From apex to shoreline: fluvio-deltaic architecture for the Holocene Rhine–Meuse delta, the Netherlands

Despite extensive research on alluvial architecture, there is still a pressing need for data from modern fluvio-deltaic environments. Previous research in the fluvial-dominated proximal and central Rhine–Meuse delta (the Netherlands) has yielded clear spatial trends in alluvial architecture. In this paper, we include the backwater length to establish architectural trends from apex to shoreline. Channel-belt sand body width / thickness ratios and interconnectedness were determined, and the proportions of fluvial channel-belt deposits, fluvial overbank deposits, organics and intertidal deposits were calculated for the complete fluvio-deltaic wedge based on high-resolution geological cross sections. It was found that the average width / thickness ratio of channel-belt sand bodies in the proximal delta is 5 times higher than in the distal delta. Other down-valley trends include an 80 % decrease in the channel deposit proportion (CDP) and a near-constant proportion of overbank deposits. Additionally, interconnectedness in the proximal delta is 3 times higher than in the distal delta. Based on the Rhine–Meuse dataset, we propose a linear empirical function to model the spatial variability of CDP. It is argued that this relationship is driven by four key factors: channel lateral-migration rate, channel-belt longevity, creation of accommodation space and inherited floodplain width. Additionally, it is established that the sensitivity of CDP to changes in the ratio between channel-belt sand body width and floodplain width (normalized channel-belt sand body width) varies spatially and is greatest in the central and distal delta. Furthermore, the proportion of fluvial channel-belt sands is generally an appropriate proxy for the total sand content of fluvio-deltaic successions, although its suitability as a total sand indicator rapidly fades in the distal delta. Characteristics of the backwater zone of the Rhine–Meuse delta are (1) sand body width / thickness ratios that are lower as a consequence of channel narrowing (not deepening), (2) a rapid increase and then a drop in the organic proportion, (3) an increase in the total sand proportion towards the shoreline, and (4) a drop in the connectedness ratio. For this paper, unique high-resolution quantitative data and spatial trends of the alluvial architecture are presented for an entire delta, providing data that can be used to further improve existing fluvial stratigraphy models.

Intensified paraglacial slope failures due to accelerating downwasting of a temperate glacier in Mt. Gongga, southeastern Tibetan Plateau

Topographic development via paraglacial slope failure (PSF) represents a complex interplay between geological structure, climate, and glacial denudation. Southeastern Tibet has experienced amongst the highest rates of ice mass loss in High Mountain Asia in recent decades, but few studies have focused on the implications of this mass loss on the stability of paraglacial slopes. We used repeat satellite- and unpiloted aerial vehicle (UAV)-derived imagery between 1990 and 2020 as the basis for mapping PSFs from slopes adjacent to Hailuogou Glacier (HLG), a 5 km long monsoon temperate valley glacier in the Mt. Gongga region. We observed recent lowering of the glacier tongue surface at rates of up to 0.88 m a−1 in the period 2000 to 2016, whilst overall paraglacial bare ground area (PBGA) on glacier-adjacent slopes increased from 0.31 ± 0.27 km2 in 1990 to 1.38 ± 0.06 km2 in 2020. Decadal PBGA expansion rates were ∼ 0.01 km2 a−1, 0.02 km2 a−1, and 0.08 km2 in the periods 1990–2000, 2000–2011, and 2011–2020 respectively, indicating an increasing rate of expansion of PBGA. Three types of PSFs, including rockfalls, sediment-mantled slope slides, and headward gully erosion, were mapped, with a total area of 0.75 ± 0.03 km2 in 2020. South-facing valley slopes (true left of the glacier) exhibited more destabilization (56 % of the total PSF area) than north-facing (true right) valley slopes (44 % of the total PSF area). Deformation of sediment-mantled moraine slopes (mean 1.65–2.63 ± 0.04 cm d−1) and an increase in erosion activity in ice-marginal tributary valleys caused by a drop in local base level (gully headward erosion rates are 0.76–3.39 cm d−1) have occurred in tandem with recent glacier downwasting. We also observe deformation of glacier ice, possibly driven by destabilization of lateral moraine, as has been reported in other deglaciating mountain glacier catchments. The formation, evolution, and future trajectory of PSFs at HLG (as well as other monsoon-dominated deglaciating mountain areas) are related to glacial history, including recent rapid downwasting leading to the exposure of steep, unstable bedrock and moraine slopes, and climatic conditions that promote slope instability, such as very high seasonal precipitation and seasonal temperature fluctuations that are conducive to freeze–thaw and ice segregation processes.

Transmissivity and groundwater flow exert a strong influence on drainage density

The extent to which groundwater flow affects drainage density and erosion has long been debated but is still uncertain. Here, I present a new hybrid analytical and numerical model that simulates groundwater flow, overland flow, hillslope erosion and stream incision. The model is used to explore the relation between groundwater flow and the incision and persistence of streams for a set of parameters that represent average humid climate conditions. The results show that transmissivity and groundwater flow exert a strong control on drainage density. High transmissivity results in low drainage density and high incision rates (and vice versa), with drainage density varying roughly linearly with transmissivity. The model evolves by a process that is defined here as groundwater capture, whereby streams with a higher rate of incision draw the water table below neighbouring streams, which subsequently run dry and stop incising. This process is less efficient in models with low transmissivity due to the association between low transmissivity and high water table gradients. A comparison of different parameters shows that drainage density is most sensitive to transmissivity, followed by parameters that govern the initial slope and base level. The results agree with field data that show a negative correlation between transmissivity and drainage density. These results imply that permeability and transmissivity exert a strong control on drainage density, stream incision and landscape evolution. Thus, models of landscape evolution may need to explicitly include groundwater flow.

Graphically interpreting how incision thresholds influence topographic and scaling properties of modeled landscapes

We examine the influence of incision thresholds on topographic and scaling properties of landscapes that follow a landscape evolution model (LEM) with terms for stream-power incision, linear diffusion, and uniform uplift. Our analysis uses three main tools. First, we examine the graphical behavior of theoretical relationships between curvature and the steepness index (which depends on drainage area and slope). These relationships plot as straight lines for the case of steady-state landscapes that follow the LEM. These lines have slopes and intercepts that provide estimates of landscape characteristic scales. Such lines can be viewed as counterparts of slope–area relationships, which follow power laws in detachment-limited landscapes but not in landscapes with diffusion. We illustrate the response of these curvature–steepness index lines to changes in the values of parameters. Second, we define a Péclet number that quantifies the competition between incision and diffusion, while taking the incision threshold into account. We examine how this Péclet number captures the influence of the incision threshold on the degree of landscape dissection. Third, we characterize the influence of the incision threshold using a ratio between it and the steepness index. This ratio is a dimensionless number in the case of the LEM that we use and reflects the fraction by which the incision rate is reduced due to the incision threshold; in this way, it quantifies the relative influence of the incision threshold across a landscape. These three tools can be used together to graphically illustrate how topography and process competition respond to incision thresholds.

Multi-objective optimisation of a rock coast evolution model with cosmogenic ¹⁰Be analysis for the quantification of long-term cliff retreat rates

This paper presents a methodology that uses site-specific topographic and cosmogenic 10Be data to perform multi-objective model optimisation of a coupled coastal evolution and cosmogenic radionuclide production model. Optimal parameter estimation of the coupled model minimises discrepancies between model simulations and measured data to reveal the most likely history of rock coast development. This new capability allows a time series of cliff retreat rates to be quantified for rock coast sites over millennial timescales. Without such methods, long-term cliff retreat cannot be understood well, as historical records only cover the past ∼150 years. This is the first study that has (1) applied a process-based coastal evolution model to quantify long-term cliff retreat rates for real rock coast sites and (2) coupled cosmogenic radionuclide analysis with a process-based model. The Dakota optimisation software toolkit is used as an interface between the coupled coastal evolution and cosmogenic radionuclide production model and optimisation libraries. This framework enables future applications of datasets associated with a range of rock coast settings to be explored. Process-based coastal evolution models simplify erosional processes and, as a result, often have equifinality properties, for example that similar topography develops via different evolutionary trajectories. Our results show that coupling modelled topography with modelled 10Be concentrations can reduce equifinality in model outputs. Furthermore, our results reveal that multi-objective optimisation is essential in limiting model equifinality caused by parameter correlation to constrain best-fit model results for real-world sites. Results from two UK sites indicate that the rates of cliff retreat over millennial timescales are primarily driven by the rates of relative sea level rise. These findings provide strong motivation for further studies that investigate the effect of past and future relative sea level rise on cliff retreat at other rock coast sites globally.

Breaking down chipping and fragmentation in sediment transport: the control of material strength

As rocks are transported, they primarily undergo two breakdown mechanisms: fragmentation and chipping. Fragmentation is catastrophic breakup by fracture in the bulk – either by subcritical crack growth under repeated collisions, or from a single high-energy (supercritical) collision – and produces angular shards. Chipping is a distinct low-energy mechanism of impact attrition that involves shallow cracking; this process rounds river pebbles in a universal manner under bed-load transport. Despite its geophysical significance, the transition from chipping to fragmentation is not well studied. Here, we examine this transition experimentally by measuring the shape and mass evolution of concrete particles of varying strength, subject to repeated collisions in a rotating drum. For sufficiently strong particles, chipping occurred and was characterized by the following: attrition products were orders of magnitude smaller than the parent; attrition rate was insensitive to material strength; and particles experienced monotonic rounding toward a spherical shape. As strength decreased, we observed the onset of a subcritical cracking regime associated with fragmentation: mass of attrition products became larger and more varied; attrition rate was inversely proportional to material strength; and shape evolution fluctuated and became non-monotonic. Our results validate conceptual and numerical models for impact attrition: chipping follows “Sternberg's law” of exponential mass loss through time; for fragmentation, the lifetime of particles increases nonlinearly with material strength, consistent with “Basquin's law” of fatigue failure. We suggest that bedrock erosion models must be clarified to incorporate distinct attrition mechanisms, and that pebble or bedrock-channel shape may be utilized to deduce the operative mechanism in a given environment.

A 4000-year debris flow record based on amphibious investigations of fan delta activity in Plansee (Austria, Eastern Alps)

The frequency of debris flows is hypothesized to have increased in recent decades with enhanced rainstorm activity. Geological evidence to test the relationship between climate and debris flow activity for prehistoric times is scarce due to incomplete sediment records, complex stratigraphy, and insufficient age control, especially in Alpine environments. In lacustrine archives, the link between onshore debris flow processes and the sedimentary record in lakes is poorly investigated. We present an amphibious characterization of alluvial fan deltas and a continuous 4000-year debris flow record from Plansee (Tyrol, Austria), combining light detection and ranging (lidar) data, swath bathymetry, and sediment core analyses. The geomorphic investigation of two fan deltas in different developmental stages revealed an evolutionary pattern of backfilling and new channel formation onshore, together with active subaqueous progradation on a juvenile fan delta, major onshore sediment deposition, and only few, but larger, subaqueous deposits on a mature fan delta. Geomorphic evidence for stacked and braided debris flow lobes, subaquatic landslide deposits, and different types of turbidites in sediment cores facilitated a process-based event identification, i.e. distinguishing between debris-flow-induced or earthquake-induced turbidites throughout the 4000-year sedimentary record. We directly correlate subaqueous lobe-shaped deposits with high backscatter signals to terrestrial debris flow activity of the last century. Moreover, turbidite thickness distribution along a transect of four cores allows us to pinpoint numerous events as being related to debris flow activity on a juvenile fan delta. In the sediment core, debris-flow-induced turbidites feature a more gradual fining upward grain size trend and higher TOC (total organic carbon) and δ13C values compared to earthquake-induced turbidites. The 4000-year event record contains 138 debris-flow-induced turbidites separated into four phases of similar debris flow activity (df phases). df phase 1 (∼2120 to ∼2040 before the common era – BCE) reflects the second-highest observed event frequencies and is interpreted as being a postseismic landscape response. After a long period of long recurrence intervals without any outstanding increases in debris flow activity during df phase 2 (∼2040 BCE to ∼1520 common era – CE), there are slightly increased event frequencies in df phase 3 (∼1520 to ∼1920 CE). df phase 4 (∼1920 to 2018 CE) exhibits a drastic increase in debris flow activity, followed by the overall highest debris flow frequency of the whole record, which is about 7 times higher than during df phase 3. We show that the frequency increase in the debris-flow-induced turbidite record matches a previously postulated increase in debris flow events derived from aerial photography at Plansee in the last century. The triggering of debris flows is more controlled by short, intense precipitation than any other mass movement process, and we demonstrate that lacustrine debris flow records provide a unique inventory of hazard-relevant rainstorm frequencies over decades, centuries, and millennia. The presented increase in debris flow frequency since the start of the 20th century coincides with a twofold enhanced rainstorm activity in the Northern European Alps and, therefore, provides a novel technique for the systematic understanding of non-stationary debris flow frequencies in a changing climate.

Vibration of natural rock arches and towers excited by helicopter-sourced infrasound

Helicopters emit high-power infrasound in a frequency range that can coincide with the natural frequencies of rock landforms. While a single previous study demonstrated that close-proximity helicopter flight was able to excite potentially damaging vibration of rock pinnacles, the effects on a broader range of landforms remain unknown. We performed a series of controlled flights at seven sandstone arches and towers in Utah, USA, recording their vibration response to helicopter-sourced infrasound. We found that landform vibration velocities increased by a factor of up to 1000 during close-proximity helicopter flight as compared to ambient conditions immediately prior and that precise spectral alignment between infrasound and landform natural frequencies is required to excite resonance. We define admittance as the ratio of vibration velocity to infrasound pressure and recorded values of up to 0.11 mm s−1 Pa−1. While our results demonstrate a strong vibration response, the measured velocities are lower than likely instantaneously damaging values. Our results serve as a basis for predicting unfavorable degradation of culturally significant rock landforms due to regular helicopter overflights.

An update on techniques to assess normal-mode behavior of rock arches by ambient vibrations

Natural rock arches are rare and beautiful geologic landforms with important cultural value. As such, their management requires periodic assessment of structural integrity to understand environmental and anthropogenic influences on arch stability. Measurements of passive seismic vibrations represent a rapid and non-invasive technique to describe the dynamic properties of natural arches, including resonant frequencies, modal damping ratios, and mode shapes, which can be monitored over time for structural health assessment. However, commonly applied spectral analysis tools are often limited in their ability to resolve characteristics of closely spaced or complex higher-order modes. Therefore, we investigate two techniques well-established in the field of civil engineering through application to a set of natural arches previously characterized using polarization analysis and spectral peak-picking techniques. Results from enhanced frequency domain decomposition and parametric covariance-driven stochastic subspace identification modal analyses showed generally good agreement with spectral peak-picking and frequency-dependent polarization analyses. However, we show that these advanced techniques offer the capability to resolve closely spaced modes including their corresponding modal damping ratios. In addition, due to preservation of phase information, enhanced frequency domain decomposition allows for direct and convenient three-dimensional visualization of mode shapes. These techniques provide detailed characterization of dynamic parameters, which can be monitored to detect structural changes indicating damage and failure, and in addition have the potential to improve numerical models used for arch stability assessment. Results of our study encourage broad adoption and application of these advanced modal analysis techniques for dynamic analysis of a wide range of geological features.

Triggering and propagation of exogenous sediment pulses in mountain channels: insights from flume experiments with seismic monitoring

In the upper part of mountain river catchments, large amounts of loose debris produced by mass-wasting processes can accumulate at the base of slopes and cliffs. Sudden destabilizations of these deposits are thought to trigger energetic sediment pulses that may travel in downstream rivers with little exchange with the local bed. The dynamics of these exogenous sediment pulses remain poorly known because direct field observations are lacking, and the processes that control their formation and propagation have rarely been explored. Here we carry out flume experiments with the aims of investigating (i) the role of sediment accumulation zones in the generation of sediment pulses, (ii) their propagation dynamics in low-order mountain channels, and (iii) the capability of seismic methods to unravel their physical properties. We use an original setup wherein we supply liquid and solid discharge to a low-slope storage zone acting like a natural sediment accumulation zone that is connected to a downstream 18 % steep channel equipped with geophones. We show that the ability of the self-formed deposit to generate sediment pulses is controlled by the fine fraction of the mixture. In particular, when coarse grains coexist with a high content of finer particles, the storage area experiences alternating phases of aggradation and erosion strongly impacted by grain sorting. The upstream processes also influence the composition of the sediment pulses, which are formed by a front made of the coarsest fraction of the sediment mixture, a body composed of a high concentration of sand corresponding to the peak of solid discharge, and a diluted tail that exhibits a wide grain size distribution. Seismic measurements reveal that the front dominates the overall seismic noise, but we observe a complex dependency between seismic power and sediment pulse transport characteristics, which questions the applicability of existing seismic theories in such a context. These findings challenge the classical approach for which the sediment budget of mountain catchments is merely reduced to an available volume, since not only hydrological but also granular conditions should be considered to predict the occurrence and propagation of such sediment pulses.