Canopy gaps express the time-integrated effects of tree failure and mortality as well as regrowth and succession in tropical forests. Quantifying the size and spatial distribution of canopy gaps is requisite to modeling forest functional processes ranging from carbon fluxes to species interactions and biological diversity. Using high-resolution airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), we m...

[1] Volcanic plains identified on Mercury are morphologically similar to lunar mare plains but lack constructional and erosional features that are prevalent on other terrestrial planetary bodies. We analyzed images acquired by the MESSENGER spacecraft to identify features on Mercury that may have formed by lava erosion. We used analytical models to estimate eruption flux, erosion rate, and erup...

Natural bedrock rivers flow in self-formed channels and form diverse erosional morphologies. The parameters that collectively define channel morphology (e.g. width, slope, bed roughness, bedrock exposure, sediment size distribution) all influence river incision rates and dynamically adjust in poorly understood ways to imposed fluid and sediment fluxes. To explore the mechanics of river incision...

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site U1399 (CARI-08B, 14°23.24’N, 61°42.69’W, 2900 mbsl) is located west of Martinique. The objective of Site U1399 is to characterize the processes accompanying debris avalanche emplacement and associated erosion. The seismic and bathymetric survey for Site U1399 revealed that this site is located on one of the main chaotic deposits and that coring at t...

[1] The present paper reports on a laboratory investigation of the erosion of a deltaic front induced by the removal of a dam. We built a laboratory model of a dam, and observed both the sedimentation in the reservoir due to the downstream propagation of a delta front and the erosion of the delta front during dam removal, including measurement of channel morphology and flow field. The experimen...

Forestry operations can significantly alter hydrological and erosional processes in a catchment. In the course of developing timberland, a network of persistent roads and skid trails causing soil compaction is usually established. Hereby, the infiltration rate of the soil is distinctly reduced, which leads to the generation of overland flow—this may also cause soil erosion. In this study, a sma...

Introduction: Data currently being returned from Mars orbit is at spatial and spectral scales never before acquired. High spatial resolution THEMIS and MOC data have provided both morphologic and compositional information for small-scale processes (volcanic, fluvial, eolian, and impact cratering) on the Martian surface [1-2]. Future instruments such as HiRISE and CRISM planned for the Mars Reco...