Abstract Neck and chute cutoffs along meandering rivers are near-instantaneous morphodynamic perturbations that drive modification of planform channel geometry and kinematics at the cutoff site and in adjacent bends. Despite their ubiquity, quantitative and predictive linkages between post-cutoff planform bend geometry and subsequent bend kinematics remain limited. Here, using a 37-year record of Landsat-derived river channel centrelines from a meandering reach of the Trinity River in Texas (USA) and a newly developed directed graph-based approach for high-resolution channel tracking, we identify a linkage between post-cutoff bend curvature and the magnitude, spatial extent, and temporal duration of cutoff influence on local and non-local channel bend kinematics. We further explore this relationship using a kinematic model of meandering applied to synthetically generated river reaches and the Landsat-derived Trinity River centrelines. While the model captures the observed linkages between post-cutoff bend curvature and resultant bend kinematics, it underpredicts the magnitude of cutoff influence observed in the real centreline data – particularly at the cutoff site – by up to one order of magnitude. Our results provide a promising advance in the characterization and prediction of the spatiotemporal impact of cutoffs on local and non-local post-cutoff channel bend kinematics.

Abstract This is a short personal essay on geological field mapping, mostly ‘hard-rock’, with my views, prejudices and conclusions based upon 67 years in geology and 65 field seasons, variably in Western Ireland, Newfoundland, New York and New England, California, Turkey, Tibet, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. I have also seen a lot of geology in most of the rest of the world with the exception of Antarctica, Siberia and most oceanic islands.

Abstract Kīlauea is a broad shield volcano built against the southeastern slope of Mauna Loa. The summit presently has a caldera that is roughly 4 km by 3.2 km wide, and walls between 0 and 120 m high. In late April 2018, an eruption involving both the summit crater and the lower East Rift Zone occurred. In this work a quasi-real-time estimation of the evolution of radiant lava flow extension starting from May 2018 for Kīlauea–Leilani eruption using satellite image data is presented. The active lava flow evolution was obtained using Copernicus Sentinel2 (S2) and USGS-Landsat8 (L8) polar satellites acquiring medium/high-spatial-resolution images (20 × 20 m and 30 × 30 m, respectively) in the vis–SWIR–TIR (Short wave infrared-thermal infra red) spectral range. Because of the Kīlauea eruption extension and duration, a multisensor approach was used in order to improve the timing of the information derived by high-spatial-resolution remote-sensed data merging two missions with different revisit times. The 2018 eruptions at Hawaii's Kīlauea Volcano developed rapidly after the initial activity centred on the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘o crater floor on 1 May followed by draining of the lava lake at Halemáumáu Overlook Crater in the following days. During the magma extrusion from the summit, earthquake swarms and ground cracking hit the Leilani Estates neighbourhood on 2 May. With the S2 and L8 sensors we followed the lava flow from 5 May up to mid August, considering also that the activity started to decline from the beginning of August. At the end of the activity, Kīlauea Volcano had experienced its largest lower East Rift Zone eruption and caldera collapse in at least 200 years.

Abstract This study provides a comprehensive examination of the Oligocene–Miocene Ethiopian Flood Basalt Province (EFBP) within the Blue Nile (Abay) Basin (BNB), Ethiopia. Extensive logging through 29 new sections has enabled an updated stratigraphic account of the BNB to be elucidated and reveals the significance of intravolcanic sedimentary systems within the EFBP. Five sub- and intra-volcanic surfaces were modelled using spot heights to generate isopach maps that were used to constrain the thickness variations within the stratigraphy. Additionally, lineaments, Strahler stream segments and volcanic cones were mapped out from digital elevation models (SRTM DEM) and satellite data (ASTER and LANDSAT 8 imagery). These data were used in conjunction with the isopach maps to better understand the basinal controls on the distribution of intravolcanic sedimentary systems within the BNB. The study reveals how NNE and ESE/SE structural trends have influenced the distribution of volcanoes within the basin, which has in turn disrupted the distribution and lithofacies architecture of the volcanic sequences. The presence of intrabasinal ridges parallel to the major structural trends are also revealed, which formed relatively short-lived drainage divides. The implications of these intrabasinal highs on the composition and the reservoir potential of intravolcanic sedimentary successions are discussed.

Abstract The formal beginning of geoarchaeology in India can be traced back to 1863 when the first palaeolith was documented and collected by Robert Bruce Foote in Tamil Nadu and later described in a detailed geological context. Today, various geological tools such as geospatial analytical tools are available to provide extra mileage to geoarchaeological investigations. They supplement field evidence and enable researchers to display, manipulate, and model geological data and the associated archaeological evidence. The present paper attempts to summarize the current status of understanding of the Quaternary geoarchaeology of the Tapi River basin in west-central India. The aspects considered include geomorphology, landform evolution, morphometric parameters, relationships between climate and basin evolution and Palaeolithic and Mesolithic evidence. This present study uses Landsat imagery, locational data, Survey of India topographic sheets and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data in ArcGIS software. The study is the first comprehensive attempt to summarize the issue of prehistoric human adaptations (dominated mainly by Late Pleistocene evidence) through changing environments, with an assumption that the two occurred in synchronization. Another assumption is that the reported lithic and fossil sites and the surrounding areas have preserved signatures of original landforms and sedimentary contexts. Through these perspectives and visual integration of topography, drainage networks and Landsat image parameters in a Geographic Information System platform, along with other variable field inputs, a testable hypothetical model of the Quaternary evolution of Central Tapi valley is proposed. Additionally, an accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) date of 47 145 cal BP for a newly discovered ostrich eggshell fragment from Sakegaon near Bhusawal is presented and its palaeoanthropological implications are discussed. Altogether, our observations from the study area, such as an expansion of land use from the Acheulean onwards, signatures of arid phases and the oldest reported ostrich eggshell, warrant further detailed multidisciplinary research. An in-depth understanding of the first-to-last occurrences of ostriches in the region and comprehensive picture of their pan-South Asian distribution in general will help address the issue of prehistoric human adaptations through changing environments.