Morphology,sedimentary infill and depositional environments of the Early Quaternary North Sea Basin (56°–62°N)

The North Sea Basin has been subsiding during the Quaternary and contains hundreds of metres of fill. Seismic surveys (170 000 km²) provide new evidence on Early Quaternary sedimentation, from about 2.75 Ma to around the Brunhes-Matuyama boundary (0.78 Ma). We present an informal seismic stratigraphy for the Early Quaternary of the North Sea, and calculate sediment volumes for major units. Early Quaternary sediment thickness is > 1000 m in the northern basin and >700 m in the central basin (total about 40 000 km³). Northern North Sea basin-fill comprises several clinoform units, prograding westward over 60 000 km². Architecture of the central basin also comprises clinoforms, building from the southeast. To the west, an acoustically layered and mounded unit (Unit Z) was deposited. Remaining accommodation space was filled with fine-grained sediments of two Central Basin units. Above these units, an Upper Regional Unconformity-equivalent (URU) records a conformable surface with flat-lying units that indicate stronger direct glacial influence than on the sediments below. On the North Sea Plateau north of 59°N, the Upper Regional Unconformity (URU) is defined by a shift from westward to eastward dipping seismic reflectors, recording a major change in sedimentation, with the Shetland Platform becoming a significant source. A model of Early Quaternary sediment delivery to the North Sea shows sources from the Scandinavian ice sheet and major European rivers. Clinoforms prograding west in the northern North Sea Basin, representing glacigenic debris flows, indicate an ice sheet on the western Scandinavian margin. In the central basin, sediments are generally fine-grained, suggesting a distal fluvial or glacifluvial origin from European rivers. Ploughmarks also demonstrate that icebergs, derived from an ice sheet to the north, drifted into the central North Sea Basin. By contrast, sediments and glacial landforms above the URU provide evidence for the later presence of a grounded ice sheet.     

潍坊市城区第四系地层研究

通过整理近年来地震地质工作中积累的大量钻孔资料,对比分析潍坊市城区第四纪各沉积层的组成特征、形成时代、成因类型等性质,将城区沉积层划分为23个主层及众多亚层。在此基础上,编制潍坊市城区第四系厚度等值线图、第四纪不同地层单位沉积厚度等值线图及相关的地层埋深剖面图、模型图等,从而较系统地摸清本区第四系各土层的空间分布规律及其结构变化特征,并对潍坊市城区第四系沉积的主要控制因素进行初步分析和探讨。     

白令海DSDP188站氧同位素3期以来的古海洋与古气候记录

白令海南部DSDP188站沉积物生源组分分析显示,该地区表层生产力在MIS3早、晚期(3.3和3.1)以及MIS2期增加,而其他时期表层生产力相应降低,并且表层生产力的变化没有显示明显的冰期与间冰期旋回。沉积物的C/N比值反映了有机碳的混合来源,说明该地区表层生产力可能受陆源营养物质输入的影响。该站位沉积物的非生源组分分析显示,MIS3早、晚期陆源物质输入量增加,反映洋流加强和气候变化。MIS2出现两次陆源物质输入量的增加,显示了洋流和气候的波动。MIS3和末次冰消期碳屑丰度增加,但MIS2降低,指示MIS3和MIS1陆地天然火灾概率大,而MIS2天然火灾概率低,反映间冰期比冰期更容易发生天然火灾。     

渤海莱州湾地区晚更新世以来有孔虫特征反映的古环境变化

Controlled by climate changes, there were three large-scale transgressions and regressions around the Bohai Sea during the late Quaternary, which were accepted by most geologists. However, a big controversy still exists about the time when the transgressions occurred separately. In order to find out the process of the paleoenvironmental changes around the Bohai Sea in the late Quaternary, the foraminifera assemblages from a new borehole Lz908 in the southern coast of the Laizhou Bay were studied, and then the transgressive strata were indentified. Combined with accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon 14C（AMS14C） and optically stimulated luminescence（OSL） ages, the occurrence time of these transgressions were re-determined. The result showed that three major large-scale transgressions occurred separately at the beginning of marine isotopic stage 7（MIS7）, the last interglacial period（MIS5） and the Holocene. In addition, a small-scale transgression occurred in the mid-MIS6, and the corresponding transgressive stratum was deposited. The transgressive deposition of MIS3 was also discovered in this study. However, the characteristics of the foraminifera indicated the environment during this period was colder than that in the MIS5. By comparison with the global sea-level changes, the paleoenvironmental changes around the Bohai Sea in the late Quaternary can be consistent with the global climate changes.     

Geomorphological and sedimentological features in Quaternary fluvial systems affected by solution-induced subsidence (Ebro Basin, NE-Spain)

The Quaternary evolution and the morpho-sedimentary features of some of the most important rivers in Spain (Ebro and Tagus rivers among others) have been controlled by subsidence due to alluvial karstification of the evaporitic bedrock. The subsidence mechanism may range from catastrophic collapse to slow sagging of the alluvium by passive bending. In the Ebro Basin, the mechanisms and processes involved in karstic subsidence were studied through the analysis of present-day closed depressions as well as through old subsidence depressions (palaeocollapses and solution-induced basins) and associated deformations recorded in the Quaternary alluvial sediments. The Gállego–Ebro river system is presented as a case study of channel adjustments and geomorphic and sedimentary evolution of fluvial systems in dissolution-induced subsidence areas. In this fluvial system, evaporite dissolution during particular Quaternary time intervals (namely early and middle Pleistocene) have lead to the development of a solution-induced basin, approximately 30 km-long by 8 km-wide, filled by Quaternary deposits with a total thickness in excess of 190 m. The main river response to balance the subsidence in the alluvial plain was aggradation in the central reach of the subsiding area, and degradation both in the upstream reach and in the valley sides where alluvial fans and covered pediments may prograde over the fluvial sediments. The main sinking areas are recognized in the sedimentary record by anomalous thickenings in the alluvial deposits and fine-grained sediments deposited in backswamp and ponded areas.     

Geomorphological hazards related to deep dissolution phenomena in the Western Italian Alps: Distribution, assessment and interaction with human activities

Deep dissolution affects great part of soluble rocks (e.g. gypsum and anhydrite) of the Western Italian Alps. The related superficial phenomena (sinkholes, gravity-induced processes and a local worsening of geomechanical rock properties) are not limited to typical karsts landscape and cause slope instability also affecting populated sites and infrastructures. The paper aims to describe general characteristic of dissolution phenomena, to interpret their conditioning factors and evolutionary stages and to assess possible hazards due to their superficial effects.The search for evidences of deep dissolution leads to the selection of representative sites in the central part of the Western Italian Alps (Piemonte and Valle d'Aosta Region). Detailed geological and geomorphological studies have been used to classify the selected sites by type, size and variable state of activity. Very different evolutionary stages of dissolution phenomena have been interpreted by comparison of case-studies: some are early “embryonic”; others are more evolved, up to typical sinkholes, or even remodelled by other phenomena. Some cases show an extreme complexity in the interactions between corrosion phenomena and other geomorphic processes: slope deformations, from one side, and karst, fluvial and glacial phenomena, to the other. A wide range of movement rates on slope instabilities induced by deep dissolution have been estimated by topographic and geomorphic data. Geochemical data on removed rocks by dissolution indicate 0.4 mm/year values for local subsidence. Historical and technical data indicate low frequency of major dissolution-induced collapses, but highlight widespread damages to tunnels, roads and buildings, especially along slopes.     

晚更新世以来内伶仃洋河口湾的地层层序和沉积演化

通过对内伶仃洋河口湾22个钻孔沉积物的高分辨14C测年、古生物鉴定、沉积物粒度及地球化学分析,开展了晚更新世地层划分,探讨了晚更新世以来的沉积演化过程。内伶仃洋河口湾地层被含花斑黏土层的风化层隔开,划分为上下2组,侵蚀面上下分别为全新统和上更新统地层。受晚更新世以来2次海侵的影响,内伶仃洋河口湾沉积演化分成了6个阶段,详细阐述了每个阶段的气候变化、海平面波动、沉积特征和沉积过程。     

红土中细粒状铁锰结核的存在及其对粒度测试的影响

设计了针对红土的两种粒度分析方法,对比分析了铁锰结核对红土粒度分析结果的影响以及加入HCl对铁锰结核与红土粒度测试的影响。结果表明:(1)细粒铁锰结核对粒度测试结果有较大影响,特别是粗粒含量的增加。而盐酸可以有效地与细粒铁锰结核反应,使得粒度测试结果更接近真实值。因此,对于铁锰结核发育的红土层,若需通过粒度来分析其沉积动力特征,其粒度测试的前处理过程加入盐酸是非常有必要的。(2)盐酸的加入对红土中μm的黏土粒组有较大影响,这可能是盐酸与黏土矿物发生了化学反应,使得黏土粒组的相对含量减少。因此,对于铁锰结核发育的红土层,若需要通过粒度分析其风化过程,其前处理应当慎重选择是否加入盐酸。     

南海东北部晚第四纪古生产力变化

通过对南海东北部、吕宋岛西北岩外１７９２８柱状样吕浮游、底栖有孔虫丰度及其与生产力有关和属种含量变化的研究,发现该柱状样在末次冰期（氧同位素２～４期）和氧同位素６期时,浮游、底栖有孔虫丰度增高,高生产力的有孔虫含量也在这两个时期出现高值,说明此时该区具有同的生力水平,这种现象可能与冰期时陆营养盐输入量增加、东亚冬季风增强并在此形成上升流有关。     

南海晚第四纪的硅藻遗体及其地质意义 Ⅴ.沟纹藻属

硅藻门（Bacillariophyta）沟纹藻属（LiriogrammaKolbe）在我国是1个新记录的属。该属最先由Kolbe（1954）在西太平洋赤道区（2°52＇S，89°50＇W，水深3225m）的柱状样沉积物中找到1种，订名L．petterssonii。之后，又在1955年从大西洋（0°7＇N，18°12＇E；0°8＇N，16°19＇E）和太平洋（6°44＇N，129°28＇W；2°52＇S，89°5＇W）的柱状样沉积物中找到另1种，订名L．hustedtii。笔者在南海第四纪的一个柱状样，距今约120ka（晚更新世）至11ka（全新世）的沉积物里找到了迄今该属已记录的2个种。此外，还记录了新组合的种：Liriogrammasarcophagu（Wallich）nov．comb．