Interpreting complex fluvial channel and barform architecture: Carboniferous Central Pennine Province,northern England

The Bashkirian Lower Brimham Grit of North Yorkshire, England, is a fluvio‐deltaic sandstone succession that crops out as a complex series of pinnacles, the three‐dimensional arrangement of which allows high‐resolution architectural analysis of genetically‐related lithofacies assemblages. Combined analysis of sedimentary graphic log profiles, architectural panels and palaeocurrent data have enabled three‐dimensional geometrical relationships to be established for a suite of architectural elements so as to develop a comprehensive depositional model. Small‐scale observations of facies have been related to larger‐scale architectural elements to facilitate interpretation of the palaeoenvironment of deposition to a level of detail that has rarely been attempted previously, thereby allowing interpretation of formative processes. Detailed architectural panels form the basis of a semi‐quantitative technique for recording the variety and complexity of the sedimentary lithofacies present, their association within recognizable architectural elements and, thus, the inferred spatio‐temporal relationship of neighbouring elements. Fluvial channel‐fill elements bounded by erosional surfaces are characterized internally by a hierarchy of sets and cosets with subtly varying compositions, textures and structures. Simple, cross‐bedded sets represent in‐channel migration of isolated mesoforms (dunes); cosets of both trough and planar‐tabular cross‐bedded facies represent lateral‐accreting and downstream‐accreting macroforms (bars) characterized by highly variable, yet predictable, patterns of palaeocurrent indicators. Relationships between sandstone‐dominated strata bounded by third‐order and fifth‐order surfaces, which represent in‐channel bar deposits and incised channel bases, respectively, chronicle the origin of the preserved succession in response to autocyclic barform development and abandonment, major episodes of incision probably influenced by episodic tectonic subsidence, differential tilting and fluvial incision associated with slip on the nearby North Craven Fault system. Overall, the succession represents the preserved product of an upper‐delta plain system that was traversed by a migratory fluvial braid‐belt system comprising a poorly‐confined network of fluvial channels developed between major sandy barforms that evolved via combined lateral‐accretion and downstream‐accretion.     

From river to shelf,anatomy of a high‐frequency depositional sequence: The Late Pleistocene to Holocene Tiber depositional sequence

The Late Pleistocene/Holocene Tiber delta succession represents the most recent and one of the best preserved, high‐frequency/low‐rank depositional sequences developed along the Latium continental margin of the Italian peninsula. Several previous studies have established a robust data set from which it has been possible to describe the stratigraphic architecture of the entire Tiber depositional sequence from the landward to seaward sectors and over a distance of 60 km. The Tiber depositional sequence shows many characteristics found in other Late Pleistocene to Holocene deltaic and coastal successions of the Mediterranean area. The stratigraphic architecture of the Tiber depositional sequence is controlled mainly by glacioeustasy, although factors such as tectonic uplift, volcanism and subsidence, exert an influence at a local scale. The resulting depositional model allowed discussion of some important points such as: (1) the genesis of the Tiber mixed bedrock‐alluvial valley, extending from the coastal plain to the innermost portion of the shelf, recording (i) multiple episodes of incision during relative sea‐level fall, and (ii) a downstream increase of depth and width of the valley during the base‐level fall and the subsequent base‐level rise; (2) the different physical expression of the Tiber depositional sequence boundary from landward to seaward, and its diachronous and composite character; (3) the maximum depth reached by the Tiber early lowstand delta at the end of the sea‐level fall is estimated at ca 90 m below the present sea‐level and not at 120 m as suggested by previous works; (4) the backward position of the Tiber late lowstand delta relative to the deposit of early lowstand; (5) the change of the channel pattern and of the stacking pattern of fluvial deposits within the Lowstand Systems Tract, Transgressive Systems Tract and Highstand Systems Tract. All of these features indicate that the Late Pleistocene/Holocene Tiber delta succession, even if deposited in a short period of time from a geological point of view, represents the result of the close interaction among many autogenic and allogenic factors. However, global eustatic variations and sediment supply under the control of climatic changes can be considered the main factors responsible for the stratigraphic architecture of this sedimentary succession, which has been heavily modified by human activity only in the last 3000 years.     

Planform evolution of deltas with graded alluvial topsets: Insights from three‐dimensional tank experiments,geometric considerations and field applications

The profile of a river that conveys sediment without net deposition and net erosion is referred to as ‘graded’ with respect to vertical aggradation of the river segment. Three experimental series, designed in terms of the autostratigraphic view of alluvial grade, were conducted to clarify the diagnostic spatial behaviour of graded alluvial–deltaic rivers: an ‘R series’, which utilized a moving boundary setting with a stationary base level; an ‘F series’ in a fixed boundary setting with a stationary base level to produce ‘forced grade’; and an ‘M series’ in a moving boundary setting with constant base‐level fall to produce ‘autogenic grade.’ The results of the three experimental series, combined with geometrical modelling of the effects of basin water depth and other experimental data, suggest the following: (i) in a graded alluvial–deltaic system, lateral shifting and avulsing of active distributary channels are suppressed regardless of whether the downstream boundary of the deltaic system is fixed; (ii) in a delta with a downstream‐fixed boundary, the graded streams are stabilized within a valley that is incised in the axial part of the delta plain, whereby the alluvial plain outside the valley is abandoned and terraced; (iii) in moving boundary settings, the graded river simply extends basinward as a linearly elongated channel and lobe system without cutting a valley; and (iv) a modern forced‐graded alluvial river is most likely to be found in a valley incised into a fan delta in front of very deep water, and the stratigraphic signal of fossil autogenic‐graded rivers will be found in deltaic successions that accumulated in the outer to marginal areas of deltaic continental shelves during sea‐level falls. This renewed autostratigraphic view of alluvial grade suggests a thorough reconsideration of the conventional understanding that an alluvial river feeding a progradational delta is graded with a stationary base level.     

Application of change detection techniques in geomorphological evolution of coastal areas. Example: Mouth of the River Ebro (period 1957–2013)

This study aims to test the effectiveness of the changes detection techniques to determine the evolution of the various geomorphological units identified in Ebro River mouth, in order to establish their evolutionary trends and to explain the changes between 1957 and 2013 years. To evaluate the most significant changes in the Ebro River mouth, the different geomorphological units present in the area were obtained by interpretation of aerial imagery. It has been noted that the period 1957–1984 was more dynamic and intense than the period 1984–2013, indicating a loss of capacity of the processes causing changes, and the shoreline is evolving toward a more stable morphology. It was determined that the most important processes that took place were mainly marine erosion processes and anthropogenic expansion. On the characterization in the entire period studied, it was determined that growth or decrease processes (net change) are as relevant in the region as processes which include location changes (swap). The change analysis methodology allows analyzing the evolution of coastal geomorphology, since it allows the determination and characterization of the principal transitions amongst the identified geomorphological units, and, therefore, to obtain the main processes that dominate the area, which is particularly relevant on highly vulnerable environments, such as coastal deltaic areas.     

利用灰色关联分析的居民地几何匹配方法

空间数据匹配是空间数据更新与维护的基础和关键。针对空间数据匹配中不同匹配指标的权值确定困难的特点,以居民地为例,从空间数据最基本的图形数据差入手,利用灰色关联分析方法建立一种多指标居民地几何匹配权值自动确定的方法。该方法利用灰色关联分析的方法自动确定居民地实体间的位置、面积、方向等类型的图形数据差权值,得到综合图形数据差计算模型,通过计算待匹配数据综合图形数据差得到匹配结果。通过实验验证了该方法的可行性和实用性。     

长江三角洲第一硬土层中微结核的矿物化学特征及其成因

长江三角洲第一硬土层是古土壤层,是长江河漫滩型沉积物,其形成经历多次沉积和成土过程.硬土层中的铁锰结核以菱铁矿、菱锰矿和褐铁矿为主,通过铁锰元素离子和矿物Eh-pH稳定关系分析,最有利于菱锰矿和菱铁矿结核生成的条件是:Eh＜0且pH＞8.成土期处于末次冰期低海面、气候寒冷干燥期,土壤的化学过程是以氧化作用为主,是褐铁矿等氧化性矿物形成时期;冰后期海相层的沉积覆盖使土壤层进入成岩阶段,土壤层的化学过程以还原作用为主,成岩过程是铁锰碳酸盐结核的主要生成期.     

黄河三角洲下三角洲平原沉积环境

现代黄河三角洲活动叶瓣上河口附近发育着决口扇沉积物,潮汐影响不明显。两侧发育着具有进积潮滩特点的沉积物。叶瓣废弃后由于压实下沉和波浪作用海岸后退,形成退积潮滩。在废弃河口侧部发育较好。那里高潮线处没有侵蚀陡坎,海岸后退是由于压实下沉引起的。废弃河口附近侵蚀作用明显,高潮线处发育侵蚀陡坎,潮间带变窄。     

波流共同作用下废黄河河口水下三角洲地形演变预测模式

通过对废黄河河口水下三角洲海域水文、泥沙、沉积和地形的调查分析，对组成水下三角洲-10--15m以深的平坦海床、-5--10m间的水下斜坡、-5m以浅的近岸浅滩三个地貌单元的水动力特征以及在波流和潮流作用下底部泥沙冲刷率的横向分布进行计算分析，并建立了水下三角洲地形横向剖面地形的演变预测模式。结果表明，在三角洲不同地貌单元内。由于所处不同的水动力条件和底部泥沙特性，出现了不同的侵蚀状态，其中在-10--15m以深的平坦海床，除了3m以上的大浪外，水动力作用以强劲的潮流冲刷为主，目前已接近冲刷相对平衡的状态，在-5--10m间的水下斜坡，受波浪和潮流的共同作用，冲刷强度大，地形剖面呈继续平行后退状态；-5m以浅的近岸浅滩，潮流作用相对较弱，以波浪为滩面的剧低为主，水深线不断向岸方向移动、滩宽变窄；0m以上的潮间带滩地，则波浪和潮流作用均较弱，近岸高滩接近相对稳定状态，有利于海岸线的工程防护。     

Spatial and vertical distributions of elements in sediments of the Colorado River delta and Upper Gulf of California

The abundance of major components (Fe, Ca, K, and organic carbon) and trace elements was analyzed in surface sediments and core samples from the Colorado River delta (CRD) and the Upper Gulf of California (UGC) using instrumental neutron activation analysis.The spatial distribution patterns of the elements studied are consistent with the model of sedimentary dynamics proposed for this area [Mar. Geol. 158 (1999) 125]: intense tidal resuspension of sediments in the delta with subsequent transport of suspended particulate matter in a southerly direction, followed by sedimentation of fine-grained material in a depocenter near the southwestern margin of the UGC. Concentrations of most of the elements are higher in the surface sediments of this depocenter. The gradual mixing of terrigenous and marine biogenic materials, normally expected for the estuarine sediments, was not detected in the CRD–UGC system because of homogenization of the sediments by tides and wind.Vertical profiles of element contents in samples of the sediment core collected in the depocenter area revealed (i) almost no anthropogenic contamination of the area by environmentally important trace elements such as Cr, Co, Sb, and As; (ii) a twofold decrease of Fe, Sc, Cr, and Co in upper core sediments; and (iii) the enrichment of the sediments at 60–62 cm depth in the core, in calcium carbonate, Ca, Sr, and the Eu_n/Sm_n shale-normalized ratio along with a depletion in this layer of Fe, Sc, Cr, Co, light rare-earth elements (REEs), and some other elements of terrigenous origin, presumably caused by the dilution of fluvial terrigenous material by biogenic carbonates, which were probably introduced at this level in the sediments by the action of a strong episodic winter storm, followed by the advective transport of shell fragments from the coastal clam banks or as a result of strong planktonic bloom.     

登陆珠江三角洲热带气旋暴雨的中尺度特征

利用逐时雨量分布图，对登陆珠江三角洲的热带气旋暴雨中尺度特征进行分类、对比和合成分析。实际资料证实了大范围的热带气旋暴雨是由若干中尺度雨团、雨带造成的，纯热带气旋环流形成的中尺度雨团、雨带具有与热带气旋云带大体一致的分布特征；有冷空气与之配合时，热带气旋环流北缘形成东西向的中尺度雨带；热带气旋登陆后的３ｈ可能出现最大中尺度雨团；随热带气旋环流的填塞减弱，中尺度而团也逐渐减弱消失；山地对中尺度雨团的移动起阻滞加强作用，有利的地形与暖湿气流配合，将激发生成新的中尺度雨带。