Exhuming the Alps through time: clues from detrital zircon fission-track thermochronology

The European Alps are a mountain belt that is characterized by a series of discrete orogenic events, which have long been recognized. Despite the inherent episodic nature of orogenic evolution, the Alps have been continuously exhumed, mainly by erosion, but also by normal faulting. Since continental collision started in the late Eocene/Early Oligocene evidence for ongoing erosional exhumation has been preserved in synorogenic sediments that accumulated in basins adjacent to the pro- and retro-side of this double-vergent mountain belt. This long-term erosion record can be used to determine exhumation rates. Lag-times calculated from fission-track (FT) ages of detrital zircon from synorogenic sediments are fairly constant for the European Alps since the Oligocene–Late Miocene. Although the fast exhuming areas were unroofed at rates of 0.4–0.7 km Myr⁻¹, the overall average exhumation rate is between 0.2 and 0.3 km Myr⁻¹ on a regional scale. The detrital and bedrock zircon FT data of the Alps do not detect the increase in erosion rates since the Pliocene over the past ∼5 Myr, as shown elsewhere. This increase cannot be detected yet with the detrital zircon FT method because not enough rock has been removed to widely expose zircons with Pliocene or younger cooling ages in the Alps. Long term (30 Myr) exhumation rates appear to have been approximately constant when averaged over a sliding time window of about 8 Myr, or depth window of 5 to 10 km (ZFT closure depths); shorter-term fluctuations are not identified using this method.     

Depositional and tectonic evolution of a supradetachment basin: 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of the Nova Formation, Panamint Range, California

The Nova Basin contains an upper Miocene to Pliocene supradetachment sedimentary succession that records the unroofing of the Panamint metamorphic core complex, west of Death Valley, California. Basin stratigraphy reflects the evolution of sedimentation processes from landslide emplacement during basin initiation to the development of alluvial fans composed of reworked, uplifted sections of the basin fill. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology of volcanic units in middle and lower parts of the sequence provide age control on the tectonic and depositional evolution of the basin and, more generally, insights regarding the rate of change of depositional environments in supradetachment basins. Our work, along with earlier research, indicate basin deposition from 11.38 Ma to 3.35 Ma. The data imply sedimentation rates, uncorrected for compaction, of ~100 m Myr⁻¹ in the lower, high-energy part to ~1000 m Myr⁻¹ in the middle part characterized by debris-flow fan deposition. The observed variation in sediment flux rate during basin evolution suggests that supradetachment basins have complex depositional histories involving rapid transitions in both the style and rate of sedimentation.     

Late- to post-orogenic exhumation of the Central Pyrenees revealed through combined thermochronological data and modelling

Apatite (U–Th)/He and fission track thermochronometry have been combined with 3D thermal modelling to constrain the late- to post-orogenic exhumation history of the Central Pyrenees, Spain. Data from four massifs immediately north and south of the present drainage divide of the mountain belt reveal a diachroneity in the transition from syn- to post-orogenic forcing of exhumation. Immediately south of the drainage divide, rapid exhumation of ∼1.5 mm year⁻¹ decelerated after ∼30 Ma to ∼0.03 mm year⁻¹. A similar transition occurred immediately north of the drainage divide at the same time. Further south, in the core of the Axial Zone antiformal stack of the Pyrenees, rapid (∼1 mm year⁻¹), syn-orogenic exhumation continued to ∼20 Ma, but slowed to ∼0.1–0.2 mm year⁻¹ soon after that time. This order of magnitude decrease in exhumation rates across the orogen records the diachronous transition into a post-orogenic state for the mountain belt. These data do not record rejuvenation of exhumation in Late Miocene or Pliocene times driven either by large-scale base-level change or an evolution to more erosive climatic conditions.     

Stratigraphic record and palaeogeographical context of the Neogene basins in the Betic Cordillera, Spain

The Betic Cordillera (Southern Spain) acquired its present configuration during the Neogene. The formation, evolution and total or partial destruction of Neogene sedimentary basins were highly controlled by the geodynamic situations and the positions of the basins in the Betic Cordillera. It is impossible to reconstruct the geometry of basins formed during the Early and Middle Miocene, concurrently with the westward drift of the Internal Zones, because in many cases only small outcrops remain. The basins formed on the mobile substratum (the Internal Zones) are characterized by a sedimentary infill made up of synorogenic deposits, which were intensely deformed towards the end of the Middle Miocene, and which were heavily eroded before the beginning of the Late Miocene. In the External Zones, deposition mainly took place in the North Betic Strait, an area across which there was wide communication between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, which received huge olistostromic masses in its more mobile sector (the foredeep basin), and which evolved differently in its eastern and western sectors. The palaeogeography of the Cordillera changed radically at the beginning of the Late Miocene, when the westward drift of the Internal Zones ceased. During this time the North Betic Strait disappeared and, in what had been its northwestern half approximately, the Guadalquivir Basin became individualized. This basin, which was located between the Betic Chain and the emerged Hercynian Massif, acquired a structure similar to that of the present basin and its extension was also similar to that of the present Neogene outcrops. Intramontane basins became individualized in the recently formed and progressively emerged mountain chain, reaching a development and size in this Cordillera much greater than in other Alpine chains. These basins are characterized by their thick infills, which are unconformable on the folded and deformed substratum, and which can be subdivided according to the different movements of the fault sets that controlled their evolution.     

40Ar-39Ar incremental heating studies on the Tudor Gabbro, Grenville Province, Ontario: its bearing on the North American apparent polar wander path in late Proterozoic times

Summary. ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar incremental heating studies have been carried out on samples taken from the Tudor Gabbro, Grenville Province, Ontario. In an earlier K-Ar study, these rocks have yielded an isochron age of ∼700 Ma together with very high initial argon ratios. Age spectrum plots on whole-rock samples, in general, display a saddle-shaped character, with two of them exhibiting minima close to 700 Ma. No clear plateaus are observed for these rocks. A hornblende separate records the time ∼1110 Ma at which the stock finally cooled through the ∼590°C isotherm. The Tudor Gabbro was probably intruded into an area undergoing middle-amphibolite facies meta-morphism about 1180 Ma ago. The age spectra of two whole-rock samples together with that of their plagioclase separates, suggest that the stock cooled to ∼200–250°C at about 720 Ma. Slow cooling, averaging about 1°C Ma⁻¹ is indicated for this section of the Grenville Province for the period 1100–700 Ma. If the age of the Tudor Gabbro's palaeomagnetic pole position is taken to be 720 Ma, the Hadrynian Track Hypothesis leads to very high polar wander rates of > 20cm a⁻¹ for the period 820–720 Ma. If this hypothesis is rejected, the average drift rate for this period would be ∼4 cm a⁻¹, in much better agreement with published values of ∼5 cm a⁻¹ for the period 1400–820 Ma.     

U–Pb zircon and 40Ar–39Ar K-feldspar dating of syn-sedimentary volcanism of the Neoproterozoic Maricá Formation: constraining the age of foreland basin inception and inversion in the Camaquã Basin of southern Brazil

New U–Pb zircon and ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar K-feldspar data are presented for syn-sedimentary volcanogenic rocks from the Neoproterozoic Maricá Formation, located in the southern Brazilian shield. Seven (of nine) U–Pb sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe analyses of zircons from pyroclastic cobbles yield an age of 630.2±3.4 Ma (2σ), interpreted as the age of syn-sedimentary volcanism, and thus of the deposition itself. This result indicates that the Maricá Formation was deposited during the main collisional phase (640–620 Ma) of the Brasiliano II orogenic system, probably as a forebulge or back-bulge, craton-derived foreland succession. Thus, this unit is possibly correlative of younger portions of the Porongos, Brusque, Passo Feio, Abapã (Itaiacoca) and Lavalleja (Fuente del Puma) metamorphic complexes. Well-defined, step-heating ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar K-feldspar plateau ages obtained from volcanogenic beds and pyroclastic cobbles of the lower and upper successions of the Maricá Formation yielded 507.3±1.8 Ma and 506.7±1.4 Ma (2σ), respectively. These data are interpreted to reflect total isotopic resetting during deep burial and thermal effects related to magmatic events. Late Middle Cambrian cooling below ca . 200 °C, probably related to uplift, is tentatively associated with intraplate effects of the Rio Doce and/or Pampean orogenies (Brasiliano III system). In the southern Brazilian shield, these intraplate stresses are possibly related to the dominantly extensional opening of a rift or a pull-apart basin, where sedimentary rocks of the Camaquã Group (Santa Bárbara and Guaritas Formations) accumulated.     

Slip rate on the Dead Sea transform fault in northern Araba valley (Jordan)

The Araba valley lies between the southern tip of the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. This depression, blanketed with alluvial and lacustrine deposits, is cut along its entire length by the Dead Sea fault. In many places the fault is well defined by scarps, and evidence for left-lateral strike-slip faulting is abundant. The slip rate on the fault can be constrained from dated geomorphic features displaced by the fault. A large fan at the mouth of Wadi Dahal has been displaced by about 500 m since the bulk of the fanglomerates were deposited 77–140 kyr ago, as dated from cosmogenic isotope analysis (¹⁰Be in chert) of pebbles collected on the fan surface and from the age of transgressive lacustrine sediments capping the fan. Holocene alluvial surfaces are also clearly offset. By correlation with similar surfaces along the Dead Sea lake margin, we propose a chronology for their emplacement. Taken together, our observations suggest an average slip rate over the Late Pleistocene of between 2 and 6 mm yr⁻¹, with a preferred value of 4 mm yr⁻¹. This slip rate is shown to be consistent with other constraints on the kinematics of the Arabian plate, assuming a rotation rate of about 0.396° Myr⁻¹ around a pole at 31.1°N, 26.7°E relative to Africa.     

Surface vertical displacements, potential perturbations andgravity changes of a viscoelastic earth model induced by internal point dislocations

Using the viscoelastic correspondence principle, we utilize the surface coseismic spheroidal deformation fields (i.e. vertical displacements, potential perturbations and gravity changes) of SNREI earth models caused by four typical types of point dislocation, derived by Sun & Okubo (1993 ), to deduce the fundamental formulas for spheroidal fields relevant to viscoelastic earth models. In computations, we employ a strike-slip dislocation on a vertical plane buried at the bottom of the lithosphere to estimate the maximal viscous relaxation responses to this kind of source that possibly exist on the surface of the earth. We take the seismic moment as 10²²  N  m, which is characteristic of an average large earthquake. The numerical results demonstrate that, if we take the viscosity as 10¹⁹  Pa  s in the asthenosphere, and 10²¹  Pa  s in the other mantle layers, the rates of surface vertical displacements and gravity changes within about 2.5° for the 10 postseismic years are respectively 1.5–8.1  cm  yr⁻¹ and 4.0–14.9  μgal  yr⁻¹ : the viscous relaxation for this mantle viscosity profile proceeds much faster than for a constant mantle viscosity of 10²¹  Pa  s.     

Palaeointensity results from Ethiopian basalts: implications for the Oligocene geomagnetic field strength

From a large collection of Ethiopian flood basalts (~30  Myr old) sampled for magnetostratigraphy, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology and geochemical investigations, 47 samples were selected in order to test their suitability for Thellier palaeointensity experiments. Only 17 samples from eight individual flows yielded reliable palaeointensity estimates, with flow-mean virtual dipole moments ranging from 3.0 to 10.5 × 10²²  A  m² .
  A critical review of the Oligocene palaeointensity data set, including these new Ethiopian data, indicates an Oligocene mean virtual dipole moment of 5.1 ± 2.5 × 10²²  A  m² for the complete data set. After applying mild selection criteria, the reduced data set yields a mean value of only 4.6 ± 1.9 × 10²²  A  m² . This value is significantly lower than the present-day field strength but is higher than the Mesozoic dipole low mean field. This low Oligocene field might be in agreement with the high palaeosecular variation and rather high non-dipole field invoked around 30  Ma. However, the Oligocene data set is largely dependent on the palaeointensity determinations from Armenia, obtained mainly from baked contacts, which show amazingly low dispersion at both flow and between-flow levels. More data are needed to reduce the weight of these determinations on the mean value and avoid a possible bias.     

Use of 40Ar/39Ar K-feldspar thermochronology in basin thermal history reconstruction: an example from the Big Lake Suite granites, Warburton Basin, South Australia

The potential use of ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar thermochronologic data from K-feldspars in reconstructing basin thermal history has been evaluated using the example of the Warburton/Cooper/Eromanga Basin, Australia's largest onshore oil- and gas-producing basin. Results from ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar step-heating experiments reveal details of the evolution of the basin system, including the following: (1) the operation of high geothermal gradient regimes during the earliest basin evolution, suggesting that basin formation was active rather than passive; (2) slow cooling from a Permo-Triassic temperature peak of at least 250–300°C; (3) a rise in thermal gradients to contemporary bottom hole temperatures in the last 5–10 Myr; and (4) spatially variable recrystallization events between 100 and 50 Ma and at around 20 Ma. Initial microstructural observations serve as a useful predictor of the quality and nature of the obtainable age information. Data from 'pristine' K-feldspars may constrain the peak temperature conditions experienced in the basin, the basin's early thermal history and also any recent changes in thermal gradient. Contrasting data from texturally modified K-feldspars may constrain times of thermal transients and/or fluid flow, with the preferred interpretation that K-feldspars recrystallize in response to such events. The Warburton/Cooper/Eromanga Basin example suggests that the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar technique may serve as a useful adjunct to apatite and zircon fission track analysis and conventional organic maturation indices in basin thermal history analysis.     

Tectonic significance of the present relief of the Betic Cordillera

Tortonian calcarenites of the Betic Cordillera were deposited in coastal or very shallow marine environments and represent an ideal marker for estimating vertical movements from the late Miocene to the Present. A map showing the heights at which these Tortonian marine rocks are situated has a clear correlation with the present relief, indicating that today's relief has been formed since the Tortonian. There is also a good correlation between present relief and the Bouguer anomaly distribution in the Betic Cordillera, as well as with crustal thickness. Likewise, the present relief is directly related to the geodynamic setting of a horizontal N–S to NNW–SSE compression and an almost perpendicular extension, along with isostatic readjustment, existing in the Betic Cordillera from the Tortonian. As a result of these regional stresses, faults and folds have produced notable vertical movements. The highest rates of uplift of the Betic Cordillera coincide with large antiforms, in particular those of the Sierra Nevada and the Sierra Filabres. Several subsiding sectors also exist (for example, the Granada Basin or the Guadalquivir Basin). The foreland Guadalquivir Basin has a complex history because the uplift in its eastern sector and subsidence in the western sector coexisted during the late Tortonian. Today the whole Betic Cordillera is characterized by differential regional uplift, even in the aforementioned subsiding sectors.     

The detrital record of late‐Miocene to Pliocene surface uplift and exhumation of the Venezuelan Andes in the Maracaibo and Barinas foreland basins

A multidisciplinary approach, combining sediment petrographic, palynological and thermochronological techniques, has been used to study the Miocene‐Pliocene sedimentary record of the evolution of the Venezuelan Andes. Samples from the Maracaibo (pro‐wedge) and Barinas (retro‐wedge) foreland basins, proximal to this doubly vergent mountain belt, indicate that fluvial and alluvial‐fan sediments of similar composition were shed to both sides of the Venezuelan Andes. Granitic and gneissic detritus was derived from the core of the mountain belt, whereas sedimentary cover rocks and uplifted foreland basin sediments were recycled from its flanks. Palynological evidence from the Maracaibo and Barinas basins constrains depositional ages of the studied sections from late Miocene to Pliocene. The pollen assemblages from the Maracaibo Basin are indicative of mountain vegetation, implying surface elevations of up to 3500–4000 m in the Venezuelan Andes at this time. Detrital apatite fission‐track (AFT) data were obtained from both stratigraphic sections. In samples from the Maracaibo basin, the youngest AFT grain‐age population has relatively static minimum ages of 5 ± 2 Ma, whereas for the Barinas basin samples AFT minimum ages are 7 ± 2 Ma. With exception of two samples collected from the Eocene Pagüey Formation and from the very base of the Miocene Parángula Formation, no evidence for resetting and track annealing in apatite due to burial heating in the basins was found. This is supported by rock‐eval analyses on organic matter and thermal modelling results. Therefore, for all other samples the detrital AFT ages reflect source area cooling and impose minimum age constraints on sediment deposition. The main phase of surface uplift, topography and relief generation, and erosional exhumation in the Venezuelan Andes occurred during the late Miocene to Pliocene. The Neogene evolution of the Venezuelan Andes bears certain similarities with the evolution of the Eastern Cordillera in Colombia, although they are not driven by exactly the same underlying geodynamic processes. The progressive development of the two mountain belts is seen in the context of collision of the Panama arc with northwestern South America and the closure of the Panama seaway in Miocene times, as well as contemporaneous movement of the Caribbean plate to the east and clock‐wise rotation of the Maracaibo block.     

Strain accumulation along an oblique plate boundary: the Reykjanes Peninsula, southwest Iceland

We use annual GPS observations on the Reykjanes Peninsula (RP) from 2000 to 2006 to generate maps of surface velocities and strain rates across the active plate boundary. We find that the surface deformation on the RP is consistent with oblique plate boundary motion on a regional scale, although considerable temporal and spatial strain rate variations are observed within the plate boundary zone. A small, but consistent increase in eastward velocity is observed at several stations on the southern part of the peninsula, compared to the 1993–1998 time period. The 2000–2006 velocities can be modelled by approximating the plate boundary as a series of vertical dislocations with left-lateral motion and opening. For the RP plate boundary we estimate left-lateral motion  18⁺⁴₋₃ mm yr⁻¹  and opening of  7⁺³₋₂ mm yr⁻¹  below a locking depth of  7⁺¹₋₂ km  . The resulting deep motion of  20⁺⁴₋₃ mm yr⁻¹  in the direction of  N(100⁺⁸₋₆)°E  agrees well with the predicted relative North America–Eurasia rate. We calculate the areal and shear strain rates using velocities from two periods: 1993–1998 and 2000–2006. The deep motion along the plate boundary results in left-lateral shear strain rates, which are perturbed by shallow deformation due to the 1994–1998 inflation and elevated seismicity in the Hengill–Hrómundartindur volcanic system, geothermal fluid extraction at the Svartsengi power plant, and possibly earthquake activity on the central part of the peninsula.     

Thermochronometry and palaeomagnetism of the Archaean Nelshoogte Pluton, South Africa

²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb single-grain zircon, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar single-grain hornblende and biotite, and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar bulk-sample muscovite and biotite ages from the Nelshoogte trondhjemite pluton located in eastern Transvaal, South Africa, show that this granitoid had a protracted thermal history spanning 3213±4  Ma to about 3000  Ma. Whole-rock ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages from cross-cutting dolerite dykes indicate that these were intruded at about 1900  Ma. There is no evidence of this or other, later events significantly affecting the argon systematics of the minerals from the pluton dated by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar method.
  The pluton has a well-defined palaeomagnetic pole which is dated at 3179±18 (2 σ ) Ma by ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of hornblende. This pole (18°N, 310°E, A ₉₅=9°) yields a palaeolatitude of 0°, significantly different from other Archaean poles from the Kaapvaal Craton. The palaeolatitude difference implies that there was significant apparent polar wander during the Archaean. A second, overprinting magnetization seen in the pluton is also seen in the lower-Proterozoic dolerite dykes, and is consistent with other lower-Proterozoic (2150–1950  Ma) poles for southern Africa.     

Reappraisal of surface wave magnitudes in the Eastern Mediterranean region and the Middle East

We report on a detailed palaeomagnetic study of the Miocene Farellones volcanic formation in the Chilean Andes near Santiago (two sections, 37 sites, about 400 orientated cores). Petrological observations show evidence of low-grade metamorphism increasing downwards through the volcanic sequence. Optical observations of opaque minerals and magnetic experiments suggest that in many cases maghemitization is associated with hydrothermal alteration. However, thermal demagnetization data indicate that the low-grade metamorphism did not significantly modify the direction of the primary remanent magnetization recorded at the time of emplacement of the volcanic lava flows. Four intervals of polarity with two intermediate palaeodirections were observed in the ~650-m-thick composite section. According to the dispersion of flow average directions, palaeosecular variation was slightly larger than that observed in general during the Upper Cenozoic. The site mean directions obtained in this study differ significantly from the expected Miocene direction. Clockwise rotations of up to 20° of small blocks are probably associated with the deformation of the Andean Cordillera since middle Miocene times. Geomagnetic palaeointensity data were obtained, using the Thellier method, on 24 samples from eight distinct lava flows. The flow mean VDM varies from 1.4 to 4.0 × 10²² A m⁻². Altogether, our data seem to suggest the existence of a relatively low geomagnetic field undergoing large fluctuations. Although a linear relationship was observed between the natural remanent magnetization and the thermal remanent magnetization acquired during the Thellier–Thellier experiments, undetected chemical alteration of the magnetic minerals during hydrothermalism may also explain the unusually low palaeointensity obtained.     

Nitrogen uptake rates in phytoplankton and ice algae in the Barents Sea

Uptake rates of NH₄⁺, NO₃⁻ and dissolved organic nitrogen (urea) were measured in phytoplankton and in ice algae in the Barents Sea using a ¹⁵N-technique. NO₃⁻ was the most important nitrogen source for the ice algae (f-ratio = 0.92). The in situ irradiances in the subsurface chlorophyll maximum and in the ice algal communities were low. The in situ NO₃⁻ uptake rate in the ice algal communities was light-limited The in situ NO₃⁻ and NH₄⁻ uptake rates in the subsurface chlorophyll maximum were at times light-limited. It is hypothesised that NH₄⁺ may accumulate in low light in the bottom of the euphotic zone and inhibit the in situ NO₃⁻ uptake rate.     

Shallow velocity structure along the Hirapur–Mandla profile using traveltime inversion of wide-angle seismic data, and its tectonic implications

In order to investigate the velocity structure, and hence shed light on the related tectonics, across the Narmada–Son lineament, traveltimes of wide-angle seismic data along the 240 km long Hirapur–Mandla profile in central India have been inverted. A blocky, laterally heterogeneous, three-layer velocity model down to a depth of 10 km has been derived. The first layer shows a maximum thickness of the upper Vindhyans (4.5 km s⁻¹ ) of about 1.35 km and rests on top of normal crystalline basement, represented by the 5.9 km s⁻¹ velocity layer. The anomalous feature of the study is the absence of normal granitic basement in the great Vindhyan Graben, where lower Vindhyan sediments (5.3 km s⁻¹ ) were deposited during the Precambrian on high-velocity (6.3 km s⁻¹ ) metamorphic rock. The block beneath the Narmada–Son lineament represents a horst feature in which high-velocity (6.5 km s⁻¹ ) lower crustal material has risen to a depth of less than 2 km. South of the lineament, the Deccan Traps were deposited on normal basement during the upper Cretaceous period and attained a maximum thickness of about 800 m.     

Micromonas pusilla (Prasinophyceae) as part of pico-and nanoplankton communities of the Barents Sea

Micromonas pusilla (Butcher) Manton & Parke appears to be a prominent member of the Barents Sea picoplankton community as revealed by the serial dilution culture method. Cell numbers frequently exceeded 10⁷ cells 1⁻¹, though they usually varied between 10³and 10⁶ cells l⁻¹. A number of other identified and unidentified taxa were recorded and quantified. Distribution relative to the marginal ice zone is reported.     

The kinematics and pattern of escarpment retreat across the rifted continental margin of SE Australia

Rifted continental margins generally display an interior, low-relief, highly weathered upland area and a deeply incised, high-relief coastal area. The boundary between the two zones is commonly demarcated by an abrupt, seaward-facing escarpment. We investigate the rate and pattern of escarpment erosion and landscape evolution along the passive margin of south-east Australia, in the region of the New England Tableland. The process of rifting is shown to initiate an escarpment across which rivers flow, resulting in an escarpment that takes the form of dramatic, elongated gorges. Using a mass balance approach, we estimate the volume/unit length of continental material eroded seaward of the escarpment to be between 41 and 68 km², approximately an order of magnitude less than the 339 km² of terrigenous sediments calculated to have been deposited offshore, but consistent with earlier denudation estimates based on apatite fission track data. On the bedrock rivers draining the New England Tableland region, the escarpment is manifested as a series of sharp knickpoints punctuating the river longitudinal profiles. The knickpoints are situated the same distance upstream along the different channels and uniform escarpment retreat rates on the order of 2 km Myr⁻¹ are estimated, despite some differences in bedrock lithologies. Gorge head migration appears to be very important as a bedrock incision mechanism. Field observations indicate a coupling between escarpment retreat and knickpoint propagation, bedrock channel incision, and hillslope development.     

Deglaciation effects on the rotation of the Earth

Summary. The viscoelastic response of the Earth to the mass displacements caused by late Pleistocene deglaciation and concomitant sea level changes is shown to be capable of producing the secular motion of the Earth's rotation pole as deduced from astronomical observations. The calculations for a viscoelastic Earth yield a secular motion in the direction of 72° W meridian which is in excellent agreement with observed values. The average Newtonian viscosity and the relaxation time obtained from polar motion data are about (1.1 ± 0.6)10²³ poise (P) and 10⁴ (1 ± 0.5) yr. The non-tidal secular acceleration of the Earth can also be attributed to the viscoelastic response to deglaciation and results in an independent viscosity estimate of 1.6 × 10²³ P with upper and lower limits of 1.1 × 10²³ and 2.8 × 10²³ P. These values are in agreement with those based on the polar drift analysis and indicate an average mantle viscosity of 1–2 × 10²³ P.