Historical Timescales Research Articles

Sediment Source Partitioning and Budgeting Over Historical Timescales in a Glacierized, Mountain Catchment

AbstractManaging and living with geohazards is especially challenging in mountain landscapes and requires an understanding of catchment‐scale sediment dynamics and internal system functioning. While sediment budgeting is a valuable framework, challenges remain including partitioning sediment yield by source and grain size and addressing scale issues. This study advances our understanding of bed material dynamics in glacierized mountain catchments by applying a range of complementary techniques to measure sediment transfers in the Fitzsimmons Creek watershed. First, we measured the historical bed material yield using field surveys and historical air photo analysis, revealing an average specific sediment yield of 210 Mg km−2 yr−1, that varied by a factor of 17 over the 76‐year record. Hydro‐meteorological and historical analyses suggest that gravel extraction had the largest impact over the past three decades, while an extreme landslide and flood event produced the highest recorded sediment yield. Second, we constructed a detailed sediment budget along the river system using high‐resolution, multi‐temporal lidar and geomorphic mapping data. Sediment source partitioning indicates that landslide, active channel, and floodplain sources each contributed about one‐third of the total sediment supply. Net degradation occurred along the valley bottom upstream of the fan‐delta, resulting in steadily increasing downstream sediment yield. This trend is punctuated by chronic landsliding near the outlet, driven by postglacial incision through glaciogenic sediments at a hanging valley step. Contemporary glacial and proglacial sources were not measured directly but surprisingly contributed minimally. These findings provide insight into the sediment dynamics of glacierized mountain catchments and their potential controls.

Research on the spatiotemporal distribution and factors influencing intangible cultural heritage in Fujian Province from a multiscale perspective

The spatiotemporal distribution of intangible cultural heritage in Fujian Province, China, and the factors that influence it were explored using multiple spatial scales. The samples include five batches of Chinese national-level and six batches of Chinese provincial-level intangible cultural heritage items, totaling 554. The samples involve city-scale, county-scale, and traditional dwellings, and the analysis uses various methods, such as gravity migration theory and the GeoDetector model. The results show that, in terms of historical timescales, the moving trajectory of the center of gravity of the intangible cultural heritage distribution in Fujian Province involves reciprocation from north to south, and the center moves south in time from the pre-Qin period to the modern period. Spatially, intangible cultural heritage in Fujian Province forms an overall aggregate pattern, among which traditional skills fall into an aggregate pattern; five categories, including traditional drama, fall into an aggregate-random pattern; and four categories, including traditional medicine, fall into a random pattern. The traditional art category and other intensive distribution areas are located in coastal areas, and the traditional dance category is scattered in northwestern Fujian Province. Experiments on the factors influencing intangible cultural heritage distribution were conducted at the city and county levels. At the city level, human geography factors, such as the resident population, urbanization rate, and gross domestic product, have a greater influence on distribution. At the county level, the influence of physical geographical factors clearly increases. The dominant factors for coastal cities are the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), average precipitation, and coastline, and that for inland cities is elevation. From the perspective of categories, the dominant factors of traditional music and Quyi are human geography factors, and those of other types of intangible cultural heritage are the synergistic effects of physical geography and human geography. The conclusions of this study are helpful for systematically protecting and developing the intangible cultural heritage industry and improving research theories and methodological systems of the spatiotemporal distribution and mechanism influencing intangible cultural heritage.

Marooned

Mr. João de Deus, an elderly Afro-Brazilian man, worked on the ground and contributed to the beginning of the modern Brazilian oil industry. His is a story of environmental hope and personal resilience with roots in the deep past and outcomes that reverberate to the present. João de Deus’s story reveals many layers of history beyond human activity, weaving together different temporalities and kinds of hope. This article layers different temporalities—geological, ecological, and human—to emphasize their interconnectedness. As a method, layering various chronological scales helps highlight how they collectively contribute to a complex and nuanced history of a particular individual, community, or place. It considers the simultaneous existence and impact of multiple historical layers, emphasizing the interplay of different historical timescales and historical actors. João de Deus, situated atop ancient geological layers potentially rich in oil, experienced life as a Black man in slavery-era Brazil. Amid the ecological presence of African oil palms and the emerging industrialization of the Maraú Peninsula, he found himself entangled in multiple concurrent histories of different chronological scales, all influencing his destiny.

Assessing the impact of climate change on future extreme temperature events in major South African cities

In this era of climate change, extreme weather events are expected to become more intense and frequent. This study analysed the long-term future climate data from the mean of five climate model intercomparison project phase 6 (CMIP6) global climate models (GCMs) to examine the impacts of climate change on extreme temperature in four major South African cities. The bias correction was successfully conducted using the CMhyd software program. The analysis of extreme temperatures was conducted using indices developed by the World Meteorological Organization’s Expert Team on Sector-specific Climate Indices (ET-SCI) and calculated using the R-based Climpact2 software. All statistical metrics (mean, R2 and RMSE) show that bias correction was fairly good, and further analysis and conclusions could also be drawn using the adjusted dataset. The overall result shows that annual trends of all temperature indices analysed in this study are significantly increasing for both scenarios (SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5) except for some lower extreme temperature indices (i.e., number of cool days, cold nights and cold spells). In the historical time scale, however, some indices showed no trend for some stations. The study also found that coastal cities had a slower increase in higher extreme weather indices as compared to inland cities. However, for lower extreme indices (such as number of cool days, cold nights, cool day’s temperature and cold spells), the opposite was true. This information is important for policymakers, development agents and disaster prevention workers to make informed decisions about adapting to and mitigating extreme weather events.

The Image of an Ideal History Teacher from the Recollections about the Russian School in the 1840s and 1850s

This article discusses the teaching methods that shaped the Russian school in the 19th century. The image of an “ideal teacher” is analyzed based on the recollections of historians of that period. The dynamics of its features is explored on a historical time scale. The factors that forced its transformation and evolution are considered. The sources used include memoirs written between the 1860s and 1870s, as well as those published at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. The first group of memoirs is characterized by the juxtaposition of the “old” and “new” history teachers who differed in their preferred “teaching methods”, moral beliefs, and attitudes to teaching. In the second group of memoirs, the trend to a negative view of the “old” teachers and the effectiveness of their methods is rejected, while the “young” teachers are criticized. The obtained results show that an “ideal history teacher” was endowed by the memoirists of the 1840s and 1850s with such new personal and professional qualities as: humanity, morality, “expertise” (a high level of scientific knowledge), as well as a sincere desire to awake students’ interest in what they are being taught and to help them become self-reliant in their reasoning.

Guns (Fire Arms) from Men at Home to Boys in the Bush in the Bamenda Grass Field: A Diagnosis of the Ongoing Armed Conflict Experience

The protracted claim of marginalization, subjugation, neglect, and disregard by individuals and political groups in the part of the Republic of Cameroon that was colonized by Britain known as Anglophone Cameroon metamorphosed into an armed rebellion in 2017. This came as a result of confused talks /dialogue sessions between the Cameroon government and the Anglophones Teachers/Lawyers trade Unions in Bamenda. While the Cameroon government played for time to implement the resolutions of the talks, the self-appointed leaders of the Anglophone communities who had been beating the drums of War on all social media platforms from their safe hoods in the Diaspora lost their patience and ordered an all recruitment of boys and girls into an army which went by different appellations. Without adequate preparations for War either in the dimension of training, money, or weaponry, so many people in Anglophone Cameroon were both persuaded and brainwashed to abandon their daily chores to join the ranks of the make-shift fighting scouts; amba militia that went by a myriad of appellations. The recruits profited from the chaos and disorder to seize guns that formed the nucleus of nobility, honour, and wealth of the people of the grass fields and took these arms of honour to their camps mostly in the bushes to carry out the War assignments. The prime target of the make shift militia as heralded by this deeply aggrieved faction of the English-speaking Cameroon was to secure a quick victory over the Cameroon army and agencies thereby, liberating Anglophone Cameroon from what they called colonization, domination, marginalization or, or imperialism. Guns at home in the Grass fields before 2017 were kept by dignified individuals mainly titled and wealthy men. The gun culture that reigned then was regulated both by a sort of intrinsic morale that formed a pattern of prestige and social effervescence beyond common compare but their mass seizure by these hurriedly formed boys under the guise of rage and furry became a source of worry and danger to the social, political and material wellbeing of the people within this niche. This paper has exploited primary and secondary sources to underscore the trouble encountered by this unfortunate guns shift from the houses to the bushes in the Bamenda grass fields. It argues that the guns at home and with dignified men served purposes that were for the most part peaceful and defensive but those in the bushes simply inaugurated an age of violence and wanton destruction uncommon to the grass fielders in all its historical time scale.

Inherited anthropogenic disturbance and decadal sediment dynamics in a mountain fluvial system: The case of the Marecchia River canyon, Northern Apennines

We evaluate decadal coarse sediment dynamics along the Marecchia River of the Northern Apennines, a fluvial system with a history of gravel mining that led to the incision of a 6-km-long canyon. To this purpose, we subdivided the river into 21 reaches, seen as sediment reservoirs, to examine (1) historical variations in active channel width (1955−2019) in conjunction with (2) change in alluvial sediment storage (2009−2019), by differencing two sequential LiDAR digital elevation models (DEMs) within the active channel footprint. Combined examination of lateral (widening or narrowing) and vertical (aggradation or degradation) channel changes allowed the identification of composite styles of reservoir adjustment, as well as the refinement of geomorphic inference solely based on changes in active channel width. In particular, we find that different styles of decadal adjustment (1) are compatible with supply- and transport-limited conditions, as constrained by degree of confinement, stream channel slope, and active channel width; and (2) indicate different stages of evolution at reservoirs located upstream and downstream of the canyon head (dynamic equilibrium vs. transient response). The persistence of this geomorphic divide is supported over historical time scales by distinctive trends in planform channel changes, suggesting that sedimentary signal propagation downstream becomes abruptly interrupted at the canyon head. Over this 10-year natural experiment, the spatial pattern of erosion along the canyon exemplifies a striking case of transient response to anthropogenic forcing, where decadal topographic change, modulated by varying styles of hillslope-channel coupling, declines nonlinearly downstream. Depth of incision along the canyon increases progressively upstream, suggesting that the canyon head has been evolving toward a more unstable configuration with no significant change in sediment supply. This tendency, which points to a possible runaway style of development as bedload wearing on weak pelitic side walls continues, may hold basic implications for our understanding of channel incision into bedrock and strath terrace formation.

Inventory and assessment of geoarchaeosites in the Middle Eure Valley (Paris Basin, France): An integrated approach to geoarchaeological heritage

For the last decade, there has been an abundance of scattered case studies on geoarchaeological heritage in the scientific literature. Yet, there is a lack of methodological guidelines to inventory and numerically assess a collection of “geoarchaeosites” for heritage conservation and/or tourism purposes. The aim of this paper is to propose an innovative and integrated methodology for the inventory and assessment of geoarchaeological heritage, with an example of application in the Middle Eure Valley (Paris Basin, France). In this work, we suggest the use of the “geoarchaeosite” concept as a contraction of geoarchaeological sites, i.e., sites of particular relevance in understanding past society-environment interactions at the Quaternary or historical time scale. In our approach, archaeological and geomorphological components of a site have the same level of importance, in contrast to the classical approaches on geomorphosites that consider the cultural, archaeological, and/or historical significance of a site as an “additional” value. In the study area, the results provide a selection of 19 geoarchaeosites with contrasted scientific values, ranging from sites of national (fossiliferous site of Saint-Prest, loess-paleosol sequence of Chaudon) and regional rank (Chartres Cathedral and its historical quarry at Berchères-les-Pierres, French Royal Canal Louis XIV-Aqueduct of Maintenon, Megaliths of Changé at Saint-Piat and Eure palaeochannels) to more confidential sites of local interest, with various degrees of vulnerability and potential use. A network analysis of “disconnected geoarchaeosites” according to spatial, chronological, and functional relationships contributes to improving the overall scientific value of the geoarchaeological heritage. Among the prospects that are emerging in the scope of promotional activities, comes the interest of building a digital geoarchaeoheritage platform with a collaborative/participatory aim in order to reinforce heritage ownership by local residents and stakeholders.

Shoreline change on a tropical island beach, Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman: The influence of beachrock and shore protection structures

Contemporary and near-future shoreline change is widely regarded as an issue on small tropical islands. While it is widely anticipated that sea-level rise will precipitate shoreline recession on tropical islands, studies to date record both accretion and recession at historical timescales. This study of Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman presents a case study of historical shoreline change in which the local geomorphic setting is shown to be an important influence on shoreline behaviour. Consistent with its leeside setting, historic shoreline analysis (1958–2019) reveals erosion on the margins and accretion in the central part of the headland-embayment beach where no beachrock is present. The beach comprises five discrete, but interlinked subcells delineated by low headlands of exposed beachrock. These headlands have emerged through shoreline recession post-1971 but once exposed have become loci of persistent erosion, suggesting a positive feedback between beachrock and waves. A Category 5 Hurricane generated waves directly opposed to long-term modes and throughout the beach, long-term patterns of shoreline change were temporarily reversed, however, the historic pattern of shoreline change was restored within 2 years. The contemporary patterns of erosion and cell development suggest a reduction in sediment supply leading to cannibalization of relict beachridges on the margins of the embayment and emergence of formerly buried beachrock. The effects of coastal structures and erosion abatement measures were assessed and recommendations for coastal management, including development setback lines are presented.

“Miss, our clothes are clean:” contesting liminality in Lebanese kindergarten classrooms

Abstract Across the world, optimistic educational policy discourses promote early childhood education as a key strategy for combating poverty and for building bright futures for the most vulnerable members of society. Viewed from the ground up, this picture of early childhood education as a path to bright futures for all children is often belied by political and economic entrenchments. This article draws on a four-year ethnographic study of multiple classrooms in one Lebanese public kindergarten school that serves the most vulnerable children in Lebanon – Lebanese, Syrian, and Palestinian children who face daily the insecurities of poverty, displacement, and political violence. Drawing on anthropological theory that illustrates how social identities forged at the level of historical timescales are constructed and contested at the microlevel of everyday life, we pay particular attention to spatio-temporal liminal contexts within which children renounce productions of their own, their peers’, and their families’ marginality.

Формирование неисчерпаемой сырьевой базы металлов на основе неиспользуемых ныне геохимических закономерностей неживой природы

Science and statistics confirm the complete depletion of confirmed reserves and predicted resources of metals in the continental earth crust to a depth of 5000 m within 30-150 years (depending on projections of the volume of demand for their types). Absence of alternative in the historical time scale for production of metals by means of development of bowels determines necessity to search the opportunities of providing the growing demands of the mankind. This global problem is solved by the discovery of deposits of a new type, created by hitherto unused existing in nature geochemical patterns.

Modelling the morphological response of the Oka estuary (SE Bay of Biscay) to climate change

Adaptation in and around estuaries, to ensure the future resilience of both the natural environment and the communities that are located alongside is an increasingly pressing need. As part of an adaptation planning program for the Basque estuaries (northern Spain, south-eastern Bay of Biscay), a modelling system to simulate the morphological response of the Oka estuary to climate change has been developed. Existing knowledge was used as the basis to frame this pilot modelling examining both the short-term change (storm, seasonal, annual) and the longer-term changes (decades to eons). In this paper, we focus on the long-term response and consideration of the output from the process model is limited to the data that was extracted to help parameterize the long-term model. The latter was then used to examine the response of the estuary to the past changes over a historical time scale, where observations from foraminiferal analysis and saltmarsh response were used to establish the predictive validity of the model.Forcing the model with a linear rate of sea level rise representative of the 20th century, the estuary keeps pace with sea level rise in agreement with the observations. An 18.6-year periodic variability was identified over the saltmarshes, by including the effect of the nodal tide, with the last deposition maximum occurring in 2020.The effect of the opening of a saltmarsh that was drained at the beginning of the 18th century was investigated using a simplified schematization and showed sedimentation rates of up to one order of magnitude larger than in natural marsh, in general agreement with the rates obtained in previous studies.To predict the future response of the estuary, simulations with an exponential sea level rise were performed using scenarios obtained from the latest IPCC projections. The estuary fails to keep pace with sea level rise in any of the scenarios considered. The attendant increase in the hydroperiod over the saltmarshes is also likely impact to saltmarsh species productivity and distribution.Despite the simplifications inherent to the model, and the simplifications made in the representation of the estuary and forcing conditions, the methods presented here provide additional insights into long-term behaviour that complement information obtained from more detailed, but short-term, process models. The combined modelling approach allows adaptation measures to climate change to be considered over longer timescales.

Identifying plausible historical scenarios for coupled lake level and seismicity rate changes: the case for the Dead Sea during the last 2 millennia

Abstract. Studies of seismicity induced by water level changes in reservoirs and lakes focus typically on well-documented contemporary records. Can such interactions be explored on a historical timescale when the two data types suffer from severe uncertainties stemming from the different nature of the data, methods and resolution? In this study, we show a way to considerably improve the correlation between interpolated records of historical Dead Sea level reconstructions and discrete seismicity patterns in the area, over the period of the past 2 millennia. Inspired by the results of our previous study, we carefully revise the historical earthquake catalog in the Dead Sea to exclude remote earthquakes and include small local events. For addressing the uncertainties in lake levels, we generate an ensemble of random interpolations of water level curves and rank them by correlation with the historical records of seismic stress release. We compute a synthetic catalog of earthquakes, applying a Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion. The critical state of stress at hypocentral depths is achieved by static poroelastic deformations incorporating the change in effective normal stress (due to the best-fit water level curve) superimposed on the regional strike-slip tectonic deformations. The earthquakes of this synthetic catalog show an impressive agreement with historical earthquakes documented to have damaged Jerusalem. We refine the seismic catalog by searching for small local events that toppled houses in Jerusalem; including all local events improves the correlation with lake levels. We demonstrate for the first time a high correlation between water level changes and the recorded recurrence intervals of historical earthquakes.

Coral Sr/Ca records provide realistic representation of eastern Indian Ocean cooling during extreme positive Indian Ocean Dipole events

Extreme positive Indian Ocean Dipole (pIOD) events are amplified by non-linear ocean–atmosphere interactions and are characterized by pronounced cooling in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean. These non-linear feedbacks are not adequately represented in historical products of sea surface temperatures that underestimate the magnitude of extreme pIOD events. Here, we present a sea surface temperature (SST) reconstruction based on monthly coral Sr/Ca ratios measured in two coral cores from Enggano Island (Indonesia), that lies in the eastern pole of the IOD. The coral SST reconstruction extends from 1930 to 2008 and captures the magnitude of cooling during extreme pIOD events as shown in recent satellite and reanalysis data of SST that include ocean dynamics. The corals indicate that the 1961 pIOD event was at least as severe as the 1997 event, while the 1963 pIOD was more comparable to the 2006 event. The magnitude 1967 pIOD is difficult to assess at present due to poor replication between coral cores, and may be comparable to either 1997 or 2006. Cooling during the 1972 pIOD was short-lived and followed by pronounced warming, as seen in the moderate pIOD event of 1982. A combination of coral SST reconstructions and an extension of new reanalysis products of SST to historical time scales could help to better assess the severity and impact of past pIOD events such as the ones seen in the 1960s.

Heat stress in Africa under high intensity climate change

Extreme weather events are major causes of loss of life and damage infrastructure worldwide. High temperatures cause heat stress on humans, livestock, crops and infrastructure. Heat stress exposure is projected to increase with ongoing climate change. Extremes of temperature are common in Africa and infrastructure is often incapable of providing adequate cooling. We show how easily accessible cooling technology, such as evaporative coolers, prevent heat stress in historic timescales but are unsuitable as a solution under climate change. As temperatures increase, powered cooling, such as air conditioning, is necessary to prevent overheating. This will, in turn, increase demand on already stretched infrastructure. We use high temporal resolution climate model data to estimate the demand for cooling according to two metrics, firstly the apparent temperature and secondly the discomfort index. For each grid cell we calculate the heat stress value and the amount of cooling required to turn a heat stress event into a non heat stress event. We show the increase in demand for cooling in Africa is non uniform and that equatorial countries are exposed to higher heat stress than higher latitude countries. We further show that evaporative coolers are less effective in tropical regions than in the extra tropics. Finally, we show that neither low nor high efficiency coolers are sufficient to return Africa to current levels of heat stress under climate change.

The 1815 Tambora eruption: Its significance to the understanding of large-explosion caldera formations

Volcanic calderas, plentiful on the Earth and the moon, have been of much interest to volcanologists because of their large dimensions and extensive volumes of ejecta. Here, we consider the dynamics of caldera-forming by major explosive eruptions, examining how the breakdown of the earth's surface is caused by violent igneous activity. This leads to the definition of “typical explosion caldera”, which is a prototype of several newly-formed calderas in the historical timescale. There are three examples of such calderas: Tambora (Sumbawa), Krakatau (Sunda Straits), and Novarupta (Alaska). Tam- bora Caldera is the best example of a well-documented, recently formed typical explosion caldera, with no significant subsequent eruptions occurring after its formation. The subsurface structure of Tambora Caldera is discussed and compared to the 1883 eruption of Krakatau, the second largest eruption in historical times. Then, contrasting with the typically basaltic “collapse-type” calderas, a “Tambora-caldera type” is defined as a large “explosion-type” caldera, that may reach up to 10 km in diameter. The Tambora- type caldera concept is useful to qualify and understand the structure and components of other major calderas in the world. Fully developed larger explosion calderas such as Aso and Aira Calderas in Kyushu, Japan are discussed and explained as composite calderas based on geophysical data. Those calderas have repeatedly ejected massive pyroclastic products causing their original structures to grow wider than 10 km.

Fossil Fuel Fiction and the Geologies of Race

AbstractThis essay argues for an energy literary criticism that centers the problem of the energy epoch as the problem of the color line. It does so by reading a set of novels—Helena María Viramontes'sUnder the Feet of Jesus(1995) and Colson Whitehead'sZone One(2011) andThe Underground Railroad(2016)—as fossil fuel fictions that illuminate the conjuncture of energy and racial capitalism. These works unearth the racialized world making of extractive energy regimes by articulating energy's social production of race across the colonial histories and geographies of the Anthropocene. The entanglement of racialized bodies and hydrocarbon matter across biological, historical, and geological time scales in these novels formalizes what Kathryn Yusoff calls the “geologies of race.” Excavating the racial infrastructures scaffolding the Anthropocene's power grids, Viramontes's and Whitehead's georacial imaginations envision decolonial and abolitionist energy futures for Brown and Black lives.

Functional traits of alpine plant communities show long‐term resistance to changing herbivore densities

AbstractHerbivores shape vegetation by suppressing certain plant species while benefitting others. By thus modifying plant species functional composition, herbivores affect carbon cycling, albedo, vegetation structure and species' interactions. These effects have been suggested to be able to counteract the effects of increasing temperatures on vegetation in alpine environments. Managing the dominant large ungulates in these ecosystems could thus provide a tool to mitigate climate change effects. However, it is possible that legacy effects of past grazing will dampen ungulate impacts on vegetation. We shed a light on this topic by investigating the short‐ and long‐term effects of varying sheep densities on the plant trait composition in the Norwegian alpine tundra with centuries‐long of intensive grazing history. In the first part of our study, we quantified the effects of sheep on the plant community functional trait composition at different elevations and under moderate and low productivity in. We combined data from two long‐term (14 and 19 yr) sheep fence experiments and showed that differences in sheep densities did not affect plant trait composition, irrespective of productivity. However, in the second part of our study, we showed that the plant trait composition in mainland (that has been grazed for centuries) differed from vegetation on islands which have been herbivore‐free. Taken together, these results suggest that sheep have an effect on the alpine plant communities on historical time scales covering centuries, but that the resulting sheep grazing resistant/tolerant communities may not respond to shorter‐term (14 and 19 yr) changes in sheep densities, that is, at temporal scales relevant for ecosystem management. Furthermore, we showed that the plant trait composition at the site with low productivity had gone through a temporal trait change independent of sheep treatment, potentially due to increased temperatures and precipitation, suggesting that sheep may not be able to counteract climatic impacts in the areas with centuries‐long grazing history.

Estimated Amounts and Rates of Carbon Mobilized by Landsliding in Old‐Growth Temperate Forests of SE Alaska

AbstractLandslides, a forest disturbance, mobilize carbon (C) sequestered in vegetation and soils. Mobilized C is deposited either onto hillslopes or into the water, sequestering C from and releasing C to the atmosphere at different time scales. The C‐dense old‐growth temperate forests of SE Alaska are a unique location to quantify C mobilization rate by frequent landslides that often evolve into saturated moving masses known as debris flows. In this study, the amount of C mobilized by debris flows over historic time scales was estimated by combining a landslide inventory with maps of modeled biomass and soil carbon. We analyzed SE Alaskan landslides over a 55‐year period where a total of 4.69 ± 0.21 MtC was mobilized, an average rate of 2.5 tC km−2 yr−1. A single event in August 2015 mobilized 57,651 ± 3,266 tC, an average of 63 tC km−2. Depositional fate was inferred using two methods, a standard stream intersection analysis and a second novel approach using simulated debris flow deposition modeling calibrated to the study area. Approximately 60% of debris flow deposits intersected the stream network (9% into mainstem channels, 91% into small tributaries), consistent with long‐term modeled connectivity, suggesting that debris flows are likely to contribute to globally significant amounts of C buried in local fjord sediments. Our results are consistent with an emerging consensus that landslide disturbances that mobilize organic carbon may play an important role in the global carbon cycle over geologic time, with coastal temperate forests being hotspots of potential carbon sequestration.

What kind of information does the era of climate change require?

This article explores the promise of institutions and infrastructures associated with democracy to limit the worst consequences of climate change. The article highlights the apparent conflict between expert governance on the one hand, and, on the other hand, calls for democratization that reflect the diverse perspectives of groups whose rights and labor have been exploited over historical timescales. Drawing on the history of bureaucracy and governance, this article argues that the apparent contradiction between the two poles of discourse can be reconciled by a system of information infrastructure designed to create a robust, accountable system of environmental data monitoring that also accounts for the work of inclusive community groups as stewards of landscapes. The article concludes by recommending a 6-point “Outline of an Information Infrastructure for Responsive, Accountable Governance of the Environment,” which includes the following recommendations: (1) broadcast efforts to enlist communities—especially vulnerable communities on the front lines—in efforts to document environmental degradation and the effects of climate change; (2) equitable and sustainable solicitation of the voices of populations underrepresented in traditional science; (3) centralized preservation of the data in an archive where it can be found, retrieved, revisited, and implemented for action; (4) analysis of the data by both community participants and laboratory scientists; (5) the creation of accountability through the establishment of centralized, powerful organs of governance capable of holding polluters to account on the basis of data collected by both citizens and scientists; and (6) transparent mechanisms for negotiation.