Stratigraphy of a Neoglacial end moraine in Norway

There exposures in an outer end moraine ridge at Autre Okstindbredal, north Norway, are described and interpreted. The presence of perennially frozen ground is attributed to the present or very recent climate of the area and suggest the occurence of true sporadic permafrost. Several buried soil horizons including podzols are recognised within the moraine ridge sections. These are considered to be derived. It is thought that their occurance as imbricate stress is best explained by a basal freeze-in mechanism associated with marginal thrusting when the local glacier possessed a sub-polar thermal régime. This freeze-in phase is of late Neoglacial age but not necessarily associated with the widespread eighteenth century advance in Scandinavia. The soils in part date from the postglacial climatic optimum.     

砾质辫状河型冲积扇沉积微相及沉积模式:以准噶尔盆地西北缘现代白杨河冲积扇为例*

冲积扇砂砾岩储集层具有相变快、连续性差等特点,显示冲积扇内部沉积环境的复杂性。本次研究以准噶尔盆地西北缘现代白杨河冲积扇为例,在丰富的野外露头资料基础上,结合区域水文资料以及冲积扇文献资料,对白杨河冲积扇沉积演化特征及沉积模式进行探讨。按其沉积机制,白杨河冲积扇属于辫状河型冲积扇,具有规模大(扇体总面积约327.6km²)、坡度平缓(约4‰~7‰)、沉积粒度粗和漫洪细粒沉积物不发育的典型特征。在白杨河冲积扇内共可识别出16种岩相类型,并根据岩相形成的流体动力差异划归为5类成因,即重力流成因、高流态牵引流成因、低流态牵引流成因、静水沉积成因以及风成沉积成因。白杨河冲积扇扇体建造过程可划分为洪水期和间洪期2个时期,洪水期以沉积作用为主,从扇根至扇缘依次发育扇根补给水道沉积、扇根片流沉积、扇中片流沉积、扇中辫状水道沉积、扇缘径流水道沉积和扇缘湿地沉积6种沉积微相类型;间洪期以改造作用为主,从扇根至扇缘依次发育扇根主槽沉积、扇中辫状沟槽沉积和扇缘湿地沉积3种沉积微相类型。最后,依据白杨河冲积扇建立了砾质辫状河型冲积扇洪水期和间洪期的沉积模式。     

正断层控制下冲积扇沉积过程与沉积构型模拟实验

正断层构造广泛发育于盆地内和造山带中,其对可容空间分配及沉积物分布具有明显的控制作用,从而影响了冲积扇形态。为进一步探究正断层构造对冲积扇沉积过程及其内部构型的控制作用,利用水槽实验对正断层构造发育背景下的冲积扇发育过程进行模拟再现。研究表明,携带大量沉积物的碎屑流优先在上盘近断层处泄载,后经牵引流的改造,形成沿断面垂向生长、尖端指向物源的三角形分水滩。水动力较强时碎屑流越过分水滩并在分水滩尾部发育越滩朵体,水动力较弱时碎屑流遇分水滩尖端分流后沿断面在分水滩两侧发育断面朵体。受控于断面及分水滩的阻挡,冲积扇表面不同位置的沉积物泄载过程差异较大,粒度差异明显,上盘扇体中分水滩沉积物偏粗,越滩朵体次之,断面朵体最细。冲积扇的发育过程依据分水滩砂体厚度和断距大小之间的差异,共分为3个阶段。断距大小还会影响冲积扇沉积构型,断距越大,上盘可容空间越大,分水滩发育时间越长,扇体内部砂体叠置样式越复杂。受控于正断层的冲积扇内部构型在垂直物源剖面上从近端至远端,分别发育纵向沙坝、分水滩及碎屑流朵体,在平行物源剖面上以复合水道主控、分水滩叠复体主控、多期朵体叠复体主控为主。     

Simulation experiment of sedimentary process and sedimentary architecture of alluvial fan under the control of normal faults

Normal fault structures are widely developed in basins and orogenic belts,which control the accommodation space and the distribution of sediments and thus affecting the morphology of alluvial fans. A flume tank experiment was carried to simulate and clarify the control of normal faults on the sedimentary process and internal architecture of alluvial fans.The results show that the large amount of sediments carried by debris flow tend to be unloaded near the hanging wall of faults and are subsequently reworked by traction current,which result in a triangular distributary gravel bar grows vertically on fault plane with the tip pointing to the source area. When the hydrodynamic force is strong,debris flow goes across distributary gravel bar and forms over-bar lobe at the tail of the distributary gravel bar. When the hydrodynamic force is weak,debris flow forms fault plane-dominated lobe along fault plane and is located on both sides of the distributary gravel bar. Under the control of normal faults and the barrier of distributary gravel bar,the unloading process of sediments varies greatly at different positions on the surface of alluvial fan. The particle size varies greatly among different facies,with coarsest grains developed on the fans of hanging wall,finer grained on over-bar lobe and finest sediments on fault plane-dominated lobe. The development process of alluvial fan can be divided into three stages,according to the sandbody thickness and fault throw of distributary gravel bar. The fault throw also affects the sedimentary architecture of alluvial fan,with larger the fault throw generating larger the accommodation space of hanging wall,longer development time of distributary gravel bar and more complex of the superposition pattern of the sand bodies inside the fan. The internal architecture of alluvial fan that is controlled by normal faults includes longitudinal sandbar,distributary gravel bar and debris flow lobe in the profile vertical perpendicular to the sediment source direction from the proximal to the distal end. Along sediment longitudinal section,composite channel,superimposed distributary gravel bar complex and superimposed bodies of multi-phased lobes are dominant facies.     

The age and origin of Neoglacial moraines in Jotunheimen, southern Norway: new evidence from weathering-based data

This paper considers the controversial issue of the existence of pre-'Little Ice Age' Neoglacial moraines in southern Norway. Schmidt hammer rebound values are combined with measures of boulder roundness and weathering rind thickness in an attempt to isolate moraines that include weathered boulders. A critical approach is used in distinguishing sites where boulders have weathered in situ from those where previously weathered clasts have been incorporated into relatively young moraines. The results confirm that possible pre-'Little Ice Age' Neoglacial moraines seem to be restricted to small, high-altitude glaciers in eastern Jotunheimen. It is concluded that at these glaciers a particularly large response to a short-lived earlier Holocene climatic event is more likely to explain the survival of such moraines than a particularly subdued response to the climatic deterioration of the 'Little Ice Age'. More refined dating techniques are required to determine the age of formation of the anomalous moraines, but before the palaeoclimatic significance of such dates can be assessed, a critical test is required to establish whether the moraines mark former ice-front positions, and therefore reflect lowering of equilibrium line altitudes, or whether they have been displaced forwards by later and more extensive glacier advances.     

Mapping groundwater renewability using age data in the Baiyang alluvial fan,NW China

Hydrogeology Journal - Groundwater age has been used to map renewability of water resources within four groups: strong, partial, and rare renewability, and non-renewable. The Baiyang alluvial fan...     

冲积扇沉积机制研究进展及其成因分类方案探讨

冲积扇是盆地边缘一类重要的沉积体系类型。相较于其他沉积体系,冲积扇的研究程度仍相对较低,但研究热度不断增加。由于冲积扇极其复杂的沉积机制和演化过程使其研究目前在国际上仍处于探索和发展阶段,并且冲积扇的分类方案仍存在争议。据此,本文在大量文献调研基础上,对冲积扇的沉积地貌要素、沉积作用类型、沉积机制、沉积模式、控制因素及相关概念进行了系统的梳理和总结,并从成因机理出发提出新的冲积扇成因分类方案。研究认为冲积扇可划分为基岩型、阵发型、河流型及特殊型4大类。其中阵发型冲积扇可进一步区分出泥石流型、片流型、非限制性河泛洪流型、阵发性河道型及过渡型5亚类;河流型冲积扇可进一步划分为单体系河流型、多体系河流型冲积扇及末端扇3亚类。但随着研究的不断深入,冲积扇成因类型也将得到不断补充和完善。希望通过本文对冲积扇沉积机制研究进展的介绍和成因分类方案的探讨,能为冲积扇沉积学的发展提供借鉴和参考。     

北京西部永定河第四纪冲积扇基坑边坡稳定性分析

北京舞蹈学院综合楼地基开挖工程,揭示了北京西部永定河冲积扇全新世和晚更新世地层的垂向分布特征和工程地质特性。该地区工程地质特性满足一般高层建筑（高度小于100m）所需的承载力,建筑的持力层多位于全新世和晚更新世地层的第五层或第七层,不需要进行地基处理,直接采用天然地基即可。该地区一般高层建筑的主要工程地质问题为开挖深基坑的边坡稳定性问题,采用桩锚支护体系进行基坑支护,并配合必要的监测手段,可使基坑周围建筑物的沉降、边坡位移和边坡稳定性满足规范要求。     

Depositional features of a late Weichselian outwash fan; central East Jylland,Denmark

Four major sedimentary facies are present in coarse-grained, ice-marginal deposits from central East Jylland, Denmark. Facies A and B are matrix-supported gravels deposited by subaerial sediment gravity flows as mudflows (facies A) and debris flows (facies B). Facies C consists of clast-supported, water-laid gravels and facies D are cross-bedded sand and granules. The facies can be grouped into three facies associations related to the supraglacial and proglacial environments: (1) the flow-till association is made up of alternating beds of remobilized glacial mixton (facies A) and well-sorted cross-bedded sand (facies D); (2) the outwash apron association resembles the sediments of alluvial fans in containing coarse-grained debris-flow deposits (facies B), water-laid gravel deposited by sheet floods (facies C) and cross-bedded sand and granules (facies D) from braided distributaries; (3) the valley sandur association comprises water-laid gravel (facies C) interpreted as sheet bars and longitudinal bars interbedded with cross-bedded sand and granules (facies D) deposited in channels between bars in a braided environment.The general coarsening-upward trend of the sedimentary sequences caused by the transition of bars and channel-dominated facies to debris-flow-dominated facies indicate an increasing proximality of the outwash deposits, picturing the advance and still stand of a large continental lowland ice-sheet. The depositional properties suggest that sedimentation was caused by melting along a relatively steep, active glacier margin as a first step towards the final vanishing of the Late Weichselian icesheet (the East Jylland ice) covering eastern Denmark.     

Palaeoenvironmental interpretation of a Pleistocene alluvial succession in central Poland: sedimentary facies analysis as a tool for palaeoclimatic inferences

A Pleistocene valley-fill alluvial succession deposited in the Kleszczów Graben, central Poland, has been studied in the Belchatów openpit mine. The succession, palynologically documented to represent the Drenthe/Warthe interstadial, consists of three alluvial complexes whose component lithofacies associations indicate a fluvial system evolving from temperate-climate meandering river to transitional-type shallow braided network, to periglacial well-developed braided river influenced by aeolian sand supply. The study suggests that the abundance of fine-grained overbank deposits, occurrence of peats/palaeosols and fining-upward cyclothems are diagnostic attributes of perennial meandering river alluvium, which may indicate temperate climatic conditions. Periglacial braided river alluvium is recognizable by an admixture of wind-derived sand grains with aeolian surface textures and by the occurrence of ice-wedge features, indicative of cold climatic conditions. The distinction between the two basic types of alluvium is aided by the analysis of architectural elements and palaeocurrent directional data. The study demonstrates that sedimentological facies analysis can be a useful tool for the recognition of palaeoclimatic changes in Pleistocene alluvial successions.     

大理冲积扇含水层非均质性分布规律研究

洪-冲积扇的非均质性分布规律对含水层渗流和污染物迁移研究、地下水污染管理、控制及修复具有重要意义。本文以大理点苍山东麓隐仙溪洪-冲积扇为例,对其水动力条件、沉积构造模型、地形坡度与运移距离的关系进行探讨。研究表明,冲积扇沉积非均质受水动力条件影响,当水动力较好时,沉积颗粒物为砾石和漂砾,填充泥质和粉砂质,水动力较弱时沉积多为砂质和粘土颗粒,扇面整体以水流河道为中心轴呈扇形沉积;冲积扇沉积颗粒物的分选性和磨圆度受地形坡度的影响,地形坡度大沉积颗粒物分选性和磨圆度差,搬运距离越远分选性和磨圆度越好;扇顶因水动力强,坡度大,沉积物分选性和磨圆度差,层理不发育,扇中扇缘随着水动力条件及地形坡度减弱,沉积物分选性和磨圆度逐渐变好,层理较为发育,沉积为水平或均匀层理。     

Messinian carbonate and alluvial fan sedimentation in Alonnisos Island,Greece: sedimentary response to basement controls,inversion tectonics and climatic fluctuations

A marginal marine carbonate environment, giving away to an alluvial one, was established during Messinian time on Alonnisos Island, the footwall upland of the Southern Marginal Fault of the Sporades Basin (SMFS). Analysis of the evolving depositional systems, with emphasis on their sedimentation processes, faulting patterns and palaeopedological factors, has permitted an interpretation of the simultaneous controls of tectonism and climate. The carbonate sediments were deposited in a shallow marine environment formed along a faulted continental margin under warm and semi-arid climatic conditions. Faulting consisted of NE-trending dextral reverse faults and NW-trending strike slip faults, produced by WNW-directed compression. The basement structural elements affected the spatial distribution of the offshore and shoreface facies, whereas fifth-order cycles of sea-level change were responsible for the development of metre-scale, shallowing-up cycles. The compressional structures were subsequently reactivated by NNE extension. This tectonic inversion, together with a global sea-level fall, triggered alluvial fan sedimentation. Fan sedimentation was disrupted by long periods of non-deposition and soil formation under warm climatic conditions. Three distinct units are recognized in the fan: a lower unit consisting of clast-poor debris flows, attributed to semi-arid–humid periods; an intermediate unit of clast-rich sheetfloods and channel flows, deposited during arid periods; and an upper unit consisting of matrix-rich sheetfloods related to a return to semi-arid–humid conditions. We interpret that the water-flow processes responsible for deposition were most prevalent on fans of arid and semi-arid climates, whereas debris-flow processes were more typical of climates with higher rainfall. As the extension proceeded during the Plio-Quaternary time, the main tectonic activity of the Sporades Basin was taken up by the SMFS causing significant footwall uplift. Due to this process, Alonnisos Island was elevated above the Pliocene highstand and became an area starved of Quaternary sedimentation. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

新疆乌恰萨热克含铜盆地上侏罗统库孜贡苏组复合型冲积扇沉积相研究

新疆萨热克含铜盆地库孜贡苏组是复合型冲积扇沉积相,是重要的赋矿层。利用研究区24个钻孔和10个露头剖面资料,运用高分辨率层序地层学原理进行单孔沉积相、连孔沉积相、平面沉积相分析,对新疆萨热克含铜盆地库孜贡苏组(J3k)复合型冲积扇内部垂向和3个中期旋回期间沉积相亚相的平面分布特征进行了研究。研究表明,该区库孜贡苏组垂向分布大体可分为3个中期基准面旋回和若干短期基准面旋回,据此建立了高分辨率层序地层对比格架。3个中期旋回期间,沉积亚相平面发育模式差异大。铜矿(化)体垂向、平面分布特征明显。     

Tsunami sedimentary facies deposited by the Storegga tsunami in shallow marine basins and coastal lakes, western Norway

Sedimentary successions in small coastal lakes situated from 0 to 11 m above the 7000 year BP shoreline along the western coast of Norway, contain a distinctive deposit, very different from the sediments above and below. The deposit is interpreted to be the result of a tsunami inundating the coastal lakes. An erosional unconformity underlies the tsunami facies and is traced throughout the basins, with most erosion found at the seaward portion of the lakes. The lowermost tsunami facies is a graded or massive sand that locally contains marine fossils. The sand thins and decreases in grain size in a landward direction. Above follows coarse organic detritus with rip-up clasts, here termed ‘organic conglomerate’, and finer organic detritus. The tsunami unit generally fines and thins upwards. The higher basins (6–11 m above the 7000 year shoreline) show one sand bed, whereas basins closer to the sea level 7000 years ago, may show several sand beds separated by organic detritus. These alternations in the lower basins may reflect repeated waves of sea water entering the lakes. In basins that were some few metres below sea level at 7000 years BP, the tsunami deposit is more minerogenic and commonly present as graded sand beds, but also in some of these shallow marine basins organic-rich facies occur between the sand beds. The total thickness of the tsunami deposit is 20–100 cm in most studied sites. An erosional and depositional model of the tsunami facies is developed.     

Use of multiparameter relative-age methods for age estimation and correlation of alluvial fan surfaces on a desert piedmont, eastern Mojave Desert, California

Numerical and calibrated age determinations of the late Quaternary alluvial fan deposits of the Soda Mountains piedmont in the Mojave Desert provide an opportunity to study the utility of the multiparameter relative-age (RA) method for distinguishing and mapping geomorphic surfaces on a desert piedmont. Most RA parameters could not discriminate between deposits of Holocene age, although pavements have formed over locally significant parts of surfaces as young as middle Holocene. Several parameters, including lithologic composition, particle size, soil development, and varnish cover, permit distinguishing between Holocene surfaces and late Pleistocene surfaces. Statistically significant differences in initial particle size and lithology of the deposits, inferred to be the result of complex interaction among hillslope, alluvial fan, and eolian processes and climatic change, create conditions unfavorable for use of most RA techniques. In contrast, soil-profile development and varnish cover data are successful in discrimination among deposits of Holocene and Pleistocene age. This is attributed to the development of pedogenic features and varnish that are strongly dependent on dust influx and to the relatively minor dependence of these features on differences in the depositional character of the fan.     

Sediments and processes on a small stream-flow dominated,devonian alluvial fan,Shetland Islands

The main conglomerate type of a small Devonian alluvial fan in Shetland, northern Britain, is an inverse to normally graded framework-supported gravel. The sedimentological details of these beds and fundamental considerations of the mechanics of movement of highly concentrated flows suggests that neither debris-flow nor grain-flow were responsible for the deposition of these conglomerates. On the contrary, these inverse to normally graded conglomerates were deposited by water as thick gravel sheets with little topographic relief, but broadly analogous to longitudinal bars. They were deposited under high aggradation conditions first on the rising and then on the falling flood. The high concentration of material in transport on the rising and peak flood was responsible for the polymodal and unstratified nature of the conglomerates. As the flood waned, normal grading was developed and a preferred horizontal fabric was produced under low concentrations of sediment.Other conglomerate types, comparatively of lesser importance, were deposited from highly concentrated clast dispersions and are notably richer in matrix and locally possess inverse grading.The hydrological environment was one of flashy discharges of short duration but of high velocity. Flow was dissipated rapidly, perhaps due to extreme water loss.This example from the Devonian of Shetland provides an interesting alternative to the mass-transport dominated fan models currently in vogue.     

Regional variation in the composition of Neoglacial end moraines, Jotunheimen, Norway: an altitudinal gradient in clast roundness and its possible palaeoclimatic significance

Matthews, John A. 1987 06 01: Regional variation in the composition of Neoglacial end moraines. Jotunheimen, Norway: an altitudinal gradient in clast roundness and its possible palaeoclimatic significance Boreas , Vol. 16, pp. 173–188. Oslo. ISSN 0300–9483.
Quantitative indices of clast roundness from Neoglacial end moraines in front of 81 Jotunheimen glaciers were compared and analysed. Statistical techniques, including non-metric multidimensional scaling, multiple regression and partial correlation, were used to relate clast roundness to selected environmental variables. Three independent variables – site altitude, glacier length (interchangeable with height of headwall relative to glacier length) and aspect – cumulatively accounted for about 58% of the variability in clast roundness. A climatic factor complex (represented by altitude and aspect) was found more important than morphological factors (such as glacier size and headwall size) in accounting for clast roundness variations between glaciers. The scale of the independent effects of altitude, morphology, aspect and geology was found in the approximate proportions 4:1.5:1:1. Several theoretical mechanisms are proposed which could explain a causal relationship between climate and clast roundness by influencing the relative importance of supraglacial and subglacial debris supply. The palaeoclimatic implications of the results are discussed with particular reference to the prediction of mean annual temperatures from clast roundness; one unit increase in clast roundness corresponding to an increase in mean annual temperature of about 1.4°C within the study area.     

Deglaciation chronology inferred from marine sediments in a proglacial lake basin, western Spitsbergen, Svalbard

Sub-bottom sediment profiles and sediment cores show that the lacustrine sediments in lake Linnevatnet are underlain by marine sediments and a basal till that mantles the bedrock. The till was probably deposited by the glacier that during the Late Weichselian glacial maximum removed all pre-existing sediments from the basin. The cores were collected in closed basins, where continuous deposition is expected. The marine sediment in the studied cores is up to 8 m thick and consists of bioturbated clay and silt. Radiocarbon dates on shells from the base of the marine sequence suggest that glacial retreat from the lake basin occurred around 12,500BP. This is more than a thousand years older than basal shell dates from raised marine sediments on the slopes above the lake. Typical ice proximal litbofacies were not identified in the cores. stratigraphic record indicates both a rapid glacial retreat and that no younger glacial re-advances occurred. During the Younger Dryas local glaciers on western Svalbard were smaller than during the Little Ice Age. This is in sharp contrast to western Europe, where Younger Dryas glaciers were much larger than those the Little Ice Age.     

A local clay-varve chronology and proglacial sedimentary environment in glacial Lake Peipsi, eastern Estonia

Ten cores consisting of varved clay from the northern part of Lake Peipsi in eastern Estonia have been correlated using varve thickness variations and specific marker varves into a 375-year floating varve chronology. Continuous sedimentation during gradual ice recession is concluded from a clear transition from proximal to distal varves. Cyclic variations in varve thickness are caused mainly by thickness changes of clayey winter layers. This is interpreted to indicate increased influx of finer material due to faster melting of the glacier. The cyclic pattern of thickness change is explained by alternating periods of increased and decreased melting of the ice. Simultaneous accumulation of varved clay in glacial Lake Peipsi and in the Luga and Neva basins of Russia is concluded from the good visual correlation between the mean varve thickness diagrams for the three chronologies. Because the varve chronologies from northwestern Russia have been tentatively correlated to the Swedish varve chronology, the timing of the clay accumulation in glacial Lake Peipsi is placed between c . 13 500 and 13 100 varve years BP.