Early Miocene sequence development across the New Jersey margin

Sequence stratigraphy provides an understanding of the interplay between eustasy, sediment supply and accommodation in the sedimentary construction of passive margins. We used this approach to follow the early to middle Miocene growth of the New Jersey margin and analyse the connection between relative changes of sea level and variable sediment supply. Eleven candidate sequence boundaries were traced in high-resolution multi-channel seismic profiles across the inner margin and matched to geophysical log signatures and lithologic changes in ODP Leg 150X onshore coreholes. Chronologies at these drill sites were then used to assign ages to the intervening seismic sequences. We conclude that the regional and global correlation of early Miocene sequences suggests a dominant role of global sea-level change but margin progradation was controlled by localized sediment contribution and that local conditions played a large role in sequence formation and preservation. Lowstand deposits were regionally restricted and their locations point to both single and multiple sediment sources. The distribution of highstand deposits, by contrast, documents redistribution by along shelf currents. We find no evidence that sea level fell below the elevation of the clinoform rollover, and the existence of extensive lowstand deposits seaward of this inflection point indicates efficient cross-shelf sediment transport mechanisms despite the apparent lack of well-developed fluvial drainage.     

Late Cretaceous to Miocene sea-level estimates from the New Jersey and Delaware coastal plain coreholes: an error analysis

Sea level has been estimated for the last 108 million years through backstripping of corehole data from the New Jersey and Delaware Coastal Plains. Inherent errors due to this method of calculating sea level are discussed, including uncertainties in ages, depth of deposition and the model used for tectonic subsidence. Problems arising from the two-dimensional aspects of subsidence and response to sediment loads are also addressed. The rates and magnitudes of sea-level change are consistent with at least ephemeral ice sheets throughout the studied interval. Million-year sea-level cycles are, for the most part, consistent within the study area suggesting that they may be eustatic in origin. This conclusion is corroborated by correlation between sequence boundaries and unconformities in New Zealand. The resulting long-term curve suggests that sea level ranged from about 75–110 m in the Late Cretaceous, reached a maximum of about 150 m in the Early Eocene and fell to zero in the Miocene. The Late Cretaceous long-term (10⁷ years) magnitude is about 100–150 m less than sea level predicted from ocean volume. This discrepancy can be reconciled by assuming that dynamic topography in New Jersey was driven by North America overriding the subducted Farallon plate. However, geodynamic models of this effect do not resolve the problem in that they require Eocene sea level to be significantly higher in the New Jersey region than the global average.     

A record of early to middle Holocene environmental change inferred from lake deposits beneath a sabkha sequence in the Central Sahara (Seggedim, NE Niger)

Seggedim is a remote site in NE Niger where previous studies demonstrated the presence of Holocene paleolake deposits beneath an existing sabkha. In 2005, we retrieved a 15-m core that contains a high-resolution record of early to middle Holocene environmental change. Mineralogical, chemical and petrographic data were used to infer paleoenvironmental conditions recorded by successive lake stages. An exceptionally stable lake regime existed from 10.6 to 7.3 cal ka BP. This regime, reflecting moist conditions, was characterized by deposition of continuously laminated diatomite with high organic matter content, formed under meromictic conditions, with very low detrital input. A lake regime shift occurred at 7.3 cal ka BP, interpreted as the beginning of a transition to arid conditions. This shift was initially marked by a change to predominantly clastic sedimentation, followed by increased sand input during later stages, culminating in the onset of the sabkha stage. Because of the presence of reworked organic material in the deposits, reliable radiocarbon dating of the succession of lake stages could not be achieved.     

Sedimentological, geochemical and palaeontological evidence for a neoglacial cold event during the late Holocene in the continental shelf of the northern South Shetland Islands, West Antarctica

Two sediment cores obtained from the continental shelf of the northern South Shetland Islands, West Antarctica, consist of: an upper unit of silty mud, bioturbated by a sluggish current, and a lower unit of well-sorted, laminated silty mud, attributed to an intensified Polar Slope Current. Geochemical and accelerator mass spectrometry ¹⁴C analyses yielded evidence for a late Holocene increase in sea-ice extent and a decrease in phytoplankton productivity, inferred from a reduction in the total organic carbon content and higher C : N ratios, at approximately 330 years B.P., corresponding to the Little Ice Age. Prior to this, the shelf experienced warmer marine conditions, with greater phytoplankton productivity, inferred from a higher organic carbon content and C : N ratios in the lower unit. The reduced abundance of Weddell Sea ice-edge bloom species ( Chaetoceros resting spores, Fragilariopsis curta and Fragilariopsis cylindrus ) and stratified cold-water species ( Rhizosolenia antennata ) in the upper unit was largely caused by the colder climate. During the cold period, the glacial restriction between the Weddell Sea and the shelf of the northern South Shetland Islands apparently hindered the influx of ice-edge bloom species from the Weddell Sea into the core site. The relative increases in the abundance of Actinocyclus actinochilus and Navicula glaciei , indigenous to the coastal zone of the South Shetland Islands, probably reflects a reduction in the dilution of native species, resulting from the diminished influx of the ice-edge species from the Weddell Sea. We also document the recent reduction of sea-ice cover in the study area in response to recent warming along the Antarctic Peninsula.     

全新世中后期开封西郊黄泛沉积序列的孢粉记录

历史时期以来,黄河在开封市附近多次泛滥形成了相对完整的沉积序列。选取开封市西郊25 m岩芯（ZK_jm）为研究对象,通过孢粉分析,结合地层沉积旋回和历史文献资料,探讨了全新世中后期以来大洪水事件的孢粉记录。结果表明：黄泛地层中的孢粉含量及其组成很好地记录了大洪水事件,洪水沉积期的木本植物花粉含量高于其间断期,而人工禾本科花粉含量低于间断期。每个粒度旋回基本上都有与之对应的孢粉亚带,且其上下界限的吻合度较高,表明孢粉可作为划分沉积旋回的代用指标。岩芯孢粉亚带的数目（12个）多于粒度旋回数目（9个）,孢粉组合特征可以识别出规模较小的洪水或者一次洪水事件出现的多个短期洪水间歇期所形成的沉积,孢粉指标划分沉积旋回的精度高于粒度指标。     

Rates of stream incision in the middle part of the Arkansas River basin based on late Tertiary to mid-Pleistocene volcanic ash

Ages and elevations of ash layers correlated with late Tertiary and Pleistocene eruptions in the western US and present stream elevations are used to calculate net rates of incision by streams in the middle reaches of the Arkansas River basin in the south central US. The mean of the 23 measurements of rate of stream incision in the study area is 4.2±2.7 cm/ky with a range of 0.6 to 9.7 cm/ky. Major influences on rate of stream incision in the study area include the arid to semi-arid climate of the region, the type of material being incised by streams, stream captures, and salt dissolution in the bedrock that underlies the region. Rates of incision exceeded rates of basin filling but significant deposits of unconsolidated late Cenozoic sediments occur in the study area. Basins of streams that have incised the slowest since the late Tertiary contain the thickest and most extensive amounts of unconsolidated Quaternary sediments. Rates of incision by streams in the study area are similar to or slower than rates reported for streams elsewhere in the US and the world. Streams in mountainous regions and areas affected by rapid uplift have incised at rates orders of magnitude faster than streams in the study area.     

1961-2010年长江中下游地区农业洪涝灾害时空变化

为揭示长江中下游地区农业洪涝灾害的发生、分布及时空演变特征,基于1961-2010年研究区内426个气象站点的逐日降水数据,以湖北省单站洪涝等级标准为初始指标,对该指标临界值在-50~100 mm范围内进行同步增减,结合该区7省（市）的洪涝历史灾情记载和农业洪涝受灾面积,采用逐步剔除的方法筛选指标,构建分省农业洪涝等级指标并验证指标的合理性,分析该区近50年农业洪涝灾害的时空变化。结果表明：① 近50年长江中下游地区的农业洪涝灾害发生总体呈增加的趋势,但不同区域和不同年代际差异明显;② 20世纪60年代至80年代农业洪涝发生次数相对平稳,90年代洪涝明显增多,21世纪初洪涝又相对减少;③ 区域农业洪涝灾害明显呈现出江南多、江北少的分布特征。农业洪涝多发区主要集中在江西中北部、江汉平原、浙江沿海,以及安徽、江西和浙江三省交界地带。     

Oligocene to middle Miocene basin development in the Eastern Betic Cordilleras, SE Spain (Vélez Rubio Corridor – Espuña): reflections of West Mediterranean plate-tectonic reorganizations

The suture between two West Mediterranean crustal blocks once situated several hundreds of kilometres apart can be studied in the Vélez Rubio Corridor – Espuña area of the Eastern Betic Cordilleras. This suture, or Internal–External Zone Boundary, separates the former passive southern margin of Iberia (the External Zone) from a stack of allochthonous nappe complexes (the Internal Zone), of which the highest unit is formed by the weakly or nonmetamorphosed Malaguide Complex. Analysis of the Oligocene to middle Miocene sediments of the Vélez Rubio Corridor and the Espuña, and comparison with coeval deposits elsewhere in the Western Mediterranean shows that (a) up to the middle Miocene, the southern part of the External Zone (Southern Subbetic) was positioned some 100 km more eastward; (b) up to the early Aquitanian, the Malaguide Complex, forming part of the South Sardinian block (the southern section of a West Mediterranean continental segment) was juxtaposed to the North Sardinian block (the northern part of that continental fragment), some 400 km more eastward; (c) West European extensional rifting during the late Oligocene to earliest Aquitanian resulted in deposition of rift valley sediments (Ciudad Granada and Pliego Formations) in the Malaguide realm; (d) during the Aquitanian, the West Mediterranean segment disintegrated and the West Mediterranean oceanic basins opened, resulting in, for example, the south-westward drift of the Internal Zone, with concomitant thrusting and thinning and deposition of submarine fans (Solana-Algeciras Formation) along the margin; (e) in the early Burdigalian, the allochthonous Internal Zone collided with the Iberian margin, causing the disruption of the platform-slope configuration of the External Zone; (f) after the collision a deep basin was formed upon the suture filled in with erosional products from both Internal and External Zones (Espejos–Viñuelas–Millanas Formations); (g) a strong compressive event in the late Burdigalian caused the southward thrusting of the Subbetic over the Espejos Formation, thus double-sealing the collisional contact; (h) in the latest Burdigalian to Langhian, new strongly subsiding basins were formed in the Western Mediterranean, e.g. along the Internal–External Zone Boundary; (i) dextral strike-slip faulting in the Serravallian resulted in a westward displacement of over 100 km of the southern Subbetic plus Internal Zone; (j) onset of a new pattern of strike-slip faulting induced the formation of a new suite of basins in the Tortonian.     

New techniques for the analysis of earthquake sources from local array data with an application to the 1993 Scotts Mills, Oregon, aftershock sequence

We analysed aftershocks recorded by a temporary digital seismic network following the moderate M _w = 5.5 1993, Scotts Mills, Oregon, earthquake. A technique to retrieve source moment tensors from local waveforms was developed, tested, and applied to 41 small earthquakes ( M _w ranging from 1.6 to 3.2). The derived focal mechanisms, although well resolved, are highly variable and do not share a common nodal plane. In contrast, the majority of the events, relocated with a joint hypocentre determination algorithm, collapse to a well-focused plane. The incompatibility of the nodal planes of most events with the plane defined by their locations suggests that the aftershocks did not occur on the fault plane, but tightly around it, outlining the rupture area rather than defining it. Furthermore, the moment tensors reveal stable P -axes, whereas T  -axes plunges are highly dispersed. We detect a rotation of average T  -axis plunge with depth, indicating a change from shallower, predominantly dip-slip mechanisms to deeper strike-slip mechanisms. These characteristics are difficult to explain by remnant stress concentrations on the main-shock rupture plane or asperity- and barrier-type models. We suggest that the aftershocks occurred under the ambient regional stress, triggered by a sudden weakening of the region surrounding the main-shock slip, rather than from a shear stress increase due to the main shock.