Sediment accumulation along a glacially impacted mountainous coastline: north-east Gulf of Alaska

Tectonically active coastal regions of the world recently have been suggested to supply the bulk of sediment from land to the oceans. Seabed sampling on the continental shelf and in coastal embayments of the north-east Gulf of Alaska (Alsek River to Prince William Sound) was performed to examine the temporal and spatial variability of sediment accumulation in a mountainous coastal setting. Cores of varying lengths (30–300 cm) were collected at 84 stations to provide information on sedimentary processes using radiochemical (²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs) techniques. Four types of ²¹⁰Pb activity profiles were observed, dominantly reflecting steady-state sediment accumulation. However, nonsteady-state profiles also were measured, resulting in part from episodic deposition near glacier-fed rivers and on the Copper River Delta. Sediment accumulation rates in the eastern half of the study area are highest at midshelf depths (≈100 m) (≥10 mm yr^?1) and near rivers draining the Bering Glacier (≈20 mm yr^?1). On the Copper River Delta, sediment accumulation rates are highest for the delta front (> 20 mm yr^?1) and decrease westward along the sediment dispersal route. Total annual sediment accumulation is 90–140×10⁶ tons yr^?1 on the shelf in the study area. Annual sediment accumulation for the total marine environment in the study area (including Icy and Yakutat Bays) exceeds 250×10⁶ tons yr^?1, potentially making this region the largest sink for sediment in North America. Spatial patterns in sediment accumulation on the shelf are similar between centennial and Holocene time-scales, reflecting the dominance of the Copper River and Bering and Malaspina glaciers as sediment sources. Temporal variability in accumulation rates between centennial and Holocene time-scales exists for portions of the study area near fiords and demonstrates the considerable changes that occur in sediment supply during glacial advances and retreats.     

Controls on erosion patterns and sediment transport in a monsoonal,tectonically quiescent drainage,Song Gianh,central Vietnam

The Song Gianh is a small‐sized (~3500 km²), monsoon‐dominated river in northern central Vietnam that can be used to understand how topography and climate control continental erosion. We present major element concentrations, together with Sr and Nd isotopic compositions, of siliciclastic bulk sediments to define sediment provenance and chemical weathering intensity. These data indicate preferential sediment generation in the steep, wetter upper reaches of the Song Gianh. In contrast, detrital zircon U‐Pb ages argue for significant flux from the drier, northern Rao Tro tributary. We propose that this mismatch represents disequilibrium in basin erosion patterns driven by changing monsoon strength and the onset of agriculture across the region. Detrital apatite fission track and ¹⁰Be data from modern sediment support slowing of regional bedrock exhumation rates through the Cenozoic. If the Song Gianh is representative of coastal Vietnam then the coastal mountains may have produced around 132 000–158 000 km³ of the sediment now preserved in the Song Hong‐Yinggehai Basin (17–21% of the total), the primary depocenter of the Red River. This flux does not negate the need for drainage capture in the Red River to explain the large Cenozoic sediment volumes in that basin but does partly account for the discrepancy between preserved and eroded sediment volumes. OSL ages from terraces cluster in the Early Holocene (7.4–8.5 ka), Pre‐Industrial (550–320 year BP) and in the recent past (ca. 150 year BP). The older terraces reflect high sediment production driven by a strong monsoon, whereas the younger are the product of anthropogenic impact on the landscape caused by farming. Modern river sediment is consistently more weathered than terrace sediment consistent with reworking of old weathered soils by agricultural disruption.     

Holocene environmental changes around Xiaohe Cemetery and its effects on human occupation,Xinjiang, China

The Xiaohe Cemetery archaeological site (Cal. 4–3.5 ka BP) is one of the most important Bronze Age sites in Xinjiang, China. Although the surrounding environment is an extremely arid desert now, abundant archaeological remains indicate that human occupation was common during certain periods in the Holocene. Field investigations and laboratory analyses of a sediment profile near the Xiaohe Cemetery indicate that while the regional environment was arid desert throughout the Holocene there were three episodes of lake formation near the site in the periods 4.8–3.5 ka BP, 2.6–2.1 ka BP and 1.2–0.9 ka BP. Geomorphic and hydrological investigations reveal that a lake or lakes formed in a low-lying area when water was derived initially from the Kongque River and then shunted into the Xiaohe River basin. Low amounts of active chemical elements in lacustrine sediment between 4.8–3.5 ka BP indicate abundant and continuous water volume in the lake; the content of active chemical elements increased between 2.6–2.1 ka BP but was still at a relatively low level, suggesting a declining amount of water and diminished inflow. Between 1.2–0.9 ka BP there was a very high content of active elements, suggesting decreased water volume and indicating that the lake was stagnate. In contrast, the general climate condition shows that there had a warm-humid stage at 8–6 ka BP, a cool-humid stage at 6–2.9 ka BP and a warm-dry stage at 2.9–0.9 ka BP in this region. The hydrological evolutions around Xiaohe Cemetery did not have one-to-one correspondence with climate changes. Regional comparison indicates that broad-scale climatic conditions played an important role through its influences on the water volume of the Tarim River and Kongque River. But, the formation of the lakes and their level were controlled by geomorphic conditions that influenced how much water volume could be shunted to Xiaohe River from Kongque River. Human occupation of the Xiaohe Cemetery and nearby regions during the Bronze Age and Han-Jin period (202 BC–420 AD) corresponded to the two earlier lake periods, while no human activities existed in the third lake period because of the decreased water volume.     

中国海岸风沙沉积记录的环境变化

海岸是陆、海、气相互作用的地带。海岸风沙沉积是这一特殊动力环境的产物,是研究海岸环境演变及海平面变化的良好信息载体。中国海岸主要存在3种风沙沉积,分别为“老红砂”、沙丘岩及海岸沙丘。本文通过比较已报道的风沙堆积的物质组成、地层变化等,进一步总结了海岸风沙沉积的特征;选择已开展绝对测年的沉积剖面,利用概率密度函数分析了风沙沉积年代的分布特征,考察了中国海岸风沙活动历史,结合其他气候记录,探讨了不同地质历史时期海岸风沙堆积的关键影响因素。结果表明：“老红砂”沉积主要记录了冰期-间冰期尺度的风沙活动,在120 ka BP前后、73—55 ka BP等时期,风沙活动主要与海平面下降时陆架提供的丰富沙源和强盛的冬季风有关;而在105 ka BP、80 ka BP前后,风沙活动与高海平面时期丰富的沙源或季风气候的季节性增强有关;55 ka BP以来风沙活动强度降低更多地反映了沉积记录保存环境的变化,末次冰期海岸风沙沉积大多分布在现代海面之下,并不代表实际的海岸风沙活动减弱。相比之下,海岸沙丘沉积所记录的风沙活动主要发生在近3 000 a,可能与中国海岸冬季风的增强有关。     

Evaluating Holocene climate change in northern Norway using sediment records from two contrasting lake systems

We analyzed Holocene sedimentary records from two lakes in the Lofoten Islands, northern Norway to evaluate environmental changes during the Holocene related to northern North Atlantic climate dynamics. The lakes are located in different geomorphological settings, and thus provide a contrast in their response to regional climate change. Environmental changes at both lakes were interpreted based on magnetic susceptibility, organic-matter flux, C/N, ??¹³C_org, Ti concentrations, and mass accumulation rates. Chronologies were established using 16 AMS radiocarbon dates, and average deposition rates in both environments are higher than 0.2?mm/year throughout the Holocene. At Vikjordvatnet, sedimentary geochemical properties define three distinct phases of sedimentation related to changes in aquatic productivity and gradual landscape development. Following deglaciation, during the early Holocene (11.6?C7.2?ka), aquatic productivity increased and the landscape stabilized as regional temperatures increased in response to higher summer insolation and increasing inflow of warm Atlantic water into the Norwegian Sea. Centennial-scale intervals of decreased organic-matter flux, from 10.9 to 10.2?ka and 9.2 to 8.0?ka, record episodes of instability during the early Holocene. These may represent regional cooling events related to freshwater forcing and a slowdown of the northward transport of warm water into the North Atlantic. During the mid-Holocene (7.2?C4.8?ka) organic-matter properties show less variability and the timing of this phase corresponds with the regional Holocene thermal maximum. The late Holocene sediments (4.8?ka?Cpresent) record a transition to colder climate conditions. The record from Fiskeb?lvatnet captures periodic changes in clastic input related to runoff and exhibits high-frequency variations over the last 9.5?ka. The most significant change in sedimentation was during the late Holocene (4.3?ka?Cpresent) when the frequency and magnitude of runoff events show an abrupt transition to wetter conditions. The timing of this shift corresponds to other regional reconstructions that indicate wetter and colder conditions during the late Holocene.     

伶仃洋ZK19孔晚第四纪沉积地球化学特征 及其古环境意义

依据对珠江口伶仃洋海域ZK19孔岩芯材料的沉积学、年代学和沉积地球化学研究,探讨了该海域古环境演变特征。该孔以末次盛冰期风化层为界,存在2个沉积旋回和2次海侵事件。微量元素质量分数、主量元素（Al2O3/Na2O值、MgO/Al2O3值、Sr/Ba值及V/Cr值等）,化学蚀变指数（CIA）和化学风化指数（CIW）的变化特征,反映了MIS4晚期至MIS3初期,该地由陆相向滨海相过渡,气候从偏冷逐渐升温,海平面逐渐上升,但速度较慢;MIS3该地为河口湾相,气候进一步转暖,海平面以较大幅度上升;MIS2阶段（末次盛冰期）海平面大幅下降,气候变冷;MIS1的8―12 cal. ka B.P.气候逐渐转暖,海平面快速上升,为河流相―滨海潮滩相―河口湾浅滩相―河口湾相;中全新世大暖期,受水下滩槽地貌侧向迁移影响,该孔地层遭剥蚀;晚全新世3 cal. ka B.P.以来,气候整体相对稳定,较早全新世温暖,沉积环境依次为河口湾相―三角洲前缘斜坡相―三角洲前缘浅滩相。     

Late Quaternary aggradation rates and stratigraphic architecture of the southern Po Plain,Italy

The Po River Basin, where accumulation and preservation of thick sedimentary packages are enhanced by high rates of tectonic subsidence, represents an ideal site to assess the relations between vertical changes in stratigraphic architecture and sediment accumulation rates. Based on a large stratigraphic database, a markedly contrasting stratigraphy of Late Pleistocene and Holocene deposits is reconstructed from the subsurface of the modern alluvial and coastal plains. Laterally extensive fluvial channel bodies and related pedogenically modified muds of latest Pleistocene age are unconformably overlain by Holocene overbank fines, grading seaward into paralic and nearshore facies associations. In the interfluvial areas, a stiff paleosol, dating at about 12.5–10 cal ky BP, marks the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary. Across this paleosol, aggradation rates (ARs) from 16 radiocarbon‐dated cores invariably show a sharp increase, from 0.1–0.9 mm year^?1 to 0.9–2.9 mm year^?1. Comparatively lower Pleistocene values are inferred to reflect fluvial activity under a low‐accommodation (lowstand and early transgressive) regime, whereas higher ARs during the Holocene are related to increasing accommodation under late transgressive and highstand conditions. Holocene sediment accumulation patterns vary significantly from site to site, and do not exhibit common trends. Very high accumulation rates (20–60 mm year^?1) are indicated by fluvial channel or progradational delta facies, suggesting that extremely variable spatial distribution of Holocene ARs was primarily controlled by autogenic processes, such as fluvial channel avulsion or delta lobe switching. Contrasting AR between uppermost Pleistocene and Holocene deposits also are reported from the interfluves of several coeval, alluvial‐coastal plain systems worldwide, suggesting a key control by allogenic processes. Sediment accumulation curves from adjacent incised valley fills show, instead, variable shapes as a function of the complex mechanisms of valley formation and filling.     

Holocene Brahmaputra River path selection and variable sediment bypass as indicators of fluctuating hydrologic and climate conditions in Sylhet Basin,Bangladesh

The Holocene stratigraphy of Sylhet basin, a tectonically influenced sub‐basin within the Ganges‐Brahmaputra‐Meghna delta (GMBD), provides evidence for autogenic and allogenic controls on fluvial system behaviour. Using Holocene lithology and stratigraphic architecture from a dense borehole network, patterns of bypass‐dominated and extraction‐enhanced modes of sediment transport and deposition have been reconstructed. During a ~3‐kyr mid‐Holocene occupation of Sylhet basin by the Brahmaputra River, water and sediment were initially (~7.5–6.0 ka) routed along the basin's western margin, where limited downstream facies changes reflect minimal mass extraction and bypass‐dominated transport to the basin outlet. Sediment‐dispersal patterns became increasingly depositional ~6.0–5.5 ka with the activation of a large (~2250 km²) splay that prograded towards the basin centre while maintaining continued bypass along the western pathway. Beginning ~5.0 ka, a second splay system constructed an even larger (~3800 km²) lobe into the most distal portions of the basin along the Shillong foredeep. This evolution from a bypass‐dominated system to one of enhanced mass extraction is well reflected in (i) the rapid downstream fining of deposited sand and (ii) a change in facies from amalgamated channel deposits to mixed sands and muds within discrete depositional lobes. The persistence of sediment bypass suggests that seasonal flooding of the basin by local runoff exerts a hydrologic barrier to overbank flow and is thus a principal control on river path selection. This control is evidenced by (i) repeated, long‐term preference for occupying a course along the basin margin rather than a steeper path to the basin centre and (ii) the persistence of an under‐filled, topographically low basin despite sediment load sufficient to fill the basin within a few hundred years. The progradation of two 10–20‐m thick, sandy mega‐splays into the basin interior reflects an alternative mode of sediment dispersal that appears to have operated only in the mid‐Holocene (~6.0–4.0 ka) during a regional weakening of the summer monsoon. The reduced water budget at that time would have lowered seasonal water levels in the basin, temporarily lessening the hydrologic barrier effect and facilitating splay development into the basin interior. Overall, these results place basin hydrology as a first‐order control on fluvial system behaviour, strongly modifying the perceived dominance of tectonic subsidence. Such coupling of subsidence, fluvial dynamics and local hydrology have been explored through tank experiments and modelling; this field study demonstrates that complex, emergent behaviours can also scale to the world's largest fluvial system.     

Tectono-sedimentary processes along an active marine/lacustrine half-graben margin: Alkyonides Gulf, E. Gulf of Corinth, Greece

ABSTRACT The Alkyonides half‐graben is separated from the Gerania Range to the south by active faults whose offshore traces are mapped in detail. The East Alkyonides and Psatha Faults have well‐defined, Holocene‐active tip zones and cannot be extrapolated from the onshore Skinos Fault into a single continuous surface trace. During the late Quaternary, catchments draining the step‐faulted range front have supplied sediment to alluvial fans along a subsiding marine ramp margin in the hangingwall of the Skinos Fault, to shelf ledge fans on the uplifting footwall to the East Alkyonides Fault and to the Alepochori submarine fan in the hangingwall of the latter. During late Pleistocene lowstand times (c. 70–12 ka), sediment was deposited in Lake Corinth as fan deltas on the subsiding Skinos shelf ramp which acted as a sediment trap for the adjacent 360 m deep submarine basin plain. At the same time, the uplifting eastern shelf ledge was exposed, eroded and bypassed in favour of deposition on the Alepochori submarine fan. During Holocene times, the Skinos bajada was first the site of stability and soil formation, and then of substantial deposition before modern marine erosion cut a prominent cliffline. The uplifting eastern shelf ledge has developed substantial Holocene fan lobe depositional sequences as sediment‐laden underflows have traversed it via outlet channels. We estimate mean Holocene displacement rates towards the tip of the Psatha Fault in the range 0.7–0.8 mm year^?1. Raised Holocene coastal notches indicate that this may be further partitioned into about 0.2 mm year^?1 of footwall uplift and hence 0.5–0.6 mm year^?1 of hangingwall subsidence. Holocene displacement rates towards the tip of the active East Alkyonides Fault are in the range 0.2–0.3 mm year^?1. Any uplift of the West Alkyonides Fault footwall is not keeping pace with subsidence of the Skinos Fault hangingwall, as revealed by lowstand shelf fan deltas which show internal clinoforms indicative of aggradational deposition in response to relative base‐level rise due to active hangingwall subsidence along the Skinos Fault. Total subsidence here during the last 58 kyr lowstand interval of Lake Corinth was some 20 m, indicating a reduced net displacement rate compared to estimates of late Holocene (< 2000 bp ) activity from onshore palaeoseismology. This discrepancy may be due to the competition between uplift on the West Alkyonides Fault and subsidence on the onshore Skinos Fault, or may reflect unsteady rates of Skinos Fault displacement over tens of thousands of years.     

珠江口岛屿全新世沙堤的年代与沉积环境

通过对珠江口岛屿小型海湾如珠海淇澳岛和澳门黑沙滩一级阶地上的古沙坝/沙丘进行光释光（OSL）年代测定、粒度分析,结果表明,全新世潮间带砂体沉积的底部年代根据光释光测年结果和沉积速率推算,超过9 ka。海岸带形成的古沙坝或风成砂质沉积的光释光测年结果大部分老于新石器文化堆积的器物年代,表明全新世高海面期砂质滨海相沉积的形成先于新石器人类活动遗迹。潮间带砂质滨海相沉积的上覆地层常在6.5 ka左右快速转变为潮上带的风成沉积-人类活动混合堆积,导致文化层中沉积物粒度分选变差,参数波动较大。淇澳岛小沙澳湾9―4.3 ka的滨海相砂质沉积的顶部目前位于海拔＋4.8 m,这一高程可能与构造抬升运动有关。     

Evolution of sedimentary environments of the middle Jiangsu coast, South Yellow Sea since late MIS 3

An evolutionary model of sedimentary environments since late Marine Isotope Stage 3 （late MIS 3, i.e., ca. 39 cal ka BP） along the middle Jiangsu coast is presented based upon a reinterpretation of core 07SR01, new correlations between adjacent published cores, and shallow seismic profiles recovered in the Xiyang tidal channel and adjacent northern sea areas. Geomorphology, sedimentology, radiocarbon dating and seismic and sequence stratigraphy are combined to confirm that environmental changes since late MIS 3 in the study area were controlled primarily by sea-level fluctuations, sediment discharge of paleo-rivers into the South Yellow Sea （SYS）, and minor tectonic subsidence, all of which impacted the progression of regional geomorphic and sedimentary environments （Le., coastal barrier island freshwater lacustrine swamp, river floodplain, coastal marsh, tidal sand ridge, and tidal channel）. This resulted in the formation of a fifth-order sequence stratigraphy, comprised of the parasequence of the late stage of the last interstadial （Para-Sq2）, including the highstand and forced regressive wedge system tracts （HST and FRWST）, and the parasequence of the postglacial period （Para-Sql）, including the transgressive and highstand system tracts （TST and HST）. The tidal sand ridges likely began to develop during the postglacial transgression as sea-level rise covered the middle Jiangsu coast at ca. 9.0 cal ka BP. These initially submerged tidal sand ridges were constantly migrating until the southward migration of the Yellow River mouth to the northern Jiangsu coast during AD 1128 to 1855. The paleo-Xiyang tidal channel that was determined by the paleo-tidal current field and significantly different from the modern one, was in existence during the Holocene transgressive maxima and lasted until AD 1128. Following the capture of the Huaihe River in AD 1128 by the Yellow River, the paleo-Xiyang tidal channel was infilled with a large amount of river-derived sediments from AD 1128 to 1855, causing the emergence of some of the previously submerged tidal sand ridges. From AD 1855 to the present, the infilled paleo-Xiyang tidal channel has undergone scouring, resulting in its modern form. The modern Xiyang tidal channel continues to widen and deepen, due both to strong tidal current scouring and anthropogenic activities.     

Late Holocene dispersal and accumulation of terrigenous sediment on Poverty Shelf, New Zealand

We use coupled numerical models (HydroTrend and SedFlux) to investigate the dispersal and accumulation of sediment on Poverty Shelf, North Island, New Zealand, during the past 3 kyr. In this timeframe, we estimate that the Waipaoa River system delivered ∼10 Gt of sediment to Poverty Shelf,  5–10% of which was transported to the outer shelf and continental slope. The domain of the two-dimensional model (SedFlux) is representative of a 30 km traverse across the shelf. Comparing the model output with seismic reflection data and a core obtained from the middle shelf shows that, without extensively modifying the governing equations or imposing unrealistic conditions on the model domain, it is possible to replicate the geometry, grain size and accumulation rate of the late Holocene mud deposit. The replicate depositional record responds to naturally and anthropogenically induced vegetation disturbance, as well as to storms forced by long-period climatic events simulated entirely within the model domain. The model output also suggests that long-term fluctuations in the amount and caliber of river sediment discharge, promoted by wholesale changes in the catchment environment, may be translated directly to the shelf depositional record, whereas short-term fluctuations conditioned by event magnitude and frequency are not. Thus on Poverty Shelf, as well as in depocenters on other active continental margins which retain a much smaller proportion of the terrigeneous sediment delivered to them, flood-generated event beds are not commonplace features in the high-resolution sedimentary record. This is because the shelf sedimentary record is influenced more by the energy available to the coastal ocean which helps keep the sediment in suspension and facilitates its dispersal, than by basin hydrometeorology which determines the turbidity and velocity of the river plume.     

Coastal morpho-stratigraphy and Holocene relative sea level changes at Tuapaat, southeastern Disko Island, central West Greenland

The geomorphology of a coarse clastic coastal landscape at Tuapaat (69°24'N 52°36'W), southeastern Disko Island, central West Greenland, is described, and a coastal morpho-stratigraphy of the landscape is constructed. ¹⁴C ages on marine shells, whale bones, peat and gyttja are used to construct relative sea level changes throughout the Holocene. The emergence of SE Disko Island occurred in the early part of the Holocene. The Holocene marine limit is situated ca. 80m a.s.l. Between 4.7 and 1.0ka BP, the relative sea level approached the present sea level and it has probably been below present sea level between 4.7 ka BP and the present. The morpho-stratigraphy in the lowest part of the coastal landscape at Tuapaat suggests a complex late Holocene relative sea level history which includes at least 3-4 transgressions during the last ca. 2.5 ka.     

Seasonal variation of sedimentation in the Changjiang Estuary mud area

Seasonal distributions of suspended matter and their sedimentary effect on the Changjiang Estuary mud area of the East China Sea were discussed, based on three cruise data of total suspended matter, temperature and salinity collected from the Changjiang Estuary and its adjacent area in summer and winter. The results show that the basic pattern of distributions of suspended matter in the study area is almost the same in winter and in summer. Sediments from Changjiang (Yangtze River) to the sea are chiefly trapped to the west of 123o15'E due to a strong obstruction of the Taiwan Warm Current. This suggests that these sediments are mainly transported and deposited in the inner shelf. The sediment supply, Taiwan Warm Current, and Zhejiang Coastal Current show a strong seasonal variation, which results in a strong seasonal variation of the sedimentary effect on this mud area. This mud area is a "sink" of the Changjiang's sediment discharge to the sea and its sedimentation is stronger in summer and weaker in winter.     

Seismic framework and the Holocene morphological evolution of the Changjiang River mouth, China

Acoustic profiling in combination with coring has been used to examine the recent evolution of river mouth of the Changjiang. Two acoustic facies are present. Petrologic, radiometric and seismic analyses show that the upper facies I of 10–20 m thick fine sand and silt represents the sandy shoals of late Holocene age in the distributary, and the 5–20 m thick lower facies II of fine-grained silty clay with abundant marine microfossils represents the mid-Holocene prodelta facies deposited as fillings in the former large estuarine valley of late Pleistocene to early Holocene origin. Rapid accumulation during the Holocene has led to some instability of unconsolidated sedimentary strata in the distributary, such as strata collapse and mud diaper formation. The existence of large cross beddings, such as tabular and trough stratification in facies I identifies the sediment transport as predominantly bed load, driven by runoff and tidal currents. Two sets of discrete flood-ebb flow troughs, oriented NW and SE reflect controls by tidal waves generated from the sea and the superimposition of runoff and ebb flows. Symmetrical sand waves that appear at the northern trough of one of the distributaries also indicate the balancing sediment dynamics between runoff-ebb and flood currents, whereas the asymmetrical ones in the southern trough indicate superimposed sedimentation by runoff and ebb flows. A large quantity of sediment has been deposited in the slack water region between the discrete flood and ebb flows to form sandy shoals — the principal mechanism of the evolution of estuarine islands in the Holocene Changjiang mouth. The morphology of the extended river mouth to the southeast possibly indicates an external driving force, such as the Coriolis Effect, NW-prevailing wind and longshore currents.     

青藏高原东部黄河切开若尔盖湖盆的沉积证据与年代研究

对青藏高原东部若尔盖盆地内外实地考察,在玛曲瓶颈段黄河二级阶地前沿陡坎,发现了含有古深湖相和古河床河漫滩相地层序列的典型沉积剖面。通过沉积物粒度特征分析和光释光(optically stimulated luminescence,OSL)测年,研究结果表明：① 剖面下部淡蓝灰色古深湖相沉积层为深水厌氧环境下形成的湖相沉积物,而覆盖其上的杂色卵石层夹淡黄橙色透镜状沙层则是古河床河漫滩相沉积物,指示了强动力流水作用过程。这2组地层的不整合接触关系,是黄河切开若尔盖湖盆导致古湖水外泄的直接证据。② 剖面古深湖相沉积层顶部和古滨浅湖相沉积层底部的OSL测年结果表明,古黄河在37 ka BP切开若尔盖湖盆,导致湖水外泄,35 ka BP湖水变浅消失,黄河沟通了若尔盖盆地水系。③ 晚更新世东昆仑大断裂强烈的新构造运动和37 ka 温暖湿润气候的综合影响使得尚处于玛曲断陷谷地草原的古黄河源溯源侵蚀加剧,由西向东在玛曲城南瓶颈段切开了若尔盖古湖盆,导致古湖水外泄,从而沟通了若尔盖湖盆的水系,使之成为黄河源。该研究结果对于深入理解青藏高原东北部河湖水系演变及黄河水系的形成具有重要的科学意义。     

常量元素记录的毛乌素沙地东南缘全新世气候变化

毛乌素沙地处于中国季风边缘的半干旱区,对气候变化响应敏感,是研究过去全球气候变化的理想场所。对沙地东南缘锦界剖面全新统砂质黄土-古风成砂-古土壤互层沉积序列进行研究,在OSL测年基础上,通过沉积物常量元素氧化物含量及其比值分析,结合粒度、磁化率特征,探讨了毛乌素沙地东南缘7.9ka BP以来气候变化。结果表明：（1）地层常量元素氧化物以SiO₂和Al₂O₃为主,其他元素含量依次为Na₂O、K₂O、Fe₂O₃、CaO、MgO。各种元素活动性不同,K、Na活动性较强,易淋失;Si活动性较稳定,风成砂中易富集;Ca、Mg、Al、Fe活动性较弱,古土壤中富集。（2）7.9ka BP以来气候变化分为6个阶段。7.9～7.3 ka最温暖湿润时段;7.3～6.8 ka,气候转冷干;6.8～4.3 ka,整体上温暖湿润,期间存在2次由暖湿变冷干的波动,并出现过6次风沙活动,即6.6～6.3、6.1、5.9、5.7～5.5、5.3～5.0、4.7～4.4 ka;4.3～2.5ka BP,气候转冷干;2.5～1.8ka BP出现过短暂湿润期,但暖湿程度不及全新世中期;1.8ka BP以来气候渐趋干旱并接近现代气候。（3）全新世气候变化与毗邻的萨拉乌苏河流域、浑善达克沙地等记录的气候变化具有很好的一致性,这是通过东亚冬夏季风强弱消长变化对全球变化的区域响应。     

Last deglaciation and Holocene environmental change at high altitude in the Pyrenees: the geochemical and paleomagnetic record from Marboré Lake (N Spain)

Sedimentological, geochemical and magnetic data in a ~ 7-m sequence from Marboré Lake (2612 m asl, central Pyrenees) provide information about environmental variability since the last glacier retreat (14.6 cal ka BP) in high-altitude Pyrenean environments. The sediment sequence is composed of millimeter- to centimeter-thick rhythmites made of finer greyish laminae and coarser-grain, carbonate-bearing laminae arranged in varied patterns throughout the sequence. Finer laminae are interpreted as deposition during periods of predominantly ice-covered conditions, whereas coarser, carbonate-bearing sediments reflect periods of higher runoff. The age model, based on 13 ¹⁴C dates and a reservoir effect assessed with ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs, is coherent with known synchronous vegetation changes across the Pyrenees. Warmer intervals such as GI-1 (14.6–12.8 cal ka BP, Bølling/Allerød period), 10.4–8.2 cal ka BP in the Early Holocene, 7.5–5.2 cal ka BP in the Mid Holocene and the Medieval Climate Anomaly (AD 900–1300), are characterized by peaks in productivity and higher carbonate preservation. Deposition during colder periods such as GS-1 (12.8–11.7 cal ka BP), the Neoglacial (ca. 5.2–3.5 cal ka BP) and the Little Ice Age (last 400 years) show an increase in finer laminae. The presence of magnetite throughout the whole section suggests that Marboré Lake maintained predominantly oxic conditions since its formation. Changes in magnetic properties and the increase in magnetite from 3.5 cal ka BP to present, however, indicate a more oxic environment at the lake bottom during the last few millennia. The occurrence of Pb concentration peaks in sediments of Roman and modern age demonstrates the global distribution of heavy metal deposition, even into high-mountain lakes.     

共和盆地末次冰消期以来的植被和环境演变

在青藏高原共和盆地中的内陆湖泊--达连海获取40.92 m长的湖泊岩芯(DLH钻孔),选用植物残体作为测年材料,利用AMS14C测年技术建立可靠的地层年代序列,对岩芯进行孢粉分析,重建该地末次冰消期以来的古植被和古环境。末次冰消期以来达连海周围山地在14.8～12.9Cal ka BP和9.4～3.9 Cal ka BP时段曾发育森林,气候较湿润,达连海附近盆地发育的荒漠草原盖度增加或演化为草原;在15.8～14.8 Cal ka BP、12.9～9.4 Cal ka BP 和3.9～1.4 Cal ka BP 时段该地气候比较干旱,依据干旱的程度周围山地森林退化或消失,盆地内发育盖度较低的荒漠草原或草原化荒漠。1.4 Cal ka BP以来湿度有所增加,发育草原植被类型。依据植被的演替历史推断该地气候的变化历程是15.8～14.8 Cal ka BP 干旱,14.8～12.9 Cal ka BP 湿润,12.9～9.4 Cal ka BP干旱,9.4～3.9 Cal ka BP湿润,3.9～1.4 Cal ka BP干旱,1.4～0 Cal ka BP湿润。达连海的孢粉记录与附近青海湖的孢粉结果对比,发现两地植被发育基本一致。末次冰消期Bølling-Allerød 时期,山地森林发育;新仙女木事件发生时森林萎缩;全新世中期两地针叶林发育达到鼎盛,之后逐渐减少至消失。早全新世达连海森林扩张的时间滞后于青海湖,主要与两地森林树种的不同和植被演替的时间差异有关。该区森林发育的全盛时期在中全新世,这与石笋记录到的亚洲季风强盛时期在早全新世不相一致,可能与植被复杂的响应机制有关。     

长江中游江汉—洞庭盆地全新世以来水文环境演变与人类活动

本文基于长江中游江汉—洞庭盆地18个钻孔岩性、沉积特征及年代数据,结合研究区考古遗址点时空分布特征,恢复研究区全新世以来水文环境演变过程,并探讨了区域水文环境演变的成因机制及其与人类活动的关系。结果表明,受东海海面上升和泥沙淤积等因素影响,距今11.5—5.5 ka,长江中游地区河湖水位呈上升趋势,随着新石器文化的发展及稻作农业活动的增加,人类文化聚落自山前平原地带逐渐向盆地平原中部扩展;距今5.5—4.0 ka,长江中游河湖水位有所下降,新石器晚期的屈家岭—石家河文化迅速发展,聚落数量增多,平原腹地聚落比例增加;距今4.0 ka前后,河湖水位再次有所上升,洪泛过程加剧,可能是石家河文化快速衰落的主要原因。