How a river submerges into the sea: a geological record of changing a fluvial to a marine paleoenvironment during early Holocene sea level rise

Coastal seas, and in particular estuarine systems, were significantly affected by Quaternary sea level changes. Furthermore, the dynamics of shelf and coastal evolution have had a strong impact on coastal landscapes inhabited by humans. The postglacial evolution of the vast North Sea shelf with its huge drainage systems, e.g. the Elbe Paleovalley and its tributary system, is an excellent research target to understand how coastal shelf environments change in response to sea level rise. In this study, we investigate infill sediments of the Paleo‐Ems valley – a drowned extension of the modern Ems River and part of the Elbe Paleovalley drainage system. Radiocarbon‐dated transgression sequences provide several new observations regarding the mode and rate of the river system submerging due to the Holocene transgression. Thus, the Paleo‐Ems valley submerged within a short time span of~200 years since the river was not able to adjust its gradient to the rapid rising sea level. The fate of the Paleo‐Ems is exemplary for the rapid change of a former fluvial landscape into a coastal landscape and finally into a submarine seascape. © 2019 The Authors. Journal of Quaternary Science Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Tufa as a record of perennial fresh water in a semi-arid rift basin, Kapthurin Formation, Kenya

Lithological and biological features of a fossiliferous tufa in the Kapthurin Formation, Baringo, Kenya, reveal the presence of a lush wetland in a semi-arid environment during the Middle Pleistocene ( ca 500 ka) in this portion of the East African Rift Valley. Four geological sections, each between 3 m and 8 m in thickness, exposed over a distance of 0·5 km, reveal a 1 to 2 m thick paludal tufa which is composed of three carbonate beds, two dark grey silty claystones and a reddish-brown silty palaeosol. High resolution stratigraphic analysis, carbonate petrography, stable isotope and elemental geochemistry, clay mineralogy and fossil remains (molluscs, ostracods, diatoms and charophytes) reveal a ground water-fed system that fluctuated in depth and periodically disappeared altogether. Oxygen isotope ratios (δ¹⁸O) of tufa matrix range from −4·5‰ to −8·0‰ (Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite) and become more positive up section, indicating the decreasing influence of fault-related fluids and increasing residence time or freshness of wetland water, rather than evaporative enrichment. This spring was situated on a lake margin during low lake levels, thrived during periods of increased ground water input and was ultimately replaced by an alkaline lake. The wetland would appear to have existed during a cool interval within the generally warm Marine Isotope Stage 13 or perhaps during the warm second half of Marine Isotope Stage 13. The ground water source of this wetland arose through a fault system. Thus, the position of the tufa deposit is controlled structurally but the timing and duration of the wetland system may have been influenced by both climatic and tectonic factors.     

西藏波密县天摩沟“9·4”特大泥石流灾害成因初步分析

从地貌地质环境、地面气象要素、大气环流背景、T213数值预报产品和卫星资料等方面,着重分析诱发灾害的气象条件,对2007年9月4日西藏波密县古乡天摩沟发生的一次特大泥石流地质灾害事件成因进行初步分析。结果表明：由于前期气温持续偏高,加剧冰川融水,加上9月4日凌晨出现强降水,天摩沟地形高度落差大、松散固体物质丰富,水源、能量转化和物源三种条件同时满足^[1],是造成这次特大泥石流地质灾害的直接原因。     

New seismic stratigraphy and Late Tertiary history of the North Tanganyika Basin, East African Rift system, deduced from multichannel and high-resolution reflection seismic data and piston core evidence

Abstract We present here the initial results of a high-resolution (sparker) reflection seismic survey in Northern Lake Tanganyika, East African Rift system. We have combined these results with data from earlier multichannel reflection seismic and 5-kHz echosounding surveys. The combination of the three complementary seismic investigation methods has allowed us to propose a new scenario for the late Aliocene to Recent sedimentary evolution of the North Tanganyika Basin. Seismic sequences and regional tectonic information permit us to deduce the palaeotopography at the end of each stratigraphic sequence. The basin history comprises six phases interpreted to be responses to variations in regional tectonism and/or climate. Using the reflection seismic-radiocarbon method (RSRM), the minimum ages for the start of each phase (above each sequence boundary) are estimated to be: ?7.4 Ma, ? 1.1 Ma, ?393–363 ka, ?295–262 ka, ? 193–169 ka, ?40–35 ka. Corresponding lowstand lake elevations below present lake level for the last five phases are estimated to have been: ?650–700 m, ?350 m, ?350 m, ?250 m and ? 160 m, respectively. The latest phase from ?40–35 ka until the present can be subdivided into three subphases separated by two lowstand periods, dated at ?23 ka and ? 18 ka. From the late Miocene until the mid Pleistocene, large-scale patterns of sedimentation within the basin were primarily controlled by tectonism. In contrast, from the mid Pleistocene to the present, sedimentation in Lake Tanganyika seems to have responded dramatically to climatic changes as suggested by repeated patterns of lake level fluctuations. During this period, the basin infill history is characterized by the recurrent association of three types of deposits: ‘basin fill’ accumulations; lens-shaped ‘deep lacustrine fans’; and ‘sheet drape’ deposits. The successive low-lake-level fluctuations decreased in intensity with time as a consequence of rapid sedimentary filling under conditions of declining tectonic subsidence. The climate signal has thus been more pronounced in recent sedimentary phases as tectonic effects have waned.     

Dacite Genesis via both Slab Melting and Differentiation: Petrogenesis of La Yeguada Volcanic Complex, Panama

La Yeguada volcanioc complex (LYVC) is one of many major volcanoesthat represent the extension of the Central American arc inwestern Panama and that have resulted from current oblique subductionsouth of Panama. There are two major phases of calc-alkalinevolcanic activity at LYVC based on mapping and K-Ar radiometricdates. The first phase began at {small tilde} 13 Ma and ceasedat {small tilde} 7?5 Ma. This sequence, termed the old group,consists of basalts to rhyolites with typical arc mineralogies(OL, CPX, PL, MGT, and OPX). The samples have similar radiogenicSr and Nd values and appear to be related by fractional crystallizationwith assimilation and/or magma mixing involved in the differentiation.The parental basalts were probably derived from the metasomatizedmantle wedge via melting induced by fluids released from thesubducted lithosphere. There was an apparent period of minor volcanic activity from7–5 to 2–5 Ma (only one documented sample from thisperiod). The second phase (<2?5 Ma), termed the young group,consists only of dacites but with very different mineralogies(PL, MGT, AM, BI, with no PX) and geochemistries (e.g., highSr and low Y and HREE) compared with the old-group dacites (andandesites and rhyolites). The dacites cannot be related to theold group by various petrogenetic modeling techniques. Thesehigh-Al dacites have the characteristics of magmas derived fromthe partial melting of the subducted oceanic lithosphere witha hornblende eclogite residuum. This has been substantiatedby geochemical modeling. Samples similar to the young-group dacites in other arcs havebeen termed adakites and arc associated with the subductionof young hot crust which may explain why the slab melts. ThePanama basin has extremely high heat flow values, comparablewith those of the Galapagos ridge system. The change from normalarc volcanism to adakites suggests that the subducted oceaniccrust became hotter as time progressed. The subduction of anoceanic ridge or new ridge development along the Sandra Riftin the Panama basin can explain the change in volcanism withtime but more geophysical data are needed.     

Mass Spectrometric Isotope Dilution Determination Of Palladium in Geochemical Reference Samples

Fifteen geochemical reference samples have been analysed for palladium using the stable isotope dilution technique. These include seven USGS, five CRPG and three CCRMP samples. Our results ape in reasonable agreement with the presently accepted values for the USGS samples, but are significantly lower than the present CCRMP values. Our data for the CRPG samples are the first to be published. This is the first reported study of the determination of palladium in silicate samples using the isctope dilution technique.     

ULTRA DEEP SCHLUMBERGER SOUNDING AND CRUSTAL CONDUCTIVITY STRUCTURE IN SOUTH AFRICA*

A second deep Schlumberger sounding has been carried out in South Africa, this time using a newly completed power transmission line, not yet in sevice, as emission line. The maximum current electrode separation attained was 600 km. The sounding was situated on a shield area with a thin cover of sedimentary rocks (Karroo System) overlying the archaean granite. The center was chosen near to the village of Dealesville. It is shown that lateral effects at large AB spacings are unlikely, but due to numerous dolerite intrusions in the sediments surface electrode effects must be guarded against; thus AB positions were chosen by geologists. Because of a low signal/noise ratio at large AB spacings the measurements were treated statistically; in particular, the elimination of non-random events improved the measuring accuracy. Although a thin conducting layer at the base of the sedimentary succession decreased the resolution of the sounding curve, the results, which were interpreted with the aid of a computer, show positively that

• (a). the crust is multi-layered with a highly resistant portion having a minimum resistivity of 15000 ohm.m and
• (b). a good, thick conductor appears as the final layer.

The Dealesville results are in complete agreement with those obtained from the first deep Schlumberger sounding at Pofadder (Van Zijl 1969) except that the transverse resistance of the lowermost resistant crust is about 100% larger at Pofadder due probably to a second period of metamorphism. Both electrical studies support the view of a dehydrated lower crust (granulite facies).     

Dosage par Spectrométrie de Fluorescence X Du Nickel, du Zinc, du Rubidium, du Strontium, Du Zirconium Et du Niobium dans Trente Standards Geochimiques

Les roahes carbonatées et siliaatées appar-tiement à un domaine de compositions dans lequel la mesure d'un fond libre d'interférence ou d'une rate diffusée du tube peut permettre à la fois de aorriger les effets de pures absorptions et d'étalonner les fonds sous les raies analytiques. Cette propriété est illustrée sur I'exemple du dosage de 6 éléments en traces dans 30 standards géoahimiques.
La méthode proposée permet d'obtenir dans un domaine de concentration de 1 à 2000 ppm des ré-sultats dont la qualité est à rapprocher de la trés grarde rapidité de rmise en oeuvre.