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1.
Recent research provides the first significant information about sedimentation on the continental shelf of northern Portugal. This paper presents data and interpretations obtained from textural and compositional studies of surface sediment. The shelf primarily contains sand-sized particles of lithogenic quartz (<80m water depth) and biogenic carbonate (80m). A nearshore deposit (<30m) is actively forming from fine sand composed of immature quartz particles (subangular, hyaline) which are transported southward by prevailing waves and currents from fluvial sources in the northern part of the study area. Near the northern rivers (e.g., Minho, Lima, Porto rivers), mica also is found nearshore in high concentrations (20 %). The mid-shelf region (30 to 80 m) is dominated by coarse sand and gravel composed of mature quartz particles (rounded, frosted, iron-stained), which probably were excavated during the Holocene transgression from terrestrial deposits and redistributed by littoral processes. During low stands of sea level, lithogenic sediment was carried off the shelf through submarine canyons, resulting in reduced contribution of lithogenic particles to the outer shelf region. This has caused biogenic carbonate to dominate the sediment there. Grain size decreases across the outer shelf from medium to very fine sand, as the predominant carbonate material changes from mollusk fragments to foraminifera tests. Glauconite has formed in many of the foraminifera tests, and glauconite concentrations are high (20%) in some localities near the shelf break.  相似文献   

2.
A sediment budget is constructed for the slope and narrow continental shelf off the Sepik River in order to estimate the relative importance of turbid plumes versus bottom gravity transport through a near-shore submarine canyon in the dispersal of sediment across this collision margin. 210Pb geochronology and inventories of Kasten cores are consistent with the northwestward dispersal of sediment from the river mouth via hypopycnal and possible isopycnal plumes. Sediment accumulation rates are 5 cm yr−1 on the upper slope just off of the Sepik mouth, decreasing gradually to 1 cm yr−1 toward the northwest, and decreasing abruptly offshore (<0.2 cm yr−1 at 1200 m water depth). A sediment budget indicates that only about 7–15% of the Sepik River sediment discharge accumulates on the adjacent open shelf and slope. The remainder presumably escapes offshore via gravity flows through a submarine canyon, the head of which extends into the river mouth. The divergent sediment pathways observed off the Sepik River (i.e., surface and subsurface plumes versus sediment gravity flows through a canyon) may be common along high-yield collision margins of the Indo–Pacific archipelago, and perhaps are analogous to most margins during Late Quaternary low sea-level conditions.  相似文献   

3.
To investigate the processes by which sediment is transported through a submarine canyon incised in a continental margin affected by recurrent dense shelf water cascading events, several instrumented moorings were deployed in the Cap de Creus Canyon from September 2004 to September 2005. This was done as part of the EuroSTRATAFORM Program that investigated sediment transport and accumulation processes in the Gulf of Lions. Results obtained in this observational study confirm that major cascading events can effectively contribute to the rapid export of sediment from the shelf and upper slope to deeper environments, and suggest that the associated strong currents carrying coarse particles are able to erode the canyon floor and generate sedimentary furrows. During winter 2004–2005, persistent northerly winds and the absence of river floods contributed to decrease the buoyancy of coastal waters and to dramatically enhance the intensity of dense shelf water cascades in the Gulf of Lions. Under such conditions, cascading continuously affected the entire Cap de Creus upper canyon section for more than a month and sustained cold temperatures and down-canyon steady currents >60 cm/s (up to 100 cm/s), showing periodic fluctuations that lasted between 3 and 6 days. Increases in suspended sediment concentrations were associated with dense shelf water cascading outbursts, but the magnitude of the concentration peaks decreased with time, suggesting a progressive exhaustion of the resuspendable sediments from the shelf and canyon floor. Grain size analyses of the particles caught by a near-bottom sediment trap show that dense shelf water cascades are able to transport coarse sediments (up to 65% sand) in suspension (and presumably as bed load), which have the potential to abrade the seafloor and generate erosive bed forms. The orientation of a large field of “wide” (i.e., widths about 1/2 spacing indicative of erosive formation) sedimentary furrows recently observed in the Cap de Creus Canyon clearly coincides with the preferential direction of highest velocities measured by the moored current meters, indicating a causative relationship between contemporary dense shelf water cascades and furrow formation.  相似文献   

4.
The mean flow at and around the Hebrides and Shetland Shelf slope is measured with ARGOS tracked drifters. Forty-two drifters drogued at 50 m were deployed in three circles over the Hebrides slope at 56.15°N in two releases, one on 5th December, 1995 and the second on 5–9th May, 1996. The circles span a distance of some 20 km from water depths of 200 m to 1200 m. Drifters are initially advected poleward along-slope by the Hebrides slope current at between 0.05 and 0.70 m s–1 in a laterally constrained (25–50 km wide) jet-like flow. Drifters released in winter remained in the slope current for over 2000 km whilst summer drifters were lost from the slope current beyond the Wyville-Thomson Ridge, a major topographic feature at 60°N. Dispersion from the slope region into deeper waters occurs at bathymetric irregularities, particularly at the Anton Dohrn Seamount close to which the slope current is found to bifurcate, both in summer and winter, and at the Wyville-Thomson Ridge where drifters move into the Faeroe Shetland Channel. Dispersion onto the continental shelf occurs sporadically along the Hebrides slope. The initial dispersion around the Hebrides slope is remarkably sensitive to initial position, most of the drifters released in shallower water moving onto the shelf, whilst those in 1000 m or more are mostly carried away from the slope into deeper water near the Anton Dohrn Seamount. The dispersion coefficients estimated in directions parallel and normal to the local direction of the 500 m contour, approximately the position of the slope current core, are approximately 8.8 × 103 m2 s–1 and 0.36 × 103 m2 s–1, respectively, during winter, and 11.4 × 103 m2 s–1 and 0.36 x 103 m2 s–1, respectively, during summer. At the slope there is a minimum in across-slope mean velocity, Reynolds stress, and across-slope eddy correlations. The mean across-slope velocity associated with mass flux is about 4 × 10–3 m s–1 shelfward across the shelf break during winter and 2 × 10–3 m s–1 during summer. The drifters also sampled local patterns of circulation, and indicate that the source of water for the seasonal Fair Isle and East Shetland currents are the same, and drawn from Atlantic overflows at the Hebrides shelf.  相似文献   

5.
High-resolution multibeam swath-bathymetry and sediment samples were collected across the outer shelf region of the Columbretes Islands (southern Ebro continental shelf, western Mediterranean Sea). Bathymetric data from the submerged part of the Columbretes volcanic system revealed the presence of three main relict sand bodies along the outer shelf, at 80–116 m depth range, above which asymmetric and slightly asymmetric large and very large 2D and 3D subaqueous dunes were observed. These bed features were recognized, mapped and quantified with the aim of evaluating their potential formation mechanisms in relation to the local hydrodynamic and morphologic settings of the area. Dunes range from 150 to 760 m in wavelength and from tens of centimeters to 3 m in height, and are among the longest ever recognized in an outer shelf region. These bedforms are mostly composed of medium-sized sandy sediments, presumably coming from the degraded relict sand bodies on top of which they have developed, mixed with fine fractions from the recent draping holocenic sediments. The orientation of the dunes is SSW, progressively turning W towards the southernmost sector of the area, following the trend of the shelf-edge. Contemporary hydrodynamic measurements at the Ebro continental shelf-edge show that recorded currents are insufficient to form the observed bedforms and that stronger currents are required for sediment mobilization and dune formation. Based on their morphology and orientation, it is proposed that these bedforms are produced by the action of the southward-flowing Liguro-Provençal-Catalan (LPC) geostrophic current. The LPC probably reaches high near-bottom currents during energetic hydrodynamic events through interactions with the seafloor morphology of the study area. Subaqueous dunes are expected to be basically inactive features with respect to present-day processes, although they can be reactivated during high-energy events. The small Δh/λ ratio measured in the dune fields of the Columbretes shelf revealed that the dune heights fall below the values predicted by the Flemming (1988) global equation, as observed in other outer shelf settings also dominated by unidirectional flows. This may suggest a different morphodynamic character of large dunes formed on outer shelves in a micro-tidal regime.  相似文献   

6.
There has been little work to date into the controls on slope‐to‐channel fine sediment connectivity in alpine environments largely ice‐free for most of the Holocene. Characterization of these controls can be expected to result in better understanding of how landscapes “relax” from such perturbations as climate shock. We monitored fine sediment mobilization on a slope segment hydrologically connected to a stream in the largely ice‐free 8·3 km2 Hoophorn Valley, New Zealand. Gerlach traps were installed in ephemeral slope channels to trap surficial material mobilized during rainfall events. Channel sediment flux was measured using turbidimeters above and below the connected slope, and hysteresis patterns in discharge‐suspended sediment concentrations were used to determine sediment sources. Over the 96 day measurement period, sediment mobilization from the slope segment was limited to rainfall events, with increasingly larger particles trapped as event magnitude increased. Less than 1% of the mass of particles collected during these events was fine sediment. During this period, 714 t of suspended sediment was transported through the lower gauging station, 60% of it during rainfall events. Channel sediment transfer patterns during these events were dominated by clockwise hysteresis, interpreted as remobilization of nearby in‐channel sources, further suggesting limited input of fine sediment from slopes in the lower valley. Strong counterclockwise hysteresis, representing input of fine sediment from slope segments, was restricted to the largest storm event (JD2 2009) when surfaces in the upper basin were activated. The results indicate that the slopes of the lower Hoophorn catchment are no longer functioning as sources of fine sediment, but rather as sources of coarse material, with flux rates controlled by the intensity and duration of rainfall events. Although speculative, these findings suggest a shift to a coarse sediment dominated slope‐to‐channel transfer system as the influence of pre‐Holocene glacial erosion declines. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

7.
Hyperconcentrated flows as influenced by coupled wind-water processes   总被引：4，自引：0，他引：4  
Hyperconcentrated flow is a natural phenomenon, which is widely observed on the Loess Plateau of China[1,2]. So far, much research has been done with hyperconcentrated flows in China[1―7], although hy-perconcentrated flows are also observed in many riv-ers in other countries[8―10]. In the monograph edited by Chien[11], hyperconcnetrated flows were studied in depth, involving the physical properties, resistance, sediment-carry behavior and channel-forming pro- cesses. Wang and Chien el al.[…  相似文献   

8.
The study area, “La Grande Vasière” (LGV), stretches out on the French Atlantic continental shelf (at ca. 100 m water depth), along 250 km from the Glénan Islands at the north to the southwest of Rochebonne at the south. Box-cores were sampled in this mid-shelf area during four cruises in June 1995, and in April, June and September 2002. They were investigated using sedimentological approaches (X-radiographs and grain-size analyses) and radionuclide studies (210Pb geochronology and excess 234Th). The main results are: (1) the surficial sediments are generally organized into a decimetre-scale fining up sequence which can be the result of extreme storms; (2) an upper mixing layer of 7–20 cm reflects an important biological benthic activity and/or the impact of fishing (i.e. trawlers); (3) a thin (i.e. a few mm) surficial mud-rich layer is the result of the present-day sedimentation; (4) an apparent annual sedimentation rate of 1–3 mm is recorded in several loci of the study area. Some seasonal variations appear, corresponding to the deposition of fine material from April to September, and to the reworking and the re-suspension during the winter. This fine material is the result of the decantation of estuarine plumes, mainly the Loire and the Vilaine rivers, over the study area. LGV lies (1) under the influence of a winter-to-spring thermo-haline wedge that acts as a filter for the transfer of fine river-borne material to the slope and the open sea, and (2) below water depths where the mean swell action permits sedimentation, mainly in summer.  相似文献   

9.
Measurements of the slope current at two locations north-west of Ireland have been made between April and December 1994, 40 m above the seabed in a water depth of 660 m. A persistent poleward along-slope current was observed at both locations, with measured means of 10 and 21cms–1 respectively. A CTD transect across the slope near one mooring indicated the presence of a light, warm, saline core of water at the shelf edge. Peak currents were 0(50) cms–1, with strongest mean flow at the location with steeper slope. Variability at sub-tidal periods, principally 2–5 and 11–12 days, was apparent. The shorter-period variability was well correlated with coastal sea-level variations measured at a land point near to one of the moorings. The variability in the slope current at this period appeared to be a result of the warm current core movement up/down slope, probably as a result of interaction with higher-mode shelf waves. Some suggestion of a bottom-trapped diurnal wave was also found at one location.  相似文献   

10.
Geologic features and processes pose several environmental concerns to resource development on the Kodiak Shelf in the Gulf of Alaska. Tectonism causes fault movement, strong seismic ground shaking, and changes in sea-floor elevation. Earthquake epicenters and structural deformation are areally concentrated, which implies areal variation in the severity of tectonic hazards. Exposures of bedrock appear to provide competent foundational material over broad areas of the sea floor, although locally rough topographic expression of inclined bedrock strata might influence the siting of engineering structures. Stable deposits of gravelly unconsolidated sediment, derived from Pleistocene glaciers, are also widespread. Deposits of fine-grained sediment in areas of negative relief might possess less desirable foundational properties than bedrock or coarse unconsolidated sediment, but their thickness is only a few tens of meters in most places. Evidence of sediment slides is rare on the shelf, which implies general slope stability, but large slides, whose activity is related to tectonism, are abundant just seaward of the shelf break. Local occurrences of gas-charged sediment show limited indication of overpressuring and no evidence of instability, but low sediment strength is possible. Fields of large sand waves might be sites of high-energy bed-load transport with the potential for erosion and abrasion problems. As inferred from sediment dispersal patterns, pollutants that become incorporated into bottom sediment could be concentrated and stored long-term in troughs that trend transversely across the shelf.  相似文献   

11.
The entrainment of bottom deposits (silt and clay) into newly formed ice was investigated in the Amderma/Vaygach flaw lead in the southwestern Kara Sea, Siberian Arctic. Fine-grained bottom deposits and sea ice sediments (SIS) were analyzed by granulometry, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffractometry. On average, SIS contain by a factor of four times more silt than the shelf deposits (66.7% vs. 16.3%), and the SIS clay percentage is more than three-fold of the bottom value (31.2% vs. 9.1%). Sand-sized particles are significantly less abundant in SIS compared to bottom sediment (2.1% vs. 74.6%). The preferred entrainment of silt into ice is underpinned by the enhanced silt-to-clay-ratio in SIS compared to bottom deposits. Though silt is preferably entrained into SIS, no evidence was found for preferential ice-entrainment of any silt sub-fraction (coarse, medium or fine). However, sub-angular- and angular-discoidal silt particles are favorably entrained into local sea ice. Clay mineral assemblages in SIS and shelf surface sediments match very well revealing that no individual clay mineral is preferably enriched in SIS or reduced at the bottom. The general textural, compositional and statistical match of fine-grained shelf surface deposits and SIS proves that bottom sediment is the principle source for ice-entrained material in the study area. We propose e.g. wave action and thermohaline convection to take sediment particles upward from the bottom nepheloid layer into the well-mixed 10–40 m deep water column of the Amderma/Vaygach flaw lead, and the turbulent process of suspension freezing to bring sediment particles and frazil crystals into contact, finally leading to the formation of sediment-laden ice. The role of SIS entrainment and export for local/regional shelf erosion and coastal retreat is of minor importance in the SW Kara Sea compared to other circum-Arctic shelf seas. However, the characteristic clay mineral assemblage of local SIS and bottom deposits can help identify the origin of SIS both on regional and Arctic-wide scales.  相似文献   

12.
Ocean surface waves are the dominant temporally and spatially variable process influencing sea floor sediment resuspension along most continental shelves. Wave-induced sediment mobility on the continental shelf and upper continental slope off central California for different phases of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events was modeled using monthly statistics derived from more than 14 years of concurrent hourly oceanographic and meteorologic data as boundary input for the Delft SWAN wave model, gridded sea floor grain-size data from the usSEABED database, and regional bathymetry. Differences as small as 0.5 m in wave height, 1 s in wave period, and 10° in wave direction, in conjunction with the spatially heterogeneous unconsolidated sea-floor sedimentary cover, result in significant changes in the predicted mobility of continental shelf surficial sediment in the study area. El Niño events result in more frequent mobilization on the inner shelf in the summer and winter than during La Niña events and on the outer shelf and upper slope in the winter months, while La Niña events result in more frequent mobilization on the mid-shelf during spring and summer months than during El Niño events. The timing and patterns of seabed mobility are addressed in context of geologic and biologic processes. By understanding the spatial and temporal variability in the disturbance of the sea floor, scientists can better interpret sedimentary patterns and ecosystem structure, while providing managers and planners an understanding of natural impacts when considering the permitting of offshore activities that disturb the sea floor such as trawling, dredging, and the emplacement of sea-floor engineering structures.  相似文献   

13.
AVHRR satellite imagery of the southern Mid-Atlantic Bight during May 1993 revealed a large area of cold water over the shelf break and slope that appeared to spin up into a series of southward propagating anticyclonic eddies. The eddies had diameters of 35–45 km at the surface and moved southward at about 20 cm/sec. A radial TOYO CTD (to 50m) and ADCP velocity (to 400m) transect was conducted across the southern-most of these eddies. The upper 50 meters had minimum temperatures of less than 7°C and salinities of about 33 pss, characteristics similar to cold pool waters usually found over the continental shelf. ADCP velocity data from one of the eddies revealed anticyclonic flow extending to a depth of about 250m. The transport of cold pool water by the eddies was estimated to be 0.1 to 0.2 Sv which is of the same order as the annual mean alongshore transport of shelf water in this region. The origin of the deeper water within the eddy is unlikely to be the continental shelf because the shelf break is less than 100 m. The depth and velocity profiles along the TOYO transect were consistent with the constant potential vorticity eddy model of Flierl (1979) although the source of the eddy kinetic energy is uncertain. The cause for the exodus of cold pool water from the shelf, which extended northward to at least 38°N, is unclear but must involve the establishment of an alongshore baroclinic pressure gradient against the usual southwestward shelf flow. It is possible that the intrusion of Gulf Stream waters onto the shelf near Cape Hatteras was a precursor of this off shelf transport. The southern-most eddy was marked by high biological productivity and very high oxygen supersaturation. The phytoplankton bloom detected within the exported cold pool water, located over the continental slope, suggests a mechanism whereby production fueled by nutrients derived from the shelf can be locally exported into deep water.  相似文献   

14.
Recent research on the Mississippi margin indicates notable seasonal variation in seabed dynamics. During years with minimal tropical-system activity, sediments initially deposited from late spring to early fall are remobilized by wind-driven currents and wave energy during extra-tropical weather systems in the winter. This research reveals the profound significance of tropical cyclones on Louisiana Shelf sedimentation. The amount of material delivered to and advected across the shelf by recent tropical cyclones is considerably larger than that related to winter storm systems. In Fall 2004, the river-dominated shelf of Louisiana was impacted by three tropical systems in less than a month, including Hurricane Ivan. Ivan, with maximum sustained winds in excess of 74 m s−1 (144 knots) and a minimum measured central pressure of 910 mbar, was the eighth most intense Atlantic hurricane on record at the time. In order to assess the impact these tropical systems had on the continental margin west of the Mississippi delta, seabed samples were collected from box cores in October 2004 and analyzed for particle-reactive radionuclides 234Th, 7Be, and 210Pb. Radiochemical data and observations from X-radiographs indicate event-driven sediment deposits ranged from 4 to 30 cm on the shelf and 2–6 cm in the Mississippi Canyon. These deposits exhibit distinct radiochemical signatures and differ visually and texturally from the underlying sediment. The well-developed physical stratification and graded nature of the deposits observed in core X-radiographs suggests that the sediment could have been deposited from sediment-gravity flows. Inventories of 7Be and 7Be/234Thxs ratios reveal this series of cyclones transported considerably more material to the outer shelf and slope than periods of minimal tropical-system activity. When compared to seasonal depositional rates created by winter storms, tropical-cyclone-related event deposits on the middle and outer shelf are up to an order of magnitude greater in thickness. The number and thickness of these event deposits decrease with distance from the delta and suggest that only the most severe tropical systems are likely capable of redistributing significant quantities of sediment to more distal portions of the shelf and slope. These severe-event-driven deposits may account for as much as 75% of the sediment burial budget on decadal time scales within Mississippi Canyon. Higher than average tropical cyclone activity, predicted by the National Hurricane Center over the next decade, may be the major mechanism controlling sediment transport and deposition on the Mississippi River continental shelf and in Mississippi Canyon.  相似文献   

15.
To assess the extent to which Hurricanes Katrina and Rita affected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), sediment cores were analyzed in late 2005 from: a shallow shelf, a deeper shelf, and a marsh station. Sediment geochronology, fabric, and geochemistry show that the 2005 storms deposited ∼10 cm of sediment to the surface of a core at 5-12A. Bulk carbon geochemistry and PAH isomers in this top layer suggest that the source of sediment to the top portion of core 5-12A was from a relatively more marine area. Particulate PAHs in the marsh core (04 M) appeared unaffected by the storms while sediments in the core from Station 5-1B (deeper shelf) were affected minimally (some possible storm-derived deposition). Substantial amounts of PAH-laden particles may have been displaced from the seabed in shallow areas of the water column in the GOM by these 2005 storms.  相似文献   

16.
《Continental Shelf Research》2006,26(17-18):2125-2140
Sediment delivered to coastal systems by rivers (15×109 tons) plays a key role in the global carbon and nutrient cycles, as deltas and continental shelves are considered to be the main repositories of organic matter in marine sediments. The Mississippi River, delivering more than 60% of the total dissolved and suspended materials from the conterminous US, dominates coastal and margin processes in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Draining approximately 41% of the conterminous US, the Mississippi and Atchafalaya river system deliver approximately 2×108 tons of suspended matter to the northern Gulf shelf each year. Unlike previous work, this study provides a comprehensive evaluation of sediment accumulation covering majority of the shelf (<150 m water depth) west of the Mississippi Delta from 92 cores collected throughout the last 15 years. This provides a unique and invaluable data set of the spatial and modern temporal variations of the sediment accumulation in this dynamic coastal environment.Three types of 210Pb profiles were observed from short cores (15–45 cm) collected on the shelf. Proximal to Southwest Pass in 30–100 m water depths, non-steady-state profiles were observed indicating rapid accumulation. Sediment accumulation rates in this area are typically >2.5 cm yr−1 (>1.8 g cm−2 yr−1). Kasten cores (∼200 cm in length) collected near Southwest Pass also indicate rapid deposition (>4 cm yr−1; >3 g cm−2 yr−1) on a longer timescale than that captured in the box cores. Near shore (<20 m), profiles are dominated by sediments reworked by waves and currents with no accumulation (the exception is an area just south of Barataria Bay where accumulation occurs). The remainder of the shelf (distal of Southwest Pass) is dominated by steady-state accumulation beneath a ∼10-cm thick mixed layer. Sediment accumulation rates for the distal shelf are typically <0.7 cm yr−1 (<0.5 g cm−2 yr−1). A preliminary sediment budget based on the distribution of 210Pb accumulation rates indicates that 40–50% of the sediment delivered by the river is transported out of the study region. Sediment is moved to distal regions of the shelf/slope through two different mechanisms. Along-isobath sediment movement occurs by normal resuspension processes west of the delta, whereas delivery of sediments south and southwest of the delta may be also be influenced by mass movement events on varying timescales.  相似文献   

17.
《Continental Shelf Research》2006,26(17-18):2205-2224
On the eastern Raukumara Ranges of the New Zealand East Coast, active tectonics, vigorous weather systems, and human colonisation have combined to cause widespread erosion of the mudstone- and sandstone-dominated hinterland. The Waipaoa River sedimentary dispersal system is an example that has responded to environmental change, and is now New Zealand's second largest river in terms of suspended sediment discharge. This paper presents new sediment accumulation rates for the continental shelf and slope that span century to post-glacial time scales. These data are derived from radiochemical tracer, palynological, tephrostratigraphic, and seismic methods. We hypothesise on the temporal and spatial complexity of post-glacial sedimentation across the margin and identify the broad extent of sediment dispersal from the Waipaoa system. The ∼15 km3 Poverty Bay mid-shelf basin lies adjacent to the mouth of the Waipaoa River, reaching a maximum thickness of ∼45 m. A post-glacial mud lobe of an additional ∼3 km3 extends through the Poverty Gap and out onto the uppermost slope, attaining 40 m thickness in a structurally controlled sub-basin. Here, an offset in the last-glacial erosion surface indicates that deposition was sympathetic with fault activity and the creation of accommodation space, implying that sedimentation was not supply limited. Contrary to classical shelf sedimentation models, the highest modern accumulation rate of 1 cm y−1 occurs on the outer-shelf sediment lobe, approximately ∼2 times the rate recorded at the mid-shelf basin depocentre, and ∼10 times faster than the excess 210Pb rates estimated from the slope. Pollen records from slope cores fingerprint Polynesian then European settlement, and broaden the spatial extent of post-settlement sedimentation initially documented from the Poverty Bay mid-shelf. Changes in sub-millennial sedimentation infer a 2–3-times increase in post-settlement accumulation on the shelf but a smaller 1–2 times increase on the slope. Over longer time scales, seismic evidence infers slower but steady sedimentation since the last transgression, and that significant cross-shelf sediment pathways pre-date the increase in sedimentation resulting from colonisation and deforestation. From a summation of coastal bedload, shelf and slope sediment mass accumulation, the total sediment budget for the Holocene is ∼1 Mt y−1. Under modern conditions a larger proportion of the Waipaoa sediment dispersal system likely extends onto the slope and beyond.  相似文献   

18.
In situ observations were combined with 3D modeling to gain understanding of and to quantify the suspended sediment transport in the Gulf of Lions (NW Mediterranean Sea). The outputs of a hydrodynamic–sediment transport coupled model were compared to near-bottom current and suspended sediment concentration measurements collected at the head of seven submarine canyons and at a shallow shelf site, over a 6-month period (November 2003–May 2004). The comparisons provide a reasonable validation of the model that reproduces the observed spatial and time variations. The study period was marked by an unusual occurrence of marine storms and high river inputs. The major water and sediment discharges were supplied by the Rhone, the largest Mediterranean river, during an exceptional flood accompanying a severe marine storm in early December 2003. A second major storm, with moderate flooding, occurred in February 2004. The estimate of river input during the studied period was 5.9 Mt. Our study reveals (i) that most of the particulate matter delivered by the Rhone was entrapped on the prodelta, and (ii) that marine storms played a crucial role on the sediment dispersal on the shelf and the off-shelf export. The marine storms occurring in early December 2003 and late February 2004 resuspended a very large amount of shelf sediment (>8 Mt). Erosion was controlled by waves on the inner shelf and by energetic currents on the outer shelf. Sediment deposition took place in the middle part of the shelf, between 50 and 100 m depth. Resuspended sediments and river-borne particles were transported to the southwestern end of the shelf by a cyclonic circulation induced by these onshore winds and exported towards the Catalan shelf and into the Cap de Creus Canyon which incises the slope close to the shore. Export taking place mostly during marine storms was estimated to reach 9.1 Mt during the study period.  相似文献   

19.
Sediment production, transport and yield were quantified over various timescales in response to rainfall and runoff within an alluvial gully (7 · 8 ha), which erodes into dispersible sodic soils of a small floodplain catchment (33 ha) along the Mitchell River, northern Australia. Historical air photographs and recent global positioning system (GPS) surveys and LiDAR data documented linear increases in gully area and volume, indicating that sediment supply has been relatively consistent over the historic period. Daily time lapse photography of scarp retreat rates and internal erosion processes also demonstrated that erosion from rainfall and runoff consistently supplied fine washload (< 63 µm) sediment in addition to coarse lags of sand bed material. Empirical measurements of suspended sediment concentrations (10 000 to >100 000 mg/L) and sediment yields (89 to 363 t/ha/yr) were high for both Australian and world data. Total sediment yield estimated from empirical washload and theoretical bed material load was dominated by fine washload (< 63 µm). A lack of hysteresis in suspended sediment rating curves, scarp retreat and sediment yield correlated to rainfall input, and an equilibrium channel outlet slope supported the hypothesis that partially or fully transport‐limited conditions predominated along the alluvial gully outlet channel. This is in contrast to sediment supply‐limited conditions on uneroded floodplains above gully head scarps. While empirical data presented here can support future modelling efforts to predict suspended sediment concentration and yield under the transport limiting situations, additional field data will also be needed to better quantify sediment erosion and transport rates and processes in alluvial gullies at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

20.
A three-dimensional coupled hydrodynamic-sediment transport model for the Texas-Louisiana continental shelf was developed using the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) and used to represent fluvial sediment transport and deposition for the year 1993. The model included water and sediment discharge from the Mississippi River and Atchafalaya Bay, seabed resuspension, and suspended transport by currents. Input wave properties were provided by the Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN) model so that ROMS could estimate wave-driven bed stresses, critical to shallow-water sediment suspension. The model used temporally variable but spatially uniform winds, spatially variable seabed grain size distributions, and six sediment tracers from rivers and seabed.At the end of the year 1993, much of the modeled fluvial sediment accumulation was localized with deposition focused near sediment sources. Mississippi sediment remained within 20-40 km of the Mississippi Delta. Most Atchafalaya sediment remained landward of the 10-m isobath in the inner-most shelf south of Atchafalaya Bay. Atchafalaya sediment displayed an elongated westward dispersal pattern toward the Chenier Plain, reflecting the importance of wave resuspension and perennially westward depth-averaged currents in the shallow waters (<10 m). Due to relatively high settling velocities assumed for sediment from the Mississippi River as well as the shallowness of the shelf south of Atchafalaya Bay, most sediment traveled only a short distance before initial deposition. Little fluvial sediment could be transported into the vicinity of the “Dead Zone” (low-oxygen area) within a seasonal-annual timeframe. Near the Mississippi Delta and Atchafalaya Bay, alongshore sediment-transport fluxes always exceeded cross-shore fluxes. Estimated cumulative sediment fluxes next to Atchafalaya Bay were episodic and “stepwise-like” compared to the relatively gradual transport around the Mississippi Delta. During a large storm in March 1993, strong winds helped vertically mix the water column over the entire shelf (up to 100-m isobath), and wave shear stress dominated total bed stress. During fair-weather conditions in May 1993, however, the freshwater plumes spread onto a stratified water column, and combined wave-current shear stress only exceeded the threshold for suspending sediment in the inner-most part of the shelf.  相似文献   

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