Natural hazards in the Ghaghara River area, Ganga Plain, India

The Ganga Plain is one of the most densely populated regions of the world due to its fertile soil and availability of water. The rivers of this plain are the lifeline for millions of people of this vast alluvial plain. All rivers of this plain are characterized by narrow channel confined within wide valley. Continuously increasing pressure of population on this plain has led to the intensification of settlement even into the valley of the river. This unplanned expansion has enhanced the damage due to flooding during high-discharge period and lateral erosion during low-discharge period. Flooding and lateral erosion are identified as fluvial hazards in the Ghaghara River area. Extensive studies have been carried out on flooding, but not much attention has been paid to the phenomenon of lateral erosion. However, it has been observed that lateral erosion is an independent fluvial hazard that operates during low-discharge period. Low degree of compaction due to the presence of sandy and silty facies in the river valley deposits, mass movement, palaeocurrent pattern, and fractures initiates and enhances the lateral erosion. The present paper deals with the fluvial hazards in the Ghaghara River area.     

Neotectonic Activity from the Upper Reaches of the Arabian Gulf and Possibilities of New Oil Fields

Upper reaches of the Arabian Gulf consist of different types of fine sediments including the vast Mesopotamia Plain sediments, tidal flat sediments and estuarine sabkha sediments. The height of the plain starts from zero meter and increases northwards to three meters with extremely gentle gradient. The vast plain to the north of the Arabian Gulf is drained by Shat Al-Arab (Shat means river in Iraqi slang language) and Khor Al-Zubair (Khor means estuary). The former drains the extreme eastern part of the plain; whereas, the latter drains the western part. Shat Al-Arab is the resultant of confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers near Al-Qurna town; about 160 km north of the Arabian Gulf mouth at Al-Fao town; whereas, the length of Khor Al-Zubair is about 50 km; as measured from Um Qasir Harbor. The drainage system around Khor Al-Zubair is extremely fine dendritic; whereas around Shat Al-Arab is almost parallel running from both sides of the river towards the river; almost perpendicularly. The fine dendritic drainage around Khor Al-Zubair shows clear recent erosional activity, beside water divides, abandoned irrigation channels and dislocated irrigational channels and estuarine distributaries; all are good indication for a Neotectonic activity in the region. These may indicate the presence of subsurface anticlines, which may represent oil fields; since tens of subsurface anticlines occur in near surroundings, which are oil fields.     

华北平原地下水脆弱性评价

针对华北平原地域广阔,地貌和水文地质条件复杂、地下水开发利用程度高,地下水位埋深、包气带和含水层岩性差异性大等特点,基于大量钻孔和地下水位监测资料,厘定了包气带岩性和地下水位埋深变化对脆弱性评价影响,进而建立适宜华北平原的DRITC评价指标体系,并应用于华北平原地下水脆弱性评价。评价中,根据华北平原水文地质条件,划分4评价分区,剖分2 km×2 km单元34 253个,采用地下水位埋深、净补给量、包气带岩性、含水层累积厚度和渗透系数5个因子作为评价指标,求得地下水脆弱性综合指数及脆弱性分布图。结果表明,华北平原山前冲洪积扇和古黄河冲洪积平原的现代黄河影响带地下水脆弱性高或较高。野外采样7 472组地下水有机污染测试分析结果佐证,脆弱性高或较高区有机污染检出项数多,其他地区较少,由此验证评价结果的客观性。     

全新世海侵对长江口沿海平原新石器遗址分布的影响

文章通过对长江三角洲南北两岸太湖和里下河两大平原新石器遗址分布和迁移特征的对比研究,发现两地新石器文化均起源于7000aB.P.前。可以认为全新世气候变暖和海平面上升是两地新石器文化兴起的原因。之后里下河平原经历了由全新世海侵引起的盐沼化过程,古文化发展受到明显的抑制;相比之下,太湖古平原为一丘状台地,地势高爽,加上贝壳砂堤对海水的有效阻挡,盐沼化过程稍弱,古文化得以延续和繁荣。     

全新世海侵对长江口沿海平原新石器遗址分布的影响

文章通过对长江三角洲南北两岸太湖和里下河两大平原新石器遗址分布和迁移特征的对比研究,发现两地新石器文化均起源于7000aB.P.前。可以认为全新世气候变暖和海平面上升是两地新石器文化兴起的原因。之后里下河平原经历了由全新世海侵引起的盐沼化过程,古文化发展受到明显的抑制;相比之下,太湖古平原为一丘状台地,地势高爽,加上贝壳砂堤对海水的有效阻挡,盐沼化过程稍弱,古文化得以延续和繁荣。     

Stratigraphy of the fluvial deposits of the Salado river basin,Buenos Aires Province: Lithology,chronology and paleoclimate

The regional landscape of the Salado depression is related to weathering, eolian and fluvial processes generated under different climatic conditions. Although during most of the Holocene the climatic conditions were warm and humid, previously, a vast plain dominated by deflation processes and enhanced by weathering processes was developed in an arid environment. Fluvial deposits produced afterwards are continuous and lithologically homogeneous, which allows differentiation and characterization of the entire stratigraphic sequence. The stratigraphic units of this area, closely related to the paleoclimatic conditions, are recognized and characterized. Three lithostratigraphic units of fluvial origin (Members) and two paleosols have been differentiated. The first ones were grouped in the Luján Formation. Some of the units are related to other ones previously recognized in this area (La Chumbiada Member and La Pelada Geosol), but others have no similarity or relationship with previously known units (Gorch and Puente Las Gaviotas Members, and Frigorífico Belgrano Geosol). Radiocarbon ages suggest that the fluvial sequences were deposited after the glacial maximum, corresponding to MIS 1, except for the basal levels of the lower member which is late Late Pleistocene. Although the general paleoclimatic conditions were related to warm and humid climate, events related to water deficits were also recognized, which could be related to the Younger Dryas, the middle Holocene and the late Holocene.     

山西寿阳—阳泉地区石炭—二叠系沉积环境及其沉积特征

本区石炭—二叠系是在海湾背景下发育的一套由滨海平原—三角洲平原—冲积平原沉积组成的海退层系。主要沉积环境是三角洲平原,其上部为冲积平原包括网状河和辫状河;下部为海湾（或分支间湾）、潮下碳酸盐岩、潮间介壳滩、碎屑岩潮坪及滨海沼泽湿地等。三角洲为河控浅水三角洲。上述沉积环境,随海水退却在时空上具明显的规律性变化。     

海河平原北部地区水土地质环境研究中的若干问题

海河平原北部地区属于半干旱自然地理环境且仍在干化,自山前至滨海的山麓堆积-河流沉积-海陆交互沉积序列的平原地貌地质环境,土壤地球化学环境以高Ca、Mg、F,低Se、Mo、I和弱碱性为特征且正在经历酸化过程,潜水环境以淡水-微咸水-弱碱性为特征且有碱化的趋势。人为作用与自然作用一起构成了本区水土地质环境演化的双重驱动力,但在表现形式和区域分布方面驱动强度存在明显的差异性,土壤环境质量良好但潜水环境质量较差且均在恶化。     

川中地区须五段—须六段浅水三角洲沉积特征与模式

针对川中地区须五段—须六段,在大量露头观察、岩心描述基础上,结合测井和地震分析,认为研究区为典型的浅水三角洲。根据煤岩产状、砂岩中植物颈干与碎片、河道底部冲刷程度、滞留沉积类型、层理类型等特征将浅水三角洲划分为上三角洲平原、下三角洲平原、三角洲前缘及前三角洲4种亚相。并在此基础上,建立了两种浅水三角洲模式:一种为以须五段为代表的低物源供给浅水三角洲沉积模式;另一种为以须六段为代表的高物源供给浅水辫状河三角洲沉积模式。低物源供给型的下三角洲平原发育的煤是良好烃源岩,高物源供给型的下三角洲平原分流河道及决口沉积为优质储层发育相带,两者匹配,构成良好的生储组合,是岩性油气藏勘探的重点区块。     

Seismotectonics and seismicity of the Silakhor region, Iran

This paper deals with seismotectonic and seismicity of the Silakhor region that shows high seismic activity in western Iran. Silakhor is a vast plain with several villages and cities of Dorud and Borujerd and a small town of Chalanchulan that were destroyed and/or damaged many times by large earthquakes. This paper addresses the historical and instrumental earthquakes and their causative faults, seismotectonic provinces and seismotectonic zones of the region. Available seismic data were normalized by means of time normalization technique that resulted in the magnitude-frequency relation for the Silakhor area and estimation of the return period of earthquakes with different magnitudes. Some active faults in this region include the Dorud fault, the main Zagros thrust, the Galehhatam fault, the Sahneh fault and others. Among them, the Dorud fault is an earthquake fault and is the cause for most of the large and intermediate earthquakes in the region. The return period of large earthquakes with magnitudes greater than 7.0 (Ms) is very low, however, the occurrence of destructive earthquakes is greater in the region than in the neighboring provinces. The study proves the high seismicity of this zone and it is required to develop an accurate national plan for future building and reinforcement of the existing buildings in this region.     

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.     

Estimation of groundwater recharge using the chloride mass-balance method, Pingtung Plain, Taiwan

 Due to rapid economic growth in the Pingtung Plain of Taiwan, the use of groundwater resources has changed dramatically. Over-pumping of the groundwater reservoir, which lowers hydraulic heads in the aquifers, is not only affecting the coastal area negatively but has serious consequences for agriculture throughout the plain. In order to determine the safe yield of the aquifer underlying the plain, a reliable estimate of groundwater recharge is desirable. In the present study, for the first time, the chloride mass-balance method is adopted to estimate groundwater recharge in the plain. Four sites in the central part were chosen to facilitate the estimations using the ion-chromatograph and Thiessen polygon-weighting methods. Based on the measured and calculated results, in all sites, including the mountain and river boundaries, recharge to the groundwater is probably 15% of the annual rainfall, excluding recharge from additional irrigation water. This information can improve the accuracy of future groundwater-simulation and management models in the plain. Received, April 1996 Revised, March 1997, November 1997 Accepted, March 1998     

鄂尔多斯盆地东北缘神木地区浅湖三角洲沉积作用及煤聚集

鄂尔多斯盆地东北缘延安组含有大量的优质煤,属稳定大地构造条件下的浅湖三角州沉积物。三角洲体系有以下单元组成:(1)前三角洲;(2)三角洲前缘(水下分流河道相和河口坝相);(3)三角洲平原(分流河道相,天然堤、决口扇、沼泽和具决口三角洲的分流间湾);(4)废弃三角洲平原.通过详细的露头观察和岩心研究及沉积岩的地质填图工作,浅湖三角洲特征可归纳如下:(1)推进速度非常快、舌形体长而窄,间湾在其间发育,决口事件频繁发生;(2)前三角洲非常薄(0.2～0.5m),三角洲剖面几乎绝大部分由三角洲前缘和三角洲平原构成;(3)河口坝相由砂岩和泥岩互层组成;(4)水下分流河道砂岩厚度在0.5～3.5m范围内,被河口坝沉积物围绕;(5)在废弃三角洲平原中,由于极少沉积物带入沼泽,因此沉积了厚的低灰煤层。     

Depositional model for a chenier plain, Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia

The southern coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria, Northern Australia, consists of a broad chenier plain which is comparable in size and morphology to those reported on the coasts of Surinam and south-western Louisiana. The Carpentaria chenier plain has, at some locations, prograded over 30 km since the Middle Holocene by deposition of low-tide muds over subtidal muds during periods of increased sediment input by the rivers. Chenier ridges are formed during periods of reduced sediment flux by wave induced sorting and redistribution processes. An alternation of increased and decreased sediment flux from fluvial sources has occurred several times during the upper Holocene. Such variation in sediment supply is believed to be related to temporal fluctuations in rainfall over the drainage basin which surrounds the southern and eastern Gulf.     

成都盆地平原区浅层土壤Cd、Pb、Zn分布特征及其成因初探

通过多目标地球化学调查在成都盆地平原区浅层土壤内发现呈面状分布的Cd、pb、Zn等元素高值区.为了研究它们的成因,应用多元统计方法分析了这些元素在不同景观区及不同环境介质中的分布特征及相关关系,利用参考元素对Cd、Pb、Zn的富集含量进行了定量估算.结果表明,平原区浅层土壤内Cd、Pb、Zn元素的分布明显不同于物源区及平原区深层土壤,在元素之间的典型相关关系及元素富集的分布特征上,均表现出明显的人为源特征.Cd、Pb、Zn元素的富集主要出现在平原区中部的城镇及农田区,与成都盆地浅层样地球化学图上的高值区一致.Cd、Pb、Zn元素的富集,是在自然背景的基础叠加了人为源含量,但尚未达到危害程度.     

Hydrogeological investigation in the Mekong Delta around Ho-Chi-Minh City (South Vietnam) by electric tomographyInvestigation hydrogéologique dans le delta du Mékong,autour de la ville de Ho-Chi-Minh (Sud-Vietnam), par tomographie électrique

In the Mekong Delta (South Vietnam), the agglomeration of Ho-Chi-Minh (HCM) City, with more than 5 million inhabitants, is confronted with a dramatic shortage of fresh water supply because of the pollution of several aquifers at different depths. The electric tomography, obtained by concurrent inversion of two complementary geoelectrical methods, the Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) and the Magneto-Telluric Sounding (MTS), turned out to be very efficient to provide a complete electrical image of the underground from the surface until about 800 m depth. This methodology constitutes a very cheap guide for the evaluation of the quality of the groundwater resources in the vast alluvial plain of the Mekong Delta. To cite this article: V.N. Pham et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 733–740.     

Palaeovalleys and protozoan assemblages in a Late Carboniferous cyclothem, Sydney Basin, Nova Scotia

The early Stephanian Bonar Cyclothem of the Sydney Basin, Nova Scotia, contains an erosional surface cut through coastal plain strata with economic coals and distributary channel bodies. The erosion surface is interpreted as a palaeovalley 20 m deep and at least 7 km wide that marks a sequence boundary formed during relative fall in sea level. The palaeovalley is filled with stacked alluvial channel bodies which become more isolated as the valley fill passes upward into red, alluvial plain deposits, probably laid down in an anastomosed river system. In an adjacent, interfluve area, calcretes and red, vertic palaeosols cap coastal strata. Assemblage analysis of agglutinated foraminifera and thecamoebians indicates that the palaeovalley was filled with freshwater sediments before an initial marine transgression flooded the alluvial surface and adjacent interfluve. Valley incision probably reflects glacioeustatic sea level fall. However, the alluvial nature of the valley deposits suggests that valley filling reflects an abundant sediment supply during lowstand and/or transgressive stages and was not a direct consequence of sea level rise. During the subsequent transgression phase, aggradation was rapid as sediment supply apparently kept pace with rising sea level. Features of both channel and extra-channel facies suggest that seasonality intensified during the transition from coastal plain to palaeovalley and alluvial plain deposition.     

陕西省榆林地区延安组湖滨下三角洲平原沉积中的决口扇三角洲沉积及其意义

陕西榆林延安组湖滨下三角洲平原沉积中决口扇三角洲具如下特点:（1）发育在湖滨下三角洲平原的分流间地区;（2）平面上垂直主分流河道向外呈扇形或朵叶状;（3）剖面上呈透镜状夹在两个煤分层之间;（4）前三角洲沉积的厚度小,前缘中植物碎屑含量高;（5）发育时间短,一般不超过1万年。决口扇三角洲沉积体间的排列关系受控于压实沉降作用,不同的排列形式导致煤层出现叠瓦状分叉和环状分叉。     

贵州纳雍地区含煤地层龙潭组中上段三角洲沉积体系

贵州纳雍地区含煤地层龙潭组中上段形成于三角洲沉积体系,其中中段形成于潮汐影响的河控三角州沉积体系;上段形成于坝后河控三角洲沉积体系。每一种沉积体系的持续发展形成了一个沉积幕,分别包括4个成因单元。每个成因单元代表了该沉积体系在某一阶段内受海平面升降影响而沉积的一套完整的进积至后期废弃沉积。这些沉积由5种沉积相,即上三角洲平原;下三角洲平原;水下三角洲平原;三角洲间湾（或边缘）以及三角洲废弃相组合构成。两种不同类型的三角洲沉积体系聚煤作用有着根本的差别:受潮汐影响的河控三角洲沉积体系代表了龙潭组最活动的碎屑沉积部分,聚煤差,煤层普遍不可采;坝后河控三角洲沉积体系相对较稳定,聚煤好,煤层普遍可采。不同环境和相组合中聚煤作用也不同,本区以上三角洲平原和三角洲间湾（或边缘）环境聚煤最好。总之该三角洲沉积体系是我国海陆交替相含煤地层中沉积厚度大、聚煤最丰富的三角洲沉积体系之一。