Diatom community response to multiple scales of Holocene climate variability in a small lake on Victoria Island, NWT, Canada

A lake sediment core spanning 9900 years, collected from a small lake on western Victoria Island, NWT, Canada, provides a high-resolution record of diatom community dynamics over the Holocene. Ten radiocarbon dates and ²¹⁰Pb dating provided the core chronology. Loss-on-ignition (LOI), magnetic susceptibility, biogenic silica content, and diatom concentrations provided information on changes in the sedimentary environment. LOI gradually increased over the Holocene whereas magnetic susceptibility showed an inverse trend. Biogenic silica content showed three distinct peaks spaced approximately 3000 years apart. Major shifts in diatom assemblages occurred at 8100–8000, 5800–5700, and 3800–3500 cal yr BP. There is evidence of diatom community response to centennial-scale variations such as the ‘Medieval Warm Period’ (1000–700 cal yr BP), ‘Little Ice Age’ (800–150 cal yr BP) and recent warming. Although recent changes in diatom community composition, productivity, and species richness are apparent they were surpassed at other periods throughout the Holocene. Variations of the taxa within the genera Staurosira, Pseudostaurosira, Fragilaria, and Staurosirella, usually combined into one genus in Arctic lake sediment studies, suggest these taxa provide useful insight into paleonvironmental questions.     

Deep-sea avulsion and morphosedimentary evolution of the Rhône Fan Valley and Neofan during the Late Quaternary (north-western Mediterranean Sea)

The Petit-Rhône Fan Valley (north-western Mediterranean) is a broad, sinuous, filled valley that is deeply incised by a narrow, sinuous thalweg. The valley fill is differentiated into three seismic subunits on high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles. The lower chaotic subunit probably consists of channel lag deposits that seem to be in lateral continuity with high-amplitude reflections representing levee facies. The intermediate transparent subunit, which has an erosional base and clearly truncates levee deposits, is interpreted to be mass-flow deposits resulting from the disintegration of the fan-valley flanks. The upper bedded subunit shows an overall lens-shaped geometry and the seismic reflections onlap either onto the top of the underlying transparent subunit or onto the Rhône levees. Piston core data show that the upper few meters of this upper subunit consist of thin turbidites, probably deposited by overflow processes. The few available ¹⁴C ages suggest that the upper stratified subunit filled the Petit-Rhône Fan Valley between 21 and 11 kyr BP. The upper bedded subunit is deposited within the Petit-Rhône Fan Valley downslope of a major decrease in slope gradient. This upper subunit and the thalweg are genetically related and represent a small channel/levee system confined within the fan valley. Previous studies interpreted this thalweg to be an erosional feature resulting from a recent avulsion of the major channel course. Our interpretation implies that the thalweg is not a purely erosional feature but a depositional/erosional channel. This small channel/levee system is superimposed on a large muddy channel/levee system after the sediment supply changed from thick muddy flows during the main phase of aggradation of the Rhône Fan levees, to thin, mixed (sand and mud) flows at the end of Isotope Stage 2 (～16–18 ka BP). The pre-existing morphology of the Petit-Rhône Fan Valley played a determinant role in the sediment dispersal leading to the creation of this small and confined channel/levee system. These mixed flows have undergone flow stripping resulting from the changes in the slope gradient along the thalweg course. The finer sediment overflowed from the thalweg and were deposited in the Petit-Rhône Fan Valley. Coarser channelled sediment remaining in the thalweg were deposited as a ‘sandy’lobe (Neofan). As indicated by ¹⁴C dating, sedimentation on this lobe continued until very recently, suggesting a further evolution of the turbidity flows from small mixed flows to small sandy flows. the deposition of this study lobe and the sedimentary fill of the Petit-Rhône Fan Valley may be related to widespread shelf edge and canyon wall failures with a resulting downslope evolution of failed sediment into turbidity currents.     

Stratigraphic development during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene offshore of the Yellow River delta, Bohai Sea

A 61-m-long sediment core (HB-1) and 690 km of high-resolution seismic profiles from offshore of the Yellow River delta, Bohai Sea, were analyzed to document the stratigraphy and sea-level changes during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. Accelerator mass spectrometry ¹⁴C dating and analyses of benthic foraminifera, ostracods, the mineral composition, and sedimentary characteristics were performed for core HB-1, and seven depositional units (DU 1–DU 7 in descending order) were identified. The seismic reflection data were interpreted in light of the sedimentological data of the core and correlated with other well-studied cores obtained previously in the Bohai Sea area. Seven seismic units (SU 1 to SU 7 in descending order) were distinguished and interpreted as follows: SU 7 corresponds to marine facies in Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 5; SU 6, to terrestrial facies in MIS 4; SU 5 and SU 4, to alternating terrestrial and marine facies (DU 7–DU 5) in MIS 3; SU 3, to terrestrial facies (DU 4) in MIS 2; SU 2, to Holocene marine facies (DU 3 and DU 2); and SU 1, to modern Yellow River delta sediments deposited since 1855 (DU 1).The sedimentary facies from DU 7 to DU 5 reflect sea-level fluctuations during MIS 3, and the boundary between DU 5 and DU 6, which coincides with that between SU 4 and SU 5, is a distinctive, laterally continuous, undulating erosion surface, with up to 20 m of relief. This surface reflects subaerial exposure between transgressions during MIS 3. Estimated sea levels during MIS 3 ranged from −35 ± 5 to −60 ± 5 m or lower, with short-term fluctuations of 20 m. Sedimentary environments in the Bohai Sea area were governed mainly by eustatic sea-level changes and the Bohai Strait topography, which controls the entry of sea water into the Bohai Sea area.The mineral composition of the sediment core suggests that the Yellow River did not discharge into the Bohai Sea, or at least did not influence the study area significantly, during parts of MIS 3 and MIS 2 to the early Holocene (11–8.5 cal kyr BP).     

Late Pleistocene and Holocene palaeogeography of the Lower Tagus Valley (Portugal): effects of relative sea level, valley morphology and sediment supply

Because of the deep glacial incision, the Lower Tagus Valley hosts a sedimentary record since 20 000 cal BP, making this a unique site along the European Atlantic margin with respect to palaeogeographic and sea level changes. Based on nine cross-sections and 55 radiocarbon dates together with a newly created relative sea level curve, we constructed five palaeogeographic maps of the infill of the Lower Tagus Valley since 20 000 cal BP. We illustrate that relative sea level rise and fluvial sediment supply were the prime forcing factors determining the depositional history and palaeogeographic changes. Around 20 000 cal BP a deeply incised braided river existed, which was directly connected to the ocean across the narrow continental shelf. After that (12 000 cal BP) the gradually moister and warmer climate caused a change to a single-channel river. During the following period (12 000–7000 cal BP) relative sea level rise resulted in a transgression in the Lower Tagus Valley and the establishment of extensive tidal environments. After relative sea level rise had ended (7000 cal BP) the valley was progressively filled by a fluvial wedge and tidally influenced bayhead delta. Since 1000 cal BP the valley-fill history was dominated by increased sediment input due to human-induced degradation of catchment slopes. Generally, climate was of subordinate importance during the entire studied period, merely causing a single-channel river resulting from the change from the cold Heinrich event 1 to the temperate Bölling–Allerød interstadial. Despite the tectonic activity in the region, neotectonic uplift or subsidence was limited, as supported by the horizontal relative sea level curve since 7000 cal BP. Neotectonics played a minor role due to the large distance from the Fennoscandian ice sheet and the narrow continental shelf, which prohibited strong glacio- and hydro-isostatic movements.     

Probing fault zone heterogeneity on the Nojima fault: Constraints from zircon fission-track analysis of borehole samples

Fission-track (FT) thermochronologic analysis was performed on zircon separates from rocks in and around the Nojima fault, which was activated during the 1995 Kobe earthquake. Samples were collected from the University Group 500 m (UG-500) borehole and nearby outcrops. FT lengths in zircons from localities > 25 m away from the fault plane as well as one 0.1 m away from the fault in the footwall are characterized by concordant mean values of  10–11 μm and unimodal distributions with negative skewness, which showed no signs of appreciable reduction in FT length. In contrast, those adjacent (< 3 m) to the fault at depths on the hanging wall side showed significantly reduced mean track lengths of  6–8 μm and distributions having a peak around 6–7 μm with rather positive skewness. The former pattern is interpreted to reflect cooling through the zircon partial annealing zone (ZPAZ), without later, partial thermal overprints. The latter indicates substantial track shortening due probably to secondary heating by a thermal event(s) that locally perturbed the geothermal structure. Modeled zircon FT length and age data of partially annealed samples from the UG-500 borehole revealed a cooling episode in the ZPAZ that started at  4 Ma within  3 m from the fault plane, whereas those from the Geological Survey of Japan 750 m borehole record cooling started at  31–38 Ma within  25 m from the fault. On the basis of one-dimensional heat conduction modeling as well as the consistency between the degree of FT annealing and the degree of deformation/alteration of borehole rocks, these cooling ages in both boreholes are interpreted as consequences of ancient thermal overprints by heat transfer or dispersion via fluids in the fault zone. Together with the zircon FT data of a pseudotachylyte layer recently analyzed, it is suggested that the present Nojima fault system was reactivated in the Middle Quaternary from an ancient fault initiated at  56 Ma at mid-crustal depths. Also shown is a temporal/spatial variation in terms of the thermal anomalies recorded in the fault rocks, implying heterogeneity of hot fluid flows in the fault zone.     

Chronology and the upper dating limit for loess samples from Luochuan section in the Chinese Loess Plateau using quartz OSL SAR protocol

Luminescence dating of loess older than 100 ka has long been a challenge. It has been recently reported that, using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) of fine-grained quartz (4–11 μm) extracted from loess, the range of luminescence dating could be pushed to 0.6 Ma with OSL ages being in agreement with independent ages [Watanuki, T., Murray, A.S., Tsukamoto, S., 2005. Quartz and polymineral luminescence dating of Japanese loess over the last 0.6 Ma: comparison with an independent chronology. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 240, 774–789]. The aim of this study is to provide a luminescence chronology (20 samples) for the standard Luochuan loess section, and to further examine the upper limit of quartz OSL dating for Chinese loess. The growth curve does not saturate at 700 Gy, and should allow reliable equivalent dose (D_e) determination up to at least 400 Gy. However, when compared with independent chronological control, the D_e that could be treated as reliable is less than 230 Gy (corresponding to 70 ka in age for Chinese loess), and the D_e larger than 230 Gy should be underestimated. Ages for samples from the lower part of palaeosol S1 are severely underestimated, with the maximum age of 95 ka for a sample from the bottom of this palaeosol, much younger than the expected age of 128 ka. The maximum D_e obtained for sample L9/M, collected from loess layer L9 which is below the Matuyama–Brunhes (B/M) boundary whose age is 780 ka, is only 403 Gy which corresponds to an age of 107 ka. The cause of underestimation is not yet clear. The previous results by Watunuki et al. (2005) on the extension of OSL dating of loess to 0.6 Ma is not confirmed. When evaluating the validity of OSL ages in S1, another possibility is to question the already established chronological frame for Luochuan section, which is based on the hypothesis of continuous dust deposition. The assumption of an erosion hiatus between L2 and S1 could make the OSL ages look reasonable. However, if this is the case, then it is difficult to explain why the age of sample L9/M is only 107 ka which could be treated as a saturation age, while the OSL can provide a correct age for loess as old as 94.9 ka for sample LC22 collected from the bottom of S1. Much work is required to clarify these confusions.     

Kinematics and Ar/Ar geochronology of the Gaoligong and Chongshan shear systems, western Yunnan, China: Implications for early Oligocene tectonic extrusion of SE Asia

The Gaoligong and Chongshan shear systems (GLSS and CSSS) in western Yunnan, China, have similar tectonic significance to the Ailaoshan–Red River shear system (ASRRSS) during the Cenozoic tectonic development of the southeastern Tibetan syntaxis. To better understand their kinematics and the Cenozoic tectonic evolution of SE Asia, this paper presents new kinematic and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronological data for these shear systems. All the structural and microstructural evidence indicate that the GLSS is a dextral strike-slip shear system while the CSSS is a sinistral strike-slip shear system, and both were developed under amphibolite- to greenschist-grade conditions. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of synkinematic minerals revealed that the strike-slip shearing on the GLSS and CSSS at least began at  32 Ma, possibly coeval with the onset of other major shear systems in SE Asia. The late-stage shearing on the GLSS and CSSS is dated at  27–29 Ma by the biotite ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages, consistent with that of the Wang Chao shear zone (WCSZ), but  10 Ma earlier than that of the ASRRSS. The dextral Gaoligong shear zone within the GLSS may have separated the India plate from the Indochina Block during early Oligocene. Combined with other data in western Yunnan, we propose that the Baoshan/Southern Indochina Block escaped faster southeastward along the CSSS to the east and the GLSS to the west than the Northern Indochina Block along the ASRRSS, accompanying with the obliquely northward motion of the India plate during early Oligocene (28–36 Ma). During 28–17 Ma, the Northern Indochina Block was rotationally extruded along the ASRRSS relative to the South China Block as a result of continuously impinging of the India plate.     

Outcrop-scale acoustic facies analysis and latest Quaternary development of Hueneme and Dume submarine fans, offshore California

The uppermost Quaternary deposits of the Hueneme and Dume submarine fans in the Santa Monica Basin have been investigated using a closed-spaced grid of boomer seismic-reflection profiles, which give vertical resolution of a few tens of centimetres with acoustic penetration to 50 m. Acoustic facies integrated with geometry define six architectural elements, some with discrete subelements that are of a scale that can be recognized in outcrops of ancient turbidite systems. In the Santa Monica Basin, the relationship of these elements to fan morphology, stratigraphy and sediment source is precisely known.
The width of upper Hueneme fan valley has been reduced from 5 km since the last glacial maximum to 1 km at present by construction of laterally confined sandy levees within the main valley. The middle fan comprises three main subelements: thick sand deposits at the termination of the fan valley, low-gradient sandy lobes typically 5 km long and < 10 m thick, and scoured lobes formed of alternating sand and mud beds with many erosional depressions. The site of thickest lobe sediment accumulation shifts through time, with each sand bed deposited in a previous bathymetric low (i.e. compensation cycles). The lower fan and basin plain consists of sheet-like alternations of sand and mud with shallow channels and lenses.
Variations in the rate of late Quaternary sea level rise initiated changes in sediment facies distribution. At lowstand, and during the approximately 11 ka stillstand in sea level, the Hueneme Fan was fed largely by hyperpycnal flow from the Santa Clara River delta, depositing high sediment waves on the right hand levee and thick sandy lobes on the middle fan. At highstand of sea level, most turbidity currents were generated by failure of silty prodelta muds. In contrast, the smaller Dume Fan was apparently always fed from littoral drift of sand through a single-canyon point source.     

Age constraints on the formation and emplacement of Neoproterozoic ophiolites along the Allaqi–Heiani Suture, South Eastern Desert of Egypt

Ophiolites are key components of the Neoproterozoic Arabian–Nubian Shield (ANS). Understanding when they formed and were emplaced is crucial for understanding the evolution of the ANS because their ages tell when seafloor spreading and terrane accretion occurred. The Yanbu–Onib–Sol Hamed–Gerf–Allaqi–Heiani (YOSHGAH) suture and ophiolite belt can be traced  600 km across the Nubian and Arabian shields. We report five new SHRIMP U–Pb zircon ages from igneous rocks along the Allaqi segment of the YOSHGAH suture in southernmost Egypt and use these data in conjunction with other age constraints to evaluate YOSHGAH suture evolution. Ophiolitic layered gabbro gave a concordia age of 730 ± 6 Ma, and a metadacite from overlying arc-type metavolcanic rocks yielded a weighted mean ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age of 733 ± 7 Ma, indicating ophiolite formation at  730 Ma. Ophiolite emplacement is also constrained by intrusive bodies: a gabbro yielded a concordia age of 697 ± 5 Ma, and a quartz-diorite yielded a concordia age of 709 ± 4 Ma. Cessation of deformation is constrained by syn- to post-tectonic granite with a concordia age of 629 ± 5 Ma. These new data, combined with published zircon ages for ophiolites and stitching plutons from the YOSHGAH suture zone, suggest a 2-stage evolution for the YOSHGAH ophiolite belt ( 810–780 Ma and  730–750 Ma) and indicate that accretion between the Gabgaba–Gebeit–Hijaz terranes to the south and the SE Desert–Midyan terranes to the north occurred as early as 730 Ma and no later than 709 ± 4 Ma.     

Age constraints on Pleistocene megafauna at Tight Entrance Cave in southwestern Australia

A well-stratified succession of fossiliferous sediments occurs in Tight Entrance Cave, southwestern Australia. These infill deposits contain the remains of megafauna and have accumulated intermittently since the Middle Pleistocene: >137, 137–119 and 50–29 ka, according to the results of ¹⁴C, U–Th, ESR and OSL dating techniques. Megafaunal species richness was highest in the latest part of the penultimate glacial maximum and during the subsequent last interglacial (137–119 ka), but remains are less abundant following an apparent 70 ka depositional hiatus in the sequence. Most megafaunal specimens from the upper (<44 ka) units are fragmentary, and reworking from older strata cannot yet be ruled out. However, one specimen of Simosthenurus occidentalis (a large extinct kangaroo), a pair of articulated dentaries showing no signs of secondary transportation, was found within a sedimentary layer deposited between 48 and 50 ka. This represents one of the youngest demonstrably in situ occurrences of an Australian megafaunal taxon.     

Evolution of Ganges–Brahmaputra western delta plain: Clues from sedimentology and carbon isotopes

Sedimentology, carbon isotope and sequence stratigraphic analysis of subsurface sediments from western part of Ganges–Brahmaputra (GB) delta plain shows that a Late Quaternary marine clay and fluvial channel-overbank sediments of MIS 5 and 3 highstands are traceable below the Holocene strata. During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) sea-level lowering of >100 m produced a regional unconformity (type 1), represented by palaeosols and incised valley. C4 vegetation expanded on exposed lowstand surface in an ambient dry glacial climate. At 9 ka transgression inundated the lowstand surface pushing the coastline and mangrove front 100 km inland. Simultaneous intensification of monsoon and very high sediment discharge (4–8 times than modern) caused a rapid aggradation of both floodplain and estuarine valley fill deposits between 8 and 7 ka. The Hoogli River remaining along its present drainage possibly acted as the main conduit for transgression and sediment discharge that was subsequently abandoned. C3 vegetation dominated the delta plain during this time. From 7 ka onward progradation of delta plain started and continued till recent. This period experienced a mixed C3–C4 vegetation with localized mangroves in the mid-Holocene to dominant return of C4 vegetation in the late Holocene period. The study indicates that while the initiation of western part of GB delta occurred at least 1 ka earlier than the global mean delta formation age, the progradation started at 7 ka, at least 2 ka earlier than thought before. The terrestrial vegetation change was modulated by changes in depositional environment, specific ecological niches and climate rather than pCO₂.     

SHRIMP zircon dating and Sm/Nd isotopic investigations of Neoproterozoic granitoids, Eastern Desert, Egypt

There is an increasing evidence for the involvement of pre-Neoproterozoic zircons in the Arabian–Nubian Shield, a Neoproterozoic crustal tract that is generally regarded to be juvenile. The source and significance of these xenocrystic zircons are not clear. In an effort to better understand this problem, older and younger granitoids from the Egyptian basement complex were analyzed for chemical composition, SHRIMP U–Pb zircon ages, and Sm–Nd isotopic compositions. Geochemically, the older granitoids are metaluminous and exhibit characteristics of I-type granites and most likely formed in a convergent margin (arc) tectonic environment. On the other hand, the younger granites are peraluminous and exhibit the characteristics of A-type granites; these are post-collisional granites. The U–Pb SHRIMP dating of zircons revealed the ages of magmatic crystallization as well as the presence of slightly older, presumably inherited zircon grains. The age determined for the older granodiorite is 652.5 ± 2.6 Ma, whereas the younger granitoids are 595–605 Ma. Xenocrystic zircons are found in most of the younger granitoid samples; the xenocrystic grains are all Neoproterozoic, but fall into three age ranges that correspond to the ages of other Eastern Desert igneous rocks, viz. 710–690, 675–650 and 635–610 Ma. The analyzed granitoids have (+3.8 to +6.5) and crystallization ages, which confirm previous indications that the Arabian–Nubian Shield is juvenile Neoproterozoic crust. These results nevertheless indicate that older Neoproterozoic crust contributed to the formation of especially the younger granite magmas.     

Holocene climate variability and cultural evolution in the Near East from the Dead Sea sedimentary record

A comprehensive record of lake level changes in the Dead Sea has been reconstructed using multiple, well dated sediment cores recovered from the Dead Sea shore. Interpreting the lake level changes as monitors of precipitation in the Dead Sea drainage area and the regional eastern Mediterranean palaeoclimate, we document the presence of two major wet phases ( 10–8.6 and  5.6–3.5 cal kyr BP) and multiple abrupt arid events during the Holocene. The arid events in the Holocene Dead Sea appear to coincide with major breaks in the Near East cultural evolution (at  8.6, 8.2, 4.2, 3.5 cal kyr BP). Wetter periods are marked by the enlargement of smaller settlements and growth of farming communities in desert regions, suggesting a parallelism between climate and Near East cultural development.     

Paleomagnetic constraints on the paleogeography and oroclinal bending of the Devonian volcanic arc in Kazakhstan

Numerical modelling, incorporating coupling between surface processes and induced flow in the lower continental crust, is used to address the Quaternary evolution of the Gulf of Corinth region in central Greece. The post-Early Pleistocene marine depocentre beneath this Gulf overlies the northern margin of an older (Early Pleistocene and earlier) lacustrine basin, the Proto Gulf of Corinth Basin or PGCB. In the late Early Pleistocene, relief in this region was minimal but, subsequently, dramatic relief has developed, involving the creation of  900 m of bathymetry within the Gulf and the uplift by many hundreds of metres of the part of the PGCB, south of the modern Gulf, which forms the Gulf's main sediment supply. It is assumed that, as a result of climate change around 0.9 Ma, erosion of this sediment source region and re-deposition of this material within the Gulf began, both processes occurring at spatial average rates of  0.2 mm a^− 1. Modelling of the resulting isostatic response indicates that the local effective viscosity of the lower crust is  4 × 10¹⁹ Pa s, indicating a Moho temperature of  560 °C. It predicts that the  10 mm a^− 1 of extension across this  70 km wide model region, at an extensional strain rate of  0.15 Ma^− 1, is partitioned with  3 mm a^− 1 across the sediment source,  2 mm a^− 1 across the depocentre, and  5 mm a^− 1 across the ‘hinge zone’ in between, the latter value being an estimate of the extension rate on normal faults forming the major topographic escarpment at the southern margin of the Gulf. This modelling confirms the view, suggested previously, that coupling between this depocentre and sediment source by lower-crustal flow can explain the dramatic development in local relief since the late Early Pleistocene. The effective viscosity of the lower crust in this region is not particularly low; the strong coupling interpreted between the sediment source and depocentre results instead from their close proximity. In detail, the effective viscosity of the lower crust is expected to decrease northward across this model region, due to the northward increase in exposure of the base of the continental lithosphere to the asthenosphere; in the south the two are separated by the subducting Hellenic slab. The isostatic consequences of such a lateral variation in viscosity provide a natural explanation for why, since  0.9 Ma, the modern Gulf has developed asymmetrically over the northern part of the PGCB, leaving the rest of the PGCB to act as its sediment source.     

Temporal and spatial variations in water discharge and sediment load in the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi Rivers in Himalaya, India

The Alaknanda and Bhagirathi Rivers originate in the mountainous regions of the Himalayas (Garhwal) and result in high sediment yields causing flood hazards downstream of the Ganga River and high sediment flux to the Bay of Bengal. The rivers are perennial, since runoff in these rivers is controlled by both precipitation and glacial melt. In the present study, three locations in the upper reaches of the Ganga River were monitored for 1 yr (daily observations of, more than >1000 samples) for suspended sediment concentrations. In addition, more than one hundred samples were collected from various locations of the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi Rivers at different periods to observe spatial and temporal variations in river suspensions. Further, multi-annual data (up to 40 yrs) of water flow and sediment concentrations were used for inferring the variations in water flow and sediment loads on longer time scales. In most previous studies of Himalayan Rivers, there has been a general lack of long term water flow and sediment load data. In the present study, we carried out high frequency sampling, considered long term discharge data and based on these information, discussed the temporal and spatial variations in water discharge and sediment loads in the rivers in the Himalayan region. The results show that, >75% of annual sediment loads are transported during the monsoon season (June through September). The annual physical weathering rates in the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi River basins at Devprayag are estimated to be 863 tons km⁻² yr⁻¹ (3.25 mm yr⁻¹) and 907 tons km⁻² yr⁻¹ (3.42 mm yr⁻¹) respectively, which are far in excess of the global average of 156 tons km⁻² yr⁻¹ (0.58 mm yr⁻¹).     

South Equatorial Current (SEC) driven changes at DSDP Site 237, Central Indian Ocean, during the Plio-Pleistocene: Evidence from Benthic Foraminifera and Stable Isotopes

This study attempts to analyse paleoceanographic changes in the Central Indian Ocean (Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 237), linked to monsoon variability as well as deep-sea circulation during the Plio-Pleistocene. We used factor and cluster analyses of census data of the 34 most dominant species of benthic foraminifera that enabled us to identify five biofacies: Astrononion umbilicatulum–Uvigerina proboscidea (Au–Up), Pullenia bulloides–Bulimina striata (Pb–Bs), Globocassidulina tumida–Nuttallides umbonifera (Gt–Nu), Gyroidinoides nitidula–Cibicides wuellerstorfi (Gn–Cw) and Cassidulina carinata–Cassidulina laevigata (Cc–Cl) biofacies. Knowledge of the environmental preferences of modern deep-sea benthic foraminifera helped to interpret the results of factor and cluster analyses in combination with oxygen and carbon isotope values. The biofacies indicative of high surface productivity, resulting from a stronger South Equatorial Current (Au–Up and Pb–Bs biofacies), dominate the early Pliocene interval (5.6–4.5 Ma) of global warmth. An intense Indo-Pacific ‘biogenic bloom’ and strong Oxygen Minimum Zone extended to intermediate depths (1000–2000 m) over large parts of the Indian Ocean in the early Pliocene. Since 4.5 Ma, the food supply in the Central Indian Ocean dropped and fluctuated while deep waters were corrosive (biofacies Gt–Nu, Gn–Cw). The Pleistocene interval is characterized by an intermediate flux of organic matter (Cc–Cl biofacies).     

Pliocene lahar deposits in the Coastal Cordillera of central Chile: Implications for uplift, avalanche deposits, and porphyry copper systems in the Main Andean Cordillera

Lahar deposits occur within a shallow marine sedimentary succession of the Pliocene La Cueva Formation in the Coastal Cordillera of central Chile (33°40′–34°15′S). Provenance studies of the abundant volcanic material in the lahar deposits suggest that they derive from denudation by mass wasting of Oligocene–Miocene volcanic rocks on the western slopes of the Main Andean Cordillera at the same latitude. Pliocene rock debris deposits preserved in the region of El Teniente (34°S) and scattered along the westernmost part of the Andes of central Chile indicate catastrophic erosive events related to the rapid uplift of the cordilleran block. This rock debris was deposited by avalanches and transformed further downslope into lahars by dilution with stream water. Lahars were channeled along the ancient drainage system that reached a shallow Pliocene sea at the site of the present Coastal Cordillera. The exceedingly rapid exhumation of active porphyry systems during the Early Pliocene in this part of the Andes may have played a role in affecting hydrothermal processes, brecciation, and diatreme formation at the porphyry systems of El Teniente and Río Blanco–Los Bronces.     

Constraints from Moho geometry and crustal thickness on the geodynamic origin of the Vrancea Seismogenic Zone (Romania)

Reprocessing of industry deep seismic reflection data (Ramnicu Sarat and Braila profiles) from the SE Carpathian foreland of Romania provides important new constraints on geodynamic models for the origin of the intermediate depth Vrancea Seismogenic Zone (VSZ). Mantle (70–200 km) earthquakes of the VSZ are characterized by high magnitudes (greater than 6.5), frequent occurrence rates (approximately 25 years), and confinement in a very narrow (30 × 70 × 200 km³) near vertical zone atypical for a Wadati–Benioff plane, located in front of the orogen. These two deep (20 s) seismic reflection profiles (70 km length across the foreland) reveal (1) a high-amplitude, gently east-dipping reflection across most of the section from what we interpret to be the Moho at  15 s (40–42 km) on the Ramnicu Sarat line to  16 s (47–48 km) on the Braila line, (2) a thick sedimentary cover increasing in thickness from east (1 s;  800 m) to west (7.5 s; 14 km), (3) an eastward increase in crustal thickness from 38 km (near VSZ) to  45 km, (4) seismic and topographic evidence for a newly imaged, possibly seismically active basement fault with a surface offset of 30 m observed on the Ramnicu Sarat line, (5) a lack of notable west-dipping structures in the crust and across the Moho, and (6) variable displacements on Peceneaga–Camena Fault of  5 km at Moho and  200 m at the basement–sedimentary cover contact.These observations appear to argue against recent models for west-dipping subduction of oceanic lithosphere at or in the vicinity of the Vrancea Seismogenic Zone given the lack of west-dipping fabrics in the lower crust and across the crust–mantle boundary. Consequently, one possible explanation for the geodynamic origin of VSZ could be partial delamination of the continental lithosphere in an intra-plate setting along a sub-horizontal lithospheric interface in the Carpathian hinterland that likely involves remnant lithospheric coupling between the crust and uppermost mantle in the foreland.     

Insights into Wasatch fault vertical slip rates using the age of sediments in Timpanogos Cave, Utah

Timpanogos Cave, located near the Wasatch fault, is about 357 m above the American Fork River. Fluvial cave sediments and an interbedded carbonate flowstone yield a paleomagnetic and U–Th depositional age of 350 to 780 ka. Fault vertical slip rates, inferred from calculated river downcutting rates, range between 1.02 and 0.46 mm yr^− 1. These slip rates are in the range of the 0–12 Ma Wasatch Range exhumation rate ( 0.5–0.7 mm yr^− 1), suggesting that the long-term vertical slip rate remained stable through mid-Pleistocene time. However, the late Pleistocene (0–250 ka) decelerated slip rate ( 0.2–0.3 mm yr^− 1) and the accelerated Holocene slip rate ( 1.2 mm yr^− 1) are consistent with episodic fault activity. Assuming that the late Pleistocene vertical slip rate represents an episodic slowing of fault movement and the long-term (0–12 Ma) average vertical slip rate, including the late Pleistocene and Holocene, should be  0.6 mm yr^− 1, there is a net late Pleistocene vertical slip deficit of  50–75 m. The Holocene and late Pleistocene slip rates may be typical for episodes of accelerated and slowed fault movement, respectively. The calculated late Pleistocene slip deficit may mean that the current accelerated Wasatch fault slip rate will extend well into the future.