Lake Floor Morphology and Sediment Architecture of Lake Torneträsk,Northern Sweden

Here we present datasets from a hydroacoustic survey in July 2011 at Lake Torneträsk, northern Sweden. Our hydroacoustic data exhibit lake floor morphologies formed by glacial erosion and accumulation processes, insights into lacustrine sediment accumulation since the beginning of deglaciation, and information on seismic activity along the Pärvie Fault. Features of glacial scouring with a high‐energy relief, steep slopes, and relative reliefs of more than 50 m are observed in the large W‐basin. The remainder of the lacustrine subsurface appears to host a broad variety of well preserved formations from glacial accumulation related to the last retreat of the Fennoscandian ice sheet. Deposition of glaciolacustrine and lacustrine sediments is focused in areas situated in proximity to major inlets. Sediment accumulation in distal areas of the lake seldom exceeds 2 m or is not observable. We assume that lack of sediment deposition in the lake is a result of different factors, including low rates of erosion in the catchment, a previously high lake level leading to deposition of sediments in higher elevated paleodeltas, tributaries carrying low suspension loads as a result of sedimentation in upstream lakes, and an overall low productivity in the lake. A clear off‐shore trace of the Pärvie Fault could not be detected from our hydroacoustic data. However, an absence of sediment disturbance in close proximity to the presumed fault trace implies minimal seismic activity since deposition of the glaciolacustrine and lacustrine sediments.     

New zircon U-Pb ages of the pre-Sturtian rift successions from the western Yangtze Block,South China and their geological significance

ABSTRACT

The Neoproterozoic Kaijianqiao Formation is one of the most important pre-Sturtian rift successions in South China and there has long been a lack of reliable geochronological constraints for its minimum depositional age. In this study, new zircon U-Pb ages of volcaniclastic rocks from the topmost Kaijianqiao Formation are presented. The youngest SHRIMP and LA-ICP-MS zircon ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U weighted mean ages of the tuff sample are 715.0 ± 9.8 and 718.8 ± 9.4 Ma, respectively. The youngest LA-ICP-MS zircon ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U weighted mean age of the tuffaceous siltstone sample is 720.8 ± 7.4 Ma and represents the maximum depositional age of the topmost Kaijianqiao Formation. The results show that the minimum depositional age of the Kaijianqiao Formation in the western Yangtze Block should be ca. 715 Ma, consistent with other pre-Sturtian rift successions in South China, such as the Banxi Group, Chengjiang, and Liantuo formations. Together with the published zircon U-Pb ages, it is demonstrated that the Sturtian glaciation in South China (Jiangkou glaciation) most likely initiated around 715 Ma. In other Rodinia blocks, like Laurentia and Arabia, the Sturtian glaciation probably started between 712 and 717 Ma, thus our new results further support that the Sturtian glaciation was a rapid and globally synchronous event. Other ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U zircon ages display five distinct peaks at ca. 751, 780, 799, 819, and 848 Ma, which corresponded to the tectonic-magmatic events related to the break-up of Rodinia.     

Late glacial and holocene landscapes of central Beringia

New palynological and sedimentological data from St. Lawrence Island present a rare view into late-glacial and Holocene environments of the central Bering Land Bridge. The late glaciation was a time of dynamic landscape changes in south-central Beringia, with active thermokarst processes, including the formation and drainage of thaw lakes. The presence of such a wet, unstable substrate, if widespread, probably would have had an adverse impact on food sources and mobility for many of the large mammal populations. The establishment of Betula shrub tundra on the island suggests late-glacial summers that were warmer than present, consistent with regional paleoclimatic interpretations. However, the increasing proximity to the Bering Sea, as postglacial sea levels rose, modified the intensity of warming and prevented the establishment of deciduous forest as found in other areas of Beringia at this time. The mid- to late Holocene is marked by more stable land surfaces and development of Sphagnum and Cyperaceae peat deposits. The accumulation of organic deposits, decline of shrub Betula, and decrease in thermokarst disturbance suggest that conditions were cooler than the previous. A recent decline in peat accumulation at the study sites may relate to local geomorphology, but similar decreases have been noted for other arctic regions.     

Vines 1 revisited: are older Neoproterozoic glacial deposits preserved in Western Australia?

The stratigraphy in Vines 1, a 2017.5 m-deep cored stratigraphic hole drilled by the Geological Survey of Western Australia in 2001 near the Western Australian – South Australian border, has been reinterpreted with implications for the Neoproterozoic to Cambrian geological history of the Officer Basin. A previous interpretation considered the intersected succession as a conformable stratigraphic package, the Vines Formation. An assemblage of palynomorphs, found throughout the hole and previously used to infer an age of no older than earliest Cambrian, is now thought to consist of contaminants. An older assemblage, which is considered to be reworked and inherited from underlying rocks, provides a new maximum age constraint of mid-Neoproterozoic. Based on sedimentological interpretations and comparisons with other drillholes in the western Officer Basin, and the succession in the eastern Officer Basin, the Vines 1 succession is reinterpreted as four discrete sedimentary packages, the Pirrilyungka (new name), Wahlgu, Lungkarta and Vines (redefined) Formations, in ascending order. The Pirrilyungka and Wahlgu Formations include glacigenic sediments and may correlate with similar glacial successions in Supersequences 2 and 3 (mid to late Cryogenian) of the Centralian Superbasin, and the Sturt Tillite and Elatina Formation and their equivalents in the Adelaide Rift Complex of South Australia, respectively. The eolian Lungkarta Formation and fluvial Vines Formation are considered, on regional evidence, to be most likely of Ediacaran to earliest Cambrian age.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987113000297

This paper compiles lithostratigraphic and geochronological data obtained for the Palaeoproterozoic glacial diamictite-bearing successions,and thereby provides insights into understanding the geological processes causing the Huronian Glaciation Event.The majority of evidence for appearances of this glaciation event can be related to the Kenorland supercontinent breakup,allied to significant atmospheric change,as well as blooms of biogeochemical oxygenic photosynthesis.In this paper,the Huronian Glaciation Event is constrained to have occurred synchronously during 2.29-2.25 Ga,accompanied by dramatic environmental changes characteristic of the Great Oxidation Event which includes the pre- 2.3 Ga hydrosphere oxidation and the post-2.3 Ga atmosphere oxygenation.     

Quaternary geomorphological evolution of the Kunlun Pass area and uplift of the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau

There is a set of Late Cenozoic sediments in the Kunlun Pass area, Tibetan Plateau, China. Paleomagnetic, ESR and TL dating suggest that they date from the Late Pliocene to the Early Pleistocene. Analyses of stratigraphy, sedimentary characteristic, and evolution of the fauna and flora indicate that, from the Pliocene to the early Quaternary (about 5–1.1 Ma BP), there was a relatively warm and humid environment, and a paleolake occurred around the Kunlun Pass. The elevation of the Kunlun Pass area was no more than 1500 m, and only one low topographic divide existed between the Qaidam Basin and the Kunlun Pass Basin. The geomorphic pattern in the Kunlun Pass area was influenced by the Kunlun–Yellow River Tectonic Movement 1.1–0.6 Ma BP. The Wangkun Glaciation (0.7–0.5 Ma) is the maximum Quaternary glaciation in the Pass and in other areas of the Plateau. During the glaciation, the area of the glaciers was 3–5 times larger than that of the present glacier in the Pass area. There was no Xidatan Valley that time. The extreme geomorphic changes in the Kunlun Pass area reflect an abrupt uplift of the Tibet Plateau during the Early and Middle Pleistocene. This uplift of the Plateau has significance on both the Plateau itself and the surrounding area.     

晚第四纪柴达木盆地盐湖成盐期与冰期对比方案的再认识

文章以柴达木盆地察汗斯拉图、昆特依和一里坪盐湖共计6个中更新统—全新统含盐地层剖面为研究对象,通过铀系测年和光释光测年测定其成盐年代,利用X射线衍射分析测定其盐类矿物种类.察汗斯拉图D19剖面芒硝和石盐层的铀系年代为(231.5±19.5)～(239.5±40.4)ka BP,对应于深海氧同位素阶段(MIS)7早期;昆...     

Meltwater discharge through the subglacial bed and its land‐forming consequences from numerical experiments in the Polish lowland during the last glaciation

Numerical experiments suggest that the last glaciation severely affected the upper lithosphere groundwater system in NW Poland: primarily its flow pattern, velocities and fluxes. We have simulated subglacial groundwater flow in two and three spatial dimensions using finite difference codes for steady‐state and transient conditions. The results show how profoundly the ice sheet modifies groundwater pressure heads beneath and some distance beyond the ice margin. All model runs show water discharge at the ice forefield driven by ice‐sheet‐thickness‐modulated, down‐ice‐decreasing hydraulic heads. In relation to non‐glacial times, the transient 3D model shows significant changes in the groundwater flow directions in a regionally extensive aquifer ca. 90 m below the ice–bed interface and up to 40 km in front of the glacier. Comparison with empirical data suggests that, depending on the model run, only between 5 and 24% of the meltwater formed at the ice sole drained through the bed as groundwater. This is consistent with field observations documenting abundant occurrence of tunnel valleys, indicating that the remaining portion of basal meltwater was evacuated through a channelized subglacial drainage system. Groundwater flow simulation suggests that in areas of very low hydraulic conductivity and adverse subglacial slopes water ponding at the ice sole was likely. In these areas the relief shows distinct palaeo‐ice lobes, indicating fast ice flow, possibly triggered by the undrained water at the ice–bed interface. Owing to the abundance of low‐permeability strata in the bed, the simulated groundwater flow depth is less than ca. 200 m. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Controls on sediment evacuation from glacially modified and unmodified catchments in the eastern Sierra Nevada,California

The degree of glacial modification in small catchments along the eastern Sierra Nevada, California, controls the timing and pattern of sediment flux to the adjacent fans. There is a close relationship between the depth of fan‐head incision and the pattern and degree of Late Pleistocene catchment erosion by valley glaciers; catchments with significant glacial activity are associated with deeply incised fan heads, whereas fans emerging from glacially unmodified catchments are unincised. We suggest that the depth of fan‐head incision is controlled by the potential for sediment storage during relatively dry ice‐free periods, which in turn is related to the downstream length of the glacially modified valley and creation of accommodation through valley floor slope lowering and glacial valley overdeepening and widening. Significant storage in glacially modified basins during ice‐free periods leads to sediment supply‐limited conditions at the fan head and causes deep incision. In contrast, a lack of sediment trapping allows quasi‐continuous sediment supply to the fan and prevents incision of the fan head. Sediment evacuation rates should thus show large variations in glacially modified basins, with major peaks during glacial and lows during interglacial or ice‐free periods, respectively. In contrast, sediment removal from glacially unmodified catchments in this type of setting should be free of this effect, and will be dominated instead by short‐term variations, modulated for example by changes in vegetation cover or storm frequency. This distinction may help improve our understanding of long‐term sediment yields as a measure of erosional efficiency. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

玉龙雪山西麓冰碛(水)砾岩的工程地质特性研究

作为滇西北、川西和西藏地区最重要的第四纪堆积物类型之一,冰川堆积物的工程性质及其相关的地质灾害和工程问题研究日益受到工程界的关注。通过对上述地区大量冰碛物和冰水沉积物的现场调查发现,冰碛物和冰水沉积物是一类成分、结构和性质都十分复杂的第四纪堆积物,其工程性质主要与母岩成分和充填胶结物的矿物成分密切相关。发育在石灰岩地区的冰碛物和冰水沉积物因钙质（方解石）的次生胶结,而成为单轴抗压强度达10.94～14.22 MPa的岩石,作者称其为“冰碛（水）砾岩”。结合滇藏铁路滇西北段线路比选和优化工作,对云南玉龙雪山西麓第四纪冰川堆积物的类型和分布特征进行了详细的野外调查;在室内物理力学试验的基础上,着重研究了冰碛（水）砾岩的胶结物成分与胶结作用、水稳性、力学性质、声波速度等方面的特性,这不仅可以丰富现代岩石力学的研究内容,而且对本区铁路工程建设和水力资源的开发具有重要的实际价值。