Early development of strike-slip faulting: palaeoseismic study along the Petersen Mountain fault,northern Walker Lane,Nevada

Characterising youthful strike-slip fault systems within transtensional regimes is often complicated by the presence of tectonic geomorphic features produced by normal faulting associated with oblique extension. The Petersen Mountain fault in the northern Walker Lane tectonic province exhibits evidence of both normal and strike-slip faulting. We present the results of geologic and geomorphic mapping, and palaeoseismic trenching that characterise the fault's style and sense of deformation. The fault consists of two major traces. The western trace displaces colluvial, landslide, and middle to late Pleistocene alluvial fans and is associated with aligned range front saddles, linear drainages, and oversteepened range front slopes. The eastern trace is associated with a low linear bedrock ridge, a narrow graben, right deflected stream channels, and scarps in late Pleistocene alluvial fan deposits. A trench on the eastern trace of the fault exposed a clear juxtaposition of disintegrated granodiorite bedrock against sand and boulder alluvial fan deposits across a steeply east-dipping fault. The stratigraphic evidence supports the occurrence of at least one late Pleistocene earthquake with a component of lateral displacement. As such, the Petersen Mountain fault accommodates part of the ~7 mm/yr of dextral shear distributed across the northern Walker Lane.     

Late Quaternary climate and environmental change derived from glacial deposits in the Parlung Zangbo Valley,southeastern Tibetan Plateau

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the late Quaternary climate and environmental characteristics of two tributary valleys (Xingmu and Depu Valleys) in the Parlung Zangbo Valley, southeastern Tibetan Plateau. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) samples collected from moraines at the mouth of Xingmu Valley produce a wide age range from 13.9 ka to 76 ka. The ages measured from the lenticular sand are consistent with the relative geomorphic sequence of the landforms. Lenticular sand layers below the moraine were dated to 37.9 ka and 44.7 ka, indicating that fluvial processes were likely dominant in the valley during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3. The outer moraine ridges at the valley mouth were formed during 13.9 ka and 26.5 ka, corresponding to MIS2. At Depu Valley, OSL samples from two sets of lateral and terminal moraines close to the modern glacier, provide ages from 1.4 ka to 29.2 ka. The paleosol layer widely developed during 2.6 cal ka BP and 8.7 cal ka BP in the study area, reflecting a relatively warm condition during the mid-Holocene.     

Lake sedimentary processes and vegetation changes over the last 45k cal a bp in the uplands of south-eastern Amazonia

This study addresses paleoclimate influences in a southern Amazonia ecotone based on multiproxy records from lakes of the Carajás region during the last 45k cal a bp. Wet and cool environmental conditions marked the initial deposition in shallow depressions with detrital sediments and high weathering rates until 40k cal a bp. Concomitantly, forest and C3 canga plants, along with cool-adapted taxa, developed; however, short drier episodes enabled expansion of C4 plants and diagenetic formation of siderite. A massive event of siderite formation occurred approximately 30k cal a bp under strong drier conditions. Afterwards, wet and cool environmental conditions returned and persisted until the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The LGM was marked by lake-level lowstands and subaerial exposure. The transition from the LGM to the Holocene is marked by the onset of oscillations in temperature and humidity, with an expansion of forest and canga plants. Cool taxa were present for the last time in the Carajás region ~ 9.5–9k cal a bp. After 10k cal a bp , shallow lakes became upland swamps due to natural infilling processes, but the current vegetation types and structures of the plateaus were acquired only after 3k cal a bp under wetter climatic conditions.     

Late‐glacial to Holocene depositional architecture of the Ombrone palaeovalley system (Southern Tuscany,Italy): Sea‐level,climate and local control in valley‐fill variability

The Ombrone palaeovalley was incised during the last glacial sea‐level fall and was infilled during the subsequent Late‐glacial to Holocene transgression. A detailed sedimentological and stratigraphic study of two cores along the palaeovalley axis led to reconstruction of the post‐Last Glacial Maximum valley‐fill history. Stratigraphic correlations show remarkable similarity in the Late‐glacial to early‐Holocene succession, but discrepancy in the Holocene portion of the valley fill. Above the palaeovalley floor, about 60 m below sea‐level, Late‐glacial sedimentation is recorded by an unusually thick alluvial succession dated back to ca 18 cal kyr bp . The Holocene onset was followed by the retrogradational shift from alluvial to coastal facies. In seaward core OM1, the transition from inner to outer estuarine environments marks the maximum deepening of the system. By comparison, in landward core OM2, the emplacement of estuarine conditions was interrupted by renewed continental sedimentation. Swamp to lacustrine facies, stratigraphically equivalent to the fully estuarine facies of core OM1, represent the proximal expression of the maximum flooding zone. This succession reflects location in a confined segment of the valley, just landward of the confluence with a tributary valley. It is likely that sudden sediment input from the tributary produced a topographic threshold, damming the main valley course and isolating its landward segment from the sea. The seaward portion of the Ombrone palaeovalley presents the typical estuarine backfilling succession of allogenically controlled incised valleys. In contrast, in the landward portion of the system, local dynamics completely overwhelmed the sea‐level signal, following marine ingression. This study highlights the complexity of palaeovalley systems, where local morphologies, changes in catchment areas, drainage systems and tributary valleys may produce facies patterns significantly different from the general stratigraphic organization depicted by traditional sequence‐stratigraphic models.     

一幅新的第四纪地质及地貌图的编制——以宁夏与山东为例

为了更好地与生态环境及灾害地质紧密结合,第二代全国区域地质志编制项目规定第四纪地质及地貌图为必编图件之一。图件内容包括第四纪地质体的时代、成因类型、岩性和地貌成因形态组合类型、活动断裂及海侵范围等重要地质内容,同时,附第四纪地质-地貌典型剖面和重要的地貌景点。图件特点:(1)图件的地理底图是首次用数字高程模型(DEM)数据灰度图作背景;(2)第四纪地质内容与地貌成因形态类型同编为一幅图;(3)第四纪地质体的面色用成因类型色表示;(4)地貌部分划分了不同级别成因形态类型和有特色的微地貌景点。总之,图面有立体感,地形高差明显,层次分明,色彩鲜艳,是一幅崭新的图件,可供防灾治理和地质旅游参考应用。     

祁连山及邻区第四纪地层区划与沉积序列

在前人资料和野外勘查的基础上对祁连山及邻区贵德盆地、循化—化隆盆地、同仁盆地、西宁盆地、门源盆地、临夏盆地、兰州盆地、定西盆地、天水盆地、肃北盆地、酒泉盆地、玉门盆地、张掖盆地、武威盆地、哈拉湖盆地、苏里盆地、木里盆地、民和盆地、共和盆地、青海湖盆地及柴达木等20余个盆地的第四纪地层进行了研究。以祁连山第四纪构造地貌演化、盆地沉积序列、古生物及古气候特征为地层分区依据,对祁连山及邻区第四纪地层进行了地层分区,并对部分地层名称做了厘定或统一。祁连山及邻区第四纪沉积特征总体为东部(主要为陇中地区)黄土分布广泛,堆积了世界上最厚的黄土地层;北部(河西走廊地区)冲洪积扇堆积及风沙发育;南部(柴北盆地)以冲洪积-湖积为主,晚更新世以来发育风成沙及黄土;共和盆地由湖泊转向冲积扇和风沙沉积;青海湖盆延续至今;中西部高山及山间盆地冰碛、冰水堆积以及河流阶地堆积发育。根据上述特征及划分原则,将祁连山及邻区第四纪地层区划分为:兰州—西宁地层区,贵德地层区,酒泉—张掖地层区,柴北地层区,共和地层区,青海湖地层区及肃北—门源地层区。     

北京后沙峪凹陷的第四纪地层划分与构造演化

通过对北京平原北部昌平、顺义、朝阳等区域的多个深孔资料、尤其后沙峪地区G3钻孔资料的深入分析,并开展磁性地层学及孢粉测试成果研究,建立了钻孔的磁性地层序列,结合南口—孙河断裂、顺义断裂以及黄庄—高丽营断裂的活动性研究成果,确定了后沙峪凹陷的第四纪地层格架,分析了凹陷的构造演化过程。结果表明,后沙峪凹陷上G3孔下更新统底界为511.7 m,中更新统底界为175.5 m,上更新统底界为31.6 m。在燕山期晚期,黄庄—高丽营断裂形成,控制了北京凹陷的西部边界,在北东向顺义断裂和北西向南口—孙河断裂共同作用下形成后沙峪凹陷。进入第四纪后,G3钻孔地层在早、中、晚更新世的沉积速率分别为0.198 mm/a、0.255 mm/a和0.243 mm/a;各条断裂活动速率的差异性客观反映出各块体之间的升降特点。由于后沙峪凹陷处于黄庄—高丽营断裂的上盘,同时也是顺义断裂的下盘,因此,断裂间的相互运动在第四纪沉积作用下形成了后沙峪凹陷。     

长江三峡地区的夷平面在宜昌地区白垩纪—第四纪沉积物中的反映

通过对湖北宜昌地区白垩纪—第四纪沉积演化的研究,发现存在3个明显的沉积旋回,每个旋回由下部颗粒粗大的砾石层和上部颗粒较细小的粉砂-泥质层组成。3个沉积旋回对应了宜昌以西三峡地区3期构造演化旋回,同时反映了三峡地区3期夷平面的存在。结合前人研究结果、古生物化石和对第四系善溪窑组的测年数据,认为3期夷平面形成时代分别为:鄂西期夷平面形成于白垩纪晚期—古近纪的始新世,山原期夷平面形成于上新世—早更新世初,云梦期夷平面形成于早更新世末—中更新世早期。     

Role of hydrological regime and floodplain sediments in channel instability of the Bhagirathi River,Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta,India

Abstract

This research deals with the surface dynamics and key factors – hydrological regime, sediment load, and erodibility of floodplain facies – of frequent channel shifting, intensive meandering, and lateral instability of the Bhagirathi River in the western part of the Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta (GBD). At present, the floodplain of the Bhagirathi is categorized as a medium energy (specific stream power of 10–300 W m^?2), non-cohesive floodplain, which exhibits a mixed-load and a meandering channel, an entrenchment ratio >2.2, width–depth ratio >12, sinuosity >1.4, and channel slope <0.02. In the study area, since 1975, four meander cutoffs have been shaped at an average rate of one in every 9–10 years. In the active meander belt and sand-silt dominated floodplains of GBD, frequent shifting of the channel and meander migration escalate severe bank erosion (e.g. 2.5 × 10⁶ m³ of land lost between 1999 and 2004) throughout the year. Remote sensing based spatio-temporal analysis and stratigraphic analysis reveal that the impact of the Farakka barrage, completed in 1975, is not the sole factor of downstream channel oscillation; rather, hydrogeomorphic instability induced by the Ajay–Mayurakshi fluvial system and the erodibility of floodplain sediments control the channel dynamics of the study area.