Evaluating the role of climate and tectonics during non-steady incision of the Yellow River: evidence from a 1.24 Ma terrace record near Lanzhou,China

The competing roles of bedrock uplift and climatic change in the formation of fluvial terraces remain uncertain. Most of recent studies have attributed terrace formation to climatic changes and held that, even in tectonically active settings, climate variations control cycles of terrace planation and abandonment. Based on field investigations of loess-paleosol sequences, magnetostratigraphy and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, we develop a new chronology for a spectacular flight of terraces along the Yellow River near Lanzhou, China over past 1.24 Ma. All the terraces are strikingly similar in that they have several meters of paleosol developed directly above fluvial deposits on the terrace treads, suggesting that the abandonment of each terrace due to river incision occurs during the transition from glacial to interglacial climates. However, the ages of terraces cluster in two relatively short time periods (1.24–0.86 Ma and 0.13 Ma – present). During the intervening time between 0.86 Ma and 0.13 Ma, terraces either did not form or were not preserved. We suggest that this record indicates that rock uplift rates varied through time and influenced terrace formation/preservation. Thus, our results demonstrate the utility of deep chronologic records from fluvial terraces for deconvolving the effects of tectonics and climate on fluvial incision.     

Luminescence dating of Quaternary alluvial successions,Sellicks Creek,South Mount Lofty Ranges,southern Australia

Abstract

Quaternary alluvial and colluvial sediments infill major river valleys and form alluvial fans and colluvium-filled bedrock depressions on the range fronts and within the Mount Lofty Ranges of southern Australia. A complex association of alluvial successions occurs in the Sellicks Creek drainage basin, as revealed from lithostratigraphy, physical landscape setting and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages. Correlation of OSL ages with the Marine Oxygen Isotope record reveals that the alluvial successions represent multiple episodes of alluvial sedimentation since the penultimate glaciation (Marine Isotope Stage 6; MIS 6). The successions include a penultimate glacial maximum alluvium (Taringa Formation; 160?±?15?ka; MIS 6), an unnamed alluvial succession (42?±?3.2?ka; MIS 3), a late last glacial colluvial succession within bedrock depressions (ca 15?ka; MIS 2) and a late last glacial alluvium (ca 15?ka; MIS 2) in the lowest, distal portion of Sellicks Creek. In addition, the Waldeila Formation, a Holocene alluvium (3.5?±?0.3?ka; MIS 1), and sediments deposited during a phase of Post-European Settlement Aggradation (PESA) are also identified. The age and spatial distribution of the red/brown successions, mapped as the Upper Pleistocene Pooraka Formation, directly relate to different topographic and tectonic settings. Neotectonic uplift locally enhanced erosion and sedimentation, while differences in drainage basin sizes along the margin of the ranges have influenced the timing and delivery of sediment in downstream locations. Close to the Willunga Fault Scarp at Sellicks Creek, sediments resembling the Pooraka Formation have yielded a pooled mean OSL age of 83.9?±?7?ka (MIS 5a) corroborating the previously identified extended time range for deposition of the formation. Elsewhere, within major river valleys, the Pooraka Formation was deposited during the last interglacial maximum (128–118?ka; MIS 5e). In general, alluviation occurred during interglacial and interstadial pluvial events, while erosion predominated during drier glacial episodes. In both cases, contemporaneous erosion and sedimentation continued to affect the landscape. For example, in the Sellicks Creek drainage basin, which lies across an actively uplifting fault zone, late glacial age sediments (MIS 2) occur within the ranges and near the distal margin of the alluvial fan complex. OSL dating of the alluvial successions reported in this paper highlights linkages between the terrestrial and marine environments in association with sea-level (base-level) and climatic perturbations. While the alluvial successions relate largely to climatically driven changes, especially in major river valleys, tectonics, eustasy, geomorphic setting and topography have influenced erosion and sedimentation, especially on steep-sloped alluvial fan environments.

1. KEY POINTS

2. Luminescence dating of the Sellicks Creek alluvial fan complex reveals that sedimentation occurred predominantly during the later stages of glacial cycles accompanying lower sea-levels than present.

3. Luminescence dating confirms that the stratigraphically lower portions of the Pooraka Formation are beyond the range of radiocarbon dating.

4. Upper Pleistocene alluvial fan sedimentation at Sellicks Creek correlates with pluvial events in southeastern Australia.

     

Mid‐Weichselian interstadial in Kolari,western Finnish Lapland

Finnish Lapland is known as an area where numerous sites with sediments from Pleistocene glacial and interglacial periods occur. Recent sedimentological observations and dating call for reinterpretation of the record, which shows a complicated Mid‐Weichselian ice‐sheet evolution within the ice‐divide zone. Here, a large, previously unstudied section from a former Hannukainen iron mine was investigated sedimentologically and dated with optically stimulated luminescence (OSL). Ten sedimentary units were identified displaying a variety of depositional environments (glacial, glaciolacustrine, fluvial and aeolian). They are all – except for the lowermost, deeply weathered till – interpreted to be of Mid‐ or Late Weichselian/Holocene age. Five OSL samples from fluvial sediments give ages ranging from 55 to 35 ka, indicating two MIS 3 ice‐free intervals of unknown duration. The Mid‐Weichselian interstadial was interrupted by a re‐advance event, which occurred later than 35 ka and caused glaciotectonic deformation, folding and stacking of older sediments. This new evidence emphasizes the importance of the Kolari area when unravelling the complex Late Pleistocene glacial history of northern Finland and adjacent regions.     

Late Pleistocene fluvial dynamics in the Hochrhein Valley and in the Upper Rhine Graben: chronological frame

During the Pleistocene, the Rhine glacier system acted as a major south–north erosion and transport medium from the Swiss Alps into the Upper Rhine Graben, which has been the main sediment sink forming low angle debris fans. Only some aggradation resulted in the formation of terraces. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon dating have been applied to set up a more reliable chronological frame of Late Pleistocene and Holocene fluvial activity in the western Hochrhein Valley and in the southern part of the Upper Rhine Graben. The stratigraphically oldest deposits exposed, a braided-river facies, yielded OSL age estimates ranging from 59.6 ± 6.2 to 33.1 ± 3.0 ka. The data set does not enable to distinguish between a linear age increase triggered by a continuous autocyclical aggradation or two (or more) age clusters, for example around 35 ka and around 55 ka, triggered by climate change, including stadial and interstadial periods (sensu Dansgaard–Oeschger cycles). The braided river facies is discontinuously (hiatus) covered by coarse-grained gravel-rich sediments deposited most likely during a single event or short-time period of major melt water discharge postdating the Last Glacial Maximum. OSL age estimates of fluvial and aeolian sediments from the above coarse-grained sediment layer are between 16.4 ± 0.8 and 10.6 ± 0.5 ka, and make a correlation with the Late Glacial period very likely. The youngest fluvial aggradation period correlates to the beginning of the Little Ice Age, as confirmed by OSL and radiocarbon ages.     

Pleistocene fluvial terraces from northern France (Seine,Yonne, Somme): synthesis,and new results from interglacial deposits

The Seine, Yonne and Somme are the main rivers draining northwestern France and flowing into the Channel. During Pleistocene cold stages they were tributaries of the “Fleuve Manche”. They are characterised by well-developed stepped terrace systems showing up to 10 incision steps for the last 1 Ma. After 15 years of research and the synthesis of stratigraphical, sedimentological, bioclimatical data and numerical dating, these terrace systems are interpreted as the response of the fluvial environments to climatic cyclicity, superimposed on a background of slow tectonic uplift. The comparison of these three terrace systems shows that the incision budget is similar within the studied area (about 55–65 m/1 Ma), implying relative homogeneity of uplift. In the main part of the area, beyond marine influence, the analysis of each stepped alluvial formation shows regular sediment balance generally composed of coarse periglacial gravels (pleniglacial), covered by fine-grained sediments locally overlain by calcareous tufa (interglacial). However, in the Lower Seine valley, close to the present coast, the low terrace includes two estuarine interglacial units interbedded within periglacial gravel units. Nevertheless, until recently evidence of full interglacial conditions remained elusive in fluvial contexts, especially in the Somme. To address these issues a new research programme has been launched on tufa deposits that are the best candidate to register the climatic optimum. Initial results from la Celle (Seine), Saint-Acheul and Caours (Somme) allow palaeoenvironmental reconstructions of MIS 11 and 5e, and thus confirm the importance of calcareous tufa to define a reference record of Pleistocene Interglacials for northern France. Moreover, it has been previously demonstrated that the main incision leading to terrace formation can be attributed to the transition between interglacial and glacial (during early glacial phases). The new results from interglacial records have important implications concerning the precise occurrence of the major incision phases within the climatic cycle as they provide the starting point immediately preceding downcutting.     

Dating fluvial erosion: fluvial response to climate change in the Moselle catchment (France,Germany) since the Late Saalian

This paper focuses upon the youngest terraces of the Moselle and its tributary the Meurthe (NE France and SW Germany). It includes research on several sections, in particular the key sections of Golbey‐Pré Droué and Thörnich‐Hochrech (located in the vicinity of the Vosges Massif and in the Rhenish Massif, respectively), and the use of the Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating method. Our investigations made it possible to obtain a more robust chronostratigraphical framework and to update the previous model of fluvial response to climate change. The results demonstrate that the Moselle terrace M3 (first terrace formed after the capture of the Upper Moselle by the Palaeo‐Meurthe) has the same age from the Vosges to the Rhenish Massif. The formation of this terrace included two main periods of sedimentation attributed to the Late Saalian (MIS 6) and the Early Weichselian (MIS 5), respectively. They were separated by a major episode of fluvial erosion that may be allocated to the MIS 6–5 transition on the basis of chronological and sedimentological evidence. This erosion led to the removal of most of the MIS 6 deposits, whereas the MIS 5 deposits have been widely preserved following the subsequent (MIS 5–4) terrace incision. This evolution somewhat contrasts with that observed in the Sarre valley, the main tributary of the Moselle, and with many fluvial systems in western Europe, which show better preservation of deposits from cold periods. This atypical behaviour is explained by the relationship between the fluvial evolution and the glaciers covering the upper Moselle catchment (Vosges Massif) during the Pleistocene cold periods.     

末次间冰期以来西宁市河谷沉积与环境

在西宁市区开展的钻探工作,获得了河谷平原区第四系的分布及沉积特征。通过对沉积厚度最大部位的2个钻孔岩芯的地层岩性、年代测试、孢粉组合及粒度分析等,探讨了西宁河谷平原区晚第四纪沉积与环境的关系。认为现今西宁市河谷平原内的主体沉积——低阶地沉积及上覆黄土堆积主要是末次间冰期旋回形成,在暖湿气候条件下沉积河流相砂砾石层,在干冷气候期接受风成黄土堆积,推测T3阶地形成于距今7.4万年前后气候由暖湿向干冷的过渡时期。     

The Quaternary history of the Wash fluvial network, UK

This paper appraises and compares the Middle-Upper Pleistocene sedimentary sequences preserved in the fluvial systems draining into the Fenland Basin and the Wash estuary. Of the main Fenland rivers the longest records, which extend back to the initial Anglian (glacial) formation of the basin, are found in the Great Ouse and its tributaries, particularly the Cam and the Nar. These sequences preserve sediments representing all four post-Anglian interglacials. The Nene also has an extensive post-Anglian history, with evidence for a Hoxnian estuary that is presumed to have been the precursor of the Wash. North of the Nene, however, the Welland and Witham (proto-Trent) have relatively short sequences, which are thought to commence with a later (post-Anglian-pre-Devensian) glaciation that affected Lincolnshire and fed the previously-recognized Tottenhill outwash delta south of Kings Lynn. Prior to Devensian deglaciation the Witham valley was occupied by the Trent, which was the trunk river of the late Middle Pleistocene Wash system. During periods of low sea level the river would have extended north-eastwards across what is now the floor of the North Sea, possibly via the Inner Silver Pit. Several of the central Fenland sequences show evidence of infrequent terrace formation during the late Quaternary, although this might in part be due to poor vertical separation between terraces, so that differentiating them has been difficult; this has been exacerbated by mixed biostratigraphical signals due to the preservation of sediments representing more than one interglacial beneath a single terrace surface. In several of the systems there is evidence for valley rejuvenation to the lowest terrace or valley-floor level during the MIS 4-3 transition. The observed differences within what, during the predominant periods of lower sea level, would have been a single Wash river system are difficult to explain.     

OSL dating of the Middle Palaeolithic Hotel California site,Sierra de Atapuerca,north‐central Spain

In this study we present optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating results obtained at one of the most important open‐air Middle Palaeolithic sites in the Sierra de Atapuerca foothills – Hotel California. We also assess the possibility of obtaining extended‐range OSL chronologies for a nearby Middle Pleistocene fluvial deposit using several novel methods, namely OSL dating of individual quartz ‘supergrains’, multi‐grain aliquot thermally transferred OSL (TT‐OSL) dating and the first application of a single‐grain TT‐OSL dating procedure. Four single‐grain OSL ages constrain the Middle Palaeolithic occupation of Hotel California to between 71±6 and 48±3 ka. The Hotel California single‐grain equivalent dose (D_e) distributions are highly overdispersed and contain several dose populations, which are probably attributable to post‐depositional sediment mixing, partial bleaching and intrinsic scatter. The reliability of multi‐grain aliquot OSL dating is compromised by the complex underlying D_e dispersion affecting these samples, as well as by biasing multi‐grain averaging effects. Extended‐range OSL and TT‐OSL chronologies for the nearby Pico River terrace are consistent with each other and with broad independent age control. These experimental approaches yield a weighted average age of 348±16 ka for terrace T_A9 of the Arlanzón River sequence. Our results highlight the benefits of comparing ages obtained using several OSL methodologies to improve the robustness of luminescence chronologies. They also demonstrate the potential that single‐grain OSL techniques offer for establishing improved age constraints on the many other Middle Palaeolithic sites found at Atapuerca and elsewhere across north‐central Spain.     

A 100 ka record of fluvial activity in the Fitzroy River Basin,tropical northeastern Australia

This study reports the nature and timing of Quaternary fluvial activity in the Fitzroy River basin, which drains a diverse 143,000 km² area in northeastern Queensland, before discharging into the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The catchment consists of an extensive array of channel and floodplain types that we show have undergone large-scale fluvial adjustment in-channel planform, geometry and sinuosity. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of quartz sediments from fifteen (3–18 m) floodplain cores throughout the basin indicates several discrete phases of active bedload activity: at ～105–85 ka in Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5, at ～50–40 ka (MIS 3), and at ～30–10 ka (MIS 3/2). The overall timing of late Quaternary fluvial activity correlates well with previous accounts from across Australia with rivers being primarily active during interstadials. Fluvial activity, however, does not appear to have been synchronous throughout the basin’s major sub-catchments. Fluvial activity throughout MIS 2 (i.e. across the Last Glacial Maximum) in the meandering channels of the Fitzroy correlates well with regional data in tropical northeastern Queensland, and casts new light on the river response to reduced rainfall and vegetation cover suggested by regional palaeoclimate indicators. Moreover, the absence of a strong Holocene signal is at odds with previous accounts from elsewhere throughout Australia. The latitudinal position of the Fitzroy across the Tropic of Capricorn places this catchment at a key location for elucidating the main hydrological drivers of Quaternary fluvial activity in northeastern Australia, and especially for determining tropical moisture sources feeding into the headwaters of Cooper Creek, a major river system of the continental interior.     

Late Quaternary fluvial terraces of the Romagna and Marche Apennines,Italy: Climatic,lithologic, and tectonic controls on terrace genesis in an active orogen

We synthesize a new fluvial terrace chronostratigraphy of the Bidente and Musone Rivers cast within a broader European framework, which forms the basis of a terrace genesis and river incision model for the northern Apennines, Italy. Our model, supported by terrace long profiles, correlation to Po foreland sediments, 15 new radiocarbon dates, and published numeric and relative stratigraphic ages, highlights how drainage basin substrate drives concurrent formation of strath terraces in the Bidente basin and fill terraces in the Musone basin. Quaternary climate change paces the formative geomorphic processes through unsteady discharges of water and sediment. In the weathering-limited setting represented by the Bidente basin, siliciclastic detritus carves broad strath surfaces during glacial climates that are preserved as terraces as the river incises during the transition to an interglacial climate. In contrast, the transport-limited and carbonate detritus dominated Musone basin sees valleys deeply buried by aggradation during glacial climates followed by river incision during the transition to an interglacial climate. Incision of these rivers over the past ～1 million years has been both unsteady and non-uniform. These and all Po-Adriatic draining rivers are proximal to a base level defined by mean sea level and have little room for increasing their longitudinal profile concavities through incision, particularly in their lower reaches despite periodic glacio-eustatic drawdowns. As a result, the observed incision is best explained by rock uplift associated with active local fault or fold growth embedded in the actively thickening and uplifting Apennine foreland.     

Incised palaeo-channels of the late Middle Pleistocene Thames: age,origins and implications for fluvial palaeogeography and sea-level reconstruction in the southern North Sea basin

Multidisciplinary investigations of the infills of steeply-incised buried channels on the coast of Essex, England, provide important insights into late Middle Pleistocene climate and sea-level change and have a direct bearing on the differentiation of MIS 11 and MIS 9 in terrestrial records. New data are presented from Rochford and Burnham-on-Crouch where remnants of two substantial palaeo-channels filled with interglacial sediment can be directly related to the terrace stratigraphy of the Thames. The sediments in both channels accumulated in an estuarine environment early in an interglacial when mixed oak forest was becoming established. Lithological evidence suggests that the interglacial beds post-date the brackish-water infill of an older palaeo-channel ascribed to the Hoxnian and correlated with part of MIS 11, and pre-date terrace gravels (Barling Gravel) ascribed to MIS 8. An MIS 9 attribution is supported by molluscan biostratigraphy, palaeo-salinity and amino-acid racemization data. The relative sea-level record in this area thus includes evidence for two major marine transgressions during MIS 11 and MIS 9, with local maxima of >10 m O.D. Both are associated with sediments that show ‘Hoxnian’ palynological affinities. The wider significance of these findings, and of an intermediate phase of pronounced fluvial incision during MIS 10, is discussed.     

River sections at the Byzovaya Palaeolithic site – keyholes into the late Quaternary of northern European Russia

Heggen, H. P., Svendsen, J. I. & Mangerud, J. 2009: River sections at the Byzovaya Palaeolithic site – keyholes into the late Quaternary of northern European Russia. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2009.00109.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. The geological history of northern European Russia over the past two glacial cycles is reconstructed from the stratigraphy in river bluffs along the upper reaches of the Pechora River. From a till bed near the base of the sections it is inferred that the Barents–Kara Ice Sheet covered the area during the late Saalian (MIS 6). After deglaciation, and prior to the last interglacial, the area was flooded by an ice‐dammed lake, suggesting that the Pechora Basin was blocked by a subsequent ice advance at the very end of the Saalian. Ice‐wedge casts and periglacial sediments reflect a pronounced cooling with formation of permafrost during the Early Weichselian (MIS 5d). An overlying thick sequence of shallow lacustrine sediments accumulated in the ice‐dammed Lake Komi, formed by the advancing Barents–Kara Ice Sheet 80–100 kyr BP (MIS 5b?). Following drainage of the lake, many of the older formations were eroded by fluvial activity. Animal remains found together with palaeolithic artefacts within debrisflow sediments at the base of one of the incised gullies yielded radiocarbon ages around 28 000–30 000 ¹⁴C yr BP (33–34 cal. kyr BP). The surface with traces of human activities was subsequently covered by aeolian sediments representing the northern extension of the European belt of periglacial coversand that accumulated in the cold and dry climate during the late Weichselian (MIS 2). The results of this work confirm the assumption that the last shelf‐centred ice sheet that covered this part of Russia occurred during the late Saalian (MIS 6), but that this glaciation was followed by a younger and less extensive ice advance that has not been described before. There are no indications that local glaciers originating in the Ural Mountains reached the Pechora River valley throughout the last two glacial cycles.     

A luminescence dating study of the sediment stratigraphy of the Lajia Ruins in the upper Yellow River valley,China

Pedo-sedimentological fieldwork were carried out in the Lajia Ruins within the Guanting Basin along the upper Yellow River valley. In the eolian loess-soil sections on the second river terrace in the Lajia Ruins, we find that the land of the Qijia Culture (4.20–3.95 ka BP) are fractured by several sets of earthquake fissures. A conglomerated red clay covers the ground of the Qijia Culture and also fills in the earthquake fissures. The clay was deposited by enormous mudflows in association with catastrophic earthquakes and rainstorms. The aim of this study is to provide a luminescence chronology of the sediment stratigraphy of the Lajia Ruins. Eight samples were taken from an eolian loess-soil section (Xialajia section) in the ruins for optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. The OSL ages are in stratigraphic order and range from (31.94 ± 1.99) ka to (0.76 ± 0.02) ka. Combined OSL and ¹⁴C ages with additional stratigraphic correlations, a chronological framework is established. We conclude that: (1) the second terrace of the upper part of Yellow River formed 35.00 ka ago, which was followed by the accumulation of the eolian loess-soil section; and (2) the eolian loess-soil section is composed of the Malan Loess of the late last glacial (MIS-2) and Holocene loess-soil sequences.     

Evidence from the Trent terrace archive, Lincolnshire, UK, for lowland glaciation of Britain during the Middle and Late Pleistocene

The late Middle Pleistocene fluvial terrace sequence of the lower Trent system, Lincolnshire (eastern England), provides an excellent record of environmental change, including evidence for the last two interglacial episodes. It also provides important stratigraphical evidence for the timing and extent of three separate glaciations. Two of these, the Anglian and Devensian, are well-established correlatives of Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 12 and 2 respectively; the third is a hitherto un-named post-Anglian-pre-Devensian glaciation in eastern England that has been the subject of much previous speculation, but can now be attributed with some confidence to MIS 8. Crucially, the recognition of MIS 7 interglacial deposits within the Balderton-Southrey terrace of the proto-Trent indicates that the underlying Wragby Till, which is ascribed to this additional glaciation, was emplaced no later than MIS 8. The oldest terrace preserved within the lower Trent staircase, the Eagle Moor-Martin Terrace, is considered to be a complex glacial outwash terrace related to the Wragby Till glaciation. It is suggested that deposits representing MIS 11-9, which are conspicuously absent throughout the Trent system, were removed by this glaciation. This is a departure from previous interpretations, which have suggested MIS 10 or MIS 6 as the most likely stages in which an extensive post-Anglian-pre-Devensian lowland glaciation might have occurred in Britain. However, the widespread preservation of undisrupted post-MIS 8 fluvial sequences throughout the Trent valley and in neighbouring systems, within which MIS 7 interglacial deposits have now been recognized at a number of localities, indicates that ice sheets are unlikely to have advanced further into this catchment during MIS 6 than during the Devensian (MIS 2). Recognition of a British glaciation during MIS 8 corresponds with widespread evidence in Europe, which suggests that glacial deposits classified as ‘Saalian’ represent both MIS 8 and MIS 6; in many areas, distinguishing these remains controversial, as confident correlation with either stage is often only possible where glacial sediments interdigitate with well-constrained fluvial records.     

黄河源地区的河谷地貌特征及其对黄河上游形成和演化的启示

黄河的形成与演化对于认识我国宏观地貌格局的形成、青藏高原及黄土高原的区域构造活动历史、华北平原及黄渤海陆架的形成和演化等问题具有重要意义。目前对黄河演化历史的研究主要集中在龙羊峡以下的河段,对于黄河源段的关注较少。文章基于黄河源地区河谷地貌的实地考察,并利用SRTM1-DEM数据,分析了黄河源段干流及支流河谷橫剖面的地貌特征,并与该区典型的冰川谷和兰州附近黄河的河谷横剖面进行了对比。结果表明:黄河源地区的河谷规模巨大,并呈现出谷底开阔、河床窄小、阶地不明显、谷坡陡立、河谷横剖面左右对称的U型谷特征。这些特征与该区冰蚀谷的特征相似,但与兰州段黄河成型河谷的特征相差甚远,且其河谷规模更大。我们推断,黄河源地区的河谷可能主要为冰期时的冰蚀作用所塑造,而非单纯的流水侵蚀形成。由于冰蚀作用的存在,该区早期的河流阶地可能被随后冰期的冰蚀作用所破坏,当前基于黄河源地区现存河流阶地年代的研究很可能低估了该区水系的发育历史。此外,反复的冰川进退也可能导致黄河源水系自上而下贯通,而非溯源侵蚀形成。     

Late Quaternary landscape reconstruction and geochronology in the northern Pampas of Buenos Aires province,Argentina

This paper reports the main sedimentary characteristics, soil micromorphology and optically-stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages, and details the pedosedimentary reconstruction, of the Hudson site situated in the northern Pampas of Buenos Aires province. It also provides the OSL chronology and a reinterpretation of previously reported micromorphological features for the nearby site of Gorina. Finally, the stratigraphic records of both sites are compared and the main environmental events discussed in a regional context.At Hudson, situated at a low altitude environment close to the coastal plain, the basal fine-grained paludal deposits were unconformably covered by coastal marine sediments with an OSL age of ca. 128 ka supporting its correlation with the high stand of sea level of marine isotope stage 5e. A paleosol developed on the marine deposits and the underlying paludal sediments. OSL ages suggest that soil development and its subsequent erosion occurred over some period between ca. 128 and 54 ka. Fine sediment accumulation in a paludal environment continued until prior to ca. 23 ka when the accumulation of the uppermost loess mantle started. It continued until the early Holocene when present soil development began. At Gorina, OSL ages suggest that the upper part of the pedocomplex formed at some stage between ca. 194 and 56 ka. Loess then accumulated followed by an erosional phase; loess deposition restarted by ca. 29 ka and continued until the beginning of the Holocene (ca. 9 ka) when the present land surface was established.The stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental differences exhibited by the Hudson and Gorina records result from their contrasting geomorphological settings. The OSL geochronology suggests that the last interglacial (MIS 5) at Hudson is marked by the accumulation of marine deposits (MIS 5e) and the subsequent development of a paleosol. The equivalent soil-forming interval at Gorina is represented by the upper part of the buried pedocomplex. Both at Gorina and Hudson, loess accumulation was dominant especially during MIS 2. Loess accumulation continued during MIS 1 until the early Holocene with apparently somewhat higher sedimentation rates in Hudson. Pedogenesis has been predominant during the rest of the Holocene, resulting in the formation of the surface soil profiles.     

黄河中游响应气候变化和地表相对抬升发育阶地研究

揭示河流系统响应气候变化和地表抬升的机制是理解流域地貌演化以及水系发育过程的基础,其核心难题是如何充分认识它们在阶地发育中扮演的角色。以往的研究倾向于分开讨论气候变化和地表抬升在河流阶地发育中的作用,认为河流堆积/侧蚀和下切行为分别与冰期和间冰期气候对应,或者将阶地作为地表抬升的直接证据。首先,从上下游河段对比的视角初步解释了黄河中游响应气候变化和地表相对汾渭盆地抬升发育阶地的过程。1.2 Ma以来黄河下蚀鄂尔多斯地块和峨眉台地分别形成了7级阶梯状阶地和6级堆积阶地序列。黄土地层分析结合年代学研究揭示这些阶地面都直接上覆一层古土壤,指示它们形成于气候由冰期向间冰期的过渡阶段,即使在沉降的盆地依然如此。然而,黄河中游并没有在1.2 Ma以来的每一次冰期向间冰期转换都发育阶地,说明气候虽能通过控制河流堆积-侧蚀与下切行为的转换决定阶地的形成时代,但其本身并不是阶地形成的唯一控制因素。在峨眉台地沉降的背景下,黄河无法形成正常的阶梯状阶地序列,取而代之的是堆叠的阶地序列（阶地越年轻拔河高度越大）;而当鄂尔多斯地块相对汾渭盆地抬升缓慢时,黄河仅能在极为干旱的冰期向间冰期过渡阶段形成阶地;相比之下,它们相对汾渭盆地抬升速率都足够快速时,驱动黄河近乎对每一次的冰期向间冰期转换都能做出响应而发育阶地。以上黄河中游阶地与气候和地表抬升的对比模式揭示出,快速地表抬升也是阶梯状阶地序列发育不可或缺的因素,能驱使河流在冰期向间冰期过渡阶段显著下切,拉大相邻阶地面垂直距离从而利于后期保存。因此,研究认为黄河中游发育的系列阶地是响应气候变化和地表相对汾渭盆地抬升的结果。     

The Pliocene initiation and Early Pleistocene volcanic disruption of the palaeo-Gediz fluvial system,Western Turkey

In this paper, we report our latest observations concerning a Pliocene and Early Pleistocene record from Western Turkey. The sedimentary sequence described comprises the fluvial deposits of an Early Pleistocene palaeo-Gediz river system and its tributaries prior to the onset of volcanism around Kula and the subsequent lacustrine, volcaniclastic and fluvial deposits associated with the first phase of volcanism (∼1.2 Ma) in this area.Early development of an east–west drainage system in this area resulted from tectonic adjustments to north–south extension and the formation of east–west-oriented grabens. Headward erosion of drainage entering the main Alaşehir graben led to the progressive capture of pre-existing drainage systems as eastward (headward) erosion upstream tapped drainage networks previously formed in internally draining NNE–SSW-oriented basins. Within one of these, the Selendi Basin, part of this evolutionary sequence is preserved as a buried river terrace sequence. Eleven terraces are preserved beneath alluvial fan sediments that are, in turn, capped by basaltic lava flows. Using the available geochronology these terraces are considered to represent sedimentation–incision cycles which span the period ∼1.67–1.2 Ma. Although progressive valley incision is a fluvial system response to regional uplift, the frequency of terrace formation within this time period suggests that the terrace formation resulted from sediment/water supply changes, a consequence of obliquity-driven climate changes. The production of sub-parallel terraces suggests that during this period the river was able to attain a quasi-equilibrium longitudinal profile adjusted to the regional uplift rate. Thus, the incision rate of 0.16 mm a⁻¹ during this period is believed to closely mirror the regional uplift rate.After the onset of volcanism at ∼1.2 Ma, there is a destruction of the dynamic link between fluvial system behaviour and climate change. The repeated damming of the trunk river and its tributaries led to the construction of complex stratigraphic relationships. During the first phase of volcanism the palaeo-Gediz river was dammed on numerous occasions leading to the formation of a series of lakes upstream of the dams in the palaeo-Gediz valley. Variations in lake level forced localised base-level changes that resulted in complex fluvial system response and considerable periods of disequilibrium in profile adjustment. Furthermore, response to these base-level changes most likely disrupted the timing of the incisional adjustment to the on-going regional uplift, thus making the use of this part of the archive for inferring regional uplift rates untenable.     

Stratigraphy and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of a Quaternary sequence along the Dong Nai River, southern Vietnam

The pre-Holocene Cenozoic sequence outcrops in the terrestrial part of the eastern margin of the Mekong Basin. However, the stratigraphy of the sequence is still unclear. Its detailed stratigraphy and chronology were therefore studied along the Dong Nai River, southern Vietnam, and the lithofacies and the relations among the formations were investigated from the outcrops. The ages of the deposits were determined by using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating.The Ba Mieu Formation was deposited about 176±52 ka during marine isotope stage (MIS) 7–6. The Thu Duc Formation was deposited about 97±27 ka during MIS 5. Both the Ba Mieu and Thu Duc formations are composed of fluvial and tidally influenced coastal deposits. The newly proposed Nhon Trach Formation was originally an eolian (blanket) deposit, but it has been partly reworked by fluvial processes. The Nhon Trach Formation was deposited about 10.9±4.7 ka, in the last part of the Pleistocene to the beginning of the Holocene. The OSL ages for the Ba Mieu, Thu Duc, and Nhon Trach formations are younger than the ages previously assigned to these formations.