chemical weathering is usually assumed to be a long-term process, weathering indices summarize these processes. In contrast, the application of weathering indices to fire impacts reflect instantaneous events in pedogenic time spans, with abrupt geochemical changes due to additions of biomass ash. Nevertheless, there is benefit in the ability to compare values, so that fire imposed geochemical changes can be assessed in context.

In general, our data show that fire-impacted soils exhibit weathering indices trending toward “less weathered”. The weathering ratios correlate closely with elements that are abundant in biomass ash; many of these elements would normally be preferentially depleted by weathering over time. Weathering ratio values may correlate with burn temperature, based on results from laboratory simulations. The fire-impacted soil chemistry has bearing on modern and paleoenvironmental biogeochemical assessments. First, the calculated weathering index values have potential as indicators of the degree of impact from modern fires. Second, where weathering indices are used as paleoenvironmental proxies in sedimentary records, there exists a potential to misinterpret values for times where fires might have been prevalent (such as during drought periods), if the fire chemical signature persists. Ongoing research comparing modern soils and paleosols will further explore these potential discrepancies.
Ongoing Investigations of the Pleistocene sea-level fluctuations at the Balzi Rossi archaeological area, Ventimiglia, Italy
Authors: Ryan Deirdre ,   SPHeritage Project
Published: June 2022

The caves complex of Balzi Rossi (Ventimiglia, adjacent to the Italian-French border) is recognized as an important site for the study of Paleolithic settlements within the Mediterranean and Europe. As such, it has been subject to archaeological investigation for over a century but with little regard for the associated coastal and marine deposits. Possibly four Pleistocene interglacial periods have been documented there, with three coastlines located at distinct altimetric altitudes. One objective of the SPHeritage project is to precisely identify, describe, and geochronologically constrain these palaeo-coastlines. Constraining the sea-level record within the region will assist in understanding how Paleolithic human populations responded to environmental variations related to Pleistocene sea-level fluctuations and help establish the contribution of vertical Earth movements to paleo and predicted sea-level change. This outcome will be achieved through high-resolution topographic surveys, the reassessment of natural and archaeological stratigraphic sequences (including, through remnants preserved at museums, those completely removed by former archaeological excavations), and a multi-pronged approach to date the marine deposits. We will present the preliminary results and continuing work from our interdisciplinary team that includes geomorphologists, geologists, stratigraphers, paleontologists, and archaeologists. We hope this presentation will serve as an example of multidisciplinary approach to geoarchaeology and stimulate discussion within the community on the influence of relative sea-level changes to the peopling of coastal areas.
Semi-automated methods for analysing the parameters that controlling shore platform evolution: the example of Glamorgan, South Wales
Authors: Gomez-Pazo Alejandro , Naylor Larissa , Hurst Martin D.
Published: June 2022

This study developed a series of new, semi-automated methods for quantitatively analysing the contribution of rock weathering processes and geological control on shore platform evolution and boulder production. We used high resolution Digital Surface Models (DSMs) and orthoimages to map and classify a series of geomorphological and geological control and verify the main characteristics and evolution of the two analyzed layers (23 and 24) in Glamorgan, South Wales, UK. The workflow has three elements, firstly a complete geomorphic analysis of the entire exposure layers. Second, four 10x10 m polygons were created for each layer, spaced across the shore platform from upper to lower intertidal zones. Within these polygons we measured and classified two types of joints in relation to their depth, size and spatial continuity, pool areas, and several geomorphological parameters. Finally, we used DSAS software to measure platform edge erosion (1981-2018). In combination, these data allowed us to quantify: 1) erosion rates; 2) spatial variability in geomorphological features and geological control parameters; 3) PCA was used to quantify the importance of each variable; and 4) combine the platform data with the pyDGS data to quantitatively assess the contribution of shore platform into the rock coast sediment system.

Results show multi-decadal (1981-2018) erosion rates vary spatially and between layer, where layer 24 shows the higher erosion in seaward plot (-0.023 m yr-1) while the layer 23 shows the higher erosion in the most landward (-0.027 m yr-1) and seaward plots (-0.032 m yr-1). High variability in landform processes and characteristics between the two layers and within one layer across the cliff – seaward edge gradient was also found. Layer 23 shows a decrease of roughness from cliff to seaward exposures of the layer, while in layer 24 the roughest zone is the seaward sector. PCA analysis shows that the three first components accounted for 78.9% of the variance. The most important parameters driving shore platform evolution (including both layers) in PC1 were distance from cliff and elevation with -0.6625 and 0.6615, respectively. There are relevant differences between both layers, in layer 24, distance from cliff have positive value (0.5875) and elevation negative (-0.5795), while  in layer 23 distance from cliff are negative (-0.5793) and elevation is positive (0.5825). These methods improve quantification of geological contingency, which can be applied to other rock coast systems.  This will help better model rock coast processes under different climate change scenarios.
Marine terraces in the Tyrrhenian Sea margin of the Southern Apennines (Italy): new constraints on differential vertical motions from dated paleoshorelines 
Authors: Cerrone Ciro , Ascione Alessandra , Robustelli Gaetano , Soligo Michele , Tuccimei Paola
Published: June 2022

The Neogene to Quaternary southern Apennines mountain belt is flanked to the SW by the Tyrrhenian Sea back-arc basin, which was formed since late Miocene times. Extensional tectonics related to back-arc basin formation affected the Tyrrhenian margin of the southern Apennines since the Quaternary with formation of a series of horst and graben structures. Huge amounts of existing surface, subsurface and offshore data indicate that subsidence on the order of thousands of metres affected the grabens, and remarkable flights of marine terraces are indicative of Quaternary uplift of the horst blocks. The highest and older marine terraces, Early Pleistocene in age, occur up to several hundreds of metres above the sea level.

A huge number of former studies have provided fundamental data on both the outcropping (raised) and buried paleoshorelines and littoral deposits, the chronological framework for the identified relative sea level fluctuations mostly rests on local-scale relative chronology reconstructions constrained by dating that are still quite rare and sparse.

Detail-scale geomorphological-geological mapping, integrated with Quaternary stratigraphy, aimed at the recognition, characterisation and dating of raised marine terraces and paleoshorelines (tidal notches, platform inner edges) has been carried out in several key areas of the southern Apennines Tyrrhenian Sea margin, from Campania, in the North, to northern Calabria, in the South. The field surveys have been carried out both in rocky coasts (where continental deposits cover and sometimes hide the paleoshorelines) and in the two main alluvial-coastal basins, namely the Campania and Sele River plains. The new geochronological data constrain the ages of several late Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene sea level markers, allowing a better definition of the vertical motions in each study area. Overall, the time-space distribution of the vertical motions on the regional scale is better reconstructed, along with the framework of the Quaternary surface uplift of the southwestern slope of the southern Apennines mountain belt.
Spatio-temporal patterns of sediment connectivity in vineyards : anthropogenic control and impacts on sediment yield
Authors: Fressard Mathieu , Chaize Brian , Cossart Étienne
Published: June 2022

Vineyards are often considered to be among the agricultural lands most sensitive to erosion. To cope with soil degradation and associated downstream consequences (e.g. mudflows, alteration of water quality, transfer of pesticides to rivers) numerous French vineyards developed management strategies that consists in controlling runoff using diches and road networks to route eroded sediments in traps. In addition, vineyards regions such as Burgundy, commonly use plots backfilling to compensate for soil loss on sloping vineyards. In this study, evaluate the impact of these anthropogenic interventions on the sediment cascade by coupling soil erosion measurements and modelling on a small sub-catchment of the Mercurey wine region in burgundy.

We applied the SUM/ISUM method to measure erosion rates on a set of 7 selected vine plots in different contexts of slope, age and type of farming. These measurements were complemented by the monitoring of sediment traps and stream flow at the outlet of the catchment. The main objective was to quantify sediment fluxes at different spatial and temporal scales to identify the effect of management strategies (wall, diches, sediment traps and backfilling) on sediment connectivity and sediment transfers. Then, these results were compared to the WATEM/SEDEM model. Our objective was to relate the observed (actual) and modelled (potential) erosion and sediment transfer.

At the catchment and sub-catchment scale, both measurements and models show a low amount of sediment transfer, from 1.3 t.ha-1.yr-1 at the sub-catchment scale (0.5 km²) to 0.1 t.ha-1.yr-1 at the catchment scale (10 km²). These results demonstrate the efficiency of the runoff management system on sediment connectivity from plots to river. These observations were confirmed by the flood hysteresis analysis which suggests a local (channel or close) origin of sediments. On the other hand, large differences were observed from the comparison of the measured and modelled erosion rates at the plot scale, illustrating the effect of backfilling practices which tends to compensate part of long/medium term soil losses on hillslopes. In spite of erosion control strategies, the measured rates on vine plots remain higher than what can be tolerated for sustainable development of agriculture. Therefore, we suggest that the current erosion mitigation strategy should be complemented with other techniques that maintain soils on plots (e.g., grass strips on the interrows, mulching).
Factors influencing the ground thermal regime of rock glaciers in the marginal periglacial environments of Southern Carpathians 
Authors: Onaca Alexandru , Ardelean Florina , Sîrbu Flavius , Berzescu Oana
Published: June 2022

Ground-surface thermal (GST) measurements in high mountains are frequently used to examine the near-surface energy exchange fluxes. GST records are also used to determine if microclimatic conditions at the rock glacier surface are suitable for permafrost preservation. GST is commonly measured with miniature temperature data loggers. A decade record (2011-2021) of GST and air temperature from twenty sites in the Southern Carpathians are analyzed in this work. The controlling role of meteorological, topographical and subsurface characteristics on the GST regime was carefully examined. Snow cover and air temperature have the primary role in controlling the inter-annual differences and evolution of GST. At all the sites, the occurrence of permafrost was limited to areas characterized by coarse openwork debris, the reduced income of solar radiation and high altitudes (above 2000 m). The high porosity of coarse debris enhances an intense cooling of the ground due to efficient ventilation effects. In the case of active rock glaciers, the very low ground surface temperature regimes result from the combined effect of the ice-rich frozen debris, snow characteristics and ground airflow (convection and advection) within the loose debris. The permafrost distribution is patchy because the controlling topo-climatic factors reveal a small-scale variability. Thus, high variations of the thermal conditions at the surface of the investigated rock glaciers may occur over relatively small distances (e.g., a few hundred meters). Today the climatic conditions in the Romanian Carpathians permit only the preservation of thin frozen layers at sites where local topo-climatic factors and surface characteristics are favourable.
Spatial patterns of erosion susceptibility and sediment connectivity in an agricultural catchment : the case of Mercurey (Burgundy, France) over the Holocene
Authors: Chaize Brian , Fressard Mathieu , Cossart Étienne
Published: June 2022

Numerous small-scale studies show that accelerated erosion processes are driven by human activities over the Holocene. However, as human pressure has been heterogeneous in quality, local case studies are required to assess the influence of agricultural landscape structure on erosion susceptibility and sediment connectivity. We aim to discuss the synchrony between landscape cultivation and erosive signal rise through a study in Burgundy. The vineyard of Mercurey is located in a catchment structurally sensitive to soil loss and cultivated for thousand years.

Our methodology includes (i) the reconstruction of the agricultural landscape structure in eight distinct periods in the Holocene, from aerial photographs, historical maps and textual sources; (ii) quantifying the hillslope erosion susceptibility using a RUSLE modelling procedure adapted to past environmental conditions (climate, land use, soil); (iii) the assessment of the sediment connectivity to the stream using the InVEST SDR model based on the connectivity index; (iv) model validation with the analysis of sedimentary deposits observed in the valley bottom and along hillslopes.

On the one hand, our results demonstrate that the general level of erosion susceptibility has increased by ca. 680% between the early Holocene and the current situation. Nonetheless, all phases marked by an increase in the cropped area do not have the same response in erosion susceptibility. For instance, a peak in erosion susceptibility during the Middle Ages is concomitant with the spread of vineyard on steep hillslopes, whereas in Roman times and early 19th century, the spatial patterns of agricultural land use (vines on gentle hillslopes, patchwork of grasslands and vines) led to moderate rates of erosion susceptibility. On the other hand, this research reveals that the evolution of sediment connectivity is strongly influenced by the agricultural land management (vine rows orientation, cover crop, dry stone walls).
Tectonic evolution and mass wasting within the Lefkada west coast
Authors: Pappas Georgios , Koukouvelas Ioannis , Nikolakopoulos Konstantinos , Sokos Efthymios , Bathrellos George D. , Kyriou Aggeliki
Published: June 2022

On 17th November 2015, a strong earthquake affected the southern part of the Lefkada Island, Greece. After the earthquake extensive translational debris slides triggered cross most of west coast of the island in a distance of about 15 km. The majority of these slides concentrated at Egremni beach which is a famous touristic destination. The cliff is crossed by the Cephalonia Fault Zone and this is considered as a major factor provoking the steep slope, large-scale co-seismic and post-seismic mass wasting and disturbance of the forest of the cliff. Seven years after the 2015 event, the cliff remains at retreat due to limited forestation, seismicity and storms in the area. Monitoring of the cliff was performed between 2015 and 2021 including extensive field measurements, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight campaigns and a sediment trap. The high-resolution images acquired by the UAV were used for the creation of orthophoto maps and digital surface models (DSMs) of the cliff. The data indicates that Egremni cliff is slowly entering a stage of equilibrium due to climatic forcing, alongside minor seismicity and absence of forestation. Mass-wasting processes remained significant across the Lefkada west coast seven years after the 2015 earthquake sequence.
Insights on the morphodynamical evolution of an alpine Little Ice Age glacier forefield (Ritord, western Swiss Alps)
Authors: Wee Julie , Delaloye Reynald
Published: June 2022

Glaciers and frozen-debris landforms have coexisted and episodically or continuously interacted throughout the Holocene at elevations where the climate conditions are cold enough for permafrost to occur. In the European Alps, the Little Ice Age (LIA) characterized the apogee of the last interaction phase. In areas of consecutive post-LIA glacier shrinkage, the geomorphological dominant conditioning of the ongoing paraglacial phase may have transited from glacial to periglacial and later even shifted to post-periglacial. Such transitions can be observed through the morphodynamics of glacitectonized frozen landforms (GFL), which are permafrost-related pre-existing frozen masses of debris deformed (tectonized) by the pressure exerted by an interacting glacier.

This contribution aims at evidencing the processes driving the ongoing morphodynamical evolution of two actively back-creeping GFL and a debris-covered glacier within the LIA forefield of the Challand and Epée glaciers on the basis of long-term time series of ground surface temperature, in-situ geodetic and geophysical measurements. Our observations for the last two decades (1997-2021), which have been the warmest since LIA, reveal a resistivity decrease in the permafrost body of the two GFL and a surface subsidence of a few centimetres per year up to locally a few decimetres per year. The former indicate a liquid water-to-ice content ratio increase within the permafrost body and the latter a ground ice melt at the permafrost table, both processes having taken place heterogeneously at the scale of the two GFL. These observations can be interpreted as the system is entering post-periglacial conditioning. In comparison, the still widespread debris-covered tongue of the Epée glacier, almost immobile and disconnected from the glacier active part, suffers a melt-induced subsidence of about 50 centimetres per year, indicating the insufficiency of the debris cover thickness to insure a long-term preservation of the ice under current climate conditions.

This study enhances the importance of decadal-scale and multi-disciplinary approach in understanding driving processes contributing to surface elevation changes due to ice melt or thawing frozen ground in permafrost-prone alpine LIA glacier forefields and to the dynamics of associated GFL.
Beachrock and wave cut notches formation across the Epirus coast, NW Greece 
Authors: Panagiotopoulos Dimitrios , Koukouvelas Ioannis , Nikolakopoulos Konstantinos , Papoulis Dimitrios , Lampropoulou Paraskevi , Bathrellos George D.
Published: June 2022

Beachrocks are generally mapped on the coastline surface up to low depth in thesubtidal zone of sandy costs. These are commonly related with notches in nearby rocky beaches since both beachrocks and notches are correlated with active deformation and sea level fluctuation. As a study area we selected the Epirus coast, in Greece, where beachrocks outcrops and notches have not previously been studied. In this work, we used Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), GNSS, Geographical Information System (GIS) and field work, to map beachrocks and notches in the broader area. All along this area it is observed active deformation and uplift. The uplift is correlated with the northeastern most tip of the Kephalonia Transform Fault and the existence of evaporitic domes along the coast. UAV mapping of these beachrock areas indicated that their width is 60 m to 80 m across the coast while at the same time we mapped many notches in nearby rocky coasts. The current study tries to investigate the correlation between the geotectonic setting of the broader area and the beachrock formations.
GEOMORPHOLOGY IN THE CONTEXT OF NATURAL SCIENCES IN 18th-19th CENTURY GERMANY
Authors: Cardoso Ferreira Danilo , Carlos Vitte Antônio
Published: June 2022

It is common in international literature that deals with the history of geographical thought, to locate in Germany the conceptual foundations that allowed the institutionalization of geography as a modern science to occur. However, little attention has been given by researchers on the formation of Physical Geography and Geomorphology in particular, and most of the time there is a rapid affiliation of this to the Davisian corollary that has been reworked and disseminated by French physical geographers. However, the German geographical-geological reflection of the 18th-19th centuries (until at least the 1890s) was based on a geomorphology that, before being climatic or structural, understood the relief as an environment and at the same time an epistemological medium capable of connecting society and nature, from which they generate spatialities and their thresholds, an epistemological foundation so important for the present day. Thus, the objective of this work is to establish some relationships between the epistemological foundations of Geomorphology and the context of Natural Sciences, Philosophy and Geography in the 18th-19th century. Timothy Lenoir (2003) in the book "Instituting science: the cultural production of scientific disciplines" offers us light and paths to walk on the institution of science as a discipline. His trajectory by establishing a reading on the "cultural production of scientific disciplines"; its starting point is several historical episodes from the history of sciences, seeking to elucidate the internal and external factors in science, an understanding of authors, institutions, in order to trace institute an epistemology of science. In fact, for the author, the practice in the systematization and organization of sciences as cultural products is permeated in the very trajectory of writing, of producing science. The relationship of ideas, images about the history of nature and, also, how chronological time contributes to the consolidation of Earth Sciences and Society were, emerging forms of knowledge between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that influenced the sciences in the nineteenth century. The investigation of nature, in this context, traces a scientific methodology, "since the form was a momentary product of a space-time dynamic, involving a complex web given by the relationship between the history of nature and environmental conditions (VITTE, 2014, p. 4). Finally, it is fundamental to understand that scientific fields (geomorphology) are a cultural production, which offers us trails to relate the historical-epistemological aspects of geomorphology in the context of philosophical and scientific development of sciences of the eighteenth-nineteenth century; adding the role of authors, ideas, the circulation of ideas, but also political, economic and cultural institutions in the context of the industrial revolution and European imperialist expansion.
Pre-failure topography implementation to predict landslides using a bivariate statistical model
Authors: Carvalho Araújo João Paulo , Falcão Braella Cesar , Gonçalves Moreira da Zêzere José Luís , Ferreira Fernandes Nelson
Published: June 2022

Landslides are natural phenomena that cause significant socioeconomic and environmental impacts in mountainous regions. Statistical models used to predict landslides frequently use Digital Terrain Models (DMTs) to identify scars and to generate thematic maps representing relevant causative factors (e.g., slope, aspect, curvature).The topographical causative factors tell us how some morphometrical parameters control slope stability and the algebraical combination of weighted causative factors (the landslide susceptibility map) displays how the global relationship of the causative factors generates the landslides. However, these DTMs will no longer be representative of the topographical features that triggered landslides when obtained after the occurrence of this events (post-failure DTM) and using archetypal morphometric signatures of past landslides in statistical models will imply relevant conceptual mistakes. A possible solution to this problem is to assume that the pre-rupture topography can be inferred from undisturbed areas adjacent to scars. This work presents a topography reconstruction method using LIDAR elevation points to generate a pre-failure topography DTM from a post-failure topography DTM. The pre-failure topography was used in a bivariate statistical model (Weights of Evidence) to predict landslides in the Quitite and Papagaio basins, in the city of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). Seven landslide susceptibility models were produced by combining eight conditionally independent causative factors and had their predictive capacity tested by calculating the area under curve (AUC). The final model (AAC = 0.77) highlights the direct topographic and hydrological controls and the indirect lithological and structural controls on the landslides. Landslides are mainly controlled by slopes between 26° and 52°, on North, Northeast and Northwest facing slopes, on concave curvatures with values of a contribution area between 1.8m² e 4.1m². The results take into account the model’s assumptions and provide a synthesized and robust view of the prone landslides areas in an environment of great geodiversity.
Monitoring channel response and recovery of ephemeral Mediterranean streams using diachronic orthophotography analysis with machine learning (Rambla de Cervera, Spain)
Authors: Rabanaque Maria Pilar , Martínez-Fernández Vanesa , Calle Mikel , Sanchis-Ibor Carles , Segura-Beltrán Francisca , Sánchez-Moya Yolanda , Benito Gerardo
Published: June 2022

Since the 70s, Mediterranean ephemeral rivers in Spain have been subject to large-scale in-stream gravel mining. In the 90s, this activity ceased to a large extent, although nowadays new controlled in-stream gravel extraction pits have continued. The decreased on gravel mining activity, together with the longitudinal transport of sediment generated by flooding, has allowed these streams to begin to recover their alluvial landforms although their development and continuity is controlled by channel entrenchment and limited by sediment supply.

This study aims to quantify the spatial-temporal changes generated along the river in order to characterise the transmission of sediment longitudinally.  For this purpose, remote sensing methods offer efficient and powerful techniques. Particularly, a supervised classification with SVM (support vector machine) was carried out annually from 2018 to 2021 in the Rambla de Cervera, an ephemeral stream at the Castelló province in eastern Spain. Orthophotographs from the Institut Cartografic Valencia with a resolution of 0.25 m/pixel and RGBI bands were used for the classification. In this classification, three landforms have been differentiated: bedrock (exposed at riverbed), channel (channel gravels and unvegetated gravel bars) and vegetated gravel bars (gravel bars with vegetation cover). Subsequently, an automatic segmentation along the river corridor was performed every 100 m. Finally, the classification values for each segment were extracted and data analysis was performed.

Preliminary results show that river recovery is controlled longitudinally by geological and structural controls. On wide alluvial reaches lateral river supply from bank erosion contributes to forming lateral gravel bars within a narrower alluvial active belt. Conversely, on confined reaches with structural control, gravel bars in the channel bed are discontinuous and alternate with erosional stretches indicating supply-limited conditions. At the most depleted sediment transmission conditions, dense vegetation is stablished decreasing the alluvial longitudinal continuity. The diachronic analysis of the orthophotographs (2018-2021) indicates an incipient recovery of the alluvial landforms at the most downstream reaches which were subject to the most extensive in-channel gravel mining. In summary, the combined use of high-resolution orthophotography with machine learning algorithms provided an effective technique for monitoring spatial-temporal stream recovery and the identification of river sectors where management and restoration efforts are urgent.
Long- to short-term environmental changes in the Bao Bolon River valley (Senegal). A geoarchaeological perspective on a World Heritage site (Wanar).
Authors: Ballouche Aziz , Stern Mathilde , Weisskopf Emmanuel , Landry David , Garnier Aline , Bocoum Hamady , Laporte Luc
Published: June 2022

In the Sudano-Sahelian context, where strong seasonal contrasts characterize the climatic and hydrological regimes, palaeoenvironmental studies are faced with a real challenge, because the exacerbated hydro-sedimentary functioning generally limits the conservation of quality records. In the middle valley of the Bao Bolon River (Region of Kaffrine, Central Senegal), fluvial sediments constitute useful archives for characterizing past hydrosystems, their paleoenvironments and their hydro-climatic changes. These archives can also record the contemporary landscape dynamics of ancient societies. The region is characterised by human presence for at least two millennia, as evidenced by the megalithic World Heritage Site of Wanar. This megalithic complex has been the subject of archaeological excavations since 2005, recently coupled with geoarchaeological analyses (field geomorphology and soil analysis, chronostratigraphy, sedimentology, geochemistry, organic matter analysis, bio-indicators, fire signal) in order to reconstruct the evolution of the environment at different time scales under natural and anthropogenic forcing. The numerous profiles studied (cores, sections, transects) reveal a richness and consistency of fluvial sedimentary records at the Holocene scale, rare in West Africa.

At the Holocene scale, regional climatic fluctuations explain the construction of a chronostratigraphic sequence marked by about ten phases of sedimentary aggradation, separated by periods of crisis, even erosion. The last two millennia, which have seen in particular the development of Megalithism, are fairly well documented and make it possible to cross hydro-sedimentary dynamics and anthropogenic action. The periods of funerary activity on the site of Wanar (10th-13th centuries) witnessed significant erosion in the watershed near the site. During the 20th century, the integration of this region into the “Groundnut Basin” of Senegal, with a transition towards increasingly intensive agriculture, led to a drastic change in environmental dynamics by an exacerbation of hydro-geomorphological processes: colluviation and slope-wash, gullying and filling of valley bottoms.

This coupling of the long and short time scales clearly accounts for a gradual transition from a Holocene operating logic to an Anthropocene model.
Holocene glacial oscillations in the Tyroler Valley, NE Greenland
Authors: Garcia de Oteyza de Ciria Julia Nieves , Oliva Marc , Palacios David , Fernández-Fernández José María , Fernandes Marcelo , Schimmelpfennig Irene , Medialdea Alicia
Published: June 2022

Understanding the long-term oscillations of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) margins during the last millennia is necessary to frame the recent observed changes within the natural variability of glacial response in Greenland. Geomorphic evidence left by GrIS outlets can be used to reconstruct the evolution of glaciers during past warm and cold phases. Here, we analyze the Holocene ice-marginal fluctuations along the Tyroler Valley (74ºN, 22ºE), within the Northeast Greenland National Park. Currently, this U-shaped valley is ice-free, and the front of the Pasterze glacier (GrIS outlet) is located 10 km inland from the head of the fjord, with two tributary piedmont glaciers (Kloft and Copeland) also extending over the valley floor. Glacial landforms left by these glaciers were accurately mapped, and the area was extensively surveyed for identifying the best glacial surfaces for Cosmic-Ray Exposure (CRE) dating. The chronology presented in this study relies on a new dataset of 15 10Be CRE ages together with one Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) age from fine-grained (lacustrine) sediments. CRE ages confirm that the main valley recorded a rapid deglaciation between 10 and 8.5 ka. However, lateral and frontal moraines of the two tributary glaciers indicate that the Holocene deglaciation was not continuous, and the long-term shrinking trend was interrupted by several phases of minor glacial re-advances. The larger piedmont glacier (Copeland) occupied the valley floor during the major advances, damming the river and allowing the formation of a proglacial glacial lake upvalleys. A CRE age from the polished bedrock in the opposite slope of the Copeland glacier front indicate that the major Holocene glacial advance occurred at the onset of Neoglacial cooling (~6 ka). The multiple moraine ridges of the piedmont glaciers reported ages spanning the Little Ice Age (LIA). CRE results confirm two major glacial advances at ~0.55 ka and ~0.25 ka. As a result of these LIA advances, the proglacial lake formed again as confirmed by the OSL date of lacustrine sediments that yielded an age of 0.53 ± 0.06 ka.

In summary, we provide new evidence of the relative stability of GrIS outlets in the area, which advanced during the Neoglacial and the LIA. Since then, the current glacier fronts have been rather stable and remain close to the LIA moraines.
Soil erosion under extreme rainfall modeled using a radar-runoff-nowcasting-system
Authors: Ciampalini Rossano , Rosi Ascanio , Segoni Samuele , Antonini Andrea , Ortolani Alberto , Caparrini Francesca , Caporali Enrica , Moretti Sandro
Published: June 2022

Soil erosion by water is one of the most widespread forms of soil degradation responsible for relevant agricultural productivity losses. Under climate change, soil erosion is expected to increase mostly for a rising of the frequency of extreme and localised events. In intense hydrological phenomena such as flooding, and soil erosion, the spatiotemporal extent significantly impacts these phenomena, especially in extreme events. Therefore, an approach directed to better refine to understand such dynamics is recommended.

Here, we present the MSCA – SED RUNS project, focusing on the extreme rainfall effects on soil erosion using ground-weather-radar observations and hydrological modelling at regional scale (namely in Tuscany, central Italy).

The approach, based on statistical analysis and modelling methods, aims to: 1) Quantifying, over the last decade, the spatiotemporal distribution of extreme rainfalls / runoff and soil erosion, 2) Building a platform to model runoff and soil erosion for extreme events, 3) Simulating in real-time runoff and soil erosion as a precursor of for a regional-warning-system for extreme weather events.

Rainfall data will be provided by the national and regional institutions such as LaMMA Consortium (Tuscany Meteorological Agency) and the “Italian Civil Protection”, whose radar dataset of the national network (DPCN) covers the 2010–2020 period, with a spatial resolution of 1 km in a 10-mins time-step.

The project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie, Grant Agreement n. 101033236.
Effects of beaver expansion in semi-natural and modified watercourses in the Tatra Mts foreland, Polish Carpathians:  implications for river restoration.
Authors: Zawiejska Joanna
Published: June 2022

Following centuries of absence, beavers were successfully introduced to the Polish Carpathians in the 1980s and have since colonized watercourses of different size, degree of human modification and ecological status. In the foreland of the high-mountain Tatra massif, beaver colonization in the last 10 years has been particularly rapid in but its success, patterns and effects vary between highly dynamic large rivers with extensive riparian areas and smaller streams. In large rivers, beaver activity is focused on modification of adjacent floodplain areas, extensive use of vegetated islands, and ‘creative’ adaptation and use of large wood accumulations and particularly channelized structures in heavily changed reaches. In smaller, low-gradient streams, morphological changes introduced by beavers can be dramatic compared to channel size but largely depend on underlying substrate and interactions with local human population (including land ownership). In most cases, unrestricted beaver activity indicates the potential of these animals for rapid and spontaneous restoration of modified rivers and streams; however, its long-term impact on riparian forests should be monitored.
Insect zoogeomorphology: Exploring the links between geomorphology and entomology
Authors: Bétard François
Published: June 2022

Insects are the largest and most diverse group of living organisms on Earth, playing a critical but underestimated role as agents of geomorphic change. Burrowing insects create micro-scale landforms such as subterranean tunnels and surface mounds and, by this way, have a substantial impact on hydrology, soil erosion and sediment transfer at a wider landscape scale. On another side, geomorphic environments and landform heterogeneity strongly influence insect distribution and diversity. The aim of this presentation is to explore the reciprocal links between geomorphology – the study of landforms – and entomology – the study of insects –, beyond the well-known and classical considerations about the role of social ants and termites as geomorphic agents and ecosystem engineers. Five types of insect-landform relationships are examined in this scope: (1) insect ethology and geomorphic processes, (2) insect ecology and geomorphic environment, (3) insect diversity and landform heterogeneity, (4) insect decline/invasion and Anthropocene geomorphology, and (5) insect conservation and landform management. The evidence of reciprocal links between insects and landforms lays out the contours of an Insect Zoogeomorphology – or Entomogeomorphology – as a potential subfield of biogeomorphology to be developed further. Such zoogeomorphological studies should contribute to a better understanding of the importance of insects in Earth surface processes and landforms, with many useful applications in environmental management projects and strategies (e.g., restoration projects of grasslands and wetlands, translocation strategies for the conservation of species and associated biogenic landforms…).