基于地震层析速度模型分析海滩地下结构:以青岛石老人海水浴场为例

对海滩地下结构的认识是海岸带研究的一个重要方面,也是海滩保护和开发的基础。目前对于海滩的研究大多集中在表面动态变化监测和研究,而对于海滩内部结构和基底形态研究还非常有限。现有的钻探和探测手段一般只能研究表层砂体,难以探测到砂体的底部,无法建立海滩的整体结构模型,不利于分析砂的储量和研究海滩的演化。因此,需要一种探测手段,以便快速有效地开展砂体结构的大范围探测。本文把多尺度地震层析成像方法应用于海滩结构研究,以山东半岛东南部花岗岩石质海岸的一个典型海滩—青岛石老人海水浴场为例,对石老人海滩下方从地表到结晶基底的整体结构开展研究。通过采用新研制的重锤震源得到较高信噪比的地震数据,使用多尺度地震层析成像方法对海滩地下结构进行建模,建立了青岛石老人海水浴场海滩下方深达50 m的速度结构模型。所建立的速度结构模型与该区域已有的对砂体厚度的认识,以及海滩钻孔取样得到的柱状样品的砂粒度变化曲线吻合。该速度结构模型显示,测线下方砂体北厚南薄,在后滨的厚度约为15 m,而在前滨仅有5 m左右。我们推测,海滩下方的砂体中可能存在直立的岩石和未风化完全的岩石,海滩下方的不均匀风化作用导致其下方基底呈现下凹的形态,这种基底形态可能具有稳定砂体的作用。本文方法能够快速有效地构建海滩下方速度结构模型,并且可以方便地推广到其他海滩的结构探测,对于研究海滩结构、演化过程和沙滩保护具有重要意义。     

成都市中心城区第四系三维地质模型构建与隐伏断裂分析

隐伏断裂的探测是城市地质调查的基本要素。成都中心城区位于成都平原东侧,整体表现为受断裂控制、西陡东缓的陆内逆冲断陷盆地,并以覆盖巨厚的第四纪砂卵石沉积为特征,隐伏断裂发育特征不明,识别难度大。本文基于多年来成都中心城区地铁勘察、房建地基勘察、水文地质调查、基坑探槽等累积的数据,结合实地勘察与其他地学数据整合信息库,运用计算机三维精细建模与可视化技术,建立了成都中心城区精细三维地质模型。结合实测钻孔剖面图,在精细刻画的三维基岩起伏面上识别出两条明显的北东向隐伏断裂,确定了其在中心城区经过的具体位置及展布形态;结合上覆砂卵石层的分布,确认蒲江-新津-成都断裂为主控断裂,早更新世开始活动,双桥子-包江桥断裂为其次级断裂,晚更新世初开始活动;同时发现了一条可能受断裂控制、贯穿市区的北西西向凹陷带。三维地质模型与沉积层等厚线图揭示了隐伏断裂对沉积的控制作用,砂卵石层沉降中心由西北向东南逐渐迁移。此次研究建立了成都中心城区的三维基岩起伏面模型,识别出了隐伏断裂具体位置及其主要特征,为城市地下空间合理利用、科学规划及地震危险性评价等提供了重要的基础资料。     

Geologic controls on movement of produced-water releases at US geological survey research Site A,Skiatook lake,Osage county,Oklahoma

Highly saline produced water was released from multiple sources during oil field operations from 1913 to 1973 at the USGS research Site A on Skiatook Lake in northeastern Oklahoma. Two pits, designed to hold produced water and oil, were major sources for release of these fluids at the site. Produced water spills from these and other features moved downslope following topography and downdip by percolating through permeable eolian sand and colluvium, underlying permeable sandstone, and, to a lesser extent, through shales and mudstones. Saline water penetrated progressively deeper units as it moved through the gently dipping bedrock to the north and NW. A large eroded salt scar north of the pits coincides with underlying fine-grained rocks that have retained substantial concentrations of salt, causing slow revegetation. Where not eroded, thick eolian sand or permeable sandstone bedrock is near the surface, and vegetation has been little affected or has reestablished itself after the introduced salt was flushed by precipitation. The extent of salt-contaminated bedrock extends well beyond existing surface salt scars. These results indicate that one of the legacies of surface salt spills can be a volume of subsurface salinization larger than the visible surface disturbance.     

重庆小南海滑坡形成机制离散元模拟分析

重庆小南海滑坡是烈度相对较低地区发生的地震高位滑坡,其成因一直令人费解。基于重庆黔江小南海相关研究资料,通过对复原的小南海坡体进行失稳分析,计算得出使岩体产生崩滑破坏的地震力临界条件,即只有当地震波地形放大后滑坡才能启动。为了进一步验证计算所得的结论,运用UDEC软件建立小南海典型二维场地模型,施加相应的地震力对坡体失稳崩滑的全过程进行模拟,以研究地震作用下地形放大效应触发具平行坡面陡倾控制性结构面的高位岩质斜坡地震机理。研究结果表明,在地震波传播过程中,具平行坡面陡倾控制性结构面的高陡突出地形对地震波有明显的放大作用。该坡体运动模式为：峰值加速度放大-增加的振幅迫使岩体顺平行坡面陡倾控制性结构面迅速拉裂-沿缓倾层面滑移-高速脱离滑源区-巨大的势能和动能驱动坡体做长距离运动,其间伴随解体、颗粒间相互碰撞、铲刮作用,具有二相甚至三相流体性质。分析揭示地震力作用下斜坡体中质点加速度具有地形放大效应。对比结构面监测点和基岩监测点加速度放大系数,表明,滑坡启动时具有较大的加速度,当遇到平行坡面的不连续结构面时,斜坡动力响应强烈,最终导致坡体失稳。     

Subglacial processes and drumlin formation in a confined bedrock valley,northwest Ireland

Knight, J. 2010: Subglacial processes and drumlin formation in a confined bedrock valley, northwest Ireland. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2010.00182.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. Subglacial processes beneath the Late Weichselian ice sheet in northwest Ireland are deduced from sediments and structures within drumlins in a bedrock valley at Loughros Beg, County Donegal. Here, a glacially smoothed bedrock surface underlies the drumlins, which are composed on their up‐ice side of stacked, angular rafts of local bedrock. Overlying and down‐ice from these rafts are down‐ice‐dipping beds of massive to bedded diamicton that contain sand and gravel interbeds. In a down‐ice direction the diamicton matrix coarsens and the beds become laterally transitional to water‐sorted gravels. The down‐ice end of one drumlin shows a concentrically bedded stratified gravel core aligned parallel to ice flow and resembling the internal structure of an esker. With distance away from this core, the gravels become more poorly sorted with an increase in matrix content, and are transitional to massive to stratified diamicton. A four‐stage model describes the formation of drumlins in this sediment‐poor setting. The sediments that are located directly above the bedrock represent deposition in a semi‐enclosed subglacial cavity. A trigger for this process was the formation of subglacial relief by the thrusting up of bedrock rafts, which created the leeside cavity. Subsequent sediment deposition into this cavity represents a form of feedback (self‐regulation), which may be a typical characteristic of subglacial processes in sediment‐poor settings.     

Seaward dipping reflectors and the continent-ocean boundary at passive continental margins

The definition of the continent-ocean boundary at passive continental margins has proved to be an elusive task. Even the relatively direct method of seismic refraction experiments has yielded results that cannot always be interpreted unequivocally. Multichannel seismic reflection profiles on many passive margins have revealed the presence of remarkable suites of arcuate reflectors, dipping seaward to form a wedge-shaped structure. Their general characteristics and velocity structure suggest that they may be largely volcanic in nature, but there is no agreed upon model for their origin. Nevertheless it is generally thought that they lie at or close to the boundary between continent and ocean, and as such they are extremely important structural markers that may yield important evidence concerning the structure and evolution of passive margins.     

Fault system of the 2004 Mid Niigata Prefecture Earthquake and its aftershocks

Data recorded by a seismic network deployed the day after the 2004 Mid Niigata Prefecture Earthquake (M6.8) in central Japan are used to determine the major source faults responsible for the mainshock and major aftershocks. Using this high-resolution seismic data, three major source faults are identified: two parallel faults dipping steeply to the west located 5 km apart, and the other dipping eastward and oriented perpendicular to the west-dipping faults. The analysis also reveals that the lateral variation in seismic velocity observed at the surface extends to a depth of 15 km, encompassing the source area of the mainshock. This strong heterogeneity of the crust, related to the complex geological and tectonic evolution of the area, is considered to be responsible for the prominent aftershock activity following the 2004 Niigata event.     

Basin Structure and Numerical Simulation for the Mechanisms of Seismic Disasters

In the present study seismic wave propagation in heterogeneous media is numerically simulated by using the pseudospectral method with the staggered grid RFFT differentiation in order to clarify the cause for the complicated distribution characteristics of strong ground motion in regions with basin structure. The results show that the maximum amplitudes of simulated ground acceleration waveforms are closely related to the basin structure. Interference of seismic waves in the basin strongly affects the distribution of maximum seismic waveforms, which may result in peak disasters during earthquakes. Peak disasters might be away from basin boundaries or earthquake faults. Seismic energy transmitted into the basin from the bedrock can hardly penetrate the bottom of the basin and then travel back into the bedrock region. The seismic energy is absorbed by basin media, and transferred into the kinematical energy of seismic waves with great amplitude in the basin. Seismic waves between basins may result in seriou     

Bar structure in an arid ephemeral stream

This study describes the structure of gravel bars in Nahal Zin, an ephemeral stream in the Negev desert. The internal structure of the bars was examined along trenches and in shallow pits. Gravel sheets and unit bars form during transporting flow events in the main channel, on intra-bar channels and near bar heads. Unit bars are dominated by the Go facies. Compound bars develop from accretion around, and modification of, unit bars. Compound bars are active under the current flow regime and the average depth of the fill layer is about 35 cm. The structure of compound bars is dominated by Gm (massive), containing large amounts of sand. The second most common facies is clast-supported, openwork, and well sorted sediments of the Go (pebbles) facies. Bar formation, and the development of the range of facies evident in the bars is controlled by sediment supply, particularly the high volumes of sand-sized sediment, the passage of gravel sheets and bedforms during floods, and the lateral and vertical instability of the channel. Repeated scour and fill events have produced a diverse arrangement of facies, with numerous erosional contacts between depositional units. Lateral and downstream shifts in the pattern of scour and fill due to flow and antecedent conditions shape the channel morphology and bar internal structure. Ephemeral river bars differ from those of humid and proglacial rivers in terms of the dominant facies present, the arrangement of the facies within the bars, and the sedimentary structures developed within the depositional units and on the bar surface.     

新西兰深水Taranaki盆地中新统深水水道迁移及沉积演化

深水水道砂体是深海油气的重要储集体之一,其复杂的演化规律常常影响水道砂体储层的分布,无法充分了解深水水道的演化过程是阻碍深海油气勘探开发的原因之一,增大了深海油气的勘探开发难度。以新西兰深水Taranaki盆地中新统深水水道为例,基于高分辨率三维地震数据,应用地震地貌学、地震沉积学的理论及技术手段,探究水道的沉积演化规律及相关控制因素。研究区水道体系可划分为5个发育期次,即残余部分结构的复合水道Ⅰ、侧向迁移的复合水道Ⅱ、垂向叠置的复合水道Ⅲ、富泥充填的复合水道Ⅳ及零散分布的复合水道Ⅴ。复合水道Ⅰ和Ⅳ呈相对顺直的平面形态;复合水道Ⅱ多为侧向迁移运动,表现为高弯曲的平面形态,而复合水道Ⅲ多为垂向叠置运动,其弯曲度较复合水道Ⅱ有所减小;复合水道Ⅴ包括多条零散的细小单水道,不同单水道的平面形态存在较大差异。各期次复合水道的演化过程可归纳为初期下切侵蚀、中期充填沉积及末期填平消亡等3个阶段。深水水道沉积演化过程受多种因素综合控制,早期水道结构会影响后期水道发育环境的限制程度,强限制性的复合水道Ⅰ～Ⅳ经历有序的演化过程,非限制性的复合水道Ⅴ则经历了无序的演化过程;重力流规模及能量的变化会影响各期次...     

Internal structure of mixed-sand-and-gravel beach deposits revealed using ground-penetrating radar

ABSTRACT Mixed‐sand‐and‐gravel beaches are a distinctive type of coarse‐clastic beach. Ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) and photographic records of previous excavations are used to investigate the stratigraphy and internal sedimentary structure of mixed‐beach deposits at Aldeburgh in Suffolk, south‐east England. The principles of radar stratigraphy are used to describe and interpret migrated radar reflection profiles obtained from the study site. The application of radar stratigraphy allows the delineation of both bounding surfaces (radar surfaces) and the intervening beds or bed sets (radar facies). The deposits of the main backshore berm ridge consist of seaward‐dipping bounding surfaces that are gently onlapped by seaward‐dipping bed sets. Good correspondence is observed between a sequence of beach profiles, which record development of the berm ridge on the backshore, and the berm ridge's internal structure. The beach‐profile data also indicate that backshore berm ridges at Aldeburgh owe their origin to discrete depositional episodes related to storm‐wave activity. Beach‐ridge plain deposits at the study site consist of a complex, progradational sequence of foreshore, berm‐ridge, overtop and overwash deposits. Relict berm‐ridge deposits, separated by seaward‐dipping bounding surfaces, form the main depositional element beneath the beach‐ridge plain. However, the beach ridges themselves are formed predominantly of vertically stacked overtop/overwash units, which lie above the berm‐ridge deposits. Consequently, beach‐ridge development in this progradational, mixed‐beach setting must have occurred when conditions favoured overtopping and overwashing of the upper beachface. Interannual to decadal variations in wave climate, antecedent beach morphology, shoreline progradation rate and sea level are identified as the likely controlling factors in the development of such suitable conditions.     

Eustatic and hydrodynamic controls on the architecture of a deep shelf sand bank (Celtic Sea)

The architecture of a tidal sand bank in the south-eastern Celtic Sea was examined using very high-resolution seismic surveys. The bank comprises four depositional units. The lowest unit 1 is characterized by gently dipping (1–8°) strata that strike parallel to the length of the bank. Unit 1 is erosionally overlain by unit 2, which forms the bulk of the bank. This unit consists of stacked sets of downcurrent-dipping (7–12°) master bedding formed by climbing, sinuous-crested tidal dunes that are up to 20 m high. These deposits are locally incised by an anastomosed channel network (unit 3) that may represent a buried swatchway system. The upper part of the bank comprises wave-related deposits that are mainly preserved on the bank flanks (unit 4). The outer bank surface is erosional. The bank is believed to have formed during the last post-glacial sea-level rise. The facies evolution from unit 1 to unit 3 indicates an upward increase in tidal energy, mainly characterized by the thickening of dune cross-bed sets in unit 2. The majority of bank growth is inferred to have occurred in water depths of the order of 60 m. This evolution was controlled by relative sea-level rise, which is likely to have caused an episode of tidal resonance with associated strong tidal currents that were responsible for the incision of the deep, cross-cutting channels of unit 3. The transition to wave-dominated sedimentation in unit 4 is related to the decay of resonance with continued sea-level rise.     

The structure and development of foredunes on a locally prograding coast: insights from ground-penetrating radar surveys, Norfolk, UK

The internal structure of coastal foredunes from three sites along the north Norfolk coast has been investigated using ground‐penetrating radar (GPR), which provides a unique insight into the internal structure of these dunes that cannot be achieved by any other non‐destructive or geophysical technique. Combining geomorphological and geophysical investigations into the structure and morphology of these coastal foredunes has enabled a more accurate determination of their development and evolution. The radar profiles show the internal structures, which include foreslope accretion, trough cut and fill, roll‐over and beach deposits. Foredune ridges contain large sets of low‐angle cross‐stratification from dune foreslope accretion with trough‐shaped structures from cut and fill on the crest and rearslope. Foreslope accretion indicates sand supply from the beach to the foreslope, while troughs on the dune crest and rearslope are attributed to reworking by offshore winds. Bounding surfaces between dunes are clearly resolved and reveal the relative chronology of dune emplacement. Radar sequence boundaries within dunes have been traced below the water‐table passing into beach erosion surfaces. These are believed to result from storm activity, which erodes the upper beach and dunes. In one example, at Brancaster, a dune scarp and erosion surface may be correlated with erosion in the 1950s, possibly the 1953 storm. Results suggest that dune ridge development is intimately linked to changes in the shoreline, with dune development associated with coastal progradation while dunes are eroded during storms and, where beaches are eroding, a stable coast provides more time for dune development, resulting in higher foredune ridges. A model for coastal dune evolution is presented, which illustrates stages of dune development in response to beach evolution and sand supply. In contrast to many other coastal dune fields where the prevailing wind is onshore, on the north Norfolk coast, the prevailing wind is directed along the coast and offshore, which reduces the landward migration of sand dunes.     

Flow conditions of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Thailand,inferred from capping bedforms and sedimentary structures

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami deposited a sheet of sand with surficial bedforms at the Andaman coast of Thailand. Here we show the recognition of bedforms and the key internal sedimentary structures as criteria of the tsunami supercritical flow condition. The presence of well‐preserved capping bedforms implied a dominant tsunami inflow. Sets of internal sedimentary structures including parallel lamination, seaward and landward inclined‐laminations, and downstream dipping laminae indicated antidune structures that were generated by a supercritical flow current in a depositional stage during the inflow. A set of seaward dipping cross‐laminations containing sand with mud drape on the surface of one depositional layer are a unique indication of an outflow structure. A majority of deposits show normal grading, but in some areas, localized reverse grading was also observed. The recognition of these capping bedforms and determination of the internal sedimentary structures provides new key criteria to help derive a better understanding of tsunami flow conditions.     

塔中地区卡1三维区块奥陶系鹰山组台内滩的地震相特征与分布

塔里木盆地塔中地区奥陶系鹰山组是海相碳酸盐岩油气勘探的有利目标层位。为查明塔中地区卡1三维区块鹰山组台内滩储层的空间分布,基于大量的岩心、钻井、地震资料,通过井震对比,分析台内滩的地震反射特征,并在此基础上预测卡1区块内鹰山组台内滩的分布。研究认为,台内滩内部多具有高频无序反射,振幅的强弱变化明显,且不均匀,两翼地层厚度有较明显的变化,与相邻层位岩性有明显差异;在顶面和底面多具有宽、缓的透镜状或丘状地震反射波外形,台内滩附近的围岩,较明显地超覆或披覆在台内滩之上。在精细解释三维地震资料的基础上,利用地震属性,对鹰山组古地貌进行了恢复,预测卡1三维区块奥陶系鹰山组的台内滩有利发育区,为区内高能滩相储集层的评价奠定基础。     

四川盆地仪陇-平昌地区二叠系长兴组地震沉积学研究

为明确四川盆地仪陇-平昌地区长兴组地震相及沉积特征,运用地震岩性学和地震地貌学的综合分析技术,开展井-震结合及礁体三维识别研究,以阐明长兴组生物礁滩储集体的展布特征。研究结果表明,仪陇-平昌地区长兴组主要为四个沉积区带,开阔台地相对应平行-亚平行席状中弱断续地震相、台地边缘相对应平行-亚平行丘状或透镜状中弱地震相、台地前缘斜坡相对应前积席状弱地震相,海盆相对应平行-亚平行席状中强地震相,可细分为台缘礁、台内礁和台内滩亚相;30 Hz振幅调谐体切片揭示海盆岸线为北西向展布,25 Hz调谐体切片对于海盆线西侧的台缘带礁体和台内礁滩体反应明显;生物礁滩体的平面展布特征、发育规模受控于长兴组沉积期西南高、东北低的古地貌形态,台缘礁生长发育的有利区域为台地相带两排北西向凸起带。     

三分量地震散射波成像在天津蓟县城市活断层探测中的应用

在精细解决近地表地质问题方面,三分量地震探测技术具有明显的优势。笔者基于点散射地震—地质模型,推导出多分量散射波时距方程,在建立多分量散射波成像原理的基础上,对天津蓟县城市活断层探测的三分量地震资料进行处理。成像结果表明,基岩面的波组特征明显、构造内幕特征较丰富,而且基岩面附近的小断层发育。通过研究,基本明确了该地区基岩与第四系土层的接触关系,探明了山前断裂情况和基岩面附近的地质结构特征。     

The Quaternary history of the subtidal central Wash,eastern England

The history of Quaternary sedimentation in the subtidal Wash is described using high-resolution seismic profiles. The Pleistocene sequence is divided into three depositional units, comprising Anglian till overlain by possible Late Devensian subglacial scour fill and lacustrine sediments. These latter sediments may provide further evidence for a lake in the Wash impounded by ice along the Lincolnshire–Norfolk coast. The Holocene sequence is divided into six depositional units, each truncated by the one above. Estuarine sediment resting on a marine flooding surface forms the earliest unit. This sediment was partially eroded by migration of the shoreface as the marine flooding progressed landward. The following four units comprise sand and gravel banks deposited on the erosion surface. Bank deposition was followed by an episode of tidal scour caused either by increased tidal current velocities following reclamation of the Fenland or by breakdown of postulated former offshore barriers. The youngest and most extensive Holocene unit rests on the scoured surface and comprises several types of deposit. These are: large sand banks around the periphery of the subtidal area with sediment extending seawards into two NE–SW aligned troughs; low sand banks on a central ridge dividing the troughs and partially covering the sediments in the troughs; thick gravels towards the mouth of the Wash; muddy sediments forming drapes over the sand in the centre of the Wash. The data provide information on the variety of processes related to the advance and retreat of Pleistocene ice sheets in eastern England and the subsequent Holocene marine flooding of the Wash–Fenland embayment. The Holocene sequence reveals periods of widespread sedimentation separated by periods of both local and regional erosion, with possible implications for climatic and hydrodynamic change. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Role of the Wide-angle OBS Seismic Exploration in the Research of Marine Sedimentary Basin

Marine sedimentary basin is an important tectonic unit in the earth, and the evolution of marine sedimentary basin involves a series of the coupling and evolution of geodynamic mechanism such as the crust-mantle, the lithosphere-asthenosphere, the strata-fluid deposition. Therefore, the study of marine sedimentary basin dynamics includes deep structure state of earth, material composition and regional tectonic evolution, and also internal structure, tectonic characteristics and pore fluid characteristics strata of the basin. Wide angle Ocean Bottom Seismometer (OBS) seismic exploration is a marine geophysical survey method originated and developed since 1980’s and 1990’s, which has the advantages of strong penetration capability, high seismic imaging precision and reception of both P-wave and S-wave, and playing an increasing significant role in the research of marine sedimentary basin at the aspect of regional tectonic evolution, internal structure and pore fluid development characteristics of strata in recent years. In the study of passive continental margin, the crustal structure acquired from wide angle OBS seismic data provides the direct evidence that divides the passive continental margins into magma-poor and magma-dominated ones, and the degree of thinning and spatial variation characteristics of crust provide constraints for dynamics simulations of tectonic evolution in marine sedimentary basin. In the study of the structure features of basin, wide angle OBS seismic exploration fills in gaps at the aspect of investigation depth and complex geological structure in conventional multi-channel seismic survey, and acquires overpressure distribution status of basin according to the velocity structure characteristics of strata, and then infer the basin sedimentation velocity and pore fluid characteristics. In the study of internal fluid system in marine sedimentary basin, it reveals the velocity structure of natural gas hydrate reservoir through the analysis and processing of wide angle OBS seismic data, and calculates the thickness of natural gas hydrate reservoir and the content of hydrate and free gas in pore based on the velocity variation. Of course, the future wide angle OBS seismic exploration in the aspect of dynamic evolution and mechanism research in marine sedimentary basin will play a more important role with the development of marine seismic exploration technology, the improvement of data processing and instrument parameters.     

Pool-fills: a window to palaeoflood history and response in bedrock-confined rivers

Channel‐scale sedimentary units associated with bedrock‐controlled riffle‐pool morphology are examined in detail along Sandy Creek gorge, an ephemeral stream in arid south‐eastern central Australia. Pool‐fills comprise cut‐and‐fill assemblages of poorly sorted sediments ranging in texture from muds to boulders. Five unit types are defined based on particle size, sedimentary structures, geometry and bounding surface character: (1) coarse‐grained bar platform; (2) fine‐grained bar supraplatform; (3) fine‐grained pool‐fill; (4) fine‐grained bench; and (5) modern pool‐fill. The last coarse‐grained unit currently lining the pools suggests an altered sedimentation style over the post‐settlement period (post‐ad 1860s). Situated at bedrock valley constrictions, pool‐fills are compared with other sedimentary units associated with recirculating currents: eddy bars and slackwater deposits. But only the fine‐grained bench units reflect eddy recirculation; the pool‐fills are principally forced‐bars associated with bedrock‐controlled or ‘forced’ riffle‐pool morphology. A late Holocene palaeoflood history is proposed based on radiocarbon ages from the pool‐fills: multiple phases of cut‐and‐fill activity were preceded by a superflood 3400–1900 years ago that eroded the pool‐fills to bedrock. The resilience of the pool‐fills was illustrated by the passage of a 1‐in‐100‐year flood in 1992, which caused only minor erosion. The presence of pool‐fills may provide a window to past phases of river activity that cannot be extracted from either historical records/observations or palaeoflood slackwater sediment analyses. The formation and sedimentary preservation potential of these landforms reflect a combination of hydraulic and structural influences, but the occurrence of high‐magnitude floods exerts the dominant control.