Wet Snow Avalanche Deposits in the French Alps: Structure and Sedimentology

We analyse the morphology and sedimentology of 25 dirty snow avalanche deposits in the French Alps. The deposits typically have either a snow-ball structure or a massive structure with sliding planes. The snow balls show a longitudinal and a vertical sorting that reflects a sieve effect, similar to that observed in other rapid inertial granular flows. The massive type results from snow compaction when the avalanche is channelled by a gully or when it reaches the distal part of the scree. Velocity decrease and compaction limit the deformation to a zone at the base of the snow mass and cause the formation of distinctive sliding planes. These appear as smooth recrystallised surfaces due to local melt from frictional heating. The flow can be assimilated to a frictional granular flow. No systematic variation of size and shape of the rock debris has been observed along the profiles in both types of deposit. The distribution of rock debris and its fabric suggest that the clasts are transported passively and do not undergo any sorting during displacement. Snow melt after avalanching causes a redistribution of rock debris particularly when the snow thickness is important. This redistribution does not generate new sedimentological characteristics such as enhanced sorting or fabric.     

The rock-avalanche of February 1995 at Claix (French Alps)

The sedimentology of a rock-avalanche involving ca. 7·10³ m³, that happened on February 1995 at Claix, the French Alps, is analysed here. The talus shows a proximal depression due to the impact of the debris, then a grooved area with few, mainly sandy silt deposits and a downslope accumulation of coarse debris that reaches up to 3 m in thickness. The material underwent mass movement as demonstrated by the steep distal front, the strong fabric strength and the thrust planes. The greatest part of the deposits consists of a clast-supported to partially openwork debris with angular clasts over a sheared matrix-supported basal layer. The largest blocks, often more than 1 m in length, are concentrated at the surface and the front. The overall sedimentological characteristics are similar to those of the small dry grain flows that occur usually on rockfall talus, except for the abundance of fine-grained particles that results from intense cataclasis during flow. It is suggested that the deposits of such medium-scale rock-avalanches, probably not uncommon in seismic regions, may have been confused in previous studies with other slope mechanisms such as debris flow and rockfall.     

Contrasting rainfall generated debris flows from adjacent watersheds at Forest Falls, southern California, USA

Debris flows are widespread and common in many steeply sloping areas of southern California. The San Bernardino Mountains community of Forest Falls is probably subject to the most frequently documented debris flows in southern California. Debris flows at Forest Falls are generated during short-duration high-intensity rains that mobilize surface material. Except for debris flows on two consecutive days in November 1965, all the documented historic debris flows have occurred during high-intensity summer rainfall, locally referred to as ‘monsoon’ or ‘cloudburst’ rains. Velocities of the moving debris range from about 5 km/h to about 90 km/h. Velocity of a moving flow appears to be essentially a function of the water content of the flow. Low velocity debris flows are characterized by steep snouts that, when stopped, have only small amounts of water draining from the flow. In marked contrast are high-velocity debris flows whose deposits more resemble fluvial deposits. In the Forest Falls area two adjacent drainage basins, Snow Creek and Rattlesnake Creek, have considerably different histories of debris flows. Snow Creek basin, with an area about three times as large as Rattlesnake Creek basin, has a well developed debris flow channel with broad levees. Most of the debris flows in Snow Creek have greater water content and attain higher velocities than those of Rattlesnake Creek. Most debris flows are in relative equilibrium with the geometry of the channel morphology. Exceptionally high-velocity flows, however, overshoot the channel walls at particularly tight channel curves. After overshooting the channel, the flows degrade the adjacent levee surface and remove trees and structures in the immediate path, before spreading out with decreasing velocity. As the velocity decreases the clasts in the debris flows pulverize the up-slope side of the trees and often imbed clasts in them. Debris flows in Rattlesnake Creek are relatively slow moving and commonly stop in the channel. After the channel is blocked, subsequent debris flows cut a new channel upstream from the blockage that results in the deposition of new debris-flow deposits on the lower part of the fan. Shifting the location of debris flows on the Rattlesnake Creek fan tends to prevent trees from becoming mature. Dense growths of conifer seedlings sprout in the spring on the late summer debris flow deposits. This repeated process results in stands of even-aged trees whose age records the age of the debris flows.     

Paraglacial Modification of Glacigenic Sediment

The sedimentological characteristics of in situ and paraglacially reworked till are compared at recently deglaciated sites in Norway. Glacigenic deposits reworked by debris flows are shown to retain many of the characteristics of the parent sediments, and cannot readily be distinguished from in situ till in terms of fabric strength or type, clast imbrication, shape, angularity or texture, matrix granulometry or packing. Paraglacially re-worked sediments appear to differ from in situ tills only in terms of preferred clast orientation (down flow rather than downvalley) and their structural and lithofacies characteristics. These criteria are employed to differentiate paraglacial sediments from unre-worked tills exposed in valley-side sections. The stratigraphic relations between these indicate glacial reworking of earlier paraglacial sediments as well as paraglacial remobilisation of glacigenic deposits, indicating cyclic alternation of glacial and paraglacial sediment transport.     

Beach face and berm morphodynamics fronting a coastal lagoon

This study documents two different modes of berm development: (1) vertical growth at spring tides or following significant beach cut due to substantial swash overtopping, and (2) horizontal progradation at neap tides through the formation of a proto-berm located lower and further seaward of the principal berm. Concurrent high-frequency measurements of bed elevation and the associated wave runup distribution reveal the details of each of these berm growth modes. In mode 1 sediment is eroded from the inner surf and lower swash zone where swash interactions are prevalent. The net transport of this sediment is landward only, resulting in accretion onto the upper beach face and over the berm crest. The final outcome is a steepening of the beach face gradient, a change in the profile shape towards concave and rapid vertical and horizontal growth of the berm. In mode 2 sediment is eroded from the lower two-thirds of the active swash zone during the rising tide and is transported both landward and seaward. On the falling tide sediment is eroded from the inner surf and transported landward to backfill the zone eroded on the rising tide. The net result is relatively slow steepening of the beach face, a change of the profile shape towards convex, and horizontal progradation through the formation of a neap berm. The primary factor determining which mode of berm growth occurs is the presence or absence of swash overtopping at the time of sediment accumulation on the beach face. This depends on the current phase of the spring-neap tide cycle, the wave runup height (and indirectly offshore wave conditions) and the height of the pre-existing berm. A conceptual model for berm morphodynamics is presented, based on sediment transport shape functions measured during the two modes of berm growth.     

Local- and watershed-scale controls on the spatial variability of natural levee deposits in a large fine-grained floodplain: Lower Pánuco Basin, Mexico

This study examines spatial variations in natural levee deposits within the lower reaches of a large coastal plain drainage system. The Pánuco basin (98,227 km²) drains east-central Mexico, and is an excellent setting to examine the influence of watershed and local controls on the morphology and sedimentology of natural levees. Although many fluvial systems in the U.S. Gulf Coastal Plain have been investigated, the rivers in the Mexican Gulf Coastal Plain have received comparatively little attention. Lateral and downstream characteristics of natural levee morphology and sediment texture are considered within the context of meandering river floodplain deposits. Data sources include total-stations surveying, sediment samples of surficial levee deposits, topographic maps (1:50,000), and aerial photographs (1:40,000). The slope of natural levees average 0.0049 m/m, whereas the texture (D₈₄) of levee deposits averages 0.12 mm. Natural levee characteristics vary due to local- and watershed-scale controls. The lateral reduction in levee height displays a curvilinear pattern that coincides with an abrupt change in sediment texture. The downstream pattern of natural levee texture exhibits the influence of local-scale perturbations superimposed upon a larger watershed-scale trend. Disruption to the fining trend, either by tributary inputs of sediment or reworking of Tertiary valley deposits, is retained for a limited distance. The influence of the channel planform geometry on levee morphology is examined by consideration of the radius of curvature (R_c) of meander bends, and is inversely related to natural levee width. This suggests that the planform geometry of river channels exerts a control on the dispersal of flood sediments, and is responsible for considerable local variability in the floodplain topography. The average width of natural levees increases with drainage area, from an average of 747 m in the Moctezuma to an average of 894 m in the Pánuco. However, in the lower reaches of the Pánuco valley the width of natural levees rapidly decreases, which is associated with fining of the suspended sediment load. Thus, the reduction in natural levee width signifies an abrupt change in the directionality of cause–effect relationships at the watershed-scale. Findings from this study elucidate linkages between meandering river channels and floodplains for a large lowland alluvial valley.     

湖南津市黄牯山第四纪泥砾混杂堆积成因探讨

湖南省津市黄牯山发育一套泥砾混杂堆积,前人曾认为属冰川成因。近年笔者对该套堆积的沉积层序、结构组成、横向变化、砾石组构与表面特征等作了详细考察,发现堆积中下细上粗的层序特征,砾石扁平面的优选定向,沿层理经差异风化和磨蚀所形成的假"冰川擦痕",由壳状裂口经磨蚀、圆化所形成的凹面石,沉积体短距离内的相变,以及周边仅有低矮丘陵的地貌背景等,表明泥砾混杂堆积为泥石流产物,而不是冰川成因。     

泉州湾表层沉积物粒度指示的沉积动力端元解析

基于前期工作,采取粒度端元分析方法,结合沉积物粒度参数、研究区水深以及水动力等对福建省泉州湾海域采集的65个表层沉积物样品进行了沉积动力学解析判别,量化研究区表层沉积物复杂的沉积动力特征.结果表明:样品粒度数据中可以至少分离出4个不同的端元组分,其粒径范围大致分布在0.2～200、20～30、50～500、80～100...     

Morphodynamic evolution of a coastal lagoon entrance during swash overwash

New field observations of beach berm growth resulting in the sub-aerial closure of an intermittently closed and open lake or lagoon are presented. These perched estuarine systems frequently exhibit ephemeral entrances that respond to process forcing almost instantaneously on a geomorphic timescale, with closure by a supra-tidal berm of depositional origin. The observations were made following a mechanical opening of the entrance and show very rapid vertical growth of an initially low beach berm as a result of swash overtopping and sediment overwash. Very little simultaneous seaward progradation was observed. Sediment overwash volumes were obtained from survey data over a period of 12 days either side of spring tide and the observations also provide an accurate measure of swash sediment transport at the berm crest. A process-based parametric model is developed through robust parameterisations of wave run-up, wave run-up distributions and sediment transport and is applied to predict the total overwash transport into and infilling the estuary entrance. The model is tested against the field data and compares well with the observations. While the field data are site-specific, the proposed modelling framework represents a first step in modelling the complex growth and recovery of natural beach berms in broad-scale morphodynamic models.     

ZONATION OF GLACIOMARGINAL ENVIRONMENT INFERRED FROM PLEISTOCENE DEPOSITS OF MYSLIBORZ LAKELAND, NW POLAND

The study area in Mysliborz Lakeland (Western Pomerania), NW Poland, is located in the glaciomarginal zone of the Pomeranian Phase (Weichselian glaciation). Three subenvironments of deposits are exposed in the six analysed pits: glacial ice-contact subenvironment, transitional subenvironment and glaciofluvial subenvironment. The glacial ice-contact subenvironment is dominated by coarse-grained, massive and thick beds derived from debris flows and also horizontally laminated sand and gravel deposited by sheet flows. The transitional subenvironment represents deposits between end moraine and proximal outwash plain (sandur). The transitional subenvironment is dominated by coarse-grained diamicton derived from debris flows, horizontally laminated beds deposited by sheet flows, and additionally cross-stratified sediments from channel flows and massive sand from hyper-concentrated flows. The glaciofluvial subenvironment corresponds with the distal part of the glaciomarginal zone. The processes of sediment deposition in the glaciofluvial subenvironment are derived from shallow sheet flows and channelized flows. Architectural element analysis highlights the change in lithofacies associations from glacial ice-contact, through transitional to glaciofluvial subenvironments. This sedimentological zonation of the glaciomarginal zone may have been developed in other glaciomarginal belts and remains to be recognized.     

Structural controls on the stratigraphic architecture of net‐transgressive shallow‐marine strata in a salt‐influenced rift basin: Middle‐to‐Upper Jurassic Egersund Basin,Norwegian North Sea

In this study, we integrate 3D seismic reflection, wireline log, biostratigraphic and core data from the Egersund Basin, Norwegian North Sea to determine the impact of syn‐depositional salt movement and associated growth faulting on the sedimentology and stratigraphic architecture of the Middle‐to‐Upper Jurassic, net‐transgressive, syn‐rift succession. Borehole data indicate that Middle‐to‐Upper Jurassic strata consist of low‐energy, wave‐dominated offshore and shoreface deposits and coal‐bearing coastal‐plain deposits. These deposits are arranged in four parasequences that are aggradationally to retrogradationally stacked to form a net‐transgressive succession that is up to 150‐m thick, at least 20 km in depositional strike (SW‐NE) extent, and >70 km in depositional dip (NW‐SE) extent. In this rift‐margin location, changes in thickness but not facies are noted across active salt structures. Abrupt facies changes, from shoreface sandstones to offshore mudstones, only occur across large displacement, basement‐involved normal faults. Comparisons to other tectonically active salt‐influenced basins suggest that facies changes across syn‐depositional salt structures are observed only where expansion indices are >2. Subsidence between salt walls resulted in local preservation of coastal‐plain deposits that cap shoreface parasequences, which were locally removed by transgressive erosion in adjacent areas of lower subsidence. The depositional dip that characterizes the Egersund Basin is unusual and likely resulted from its marginal location within the evolving North Sea rift and an extra‐basinal sediment supply from the Norwegian mainland.     

Geomorphological evidence for late Holocene climatic change in northern Australia

The hypothesis that the late Holocene climate of northern Australia has been characterised by periods of reduced rainfall has been examined by constructing a detailed chronostratigraphy of climatically sensitive geomorphological sites, in particular dunefields and lake deposits. There is clear evidence of aridity during the last glacial period (c. 18,000 BP), and disturbance of coastal deposits by rising sea level until 5500 BP. Following the flooding of the shallow Sunda and Sahul shelves, the climate of northern Australia appears to have become increasingly variable with an arid trend interrupted by periods of increased rainfall between 3500 and 2800 BP, again between 2100 and 1600 BP and possibly twice during the last 1000 years. It is proposed that the dry episodes are associated with persistent, large‐scale sinking, dry south‐easterly flows over the Australian tropics inhibiting the onset of the north Australian monsoon. These are similar to flows associated with present‐day ENSO events. The pattern suggests that ENSO may be associated with a larger process which may not have begun to operate until the flooding of the shallow Sunda and Sahul shelves and the opening of the Indonesian throughflow between the Pacific and Indian oceans.     

Sediment transportation and deposition by rain-triggered lahars at Merapi Volcano,Central Java,Indonesia

A lahar is a general term for a rapidly flowing mixture of rock debris and water (other than normal streamflow) from a volcano and refers to the moving flow. Located in the populated area of Central Java, the stratovolcano Merapi (2965 m) is prone to lahar generation, due to three main factors: (1) millions of cubic meters of pyroclastic deposits are the product of frequent pyroclastic flows, which have occurred on 2- to 4-year intervals; (2) rainfall intensity is high (often 40 mm in 2 h on average) during the rainy season from November to April; and (3) drainage pattern is very dense. Following the 22 November 1994 eruption of Merapi, 31 rain-triggered lahar events were recorded in the Boyong River between December 1994 and May 1996.On Merapi's slopes, instantaneous sediment concentration at any given time of the lahars varies widely over time and space. Lahars are transient sediment-water flows whose properties are unsteady, so that the sediment load fluctuates during the flow. The boundary between the flow types (debris flow, with sediment concentration >60% volume, or hyperconcentrated flow, with sediment concentration ranges from 20% to 60% volume) may fluctuate within the flow itself. Grain-size distribution, physical composition of sediments, shear stress, yield stress, and water temperature play each a role on this boundary. Natural self-damming and rapid breakout are partly responsible for the sediment variations of the flows.Debris-flow phases at Merapi typically last a few minutes to 10 min, and are often restricted to the lahar front. Debris-flow surges are sometimes preceded and always followed by longer hyperconcentrated flow phases. As a result, mean sediment concentration of the lahars is low, commonly from 20% to 50% volume. Besides, transient normal streamflow phases (sediment concentration <20% volume) can occur between two debris-flow surges.Low sediment load and frequent transient flows in the Merapi channels may result from at least three factors: (1) several breaks-in-slope along the channel increase the deposition rate of sediment, and hinder the bulking capacity of the lahars; (2) source material is mainly coarse debris of “Merapi-type” block-and-ash flows. Consequently, the remobilization of coarse debris is more difficult and the clast deposition is accelerated; (3) variations of rainfall intensity over time and space, common in tropical monsoon rainfall, also influence the sediment load variations of the lahars.Sedimentologic analyses of the lahar deposits in the Boyong River at Merapi encompass clast-supported and matrix-supported debris-flow deposits, hyperconcentrated flow deposits, and streamflow deposits. The stratigraphic succession of massive and stratified beds observed immediately after any given lahar event in the Boyong River indicates that the sediment concentration varies widely over time and space during a single lahar event. Sedimentation rate varies from 3 to 4.5 cm/min during relatively long-lived surges to as much as 20 cm/min during short-lived surges. These results indicate that the sediment load fluctuates during lahar flow, further demonstrating that lahars are transient sediment-water flows with unsteady flow properties.     

Post-eruptive sedimentary processes in volcanic crater lakes: implications for deciphering the Samoan sedimentary record

The two largest islands of the Samoan chain, Savai’i and Upolu, possess almost 400 volcanic cones. Their craters form enclosed, internally drained basins that potentially retain long, detailed and uninterrupted sedimentary sequences. Because of the sparsity, fragmentary nature and low temporal resolution of records of environmental change from the tropical Pacific, these deposits have the potential to fill an important gap in our knowledge of global climatic and environmental change. To interpret such records we must understand the depositional processes that operate in these basins. Unfortunately, although the post-eruptive sedimentology of volcanic calderas and maars is relatively well-established, that of crater lakes remains poorly understood. The volcanic edifice of Mount Lanotō in southeast Upolu was selected for investigation. The form of the volcano and its crater are typical of those observed across the island. The sediments retained in the crater are composed largely of plant-organic-rich muds that display little visible evidence of stratigraphic variation. Mineral magnetic and chemical methods were therefore employed to document the types and distribution of sedimentary facies represented in the post-eruptive crater fill and, by inference, the processes of sedimentation that had operated in the crater. The earliest post-eruptive deposits are the result of the failure of the crater’s oversteepened internal slopes. The crater floor subsequently collapsed to form a pit crater. The basal deposits in the pit crater are likely to be the product of the collapse of its walls and roof. However, the bulk of the material in the feature was laid down under lacustrine conditions. These deposits accumulated in a relatively deep-water environment. Across the rest of the accumulation zone, by contrast, water levels appear to have been shallow. Sedimentation during this phase was dominated by autochthonous plant-organic-rich deposits, with minor fine-grained clastic input. Deposition was intermittently interrupted by localised episodes of mass movement that reworked the regolith mantling the steep internal slopes of the crater into the accumulation zone in the form of low-angle fans. At the broad scale, the sedimentology of Lake Lanotō displays similarities with that of volcanic calderas and maar lakes. However, the morphological simplicity of the basin, the general absence of contemporaneous volcanic activity, the timing of the onset of lacustrine conditions, the derivation of the clastic deposits in the volcanic crater almost solely from the by-products of the volcanic eruption, and the high biological activity in the lake waters mean that there are important differences between the types and distribution of sedimentary facies identified in Lake Lanotō and those represented in models of deposition in maars and volcanic calderas.     

AN ASSESSMENT OF CLAST MACROFABRICS IN GLACIGENIC SEDIMENTS BASED ON A/B PLANE DATA

Previous studies of clast macrofabrics in glacigenic deposits have concentrated on A‐axis orientations and dips, and a variety of control samples are available based upon such measurements. Like clast A‐axes, A/B planes will also tend to rotate to parallelism with the direction of shear and therefore should also provide meaningful data on the direction and cumulative impact of shear by the depositing/deforming medium (i.e. glacier ice). The measurement of A/B plane dip and orientation avoids the potential problem of the transverse orientations observed for clast A‐axes and provides poles‐to‐plane data, thereby strengthening the modality of samples and providing clear visual impressions of stress directions. Such data also enable more significant inter‐sample comparisons of fabric strength and clast dip angles, which are significant when assessing the impact of shearing in sediment genesis. We present data on clast A/B plane dip directions and angles from subglacial tills, glacitectonite continuums, subglacially lodged clasts and glacimarine/glacilacustrine deposits using traditional methods of statistical and graphical macrofabric analysis. These sample sets will serve as control data for future macrofabric analyses that utilize A/B planes. The separation of the unequivocally lodged clast component from subglacial till samples allows us to demonstrate the influence of deformation and ploughing in the relative weakening of till fabrics as proposed by some researchers. High angles of A/B plane dip in glacigenic subaqueous deposits appear to be well developed in the glacilacustrine setting investigated here, confirming previous studies based on A‐axis dips, but less convincing in the glacimarine sediments of the Canadian Arctic, thereby widening the range of fabric strengths in subaqueous glacigenic deposits. Significant overlaps of A/B plane fabric shape envelopes reflect the strain history of subglacial and subaqueous depositional environments, which is unsurprising given the hybrid nature of glacigenic deposits, but the statistical isolation of the lodgement component from subglacial traction tills strongly suggests that the continuum of sample plots on modality/isotropy graphs reflects the range of strain histories in glacitectonites and subglacial traction till.     

Holocene debris-flow deposits and their implications on the climate in the upper Jinsha River valley, China

Major debris-flow deposits occur along the xerothermic valley of the upper Jinsha River. The debris-flow deposits, ranging in thickness from 1 to 20 m, invariably occupy gently inclined piedmont slopes. The sediments are presently deeply dissected by gullies, and the process of mass movement has almost ceased. Detailed textural, stratigraphical, and geochemical studies reveal the formation processes of the debris flows. Seven debris-flow incidents are noted based on the unit combination characteristics of debris-flow deposits. The age estimates of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) show that the occurrence of debris flows started at around 10.6 kyr BP and weakened until 4.5 kyr BP, corresponding to the obvious strengthened phase of the summer monsoons in the region. The ages of the debris-flow deposits indicate that the occurrence of a mass of debris flows was a response to the intensified summer monsoon in the SE fringe of the Tibetan Plateau since the early Holocene.     

LATE QUATERNARY MORAINES ALONG THE SEKHOKONG RANGE, EASTERN LESOTHO: CONTRASTING THE GEOMORPHIC HISTORY OF NORTH- AND SOUTH-FACING SLOPES

Considerable Quaternary environmental reconstruction for the high Drakensberg is based on geomorphological and sedimentological work undertaken along the northern aspects of the Sekhokong mountain range of eastern Lesotho. Given that no previous investigations have focused on the southern aspects, this paper documents the observed geomorphology and provides a more complete palaeo-environmental picture for this range. Data on the morphology, sedimentology and micromorphology for two linear debris ridges are presented. It is demonstrated that the two ridges are most likely moraines originating from a small niche glacier. The combined use of macro- and micro-scale sedimentology is proven to be an essential tool in ascribing a glacial process origin for the landforms, given the complex depositional history they have undergone. AMS ages obtained from the deposits (14 700 cal. yrs bp and 19 350 cal. yrs bp ) places these in the time-scale of the Last Glacial Maximum. The study demonstrates rather contrasting aspect-controlled palaegeomorphological environments along the Sekhokong range, which is also reflected in the dissimilar contemporary biophysical micro-environments. It is suggested that the south-facing slopes were dominated by glacial processes during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), as is evident from the moraines, while the proposition for previously described north-facing glacial cirques is rejected based on the absence of erosional/depositional evidence and greater insolation received on these warmerequator-facing slopes. Rather, we propose that the observed north-facing hollows are a product of a multitude of geomorphic processes spanning several tens to hundreds of thousands of years.     

青藏高原东部黄土沉积的基本特征及其环境

青藏高原东部黄土沉积分布广泛。本文对青藏高原东部较大范围内黄土沉积从地层学、年代学和沉积学等方面做了初步研究。结果表明:高原黄土属典型的风成沉积,其物质主要来源于高原本身,高原冬季风是粉尘搬运的动力。研究区黄土沉积虽始于中更新世,但目前分布最广泛的黄土沉积主要是末次间冰期以来的产物。高原黄土沉积地层的黄土-古土壤序列中蕴藏着丰富的环境变化信息,是研究高原季风演化的良好地质记录。中更新世以来,末次间冰期以前,研究区经历了11次高原冬季风强盛和11次高原夏季风占优势的时段;末次间冰期以来,共经历了6次夏季风占主导地位和5次冬季风强盛时期。     

Wood-mediated geomorphic effects of a jökulhlaup in the Wind River Mountains, Wyoming

A jökulhlaup burst from the head of Grasshopper Glacier in Wyoming's Wind River Mountains during early September 2003. Five reaches with distinct sedimentation patterns were delineated along the Dinwoody Creek drainage. This paper focuses on a portion of the jökulhlaup route where erosion of the forested banks created 16 large logjams spaced at longitudinal intervals of tens to hundreds of meters. Aggradation within the main channel upstream from each logjam created local sediment wedges, and the jams facilitated overbank deposition during the jökulhlaup. Field surveys during 2004 and 2006 documented logjam characteristics and associated erosional and depositional features, as well as initial modification of the logjams and flood deposits within the normal seasonal high-flow channel. Overbank deposits have not been altered by flows occurring since 2003. Field measurements supported three hypotheses that (i) logjams present along the forested portions of the jökulhlaup route are larger and more closely spaced than those along adjacent, otherwise comparable stream channels that have not recently experienced a jökulhlaup; (ii) logjams are not randomly located along the jökulhlaup route, but instead reflect specific conditions of channel and valley geometry and flood hydraulics; and (iii) the presence of logjams facilitated significant erosional and depositional effects. This paper documents a sequence of events in which outburst floodwaters enhance bank erosion and recruitment of wood into the channel, and thus the formation of large logjams. These logjams sufficiently deflect flow to create substantial overbank deposition in areas of the valley bottom not commonly accessed by normal snowmelt peak discharges, and through this process promote valley-bottom aggradation and sediment storage. Changes in the occurrence of glacier outburst floods thus have the potential to alter the rate and magnitude of valley-bottom dynamics in these environments, which is particularly relevant given predictions of worldwide global warming and glacial retreat. Processes observed at this field site likely occur in other forested catchments with headwater glaciers.     

Morphodynamic response of a meso- to macro-tidal intermediate beach based on a long-term data set

Four years of bi-monthly topographic surveys have been conducted on a 350 m stretch of the meso- to macro-tidal Truc Vert beach, France. Here we study the dynamics of both the inner bar and the upper part of the beach where a berm can develop in the presence of fair weather conditions. For the inner bar, the occurrences of the different states within the intermediate classification, following that of Wright and Short (Wright, L.D., Short, A.D. 1984. Morphodynamic variability of surf zones and beaches: a synthesis. Marine Geology 56, 93–118), are presented and compared to other sites in both micro- and meso-tidal environments. The results show a similar frequency of occurrence of the Transverse Bar and Rip (TBR) state, while the more dissipative states, Rhythmic Bar and Beach (RBB) and Longshore Bar and Trough (LBT), are less regularly observed despite the high wave energy levels. The LBT and RBB states are also observed in the presence of fair weather conditions and the TBR state can persist during very energetic events. Similar results are also observed with the upper beach dynamics. Very energetic events are not necessarily associated with erosion while and low-energy events are not necessarily accompanied by accretion. The conditions given here indicate, that berm development occurs preferentially when the beach morphology exhibits a TBR or a LTT state. Apart from the control exerted by offshore wave conditions, the beach state and berm development patterns exhibited by Truc Vert beach are also discussed within the framework of possible morphological (morphodynamic) feedback and of the influence of the meso- to macrotidal range which modulates the type, intensity and duration of the wave processes operating on the cross-shore profile.