Wrench tectonics flip at oblique subduction. A model from New Zealand

In eastern North Island New Zealand, oblique subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the Australian Plate is associated with strain partitioning. Dextral along-strike component of displacement occurred first at Early Miocene major faults within the eastern fore-arc domain. These faults were active from Early Miocene to Pliocene times. Since Pliocene times, most of the movement occurs at western faults such as the Wellington Fault. The latter joins the back-arc domain to the north. The jump of wrench faulting is related to the oblique opening of the back-arc domain. Both phenomena are impeded southwards by the Hikurangi oceanic plateau entering the subduction zone. To cite this article: J. Delteil et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).     

Reflections on the history of research on large wood in rivers

Dynamics and functions of large wood have become integral considerations in the science and management of river systems. Study of large wood in rivers took place as monitoring of fish response to wooden structures placed in rivers in the central United States in the early 20th century, but did not begin in earnest until the 1970s. Research has increased in intensity and thematic scope ever since. A wide range of factors has prompted these research efforts, including basic understanding of stream systems, protection and restoration of aquatic ecosystems, and environmental hazards in mountain environments. Research and management have adopted perspectives from ecology, geomorphology, and engineering, using observational, experimental, and modelling approaches. Important advances have been made where practical information needs converge with institutional and science leadership capacities to undertake multi-pronged research programmes. Case studies include ecosystem research to inform regulations for forest management; storage and transport of large wood as a component in global carbon dynamics; and the role of wood transport in environmental hazards in mountain regions, including areas affected by severe landscape disturbances, such as volcanic eruptions. As the field of research has advanced, influences of large wood on river structures and processes have been merged with understanding of streamflow and sediment regimes, so river form and function are now viewed as involving the tripartite system of water, sediment, and wood. A growing community of researchers and river managers is extending understanding of large wood in rivers to climatic, forest, landform, and social contexts not previously investigated. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lake Floor Morphology and Sediment Architecture of Lake Torneträsk,Northern Sweden

Here we present datasets from a hydroacoustic survey in July 2011 at Lake Torneträsk, northern Sweden. Our hydroacoustic data exhibit lake floor morphologies formed by glacial erosion and accumulation processes, insights into lacustrine sediment accumulation since the beginning of deglaciation, and information on seismic activity along the Pärvie Fault. Features of glacial scouring with a high‐energy relief, steep slopes, and relative reliefs of more than 50 m are observed in the large W‐basin. The remainder of the lacustrine subsurface appears to host a broad variety of well preserved formations from glacial accumulation related to the last retreat of the Fennoscandian ice sheet. Deposition of glaciolacustrine and lacustrine sediments is focused in areas situated in proximity to major inlets. Sediment accumulation in distal areas of the lake seldom exceeds 2 m or is not observable. We assume that lack of sediment deposition in the lake is a result of different factors, including low rates of erosion in the catchment, a previously high lake level leading to deposition of sediments in higher elevated paleodeltas, tributaries carrying low suspension loads as a result of sedimentation in upstream lakes, and an overall low productivity in the lake. A clear off‐shore trace of the Pärvie Fault could not be detected from our hydroacoustic data. However, an absence of sediment disturbance in close proximity to the presumed fault trace implies minimal seismic activity since deposition of the glaciolacustrine and lacustrine sediments.     

A geologic study of the Juan del Grijalva landslide,the most important mass movement during the last century in Mexico

On November 4th 2007, along the Grijalva River in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, has occurred one of the largest landslides ever known. This landslide, known as Juan del Grijalva, destroyed the town of the same name, killing 20 people, and moved 55 million cubic meters of rock and debris down slope to completely block the Grijalva River. In order to understand the characteristics and factors that triggered the Juan del Grijalva landslide, geologic studies were conducted at the site. The results indicate that the landslide was composed of a lithologic sequence of thin-bedded shales and thin to medium-thick-bedded sandstones. This was faulted into several blocks dipping in the same sense as the mass movement. The main triggering factor was the increment of the pore pressure into the lithologic unit due to water saturation after 5 days of heavy rain before the incident. According to records from the last century, the Juan del Grijalva mass movement represents one of the largest mass movements recorded all over the world. The risk conditions of the area after the landslide lead to the rapid construction of an artificial channel to drain the accumulating mass of water upstream and therefore prevent a future catastrophic inundation down stream.     

Dynamics of sea-surface temperature anomalies in the Southern Ocean diagnosed from a 2D mixed-layer model

We analyze the processes responsible for the generation and evolution of sea-surface temperature anomalies observed in the Southern Ocean during a decade based on a 2D diagnostic mixed-layer model in which geostrophic advection is prescribed from altimetry. Anomalous air–sea heat flux is the dominant term of the heat budget over most of the domain, while anomalous Ekman heat fluxes account for 20–40% of the variance in the latitude band 40°?60°S. In the ACC pathway, lateral fluxes of heat associated with anomalous geostrophic currents are a major contributor, dominating downstream of several topographic features, reflecting the influence of eddies and frontal migrations. A significant fraction of the variability of large-scale SST anomalies is correlated with either ENSO or the SAM, each mode contributing roughly equally. The relation between the heat budget terms and these climate modes is investigated, showing in particular that anomalous Ekman and air–sea heat fluxes have a co-operating effect (with regional exceptions), hence the large SST response associated with each mode. It is further shown that ENSO- or SAM-locked anomalous geostrophic currents generate substantial heat fluxes in all three basins with magnitude comparable with that of atmospheric forcings for ENSO, and smaller for the SAM except for limited areas. ENSO-locked forcings generate SST anomalies along the ACC pathway, and advection by mean flows is found to be a non-negligible contribution to the heat budget, exhibiting a wavenumber two zonal structure, characteristic of the Antarctic Circumpolar Wave. By contrast SAM-related forcings are predominantly zonally uniform along the ACC, hence smaller zonal SST gradients and a lesser role of mean advection, except in the SouthWest Atlantic. While modeled SST anomalies are significantly correlated with observations over most of the Southern Ocean, the analysis of the data-model discrepancies suggests that vertical ocean physics may play a significant role in the nonseasonal heat budget, especially in some key regions for mode water formation.     

Deglaciation history at the Alpine-Mediterranean transition (Argentera-Mercantour,SW Alps) from 10Be dating of moraines and glacially polished bedrock

Estimating the extent and age of the last glacial maxima as well as the chronology of glacial recessions in various environmental contexts is key to source-to-sink studies and paleoclimate reconstructions. The Argentera-Mercantour massif is located at the transition between the Alps and the Mediterranean Sea, therefore, its deglaciation chronology can be compared to the sediment budget of the Var River basin. Based on 13 new cosmic-ray exposure (CRE) beryllium-10 (¹⁰Be) datings performed on moraines and polished crystalline bedrocks and 22 reassessed ¹⁰Be CRE ages from similar altitude nearby steep basement surfaces, and from a lake sediment core, we can constrain the deglaciation chronology of the Argentera-Mercantour massif. These data allow for the first time to fully reconstruct the deglaciation history at the scale of the entire massif in agreement with a major glacier recession at c. 15 ka, at the onset of Bølling transition between the Oldest and Older Dryas. Main deglaciation of the upper slopes [2700–2800 m above sea level (a.s.l.)] occurred after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) at 20.8–18.6 ka, followed by the main deglaciation of the lower slopes (2300 m a.s.l.) at 15.3–14.2 ka. Finally, the flat polished surfaces above 2600 m a.s.l. and the zones confined within narrow lateral valleys were likely affected by progressive ice melting of remaining debris covered glaciers and moraine erosion following the Younger Dryas re-advance stage between 12 and 8–9 ka. At lower elevations, the Vens Lake located at 2300 m a.s.l., allows evidence of the onset of lake sedimentation at c. 14 ka and a transition towards a vegetated environment that mainly occurred before 8 ka. Moraine final stabilization at 5 ka might reflect denudation acceleration during the Holocene humid phase. This contribution reveals a glacier–climate relationship more sensitive to warming phases in the southern Alps highlighted by a major decrease of glaciers after c. 15 ka. This major deglaciation is correlated with a 2.5-fold decrease of sediment discharge of rivers into the Mediterranean Sea. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Unraveling the Peruvian Phase of the Central Andes: stratigraphy,sedimentology and geochronology of the Salar de Atacama Basin (22°30–23°S), northern Chile

The Salar de Atacama Basin holds important information regarding the tectonic activity, sedimentary environments and their variations in northern Chile during Cretaceous times. About 4000 m of high‐resolution stratigraphic columns of the Tonel, Purilactis and Barros Arana Formations reveal braided fluvial and alluvial facies, typical of arid to semi‐arid environments, interrupted by scarce intervals with evaporitic, aeolian and lacustrine sedimentation, displaying an overall coarsening‐upward trend. Clast‐count and point‐count data evidence the progressive erosion from Mesozoic volcanic rocks to Palaeozoic basement granitoids and deposits located around the Cordillera de Domeyko area, which is indicative of an unroofing process. The palaeocurrent data show that the source area was located to the west. The U/Pb detrital zircon geochronological data give maximum depositional ages of 149 Ma for the base of the Tonel Formation (Agua Salada Member), and 107 Ma for its middle member (La Escalera Member); 79 Ma for the lower Purilactis Formation (Limón Verde Member), and 73 Ma for the Barros Arana Formation. The sources of these zircons were located mainly to the west, and comprised from the Coastal Cordillera to the Precordillera. The ages and pulses record the tectonic activity during the Peruvian Phase, which can be split into two large events; an early phase, around 107 Ma, showing uplift of the Coastal Cordillera area, and a late phase around 79 Ma indicating an eastward jump of the deformation front to the Cordillera de Domeyko area. The lack of internal deformation and the thicknesses measured suggest that deposition of the units occurred in the foredeep zone of an eastward‐verging basin. This sedimentation would have ended with the K‐T phase, recognized in most of northern Chile.     

In situ monitoring of karst springs in Wallonia (southern Belgium)

The implementation of the Water Framework Directive, as well as the forthcoming entry into force of other European water policies focusing on water resources, require a thorough reorganization of groundwater resources monitoring in most European countries. In Wallonia, monitoring programs were initiated in 2005 to control the quantitative and chemical statuses of groundwater bodies, as well as the effectiveness of management plans aimed at achieving environmental objectives. In karst aquifers, springs are preferential monitoring targets even if, as a result of the high heterogeneity of this type of aquifer, the interpretation of time series and spatial data remains a challenge. Since 2006, a “springs” monitoring network has been progressively set up in the southern part of Belgium. Currently, in situ measurements of discharge, temperature, conductivity, turbidity and fluorescence of water are conducted at nine karstic outlets in the Devonian and the Carboniferous limestone aquifers of Wallonia. The main objective of this ongoing research is to evaluate the suitability and the robustness of such standard measurements to discriminate anthropogenic impacts from natural variations, at both short- and long-term scales. Discharge and temperature data revealed being useful in the assessment of regional hydro-climatic trends. Groundwater proved to be a better natural filter for the assessment of long-term climatic changes than mathematical filtering of noisy surface signals. Investigations of such data at a European scale could therefore give additional insight into the impacts of climate change on groundwater resources. Conductivity, turbidity and fluorescence data characterize the particulate, mineral and organic health of water and a better understanding of their natural dynamics could help in the early detection of anthropogenic deviations. However, the current reproducibility of these measurements is too low to ascertain observed trends and fluctuations, and further research is still needed.     

Recycling of Organic Matter in the Sediments of Santa Monica Basin,California Borderland

Geochemical and isotopic data for the uppermost 1.2 m of the sediments of the central Santa Monica Basin plain were examined to better understand organic matter deposition and recycling at this site. Isotopic signatures (Δ¹⁴C and δ¹³C) of methane (CH₄) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) indicate the occurrence of anaerobic oxidation of CH₄ that is fueled by CH₄ supplied from a relict reservoir that is decoupled from local organic carbon (C_org) degradation and methanogenesis. This finding was corroborated by a flux budget of pore-water solutes across the basal horizon of the profile. Together these results provide a plausible explanation for the anomalously low ratio between alkalinity production and sulfate consumption reported for these sediments over two decades ago. Shifts in Δ¹⁴C and δ¹³C signatures of C_org have previously been reported across the 20-cm depth horizon for this site and attributed to a transition from oxic to anoxic bottom water that occurred ~350 years BP. However, we show that this horizon also coincides with a boundary between the base of a hemipelagic mud section and the top of a turbidite interval, complicating the interpretation of organic geochemical data across this boundary. Radiocarbon signatures of DIC diffusing upward into surface sediments indicate that remineralization at depth is supported by relatively ¹⁴C-enriched C_org within the sedimentary matrix. While the exact nature of this C_org is unclear, possible sources are hemipelagic mud sections that were buried rapidly under thick turbidites, and ¹⁴C-rich moieties dispersed within C_org-poor turbidite sections.