Climate change triggered sedimentation and progressive tectonic uplift in a coupled piedmont–axial system: Cuyama Valley,California, USA

Channels on the north‐facing piedmont of the Sierra Madre range in Cuyama Valley, California have alternated between three process regimes during the late Quaternary: (1) vertical incision into piedmont alluvium and older sedimentary deposits; (2) lateral erosion; and (3) sediment accumulation. The state of the piedmont system at a given time has been controlled by upstream sediment flux, regional tectonic uplift and incision of the axial Cuyama River. To better understand the timing and to attempt to interpret causes of past geomorphological processes on the Sierra Madre piedmont, we mapped the surficial geology and dated alluvial deposits using radiocarbon, cosmogenic and optical dating methods. Four primary episodes of sedimentation have occurred since ca. 100 ka, culminating in the most recent period of extensive piedmont sedimentation between 30 and 20 ka. Fill terraces in Cuyama Valley formed by piedmont sediment accumulation followed by vertical incision and lateral erosion are fairly planar and often mantle strath bedrock surfaces. Their vertical spatial arrangement is a record of progressive regional tectonic uplift and concomitant axial Cuyama River channel incision migrating up tributary piedmont channels. Subparallel longitudinal terrace profiles which have a linear age–elevation relationship indicate that multiple episodes of climatically controlled sedimentation overprints ～1 m kyr^?1 of regional uplift affecting the Cuyama River and its tributaries. Sedimentation was probably a result of increased precipitation that caused saturation landsliding in steep catchments. It is possible that increased precipitation during the Last Glacial Maximum was caused by both continental‐scale circulation pattern reorganization and increased Pacific storm frequency and intensity caused by ‘early warming’ of nearby Pacific Ocean surface waters. Older episodes of piedmont sedimentation are difficult to correlate with specific climate regimes, but may correlate with previous periods of increased precipitation. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Postglacial sediment budget of Chilliwack Valley,British Columbia

The paraglacial reworking of glacial sediments by rivers and mass wasting is an important conditioning factor for modern sediment yields in mountainous catchments in formerly glaciated regions. Catchment scale and patterns of sediment storage are important influences in the rate of postglacial adjustment. We develop a quantitative framework to estimate the volume, sediment type, and fractional size distribution of legacy glacial materials in a large (1230 km²) watershed in the North Cascade Mountains in south‐western British Columbia, Canada. Chilliwack Valley is exceptional because of the well‐dated bounds of deglaciation. Interpolation of paleo‐surfaces from partially eroded deposits in the valley allows us to estimate the total evacuated sediment volume. We present a chronology of sediment evacuation from the valley and deposition in the outlet fan, based on infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) and ¹⁴ C dating of river terraces and fan strata, respectively. The effects of paraglacial sedimentation in Chilliwack Valley were intensified through a major fall in valley base‐level following ice retreat. The steepened mainstem valley gradient led to deep incision of valley fills and fan deposits in the lower valley network. The results of this integrated study provide a postglacial chronology and detailed sediment budget, accounting for long‐term sorting of the original sediments, lag deposit formation in the mainstem, deposition in the outlet fan, and approximate downstream losses of suspended sediment and wash load. The mass balance indicates that a bulk volume of approximately 3.2 km³ of glacial material has been evacuated from the valley. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of rehabilitation of Assiut barrage, Nile River, on groundwater rise in urban areas

To make optimum use of the most vital natural resource of Egypt, the River Nile water, a number of regulating structures (in the form of dams and barrages) for control and diversion of the river flow have been constructed in this river since the start of the 20th century. One of these barrages is the Assiut barrage which will require considerable repairs in the near future. The design of the rehabilitation of the barrage includes a headpond with water levels maintained at a level approximately 0.60 m higher than the highest water level in the headpond of the present barrage. This development will cause an increase of the seepage flow from the river towards the adjacent agricultural lands, Assiut Town and villages. The increased head pond level might cause a rise of the groundwater levels and impedance of drainage outflows. The drainage conditions may therefore be adversely affected in the so-called impacted areas which comprise floodplains on both sides of the Nile for about 70 km upstream of the future barrage. A rise in the groundwater table, particularly when high river levels impede drainage, may result in waterlogging and secondary salinization of the soil profile in agricultural areas and increase of groundwater into cellars beneath buildings in the urban areas. In addition, a rise in the groundwater table could have negative impact on existing sanitation facilities, in particular in the areas which are served with septic tanks. The impacts of increasing the headpond level were assessed using a three-dimensional groundwater model. The mechanisms of interactions between the Nile River and the underlying Quaternary aquifer system as they affect the recharge/discharge processes are comprehensively outlined. The model has been calibrated for steady state and transient conditions against historical data from observation wells. The mitigation measures for the groundwater rise in the urban areas have been tested using the calibrated mode.     

Transition Regimes in Valley Airflows

A three-dimensional, non-hydrostatic model was used to examine the dynamical characteristics of morning and evening transition periods in the atmosphere over four idealised valleys. The simulations provided detailed structure over full diurnal cycles of the valley-wind system. An essentially two-dimensional simulation (Case 1) clearly showed valley-side slope flows, driven by pressure gradients and modulated by vertical diffusion and Coriolis effects. The rotation of the wind was clockwise on both valley sides, contrary to most observations in nature. Three-dimensional simulations (Cases 2–4) rectified this feature and that for Case 4 satisfactorily modelled the valley-plain wind system throughout the diurnal cycle. Three types of transition were identified with the aid of different tools: hodographs; space-time evolution of the wind fields; and the evolution of the forcing terms in the momentum and temperature equations. Whichever type or Case was considered, the evening transition was longer than the morning one and the along-valley transition followed the along-slope one. In Cases 1 and 4 the evening transition started up to 2 h before sunset and the morning transition started up to 2.5 h after sunrise. In the three-dimensional cases the evening transition began at about 1700 and ended at about 2400, starting at the bottom of the valley and propagating up both valley sides, but at different speeds. It also started at the ground and propagated vertically. The morning transition began at about 0900 and ended at about 1100, also starting at the bottom of the valley and propagating both vertically and up the valley sides, albeit with different regimes on the two sides. The along-valley transition lagged that on the slopes by about 1.5 h. In Case 1 the forcing terms were dominated by the pressure gradient and the vertical diffusion, with the Coriolis effects introducing an along-valley component to the slope flows. The three dimensional cases were more complex, with not only the addition of the effects of advection and horizontal diffusion but also more temporal variation of more of the forcings than in Case 1.     

Early Permian Palaeoenvironment in Damodar Valley Coalfields, India: an Overview

In the Damodar Valley Basin, coalfields containing coal bearing Barakar Formation are Raniganj, Jharia, Bokaro, Ramgarh, and Karanpura. The Barakar Formation is composed of conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone, shale, fireclay, and coal. The lower part of Barakar Formation represents a braided channel deposit, and also in few places glacio-fluvial deposit which changes to meandering channel system with the formation of some ox-bow lake, and cut-off channel in the middle part. In a few places deltaic/brackish water condition possibly existed along with this meandering channel system. In the upper part of Barakar Formation, marine signatures are more prominant. Marine signatures/influences have been reported from Barakar Formation of Ramgarh, South Karanpura, and West Bokaro coalfields on the basis of trace fossil assemblage, sedimentation character, and trace element content. Although, definite marine signatures have not been observed from Jharia, and Raniganj coalfields, high concentration of boron, vanadium, and chromium, and presence of skolithos, and thalassinoides burrows possibly suggest a brackish water condition. The upper part clearly suggest that the sediments were deposited in a geographic setting very close to the sea or at the edge of the sea possibly in a peritidal setting where storm activity played a vital role during sedimentation which in turn suggests the presence of a broad shallow sea (epeiric/epicontinental sea) that develop during times of high sea level. The sea water possibly entered from the northeastern side as vast seaways or as embayment through the Damodar Valley which acted as a channel.     

Chronology of glacial Lake Agassiz meltwater routed to the Gulf of Mexico

Sediment cores with new radiocarbon dates from the southern outlet of glacial Lake Agassiz indicate that meltwater delivery to the Mississippi valley was disrupted at 10,800 ¹⁴C yr B.P. and the outlet was abandoned by 9400 ¹⁴C yr B.P. These findings confirm the timing of generally accepted terminations of the Lockhart and Emerson Phases of Lake Agassiz. Additionally, the radiocarbon chronology indicates that the spillway was fully formed by 10,800 ¹⁴C yr B.P. and that the occupancy in late-Emerson time was likely short-lived with minimal spillway erosion.     

Pleistocene gravels in the lower wye valley

The fluviatile Pleistocene of the lower Wye valley, below the Devensian glacial limit near Hereford, consists almost entirely of coarse gravels, situated both above and below the level of the modern flooplain. Those above the floodplain are largely composed of pebbles from the Ordovician and Silurian of east-central Wales. Around Hereford they are associated with well-preserved terraces; further downstream they are fragmentary and have also undergone some displacement. It is suggested that the high-level gravels comprise remants of four distinct aggradational units. Correlations are proposed with the Severn valley Pleistocene sequence, from which it is concluded that the lower Wye gravels represent a series of cold, perhaps glacial, periods ranging in age from pre-Hoxnian to Devension. This confirms the pre-Hoxnian age of fragmentary glacial deposits in northeast Herefordshire. Relations between the gravels and some geomorphological features are discussed, with special attention to abandoned incised meanders.     

九寨沟早期钙华体的岩溶作用与湖瀑景观的形成

九寨沟与四川西北部碳酸盐岩地区早期钙华体在52～3万年前的冰缘环境中形成.3万年后,区内气温在振荡中升高,使九寨冰缘退缩,岩溶水酸化并具溶蚀性,在早期钙华体上形成了湖瀑等各种溶蚀形态,渗流溶蚀和混合溶蚀是壶穴湖、梯湖和溶蚀湖形成的主要机制,溶蚀侵蚀伴有季节性钙华沉淀形成着叠水和瀑布.保护湖瀑景观的原则是抑制钙华的溶蚀强度,运用岩溶水的瀑堤效应促进CaCO3沉淀,增强瀑堤的固结,减少渗漏.     

Geochronologic and isotope geochemical constraints on magmatism and associated W–Mo mineralization of the Jitoushan W–Mo deposit,middle–lower Yangtze Valley

The Jitoushan W–Mo ore body is a typical skarn-type deposit with the potential for porphyry Mo mineralization at depth. As it is newly discovered, only a few studies have been conducted on the geochronology and ore genesis of this deposit. The ore district consists of Cambrian to Silurian sedimentary and low-grade metasedimentary strata, intruded by granodiorite, diorite porphyry, granite porphyry, and quartz porphyry. Skarn W–Mo ore bodies are hosted in the contact zone between the granodiorite and Cambrian limestone strata. Within the granodiorite near the contact zone, quartz vein type and disseminated sulphide mineralization are well developed. The Mo-bearing granite porphyry has been traced at depth by drilling. Our results reveal two discrete magmatic events at ca. 138 and ca. 127 Ma in the study area. The molybdenite Re–Os isochronal age of 136.6 ± 1.5 million years is consistent with the first magmatic event. The zircon Hf isotope (?_Hf(t) =??12.55?3.91), sulphide isotopes (δ³⁴S = 3.32–5.59‰), and Re content of molybdenite (Re_content = 6.424–19.07 μg) indicate that the ore-forming materials were mainly derived from the deep crust. The regional tectonic system switched from a Late Jurassic transpressive regime to an earliest Cretaceous extensional regime at ca. 145 Ma, and at ca. 138 Ma, the Jitoushan W–Mo deposit formed in an extensional setting.     

庐枞盆地与A型花岗岩有关的磁铁矿-阳起石-磷灰石矿床——以马口铁矿床为例

庐枞中生代火山岩盆地位于长江中下游断陷带内,地处扬子板块的北缘.庐枞盆地内的火山岩和侵入岩分布广泛,包括龙门院、砖桥、双庙和浮山四组火山岩以及34个侵入岩体.最近在庐枞盆地南部正长岩中发现一种新类型铁矿床——马口铁矿床.本次工作通过详细野外地质和室内研究,系统开展了马口铁矿床矿床地质特征、成矿年代学和成矿流体特征研究.马口铁矿床的矿体沿石英正长斑岩体中构造破碎带产出,产状严格受构造破碎带控制,矿床围岩蚀变晕范围较为局限.矿床的成矿作用可分为碱性长石阶段、磁铁矿阶段、石英-硫化物阶段和碳酸盐阶段,其中磁铁矿阶段是主要成矿阶段,形成与宁芜玢岩型铁矿床相类似磁铁矿-磷灰石-阳起石三矿物组合.矿床中与磁铁矿共生的磷灰石流体包裹体均一温度范围为252.2 ～ 322.6℃,反映其成矿温度略低于典型的玢岩铁矿床.通过赋矿岩体锆石LA-ICP-MS U-Pb定年和金云母Ar-Ar方法,确定马口铁矿床的成矿时代为127.3 ±0.8Ma,赋矿岩体的形成时代为129.4±1.4Ma,结合矿床地质特征,可以得出矿区内石英正长斑岩只是提供了赋矿空间,矿床的形成与其无直接成因联系,而可能与黄梅尖A型花岗岩体有关.马口铁矿床是庐枞盆地成矿作用最后阶段的产物,也可能是长江中下游成矿带中最晚一次成矿事件的代表,具有显著的特色.