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ArcticBeach v1.0
(2022)
In the Arctic, air temperatures are increasing and sea ice is declining, resulting in larger waves and a longer open water season, all of which intensify the thaw and erosion of ice-rich coasts. Climate change has been shown to increase the rate of Arctic coastal erosion, causing problems for Arctic cultural heritage, existing industrial, military, and civil infrastructure, as well as changes in nearshore biogeochemistry. Numerical models that reproduce historical and project future Arctic erosion rates are necessary to understand how further climate change will affect these problems, and no such model yet exists to simulate the physics of erosion on a pan-Arctic scale. We have coupled a bathystrophic storm surge model to a simplified physical erosion model of a permafrost coastline. This Arctic erosion model, called ArcticBeach v1.0, is a first step toward a physical parameterization of Arctic shoreline erosion for larger-scale models. It is forced by wind speed and direction, wave period and height, sea surface temperature, all of which are masked during times of sea ice cover near the coastline. Model tuning requires observed historical retreat rates (at least one value), as well as rough nearshore bathymetry. These parameters are already available on a pan-Arctic scale. The model is validated at three study sites at 1) Drew Point (DP), Alaska, 2) Mamontovy Khayata (MK), Siberia, and 3) Veslebogen Cliffs, Svalbard. Simulated cumulative retreat rates for DP and MK respectively (169 and 170 m) over the time periods studied at each site (2007-2016, and 1995-2018) are found to the same order of magnitude as observed cumulative retreat (172 and 120 m). The rocky Veslebogen cliffs have small observed cumulative retreat rates (0.05 m over 2014-2016), and our model was also able to reproduce this same order of magnitude of retreat (0.08 m). Given the large differences in geomorphology between the study sites, this study provides a proof-of-concept that ArcticBeach v1.0 can be applied on very different permafrost coastlines. ArcticBeach v1.0 provides a promising starting point to project retreat of Arctic shorelines, or to evaluate historical retreat in places that have had few observations.
Causes for slow weathering and erosion in the steep, warm, monsoon-subjected Highlands of Sri Lanka
(2018)
In the Highlands of Sri Lanka, erosion and chemical weathering rates are among the lowest for global mountain denudation. In this tropical humid setting, highly weathered deep saprolite profiles have developed from high-grade metamorphic charnockite during spheroidal weathering of the bedrock. The spheroidal weathering produces rounded corestones and spalled rindlets at the rock-saprolite interface. I used detailed textural, mineralogical, chemical, and electron-microscopic (SEM, FIB, TEM) analyses to identify the factors limiting the rate of weathering front advance in the profile, the sequence of weathering reactions, and the underlying mechanisms. The first mineral attacked by weathering was found to be pyroxene initiated by in situ Fe oxidation, followed by in situ biotite oxidation. Bulk dissolution of the primary minerals is best described with a dissolution – re-precipitation process, as no chemical gradients towards the mineral surface and sharp structural boundaries are observed at the nm scale. Only the local oxidation in pyroxene and biotite is better described with an ion by ion process. The first secondary phases are oxides and amorphous precipitates from which secondary minerals (mainly smectite and kaolinite) form. Only for biotite direct solid state transformation to kaolinite is likely. The initial oxidation of pyroxene and biotite takes place in locally restricted areas and is relatively fast: log J = -11 molmin/(m2 s). However, calculated corestone-scale mineral oxidation rates are comparable to corestone-scale mineral dissolution rates: log R = -13 molpx/(m2 s) and log R = -15 molbt/(m2 s). The oxidation reaction results in a volume increase. Volumetric calculations suggest that this observed oxidation leads to the generation of porosity due to the formation of micro-fractures in the minerals and the bedrock allowing for fluid transport and subsequent dissolution of plagioclase. At the scale of the corestone, this fracture reaction is responsible for the larger fractures that lead to spheroidal weathering and to the formation of rindlets. Since these fractures have their origin from the initial oxidational induced volume increase, oxidation is the rate limiting parameter for weathering to take place. The ensuing plagioclase weathering leads to formation of high secondary porosity in the corestone over a distance of only a few cm and eventually to the final disaggregation of bedrock to saprolite. As oxidation is the first weathering reaction, the supply of O2 is a rate-limiting factor for chemical weathering. Hence, the supply of O2 and its consumption at depth connects processes at the weathering front with erosion at the surface in a feedback mechanism. The strength of the feedback depends on the relative weight of advective versus diffusive transport of O2 through the weathering profile. The feedback will be stronger with dominating diffusive transport. The low weathering rate ultimately depends on the transport of O2 through the whole regolith, and on lithological factors such as low bedrock porosity and the amount of Fe-bearing primary minerals. In this regard the low-porosity charnockite with its low content of Fe(II) bearing minerals impedes fast weathering reactions. Fresh weatherable surfaces are a pre-requisite for chemical weathering. However, in the case of the charnockite found in the Sri Lankan Highlands, the only process that generates these surfaces is the fracturing induced by oxidation. Tectonic quiescence in this region and low pre-anthropogenic erosion rate (attributed to a dense vegetation cover) minimize the rejuvenation of the thick and cohesive regolith column, and lowers weathering through the feedback with erosion.
Insolation differences play a primary role in controlling microclimate and vegetation cover, which together influence the development of topography. Topographic asymmetry (TA), or slope differences between terrain aspects, has been well documented in small-scale, field-based, and modeling studies. Here we combine a suite of environmental (e.g., vegetation, temperature, solar insolation) and topographic (e.g., elevation, drainage network) data to explore the driving mechanisms and markers of TA on a global scale. Using a novel empirical TA analysis method, we find that (1) steeper terrain has higher TA magnitudes, (2) globally, pole-facing terrain is on average steeper than equator-facing terrain, especially in mid-latitude, tectonically quiescent, and vegetated landscapes, and (3) high-elevation and low-temperature regions tend to have terrain steepened toward the equator. We further show that there are distinct differences in climate and vegetation cover across terrain aspects, and that TA is reflected in the size and form of fluvial drainage networks. Our work supports the argument that insolation asymmetries engender differences in local microclimates and vegetation on opposing terrain aspects, which broadly encourage the development of asymmetric topography across a range of lithologic, tectonic, geomorphic, and climatic settings.
The Yukon Coast in Canada is an ice-rich permafrost coast and highly sensitive to changing environmental conditions. Retrogressive thaw slumps are a common thermoerosion feature along this coast, and develop through the thawing of exposed ice-rich permafrost on slopes and removal of accumulating debris. They contribute large amounts of sediment, including organic carbon and nitrogen, to the nearshore zone.
The objective of this study was to 1) identify the climatic and geomorphological drivers of sediment-meltwater release, 2) quantify the amount of released meltwater, sediment, organic carbon and nitrogen, and 3) project the evolution of sediment-meltwater release of retrogressive thaw slumps in a changing future climate.
The analysis is based on data collected over 18 days in July 2013 and 18 days in August 2012. A cut-throat flume was set up in the main sediment-meltwater channel of the largest retrogressive thaw slump on Herschel Island. In addition, two weather stations, one on top of the undisturbed tundra and one on the slump floor, measured incoming solar radiation, air temperature, wind speed and precipitation. The discharge volume eroding from the ice-rich permafrost and retreating snowbanks was measured and compared to the meteorological data collected in real time with a resolution of one minute.
The results show that the release of sediment-meltwater from thawing of the ice-rich permafrost headwall is strongly related to snowmelt, incoming solar radiation and air temperature. Snowmelt led to seasonal differences, especially due to the additional contribution of water to the eroding sediment-meltwater from headwall ablation, lead to dilution of the sediment-meltwater composition. Incoming solar radiation and air temperature were the main drivers for diurnal and inter-diurnal fluctuations. In July (2013), the retrogressive thaw slump released about 25 000 m³ of sediment-meltwater, containing 225 kg dissolved organic carbon and 2050 t of sediment, which in turn included 33 t organic carbon, and 4 t total nitrogen. In August (2012), just 15 600 m³ of sediment-meltwater was released, since there was no additional contribution from snowmelt. However, even without the additional dilution, 281 kg dissolved organic carbon was released. The sediment concentration was twice as high as in July, with sediment contents of up to 457 g l-1 and 3058 t of sediment, including 53 t organic carbon and 5 t nitrogen, being released.
In addition, the data from the 36 days of observations from Slump D were upscaled to cover the main summer season of 1 July to 31 August (62 days) and to include all 229 active retrogressive thaw slumps along the Yukon Coast. In total, all retrogressive thaw slumps along the Yukon Coast contribute a minimum of 1.4 Mio. m³ sediment-meltwater each thawing season, containing a minimum of 172 000 t sediment with 3119 t organic carbon, 327 t nitrogen and 17 t dissolved organic carbon. Therefore, in addition to the coastal erosion input to the Beaufort Sea, retrogressive thaw slumps additionally release 3 % of sediment and 8 % of organic carbon into the ocean. Finally, the future evolution of retrogressive thaw slumps under a warming scenario with summer air temperatures increasing by 2-3 °C by 2081-2100, would lead to an increase of 109-114% in release of sediment-meltwater.
It can be concluded that retrogressive thaw slumps are sensitive to climatic conditions and under projected future Arctic warming will contribute larger amounts of thawed permafrost material (including organic carbon and nitrogen) into the environment.
Understanding the dynamics of sediment fluxes is a key issue to constrain modern erosion rates in mountain belts and determine the still debated level of control exerted by precipitation, topography and tectonics. The well defined monsoon seasonality in the Himalayas, together with active tectonics and strong relief provide an ideal environment to assess these possible interactions. For this purpose, we present a new compilation of daily suspended sediment data for 12 stations of the major rivers of the Nepal Himalayas. We analyze the relationships of sediment transport with daily river discharge and precipitation data as well as with morphometric parameters. We show that suspended sediment concentrations vary systematically through the seasons and asynchronously to river discharge displaying a hysteresis effect. This clockwise hysteresis effect disappears when suspended sediment fluxes are directly compared with direct storm discharge. Therefore we attribute the hysteresis effect to groundwater dilution rather than a sediment supply limitation. We infer a rating model to calculate erosion rates directly from long river discharge chronicles. We show that, when normalized by drainage area and mean sediment flux, all rivers exhibit the same trend. This similarity implies that all river basins have the same erosion behavior, independent of location, size and catchment characteristics. Erosion rates calculated from suspended sediment fluxes range between 0.1 and 2.8 mm/yr. The erosion rates of the three main basins of Nepal are in the range 0.9-1.5 mm/yr. Erosion rates in the Higher Himalayas are relatively low ( <0.5 mm/yr, except for Kali Gandaki), while in the Lesser Himalayas they range from 0.2 to 2 mm/yr. We propose that material transport in the rivers depends on hillslope sediment supply, which is, in turn, controlled by those rainfalls producing direct runoff. In other words, the rivers in the Nepal Himalayas are supply-limited and the hillsopes as a contributing source are transport-limited. We also show that erosion processes are not as much controlled by infrequently occurring extreme precipitation events, than by moderate ones with a high recurrence interval.
The Greater and Lesser Caucasus mountains and their associated foreland basins contain similar rock types, experience a similar two-fold, along-strike variation in mean annual precipitation, and were affected by extreme base-level drops of the neighboring Caspian Sea. However, the two Caucasus ranges are characterized by decidedly different tectonic regimes and rates of deformation that are subject to moderate (less than an order of magnitude) gradients in climate, and thus allow for a unique opportunity to isolate the effects of climate and tectonics in the evolution of topography within active orogens. There is an apparent disconnect between modern climate, shortening rates, and topography of both the Greater Caucasus and Lesser Caucasus which exhibit remarkably similar topography along-strike despite the gradients in forcing. By combining multiple datasets, we examine plausible causes for this disconnect by presenting a detailed analysis of the topography of both ranges utilizing established relationships between catchment-mean erosion rates and topography (local relief, hillslope gradients, and channel steepness) and combining it with a synthesis of previously published low-temperature thermochronologic data. Modern climate of the Caucasus region is assessed through an analysis of remotely-sensed data (TRMM and MODIS) and historical streamflow data. Because along-strike variation in either erosional efficiency or thickness of accreted material fail to explain our observations, we suggest that the topography of both the western Lesser and Greater Caucasus are partially supported by different geodynamic forces. In the western Lesser Caucasus, high relief portions of the landscape likely reflect uplift related to ongoing mantle lithosphere delamination beneath the neighboring East Anatolian Plateau. In the Greater Caucasus, maintenance of high topography in the western portion of the range despite extremely low (<2-4 mm/y) modern convergence rates may be related to dynamic topography from detachment of the north-directed Greater Caucasus slab or to a recent slowing of convergence rates. Large-scale spatial gradients in climate are not reflected in the topography of the Caucasus and do not seem to exert any significant control on the tectonics or structure of either range. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Am Abend des 29. Mai 2016 wurde der Ort Braunsbach im Landkreis Schwäbisch-Hall (Baden-Württemberg) von einer Sturzflut getroffen, bei der mehrere Häuser stark beschädigt oder zerstört wurden. Die Sturzflut war eine der Unwetterfolgen, die im Frühsommer 2016 vom Tiefdruckgebiet Elvira ausgelöst wurden. Der vorliegende Bericht ist der zweite Teil einer Doppelveröffentlichung, welche die Ergebnisse zur Untersuchung des Sturzflutereignisses im Rahmen des DFG-Graduiertenkollegs “Naturgefahren und Risiken in einer sich verändernden Welt” (NatRiskChange, GRK 2043/1) der Universität Potsdam präsentiert. Während Teil 1 die meteorologischen und hydrologischen Ereignisse analysiert, fokussiert Teil 2 auf die geomorphologischen Prozesse und die verursachten Gebäudeschäden. Dazu wurden Ursprung und Ausmaß des während des Sturzflutereignisses mobilisierten und in den Ort getragenen Materials untersucht. Des Weiteren wurden zu 96 betroffenen Gebäuden Daten zum Schadensgrad sowie Prozess- und Gebäudecharakteristika aufgenommen und ausgewertet. Die Untersuchungen zeigen, dass bei der Betrachtung von Hochwassergefährdung die Berücksichtigung von Sturzfluten und ihrer speziellen Charakteristika, wie hoher Feststofftransport und sprunghaftes Verhalten insbesondere in bebautem Gelände, wesentlich ist, um effektive Schutzmaßnahmen ergreifen zu können.
Earthquakes deform Earth's surface, building long-lasting topographic features and contributing to landscape and mountain formation.
However, seismic waves produced by earthquakes may also destabilize hillslopes, leading to large amounts of soil and bedrock moving downslope. Moreover, static deformation and shaking are suspected to damage the surface bedrock and therefore alter its future properties, affecting hydrological and erosional dynamics. Thus, earthquakes participate both in mountain building and stimulate directly or indirectly their erosion. Moreover, the impact of earthquakes on hillslopes has important implications for the amount of sediment and organic matter delivered to rivers, and ultimately to oceans, during episodic catastrophic seismic crises, the magnitude of life and property losses associated with landsliding, the perturbation and recovery of landscape properties after shaking, and the long term topographic evolution of mountain belts. Several of these aspects have been addressed recently through individual case studies but additional data compilation as well as theoretical or numerical modelling are required to tackle these issues in a more systematic and rigorous manner.
This dissertation combines data compilation of earthquake characteristics, landslide mapping, and seismological data interpretation with physically-based modeling in order to address how earthquakes impact on erosional processes and landscape evolution. Over short time scales (10-100 s) and intermediate length scales (10 km), I have attempted to improve our understanding and ability to predict the amount of landslide debris triggered by seismic shaking in epicentral areas. Over long time scales (1-100 ky) and across a mountain belt (100 km) I have modeled the competition between erosional unloading and building of topography associated with earthquakes. Finally, over intermediate time scales (1-10 y) and at the hillslope scale (0.1-1 km) I have collected geomorphological and seismological data that highlight persistent effects of earthquakes on landscape properties and behaviour.
First, I compiled a database on earthquakes that produced significant landsliding, including an estimate of the total landslide volume and area, and earthquake characteristics such as seismic moment and source depth. A key issue is the accurate conversion of landslide maps into volume estimates. Therefore I also estimated how amalgamation - when mapping errors lead to the bundling of multiple landslide into a single polygon - affects volume estimates from various earthquake-induced landslide inventories and developed an algorithm to automatically detect this artifact. The database was used to test a physically-based prediction of the total landslide area and volume caused by earthquakes, based on seismological scaling relationships and a statistical description of the landscape properties. The model outperforms empirical fits in accuracy, with 25 out of 40 cases well predicted, and allows interpretation of many outliers in physical terms. Apart from seismological complexities neglected by the model I found that exceptional rock strength properties or antecedent conditions may explain most outliers.
Second, I assessed the geomorphic effects of large earthquakes on landscape dynamics by surveying the temporal evolution of precipitation-normalized landslide rate. I found strongly elevated landslide rates following earthquakes that progressively recover over 1 to 4 years, indicating that regolith strength drops and recovers. The relaxation is clearly non-linear for at least one case, and does not seem to correlate with coseismic landslide reactivation, water table level increase or tree root-system recovery. I suggested that shallow bedrock is damaged by the earthquake and then heals on annual timescales. Such variations in ground strength must be translated into shallow subsurface seismic velocities that are increasingly surveyed with ambient seismic noise correlations. With seismic noise autocorrelation I computed the seismic velocity in the epicentral areas of three earthquakes where I constrained a change in landslide rate. We found similar recovery dynamics and timescales, suggesting that seismic noise correlation techniques could be further developed to meaningfully assess ground strength variations for landscape dynamics. These two measurements are also in good agreement with the temporal dynamics of post-seismic surface displacement measured by GPS. This correlation suggests that the surface healing mechanism may be driven by tectonic deformation, and that the surface regolith and fractured bedrock may behave as a granular media that slowly compacts as it is sheared or vibrated.
Last, I compared our model of earthquake-induced landsliding with a standard formulation of surface deformation caused by earthquakes to understand which parameters govern the competition between the building and destruction of topography caused by earthquakes. In contrast with previous studies I found that very large (Mw>8) earthquakes always increase the average topography, whereas only intermediate (Mw ~ 7) earthquakes in steep landscapes may reduce topography. Moreover, I illustrated how the net effect of earthquakes varies with depth or landscape steepness implying a complex and ambivalent role through the life of a mountain belt. Further I showed that faults producing a Gutenberg-Richter distribution of earthquake sizes, will limit topography over a larger range of fault sizes than faults producing repeated earthquakes with a characteristic size.
Logging and large earthquakes are disturbances that may significantly affect hydrological and erosional processes and process rates, although in decisively different ways. Despite numerous studies that have documented the impacts of both deforestation and earthquakes on water and sediment fluxes, a number of details regarding the timing and type of de- and reforestation; seismic impacts on subsurface water fluxes; or the overall geomorphic work involved have remained unresolved. The main objective of this thesis is to address these shortcomings and to better understand and compare the hydrological and erosional process responses to such natural and man-made disturbances. To this end, south-central Chile provides an excellent natural laboratory owing to its high seismicity and the ongoing conversion of land into highly productive plantation forests. In this dissertation I combine paired catchment experiments, data analysis techniques, and physics-based modelling to investigate: 1) the effect of plantation forests on water resources, 2) the source and sink behavior of timber harvest areas in terms of overland flow generation and sediment fluxes, 3) geomorphic work and its efficiency as a function of seasonal logging, 4) possible hydrologic responses of the saturated zone to the 2010 Maule earthquake and 5) responses of the vadose zone to this earthquake. Re 1) In order to quantify the hydrologic impact of plantation forests, it is fundamental to first establish their water balances. I show that tree species is not significant in this regard, i.e. Pinus radiata and Eucalyptus globulus do not trigger any decisive different hydrologic response. Instead, water consumption is more sensitive to soil-water supply for the local hydro-climatic conditions. Re 2) Contradictory opinions exist about whether timber harvest areas (THA) generate or capture overland flow and sediment. Although THAs contribute significantly to hydrology and sediment transport because of their spatial extent, little is known about the hydrological and erosional processes occurring on them. I show that THAs may act as both sources and sinks for overland flow, which in turn intensifies surface erosion. Above a rainfall intensity of ~20 mm/h, which corresponds to <10% of all rainfall, THAs may generate runoff whereas below that threshold they remain sinks. The overall contribution of Hortonian runoff is thus secondary considering the local rainfall regime. The bulk of both runoff and sediment is generated by Dunne, saturation excess, overland flow. I also show that logging may increase infiltrability on THAs which may cause an initial decrease in streamflow followed by an increase after the groundwater storage has been refilled. Re 3) I present changes in frequency-magnitude distributions following seasonal logging by applying Quantile Regression Forests at hitherto unprecedented detail. It is clearly the season that controls the hydro-geomorphic work efficiency of clear cutting. Logging, particularly dry seasonal logging, caused a shift of work efficiency towards less flashy and mere but more frequent moderate rainfall-runoff events. The sediment transport is dominated by Dunne overland flow which is consistent with physics-based modelling using WASA-SED. Re 4) It is well accepted that earthquakes may affect hydrological processes in the saturated zone. Assuming such flow conditions, consolidation of saturated saprolitic material is one possible response. Consolidation raises the hydraulic gradients which may explain the observed increase in discharge following earthquakes. By doing so, squeezed water saturates the soil which in turn increases the water accessible for plant transpiration. Post-seismic enhanced transpiration is reflected in the intensification of diurnal cycling. Re 5) Assuming unsaturated conditions, I present the first evidence that the vadose zone may also respond to seismic waves by releasing pore water which in turn feeds groundwater reservoirs. By doing so, water tables along the valley bottoms are elevated thus providing additional water resources to the riparian vegetation. By inverse modelling, the transient increase in transpiration is found to be 30-60%. Based on the data available, both hypotheses, are not testable. Finally, when comparing the hydrological and erosional effects of the Maule earthquake with the impact of planting exotic plantation forests, the overall observed earthquake effects are comparably small, and limited to short time scales.