MULTIVARIATE GEOMORPHIC ANALYSIS OF FOREST STREAMS: IMPLICATIONS FOR ASSESSMENT OF LAND USE IMPACTS ON CHANNEL CONDITION

Multivariate statistical analyses of geomorphic variables from 23 forest stream reaches in southeast Alaska result in successful discrimination between pristine streams and those disturbed by land management, specifically timber harvesting and associated road building. Results of discriminant function analysis indicate that a three-variable model discriminates 10 disturbed from 13 undisturbed reaches with 90 per cent and 92 per cent correct classification respectively. These variables are the total number of pools per reach, the ratio of mean residual pool depth to mean bankfull depth, and the ratio of critical shear stress of the median surface grain size to bankfull shear stress. The last variable can be dropped without a decrease in rate of correct classification; however, the resulting two-variable model may be less robust. Analysis of the distribution of channel units, including pool types, can also be used to discriminate disturbed from undisturbed reaches and is particularly useful for assessment of aquatic habitat condition. However, channel unit classification and inventory can be subject to considerable error and observer bias. Abundance of pool-related large woody debris is highly correlated with pool frequency and is an important factor determining channel morphology. Results of this study yield a much needed, objective, geomorphic discrimination of pristine and disturbed channel conditions, providing a reference standard for channel assessment and restoration efforts.     

A LATE PLEISTOCENE INTERTIDAL BOULDER PAVEMENT FROM AN ISOSTATICALLY EMERGENT COAST,DUNDALK BAY,EASTERN IRELAND

Late Pleistocene sequences around Dundalk Bay, eastern Ireland, record glaciomarine sedimentation near the margin of a grounded ice lobe around 15 ka BP. A coastal exposure at Cooley Point consists of four major facies deposited outside this ice limit. (1) A basal mud facies deposited from sediment plumes accumulated following the initial ice marginal retreat inland. It contains a well-preserved Arctic microfauna dominated by the foram Elphidium clavatum and the ostracod Roundstonia globulifera. (2) A flat to undulating boulder facies (pavement), mostly one clast thick, is found pressed into the mud and is characterized by bevelled and striated upper clast surfaces. Pavement attributes are a result of intertidal activity in a cold climate. The boulder source is due to rafting by ice floes from glacigenic debris deposited during an ice advance. (3) Laminated sand facies drape the pavement and are a result of variable current activity. (4) The overlying gravel facies is separated from the sand facies by a marine erosion surface. The gravel facies is subaqueous, channelized and is overlain by late glacial raised beach ridges. Locally the gravels have been deformed by ice pressure from partially floating ice floes. Facies changes record terrestrial submergence and provide evidence for changes in relative sea level during part of the last deglacial cycle. The boulder pavement and deformed gravel facies suggest that ice floes and sea ice effects may be more common within stratigraphies along emergent coasts than previously thought, though they have a low preservation potential. Extreme conditions during the deglacial favoured opportunistic microfaunas during mud deposition. This event may be related to a major meltwater event within the Irish Sea Basin.     

The morphology and dynamics of low amplitude bedwaves upon upper stage plane beds and the preservation of planar laminae

Experimental studies of subcritical, unidirectional flow over upper stage plane beds of medium grained sand reveal the ubiquitous presence of low amplitude bedwaves. Flow depth was 0·11 m, mean flow velocities were 0·86–1·0 m s^?1, shear velocities were 0·058–0·71 m s^?1 and dimensionless shear stresses were 0·56–0·87. Bedwaves are asymmetrical in profile and range from 0·75 to 11 mm in height (mainly 2–6 mm), from 0·7 to 1·3 m in wavelength and have mean celerities of 10 mm s^?1. Flow records suggest that the bedwaves are associated with accelerating flow over the bedwave crests and flow which decelerates and diverges laterally over the troughs. High resolution bed profiling during aggradation of the bed combined with subsequent box coring illustrates that these bedwaves are responsible for the planar laminae characteristic of upper stage plane beds. Lamina preservation is dependent upon the mean aggradation rate and the sequence of bedwaves of different height crossing any point; individual laminae are more readily preserved at higher aggradation rates where the possibility of reworking by later bedwaves is reduced. Laminae are recognized by small changes in grain size and commonly a fining upwards at the top of laminae which is generated by fine grained material infiltrating a lower lamina in the leeside of a bedwave.     

The Stonyford Volcanic Complex: a Forearc Seamount in the Northern California Coast Ranges

Jurassic age volcanic rocks of the Stonyford volcanic complex(SFVC) comprise three distinct petrological groups based ontheir whole-rock geochemistry: (1) oceanic tholeiites; (2) transitionalalkali basalts and glasses; (3) high-Al, low-Ti tholeiites.Major and trace element, and Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic dataindicate that the oceanic tholeiites formed as low-degree partialmelts of normal mid-ocean ridge basalt (N-MORB)-source asthenospheresimilar in isotope composition to the East Pacific Rise today;the alkalic lavas were derived from an enriched source similarto that of E-MORB. The high-Al, low-Ti lavas resemble second-stagemelts of a depleted MORB-source asthenosphere that formed bymelting spinel lherzolite at low pressures. Trace element systematicsof the high-Al, low-Ti basalts show the influence of an enrichedcomponent, which overprints generally depleted trace elementcharacteristics. Tectonic discrimination diagrams show thatthe oceanic tholeiite and alkali suites are similar to present-daybasalts generated at mid-oceanic ridges. The high-Al, low-Tisuite resembles primitive arc basalts with an enriched, alkalibasalt-like overprint. Isotopic data show the influence of recycledcomponents in all three suites. The SFVC was constructed ona substrate of normal Coast Range ophiolite in an extensionalforearc setting. The close juxtaposition of the MORB-like olivinetholeiites with alkali and high-Al, low-Ti basalts suggestsderivation from a hybrid mantle source region that includedMORB-source asthenosphere, enriched oceanic asthenosphere, andthe depleted supra-subduction zone mantle wedge. We proposethat the SFVC formed in response to collision of a mid-oceanridge spreading center with the Coast Range ophiolite subductionzone. Formation of a slab window beneath the forearc duringcollision allowed the influx of ridge-derived magmas or themantle source of these magmas. Continued melting of the previouslydepleted mantle wedge above the now defunct subduction zoneproduced strongly depleted high-Al, low-Ti basalts that werepartially fertilized with enriched, alkali basalt-type meltsand slab-derived fluids. KEY WORDS: CRO; oceanic basalts; California     

Maximum extent of the Eurasian ice sheets in the Barents and Kara Sea region during the Weichselian

Based on field investigations in northern Russia and interpretation of offshore seismic data, we have made a preliminary reconstruction of the maximum ice-sheet extent in the Barents and Kara Sea region during the Early/Middle Weichselian and the Late Weichselian. Our investigations indicate that the Barents and Kara ice sheets attained their maximum Weichselian positions in northern Russia prior to 50 000 yr BP, whereas the northeastern flank of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet advanced to a maximum position shortly after 17 000 calendar years ago. During the Late Weichselian (25 000-10 000 yr BP), much of the Russian Arctic remained ice-free. According to our reconstruction, the extent of the ice sheets in the Barents and Kara Sea region during the Late Weichselian glacial maximum was less than half that of the maximum model which, up to now, has been widely used as a boundary condition for testing and refining General Circulation Models (GCMs). Preliminary numerical-modelling experiments predict Late Weichselian ice sheets which are larger than the ice extent implied for the Kara Sea region from dated geological evidence, suggesting very low precipitation.     

Holocene (Neoglacial) moraine and proglacial lake chronology, Barnes Ice Cap, Canada

Lichen diameters and radiocarbon dates from the western and southern margins of the Barnes Ice Cap yield a growth curve similar to that from southeastern Baffin Island. As a consequence, the moraine chronology of the northern and western Barnes Ice Cap needs revision, as does the chronology of the large proglacial lakes that existed north of the present Barnes Ice Cap. The revised chronology indicates that moraines were formed along the western margin of the Barnes Ice Cap during the following intervals: (1) less than 100 years ago; (2) 400–500 B.P.; (3) ca. 750 B.P.; (4) ca. 1000 B.P.; (5) ca. 1600 B.P.; (6) ca. 2100 B.P.; and (7) 2800 to 3100 B.P. As the western margin of the Barnes Ice Cap retreated, punctuated by stillstands and readvances, the northern margin of the Barnes Ice Cap lay athwart a series of westerly draining valleys, and a complex of proglacial lakes were dammed between the ice margin and the height of land. This sequence is traced by means of well-developed shorelines, lacustrine deltas, and spillways; specific lake levels are dated by lichenometry.
The Barnes Ice Cap moraine sequence is more complex than other Neoglacial records fringing mountain glaciers in Colorado, Alaska and Lappland. However, the chronology for the western Barnes Ice Cap closely resembles independent moraine chronology of mountain glaciers in Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, and thus indicates that the difference between the Baffin Island climatic record and the general Neoglacial/Holocene climatic record (Denton & Karlén, Quaternary Research 7 , 1977) is real. Comparison of specific data from Swedish Lappland and Baffin Island shows substantial agreement. Although Neoglacial records may be globally synchronous, the case for a 2500 year periodicity of glacial fluctuations is not proven: a 300 to 600 year return interval is suggested for the period between 0 and 3000 B.P.