Regional river flow,water quality,aquatic ecological impacts and recovery from drought

Abstract

During severe drought and low flows in the Otago Region of the South Island of New Zealand, increased bacterial contamination of rivers occurred in agricultural/pastoral catchments due to greater stock use of waterways and the lack of dilution and flushing flows. Concentrations and loadings of nitrogen and phosphorus generally decreased due to the lack of rainfall, runoff and transport from diffuse sources. Other analytes, including dissolved solids and pH, did not change to any considerable degree and were quite spatially variable. Although the health of benthic macroinvertebrate communities can decrease with a lower diversity and fewer sensitive taxa, effects were not significant in most rivers. Algal blooms occurred in some locations, particularly in lowland agricultural catchments with low water velocities and little shade. The prolonged lack of flushing flows can be a significant problem. Fish kills occurred where they became stranded and isolated from the main flow and where there was a lack of deeper pool refuges. Temperatures in excess of 25°C can also result in isolated fish kills, but the duration of these high temperatures appears to be the most critical factor. Adverse effects from drought can be widespread and severe in some locations, but appear to be relatively short-lived with recovery occurring rapidly with increasing flows at most locations. This indicates a degree of resilience of rivers to drought and low flows with long-term impacts that are not severe.     

Braidplain deposition of the Upper Triassic Molteno Formation in the main Karoo (Gondwana) Basin, South Africa

ABSTRACT The Upper Triassic (Carnian?) Molteno Formation in the main Karoo (Gondwana) Basin, South Africa forms a northerly thinning, intracratonic clastic wedge comprising sandstones, shales and coals occurring within thick (up to 140 m) laterally persistent fining-upward sequences. These sequences were deposited by braided streams draining an alluvial plain which may have been built on to the distal slopes of alluvial fan complexes of glacial outwash type. Geometric relations between sequences indicate three phases of tectonic activity. The lowermost fining-upward sequence in the south accumulated against a rising mountain front; cessation of movement and an eastward shift in the main locus of tectonism and sedimentation was followed by renewed uplift and basinwide progradation of the second fining-upward sequence adjacent to a fault-block granite terrain located close to the present south-east coastline of South Africa. This is believed to be the granite at the eastern end of the Falkland Island Plateau, an interpretation consistent with its position on most continental reconstructions and the fracture zone marking its northern scarp face. Faulting is attributed to the first phase of extension prior to continental breakup. The sourceward recession and lack of gross fining-upward trends shown by the uppermost fining-upward sequences is accounted for by limited back-faulting of the still active basin margin. Cessation of activity and further basin margin recession occurred with deposition of the overlying floodplain deposits (Elliot Formation) which were distal equivalents of the braided alluvial plain.     

PLACING KANGWANE IN THE NEW SOUTH AFRICA*

ABSTRACT. The South African homelands were central to the apartheid ideology of racial segregation and separate development and as a result became the location for large segments of the African population. Apartheid‐era theorizations of the homelands tended to emphasize their importance to the state, with less attention directed to the divergent and unique social formations that often existed within them. Recent geographical research has been intent on evaluating the spatial imprint of these geographies for resident populations, as well as the varied class, gendered, and institutional formations that accompanied the democratic transition. Using a case study from the former KaNgwane homeland, this article examines the diverse ways in which rural households access environmental and economic resources to produce livelihoods. It is argued that a focus on community variation is needed to interrogate the differential encounters of these places with the local politics and development processes that are emerging in the new South Africa.     

Palaeochannel reconstructions from point bar deposits: a three-dimensional perspective

Quantitative determination of palaeochannel geometry and hydraulics from point bar deposits requires an understanding of the interaction between channel-bend migration, temporal and spatial variation of point bar geometry and facies, and outcrop orientation. This interaction is modelled with the aid of a computer program which predicts three-dimensional (3-D) geometry and grain size variation of point bars. Synthetic deposits are produced for the cases of down-valley bend migration and/or increase in channel-bend sinuosity. Two-dimensional (2-D) cross-sections in varying orientations across these simulated deposits display lateral-accretion bedset surface geometry, and variation in mean bedset grain size and local palaeocurrent orientation. Most cross-sections show point bar deposits thickening away from the meander-belt axis due to a lateral progression from thinner bend-exit deposits to thicker bend-apex deposits (caused by down-valley channel translation), and/or due to a progression from thinner low sinuosity deposits to thicker high sinuosity deposits caused by channel bend expansion. In association with this lateral thickening, bedset surfaces become steeper and more convex upwards while the variation in mean grain size up bedsets commonly increases. Down-valley point bar translation allows preservation only of deposits formed downstream of the band apex, and produces characteristic fining upwards sequences. Marked lateral and vertical variations in palaeocurrent directions due to varying channel orientation relative to a given cross-section are also predicted. These results indicate a need in palaeochannel reconstructions, for a more detailed examination of 3-D variations in bedset surface geometry, palaeocurrent orientation and grain size distribution within and between bedsets of laterally accreted sediment.     

Submarine sedimentation on a developing Holocene fan delta

The submarine morphology, sediments, and three-dimensional geometry of a developing fan delta are described using data from acoustic surveys, bottom sampling, and observations from a manned submersible. The fan system is being built in a British Columbian fjord (water depth 410 m) supplied with coarse-grained sediments from a fjord-side river. Construction of the subaqueous fan began about 10–12,000 yr BP and is ongoing. The system is analogous to part of one fault-uplift sedimentation cycle in ancient fan deltas. Initially, when offshore relief was at a maximum, acoustically chaotic sediment wedges were emplaced over fjord-bottom glaciomarine deposits. Subsequent aggradation/progradation resulted in moderately dipping sequences interrupted by local chaotic units. The present fan surface (average slope 13°) is divided into six zones arranged concentrically from the fan apex, on the basis of form, sediment and process interpretations. Continued subaqueous fan growth results from settling of river-derived sediments from suspension and downslope sediment dispersal by episodic gravity flows, apparently fed by underflows from the river.     

Proximal braidplain deposits in the Middle Devonian Malbaie Formation of Eastern Gaspé, Quebec, Canada

The Middle Devonian Malbaie Formation of Eastern Gaspé, Canada, comprises sharply alternating conglomerate and sandstone units. Their petrography suggests derivation from the same source, but palaeocurrents indicate different dispersal systems for the sand and gravel. The principal conglomerate facies is horizontally stratified, with well-developed imbrication, characteristic of deposition on a high-energy, proximal braidplain. Minor cross-stratified conglomerate shows well-defined size sorting, attributed to avalanching down foresets and sorting within minor bedforms on bar tops. The sandstone units mainly comprise erosion surfaces overlain by mudstone intraclasts, alternating with lineated low-angle to horizontally stratified sandstone or trough cross-stratified sandstone. The sandstone units were deposited on a proximal braidplain with highly variable discharge, but the absence of calcrete indicates that dry periods were not prolonged. The Malbaie is the coarsest, uppermost formation of a Devonian clastic wedge formed during the Acadian Orogeny. The uniformity of facies association and palaeocurrents, particularly in conglomerate units, indicates derivation from a broad upwarp to the south. This implies that the Acadian uplands resulted from straight compression, in contrast to the localized uplifts formed by strike-slip faulting during the Carboniferous.     

The Petrology and Geochemistry of Cone-sheets from the Cuillin Igneous Complex, Isle of Skye: Evidence for Combined Assimilation and Fractional Crystallization during Lithospheric Extension

The origin and evolution of the magma(s) involved in the formationof the olivine tholeiite cone-sheets which invade the 60-MaCuillin Igneous Complex, Isle of Skye, have been investigatedusing mineral chemistry data together with whole-rock major-and trace-element and isotope (Sr and Nd) geochemistry data.The most primitive compositions identified are almost identicalto those of the basalts being erupted at the present day alongthe spreading centre in Iceland. Rare examples of lavas fromthe slightly older lava pile of west-central and north Skye,together with a large number of dykes from the axial zone ofthe Skye Main Swarm, are of similar composition and are referredto as being of the Preshal More Basalt type (spelling is accordingto current Ordnance Survey of Great Britain maps). The intra-suitecompositional variation exhibited by the cone-sheets can beexplained in terms of relatively low-pressure fractionationof the three-phase assemblage olivine+clinopyroxene+plagioclasein their cotectic proportions of 10: 35: 55. Modelling of major-and compatible trace-element data indicates that the most evolvedcomposition may be derived by 60% crystallization of the leastevolved composition. Incompatible trace-element modelling impliesgreater degrees of crystal-liquid fractionation: Y and Zr indicate64 and 68% crystallization, respectively, whereas the rare earthelements (Eu, Yb, Gd, and Ce) indicate between 71 and 75% crystallization.This decoupled behaviour of compatible and incompatible elementsis attributed to the cone-sheet magma(s) evolving in a subjacentmagma chamber, before final emplacement in the overlying crust.Sr- and Nd-isotope data indicate that the cone-sheet magma(s)assimilated upper-crustal lithologies during fractional crystallization,most likely involving amphibolite facies gneiss of the LewisianGneiss Complex. This style of simultaneous assimilation andfractional crystallization (AFC) process in the upper crustfor the Skye cone-sheet magma(s) is in direct contrast to theprocesses identified for the magmas which produced the bulkof the lava field of west-central and north Skye, where assimilationoccurred after fractionation. The cone-sheet magmas were generatedby relatively large degrees of partial melting of a depletedmantle source associated with significant lithospheric stretching.The cause of this depletion, together with the temporal relationshipsbetween the cone-sheet magmas and the dominant transitionalmagmas of the Skye lava field and sill complex, are also discussed. ^* Reprint request to B. R. Bell     

Testing the case for a Middle Pleistocene Scandinavian glaciation in Eastern England: evidence for a Scottish ice source for tills within the Corton Formation of East Anglia, UK

The provenance of the Happisburgh Till and Corton Till of the Corton Formation is investigated using erratic clast lithologies and allochthonous palynomorphs to test whether the long held assumption that they were deposited by ice that originated in Scandinavia is valid. The results show a wide range of lithologies including Carboniferous Limestone and Coal Measures, and Permian Magnesian Limestone that are not found in Scandinavia, and an absence of distinctive Scandinavian material such as rhomb porphyry and larvikite. Lithologies found indicate deposition by an ice sheet which flowed southwards into north-east East Anglia from central and southern Scotland eroding and transporting materials derived from outcrops in these areas and from eastern England and the western margins of the southern North Sea Basin. It is concluded that the long held assumption that the Happisburgh Till and Corton Till of the Corton Formation were deposited by a Scandinavian ice sheet is erroneous and that they were instead deposited by Scottish ice.