Geomorphological evolution of a Lowland valley system during the Weichselian

Weichselian geomorphological and fluvial evolution has been recorded in the valley fill of the Reusel, a small tributary of the lower Maas river. It has been studied by means of borehole sections. A first deep incision into the substratum occurred during the Early Weichselian-Lower Pleniglacial. This was followed by aggradation, at first by a braided river, at a later date by a meandering river, dating respectively from the Lower and Middle Pleniglacial. The Upper Pleniglacial aggradation again points to a braided river system. The end of the Pleniglacial is characterized by aeolian infilling of the valley and decreasing carrying capacity of the river.     

Hillslope gullying in the Solway Firth — Morecambe Bay region, Great Britain: Responses to human impact and/or climatic deterioration?

In the Solway Firth — Morecambe Bay region of Great Britain there is evidence for heightened hillslope instability during the late Holocene (after 3000 cal. BP). Little or no hillslope geomorphic activity has been identified occurring during the early Holocene, but there is abundant evidence for late Holocene hillslope erosion (gullying) and associated alluvial fan and valley floor deposition. Interpretation of the regional radiocarbon chronology available from organic matter buried beneath alluvial fan units suggests much of this geomorphic activity can be attributed to four phases of more extensive gullying identified after 2500–2200, 1300–1000, 1000–800 and 500 cal. BP. Both climate and human impact models can be evoked to explain the crossing of geomorphic thresholds: and palaeoecological data on climatic change (bog surface wetness) and human impact (pollen), together with archaeological and documentary evidence of landscape history, provide a context for addressing the causes of late Holocene geomorphic instability. High magnitude storm events are the primary agent responsible for gully incision, but neither such events nor cooler/wetter climatic episodes appear to have produced gully systems in the region before 3000 cal. BP. Increased gullying after 2500–2200 cal. BP coincides with population expansion during Iron Age and Romano-British times. The widespread and extensive gullying after 1300–1000 cal. BP and after 1000–800 cal. BP coincides with periods of population expansion and a growing rural economy identified during Norse times, 9–10th centuries AD, and during the Medieval Period, 12–13th centuries AD. These periods were separated by a downturn associated with the ‘harrying of the north’ AD 1069 to 1070. The gullying episode after 500 cal. BP also coincides with increased anthropogenic pressure on the uplands, with population growth and agricultural expansion after AD 1500 following 150 years of malaise caused by livestock and human (the Black Death) plagues, poor harvests and conflicts on the Scottish/English border. The increased susceptibility to erosion of gullies is a response to increased anthropogenic pressure on upland hillslopes during the late Holocene, and the role of this pressure appears crucial in priming hillslopes before subsequent major storm events. In particular, the cycles of expansion and contraction in both population and agriculture appear to have affected the susceptibility of the upland landscape to erosion, and the hillslope gullying record in the region, therefore, contributes to understanding of the timing and spatial pattern of human exploitation of the upland landscape.     

Large to intermediate-scale aquifer heterogeneity in fine-grain dominated alluvial fans (Cenozoic As Pontes Basin,northwestern Spain): insight based on three-dimensional geostatistical reconstruction

Facies reconstructions are used in hydrogeology to improve the interpretation of aquifer permeability distribution. In the absence of sufficient data to define the heterogeneity due to geological processes, uncertainties in the distribution of aquifer hydrofacies and characteristics may appear. Geometric and geostatistical methods are used to understand and model aquifer hydrofacies distribution, providing models to improve comprehension and development of aquifers. However, these models require some input statistical parameters that can be difficult to infer from the study site. A three-dimensional reconstruction of a kilometer scale fine-grain dominated Cenozoic alluvial fan derived from more than 200 continuously cored, closely spaced, and regularly distributed wells is presented. The facies distributions were reconstructed using a genetic stratigraphic subdivision and a deterministic geostatistical algorithm. The reconstruction is only slightly affected by variations in the geostatistical input parameters because of the high-density data set. Analysis of the reconstruction allowed identification in the proximal to medial alluvial fan zones of several laterally extensive sand bodies with relatively higher permeability; these sand bodies were quantified in terms of volume, mean thickness, maximum area, and maximum equivalent diameter. These quantifications provide trends and geological scenarios for input statistical parameters to model aquifer systems in similar alluvial fan depositional settings.     

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.     

苍山十八溪的水石流及其防治

云南省苍山十八溪发育十分典型的水石流,流动时表面为高含沙洪水,底部为粗相沙砾和巨石,固液两相离析为非均质两相流。流体具有很大的动能和冲击力,对富绕的苍洱平坝区造成危害。为了治灾除害,保护生态环境,本文对防治目的、治理目标、防治方针与方法,以及实施顺序、程序、方案、技术措施等问题作了阐述。     

川西地区“西康群”研究工作中若干基本问题的思考

西康群等岩群的研究已取得初步成果,由于构造变形复杂,至今沉积地层层序等基本问题尚未解决。运用沉积地质学理论,从造山带演化观点出发,对海底扁和滨、浅海沉积等关键问题进行了讨论,提出盆地演化的初步设想,并就今后研究提出了若干意见,以促进该项研究工作的深入发展。     

燕山地区长城纪扇三角洲沉积

在燕山地区东部的滦县等地,太古代至早元古代结晶基底之上发育一套百余米厚的陆源粗碎屑沉积。长期以来,许多研究者将其与蓟县地区长城系近底部的陆相沉积地层对比,认为属于常州沟组。1980年,钱祥麟等经过系统的研究,提出这套地层为晚长城纪大红峪期的超覆沉积。此后,这套粗碎屑沉积的性质及其与盆地整体沉积环境系统的关系。一直未能确定。近年来,笔者为此进行了初步的沉积学研究,结果表明这套粗碎屑沉积与其上的碳酸盐沉积构成了较为典型的 Gilbert 型扇三角洲沉积相。该扇三角洲沉积的确立,为燕山地区中一晚元古代坳拉槽南东缘盆地界线的限定以及早期盆地拉张过程中的沉积充填方式的研究,提供了重要的依据。     

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.     

断陷湖盆隐蔽油藏预测及勘探的关键技术--高精度地震探测基础上的层序地层学研究

近十余年世界的我国隐蔽油藏勘探取得了巨大进展,其关键技术是高精度的三维地震及在此基础上的层序地层学研究,二者的结合已被油气产业部门当作勘探中的“权威性技术”。断陷湖盆在我国东部含油气资源的重要性居首位,控制层序形成演化的诸因素中,构造,古气候和在区域古地理格局中的位置对湖盆的类型和演化起着决定作用,需要按照断陷湖盆的沉积构造演化特征建立有预测功能的层序构成模式,在成熟的勘探区,重新建立等时层序地层格架,进行体系域精度的工业制图,阐明沉积体系的分布规律,使用高精度地球物理技术对圈闭定位,并对构造坡折带和低位域扇体给予重点注意,用这种技术方法指导隐蔽油气藏的勘探,已经并必将有许多重要发现。     

南海珠江深水扇系统的微观内幕结构研究

本文首次探索在以二维地震资料为主的条件下开展深水扇系统的微观内幕研究。结果表明:在珠江口盆地白云凹陷中的南海珠江深水扇系统中能较好地由浅至深识别出多套地层(尤其是浅部地层)中存在的多种类型的深切谷、峡谷、水道,各有不同地质成因机制。能识别的典型扇体微观结构类型包括丘形体、席状体、水道化沉积及朵叶体等,往往分别指示某些特殊的沉积环境,并且最可能构成潜在的深水油气圈闭的良好储层。在二维地震资料条件下容易识别的深水扇系统微观内幕结构类型比较有限,在空间上追踪典型微观内幕结构也相对比较困难,但是若能全面认识区域构造及沉积背景,综合利用相关资料减少对地震反射结构解释的多解性,就有望对扇体的微观内幕结构进行深入剖析,深化对扇体的地质认识,从而指导油气勘探。