Geoarchaeology and prehistory of the Kipsing and Tol river watersheds in the Mukogodo Hills region of Central Kenya

An archaeological survey and geomorphological investigation were conducted over a period of three years in the Tol and Kipsing River valleys, both located in the Mukogodo Hills‐Upper Ewaso Ng'iro Plains region of Central Kenya. Eleven alluvial‐stratigraphic sections were studied, and five late‐Quaternary alluvial stratigraphic units were identified on the basis of lithology, chronology, and soil stratigraphy. The locations of 63 archaeological sites recorded during the reconnaissance were compared with the distribution of the alluvial units. These data were used to predict where sites of different cultural periods are most likely to be found and to determine the relationship between site location and alluvial deposition. Since natural processes of deposition and erosion do not fully account for the distribution of Middle and Later Stone Age sites in the study area, the hypothesis that these differences reflect human choices, not the operation of natural processes, cannot be rejected. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The Somme valley terrace system (northern France); a model of river response to Quaternary climatic variations since 800,000 bp

Recent research on the Somme Valley terrace deposits, that began in 1987, has resulted in an integrated sequence of geological and geomorphological evidence for this area that is of particular significance for prehistoric investigations. This has been achieved using previous evidence and new results from archaeological and geological excavations. These include longitudinal profiles, cartography and detailed synthesis of sections of alluvial deposits, stratigraphy of river deposits and overlying loess sequences. The work, based on a study of the geometry of the terrace system, has resulted in the identification of ninestepped alluvial formations that occur along 70 km of the valley. Detailed study permits the integration of the various alluvial sequences. This suggests that each alluvial sequence results from sedimentation through a single glacial-interglacial climatic cycle. This hypothesis is confirmed by investigation of soil and loess sequences of the deposits overlying the fluvial sediments. The synthesis presented provides a basis for understanding the deposition of the terrace system and an initial chronostratigraphic interpretation for the deposits.     

Stratigraphic architecture and depositional setting of the coarse‐grained Upper Cambrian Owen Conglomerate,West Coast Range,western Tasmania

The Upper Cambrian Owen Conglomerate of the West Coast Range, western Tasmania, comprises two upward‐fining successions of coarse‐grained siliciclastic rocks that exhibit a characteristic wedge‐shaped fill controlled by the basin‐margin fault system. Stratigraphy is defined by the informally named basal lower conglomerate member, middle sandstone member, middle conglomerate member and upper sandstone member. The lower conglomerate member has a gradational basal contact with underlying volcaniclastics of the Tyndall Group,while the upper sandstone member is largely conformable with overlying Gordon Group marine clastics and carbonates. The lower conglomerate member predominantly comprises high flow regime, coarse‐grained, alluvial‐slope channel successions, with prolonged channel bedload transport exhibited by the association of channel‐scour structures with upward‐fining packages of pebble, cobble and boulder conglomerate and sandstone, with abundant large‐scale cross‐beds derived from accretion in low‐sinuosity, multiply active braided‐channel complexes. While the dipslope of the basin is predominantly drained by west‐directed palaeoflow, intrabasinal faulting in the southern region of the basin led to stream capture and the subsequent development of axial through drainage patterns in the lower conglomerate member. The middle sandstone member is characterised by continued sandy alluvial slope deposition in the southern half of the basin, with pronounced west‐directed and local axial through drainage palaeoflow networks operating at the time. The middle sandstone member basin deepens considerably towards the north, where coarse‐grained alluvial‐slope deposits are replaced by coarse‐grained turbidites of thick submarine‐fan complexes. The middle conglomerate member comprises thickly bedded, coarse‐grained pebble and cobble conglomerate, deposited by a high flow regime fluvial system that focused deposition into a northern basin depocentre. An influx of volcanic detritus entered the middle conglomerate member basin via spatially restricted footwall‐derived fans on the western basin margin. Fluvial systems continued to operate during deposition of the upper sandstone member in the north of the basin, facilitated by multiply active, high flow regime channels, comprising thick, vertically stacked and upward‐fining, coarse‐grained conglomerate and sandstone deposits. The upper sandstone member in the south of the basin is characterised by extensive braid‐delta and fine‐grained nearshore deposits, with abundant bioturbation and pronounced bimodal palaeocurrent trends associated with tidal and nearshore reworking. An increase in base‐level in the Middle Ordovician culminated in marine transgression and subsequent deposition of Gordon Group clastics and carbonates.     

川西龙门山前陆盆地中砂砾质楔形体的定量统计

从川西龙门山前陆盆地上三叠统一侏罗系沉积纪录可以看出,早中侏罗世以后整个盆地地层构型为一个板状特征,但在其近造山带一侧的盆地边缘又有大量的冲积粗碎屑存在,砂砾质粗碎屑楔形体在早中侏罗世主要位于龙门山前缘中北段,而晚侏罗世一早白垩世则明显地向南西方向迁移,盆地在不同时期,不同部位和不同成分的砂砾质粗碎屑楔形体的时空展布显示物源迁移明显,这是龙门山造山带走滑作用沉积的产物。     

河南省内黄县河流地质考古研究

河流地质考古学是基于地层研究河流和考古遗址之间关系的学科.近年来我们在河南省内黄县开展的河流地质考古研究揭示了黄河复杂的演化历史,在此基础上进一步探讨了古代人类活动与周围环境的相互作用.本文主要介绍了2010~2016年我们在河南省内黄县3个全新世遗址(岸上、三杨庄和大张龙村)的地质考古工作中所取得的成果.研究区域内遗址的地层记录表明,许多考古遗址被深埋于地下,并可能影响了3000 a B.P.以来的河流沉积过程.我们在岸上遗址发掘了A、B、C、D共4处青铜时代的沟渠遗迹,这些沟渠的堆筑可能影响了后期的沉积过程并导致了遗址周边微地貌的改变;在三杨庄遗址识别出了多层不同时期的人为古土壤,包括新石器晚期、战国时期、汉代和唐代;在大张龙村发现了北宋时期黄河泛滥沉积物,其沉积过程可能受周边村落遗址的影响.根据测得的14C年代和沉积层厚度,本研究进一步对这3处遗址的沉积速率进行了估算,并与前人对华北平原沉积速率的相关研究进行了对比.结果表明,这3处遗址所显示的沉积速率自3000 a B.P.开始显著增加,与对早期历史时期黄河河道沉积速率的估算结果相吻合.因此,基于遗址的地质考古研究能够为探索人与环境的互动关系提供大量信息.未来的工作中,我们需要开展更多基于考古遗址的河流地质考古研究,以深入探讨华北平原的自然沉积过程与文明演进过程之间的关系.     

Architecture of an Oligocene fluvial ribbon sandstone in the Ebro Basin,North‐eastern Spain

Fluvial ribbon sandstone bodies are ubiquitous in the Ebro Basin in North‐eastern Spain; their internal organization and the mechanics of deposition are as yet insufficiently known. A quarrying operation in an Oligocene fluvial ribbon sandstone body in the southern Ebro Basin allowed for a three‐dimensional reconstruction of the sedimentary architecture of the deposit. The sandstone is largely a medium‐grained to coarse‐grained, moderately sorted lithic arenite. In cross‐section, the sandstone body is 7 m thick, occupies a 5 m deep incision and wedges out laterally, forming a ‘wing’ that intercalates with horizontal floodplain deposits in the overbank region. Three architectural units were distinguished. The lowest and highest units (Units A and C) mostly consist of medium‐grained to coarse‐grained sandstone with medium‐scale trough cross‐bedding and large‐scale inclined stratasets. Each of Units A and C comprises a fining‐up stratal sequence reflecting deposition during one flood event. The middle unit (Unit B) consists of thinly bedded, fine‐grained sandstone/mudstone couplets and represents a time period when the channel was occupied by low‐discharge flows. The adjoining ‘wing’ consists of fine‐grained sandstone beds, with mudstone interlayers, correlative to strata in Units A and C in the main body of the ribbon sandstone. In plan view, the ribbon sandstone comprises an upstream bend and a downstream straight reach. In the upstream bend, large‐scale inclined stratasets up to 3 m in thickness represent four bank‐attached lateral channel bars, two in each of Units A and C. The lateral bars migrated downflow and did not develop into point bars. In the straight downstream reach, a tabular cross‐set in Unit A represents a mid‐channel transverse bar. In Unit C, a very coarse‐grained, unstratified interval is interpreted as deposited in a riffle zone, and gives way downstream to a large mid‐channel bar. The relatively simple architecture of these bars suggests that they developed as unit bars. Channel margin‐derived slump blocks cover the upper bar. The youngest deposit is fine‐grained sandstone and mudstone that accumulated immediately before avulsion and channel abandonment. Deposition of the studied sandstone body reflects transport‐limited sediment discharges, possibly attaining transient hyperconcentrated conditions.     

Holocene alluvial stratigraphy in the upper Susquehanna River Basin, New York

Two alluvial terraces and the present flood plain were studied at two locations along the Susquehanna and Unadilla Rivers in south-central New York state. They have formed since deglaciation and incision of the stream channels into the valley train deposits. The higher terrace has noncumulative soil profiles with well-developed color B horizons predominantly of silt loam and very fine sandy loam. The terrace is weathered to a degree similar to nearby glacial outwash terraces that have caps of similarly textured sediments. Incision that produced the terrace occurred before 9705 ± 130 yr B.P. The lower terrace is characterized by relatively thick, vertical-accretion deposits of silt loam that contain sequences of thin, buried A, color B, and C horizons. They were formed between about 3240 ± 110 (¹⁴C data of soil humin) and 235 ± 80 yr B.P. Deposits above the 235 ± 80 yr B.P. stratum are unweathered. The soil stratigraphy and ¹⁴C dates of soil humin from buried A horizons are surprisingly well correlated between sites. Most sediments of the present flood plain have been deposited since 1120 ± 80 yr B.P. Incipient A horizons and oxidation of inherited organic matter in the subsoil are the only evidence of pedogenesis in the flood-plain deposits that are older than 275 ± 80 yr B.P. The most recent flood-plain fill deposited since then is unaltered. These youngest sediments of the flood plain along with the youngest veneer of vertical-accretion deposits on the lowest terrace are associated with an increased rate of deposition largely attributable to clearing of the forests by settlers, beginning in the late 1700s. Comparison of the alluvial stratigraphy with the radiocarbon-dated pollen stratigraphy of southwestern New York (Miller 1973) reveals some apparent time correlations between alluvial events and vegetation changes. This gives reason to speculate that climatic change or forest catastrophes such as disease or drought are causes of some of the alluvial events.     

Quaternary stratigraphy of the Koratallaiyar-Cooum basin,Chennai

In this paper we present Quaternary stratigraphy of the area around Chennai based on archaeological findings on the ferricrete surface, geomorphological observations supplemented by radiocarbon dating. The coastal landscape around Chennai, Tamil Nadu, has preserved ferruginised boulder gravel deposits, ferricretes and fluvial deposits of varying thickness. The area studied is approximately 150 km east to west and 180 km north to south with a broad continental shelf towards the seaward. Several rivers enter the Bay of Bengal along its shores like the Koratallaiyar, Cooum and the Adyar. Precambrian charnockite and Upper Gondwana sandstone and shale bedrock rim the shelf margin. For the most part, the Upper Pleistocene-Holocene fluvial sediments overlie an erosion surface that has cut into older Pleistocene sediments and ferricrete surface. Incised valleys that cut into this erosion surface are up to 5–6 km wide and have a relief of at least 30 m. The largest valley is that cut by the Koratallaiyar River. Holocene sediments deposited in the incised valleys include fluvial gravels, early transgressive channel sands and floodplain silts. Older Pleistocene sediments are deposited before and during the 120-ka high stand (Marine isotope stage 5). They consist of ferricretes and ferricrete gravel formed in nearshore humid environments. Muddy and sandy clastic sediments dated to the ca. 5 ka highstand suggest that the climate was semi arid at this time with less fluvial transport. The coarsening up sequence indicates deposition by high intensity channel processes. Pedogenic mottled, clayey silt unit represents an important tectonic event when the channel was temporarily drained and sediment were sub aerially exposed. Uplift of the region has caused the local rivers to incise into the landscape, forming degradation terraces.     

Terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene Environmental Change at the Sunshine Locality, North-Central Nevada, U.S.A.

Sedimentological, faunal, and archaeological investigations at the Sunshine Locality, Long Valley, Nevada reveal a history of human adaptation and environmental change at the last glacial–interglacial transition in North America's north-central Great Basin. The locality contains a suite of lacustrine, alluvial, and eolian deposits associated with fluvially reworked faunal remains and Paleoindian artifacts. Radiocarbon-dated stratigraphy indicates a history of receding pluvial lake levels followed by alluvial downcutting and subsequent valley filling with marsh-like conditions at the end of the Pleistocene. A period of alluvial deposition and shallow water tables (9,800 to 11,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P.) correlates to the Younger Dryas. Subsequent drier conditions and reduced surface runoff mark the early Holocene; sand dunes replace wetlands by 8,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. The stratigraphy at Sunshine is similar to sites located 400 km south and supports regional climatic synchroneity in the central and southern Great Basin during the terminal Pleistocene/early Holocene. Given regional climate change and recurrent geomorphic settings comparable to Sunshine, we believe that there is a high potential for buried Paleoindian features in primary association with extinct fauna elsewhere in the region yet to be discovered due to limited stratigraphic exposure and consequent low visibility.     

From Alluvial Fan to Playa: An Upper Jurassic Ephemeral Fluvial System, Neuquén Basin, Argentina

The Upper Jurassic fill of the back-arc Neuquén Basin includes a lowstand wedge known as the Tordillo Formation. The studied deposits crop out along a N-S oriented belt that runs parallel to the Andean magmatic arc. They are limited to the south by the east-west oriented positive structure of the Huincul arch formed as a result of Upper Jurassic tectonic inversion. The Tordillo deposits were formed in an arid fluvial-dominated system characterised by systematic downstream changes in architectural style. A gravelly and sandy bedload fluvial system is recognised in the southern upstream sector. The reduced thickness and the coarse grain size suggest steep gradients, excess of bedload supply and a low subsidence rate. Thicker and finer-grained deposits prevail to the north and northeast. They were formed under arid conditions in a wadi-sand flat-playa fluvial system. This distal facies association indicates increased accommodation owing to high rates of subsidence relative to coarse siliciclastic sedimentation rates. These low-gradient deposits are characterised by cyclic alternations of mud-dominated and sand-dominated packages interpreted as high- and low-accommodation systems tracts. The overall fining upward stacking pattern of the Tordillo Formation suggests a change towards higher accommodation rates. This is accompanied by frequent development of soil horizons and darker primary and reworked pyroclastic deposits. These attributes indicate a stronger explosive volcanic activity associated with increased precipitation and high water table emplacement towards the end of the Tordillo lowstand wedge.     

Facies and basin architecture of the Late Carboniferous Salvan-Dorénaz continental basin (Western Alps, Switzerland/France)

The Salvan‐Dorénaz Basin formed during the Late Palaeozoic within the Aiguilles‐Rouges crystalline basement (Western Alps) as an asymmetric, intramontane graben elongated in a NE–SW direction and bounded by active faults. At least 1700 m of fluvial, alluvial fan and volcanic deposits provide evidence for a strong tectonic influence on deposition with long‐term, average subsidence rates of > 0·2 mm yr^?1. The early basin fill was associated with coarse‐grained alluvial fans that were dominated by braided channels (unit I). These issued from the south‐western margin of the basin. The fans then retreated to a marginal position and were overlain by muddy floodplain deposits of an anastomosed fluvial system (unit II) that drained towards the NE. Deposition of thick muds resulted from a reduction in the axial fluvial gradient caused by accelerated tectonic subsidence. Overlying sand‐rich meandering river deposits (unit III) document a reversal in the drainage direction from the NE to the SW caused by synsedimentary tectonism, reflecting large‐scale topographic reorganization in this part of the Variscides with subsidence now preferentially in the W and SW and uplift in the E and NE. Coarse‐grained alluvial fan deposits (unit IV) repeatedly prograded into, and retreated from, the basin as documented by coarsening‐upward cycles tens of metres thick reflecting smaller scale tectonic cycles. Volcanism was active throughout the evolution of the basin, and U/Pb isotopic dating of the volcanic deposits restricts the time of basin development to the Late Carboniferous (308–295 Ma). ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of detrital white mica indicate rapid tectonic movements and exhumation of the nearby basement. In unit I, youngest ages are close to that of the host sediment, but the age spectrum is wide. In unit II, high subsidence and/or sedimentation rates coincide with very narrow age spectra, indicating small, homogeneous catchment areas. In unit III, age spectra became wider again and indicate growing catchment areas.     

Holocene settlement in the rio de la plata littoral (argentina): A methodological approach

Cultural and faunal remains from archaeological sites of the Rio de La Plata littoral, Argentina, have been studied, attempting to verify their primary associations and occupations during the Holocene. the sites were localized within shell beach ridges more or less parallel to the present shore and are composed of bivalves, gastropods, scarce barnacles, and sandy sediments. the thanatocoenosis found could be equivalent to a transitional area between fluviomarine (mixohaline) and oceanic (polyeuhaline) gradients, i.e., an environment with greater salinity conditions than that of the adjacent coast in the present estuary. These deposits correspond to the Las Escobas Formation (Holocene). Archaeological remains were found from the base of the shell ridge up into the overlying sediments. the hypothesis proposed here is that the human occupation is not contemporaneous with the formation of the shell ridge. the cultural sequence in this kind of site can be altered by disturbances of the stratigraphy as a consequence of environmental and geological events.     

Late-Quaternary paleoenvironmental evolution of Lesina lagoon (southern Italy) from subsurface data

Integrated sedimentological and micropaleontological (foraminifers and ostracods) analyses of two 55 m long borehole cores (S3 and S4) drilled in the subsurface of Lesina lagoon (Gargano promontory—Italy) has yielded a facies distribution characteristic of alluvial, coastal and shallow-marine sediments. Stratigraphic correlation between the two cores, based on strong similarity in facies distribution and AMS radiocarbon dates, indicates a Late Pleistocene to Holocene age of the sedimentary succession.Two main depositional sequences were deposited during the last 60-ky. These sequences display poor preservation of lowstand deposits and record two major transgressive pulses and subsequent sea-level highstands. The older sequence, unconformably overlying a pedogenized alluvial unit, consists of paralic and marine units (dated by AMS radiocarbon at about 45–50,000 years BP) that represent the landward migration of a barrier-lagoon system. These units are separated by a ravinement surface (RS1). Above these tansgressive deposits, highstand deposition is characterised by progradation of the coastal sediments.The younger sequence, overlying an unconformity of tectonic origin, is a 10 m-thick sedimentary body, consisting of fluvial channel sediments overlain by transgressive–regressive deposits of Holocene age. A ravinement surface (RS2), truncating the transgressive (lagoonal and back-barrier) deposits in core S4, indicates shoreface retreat and landward migration of the barrier/lagoon system. The overlying beach, lagoon and alluvial deposits are the result of mid-Holocene highstand sedimentation and coastal progradation.     

Tectonic and climatic controls on sedimentation during deposition of the Sinakumbe group and Karoo supergroup,in the mid-Zambezi Valley Basin,southern Zambia

Sediments of the Ordovician to Devonian Sinakumbe Group (∼210 m thick) and overlying Upper Carboniferous to Lower Jurassic Karoo Supergroup (∼4.5 km thick) were deposited in the mid-Zambezi Rift Valley Basin, southern Zambia.The Sinakumbe-Karoo succession represents deposition in a extensional fault-controlled basin of half-graben type. The basin-fill succession incorporates two major fining-upward cycles that resulted from major tectonic events, one event beginning with Sinakumbe Group sedimentation, possibly as early as Ordovician times, and the other beginning with Upper Karoo Group sedimentation near the Permo-Triassic boundary. Minor tectonic pulses occurred during deposition of the two major cycles. In the initial fault-controlled half-graben, a basin slope and alluvial fan system (Sikalamba Conglomerate Formation), draining southeastward, was apparently succeeded, without an intervening transitional facies, by a braided river system (Zongwe Sandstone Formation) draining southwestward, parallel to the basin margin. Glaciation followed by deglaciation resulted in glaciofluvial and glacio-lacustrine deposits of the Upper Carboniferous to Lower Permian Siankondobo Sandstone Formation of the Lower Karoo Group, and isostatic rebound eventually produced a broad flood plain on which the coal-bearing Lower Permian Gwembe Coal Formation was deposited. Fault-controlled maximum subsidence is represente by the lacustrine Upper Permian Madumabisa Mudstone Formation. Block-faulting and downwarping, probably due to the Gondwanide Orogeny, culminated with the introduction of large quantities of sediment through braided fluvial systems that overwhelmed and terminated Madumabisa Lake sedimentation, and is now represented by the Triassic Escarpment Grit and Interbedded Sandstone and Mudstone Formations of the Upper Karoo Group. Outpourings of basaltic flows in the Early Jurassic terminated Karoo sedimentation.     

Stratigraphy and fluvial sedimentary facies of the Neocomian lower Strzelecki Group,Gippsland Basin,Victoria

The Strzelecki Group incorporates Berriasian to Albian, fluvial sediments deposited in the Gippsland Basin during initial rifting between Australia and Antarctica. Neocomian strata of the lowermost Strzelecki Group are assigned to the Tyers River Subgroup (exposed in the Tyers area) and the Rhyll Arkose (exposed on Phillip Island and the Mornington Peninsula). The Tyers River Subgroup incorporates two formations: Tyers Conglomerate and Rintoul Creek Formation. The latter is subdivided into the Locmany and Exalt Members. Ten fluvial sedimentary facies are identified in the lowermost Strzelecki Group: two gravelly facies; four sandy facies; and four mudrock facies. Associations of these facies indicate: (i) prevalence of gravelly braided‐river and alluvial‐fan settings during deposition of the Tyers Conglomerate; (ii) more sluggish, sandy braided to meandering fluvial systems during Locmany Member sedimentation; and (iii) a return to active, sandy, braided‐river settings for deposition of the Exalt Member. The Tyers Conglomerate and Rhyll Arkose rest on an irregular erosional surface incised into Palaeozoic rocks of the Lachlan Fold Belt. The overlying Rintoul Creek Formation incorporates more mature sediments where lithofacies associations varied according to base‐level change, variations in subsidence rates, and/or tectonic uplift of the principal sedimentsource terranes to the northwest.     

冀西北尚义盆地对晚侏罗世构造活动的沉积响应

尚义盆地位于走向近东西的中生代燕山冲断带前缘盆地群的西段,在晚侏罗世土城子时期堆积了大量的粗碎屑。盆地中土城子组沉积相变明显,自北向南从粗砾质变为粉砂质沉积,具比较典型的非对称相带分布特征。土城子早一中期,从北向南总体上形成砾质冲积扇(包括泥石流)-辫状河流-洪泛平原或干化湖泊等古环境布局。晚期则以砂砾质辫状河流沉积为主,可能夹有发育大型风成交错层理的砂质沙丘沉积。土城子组碎屑成分以变质岩和花岗质岩石为主.物源主要来自盆地北侧的"内蒙地轴",沉积充填具有同构造砾岩的性质。尚义盆地北缘发育一系列呈叠瓦状排列的逆冲断裂。断裂与盆地耦合关系的初步分析显示.北缘逆冲断裂的构造载荷是控制尚义盆地形成和演化的主要因素。靠近北部冲断带一侧沉积相序的中—下部具有向上变粗的特点.可能指示了土城子组沉积受前进式的冲断载荷和岩石圈挠曲控制的过程。根据尚义盆地与其北侧相关断裂的空间配置、沉积碎屑北粗南细的变化、盆地横断面北厚南薄的楔状体特征等分析.盆地属于陆内的前陆式盆地,推测是在自北向南的近水平挤压构造背景下形成的.     

The Upper Pleistocene deposits at Cassington,near Oxford,England

For much of the Middle and all of the Upper Pleistocene the Upper Thames valley has remained outside the limit of ice advance. The main agents of landform evolution have been the River Thames and its tributaries, which have cut down episodically and in so doing have abandoned a series of river terraces. This study reports the findings of an investigation into exposures in the deposits underlying the Floodplain Terrace at Cassington, near Oxford, England. The sequence exposed reveals a stratigraphy of basal, predominantly fine-grained, lithofacies overlain by coarser gravel lithofacies. The fluvial architecture of these deposits indicates a major change in fluvial style from a low-energy (meandering) to a high energy (braided) channel system. The flora and fauna from the lower fine-grained lithofacies display a marked change from temperate at the base, to colder conditions towards the top, indicating a close association between deteriorating climate and changing fluvial depositional style. Amino acid and luminescence geochronology from the basal fine-grained lithofacies suggest correlation with Oxygen Isotope Stage 5 and hence it is argued that the major environmental change recorded at the site relates to the Oxygen Isotope Stage 5–4 transition. Deposition of much of the overlying gravel sequence probably occurred during Oxygen Isotope Stage 4, suggesting that the latter half of the Devensian may be less significant, in terms of fluvial landscape evolution in the Upper Thames valley, than was believed previously. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Controls on large‐scale patterns of fluvial sandbody distribution in alluvial to coastal plain strata: Upper Cretaceous Blackhawk Formation,Wasatch Plateau,Central Utah,USA

Current models of alluvial to coastal plain stratigraphy are concept‐driven and focus on relative sea‐level as an allogenic control. These models are tested herein using data from a large (ca 100 km long and 300 m thick), continuous outcrop belt (Upper Cretaceous Blackhawk Formation, central Utah, USA). Many channelized fluvial sandbodies in the Blackhawk Formation have a multilateral and multistorey internal character, and they generally increase in size and abundance (from ca 10% to ca 30% of the strata) from base to top of the formation. These regional, low‐resolution trends exhibit much local variation, but are interpreted to reflect progressively decreasing tectonic subsidence in the upper Blackhawk Formation and overlying Castlegate Sandstone. The trend may also incorporate progressively more frequent channel avulsion during deposition of the lower Blackhawk Formation. Laterally extensive coal zones formed on the coastal plain during shallow‐marine transgressions, and define the high‐resolution stratigraphic framework of the lower Blackhawk Formation. Large (up to 25 m thick and 1 to 6 km wide), multistorey, multilateral, fluvial channel‐complex sandbodies that overlie composite erosion surfaces occur at distinct stratigraphic levels, and are interpreted as fluvial incised valley fills. Low amplitude (<30 m) relative sea‐level variations are interpreted as the dominant control on stratigraphic architecture in the lower Blackhawk Formation, which was deposited up to 50 km inland from the coeval shoreline. In contrast, the high‐resolution stratigraphy of the upper Blackhawk Formation is poorly defined, and channelized fluvial sandbodies are poorly organized. Vertical and laterally offset stacking of a small proportion (<10%) of sandbodies produced ‘clusters’ that are not confined by ‘master’ erosion surfaces. Avulsion is interpreted to dominate the stratigraphic architecture of the upper Blackhawk Formation. This data‐driven analysis indicates that alluvial to coastal plain stratigraphic architecture reflects a combination of various allogenic controls and autogenic behaviours. The relative sea‐level control emphasized in sequence stratigraphic models is only rarely dominant.     

Pleistocene fluvial sediments,palaeontology and archaeology of the upper River Thames at Latton,Wiltshire, England

Pleistocene fluvial sediments of the Northmoor Member of the Upper Thames Formation exposed at Latton, Wiltshire, record episodic deposition close to the Churn–Thames confluence possibly spanning the interval from Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 7 to 2. The sequence is dominated by gravel facies, indicating deposition by a high‐energy, gravel‐bed river. A number of fine‐grained organic sediment bodies within the sequence have yielded palaeoenvironmental and biostratigraphical data from Mollusca, Coleoptera, vertebrates, pollen and plant macrofossils. The basal deposit (Facies Association A) contains faunal material indicating temperate conditions. Most of the palaeontological evidence including a distinctive small form of mammoth (Mammuthus cf. trogontherii), together with the U‐series age estimate of >147.4 ± 20 kyr suggest correlation with MIS 7. The overlying deposits (Facies Associations B and C) represent deposition under a range of climatic conditions. Two fine‐grained organic deposits occurred within Association B; one (Association Ba) in the northern part of the pit as a channel fill and the other (Association Bb) in its southern part as a scour‐fill deposit. The coleopteran assemblages from Ba, indicate that it accumulated under temperate oceanic conditions, while Bb, which also yielded a radiocarbon age estimate of 39 560 ± 780 ¹⁴C yr BP, was formed under much colder and more continental climatic conditions. The sequence is considered to represent deposition within an alluvial fan formed at the Churn–Thames confluence; a depositional scenario which may account for the juxtaposition of sediments and fossils of widely differing age within the same altitudinal range. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Muddy lateral accretion and low stream power in a sub-recent confined channel belt, Rhine-Meuse delta, central Netherlands

The Hennisdijk fluvial system in the central Rhine-Meuse delta is an abandoned Rhine distributary that was active on a wide floodplain from 3800 to 3000 years BP . Cross-sectional geometry, lithological characteristics and planform patterns of the channel-belt deposits indicate lateral migration of the Hennisdijk palaeochannel. Channel-belt deposits are around 10 m thick and 200–400 m wide. A gravelly facies near the base of the channel-belt deposits represents channel-lag and lower point-bar deposits. The axis of the channel belt is dominated by a sandy facies (medium and coarse sand), showing an overall fining upward trend with multiple cycles. This facies is interpreted as lower and middle point-bar deposits. The sandy facies is capped by a muddy facies, which is 1–2 m thick near the axis of the channel belt and thickens to 5–6 m along the margins. It laterally interfingers with the sandy facies that occurs near the channel-belt axis, but it has sharp, erosive outer contacts marking the edges of the channel belt. The muddy facies comprises inclined heterolithic stratification (IHS) (fine/medium sand–mud couplets) in its upper part. The relatively thin muddy facies with IHS that occurs near the channel-belt axis is interpreted as upper point-bar deposits with lateral accretion surfaces, formed under marine influence. Along the margins of the channel belt the muddy facies consists of thick, fairly homogeneous, successions of mud with variable sand content, and fine sand. Based on facies geometry and position, this part of the muddy facies is interpreted as counterpoint deposits, formed along the upstream limb of the concave bank of a channel bend. Counterpoint accretion seems to have been associated with the confined nature of the channel belt, which was the result of low stream power (4·5–7·8 W m⁻², based on reconstructions of palaeodischarge and channel slope) and cohesive bank material, i.e. clayey floodbasin deposits with intercalated peat beds occurring next to the channel belt. In the literature, counterpoint accretion is mostly reported from alluvial valleys, where meandering is confined by limited floodplain width, whereas muddy lateral accretion surfaces are commonly reported from much wider marine-influenced floodplains. The present study shows juxtaposition of both forms of muddy channel deposits in a low-energy, wide coastal plain setting, where preservation potential is considerable.