The Plio–Pleistocene evolution of extensional tectonics in northern Tuscany,as constrained by new gravimetric data from the Montecarlo Basin (lower Arno Valley,Italy)

A detailed gravimetric study has been integrated with the most recent stratigraphic data in the area comprised between the Arno river and the foothills of the Northern Apennines, in northern Tuscany (central Italy). A Plio–Pleistocene basin lies in this area; its sedimentary succession can be subdivided from the bottom, in five allostratigraphic units: (1) Lower–Middle Pliocene shallow marine deposits; (2) Late Pliocene (?)–Early Pleistocene fluvio-lacustrine deposits; (3) late–Early Pleistocene–Middle Pleistocene alluvial to fluvial red conglomerates (Montecarlo Formation); (4) Middle Pleistocene alluvial to fluvial red conglomerates (Cerbaie and Casa Poggio ai Lecci Formations); (5) alluvial to fluvial deposits of Late Pleistocene age. The Bouguer anomaly map displays a strong minimum in the northeastern sector of the basin, and a gentle gradient from west to east. The map of the horizontal gradients permits to recognise three major fault zones, two of which along the southwestern and northeastern margins of the basin, and one along the southeastern edge of the Pisani Mountains. A 2.5D gravimetric modelling along a SW–NE section across the basin displays a thick wedge of sediments of density 2.25 g/cm³ (about 1700 m in the depocenter) overlying a layer of density 2.55 g/cm³, 1000 m thick, which rests on a basement of 2.72 g/cm³. The most of the sediment wedge is here referred to Upper Pliocene (?)–Lower Pleistocene, because borehole data show Pliocene marine deposits thinning northward close to the southern margin of the area. The layer below is referred to Ligurids and upper Tuscan Nappe units; the densest layer is interpreted as composed of Triassic evaporites, quartzites and Palaeozoic basement. According to Carmignani low-angle extensional tectonics began between Serravallian and early Messinian, thinning the Apennine nappe stack. At the end of Middle Pliocene, syn-rift deposition ceased in the Viareggio Basin (west of the investigated area) as demonstrated by Argnani and co-workers, and high-angle extensional tectonics migrated eastward up to the Monte Albano Ridge. A syn-rift continental sedimentary wedge developed in Late Pliocene–Early Pleistocene, until its hanging wall block was dismembered, during late Early Pleistocene, by NE-dipping faults, causing the uplift of its western portion (the Pisani Mountains). This breakup caused exhumation and erosion of Triassic units whose clastics where shed into the surrounding palaeo-Arno Valley in alluvial–fluvial deposits unconformably overlying the Lower Pleistocene syn-rift deposits. In the late Pleistocene SW–NE-trending fault systems created the steep southeastern edge of the Pisani Mountains and the resulting throw is recorded in Middle Pleistocene deposits across the present Arno Valley. This tectonic phase probably continues at present, offshore Livorno, as evidenced by the epicentres of earthquakes.     

第四纪以来天津北部燕山隆升与山前盆地的形成*

文中报道了天津市北部燕山山前地带共4个高岩心采取率钻孔的沉积学、地层学、年代学和微体古生物综合研究。420个热退磁样品的磁倾角曲线显示,具147 m厚松散地层的标准孔Z3孔下部地层属于2.58 Ma的松山(Matuyama)极性带。随着地壳沉降,只是从早更新世,冲积扇侧缘泥质沉积物才开始充填了底砾岩层之上的沉积空间,形成广义的山前盆地中的泛滥平原;与传统上视为上新统特征沉积的红棕色黏土类似的亮黄橙-黄橙色-亮红棕色黏土,延续出现到早更新世中期,当时区域沉降中心位于距离山前断裂不足4 km处。0.78 Ma以来的布容(Brunhes)极性带厚57.8 m。谨慎地依据120 ka的布莱克(Blake)亚时确定上更新统后,可见中更新统大部缺失,与天津市区沧县隆起和北京永定河冲积平原南部所见此时的地层间断十分相近。3个钻孔的7个¹⁴C测年数据证实,距离山前断裂不足2 km的钻孔45 ka以来的地层最厚达41 m;显示自MIS3初始期,沉降中心向北迁移更靠近山前断裂,且在构造断裂作用下形成了新的狭义的山前盆地。研究区可见15 ka富有机质黏土及上覆泥炭,表明末次冰消期开始的气候转暖首先影响到华北平原山前地区。此项工作为研究晚新生代以来“源到汇”过程中渤海湾西岸的沉降提供了一个基准点。     

A ~180,000 years sedimentation history of a perialpine overdeepened glacial trough (Wehntal, N-Switzerland)

A 30 m-deep drill core from a glacially overdeepened trough in Northern Switzerland recovered a ~180 ka old sedimentary succession that provides new insights into the timing and nature of erosion–sedimentation processes in the Swiss lowlands. The luminescence-dated stratigraphic succession starts at the bottom of the core with laminated carbonate-rich lake sediments reflecting deposition in a proglacial lake between ~180 and 130 ka ago (Marine Isotope Stage MIS 6). Anomalies in geotechnical properties and the occurrence of deformation structures suggest temporary ice contact around 140 ka. Up-core, organic content increases in the lake deposits indicating a warming of climate. These sediments are overlain by a peat deposit characterised by pollen assemblages typical of the late Eemian (MIS 5e). An abrupt transition following this interglacial encompasses a likely hiatus and probably marks a sudden lowering of the water level. The peat unit is overlain by deposits of a cold unproductive lake dated to late MIS 5 and MIS 4, which do not show any direct influence from glaciers. An upper peat unit, the so-called «Mammoth peat», previously encountered in construction pits, interrupts this cold lacustrine phase and marks more temperate climatic conditions between 60 and 45 ka (MIS 3). In the upper part of the core, a succession of fluvial and alluvial deposits documents the Late Glacial and Holocene sedimentation in the basin. The sedimentary succession at Wehntal confirms that the glaciation during MIS 6 did not apparently cause the overdeepening of the valley, as the lacustrine basin fill covering most of MIS 6 is still preserved. Consequently, erosion of the basin is most likely linked to an older glaciation. This study shows that new dating techniques combined with palaeoenvironmental interpretations of sediments from such overdeepened troughs provide valuable insights into the past glacial history.     

第四纪洞庭盆地沅江凹陷东缘鹿角地区构造—沉积演化研究

沅江凹陷为第四纪洞庭盆地东部的一个次级凹陷。通过地表地质调查和钻孔资料,在沅江凹陷东缘北部鹿角地区第四纪构造、沉积及地貌特征研究基础上,探讨并提出其构造-沉积演化过程：早更新世早期洪湖-湘阴断裂和荣家湾断裂相继活动,断裂以西地区断陷沉降并沉积,以东地区则构造抬升而遭受风化剥蚀。早更新世末期凹陷区东部构造反转抬升并遭受侵蚀。中更新世早期和中期凹陷区断陷沉降并接受沉积。中更新世晚期研究区整体抬升而遭受剥蚀。晚更新世西部主凹陷区在稳定或弱沉降并形成泥质沉积,东部间歇性抬升。在上述中更新世晚期开始的构造抬升的同时,研究区东部产生了自东向西、自南向北的构造掀斜。全新世构造总体稳定,西部洞庭湖区形成湖冲积。区域上,第四纪洞庭盆地构造性质经历了早期断陷到晚期坳陷的转变。     

塔里木盆地喀什凹陷侏罗系沉积特征及其演化

野外地质调查和室内地震解释认为,喀什凹陷侏罗系为陆相河流—湖泊沉积,整个侏罗纪代表了一个水体由浅—深—浅的沉积演化,早侏罗世莎里塔什组属干燥、氧化环境中的冲积扇沉积,到康苏组时演化为潮湿气候条件下的辫状河流沉积;中侏罗世盆地沉积范围扩大,出现湖泊和扇三角洲沉积,晚侏罗世盆地又演化为干燥—半干燥环境下的河流与冲积扇沉积。     

洞庭盆地两护村孔孢粉组合及其气候与地层意义

两护村ZKC1孔位于洞庭盆地安乡凹陷的东南部,孔内第四系(底部跨上新世)厚达294 m,为河流和湖泊沉积,自下而上依次为上新世—早更新世华田组、早更新世汨罗组、中更新世洞庭湖组、晚更新世坡头组以及全新统等。对ZKC1孔第四系进行了详细的孢粉分析,自下而上划分出16个孢粉组合带。ESR年龄和孢粉组合及其反映的气候特征指示华田组下段形成于上新世末。根据孢粉组合特征,结合构造—沉积演化和区域气候背景,重塑洞庭盆地上新世末以来的气候演化过程:上新世末期由孢粉带Ⅰ和Ⅱ指示具暖干气候。早更新世经历了凉干(孢粉带Ⅲ、Ⅳ)→暖湿间凉干(孢粉带Ⅴ～Ⅶ)→冷干间温湿(孢粉带Ⅷ～Ⅹ)→暖较湿(孢粉带Ⅺ,Ⅻ)的气候演变过程。中更新世早期无孢粉样品(洞庭湖组下部砾石层),其沉积环境暗示冷干气候条件;中期由孢粉带ⅩⅢ反映出暖稍湿的气候特征;晚期因构造抬升缺失沉积,同期湿热化事件指示暖湿气候。晚更新世早期缺乏沉积,据区域对比应为寒冷气候;中期由孢粉带ⅩⅣ指示温较湿的气候特征;晚期缺失沉积,系寒冷气候下区域海平面下降所致。全新世经历了暖稍湿(孢粉带ⅩⅤ)→暖稍干(孢粉带ⅩⅥ)的演变。上述气候演变过程与ZKC1孔化学蚀变指数曲线反映的气候演变过程以及中国东部第四纪气候演化基本吻合。以孔深140 m为界,上部孢粉数量显著高于下部,种属也更为丰富。这一变化很可能对应于一次重要的地质事件,其成因有待今后深入研究。     

Climate control on the evolution of Late Pleistocene alluvial‐fan and aeolian sand‐sheet systems in NW Germany

The Late Pleistocene was characterized by rapid climate oscillations with alternation of warm and cold periods that lasted up to several thousand years. Although much work has been carried out on the palaeoclimate reconstruction, a direct correlation of ice‐core, marine and terrestrial records is still difficult. Here we present new data from late Middle Pleniglacial to Lateglacial alluvial‐fan and aeolian sand‐sheet deposits in northwestern Germany. Records of Late Pleniglacial alluvial fans in central Europe are very rare, and OSL dating is used to determine the timing of fan aggradation. In contrast to fluvial systems that commonly show a delay between climate change and incision/aggradation, the small alluvial‐fan systems of the Senne area responded rapidly to climatic changes and therefore act as important terrestrial climate archives for this time span. The onset of alluvial‐fan deposition correlates with the climate change from warm to cold at the end of MIS 3 (29.3±3.2 ka). Strong fan progradation started at 24.4±2.8 ka and may be related to a period of higher humidity. The vertical stacking pattern of sedimentary facies and channel styles indicate a subsequrent overall decrease in water and sediment supply, with less sustained discharges and more sporadic runoffs from the catchment area, corresponding to an increasing aridity in central Europe during the Late Pleniglacial. Major phases of channel incision and fan aggradation may have been controlled by millennial‐scale Dansgaard–Oeschger cycles. The incision of channel systems is attributed to unstable climate phases at cold–warm (dry–wet) or warm–cold (wet–dry) transitions. The alluvial‐fan deposits are bounded by an erosion surface and are overlain by aeolian sand‐sheets that were periodically affected by flash‐floods. This unconformity might be correlated with the Beuningen Gravel Bed, which is an important marker horizon in deposits of the Late Pleniglacial resulting from deflation under polar desert conditions. The deposition of aeolian sand‐sheet systems (19.6±2.1 to 13.1±1.5 ka) indicates a rapid increase in aridity at the end of the Late Pleniglacial. Intercalated flash‐floods deposits and palaeosols (Finow type) point to temporarily wet conditions during the Lateglacial. The formation of an ephemeral channel network probably marks the warm‐cold transition from the Allerød to the Younger Dryas.     

Late Pleistocene lithostratigraphy and sequences in the southwestern Mesopotamia (Argentina): Evidences of the last interglacial stage

The aim of this paper is to show the stratigraphic record of the Late Pleistocene corresponding to the distal region of the Paraná River basin. It displays sedimentological, paleontological and geochronological evidences that characterise the last interglacial–glacial cycle. In particular, strong environmental records are shown for the Last Interglacial Stage (LIS). Salto Ander Egg Formation (SAEF) is defined as a new lithostratigraphic unit representative of the Late Pleistocene in southwestern Mesopotamia. This unit is formed of complex fluvial deposits, which contains a heterogeneous collection of sub-environments, of ages ranging from 120 to 60 ky BP. The clast-supported gravel facies containing sparse boulders indicate high flow during a humid climate. The large and middle-scale architectures of fluvial sedimentary bodies evidence the relationship between the sediment accommodation and the sea level oscillations. Three sub-sequences identified in the succession suggest a transgressive trend during the MIS5e, a highstand stage in MIS5c, and a minor transgressive cycle during MIS3. A Brazilian faunal association collected at the bottom of the sequence and sedimentological interpretations display wet and warm climatic conditions, typical of tropical or subtropical environments. Such environmental conditions are characteristic of the maximum of the last interglacial stage (MIS5e) and show a signal stronger than the signal of the current interglacial stage. All these data show a direct correlation between the increases of paleodischarges and the elevation of the sea level. The whole sequence is completed with transitional swampy deposits, accumulated probably during the MIS3/MIS2 transition, and the typical loess of the Tezanos Pinto Formation, mantled during the Last Maximum Glacial.     

Chronology of the Lower–Middle Pleistocene succession of the south-western part of the Crotone Basin (Calabria,Southern Italy)

Biostratigraphy based on calcareous nannofossils, integrated by magnetostratigraphic, geochronological and isotopic data, allowed establishing a precise chronological framework for the Pleistocene succession within the south-western sector of the Crotone Basin (Calabria, Southern Italy), where the Pliocene–Pleistocene global stratotype section and point is defined, thus demonstrating that sedimentation was quasi-continuous during most of the Lower and Middle Pleistocene.At a large scale, the Pleistocene succession in this sector of the Crotone Basin is characterized by an evident shallowing-upwards trend, showing facies changes from bathyal to shelfal to littoral/continental. However, comparison between adjacent sectors within the investigated area demonstrates that stratigraphic architectures change vastly on very short distances. Our chronological constraints indicate that such changes in sedimentation styles probably occurred in response to differential subsidence rates, which originated tectonically-controlled synsedimentary structures where accommodation space and sediment yield were allotted unevenly. This articulated physiography led to striking differences in the overall thicknesses and organization of Pleistocene stratigraphies and, eventually, to a distinct diachroneity in the first appearance of shallow-marine deposits. In addition, superimposed are complex interplays between regional and local tectonics, eustasy and orbitally-forced climate changes. These interactions have been highlighted by the oxygen isotope stratigraphy established for a part of the studied succession, which is likely to document almost continuously the interval from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 26 to MIS 17. In its younger part (post-MIS 17), chronological ties are poor, as the succession is dominated by shallow-water to continental deposits showing a prominent organization into cyclothems. Nevertheless, based on the chronology of the underlying units, it is feasible that basin infill ended during MIS 15-MIS 14 times.     

Luminescence dating of ice‐marginal deposits in northern Germany: evidence for repeated glaciations during the Middle Pleistocene (MIS 12 to MIS 6)

The exact number, extent and chronology of the Middle Pleistocene Elsterian and Saalian glaciations in northern Central Europe are still controversial. This study presents new luminescence data from Middle Pleistocene ice‐marginal deposits in northern Germany, giving evidence for repeated glaciations during the Middle Pleistocene (MIS 12 to MIS 6). The study area is located in the Leine valley south of the North German Lowlands. The data set includes digital elevation models, high‐resolution shear wave seismic profiles, outcrop and borehole data integrated into a 3D subsurface model to reconstruct the bedrock relief surface. For numerical age determination, we performed luminescence dating on 12 ice‐marginal and two fluvial samples. Luminescence ages of ice‐marginal deposits point to at least two ice advances during MIS 12 and MIS 10 with ages ranging from 461±34 to 421±25 ka and from 376±27 to 337±21 ka. The bedrock relief model and different generations of striations indicate that the older ice advance came from the north and the younger one from the northeast. During rapid ice‐margin retreat, subglacial overdeepenings were filled with glaciolacustrine deposits, partly rich in re‐worked Tertiary lignite and amber. During MIS 8 and MIS 6, the study area may have been affected by two ice advances. Luminescence ages of glaciolacustrine delta deposits point to a deposition during MIS 8 or early MIS 6, and late MIS 6 (250±20 to 161±10 ka). The maximum extent of both the Elsterian (MIS 12 and MIS 10) and Saalian glaciations (MIS 8? and MIS 6) approximately reached the same position in the Leine valley and was probably controlled by the formation of deep proglacial lakes in front of the ice sheets, preventing a further southward advance.     

Signatures of climate vs. sea-level change within incised valley-fill successions: Quaternary examples from the Texas GULF Coast

The passive margin Texas Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain consists of coalescing late Pleistocene to Holocene alluvial–deltaic plains constructed by a series of medium to large fluvial systems. Alluvial–deltaic plains consist of the Pleistocene Beaumont Formation, and post-Beaumont coastal plain incised valleys. A variety of mapping, outcrop, core, and geochronological data from the extrabasinal Colorado River and the basin-fringe Trinity River show that Beaumont and post-Beaumont strata consist of a series of coastal plain incised valley fills that represent 100 kyr climatic and glacio-eustatic cycles.

Valley fills contain a complex alluvial architecture. Falling stage to lowstand systems tracts consist of multiple laterally amalgamated sandy channelbelts that reflect deposition within a valley that was incised below highstand alluvial plains, and extended across a subaerially-exposed shelf. The lower boundary to falling stage and lowstand units comprises a composite valley fill unconformity that is time-transgressive in both cross- and down-valley directions. Coastal plain incised valleys began to fill with transgression and highstand, and landward translation of the shoreline: paleosols that define the top of falling stage and lowstand channelbelts were progressively onlapped and buried by heterolithic sandy channelbelt, sandy and silty crevasse channel and splay, and muddy floodbasin strata. Transgressive to highstand facies-scale architecture reflects changes through time in dominant styles of avulsion, and follows a predictable succession through different stages of valley filling. Complete valley filling promoted avulsion and the large-scale relocation of valley axes before the next sea-level fall, such that successive 100 kyr valley fills show a distributary pattern.

Basic elements within coastal plain valleys can be correlated with the record offshore, where cross-shelf valleys have been described from seismic data. Falling stage to lowstand channelbelts within coastal plain valleys were feeder systems for shelf-phase and shelf-margin deltas, respectively, and demonstrate that falling stage fluvial deposits are important valley fill components. Signatures of both upstream climate change vs. downstream sea-level controls are therefore interpreted to be present within incised valley fills. Signatures of climate change consist of the downstream continuity of major stratigraphic units and component facies, which extends from the mixed bedrock–alluvial valley of the eroding continental interior to the distal reaches, wherever that may be at the time. This continuity suggests the development of stratigraphic units and facies is strongly coupled to upstream controls on sediment supply and climate conditions within hinterland source regions. Signatures of sea-level change are critical as well: sea-level fall below the elevation of highstand depositional shoreline breaks results in channel incision and extension across the newly emergent shelf, which in turn results in partitioning of the 100 kyr coastal plain valleys. Moreover, deposits and key surfaces can be traced from continental interiors to the coastal plain, but there are downstream changes in geometric relations that correspond to the transition between the mixed bedrock–alluvial valley and the coastal plain incised valley. Channel incision and extension during sea-level fall and lowstand, with channel shortening and delta backstepping during transgression, controls the architecture of coastal plain and cross-shelf incised valley fills.     

河北唐山西部PZK14孔晚新生代沉积演化特征

为查明唐山西部平原区晚新生代以来松散堆积物的沉积演化特征,依托鸦鸿桥幅1∶5万区域地质调查工作,对唐山西部PZK14孔进行色度、粒度、视电阻率测井、自然伽马测井等研究,划分沉积相并计算各时段的沉积速率,结果表明: 该地区新生代晚期主要发育湖泊相、三角洲相和河流相。早更新世初始发育三角洲相,随着气候转暖,古滦河冲积扇退积,三角洲相转变为河流相; 早更新世中—晚期,发育3个湖泊-三角洲相沉积旋回; 中更新世发育一个湖泊-三角洲相沉积旋回; 晚更新世初沉积了巨厚的湖相层,随着气候转冷,渤海湾沿岸海侵结束,湖盆开始萎缩,转变为河流相; 全新世则以河间洼地沉积为主。沉积速率-年龄曲线表明: 第四纪以来构造作用对该地区沉积速率控制较弱,气候为影响沉积相发育的主要因素。第四纪各个时期的沉积速率均较快,奥杜威极性亚时(1.95~1.77 Ma)沉积速率最大,约为194.0 m/Ma; 2.52~1.95 Ma沉积速率最小,约为111.2 m/Ma。研究成果对恢复该区域古地理演化、水工环地质勘查等具有重要意义。     

Quaternary depositional patterns and sea-level fluctuations, northeastern North Carolina

A detailed record of late Quaternary sea-level oscillations is preserved within the upper 45 m of deposits along an eight km transect across Croatan Sound, a drowned tributary of the Roanoke/Albemarle drainage system, northeastern North Carolina. Drill-hole and seismic data reveal nine relatively complete sequences filling an antecedent valley comprised of discontinuous middle and early Pleistocene deposits. On interfluves, lithologically similar marine deposits of different sequences occur stacked in vertical succession and separated by ravinement surfaces. Within the paleo-drainage, marine deposits are separated by fluvial and/or estuarine sediments deposited during periods of lowered sea level. Foraminiferal and molluscan fossil assemblages indicate that marine facies were deposited in a shallow-marine embayment with open connection to shelf waters. Each sequence modifies or truncates portions of the preceding sequence or sequences. Sequence boundaries are the product of a combination of fluvial, estuarine, and marine erosional processes. Stratigraphic and age analyses constrain the ages of sequences to late Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6 and younger (∼ 140 ka to present), indicating multiple sea-level oscillations during this interval. Elevations of highstand deposits associated with late MIS 5 and MIS 3 imply that sea level was either similar to present during those times, or that the region may have been influenced by glacio-isostatic uplift and subsidence.     

Sedimentary response to Late Quaternary sea-level changes in the Romagna coastal plain (northern Italy)

Data from 17 continuously cored boreholes, 40–170 m deep, reveal the subsurface stratigraphy of the Romagna coastal plain. Sedimentological and microfaunal data allow the distinction of eight facies associations of Late Pleistocene–Holocene age, including 18 lithofacies and 16 faunal associations. Ten ¹⁴C dates provide the basis to establish a sequence stratigraphic framework for the succession corresponding to the upper part 35 ky BP of the last glacio-eustatic cycle. The eight facies associations can be grouped into lowstand, transgressive and highstand systems tracts. The upper part of the lowstand systems tract consists of alluvial plain deposits. These accumulated during the Late Pleistocene when the shoreline was ≈250 km south of its present-day position. A pronounced stratigraphic hiatus (between 25 and 8·8 ky BP) is invariably recorded at the upper boundary (transgressive surface) of these Pleistocene, indurated and locally pedogenized alluvial deposits. The succeeding postglacial history is represented by a well developed transgressive–regressive cycle. Transgressive deposits, interpreted to reflect the rapid landward migration of a barrier–lagoon system, include two wedge-shaped, paralic and marine units. These thicken in opposite directions and are separated by a ravinement surface. Above the transgressive deposits, the maximum flooding surface (MFS) marks the change from a transgressive barrier–lagoon complex to a prograding, wave-dominated delta system (early Po delta). The MFS can be traced landwards, where it constitutes the base of lagoonal deposits. An aggradational to progradational stacking pattern of upper delta plain (marsh), lower delta plain (lagoon/bay), and delta front (beach ridge) deposits reflects the progressive increase in the sediment supply/accommodation ratio during the following highstand. The alluvial deposits capping the sequence accumulated by the 13th century AD, in response to an avulsion event that caused abandonment of the former Po delta lobe and the northward migration of the Po River towards its present position.     

Holocene alluvial stratigraphy and response to climate change in the Roaring River valley,Front Range,Colorado, USA

Stratigraphic analyses and radiocarbon geochronology of alluvial deposits exposed along the Roaring River, Colorado, lead to three principal conclusions: (1) the opinion that stream channels in the higher parts of the Front Range are relics of the Pleistocene and nonalluvial under the present climate, as argued in a water-rights trial USA v. Colorado, is untenable, (2) beds of clast-supported gravel alternate in vertical succession with beds of fine-grained sediment (sand, mud, and peat) in response to centennial-scale changes in snowmelt-driven peak discharges, and (3) alluvial strata provide information about Holocene climate history that complements the history provided by cirque moraines, periglacial deposits, and paleontological data. Most alluvial strata are of late Holocene age and record, among other things, that: (1) the largest peak flows since the end of the Pleistocene occurred during the late Holocene; (2) the occurrence of a mid- to late Holocene interval (~ 2450–1630(?) cal yr BP) of warmer climate, which is not clearly identified in palynological records; and (3) the Little Ice Age climate seems to have had little impact on stream channels, except perhaps for minor (~ 1 m) incision.     

Fluvial deposits within the Pleistocene Crag at Thorpe St Andrew,Norwich, England

This paper records the findings at a temporary exposure at Thorpe St Andrew near Norwich, Norfolk, UK in Early and early Middle Pleistocene Crag deposits. The British Geological Survey (BGS) describes the particular formation exposed as Norwich Crag consisting of Early Pleistocene shallow marine sediments. The section shows a succession of sorted sands and gravels overlain by a sandy diamicton. Based on field evidence and clast analysis, the sands and gravels are interpreted as the product of point bar and overbank sedimentation and represent the product of a river cutting into and aggrading within the more widespread shallow marine deposits. Composition of the sediments indicates derivation, primarily from Wroxham Crag Formation, with a contribution from Norwich Crag. The sandy diamicton is interpreted as late Middle Pleistocene Corton Till that is recorded in the area. A distinct pattern of colour changes at the top of the sands and gravels is interpreted as a soil that developed on the fluvial sediments before being overridden by the glacier that deposited the Corton Till. The existence of the fluvial sediments within the regional shallow marine deposits suggests that a fall of sea-level, possibly due to climate cooling, while the elevation of the sediments and the adjacent Crag implies that the site has been uplifted since sedimentation. This is the first observation of terrestrial sediments within the shallow marine Crag. The paper also makes a contribution to understanding the diagenetic processes that give deposits within this region some distinctive colour and sediment patterns.     

Faunal and palaeoenvironmental changes in the Çal Basin,SW Anatolia: Implications for regional stratigraphic correlation of late Cenozoic basins

The Çal Basin formed in the late Miocene as an orogen-top rift hosting terrestrial sedimentation. The initial array of alluvial fans in a half-graben basin was replaced by an axial meandering-river system during the late Tortonian. Palaeomammal taxa indicate a mid-Turolian age of the deposits and a grass-dominated steppe ecosystem. Isotopic data from pedogenic carbonates indicate a warm, semiarid to arid climate. Subhumid to humid climatic conditions prevailed in the Pliocene, with a palustrine environment and savannah-type open ecosystem, recording a regional response to the marine flooding that terminated the Messinian ‘salinity crisis’ in the Mediterranean. Pleistocene saw re-establishment of a fluvial system in the basin with the development of an open steppe ecosystem in warm, semiarid to arid climatic conditions. The sedimentary facies analysis of the basin-fill succession, combined with biostratigraphic data, render the basin a regional reference and help to refine the Neogene tectono-climatic history of SW Anatolia.     

The last 750 ka in loess–palaeosol sequences from northern France: environmental background and dating of the western European Palaeolithic

This study presents an overview of Middle Pleistocene loess–palaeosol sequences (LPS) in northern France and discusses the palaeoclimatic significance of the pedosedimentary record in the context of western European LPS and of global climatic cycles for the last 750 ka. In this area, the oldest loess deposits (early Middle Pleistocene) are preserved in sedimentary traps (leeward scarps of fluvial terraces and dissolution sinkholes). They result from local deflation processes reworking Pleistocene sandy fluvial deposits or relicts of Tertiary sands. A large extension of typical calcareous loess over the landscape, the Loess Revolution, is then observed during MIS 6, with heavy mineral assemblages testifying to long-distance transport from the polar desert area of the dried eastern Channel. A correlation scheme is proposed between the global records of northern France in continental environments and both global palaeoclimatic records and other main western European LPS. After 30 years of research, northern France LPS stand as a fundamental archive of the impact of interglacial–glacial climatic cycles as well as millennial events. Finally, these works provide a robust chronoclimatic framework for the study of the western European Late Acheulean and Middle Palaeolithic and for the relative dating of the various fluvial terraces that they fossilise.     

Geoarchaeological investigations of henson creek: A low-order tributary in Central Texas

A complex late Quaternary alluvial history was documented along Henson Creek, a low order tributary on the Fort Hood Military Reservation in central Texas. Three Quaternary alluvial landforms were recognized: terrace 2 (T2), terrace 1 (T1), and the modern floodplain (T0). The late Pleistocene T2 terrace may contain an array of sites spanning the entire known cultural record, while T1 may have sites spanning the last 5000 years only. Five fluvial units, three colluvial facies, two alluvial fan facies, and two buried paleosols were also recognized. Fluvial deposition was occurring approximately 15,000 yr B.P., 10,000-8000 yr B.P., 7000–4800 yr B.P., 1650-600 yr B.P., and during the last 400 years. Colluvial deposition was ongoing mainly in the early and middle Holocene, while alluvial fan aggradation was proceeding primarily in the middle Holocene. Because of erosional unconformities, there is minimal potential for recovering buried sites dating to intervals between depositional eposides for most of the drainage basin. Preservation potentials for buried sites are greatest in fine-grained fluvial deposits dating to the late Pleistocene, early Holocene, and parts of the late Holocene, and in fine-grained colluvial deposits dating to the early and middle Holocene. This investigation demonstrates that within the study area, and perhaps throughout much of central Texas, a greater continuum of sediments and preservation potentials exists in late Quaternary alluvial deposits of rivers than in low-order tributaries.