Late Miocene fluvial sediment transport from the southern Appalachian Mountains to southern Florida: An example of an old mountain belt sediment production surge

Past geomorphological models assume that erosion of sediments from old mountain belts occurred at a relatively constant rate, based on comparatively uniform isostatic adjustment caused by unloading. Late Miocene strata of the south‐eastern United States provide an example of pulsed tectonism resulting in a surge in siliciclastic sediment production and transport. Regional tectonism (uplift of the southern Appalachian Mountains) and climatic conditions during the Late Miocene resulted in the long‐distance (up to 1000 km) fluvial transport of coarse siliciclastic sediments onto a stable carbonate platform in southern Florida. The sediments are unusual in that they are significantly coarser than marine‐transported sands in southern Florida, with discoidal quartz and quartzite clasts up to 40 mm in diameter locally present, and have relatively high potassium feldspar contents (up to 16% in some sample fractions), whereas feldspar is rare in modern Florida beach sands. It is suggested that previously documented rejuvenation of the southern Appalachian Mountains during the Middle to Late Miocene time, coupled with the Messenian sea‐level low, generated the increased rate of sediment production and necessary hydraulic gradient to allow rapid transport of coarse sediments. Tectonic influence on the river pathway in Florida, as well as in the southern Appalachian Mountains, may have maintained the river on the narrow carbonate platform. The Florida Platform during the Late Miocene must also have had a sufficiently wet climate to cause episodic transport of the coarse sediments. Siliciclastic sediment transport on the Florida Platform during the Late Miocene greatly differed from Pleistocene to modern conditions, which are dominated by the transport of fine‐grained sands by longshore marine processes.     

Thrust tectonics and paleogene syntectonic sedimentation in the Empordà area,southeastern Pyrenees

Abstract

The structure of the southern Pyrenees, east of the Albanyà fault (Empordà area), consists of several Alpine thrust sheets. From bottom upwards three main structural units can be distinguished : the Roc de Frausa, the Biure-Bac Grillera and the Figueres units. The former involves basement and Paleogene cover rocks. This unit is deformed by E-W trending kilometric-scale folds, its north dipping floor thrust represents the sole thrust in this area. The middle unit is formed by an incomplete Mesozoic succession overlain by Garumnian and Eocene sediments. Mesozoic rocks internal structure consists of an imbricate stack. The floor thrust dips to the south and climbs up section southwards. The upper unit exibits the most complete Mesozoic sequence. Its floor thrust is subhorizontal. The lower and middle units thrust in a piggy-back sequence. The upper unit was emplaced out of sequence.

Lower Eocene sedimentation in the Biure-Bac Grillera unit was controlled by emergent imbricate thrusts and synchronic extensional faults. One of these faults (La Salut fault) represents the boundary between a platform domain in the footwall and a subsident trough in the hangingwall. Southward thrust propagation produces the inversion of these faults and the development of cleavage-related folds in their hangingwalls (buttressing effect). This inversion is also recorded by syntectonic deposits, which have been grouped in four depositional sequences. The lower sequences represent the filling on the hangingwall trough and the upper sequences the spreading of clastics to the south once the extensional movement ends.     

Field measurements of longshore sediment transport during storms

This paper presents an analysis of longshore sediment transport (LST) rates based on an accumulation of data obtained during five storms. Direct measurements of velocities and suspended sediment concentration were conducted at a minimum of nine positions across a barred profile in waves up to H_m0=3.5 m to provide a measure of the cross-shore distribution and total suspended-load sediment transport rates. The study was conducted at the US Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station's Field Research Facility, located in Duck, NC. Measurements were made using the Sensor Insertion System (SIS) which provides an economical means to collect the required information. The largest LST rate computed from the measurements was 1780 m³ h⁻¹. Although the cross-shore distribution of the LST varied, it most often had two peaks associated with wave shoaling and breaking at the bar and near the beach. Comparisons of measurement results with predictions using the ‘CERC' LST formula show the predicted rates were sometimes higher and other times lower; suggesting that additional terms may be required for short term predictions during storms. Comparisons to a ‘Bagnold' type formulation, which included a velocity term that could account for wind and other effects on LST, show better agreement for at least one of the storms. These results are intended to help fill a void of information documenting the cross-shore distribution and LST rates, particularly during storms.     

Quaternary corals from reefs in the Wakatobi Marine National Park,SE Sulawesi,Indonesia, show similar growth rates to modern corals from the same area

We have used digital photography, image analysis and measurements in the field to determine the growth rates of Quaternary corals in the Wakatobi Marine National Park, Indonesia, and compared them to growth rates of similar corals in the same area. In the Quaternary deposits it was possible to measure the growth rates of two massive coral genera Porites and Favites. For each genus, the corals reworked from better‐illuminated upslope environments had higher growth rates than the in situ fossil corals. The calculated radial growth rates for the in situ Porites are slightly lower than, but of the same order of magnitude as, the modern Porites growing in 10 m water depth at Hoga (10.04 ± 3.34 mm yr^?1 ± 1 s.d.; n = 3) and Kaledupa (15.26 ± 4.83 mm yr^?1 ± 1 s.d.; n = 3). Sedimentation rates and underwater visibility are inferred to have been similar in the fossil site to that at the modern Kaledupa site. Decreasing light penetration due to increased water depth is inferred to have been a major influence on growth rates. The in situ massive corals with good growth banding are inferred to have grown in a comparable environment to modern Kaledupa and Hoga. The study highlights that it is possible to compare coral growth rates, and their influencing parameters, from modern and well‐preserved ancient examples. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

不同条件下凡纳滨对虾(Litopenaeus vannamei)能量代谢研究

通过设置不同温度、盐度、pH值和摄食状态的方法,研究凡纳滨对虾在不同条件下的无机磷、亚硝酸氮、硝酸氮、氨氮的释放率.结果表明,温度、体重、盐度、pH值和摄食状态对其代谢存在影响.无机磷、亚硝酸氮、硝酸氮、氨氮的释放率与体重呈负相关;在20-30℃的温度范围内,随着温度的上升,凡纳滨对虾磷、亚硝酸氮、氨氮的释放率均上升,...     

中国天山西部季节性森林积雪物理特性

积雪特殊的物理特性对冰雪水文过程、积雪生态系统、不同尺度的气候系统有重要影响。目前对林下积雪物理特性缺乏系统性研究,因此对天山雪岭云杉林下季节性积雪深度、沉降速率、密度和含水率进行观测分析。结果表明：林下积雪深度小于开阔地;林下积雪沉降速率和新雪密实化率小于开阔地,且稳定期沉降速率小于融雪期。稳定期林下积雪密度小于开阔地,林下雪层密度最大值位于中粒雪层,开阔地则位于粗粒雪层;融雪期则全层密度趋于一致。稳定期林下雪层含水率随深度递减,开阔地雪层最大值出现粗粒雪层;融雪期雪层汗水峰值出现在细粒雪层,新雪层最小,林下雪层由细粒雪层到深霜层始终呈减小趋势,开阔地雪层由细粒雪层至中粒雪层逐渐减小,粗粒雪层至深霜层逐渐增大;稳定期雪层含水率日变化随深度的递减逐渐减小,开阔地大于林下;开阔地的新雪层和细粒雪层含水率的日变化大于林下,粗粒雪层到深霜层则小于林下。     

Tree Population Dynamics of Three Altitudinal Vegetation Communities on Mount Cameroon(1989-2004)

Changes in permanent sample plots in the lowland,submontane and montane forests on Mount Cameroon(4,095 m above sea level),an active volcano,are described for 15 years from 1989 to 2004.Throughout the study period,the stocking level of trees with a diameter at breast height(DBH) ≥ 10 cm in the three forests were lower than in pan-tropical stands suggesting a significant impact of volcanic and human-related activities on the vegetation communities on the mountain.Annual mortality rates in the submontane and ...     

Assessing the utility of 210Pb geochronology for estimating sediment accumulation rates on river floodplains in Fiji

Low‐energy gamma ray spectroscopy has been employed to estimate floodplain sedimentation rates using measurements of ²¹⁰Pb in floodplain alluvium. The utility of the technique is assessed through the analysis of excess (unsupported) ²¹⁰Pb profiles in three sediment cores taken from the floodplain of the Labasa River on Vanua Levu in northern Fiji. A low‐energy germanium spectrometer (LEGe) was used for the nondestructive determination of excess ²¹⁰Pb in a region cultivated intensively with sugarcane. Measured average historical (c. 25 years) vertical accretion rates are between 2.2 and 4.4 cm yr^?1. The findings are broadly comparable with published sedimentation rates from analyses of radionuclide profiles elsewhere in the tropical South Pacific Islands, but the rates are higher than those measured previously at the same Labasa River sites using ¹³⁷Cs profiles. Accelerated soil erosion owing to cane burning and land tillage seems to be largely responsible for sediment production, although flood‐related effects such as channel accretion by coarse bedload and the emplacement of large organic debris also influence floodplain sedimentation. However, application of the ²¹⁰Pb technique in Fiji (and perhaps neighbouring island countries) is found to have serious drawbacks compared to the more robust ¹³⁷Cs method, owing principally to the low ²¹⁰Pb concentrations in the sandy alluvial sediment tested.     

Assessment of reservoir sedimentation effect on coastal erosion in the case of Nestos River,Greece

Coastal erosion that is generated by the reduction of the annual sediment yield at river outlets, due to the construction of reservoirs, constitutes one of the main environmental problems in many parts of the world. Nestos is one of the most important boundary rivers, flowing through Bulgaria and Greece, characterized by its great biodiversity. In the Greek part of the river, two reservoirs, the Thisavros Reservoir and the Platanovrysi Reservoir, have already been constructed and started operating in 1997 and 1999, respectively. The present paper constitutes the first attempt where the assessment of reservoir sedimentation effect on the coastal erosion for the case of the Nestos River delta and the adjacent shorelines is addressed in detail, through mathematical modeling, modem remote sensing techniques and field surveying. It is found that the construction and operation of the considered reservoirs have caused a dramatic decrease （about 83%） in the sediments supplied directly to the basin outlet and indirectly to the neighbouring coast and that this fact has almost inversed the erosion/accretion balance in the deltaic as well as the adjacent shorelines. Before the construction of the reservoirs, accretion predominated erosion by 25.36%, while just within five years after the construction of the reservoirs, erosion predominates accretion by 21.26%.     

燕山中元古代裂谷早期同沉积断裂活动及其对事件沉积的影响

在早期长城纪演化阶段,燕山中晚元古代裂谷盆地构造拉张活动明显,它控制了整体沉积相带的展布,并在强烈活动期引发了一系列事件沉积。长城纪时期的古构造活动主要以四种方式影响盆地的充填,其中同沉积断裂活动在长城纪盆地演化过程中具有突发性或脉动活动的特点,记录了古地震、碳酸盐滑塌沉积、碎屑浊流沉积,并诱发火山活动形成火山碎屑重力流等地质事件。盆地的古水流、地层格架及特征沉积相带等分析显示,盆地主体展布为NE向;燕山元古代裂谷向外海出口的位置应处于中朝准地台的北部;现今所赤城-北票EW向断裂在长城纪大部分时期对盆地的沉积充填没有明显影响。