Hillslope and mountain roads are often the source of erosion, which in turn can lead to larger landslides and other types of mass-movements. For this reason, low-cost repeat surveys that can be done by practitioners and not solely scientists and engineers is essential. To solve this issue the present contribution shows the testing and applicability of a mix of SfM-MVS and low-cost SLAM technology to provide erosion information. The low-cost SLAM generated between 300 ~ 900 points per square meter, while SfM-MVS created between ~11,000 to 900,000 points. The density is however a trade-off against a spatially varying error, although the variability at the road-cut scale only ranges from 2 cm vertically to 2.5 cm in x,y,z based on the C2C algorithm. Furthermore, this error tends to be more important in the higher section of the cutout (further away from the sensor and at a flatter angle). It is thus possible to measure small-scale roadside change, providing that the change is in the range of >5 cm (adding the maximum potential error twice) and providing that the road-cut is such that the sensors can be brought close to the surface (camera or sensor on a pole). The authors suggest that it can be a solution for state and agencies with limited funding and that cannot afford regular laser or for roadside that are difficult to access.
Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) measurements, a commonly used method, has been applied in loess to determine the dominant palaeowind direction during the Pleistocene. During the last session of sampling and detailed magnetic investigation of the Early Middle Pleistocene loess/palaeosol succession at Paks (Hungary), 'irregular' (i.e. non-flow-aligned) magnetic fabrics (MFs) were revealed from sedimentary records having uniform sedimentary parameters. Knowledge about the origin of irregular loess fabrics is still limited, although they may carry additional palaeoenvironmental information. The appearance of irregular MF suggests that a constant set of palaeoclimatological conditions, as indicated by the layer characteristics, was interrupted by abrupt events. To characterize the unusual event horizons, the MF of the horizons and those of both the under- and overlying material were analysed and compared by rock magnetic methods, such as hysteresis, temperature dependence of magnetic susceptibility, and AMS. The analysis separated three types of irregular fabrics and revealed three scenarios that might have been responsible for the forming of the irregular MF: abrupt climate changes, including rapid (catastrophic) weather events (e.g. intensification of strong wind- or water-lain processes); short-term pedogenesis during glacials; and post-depositional deformation triggered by mass movements or seismic activity.
Abstract Magnetic enhancement of Chinese loess‐paleosol sequences has been used extensively as a proxy for East Asian summer monsoon variations. However, the pedogenic magnetic particles contributing to this magnetic enhancement are difficult to extract, so it is not clear how they formed. In this study, we reveal pedogenic magnetite and hematite using electron microscopy, synchrotron radiation X‐ray diffraction, and rock magnetic methods. First‐order reversal curves indicate that superparamagnetic/single domain/vortex state magnetic properties dominated both loess and paleosol samples. Samples of muscovite and chlorite, which are paramagnetic, have weak spontaneous magnetization. The 1‐ to 10‐μm‐sized fraction of host silicatesis responsible for most of the magnetic enhancement of paleosols. In the paleosol fraction, we found weathered phyllosilicates (muscovite/chlorite), including many elongated submicron to a few microns authigenic magnetite and hematite particles between layers; however, few such interlayer particles were found in phyllosilicates of the loess fraction. The concentration of magnetite/hematite particles within paleosol muscovite/chlorite grains and in aggregates of phyllosilicate fragments is much higher than that of the submicron iron oxides found on silicate surfaces. Interlayer magnetite particles are dominantly prism‐shaped with aspect ratios >~4. The authigenic magnetite must be mainly responsible for the spontaneous magnetization of the muscovites and chlorites and the paleosol magnetic properties. The protective silicates account for the low extraction efficiency and also the near absence of surface oxidation of pedogenic magnetite. Based on our results, we suggest that magnetite/hematite in weathered phyllosilicates contribute significantly to the magnetic enhancement of mature paleosols.
The timing and intensity of deformation of the Tanggula Range and Tuotuohe Basin are in debatable but strengthening the research on them is necessary for better understanding the geodynamic models of the Tibet and the tectonic-climate connections during the Cenozoic. Here we present the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) records from the foreland Tuotuohe Basin to understand the tectonic uplift history of the Tanggula Range for the interval of ∼37–19.7 Ma. Rock magnetic analyses indicate that the main magnetic carrier is paramagnetic and the minor is hematite. Thus, the AMS in the Tuotuohe Section (TS) can be used to track the tectonic strain related to tectonic processes. The distribution direction of the maximum principle susceptibility (K max ) is approximately NW–SE, which intersects at about 10°with the strike of the strata and is nearly parallel to the Tanggula thrust fault system, whereas the minimum principle susceptibility (K min ) is oriented in the NE–SW direction with a girdle distribution. This is consistent with the sedimentary fabric imprinted by the NE–SW shortening direction, representing the earliest deformation stage. AMS data in the TS can be divided into two phases at 30 Ma. From ∼37 to 30 Ma, the AMS parameters indicate an active tectonic strain and the Tanggula Range uplift induced by the India–Asia convergence, whereas between 30 and 19.7 Ma, the strain is weak compared with the earlier phase. Finally, the weak strain environment between 30 and 19.7 Ma indicated by the AMS indexes of the TS and the paleoelevation evidence from the Tuotuohe Basin all together suggest that an additional 1000–2000 m of surface uplift of the basin may have begun after 19.7 Ma.
Currently, the climatic implications associated with the Cenozoic tectonic history and growth mechanisms of the Tibetan Plateau lack consensus and remain controversial. This is due in part to chronological uncertainties and few paleoelevation records distributed in the central to northern Tibetan Plateau, which we address here with the development of a robust chronology (using magnetostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, detrital zircons, and regional radiochronologic dating) and a paleoelevation reconstruction for the Tuotuohe Basin (central-northern Tibet). We refined the age of the Tuotuohe Formation (37−33 Ma), Yaxicuo Formation (33−23.6 Ma), and Wudaoliang Formation (23.6−19.7 Ma). We estimated early Oligocene (ca. 29 Ma) paleotemperatures of the Tuotuohe Basin from 11 °C to 16.1 °C, which correspond to paleoelevations of 2.9 km (±0.4 km) when the relative humidity is 64% and 2.5 km (±0.5 km) when this value is 75%, using various methods including ostracod assemblages, gastropods, charophytes, branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether analysis, regional empirical formulas, and climate model simulation. Paleoelevation data and existing geological evidence in the vicinity indicate that late Eocene to late Oligocene uplift was associated with upper-crustal shortening. Since the middle Miocene, uplift has been associated with convective removal of lithospheric mantle and/or lower-crustal flow beneath the Hoh Xil Basin.