Rates of cave and landform development in the Yorkshire Dales from speleothem age data

Uranium-series ages have been obtained for 87 speleothems collected from nine major cave systems in the Craven district of northern England. Large systems such as Ease Gill Caverns, the West Kingsdale caves, and Gaping Gill-Ingleborough Cave, which contain relict high-level tunnels, are found to be older than 350,000 years (the limit of the ²³⁰Th/²³⁴U dating method). There is little evidence to indicate a significant enlargement of these passages since this time. Estimates of the age of Victoria Cave from ²³⁴U/²³⁸U isotopic ratios suggest that the cave has been fully relict for more than 500,000 years. Ages of in situ speleothems immediately adjacent to local base level cave streams show that mean maximum downcutting rates in limestone channels are about 2 to 5 cm 1000 yr. These rates are significantly lower than those obtained from direct measurements on limestone bedrock in stream channels but are comparable to areal denudation rates based on solute budgets. Using the present elevation of caves with respect to adjacent valley floor levels, mean maximum valley entrenchment rates are found to range between 5 cm/ky and < 20cm/ky, which corresponds to 6 m to < 24 m of lowering per glacial/interglacial cycle. These rates suggest that upper beds of the limestone were incised to form the Yorkshire Dales between 1 and 2 million years ago. The results indicate that the erosional effects of individual glaciations are not as severe as previously proposed in the literature.     

Middle-Late Pleistocene polycyclic evolution of a stable coastal area (southern Apulia, Italy)

The Otranto–Leuca coastal tract is marked by the presence of numerous sea caves placed close to present sea level. They are located generally at the back of a shore platform covered by a sequence of breccia deposits, marine sediments and speleothems. At Grotta di Masseria dell'Orte, marine cemented sands rest on a narrow shore platform at about 6.2 m above mean sea level and are covered by speleothems older than 185 ka. At Grotta del Diavolo, which is mostly filled by breccia deposits, three beach levels have been detected at about 3.0, 3.5 and 5.9 m above msl. They are either covered by or overlie speleothems that yield an U/Th age of 340, 78 ka and between 170.3 and 146.5, respectively. Geomorphological evidence and radiometric ages indicate that the area after a period of uplift has been tectonically stable since the last part of the Middle Pleistocene so that marine landforms close to the present shoreline underwent a polycyclic evolution. The sedimentary fills of sea caves formed during Middle-Late Pleistocene glacial stages, when arid or semiarid conditions promoted the removal of regolith and the development of thick breccia deposits. During Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 9.3, 5.5 and 5.1, cave sediments were partially eroded whereas beach layers and related speleothems developed. These are, in fact, the only marine isotope stages marked by a sea level position which in this Mediterranean region was either close to, or slightly higher than, the present one.     

金沙江虎跳峡成因及形成时代探讨

虎跳峡是金沙江峡谷的典型代表,其成因及形成时代涉及金沙江-长江水系发育及其环境效应问题。文中分析研究了虎跳峡附近发育的夷平面、剥蚀面、阶地等区域性的层状地貌,并认为虎跳峡上下游河谷发育历史具有一致性;从地质构造上的分析表明,虎跳峡两侧的玉龙雪山、哈巴雪山为一相对完整的地块,不存在虎跳峡大断裂,因而虎跳峡峡谷是在区域地壳抬升、先成河深切作用下而形成的。根据相关盆地沉积物、玉龙雪山的冰川发育状况、前人在附近发现的哺乳动物化石等,初步认为虎跳峡峡谷形成于中更新世。     

大连市人工地貌对人口变化的响应分析

文章以大连市为例,研究人口变化与城市人工地貌间的动态关系.研究表明:在城市发展的不同阶段,由于市内外、市内各区间的人口变化影响,使得城市人工地貌体在水平与垂直空间上不断地增长和重组.具体表现在近10年来3个阶段上的过渡,即城市人工地貌的发育模式经历了从"以水平发展为主-水平和垂直复合式发展-以垂直发展为主"的转变过程.对市内4个区人口、建筑面积以及建筑高度变化的相关分析,进一步体现了人口对各类型人工地貌体分布的驱动过程.     

Investigations on the Quaternary Glaciation in the Khumbu Himal (Nepal, East-Himalaya)

Based on geomorphological field work the mapping of former lateral/terminal moraines in the middle segment of the Bhotekoshi Nadi is quite similar to the geomorphological findings of Heuberger (1956: Fig. 2). The deductive calculation of the equilibrium line altitudes is oriented on the reconstructed types of former glaciers. Based on the geomorphological findings of this valley segment the relation of Neoglacial and Late Glacial ice margins of the glaciers of the tributary valleys of the Bhotekoshi Nadi is not conclusive. A post-late glacial maximum snow-line depression of at least 950 m has not obligatory caused an ice fill of the Bhotekoshi Nadi below 3200 m. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

浙东沿海海蚀地貌及其与断块差异运动的关系

本文阐述了浙江东部沿海海蚀地貌的分布特征,认为高位古海蚀地貌是浙江东部一种普遍存在的现象,这些海蚀地貌确系古海面遗迹,但它们今日之分布高度乃是长时期构造抬升作用的结果。同期海蚀地貌的分布高度不同,除在形成时受到各种因素制约外,断块间的差异升降运动也是其影响因素之一。     

Delivery of upper-basin sediment to the lower neuse river,North Carolina,U.S.A.

Extensive storage of upper-basin Piedmont sediment and apparent low sediment supply to streams in lower-basin Coastal Plain areas generates questions as to the source of alluvium in lower reaches of rivers of the U.S. Atlantic drainage. This was investigated on the Neuse River, North Carolina, using a mineralogical indicator of sediment source areas. The utility of mica flakes for discriminating between Piedmont and non-Piedmont sources of sediment in the lower Coastal Plain reaches of the Neuse was established on the basis of an examination of the U.S. National Soils Database and of 26 soil surveys of the North Carolina Coastal Plain. From the Neuse River estuary to 48 km upstream there are no mica flakes in floodplain soils or in river bank and channel shelf sediments. Mica flakes become more common upstream. This suggests that a very small proportion of the sediment eroded in the Piedmont portion of the watershed is delivered to the river mouth. The small amounts which presumably do reach the lower Coastal Plain are so diluted by Coastal Plain-derived alluvium that no Piedmont origin can be discerned. This demonstrates a dominantly Coastal Plain source and underscores the importance of storage and discontinuous transport in fluvial sediment systems. More importantly, results suggest that upper- and lower-basin sediment dynamics are not only non-linearly related, but may be virtually decoupled.     

Evaluation of the method of collecting suspended sediment from large rivers by discharge-weighted pumping and separation by continuous-flow centrifugation

A method for collecting suspended sediment samples has been developed that pumps a discharge-weighted volume of water from fixed depths at four to 40 locations across a river and separates the suspended sediment in the sample using a continuous-flow centrifuge. The efficacy of the method is evaluated by comparing the particle size distributions of sediment collected by the discharge-weighted pumping method with the particle size distributions of sediment collected by depth integration and separated by gravitational settling. The pumping method was found to undersample the suspended sand sized particles (> 63 μm) but to collect a representative sample of the suspended silt and clay sized particles (< 63 μm). The centrifuge separated the silt and clay sized particles (< 63 μm) into three fractions. Based on the average results of processing 17 samples from the Mississippi River and several of its large tributaries in 1990, about 10% of the silt and clay sized material was trapped in a centrifuge bowl-bottom sealing unit containing the nozzle and consisted of mostly medium and coarse silt from 16 to 63 μm. About 74% was retained on a Teflon liner in the centrifuge bowl and consisted of sizes from 0–1 to 63 μm. About 9% was discharged from the centrifuge in the effluent and was finer than 0–1 μm. About 7% was lost during the processes of removing the wet sediment fractions from the centrifuge, drying and weighing. The success of the discharge-weighted pumping method depends on how homogeneously the silt and clay sized particles (< 63 μm) are distributed in the vertical direction in the river. The degree of homogeneity depends on the composition and degree of aggregation of the suspended sediment particles.     

平潭岛海蚀花岗岩地貌——兼述花岗岩地貌的系列研究和创新

平潭县有“千礁岛县”之称，所属的海潭为全国第五大岛，隔台湾海峡与台湾新竹相距仅68海里，是祖国大陆距台湾最近的地方。千礁岛县皆由花岗岩组成，潮涨潮落，海侵海蚀，铸就了岛上古代海蚀地貌和现代海蚀地貌，且种类齐全，典型奇特，分布广泛，集神、幽、险、趣于一体，尤其花岗岩球状风化铸成的，最突出的有国内最大的海蚀柱、天下奇观“半洋石帆”；浑身赤裸，形体逼真，比四川乐山大佛大四倍的“海坛天神”，横卧海边，头枕沙滩，腿伸大海；等等。素有花岗岩海蚀地貌“甲天下”之称。平潭已开发成国家级风景旅游区，其花岗岩海蚀地貌研究必将为中国研究花岗岩地貌增添新的内容和活力；平潭岛的区位最近台湾，优先利用双休日或节假日开展与台湾北东海岸的类同海蚀地貌进行双向互惠的观光旅游，将有无限广阔、美好前景。     

Pleistocene tectonics inferred from fluvial terraces of the northern Upper Rhine Graben, Germany

This study of fluvial terraces of the River Rhine and tributaries aims to search for indications of Pleistocene tectonic activity. The study area includes the northern Upper Rhine Graben (URG), the Mainz Basin and the adjacent Rhenish Massif with the Middle Rhine Valley. High rates of Quaternary surface processes, large amount of human modifications, relatively slow tectonic deformation and presently low intra-plate seismic activity characterize this area. Therefore, the records of relatively slow tectonic deformation are less well preserved and thus difficult to detect. This study uses the relative position of fluvial terraces to determine the more local effects of fault movements on the terraces and to evaluate their displacement rates and patterns. The research is based on a review of previous terrace studies and new terrace mapping from the eastern Mainz Basin and the bordering URG using topographic map interpretations and field observations. This newly mapped sequence of terrace surfaces can be correlated to other terraces in the vicinity on the basis of relative height levels. Terrace correlation between the western Mainz Basin and Middle Rhine Valley relies on a single chronostratigraphic unit (Mosbach sands) and additional relative height correlations. This is the first study to present a continuous correlation of terraces from the western margin of the URG to the Rhenish Massif and enables the study of the transition from the subsiding graben to the uplifted Rhenish Massif. By means of a longitudinal profile, which ranges from the URG to the Rhenish Massif, the influence of individual fault movements on the terrace levels and the large-scale regional uplift is demonstrated. It is evident from the profile that the uplift of Early to Middle Pleistocene terraces increases northwards, towards the Rhenish Massif. The uplift was diachronic, with a significant pulse occurring first in the northern URG (Lower Pleistocene) and later in the Rhenish Massif (Middle Pleistocene). The largest vertical displacements are recorded for the boundary fault separating the Mainz Basin and the Rhenish Massif (Hunsrück–Taunus Boundary Fault) and for faults bounding the northeastern Mainz Basin. The motions and displacement rates calculated for individual faults indicate deformation rates in the order of 0.01–0.08 mm/year. At this stage, the calculation of displacement rates depends mostly on a single dated stratigraphic unit. Additional dating of terrace deposits is urgently needed to better constrain the temporal development of the terrace sequence and the impact of tectonic movements.