Reconstruction of the depositional history of the former coastal lagoon of Vilamoura (Algarve, Portugal): A sedimentological, microfaunal and geophysical approach

The late Holocene evolution of the former coastal lagoon of Vilamoura was reconstructed according to sediment cores and geophysical profiles. According to sedimentological analyses of the cores, five palaeoenvironmental stages were defined. (1) The pretransgression stage is represented by an erosive surface formed during incision of the river into the basement because of a lower sea level. This palaeosurface was retraced by refraction seismic profiles, showing that the marine transgression took place on a wide plain with several incised channels. (2) The development of an estuary started by transgression into the river valley corresponding to the postglacial sea level rise. Radiocarbon dating indicates a sea level not lower than -4 m at a minimum age of 4716 +/- 72 Cal BP. After the transgressive maximum, infilling of the estuary started, beginning with (3) subtidal infilling related to the formation of a sandy barrier followed by (4) supratidal infilling with further accretion of the barrier, changing the previous open bay into a coastal lagoon. (5) Finally, the lagoon was fluvially filled with terrestrial sediments, changing the marine to a fluvial milieu with floodplain deposition. Analysis of benthic foraminiferal and ostracod assemblages revealed additional information about the environmental conditions during evolution of the estuary, which led to a further subdivision of the marine facies into stages with mainly estuarine, lagoonal, or marine influence. The end of the marine stage was dated at 2895 +/- 48 Cal BP, indicating a pre-Roman onset of human-induced soil erosion

Comparison of roughness models to simulate overland flow and tracer transport experiments under simulated rainfall at the plot scale.

International audienceThe Saint-Venant equations have consistently proved capable of accurately simulating hydrographs at plot scale. However, recent works showed that even though the hydrograph is satisfyingly reproduced, the flow velocity field within the plot might be wrong, with the highest velocity largely underestimated. Moreover, the choice of roughness models to be used in the Saint-Venant equations is most often done in the purpose of increasing the hydrograph quality, while the actual travel time of water is ignored. This paper presents a tracer experiment made on a 10-m by 4-m rainfall simulation plot, where travel time and tracer mass recovery as well as local flow velocity have been measured. Four roughness models are tested: (i) Darcy-Weisbach's model, (ii) Lawrence's model, (iii) Manning's model with a constant roughness coefficient, and (iv) Manning's model with a variable roughness coefficient which decreases as a power law of the runoff water depth. Models with a constant friction factor largely underestimate high velocities. Moreover, they are not able to simulate tracer travel-times. Lawrence's model correctly simulates low and high velocities as well as tracer breakthrough curves. However, a specific set of parameters are required for each breakthrough curve from the same experiment. The best results are obtained with the Manning's model with a water-depth dependent roughness coefficient: simulated velocities are consistent with measurements, and a single set of parameters captures the entire set of breakthrough curves, as well as tracer mass recovery. The study reported here brings the following findings: (i) roughness coefficient is flow-dependent, (ii) faithful simulation of the velocity fields does not imply a good prediction of travel time and mass recovery, (iii) the best model is a Manning type model with a roughness coefficient which decreases as a power law of water depth. The full dataset used in this work is available on request. It can be used as benchmark for overland flow and transport models

A multi-proxy approach to reconstruct hydrological changes and Holocene climate development of Nam Co, Central Tibet

Holocene lake level fluctuations were reconstructed from a 2.7-m sediment core from Nam Co, Central Tibet, China dating to > 7.2 cal ka BP. Results were compared to existing lake records from the Tibetan Plateau to infer variations in the strength of the Asian Monsoon. Geomorphological features in the Nam Co catchment, such as beach ridges and lake terraces, indicate high lake stands during the late Glacial. A major low stand is suggested for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Sands and sandy silts at the base of the core are transgressive facies, with material transported by melt water and deposited under rising lake level conditions that followed the LGM low stand. Variations in grain size, major elements, biomarker stable isotopes and minerals in the core suggest a climate evolution reflected in at least five depositional units and subunits. Sediments in Unit I (similar to 7.2 to similar to 5.4 cal ka BP) were deposited at highest lake levels. Large amounts of allogenic minerals and allochthonous organic matter suggest high precipitation and melt water input, implying positive water balance. Increasing aquatic productivity points to favourable environmental conditions. Unit II (similar to 5.4 to similar to 4.0 cal ka BP) marks a transition between favourable, stable hydrological conditions and lake level decrease. Lower lake levels were a consequence of drier climate with less monsoonal precipitation, higher evaporation rates, and increased moisture recycling in the catchment. Unit III (similar to 4.0 to similar to 1.4 cal ka BP) reflects the driest periods recorded, at similar to 3.7 cal ka BP and 1.6 cal ka BP. Lake shrinkage and salinization was interrupted as suggested by the deposition of Unit IV (similar to 1.4 to similar to 0.8 cal ka BP), when increased precipitation and runoff that might be related to the Medieval Warm Period, led to a stable, but still low lake level. Unit V (800 cal years BP-present) is characterized by progressive lake shrinkage due to intense evaporation. Large fluctuations in geochemical variables indicate humid and arid periods, respectively, at Nam Co between similar to 450 and similar to 200 cal years BP, with the latter assumed to correspond to the Little Ice Age. Modern hydrological data indicate the lake level is rising. Comparison of the Nam Co record with other lake records from the Tibetan Plateau suggests general agreement with the broader picture of Holocene environmental evolution. The timing of dry and wet climate conditions at lake sites across Tibet indicates a gradually decreasing influence of the southern monsoon during the Holocene, from NW to SE. Nevertheless, further research is needed to improve our understanding of Holocene spatio-temporal hydrological variations across the Asian continent

Recent advances in isotopes as palaeolimnological proxies

Isotope geochemistry is an essential part of environmental and climate change research and over the last few decades has contributed significantly to our understanding of a huge array of environmental problems, not least in palaeolimnology and limnogeology. Here we describe some of the recent developments in the use of stable isotopes in palaeo-lake research. These are: better preparation, analysis, and interpretation of biogenic silica oxygen and silicon isotopes; extraction and characterisation of specific compounds such as leaf waxes and algal lipids for isotope analysis; determining the excess of 13C–18O bonds in clumped isotopes; and the measurement of multiple isotope ratios in chironomid chitin. These advances have exciting prospects and it will be interesting to see how these techniques develop further and consequently offer a real advancement in our science over the next decade

The integrated hydrologic model intercomparison project, IH-MIP2: A second set of benchmark results to diagnose integrated hydrology and feedbacks

International audienceEmphasizing the physical intricacies of integrated hydrology and feedbacks in simulating connected, variably saturated groundwater-surface water systems, the Integrated Hydrologic Model Intercomparison Project initiated a second phase (IH-MIP2), increasing the complexity of the benchmarks of the first phase. The models that took part in the intercomparison were ATS, Cast3M, CATHY, GEOtop, HydroGeoSphere, MIKE-SHE, and ParFlow. IH-MIP2 benchmarks included a tilted v-catchment with 3-D subsurface; a superslab case expanding the slab case of the first phase with an additional horizontal subsurface heterogeneity; and the Borden field rainfall-runoff experiment. The analyses encompassed time series of saturated, unsaturated, and ponded storages, as well as discharge. Vertical cross sections and profiles were also inspected in the superslab and Borden benchmarks. An analysis of agreement was performed including systematic and unsystematic deviations between the different models. Results show generally good agreement between the different models, which lends confidence in the fundamental physical and numerical implementation of the governing equations in the different models. Differences can be attributed to the varying level of detail in the mathematical and numerical representation or in the parameterization of physical processes, in particular with regard to ponded storage and friction slope in the calculation of overland flow. These differences may become important for specific applications such as detailed inundation modeling or when strong inhomogeneities are present in the simulation domain