Depositional history and stratigraphical evolution of the Sakamena group (Middle Karoo Supergroup) in the southern Morondava Basin, Madagascar

The Karoo Supergroup in Madagascar is subdivided into three lithostratigraphical units: the Late Carboniferous-Early Permian Sakoa Group; the Late Permian-Middle Triassic Sakamena Group; and the Triassic-Early Jurassic Isalo Group. The Sakamena Group is fairly well exposed in the southern Morondava Basin, where it is approximately 4000 m thick. The Sakamena Group is separated from the Sakoa Group by an angular unconformity. The Lower Sakamena Formation is characterised by two major facies associations: (1) interbedded muddy conglomerates and coarse sandstones; and (2) interbedded sandstones and mudstones, which were deposited in a rejuvenated rift setting by coarse-grained fluvial systems and debris flows on the rift margins. In the Vatambe area, facies represent fandelta deposition in a saline lake or tongue of the ocean. The Middle Sakamena Formation comprises three major facies: (1) laminated mudstones and sandstones; (2) sandstones; and (3) mudstones. The Middle Sakamena facies were deposited by low gradient meandering streams and in shallow lakes. The Upper Sakamena Formation was deposited in similar environments, except that it is comprised predominantly of red beds. The Isalo Group consists predominantly of coarse-grained sandstones (up to 6000 m thick). These sandstones were deposited by braided streams with the coarse detritus derived from a structural uplift in the east.     

Alluvial, eolian and lacustrine sedimentology of a Paleoproterozoic half-graben, Baker Lake Basin, Nunavut, Canada

The northeast-trending Baker Lake sub-basin was a volcanically active, half-graben during deposition of ca. 1.85–1.76 Ga Baker Lake Group. Drainage was oriented along transverse and axial directions with flow to playa lake and deeper perennial lacustrine depocentres. Basin marginal, streamflow-dominated alluvial fans were concentrated along the southern margin, and provided sediment from Archean crystalline basement rocks. These fed transverse gravel- and sand-bed braided streams. Alluvial dynamics were characterized by channel aggradation and abandonment. Abandoned channel belts were sites of floodplain and eolian deposition. Basin axial braided streams fed northeast and southwest to a depocentre near Christopher Island, where eolian, playa and lacustrine environments were intimately linked. Felsic minette flows were initially erupted from localized centres; contemporaneous sedimentary deposits typically contain minor volcaniclastic components that increase in abundance basinward. Voluminous and widespread younger minette flows prograded outward from volcanic centres contributing significant additional basin-infill.     

Diamictic sediments within high Arctic lake sediment cores: evidence for lake ice rafting along the lateral glacial margin

Sediment cores from six small lake basins in the Canadian high Arctic reveal a gravel‐rich (≤30% by weight) to gravel‐poor (≥2%) diamict facies underlying massive, post‐glacial, clayey silt. Ten other lakes contain a second diamict facies within what are interpreted to be glaciolacustrine sedimentary assemblages. The sedimentology, clast fabrics and fossil remains (diatoms, ostracodes and chironomid head capsules) within both diamict facies suggest that these deposits are not tills. Clast fabrics yielded low S₁ (0·41–0·57) and high S₃ (0·09–0·22) eigenvalues, placing them within the range of ice‐rafted diamictons and glacigenic sediment flows. The high percentage of clast dip angles >45° (15–61%), random clast azimuth and lower diamict contacts conformable to underlying current‐bedded sediment favours an origin as a rain‐out or settling deposit. Samples of the matrix and scrapings of clasts from the diamicts revealed a diatom assemblage dominated by littoral and planktonic forms, such as are found in the littoral regions of the lakes today. This contrasts sharply with the assemblages within the overlying clayey silt, in which benthic forms predominate. Clasts are thus interpreted to have been rafted from the littoral areas of the lake. The process proposed to explain this is rafting by the lake ice cover in a glacial‐marginal environment. Early season meltwater, impounded along the lateral margin of retreating cold‐based glaciers, would buoyantly lift the lake ice cover and any adfrozen lake sediment. Higher lake levels and increased areal extent of seasonal freeze‐on between the lake ice cover and the lake bed would allow the redeposition of littoral sediments to the benthic regions through greater lateral shifting of the ice cover as it broke up. Incision by meltwater streams into the lateral glacial margins would later isolate the lake, allowing seasonal warming of lake water, enough to support the growth and maturation of the ostracode and chironomid species found as fossils within the diamicts.     

Assessment of heavy metal pollution in lake sediments of Katedan Industrial Development Area,Hyderabad, India

Spatial distribution and temporal trends studies were carried out at Katedan Industrial Development Area (KIDA) near Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh state, India under Indo-Norwegian Institutional Cooperation Program, to find out the extent of contamination in streams and lake sediments from the discharge of industrial effluents. Stream and lake sediment samples were collected from the five lakes in the study area and connecting water streams. The samples were analyzed by XRF spectrometer for toxic elements. The studies reveal that the stream sediments with in the KIDA and the impounded Noor Mohammed Lake down stream have high concentration of some of the toxic elements like chromium, nickel, lead, arsenic, zinc etc. The geology of the area indicates that the study area consists of residual soil of acidic rocks, which are predominantly of Archaean gneisses and granites having low to medium concentrations of chromium and nickel. The source of these high concentration of elements like lead 2,300 mg/kg, copper 1,500 mg/kg, arsenic 500 mg/kg, chromium 500 mg/kg etc. cannot be derived from the surrounding acidic rocks and may be attributed to the industrial effluents released in the ditches and random dumping of hazardous solid waste. It was observed that the metal concentrations increased in the streams during the dry season (pre-monsoon period). After the monsoon rains, the metal concentrations in the streams were reduced by half which may be due to dilution. The eroded sediments are deposited in the lake where very high concentrations were encountered. Overflowing of the lake will spread the contamination further downstream. The lake sediments will remain as a major source of contamination by desorption to the water phase regardless of what happens to the effluent discharge in the KIDA. However, some samples showed enrichment of lead, arsenic and nickel during post-monsoon, which were collected near the dumpsite due to the leaching of toxic elements from the dump site to the lakes. Some of the toxic elements like nickel and copper have not shown any dilution but have increased after the rains, which could be due to the leaching of arsenic from the dumpsite to the lake along with rainwater. Geochemical maps showing the distribution of heavy/trace elements in streams and lakes are prepared and presented in this paper. Effect of toxic elements on the health of the residents in the surrounding residential areas is also discussed.     

人工阶梯-深潭防治地震区泥石流的探索

阶梯-深潭是山区河流中常见的一种具有高效消能作用的河床结构。2009年采用人工阶梯-深潭系统对文家沟滑坡体上的新生泥石流沟治理进行野外治理实验。在主沟上游段人工构筑33级阶梯-深潭,经历当年几次暴雨,由于通过在深潭内耗散水流的大部分能量,阻止了沟谷下切并有效地控制了泥石流的发生。对野外实验和数值模拟的结果分析表明,在一定的流量下,阶梯-深潭发育的河流系统有助于单位时间内单位重量水流能量耗散率将趋于最小,可以提升河流系统的稳定性。在地震区的泥石流沟内构筑阶梯-深潭系统有利于加速其稳定的进程,并减少灾害的发生。     

Post-glacial loess deposition in a montane environment: South Thompson River valley,British Columbia,Canada

In the late Wisconsinan, the South Thompson River valley, British Columbia, was occupied by an ice-dammed lake. After the lake drained, the exposed lacustrine silt became the source material for a Holocene loess. The purpose of this paper is to establish the stratigraphic, depositional and geomorphic framework of loess occurring along the South Thompson River valley immediately east of Kamloops, British Columbia. This montane environment of loess deposition was characterised by active slope and fluvial processes depositing sediments contemporaneously with the accumulation of loess. The loess reaches an average of 4 m in thickness in the central part of the valley and thins towards the valley sides. Two tephras—Mount St Helens Y (3.4 ka) and Mount Mazama (6.8 ka)— occur in the loess and are invaluable stratigraphic markers. Most of the loess was probably deposited between 8.2 ka and 3.4 ka, a period coinciding with mid-Holocene increased summer temperatures and decreased precipitation in south-central British Columbia. Debris flows and small streams, originating on the valley sides, flowed out on to the loess depositing sand and gravel beds. These deposits form a definite proximal—distal relation across valley with the slope-derived sediments decreasing and the loess increasing in thickness towards the centre of the valley. The lactustrine silt particles were mobilised by diurnal mountain and valley, gravity, and canalised winds flowing within the South Thompson valley. An analysis of contemporary wind-flow data was undertaken to provide a possible analogue for valley wind flows in the mid-Holocene.     

Anthropogenic influences on Hong Kong streams

The Hong Kong countryside has experienced centuries of intense human impact, and none of the native climax forest remains. Anthropogenic influences upon Hong Kong freshwaters reflect, on the one hand, pollution and degradation of rivers and wetlands as a consequence of urbanization of rural lowlands. On the other hand, the need to preserve pristine catchments for the supply of water for human consumption has ensured the protection of upland streams which are typically unpolluted. Hong Kong has no natural lakes, limited ground-water reserves, and marked seasonal and inter-year rainfall variation. Most upland streams are impounded, and water is transferred from them into reservoirs by underground tunnels. Hong Kong's 17 reservoirs collect insufficient water from local catchments to meet the territory's needs. To satisfy the shortfall, large amounts of water (1.1 billion m³ in 1994) are piped each year from the Dongjiang (a tributary of the Zhujiang or Pearl River) in Guangdong Province (southern China) into reservoirs in Hong Kong where it mixes with water from local streams. The natural seasonality of flow in Hong Kong streams is heightened by aggressive water extraction during the dry season. No consideration is given to maintenance of the minimum in-stream flows necessary to conserve ecosystem integrity below extraction points and, in extreme cases, surface flow ceases during the dry season. Water extraction also causes dry-season increases in pollution load as flows are reduced and the ability of streams to dilute pollution is diminished. The cumulative impact of such modifications is severe, and lowland freshwaters now support a depauperate flora and fauna of adaptable generalists, including a significant proportion of exotic or alien species.     

Sedimentation processes in a short residence-time intermontane lake, Kamloops Lake, British Columbia

Kamloops Lake in central British Columbia is a deep, intermontane lake fed by the strong and seasonally variable flows of the Thompson River. Considerations of lake-river interaction, supported by physical and geological evidence, suggest that sediment transport and deposition within the lake is controlled by three interdependent but distinct processes: delta progradation at the lake-river confluence which results in delta topset and foresee bedding; sediment density surges originating along the delta face which result in turbidite sequences lakeward from the base of the delta; and dispersal by the interflowing river plume which, due to Coriolis effects, results in a higher sedimentation rate and greater fraction of coarser material along the right-hand side (Northern Hemisphere) of the lake in the direction of flow.     

Pliocene subaqueous fans and Gilbert-type deltas in maar crater lakes, Hopi Buttes, Navajo Nation (Arizona), USA

Maar craters of the Mio-Pliocene Hopi Buttes volcanic field of Arizona formed within a broad playa system, and accumulated a variety of lacustrine sedimentary deposits. Many craters initially held isolated, groundwater-fed lakes. Ephemeral streams crossing the playa entered some of the lake-filled craters, and built coarse grained Gilbert-type deltas and subaqueous fans along the margins of these craters. The small, coarse grained fans and deltas have many features in common with much larger coarse grained deltaic and fan deltaic deposits. However, the local production of coarse grained volcanic sediment, low gradients in the local stream catchment, steep subaqueous relief and the small size of the receiving ‘basins’resulted in a unique combination of features. Cone-shaped subaqueous fans initially formed at the mouths of incised feeder streams. The fans are small accumulations of steeply dipping gravelly tephra that consist almost entirely of overlapping lobes constructed by density-modified grain flows. Gravelly Gilbert-type tephra deltas formed in brimfull craters fed by a freely migrating feeder stream. They are concave lakeward, mimicking the underlying crater wall topography. Complex deltaic geometries are defined by topset strata that steeply onlap tall foreset beds. They suggest that feeding stream floods caused rapid and comparatively large variations in lake level within the small crater lakes. Bed-specific carbonate alteration is common, and probably resulted from both influx of detrital carbonate across the playa and alteration of tephra beds by carbonate-saturated lakewaters during between flood periods of high net evaporation.     

Subglacial and subaqueous processes near a glacier grounding line: sedimentological evidence from a former ice-dammed lake, Achnasheen Scotland

Subglacial and subaqueous sediments deposited near the margin of a Late-glacial ice-dammed lake near Achnasheen, northern Scotland, are described and interpreted. The subglacial sediments consist of deformation tills and glacitectonites derived from pre-existing glaciolacustrine deposits, and the subaqueous sediments consist of ice-proximal outwash and sediment flow deposits, and distal turbidites. Sediment was delivered from the glacier to the lake by two main processes: (1) subglacial till deformation, which fed debris flows at the grounding line; and (2) meltwater transport, which fed sediment-gravity flows on prograding outwash fans. Beyond the ice-marginal environment, deposition was from turbidity currents, ice-rafting and settling of suspended sediments. The exposures support the conclusion that the presence of a subglacial deforming layer can exert an important influence on sedimentation at the grounding lines of calving glaciers.     

Detailed seismic stratigraphy of Lago Puyehue: implications for the mode and timing of glacier retreat in the Chilean Lake District

Lago Puyehue is a glacigenic lake in the Chilean Lake District (40°S) with a complex deglaciation history. A detailed seismic–stratigraphic study of its sedimentary infill indicates a much earlier retreat of the glacier from the Lago Puyehue basin than the neighbouring glacier from the Lago Rupanco basin. Because of their close proximity, Rupanco meltwater streams played an important part in the depositional processes of Lago Puyehue. A timing discrepancy between the in‐lake ages of a sediment core and the outer‐lake ages of moraine deposits (re)opens the discussion on the timing of deglaciation in the Southern Hemisphere. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermal belt and cold air drainage on the mountain slope and cold air lake in the basin at quiet, clear night

This paper reviews results of recent observations on the thermal belt, cold air drainage and cold air lake, which are striking in local climatic phenomena in mountain areas.The height (A) of the warmer part, the thermal belt, of the mountain slopes changes with time from early evening, midnight to early morning and also seasonally and differs according to the velocity of the upper general wind and cloudiness, but is generalized by the height difference (H) between the bottom of the basin and the surrounding mountain ridges. Roughly speaking, A = (0.25–0.30) H.On the mountain slopes, cold air flows down intermittently. The air temperature shows positive correlation to the wind speed of cold air drainage in the source region of cold air drainage. On the other hand, however, there is a negative correlation between the wind speed and air temperature in the drainage region at the lower part of the slope. Above the downslope cold air drainage, there is an anti-down-slope wind. The relatively large drainages are formed at frequencies corresponding to periods of oscillation of 1–2 hours and the smaller ones are of several minutes.In the basin or valley bottom, cold air lakes are formed. They are well defined by a strong inversion in air temperature. In most cases, the stagnant air in the cold air lake flows down slowly in accordance with inclination of the basin or valley floor. Above the cold air lake, we find the neutral or weak inversion layer. In some periods the drained cold air flows into this layer from the side slopes of the mountains. However, the radiation cooling of the basin or valley floor seems to be more effective for the formation of the cold air lake. Above the neutral or weak inversion layer, there is a layer of the general wind caused by the synoptic scale circulation systems. Their effects are controlled by the surrounding topography as well as the basin or the valley itself.In short, the structure of thermal belt, cold air drainage and cold air lake is a good example of the small-scale climatic processes under the influence of the synoptic scale phenomena and the one-order-greater scale topography.     

Sedimentology of Wartanian outwash near Bełchatów, central Poland

The braided outwash of Wartanian age near Bełchatów, central Poland, was formed synchronously by two river systems: glacier streams flowing from the northwest and west and periglacial rivers flowing from the south and southwest. An extensive alluvial fan was formed which later developed into a highly aggrading fan due to a rising water level in the proglacial lake to the north. Braided streams were represented by relatively low-energy systems with shallow-channel and/or transverse bar deposition. Sporadically, rapid inflows of meltwater caused more energetic conditions and formation of large scours. The latter were found only in the glacier streams and this was confirmed by palaeocurrent measurements and analyses of quartz roundness.     

川藏交通廊道林波段冰川泥石流发育动态演化分析及监测预警方案

川藏交通廊道沿线山高谷深,地层岩性多变,新构造运动活跃,气候恶劣复杂,导致滑坡、崩塌、泥石流、冰湖溃决洪水等灾害极其发育,对铁路施工及运营带来严重影响.林芝-波密段就是典型地质灾害高发区域,常年受到冰川泥石流的影响,是川藏交通廊道重大灾害防治的难点区段.虽然目前在单沟尺度上对冰川泥石流的形成条件、影响因素、物源性质取得了一定的认识,但对于川藏交通廊道沿线不同类型的冰川泥石流诱发因素、区域发展演化规律及灾变指标的研究还较为初步,尚未构建完善的监测预警体系.借助多源长时序遥感影像、气象监测数据,结合野外实地验证和历史数据分析发现:川藏交通廊道周边区域冰川泥石流沟谷共99条,主要分布于恰青冰川-易贡乡、加拉贝垒-南迦巴瓦峰和古乡沟-嘎隆寺冰川一带;过去40年冰川经历了复杂的流动速度变化,表现为较小高海拔悬冰川活动性增强,大型沟谷冰川活动性减弱;自1973年以来,研究区冰川泥石流呈现频率增高、规模增大的特征.此外,从冰川泥石流发育沟道比降来看,发生高陡地形的滑坡、冰-岩崩诱发的泥石流频率增加.未来,冰川持续退缩,促使冰川源区冰瀑消失,发育更大规模的悬冰川,会增加这类冰川泥石流的风险;冰川泥石流形成及演化过程具有明显的灾变指标,如悬冰川裂隙密度增加、冰川速度增强、冰湖面积快速增加等.因此,基于以上认识,建议针对不同类型的冰川泥石流地建立完善的监测预警指标,并提出了融合卫星、航空遥感平台,气象、水文地面监测平台,地震动监测平台的冰川泥石流“空-天-地”立体监测框架,针对不同类型冰川泥石流进行灾变信息监测与预警判识,为川藏交通廊道安全施工运营提供技术参考.      

Groundwater flow modelling of multi-aquifer systems for regional resources evaluation: the Gdansk hydrogeological system, Poland

In order to evaluate groundwater regional resources, a mathematical model of the Gdansk hydrogeological system (Poland) was developed. The research area covers about 2,800 km². Groundwater occurs in Cretaceous, Paleogene and Neogene formations. The recharge zone is situated in the glacial upland of the Kashubian Lake District. The discharge zone spreads over the lowlands of Gdansk and beneath the Bay of Gdansk (Baltic Sea). The MODFLOW program was used to develop a three-dimensional steady-state model on the basis of data from over 1,700 boreholes. The research area was digitalized as a square network of sides 200 m in length. Simplification of groundwater occurrence allowed four aquifers to be distinguished: upper Pleistocene, Pleistocene-Miocene, Oligocene-Eocene, and Cretaceous and also four intervening aquitards. The mathematical model calculations showed that the system is recharged mainly by precipitation (infiltration recharge is 136 mm/year). The precipitation recharge amounts to 1,045,440 m³/day. The other part of the inflow constitutes lateral flows from beyond the area of research and also to some extent from losing rivers and lakes. The runoff from the system takes place mainly through gaining streams and through lateral outflow including under-sea and lake discharge.     

Travertine formation in Plitvice National Park, Yugoslavia: chemical versus biological control

Hydrochemical studies of the Plitvice Lakes and their tributaries (Croatia/Yugoslavia) were coupled with micromorphological investigations on carbonate lake sediments and recent travertines. Karst springs discharge water from aquifers in Triassic and Jurassic dolomites and limestones and collect in lakes, which are ponded behind accreting travertine dams. Waters at springs have a high CO₂ partial-pressure (greater than 7000 ppm) and are slightly undersaturated with respect to calcite (saturation index less than —0·03). CO₂ partial pressure is quickly reduced in swift running streams, leading to very high supersaturation with carbonate minerals (saturation indices between 0·74 and 0·53). Calcite deposition, however, is restricted to the lake bottoms (formation of lake marl) and to the tufa dams. The annual carbonate precipitating capacity of the system based on water balance and downstream loss of dissolved ions is estimated to be on the order of 10 000 t CaCO₃ as cascade deposits (tufa dams) or as micrite in lakes behind the travertine dams. The initial stages of travertine formation as a result of morphological, biological, and chemical factors are (i) moss settling on small ridges in the creek courses, (ii) epiphytes (diatoms and cyanobacteria) settling on the moss surface, (iii) micrite particles resuspending from lake bottoms and being trapped on mucous excretions from bacteria and diatoms, and (iv) inorganic calcite precipitating as sparite at nucleation sites provided by these crystal seeds. Geochemical studies of the lake marl and tufa dams show that amino acids are dominated by aspartic acid. Carbohydrates come from structural polysaccharides of diatoms. The sticky excretions, rich in aspartic acid, are necessary for the initiation of calcite precipitation. They may be a response of algal and bacterial metabolism to environmental stress by either nutrient depletion or high calcium concentrations in ambient waters. The formation of tufa and micrite (lake marl) appears to be initiated by localized biological factors and is not governed by mere calcite supersaturation of the water. Oligotrophy may be an essential precondition for the formation of fresh water carbonate deposits.     

Refining the pattern and style of Cordilleran Ice Sheet retreat: palaeogeography,evolution and implications of lateglacial ice‐dammed lake systems on the southern Fraser Plateau,British Columbia,Canada

Decay of the last Cordilleran Ice Sheet (CIS) near its geographical centre has been conceptualized as being dominated by passive downwasting (stagnation), in part because of the lack of large recessional moraines. Yet, multiple lines of evidence, including reconstructions of glacio‐isostatic rebound from palaeoglacial lake shoreline deformation suggest a sloping ice surface and a more systematic pattern of ice‐margin retreat. Here we reconstructed ice‐marginal lake evolution across the subdued topography of the southern Fraser Plateau in order to elucidate the pattern and style of lateglacial CIS decay. Lake stage extent was reconstructed using primary and secondary palaeo‐water‐plane indicators: deltas, spillways, ice‐marginal channels, subaqueous fans and lake‐bottom sediments identified from aerial photograph and digital elevation model interpretation combined with field observations of geomorphology and sedimentology, and ground‐penetrating radar surveys. Ice‐contact indicators, such as ice‐marginal channels, and grounding‐line moraines were used to refine and constrain ice‐margin positions. The results show that ice‐dammed lakes were extensive (average 27 km²; max. 116 km²) and relatively shallow (average 18 m). Within basins successive lake stages appear to have evolved by expansion, decanting or drainage (glacial lake outburst flood, outburst flood or lake maintenance) from southeast to northwest, implicating a systematic northwestward retreating ice margin (rather than chaotic stagnation) back toward the Coast Mountains, similar in style and pattern to that proposed for the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet. This pattern is confirmed by cross‐cutting drainage networks between lake basins and is in agreement with numerical models of North American ice‐sheet retreat and recent hypotheses on lateglacial CIS reorganization during decay. Reconstructed lake systems are dynamic and transitory and probably had significant effects on the dynamics of ice‐marginal retreat, the importance of which is currently being recognized in the modern context of the Greenland Ice Sheet, where >35% of meltwater streams from land‐terminating portions of the ice sheet end in ice‐contact lakes.     

Formation of glaciolacustrine Late Pleistocene end moraines in the Tasman Valley,New Zealand

Detailed examination of the Tekapo Formation in the Tasman Valley, New Zealand has identified 20 facies, and five facies associations. These associations are delta foresets and bottomsets, sediment density flows, ice-contact lake sediments with ice-rafted debris and resedimentation deposits, and outwash gravels. Interpretation of the sediment-landform associations informed by observations at modern glacier termini suggests that the Late Pleistocene Tekapo Formation moraines have been formed by downwasting of a more expanded Tasman Glacier. During the early stages of glacier retreat, ponds on the glacier surface develop into thermokarst lakes which enlarge and coalesce to form a large supraglacial lake. Continued downwasting causes the lake outlet river to entrench into the impounding latero-frontal ice-cored moraine, lowering the lake level. This exposes lake-bottom sediments and forms shorelines on the proximal slopes of the ice-cored moraine. As the ice-cored moraine melts, these lake sediments are deformed and deposited against the Mt. John moraine. The observations and interpretations reported here suggest the Late Pleistocene end moraine is a constructional feature not a structural (glaciotectonic) feature as suggested by previous studies.     

Formation of the Upper Pleistocene terraces of Lake Van (Turkey)

Sedimentological and geomorphological studies of terraces around Lake Van (1647 m) provided a preliminary framework for lake‐level variations. The elevations of terraces and past lake level were measured with a differential global positioning system. A chronology is developed using ²³⁴U/²³⁰Th dating of travertines, ³⁹Ar/⁴⁰Ar dating of pyroclastites and ¹⁴C dating of organic matter. Facies and stratigraphic correlations identify four transgressions (C1′, C1″, C2′ and C2″), each followed by a regression which ended with low lake levels that caused river incision and terrace formation. Evidence of the oldest transgression (C1′) is found in the uppermost reaches of valleys up to 1755 m, an altitude higher than the present lake threshold (1736 m). This C1′ transgression may be related to pyroclastic flows which dammed an outlet located in the western part of the lake basin and which is dated to before 105 ka. After 100 ka, a second transgression (C1″) reached 1730/1735 m, possibly related to a younger ignimbrite flow, in association with high water inflow (warm and/or wetter conditions). The two younger transgressions reached 1700–1705 m. The first one (C2′) is dated to 26–24.5 cal. ka BP and the second one (C2″) to 21–20 cal. ka BP. Available data suggest that the long‐term lake‐level changes responded mainly to climate oscillations. Additional events such as river captures caused by volcanic falls filling valleys, tectonism, erosion and karstic diversion may have impacted these long‐term lake‐level changes. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

冰湖溃决泥石流形成的临界条件

随着全球气候的变暖, 在世界上许多高山峡谷区的冰湖溃决及其溃决洪水引发的泥石流, 经常对下游居民及其他基础设施造成极为严重的危害. 使用水槽试验的方法, 从单宽流量和库容、沟道纵坡、堆积物粒径3个方面探讨了冰湖溃决泥石流形成的影响因素和临界条件. 结果显示: 冰湖溃决泥石流形成与否不仅与溃决洪水提供的能量有关, 还与参与泥石流活动的沟床物质特性紧密相关. 通过对试验数据的分析, 当泥石流形成的特征参数K>2.66时, 冰湖溃决洪水可以演化为泥石流. 该种方法可以对危险性冰湖的预测提供理论参考.