Early deformation fabrics of melange in the Mesozoic Waipapa Terrane, North Island, New Zealand

Abstract The Waipapa Terrane in northern North Island, New Zealand, is a Mesozoic accretion-ary complex formed along the Gondwana margin. It contains abundant melange rocks with distinctive characteristics. Precise analyses of their mesoscopic fabrics in Waiheke Island near Auckland have revealed the following sequence of deformation. The earliest phase of deformation of the sandstone/mudstone association, which is the main constituent of this terrane, originated by chaotic mixing of sand and mud due to liquidization of water-saturated, poorly consolidated sediments. The second phase was characterized by hydrofracturing and subsequent forceful injection of ductile mud into rather brittle sand. Local intrusions of sand forming dykes and sills followed these events, as well as intrusions of pelagic/hemipelagic green argillite originally underlying the sandstone/mudstone association. An abundant occurrence of these mixing and multi-stage injection/intrusion fabrics strongly suggest that the Waipapa Terrane around the study area was a site of high pore-fluid pressure. Scaly-foliated melange fabrics with monoclinic symmetry, originating from layer-parallel shearing, were then locally superimposed on the pre-existing melange fabrics. Similar scaly-foliated fabrics also developed in the chert beds originally intercalated between the green argillite and the uppermost part of the oceanic crust. These scaly fabrics might have been related to the regional stacking and juxtaposition of the accreted sediments. The sequence and variation in style of deformation forming the melange fabrics presumably reflected changes in porosity and state of compaction of accreted sediments in a shallow tectonic level.     

Detachments and normal faulting in the Marche fold-and-thrust belt (central Apennines, Italy): inferences on fluid migration paths

In the outermost domains of the central Apennines fold-and-thrust belt, the structural architecture of the late Miocene–early Pliocene contractional edifice was controlled by competence contrasts in the Calcareous–Marly sequences of Mesozoic–Tertiary age, and by a different state of lithification of the rock units at the onset of deformation. Field data on relative chronology of outcrop-scale structures (cleavage, veins, faults, folds) are presented for the three largest thrust-ramp anticlines of the Marche fold-and-thrust belt: Monte Gorzano, Acquasanta and Montagna dei Fiori-Montagnone. The data show that the timing and geometry of deformation structures differ for: (1) the lower Calcareous interval of late Triassic–early Cretaceous age (LCI) bounded on top by the intermediate detachment (ID) of the Fucoidi Marls; (2) the upper Calcareous–Marly interval (UCMI) of late Cretaceous–Oligocene age; (3) the uppermost detachment zone (UDZ) of lower–middle Miocene age; (4) the topmost Messinian Flysch sequence (FS). In the UDZ early episodes of deformation are manifested by compaction of a poorly lithified sequence followed by pervasive development of layer-parallel pressure-solution cleavage. Reverse faults ramp obliquely across the stratigraphic sequence, and are coated by multiple overgrowths of calcite fibers. These structures are deformed by large, eastward-verging asymmetric folds with N–S axial trends, and are cut by late generations of reverse faults. Normal faults started to develop in the fold backlimbs during the final stages of shortening, in middle–late Pliocene times. These early normal faults were reactivated during episodes of late Pliocene–Pleistocene extensional downfaulting, and are now superposed on the compressional edifice. The UDZ is interpreted to have temporarily sealed the upward escape of fluids during the initial episodes of shortening. Pervasive interlayer flow in the poorly lithified sequence was responsible for development of broken beds and scaly fabrics, similar to those observed in accretionary prisms. Only in the latest stages of deformation did propagation of discrete faults provide an interconnected pathway for fluid migration, until the final offset of the UDZ. The structural relationships suggest that fluids trapped within the fold cores and sealed by the UDZ were finally driven upwards due to progressive disruption of the thrust belt by late normal faults of late Pliocene to Pleistocene and Holocene age. Large-scale fluid migration along structurally-controlled pathways was enhanced by the strong components of uplift consequent to the final stages of deformation in the Marche fold-and-thrust belt, and was eventually associated with episodes of normal seismic faulting.     

Deformation history during chain building deduced by outcrop structural analysis: The case of the Sicilian fold-and-thrust belt (Central Mediterranean)

The Sicilian fold-and-thrust belt is located in the central Mediterranean area, and it represents the south-eastern arcuate segment of the Apennine-Maghrebide orogen. The tectonic evolution of the Sicilian belt is documented after outcrop analysis of small-scale structural features carried out throughout the region. Results are consistent with the following four main deformation stages having affected the study area, from the oldest to the youngest: (i) multilayer weakening; (ii) folding-and-thrusting, (iii) extension, and (iv) renewed thrusting. The first deformation stage included three different substages (layer-parallel shortening, bed-parallel simple shear and fold nucleation), the second one by both thrusting and fold amplification and tightening. The third deformation stage involved re-activation of the pre-existing mechanical discontinuities and formation of low-to-high angle normal faults. Out-of-sequence thrusting postdated the aforementioned extensional stage, and formed the latest orogenic deformation stage that affected the Sicilian belt.     

Geology and age model of the Lower Pleistocene Nojima,Ofuna, and Koshiba Formations of the middle Kazusa Group,a forearc basin‐fill sequence on the Miura Peninsula,the Pacific side of central Japan

We present field and core observations, nannofossil biostratigraphy, and stable oxygen isotope fluctuations in foraminiferal tests to describe the geology and to construct an age model of the Lower Pleistocene Nojima, Ofuna, and Koshiba Formations (in ascending order) of the middle Kazusa Group, a forearc basin‐fill succession, exposed on the northern Miura Peninsula on the Pacific side of central Japan. In the study area, the Nojima Formation is composed of sandy mudstone and alternating sandy mudstone and mudstone, the Ofuna Formation of massive mudstone, and the Koshiba Formation of sandy mudstone, muddy sandstone, and sandstone. The Kazusa Group contains many tuff beds that are characteristic of forearc deposits. Thirty‐six of those tuff beds have characteristic lithologies and stratigraphic positions that allow them to be traced over considerable distances. Examination of calcareous nannofossils revealed three nannofossil datum planes in the sequences: datum 10 (first appearance of large Gephyrocapsa), datum 11 (first appearance of Gephyrocapsa oceanica), and datum 12 (first appearance of Gephyrocapsa caribbeanica). Stable oxygen isotope data from the tests of the planktonic foraminifer Globorotalia inflata extracted from cores were measured to identify the stratigraphic fluctuations of oxygen isotope ratios that are controlled by glacial–interglacial cycles. The observed fluctuations were assigned to marine isotope stages (MISs) 49–61 on the basis of correlations of the fluctuations with nannofossil datum planes. Using the age model obtained, we estimated the ages of 24 tuff beds. Among these, the SKT‐11 and SKT‐12 tuff beds have been correlated with the Kd25 and Kd24 tuff beds, respectively, of the Kiwada Formation on the Boso Peninsula. The Kd25 and Kd24 tuff beds are widely recognized in Pleistocene strata in Japan. We used our age model to date SKT‐11 at 1573 ka and SKT‐12 at 1543 ka.     

Earthquake-controlled event deposits and its tectonic significance from the Middle Permian Wandrawandian Siltstone in the Sydney Basin,Australia

Earthquake is a disaster event resulting from rapid and intensive crustal vibration caused by fault activity, volcanic eruption, or block dilapidation. Heezen and Ewing[1] and Heezen and Dyke[2] were the first to note earthquake-related mass movement and associated deposits in connection to the turbidity currents and submarine slumps triggered by the Grand Bank Earthquake in 1929. Seilacher[3] defined redeposited sedimentary beds, disturbed and modified by earth- quakes, as seismite. Since t…     

Deformation of poorly consolidated sediment during shallow emplacement of a basalt sill,Coso Range,California

A 150-m-long, wedge-shaped unit of folded and faulted marly siltstone crops out between undeformed sedimentary rocks on the north flank of the Coso Range, California. The several-meter-thick blunt end of this wedge abuts the north margin of a basaltic sill of comparable thickness. Chaotically deformed siltstone crops out locally at the margin of this sill, and at one locality breccia pipes about one meter in diameter crosscut the sill. The sill extends about 1 km south up the paleoslope, where it merges through continuous outcrop with a lava flow that in turn extends 1.4 km to a vent area marked by more than 100 m of agglutinate and scoria. Apparently, lava extruded at this vent flowed onto unconsolidated sediments, burrowed into them, and fed a sill at about 40 m depth within the sedimentary sequence. The sill initially propagated by wedging between sedimentary beds, but eventually began to push some beds ahead of itself, forming a remarkable train of folds in the process. The sediments apparently were wet at the time of sill emplacement, because hydrothermal alteration is common near the contact between the two rock types and because the breccia pipes that crosscut the sill apparently resulted from phreatic explosions of pore water heated at the base of the cooling sill. Comparison of deformation of the host material at the Coso locality with that reportedly caused by emplacement of sills elsewhere indicates that the character of deformation differs greatly among the various localities. The specific response of host material depends upon such parameters as initial properties of magma and host material, rate of sill growth and attendant rate of strain of host material, and depth of sill emplacement. Some properties may change considerably during an intrusive-deformational episode, thus complicating accurate reconstruction of such an event.     

Paleostress fields from calcite twins in the Pyeongan Supergroup, South Korea

Abstract   Paleostress fields of the Late Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic Pyeongan Supergroup that is distributed along the northeastern part of the Ogcheon Belt in South Korea were investigated using the calcite strain gauge (CSG) technique. Combining the results of this study with those of other studies investigating the relationship between twin strain, twin density and width, which are used as indicators of deformation conditions in the natural low-temperature deformation of limestone, it was estimated that calcite twins in the study area were probably formed at temperatures lower than 170°C. From two samples, two different principal paleostress directions were inferred from calcite twins, while only one direction was inferred from two other samples. This result suggests that deformation occurred during two or more different tectonic events in the Pyeongan Supergroup during the Mesozoic era. The maximum shortening axis was oriented in two directions, northeast–southwest and northwest–southeast, respectively, which coincide well with the paleostress directions inferred from the stress inversion for many fault sets. Combining the results of the paleostress analysis from this and other studies, we hypothesize that the directions of the maximum shortening axis in the Pyeongan Supergroup changed from northeast–southwest during the pre-Daebo orogeny period (Late Triassic period) to northwest–southeast during the syn-Daebo orogeny period (Early Jurassic to Early Cretaceous period) in the Mesozoic era.     

河南省濮阳-滑县一带煤田地质特征

河南省濮阳-滑县一带煤田位于华北陆块南部华北坳陷之内黄凸起,地层分区属华北区华北平原分区豫北小区。通过地震剖面工作,在其控制的范围内,经过钻探验证,普遍存在二,煤层,其底板标高为-1000m～-1650m,含煤地层是一个走向北东的单斜,向西南倾伏,倾角为6°～8°。二1煤底板为深灰色致密泥岩或为砂质泥岩;顶板为炭质泥岩、泥岩、砂质泥岩、粉砂岩、细-中粒砂。二1煤层厚度5．15m～8．50m。煤质以亮型、半亮型块状煤为主,属低硫中低灰分高发热量的优质煤。     

Complex proximal deposition during the Plinian eruptions of 1912 at Novarupta,Alaska

Proximal (<3 km) deposits from episodes II and III of the 60-h-long Novarupta 1912 eruption exhibit a very complex stratigraphy, the result of at least four transport regimes and diverse depositional mechanisms. They contrast with the relatively simple stratigraphy (and inferred emplacement mechanisms) for the previously documented, better known, medial–distal fall deposits and the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes ignimbrite. The proximal products include alternations and mixtures of both locally and regionally dispersed fall ejecta, and numerous thin complex deposits of pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) with no regional analogs. The locally dispersed component of the fall deposits forms sector-confined wedges of material whose thicknesses halve radially from and concentrically about the vent over distances of 100–300 m (cf. several kilometers for the medial–distal fall deposits). This locally dispersed fall material (and many of the associated PDC deposits) is rich in andesitic and banded pumices and richer in shallow-derived wall-rock lithics in comparison with the coeval medial fall units of almost entirely dacitic composition. There are no marked contrasts in grain size in the near-vent deposits, however, between locally and widely dispersed beds, and all samples of the proximal fall deposits plot as a simple continuation of grain size trends for medial–distal samples. Associated PDC deposits form a spectrum of facies from fines-poor, avalanched beds through thin-bedded, landscape-mantling beds to channelized lobes of pumice-block-rich ignimbrite. The origins of the Novarupta near-vent deposits are considered within a spectrum of four transport regimes: (1) sustained buoyant plume, (2) fountaining with co-current flow, (3) fountaining with counter-current flow, and (4) direct lateral ejection. The Novarupta deposits suggest a model where buoyant, stable, regime-1 plumes characterized most of episodes II and III, but were accompanied by transient and variable partitioning of clasts into the other three regimes. Only one short period of vent blockage and cessation of the Plinian plume occurred, separating episodes II and III, which was followed by a single PDC interpreted as an overpressured "blast" involving direct lateral ejection. In contrast, regimes 2 and 3 were reflected by spasmodic sedimentation from the margins of the jet and perhaps lower plume, which were being strongly affected by short-lived instabilities. These instabilities in turn are inferred to be associated with heterogeneities in the mixture of gas and pyroclasts emerging from the vent. Of the parameters that control explosive eruptive behavior, only such sudden and asymmetrical changes in the particle concentration could operate on time scales sufficiently short to explain the rapid changes in the proximal 1912 products.Editorial responsibility: R. Cioni     

Carbonate sedimentation in seagrass beds on Ishigaki‐jima,Ryukyu Islands,southwestern Japan

In order to investigate biota and sedimentary facies, and to delineate processes of carbonate sedimentation in seagrass beds, we conducted sedimentological investigations along three onshore–offshore transects at two sites (Nagura and Yoshihara) on Ishigaki‐jima, Ryukyu Islands. Along the transects, the seagrass beds extended seaward 20–40 m from shore, and their widths parallel to the shore ranged from 60 to >110 m. The seagrass was dominated by Thalassia hemprichii, Cymodocea rotundata and subordinate C. serrulata. Seasonal changes in seagrass coverage were evident, with mean coverage relatively higher in summer and fall (July and October) than in winter and spring (January and April). The surface sediment throughout the seagrass beds was dominated by medium to very coarse sand‐sized bioclasts displaying grainstone/packstone fabrics. Bioclasts were dominated by corals and coralline algae, with lesser benthic foraminifers, mollusks, echinoids, and Halimeda. The grainstone/packstone was underlain by gravelly sediment with coral clasts, showing a rudstone fabric, at the Nagura Site. The lower part of the core sediment was blackened, indicating a reducing environment. Two dates of corals collected at the Nagura and Yoshihara sites (24.5 cm and 16.5 cm below the sea bottom) were 2781–2306 and 4374–3805 cal BP (2σ age range), respectively, suggesting extremely low sedimentation rates (<0.1 mm/year). Sediment influx was higher during July–January than during January–July. The relatively large influx during summer and fall is caused by massive sediment transport during typhoons and storms. The total sediment influx (i.e., suspension‐load sediment transportation) is 74–96 kg CaCO₃/m²/year at the Nagura Site and 21–57 kg CaCO₃/m²/year at the Yoshihara Site. Sediment influx was significantly greater in the seagrass beds than in surrounding areas, providing supporting evidence for an sediment trapping function of seagrass beds. Our data indicate that seagrass beds in the Ryukyu Islands are characterized by high sediment fluxes and extremely low sedimentation rates.     

Magnetic anisotropy of clayey and silty members of tertiary flysch from the Silesian and Skole nappes (Outer Carpathians)

AMS studies earlier carried out on the flysch sediments from the Outer Western Carpathians focused on the sandstone members deposited from turbidity currents. The main conclusion of these studies was that the dominant features of the AMS fabric developed during sedimentation and the tectonic overprint was weak. In recent years a large number of claystone (deposited also from turbidity currents, but in calm water) localities were sampled from the Krosno beds of the Silesian nappe, primarily for paleomagnetic study. Nevertheless, the AMS of the samples was also measured. The magnetic fabrics of the claystones were dominated by foliation, but lineations were also expressed and attributed to deformation. The question arose how different are the reactions of the claystone and the siltstone beds to deformation.     

Layer-parallel faults, duplexes, imbricate thrusts and vein structures of the Miura Group: Keys to understanding the Izu fore-arc sediment accretion to the Honshu fore arc

Abstract The Miura Group (Miocene-Pliocene) of south-central Japan shows a number of unique lithological and structural features. The group is composed of volcanic arc-derived marine sediments, and those in the south of the Mineoka Tectonic Belt particularly show various kinds of complex structures such as layer-parallel faults, thrust duplexes, imbricate thrusts and vein structures, yet the degree of compaction of the sediments is still remarkably low. These structures involve deformations at a very early stage and at shallow depths. They arose shortly after sedimentation within the Izu fore arc, and continued during accretion to the Honshu fore arc. The deformational stages are classified here into three stages, the first comprises bedding-parallel faulting associated with gravitational sliding and sediment injection. The first vein structures formed during this stage in the Izu fore arc area. These structures are cut by features developed during the second and third stages: especially thrusting, including duplex and imbricate thrusts. This horizontal shortening occurred during the accretionary prism formation on the subduction plate boundary. The second vein structures formed during this stage in the accretionary prism formation. The origin of the vein structures was discussed both by field observation and laboratory experiments. The latter suggests earthquake origin and the formative process is explained in relation to the field evidence.     

Middle Permian radiolarians from Anmenkou, Chaohu, Northeastern Yangtze platform, China

The biostratigraphy of the Middle Permian Gufeng Formation in the northeastern Yangtze platform is examined based on radiolarians. This study is concentrated on the Anmenkou section in the Chaohu area of Anhui Province, China. The Gufeng Formation is divided into the Phosphate Nodule-bearing Mudstone Member (PNMM) and the Siliceous Rock Member (SRM) in ascending order. The former primarily consists of mudstone including abundant phosphate nodules, and the latter consists mainly of alternating beds of chert, siliceous mudstone and mudstone, with intercalations of porous chert. Ammonoids in the mudstone of the lower PNMM are Wordian. Chert, siliceous mudstone and mudstone of the SRM include abundant radiolarians with sponge spicule assemblages suggestive of the Wordian–Capitanian. Albaillellaria are predominant in the lower SRM, while Entactinaria and Spumellaria are predominant in the middle and upper SRM. These radiolarians correspond to three radiolarian assemblage zones: Pseudoalbaillella longtanensis – Pseudoalbaillella fusiformis , Follicucullus monacanthus , and Follicucullus scholasticus – Ruzhencevispongus uralicus . The assemblage of radiolarians and sponge spicule fauna suggests a depositional depth of 150–500 m. The radiolarian fauna of the Gufeng Formation is considered to be representative of the relatively shallow, tropical radiolarian fauna of the Middle Permian eastern Paleotethys.     

A field study of coastal dynamics on a muddy coast offshore of Cassino beach,Brazil

Mud deposits near sandy beaches, found throughout the world, are of scientific and societal interest as they form important natural sea defenses by efficiently damping storm waves. A multi-national field experiment to study these phenomena was performed offshore Cassino beach in southern Brazil starting in 2004. This experiment aimed to investigate the formation of an offshore mud deposit, to characterize wave attenuation over potentially mobile muddy bottoms, and to evaluate the performance of models for wave transformation over heterogeneous beds through the measurement of water waves, near-bottom currents, bathymetry, and changes in bottom sediment characteristics. The main instrumentation was a set of wave sensors deployed in a transect from the shoreline across sandy and muddy deposits offshore to a depth of 25 m. Additional sensors, including current meters and optical backscatter sensors, were concentrated at stations in the middle of the mud deposit and in the surf zone to document aspects of the wave boundary layer and lutocline dynamics. This fieldwork also involved the geological and geotechnical characterization of the mud deposit using seismic equipment, echo-sounders, cores, surficial sampling and an in-situ density meter. These sediment samples were subsequently analyzed for density, grain size distribution, mineralogy, rheology and sedimentary structures. In addition, video and radar monitoring equipment were installed to measure the long-term aspects of surf zone damping by fluid mud and any associated morphodynamic responses. This paper provides a summary of environmental conditions monitored during the experiment and describes the major findings of the various investigations. Although data collection was more difficult than anticipated and dramatic wave attenuation involving the onshore transport of fluid mud into the surf zone region was not observed during the instrumented interval, the new methodologies developed and comprehensive observations obtained during this effort are being used to improve our understanding of shoaling wave dynamics and sediment transport in the coastal zone in regions with significant cohesive sediment deposits.     

Discovery of Jurassic ammonoids from the Shyok suture zone to the northeast of Chang La Pass, Ladakh, northwest India and its tectonic significance

Abstract   Callovian (late Middle Jurassic) ammonoids Macrocephalites and Jeanneticeras were recovered from the Shyok suture zone, northeast of Chang La Pass, Ladakh, northwest India. They are the first reliable Jurassic fossils and the oldest chronologic data from the Shyok suture zone. The ammonoid-bearing Jurassic strata, newly defined as the Tsoltak Formation, consist largely of terrigenous mudstone with thin sandstone beds and were probably a part of the continental basement to the Cretaceous Ladakh Arc.     

Lithology, kinematics and geochronology related to Late Mesozoic basin-mountain evolution in the Nanxiong-Zhuguang area, South China

The Nanling Mountain is an important Mesozoic orogenic belt in the south of China, its E-W-trending granites and adjacent sedimentary basins form a dis-tinctive basin-mountain landform. The Nanxiong basin and the Zhuguang granite, both located in the northern Nanling belt, make up a typical basin-mountain sys-tem. Since the 1970s, a systematical research on gran-ites and their deposit ores was carried out, from that the two main viewpoints were proposed[1—5], including (1) the polyphase gr…     

Anomalous structural evolution of the Shimanto Accretionary Prism at Murotomisaki, Shikoku Island, Japan

Abstract The Late Oligocene-Early Miocene Nabae Sub-belt of the Shimanto Accretionary Prism was created coevally (ca 25-15 Ma) with the opening of the Shikoku back-arc basin, located to the south of the southwest Japan convergent margin. The detailed geology of the sub-belt has been controversial and the interaction of the Shimanto accretionary prism and the opening of the Shikoku Basin has been ambiguous. New structural analysis of the sub-belt has led to a new perception of its structural framework and has significant bearing on the interpretation of the Neogene tectonics of southwest Japan. The sub-belt is divided into three units: the Nabae Complex; the Shijujiyama Formation; and the Maruyama Intrusive Suite. The Nabae Complex comprises coherent units and mélange, all of which show polyphase deformation. The first phase of deformation appears to have involved landward vergent thrusting of coherent units over the mélange terrane. The second phase of deformation involved continued landward vergent shortening. The Shijujiyama Formation, composed mainly of mafic volcanics and massive sandstone, is interpreted as a slope basin deposited upon the Nabae Complex during the second phase of deformation. The youngest deformational pulse involved regional flexing and accompanying pervasive faulting. During this event, mafic rocks of the Maruyama Intrusive Suite intruded the sub-belt. Fossil evidence in the Nabae Complex and radiometric dates on the intrusive rocks indicate that this tectonic scheme was imprinted upon the sub-belt between ～23 and ～14 Ma. The timing of accretion and deformation of the sub-belt coincides with the opening of the Shikoku Basin; hence, subduction and spreading operated simultaneously. Accretion of the Nabae Sub-belt was anomalous, involving landward vergent thrusting, magmatism in newly accreted strata and regional flexing. It is proposed that this complex and anomalous structural history is largely related to the subduction of the active Shikoku Basin spreading ridge and associated seamounts.     

The role of strain partitioning on intermontane basin inception and isolation,External Western Gibraltar Arc

The intermontane Ronda Basin, currently located in the Western Betics External Zones, started as an embayment of the Betic foreland basin during the Tortonian. We have characterized a post-Serravallian, basin-related deformation event that overprinted the former fold-and-thrust belt. Updated structural and kinematic maps allow us to identify NW–SE basinward-dipping normal faults at the southwestern and northeastern boundaries of the basin and NE–SW shortening structures (large-scale folds and reverse faults) affecting both the outcropping basement and partially the basin infill. In order to test the possible tectonic activity of these structures during the last 5 Ma, exhaustive geomorphologic analyses in the Ronda Basin area have been done. This included the qualitative study of relief and drainage network, together with the characterization of quantitative indices (SLk, Smf, V_f and HI). These results obtained from this analysis are coherent with structural data and suggest that the identified post-Serravallian structures were active up to at least 5 Ma. We also conclude that the Ronda Basin was generated by along strike segmentation of the relief in the Western Betics induced by NE–SW (arc-parallel) stretching accompanied with NW–SE shortening. In the NW basin boundary, the strain was partitioned into ENE–WSW dextral strike-slip faults and NE–SW shortening structures, which gave rise to a Messinian transpressive structural high that disconnected the former Ronda Basin from its parental foreland basin.     

Flow and sedimentary processes in the meandering river South Esk,Glen Clova,Scotland

Channel geometry, flow and sedimentation in a meander bend of the River South Esk were studied from bankfull stages (January–February) to low water stages (May) in 1974. Bed topography varied little over the study period, showing a typical pool and ripple geometry. Variation of mean depth and velocity with discharge differed from section to section around the bend, due primarily to locally varying flow resistance with stage. The flow pattern for all stages was dominated by a single spiral over the point bar, with a development zone at the bend entrance. Deviation of bed shear stress from the mean flow direction was in general accord with theory, especially for high stages. The use of a uniform longitudinal water surface slope in the calculation of bed shear stress is not justified because of a complicated water surface topography, also such calculated shear may not represent effective bed shear on grains, as it accounts also for energy losses associated with secondary flows. Dunes covered much of the bar at high stages, with increasing proportions of ripples, sand ribbons and lower phase plane beds at low stages. Local flow resistance generally decreases from dunes, diminished and ripple-backed dunes, ripples, sand ribbons to plane beds, and bed forms are predicted quite well by the stream power-grain size scheme. Mean size, sorting and skewness of sediment over the bed changes little with stage. In general, size decreases, sorting improves and skewness changes from positive to negative from the talweg to the inner bank, and in the downstream direction. Allen's (1970a, b) force balance equation for moving bed load particles is supported for bankfull stage, with some reservations, and textural characteristics are explained by progressive sorting in the direction of sediment transport. Large-scale trough cross stratification (with some flat bedding) formed at high stage by dunes (and lower phase plane beds) dominates the point bar sediments. Alternations of fine-medium sand (often cross-laminated) and vegetation-rich layers result from periodic deposition on the grassed upper bar surface. Fining upwards sequences produced by lateral channel migration are modified by a coarsening upward subsequence in the upstream bar region where spiral flow is developing from the bend upstream.