The development of talus slopes around Lord Howe island and implications for the history of island planation

Lord Howe Island is a small eroded remnant of a Late Miocene shield volcano. A fringing coral reef dissipates wave energy along a portion of the shoreline, but the remainder of the coast is rugged with spectacular high basaltic sea cliffs. This paper investigates the evolution of talus slopes that occur beneath the loftiest cliffs, and places this analysis within the context of a longer history of island planation that has resulted in a wide truncated shelf around the island. During the Last Glacial, when the sea level was lower than at present, talus slopes accumulated around the extent of the island's cliffed coast because material eroded from cliffs by subaerial processes could not be removed by marine processes. The survival of these slopes during the Holocene has depended on a balance achieved between rates of subaerial and marine erosion. This balance is fundamentally influenced by cliff height, as cliffs higher than 200 m are plunging or veneered by talus slopes, whereas lower cliffs have erosional shore platforms. On comparison with published erosion rates from inland basalt scarps it appears that marine processes may account for over 90 per cent of the total cliff retreat that has occurred at Lord Howe Island, yet contemporary coastal morphology attests to the significance of subaerial processes in recent times. It is likely that marine cliffing was very rapid soon after volcanism ceased, but rates of erosion decreased through time as wave energy became increasingly attenuated across a widening planation surface, and as increasing cliff heights yielded greater quantities of talus that provided protection from rapid marine erosion.     

Effect of the development of notches and tension cracks on instability of limestone coastal cliffs in the Ryukyus, Japan

Notches cut by waves are currently developing at the base of vertical coastal limestone cliffs in Okinawa, Japan. The cliff height varies from 3.0–22.1 m, and the maximum notch depth is 8.8 m. Many rectangular or cubic blocks, which appear to have originated from cliff failures, are found on platforms in front of the cliffs. On the flat top surface of the cliff, tension cracks often run parallel to the cliff face. The vertical face of the cliffs displays small undulations but no sliding striation, suggesting that cliff failures have been caused by toppling rather than by shearing or sliding. We use slope stability analysis to determine the critical condition for toppling failure. Physical and mechanical properties of the cliff material were first obtained from laboratory tests. The results indicate that the strength of limestone shows a scale effect, such that the strength decreases with increasing size of the test specimens. Based on this result, we estimated the strength of a rock mass corresponding to the size of the coastal cliff. Cliff stability was then analyzed using a cantilever beam model. Comparison of the stability analysis and the dimension of fallen blocks indicates that toppling failure is strongly associated with the development of notches and tension cracks.     

丹霞地貌概念讨论

关于丹霞地貌概念上的不同意见,主要是：①岩性岩相上是较单一的“陆相碎屑岩”还是涵盖多种岩性岩相的“沉积岩”;②地貌上是“丹崖”,还是“赤壁丹崖”,或是“赤壁丹崖群”。根据目前已知的中外丹霞地貌的基本特征,初步认为,丹霞地貌是由砂岩砾岩为主的沉积岩经侵蚀作用所形成的赤壁丹崖群地貌。近10a来,一些丹霞地貌概念,基本上属于“中国丹霞地貌”的概念,不完全符合世界丹霞地貌的实际情况。     

SHORELINE CHANGE AT THOMPSON ISLAND,BOSTON HARBOR,MASSACHUSETTS, 1938-1977

A photogrammetric and sediment analysis is presented to illustrate the relationship between beach erosion and seacliff recession on Thompson Island, Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. Aerial photographs taken in 1938, 1952, 1963, and 1977 were measured to determine rates of shoreline change around the island. The 39-year average rate of beach erosion is 0.3 m/yr ± 2% with an average rate of cliff recession at 0.2 m/yr ± 2%. Rates of beach erosion between six orientations that reflect principal wave approach to the island were not found to be significantly different (0.05) for the 39-year period. The rank order correlation between beach erosion and cliff recession for these six orientations was moderately well correlated (0.63). To determine possible controls of cliff erosion, 58 sediment samples were collected from glacial cliffs along the shoreline. The textural composition was determined, and then tested with discriminant function analysis. Partial correlation analysis between beach erosion and cliff recession holding a surrogate for sediment size constant improved the rank order from 0.63 to 0.84. The results indicate that coarser-grained cliffs recede at faster rates, but with less erosion occurring on adjacent beaches. Alternatively, finer-grained cliffs recede at slower rates, but with greater erosion occurring on adjacent beaches.     

Globose cacti (Mammillaria) living on cliffs avoid high temperatures in a hot dryland of Southern Mexico

Succulent plants are prone to overheating due to their massive organs and lack of daytime transpiration. Thus, they frequently grow in cool microenvironments. Due to their verticality, cliffs avoid sunlight at noon, providing a cool refuge during the hottest hours of the day. We test the hypothesis that species in the genus Mammillaria (Cactaceae) are associated with cliffs in hot areas. We compared the temperatures and light interception of Mammillaria crucigera experimentally placed on a cliff and on the plateau above it. Through comparative analysis of 10 species we tested if those living in warmer areas inhabit steeper slopes. We found that plants and soil on the cliff were 9.9 and 14.4 °C cooler than their counterparts in the plateau at noon. While the temperatures on the plateau were within the range that has been found to inhibit photosynthetic activity, those on the cliff were closer to the optimal ones for CO₂ fixation in other cacti. Living on the cliff may be costly because radiation is reduced by 38.2%. A comparative analysis revealed an evolutionary trend toward living on steeper slopes when the climate is hot. This may contribute to explain why cliff-dwellers have evolved in so many succulent-plant families.     

The generation and degradation of marine terraces

Marine terraces are ephemeral planar landforms. While tectonic and climatic forcings responsible for the generation of existing marine terraces have operated for at least 1 Myr, terraces have been completely removed by erosion above a given altitude (and hence above a given age). Above this altitude, the landscape has forgotten that it was once terraced. We ask what controls this characteristic time-scale, which we term the ‘forget time’, in a landscape. We approach the problem with simple scaling arguments, and 1-D numerical models of landscape evolution. Using a simple cliff erosion model with a realistic sea-level history, rock uplift and a cliff retreat rule, we find that the most important means of terrace removal is through the deeper transgression of a subsequent sea cliff into the landmass. The sequence of preserved terraces depends upon the history of sea cliff incursion into the landmass. The extent of sea cliff incursion depends on the duration of the sea-level highstand, the far-field wave energy input and the degree to which bathymetric drag dissipates wave energy. This portion of the marine terrace survival problem is an example of a common problem in geomorphology, in which the record of past tectonic or climatic events is rendered incomplete by the potential for younger events to wipe the topographic slate clean. While sea cliffs decay through time, their form can still be recognized many hundreds of thousands of years after formation. This reflects the diffusive nature of their decay: early rapid evolution and lowering of maximum slopes yields to slower rates through time. Incision by streams, on the other hand, is rapid, as the streams respond to base-level history driven by sea-level changes. The rate of incision reflects the local climate conditions, and is limited by the rate of base-level fall. The principal means of vanquishing a marine terrace is by backwearing of slopes adjacent to these incising streams. The forget time should be proportional to the spacing between major incising streams and to the angle of hillslope stability, and should be inversely proportional to the rate of channel incision. This yields an overestimate of the forget time, as the terraced interfluves are reduced as well by the headward incision of tributary streams. The resulting landscape may be viewed as a terraced fringe separating the sea from the fully channellized landscape. Over time-scales corresponding to many glacial–interglacial sea-level oscillations, this fringe can achieve a nearly steady width. The rate of generation of new terraced landscape, reflecting the uplift rate pattern, is then balanced by the rate at which the terraces are erased beyond recognition by channel and hillslope processes. The width of this fringe should depend upon the precipitation, and upon the distance to the nearest drainage divide, both of which limit the maximum power available to drive channel incision.     

THE IMPACT OF TSUNAMI ON THE COASTLINE OF JERVIS BAY,SOUTHEASTERN AUSTRALIA

The Jervis Bay area offers a diversity of landforms that do not fit within contemporary views of coastal evolution. Field evidence indicates that catastrophic tsunami have had a significant impact on the coast and its hinterland both within and outside the embayment. Runup has overtopped cliffs 80 m above sea level and deposited chevron-shaped ridges to elevations of 130 m on the southern headland. Boulders, up to 6 m in diameter, have been deposited in an imbricated fashion against cliffs, on clifftops, and along shoreline ramps. Bed-form features and the size of transported material indicate flow depths up to 10 m and velocities around 8 m s^-1. While significant Pleistocene material has been swept onto the coastline, mainly in the form of barriers, radiocarbon dating indicates that tsunami have occurred repetitively throughout the Holocene. The most recent event occurred just before European settlement over 200 years ago. [Key words: barrier beaches, coastal geomorphology, tsunami, Jervis Bay, Australia.]     

盐沼前缘陡坎韵律性形态特征及其形成过程与机理

盐沼前缘陡坎是潮滩环境中盐沼与粉砂—淤泥质光滩交界处的独特地貌形态,研究其形成过程与机理有助于理解盐沼湿地对潮滩发育及其稳定性的影响。根据江苏中部海岸盐城自然保护区核心岸段互花米草盐沼前缘陡坎形态参数（凹槽长度、凹槽宽度和陡坎高度）的分析,发现不同的形态参数组合对应于不同的陡坎演化阶段。根据陡坎形态特征差异,可将盐沼前缘陡坎韵律性形态发育过程分为三个阶段,而这三阶段的交替旋回过程与近岸波向的季节性变化有关。陡坎处的地貌特征与前缘光滩的沉积物特征表明陡坎形态特征形成与波浪作用有关,且显著的陡坎韵律性形态能够部分地应用边缘波理论来解释。     

Processes and rate of retreat of the clay and sandstone sea cliffs of the northern Boulonnais (France)

Retreat of the clay and sandstone cliffs of the northern Boulonnais (France) has been quantified using stereophotogrammetry. The low retreat rate of this coastal strip — 0.08 m/yr between 1939 and 2003 — is far less than that encountered on chalk and clay-chalk cliffs of either side of the Channel, and even less than a previous estimate of 0.17 m/yr regularly quoted in management studies. The retreat rate is closely related to shore platform morphology and dynamics. The shore platform presents 1) a steeply sloping ramp due to the accumulation of flat calcareous megaclasts that reduce marine erosion; 2) upstanding bare platform surfaces, related to tectonic deformation; and 3) thick platform-beaches trapped in troughs. In all three cases, the reflective behaviour of the nearshore protects the cliff foot from the incoming waves. Two critical eroding segments are the result of changes in the platform sedimentary budget. Around Cran Poulet, and between Plage de la Sirène and Pointe de la Courte Dune, the retreat rate is up to 0.25 and 0.15 m/yr, respectively. At Cran Poulet, recession has been facilitated by the extraction of pebble for more than half a century, whereas erosion of the beach at la Sirène is probably linked to severe erosion of the coastline in the adjacent Wissant Bay. Mass movements on the cliff face are essentially shallow-seated translational slides along with small debris falls and mudflows. The instability of the Argiles de Châtillon is greatly diminished by their sandy and silty texture and by the presence of interstratified solid shelly limestone beds that allow steep slopes to develop in rather weak material. The ‘vertical erosion antecedent’ is the erosional mode of the cliff, and its reduced efficiency explains the slow recession of the cliff. This study will help to determine the long term evolution of the Boulonnais coast.     

Processes and rates of rock fragment displacement on cliffs and scree slopes in an amba landscape, Ethiopia

Distinct rock fragment displacements occur on the ambas, or structurally determined stepped mountains of the Northern Ethiopian Highlands. This paper describes the rock fragment detachment from cliffs by rockfall, quantifies its annual rate, and identifies factors controlling rock fragment movement on the scree slopes. It further presents a conceptual model explaining rock fragment cover at the soil surface in these landscapes. In the May Zegzeg catchment (Dogu'a Tembien district, Tigray), rockfall from cliffs and rock fragment movement on debris slopes by runoff and livestock trampling were monitored over a 4-year period (1998–2001). Rockfall and rock fragment transport mainly induced by livestock trampling appear to be important geomorphic processes. Along a 1500-m long section of the Amba Aradam sandstone cliff, at least 80 t of rocks are detached yearly and fall over a mean vertical distance of 24 m resulting in a mean annual cliff retreat rate of 0.37 mm y^− 1. Yearly unit rock fragment transport rates on scree slopes ranged between 23.1 and 37.9 kg m^− 1 y^− 1. This process is virtually stopped when exclosures are established. Corresponding mean rock fragment transport coefficients K are 32–69 kg m^− 1 y^− 1 on rangeland but only 3.9 kg m^− 1 y^− 1 in densely vegetated exclosures. A conceptual model indicates that besides rockfall from cliffs and argillipedoturbation, all factors and processes of rock fragment redistribution in the study area are of anthropogenic origin.     

乔治王岛菲尔德斯半岛周围海岸地貌研究

本文对南设得兰群岛乔治王岛菲尔德斯半岛周围现代和上升海岸地貌进行了研究。认为现代海岸地貌有三类:碎屑海岸、基岩海岸和冰崖海岸。对碎屑海岸受负载浮冰的波浪作用造成的各种现象进行了成因和类型研究。系统研究上升海岸之后得出结论,该区上升海岸地貌以海拔20米为界,上下分别属较老组和较新组。海岸平均上升速度为10毫米/年。     

Effect of the Cretaceous Serra Geral igneous event on the temperatures and heat flow of the Parana Basin, southern Brazil

We investigate the effects of the cooling of intrusive and extrusive igneous bodies on the temperature history and surface heat flow of the Parana Basin. The Serra Geral igneous event (130–135 Ma) covered most of this basin with flood basalts. Associated with this event numerous sills and dykes intruded the sediments and basement, and extensive underplating may have occurred in the lower crust and upper mantle beneath the basin. We develop an analytical model of the conductive cooling of tabular intrusive bodies and use it to calculate temperatures within the sediments as a function of time since emplacement. Depending on the thickness of these igneous bodies and the timing of sequential emplacement, the thermal history of a given locus in the basin can range from a simple extended period of higher temperatures to multiple episodes of peak temperatures separated by cooling intervals. The cooling of surface flood basalts, sills and dykes is capable of maintaining temperatures abovc the normal geothermal gradient temperatures for a few hundred thousand years, while large-scale underplating may influence temperatures for up to 10 million years. We conclude that any residual heat from the cooling of the Serra Geral igneous rocks has long since decayed to insignificant values and that present-day temperatures and heat flow are not affected. However, the burial of the sediments beneath the thick basalt cap caused a permanent temperature increase of up to 50°C in the underlying sediments since the beginning of the Cretaceous.     

Effect of the Cretaceous Serra Geral igneous event on the temperatures and heat flow of the Paraná Basin, southern Brazil

We investigate the effects of the cooling of intrusive and extrusive igneous bodies on the temperature history and surface heat flow of the Paraná Basin. The Serra Geral igneous event (130–135 Ma) covered most of this basin with flood basalts. Associated with this event numerous sills and dykes intruded the sediments and basement, and extensive underplating may have occurred in the lower crust and upper mantle beneath the basin. We develop an analytical model of the conductive cooling of tabular intrusive bodies and use it to calculate temperatures within the sediments as a function of time since emplacement. Depending on the thickness of these igneous bodies and the timing of sequential emplacement, the thermal history of a given locus in the basin can range from a simple extended period of higher temperatures to multiple episodes of peak temperatures separated by cooling intervals. The cooling of surface flood basalts, sills and dykes is capable of maintaining temperatures above the normal geothermal gradient temperatures for a few hundred thousand years, while large-scale underplating may influence temperatures for up to 10 million years. We conclude that any residual heat from the cooling of the Serra Geral igneous rocks has long since decayed to insignificant values and that present-day temperatures and heat flow are not affected. However, the burial of the sediments beneath the thick basalt cap caused a permanent temperature increase of up to 50°C in the underlying sediments since the beginning of the Cretaceous.     

Generalised observations of wave characteristics on near‐horizontal shore platforms: Synthesis of six case studies from the North Island,New Zealand

Most field studies of wave processes on shore platforms in front of eroding cliffs focus on a single site, revealing aspects of wave dynamics at that location. Here, we analyse data from six platforms around northeastern New Zealand and describe the fundamental control of shore platform width, gradient and elevation on wave processes, including greater attenuation of short‐period waves at lower tidal stages and increases in longer period wave energy towards the cliff toe. These data suggest that empirical formulae developed from coral‐reef environments provide better predictions of wave height on platforms than formulae currently used in shore platform models.     

A Tertiary-Quaternary section at Sarsbukta, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, and its foraminifera

Tertiary and Quaternary deposits outcrop in the coastal cliff of Balanusviken at Sarsbukta in Vest-Spitsbergen. The Tertiary deposits appear by their foraminifera to belong to the Middle to Upper Oligocene. The Quaternary deposits consist of an upper part of Late Pleistocene to Holocene age, and a lower part which had previously been considered Middle Weichselian of age. Its foraminiferal assemblages suggest a higher age (Late Saalian, Eemian?). This lower part of the Quaternary deposits is related to a series of raised beaches with an upper limit at SO m above present day sea level. They were probably formed during the Eemian, and have not been distorted by later glaciation. The present study is based on sediment samples collected from the coastal cliff of Balanusviken, and particularly from that of Balanuspynten, Sarsbukta, Spitsbergen, during the summer expedition of Norsk Polarinstitutt in 19Sø.     

Coastal cliff behaviour: Observations on the relationship between beach levels and recession rates

Beaches dissipate wave energy and regulate the frequency that the cliff foot is subject to wave attack. The relationship between beach levels and cliff recession rates has been established for Pleistocene soft rock cliffs along the North Norfolk and Suffolk coasts, UK. The results suggest that over a decadal timescale, there is a non-linear increase in the average recession rate as the beach profile area above High Water Mark (HWM) decreases. Small changes in beach level can result in significant differences in the recession rates. The impact of a unit change in beach level on the recession rate depends on the initial beach level. On a year-by-year basis, it is possible to divide the beach level and recession relationship into a series of zones with characteristic types of behaviour. At low beach levels there is high to extremely high recession with considerable variability, whereas at high beach levels there is almost zero recession with limited variability. It is concluded that historical recession rates are the product of both the past forcing events and changes in cliff–beach state. Extrapolation of historical rates can be extremely unreliable unless it is supported by an understanding of the dynamic behaviour of the cliff–beach system and the energy inputs over the observation period.     

An empirical–conceptual gully evolution model for channelled sea cliffs

Incised coastal channels are a specific form of incised channel that are found in locations where stream channels flowing to cliffed coasts have the excess energy required to cut down through the cliff to reach the outlet water body. The southern coast of the Isle of Wight, southern England, comprises soft cliffs that vary in height between 15 and 100 m and which are retreating at rates ≤ 1.5 m a^− 1, due to a combination of wave erosion and landslides. In several locations, river channels have cut through the cliffs to create deeply (≤ 45 m) incised gullies, known locally as ‘Chines’. The Chines are unusual in that their formation is associated with dynamic shoreline encroachment during a period of rising sea-level, whereas existing models of incised channel evolution emphasise the significance of base level lowering. This paper develops a conceptual model of Chine evolution by applying space for time substitution methods using empirical data gathered from Chine channel surveys and remotely sensed data. The model identifies a sequence of evolutionary stages, which are classified based on a suite of morphometric indices and associated processes. The extent to which individual Chines are in a state of growth or decay is estimated by determining the relative rates of shoreline retreat and knickpoint recession, the former via analysis of historical aerial images and the latter through the use of a stream power erosion model.     

Extensional tectonics during the Tyrrhenian back‐arc basin formation and a new morpho‐tectonic map

We present a new tectonic map focused upon the extensional style accompanying the formation of the Tyrrhenian back‐arc basin. Our basin‐wide analysis synthetizes the interpretation of vintage multichannel and single‐channel seismic profiles, integrated with modern seismic images, P‐wave velocity models, and high‐resolution morpho‐bathymetric data. Four distinct evolutionary phases of the Tyrrhenian back‐arc basin opening are further constrained, redefining the initial opening to Langhian/Serravallian time. Listric and planar normal faults and their conjugates bound a series of horst and graben, half‐graben and triangular basins. Distribution of extensional faults, active throughout the basin since Middle Miocene, allows us to define an arrangement of faults in the northern/central Tyrrhenian mainly related to a pure shear which evolved to a simple shear opening. At depth, faults accommodate over a Ductile‐Brittle Transitional zone cut by a low‐angle detachment fault. In the southern Tyrrhenian, normal, inverse and transcurrent faults appear to be related to a large shear zone located along the continental margin of the northern Sicily. Extensional style variation throughout the back‐arc basin combined with wide‐angle seismic velocity models allows to explore the relationships between shallow deformation, faults distribution throughout the basin, and crustal‐scale processes as thinning and exhumation.     

近期长江北支口门圆陀角附近潮滩地貌动态变化

圆陀角位于长江北支岸线与江苏海岸线的交会处,独特的互花米草潮滩、淤泥质光滩环境和复杂的河海沉积动力,决定了潮滩地貌对海洋环境变化的响应具有敏感性。由于大规模的围垦,圆陀角附近过去40年来海岸线向东推进了6km。根据2006年以来多次的野外调查和室内粒度与钻孔岩芯的¹³⁷Cs分析, 2006年以来圆陀角附近潮滩淤积明显加强,由¹³⁷Cs时标估算的互花米草滩多年平均沉积速率为2.3cm/a, 2006~2008年观测到的互花米草滩淤积速率>4cm/a,粉砂淤泥质光滩的淤积速率更高;圆陀角风景区内互花米草滩前缘陡坎在风暴潮影响下侵蚀后退,并因粉砂淤泥质光滩的快速淤长而消亡,圆陀角附近潮滩地貌动态是对人类围垦活动、风暴潮与潮汐海洋动力的综合响应,互花米草与光滩快速淤积是近期圆陀角附近潮滩地貌演化的主要特点。