A millennial-scale record of Holocene tsunamis on the Kronotskiy Bay coast, Kamchatka, Russia

Deposits from as many as 50 large tsunamis during the last 7000 years are preserved on the Pacific coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula near the mouth of the Zhupanova River, southern Kronotskiy Bay. These deposits are dated and correlated using Holocene marker tephra layers. The combined, preserved record of tsunami deposits and of numerous marker tephras on Kamchatka offers an unprecedented opportunity to study tsunami frequency. For example, from the stratigraphy along southern Kronotskiy Bay, we estimate frequency of large tsunamis (>5 m runup). In the last 3000 years, the minimum frequency is about one large tsunami per 100 years, and the maximum about one large tsunami per 30 years; the latter frequency occurred from about 0 to 1000 A.D. This time interval corresponds to a period of increased seismicity and volcanic activity that appears to be recorded in many places on the Kamchatka Peninsula.     

全新世长江泥沙堆积的时空分布及通量估算

利用长江中下游、河口及口外、浙-闽沿岸陆架6个主要沉积盆地的40个晚第四纪钻孔及其年代学数据和长江口外、陆架的浅地层剖面,计算了全新世不同阶段各沉积盆地的沉积速率,并进行了近7 000年来泥沙堆积通量的估算。研究发现全新世早期距今10 000年至8 000年间长江口下切古河谷是长江泥沙的主要堆积中心,沉积速率可高达15m/ka。随着海平面上升,全新世中期长江中下游也成为长江泥沙的重要沉积盆地,其中江汉盆地的沉积速率可达10m/ka。近2 000年来,口外、陆架的堆积呈明显增加趋势,反映长江中下游盆地和河口可容空间日益减小。根据沉积速率估算,距今7 000年来长江中下游堆积泥沙约13 074×108 t,同期水下三角洲和陆架的泥沙堆积量约为9 470×108 t。研究还发现全新世以来有两个异常低沉积速率时期：距今8000-7 000年期间上述各沉积盆地沉积速率均显著低,未见长江泥沙的沉积中心; 距今4 000-2 000 年期间长江口呈现低沉积速率。 这两次异常的原因推测与海平面、气候波动事件密切相关。     

渤海湾西岸现代岸线钻孔记录的全新世沉积环境与相对海面变化

以渤海湾西岸现代岸线附近的NP3、CH110和BT113三个钻孔全新世岩心为研究对象,采用沉积岩石学、AMS ¹⁴C(accelerator mass spectrometry ¹⁴C,加速器质谱¹⁴C)测年、微体生物聚类分析等方法精细判别沉积相,重建渤海湾西岸全新世沉积演化历史,并利用微体生物组合分带对水深变化的指示,定量讨论全新世相对海面变化。结果表明:渤海湾西岸全新世受海陆交互作用影响,经历了沼泽-潮滩-浅海-前三角洲-三角洲前缘-三角洲平原环境的演化过程。全新世初始阶段,研究区中部和北部发育沼泽环境,南部未见沉积,与上更新统河流相沉积呈不整合接触。全新世早期,研究区潮滩环境发育。潮滩层厚度约1 m,历时数百至1千余年。至7000 cal BP前后水深增大,研究区进入浅海环境。约6000 cal BP,沿岸南北两端先后进入三角洲过渡环境,中部三角洲环境约开始于1500 cal BP。渤海湾西岸地区全新世的环境演化同时记录了该地区的相对海面变化:约10000 cal BP前后,渤海湾相对海平面已接近21.3~20.4 m。约8000 cal BP,相对海平面介于18.6~17.0 m。约6000 cal BP时相对海平面低于6.8 m,5000~1000 cal BP,相对海平面高于-2.5 m,1000~800 cal BP,相对海平面介于-1.3~-0.4 m。8000~5000 cal BP时,相对海面上升约15.0 m,上升速率达5 m/1 ka。     

Sea Level Changes in the Last Several Thousand Years, Penghu Islands, Taiwan Strait

Holocene shore-face and beach-face deposits form plains <5 m above present sea level along Taiwan Strait. We measured the¹⁴C ages of detrital mollusk shells and coral in such deposits at the Penghu Islands. Twelve carbonate samples—mainly from the largest island, Makung—were dated. Age measurements for two coral samples and one mollusk sample from the same outcrop imply that the¹⁴C ages of mollusk shells give the best approximation of depositional age. The highest Holocene relative sea level in the Penghu Islands occurred about 4700 years ago with a height about 2.4 m above the present sea level. Thereafter, relative sea level appreciably fell without detectable fluctuations to its recent position. Our sea level data are consistent with other studies from the central and western Pacific, except for the timing of peak sea level position. This variation may reflect local crustal response to hydroisostatic effects on the continental shelf.     

Surface ruptures induced by the devastating 1068 AD earthquake in the southern Arava valley, Dead Sea Rift, Israel

The Elat fault (a segment of the Dead Sea Transform) runs along the southern Arava valley (part of the Dead Sea Rift, Israel) forming a complex fault zone that displays a time-dependent seismic behaviour. Paleoseismic evidence shows that this fault zone has generated at least 15 earthquakes of magnitude larger than M 6 during the late Pleistocene and the Holocene. However, at present the Elat fault is one of the quietest segments of the Dead Sea Transform, lacking even microsesimicity. The last event detected in the southern Arava valley occurred in the Avrona playa and was strong enough to have deformed the playa and to change it from a closed basin with internal drainage into an open basin draining to the south.Paleoseismological, geophysical and archaeological evidences indicate that this event was the historical devastating earthquake, which occurred in 1068 AD in the eastern Mediterranean region. According to the present study this event was strong enough to rupture the surface, reactivate at least two fault branches of the Elat fault and vertically displace the surface and an early Islamic irrigation system by at least 1 m. In addition, the playa area was uplifted between 2.5 and 3 m along the eastern part of the Elat fault shear zone. Such values are compatible with an earthquake magnitude ranging between M 6.6 and 7. Since the average recurrence interval of strong earthquakes during the Holocene along the Elat fault is about 1.2 ± 0.3 ky and the last earthquake occurred more about 1000 years ago, the possibility of a very strong earthquake in this area in the future should be seriously considered in assessing seismic hazards.     

天津市西青区辛口镇郑庄子C6(C7)钻孔3.5 Ma以来的地层年代及沉积环境演化

对位于天津市西青区的C6(C7)钻孔进行了磁性地层学、14C测年、沉积旋回、孢粉地层学和有孔虫、介形类研究,研究结果表明:①第三系与第四系界限(N/Q)埋深323.90 m,早更新世与中更新世界限(Qp1/Qp2)埋深98.0 m,中更新世与晚更新世界限(Qp2/Qp3)埋深61.59 m,更新世与全新世界限(Qp/Q...     

Palaeoceanographic change in the northeastern South China Sea during the last 15000 years

The sedimentary succession of piston core RC26-16, dated by ¹⁴C accelerator mass spectrometry, provides a nearly continuous palaeoceanographic record of the northeastern South China Sea for the last 15000 yr. Planktic foraminiferal assemblages indicate that winter sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) rose from 18°C to about 24°C from the last glacial to the Holocene. A short-lived cooling of 1°C in winter temperature centred at about 11000 ¹⁴C yr ago may reflect the Younger Dryas cooling event in this area. Summer SSTs have remained between 27°C and 29°C throughout the record. The temperature difference between summer and winter was about ca. 9°C during the last glacial, much higher than the Holocene value of ca. 5°C. During the late Holocene a short-lived cooling event occurred at about 4000 ¹⁴C yr ago. Oxygen and carbon isotopic gradients between surface (0–50 m) and subsurface (50–100 m) waters were smaller during the last glacial than those in the Holocene. The fluctuation in the isotopic gradients are caused most likely by changes in upwelling intensity. Smaller gradients indicate stronger upwelling during the glacial winter monsoon. The fauna-derived estimates of nutrient content of the surface waters indicate that the upwelling induced higher fertility and biological productivity during the glacial. The winter monsoon became weaker during the Holocene. The carbonate compensation depth and foraminiferal lysocline were shallower during the Holocene, except for a short-lived deepening at about 5000 ¹⁴C yr ago. A preservation peak of planktic foraminifera and calcium carbonate occurred between 13400 and 12000 ¹⁴C yr ago, synchronous to the global preservation event of Termination I.     

Relative sea‐level change and postglacial isostatic adjustment along the coast of south Devon,United Kingdom

Previous sea‐level studies suggest that southwest Britain has the fastest subsiding coastline in the United Kingdom, but tide‐gauge data, GPS and gravity measurements and geophysical models show little evidence of anomalous subsidence in this region. In this paper we present 15 new sea‐level index points from four coastal barrier systems in south Devon. Eight are from compaction‐free basal sediments and others were corrected for autocompaction. Our data suggest that relative sea level along the south Devon coastline has risen by 21 ± 4 m during the past 9000 years. Sea‐level rise slowed during the middle and late Holocene and a rise of 8 ± 1 m has occurred since ca. 7000 cal. yr BP. Anomalous ages for many rejected points are attributed to sediment reworking during barrier transgression. The relative sea‐level history during the early and middle Holocene shows a good fit with geophysical model predictions, but the geological and modelled data diverge in the later Holocene. Unlike the geophysical models, sea‐level index points cannot differentiate between late Holocene relative sea‐level histories of south Devon and southwest Cornwall. It is suggested that this discrepancy can be resolved by obtaining additional high‐quality sea‐level index points covering the past 4000 years. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reconstruction of Holocene lake level from diatoms, chrysophytes and organic matter in a drainage lake from the Experimental Lakes Area (northwestern Ontario, Canada)

A paleolimnological study of lake-level changes in Lake 239 (Rawson Lake), a headwater lake in the Experimental Lakes Area in northwestern Ontario, indicates large fluctuations have occurred over the Holocene. Analyses are based on diatoms, the proportion of chrysophyte scales to diatoms and organic matter content from near-shore sediment cores. Quantitative estimates of lake level are based on a diatom-inferred depth model that was developed from surficial sediments collected along several transects in Lake 239. Declines of ∼ 1-3 m occurred during the late Holocene, whereas declines of at least 8 m occurred during the more arid mid-Holocene. These results provide the first substantive evidence of large declines in lake level in northwestern Ontario during the mid-Holocene. Conditions during the mid-Holocene may provide a partial view of future conditions under increasing global temperatures.     

Late Quaternary sediments and stratigraphy on the continental shelf off Troms and west Finnmark, northern Norway

Lithologic, paleontologic, and chronostratigraphic investigation of 13 gravity cores indicates the following environmental evolution: a high- (mid-) arctic period with a slight influx of ice-rafted debris occurred during the early middle Weichselian followed by a mid- (high-) arctic environment with a high influx of iceberg-rafted debris during the remainder of the middle Weichselian. The continental ice sheet probably did not extend beyond the inner shelf during middle Weichselian and a minimum relative sea level was ca. −120 m. A low-arctic environment occurred during (parts of) the late Weichselian with an initial winnowing of the sediments. The Norwegian Current entered the area during this substage. A high- (mid-) boreal environment occurred during the Holocene with high winnowing activity in the early Holocene. Winnowing is still very active on the shallower banks in contrast to the deeper banks where it has ceased. Relatively high percentages of carbonate in the form of biogenic skeletal remains occur in the Holocene sediments.     

Holocene colluvial chronology in a sub‐arctic esker landscape at Kuttanen,Finnish Lapland: kettleholes as geo‐ecological archives of interactions amongst fire,vegetation, soil,climate and geomorphological instability

Excavations were made in the colluvial deposits of seven kettleholes in a sandy esker at Kuttanen, northwestern Finnish Lapland. The Holocene history of forest fires and the associated colluvial activity initiated on the slopes of the kettleholes were reconstructed based on 131 radiocarbon dates from charcoal layers. These dates were supplemented by luminescence dating of colluvial sand layers. The first forest fires occurred ～9000 years ago following the immigration of Pinus sylvestris about 1000 years after deglaciation. Evidence of forest fires and colluvial activity increased with the density of the pine forest, reaching a maximum during the Holocene Thermal Maximum between ～8000 and 4000 cal. a BP, declining thereafter to a minimum in the last ～500 years. This multimillennial‐scale pattern corresponds with forest fires being triggered by lightning strikes during the warmest summer weather of the Holocene, which also produced heavy rain and slope wash from convective storms. The 50 forest fires identified over the Holocene indicate a long cycle in fire frequency of 1 in ～200 years, which appears to reflect the average successional recovery time of the forest. Complex interactions amongst vegetation, fire and climate may account for little or no association between 23 centennial‐ to millennial‐scale clusters of forest fires/colluvial events and Holocene temperature or precipitation anomalies. Buried podzols indicate five phases of soil formation and hence low levels of landscape disturbance. The kettleholes and their colluvial deposits therefore provide a unique geo‐ecological archive that has led to new insights into the geo‐ecological interactions that affect environmental change in the sub‐arctic landscape.     

Architecture and evolution of a fjord‐head delta,western Vancouver Island,British Columbia

The architectural framework and Holocene evolution of the Zeballos fjord‐head delta on west‐central Vancouver Island was established through a multidisciplinary field‐based study. The Zeballos delta is a composite feature, consisting of an elevated, incised, late Pleistocene delta and an inset Holocene delta graded to present sea level. Both deltas have a classic Gilbert‐type tripartite architecture, with nearly flat topset and bottomset units and an inclined foreset unit. Time domain electromagnetic (TDEM) and ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) surveys, borehole data, and gravel pit exposures provided information on the internal form, lithologies and substrate of both deltas. Both sets of deltaic deposits coarsen upward from silt in the bottomset unit to gravel in the topset unit. The TDEM survey revealed a highly irregular, buried bedrock surface, ranging from 20 m to 190 m in depth, and it delineated saltwater intrusion into the deltaic sediments. Late Quaternary sea‐level change at Zeballos was inferred from delta morphology and the GPR survey. The elevated, late Pleistocene delta was constructed when the sea was about 21 m higher relative to the land than it is today. It was dissected when sea‐level fell rapidly as a result of glacio‐isostatic rebound. Relative sea‐level reached a position about 20 m below the present datum during the early Holocene. Foreset beds that overlap and progressively climb in a seaward direction and topset beds that thicken to 26 m landward imply that the delta aggraded and prograded into Zeballos Inlet during the middle and late Holocene transgression. Sea‐level may have risen above the present datum during the middle Holocene, creating a delta plain at about 4 m a.s.l. Remnants of this surface are preserved along the valley margins. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

近3000cal.aB.P.以来东海东北部环境异常及其与全新世ElNiño活动的可能联系

利用取自东海东北部、冲绳海槽西侧陆坡的重力柱状岩芯DOC082（29°13.93′N,128°08.53′E;水深1128m）,通过对碳酸钙、有机碳和蛋白石等生源组分含量的分析,结合浮游有孔虫、底栖有孔虫、放射虫和硅鞭藻等微体古生物化石丰度的变化以及底栖有孔虫属种组成特征,揭示了全新世东海东北部生物生产力的演变。研究结果显示,近10500cal.aB.P.以来生源组分含量和微体古生物化石丰度的演变趋势十分相似,明显分为3个阶段:约4000cal.aB.P.之前的早、中全新世明显偏低,大约在4000cal.aB.P.左右开始突然大幅度上升,而约3000cal.aB.P.以来的晚全新世以持续的高值为显著特征。生源组分含量、微体古生物化石丰度以及底栖有孔虫内生属种Uvigerina和Bulimina百分含量等指标的变化一致指示,东海东北部近10500cal.aB.P.以来古生产力演变的显著特征是早、中全新世明显偏低,约4000cal.aB.P.左右突然且大幅度上升,大约3000cal.aB.P.之后的晚全新世为生物生产力异常的高值期;同时有研究表明该区域的表层海水年平均温度（SST）也呈现了明显的三段式演变:早全新世10500～8400cal.aB.P.期间为持续的高值期、中全新世SST相对稳定、3100～500cal.aB.P.期间的晚全新世为显著的低SST时期[1]。近3000cal.aB.P.以来古生产力的异常高值和表层海水古温度的大幅度下降说明晚全新世区域海洋环境发生了明显的改变。据东海东北部现代生物生产力和表层海水温度的分布特征和控制机制、结合现代ElNio发生期间中国大陆气候和降水异常以及黑潮暖流变异的分析表明,近3000cal.aB.P.来东海东北部的环境异常可能是对晚全新世ElNio活动显著增强的反应。     

Climatic Implications of the Late Quaternary Alluvial Record of a Small Drainage Basin in the Central Great Plains

Four late-Quaternary alluvial fills and terraces are recognized in Wolf Creek basin, a small (163 km²) drainage in the Kansas River system of the central Great Plains. Two terraces were created during the late Pleistocene: the T-4 is a fill-top terrace underlain by sand and gravel fill (Fill I), and the T-3 is a strath terrace cut on the Cretaceous Dakota Sandstone. Both Fill II (early Holocene) and Fill III (late Holocene) are exposed beneath the T-2, a Holocene fill-top terrace. The T-1 complex, consisting of one cut and three fill-top terraces, is underlain by Fills III and IV. A poorly developed floodplain (T-0) has formed within the past 1000 yr. As valleys in Wolf Creek basin filled during the early Holocene, an interval of soil formation occurred about 6800 yr B.P. Early Holocene fill has been found only in the basin's upper reaches, indicating that extensive erosion during the middle Holocene removed most early-Holocene fill from the middle and lower reaches of the basin. Valley filling between 5000 and 1000 yr B.P. was interrupted by soil formation about 1800, 1500, and 1200 yr B.P. As much as 6 m of entrenchment has occurred in the past 1000 yr. Holocene events in Wolf Creek basin correlate well with those in other localities in the central Great Plains, indicating that widespread changes in climate, along with adjustments driven by complex response, influenced fluvial activity.     

The ‚loess’︁ section at Borden,Kent, SE England

A 5.3m profile originally described as loess with a buried interglacial soil is reinterpreted from petrographic evidence and thermoluminescence dating as a Holocene colluvial accretionary soil. Mineralogical analyses of coarse silt (16–63 μm) fractions suggest that most of the silty colluvium was derived from weathered Thanet Beds upslope, though some loess was incorporated during the final depositional phase. Thin sections show that clay illuviation occurred penecontem-poraneously with deposition of colluvium. Thermoluminescence properties suggest partial optical bleaching of the grains during rapid deposition, which is consistent with a Holocene colluvial origin.     

Holocene vegetation history of the Prince William Sound region, south-central Alaska

Vegetation history during the Holocene is interpreted from the pollen and sedimentary records of nine sections of peat deposits located in sedge tundra at sites in the northern and northwestern parts of the Prince William Sound region. Basal radiocarbon ages of the deposits are between 10,015 and 580 yr B.P. Modern surface pollen data from these and 25 additional sites, ranging from lowlands to an altitude of 675 m in the alpine tundra, were used to aid in the interpretation of the fossil records. Both frequency and influx pollen diagrams of the oldest section disclose a sequence of communities beginning with sedge tundra, containing thickets of willow and alder, followed by alder, which became predominant at about 8300 yr B.P. Later, alder declined, and an inferred growth of sedge tundra and the establishment of colonies of mountain hemlock and Sitka spruce with some western hemlock occurred about 2680 yr B.P. Finally, regrowth of sedge tundra accompanied by the development of forest communites took place over the past 2000 yr. The influence of glacier advances on the vegetation in the fjords occurred during Neoglacial episodes dated at 3200–2500 yr B.P. and during recent centuries. Regional Holocene tectonic activity was also an influential factor, especially at the time of the 1964 earthquake.     

Holocene climate inferred from glacier extent,lake sediment and tree rings at Goat Lake,Kenai Mountains,Alaska, USA

Lake sediment, glacier extent and tree rings were used to reconstruct Holocene climate changes from Goat Lake at 550 m asl in the Kenai Mountains, south‐central Alaska. Radiocarbon‐dated sediment cores taken at 55 m water depth show glacial‐lacustrine conditions until about 9500 cal. yr BP, followed by organic‐rich sedimentation with an overall increasing trend in organic matter and biogenic silica content leading up to the Little Ice Age (LIA). Through most of the Holocene, the northern outlet of the Harding Icefield remained below the drainage divide that currently separates it from Goat Lake. A sharp transition from gyttja to inorganic mud about AD 1660 signifies the reappearance of glacier meltwater into Goat Lake during the LIA, marking the maximum Holocene (postglacial) extent. Meltwater continued to discharge into the lake until about AD 1900. A 207 yr tree‐ring series from 25 mountain hemlocks growing in the Goat Lake watershed correlates with other regional tree‐ring series that indicate an average summer temperature reduction of about 1°C during the 19th century compared with the early–mid 20th century. Cirque glaciers around Goat Lake reached their maximum LIA extent in the late 19th century. Assuming that glacier equilibrium‐line altitudes (ELA) are controlled solely by summer temperature, then the cooling of 1°C combined with the local environmental lapse rate would indicate an ELA lowering of 170 m. In contrast, reconstructed ELAs of 12 cirque glaciers near Goat Lake average only 34 ± 18 m lower during the LIA. The restricted ELA lowering can be explained by a reduction in accumulation‐season precipitation caused by a weakening of the Aleutian low‐pressure system during the late LIA. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Middle Weichselian to Holocene palaeoecology in the eastern Kattegat, Scandinavia: foraminifera, ostracods and 14C measurements

Examination of a 10 m piston core from the eastern Kattegat revealed marine sediments spanning a period from the late Middle Weichselian to the Early Holocene. The oldest marine unit in the core is ¹⁴C-dated to about 30,000–36,000 years BP. These sediments represent the Middle Weichselian Sandnes/Denekamp-Hengelo Interstadial (upper part of stable isotope stage 3) and can be correlated to marine deposits from several localities in the Kattegat region by means of foraminifera. The Late Weichselian deposits comprise sediments from the Oldest Dryas Stadial and the Allerød Interstadial. The intervening periods are not represented in the sequence (hiatuses). Sediments from the latest part of the Early Holocene Preboreal period succeeding the Allerod sequence indicate a considerable hiatus spanning 2000–3000 years around the Weichselian/Holocene boundary. The late Preboreal faunas document a high freshwater inflow during this period, and stable conditions seem not to have been reached in the area until a few hundred years later, in the Boreal period. Comparison with boxcore material from the same site documents a reduction of the energy level of the bottom currents some time between c. 8000 and 800 years BP.     

An 8000-year record of vegetation, climate, and human disturbance from the Sierra de Apaneca, El Salvador

An ∼8000-cal-yr stratigraphic record of vegetation change from the Sierra de Apaneca, El Salvador, documents a mid-Holocene warm phase, followed by late Holocene cooling. Pollen evidence reveals that during the mid-Holocene (∼8000-5500 cal yr B.P.) lowland tropical plant taxa were growing at elevations ∼200-250 m higher than at present, suggesting conditions about 1.0°C warmer than those prevailing today. Cloud forest genera (Liquidambar, Juglans, Alnus, Ulmus) were also more abundant in the mid-Holocene, indicating greater cloud cover during the dry season. A gradual cooling and drying trend began by ∼5500 cal yr B.P., culminating in the modern forest composition by ∼3500 cal yr B.P. A rise in pollen from weedy plant taxa associated with agriculture occurred ∼5000 cal yr B.P., and pollen from Zea first appeared in the record at ∼4440 cal yr B.P. Human impacts on local vegetation remained high throughout the late Holocene, but decreased abruptly following the Tierra Blanca Joven (TBJ) eruption of Volcán Ilopango at ∼1520 cal yr B.P. The past 1500 years are marked by higher lake levels and periodic depositions of exogenous inorganic sediments, perhaps indicating increased climatic variability.