The morphology and late Quaternary paleogeomorphology of the continental shelf off Sydney,NSW

Shallow seismic-reflection profiling and proton-precession magnetometry have been conducted over the continental shelf off Sydney between Broken Bay (in the north) and Bate Bay (in the south) as well as over part of the upper continental slope in the area east of the coastline between Narrabeen and Port Hacking. In this area, four major paleodrainage channels incise the bedrock, within the coastal estuaries and on the inner and mid-shelf:

1. the Hawkesbury paleo-watercourse, which is joined offshore by four lesser paleochannels, that we call the Newport, Mona Vale, Narrabeen and Long Reef paleo-watercourses;

2. the Parramatta paleo-watercourse, which is joined by the Bondi paleo-watercourse;

3. the Botany paleo-watercourse and

4. the Georges paleo-watercourse, which is joined under the Kurnell Peninsula land isthmus by the Cooks paleo-watercourse, and then by the Hacking paleo-watercourses in Bate Bay.

Of these paleodrainages, only that of the Hawkesbury River has discernible expression at depths >120 m, the sea-level low and inferred paleo-shoreline of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) at ca 20 ka. Some of the lesser paleo-watercourses are manifested only at depths shallower than the ?120 m paleo-shoreline and include those of the Maroubra paleo-watercourse and the combined Manly/North Head paleo-watercourses. Paleochannels detected below the LGM shoreline are those of:

• the ancestral Hawkesbury River;

• the minor Peak paleo-watercourse east of Coogee, which is discernible at depths shallower than the ?100 m isobath and is maintained to depths greater than ?210 m; and

• the minor Island paleo-watercourse whose head terminates at ～?140 m east of Bronte, lies entirely below the LGM paleo-shoreline, and can be traced to a depth of ?260 m.

Based on the paleotopographic and sediment-infill geophysical records obtained, 10 stages in the evolution of the paleo-watercourses are proposed.     

Dominance of point source in heavy metal distributions in sediments of a major Sydney estuary (Australia)

 Size-normalized (<63 μm) distributions of Cu, Zn, and Pb in the surficial sediments of one of Sydneys' four major estuaries – the Georges River/Botany Bay estuary – are not facies or depositionally controlled, but rather their distribution is dominated by source. Point sources (waste dumps, sewage overflows, and discharge from a polluted river) are responsible for elevating sediment heavy-metal concentrations up to 50 times above background. Nonpoint sources contribute in raising baseline levels to four times background and comprise mainly stormwater and also marinas, moorings, and wharfs/jetties. Heavy metals disgorged from a point source (Cooks River) strongly impact the sediments in the lower estuary, which has implications for the construction of a new runway for Sydney airport. Received: 3 October 1994 · Accepted: 21 September 1995     

Detecting trends in seagrass abundance using aerial photograph interpretation: Problems arising with the evolution of mapping methods

In the late 1970s and early 1980s an inventory of seagrass distribution in southeast Australia was made from multiscale aerial photographs using a simple analog mapping method, referred to here as theCamera lucida technique. Four priority estuaries were remapped in 2003, also using multi-scale aerial photographs, but using a geographic information system (GIS)-based analog mapping technique. We quantified the degree of error that arose when estimates of seagrass distribution were compared for the two techniques be ressessing. with GIS, the same aerial photographs used earlier for four estuaries: Port Hacking, Bermagui River, Merimbula Lake, and St Georges Basin.Camera lucida produced a larger estimate of total seagrass area than GIS in all four locations: 8% of total seagrass area or 12.9 ha in Port Hacking, 15% or 5 ha in Bermagui River, 20% or 38.0 ha in Merimbula Lake, and 243% or 502.2 ha in St Georges Basin. The consistent and moderate discrepancy in Port Hacking, Bermagui River, and Merimbula Lake was attributed mainly to differences betweenCamera lucida and GIS, such as the tendency ofCamera lucida to overestimate seagrass area by amalgamating disjunct seagrass patches into continuous meadows. The large discrepancy at St Georges Basin was attributed to interoperator error; i.e., the operators who mapped photographs taken in 1979 had widely differing interpretations of the aerial photographs. A 20-yr trend was calculated for each estuary using either theCamera lucida or revised GIS value as the start point. Perceived management status of the seagrass depended greatly on the initial data used. In St Georges Basin, a catastrophic decline (65%, 553.9 ha) occurred based on theCamera lucida-GIS comparison but only a small decline (14.7%, 51.8 ha) when all photos were GIS assessed, In view of the technical developments in habitat mapping, evaluation of change in seagrass abundance using remote sensing needs an assessment of intra-operator error, inter-operator error, and systemic error before maps produced by superseded technology are considered useful baselines.     

Early Holocene history of the southwestern Baltic Sea: the Ancylus Lake stage

One of the most discussed stages in the history of the Baltic Sea is the Ancylus Lake phase. This paper presents detailed information from the Darss Sill threshold area as well as the adjacent basins, i.e. the Mecklenburg Bay and Arkona Basin located in the southwesternmost Baltic. The threshold area was transgressed at the Baltic Ice Lake maximum phase and during the following regression about 10.3 ka BP a river valley was incised in the Darss Sill to a level of 23-24 m below present sea level (b.s.l.). Preboreal sediments in the study area show lowstand basin deposition in the Arkona Basin and the existence of a local lake in Mecklenburg Bay. The lowstand system is followed by the Ancylus Lake transgression that reached a maximum level of 19 m b.s.l. Thus, at the maximum level the water depth was about 5 m over the threshold, and the shore level fall during the Ancylus Lake regression must be in the same range. The Darss Sill area is the key area for drainage of the Ancylus Lake, and if the previously suggested regression of 8-10 m in southeastern Sweden is to be achieved, isostatic rebound must also play a role. The existence of the so-called Dana River in the Darss Sill area cannot be supported by our investigations. We observed no signs of progressive erosion of the Darss Sill area in the Early Holocene, and there are no prograding systems in Mecklenburg Bay that can be related to the Ancylus Lake regression. On the contrary, local lakes developed in Mecklenburg Bay and in the Darss Sill threshold area. In the Darss Sill area, marl was deposited in a lake in the valley that developed after the final drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake. Studies of diatoms and macrofossils, combined with seismic interpretation and radiocarbon dating, provide detailed information about the chronology and the relative shore level of these lake phases as well as about environmental conditions in the lakes.     

The Last Interglacial sea level change: new evidence from the Abrolhos islands,West Australia

U-series ages measured by thermal ionisation mass spectrometry (TIMS) are reported for a Last Interglacial (LI) fossil coral core from the Turtle Bay, Houtman Abrolhos islands, western Australia. The core is 33.4 m long the top of which is approximately 5 m a.p.s.l. (above present sea level). From the²³²Th concentrations and the reliability of the U-series ages, two sections in the core can be distinguished. Calculated U/Th ages in core section I (3.3 m a.p.s.l to 11 m b.p.s.l) vary between 124±1.7 ka BP (3.3 m a.p.s.l.) and 132.5±1.8 ka (4 m b.p.s.l., i.e. below present sea level), and those of section II (11–23 m b.p.s.l.) between 140±3 and 214±5 ka BP, respectively. The ages of core section I are in almost perfect chronological order, whereas for section II no clear age-depth relationship of the samples can be recognised. Further assessments based on the ϖ²³⁴U_(T) criteria reveal that none of the samples of core section II give reliable ages, whereas for core section I several samples can be considered to be moderately reliable within 2 ka. The data of the Turtle Bay core complement and extend our previous work from the Houtman Abrolhos showing that the sea level reached a height of approximately 4 m b.p.s.l at approximately 134 ka BP and a sea level highstand of at least 3.3 m a.p.s.l. at approximately 124 ka BP. Sea level dropped below its present position at approximately 116 ka BP. Although the new data are in general accord with the Milankovitch theory of climate change, a detailed comparison reveals considerable differences between the Holocene and LI sea level rise as monitored relative to the Houtman Abrolhos islands. These observation apparently add further evidence to the growing set of data that the LI sea level rise started earlier than recognised by SPECMAP chronology. A reconciliation of these contradictionary observations following the line of arguments presented by Crowley (1994) are discussed with respect to the Milankovitch theory.     

The Baltic Ice Lake in the southwestern Baltic: sequence-, chrono- and biostratigraphy

Jensen, J. B., Bennike, O., Witkowski, A., Lemke, W. & Kuijpers, A. 1997 (September): The Baltic Ice Lake in the southwestern Baltic: sequence-, chrono- and biostratigraphy. Boreas , Vol. 26, pp. 217–236. Oslo. ISSN 0300–9483.
This multidisciplinary study focuses on late-glacial deposits in the Mecklenburg Bay -Arkona Basin area. The sequence stratigraphical method has been used on shallow seismic and lithological data, in combination with biostratigraphical work and radiocarbon dating. Glacial-till deposits underlie sediments from two Baltic Ice Lake phases. Varved clay deposits from the initial phase cover the deepest parts of the basins. A prograding delta is observed at the western margin of the Arkona Basin, prograding from the Darss Sill area. The delta system is possibly related to a highstand dated at 12.8 ka. A maximum transgression level around 20 m below present sea level (b.s.l.) is inferred, followed by a drop in water level and formation of lowstand features. The final ice lake phase is characterized by a new transgression. The transgression maximum as observed in the Mecklenburg Bay is represented by transgressive and highstand deltaic deposits. These also indicate a maximum shore level of 20 m b.s.l. The deltaic sediments that contain macroscopic plant remains and diatoms have yielded Younger Dryas ages. Mapping of the late-glacial morphology of the Darss Sill area reveals a threshold at 23 to 24 m b.s.l. This means that the Baltic Ice Lake highstand phases inundated the Darss Sill, which implies that the westernmost extension of the Baltic Ice Lake reached as far as Kiel Bay. Forced regressive coastal deposits at the western margin of the Arkona Basin mark a lowstand level of around 40 m b.s.l. caused by the final drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake. The lowstand deposits predate lacustrine deposits from the Ancylus Lake, which date to approximately 9.6 ka BP.     

How Bedrock‐Controlled Channel Migration Can Structure Selective Preservation of Archaeological Sites: Implications for Modeling Paleoindian Settlement

Although Paleoindian sites in Indiana, USA, are commonly located on late Wisconsin (Last Glacial Maximum) outwash terraces, drainage basin development since deglaciation often obscures the visibility of such sites on flood plains by either burying them under alluvium or destroying them through erosion. Significant clusters of Paleoindian and Early Archaic sites, however, have been identified proximal to the modern White River channel in central Indiana on what is mapped as “floodplain.” These site cluster locations are patterned. They typically occur within bedrock‐controlled river reaches but are rare along unconfined meandering reaches. Subsurface reconnaissance and chronology indicate that despite the fact that they often flood, portions of the so‐called flood plains within bedrock‐confined reaches are actually terraces constructed of late Wisconsin outwash with minimal overbank sedimentation. Terrace preservation in these settings is a result of bedrock structure that protects older sediments from lateral erosion and differentially preserves archaeological sites near the modern channel in bedrock‐controlled reaches. Comparisons of archaeological sites within bedrock‐controlled segments of the White River to those in unconfined meandering segments suggests that significant numbers of Paleoindian and Early Archaic sites may be missing from river settings across the midcontinent. These findings demonstrate that bedrock channel controls are important to recognize when assessing prehistoric settlement distributions.     

浙闽沿岸泥质潮滩沉积磁性特征及其物源判别

潮滩沉积的物源一直是沉积学领域重要的研究内容。近30年长江入海泥沙量持续减少,致使长江入海泥沙对浙闽潮滩沉积的物质贡献降低。在此背景下,探究浙闽沿岸潮滩沉积的物源具有重要的现实意义。对杭州湾至福州湾沿岸的泥质潮滩表层沉积开展了详细地磁学研究,结果显示,研究区沉积物的磁性主要受磁铁矿主导,但磁性矿物含量、磁畴和矫顽力等磁性特征存在一定差异,这可能意味着沉积物受到多物源影响。皮尔森相关性分析进一步表明,沉积物磁性特征受粒度效应影响有限,主要与物源差异有关。物源判别结果指示,浙闽泥质潮滩沉积的物源包括长江、海岸基岩和浙闽河流。杭州湾至福宁湾,沉积物普遍受到长江和浙江诸河混合物质的影响,且浙江诸河的物质贡献较大;隘顽湾和象山港沉积物还受到其附近海岸基岩的影响;福宁湾沉积物可能还受到闽江源物质和其附近海岸基岩的影响;罗源湾和福州湾沉积物的潜在物源是闽江和其附近海岸基岩,长江和浙江诸河的物质贡献相当有限。     

Displacement of the Great Divide in north Queensland associated with Neogene lava flows

In north Queensland, Australia, the ‘Great Divide’ forms the border between catchments draining into the Gulf of Carpentaria, including the Mitchell River, and those draining into the Coral Sea, including the Barron River. Until recently, it was commonly proposed that what is now the upper Barron River previously drained into the Mitchell River. However, little evidence was presented, and the assertion has been disputed. Our examination of borehole data, combined with accurate surveying of bedrock in the present Barron River channel, provides definitive evidence that paleochannels of the Mitchell River previously drained what is now the upper Barron River subcatchment. Lava that flowed down these channels at ca 1.79 Ma is evident in some of the boreholes and is exposed in the Barron River channel. The lava flows blocked the river channel, diverting the headwaters of the paleo-Mitchell River east into the Barron River, resulting in the western migration of the Great Divide. The consequent reduction in stream energy available to the truncated headwaters of Mitchell River has led to channel infill and aggradation of more than 40 m since the diversion of the Barron River. Subsurface paleochannels may be directing groundwater across the present drainage divide from the upper Barron River catchment into the Mitchell River catchment.     

Evidence for Regional Stream Aggradation in the Central Oregon Coast Range during the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition

Low, nearly continuous terraces of similar age are present along streams in drainage basins that range in size from Drift Creek (190 km²) to the Umpqua River (11,800 km²) in the Oregon Coast Range. Radiocarbon ages from near the bose of fluvial sediments underlying these terraces are clustered at about 9000-11,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. Beveled bedrock surfaces (straths) that underlie the fluvial sediments are 1-8 m above summer stream levels and are present along most of the nontidal reaches of the rivers that we studied. Where exposed, the bedrock straths are overlain by 2-11 m of fluvial sediment that consists of a bottom-stratum (channel) facies of sandy pebble-cobble gravel and a top-stratum (overbank) facies of sandy silt or silt. Eight radiocarbon ages from the fluvial sediments allow correlation of the lowest continuous terrace over a wide area and thus indicate that a regional aggradation episode occurred in Coast Range drainage basins during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. The cause of such widespread aggradation is unknown but may be related to climate-induced changes in the frequency of evacuation of colluvium from hollows, which are common in all drainage basins in the region.     

Marine geology of Port Phillip,Victoria

The marine geology of Port Phillip is described in detail, based on data from seismic profiling, vibrocoring and grab sampling. Three major unconsolidated facies can be distinguished: sands and muddy sands peripheral to the present coastline, muds covering the major central region, and channel fills of muds and sands. The first two facies units result from an increase in wave sorting towards the coast, reworking of Tertiary and Quaternary sandstone outcrops around the coast, and a dominant mud supply from river sources into the central area. The distribution and thicknesses of the unconsolidated facies have been augmented by a shallow‐seismic program that reveals the thicknesses of the modern sediments overlying an older surface comprised of consolidated clays and sandy clays of Pleistocene or older age. In central Port Phillip, muds and sands up to 27 m‐thick have infilled Pleistocene channels cut into underlying consolidated units. Sediments immediately above the channel bases show characteristic seismic patterns of fluvial deposition. The presence of peat deposits together with gas phenomena in the water column suggest organic breakdown of channel‐fill deposits is releasing methane into the bay waters. Outside the channel areas, carbon‐14 dating indicates that the unconsolidated sediments largely post‐date the last glaciation sea‐level rise (<6500 a BP), with an early Holocene period of rapid deposition, similar to other Australian estuaries. Stratigraphic and depositional considerations suggest that the undated channel‐fill sequences correlate with the formation of cemented quartz‐carbonate aeolianite and barrier sands on the Nepean Peninsula at the southern end of Port Phillip. Previous thermoluminescence dating of the aeolianites suggests that channel‐fill sequences B, C and D may have been deposited as fluvial and estuarine infills over the period between 57 and 8 ka. The eroded surface on the underlying consolidated sediments is probably the same 118 ka age as a disconformity within the Nepean aeolianites. Further estuarine and aeolianite facies extend below the disconformity to 60 m below sea‐level, and may extend the Quaternary depositional record to ca 810 ka. Pliocene and older Tertiary units progressively subcrop below the Quaternary northwards up the bay.     

Mechanism of Salt Contamination of Karstic Springs Related to the Messinian Deep Stage. The Speleological Model of Port Miou (France)

Submarine karstic springs are frequent on the Mediterranean shore but most of them are brackish which prohibits their use. The numerous attempts to catch these springs ended in failure. Recent studies on the development of karst systems and the paleogeography of the Mediterranean sea explain these failures. Studies on the shores of south-eastern France have enabled us to propose an operating model that explains the mechanism of salt contamination.

The Port Miou system (Cassis, France) is a two kilometers long submarine gallery developped in the limestone series of Calanques (Marseille, France). The average discharge is between 2 to 5 m3/s but the water is brackish. In the 70's a dam was built to prevent sea intrusion in the cave but the water remained brackish upstream of the dam. The use of helium, and then rebreathers by cave divers, made it possible to explore a vertical pit down to -179 m below the sea level at the end of the cave. At that depth, the water is still brackish.

Important quantity of titanium was observed at the surface of the cave sediment upstream of the dam and at the end of the cave. The titanium comes from the residual product of a factory of alumina that is discharged in the Cassidaigne submarine canyon, at a depth of 300 m b.s.l., a few kilometers south to the spring. This residual product locally called «red mud» is very rich in titanium. This supports the model of a sea water aspiration in a deep gallery connected to the canyon. The Cassidaigne canyon that cuts a limestone plateau with dolines and caves is probably a pocket valley. Its presence is related to the several stages of lowering of the Mediterranean sea at the Messinian Deep Stage that allowed the existence of cave networks up to several hundreds of meters below the present sea level. The sea water is now sucked into the system.

A similar example exists in Kefalonia island (Greece) where a sea intrusion is observed in coastal sinkholes. This model explains why the different attempts to diminish the salinity of these brackish springs, by construction of dams close to the outlets, have failed.     

Advance,deglacial and sea‐level chronology for Foxe Peninsula,Baffin Island,Nunavut

The impact of the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) deglaciation on Northern Hemisphere early Holocene climate can be evaluated only once a detailed chronology of ice history and sea‐level change is established. Foxe Peninsula is ideally situated on the northern boundary of Hudson Strait, and preserves a chronostratigraphy that provides important glaciological insights regarding changes in ice‐sheet position and relative sea level before and after the 8.2 ka cooling event. We utilized a combination of radiocarbon ages, adjusted with a new locally derived ΔR, and terrestrial in‐situ cosmogenic nuclide (TCN) exposure ages to develop a chronology for early‐Holocene events in the northern Hudson Strait. A marine limit at 192 m a.s.l., dated at 8.1–7.9 cal. ka BP, provides the timing of deglaciation following the 8.2 ka event, confirming that ice persisted at least north of Hudson Bay until then. A moraine complex and esker morphosequence, the Foxe Moraine, relates to glaciomarine outwash deltas and beaches at 160 m a.s.l., and is tightly dated at 7.6 cal. ka BP with a combination of shell dates and exposure ages on boulders. The final rapid collapse of Foxe Peninsula ice occurred by 7.1–6.9 cal. ka BP (radiocarbon dates and TCN depth profile age on an outwash delta), which supports the hypothesis that LIS melting contributed to the contemporaneous global sea‐level rise known as the Catastrophic Rise Event 3 (CRE‐3).     

2008年塔里木河流域“四源一干”径流运行与河道断流成因分析

2008年塔里木河四条源流出山口天然径流量241.8×108m3,比多年平均值216.4×108m3多24.9×108m3,偏多11.5%,属偏丰水年;塔里木河阿拉尔站以上3条源流出山口天然径流量202.5×108m3,比多年平均值多19.6×108m3,偏多10.7%,属偏丰水年;开都河-孔雀河为38.83×108m3,比正常年份多5.33×108m3,属偏丰水年.四条源流入塔里木河总水量为29.52×108m3,占四条源流出山口天然径流总量的12.2%.其中,阿拉尔站以上3条源流入塔里木河水量为24.74×108m3,占三条源流出山口天然径流总量的12.2%.2008年塔里木河干流上游段耗水量21.11×108m3,占阿拉尔站年径流量的72.3%,是塔里木河干流最大的耗水区段;中游段耗水量7.63×108m3,占阿拉尔站年径流量的26.1%;下游段耗水量0.46×108m3,占阿拉尔站年径流量的1.6%.四条源流出山口来水量为偏丰水年,但由于源流耗水严重,入塔里木河水量减少成为特枯水年,2008年暂不向干流下游应急生态输水.     

鄂尔多斯盆地南部马莲河流域地下水中锶富集特征及成因分析

马莲河流域地处鄂尔多斯盆地南部黄土高原区,按储水介质和埋藏条件可将地下水分为黄土潜水、基岩潜水和基岩承压水三类,利用2015—2018年流域的295组地下水水化学数据,分析了地下水中锶(Sr²⁺)的质量浓度水平、垂向分布及沿流向分布的特征,并采用因子相关性研究地下水中Sr²⁺的来源和富集成因。结果表明:马莲河流域地下水富锶现象显著,黄土潜水、基岩潜水和基岩承压水中锶的平均质量浓度分别为1.14 mg/l、1.39 mg/l和5.24 mg/l;地下水中锶富集成因主要是含锶矿物天然状态下的水-岩作用,黄土潜水、基岩潜水和基岩承压水三类地下水中Sr²⁺的主要来源分别为碳酸盐岩与铝硅酸盐岩、碳酸盐岩与硫酸盐和碳酸盐矿物的溶滤作用;地下水中Sr²⁺的质量浓度沿流向呈逐渐增大的趋势,在不同区域中随深度变化的趋势不一致。     

Knickpoints along the upper Indus River,Pakistan: an exploratory survey of geomorphic processes

This article summarizes an exploratory study carried out to investigate the significance of various geomorphic features on the formation of observed knickpoints along the upper Indus River in northern Pakistan. These features include bedrock lithology, active faults, sediment flux from tributary channels, and landslide dams which have blocked the main channel. The knickpoints and their related geomorphic parameters (channel profile, concavity, drainage area and normalized steepness index, etc.) were extracted from Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection (ASTER) Global Digital Elevation Models (GDEMs) with 30 m resolution using ArcGIS, River Tools, and Matlab software. A total of 251 major and minor knickpoints were extracted from the longitudinal profile along a ~ 750 km reach upstream of Tarbela Reservoir. The identified knickpoints and their respective normalized steepness index (k_sn values) were compared with bedrock lithology, mapped faults, regional landslide/rockslide inventory, and the locations of historic landslide dams. The analyses revealed that the knickpoints do not correlate with the bedrock lithology except where major unit boundaries coexist with mapped faults, especially in reaches criss-crossed by active thrust faults in the Nanga Parbat Haramosh (NPHM) region. Neither did the river’s major confluences exhibit any notable knickpoints, but the correlations between knickpoints, mapped landslides, and historic rockslide avalanche dams accounted for approximately 75% of the observed knickpoints, a surprising finding. These observations suggest that more detailed studies aided by high resolution data should be undertaken to further explore the characteristics of knickpoints triggered by tectonic uplift, local fault offset, bedrock erodibility, and landslide/rockslide dams.     

Some observations on diamondiferous bedrock gully trapsites on Late Cainozoic, marine-cut platforms of the Sperrgebiet, Namibia

Namibia's southwestern coast, the Sperrgebiet, hosts one of the world's largest gem diamond placer deposits consisting of fluvial, marine and desert deflation/aeolian placer types. To date, the richest onshore placer discovered in the Sperrgebiet comprises several, Plio-Pleistocene to Holocene, littoral marine packages distributed northwards from the Orange River mouth for some 120 km to Chameis Bay. In this zone, known as Mining Area No. 1 (MA1), these Quaternary marine deposits are floored predominantly by siliciclastic rocks of the Late Proterozoic Gariep Belt that have been bevelled into a number of marine-cut platforms during the different Quaternary high sea level stands (notably, at + 30 m, + 8 m, + 4 m and + 2 m). In many places, these bedrock platforms are extensively gullied and potholed, forming abundant fixed trapsites that promote diamond concentration in the Late Cainozoic littoral sediments. Some observations on the distribution, orientation and incision of bedrock gullies in MA1 are presented here.Three principal bedrock gully types, all of which constitute good diamond trapsites, have been identified in the bedrock footwall between the Orange River mouth northwards to Chameis Bay, a distance of some 120 km: (i) swash-parallel gullies in the southern, proximal sector where the bedrock s₂ dips 45°W and the abrasive gravels are most abundant, thus overriding lithological and structural controls in the footwall; (ii) strike-parallel gullies in the central reach where the bedrock s₂ dips between 80° and 85°W and the abrasive bedload is reduced, resistant lithological units promote the formation of such features along the orientation of the metsediments; and (iii) joint gullies in the northern, distal portion where the bedrock s₂ dips 45–60° to the E and coarse abrasive bedload is virtually absent, the structural pattern in the bedrock is exploited by marine erosion.In these Late Cainozoic placers, diamond concentration is further linked to the depth of the gullies incised into the marine-cut platforms. Maximum incision is noted on the seaward margins of the marine-cut platforms where high-energy littoral processes, acting in a micro-tidal range of ca. 1.8 m under strong prevailing southerly wind and South Atlantic derived southwesterly swell regimes, promote marine erosion and deep gully formation.Therefore, the most favourable diamondiferous trapsites in the Late Cainozoic marine packages of the southwestern Sperrgebiet are those developed in deep bedrock gullies of either swash-parallel, strike-parallel or joint pattern origin on the seaward margins of marine-cut platforms that represent discrete high sea level stands during the Quaternary.     

Utilising South Africa's largest river: The physiographic background to the Orange River scheme

The Orange River, with an average annual runoff of 11 500 million m³, is the largest among South Africa's rivers, drains 48% of the total area of the country and provides for 22% of the total South African downflow. Not only does the average annual precipitation of the drainage basin vary from 2 000 mm in the upper reaches to 40 mm at the river's mouth in the Atlantic, but large deviations from the average are the rule rather than the exception over most of the area. The correspondingly low reliability in the discharge of the Orange master stream is demonstrated by a 0,6 coefficient of variability. For utilising the river's water efficiently, periodic and seasonal runoff deficits may be overcome by building large storage dams. This is the purpose of the H.F. Verwoerd Dam, near the confluence of the Caledon and the Orange Rivers, and the P.K. le Roux Dam 130 km lower downstream. They form part of the R490 million (1974 estimate) Orange River Project by which water is stored and distributed in canals and tunnels (one 82 km long) reaching beyond the basin boundaries to Bloemfontein in the north and Port Elizabeth in the south. The implementation of the Orange River and Tugela-Vaal Schemes shifted the spatial focus of water development upstream along the Orange, Caledon and Vaal Rivers towards the plateau blocks of Lesotho.     

Substrate Influences on Step-Pool Sequences in the Christopher Creek Drainage, Arizona

Step-pool sequences formed in alluvial and bedrock channel segments of the Christopher Creek drainage in central Arizona suggest that bedform geometries may reflect subtle differences in relative substrate resistance and in the ratio of driving forces to resisting forces. Three alluvial channel segments and two bedrock channel segments along a 72-km2 drainage and a 4-km2 drainage facilitated comparison across different substrates and hydraulic environments. As substrate resistance increased or the ratio of hydraulic driving forces and boundary resisting forces decreased, channel gradient increased, the ratio of step height to length normalized by gradient decreased, and pool dimensions normalized by gradient decreased. These changes in bedform geometry suggest that as the ratio of driving to resisting forces increases, proportionally more flow energy is dissipated within the flow as turbulence and shearing (as in the alluvial reaches) rather than being applied to erosion of the channel boundaries (as in the bedrock reaches).     

从上海地区地下淡水古河道含水层的分布探讨嵊泗列岛的供水问题

上海地区早更新世两条主要的淡水古河道,其可能流向长江口区和杭州湾海域,这对嵊泗列岛的缺水岛屿供水提供了可能性,即开发海底淡水古河道以解决沿海岛屿的供水问题。