Rift sequence stratigraphy

Conventional sequence stratigraphy has been developed primarily for passive-margin basins. Despite the conceptual advances within the last 30 years, a suitable model for rift basins has not yet been devised. Many authors have attempted to adapt the passive-margin model to all other tectonic settings, including rifts, despite the fundamental differences in terms of the mechanisms controlling the formation and evolution of these sedimentary basins. Passive margins have their stratigraphic framework controlled largely by cyclic sea-level fluctuations superimposed on long-term thermal subsidence. By contrast, rift basins have their accommodation history strongly related to their mechanical subsidence regime, with episodic pulses of extension that create space for sediment accumulation at very fast rates. Stages of rapid mechanical subsidence are typically followed by longer periods of tectonic quiescence, when sediment supply gradually consumes and fills the available accommodation. This cyclicity results in depositional sequences that display overall progradational trends and coarsening-upward vertical stacking patterns. Sequence boundaries are often marked by sharp flooding surfaces related to the transgression of lacustrine or marine systems in response to rapid tectonic subsidence and the consequent ‘instantaneous’ generation of accommodation. As such, a typical rift depositional sequence starts with a flooding surface overlain by a relatively thin transgressive systems tract and a much better developed highstand systems tract. A renewed subsidence pulse leads to the drowning of the previous deposits and the start of a new depositional sequence. The strong asymmetry of the base-level curve resembles the shape of glacio-eustatic cycles, with fast transgressions followed by longer term regressions, although at potentially different temporal scales.     

Heat flow anomalies in the Gulf of Cadiz and off Cape San Vincente,Portugal

Heat flow anomalies provide critical information in active tectonic environments. The Gulf of Cadiz and adjacent areas are affected by the plate convergence between Africa and Europe, causing widespread deformation and faulting. Active thrust faults cause lateral movement and advection of heat that produces systematic variations in surface heat flow. In December 2003 new heat flow data were collected during the research vessel Sonne cruise SO175 in the Gulf of Cadiz over two sites of recent focused research activity: (i) the Gulf of Cadiz sedimentary prism and (ii) the Marques de Pombal escarpment. Both features have also been discussed as potential source areas of the Great Lisbon earthquake and tsunami of 1755. Background heat flow at the eastern terminus of the Horseshoe abyssal plain is about 52–59 mW/m². Over the Gulf of Cadiz prism, heat flow decreases from ∼57 mW/m² to unusually low values of 45 mW/m² roughly 120 km eastward. Such low values and the heat flow trend are typical for active thrusting, supporting the idea of an east-dipping thrust fault. Slip rates are 10 ± 5 mm per year, assuming that the fault dips at 2°. A fault dipping at 5°, however, would result into slip rates of 1.5–5 mm per year, suggesting that subduction has largely ceased. Based on seismic data, the Marques de Pombal fault is interpreted as part of an active fault system located ∼100 km westward of Cape San Vincente. Heat flow over the fault is affected by refraction of heat caused by the 1 km high escarpment. Thermal models suggest that the slip rate along the fault must either be small or shear stresses acting on the fault are rather high. With respect to other fault zones, however, it is reasonable to assume that the fault's slip rate is small.     

Neocomian to early Aptian syn-rift evolution of the normal to oblique-rifted North Gabon Margin (Interior and N'Komi Basins)

The North Gabon coastal rift basins consist of a set of 130–150 long-segment asymmetrically tilted half grabens (Interior Basin) and 000–020 short-segment en échelon half grabens (N'Komi Basin) separated by 040–060 major transverse faults. Tectono-sedimentary analysis of field and subsurface data reveals the control exerted by extensional tectonism over continental sedimentation. During Berriasian to early Barremian times, uniform uniaxial 040–060 extension was responsible for the stretching of the brittle upper crust over a 100-km wide domain. During late Barremian–early Aptian times, the main locus of extension stepped westward resulting in severe end-rift uplift and erosion of the failed Interior and N'Komi rift basins. Early Cretaceous coastal rifts in North Gabon display a wide range of styles from oblique rifting (N'Komi Basin), normal rifting (Interior Basin) to transform rifting. The pre-existing Precambrian tectonic fabric exerts a strong control over the mode and over the 100–300 km-scale segmentation of the rifting.     

Foraging ecology of an endemic shorebird, the African Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus moquini) on the south–east coast of South Africa

We investigated small–medium (1–300 km) scale variation in the foraging ecology of the African Black Oystercatcher during its breeding season, using traditional diet analysis coupled with carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis. Fieldwork was conducted between January and March 2006 and 2007, on rocky shores on the south–east coast of South Africa at East London, Kenton and Port Elizabeth. Middens of shelled prey left by adults feeding their chicks were collected from five territories and the abundances of the collected prey on the foraging areas were estimated using quadrats. Blood samples from 45 birds (16 females, 10 males and 19 chicks) and tissues from the predominant prey species on the territory of each breeding pair were collected for isotope analysis. The Manly–Chesson selectivity index revealed that adults feed their chicks preferentially with the limpet Scutellastra cochlear and the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis, if available. A slight enrichment in the ¹⁵N stable-carbon isotope signature was observed towards the west in both prey and oystercatchers. Differences in isotope signatures between males and females from the same breeding pair indicate sex-related differences in the diet. Both had signatures indicating a mixed diet, but with males exhibiting a signature closer to that of limpets and females closer to that of mussels. In the single case where mussels were rare on the feeding territory, the two members of a pair showed carbon signatures which were identical and very similar to that of limpets. These results indicate dietary partitioning between genders in breeding pairs.     

High-sediment tolerance in the reef coral Turbinaria mesenterina from the inner Great Barrier Reef lagoon (Australia)

Sedimentation is an important stressor on coral reefs subjected to run-off, dredging and resuspension events. Reefs with a history of high-sediment loads tend to be dominated by a few tolerant coral species. A key question is whether such species live close to their tolerance thresholds or near their niche optima. Here, we analyse experimentally the sediment tolerance of a spatially dominant coral, Turbinaria mesenterina (Dendrophylliidae), at nearshore reefs in the central Great Barrier Reef lagoon. Testing was conducted in a 5-week tank experiment under manipulated sediment loading and flow conditions. Physiological stress was assessed based on the behaviour of three key response variables: skeletal growth rate, energy reserves (lipid content) and photosynthetic performance. Because sediment effects are likely to vary between flow regimes, sediment and flow responses were tested using a full factorial design. Sediment loads greater than 110 mg cm⁻² had no effect on any of the physiological variables, regardless of flow (0.7–24 cm s⁻¹). Turbinaria mesenterina is thus tolerant to sediment loads an order of magnitude higher than most severe sediment conditions in situ. Likely mechanisms for such tolerance are that: (1) colonies covered in sediment (60–120 μm) in low-flow were able to clear themselves rapidly (within 4–5 h); and (2) sediment provides a source of food. These results suggest that intensified sediment regimes on coastal reefs may shift coral communities towards dominance by a few well-adapted species.     

Straight from the source's mouth: Controls on field-constrained sediment export across the entire active Corinth Rift,central Greece

The volume and grain-size of sediment supplied from catchments fundamentally control basin stratigraphy. Despite their importance, few studies have constrained sediment budgets and grain-size exported into an active rift at the basin scale. Here, we used the Corinth Rift as a natural laboratory to quantify the controls on sediment export within an active rift. In the field, we measured the hydraulic geometries, surface grain-sizes of channel bars and full-weighted grain-size distributions of river sediment at the mouths of 47 catchments draining the rift (constituting 83% of the areal extent). Results show that the sediment grain-size increases westward along the southern coast of the Gulf of Corinth, with the coarse-fraction grain-sizes (84^th percentile of weighted grain-size distribution) ranging from approximately 19 to 91 mm. We find that the median and coarse-fraction of the sieved grain-size distribution are primarily controlled by bedrock lithology, with late Quaternary uplift rates exerting a secondary control. Our results indicate that grain-size export is primarily controlled by the input grain-size within the catchment and subsequent abrasion during fluvial transport, both quantities that are sensitive to catchment lithology. We also demonstrate that the median and coarse-fraction of the grain-size distribution are predominantly transported in bedload; however, typical sand-grade particles are transported as suspended load at bankfull conditions, suggesting disparate source-to-sink transit timescales for sand and gravel. Finally, we derive both a full Holocene sediment budget and a grain-size-specific bedload discharged into the Gulf of Corinth using the grain-size measurements and previously published estimates of sediment fluxes and volumes. Results show that the bedload sediment budget is primarily comprised (~79%) of pebble to cobble grade (0.475–16 cm). Our results suggest that the grain-size of sediment export at the rift scale is particularly sensitive to catchment lithology and fluvial mophodynamics, which complicates our ability to make direct inferences of tectonic and palaeoenvironmental forcing from local stratigraphic characteristics.     

The initiation of the southern central Great Barrier Reef: New multiproxy data from Pleistocene distal sediments from the Marion Plateau (NE Australia)

Significant synchronous shifts in the chemistry, mineralogy, grain sizes and color of the sediments at 6 m below sea floor (mbsf) at ODP Site 1195 on the Marion Plateau (NE Australia) are interpreted to reflect a major regional paleoceanographic change: the initiation of the southern province of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The onset of this massive carbonate production centre nearby resulted primarily in increased deposition of carbonate-rich sediments of neritic origin. Both sedimentation rate and terrigenous input record a coincident decline attributed to inshore trapping of materials behind the reefs. Our best estimate places the development of reef framework in the southern part of the GBR between 560 and 670 kyr B.P., based on an age model combining magnetostratigraphic and biostratigraphic data. The proposed estimation agrees with previous studies reporting an age between 500 and 930 kyr B.P., constraining more tightly their results. However, it does not support research placing the birth of the GBR in Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11 ( 400 kyr), nor the theory of a worldwide modern barrier reef development at that time.     

The Summertime Great Plains Low Level Jet And The Effect of Its Origin On Moisture Transport

Radiosonde data from six stations in Kansas and Oklahoma for the period of June 16–24, 1993 indicate that a low-level jet (LLJ) occurred almost every day except on the 20th. Major characteristics of these LLJs are documented in this paper. The maximum wind speed (the jet speed) varied from 13 to 32 m s^-1 and heights ranged from 167 to 910 m. All the jets were southerly except the one on June 19 which changed its direction dramatically from a southerly to a northerly direction in about three hours although its intensity did not change appreciably. Thermal stability of the boundary layer during these LLJ occurrences ranged from near-neutral to highly stable. All the low-level jets exhibited significant diurnal variations. Analyses show that relatively weak large-scale forcing existed for the LLJs on June 21 and June 22, while strong forcing was present on other days. Analyses also show that moisture transport by the LLJ from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Plains depends on the location of the LLJ origin. In the two weeks of June 13–19 and 20–26, 1993, powerful storms swept through the central United States, accompanied by tornadoes, strong wind, large hail and heavy rainfall. The analyses indicate that these weather events could be a result of the interactions of the LLJs with synoptic-scale flow.     

2006年大兴安岭特大森林火灾防 扑火关键期转折性降水特征

应用观测资料、云图产品、T213数值预报产品资料,对2006年春季内蒙古"5.25"特大森林火灾防扑火关键期转折性降水的特点和成因进行了诊断分析。分析表明,火场区域的呼伦贝尔市气温偏高3～4℃、降水偏少90%～100%。防扑火关键期降水的水汽主要来源于孟加拉湾及我国低纬地区,700hPa水汽通量中心值达19.7g.s-1.cm-1.hPa-1,同时低层我国江淮流域存在偏东气流携带的水汽补充。正涡度平流的输送使火场区域东风切变维持加强,在火场区域存在一个垂直速度上升区,中心值达-15.6×10-3hPa.s-1,散度场的垂直分布具有较好的抽吸效应,高层辐散对降水区域的引导作用明显。火场区域的热力因素使这一区域的降雨量加大。结果表明,异常的大气环流导致火场区域前期高温、干旱;防扑火关键期转折性降水的主要条件是长距离的水汽输送;在防扑火关键期的降水过程中,动力作用是十分显著的。     

长江中下游严重旱涝时期大气环流以及热源和水汽汇的异常

利用 1980-1997年 6-8月 NECP／NCAR月平均资料，计算了大气热源和水汽汇，研究了我国长江中下游夏季严重旱涝时期大气环流以及大气热源和水汽汇的异常特征，主要结果如下： 在对流层中下层，来自于孟加拉湾和南海的南风异常和长江流域以北的北风异常在长江中下游辐合。这两股异常气流分别与西太平洋上反气旋异常系统（中心位于22°N，140°E）和气旋异常系统（中心位于日本海）有关。在对流层高层，反气旋异常系统中心位于23°N，105°E，气旋异常系统中心位于朝鲜，两异常系统之间的西北异常气流在长江中下游辐散。而在印度西南季风区为偏东风异常，表示西南季风的减弱； 长江中下游严重干旱时，在对流层中下层，长江以北南风异常和长江以南北风异常从长江流域辐散，在以东的洋面上形成东风异常气流。这两股异常气流分别与酉太平洋上气旋异常系统（中心位于23°N，135°E）和西北太平洋上反气旋异常系统有关。在对流层高层，气旋异常系统中心位于南海，反气旋异常系统中心位于日本海，两异常系统之间的偏东异常气流在长江中下游辐合。 热源异常的最主要特征是长江中下游严重洪涝时从西太平洋到南海热源异常为负，表示热源偏弱；正热源异常位于长江流域。而长江中下游严重干旱时热源异常正好相反。垂直