Recent and Pleistocene beach/dune sequences,western Australia

Wave-dominated sandy shores occur along much of the coast of Western Australia. Despite local variations there is a characteristic distribution of lithofacies (corresponding to different geomorphic zones). Five lithofacies are recognised: (1) trough-bedded sand/gravel; (2) laminated sand; (3) laminated/bubble sand; (4) laminated/disrupted sand; and (5) aeolian cross-stratified sand.The trough-bedded sand/gravel lithofacies is being deposited in the shallow shoreface below LWL. The laminated sand and laminated/bubble sand lithofacies are sands with gravel layers being deposited on the foreshore swash zone; extensive bubble (or vesicular) sand is common towards HWL especially in berms. The laminated/disrupted sand lithofacies is being deposited on the backshore between HWL and storm water levels and consists of horizontally layered to homogeneous sands with storm debris, especially wood, weed and floatable skeletons (e.g. Sepla and Spirula). The aeolian cross-stratified sand lithofacies is forming in beach ridge/dune areas and consists of fine sands with large-scale, generally landward-dipping forests; soils and rootlets are common.Recognition of these lithofacies within a sedimentary sequence enables reconstruction of gross shoreline conditions in terms of wave and eolian environments, tidal and storm heights, and palaeogeography. Each of these lithofacies with their characteristic features is recognised in Pleistocene sequences in Perth Basin. The Pleistocene sequences fit a model of coastal progradation with the trough-bedded sand/gravel lithofacies at the base and the aeolian sand lithofacies at the top. The value of such a stratigraphic sequence, however, extends beyond the Pleistocene.     

Age and paleoclimatic significance of the Stansbury shoreline of Lake Bonneville, Northeastern Great Basin

The Stansbury shoreline, one of the conspicuous late Pleistocene shorelines of Lake Bonneville, consists of tufa-cemented gravel and barrier beaches within a vertical zone of about 45 m, the lower limit of which is 70 m above the modern average level of Great Salt Lake. Stratigraphic evidence at a number of localities, including new evidence from Crater Island on the west side of the Great Salt Lake Desert, shows that the Stansbury shoreline formed during the transgressive phase of late Pleistocene Lake bonneville (sometime between about 22,000 and 20,000 yr B.P.). Tufa-cemented gravel and barrier beaches were deposited in the Stansbury shorezone during one or more fluctuations in water level with a maximum total amplitude of 45 m. We refer to the fluctuations as the Stansbury oscillation. The Stansbury oscillation cannot have been caused by basin-hypsometric factors, such as stabilization of lake level at an external overflow threshold or by expansion into an interior subbasin, or by changes in drainage basin size. Therefore, changes in climate must have caused the lake level to reverse its general rise, to drop about 45 m in altitude (reducing its surface area by about 18%, 5000 km²), and later to resume its rise. If the sizes of Great Basin lakes are controlled by the mean position of storm tracks and the jetstream, which as recently postulated may be controlled by the size of the continental ice sheets, the Stansbury oscillation may have been caused by a shift in the jetstream during a major interstade of the Laurentide ice sheet.     

东昆仑东段新生代高原隆升重大事件的沉积响应

根据新生代沉积盆地的地层序列、环境演变及地貌和水系变迁分析将研究区新生代高原隆升过程划分为5个重大事件.首次在研究区内海拔5400m的主夷平面上发现古土壤、岩溶角砾岩及钟乳石等, 认为沱沱河组上段细碎屑沉积及五道梁组石膏沉积(中新世) 是主夷平面形成期的沉积响应, 提出了主夷平面的高程具有东西向排列的盆岭地貌特点, 这种高程差异反映了后期构造隆升的不均衡, 应该是上新世以来差异断块抬升的结果; 早更新世中期(1525.5ka后) 一套河流砂砾卵石沉积是青藏运动C幕的沉积响应, 体现在布尔汗布达山的强烈上升和成山; 早更新世晚期(1113.9~836.3ka) 先湖滨砾石沉积, 后转为河流砂砾卵石沉积, 是昆黄运动在研究区的沉积响应, 并体现在马尔争-布青山的强烈上升和成山, 中更新世早期冰碛物的发育说明昆黄运动后研究区已隆升达到"水汽冻结高度"; 研究区T5阶地沉积前的强烈下蚀, 柴达木盆地内陆水系溯源侵蚀切过布尔汗布达山主分水岭, 袭夺了昆南断裂带原由西向东流向共和古湖的东西向水系并到达阿拉克湖一带, 晚更新世洪冲积角度不整合于中更新世洪冲积之上等是共和运动的具体表现.      

成都平原东郊台地中更新统合江组沉积特征及工程地质意义

通过地层沉积序列、粒度特征、砾石特征综合分析认为,成都平原东郊台地中更新统合江组为河流相沉积,垂向上具有明显的"河流二元"结构特征,主要以细粒沉积物为主,底部砾石层多为中-粗砾,磨圆较好,具有定向性。该组可细分为河道、边滩、堤岸-河漫3种沉积微相类型,对应发育3种岩相类型。河道砾石岩相沿十陵镇-红河镇-大面镇一带呈北西-南东向展布,边滩砂坝岩相集中发育于大面镇-西河镇东侧古河道凹岸处,堤岸-漫滩粘土岩相广泛分布于研究区内。这3种岩相特性及分布对工程建设的影响存在差异:河道砾石层作为地下水储集层的同时,水溶蚀使其地层结构稳定性被破坏,影响工程稳固技术的选择;边滩砂坝分布较为集中,对区内工程建设影响面最小;堤岸-河漫粘土广泛分布,是一种分布稳定的软弱层,对地下水有一定的封闭效果,同时软弱层的特性使其降低了边坡、坝体的稳定性。     

Age of Gimli beach of Lake Agassiz based on new OSL dating

Gimli beach in Manitoba is one of the lowest elevation beaches in the southern Lake Agassiz basin, and is a distinct ridge composed of bedded sand and gravel that rises above the lake plain and extends for more than 40 km. Ten new optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages from Gimli beach yield ages mostly ranging from 9.7 ± 0.7 to 10.5 ± 0.8 ka (average 10.3 ± 0.5 ka), which is older by 0.6 to >1.0 ka than age estimates of previous researchers. Two of our new OSL ages are notably older than the others, dating to ~11.3 ± 0.8 and 13.9 ± 1.0 ka, which we attribute to poorly bleached sands. We ascribe an age of about 10 ka to Gimli beach, which is several centuries before overflow from Lake Agassiz and its vast drainage basin shifted from the western Great Lakes to glacial Lake Ojibway and the St. Lawrence Valley.     

嫩江现代河流沉积体岩相及内部构形要素分析

嫩江是松辽盆地北部一条多河型河流。本文以黑龙江省富裕县塔哈乡大马岗嫩江现代河流沉积露头为例,运用Miall结构要素分析法对嫩江现代河流沉积体岩相类型、层次界面及内部构形要素进行了系统研究,表明大马岗沉积体主要由块状层理细砾相、大型及小型低角度槽状交错层理细砂相、同沉积变形层理细砂相、波状交错层理细砂相、薄层状粉砂质泥与细砂互层相、微波状层理粉砂相、块状层理泥质粉砂相、水平层理泥相、块状层理粉砂质泥相等16种岩相构成,不同岩相空间分布变化差异较大。在大马岗沉积体内部识别出1～5级层次界面,划分出具有成因意义的7种构形要素:河道、砾质坝、侧向加积沉积体、单一侧积砂层、纹层砂席、砂底形及越岸细粒沉积,这种构形要素的划分丰富了Miall的分类方案。     

青海湖东南岸现代滩坝沉积模式与识别标志

青海湖是研究湖泊滩坝的有利区域。通过对青海湖现代滩坝的实地考察和精细解剖,对滩坝的沉积特征、形成机制、沉积序列、沉积模式、识别标志等方面进行了系统研究。青海湖滩坝发育3种岩相,即块状砾质砂岩相、块状砾岩相和递变砂砾岩相。结合岩相分布和现代湖岸水动力观测,将青海湖波浪带划分为对称浪带、歪浪带、破浪带和冲洗浪带,并据此建立了青海湖滩坝沉积模式。提出滩坝相较于河口坝的4点关键识别标志:(1)岩性底界面接触关系差异,滩坝与下伏半深湖泥质沉积总是突变接触,有明显的突变面,而河口坝则是渐变接触;(2)滩坝垂向上发育典型的“ABC”序列,沉积物自底至顶呈细-粗-细的变化;(3)滩坝普遍发育冲洗层理,以及向陆倾斜的漫越层,而河口坝主要发育槽状交错层理;(4)砂体走向差异,滩坝砂体走向总体平行于湖岸,而河口坝砂体走向总体垂直于湖岸。     

广西北海涠洲岛第四纪湖光岩组的风暴岩

广西北海涠洲岛第四纪湖光岩组以碎屑岩为主, 内发育渠筑型、丘状或洼状交错层理、平行层理等典型的风暴沉积构造.湖光岩组的风暴岩包括3种岩相类型: A.底部具渠筑型、内部具块状层理或递变层理的砾岩、砂砾岩或含砾砂岩; B.具丘状、洼状交错层理或平行层理的砂岩; C.具浪成交错层理的砂岩.这些岩相组合成典型的A -B -C风暴沉积序列, 它们分别代表在风暴作用期间风暴流(A)、风暴浪(B) 和正常波浪(C) 的沉积.晚更新世北海涠洲岛地区位于低纬度的浅海沉积背景下, 上更新统湖光岩组以正常浪及面之上的浅海背景粗火山碎屑和砂沉积为主.湖光岩组风暴岩的发现反映该区晚更新世位于风暴作用频繁的5°~ 2 0°的低纬度地区.风暴沉积发育于正常浪及面之上的浅海地带, 涠洲岛是一个风暴作用控制的浅海陆架.因此风暴岩对解释晚更新世北部湾的古地理和古气候具有重要意义      

Stratigraphy of Pleistocene glaciations in the St Elias Mountains,southwest Yukon,Canada

At least five Middle to Late Pleistocene advances of the northern Cordilleran Ice Sheet are preserved at Silver Creek, on the northeastern edge of the St Elias Mountains in southwest Yukon, Canada. Silver Creek is located 100 km up‐ice of the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2 McConnell glacial limit of the St Elias lobe. This site contains ~3 km of nearly continuous lateral exposure of glacial and non‐glacial sediments, including multiple tills separated by thick gravel, loess and tilted lake beds. Infrared‐stimulated luminescence (IRSL) and AMS radiocarbon dating constrain the glacial deposits to MIS 2, 4, either MIS 6 or mid‐MIS 7, and two older Middle Pleistocene advances. This chronology and the tilt of the lake beds suggest Pleistocene uplift rates of up to 1.9 mm a^?1 along the Denali Fault since MIS 7. The non‐glacial sediment consists of sand, gravel, loess and organic beds from MIS 7, MIS 3 and the early Holocene. The MIS 3 deposits date to between 30–36 ¹⁴C ka BP, making Silver Creek one of the few well‐constrained MIS 3‐aged sites in Yukon. This confirms that ice receded close to modern limits in MIS 3. Pollen and macrofossil analyses show that a meadow‐tundra to steppe‐tundra mosaic with abundant herbs and forbs and few shrubs or trees, dominated the environment at this time. The stratigraphy at Silver Creek provides a palaeoclimatic record since at least MIS 8 and comprises the oldest direct record of Pleistocene glaciation in southwest Yukon.     

Architectural Model of a Dryland Gravel Braided River, based on 3D UAV Oblique Photogrammetric Data: A Case Study of West Dalongkou River in Eastern Xinjiang, China

Three-dimensional unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) oblique photogrammetric data were used to infer mountainous gravel braided river lithofacies, lithofacies associations and architectural elements. Hierarchical architecture and lithofacies associations with detailed lithofacies characterizations were comprehensively described to document the architectural model, architectural element scale and gravel particle scale.(1) Nine lithofacies(i.e., Gmm, Gcm, Gcc, Gci, Gcl, Ss, Sm, Fsm and Fl) were identifi...     

现代滨岸风暴沉积--以舟山普陀岛、朱家尖岛为例

本文以舟山现代滨岸为例,重点阐述了在8114号和8310号两次强台风作用期间,水动力发生的剧烈变化以及对应的沉积物堆积情况。进而从沉积物粒度变化、沉积构造组合、生物特征和沉积物垂向层序诸方面,探讨了滨岸风暴沙滩的沉积特征,并指出它与浅海风暴沉积的区别。总结了风暴砾滩的沉积特征,并指出绝大多数滨岸砾滩是风暴作用的结果。研究现代风暴沉积目的是为了找到更多的古代风暴沉积,文后介绍了已找到的古代风暴沉积的实例。     

Estimating palaeowind strength from beach deposits

Abstract The geological record of past wind conditions is well expressed in the coarse gravel, cobble and boulder beach deposits of Quaternary palaeolakes in the Great Basin of the western USA and elsewhere. This paper describes a technique, using the particle‐size distribution of beach deposits, to reconstruct palaeowind conditions when the lakes were present. The beach particle technique (BPT) is first developed using coarse beach deposits from the 1986–87 highstand of the Great Salt Lake in Utah, combined with instrumental wind records from the same time period. Next, the BPT is used to test the hypothesis that wind conditions were more severe than at present during the last highstand of Lake Lahontan (≈ 13 ka), which only lasted a decade or two at most. The largest 50 beach clasts were measured at nine beach sites located along the north, west and south sides of Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake, all of which formed in 1986–87. At these sites, the largest clast sizes range from 10 to 28 cm (b‐axis), and fetch lengths range from 25 to 55 km. Nearshore wave height was calculated by assuming that the critical threshold velocity required to move the largest clasts represents a minimum estimate of the breaking wave velocity, which is controlled by wave height. Shoaling transformations are undertaken to estimate deep‐water wave heights and, ultimately, wind velocity. Wind estimates for the nine sites, using the BPT, range from 6·5 to 17·4 m s^?1, which is in reasonable agreement with the instrumental record from Salt Lake City Airport. The same technique was applied to eight late Pleistocene beaches surrounding the Carson Sink sub‐basin of Lake Lahontan, Nevada. Using the BPT, estimated winds for the eight sites range from 9·7 to 27·1 m s^?1. The strongest winds were calculated for a cobble/boulder beach with a fetch of 25 km. Instrumental wind records for the 1992–99 period indicate that wind events of 9–12 m s^?1 are common and that the strongest significant wind event (≥ 9 m s^?1 for ≥ 3 h) reached an average velocity of 15·5 m s^?1. Based on this preliminary comparison, it appears that the late Pleistocene western Great Basin was a windier place than at present, at least for a brief time.     

Late Pleistocene and early Holocene rivers and wetlands in the Bonneville basin of western North America

Field investigations at Dugway Proving Ground in western Utah have produced new data on the chronology and human occupation of late Pleistocene and early Holocene lakes, rivers, and wetlands in the Lake Bonneville basin. We have classified paleo-river channels of these ages as “gravel channels” and “sand channels.” Gravel channels are straight to curved, digitate, and have abrupt bulbous ends. They are composed of fine gravel and coarse sand, and are topographically inverted (i.e., they stand higher than the surrounding mudflats). Sand channels are younger and sand filled, with well-developed meander-scroll morphology that is truncated by deflated mudflat surfaces. Gravel channels were formed by a river that originated as overflow from the Sevier basin along the Old River Bed during the late regressive phases of Lake Bonneville (after 12,500 and prior to 11,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P.). Dated samples from sand channels and associated fluvial overbank and wetland deposits range in age from 11,000 to 8800 ¹⁴C yr B.P., and are probably related to continued Sevier-basin overflow and to groundwater discharge. Paleoarchaic foragers occupied numerous sites on gravel-channel landforms and adjacent to sand channels in the extensive early Holocene wetland habitats. Reworking of tools and limited toolstone diversity is consistent with theoretical models suggesting Paleoarchaic foragers in the Old River Bed delta were less mobile than elsewhere in the Great Basin.     

Sedimentology of gravelly Lake Lahontan highstand shoreline deposits,Churchill Butte,Nevada, USA

Gravelly shoreline deposits of the latest Pleistocene highstand of Lake Lahontan occur in pristine depositional morphology, and are exposed in gravel pits along Churchill Butte in west-central Nevada. Four environments differentiated at this site are alluvial fan/colluvium, lakeshore barrier spit, lake lower-shoreface spit platform, and lake bottom. Lakeshore deposits abut, along erosional wave headcuts, either unsorted muddy to bouldery colluvium fringing Churchill Butte bedrock, or matrix-supported, cobbly and pebbly debris-flow deposits of the Silver Springs fan. The lakeshore barrier spit is dominated by granule pebble gravel concentrated by wave erosion of the colluvial and alluvial-fan facies. The lakeward side of the barrier consists of beachface deposits of well-sorted granules or pebbles in broad, planar beds 1–10 cm thick and sloping 10–15°. They interfinger downslope with thicker (10–25 cm) and less steep (5–10°) lakeward-dipping beds of fine to medium pebble gravel of the lake upper shoreface. Interstratified with the latter are 10–40-cm-thick sets of high-angle cross-beds that dip southward, alongshore. Higher-angle (15–20°), landward-dipping foresets of similar texture but poorer sorting comprise the proximal backshore on the landward side of the barrier. They were deposited during storm surges that overtopped the barrier berm. Gastropod-rich sand and mud, also deposited by storm-induced washover, are found landward of the gravel foresets in a 15-m-wide backshore pond. Algal stromatolites, ostracodes, and diatoms accumulated in this pond between storm events. The lake lower shoreface, extending from water depths of 2 to 8 m, consists of a southward-prograding spit platform built by longshore drift. The key component of this platform is large-scale sandy pebble gravel in 16° southward-dipping `Gilbert' foresets that grade at a water depth of about 6–7 m to 4°-dipping sandy toesets. A shift from bioturbated lower-shoreface sand and silt, to flat and laminated lake-bottom silt and mud, occurs between water depths of 10–40 m and over a shore-normal distance of ≥250 m. This lake-bottom mud facies, unlike the others, is areally expansive.     

Depositional environments of some Pleistocene coastal terrace deposits,southwestern Oregon—case history of a progradational beach and dune sequence

Pleistocene coastal terrace deposits exposed in sea cliffs near Gold Beach, Oregon can be divided into four stratigraphic units: a basal gravelly unit and three overlying sandy units, each with mud beds, a paleosol, or the modern soil in its uppermost part. The gravelly unit consists of gravel and sand in its lower part, sand, in part pebbly or cobbly, in its middle part, and mud and sand in its upper part. Black sand and transported pieces of wood are common in the middle part of the unit, and wood is common in the mud. This unit is interpreted as a progradational deposit including environments ranging from lower forebeach at the base to backbeach flats and streams at the top.The main sandy parts of the sandy units are made up of a crossbedded sand facies, the dominant structure in which is medium-scale crossbedding, and an irregularly bedded sand facies, which is locally pebbly and is dominated by scour-and-fill structures. Deciding between shallow marine and eolian interpretations of the sandy units proved exceptionally difficult until modern analogues were found in the fine details of the internal structures. Largely on the basis of such structural details, the crossbedded sand facies is interpreted as the product of small eolian dunes, and the irregularly bedded sand facies is interpreted as deposits of interdune ephemeral streams, ephemeral ponds, and wet to dry subaerial flats. The mud beds and paleosols at the tops of the sandy units represent times of temporary stabilization of the dune field.     

Heavy-mineral distribution in modern and ancient bay deposits,Willapa Bay,Washington, U.S.A.

Analysis of heavy-mineral distribution in modern sediments of Willapa Bay, Washington, indicates a dominance of two mineralogic assemblages, one with approximately equivalent amounts of hornblende, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene, the other dominated by clinopyroxene. The hornblende-orthopyroxene-clinopyroxene suite is derived from the Columbia River, which discharges into the ocean a short distance south of the bay. The clinopyroxene suite is restricted in modern sediments to sands in rivers flowing into the bay from the east. The heavy-mineral distributions suggest that sand discharged from the Columbia River, borne north by longshore transport, and carried into the bay by tidal currents accounts for most of the sand within the interior of Willapa Bay.Three heavy-mineral assemblages are present in the surrounding Pleistocene deposits; two of these are identical to the modern assemblages described above. These heavy-mineral assemblages reflect the relative influence of tidal and fluvial processes on the Late Pleistocene deposits; their relative influences are consistent with those inferred on the basis of sedimentary structures and stratigraphic relations in about two-thirds of the samples examined. The anomalies can be explained by recycling of sand from older deposits. The persistence of the two heavy-mineral assemblages suggests that the pattern of estuarine sedimentation in Late Pleistocene deposits closely resembled that of the modern bay.The third heavy-mineral suite, dominated by epidote, occurs in a few older Pleistocene units. On the north side of the bay, the association of this suite with southwest-directed foresets in crossbedded gravel indicates derivation from the northeast, perhaps from an area of glacial outwash. The presence of this suite in ancient estuarine sands exposed on the east side of the bay suggests that input from this northerly source may have intermittently dominated bay deposition in the past.     

Holocene evolution of the Anichab Pan on the south-west coast of Namibia

Coastal sediment-filled depressions (pans) are one of the few areas that contain Quaternary records of sea-level and palaeoenvironmental change along the western margin of southern Africa. Anichab is a 128 km² salt-encrusted pan on the hyper-arid southern coast of Namibia with an emergent, well-preserved and in-place mid-Holocene mollusc assemblage. The molluscs are typical of subtidal sands on the sheltered side of offshore islands but include several warm-water species no longer found living along this coast. The Holocene evolution of the pan was largely influenced by changes in sea level and supply of sand along the coast. Calibrated radiocarbon ages of mollusc shells indicate a maximum Holocene sea level of ca 2 m above mean sea level (msl) from 7·0 to 6·3 ka and a return to near present-day sea level by 5·3 ka. The pan surface is 2 m below msl and has been emergent since 4·9 ka from the build up of sandy beaches and coastal dunes. A thin (1–4 cm) halite crust occurs over much of the pan surface but a layer of halite-cemented sand up to 40 cm thick is restricted to the central pan. Gypsum occurs near the subsurface brine interface and is limited by calcium to the edges of the pan. Nodules of calcite-cemented sand are forming in brackish, relatively high alkalinity subsurface waters in the south-east corner of the pan and nodules of aragonite-cemented sand are forming in brines 1 m below the central pan surface. Although modern dolomite has been reported from coastal lagoons of Brazil and Australia, carbonate cements are a minor feature of Anichab Pan and dolomite was restricted to a single reworked nodule most likely of Late Pleistocene age. Therefore, Anichab Pan does not appear to be a modern analogue to extensive, mixed-water dolomite cements found in Upper Pleistocene sediment-filled depressions on the Namibian shelf.     

Glacial lake levels and Eastern Great Lakes Palaeo‐Indians

This article investigates changing lake levels in the late Pleistocene eastern Great Lakes in order to gain insights into the Early Palaeo‐Indian occupations. Significant new information bearing on lake level history is provided, notably the first well‐documented deposits of a high water level above modern in the ca. 11,000–10,300 B.P. period in the southern Lake Huron basin. The lake level information, along with paleoenvironmental and site data, reinforces site age estimates to the 11th millennium B.P.; suggests significant numbers of sites have been inundated by rising water levels; provides specific information on the setting of archaeological sites such as placing the Parkhill site adjacent to a large lake estuary; indicates reasons for the attractiveness of shorelines to Palaeo‐Indians including persistence of more open areas conducive to higher game productivity; and points to ideal areas for future archaeological site survey, particularly in the Lake Erie drainage. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Changes in beach gravel lithology caused by anthropogenic activities along the southern coast of Lake Michigan, USA

The southern coast of Lake Michigan is the most urbanized and most densely populated area in the Great Lakes region. Development of steel mills, harbors, and municipalities in NW Indiana and in NE Illinois in the last century and a half altered the nearshore environment so much that native beach gravel (>8 mm) now exist only in the exhumed paleo-beach remnants from the Nipissing Phase (~4,500 years ago) of Lake Michigan. Native gravel, collected from paleo-beach remnants at Mount Baldy Dune and Beach House Blowout, contain predominantly beach shingle, very platy siltstones (71–78 %), with secondary crystalline pebbles (18 %) in the east, and carbonate pebbles (12 %) in the west. A large amount of anthropogenic fill (steel industry waste, waste from power generating plants, construction debris, railroad, and road fill) has been added since the late 1800s to fill Lake Michigan and expand industrial land. Four areas of major coastal structures—Michigan City Pier and Breakwater, Burns Harbor Pier and Breakwater, Gary Works Pier, and Indiana Harbor Peninsula—altered the natural littoral drift and created four independent sectors on Indiana’s coast—Northeastern, Eastern, Central, and Western—between which no natural transfers of coarse sediments occur. Downdrift from the coastal structures, severe beach erosion has prompted extensive beach nourishment with non-native sandy gravel. Four distinct populations of modern beach gravel now exist along Indiana’s coast of Lake Michigan: (1) native gravel with diluted beach nourishment influence, (2) native gravel with a minor industrial influence, (3) compact gravel of nourished origin, and (4) anthropogenic gravel of industrial origin. Native gravel with diluted nourishment influence is found in the western, downdrift areas of the Northeastern (from Long Beach to Washington Park Beach) and Eastern Sectors (from eastern Indiana Dunes State Park to western Dune Acres) and contains up to 40 % compact carbonate and crystalline pebbles in addition to native beach shingle. Native gravel with minor industrial influence is found in the Central Sector of Indiana’s coast (from central Ogden Dunes to Marquette Beach) and contains predominantly beach shingle, platy clastic lithology, but also up to 30 % of chert and other pebbles released by industry. Compact gravel of nourished origin contains 60–90 % of carbonate and crystalline pebbles, and is found in the eastern, updrift areas of the Northeastern (Michiana Beach and Duneland Beach) and Eastern Sectors (from Crescent Beach to the western Beverly Shores). Anthropogenic gravel of industrial origin contains 70–90 % compact chert and slag and is found in every beach of the Western Sector and in the westernmost beach of the Central Sector. Streams draining into southern Lake Michigan generally contain little coarse sediment except in their channels near the roads and railroads, where angular to subangular anthropogenic pebbles predominate (70–90 %). However, streams have very little influence on gravel lithology along the coast because they seldom discharge anthropogenic gravel into Lake Michigan. Recent changes in gravel lithology along the southern Lake Michigan coast may affect changes in nearshore benthic flora and fauna as well as algal and bacterial blooms during warm summer months.