A proposed Laramide proto-Grand Canyon

The absence of “rim gravels” north of Grand Canyon and of “Canaan Peak-type” gravels south of Grand Canyon suggests that a paleocanyon, which intersected the transport of these gravels north and south, may have begun forming in the Laramide in approximately the same position as today's central Grand Canyon. This Laramide-age canyon is envisioned as having flowed generally from the SW to NE; from the Peach Springs Canyon area to Mile 197 where it was captured by karst; then along a N. 60°E joint system to the Kanab Point area where it converged with drainage coming off the west side of the Kaibab arch. From there it flowed north along the west flank of the Kaibab arch to Paleogene Lake Claron. The critical idea suggested by this proposed model is that the modern Colorado River utilized Laramide paleotopography in establishing its course through the central Grand Canyon, with younger sections of the canyon integrating with it later, in the middle to late Miocene. This paleocanyon route, in association with headward erosion from the Grand Wash Cliffs toward the Kaibab arch after 16–17 Ma, helps account for the total volume of rock eroded from Grand Canyon, which cannot be explained by present-day incision rates.     

青藏高原考察新发现--帕隆藏布大峡谷

通过多年的考察和室内科学论证,发现认定在雅鲁藏布大峡谷顶端汇流的一级支流———帕隆藏布峡谷也是一条堪称世界级的大峡谷（照片１）。就深度而言,帕隆藏布至少可以排位于尼泊尔王国境内的喀利根德格大峡谷（最深为４４０３ｍ）之后名列世界第三而深于秘鲁的科尔卡大...     

Lacustrine sedimentary record of human-induced gully erosion and land-use change at Providence Canyon, southwest Georgia, USA

Providence Canyon, one of a series of large gullies in the upper Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States, formed as a result of deforestation and agricultural development in the early 1800's. Sediment eroded from the canyon aggraded the floodplain downstream, dammed tributary valleys, and formed North and South Glory Hole lakes (NGH, 4.8 ha and SGH, 2.5 ha). Sedimentary sequences in these lakes include a basal unit (I) of layered sand and clayey-sand overlain by 0.05-0.1 m of mud, fine sand and organic matter, with large fragments of wood (Unit IIa). An upper unit (IIb) 0.29-1.61 m thick consists of silt and clay containing discrete layers of sand. We interpret Unit I as floodplain alluvium deposited before the lakes were dammed, Unit IIa as sediment deposited during the early phase of the lakes when detritus from trees killed by flooding was abundant, and Unit IIb as lacustrine mud deposited after lake levels stabilized, with periodic pulses of sand eroded from Providence Canyon introduced to the lake by backflooding events. Basal dates extrapolated from a ²¹⁰Pb chronology for the upper part of SGH core suggests that development of the canyon and formation of the lakes began in the 1840's, and that lake levels stabilized by about 1880. Although consistent with historical accounts of the age of Providence Canyon, these dates must be considered as approximate because of uncertainty in extrapolating dates to the bottom of the core.In contrast, the ²¹⁰Pb chronology for the upper portion of the core (post 1930) is validated independently using historical climatic records, and indicates that lacustrine sedimentation faithfully records recent land-use change visible in historical aerial photography. An 8-fold increase in lacustrine sedimentation occurred after the clearing of forest near SGH in the 1930's and 1940's, and a 1.5-fold increase occurred because of road construction in the l950's. Individual sand layers deposited between 1830 and 1957 correlate with erosion at Providence Canyon during major storm events. Since then, downcutting and headward incision by the stream draining Providence Canyon have reduced backflooding to the Glory Hole lakes. As a result, the thickness of individual sand layers decreased, although increases in mass sedimentation rates for mud correspond more directly with large precipitation events after channel incision cut off the major source of sediment from Providence Canyon. The results of this study illustrate the value of the lacustrine sedimentary record in assessing geomorphic, climatic, and human-induced environmental change in heavily disturbed landscapes.     

Millennial and centennial variations in zircon U‐Pb ages in the quaternary indus submarine canyon

Use of deep‐water sediments in submarine fans to reconstruct changing erosion onshore is based on the premise of relatively simple transport between source and sink. However, debate continues regarding the degree of sediment buffering and recycling in the sediment transport process. In this study, we investigate the origin of sediment in the Indus Submarine Canyon since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; ~20 ka) using zircon U‐Pb dates. Zircon grains in the submarine canyon are resolvably different from those at the river mouth, at least before 6.6 ka, implying a disconnection between the river mouth and the canyon up to that time. Sand may be stored near the river mouth as sea level rose, while finer‐grained sediment was directly transferred into deeper water. Since 1 ka the upper canyon has shown big and rapid provenance changes, most notably a sharp increase in erosion from Nanga Parbat, whose influence is minor in the modern river. Such rapid changes imply a lack of buffering in the recent past. The modern river contrasts with sediments in the canyon in terms of its zircon U‐Pb age populations and may be influenced by significant anthropogenic impact on the terrestrial drainage basin, especially damming.     

Semi-automated bathymetric spectral decomposition delineates the impact of mass wasting on the morphological evolution of the continental slope,offshore Israel

Understanding continental-slope morphological evolution is essential for predicting basin deposition. However, separating the imprints and chronology of different seafloor shaping processes is difficult. This study explores the utility of bathymetric spectral decomposition for separating and characterizing the variety of interleaved seafloor imprints of mass wasting, and clarifying their role in the morphological evolution of the southeastern Mediterranean Sea passive-margin slope. Bathymetric spectral decomposition, integrated with interpretation of seismic profiles, highlights the long-term shape of the slope and separates the observed mass transport elements into several genetic groups: (1) a series of ~25 km wide, now-buried slide scars and lobes; (2) slope-parallel bathymetric scarps representing shallow faults; (3) slope-perpendicular, open slope slide scars; (4) bathymetric roughness representing debris lobes; (5) slope-confined gullies. Our results provide a multi-scale view of the interplay between sediment transport, mass transport and shallow faulting in the evolution of the slope morphology. The base of the slope and focused disturbances are controlled by ~1 km deep salt retreat, and mimic the Messinian base of slope. The top of the open-slope is delimited by faults, accommodating internal collapse of the margin. The now-buried slides were slope-confined and presumably cohesive, and mostly nucleated along the upper-slope faults. Sediment accumulations, infilling the now-buried scars, generated more recent open-slope slides. These latter slides transported ~10 km³ of sediments, depositing a significant fraction (~3 m in average) of the sediments along the base of the studied slope during the past < 50 ka. South to north decrease in the volume of the open-slope slides highlight their role in counterbalancing the northwards diminishing sediment supply and helping to maintain a long-term steady-state bathymetric profile. The latest phase slope-confined gullies were presumably created by channelling of bottom currents into slide-scar depressions, possibly establishing incipient canyon headword erosion.     

论大峡谷生态环境的脆弱性

分析了大峡谷的基本特点, 把它看作是内外作用营力的现阶段表现。提出了内营力的地质基础是破碎的、不良的、不稳定的; 外营力的水汽通道带来强大水热作用的负面影响, 它们结合在一起, 组成了生态环境本质极为脆弱的基础。并把历史上的重大山地灾害当作是一面镜子; 而把现实看到的破坏作为人类参与下正在长鸣的警钟, 提醒人们要建立大峡谷生态环境是极为脆弱的基本概念, 一切要以环保为基础, 以可持续发展为根本目标。     

Gravitational deformation and inherited structural control on slope morphology in the subduction zone of north‐central Chile (ca. 29–33°S)

Subduction zones provide direct insight into plate boundary deformation and by studying these areas we better understand tectonic processes and variability over time. We studied the structure of the offshore subduction zone system of the Pampean flat‐slab segment (ca. 29–33°S) of the Chilean margin using seismic and bathymetric constraints. Here, we related and analysed the structural styles of the offshore and onshore western fore‐arc. Overlying the acoustic top of the continental basement, two syn‐extensional seismic sequences were recognised and correlated with onshore geological units and the Valparaíso Forearc Basin seismic sequences: (SII) Pliocene‐Pleistocene and (SI) Miocene‐Pliocene (Late Cretaceous (?) to Miocene‐Pliocene) syn‐extensional sequences. These sequences are separated by an unconformity (i.e. Valparaíso Unconformity). Seismic reflection data reveal that the eastward dipping extensional system (EI) recognised at the upper slope can be extended to the middle slope and controlled the accumulation of the older seismic package (SI). The westward dipping extensional system (EII) is essentially restricted to the middle slope. Here, EII cuts the eastward dipping extensional system (EI), preferentially parallel to the inclination of the older sequences (SI), and controlled a series of middle slope basins which are filled by the Pliocene‐Pleistocene seismic sequence (SII). At the upper slope and in the western Coastal Cordillera, the SII sequence is controlled by eastward dipping faults (EII) which are the local reactivation of older extensional faults (EI). The tectonic boundary between the middle (eastern outermost forearc block) and upper continental slope (western coastal block) is a prominent system of trenchward dipping normal fault scarps (ca. 1 km offset) that resemble a major trenchward dipping extensional fault system. This prominent structural feature can be readily detected along the Chilean erosive margin as well as the two extensional sets (EI and EII). Evidence of slumping, thrusting, reactivated faults and mass transport deposits, were recognised in the slope domain and locally restricted to some eastern dipping faults. These features could be related to gravitational effects or slope deformation due to coseismic deformation. The regional inclination of the pre‐Pliocene sequences favoured the gravitational collapse of the outermost forearc block. We propose that the structural configuration of the study area is dominantly controlled by tectonic erosion as well as the uplift of the Coastal Cordillera, which is partially controlled by pre‐Pliocene architecture.     

Regional three-dimensional gravity modelling of the NE Atlantic margin

A series of three‐dimensional models has been constructed for the structure of the crust and upper mantle over a large region spanning the NE Atlantic passive margin. These incorporate isostatic and flexural principles, together with gravity modelling and integration with seismic interpretations. An initial isostatic model was based on known bathymetric/topographic variations, an estimate of the thickness and density of the sedimentary cover, and upper mantle densities based on thermal modelling. The thickness of the crystalline crust in this model was adjusted to equalise the load at a compensation depth lying below the zone of lateral mantle density variations. Flexural backstripping was used to derive alternative models which tested the effect of varying the strength of the lithosphere during sediment loading. The models were analysed by comparing calculated and observed gravity fields and by calibrating the predicted geometries against independent (primarily seismic) evidence. Further models were generated in which the thickness of the sedimentary layer and the crystalline crust were modified in order to improve the fit to observed gravity anomalies. The potential effects of igneous underplating and variable upper mantle depletion were explored by a series of sensitivity trials. The results provide a new regional lithospheric framework for the margin and a means of setting more detailed, local investigations in their regional context. The flexural modelling suggests lateral variations in the strength of the lithosphere, with much of the margin being relatively weak but areas such as the Porcupine Basin and parts of the Rockall Basin having greater strength. Observed differences between the model Moho and seismic Moho along the continental margin can be interpreted in terms of underplating. A Moho discrepancy to the northwest of Scotland is ascribed to uplift caused by a region of upper mantle with anomalously low density, which may be associated with depletion or with a temperature anomaly.     

Evolution of a Neoproterozoic to Palaeozoic intracratonic setting, Officer Basin, South Australia

The Neoproterozoic basins of central Australia share many features of architecture and sedimentary fill, suggesting common large-scale extrinsic causal mechanisms. In an attempt to improve understanding of these mechanisms we have gathered and analysed new deep seismic reflection data and re-evaluated existing seismic and well-log data from the eastern Officer Basin, the largest and most poorly known of Australia's intracratonic basins. The Officer Basin is asymmetric and has a steep thrust-controlled northern margin paralleled by sub-basins as much as 10 km in depth. Further south the basin shallows gradually onto a broad platform. The basin rests on a thick crust (≈42 km) that is pervaded by a complex of northward-dipping surfaces most of which terminate erosionally against the sediments of the Officer Basin and are interpreted as prebasinal features, possibly faults. Some appear to have been zones of crustal weakness which were reactivated as thrust complexes and played a major role in basin evolution. The sedimentary succession can be subdivided into six megasequences separated by major tectonically and erosionally enhanced sequence boundaries. The megasequences have distinctive sequence stacking patterns suggesting that they were deposited in response to episodic subsidence induced by a major extrinsic tectonic event. The basin initially formed as part of a giant sag basin which incorporated all the present-day intracratonic basins (Amadeus, Georgina, Ngalia, Officer and Savory Basins) in a single large ‘superbasin’ perhaps as a response to mantle processes. Subsidence then ceased for ≈100 Myr producing a regional erosion surface. Beginning in the Torrensian or Sturtian five more major events of varying regional significance influenced the basin's evolution. Four were compressional events, the first of which activated major thrust complexes along the present basin margins, forming deep foreland sub-basins with elevated intervening basement blocks. Once activated, the thrust complexes and sub-basins persisted throughout the life of the intracratonic basins. From this epoch the intracratonic basins of central Australia were decoupled from the giant sag basin and became interrelated but independent features. Available information suggests that the Officer, Amadeus, Georgina, Ngalia and Savory Basins are related and are perhaps products of major tectonic events associated with the assembly and ultimate dispersal of the Proterozoic supercontinent. The closing phases of these basins were strongly influenced by events occurring along the newly created active eastern margin of the Australian continent in the Palaeozoic.     

Morphotectonic zones along the coast of the Pacific continental margin, southern Mexico

Geomorphic analysis, employing topographic, morphologic, geologic, and bathymetric maps, and field studies show that the morphology of the southern coast of Mexico can be linked to lateral variations in the geometry and tectonism of the subduction zone. A reconnaissance study, based on the regional morphological characteristics and correlation with seismotectonic segments, regional tectonics and major bathymetric features, allows identification of several morphotectonic zones along the coast of southern Mexico: (1) Jalisco zone, (2) Colima zone, (3) Michoacan zone, (4) Guerrero zone, (5) Oaxaca zone, and (6) Tehuantepec zone. A range of geomorphological evidence, including marine terraces, river terraces, uplifted notches, and elevated wave-cut platforms, indicates local and regional uplift along the coast of the Jalisco, Michoacan, Guerrero and Oaxaca zones. Coasts of the Colima and Tehuantepec zones show morphological evidence of subsidence.     

Along‐strike structural linkage and interaction in an active thrust fault system: A case study from the western Sichuan foreland basin,China

Along‐strike structural linkage and interaction between faults is common in various compressional settings worldwide. Understanding the kinematic history of fault interaction processes can provide important constraints on the geometry and evolution of the lateral growth of segmented faults in the fold‐and‐thrust belts, which are important to seismic hazard assessment and hydrocarbon trap development. In this study, we study lateral structural geometry (fault displacement and horizon shortening) of thrust fault linkages and interactions along the Qiongxi anticline in the western Sichuan foreland basin, China, using a high‐resolution 3D seismic reflection dataset. Seismic interpretation suggests that the Qiongxi anticline can be related to three west‐dipping, hard‐linked thrust fault segments that sole onto a regional shallow detachment. Results reveal that the lateral linkage of fault segments limited their development, affecting the along‐strike fault displacement distributions. A deficit between shortening and displacement is observed to increase in linkage zones where complex structural processes occur, such as fault surface bifurcation and secondary faulting, demonstrating the effect of fault linkage process on structural deformation within a thrust array. The distribution of the geometrical characteristics shows that thrust fault development in the area can be described by both the isolated fault model and the coherent fault model. Our measurements show that new fault surfaces bifurcate from the main thrust ramp, which influences both strain distribution in the relay zone and along‐strike fault slip distribution. This work fully describes the geometric and kinematic characteristics of lateral thrust fault linkage, and may provide insights into seismic interpretation strategies in other complex fault transfer zones.     

Headless submarine canyons and fluid flow on the toe of the Cascadia accretionary complex

Headless submarine canyons with steep headwalls and shallowly sloping floors occur on both the second and third landward vergent anticlines on the toe of the Cascadia accretionary complex off central Oregon (45 °N, 125° 30′W). In September 1993, we carried out a series of nine deep tow camera sled runs and nine ALVIN dives to examine the relationship between fluid venting, structure and canyon formation. We studied four canyons on the second and third landward vergent anticlines, as well as the apparently unfailed intercanyon regions along strike. All evidence of fluid expulsion is associated with the canyons; we found no evidence of fluid flow between canyons. Even though all fluid seeps are related to canyons, we did not find seeps in all canyons, and the location of the seeps within the canyons differed. On the landward facing limb of the second landward vergent anticline a robust cold seep community occurs at the canyon’s inflection point. This seep is characterized by chemosynthetic vent clams, tube worms and extensive authigenic carbonate. Fluids for this seep may utilize high-permeability flow paths either parallel to bedding within the second thrust ridge or along the underlying thrust fault before leaking into the overriding section. Two seaward facing canyons on the third anticlinal ridge have vent clam communities near the canyon mouths at approximately the intersection between the anticlinal ridge and the adjacent forearc basin. No seeps were found along strike at the intersection of the slope basin and anticlinal ridge. We infer that the lack of seepage along strike and the presence of seeps in canyons may be related to fluid flow below the forearc basin/slope unconformity (overpressured by the impinging thrust fault to the west?) directed toward canyons at the surface.     

Miocene-Pliocene half-graben evolution, detachment faulting and late-stage core complex uplift from reflection seismic data in south-east Arizona

Reflection seismic data show that the late Cenozoic Safford Basin in the Basin and Range of south-eastern Arizona, is a 4.5-km-deep, NW-trending, SW-dipping half graben composed of middle Miocene to upper Pliocene sediments, separated by a late Miocene sequence boundary into lower and upper basin-fill sequences. Extension during lower basin-fill deposition was accommodated along an E-dipping range-bounding fault comprising a secondary breakaway zone along the north-east flank of the Pinaleño Mountains core complex. This fault was a listric detachment fault, active throughout the mid-Tertiary and late Cenozoic, or a younger fault splay that cut or merged with the detachment fault. Most extension in the basin was accommodated by slip on the range-bounding fault, although episodic movement along antithetic faults temporarily created a symmetric graben. Upper-plate movement over bends in the range-bounding fault created rollover structures in the basin fill and affected deposition within the half graben. Rapid periods of subsidence relative to sedimentation during lower basin-fill deposition created thick, laterally extensive lacustrine or alluvial plain deposits, and restricted proximal alluvian-fan deposits to the basin margins. A period of rapid extension and subsidence relative to sediment influx, or steepening of the upper segment of the range-bounding fault at the start of upper basin-fill deposition resulted in a large downwarp over a major fault bend. Sedimentation was restricted to this downwarp until filled. Episodic subsidence during upper basin-fill deposition caused widespread interbedding of lacustrine and fluvial deposits. Northeastward tilting along the south-western flank of the basin and north-eastward migration of the depocentre during later periods of upper basin-fill deposition suggest decreased extension rates relative to late-stage core complex uplift.     

The architecture of submarine monogenetic volcanoes – insights from 3D seismic data

Many prospective sedimentary basins contain a variety of extrusive volcanic products that are ultimately sourced from volcanoes. However, seismic reflection‐based studies of magmatic rift basins have tended to focus on the underlying magma plumbing system, meaning that the seismic characteristics of volcanoes are not well understood. Additionally, volcanoes have similar morphologies to hydrothermal vents, which are also linked to underlying magmatic intrusions. In this study, we use high resolution 3D seismic and well data from the Bass Basin, offshore southern Australia, to document 34 cone‐ and crater‐type vents of Miocene age. The vents overlie magmatic intrusions and have seismic properties indicative of a volcanic origin: their moderate–high amplitude upper reflections and zones of “wash‐out” and velocity pull‐up beneath. The internal reflections of the vents are similar to those found in lava deltas, suggesting they are composed of volcaniclastic material. This interpretation is corroborated by data from exploration wells which penetrated the flanks of several vents. We infer that the vents we describe are composed of hyaloclastite and pyroclasts produced during submarine volcanic eruptions. The morphology of the vents is typical of monogenetic volcanoes, consistent with the onshore record of volcanism on the southern Australian margin. Based on temporal, spatial and volumetric relationships, we propose that submarine volcanoes can evolve from maars to tuff cones as a result of varying magma‐water interaction efficiency. The morphologies of the volcanoes and their links to the underlying feeder systems are superficially similar to hydrothermal vents. This highlights the need for careful seismic interpretation and characterization of vent structures linked to magmatic intrusions within sedimentary basins.     

Linkage of Sevier thrusting episodes and Late Cretaceous foreland basin megasequences across southern Wyoming (USA)

Deposition and subsidence analysis, coupled with previous structural studies of the Sevier thrust belt, provide a means of reconstructing the detailed kinematic history of depositional response to episodic thrusting in the Cordilleran foreland basin of southern Wyoming, western interior USA. The Upper Cretaceous basin fill is divided into five megasequences bounded by unconformities. The Sevier thrust belt in northern Utah and southwestern Wyoming deformed in an eastward progression of episodic thrusting. Three major episodes of displacement on the Willard‐Meade, Crawford and ‘early’ Absaroka thrusts occurred from Aptian to early Campanian, and the thrust wedge gradually became supercritically tapered. The Frontier Formation conglomerate, Echo Canyon and Weber Canyon Conglomerates and Little Muddy Creek Conglomerate were deposited in response to these major thrusting events. Corresponding to these proximal conglomerates within the thrust belt, Megasequences 1, 2 and 3 were developed in the distal foreland of southern Wyoming. Two‐dimensional (2‐D) subsidence analyses show that the basin was divided into foredeep, forebulge and backbulge depozones. Foredeep subsidence in Megasequences 1, 2 and 3, resulting from Willard‐Meade, Crawford and ‘early’ Absaroka thrust loading, were confined to a narrow zone in the western part of the basin. Subsidence in the broad region east of the forebulge was dominantly controlled by sediment loading and inferred dynamic subsidence. Individual subsidence curves are characterized by three stages from rapid to slow. Controlled by relationships between accommodation and sediment supply, the basin was filled with retrogradational shales during periods of rapid subsidence, followed by progradational coarse clastic wedges during periods of slow subsidence. During middle Campanian time (ca. 78.5–73.4 Ma), the thrust wedge was stalled because of wedge‐top erosion and became subcritical, and the foredeep zone eroded and rebounded because of isostasy. The eroded sediments were transported far from the thrust belt, and constitute Megasequence 4 that was mostly composed of fluvial and coastal plain depositional systems. Subsidence rates were very slow, because of post‐thrusting rebound, and the resulting 2‐D subsidence was lenticular in an east–west direction. During late Campanian to early Maastrichtian time, widespread deposits of coarse sediment (the Hams Fork Conglomerate) aggraded the top of the thrust wedge after it stalled, prior to initiation of ‘late’ Absaroka thrusting. Meanwhile Megasequence 5 was deposited in the Wyoming foreland under the influence of both the intraforeland Wind River basement uplift and the Sevier thrust belt.     

The dammed Hikurangi Trough: a channel-fed trench blocked by subducting seamounts and their wake avalanches (New Zealand–France GeodyNZ Project)

The Hikurangi Trough, off eastern New Zealand, is at the southern end of the Tonga–Kermadec–Hikurangi subduction system, which merges into a zone of intracontinental transform. The trough is mainly a turbidite-filled structural trench but includes an oblique-collision, foredeep basin. Its northern end has a sharp boundary with the deep, sediment-starved, Kermadec Trench. Swath-mapping, sampling and seismic surveys show modern sediment input is mainly via Kaikoura Canyon, which intercepts littoral drift at the southern, intracontinental apex of the trough, with minor input from seep gullies. Glacial age input was via many canyons and about an order of magnitude greater. Beyond a narrow, gravelly, intracontinental foredeep, the southern trench-basin is characterized by a channel meandering around the seaward edge of mainly Plio-Pleistocene, overbank deposits that reach 5 km in thickness. The aggrading channel has sandy turbidites, but low-backscatter, and long-wavelength bedforms indicating thick flows. Levées on both sides are capped by tangentially aligned mudwaves on the outsides of bends, indicating centrifugal overflow from heads of dense, fast-moving, autosuspension flows. The higher, left-bank levée also has levée-parallel mudwaves, indicating Coriolis and/or boundary currents effects on dilute flows or tail plumes. In the northern trough, basin-fill is generally less than 2 km thick and includes widespread overbank turbidites, a massive, blocky, avalanche deposit and an extensive, buried, debris flow deposit. A line of low seamounts on the subducting plate acts as a dam preventing modern turbidity currents from reaching the Kermadec Trench. Major margin collapse probably occurred in the wake of a large subducting seamount; this seamount and its wake debris flow probably dammed the trench from 2 Ma to 0.5 Ma. Before this, similar dams may have re-routed turbidity currents across the plateau.     

Analysis of LiDAR-derived topographic information for characterizing and differentiating landslide morphology and activity

This study used airborne laser altimetry (LiDAR) to examine the surface morphology of two canyon-rim landslides in southern Idaho. The high resolution topographic data were used to calculate surface roughness, slope, semivariance, and fractal dimension. These data were combined with historical movement data (Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and laser theodolite) and field observations for the currently active landslide, and the results suggest that topographic elements are related to the material types and the type of local motion of the landslide. Weak, unconsolidated materials comprising the toe of the slide, which were heavily fractured and locally thrust upward, had relatively high surface roughness, high fractal dimension, and high vertical and lateral movement. The body of the slide, which predominantly moved laterally and consists mainly of undisturbed, older canyon floor materials, had relatively lower surface roughness than the toe. The upper block, consisting of a down-dropped section of the canyon rim that has remained largely intact, had a low surface roughness on its upper surface and high surface roughness along fractures and on its west face (unrelated to landslide motion). The upper block also had a higher semivariance than the toe and body. The topographic data for a neighboring, older and larger landslide complex, which failed in 1937, are similarly used to understand surface morphology, as well as to compare to the morphology of the active landslide and to understand scale-dependent processes. The morphometric analyses demonstrate that the active landslide has a similar failure mechanism and is topographically more variable than the 1937 landslide, especially at scales > 20 m. Weathering and the larger scale processes of the 1937 slide are hypothesized to cause the lower semivariance values of the 1937 slide. At smaller scales (< 10 m) the topographic components of the two landslides have similar roughness and semivariance. Results demonstrate that high resolution topographic data have the potential to differentiate morphological components within a landslide and provide insight into the material type and activity of the slide. The analyses and results in this study would not have been possible with coarser scale digital elevation models (10-m DEM). This methodology is directly applicable to analyzing other geomorphic surfaces at appropriate scales, including glacial deposits and stream beds.     

雅鲁藏布大峡谷地区水环境评价及保护研究

雅鲁藏布大峡谷是世界第一大峡谷,位于我国西藏南部喜马拉雅山脉东端,穿过大峡谷的河流是世界上海拔最高的大河雅鲁藏布江。大峡谷地区由于地形复杂,山高谷深,交通不便而且人口相对稀少,因此受人类活动影响较少,水环境的原始自然状态保持完好。本文根据笔者参加1998年徒步穿越雅鲁藏布大峡谷科学探险考察中取得的第一手资料,对大峡谷地区原始自然状态下的水文和水环境特征做了初步研究,并对今后大峡谷水环境的保护和监测提出了具体的建议。     

徒步穿越考察世界第一大峡谷最新成果

介绍了人类首次徒步穿越和科学考察雅鲁藏布大峡谷的最新成果。     

Structure and evolution of mass transport deposits in the South Caspian Basin,Azerbaijan

The Quaternary to late Pliocene sedimentary succession along the margin of the South Caspian Basin contains numerous kilometre‐scale submarine slope failures, which were sourced along the basin slope and from the inclined flanks of contemporaneous anticlines. This study uses three‐dimensional (3D) seismic reflection data to visualise the internal structure of 27 mass transport deposits and catalogues the syndepositional structures contained within them. These are used to interpret emplacement processes occurring during submarine slope failure. The deposits consist of three linked structural domains: extensional, translational and compressive, each containing characteristic structures. Novel features are present within the mass transport deposits: (1) a diverging retrogression of the headwall scarp; (2) the absence of a conventional headwall scarp around growth stratal pinch outs; (3) restraining bends in the lateral margin; (4) a downslope increase in the throw of thrust faults. The results of this study shed light on the deformation that occurred during submarine slope failure, and highlight an important geological process in the evolution of the South Caspian Basin margin.