scholarly journals A probabilistic framework for the cover effect in bedrock erosion

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens M. Turowski ◽  
Rebecca Hodge

Abstract. The cover effect in fluvial bedrock erosion is a major control on bedrock channel morphology and long-term channel dynamics. Here, we suggest a probabilistic framework for the description of the cover effect that can be applied to field, laboratory and modelling data and thus allows the comparison of results from different sources. The framework describes the formation of sediment cover as a function of the probability of sediment being deposited on already alleviated areas of the bed. We define benchmark cases and suggest physical interpretations of deviations from these benchmarks. Furthermore, we develop a reach-scale model for sediment transfer in a bedrock channel and use it to clarify the relations between the sediment mass residing on the bed, the exposed bedrock fraction and the transport stage. We derive system time scales and investigate cover response to cyclic perturbations. The model predicts that bedrock channels achieve grade in steady state by adjusting bed cover. Thus, bedrock channels have at least two characteristic time scales of response. Over short time scales, the degree of bed cover is adjusted such that they can just transport the supplied sediment load, while over long time scales, channel morphology evolves such that the bedrock incision rate matches the tectonic uplift or base level lowering rate.

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens M. Turowski ◽  
Rebecca Hodge

Abstract. The cover effect in fluvial bedrock erosion is a major control on bedrock channel morphology and long-term channel dynamics. Here, we suggest a probabilistic framework for the description of the cover effect that can be applied to field, laboratory, and modelling data and thus allows the comparison of results from different sources. The framework describes the formation of sediment cover as a function of the probability of sediment being deposited on already alluviated areas of the bed. We define benchmark cases and suggest physical interpretations of deviations from these benchmarks. Furthermore, we develop a reach-scale model for sediment transfer in a bedrock channel and use it to clarify the relations between the sediment mass residing on the bed, the exposed bedrock fraction, and the transport stage. We derive system timescales and investigate cover response to cyclic perturbations. The model predicts that bedrock channels can achieve grade in steady state by adjusting bed cover. Thus, bedrock channels have at least two characteristic timescales of response. Over short timescales, the degree of bed cover is adjusted such that the supplied sediment load can just be transported, while over long timescales, channel morphology evolves such that the bedrock incision rate matches the tectonic uplift or base-level lowering rate.


1984 ◽  
Vol 16 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 623-633
Author(s):  
M Loxham ◽  
F Weststrate

It is generally agreed that both the landfill option, or the civil techniques option for the final disposal of contaminated harbour sludge involves the isolation of the sludge from the environment. For short time scales, engineered barriers such as a bentonite screen, plastic sheets, pumping strategies etc. can be used. However for long time scales the effectiveness of such measures cannot be counted upon. It is thus necessary to be able to predict the long term environmenttal spread of contaminants from a mature landfill. A model is presented that considers diffusion and adsorption in the landfill site and convection and adsorption in the underlaying aquifer. From a parameter analysis starting form practical values it is shown that the adsorption behaviour and the molecular diffusion coefficient of the sludge, are the key parameters involved in the near field. The dilution effects of the far field migration patterns are also illustrated.


2005 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 523-533 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Vicente-Serrano ◽  
J. I. López-Moreno

Abstract. At present, the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) is the most widely used drought index to provide good estimations about the intensity, magnitude and spatial extent of droughts. The main advantage of the SPI in comparison with other indices is the fact that the SPI enables both determination of drought conditions at different time scales and monitoring of different drought types. It is widely accepted that SPI time scales affect different sub-systems in the hydrological cycle due to the fact that the response of the different water usable sources to precipitation shortages can be very different. The long time scales of SPI are related to hydrological droughts (river flows and reservoir storages). Nevertheless, few analyses empirically verify these statements or the usefulness of the SPI time scales to monitor drought. In this paper, the SPI at different time scales is compared with surface hydrological variables in a big closed basin located in the central Spanish Pyrenees. We provide evidence about the way in which the longer (>12 months) SPI time scales may not be useful for drought quantification in this area. In general, the surface flows respond to short SPI time scales whereas the reservoir storages respond to longer time scales (7–10 months). Nevertheless, important seasonal differences can be identified in the SPI-usable water sources relationships. This suggests that it is necessary to test the drought indices and time scales in relation to their usefulness for monitoring different drought types under different environmental conditions and water demand situations.


2017 ◽  
Vol 123 (2) ◽  
pp. 344-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luiz Eduardo Virgilio Silva ◽  
Renata Maria Lataro ◽  
Jaci Airton Castania ◽  
Carlos Alberto Aguiar Silva ◽  
Helio Cesar Salgado ◽  
...  

Heart rate variability (HRV) has been extensively explored by traditional linear approaches (e.g., spectral analysis); however, several studies have pointed to the presence of nonlinear features in HRV, suggesting that linear tools might fail to account for the complexity of the HRV dynamics. Even though the prevalent notion is that HRV is nonlinear, the actual presence of nonlinear features is rarely verified. In this study, the presence of nonlinear dynamics was checked as a function of time scales in three experimental models of rats with different impairment of the cardiac control: namely, rats with heart failure (HF), spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs), and sinoaortic denervated (SAD) rats. Multiscale entropy (MSE) and refined MSE (RMSE) were chosen as the discriminating statistic for the surrogate test utilized to detect nonlinearity. Nonlinear dynamics is less present in HF animals at both short and long time scales compared with controls. A similar finding was found in SHR only at short time scales. SAD increased the presence of nonlinear dynamics exclusively at short time scales. Those findings suggest that a working baroreflex contributes to linearize HRV and to reduce the likelihood to observe nonlinear components of the cardiac control at short time scales. In addition, an increased sympathetic modulation seems to be a source of nonlinear dynamics at long time scales. Testing nonlinear dynamics as a function of the time scales can provide a characterization of the cardiac control complementary to more traditional markers in time, frequency, and information domains. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Although heart rate variability (HRV) dynamics is widely assumed to be nonlinear, nonlinearity tests are rarely used to check this hypothesis. By adopting multiscale entropy (MSE) and refined MSE (RMSE) as the discriminating statistic for the nonlinearity test, we show that nonlinear dynamics varies with time scale and the type of cardiac dysfunction. Moreover, as complexity metrics and nonlinearities provide complementary information, we strongly recommend using the test for nonlinearity as an additional index to characterize HRV.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yash Lokare

A quantitative description of the violation of the second law of thermodynamics in relatively small classical systems and over short time scales comes from the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. It has been well established both theoretically and experimentally, the validity of the fluctuation theorem to small scale systems that are disturbed from their initial equilibrium states. Some experimental studies in the past have also explored the validity of the fluctuation theorem to nonequilibrium steady states at long time scales in the asymptotic limit. To this end, a theoretical and/or purely numerical model of the integral fluctuation theorem has been presented. An approximate general expression for the dissipation function has been derived for accelerated colloidal systems trapped/confined in power-law traps. Thereafter, a colloidal particle trapped in a harmonic potential (generated by an accelerating one-dimensional optical trap) and undergoing Brownian motion has been considered for the numerical study. A toy model of a quartic potential trap in addition to the harmonic trap has also been considered for the numerical study. The results presented herein show that the integral fluctuation theorem applies not only to equilibrium steady state distributions but also to nonequilibrium steady state distributions of colloidal systems in accelerated frames of reference over long time scales.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. e0204316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lionel Navarro ◽  
Anne-Élizabeth Harvey ◽  
Adam Ali ◽  
Yves Bergeron ◽  
Hubert Morin

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