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Mountains are arguably Earth's most striking features. They play a major role in determining global and regional climates, are the source of most rivers, act as cradles, barriers and bridges for species, and are crucial for the survival and sustainability of many human societies. The complexity of mountains is tightly associated with high biodiversity, but the processes underlying this association are poorly known. Solving this puzzle requires researchers to generate more primary data, and better integrate available geological and climatic data into biological models of diversity and evolution. In this perspective, we highlight emerging insights, which stress the importance of mountain building through time as a generator and reservoir of biodiversity. We also discuss recently proposed parallels between surface uplift, habitat formation and species diversification. We exemplify these links and discuss other factors, such as Quaternary climatic variations, which may have obscured some mountain-building evidence due to erosion and other processes. Biological evolution is complex and the build-up of mountains is certainly not the only explanation, but biological and geological processes are probably more intertwined than many of us realize. The overall conclusion is that geology sets the stage for speciation, where ecological interactions, adaptive and non-adaptive radiations and stochastic processes act together to increase biodiversity. Further integration of these fields may yield novel and robust insights.

We present the official land uplift model NKG2016LU of the Nordic Commission of Geodesy (NKG) for northern Europe. The model was released in 2016 and covers an area from 49° to 75° latitude and 0° to 50° longitude. It shows a maximum absolute uplift of 10.3 mm/a near the city of Umeå in northern Sweden and a zero-line that follows the shores of Germany and Poland. The model replaces the NKG2005LU model from 2005. Since then, we have collected more data in the core areas of NKG2005LU, specifically in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, and included observations from the Baltic countries as well. Additionally, we have derived an underlying geophysical glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) model within NKG as an integrated part of the NKG2016LU project. A major challenge is to estimate a realistic uncertainty grid for the model. We show how the errors in the observations and the underlying GIA model propagate through the calculations to the final uplift model. We find a standard error better than 0.25 mm/a for most of the area covered by precise levelling or uplift rates from Continuously Operating Reference Stations and up to 0.7 mm/a outside this area. As a check, we show that two different methods give approximately the same uncertainty estimates. We also estimate changes in the geoid and derive an alternative uplift model referring to this rising geoid. Using this latter model, the maximum uplift in Umeå reduces from 10.3 to 9.6 mm/a and with a similar reduction ratio elsewhere. When we compare this new NKG2016LU with the former NKG2005LU, we find the largest differences where the GIA model has the strongest influence, i.e. outside the area of geodetic observation. Here, the new model gives from − 3 to 4 mm/a larger values. Within the observation area, similar differences reach − 1.5 mm/a at the northernmost part of Norway and − 1.0 mm/a at the north-western coast of Denmark, but generally within the range of − 0.5 to 0.5 mm/a.

Wind energy production has expanded to meet climate change mitigation goals, but negative impacts of wind turbines have been reported on wildlife. Soaring birds are among the most affected groups with alarming fatality rates by collision with wind turbines and an escalating occupation of their migratory corridors. These birds have been described as changing their flight trajectories to avoid wind turbines, but this behaviour may lead to functional habitat loss, as suitable soaring areas in the proximity of wind turbines will likely be underused. We modelled the displacement effect of wind turbines on black kites (Milvus migrans) tracked by GPS. We also evaluated the impact of this effect at the scale of the landscape by estimating how much suitable soaring area was lost to wind turbines. We used state‐of‐the‐art tracking devices to monitor the movements of 130 black kites in an area populated by wind turbines, at the migratory bottleneck of the Strait of Gibraltar. Landscape use by birds was mapped from GPS data using dynamic Brownian bridge movement models, and generalized additive mixed modelling was used to estimate the effect of wind turbine proximity on bird use while accounting for orographic and thermal uplift availability. We found that areas up to approximately 674 m away from the turbines were less used than expected given their uplift potential. Within that distance threshold, bird use decreased with the proximity to wind turbines. We estimated that the footprint of wind turbines affected 3%–14% of the areas suitable for soaring in our study area. We present evidence that the impacts of wind energy industry on soaring birds are greater than previously acknowledged. In addition to the commonly reported fatalities, the avoidance of turbines by soaring birds causes habitat losses in their movement corridors. Authorities should recognize this further impact of wind energy production and establish new regulations that protect soaring habitat. We also showed that soaring habitat for birds can be modelled at a fine scale using publicly available data. Such an approach can be used to plan low‐impact placement of turbines in new wind energy developments. The influence of the wind turbines on black kites’ space use was modelled taking into account the main predictors of soaring flight. Birds avoided wind turbines up to 674 m and 3%–14% of suitable soaring habitat in a bottleneck for migratory soaring birds was affected by such structures.

The Southern Alps experiences rapid bedrock uplift and intense surface processes like erosion and deglaciation. We quantify how the erosion and deglaciation contribute to the ongoing vertical motions using geophysical models. The erosional unloading uplift is found to be 0.5–1.5 mm/yr throughout the central Southern Alps, whereas the recent deglaciation may locally produce uplift up to 1–3 mm/yr. The estimated unloading uplift accounts for 10%–40% of the GNSS‐observed uplift. After correcting the unloading uplift, the GNSS‐observed uplift can be explained by about 4–6 mm/yr dip‐slip motion on the Alpine fault, which is 10%–50% below previous geodetic estimates. Hence, unloading uplift must be evaluated when interpreting geodetic observations in tectonically active mountain ranges subjected to intense surface processes. Plain Language Summary As surface processes such as erosion and deglaciation abrade mountain ranges, the removal of mass relieves the mass loading on the Earth's surface, turning on the solid Earth rebound where the focused mass removal has/had been operating. This rebound, known as unloading uplift, may reach up to 3–5 mm/yr in the Southern Alps in New Zealand where surface processes such as erosion and deglaciation are rapid and intense. This unloading uplift can account for about 10%–40% of the geodetically observed ongoing uplift. Hence, we must correct the unloading uplift to get reliable tectonic interpretations of the geodetically observed uplift. Key Points Unloading uplift caused by erosion is currently about 0.5–1.5 mm/yr throughout the central Southern Alps Additional uplift caused by deglaciation since the end of the Little Ice Age is about 1–3 mm/yr around the Aoraki/Mount Cook, the highest peak of the Southern Alps Correcting the unloading uplift caused by surface processes lowers estimates of dip‐slip motion for the Alpine fault by 1–3 mm/yr

Investigating rock‐uplift variations in time and space provides insights into the processes driving mountain‐belt evolution. The Apennine Mountains of Italy underwent substantial Quaternary rock uplift that shaped the present‐day topography. Here, we present linear river‐profile inversions for 28 catchments draining the eastern flank of the Northern‐Central Apennines to reconstruct rock‐uplift histories. We calibrated these results by estimating an erodibility coefficient (K) from incision rates and catchment‐averaged erosion rates obtained from cosmogenic‐nuclide data, and we tested whether a uniform or variable K produces a rock‐uplift model that satisfactorily fits independent geochronological constraints. We employ a landscape‐evolution model to demonstrate that our inversion results are reliable despite substantial seaward lengthening of the catchments during uplift. Our findings suggest that a rock‐uplift pulse started around 3.0–2.5 Ma, coinciding with the onset of extension in the Apennines, and migrated southward at a rate of ∼90 km/Myr. The highest reconstructed rock‐uplift rates (>1 km/Myr) occur in the region encompassing the highest Apennine massifs. These results are consistent with numerical models and field evidence from other regions exhibiting rapid rock‐uplift pulses and uplift migration related to slab break‐off. Our results support the hypothesis of break‐off of the Adria slab under the central Apennines and its southward propagation during the Quaternary. Moreover, the results suggest a renewed increase in rock‐uplift rates after the Middle Pleistocene along the Adriatic coast, coeval with recent uplift acceleration along the eastern coast of southern Italy in the Apulian foreland. Plain Language Summary Rivers that drain mountainous regions store information on the history of mountain growth. Specifically, variations in the slope of rivers with distance can be interpreted as variations in the rate at which mountains grow through time. Because changes in slope may also occur due to changes in the hardness of rocks underlying the rivers, we must calibrate and correct our interpretations based on changes in rock type. We use 28 rivers draining the eastern flank of the Northern‐Central Apennines of Italy to reconstruct temporal and spatial variations in the history of mountain growth. We find that a pulse of growth started between 3 and 2.5 million years ago and then migrated southwards through time. This southward movement is most likely associated with tectonic plate dynamics beneath the mountain belt, as the plate plunging beneath the Apennines tore progressively southward. Key Points Spatio‐temporal rock uplift histories inferred from linear inversion of river profiled Impact of variable erodibility coefficient and downstream catchment lengthening on inversion results Quaternary uplift history of the Apennine belt and implications on the driving mechanisms

Helical anchors have been widely used in geotechnical engineering due to their large uplift resistance. However, the current knowledge of the cyclic performance of helical anchors is still insufficient. Consequently, a series of small-scale model tests are carried out in sand to investigate the influences of embedment ratio, sand compactness and the cyclic parameters on the monotonic, cyclic and post-cyclic performance of single-helix anchors. The tests results indicate that the single-helix anchors with optimal embedment ratio still exhibit a relatively high uplift capacity after suffering cyclic load. The cyclic frequency has the greatest influence on the accumulated displacement, and the influence of amplitude is relatively greater than that of the mean cyclic load. The anchors in dense sand exhibit better performance to resist pullout than those in medium–dense sand under the same cyclic parameter ratios. Moreover, the correlation of post-cyclic uplift capacity and displacement after cyclic loading as well as the possible influence of the upward displacement on the sand flow above the helix are discussed.

A new type of static load test system and test method based on steel screw anchor pile is proposed. Through field uplift tests of single pile and pile group, the influence of soil properties, pile length and other factors on the uplift bearing capacity of steel screw pile is analyzed. The influence range of steel screw pile on the displacement of adjacent soil and pile foundation are revealed. The calculation method of ultimate uplift bearing capacity of single steel screw anchor pile is established. The reliability of the test method is verified by practical cases. The test results show that the uplift bearing capacity of steel screw pile is higher than that of straight rod pile. According to the properties and compactness of the soil, the coefficient of uplift side resistance improvement of steel screw piles can be taken as 1.2 – 1.6. The construction of steel screw pile is convenient and can be reused, without special treatment of the test site. The test method can save up to 70% of the cost compared with traditional surcharge test method, and greatly improve the safety of large-tonnage static load test.

Rock-embedded foundations with good uplift and bearing capacity are often used in mountains or hilly areas. However, there are soil layers with a certain thickness on the rocks in these mountainous areas, and the utilization of those soil layers is a problem worthy of attention in foundation construction. Considering construction- and cost-related factors, traditional single-form foundations built on such sites often cannot provide sufficient resistance against uplift. Therefore, an anchored pier foundation composed of anchors and belled piers, specifically constructed for such conditions, can be invaluable in practice. This paper introduces an experimental and analytical study to investigate the uplift capacity and the uplift mobilization coefficients (UMCs) of the anchored pier foundation. In this study, three in-situ monotonic pullout tests were carried out to analyze the load–displacement characteristics, axial force distribution, load transfer mechanism, and failure mechanism. A hyperbolic model is used to fit the load–displacement curves and to reveal the asynchrony of the ultimate limit states (ULSs) of the anchor group and the belled pier. Based on the results, the uplift capacity can be calculated by the UMCs and the anchor group and pier uplift capacities. Finally, combined with the estimation of the deformation modulus of the soil and rock, the verification calculation of the uplift capacity and UMC was carried out on the test results from different anchored pier foundations.

The stratigraphic and facies distribution of 20 calcimicrobial genera (including calcified cyanobacteria and associated problematic calcified microfossils) are reported for the entire Ordovician succession in the Tarim Basin in northwestern China based on examination of drill cores and 8500 thin sections from 64 wells from the Tabei, Bachu, Tazhong, and Tadong uplifts. A total of ten calcimicrobial associations are recognized in the Lower to Upper Ordovician based on taxonomic composition and distribution within four paleoenvironment types: reef (marginal and patch reef), open platform/bank (marginal and patch bank), lagoon, and tidal flat. The temporal distribution of the calcimicrobial genera closely follows changes in sedimentary environments; an extensive literature survey reveals similar relationships in much of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic. Based on their paleoenvironmental preferences, calcimicrobes can be classified into five paleohabitat types: (1) reef-adapted (Acuasiphonoria, Razumovskia, Phacelophyton , Gomphosiphon, Epiphyton, Renalcis, and Izhella); (2) open platform/bank-adapted (Subtifloria and Bevocastria); (3) both reef and open platform/bank-adapted (Bija, Apophoretella, Rothpletzella, and Wetheredella); (4) lagoon-adapted (Hedstromia, Cayeuxia, Zonotrichites, Ortonella, and Garwoodia), and (5) not only reef and open platform/bank-adapted but also tolerant of tidal flat conditions (Girvanella and Proaulopora). The occurrences of these calcimicrobes in strata not only can indicate ancient sedimentary facies but also can reveal paleoecological parameters of ancient seas, such as nutrient levels (e.g., N and P), predation pressure, and sea level, especially in strata absence of other well-studied facies fossils.

This paper presents new numerical evaluations of the vertical uplift resistance of rectangular anchors located in heterogeneous and anisotropic clays obeying the Anisotropic Undrained Shear (AUS) failure criterion. The computation is based on the assumption that the anisotropic strengths of clays increase linearly with depth. To determine the uplift resistance of rectangular anchors, the uplift capacity factor F c serves as the standardized result parameter. This factor can be determined using the finite element limit analysis (FELA) technique and is set to relate to four dimensionless parameters: the ratio of embedment ratio ( H/B ), the shaped ratio ( L/B ), the increasing strength factor ( ρB/s uTC0 ), and the anisotropic ratio ( r e ). An analysis is carried out to explore the influence of dimensionless characteristics on developing failure mechanisms of rectangular anchors. Furthermore, this study explores the abilities of a machine learning model using the algorithm of the eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), which has exceptional accuracy in forecasting the uplift capacity factor of rectangular anchors in heterogeneous and anisotropic clays.