Structure,composition and bulk properties of upland stream gravels

Upland gravel-bedded streams in the U.K. have received only scant attention from both hydrologists and sedimentologists, but are worthy of further investigation. The sedimentology of three small streams in Teesdale in the Pennines has been examined in detail. Grain-size characteristics, bedforms, structure, composition and packing characteristics of these deposits are described, and compared where appropriate with published information. It is argued that a fuller appreciation of gravel bed composition and morphology should eventually contribute to an improved understanding of sediment transport and deposition mechanisms, and, hence, to improved accuracy in sediment transport and deposition estimates.     

Major advances in liquefaction research by laboratory tests compared with in situ behavior

Major advances in liquefaction research in the laboratory to understand the basic mechanisms in comparison with in situ behavior during previous earthquakes are reviewed. Then, several issues related to liquefaction triggering and post-liquefaction deformation are selected for further discussion in the author's perspective. These include effects of fines associated with aging, effects of gravels, effects of initial shear stress, and lateral spreading and lateral flow due to void redistribution. It has been disclosed that a quite a few issues still remain to be settled in evaluating liquefaction onset and post-liquefaction deformations for improving engineering design, particularly for Performance-Based Design (PBD).     

Differences in 10Be concentrations between river sand,gravel and pebbles along the western side of the central Andes

Cosmogenic nuclides in river sediment have been used to quantify catchment-mean erosion rates. Nevertheless, variable differences in ¹⁰Be concentrations according to grain size have been reported. We analyzed these differences in eleven catchments on the western side of the Andes, covering contrasting climates and slopes. The data include eight sand (0.5–1 mm) and gravel (1–3 cm) pairs and twelve sand (0.5–1 mm) and pebble (5–10 cm) pairs. The difference observed in three pairs can be explained by a difference in the provenance of the sand and coarser sediment. The other sand–pebble pairs show a lower ¹⁰Be concentration in the pebbles, except for one pair that shows similar concentrations. Two sand–gravel pairs show a lower ¹⁰Be concentration in the gravel and the other five pairs show a higher ¹⁰Be concentration in the gravel. Differences in climate do not reveal a particular influence on the ¹⁰Be concentration between pairs. The analysis supports a model where pebbles and gravel are mainly derived from catchment areas that are eroding at a faster rate. The five gravel samples with high ¹⁰Be concentrations probably contain gravel that were derived from the abrasion of cobbles exhumed at high elevations. In order to validate this model, further work should test if pebbles are preferentially exhumed from high erosion rate areas, and if the difference between pebbles with high ¹⁰Be concentrations and sand decreases when the erosion rate tends to be homogeneous within a catchment.     

The Widdington Sands: High-level Kesgrave Sands and Gravels near the Cam-Stort interfluve,Northwest Essex,UK

A small but stratigraphically significant exposure of Quaternary sandy sediments (Widdington Sands) was observed and recorded in the early 1970s in northwest Essex. These data are here re-examined and re-evaluated, yielding new insights into early proto-Thames aggradation following the marine recession of the Norwich Crag Formation (MIS 74–71, about 2 Ma). As the proto-Thames trajectory shifted south eastwards, a period of landscape stability ensued in the early Middle Pleistocene (MIS 19–13) during which the Valley Farm Soil was formed. This and the succeeding Barham Soil can be recognised in the stratigraphy, the second palaeosol heralding the arrival of glaciation in the Anglian Stage (MIS 12, 480–420 ka). These pedogenic signatures are enclosed within palaeokarstic features in the form of infilled sinkhole pipes. A large doline has functioned as a sediment trap preserving pre-truncation structures including reverse ring faults. These confirm basal support removal leading to upward migration of a dissolution cavity and roof collapse within the sinkhole pipe. The process and timing of subsidence can thus be defined more clearly than for similar features found in comparable Kesgrave aggradations of the Middle Thames. The likely glacitectonic origin of the planar sub-till surface is examined and discussed. Dating of Early Pleistocene fluvial activity is constrained by estimating the height of a former terrace surface whose elevation points to a correlation with the higher Stoke Row Member (MIS 64, 1.8 Ma), suggesting the oldest known proto-Thames activity within southern East Anglia.     

Differential bedload transport rates in a gravel-bed stream: A grain-size distribution approach

The grain-size distributions of bedload gravels in Oak Creek, Oregon, follow the ideal Rosin distribution at flow stages which exceed that necessary to initiate breakup of the pavement in the bed material. The distributions systematically vary with flow discharge and bed stress, such that at higher flow stages the grain sizes are coarser while the spread of the distribution decreases. A differential bedload transport function for individual grain-size fractions is formulated utilizing the dependence of the two parameters in the Rosin distribution on the flow stress. The total transport rate, which is also a function of the flow stress, is apportioned within the Rosin grain-size distribution to yield the fractional transport rates. The derived bedload function has the advantage of yielding smooth, continuous frequency distributions of transport rates for the grain-size fractions, in contrast to the discrete transport functions which predict rates for specified sieve fractions. Successful reproduction of the measured fractional transport rates and bedload grain-size distributions in Oak Creek by this approach demonstrates its potential for evaluations of transport rates of size fractions in gravel-bed streams. The approach will be useful in investigations of downstream changes in bed material grain-size distributions.     

Early and Middle Pleistocene river systems in eastern England: evidence from Leet Hill,southern Norfolk,England

Pleistocene sediments at Leet Hill, southern Norfolk are examined in terms of their sedimentary structures, palaeocurrent indicators, clast and heavy mineral lithology and litho- and morphostratigraphic position. Colour of the quartzite and vein-quartz clasts is used to differentiate the Bytham and the Kesgrave sands and gravels, with the Bytham sands and gravels having a significantly higher proportion of coloured material. The Kirby Cane sands and gravels are the lower sedimentary unit and were deposited by the Bytham river, which drained a catchment extending into central England. At Leet Hill, erosion of the Kesgrave Sands and Gravels by the Bytham river has given the Kirby Cane sands and gravels a distinctive lithological assemblage. Trace clast lithologies suggest that the Kesgrave Sands and Gravels in the region of Leet Hill were deposited in a coastal location with an input from northern sources as well as southern and Welsh sources diagnostic of the Thames catchment. The glaciofluvial Leet Hill Sands and Gravels were deposited by outwash from the Anglian Scandinavian ice sheet. Initially the flow direction of the outwash was determined by the Bytham river valley, but this changed to a southerly direction once the valley had been infilled. This paper provides the first indication of the location of the boundary (Early Pleistocene coastline) between the fluvial Kesgrave Sands and Gravels and the marine equivalent reworked by coastal processes, and demonstrates the way the pre-glacial relief initially controlled patterns of glaciofluvial sedimentation during the early part of the Anglian glaciation. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.