Columbia Mountain landslide: late-glacial emplacement and indications of future failure, Northwestern Montana, USA

The well preserved and undissected Columbia Mountain landslide, which is undergoing suburban development, was studied to estimate the timing and processes of emplacement. The landslide moved westward from a bedrock interfluve of the northern Swan Range in Montana, USA onto the deglaciated floor of the Flathead Valley. The landslide covers an area of about 2 km², has a toe-to-crown height of 1100 m, a total length of 3430 m, a thickness of between 3 and 75 m, and an approximate volume of 40 million m³. Deposits and landforms define three portions of the landslide; from the toe to the head they are: (i) clast-rich diamictons made up of gravel-sized angular rock fragments with arcuate transverse ridges at the surface; (ii) silty and sandy deposits resting on diamictons in an internally drained depression behind the ridges; and (iii) diamictons containing angular and subangular pebble-to block-sized clasts (some of which are glacially striated) in an area of lumpy topography between the depression and the head of the landslide. Drilling data suggest the diamictons cover block-to-slab-sized bedrock clasts that resulted from an initial stage of the failure.The landslide moved along a surface that developed at a high angle to the NE-dipping, thinly bedded metasediments of the Proterozoic Belt Supergroup. The exposed slope of the main scarp dips 30–37°W. A hypothetical initial rotational failure of the lower part of a bedrock interfluve may have transported bedrock clasts into the valley. The morphology and deposits at the surface of the landslide indicate deposition by a rock avalanche (sturzstrom) derived from a second stage of failure along the upper part of the scarp.The toe of the Columbia Mountain landslide is convex-west in planview, except where it was deflected around areas now occupied by glacial kettles on the north and south margins. Landsliding, therefore, occurred during deglaciation of the valley while ice still filled the present-day kettles. Available chronostratigraphy suggests that the ˜1-km thick glacier in the region melted before 12,000 ¹⁴C years BP—within 3000 years of the last glacial maximum. Deglaciation and hillslope failure are likely causally linked. Failure of the faceted interfluve was likely due tensile fracturing of bedrock along a bedding-normal joint set shortly after glacial retreat from the hillslope.Open surficial tension fractures and grabens in the Swan Range are limited to an area above the crown of the landslide. Movement across these features suggests that extensional flow of bedrock (sackung) is occurring in what remains of the ridge that failed in the Columbia Mountain landslide. The fractures and grabens likely were initiated during failure, but their morphologies suggest active extension across some grabens. Continued movement of bedrock above the crown may result in future mass movements from above the previous landslide scarp. Landslides sourced from bedrock above the scarp of the late-glacial Columbia Mountain landslide, which could potentially be triggered by earthquakes, are geologic hazards in the region.     

Late glacial and Holocene marine records from the Independence Fjord and Wandel Sea regions, North Greenland

The first marine sediment cores from the unexplored Independence Fjord system and the Wandel Sea, North Greenland, have been investigated to reveal the glacial marine history of the region. Two key sites in the Independence Fjord system, and an earlier analysed site from the Wandel Sea continental slope, off the mouth of Independence Fjord, are presented. The Independence Fjord sites reveal an early Holocene record (10.0–8.9 Kya) of fine-grained reddish muds with calcareous microfossils, dominated by the benthic foraminifera Cassidulina neoteretis . We suggest that a semi-permanent fast ice cover characterized the region in the early Holocene, and that the deeper troughs in the mouth region of the Independence Fjord system were intruded by subsurface Atlantic water. A stiff diamicton, at least 1.3 m thick, with coal and sandstone clasts of mainly local origin, and a 0.5-m-thick Holocene cover, are found in one of the sites. The diamicton is assumed to represent a subglacial till predating the early Holocene sediments (>10 Kya). Shallow seismic records off the mouth of Independence Fjord reveal kilometre-sized troughs with signs of glacial erosion, till deposition and a Holocene glaciomarine deposition. These features could indicate that glacial ice debouching from the Independence Fjord system at some time during the last glacial period extended to the mid-outer Wandel Sea shelf. Data from a high-resolution sediment core previously retrieved from the adjacent Wandel Sea slope indicate that the maximum ice sheet advance in this area culminated about 25–20 Kya.     

云南千湖山第四纪冰川发育特点与环境变化

千湖山(4249 m) 是横断山脉中段保存确切第四纪冰川遗迹的山地,受西南季风影响强烈。对于研究青藏高原边缘山地冰川发育与气候和构造之间的耦合关系具有十分重要的科学意义。在千湖山海拔3500 m以上保存着古冰川侵蚀与堆积地貌,冰川发育依托海拔4000~4200 m的夷平面及其支谷地形。冰川形态类型为小型的冰帽以及由冰帽边缘溢流进入山谷的山谷冰川。应用相对地貌法,光释光(OSL) 年代测试,本文确定千湖山地区的冰进系列:末次冰盛期(LGM,22.2±1.9 ka BP)、末次冰期中期(MIS3b,37.3±3.7 ka BP、45.6±4.3 ka BP45.6±4.3 ka BP)、末次冰期早期(MIS4)。千湖山冰川前进规模是MIS3b 阶段大于末次冰盛期,主要原因是末次冰期中期(MIS3b) 时本区气候相对湿润,而在末次冰盛期(MIS2) 时气候条件比较干燥。在总体相似的气候背景下,与横断山其它存在多期次冰川作用的山地相比,千湖山只发育末次冰期的冰川作用,其差异性说明该地区冰川发育主要受山体构造抬升控制。     

哈巴雪山第四纪冰川发育特点的初步研究

哈巴雪山(5 396 m)位于横断山脉中北段,与玉龙雪山(5 596 m)以金沙江相隔,受西南季风影响强烈。在哈巴雪山3 100 m以上保存第四纪冰川侵蚀与堆积地貌,主要沿哈巴雪山西北脊两侧分布。应用相对地貌法,对比邻近山地尤其是玉龙雪山,将哈巴雪山冰期系列初步划分为:倒数第二次冰期、末次冰期早期和末次冰盛期(LGM)。以哈巴雪山哈巴河谷的冰碛物为研究对象,其末端海拔高度在倒数第二次冰期、末次冰期早期、末次冰盛期分别约为3 100 m、3 500 m、3 900 m。应用TSAM法、MEIM法、CF法计算得出哈巴雪山古雪线高度在倒数第二次冰期、末次冰期早期、末次冰盛期分别为3 675 m、4 000 m、4 200 m。     

The Southern Margin of the Late Cainozoic Ice Cap on the Central Plateau of Tasmania

The easternmost extremity of the ice cap that developed in the Tasmanian Central Highlands during the time of most extensive Late Cainozoic glaciation lay on the doleritecapped Central Plateau east and north-east of Lake St Clair. During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the more restricted ice cover included a small discrete ice cap (probably less than 250-300 m thick) that formed on the Central Plateau. The LGM ice limits on the southern part of the Central Plateau, including all five southern outlet valleys, are reported here. Earlier ice limits have been identified in two of these valleys, but on the plateau proper earlier glacial deposits have been generally extensively reworked beyond the LGM limit, such that confirmation of a glacial origin for diamictons on slopes is difficult. South of the plateau, the oldest deposits flooring lower reaches of two outlet valleys indicate that ice flowed southwards directly from the plateau, but later deposits indicate diffluent flow from the Derwent Glacier.     

SPECIFIC EROSIONAL AND DEPOSITIONAL PROCESSES IN A PLEISTOCENE SUBGLACIAL TUNNEL IN THE WIELKOPOLSKA REGION,POLAND

The Pleistocene Cie?le succession accumulated in a subglacial tunnel and shows three sedimentological units: (1) trough cross‐stratified sand with granules deposited in deep channels up to 5.4 m, (2) trough stratified and massive gravels deposited in a very deep channel up to 6.2 m eroded by a catastrophic hyperconcentrated flow, and (3) a massive diamicton, interpreted as a basal till of melt‐out type. We focus on angular and deformed sandy clasts that occur in the second unit. It appears that thermal erosion, short transport in a sediment‐laden current and sudden sedimentation were responsible for the oversized sandy clasts that occur in the gravel glaciofluvial deposits. The deposits are characterized by large‐scale erosional scours, massive structure, and fluid‐escape deformations. This combination of features can be used as a key tool for the interpretation of hyperconcentrated‐flow conditions beneath Pleistocene ice sheets.     

GLACIAL GEOMORPHOLOGY OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS,CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA: ESTABLISHMENT OF A GLACIAL CHRONOLOGY

The White Mountains, astride the California-Nevada stateline, are the highest and westernmost of the Great Basin ranges. This range was extensively glaciated during the Quaternary Period. Glacial landforms and scattered erratics were identified in the field using primarily morpho-and lithostratigraphic criteria, and mapped on aerial photographs and topographic maps. Topographic characteristics of the glacial deposits were analyzed using standard statistical procedures. A sequence of glacial deposits was identified in terms of six glacial stages, these glaciations named according to type site, and relative ages inferred. With the exception of perched Stage I (early) deposits along the range crest, reconstructed equilibrium-line altitudes and elevation of the glacier termini increase to the present, with glacier length and inferred size decreasing through time. Preliminary data suggest that weathering and pedogenesis are also progressive, though environmental gradients mask some of these distinctions between deposits. It is hypothesized that the White Mountains have a similar glacial chronology to the adjacent Sierra Nevada, but that with the intensification of the Sierran rainshadow during the Quaternary, the extent of glaciation in the White Mountains apparently decreased through time owing to regional tectonic uplift. This had led to the preservation of a more complete sequence of glacial deposits than in the Sierra Nevada, making the delineation of multiple mid-Quaternary events possible in many valleys. Further radiometric and chronometric dating of these deposits is in progress. [Key words: Glaciation, Quaternary, glacial geomorphology, White Mountains, California, Nevada.     

Snow-Push Processes in Pronival (Protalus) Rampart Formation: Geomorphological Evidence from Smørbotn, Romsdalsalpane, Southern Norway

It is demonstrated that pronival (protalus) ramparts can be formed by a snow-push mechanism and need not accumulate in the conventional manner as a result of supranival processes. Ridges in pronival positions up to 1.2 m high and of unequivocal snow-push origin are described from two sites in Smørbotn cirque, Romsdalsalpane, southern Norway. The seven lines of evidence are: (1) parallel abrasion tracks on large boulders embedded in the substrate; (2) displaced surface and embedded clasts with proximal furrows; (3) corrugated (flute-like) substrate surfaces; (4) the sickle-shaped plan-form of the ridges; (5) generally asymmetrical ridge cross-profiles (shallow, concave proximal; steep, convex distal); (6) strong preferred orientations and dips of surface-embedded clasts on ridge proximal slopes; and (7) a subnival/pronival ridge comprising loosely packed diamicton forming along the contact zone between the snowbed and substrate. This evidence indicates ridge formation by snow sliding involving bulldozing of the substrate. Factors considered important in favouring snow push producing distinct pronival ramparts at the sites include: a maritime periglacial climate with heavy winter snowfall and rapid snow-firn conversion producing snow densities of up to 900 kg m^–3; a deformable substrate with relatively small inputs of rockfall or avalanche debris; and a steep headwall susceptible to snow avalanching and hence enhanced snow supply. Consideration is given to the prospect that larger pronival ramparts can form incrementally by a snow-push mechanism.     

Origin of well-rounded gravels in glacial deposits from Brøggerhalvøya, northwest Spitsbergen: potential problems caused by sediment reworking in the glacial environment

Well-rounded gravels are described from moraine-mound complexes, diamicton forefields and modern englacial thrusts at the margins of four glaciers on the northern side of Brøggerhalvøya, northwest Spitsbergen. Their shape charcteristics are compared with modern and fossil glacigenic, modern beach and Early Weichselian beach gravels from this peninsula. The best discriminators of the well-rounded gravels have been found to be the percentage-frequency roundness histograms, the roundness mid-point and roundness range diagrams and the sphericity-roundness plots. It is concluded that the gravels have been derived by englacial thrusting from Early Weichselian or last interglacial beaches in the inner parts of the fjord and in the low level cirques when sea level reached at least 50m a.s.l. and deposited the beach gravels. The discrimination between gravel in basal diamictons, proglacial outwash and modern beaches is difficult as the reworking has resulted in little particle shape change. The potential major problem caused by reworking in the glacial environment is emphasised. especially when clast shape comparisons from modern environments to older sediments are used.     

Sediment Distribution Around Glacially Abraded Bedrock Landforms (Whalebacks) at Lago Tranquilo, Chile

Whalebacks are convex landforms created by the smoothing of bedrock by glacial processes. Their formation is attributed to glacial abrasion either by bodies of subglacial sediment sliding over bedrock or by individual clasts contained within ice. This paper reports field measurements of sediment depth around two whaleback landforms in order to investigate the relationship between glacigenic deposits and whaleback formation. The study site, at Lago Tranquilo in Chilean Patagonia, is situated within the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) ice limits. The two whalebacks are separated by intervening depressions in which sediment depths are generally 0.2 to 0.3 m. Two facies occur on and around the whalebacks. These facies are: (1) angular gravel found only on the surface of the whalebacks, interpreted as bedrock fracturing in response to unloading of the rock following pressure release after ice recession, and (2) sandy boulder‐gravel in the sediment‐filled depressions between the two whalebacks, interpreted as an ice‐marginal deposit, with a mixture of sediment types including basal glacial and glaciofluvial sediment. Since the whalebacks have heavily abraded and striated surfaces but are surrounded by only a patchy and discontinuous layer of sediment, the implication is that surface abrasion of the whalebacks was achieved primarily by clasts entrained in basal ice, not by subglacial till sliding.     

An Alpine Lacustrine Record of Early Holocene North American Monsoon Dynamics from Dry Lake, Southern California (USA)

Dry Lake (2763 m), located in the San Bernardino Mountains of southern California, USA, provides a high-resolution climate record from the coastal southwest depicting early Holocene terrestrial climate. 27 AMS ¹⁴C dates and multi-proxy analyses, including magnetic susceptibility, total organic mater, microfossil counts, and grain size, suggest the early Holocene was significantly wetter then present, due to an enhanced North American Monsoon (NAM). Elevated insolation at 9000 cal year B.P., raised summer sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of California and the eastern tropical Pacific, as well as land surface temperatures, extending the NAM into southern California. The data also provide evidence of the 8.2 ka event, which registers as a 300-year cool period characterized by reduced monsoonal precipitation, depressed basin productivity, and increased erosion. We suggest this event is the most likely period for the early to middle Holocene (9000–5000 cal year B.P.) glacial advance in the San Bernardino Mountains proposed by Owen et al. (2003, Geology 31: 729–732).     

质疑粤西北的冰川遗迹

从地貌、沉积物、第四纪地层关系、古气候、古环境等方面论证了广东封开-怀集-带所谓的冰川谷、冰蚀三角面、悬谷、角峰、刃脊、冰半、鼻山尾、冰碛砾石、蛇形丘以及近百万年来发生过3次冰期，是既不符合地学基础理论也不符合野外实际，所以是不确实的，那里没有第四纪冰川遗迹。     

The Origin and Significance of Debris-charged Ridges at the Surface of Storglaciären, Northern Sweden

Storglaciären is a 3.2 km long polythermal valley glacier in northern Sweden. Since 1994 a number of small (1–2 m high) transverse debris‐charged ridges have emerged at the ice surface in the terminal zone of the glacier. This paper presents the results of a combined structural glaciological, isotopic, sedimentological and ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) study of the terminal area of the glacier with the aim of understanding the evolution of these debris‐charged ridges, features which are typical of many polythermal glaciers. The ridges originate from steeply dipping (50–70°) curvilinear fractures on the glacier surface. Here, the fractures contain bands of sediment‐rich ice between 0.2 and 0.4 m thick composed of sandy gravel and diamicton, interpreted as glaciofluvial and basal glacial material, respectively. Structural mapping of the glacier from aerial photography demonstrates that the curvilinear fractures cannot be traced up‐glacier into pre‐existing structures visible at the glacier surface such as crevasses or crevasse traces. These curvilinear fractures are therefore interpreted as new features formed near the glacier snout. Ice adjacent to these fractures shows complex folding, partly defined by variations in ice facies, and partly by disseminated sediment. The isotopic composition (δ¹⁸O) of both coarse‐clear and coarse‐bubbly glacier ice facies is similar to the isotopic composition of the interstitial ice in debris layers that forms the debris‐charged ridges, implying that none of these facies have undergone any significant isotopic fractionation by the incomplete freezing of available water. The GPR survey shows strong internal reflections within the ice beneath the debris‐charged ridges, interpreted as debris layers within the glacier. Overall, the morphology and distribution of the fractures indicate an origin by compressional glaciotectonics near the snout, either at the thermal boundary, where active temperate glacier ice is being thrust over cold stagnant ice near the snout, or as a result of large‐scale recumbent folding in the glacier. Further work is required to elucidate the precise role of each of these mechanisms in elevating the basal glacial and glaciofluvial material to the ice surface.     

冰川下垫面对夏季云结构和云水含量的影响——以祁连山区疏勒南山为例

云水含量和云结构参量是天气预报、高山区水循环过程分析的基础。基于2012-2015年夏季CloudSat卫星遥感资料的2B-CLDCLASS、2B-GEOPROF和2B-GEOPROF-LIDAR,结合中国第二次冰川编目数据及气象资料,对祁连山地区疏勒南山冰川区与非冰川区云水含量和云类型特征进行分析。结果表明:(1)云水含量的垂直分布受下垫面和云类型的影响,主要表现为有冰川覆盖的高山上空降水云类型以深对流云为主,无冰川覆盖的高山上空降水云类型以雨层云为主。(2)疏勒南山地区高含水量主要分布在5 km以下的中低层云中,且冰川区气流垂直运动较非冰川区活跃。(3)疏勒南山冰川区云水含量平均值为0.07 g·m^-3,非冰川区云水含量平均值为0.17 g·m^-3,云水的空间变化在一定程度上能够反映降水和水汽的分布状况。     

秦岭陕西段南北坡植被对干湿变化响应敏感性及空间差异

秦岭位于暖温带与亚热带交界处,也是中国南北地理分界线,秦岭南北坡植被对干湿变化响应敏感性,可以折射出暖温带、亚热带地区主要植被类型对于湿变化的响应规律和机制特征,对深入理解不同气候带植被变化规律具有重要意义.本文利用秦岭山地32个气象站点的气象数据和MODIS NDVI时间序列数据集,探讨了2000-2018年秦岭南北...     

Sensitivity and areal differentiation of vegetation responses to hydrothermal dynamics on the northern and southern slopes of the Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi province

The Qinling Mountains, located at the junction of warm temperate and subtropical zones, serve as the boundary between north and south China. Exploring the sensitivity of the response of vegetation there to hydrothermal dynamics elucidates the dynamics and mechanisms of the main vegetation types in the context of changes in temperature and moisture. Importance should be attached to changes in vegetation in different climate zones. To reveal the sensitivity and areal differentiation of vegetation responses to hydrothermal dynamics, the spatio-temporal variation characteristics of the normalized vegetation index(NDVI) and the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index(SPEI) on the northern and southern slopes of the Qinling Mountains from 2000 to 2018 are explored using the meteorological data of 32 meteorological stations and the MODIS NDVI datasets. The results show that: 1) The overall vegetation coverage of the Qinling Mountains improved significantly from 2000 to 2018. The NDVI rise rate and area ratio on the southern slope were higher than those on the northern slope, and the vegetation on the southern slope improved more than that on the northern slope. The Qinling Mountains showed an insignificant humidification trend. The humidification rate and humidification area of the northern slope were greater than those on the southern slope. 2) Vegetation on the northern slope of the Qinling Mountains was more sensitive to hydrothermal dynamics than that on the southern slope. Vegetation was most sensitive to hydrothermal dynamics from March to June on the northern slope, and from March to May(spring) on the southern slope. The vegetation on the northern and southern slopes was mainly affected by hydrothermal dynamics on a scale of 3–7 months, responding weakly to hydrothermal dynamics on a scale of 11–12 months. 3) Some 90.34% of NDVI and SPEI was positively correlated in the Qinling Mountains. Spring humidification in most parts of the study area promoted the growth of vegetation all the year round. The sensitivity of vegetation responses to hydrothermal dynamics with increasing altitude increased first and then decreased. Elevations of 800 to 1200 m were the most sensitive range for vegetation response to hydrothermal dynamics. The sensitivity of the vegetation response at elevations of 1200–3000 m decreased with increasing altitude. As regards to vegetation type, grass was most sensitive to hydrothermal dynamics on both the northern and southern slopes of the Qinling Mountains; but most other vegetation types on the northern slope were more sensitive to hydrothermal dynamics than those on the southern slope.     

Mountain evolution and environmental changes of Huangshan (Yellow mountain),China

Huangshan(Yellowmountain)islocatedinsouthernpoofthelowerreaChesoftheYangtZemyer,30'31'Nand118"if'E.ItShigheStLotUSFlowerPeakis1864mabovesealevel.ItisoneofthetencelebretedscenicSPOtSinChinaandwasincludedintheWorldNaturalandCultulalHeritageListbyU'NESCOin1990.OneofthemajorreasonsforincludingitinthelistisbecauseofHuangshan'simPOrtantvalueforgeologicalacgeomorphicscienceicresearches.Inthe~es,Lee(1936)proPOsedthe"confinnatoryevidenceofPleistoceneglacinhonfromtheHuangshan"l'l.Inthesi…     

Weathering as an indicator of the age of quaternary glacial deposits in Tasmania

Comparison of the degree of post‐depositional erosion and weathering to which different landforms and sediments have been subject over time provides a valuable aid to age differentiation of Quaternary deposits. A variety of parameters, including erosional modification both of depositional and older erosional landforms, the weathering of surface clasts and the weathering of subsurface clasts and matrix, has proven useful to Quaternary workers. However, time is only one of a number of factors that control the amount of weathering and erosion that occurs at a site. Examples from the glacial deposits of Tasmania show that if results useful for dating are to be obtained, it is essential to minimise the influence of other factors which may obscure a time‐dependent sequence.     

中国花岗岩地貌的类型特征与演化

在中国南方亚热带季风气候条件下, 自中、上新世以来的夷平面及其深厚的花岗岩风化壳在后期不同程度构造抬升-下切过程中, 造成许多中国特有的花岗岩地貌类型, 如黄山和三清山等处的花岗岩峰林、石林、造型石、风动石等。本文讨论了中国花岗岩风化壳和地貌的时空演化规律, 提出地貌发育年代与中、上新世广布的夷平面的密切关系, 以及在不同抬升背景下, 花岗岩地貌与风化壳的关系。并可据此推算不同山地的抬升幅度, 沿海仅抬升约200m, 向内地逐渐增大, 到南岭或大别山、伏牛山则达到约1600~2000 m。