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1.
Sedimentary dynamics along carbonate slopes (Bahamas archipelago)   总被引:2,自引:0,他引:2       下载免费PDF全文
Hydroacoustic and sedimentological data in the Santaren Channel covering both the leeward slope of Great Bahama Bank and the windward slope of Cay Sal Bank allow new insights into carbonate platform slope sedimentation. The data document the interplay between depositional and erosive processes on both slopes through time and provide information on the current regime and its influence on the slope sedimentary processes. This study emphasizes the diversity and complexity of the slope morphology and the sediment distribution of the youngest high‐frequency sequence, which has developed since the last glacial maximum. The processes triggering slope failures and the formation of channels and gullies differ on both slopes. At the leeward slope of the Great Bahama Bank, extensive slope failures occurred primarily during sea‐level lowering following an interglacial. These slope failures created a slope morphology that channelizes the exported platform sediments during the subsequent highstand. At the windward slope of Cay Sal Bank, contour currents and the local tectonic regime are responsible for slope failures. During sea‐level lowstands, downwelling induces turbidity currents. The interaction of turbidity and contour currents leads to the formation of a system of furrows and slope‐parallel sediment ridges. The discovered heterogeneities in slope sedimentation improve the understanding of carbonate slope sedimentation and provide implications for sequence stratigraphic interpretation of carbonate platform slopes.  相似文献   

2.
Middle Pleistocene to Holocene sediment variations observed in a 26 metre long core taken during a cruise of the RV Marion Dufresne are presented. Core MD992202 was retrieved from the northern slope of Little Bahama Bank and provides an excellent example for sedimentation processes in a mid‐slope depositional environment. The sediment composition indicates sea‐level related deposition processes for the past 375 000 years (marine isotope stages 1 to 11). The sediments consist of: (i) periplatform ooze (fine‐grained particles of shallow‐water and pelagic origin) with moderate variations in carbonate content, carbonate mineralogy and grain‐size; and (ii) coarser intervals with cemented debris consisting of massive, poorly sorted, mud‐supported or clast‐supported deposits with an increased high‐magnesium calcite content. During interglacial stages (marine isotope stages 1, 5, 7, 9 and 11) periplatform oozes (i) are characterized by higher aragonite contents, finer grain‐size and higher organic contents, whereas during glacial stages (marine isotope stages 2 to 4, 6, 8 and 10), increased low‐magnesium and high‐magnesium calcite values, coarser grain‐size and lower organic contents are recorded. These glacial to interglacial differences in mineralogy, grain‐size distribution and organic content clearly show the impact of climatically controlled sea‐level fluctuations on the sedimentation patterns of the northern slope of Little Bahama Bank. The coarser deposits (ii) occur mainly at the transitions from glacial to interglacial and interglacial to glacial stages, and are interpreted as redeposition events, indicating a direct link between sediment properties (changes in mineralogy, grain‐size distribution, variations in organic contents) and sea‐level fluctuations. Changes in hydrostatic pressure and the wave base position during sea‐level changes are proposed to have triggered these large‐scale sediment redepositions.  相似文献   

3.
Eight continuous cores up to 150 m long and spaced an average of 200 m apart yield a detailed local insight into the composition and architecture of an ancient continental margin sequence, the Gowganda Formation (early Proterozoic: Huronian) near Elliot Lake, Ontario. Nearby outcrops of similar facies provide important supplementary data on sedimentary structures. Continental glaciers provided an abundant supply of coarse debris but, apart from rafting of debris by floating ice, played little or no part in Gowganda sedimentation. The basal 50 m of the Gowganda Formation in the drill-hole area represents a continental slope depositional system. It consists mainly of gravelly and sandy sediment gravity flow deposits, interbedded with minor rain-out units of diamictite, and argillite containing dropstones. Ten types of sediment gravity flow deposit are distinguished. An overlying submarine-channel depositional system, 10–50m thick, consists of hemipelagic argillites containing dropstones and showing deformation structures. These are interbedded with well-sorted channel-fill sandstones. Submarine point bars 4·5 m thick (identified in nearby outcrops) demonstrate a meandering channel geometry. This channel-fill sequence probably formed during a period of high sea-level and reduced sediment supply, but the relationship to ice advance-retreat cycles is unclear. The subsurface sequence is completed by a blanket of massive rain-out diamictites up to 55 m thick, and a younger slope sequence of sediment gravity flow diamictites and sandstones. The stratigraphy is quite different in outcrop section 10 km to the west of the drill-holes, suggesting the presence of major lateral facies changes and/or internal erosion surfaces within the Gowganda Formation. This complexity of stratigraphy and depositional processes is probably a feature of many ancient glacial units, and points to the advisability of not making climatic or tectonic interpretations from a few generalized or composite sections.  相似文献   

4.
Southwestern Barents Sea sediments contain important information on Lateglacial and Holocene environmental development of the area, i.e. sediment provenance characteristics related to ice‐flow patterns and ice drifting from different regional sectors. In this study, we present investigations of clay, heavy minerals, and ice‐rafted debris from three sediment cores obtained from the SW Barents Sea. The sediments studied are subglacial/glaciomarine to marine in origin. The core sequences were divided into three lithostratigraphical units. The lowest, Unit 3, consists of laminated glaciomarine sediments related to regional deglaciation. The overlying Unit 2 is a diamicton, dominated by mud and oversized clasts. Unit 2 reflects a more ice‐proximal glaciomarine sedimentary environment or even a subglacial depositional environment; its deposition may indicate a glacial re‐advance or stillstand during an overall retreat. The uppermost Unit 1 consists of Holocene marine sediments and current‐reworked sedimentary material with a relatively high carbonate content. A significant proportion of the sedimentary material could be derived from Svalbard and transported by sea ice or icebergs to the Barents Sea during the late deglacial phase. The Fennoscandian sources and local Mesozoic strata from the bottom of the Barents Sea are the likely provenances of sediments deposited during the deglacial and ice re‐advance phases. Bottom currents and sea‐ice transport were the main mechanisms influencing sedimentation during the Holocene. Our results indicate that the provenance areas can be reliably related to certain ice‐flow sectors and transport mechanisms in the deglaciated Barents Sea.  相似文献   

5.
末次冰消期以来东海内陆架沉积速率及其气候环境响应   总被引:3,自引:0,他引:3  
对位于东海内陆架浙-闽沿岸泥质带的EC2005孔岩性、粒度以及AMS14C年代进行了分析,着重探讨了研究区自末次冰消期以来的沉积速率变化,划分出4个大的沉积阶段和4次快速沉积事件.千年时间尺度上大的沉积阶段主要受控于物源供应、海平面变化以及可容空间的大小.百年时间尺度上揭示的4次快速沉积事件主要受控于东亚冬季风的增强或...  相似文献   

6.
Daihai Lake, a modern lacustrine rift basin, located in Inner Mongolia, North China, serves as an important modern analog for understanding deltaic depositional processes in an active rift setting. Two of the deltas (Yuanzigou delta and Bulianghe delta) on the margins of Daihai Lake were surveyed to compare and contrast stacking patterns using aerial photographs, field trenching and sediment sampling. Shallow cores and trench data collected from the margins of Daihai Lake indicate that a variety of depositional processes have been active since Daihai Lake formed. Two 3-D sedimentation models which employ chronostratigraphic correlation technique were generated. The chronostratigraphic sedimentation models predict and represent the architectures and sand-body continuity of sediments. Stratigraphical coincidence of the broad sheeted drifts and channel erosion suggests a coupling between downslope and alongslope processes. Distributary mouth bars are prevalent in the front of deltas on steeper slopes due to the dominance of down-slope flows. On the contrary, the along-slope currents favor the development of distal bar deposits with sheeted sandbodies on gentle depositional slopes. This study provides an insight into the architecture of complex sedimentary facies associated with highlighting key differences between downslope flows and alongslope currents. The distribution of sand within these deltas is of particular interests, with applications in understanding the architecture of hydrocarbon reservoirs formed in lacustrine rift basin.  相似文献   

7.
The extent of multi‐year sea ice impacts climate processes worldwide, such as ocean–atmosphere carbon dioxide exchange and deep ocean current formation. Reconstructing these processes in the past, and assessing the distribution of ecologically and climatically significant features, such as polynas, requires recognition of sediments deposited under multi‐year sea ice, but little is known about their characteristics. Textural analysis of subaerial and sea floor sediment in Explorers Cove, McMurdo Sound, at the mouth of Taylor Valley, Antarctica, augmented with observations of sedimentary structures and faunal components, elucidates how sediment is transported to the sea floor and allows characterization of the deposits. Comparison of grain‐size characteristics of subaerial (moraine, delta and sea‐ice surface) sediment and sea floor sediment from short cores taken at depths of 7 to 25 m indicates that the likely source of the moderately to poorly sorted sea floor sand is deltaic sediment; small glacial meltwater streams have built deltas since Taylor Valley became ice‐free ca 7000 years ago. Windblown sediment accumulating on the multi‐year sea ice close to the coast typically is coarser grained than sediment on the sea floor; this suggests that the transport of sediment through the ice to the sea floor is not the predominant mode of sediment transfer. However, supra‐sea‐ice sediment does move to the sea floor through local fractures. The rate of sedimentation under multi‐year sea ice is low because of limited stream flow and biogenic sedimentation; the ice cover inhibits primary productivity and dampens waves, precluding physical re‐suspension. The upper centimetres of sea floor sediment are churned by epifaunal scallops and brittle stars that leave no telltale biogenic structures and whose calcite ossicles and shells may be poorly preserved. The resulting deposits under multi‐year sea ice are poorly sorted, massive sand that provides little evidence of the bioturbators that have masked the indicators of the original physical depositional processes.  相似文献   

8.
High sedimentation rates in Pleistocene active margin basins can provide a very detailed record of tectonic and climatic controls on sediment preservation. A 500 m thick, Pleistocene rock section exposed in northeastern North Island of New Zealand (Kidnappers Group), provides the opportunity to discuss these controls. The section is composed of conglomerate, sandstones, siltstones and minor shales, interbedded with tephra layers. The sediments were deposited in alluvial to shallow marine environments and preserved in stacks of depositional units decimetres to hundreds of metres thick as a result of base‐level changes through time. The correlation of base‐level changes in the section with the deep sea oxygen isotope stratigraphy shows that the sequences at 10 m and 80 m scales can correlate, respectively, to the 20 and 100 kyr changes in eustatic sea‐level, but that the 80‐m‐thick sequences correlate also to changes in tectonic uplift rates. A major change in the stratigraphical architecture occurs at the Mid‐Pleistocene Transition (MPT) when the 40 kyr ice volume variations shifted to a dominant 100 kyr variation. This change includes an increase in the amplitude of the shifts in depositional environments and an overall simplification of the stacking pattern of the depositional units through the MPT. This study illustrates that active margin basins can record orbitally forced sedimentary cycles and points to a possible leading influence of eustasy on the pattern of sediment preservation in tectonically active areas. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

9.
Post‐glacial, neritic cool‐water carbonates of the Western Mediterranean Sea were examined by means of hydroacoustic data, sediment surface sampling and vibrocoring to unravel geometries and to reconstruct sedimentary evolution in response to the last sea‐level rise. The analysed areas, located on the Alboran Ridge, in the Bay of Oran, and at the southern shelf of the island of Mallorca, are microtidal and bathed by oligotrophic to weakly mesotrophic waters. Seasonal water temperature varies between 13 °C and 27 °C. Echosounder profiles show that the Bay of Oran and the southern shelf of Mallorca are distally steepened ramps, while the Alboran Ridge forms a steep‐flanked rugged plateau around the Alboran Island. In the three areas, an up to 10 m thick post‐glacial sediment cover overlies an unconformity. In Oran and Mallorca, stacked lowstand wedges occur in water depths of 120 to 130 m. On the Alboran Ridge and in the Bay of Oran, highstand wedges occur at 35 to 40 m. Up to 5 m long cores of upper Pleistocene to Holocene successions were recovered in water depths between 40 and 81 m. Deposits contain more than 80% carbonate, with mixed carbonate‐volcaniclastics in the lower part of some cores in Alboran. The carbonates consist of up to 53% of aragonite and up to 83% of high magnesium calcite. Radiocarbon dating of bivalve shells, coralline algae and serpulid tubes indicates that deposits are as old as 12 400 cal yr bp . The carbonate factories in the three areas are dominated mostly by red algae, but some intervals in the cores are richer in bivalves. A facies rich in the gastropod Turritella, reflecting elevated surface productivity, is restricted to the Mallorca Shelf. Rhodoliths occur at the sediment surface in most areas at water depths shallower than 70 m; they form a 10 to 20 cm thick veneer overlying rhodolith‐poor bioclastic sediments which, nonetheless, contain abundant red algal debris. This rhodolith layer has been developing for the past 800 to 1000 years. Similar layers at different positions in the cores are interpreted as reflecting in situ growth of rhodoliths at times of reduced net sedimentation. Sedimentary successions in the cores record the post‐glacial sea‐level rise and the degree of sediment exposure to bottom currents. Deepening‐upward trends in the successions are either reflected by shallow to deep facies transitions or by a corresponding change of depth‐indicative red algae. There are only weak downcore variations of carbonate mineralogy, which indicate that no dissolution or high magnesium to low magnesium calcite neomorphism occurs in the shallow subsurface. These new data support the approach of using the Recent facies distribution for interpretation of past cool‐water, low‐energy, microtidal carbonate depositional systems. Hydroacoustic data show that previous Pleistocene transgressive and highstand inner ramp deposits and wedges were removed during sea‐level lowstands and accumulated downslope as stacked lowstand wedges; this suggests that, under conditions of high‐amplitude sea‐level fluctuations, the stratigraphic record of similar cool‐water carbonates may be biased.  相似文献   

10.
Modern Guaymas Basin (Gulf of California, Mexico) is a region of high diatom productivity where exceptional preservation factors maintain biannually alternating sediment deposition as annual varves. New sediment cores from Guaymas Basin (MD02‐2512 and MD02‐2515) present the opportunity to construct climate records from below the last glacial period. A low‐resolution age model has been constructed from oxygen isotope analysis, correlation with other dated short piston cores from Guaymas Basin and an estimate of sedimentation rate. MD02‐2512 from eastern Guaymas Basin has an age range from the Holocene to late marine isotope stage 6 (MIS 6); MD02‐2515 from western Guaymas Basin has an age range from ~8000 to 40 000 yr. Shipboard analyses of colour reflectance, magnetic susceptibility and sediment density are combined with continuous X‐ray fluorescence scans to reconstruct a picture of glacial climate in the Gulf of California. Eastern Guaymas Basin is affected by glacial sea level fall, which results in a drastic change in productivity rates and sediment type. The laminated record of MIS 5 allows comparison with the Holocene, showing a similarity of sedimentation patterns during deglaciation and a series of very rapid variations just prior to the last glaciation. In western Guaymas Basin there are a series of Younger Dryas‐like events during the glacial, typified by low productivity and high terrigenous input. Long‐term climate and productivity changes appear to be caused by the southward displacement of the Subtropical High pressure zone. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

11.
Along the West Greenland continental margin adjoining Baffin Bay, bathymetric data show a series of large submarine fans located at the mouths of cross‐shelf troughs. One of these fans, termed here ‘Uummannaq Fan’, is a trough‐mouth fan built largely by debris delivered from a fast‐flowing outlet of the Greenland Ice Sheet during past glacial maxima. Cores from this fan provide the first information on glacimarine sedimentary facies within a major West Greenland trough‐mouth fan and on the nature of Late Weichselian–Holocene glacigenic sediment delivery to this region of the Baffin Bay margin. Glacigenic debris flows deposited on the upper slope and extending to at least 1800 m water depth in front of the trough‐mouth are related to the remobilization of subglacial debris that was delivered onto the upper slope at times when an ice stream was positioned at the shelf edge. In contrast, sedimentary facies from the northern sector of the fan are characterized by hemipelagic and ice‐rafted sediments and turbidites; glacigenic debris flows are notably absent in cores from this region. Quantitative X‐ray diffraction studies of the <2‐mm sediment fraction indicate that the bulk of the sediment in the fan is derived from Uummannaq Trough but there are distinct intervals when sediment from northern Baffin Bay sources dominates, especially on the northern limit of the fan. These data demonstrate considerable variation in the nature of sediment delivery across the Uummannaq Fan when the Greenland Ice Sheet was at the shelf edge. They highlight the variability of glacimarine depositional processes operating on trough‐mouth fans on high‐latitude continental margins during the last glacial maximum and indicate that glacigenic debris flows are just one of a number of mechanisms by which such large depocentres form. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

12.
Deltas contain sedimentary records that are not only indicative of water‐level changes, but also particularly sensitive to earthquake shaking typically resulting in soft‐sediment‐deformation structures. The Kürk lacustrine delta lies at the south‐western extremity of Lake Hazar in eastern Turkey and is adjacent to the seismogenic East Anatolian Fault, which has generated earthquakes of magnitude 7. This study re‐evaluates water‐level changes and earthquake shaking that have affected the Kürk Delta, combining geophysical data (seismic‐reflection profiles and side‐scan sonar), remote sensing images, historical data, onland outcrops and offshore coring. The history of water‐level changes provides a temporal framework for the depositional record. In addition to the common soft‐sediment deformation documented previously, onland outcrops reveal a record of deformation (fracturing, tilt and clastic dykes) linked to large earthquake‐induced liquefactions and lateral spreading. The recurrent liquefaction structures can be used to obtain a palaeoseismological record. Five event horizons were identified that could be linked to historical earthquakes occurring in the last 1000 years along the East Anatolian Fault. Sedimentary cores sampling the most recent subaqueous sedimentation revealed the occurrence of another type of earthquake indicator. Based on radionuclide dating (137Cs and 210Pb), two major sedimentary events were attributed to the ad 1874 to 1875 East Anatolian Fault earthquake sequence. Their sedimentological characteristics were determined by X‐ray imagery, X‐ray diffraction, loss‐on‐ignition, grain‐size distribution and geophysical measurements. The events are interpreted to be hyperpycnal deposits linked to post‐seismic sediment reworking of earthquake‐triggered landslides.  相似文献   

13.
Various models of surface and deep-water circulation in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea (NGS) have been proposed for the last two glacial to interglacial transitions. Although much progress has been made in understanding the sedimentary response to climatic and oceanographic changes, conflicting interpretations have been developed. To clarify some of these discrepancies and to test or modify the existing circulation concepts, a multiparameter approach is applied, combining sedimentological, micropaleontological, organic-geochemical and isotopic methods. On the basis of indicative properties a combined litho- and organofacies concept is developed and calibrated with modern depositional settings beneath different surface water masses. Sedimentary regimes are then derived for glacial and deglacial settings.Atlantic water intrusions in the NGS reveal complex and highly dynamic patterns for the last two glacial and interglacial periods, with repetitive inflows during Isotope Stage 6 and a high variability in Isotope Stage 5. Specific facies patterns show maximum extensions of Atlantic Water intrusions during the climatic highstands 5.5.1, 5.3 and 5.1 and narrowest intrusions in the cool phases 5.4 and most pronounced in 5.2. In contrast, different glacio-marine depositional regimes depict variable sea ice coverage and supply of ice-rafted debris. Most conspicuous are short-term depositional events marked by diamictons, which are related to the high instabilities of continental ice sheets. Some of the diamictons seem to occur contemporaneously with Heinrich layers H1 and H2. The probable temporal and obvious phenomenological concidence of Heinrich layers and NGS diamictons suggests a common trigger mechanism which caused an almost simultaneous disintegration of huge continental ice masses along the shelves of North America and the eastern margin of the NGS.A previous estuarine circulation model claims regional upwelling along the eastern margin of the NGS for specific periods of the last deglaciation. The organic character of sediments covering the same time intervals show a clear predominance of reworked fossil organic matter and thus does not support the estuarine model.  相似文献   

14.
《Sedimentology》2018,65(6):2088-2116
Carbonate slopes and associated resedimented deposits have recently gained renewed interest because they represent volumetrically significant parts of carbonate platforms. Carbonate slopes are highly variable compositionally, architecturally and spatially due to a spectrum of sediment sources, resedimentation processes and controlling factors. Here, new high resolution acoustic data (including EM 302 multi‐beam echo‐sounder and very high resolution seismic) and piston cores document highly diverse and complex morphological features along the north‐western slope of Great Bahama Bank. The recent morphology of the slope is the result of the interplay between depositional and erosive processes that vary through time and along strike. The different sedimentary processes are recorded as a Pleistocene lowstand surface, characterized by many erosional features and a Holocene sedimentary wedge along the upper to middle slope that partially covers the underlying Pleistocene surface. Sedimentary processes during the Holocene are dominated by density cascading flows, which export muddy aragonitic sediment from the platform top towards the slope. Sedimentation rates, however, vary along strike due to platform top morphology combined with the variable strength of the basinal current. Reefs and islands in the Bimini area block off‐bank sediment export, and shoals and tidal deltas from Cat Cay to the south reduce the density cascading processes. Numerous small and large slope failure scars show the instability of the steep slopes of Great Bahama Bank. Bottom currents dominate the lower slope and the basin. Striations and moats are the morphological expressions of current directions, while areas of non‐deposition document strong current and concomitant removal of off‐bank transported sediment along parts of the slope, while the Santaren Drift and the drift on the north‐western edge of Great Bahama Bank act as the depositional locus for the fine‐grained sediments transported in the current.  相似文献   

15.
南海深水区晚更新世以来沉积速率、沉积通量与物质组成   总被引:6,自引:2,他引:6  
通过调查所获得柱样沉积物氧碳同位素测年资料及多学科综合分析表明,晚更新世以来南海沉积速率和沉积通量具有以下几个特征 :(1)总体上为间冰期沉积速率低、冰期沉积速率高,冰期沉积速率是间冰期沉积速率的 1.3~ 1.6倍;(2 )南海沉积速率趋势面分析表明,氧同位素 1期东北陆坡和西南陆坡沉积速率高,氧同位素 2、3期沉积速率分布特征相似,与 1期有所不同,东北陆坡沉积速率高于西南陆坡,表明氧同位素 2期之后,南海的沉积环境发生明显的改变,造成上述沉积速率分布的主要控制因素是南海周围的河流分布、季风、海流等;(3)南海东部沉积通量与物质组成分析表明,末次冰期以来沉积总通量北部陆坡区明显高于深海区,前者是后者 2~ 3倍,并有自北向南逐渐降低的趋势;(4)硅质生物沉积通量冰期明显高于间冰期,末次冰期以来东北部陆坡区的硅质生物沉积通量最高,末次冰期之前恰好相反,深海盆高于陆坡区;(5 )末次冰期以来,陆源沉积约占南海东部海域沉积的 4 4 %以上。  相似文献   

16.
Late Quaternary landscape development along the Rancho Marino coastal range front in the central‐southern Pacific Coast Ranges of California has been documented using field mapping, surveying, sedimentary facies analysis and a luminescence age determination. Late Quaternary sediments along the base of the range front form a single composite marine terrace buried by alluvial fans. Marine terrace sediments overlie two palaeoshore platforms at 5 m and 0 m altitude. Correlation with the nearby Cayucos and San Simeon sites links platform and marine terrace development to the 125 ka and 105 ka sea‐level highstands. Uplift rate estimates based on the 125 ka shoreline angle are 0.01–0.09 m ka?1 (mean 0.04 m ka?1), and suggest an increase in regional uplift along the coast towards the NW where the San Simeon fault zone intersects the coastline. Furthermore, such low rates suggest that pre‐125 ka uplift was responsible for most of the relief generation at Rancho Marino. The coastal range front landscape development is, thus, primarily controlled by post 125 ka climatic and sea‐level changes. Post 125 ka sea‐level lowering expanded the range front piedmont area to a width of 7.5 km by the 18 ka Last Glacial Maximum lowstand. This sea‐level lowering created space for alluvial fan building along the range front. A 45 ± 3 ka optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) age provides a basal age for alluvial fan building or marks the time by which distal alluvial fan sedimentation has reached 300 m from the range front slope. Fan sedimentation is related to climatic change, with increased sediment supply to the range front occurring during (1) glacial period cold stage maxima and/or (2) the Late Pleistocene–Holocene transition, when respective increases in precipitation and/or storminess resulted in hillslope erosion. Sea‐level rise after the 18 ka lowstand resulted in range front erosion, with elevated localised erosion linked to the higher relief and steeper slopes in the SE. This study demonstrates that late Quaternary coastal range front landscape development is driven by interplay of tectonics, climatic and sea‐level change. In areas of low tectonic activity, climatic and sea‐level changes dominate coastal landscape development. When the sea‐level controlled shoreline is in close proximity to the coastal range front, localised patterns of sedimentation and erosion are passively influenced by the pre‐125 ka topography. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

17.
Understanding the impact of past climatic changes on landscape stability is crucial in order to predict and mitigate the effects of future changes. However, in arid and semi‐arid environments, reconstructions are often hampered by a poor understanding of the relationship between sediment deposition and climate. We present here data from central Texas, a region that is sensitive to environmental change but has received relatively little attention. The study integrates a chronology of 29 optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages from six sedimentary sites in a range of depositional contexts with a 19 000 a climate record derived from pollen extracted from the adjacent Boriack Bog. By comparing the two records, we aimed to assess the relationship between climate change and geomorphic activity. Data show that extensive aeolian and colluvial deposition occurred during the mid to late Holocene, with sedimentation generally increasing during more arid phases. However, a number of depositional events on slopes were associated with moister episodes, and sediment was also deposited in a summit setting immediately after phases of increased precipitation. Linkages between climate change and geomorphic response were therefore complex, being controlled by both sediment supply and transport energy. The climatic fluctuations identified in the Boriack Bog record highlight the sensitivity of central Texas to environmental change, while disparities in conditions recorded between it and other palaeoenvironmental sites in the southern USA emphasise the need for further work in order to enhance understanding of landscape sedimentary response to climate. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

18.
Small turbidite systems offshore from southern California provide an opportunity to track sediment from river source through the turbidity‐current initiation process to ultimate deposition, and to evaluate the impact of changing sea level and tectonics. The Santa Monica Basin is almost a closed system for terrigenous sediment input, and is supplied principally from the Santa Clara River. The Hueneme fan is supplied directly by the river, whereas the smaller Mugu and Dume fans are nourished by southward longshore drift. This study of the Late Quaternary turbidite fill of the Santa Monica Basin uses a dense grid of high‐resolution seismic‐reflection profiles tied to new radiocarbon ages for Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1015 back to 32 ka. Over the last glacial cycle, sedimentation rates in the distal part of Santa Monica Basin averaged 2–3 mm yr?1, with increases at times of extreme relative sea‐level lowstand. Coarser‐grained mid‐fan lobes prograded into the basin from the Hueneme, Mugu and Dume fans at times of rapid sea‐level fall. These pulses of coarse‐grained sediment resulted from river channel incision and delta cannibalization. During the extreme lowstand of the last glacial maximum, sediment delivery was concentrated on the Hueneme Fan, with mean depositional rates of up to 13 mm yr?1 on the mid‐ and upper fan. During the marine isotope stage (MIS) 2 transgression, enhanced rates of sedimentation of > 4 mm yr?1 occurred on the Mugu and Dume fans, as a result of distributary switching and southward littoral drift providing nourishment to these fan systems. Longer‐term sediment delivery to Santa Monica Basin was controlled by tectonics. Prior to MIS 10, the Anacapa ridge blocked the southward discharge of the Santa Clara River into the Santa Monica Basin. The pattern and distribution of turbidite sedimentation was strongly controlled by sea level through the rate of supply of coarse sediment and the style of initiation of turbidity currents. These two factors appear to have been more important than the absolute position of sea level.  相似文献   

19.
The east Greenland margin has been influenced by oceanographic and cryospheric processes since the late Miocene, when the southwards flow of the East Greenland Current (EGC) initiated and ice sheets first advanced across the margin. However, the relative importance of these processes, and their influence on the sedimentation of the margin through time remains poorly understood. High‐resolution single‐channel seismic, chirp sub‐bottom profiles and swath bathymetry data were acquired along the middle/lower slope and proximal basinal area off Liverpool Land, central‐east Greenland margin. In this study, seismic‐stratigraphical and morphological analyses allowed us to distinguish between the major sedimentary processes that influenced this margin during the Quaternary. The stratigraphical architecture reveals mass transport deposits (MTDs) related to glacially influenced down‐slope sedimentation. These are intercalated with buried contourite systems associated with bottom‐current controlled along‐slope sedimentation. The distribution of the MTDs suggests the influence of two distinct ice‐stream systems. Initial phases of down‐slope deposition during the early‐middle Quaternary appears to be related to distal deposition fed by an ice stream from the Scoresby Sund area in the south. Shallow sedimentary processes, together with morphological analysis of the sea floor, show that the most recent activity of down‐slope processes during the latest Quaternary has occurred in the north, linked to an ice stream from the Kong Oscar Fjord area. These observations document a temporal shift in the relative dominance of the Scoresby Sund and Kong Oscar Fjord ice‐stream systems. The glacial influence on the margin has been interrupted by periods of stronger activity of along‐slope bottom‐current flow, demonstrating that the EGC periodically controlled sedimentation on the continental margin.  相似文献   

20.
The study area, just to the west of the Verrill Canyon on the Scotian Slope, eastern Canada, exhibits both large and small scale sediment mass movement features. Study of high resolution seismic reflection and sidescan sonar data shows that a large portion (approximately 70%) of the near surface sediment (<20 m) in the area has undergone erosion, rotational slumping and internal deformation. Remoulded sediment observed in physical properties profiles of piston cores and sediment deformation structures are further evidence of slumping. Small scale mass flow events are recorded by abundant turbidites and debris flow deposits noted in piston cores. Sediment physical properties are highly dependent on sediment type (lithofacies). Frequent facies changes, both temporally and spatially, make correlation between cores difficult. Although the small scale mass movement events correlate with glacial recession on the continental shelf and lower relative sea levels, the triggering mechanisms for the large scale events are less obvious. Slope stability analyses indicate that, at present, the seabed is stable. The most plausible explanation for large scale slope failures in this region are ground accelerations related to earthquake shock. Our analyses demonstrate that it is unlikely that large magnitude, distant earthquakes, such as those previously proposed in the Laurentian Slope Seismic Zone (LSP) model, could initiate failure of sediment in the study region. Our data support the interpretation that more frequent, lower magnitude earthquakes, closer to the study region, as previously proposed in the Eastern Slope Experimental Source Zone (ESX) model, are the likely causes of large scale slope failures. Furthermore, excess pore pressures resulting from shallow gas and/or high sedimentation rates during deglaciation contribute to slope failure.  相似文献   

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