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  1. Free, publicly-accessible full text available October 1, 2024
  2. Temporal and spatial variations of tectonic rock uplift are generally thought to be the main controls on long-term erosion rates in various landscapes. However, rivers continuously lengthen and capture drainages in strike-slip fault systems due to ongoing motion across the fault, which can induce changes in landscape forms, drainage networks, and local erosion rates. Located along the restraining bend of the San Andreas Fault, the San Bernardino Mountains provide a suitable location for assessing the influence of topographic disequilibrium from perturbations by tectonic forcing and channel reorganization on measured erosion rates. In this study, we measured 17 new basin-averaged erosion rates using cosmogenic 10Be in river sands (hereafter, 10Be-derived erosion rates) and compiled 31 10Be-derived erosion rates from previous work. We quantify the degree of topographic disequilibrium using topographic analysis by examining hillslope and channel decoupling, the areal extent of pre-uplift surface, and drainage divide asymmetry across various landscapes. Similar to previous work, we find that erosion rates generally increase from north to south across the San Bernardino Mountains, reflecting a southward increase in tectonic activity. However, a comparison between 10Be-derived erosion rates and various topographic metrics in the southern San Bernardino Mountains suggests that the presence of transient landscape features such as relict topography and drainage-divide migration may explain local variations in 10Be-derived erosion rates. Our work shows that coupled analysis of erosion rates and topographic metrics provides tools for assessing the influence of tectonic uplift and channel reorganization on landscape evolution and 10Be-derived erosion rates in an evolving strike-slip restraining bend.

     
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available August 17, 2024
  3. Glacial and periglacial sediments and landforms record the chronology of glaciation and amount of Pleistocene erosion during colder periods that added substantially to global sediment budgets and contributed to the global CO2 cycle. The now-drained glacial Lake Devlin, dammed in a Front Range tributary valley by a glacier in the North Branch of Boulder Creek (Colorado, USA) preserves an important sedimentary archive of the ca. 32−14 ka Pinedale glaciation, recording both paleoclimate information and an integrated measure of glacial and periglacial erosion rates over a full glacial cycle. Despite rapid erosion of fine-grained deposits after the lake drained, most sediment generated during Pinedale time remains as legacy deposits in the catchment. Geomorphic evidence and dating of glaciolacustrine sediment from surface exposures demonstrate that the ca. 30 ka Pinedale glacial advance was nearly as extensive as the local Late Glacial Maximum at ca. 20 ka. Sedimentary archives dated by 14C, optically stimulated luminescence, and cosmogenic nuclides extend earlier studies (Madole et al., 1973) of pollen and magnetic susceptibility (MS) in cores from the glaciolacustrine deposits of Lake Devlin and of Pinedale climate. Records suggest short-term warming and biotic change at ca. 15 ka after ∼14 kyr of cold, dry conditions punctuated by MS peaks at ca. 26.5 ka, 20 ka, and 16.5 ka. Lake Devlin drained catastrophically after ca. 14 ka, millennia after ice had retreated upvalley from the lateral moraine that dammed the lake. Sediment production during the Pinedale was equivalent to a periglacial and glacial erosion rate of ∼70 mm kyr−1, several times higher than long-term rates in the adjacent Front Range, but much lower than rates measured where modern glaciers are eroding weak bedrock in zones of rapid rock uplift, such as SSE Alaska, USA. Data from the Lake Devlin basin contribute to contemporary discussions of how glacial erosion influences the global CO2 cycle.

     
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available September 12, 2024
  4. Free, publicly-accessible full text available June 4, 2024
  5. Constraining the timing and rate of Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) retreat through the northeastern United States is important for understanding the co-evolution of complex climatic and glaciologic events that characterized the end of the Pleistocene epoch. However, no in situ cosmogenic 10Be exposure age estimates for LIS retreat exist through large parts of Connecticut or Massachusetts. Due to the large disagreement between radiocarbon and 10Be ages constraining LIS retreat at the maximum southern margin and the paucity of data in central New England, the timing of LIS retreat through this region is uncertain. Here, we date LIS retreat through south-central New England using 14 new in situ cosmogenic 10Be exposure ages measured in samples collected from bedrock and boulders. Our results suggest ice retreated entirely from Connecticut by 18.3 ± 0.3 ka (n = 3). In Massachusetts, exposure ages from similar latitudes suggest ice may have occupied the Hudson River Valley up to 2 kyr longer (15.2 ± 0.3 ka, average, n = 2) than the Connecticut River Valley (17.4 ± 1.0 ka, average, n = 5). We use these new ages to provide insight about LIS retreat timing during the early deglacial period and to explore the mismatch between radiocarbon and cosmogenic deglacial age chronologies in this region.

     
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available July 1, 2024
  6. Abstract

    We present new data from the debris-rich basal ice layers of the NEEM ice core (NW Greenland). Using mineralogical observations, SEM imagery, geochemical data from silicates (meteoric10Be, εNd,87Sr/86Sr) and organic material (C/N, δ13C), we characterize the source material, succession of previous glaciations and deglaciations and the paleoecological conditions during ice-free episodes. Meteoric10Be data and grain features indicate that the ice sheet interacted with paleosols and eroded fresh bedrock, leading to mixing in these debris-rich ice layers. Our analysis also identifies four successive stages in NW Greenland: (1) initial preglacial conditions, (2) glacial advance 1, (3) glacial retreat and interglacial conditions and (4) glacial advance 2 (current ice-sheet development). C/N and δ13C data suggest that deglacial environments favored the development of tundra and taiga ecosystems. These two successive glacial fluctuations observed at NEEM are consistent with those identified from the Camp Century core basal sediments over the last 3 Ma. Further inland, GRIP and GISP2 summit sites have remained glaciated more continuously than the western margin, with less intense ice-substratum interactions than those observed at NEEM.

     
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available August 1, 2024
  7. The paper discusses an intelligent vision-based control solution for autonomous tracking and landing of Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) capable Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) on ships without utilizing GPS signal. The central idea involves automating the Navy helicopter ship landing procedure where the pilot utilizes the ship as the visual reference for long-range tracking; however, refers to a standardized visual cue installed on most Navy ships called the ”horizon bar” for the final approach and landing phases. This idea is implemented using a uniquely designed nonlinear controller integrated with machine vision. The vision system utilizes machine learning based object detection for long-range ship tracking and classical computer vision for the estimation of aircraft relative position and orientation utilizing the horizon bar during the final approach and landing phases. The nonlinear controller operates based on the information estimated by the vision system and has demonstrated robust tracking performance even in the presence of uncertainties. The developed autonomous ship landing system was implemented on a quad-rotor UAV equipped with an onboard camera, and approach and landing were successfully demonstrated on a moving deck, which imitates realistic ship deck motions. Extensive simulations and flight tests were conducted to demonstrate vertical landing safety, tracking capability, and landing accuracy. The video of the real-world experiments and demonstrations is available at this URL. 
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  8. Abstract While there are no ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere outside of Greenland today, it is uncertain whether this was also the case during most other Quaternary interglacials. We show, using in situ cosmogenic nuclides in ice-rafted debris, that the Laurentide Ice Sheet was likely more persistent during Quaternary interglacials than often thought. Low 26Al/10Be ratios (indicative of burial of the source area) in marine core sediment suggest sediment source areas experienced only brief (on the order of thousands of years) and/or infrequent ice-free interglacials over the past million years. These results imply that complete Laurentide deglaciation may have only occurred when climate forcings reached levels comparable to those of the early Holocene, making our current interglacial unusual relative to others of the mid-to-late Pleistocene. 
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  9. Three-dimensional (3D) printing is implemented for surface modification of titanium alloy substrates with multilayered biofunctional polymeric coatings. Poly(lactic-co- glycolic) acid (PLGA) and polycaprolactone (PCL) polymers were embedded with amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) and vancomycin (VA) therapeutic agents to promote osseointegration and antibacterial activity, respectively. PCL coatings revealed a uniform deposition pattern of the ACP-laden formulation and enhanced cell adhesion on the titanium alloy substrates as compared to the PLGA coatings. Scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed a nanocomposite structure of ACP particles showing strong binding with the polymers. Cell viability data showed comparable MC3T3 osteoblast proliferation on polymeric coatings as equivalent to positive controls. In vitro live/dead assessment indicated higher cell attachments for 10 layers (burst release of ACP) as compared to 20 layers (steady release) for PCL coatings. The PCL coatings loaded with the antibacterial drug VA displayed a tunable release kinetics profile based on the multilayered design and drug content of the coatings. Moreover, the concentration of active VA released from the coatings was above the minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration, demonstrating its effectiveness against Staphylococcus aureus bacterial strain. This research provides a basis for developing antibacterial biocompatible coatings to promote osseointegration of orthopedic implants. 
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  10. Abstract. The timing of the Laurentide Ice Sheet's final retreat from North America's Laurentian Great Lakes is relevant to understanding regional meltwater routing, changing proglacial lake levels, and lake-bottom stratigraphy following the Last Glacial Maximum. Recessional moraines on Isle Royale, the largest island in Lake Superior, have been mapped but not directly dated. Here, we use the mean of 10 new 10Be exposure ages of glacial erratics from two recessional moraines (10.1 ± 1.1 ka, one standard deviation; excluding one anomalously young sample) to constrain the timing of Isle Royale's final deglaciation. This 10Be age is consistent with existing minimum-limiting 14C ages of basal organic sediment from two inland lakes on Isle Royale, a sediment core in Lake Superior southwest of the island, and an estimated deglaciation age of the younger of two subaqueous moraines between Isle Royale and Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula. Relationships between Isle Royale's landform ages and Lake Superior bottom stratigraphy allow us to delineate the retreat of the Laurentide ice margin across and through Lake Superior in the early Holocene. We suggest that Laurentide ice was in contact with the southern shorelines of Lake Superior later than previously thought.

     
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