Palaeofloods recorded by slackwater deposits on the Qishuihe River in the Middle Yellow River

Palaeoflood hydrological study is a frontal subject of global change study. Using sedimentology, geomorphology and OSL dating methods, the typical palaeoflood slackwater deposits were studied in the Qishuihe River valley. The results showed that five flooding episodes with 21 palaeoflood events occurred during 4300–4250 a B.P., 4250–4190 a B.P., 4190–4100 a B.P., 4100–4000 a B.P. and 3100–3010 a B.P., respectively, during the Holocene period. The palaeoflood peak discharges were calculated with hydrological models. With a combination of the gauged flood, historical flood and palaeoflood hydrological data, the archives of flood events were extended to over 10,000 years in the Qishuihe River valley, and the flood frequency–peak discharge relationship curve was established accurately. These research results played important roles in mitigating flood hazard, hydraulic engineering and also the development of water resources in the semiarid Weihe River basin.     

Coupling relationships: Hillslope–fluvial linkages in the Hodder catchment, NW England

Variations in the coupling of sediment transfer between different parts of a fluvial catchment, e.g., hillslope to axial stream, can hamper understanding but are an integral part of the geomorphological record. Depositional environments respond to a combination of land use, climate, storms (floods), and autogenic conditioning. The distribution of sediment in the upland landscapes of NW England is out of equilibrium with contemporary climate and geomorphological processes; more a function of peri- and paraglacial mobilisation of glacigenic deposits. Soil and vegetation development after deglaciation have interrupted any progression toward sediment exhaustion with sediment release controlled largely by extrinsic perturbation, with late Holocene anthropogenic activity, climate and extreme hydrological events the likely candidates. This paper presents a new radiocarbon-dated Holocene geomorphological succession for the River Hodder (NW England), alongside evaluating new palaeoecological and geoarchaeological data to discern the impacts of human activity. These data show a late Holocene expansion in human occupation and use of the landscape since the Iron Age (700–0 cal. B.C.), with more substantial changes in the character and intensity of upland land use in the last 1300 years. The geomorphological responses in the uplands were the onset of considerable and widespread hillslope erosion (gullying) and associated alluvial fan development. Interpretation of the regional radiocarbon chronology limits gullying to four, more extensive and aggressive phases after 500 cal. B.C. The downstream alluvial system has responded with considerable valley floor deposition and lateral channel migration that augmented sediment supply by remobilising the existing floodplain terraces and led to the aggradation of a series of inset alluvial terraces. The timing of these changes between states of aggradation and incision in alluvial reaches reflects the increased connectivity between the hillslope and alluvial systems. Aspects of both the regional climate and land use histories are conducive to increasing discharge and sediment flux, but the region wide lowering of erosion thresholds appears a key driver conditioning these sediment-rich conditions and producing a landscape that was more susceptible to erosion under lower magnitude flows.     

Evidence of high‐energy events in shelly layers interbedded in coastal Holocene sands in Cadiz Bay (south‐west Spain)

In some present‐day coastal areas, recent inactive deposits now outside the reach of sea agents can be observed. These deposits, although formed under different climatic and sea level conditions, often show similar facies to current littoral deposits. They are frequently interpreted as old dunes and beach ridges, or as abandoned spit bars, representative of previous dynamic stages. Nevertheless, in coastal areas which have been subjected to highly‐energetic events similar deposits can also be found. When a dynamic event acts on several adjacent environments, the transported and re‐deposited sediments can create homogeneous deposits with similar facies, that are easily confused. In this work, shelly layers interbedded in relict littoral sands located in the La Algaida pinewood, on the edge of the Rio San Pedro tidal channel, in Cadiz Bay (south‐west Spain) have been studied. The main constituents of the shelly beds are Glycimeris valves, organisms which are no longer found as live specimens in the present‐day sea bed of Cadiz Bay. From their appearance, the origin of these shelly beds could be related to sea washovers generated by tidal or storm action, but their disposition and height over the present sea level implies that even higher energy agents were involved in their formation, such as major storms or tsunami waves. The most significant process was the mobilization of the sub‐tidal and littoral sediments and their dispersal and re‐sedimentation, both lengthways and widthways of the coast, giving way to homogeneous sandy deposits in all littoral environments some of which are now outside the reach of current sea agents. The exception is the present‐day shore of the San Pedro tidal channel, where the sediments are being reworked by tidal and small wave action. If the proximity of the study zone to the limit of the African and Iberian plates is considered, where several historical earthquakes and tsunamis have taken place, it is possible to think that these deposits could be a consequence of sporadic and successive washovers, generated by tsunamis occurring between ad 800 and ad 1200. Sedimentological and historical data indicate an increase in seismic and tsunami activity during this period of time, while the shelly layers would be the consequence of the most intense pulses occurring during these high‐energy events. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Late Holocene storm-trajectory changes inferred from the oxygen isotope composition of lake diatoms,south Alaska

The oxygen isotope ratios of diatoms (δ¹⁸O_diatom), and the oxygen and hydrogen isotope ratios of lake water (δW) of lakes in south Alaska provide insight into past changes in atmospheric circulation. Lake water was collected from 31 lakes along an elevation transect and diatoms were isolated from lake sediment from one lake (Mica Lake) in south Alaska. In general, δW values from coastal lakes overlap the global meteoric water line (GMWL). δW values from interior lakes do not lie on the GMWL; they fall on a local evaporation line trajectory suggesting source isotopes are depleted with respect to maritime lakes. Sediment cores were recovered from 58 m depth in Mica Lake (60.96° N, 148.15° W; 100 m asl), an evaporation-insensitive lake in the western Prince William Sound. Thirteen calibrated ¹⁴C ages on terrestrial macrofossil samples were used to construct an age-depth model for core MC-2, which spans 9910 cal years. Diatoms from 46, 0.5-cm-thick samples were isolated and analyzed for their oxygen isotope ratios. The analyses employed a newly designed, stepwise fluorination technique, which uses a CO₂ laser-ablation system, coupled to a mass spectrometer, and has an external reproducibility of ±0.2‰. δ¹⁸O_diatom values from Mica Lake sediment range between 25.2 and 29.8‰. δ¹⁸O_diatom values are relatively uniform between 9.6 and 2.6 ka, but exhibit a four-fold increase in variability since 2.6 ka. High-resolution sampling and analyses of the top 100 cm of our lake cores suggest large climate variability during the last 2000 years. The 20th century shows a +4.0‰ increase of δ¹⁸O_diatom values. Shifts of δ¹⁸O_diatom values are likely not related to changes in diatom taxa or dissolution effects. Late Holocene excursions to lower δ¹⁸O_diatom values suggest a reduction of south-to-north storm trajectories delivered by meridional flow, which likely corresponds to prolonged intervals when the Aleutian Low pressure system weakened. Comparisons with isotope records of precipitation (δP) from the region support the storm-track hypothesis, and add to evidence for variability in North Pacific atmospheric circulation during the Holocene.

Robust chronologies for landform development

Obtaining chronological control for geomorphological sequences can be problematic due to the fragmentary and non‐sequential nature of sediment and landform archives. The robust analysis of ¹⁴C ages is often critical for the interpretation of these complicated sequences. This paper demonstrates a robust methodology for the ¹⁴C dating of geomorphological sequences using a case study from the lower Ribble valley, northwest England. The approach adopted incorporates using greater numbers of ages, targeting plant macrofossils, obtaining replicate measurements from single horizons to assess the extent of reworking and the use of Bayesian approaches to test models of the relative order of events. The extent of reworking of organic materials and space‐time dynamics of fluvial change means that it is critical that chronological control is sufficiently resourced with ¹⁴C measurements. As a result Bayesian approaches are increasingly important for the evaluation of large data sets. Assessing the conformability of relative order models informed by interpretation of the geomorphology can identify contexts or materials that are out of sequence, and focuses attention on problem materials (reworking) and errors in interpretation (outlier ages). These relative order models provide a framework for the interrogation of sequences and a means for securing probability‐based age estimates for events that occur between dated contexts. This approach has potential value in constraining the sequence of geomorphological development at scales that vary from individual sites to a catchment or region, furthering understanding of forcing and change in geomorphological systems. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

天津滨海贝壳堤成因与海岸线的演变

本文通过对天津滨海贝壳堤成因的研究,初步确定贝壳堤是全新世晚期形成的,它的形成和演化反映了近岸生源物质迁移、现代沉积过程,贝壳堤的演化模式划分为三个阶段。这对正确地揭示淤泥质平原海岸的形成机理、合理规划开发潮滩和贝壳堤资源有着重要意义。     

Temperature evolution from the <Emphasis Type="Italic">δ</Emphasis><Superscript>18</Superscript>O record of Hani peat,Northeast China,in the last 14000 years

From the last deglaciation to the Holocene, the Greenland Ice Core (GISP2) δ ¹⁸O records as well as the records of ice-rafted debris on the surface of the North Atlantic have revealed a succession of sudden cooling events on the centennial to millennial scales. However, the temperature proxy records are rarely studied systematically and directly to ensure that this air temperature cooling pattern simultaneously existed in the East Asian Region, in addition to the repeated pattern occurring in the Greater Atlantic Region. A peat cellulose δ ¹⁸O temperature proxy record proximately existing for 14000 years was picked up from the Hani peat in Jilin Province, China. It suggests by comparison that the sudden cooling events, such as the Older Dryas, Inter-Allerød, Younger Dryas, and nine ice-rafted debris events of the North Atlantic, are almost entirely reiterated in the temperature signals of Hani peat cellulose δ ¹⁸O. These cooling events show that the repeatedly occurring temperature cooling pattern not only appeared in the North Atlantic Region in the high latitudes, but also in the Northwest Pacific Region in the middle latitudes. The climate change events marking the start of the Holocene Epoch, the Holocene Megathermal, the “8.2 kyr” event, the “4.2 kyr” event, the Medieval Warm Period, and the Little Ice Age are further discussed. The sensitivity response of Hani peat cellulose δ ¹⁸O to the land surface temperature and the reason for the age accuracy of peat cellulose ¹⁴C are also discussed based on the characteristics of the peat bog environment.     

An exceptionally strengthened East Asian summer monsoon event between 19.9 and 17.1 ka BP recorded in a Hulu stalagmite

A stalagmite-based isotope record (No. H82) from Nanjing Hulu Cave, spanning from 16.5 to 10.3 ka BP, provided strong evidence for a coherence relation between the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) and the North Atlantic climates on millennial time scales. Here we extend the high-resolution δ 18O time series back to 22.1 ka BP with additional 7 230Th dates and 573 stable isotope measurements on the lower part of that sample. The new record with a decadal resolution, piecing together with the previous data, p...     

Climate changes in East China since the Late-glacial inferred from high-resolution mountain peat humification records

High-resolution peat humification records were obtained from Dajiuhu of the Shennongjia Mountains and Qianmutian of the Tianmu Mountains to study climate changes in East China. The analyses of pollen, organic matters, TOC, and Rb/Sr indicate a high degree of peat humification and thus strong decomposition of organic matter when climate was dry. Conversely, when climate was humid, the degree of humification is low because peat was preserved in a waterlogged condition. Peat humification from Dajiuhu occurred not only during the Younger Dryas (about 11.4–12.6 cal ka BP), the Bølling-Allerød Warm Period (12.6–15.2 cal ka BP), and the Oldest Dryas (about 15.2–16.0 cal ka BP), but also during the early Holocene (about 11.4–9.4 cal ka BP), the 8.2 cal ka BP cold event, and the Holocene Optimum (about 7.0–4.2 cal ka BP). Both peat humification records since nearly 5 ka BP are consistent, showing that mountain peatland has synchronous responses to the East Asia monsoon-induced precipitation. The LOI data confirm the above observation. The monsoon precipitation since nearly 5 ka BP recorded in these two peat profiles can be divided into three phases. During 4.9–3.5 ka BP, precipitation amount was high but fluctuated greatly. During 3.5–0.9 ka BP, precipitation amount was low. During 0.9–0 ka BP, degree of humification reduced gradually, indicating the increase of monsoon precipitation. Contrast to other high-resolution records from East China monsoon region shows that the monsoon precipitation records of the two peat profiles since nearly 16 ka BP are controlled by a common forcing mechanism of summer solar radicalization in the Northern Hemisphere.     

西秦岭北缘断裂带武山—天水段全新世活动的新证据

西秦岭北缘断裂带是青藏高原东缘一条大型左旋走滑活动断裂带和历史强震带。前人对该断裂漳县以西段曾开展过大量研究工作,获得其最新构造活动的地质地貌证据,而中段(武山—天水段)和东段(天水—宝鸡段)最新活动时代一直存在分歧。基于高分辨率卫星影像解译、地质地貌调查与综合分析、探槽开挖和~(14)C测年等方法,对西秦岭北缘断裂带武山—天水段进行详细研究,结果表明:该段断裂晚第四纪以来活动显著,地貌上主要表现为断层垭口、断层沟槽、山脊与水系及阶地同步左旋位错、断层陡坎等;多个探槽剖面及测年结果显示其最新构造活动断错了全新世地层,为该段断裂全新世活动和大震危险性分析提供了新的证据。