Loading...
Environmental signal propagation, preservation, and identification in sediment routing systems
Li, Haipeng
Li, Haipeng
Citations
Altmetric:
Advisor
Editor
Date
Date Issued
2020
Date Submitted
Collections
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Embargo Expires
Abstract
Landscapes and sedimentary records host important information about the evolutionary history of the Earth and other planetary bodies. The successful extraction of such information from the preserved record requires a comprehensive understanding of the encoding, propagation, and preservation of the environmental signals. However, due to the lack of a coherent framework for understanding the operations of sediment routing systems, there is no consensus on what types of environmental perturbations may be preserved and reconstructed from the landscapes and sedimentary records. This study aims to fill the knowledge gap by presenting a new framework for sediment routing systems based on an axiomatic approach and information theory. Chapter 2 introduces the framework and a paleoenvironmental interpretation procedure based on Bayesian inference. Chapter 3 builds on the framework and interpretation procedure in chapter 2 and analyzes in detail how environmental signals propagate and get preserved. In particular, chapter 3 shows that signal shredding only suggests the ineffectiveness of chosen attributes in identifying the potential signals. Chapter 4 presents a dataset from the Eocene Green River Formation in the Uinta Basin. The outcrop is characterized by its high percentage of supercritical flow structures and macroforms. The unique features of the outcrop challenge current theories of supercritical flows. Possible mechanisms for the initiation and maintenance of supercritical flows in lowland rivers are then discussed. The results of this study can serve as the basis for 1) more systematic studies of environmental signals, 2) a less biased and more reproducible way of paleoenvironmental interpretation, and 3) more detailed studies on the supercritical flows and their effects in flood-prone rivers.
Associated Publications
Rights
Copyright of the original work is retained by the author.