Late Devensian raised shorelines and ice limits in the inner Moray Firth area, northern Scotland

Marine, fluvial and fluvioglacial landforms and the deposits associated with them, have been mapped in the inner Moray Firth area. The landforms identified indicate a close association between the decay of the Late Devensian Scottish ice sheet and the formation of raised marine features. Analysis of the altitudes of the marine terraces has identified ten glacio-isostatically tilted raised shorelines of Late Devensian age, sloping down towards N25°E, at progressively lower gradients between 0.57 and 0.15 m/km. The shorelines were formed in close association with a westward- and southward-receding ice margin and the shoreline sequence suggests that rates of ice margin retreat were most rapid where the ice terminated in the sea.     

A note on the glacial and late glacial history of caithness

It is generally accepted that in the last glaciation Scottish ice from the Moray Firth flowed to the northwest across Caithness depositing shelly drift. Examination of striae along the east coast of Caithness shows that some were formed by ice flowing into and not out of the Moray Firth. It is argued that the flow into the Moray Firth may have occurred in the last glaciation and that the shelly drift may be a relic of an earlier glaciation. The cliffs of Caithness were formed during the Loch Lomond Readvance and have since been raised isostatically and so have been protected from further marine erosion by their own wave-cut platform which can be traced into Orkney where it intersects the present level.     

Identifying provenance-specific features of detrital heavy mineral assemblages in sandstones

The composition of heavy mineral assemblages in sandstones may be heavily influenced by processes operating during transport, deposition and diagenesis. As a consequence, conventional heavy mineral data may not be a reliable guide to the nature of sediment source material. Certain features of heavy mineral suites, however, are inherited directly from the source area without significant modification, such as the varietal characteristics of individual mineral species. This paper describes an alternative approach to varietal studies that concentrates on relative abundances of minerals that are stable during diagenesis and have similar hydraulic behaviour. Ratios of apatite to tourmaline, TiO₂ minerals to zircon, monazite to zircon, and chrome spinel to zircon provide a good reflection of the source rock characteristics, because they are comparatively immune to alteration during the sedimentary cycle. These ratios are described as index values (ATi, RZi, MZi and CZi, respectively). This approach avoids some of the practical problems associated with varietal studies, such as the need to make subjective decisions about mineral properties or to use advanced analytical techniques that may not be accessible to the analyst. It also makes use of more components of the heavy mineral suite and thus provides a more balanced view of provenance characteristics. The use of these ratios is illustrated with examples from Upper Jurassic sandstones in the Outer Moray Firth area of the UK continental shelf and Triassic sandstones from onshore and offshore UK. Heavy mineral indices, notably ATi and MZi, show marked variations in Upper Jurassic Piper sandstones of the Outer Moray Firth. Main Piper sandstones have lower ATi and MZi values compared with Supra Piper sandstones, indicating significant stratigraphic evolution of provenance. The UK Triassic shows major regional variations in a number of index values, including ATi, MZi and CZi, demonstrating that sediment was supplied from several distinct source regions. This indicates a need for some modification of existing palaeogeographic models for the UK Triassic.     

Late Devensian raised shorelines in Angus and Kincardineshire, Scotland

Marine, fluvial and fluvioglacial terraces, and other landforms and deposits associated with them, have been mapped over an area that extends from Dundee to Stonehaven along the coast, and inland in places as far as the Highland edge. All well-defined terraces have been levelled at approximately 50 mintervals along their length. Analysis of the altitude data permits the recognition of eight glacio-isostatically tilted raised shorelines of Late Devensian age, sloping down towards E5S, the lowest at 0.2 m/km and the others at gradients of 0.50-0.85 m/km. Successively lower and less steeply inclined shorelines were formed in close association with a westward-receding ice margin, and there are indications that crustal response to unloading may have been immediate and rapid. Five of the shorelines are correlated with five of the six Late Devensian shorelines recognized by the authors (1966) in eastern Fife, allowing contemporaneous positions of the wasting ice-sheet margin in the two areas to be postulated.     

Influence of Southern Upland ice on glacio-isostatic rebound in Scotland: the Main Rock Platform in the Firth of Clyde

This paper identifies an anomaly between the currently acccpted isobasc pattern for raised shorelines in Scotland. which is a simple ellipsoid centred over the Western Highlands, and current models for the morphology of the Late Devensian ice-sheet. which show a primary dome in the Western Highlands but a prominent secondary dome over the Southern Uplands. One explanation of this anomaly is that it is an artefact of inadequate shoreline data for south-west Scotland. To test this hypothesis, altitude data on the Main Rock Platform in the Firth of Clyde area have been collected and analysed. and demonstrate patterns that probably result from the influence of Southern Upland ice. The ice-sheet models in this area are therefore supported.     

Lateglacial and postglacial shorelines in western Scotland

Some recent studies of raised shorelines in western Scotland, which are gaining international acceptance, are assessed in the light of subsequent criticisms. Fieldwork has revealed that there are differences in altitude measurements, interpretations, and conclusions between these studies and the present one in Lorn and eastern Mull. Two short lateglacial shorelines are tentatively suggested, but there is a general abesence of clear, widespread shorelines of this age. The Main Postglacial Shoreline has a gradient of 0.05 m/km, considerably less than found in previous studies in both western and south-cast Scotland. Subsequently, as relative sea level fell to its present level, two fairly clear shorelines with low gradients were formed together with traces of intermediate ones. The influences of the. Falls of Lora rock bar and of exposure on showline altitude are also examined.     

Variations in the pattern and rate of isostatic uplift indicated by a comparison of Holocene sea-level curves from Scotland

Differences in the timing of maxima and minima and shape between sea-level curves from the western Forth valley, lower Strathearn, inner Moray Firth and eastern Solway Firth areas of Scotland are interpreted as being due to differences in isostatic uplift and different methodologies used to interpret the basic data. Possible changes in the relative rates of uplift between areas suggest that the practice of applying the western Forth ‘model’ of relative sea-level change to other parts of Scotland must be questioned.     

A revision of the Jurassic (Bathonian to Oxfordian) lithostratigraphy of the onshore Moray Firth Basin,north-east Scotland

Bathonian to Oxfordian strata occur onshore in two principal locations over 30 km apart on the coast of the Moray Firth, at Brora and Balintore. The existing lithostratigraphy has the same formation names applied to both successions despite profound differences, exemplified in their schemes of local members. Furthermore, three of the formation names include the same place name, and use obsolete lithological terms.     

Sea level fluctuation during the past 6000 yr at the coast of Mauritania

In an area regarded to be very favorable for the study of Holocene sea level changes one or several eustatic (?) oscillations of sea have been found using sedimentological and ecological methods. After a maximum of +3 m during the Nouakchottian stage (= Middle Flandrian or Late Atlantic) about 5500 YBP a drop of sea to ?3.5 ± 0.5 m about 4100 YBP is testified by stromatolitic algae indicating the former sea level within the tidal zone with high accuracy. This evidence is supported by the observation of post-Nouakchottian regressive and transgressive geologic sequences, by buried beach deposits and flooded hardgrounds, post-Nouakchottian marine terraces of different height and age, the cutting off of one large and several small bays from the open sea, etc. Possibly one or two smaller oscillations followed between 4000 and 1500 YBP (derived sea level curve Fig. 3).     

Glacial deposits at the Boyne Bay Limestone Quarry,Portsoy, and their place in the late Pleistocene history of northeast Scotland

The glacial deposits at the Boyne Bay Limestone Quarry near Portsoy, a key Quaternary Site of Special Scientific Interest, comprise (i) a sandy, partly weathered diamicton (Craig of Boyne Till Formation, CBTF) resting on decomposed bedrock, (ii) a central, variably glaciotectonised assemblage of dark clay, diamicton and sand, with rafts of sand and weathered diamicton (Whitehills Glacigenic Formation, WGF), and (iii) an upper dark sandy diamicton (Old Hythe Till Formation, OHTF). The CBTF was probably derived from the west or southwest, and the WGF from seawards. Structures within the OHTF conform to deposition by east‐ or southeast‐moving ice from the Moray Firth, but some erratics indicate derivation from the south. The CBTF is believed to pre‐date the last (lpswichian) interglacial, but the WGF and OHTF both post‐date the early Middle Devensian, and are probably of Late Devensian age. It is proposed that the OHTF was deposited by ice from inland which was directed eastwards near the coast by a vigorous glacier in the Moray Firth, and that the complex, Late Devensian glacial history of the south coast of the Moray Firth as a whole is the result of the interplay of these two contemporary ice‐masses. British Geological Survey. © NERC 2000.     

基于碎石屏障的土壤盐渍化改良技术及机理研究

利用碎石屏障阻断非饱和带毛细上升为土壤盐渍化改良提供了新思路.为了研究碎石屏障对盐渍化土壤改良的可行性以及碎石层结构和埋深对改良效果的影响,在河套灌区西部杭锦后旗典型盐渍化分布区建立试验地,设置了7组不同碎石屏障处理工艺开展土壤盐渍化改良试验,对试验地40 cm深度的土壤盐分、pH、阳离子交换量、交换性钠百分率等参数进行了为期一年的监测和分析.结果表明,7组不同处理中,埋设深度为60~80 cm,利用颗粒直径为1 cm和3 cm的碎石按上细下粗的结构分两层铺设的处理方法改良效果最佳;从表层到40 cm深,土壤EC值平均下降55.9%.较大的碎石屏障埋深,上细下粗的铺设方式,可提高下层碎石孔隙度,并在非饱和带深处切断毛细管,从而有效降低土壤毛细上升高度,抑制深层土壤中的盐分上移"返盐",改良效果较好.      

砾石在分析盆地物源区迁移与湖岸线演化中的作用*

中国中西部盆地的盆山结合部位,勘探程度较低、钻井少、地震成像复杂,致使利用传统的地震相、测井相、岩心资料等研究原型盆地岩相古地理特征较为困难。基于露头中巨厚砾岩发育层段对应盆地内储集层平面展布范围最广这一认识,运用“将今论古”方法,建立南天山前现代冲积扇、扇三角洲平原、河流等沉积体系中砾石与搬运距离关系,以及不同沉积相类型中砾石发育产状与湖岸线远近关系,定量计算了准噶尔盆地多条重点剖面侏罗系—白垩系现今位置与沉积物源区和湖岸线演化的距离,恢复了侏罗纪—白垩纪物源区范围与湖岸线演化过程。认为侏罗纪—早白垩世砂砾岩储集体向盆地内延伸范围最大时期的湖岸线,明显与现今盆地边缘线有一向西北方向敞开的夹角,该认识对在编制岩相古地理图过程中以盆地边缘线即为湖岸线的观念提出了不同见解,为恢复准南等低勘探程度区原型盆地的岩相古地理特征、预测有利储集体的展布提供参数依据。建立的刻画物源区变化和湖岸线迁移的定量评价方法与参数,是对传统沉积学研究的有益补充。     

Examining the geometry,age and genesis of buried Quaternary valley systems in the Midland Valley of Scotland,UK

Buried palaeo‐valley systems have been identified widely beneath lowland parts of the UK including eastern England, central England, south Wales and the North Sea. In the Midland Valley of Scotland palaeo‐valleys have been identified yet the age and genesis of these enigmatic features remain poorly understood. This study utilizes a digital data set of over 100 000 boreholes that penetrate the full thickness of deposits in the Midland Valley of Scotland. It identified 18 buried palaeo‐valleys, which range from 4 to 36 km in length and 24 to 162 m in depth. Geometric analysis has revealed four distinct valley morphologies, which were formed by different subglacial and subaerial processes. Some palaeo‐valleys cross‐cut each other with the deepest features aligning east–west. These east–west features align with the reconstructed ice‐flow direction under maximum conditions of the Main Late Devensian glaciation. The shallower features appear more aligned to ice‐flow direction during ice‐sheet retreat, and were therefore probably incised under more restricted ice‐sheet configurations. The bedrock lithology influences and enhances the position and depth of palaeo‐valleys in this lowland glacial terrain. Faults have juxtaposed Palaeozoic sedimentary and igneous rocks and the deepest palaeo‐valleys occur immediately down‐ice of knick‐points in the more resistant igneous bedrock. The features are regularly reused and the fills are dominated by glacial fluvial and glacial marine deposits. This suggests that the majority of infilling of the features happened during deglaciation and may be unrelated to the processes that cut them.     

Differential glacio-isostatic uplift of crustal blocks at Glen Roy, Scotland

Detailed measurements of the altitudes of the shorelines of former ice-dammed lakes in Glen Roy and vicinity in the Scottish Highlands prove erroneous the conventional view that former shorelines in areas affected by glacio-isostatic uplift are uniformly tilted and/or gently warped. The measurements demonstrate differential uplift of blocks of the earth's crust. The surfaces of some blocks have no detectable tilt whereas others have gradients up to at least 4.6 m/km and are tilted in different directions. In three areas 0.7–2.0 km long, shorelines are distorted by crustal movements; all these areas have landslides attributed to earthquakes that accompanied the release of stress. In the area of greatest local distortion three shorelines rose about 3 m above their average altitudes for the immediately surrounding area, and a fault scarp was produced. Possibly these local distortions accompanied catastrophic lake drainage by jökulhlaup, analogous to crustal movements associated with man-made lakes. A relationship between crustal movement and the limit of a glacial advance is demonstrated. These findings have implications for other parts of the world affected by glacioisostatic uplift.     

砂砾质辫状河储层构型解剖及层次建模

针对准噶尔盆地风城油田上侏罗统齐古组砂砾质辫状河储层,利用岩芯、露头及密井网资料,结合砂砾质辫状河储层构型层次结构、模式拟合和嵌入式层次建模方法,确定了不同级次的构型界面,对砂砾质辫状河5~3级构型单元进行了识别,建立了不同级别构型分布样式、规模及三维构型模型。研究表明:1）研究区砂砾质辫状河4级构型单元主要包括心滩坝和辫状水道两类,辫状水道包括泥质半充填水道和泥质充填水道等构型单元,砂砾质辫状河3级构型单元包括心滩坝内部沟道及落淤层等;2）根据辫状河不同级次构型单元规模公式,对辫状河不同级次构型单元进行定量表征,结果表明,研究区单一砂砾质河道宽度50~180 m;单一充填河道宽度30~70 m,长度100~350 m;单一心滩坝宽度120~400 m,长度300~800 m;心滩坝内部落淤层长度和宽度分别为110~330 m、60~200 m,沟道长度和宽度分别为100~200 m、15~25 m;3）在精细构型解剖研究的基础上,提出利用层次建模与嵌入式建模结合的新方法建立构型三维模型。分层次建立了4级构型模型,而在心滩坝内部则采用规模约束建立落淤层、沟道以及填充河道3级构型单元模型,最终建立了与定性模式和定量规模相适应的多级次耦合三维构型模型。     

岩溶土洞稳定临界深度的初步研究

在岩溶土洞发育地区进行工程建设时需要确定土洞是否会发展成地面塌陷和对工程结构物稳定性有影响,分析表明土洞临界深度可作为评价土洞稳定和加固深度的依据。本文采用有限元分析方法,以土洞塑性区贯通至地面或路基表面作为土洞发展成地面塌陷和临界深度的标准。研究表明,土洞的临界深度与土洞形状、土洞尺寸、位置和路基填土厚度有关;土洞断面形状为圆形时临界深度最小,土洞尺寸越大,路基填土越厚,相应土洞临界深度越大。      

成都市中心城区第四系三维地质模型构建与隐伏断裂分析

隐伏断裂的探测是城市地质调查的基本要素.成都中心城区位于成都平原东侧,整体表现为受断裂控制、西陡东缓的陆内逆冲断陷盆地,并以覆盖巨厚的第四纪砂卵石沉积为特征,隐伏断裂发育特征不明,识别难度大.本文基于多年来成都中心城区地铁勘察、房建地基勘察、水文地质调查、基坑探槽等累积的数据,结合实地勘察与其他地学数据整合信息库,运用计算机三维精细建模与可视化技术,建立了成都中心城区精细三维地质模型.结合实测钻孔剖面图,在精细刻画的三维基岩起伏面上识别出两条明显的北东向隐伏断裂,确定了其在中心城区经过的具体位置及展布形态;结合上覆砂卵石层的分布,确认蒲江-新津-成都断裂为主控断裂,早更新世开始活动,双桥子-包江桥断裂为其次级断裂,晚更新世初开始活动;同时发现了一条可能受断裂控制、贯穿市区的北西西向凹陷带.三维地质模型与沉积层等厚线图揭示了隐伏断裂对沉积的控制作用,砂卵石层沉降中心由西北向东南逐渐迁移.此次研究建立了成都中心城区的三维基岩起伏面模型,识别出了隐伏断裂具体位置及其主要特征,为城市地下空间合理利用、科学规划及地震危险性评价等提供了重要的基础资料.     

Review of evidence for late Tertiary shorelines occurring on South Atlantic coasts

Recognition of (late) Tertiary shorelines on continental coasts is becoming increasingly common. It is argued that the elevations of such features are central to their approximate dating and the demonstration of contemporaneity with similar features elsewhere. South Atlantic coasts have not had a long history of investigation, yet there exist many diffuse observations, in both time and space, which are here drawn together into a preliminary synthesis and the case for widespread occurrences of late Tertiary shorelines in the region reviewed. This allows comparison with other areas from which Tertiary shorelines are known, the Atlantic seaboards of the Southeastern United States and Northwest Europe, for example.The coasts of oceanic islands are probably the best places to examine the legacy of late Cenozoic sea-level changes. It is suggested that, since many of the cliffed shores of these islands appear to be the result of a rapid emergence, coastal features predating this event might be preserved on the cliff-tops. Possible late Tertiary shorelines from South Atlantic islands are described, as are those which have been positively dated to this period, in the Eastern Canary Islands, for instance. Sedimentary and morphological indicators of Tertiary high sea-levels are described from Antarctic coasts. South American and African Atlantic continental margins. Evidence from the latter two areas is most suspect, owing to their generally more complex Quaternary tectonic histories. A summary of the evidence for Tertiary shorelines on South Atlantic coasts is tabulated.Methods which have been or could be used to date late Tertiary shorelines are described. Minimum age can be deduced from that of deposits resting on an erosional surface, maximum age from that of the youngest formation across which a surface is cut. More precise age can be estimated where a marine surface is sandwiched between datable non-marine formations or where periods of tectonic activity (responsible for differential surface deformation) can be dated. Elevations of surfaces can be used to estimate ages. Problems in both recognising and dating Tertiary shorelines are discussed. Recognition of their origin is made more difficult by their degraded state and, if they occur within a Quaternary erosional sequence, their antiquity may not be realised.It is suggested that fluctuations in the Antarctic ice sheet during the late Tertiary induced substantial glacio-eustatic changes of sea-level which may have been most marked in adjacent areas. This is considered to be the mechanism through which late Tertiary shorelines in the area were formed yet, considering the paucity of the morphological and sedimentary data, these should not be used as the basis for a eustatic chronology.     

海南岛洋浦湾沉积作用研究

本文对海南岛洋浦湾海域的洋浦湾、新英湾、洋浦深槽及拦门沙浅滩的沉积环境和沉积特征做了描述、讨论，对河流、海岸侵蚀和珊瑚礁生物的３种沉积物来源及数量做了分析计算，得出其总量为９×１０⁴ｍ^３／ａ。根据钻孔柱状样的¹⁴Ｃ及²¹⁰Ｐｂ分析，得出８０００ａＢ．Ｐ．以来沉积速率为０．１～０．２ｃｍ／ａ，近百年来沉积速率为１～２ｃｍ／ａ。     

The flandrian sequence of north Wirral (N. W. England)

The correlation of borehole logs, together with evidence from temporary exposures, shows the relationship between glacial deposits and the overlying Flandrian strata. The courses of buried channels in-filled with Flandrian strata have been plotted. Radiocarbon assays and pollen and diatom analyses have mainly been confined to samples taken from near the main lithological boundaries, but some radiocarbon assays have been undertaken on in situ tree stumps and on bone. New thick buried channel sequences are described, and an outline chronology from c. 6420 years BP is proposed for the Flandrian coastal sequence of the North Wirral. The data can be applied to the interpretation of sea-level change and coastal archaeology.