Tidally incised valleys on tropical carbonate shelves: An example from the northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia

The formation of incised valleys on continental shelves is generally attributed to fluvial erosion under low sea level conditions. However, there are exceptions. A multibeam sonar survey at the northern end of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, adjacent to the southern edge of the Gulf of Papua, mapped a shelf valley system up to 220 m deep that extends for more than 90 km across the continental shelf. This is the deepest shelf valley yet found in the Great Barrier Reef and is well below the maximum depth of fluvial incision that could have occurred under a − 120 m, eustatic sea level low-stand, as what occurred on this margin during the last ice age. These valleys appear to have formed by a combination of reef growth and tidal current scour, probably in relation to a sea level at around 30–50 m below its present position.

Tidally incised depressions in the valley floor exhibit closed bathymetric contours at both ends. Valley floor sediments are mainly calcareous muddy, gravelly sand on the middle shelf, giving way to well-sorted, gravely sand containing a large relict fraction on the outer shelf. The valley extends between broad platform reefs and framework coral growth, which accumulated through the late Quaternary, coincides with tidal current scour to produce steep-sided (locally vertical) valley walls. The deepest segments of the valley were probably the sites of lakes during the last ice age, when Torres Strait formed an emergent land-bridge between Australia and Papua New Guinea. Numerical modeling predicts that the strongest tidal currents occur over the deepest, outer-shelf segment of the valley when sea level is about 40–50 m below its present position. These results are consistent with a Pleistocene age and relict origin of the valley.

Based on these observations, we propose a new conceptual model for the formation of tidally incised shelf valleys. Tidal erosion on meso- to macro-tidal, rimmed carbonate shelves is enhanced during sea level rise and fall when a tidal, hydraulic pressure gradient is established between the shelf-lagoon and the adjacent ocean basin. Tidal flows attain a maximum, and channel incision is greatest, when a large hydraulic pressure gradient coincides with small channel cross sections. Our tidal-incision model may explain the observation of other workers, that sediment is exported from the Great Barrier Reef shelf to the adjacent ocean basins during intermediate (rather than last glacial maximum) low-stand, sea level positions. The model may apply to other rimmed shelves, both modern and ancient.     

莱州湾东部滨海水域第四纪沉积及古地理特征

本文通过对６个钻孔和４６１ｋｍ浅层地震剖机测量获得的测年、微古、孢粉、藻类、古地磁以及岩持征和地震反射界面等资料的综合分析，将本区第四系划分为中更新统、上更新统和全新统，对各时期的沉积进行了较详细的阐述，并对不同时期的沉积相特征和古地理环境的变化进行了初步地揭示。     

西太平洋翁通-爪哇海台晚第四纪浮游有孔虫群与古温度变化

通过对翁通-爪哇海台ODP807站的浮游有孔虫进行定量分析,结合已有的氧、碳稳定同位素数据,揭示了晚第四纪赤道西太平洋表层海水温度及上部海水垂向结构的冰期／间冰期变化特征。研究表明,自530kaBP以来,西太平洋暖池区的表层海水温度(SST)和温跃层深度(DOT)都经历过显著的变化,其中年平均SST的冰期／间冰期变化幅度达4．2℃,DOT的波动范围更是超过100m,这进一步论证了西太平洋暖池的不稳定性。频谱分析还揭示出SST和DOT变化不仅具有典型的100ka冰期／间冰期旋回,还有热带地区特有的半岁差周期,说明研究区的古海洋学变化既有高纬驱动的作用,也有热带驱动的影响。     

台湾海峡西岸第四纪沉积层中的老红砂

本文对采自福建沿海的老红砂作了粒度分析、矿物鉴定和石英电镜扫描。结果表明,组成老红砂的成分主要为中细砂,砂含量大于70%,粘土和粉砂含量较少。概率累积曲线多为跳跃、悬浮两段式,其次为滚动、跳跃、悬浮三段式。轻矿物以石英为主,长石含量居次。含量较高的重矿物有磁铁矿、钛铁矿、白钛石,其次有锆石、赤铁矿、褐铁矿、电气石、绿帘石等。文章对老红砂的成因提出一些粗浅的看法。     

福州市马尾地区第四纪地层划分及海相层分析

通过对该区钻孔剖面贡料,结合~(14)C、古地磁、孢粉及微体古生物等资料综合分析研究,对该区第四纪地层提出划分意见和自第四纪晚期以来,地层中存在着典型两期海侵所形成的海相层。     

闽江口第四纪地层中的孢粉、有孔虫、硅藻组合及其古地理意义

本文通过对闽江口琅岐岛钻孔的孢粉,有孔虫及硅藻的综合分析,发现第四纪地层中有五个孢粉组合带,五个硅藻组合带与一个微体化石层。结合~(14)C测年资料与沉积物特征认为该地区第四纪地层可以划分为晚更新世晚期与全新世(早期、中期、晚期)。气候演化依次为:冷干→温暖略干→温暖湿润→炎热潮湿→温暖略干。沉积相发展顺序为:冲积相、冲洪积相→河流相、湖沼相→湖沼相、河口相→海湾相→河口相。     

Late Quaternary palaeolimnology of a tropical marl lake: Wallywash Great Pond,Jamaica

Wallywash Great Pond (17° 57 N, 77° 48 W, 7 m a.s.l.) is the largest perennial lake in Jamaica. It occupies a fault trough within the karstic White Limestone. The Great Pond is a hardwater lake with a pH of 8.2–8.6 and an alkalinity of 3.6–3.9 meq 1^–1. Its chemistry is strongly influenced by the spring discharge from the limestone. The lake water is subject to degassing, evaporation and bicarbonate assimilation by submerged plants and algae, resulting in marl precipitation. A 9.23 m core (WGP2), taken from a water depth of 2.8 m, was analysed for magnetic susceptibility, loss-on-ignition, carbonate content, mole % MgCO₃ in calcite, and stable isotopes in the fine carbonate fraction. The chronology is based on ten¹⁴C and four U/Th dates. Four main sediment types alternate in the core: marl; organic, calcareous mud; organic mud or peat; and earthy, brown, calcareous mud. The marls represent periods of wet/warm climate during sea-level highstands and the organic deposits, shallower, swampy conditions. In contrast, the brown, calcareous muds were laid down when the lake was dry or ephemeral. The last interglacial (120 000- 106 000 yr BP) is represented by three distinct marl units. After a dry interval, stable, wet/warm conditions set in from 106 000 to 93 000 yr BP. A dry/cool climate prevailed between 93 000 and at least 9500 yr BP. Three subsequent cycles of alternating wet and dry conditions culminated in flooding of the basin by the Black River during the late Holocene. These recent events cannot be accurately dated by¹⁴C due to significant and temporally-variable inputs of dead carbon from the springs.     

河北省唐山地区丰台—野鸡坨断裂第四纪活动性——来自14C和磁性地层年代学的证据

丰台—野鸡坨断裂为唐山地区主要断裂之一，西侧为鸦鸿桥凹陷，东侧为唐山凸起，断裂两侧第四系厚度之差巨大。本文依据该断层两侧钻孔对其第四纪以来活动性进行初步的探讨。通过对丰台—野鸡坨断裂上下两盘PZK14和PZK20孔磁性地层学研究，并结合钻孔岩石地层，及浅部光释光和¹⁴C测年结果，建立第四纪地层格架。结果表明：两孔底部“泥包砾”为新近纪沉积；PZK14孔下更新统底界埋深为387 m，中更新统底界埋深为114 m，上更新统底界埋深为71 m，全新统底界埋深为6 m；PZK20孔下更新统底界埋深为155 m，中更新统底界埋深为73 m，上更新统底界为36 m，无全新世地层。丰台—野鸡坨断裂活动在早更新世时表现为逐渐增强的特点，活动速率由早期的5.4 cm/ka增加到13.9 cm/ka。中更新世断裂活动基本处于停滞状态，活动速率为1.0 cm/ka。晚更新世以后，断裂重新活动，且更加剧烈，活动速率达到了54.5 cm/ka。     

中国大陆第四纪地壳运动时程

本文从中国大陆有代表性的青藏高原、黄土高原、三峡地区着手,进行了新构造运动剖析。并结合全国火山活动期次,总结出中国大陆第四纪地壳运动的时程变化。从而为进一步探讨新构造运动特点和规律,为国民经济建设及人类生存环境提供了一定的地质背景资料。     

青藏高原腹地湖泊沉积对第四纪晚期古季风变化的响应

通过对青藏高原腹地的综合科学考察和对中心钻孔岩芯剖面的最新研究,用层序地层学与年代地层学和气候地层学相结合的方法,分辨出可可西里地区湖泊沉积记录(孔深7.25 m)的第四纪晚期距今3万余年以来的古气候变化,沉积物磁化率等因子综合表征的高原古季风变化是波动发展的,发生在仙女木期地质环境事件中的季风活动具有强烈暴发的特点,是高原季风发展中的突变事件,而且地表热点效应对其起到了激发作用。综合分析的研究成果表明,它的变化频谱与激变因子及其运行机制是伴随着青藏高原地质效应的演变而发展的,为研究第四纪冰消期以来的气候变化提供了新的信息。