Erosional and depositional characteristics of regional overwash deposits caused by multiple hurricanes

Regional-scale washover deposits along the Florida Gulf and Atlantic coasts induced by multiple hurricanes in 2004 and 2005 were studied through coring, trenching, ground-penetrating radar imaging, aerial photography, and prestorm and poststorm beach-profile surveys. Erosional and depositional characteristics in different barrier-island sub-environments, including dune field, interior wetland and back-barrier bay were examined. Over the eroded dune fields, the washover deposits are characterized by an extensive horizontal basal erosional surface truncating the old dune deposits and horizontal to slightly landward-dipping stratification. Over the marshes in the barrier-island interior, the washover deposits are characterized by steep tabular bedding, with no erosion at the bottom. Overwash into the back-barrier bay produced the thickest deposits characterized by steep, prograding sigmoidal bedding. No significant erosional feature was observed at the bottom. Washover deposits within the dense interior mangrove swamp demonstrate both normal and reversed graded bedding. The washover deposits caused by hurricanes Frances (2004) and Jeanne (2004) along the southern Florida Atlantic coast barrier islands are substantially different from those along the northern Florida barrier islands caused by Ivan (2004) and Dennis (2005) in terms of regional extension, erosional features and sedimentary structures. These differences are controlled by different overall barrier-island morphology, vegetation type and density, and sediment properties. The homogeneity of sediment along the northern Florida coast makes distinguishing between washover deposits from Ivan and Dennis difficult. In contrast, along the Atlantic coast barrier islands, the two overwash events, as demonstrated by two phases of graded bedding of the bimodal sediments, are easily distinguishable.     

Lithological heterogeneity in a back-barrier sand island: Implications for modelling hydrogeological frameworks

Sediment mineralogy, quartz-grain surface-textures, grain-size analysis, bore-hole logging and ground penetrating radar are combined to develop a three dimensional stratigraphic model of a back-barrier sand island in southeast Queensland, Australia. The island consists of an unconsolidated sedimentary pile above an erosional bounding surface at the top of the underlying bedrock. The stratigraphy is complex, recording the shift in depositional environments from fluvio-deltaic to strandplain, via estuarine stages of evolution. The back-barrier island deposits are correlated with the stratigraphy of the adjacent coastal plain to the west and the barrier island to the east. Extrapolation of optically stimulated luminescence dates obtained from the barrier island combined with direct dating of the back-barrier island sediments is used to constrain the depositional age and chronology of the back-barrier island stratigraphy. The modern depositional environment evolved from a chenier plain into a barrier island system by the flooding of an interdune swale and development of a shore-parallel back-barrier tidal lagoon. The lithological heterogeneity of the back-barrier island succession was controlled by the presence of a bedrock incised palaeovalley and changes in relative sea-level.Sedimentary facies associations constrain the spatial distribution of hydraulic properties controlled by lithological heterogeneity. Post-depositional alteration horizons are integrated with the facies model to account for the effects of weathering and diagenesis on hydraulic behaviour. The derived hydrostratigraphy describes a vertically stacked, dual aquifer, island groundwater system consisting of a semi-confined palaeovalley aquifer overlain by an unconfined strand-plain aquifer.Hydrostratigraphic analysis based on sedimentary facies associations, integrated with post-depositional alteration characteristics reveals great complexity of groundwater systems within small island settings. The facies modelling approach employed in this study more accurately estimates the distribution of lithological heterogeneity and the associated variations in hydraulic properties in the sedimentary pile.     

Traces of historical tropical cyclones and tsunamis in the Ashburton Delta (north‐west Australia)

Although the north‐western coast of Western Australia is highly vulnerable to tropical cyclones and tsunamis, little is known about the geological imprint of historic and prehistoric extreme wave events in this particular area. Despite a number of site‐specific difficulties such as post‐depositional changes and the preservation potential of event deposits, both tropical cyclones and tsunamis may be inferred from the geomorphology and the stratigraphy of beach ridge sequences, washover fans and coastal lagoons or marshes. A further challenge is the differentiation between tsunami and storm deposits in the geological record, particularly where modern deposits and/or historical reports on the event are not available. This study presents a high‐resolution sedimentary record of washover events from the Ashburton River delta (Western Australia) spanning approximately the last 150 years. A detailed characterization of event deposits is provided, and a robust chronostratigraphy for the investigated washover sequence is established based on multi‐proxy sediment analyses and optically stimulated luminescence dating. Combining sedimentological, geochemical and high‐resolution optically stimulated luminescence data, event layers are assigned to known historical events and tropical cyclone deposits are separated from tsunami deposits. For the first time, the 1883 Krakatoa and 1977 Sumba tsunamis are inferred from sedimentary records of the north‐western part of Western Australia. It is demonstrated that optically stimulated luminescence applied in coastal sedimentary archives with favourable luminescence characteristics can provide accurate chronostratigraphies even on a decadal timescale. The results contribute to the data pool of tropical cyclone and tsunami deposits in Holocene stratigraphies; however, they also demonstrate how short‐lived sediment archives may be in dynamic sedimentary environments.     

An amalgamated meter-thick sedimentary package enabled by the 2011 Tohoku tsunami in El Garrapatero,Galapagos Islands

Tsunamis and storms instigate sedimentological and geomorphological changes to the coastal system, both long-term and ephemeral. To accurately predict future coastal hazards, one must identify the records that are generated by the processes associated with these hazards and recognize what will be preserved. Using eyewitness accounts, photographs, and sedimentology, this study documents pre- and post-tsunami conditions and constrains the timing and process of depositional events during and following the 11 March 2011 Tohoku tsunami in the coastal system at El Garrapatero, Galapagos Islands. While the tsunami acted as both an erosional and depositional agent, the thick, fan-like sand sheet in El Garrapatero was primarily emplaced by overwash deposition during high tide from swell waves occurring between 19–25 March and 17–22 April 2011. The swell waves were only able to access the terrestrial coastal system via a channel carved by the 2011 Tohoku tsunami through the barrier sand dune. This combined deposit could result in an overestimation of the hazard if interpreted to be the result of only one event (either tsunami or wind-generated waves). An analogous sand layer, younger than 1390–1530 cal yr BP, may record a similar, prior event.     

Distinguishing tsunami and storm deposits: An example from Martinhal, SW Portugal

Geological identification of past tsunamis is important for risk assessment studies, especially in areas where the historical record is limited or absent. The main problem when using the geological evidence is to distinguish between tsunami and storm deposits. Both are high-energy events that may leave marine traces in coastal stratigraphic sequences. At Martinhal, SW Portugal both storm surge and tsunami deposits are present at the same site within a single stratigraphic sequence, which makes it suitable to study the differences between them, excluding variations caused by local factors.

The tsunami associated with the Lisbon earthquake of November 1st 1755 AD, had a major impact on the geomorphology and sedimentology of Martinhal. It breached the barrier and laid down an extensive sheet of sand, as described in eyewitness reports. Besides the tsunami deposit the stratigraphy of Martinhal also displays evidence for storm surges that have breached and overtopped the barrier, flooding the lowland and leaving sand layers. Both marine-derived flood deposits show similar grain size characteristics and distinctive marine foraminifera. The most important differences are the rip-up clasts and boulders exclusively found in the tsunami deposit and the landward extent of the tsunami deposit that everywhere exceeds that of the storm deposits. Identification of both depositional units was only possible using a collection of different data and extensive stratigraphical information from cores as well as trenches.     

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.     

Process-sedimentological challenges in distinguishing paleo-tsunami deposits

There has been a lively debate since the 1980s on distinguishing between paleo-tsunami deposits and paleo-cyclone deposits using sedimentological criteria. Tsunami waves not only cause erosion and deposition during inundation of coastlines in subaerial environments, but also trigger backwash flows in submarine environments. These incoming waves and outgoing flows emplace sediment in a wide range of environments, which include coastal lake, beach, marsh, lagoon, bay, open shelf, slope and basin. Holocene deposits of tsunami-related processes from these environments exhibit a multitude of physical, biological and geochemical features. These features include basal erosional surfaces, anomalously coarse sand layers, imbricated boulders, chaotic bedding, rip-up mud clasts, normal grading, inverse grading, landward-fining trend, horizontal planar laminae, cross-stratification, hummocky cross-stratification, massive sand rich in marine fossils, sand with high K, Mg and Na elemental concentrations and sand injections. These sedimentological features imply extreme variability in processes that include erosion, bed load (traction), lower flow regime currents, upper-flow regime currents, oscillatory flows, combined flows, bidirectional currents, mass emplacement, freezing en masse, settling from suspension and sand injection. The notion that a ??tsunami?? event represents a single (unique) depositional process is a myth. Although many sedimentary features are considered to be reliable criteria for recognizing potential paleo-tsunami deposits, similar features are also common in cyclone-induced deposits. At present, paleo-tsunami deposits cannot be distinguished from paleo-cyclone deposits using sedimentological features alone, without historical information. The future success of distinguishing paleo-tsunami deposits depends on the development of criteria based on systematic synthesis of copious modern examples worldwide and on the precise application of basic principles of process sedimentology.     

Palaeoenvironmental interpretation of Holocene coastal sequences in the southern bay of Biscay

The main sedimentary features of the northern coast of the Iberian Peninsula during the Holocene transgression are characterized by the formation of estuaries, the deposition of sand bars and sand beaches, and the accumulation of aeolian dunes. These coastal deposits are very favourable for identifying Quaternary sea-level changes as they contain great volumes of well preserved sediments including marine, brackish and freshwater beds. The micropalaeontological analysis (benthic foraminifera) of diverse littoral sequences has allowed different microfaunal assemblages to be recognised and their corresponding depositional environments determined. Two recurrent phases of sediment build-up as the sea level rose have been distinguished. They have been interpreted as the consequence of two different marine advances in this region: one dated at around 8 000 years BP and the second around 2 500 years BP.     

南海古海啸重建与海啸沉积研究进展

中国东海、南海等近海临近琉球海沟、马尼拉海沟等俯冲带,地震频发。过去的海啸研究主要关注历史文献分析、海啸数值模拟等,据此评估中国近岸海啸灾害的历史和风险。历史时期是否引发了海啸,特别是具有特大致灾风险的大海啸记录,目前还不明确。近年来,本课题组通过对海岛、海洋沉积和海岸带及其岛屿的沉积过程、海啸遗迹和历史记录研究,阐述了确定古海啸的系列研究方法。首先通过对南海西沙群岛东岛湖泊沉积序列、大量砗磲和珊瑚块在海岛分布的特征分析,识别出距今千年的一次海啸事件。以此为标志,根据湖泊沉积结构作为识别海岛海啸沉积的特征。同时提出了确定海岛海啸发生时代的样品采集和定年方法,其中包括根据事件沉积层顶部和底部植物残体¹⁴C年龄定年和历史文献记录的印证。首次确定在过去1 300年中,南海发生过一次海啸,其发生时间为公元1076年。为了寻找更古老的海啸记录,结合对东海闽浙沿岸过去两千年海洋泥质沉积的分析,发现南海海啸在沉积序列中留下记录,但除此之外沉积记录中并无更强的扰动,因此东海在过去两千年中受到海啸的影响较小。1076年的海啸同时冲击了南海沿岸,通过对广东南澳岛考察发现,岛屿东南海岸保存着距今约1 000年的海啸沉积层,其中夹杂着宋代陶器瓷器残片。对遗迹数量变化的分析显示,岛上的文化受海啸破坏出现了长达500年的文化中断,直至明代中后期设镇之后才逐渐恢复。根据海啸层植物残体、贝壳¹⁴C测年、覆盖海啸层的海砂光释光定年以及瓷器碎片的年代鉴定了海啸的发生时代,并据此提出了海岸带古海啸沉积的定年方法。此外,不同环境下海啸沉积的特征也存在较大区别,需要结合地形、沉积物来源以及地球化学特征等多种指标进行识别。有迹象表明海南岛东侧海岸带有海啸破坏的明显证据,需要进行深入的研究。     

Sedimentary environments and facies of the subtropical mgeni estuary,Southeast Africa

The Mgeni Estuary is situated on the subtropical, mainly microtidal Natal coast. Modern sedimentary environments in the estuary comprise two groups. Barrier-associated environments include inlet channel, inlet beachface, tidal delta, washover fans, transverse intertidal bars and aeolian dunes. Estuarine environments include subtidal channels, interidal bars, back-barrier lagoon, tidal creek, tidal creek side-attached bars, creek mouth bar, mangrove fringe and supratidal mudflats. Each sedimentary facies is described in terms of grain-size, sedimentary structures, and sedimentary processes. The distinctive flora and fauna play an important role in facies recognition. Vertical sequences produced by infilling of the estuary and subsequent coastal erosion are discussed. The facies are considered sufficiently distinct to warrant recognition in the geological record.     

Quartzite development in early Palaeozoic nearshore marine environments

Quartzites are especially characteristic of Proterozoic and Cambro‐Ordovician shallow marine strata, whereas equivalent age fluvial deposits are commonly arkosic. The absence of land vegetation in the pre‐Silurian influenced weathering processes and styles of fluvial deposition. It may also have had an impact on shallow marine sedimentation. Two field studies from the English Channel region are presented to investigate the processes leading to quartzite formation. On Alderney, nearshore marine and fluvial facies occur interbedded on a metre scale and are interpreted to represent deposition on the lower reaches of an alluvial plain, and in beach and upper shoreface environments. The marine and fluvial sandstones display marked differences in textural and mineralogical maturity, pointing to a process of sediment maturation by the destruction of feldspar and labile grains at the shoreline. At Erquy, fully mature, marine quartzites occur bounded above and below by alluvial deposits via sharp or erosional surfaces, and are interpreted to represent high energy, storm and tidally influenced lower shoreface and inner shelf deposits. A model for quartzite development is proposed where, under a cool climate, frequent storms in un‐vegetated, tectonically rejuvenated uplands provided an abundance of arkosic sand to fluvial basins and clastic shorelines. The model proposes that the marine basins were subject to high wave energies, frequent storm events and tidal currents. These were conditions conducive to transforming arkosic sand to quartz‐rich sand by the attrition of feldspar at the shoreline and in the shallow marine environment. On sediment burial, further feldspar destruction occurred during diagenesis. The proposed model highlights the potential for a step change in sediment maturity to occur at the shoreline in early Palaeozoic depositional systems tracts.     

Clay‐coat diversity in marginal marine sediments

The specific mineralogy of clay grain coats controls the ability of the coat to inhibit quartz cementation in sandstones during prolonged burial and heating. How and why clay‐coat mineralogy varies across marginal marine systems is poorly understood, even though these eogenetic phenomena strongly influence subsequent mesodiagenesis and reservoir quality. The novel development of the ability to predict the distribution of clay‐coat mineralogy would represent an important development for sandstone reservoir quality prediction. In marginal marine sediments, clay minerals occur as grain‐coats, floccules, mud intraclasts, clay‐rich rock fragments or as dispersed material. However, the relationships between clay mineralogy, the amount of clay, and its distribution is poorly understood. This study focused on the Ravenglass Estuary, UK. The key aim was to develop and apply a novel methodology utilising scanning electron microscope – energy dispersive spectrometry, for the first time, on grain coats in modern sediments, to differentiate the clay‐coat mineral signature from that of the bulk sediment, and reveal the distribution of clay minerals across marginal marine sediments. The study showed that marginal marine sediments principally have their clay mineral assemblage present as clay‐coats on sand grains. These clay‐coats have a mixed clay mineralogy and are spatially heterogeneous across the range of marginal‐marine depositional environments. The study further showed that clay‐coat mineralogy is governed initially by the hydrologically‐controlled segregation of the clay minerals within inner estuarine depositional environments, and subsequently by the selective abrasive removal of specific clay mineral types during reworking and transport into the outer estuary and the marine environment. The highest relative abundance of grain‐coating chlorite was in sand‐flat and tidal‐bar depositional environments. The availability of an analogue data set, and an understanding of the controlling processes of clay‐coat mineralogy, offer crucial steps in building a predictive capability for clay‐coat derived elevated reservoir quality in deeply buried sandstones.     

Stokes surfaces and the effects of near-surface groundwater-table on Aeolian deposition

ABSTRACT Stokes surfaces in aeolian deposits are caused by wind scour of unconsolidated material to a roughly planar horizon controlled by near-surface water-tables (Stokes, 1968). A water-table forms a downward limit of scour through the cohesion of damp or wet sand near water-table, and through early cementation by evaporites precipitated in the sediments as water evaporates near the sand-air interface. Study of modern analogues reveals that Stokes surfaces exist in a variety of depositional settings, including a coastal offshore prograding sand sea (Jafurah, Saudi Arabia); a coastal onshore prograding sand sea (Guerrero Negro, Mexico) and a continental sand sea (White Sands, New Mexico, USA). These modern analogues indicate that our concept of Stokes surfaces must be broadened to include the following: (i) modern analogues for Stokes surfaces described here cover areas on the order of 25 km². These may be as representative of similar surfaces in ancient rocks as hypothesized plains of deflation requiring removal of entire sand seas; (ii) Stokes surfaces occupy a continuum in scale from local to extensive, and erosional surfaces of different magnitude may be stacked closely in the sediments; (iii) Stokes surfaces, although erosional in nature, are commonly associated with deposits both above and below the Stokes bounding surface which plainly reveal the influence of a near-surface groundwater control on wind sedimentation. Moreover, the erosional relief of the bounding surface itself (as well as other features) reveals the influence of a groundwater-table; (iv) Stokes surfaces may be diachronous, representing the lateral shift of a zone of scour within a sand sea rather than simultaneous removal of all dunes from the area encompassed by the erosional surface; (v) Stokes surfaces and associated deposits are often laterally transitional to surfaces and deposits of adjacent depositional environments, including interdunes, tidal flats, lagoons, beaches, lakes and non-aeolian sabkhas. Finally, modern examples from different depositional settings suggest that while most Stokes surfaces have many features in common (such as erosional ridges due to early cementation), there are some features which may, with further study, be revealed to be distinctive of an individual depositional setting.     

Distribution and sedimentary characteristics of tsunami deposits along the Cascadia margin of western North America

Tsunami deposits have been found at more than 60 sites along the Cascadia margin of Western North America, and here we review and synthesize their distribution and sedimentary characteristics based on the published record. Cascadia tsunami deposits are best preserved, and most easily identified, in low-energy coastal environments such as tidal marshes, back-barrier marshes and coastal lakes where they occur as anomalous layers of sand within peat and mud. They extend up to a kilometer inland in open coastal settings and several kilometers up river valleys. They are distinguished from other sediments by a combination of sedimentary character and stratigraphic context. Recurrence intervals range from 300–1000 years with an average of 500–600 years. The tsunami deposits have been used to help evaluate and mitigate tsunami hazards in Cascadia. They show that the Cascadia subduction zone is prone to great earthquakes that generate large tsunamis. The inclusion of tsunami deposits on inundation maps, used in conjunction with results from inundation models, allows a more accurate assessment of areas subject to tsunami inundation. The application of sediment transport models can help estimate tsunami flow velocity and wave height, parameters which are necessary to help establish evacuation routes and plan development in tsunami prone areas.     

Offshore depositional sequence of 2004 tsunami from Chennai, SE coast of India

Offshore sediment characteristics of the 2004 tsunami were identified from a shallow core collected from the Chennai Coast, India. The depositional sequence clearly distinguishes four different processes: mixed facies (post-tsunami): 0–8 cm; tsunami return flow facies (TRFF): 8–20 cm; tsunami landward flow facies: 20–44 cm; and pre-tsunami facies: 44–64 cm, which all took place during and after the tsunami event. The coarse-grained nature and higher carbonate in the TRFF indicate that considerable sediment load was transported from the beach/land area to the offshore region during the return flow of tsunami waves. The relatively greater abundance of benthic foraminiferal species in the core sample suggests that the taxa were transported from deeper regions of the inner shelf regions of Bay of Bengal region. The depositional characteristics in this region can be utilized for future comparative studies from this region as well as in other offshore regions affected by tsunamis with sequence-based studies on local topography.     

Transverse and linear dunes in an Upper Pleistocene marine sequence, Corinth Basin, Greece

A range of large-scale dunes of oolitic calcarenite composition are exposed in the Corinth Basin of central Greece. These transverse dunes and a very large linear dune (> 15 m high) lie within an Upper Pleistocene, transgressive marine sequence. Tidal flow, accelerated by constriction through a narrow, fault-bounded seaway, is interpreted to have generated the current velocities necessary to produce the dunes. Marine facies in the Upper Pleistocene sequence include beach to offshore conglomerates and sandstones with wave-modified sedimentary structures and herringbone cross-stratification. An offshore facies association comprises variably bioturbated siltstones and sandstones with a varied marine fauna that includes thermophile species such as scleractinian corals and Strombus bubonius. Oolitic sandstone facies also occur. Oolitic sands were apparently produced in shoal environments subject to tidal (and wave) action, and transported by dominant southerly currents over the southern part of the basin. Oolites accumulated in a linear dune 2.7 km long and 15–20 m high and in three-dimensional transverse dunes up to 10 m high having a variety of compound and simple internal geometries. The isolated, WSW-ENE-trending linear form exhibits angle of repose sedimentary dips (up to 35°) of avalanche sets on its SE flank and sets typically with dips of 15–20° to the NW. Internal high-angle discontinuities are developed in the SE-dipping lee face. It is proposed that a dominant north-to-south flow crossed over the crest obliquely, resulting in both net erosional and depositional processes on the lee flank. A subordinate (?tidal) current may have locally and or periodically crossed the dune crest in a westwards direction. A string of transverse dunes, which were located adjacent to a fault/marine terrace scarp, is interpreted to have originally coalesced to form the linear dune. The distribution of transverse and linear dunes together with the palaeogeographical reconstruction suggest that a marine connection periodically existed across the Corinth Isthmus during the Late Pleistocene due to a combination of active faulting and glacio-eustatic highstands of sea level.     

Tsunami washover deposits, Tawharanui, New Zealand

Barrier dunes on the northern side of the Tawharanui Peninsula, north of Auckland, New Zealand, appear to have been overtopped by extreme waves that have deposited two large sand washover lobes in a back beach wetland. Present-day storm surges and storm waves are incapable of overtopping the barrier dunes. However, historical data and numerical models indicate tsunamis are amplified by resonance within the adjacent bay and Hauraki Gulf. Further, the location of nearshore reefs in close proximity to the washover lobes suggests that the interaction between tsunamis and the reefs further amplified the waves at those locations. The presence of a distinctive pumice (Loisels Pumice) within the washover deposits suggests that the deposits are associated with a 15th Century eruption from the submarine Mt Healy caldera located northeast of New Zealand.     

Braided rivers within an arid alluvial plain (example from the Lower Triassic,western German Basin): recognition criteria and expression of stratigraphic cycles

Based on a detailed sedimentological analysis of Lower Triassic continental deposits in the western Germanic sag Basin (i.e. the eastern part of the present‐day Paris Basin: the ‘Conglomérat basal’, ‘Grès vosgien’ and ‘Conglomérat principal’ Formations), three main depositional environments were identified: (i) braided rivers in an arid alluvial plain with some preserved aeolian dunes and very few floodplain deposits; (ii) marginal erg (i.e. braided rivers, aeolian dunes and aeolian sand‐sheets); and (iii) playa lake (an ephemeral lake environment with fluvial and aeolian sediments). Most of the time, aeolian deposits in arid environments that are dominated by fluvial systems are poorly preserved and particular attention should be paid to any sedimentological marker of aridity, such as wind‐worn pebbles (ventifacts), sand‐drift surfaces and aeolian sand‐sheets. In such arid continental environments, stratigraphic surfaces of allocyclic origin correspond to bounding surfaces of regional extension. Elementary stratigraphic cycles, i.e. the genetic units, have been identified for the three main continental environments: the fluvial type, fluvial–aeolian type and fluvial/playa lake type. At the time scale of tens to hundreds of thousands of years, these high‐frequency cycles of climatic origin are controlled either by the groundwater level in the basin or by the fluvial siliciclastic sediment input supplied from the highland. Lower Triassic deposits from the Germanic Basin are preserved mostly in endoreic basins. The central part of the basin is arid but the rivers are supplied with water by precipitation falling on the remnants of the Hercynian (Variscan)–Appalachian Mountains. Consequently, a detailed study of alluvial plain facies provides indications of local climatic conditions in the place of deposition, whereas fluvial systems only reflect climatic conditions of the upstream erosional catchments.     

Nine unusually large tsunami deposits from the past 4000 years at Kiritappu marsh along the southern Kuril Trench

Large earthquakes along the Kuril subduction zone in northern Japan are known to have caused damaging tsunami, although there is a little information on historical earthquakes and tsunami in this area because no documents exist before the 19th century that might refer to tsunami events. To determine the likely timing and size of future events we need information on their recurrence intervals and to do this for the prehistoric past we have investigated sediments located in the Kiritappu marsh in eastern Hokaido that we interpret as laid down by tsunami. Using reliable multiple lines of evidence from sedimentological, geomorphological, micropaleontological, and chronological results, we identify 13 tsunami sands. Two of these lie within a peat bed above a historical tephra, Ta-a (AD 1739); the upper one probably corresponds to the AD 1843 Tempo Tokachi-oki earthquake (M 8.2) tsunami, and the lower to either the AD 1952 Tokachi-oki earthquake (M 8.2) tsunami or the AD 1960 Chilean earthquake (M 9.5) tsunami. Underlying are 11 prehistoric tsunami sand beds (nine large sand beds and two smaller sand beds) deposited during the past 4000 years. Because of the wide spatial distribution of the large sand beds, and inundation distances inland of between 1200 to 3000 m, we suggest that they record unusually large tsunamis along the Kuril subduction zone. According to our analyses, these tsunami sands were derived from the coastal area and, although they do not show clear graded bedding, they commonly have gradational upper boundaries and erosional bases and include internal sedimentary structures such as plane beds, dunes, and current ripples, reflecting bedload transportation. Based on our results we calculate the recurrence interval of unusually large earthquakes (probably M 8.6) along the Kuril subduction zone as about 365–553 years and estimate the youngest large event to have occurred in the 17th century.     

Assessment of temporal changes in coastal sand dune environments using the log-hyperbolic grain-size method

Abstract Three cores (<9 m long) recovered from late Holocene coastal sand dunes in Northumberland, north‐eastern England, were examined stratigraphically and dated by the infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) method to the time period between the Medieval Warm Period (MWP; ≈ 900–1200 AD) and Little Ice Age (LIA; ≈ 1550–1800 AD). Grain‐size variability and CaCO₃ content were determined at 10‐mm intervals throughout parts of the cores. The sahara computer program was used to plot the log‐hyperbolic distribution (LHD) of grain‐size spectra from different stratigraphic levels and estimate the LHD's statistical components. Core samples plot variously in the depositional and erosional domains of the hyperbolic chi (χ) vs. xi (ξ) shape triangle, which describes components of sediment sorting. Depositional and erosional phases, discriminated within the LHD's shape triangle, cannot readily be resolved from core stratigraphies or correlated between cores. IRSL dates from single cores show a clustering about the period 1430–1540. Between the dated horizons, dunes accreted at ≈ 0·02–0·05 m year^?1, enabling the timing of excursions in χ and ξ to be estimated. These excursions, which can be resolved to the subannual level between the dated horizons, may be related to deposition by episodic storms or storm surges in the North Sea region, which is supported by historical documentary evidence. This innovative use of the LHD method and its derived statistics can be used successfully to describe temporal trends in coastal depositional environments and identify likely storm events in dune sediment records.