Catchment-scale (dis)connectivity in sediment flux in the upper Hunter catchment, New South Wales, Australia

(Dis)connectivity within and between landscape compartments affects the extent and rate of transfer of energy and matter through catchments. Various landforms may impede sediment conveyance in a river system, whether laterally to the channel (termed buffers) or longitudinally along the channel itself (termed barriers). A generic approach to analysis of landscape (dis)connectivity using slope threshold analysis in GIS, tied to air photograph interpretation and field mapping of buffers and barriers, is tested in the upper Hunter catchment, Australia. Under simulated conditions, effective catchment area, which is a measure of the proportion of a catchment that has the potential to contribute sediment to the channel network, varies from 73% to just 3% of the total catchment area for differing subcatchments in the upper Hunter. This variability can be explained by the spatial distribution and assemblage of buffers and barriers in each subcatchment. Multiple forms of disconnectivity are evident in some subcatchments, such that when one buffer or barrier is breached, other features still impede sediment transfer within the system. The importance of the position of buffers and barriers within any given subcatchment is emphasised. Spatial variability in valley width exerts a critical control on catchment connectivity, with more efficient sediment conveyance in narrow valleys relative to wider valleys characterised by piedmonts, terraces, fans and extensive floodplains in which conveyance is impeded. This variability reflects the landscape history and geological setting of each subcatchment. The framework developed in this paper can be used to assess the impact of natural or human-induced buffers and barriers on catchment-scale sediment flux in any landscape setting, providing a physical template atop which other biogeochemical fluxes could be examined.     

Late Holocene Fluvial Change in a Tufa-depositing Stream: Davys Creek,New South Wales,Australia

Tufas are constructional landforms composed of calcium carbonate. They are common in karst terrains, and are known worldwide as useful archives of palaeoenvironmental information. In the case of fluvial tufas, these carbonate deposits experience net aggradation when environmental conditions are stable, whilst incision through the deposits occurs when conditions become wetter. In this study, the first of its type in temperate Australia, we used geomorphological and sedimentological evidence preserved in fossil tufas and alluvial terraces to investigate the fluvial history of Davys Creek (NSW, Australia). The nature and timing of fluvial changes along two quasi-independent reaches of the creek were synchronous, suggesting the operation of externally driven processes rather than local internal fluvial adjustments. Following a period of sustained aggradation, rapid incision occurred along the creek between 1500 and 1600 years before present ( bp ) in response to a shift to a moister climate. This was succeeded by a second major aggradation event (1500 years bp to 150 years bp ), then subsequent incision following the arrival of Europeans at 150 years bp.     

Late holocene environmental change in an upper Montane area of the snowy mountains,New South Wales

This study examines environmental change in the upper montane zone of the Australian Eastern Highlands during the late Holocene, by analysing vegetation, fire and erosion records contained within a small fen located in a frost hollow. Differences in environmental parameters across the prehistoric—historic boundary were particularly investigated in an attempt to characterise better the changes associated with the imposition of European land‐use practices. Decreases in arboreal pollen and an increased charcoal concentration near the base of the analysed sequence, interpreted to be about 1600 y BP until about 1300 y BP, are suggestive of reduced moisture availability. After this, a period of relative stability continued to the close of the prehistoric period. The arrival of Europeans in the region triggered changes in the sediment record, including an increase in the accumulation of sediment by an order of magnitude, and changes in the surrounding vegetation. Saturated isothermal remnant magnetism (SIRM) was found to be significantly higher in the historic period compared to the analysed prehistoric period, suggesting an alteration in the erosional processes within the catchment. The concentration of charcoal was comparable between the prehistoric and historic periods; however, the increased sedimentation rate of the historic period infers an increased accumulation of charcoal. Fire did not appear to be related to the vegetation changes evident in the historic period, perhaps due to the use of cool fires by the pastoralists.     

Late Pleistocene and Holocene history of Lake Terrasovoje,Amery Oasis,East Antarctica,and its climatic and environmental implications

A 5.52 m long sediment sequence was recovered from Lake Terrasovoje, Amery Oasis, East Antarctica, in order to reconstruct the regional environmental history. The basal sediments, which are dominated by glacial and glaciofluvial clastic sediments, attest to a Late Pleistocene deglaciation of the lake basin. These sediments are overlain by 2.70 m of laminated algal and microbial mats and a few interspersed moss layers. Radiocarbon dating, conducted on bulk organic carbon of 12 samples throughout the organic sequence, provides a reliable chronology since the onset of biogenic accumulation at c. 12,400 cal. year BP. Successful diatom colonization, however, was probably hampered by extensive ice and snow cover on the lake and restricted input of nutrients until 10,200 cal. year BP. A subsequent increase of nutrient supply culminated between 8600 and 8200 cal. year BP and is related to warm summer temperatures and reduced albedo in the catchment. Warm conditions lasted until 6700 cal. year BP, supporting the establishment of a diatom community. Colder temperatures from 6700 cal. year BP culminated in several periods between 6200 and 3700 cal. year BP, when high amounts of sulphur and low abundances of diatoms were deposited due to a perennial ice and snow cover on the lake. During the late Holocene, relatively warm conditions between 3200 and 2300 cal. year BP and between 1500 to 1000 cal. year BP, respectively, indicated by high accumulation of organic matter and reducing bottom water conditions, were interrupted and followed by colder periods.     

Late Holocene dune activity in the Eastern Platte River Valley, Nebraska

Large-scale dune activity in the Nebraska Sand Hills and elsewhere on the western Great Plains has been linked to prehistoric “megadroughts” that triggered the activation of regional dune fields. The effect of megadroughts on the smaller dune fields east of the Nebraska Sand Hills has never been assessed, however. This study focuses on the Duncan dune field near the confluence of the Loup and Platte rivers in eastern Nebraska. Seventeen optically stimulated luminescence age estimates were obtained and reveal two periods of dune activation that occurred between 4.4 to 3.4 ka and 0.8 to 0.5 ka. Significantly, both periods chronologically overlap large-scale dune activity identified in the Nebraska Sand Hills. Geochemical evidence indicates that the Duncan dunes received sand not only from the terrace underlying them, but also from the Loup River. These data link dune activity in the Duncan area, at least indirectly, to increased sediment supply from streams that drain the Sand Hills during megadroughts, implying the activation of the dunes occurred as an indirect response to regional megadroughts. Calculations of dune migration rates, however, argue in favor of local, drought-driven hydrologic changes as a causative factor in dune activation, in other words, a direct effect of megadroughts. Whether the impact was direct or indirect, it is highly likely that the repeated reactivation of the Duncan dunes resulted in some way from regional, large-magnitude droughts. Other paleoclimate proxies from the Great Plains tend to support this conclusion. We conclude that the megadroughts that have been identified in the Sand Hills and other Great Plains dune fields were indeed regional events with far-reaching effects.     

Late Pleistocene and Holocene terrestrial geomorphodynamics and soil formation in northeastern Germany: a review of geochronological data

ABSTRACT

This study is based on 616 geochronological ages from aeolian and colluvial sediments as well as paleosols, representing the largest database of geochronological data from northeastern Germany available to date. Cumulative probability density functions for radiocarbon data and kernel density estimates for luminescence data were created covering the last 15 ka. The data analysis aimed at the identification of changes and their drivers in geomorphodynamics and soil formation. The ages representing aeolian activity cluster in the Late Glacial, the Early Holocene, and the Late Holocene, where the first two clusters are assumed to result mostly from climatic impact with only a minor share of human impact triggering the mobilization of aeolian sediments. The third cluster is considered to result mainly from human impact. The Late Glacial to Early Holocene activity phase is interrupted by a phase of surface stability around 11.5–12.7 ka, which is indicated by the occurrence of initial soil formations of Finow and Usselo types. Colluvial sedimentation predominantly occurred during the last 7 ka and clearly accelerated since the last 1000 a. According to the ages of specific paleosol types, related soil-forming processes started already in the Late Glacial and were completed in the Holocene.     

A pleistocene origin for shore platforms along the Northern Illawarra Coast,New South Wales

This paper examines the composition, structure and age of clastic deposits situated behind shore platforms at Austinmer and Coledale on the northern Illawarra coast, New South Wales. Our results support earlier chronological evidence of a Pleistocene history for shore platforms along the Illawarra coast. The size and fabric of sediments within these deposits indicate rapid, high‐energy deposition of bedrock eroded from platforms adjacent to the deposits. The elevations of the deposits above the modern shoreline suggest higher sea levels or higher wave energy gradients than presently occurs across these platforms. Dating of sediments within these deposits using ¹⁴C, AAR and TL techniques indicates Late Pleistocene and Late Holocene erosion of the shore platforms. Platform development was initiated before the Last Interglacial as correlative sediments lie atop relict platform surfaces landward of the modern platforms.     

Using fluvial terraces to determine Holocene coastal erosion and Late Pleistocene uplift rates: An example from northwestern Hawke Bay, New Zealand

In order to make robust predictions of future coastal processes and hazards, historical rates of coastal processes such as coastal erosion need to be put into a long-term (Holocene) context. In this study a methodology is proposed that uses fluvial terraces to construct longitudinal profiles which can be projected offshore to infer paleo-coastline positions. From these positions, an average Holocene coastal erosion rate can be calculated. This study also shows how constraints can be placed on sea level changes and Late Pleistocene uplift rates using fluvial terraces, and by assuming the latter has been constant since  55–37 ka, these constraints feedback into the coastal erosion rate calculations. For the northwestern Hawke Bay (North Island, New Zealand) coastline, Late Pleistocene uplift rates of 0.6 ± 0.2, 0.6 ± 0.2, and − 0.1 ± 0.1 (i.e., stable or subsiding) mm/yr have been determined for the Waikari, Mohaka, and Waihua River mouths, respectively. These rates are consistent with previous interpretations of subsidence to the northeast and uplift being the result of regional, subduction-related processes. A Holocene coastal erosion rate of 0.5 ± 0.1 m/yr was determined for the Waikari River mouth, which is at the higher end of the calculated historical ( 1880–1980) rates (0.02–0.5 m/yr). If this difference is significant, then two possible reasons for this difference are: (i) the historical rate is affected by events such as the 1931 Napier earthquake, and (ii) the Holocene rate is the average of a steadily declining rate over the last 7.3 ka.     

黄河流域沙漠化空间格局与成因

黄河流域地势西高东低,自西向东有青藏高原、内蒙古高原、黄土高原和黄淮海平原4个地貌单元,总面积为79.6万km²。黄河流域是中国重要的生态屏障和重要经济带,黄河流域生态保护和高质量发展已上升为国家战略。沙漠化是中国北方干旱、半干旱以及部分半湿润地区主要的土地退化形式,沙漠化对黄河流域,尤其是流域中、上游地区的影响较大。为了全面掌握黄河流域的沙漠化土地空间分布特征,本研究以Landsat遥感影像为数据源,通过地理信息系统（GIS）技术,获得了黄河流域2010年的沙漠化土地分布数据。结果表明：黄河流域内沙漠化土地面积为128 667 km²,占流域总面积的16.2%;黄河上游的沙漠化土地面积最大,然后依次是黄河中游、黄河源区、黄河下游,沙漠化土地面积分别为89 341、21 426、17 894、7 km²,分别占全流域沙漠化土地总面积的69.4%、16.7%、13.9%、0.01%。黄河流域的沙漠化土地绝大部分分布于内蒙古,其沙漠化土地面积为91 398 km²,占全流域沙漠化土地面积的71.0%;其次是青海,沙漠化土地面积为17 432 km²,占全流域沙漠化土地面积的13.5%;陕西和宁夏的沙漠化土地面积分别占全流域沙漠化土地面积的8.3%和6.5%。黄河流域的沙漠化空间格局主要是降水量与沙源空间耦合的结果,流域92.6%（119 114 km²）的沙漠化土地分布于干旱、半干旱地区。从20世纪70年代以来,黄河流域的沙漠化总体上经历了快速发展—发展放缓—明显逆转的过程,沙漠化大幅度的变化主要受人类活动影响所致,在过去几十年间风速持续减小对沙漠化逆转的积极作用也应引起重视。     

The dune systems of the Konya Plain (Turkey): their relation to environmental changes in Central Anatolia during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene

Several sand flats located on the northern shores of the Late Pleistocene palaeolake of the Konya plain (inner Anatolia, Turkey), are related to changes in lake levels. In this paper, the two main dune systems are mapped according to their geomorphological, sedimentological and dynamic characteristics, and their significance is discussed with regard to the environmental changes since the Late Pleistocene, both at time of the former lake and during the drier periods of the Holocene. Cross-sections show the relationship of the dunes to the topography of the basement. Analyses of the sand fraction show distinct characteristics in size distribution, quartz and shell contents, wind erosion effects on the quartz grains and petrographic composition. Interpretation of the results, coupled with information provided by the geomorphology of the dune systems studied in the field and from aerial photographs and satellite images, highlights the importance and variations in time of local factors such as prevailing winds, sand sources, changes in lake levels and vegetation. A chronology of the main sand fields is proposed, based on the evidence of three main droughts during the Upper Pleistocene. The older one, much eroded (maximum height=3 m), covers a limestone surface at +50 m above the bottom of the dried lake. An Optical Scanning Luminescence (OSL) date shows a last period of accumulation at 14,328±3220 years. The younger one (maximum height=12 m) has moved over the emerged Late Pleistocene lacustrine marls. An OSL date gives an age of 5674±988 years for the last accumulation period. Evidence of very recent activation of this younger dune system is apparent as a result of overgrazing and excessive land reclamation. A third period of dominant wind action and dune construction is responsible for the installation of a younger and thin dune field over the Mid-Holocene lacustrine deposits of the Karapinar lake. The success of the stabilization programme of the dunes over the last 30 years shows that the last period of dune movement is not related to climate change but to overpressure on the land due to the needs and activities of an increasing population.     

Late Pleistocene and Holocene lake fluctuations in the Sevier Lake basin,Utah, USA

Sevier Lake is the modern lake in the topographically closed Sevier Lake basin, and is fed primarily by the Sevier River. During the last 12 000 years, the Beaver River also was a major tributary to the lake. Lake Bonneville occupied the Sevier Desert until late in its regressive phase when it dropped to the Old River Bed threshold, which is the low point on the drainage divide between the Sevier Lake basin and the Great Salt Lake basin. Lake Gunnison, a shallow freshwater lake at 1390 m in the Sevier Desert, overflowed continuously from about 12 000 to 10 000 yr B.P., into the saline lake in the Great Salt Lake basin, which continued to contract. This contrast in hydrologic histories between the two basins may have been caused by a northward shift of monsoon circulation into the Sevier Lake basin, but not as far north as the Great Salt Lake basin. Increased summer precipitation and cloudiness could have kept the Sevier Lake basin relatively wet.By shortly after 10 000 yr B.P. Lake Gunnison had stopped overflowing and the Sevier and Beaver Rivers had begun depositing fine-grained alluvium across the lake bed. Sevier Lake remained at an altitude below 1381 m during the early and middle Holocene. Between 3000 and 2000 yr B.P. the lake expanded slightly to an altitude of about 1382.3 m. A second expansion, probably in the last 500 years, culminated at about 1379.8 m. In the mid 1800s the lake had a surface altitude of 1379.5 m. Sevier Lake was essentially dry (1376 m) from 1880 until 1982. In 1984–1985 the lake expanded to a 20th-century high of 1378.9 m in response to abnormally high snow-melt runoff in the Sevier River. The late Holocene high stands of Sevier Lake were most likely related to increased precipitation derived from westerly air masses.This is the first of a series of papers to be published by this journal that was presented in the paleolimnology sessions organized by R. B. Davis and H. Löffler for the XIIth Congress of the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA), which took place in Ottawa, Canada in August 1987. Drs. Davis and Löffler are serving as guest editors of this series.     

Cainozoic heritage in the modern landscape near Bungonia,southern New South Wales

The regional topography of much of the New South Wales Southern Highlands was long attributed to Quaternary erosion, but it has been recently demonstrated that the region was, in fact, well developed by the Eocene. The hillsides at Inverary Park are mantled by the Late‐Eocene Reevesdale Basalt, thus indicating the extent of landscape development by the mid‐Tertiary. Pre‐, intra‐, and post‐basaltic alluvial and lacustrine sediments are compared with the current extent of the basalt, clearly demonstrating the age of this landscape and the paucity of modification since the Late Eocene. Stratigraphic techniques, U/Th, TL and ¹⁴C dating aid reconstruction of much of the Cainozoic history of Inverary Park. Major changes in sediment type and source have long been common, but Late Quaternary changes do not correlate well with similar observations elsewhere, suggesting that changes in hydrologic regime, notably climate change, are not necessarily responsible for changes in the stratigraphic record. This landscape development and preservation is also at odds with most models of landscape development.     

The pollen record from El’gygytgyn Lake: implications for vegetation and climate histories of northern Chukotka since the late middle Pleistocene

Three types of pollen assemblages (shrub-dominated, mixed herb- and shrub-dominated, and herb-dominated) characterize the ~ 300,000 year palynological record from El’gygytgyn Lake. Despite major changes in global climatic forcings, all pollen spectra, with a few isolated exceptions, have strong to possible analogs in the modern plant communities of Northeast Siberia and Alaska. Paleoclimatic reconstructions based on squared chord-distance analog analyses indicate two periods (~8600–10,700 ¹⁴C year B.P. and OIS 5e) when summers were perhaps ~2 to 4°C warmer than modern. January temperatures were also warmer than present, and both July and January were wetter than today. Palynological data remain inconclusive as to the establishment of forests near El’gygytgyn Lake at these times. The wettest Julys occurred during OIS 5 d. July temperatures were near modern, and Januarys were colder and drier than now. January temperatures, even into the Middle Pleistocene, generally show little variability, suggesting that the suppression of arboreal taxa during glaciations was likely caused by cool summers with low effective moisture and not by frigid winters. Because age schemes that correlate magnetic susceptibility to variations in summer insolation or ∂¹⁸O have cool plant taxa persisting in warm times (and vice versa), we propose an alternative age model based on the palynological data. Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available to authorised users in the online version of this article at . This is the first in a series of eleven papers published in this special issue dedicated to initial studies of El’gygytgyn Crater Lake and its catchment in NE Russia. Julie Brigham-Grette, Martin Melles, Pavel Minyuk were guest editors of this special issue.     

Comparative assessment of three approaches for deriving stream power plots along long profiles in the upper Hunter River catchment, New South Wales, Australia

The downstream distribution of stream power is derived and analysed for 11 different streams in the upper Hunter River catchment, Australia. Stream long profiles were produced in a GIS environment using DEM data and catchment area–discharge analysis. These profiles were analysed using three approaches, namely long profile smoothing, curve fitting and a theoretical model. The methodology for deriving stream power profiles using these three approaches is discussed. The long profile smoothing method provides a good approximation of the subcatchment variability in stream power trends. The curve fitting method shows that higher-order exponential curves provide a better fit for long profile data. For the streams of the upper Hunter River catchment, second-order exponential curves fit well with significantly less error. The curve fitting method predicts a bimodal (upstream and midstream) distribution of stream power, which is a deviation from our earlier understanding of a single midstream peak. The theoretical approach provides a mathematical expression of the observed bimodal stream power distribution. The bimodal distribution emphasises the erosion potential of headwater reaches. The resultant stream power distribution provides a catchment-scale characterisation of the distribution of available energy in any given system. Using these approaches, the variability of stream power in headwater reaches is explained by discharge variability, while variability in midstream and downstream reaches is related to high variability in channel gradient.     

Late Glacial and Holocene environmental history of the Pirin Mountains (SW Bulgaria): a paleolimnological study of Lake Dalgoto (2310 m)

Diatoms, Cladocera, and chironomids preserved in the sediments of Lake Dalgoto were studied to reconstruct the history of the lake ecosystem in the context of the vegetation history as represented by the pollen stratigraphy. Younger Dryas silty sediments at the base of the core are characterized by low diversity of aquatic organisms. The transition to the Holocene is indicated by a sharp change from silt to clay-gyttja. The migration and expansion of trees at lower elevations between 10200 and 8500 ¹⁴C-yr BP, along with higher diversities and concentrations of aquatic organisms and the decreased proportion of north-alpine diatoms, point to rapidly rising summer temperatures. After 6500 ¹⁴C-yr BP the expansion of Pinus mugo in the catchment coincides with signs of natural eutrophication as recorded by an increase of planktonic diatoms. In the late Holocene (4000–0 ¹⁴C-yr BP) Pinus peuce and Abies are reduced and Picea expands. Cereal grains and disturbance indicators suggest late-Holocene human modification of the vegetation.     

Late Quaternary palaeosols in the Yangtze Delta, China, and their palaeoenvironmental implications

The stiff clays beneath Holocene strata in the Yangtze Delta are interpreted as palaeosols, based on pedogenic features including illuvial argillans, voids, cracks, iron–manganese concretions and nodules, and carbonate materials. Variations in clay content with depth, the occurrence of foraminifera, and the environmental magnetism characteristics of the palaeosols suggest that their parent materials are floodplain deposits. Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) parameters of the sediments correlate well both with sedimentary dynamics and depositional processes in different sedimentary environments, and AMS analysis may be a useful tool for inferring sedimentary environments. Based on their considerable thickness (> 3.0 m), vertical changes of palaeosol maturity, and occurrence of ageing argillans throughout the palaeosols, the palaeosols are inferred to be compound ones (pedocomplexes) resulting from alternating deposition and pedogenesis on the palaeointerfluve of the Yangtze River. Phytoliths in the palaeosols indicate that climates turned generally from warm and wet to cold and dry with marked fluctuations during development of the palaeosols. This suggests that the palaeosols developed mainly during the marine regression prior to the last glacial maximum. The vertical distribution of manganese materials (e.g., concretions, nodules, speckles and mottles) in the palaeosols suggests that the groundwater tables were about 2.0–3.0 m beneath the upper boundary of the palaeosols during their development. Yellow–brown streaks and speckles are abundant from the middle to lower parts of the palaeosols, and layers with high CaCO₃ content occur in the strata just beneath the palaeosols, but which lack caliche, suggesting that the groundwater table fluctuated markedly during their development. Voids and cracks filled with clays, and carbonate nodules (less than 0.1 mm in diameter) with thin iron–manganese rims are abundant in the palaeosols, indicating that wet and dry seasons were marked during the palaeosol development. It is suggested that the monsoonal influence was marked in the Yangtze Delta, with both winter and summer monsoons strongly developed during the development of the late Quaternary palaeosols.     

Holocene aeolian activities linked to Indian summer monsoon in the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River

Journal of Geographical Sciences - Widespread aeolian deposits on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) have provided valuable palaeoclimatic information. However, the primary factors (e.g., climate factors,...     

In-stream wetlands and their significance for channel filling and the catchment sediment budget, Jugiong Creek, New South Wales

Evidence is presented here of recent and extensive infilling of the incised channel network of the Jugiong Creek catchment, SE Australia. The present channel network resulted from widespread stream and gully incision in the period between 1880 and 1920. Our survey shows that gully floors have been colonised extensively by emergent macrophyte vegetation since before 1944, forming continuous, dense, in-stream wetlands, which now cover 25% of the channel network in the 2175 km² catchment and have so far trapped almost 2,000,000 t of nutrient-enriched, fine sediments. This mass of sediments represents the equivalent of 4.7 years of annual sediment production across the catchment and in some tributaries, more than 20 years of annual yield is stored within in-stream wetlands.Previous work on the late Quaternary stratigraphy of the region has shown that there were repeated phases of channel incision in the past following which the channels quickly stabilised by natural means and then filled with fine-grained sediment to the point of channel extinction, creating unchannelled swampy valley floors. The current formation and spread of in-stream wetlands is interpreted to be the onset of the next infill phase but it is not known whether present conditions will allow complete channel filling and reformation of the pre-existing swampy valley floors. Nevertheless, further spread of in-stream wetlands is likely to increase the sediment trapping capacity and further reduce the discharge of sediments and nutrients into the Murrumbidgee River. The in-stream wetlands may provide a significant capacity to buffer erosion from gullied catchments of considerable size (up to 300 km²) as an adjunct to current riparian management options. They may also assist the recovery of sediment-impacted channels downstream.     

GIS and DEM based analysis of incision and drainage reorganization of the Buyuan River basin in the upper Lancang-Mekong of China since the Late Pleistocene

River incision and drainage reorganization have an important impact on the site selection of many major projects including city,road and others,and are the key issues of Quaternary environmental changes.Studies of river incision and river-network adjustment have traditionally been based on extensive field evidence,such as sediment age and beheaded river system.The Buyuan River basin is a large sub-basin of the upper Lancang-Mekong,with high mountains and extremely active erosion.The latter affects the preservation of the Quaternary period sediments leading to difficulties in understanding the main evolution characteristics of the basin.This study investigates differences in the equilibrium state of the longitudinal profile,infers incision rates,and evaluates drainage divide migration timelines using the stream-power incision model,the latest morphological dating,and Chi-plots(χ–z) based on digital elevation models(DEMs) on the GIS software platform.The final results show that two significant erosion base-level decreases occurred in the Late Pleistocene at least.The incision rate of the mainstream might have been 0–2.99 mm/yr since 100 ka BP and 0–3.28 mm/yr since 46 ka BP.The Chi-values across the divides suggest that space limited(or constrained) river reorganization and that there is no severe reorganization in the basin;the imbalance of traceable erosion only exists in local areas.The main driving force for the geomorphologic evolution of the Buyuan River basin is likely climate fluctuations rather than strong tectonic uplift since the Late Pleistocene.     

福建漳浦前湖湾晚更新世的孢粉组合及其古环境意义

从孢粉角度对漳浦前湖湾古森林遗迹分布区所在的剖面QHP和钻孔QHZ～1的第四纪沉积物进行系统的分析．经过孢粉种属鉴定、孢粉浓度的统计,木本、草本、蕨类、藻类以及各科属孢粉百分比的不同,划分出7个孢粉组合带,剖面QHP自下而上为组合带Ⅲ、Ⅱ、Ⅰ,其中组合带Ⅲ推知属晚更新世的中期产物,组合带Ⅱ属晚更新世中期接近晚期的产物,组合带Ⅰ属晚更新世晚期的产物;钻孔QHZ-1自下而上为组合带Ⅳ、Ⅲ、Ⅱ、Ⅰ,其中组合带Ⅳ推知属晚更新世的早期的产物,组合带Ⅲ是一过渡层,组合带Ⅱ推知属晚更新世的中期的产物,组合带Ⅰ推知属晚更新世晚期的产物,而组合带Ⅰ以上的层位是全新世以来的产物．结合^14C测年和沉积地层岩性等资料,得出该地区晚更新世以来沉积环境及其古气候演化的4次变迁过程：晚更新世早期的寒冷干燥;晚更新世中期的温和热湿,期间发生2次明显的海侵事件;晚更新世晚期过渡到全新世的冷暖干湿的动荡期;全新世以来与现代气候较为接近的气候．