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1.
The karstification of the tertiary gypsum formations in the Calatayud Graben has given rise to synsedimentary and postsedimentary subsidence phenomena in both the Neogene sediments of the endorheic graben fill and in the Quaternary alluvial sediments deposited under exorheic conditions. In the so-called Maluenda and Perejiles areas, covering 4.4 and 12 km2 respectively, the Neogene sedimentary units stratigraphically above the gypsum have subsided due to the karstification of the underlying evaporites. The maximum subsidence in both areas has reached at least 200 m. The Jalón-Jiloca-Perejiles alluvial system has been affected by karstic subsidence during its Quaternary evolution. Ten stepped alluvial levels (pediment-terrace) have been identified. As a consequence of synsedimentary karstic subsidence the deposit of an alluvial level can be locally thickened, changing in a short distance from less than 10 m to more than 100 m in thickness. Thus, the deposit of an individual terrace can be locally superimposed on the deposits of older terraces. The palaeokarst recorded in the sediments of the different alluvial levels shows how the karstic subsidence has controlled the dynamics of the sedimentary system. The alluvial karstic subsidence is currently active in the flood plains affecting fluvial channels, buildings, communication ways, irrigation ditches and the Calatayud gypsum scarp.  相似文献   

2.
Two adjacent upland floodplains are compared to establish the local response of floodplains to environmental change. Radiocarbon dating, the analysis of sedimentary exposures, terrace mapping, aerial photography and archaeological evidence are used to examine Late Quaternary valley fill sediments on the Afon Tanat and the Afon Vymwy in the Upper Severn Basin, Wales, UK.The alluvial stratigraphy of the two floodplain systems consists of Late Devensian (last glacial) fluvio-glacial sediments at the valley margins deposited under a braided outwash river regime. Holocene age terraces, with floodplain and palaeochannel deposits composed of gravels overlain by silty-sands, are inset into this older unit and were formed by meandering fluvial channel systems. A combination of field and laboratory data demonstrates that from the mid-late Holocene the two floodplain systems had divergent development. The Afon Vyrnwy has remained vertically stable for the last ca. 4000 yrs. whereas the adjacent Afon Tanat continued to be vertically and laterally active.Both floodplain systems have been affected by Late Quaternary climatic fluctuations and anthropogenic activity from the Bronze Age to the Roman period, but local geomorphic gradient controls, combined with a possibly greater focus of anthropogenic activity in the Tanat catchment, may explain the differential evolution of the two systems. The data demonstrate that multiple reach-scale studies are essential for revealing significant stages in the chronology and historical development of fluvial systems.  相似文献   

3.
ABSTRACT This contribution deals with the External Sierras and a part of the foreland Ebro Basin related to the southern Pyrenean thrust front. The structure of the External Sierras consists of a south‐verging thrust system developed from middle Eocene to early Miocene times. Since the end of the early Oligocene, a regional‐scale detachment anticline (the Santo Domingo anticline) developed, folding the original thrust system and creating new thrust units. The molassic fill in this part of the Ebro Basin (Uncastillo Formation) mainly corresponds to an extensive, composite distributary fluvial system, termed the Luna system, which drained the uplifted Gavarnie Unit to the north. Small, marginal alluvial fans originated along the External Sierras and coalesced in the proximal‐middle portions of the Luna system. Three tecto‐sedimentary units (TSU), late Oligocene to early Miocene in age, comprise the Uncastillo Formation. Lateral relationships and areal distribution of lithofacies through time have been used to establish sedimentary models for the marginal alluvial fans and the Luna fluvial system. Their sedimentary evolution was controlled by tectonics affecting the drainage basins, and based on mapping and stratigraphic relationships of the TSU, the temporal succession of the marginal alluvial fans and their relationships with each thrust system in the south Pyrenean front can be shown. Alluvial fan formation evolved through time from west to east, in accord with the progressive eastward growth of the Santo Domingo anticline as a conical fold. The fluvial network of the Luna system appears to have been mainly radial, but near the basin margin its architecture was influenced by the syndepositional Fuencalderas and Uncastillo anticlines developed within the Ebro Basin. These low‐amplitude folds originated by layer‐parallel shearing caused by rotation of the southern flank of the Santo Domingo anticline. Progressive uplift of these anticlines constrained part of the fluvial discharge to synclinal areas parallel to the basin margin; these areas where characterized by meandering sandy channels. At the peripheral tips of the anticlines the channel system flowed basinward.  相似文献   

4.
高善明 《地理研究》1985,4(1):54-62
本文根据河谷阶地对比,沉积相特征,孢粉组合,石英砂表面微结构组合和14C、古地磁年龄数据,探讨滦河(东部)冲积扇的形成时代、沉积环境和沉积速率,为研究唐山山前平原地下水储存条件提供一些论据。  相似文献   

5.
The southern foreland basin of the Pyrenees (Ebro basin) is an exorheic drainage basin since Late Miocene times. Remnants of an early exorheic Ebro drainage system are not preserved, but morphology provides evidence for the Pliocene–Quaternary drainage development. The incision history of the Ebro system is denoted by (i) extensive, low gradient pedimentation surfaces which are associated with the denudation of the southern Pyrenean piedmont around the Pliocene–Quaternary transition and (ii) deeply entrenched Quaternary river valleys. Presumably since the Middle Pleistocene fluvial incision intensified involving the formation of extensive terrace staircase in the Ebro basin. Terrace exposure dating in major Ebro tributary rivers indicates climate‐triggered terrace formation in response to glacial–interglacial climate and glacier fluctuations in the Pyrenean headwaters. The overall (semi)parallel longitudinal terrace profiles argue for progressive base level lowering for the whole Ebro drainage network. The landscape evolution model, TISC, is used to evaluate climatic, tectonic and base level scenarios for terrace staircase formation in the Ebro drainage system. Model simulations are compared with morpho‐climatic, tectonic and chronologic data. Results show that climatic fluctuations cause terrace formation, but the incision magnitudes and convergent terrace profiles predicted by this climate model scenario are not consistent with the (semi)parallel terraces in the Ebro basin. A model including previous (late Pliocene) uplift of the lower Ebro basin results in rapid base‐level lowering and erosion along the drainage network, small late stage incision magnitudes and terrace convergence, which are not in agreement with observations. Instead, continuous Quaternary uplift of both the Pyrenees and the Ebro foreland basin triggers (semi)parallel terrace staircase formation in southern Pyrenean tributary rivers in consistency with the observed longitudinal terrace profiles and Middle–Late Pleistocene incision magnitudes. Forward model simulations indicate that the present Ebro drainage system is actively incising, providing further evidence for uplift.  相似文献   

6.
The spatial organisation of meandering-river deposits varies greatly within the sedimentary fills of rift basins, depending on how differential rates of fault propagation and subsidence interplay with autogenic processes to drive changes in fluvial channel-belt position and rate of migration, avulsion frequency and mechanisms of meander-bend cut off. This set of processes fundamentally influences stacking patterns of the accumulated successions. Quantitative predictions of the spatio-temporal evolution and internal architecture of meandering fluvial deposits in such tectonically active settings remain limited. A numerical forward stratigraphic model—the Point-Bar Sedimentary Architecture Numerical Deduction (PB-SAND)—is applied to examine relationships between differential rates of subsidence and resultant fluvial channel-belt migration, reach avulsion and channel-deposit stacking in active, fault-bounded half-grabens. The model is used to reconstruct and predict the complex morphodynamics of fluvial meanders, their generated channel belts, and the associated lithofacies distributions that accumulate as heterogeneous fluvial successions in rift settings, constrained by data from seismic images and outcrop successions. The 3D modelling outputs are used to explore sedimentary heterogeneity at various spatio-temporal scales. Results show how the connectivity of sand-prone geobodies can be quantified as a function of subsidence rate, which itself decreases both along and away from the basin-bounding fault. In particular, results highlight the spatial variability in the size and connectedness of sand-prone geobodies that is seen in directions perpendicular and parallel to the basin axis, and that arises as a function of the interaction between spatial and temporal variations in rates of accommodation generation and fault-influenced changes in river morphodynamics. The results have applied significance, for example, to both hydrocarbon exploration and assessment of groundwater aquifers. The expected greatest connectivity of fluvial sandbody in a half-graben is primarily determined by the complex interplay between the frequency and rate of subsidence, the style of basin propagation, the rates of migration of channel belts, the frequency of avulsion and the proportion and spatial distribution of variably sand-prone channel and bar deposits.  相似文献   

7.
This work presents a palaeoenvironmental interpretation of the Upper Pleistocene-Holocene sedimentary sequence recorded in the Valsalada saline wetland system (Monegros, Central Ebro Basin). This morphosedimentary system developed on karstified, gypsiferous bedrock and was mainly fed by local saline groundwater. Based on geomorphological, sedimentological, palynological and radiocarbon data, three depositional units have been differentiated: 1) a lacustrine unit, which accumulated under cold/cool and humid environmental conditions at 41-40 kyr cal BP, 2) a fluvial unit that was deposited under arid climatic conditions with cold episodic periods from 14 to 3.5 kyr cal BP, and 3) an alluvial slope unit associated with arid climate with human influence during the Late Roman Period (1.5 kyr cal BP). The morphosedimentary evolution of the Valsalada system is strongly influenced by the geomorphic setting (small catchment with karstic depressions and low gradient slopes on gypsum), the hydrological availability (runoff and groundwater discharges) related to climate variability during the Late Pleistocene-Holocene, and the human activities developed in the area during historical times. The response of the Valsalada system displays a low sensitivity to short-term climatic changes but responds to major long-term climatic conditions, improving the regional paleoenvironmental picture of the Late Quaternary in NE Spain.  相似文献   

8.
Depositional effects of two great floods in the Nysa drainage basin have been studied: the alluvial forms and deposits of channels and floodplains. Three types of bars and one overbank form were found in the mountain streams, and four types of bars and three types of overbank forms have been distinguished in main rivers. A specific spatial succession of depositional forms was recognized along the mountain streams, however, no analogous phenomena were noted within the main river valleys. Several types of bars and alluvial lithofacies have been regarded as characteristic effects of the catastrophic flood. The study indicates that the Nysa river is close to the threshold of metamorphosis to a typical braided fluvial system.  相似文献   

9.
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10.
李育  王岳  张成琦  周雪花  王乃昂 《地理研究》2014,33(10):1866-1880
中国干旱区内陆河流域中游地区分布了大量晚第四纪河、湖相交替的沉积地层,这些沉积物被广泛用于古气候和古环境重建。然而,以往的研究较多关注沉积物的理、化、生指标,而忽略了沉积相变的古环境意义,这可能使古环境重建结果产生偏差。针对这一问题,选取干旱区典型内陆河——石羊河中游地区的JDT全新世沉积剖面,进行年代学、沉积相、岩性和粒度的研究,并与该区域已有的HSH全新世剖面的地球化学和古生物指标进行对比,在分析沉积相的基础上讨论二者的环境代用指标,重建石羊河中游地区全新世的古环境。两个剖面在年代和岩性上具有很好的一致性,指示了石羊河中游地区约8500 cal yr BP-3000 cal yr BP以来的沉积过程。两剖面从底部到上部可分为六层：河流相沉积（F层）——河湖相沉积（E层）——湖相沉积（D层）——浅湖—风成沉积（C层）——风成沉积（B层）——风成沉积（A层）,代表了不同沉积相及其转换过程。综合讨论沉积物岩性、沉积相和各种古环境代用指标认为：石羊河中游地区的沉积相体现了从河流相到湖相再到风成沉积物的变化过程,指示了全新世的干旱化过程。这与以往研究中认为石羊河流域全新世气候变化具有波动性的观点存在一定差异。因此,在研究沉积相变化的基础之上讨论沉积物的物理、化学和生物指标的含义,而非简单地研究这些指标的数值,是干旱区流域性气候变化对比研究的新视角。  相似文献   

11.
The Late Glacial and Holocene geomorphology of the Manx uplands has received scant attention in previous researches. Solifluction deposits and terraces provide the earliest evidence for geomorphic activity after deglaciation. Fluvial incision into drift-choked valleys is correlated with the formation of the large mountain front alluvial fans that flank the Manx uplands. Formation of these alluvial fans is constrained to 15,000–10,500 cal. years BP by 14C dates on organic deposits beneath and above the alluvial fan gravels. Alluvial fan and river terraces along four valleys postdate this incision. Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) and 14C dating provide a tentative chronology for these landforms. The higher terraces are Late Glacial fluvial surfaces that were probably occupied by rivers into the Holocene. Incision during the Late Holocene led to the abandonment of the higher surfaces, producing a suite of younger river terraces and alluvial fan surfaces. Independent dating constrains this fluvial activity to post-Bronze Age (3500–2800 cal. years BP). Increased human activity and climatic change during the Late Holocene are possible causes for this increased geomorphic activity.  相似文献   

12.
淮河作为中国7大江河之一,有关其形成时代的研究相对匮乏且存在较大的争议。论文通过梳理淮河流域内已有的研究工作,综合层状地貌面和沉积地层记录探讨了淮河不同河段的形成时代。新生代期间,淮河流域内的水系曾经历2次较大的调整,分别发生在古近纪末和上新世末。古近纪和新近纪期间,淮河流域曾广泛发育湖泊沉积,以河湖相沉积环境为主。而第四纪期间,流域内古地理环境逐渐过渡为以河流相沉积环境为主。现代淮河河湖体系的形成发生在早至中更新世,其后经历不断的演变至今。构造活动和气候变化是驱动淮河流域水系演变的主因。上新世末至早更新世初的青藏运动导致了淮河流域内新近纪水文体系的解体,而晚新生代以来气候的转冷可能是湖泊萎缩、河流作用增强的诱因。  相似文献   

13.
Jean-Pierre Larue   《Geomorphology》2008,93(3-4):343-367
The analysis of longitudinal profiles of river channels and terraces in the southern Central Massif border, between the Aude and the Orb, allows the detection of anomalies caused by lithology and/or tectonic distortions. The rivers which have abnormally high slope and non-lithological knickzones indicate the main uplifted zones: the Montagne Noire and the Saint-Chinian ridge. A geomorphological and sedimentological analysis of detrital deposits was carried out as a basis for correlating the different formations, reconstructing the palaeodrainage and finding the main uplift and fluvial incision stages. During the Miocene, uplift remains limited as it is shown by the correlative fine deposits in the Languedocian piedmont. The Messinian incision (5.7–5.3 Ma) does not cross the Saint-Chinian ridge. On the other hand, fluvial incision becomes widespread in the Montagne Noire during the Upper Pliocene (3.4–2 Ma) when coarse deposits overlie either the Pliocene clay in the Orb palaeovalley or the Messinian conglomerates at the Cesse outlet. An Upper Pliocene uplift of the Montagne Noire and of the Saint-Chinian ridge is the cause of this incision and also of the diversion of the Cesse towards the Aude. Where the uplift rate was higher than incision rate, knickzones have developed like in the Avant-Monts south-side. The knickzones of lithological origin maintain a strong vertical stability during all the river incision stages. On the other hand, those of tectonic origin or base level lowering record upstream migration and their rate of retreat is controlled by the river discharge. As incision occurs only during the cold/temperate transition periods during the Quaternary, upward erosion slowly migrates (15 km since the Upper Pliocene, on the Orb) and so does not reach the riverheads.  相似文献   

14.
Abstract The Pitaiito Basin is an intramontane basin (15 × 20 km2) situated at the junction of the Central and Eastern Cordillera in the southern part of the Colombian Andes. Tectonic structures, evolution of the basin and distribution of the sediments suggest that the basin was formed adjacent to an active dextral strike-slip fault. Based on sedimentation rates it is estimated that subsidence started around 4.5 Ma. The basin can be divided into a relatively shallow western part (c. 300 m deep) and a deep eastern part (c. 1200 m deep). The transition between both areas is sharp and is delineated by a NW/SE-oriented fault. The position of this fault is reflected by the areal distribution of the deep non-exposed sediments as well as sediments at the surface: west of this fault the basin infill consists of coarse to medium elastics (conglomerates and sand) whereas in the eastern part fine elastics (clay and peat) are present. The lateral transition between both types of sediment is abrupt and its position is stable in time. The surface and near surface sediments in the Pitalito Basin reflect the last stage of sedimentary infill which came to a halt between 17,000 and 7500 years bp . These sediments were deposited by an eastward prograding fluvial system. The western upstream part of this system differs significantly from that of the eastern part which forms the downstream continuation. The western part exhibits unstable, shallow fluvial channels that wandered freely over the surface which predominantly consists of clayey overbank sediments. The alluvial architecture in the eastern half is characterized by stable channels and thick accumulations of organic-rich flood basin sediments and resembles an anastomosing river. The transition between both alluvial systems also coincides with the N/S-oriented normal fault. Palaeoclimatic conditions over the last c. 61,500 years were determined by means of a pollen record. From c. 61,500 to 20,000 years BP the mean annual temperature fluctuated considerably and decreased by 2–3oC during the relatively warm periods (interstadials) and by 6–8oC during the cold periods (stadials) in comparison with modern temperatures. These changes led to a displacement of the zonal vegetation belts from c. 200 m during the stadials to c. 1500 m in interstadial times without significant effects on the fluvial system present in the Pitaiito Basin until c. 20,000 years BP. Around this period the organic-rich eastern flood basins were choked with sediments and peat growth came to an end. Palynological and sedimentological data suggest that around that period the climate was cold (Δ 6–8oC) and very dry and that a sparse vegetation cover was present around the basin. In these semi-arid climatic conditions the river system changed from an anastomosing pattern to one with ephemeral stream characteristics. This may have lasted until at least 17,000 years BP. Somewhere between 17,000 and 7500 years BP the eastward-flowing infilling river system changed into a NW-flowing erosive river system due to climatic or tectonic control and the present state was reached.  相似文献   

15.
The Rio Negro has responded significantly in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene to lagged environmental changes largely associated with activity during the last glacial in the Amazon basin. On the basis of geological structure, the Rio Negro can be divided into six distinct reaches that each reflects very marked differential processes and geomorphological styles. No deposits of the Upper Pleniglacial were recognized in the field. The oldest recognizable Late Pleistocene alluvial unit is the Upper Terrace of Middle Pleniglacial age (ca. 65–25 ka) (reach I), tentatively correlated with the oldest terrace identified on the left bank of reach III. At that time, the river was mainly an aggradational bed load system carrying abundant quartz sand, a product of more seasonal conditions in the upper catchment. The late glacial (14–10 ka) is represented by a lower finer-grained terrace along the upper basin (reach I), which was recognized in the Tiquié, Curicuriarí, and Vaupes rivers. At that time, the river carried abundant suspended load as a response to climatic changes associated with deglaciation.Since about 14 ka, the river has behaved as a progradational system, infilling in downstream series a sequence of structurally controlled sedimentary basins or ‘compartments,’ creating alluvial floodplains and associated anabranching channel systems. Reach II was the first to be filled, then reach III, both accumulating mainly sand. Fine deposits increase downstream in reach III and become predominant in some anabranch islands of the distal reach. The lowermost reaches of the Negro (V and VI) have been greatly affected by a rising base level and associated backwater effect from aggradation of the Amazon during late glacial and recent times. Reach V has acted almost entirely as a fine sediment trap. The remarkable Anavilhanas archipelago is the product of Holocene deposition in the upper part of this sedimentary basin; however, suspended sediment load declined about 1.5 ka, prior to the lower part of this basin becoming infilled.The progradational behavior of the Rio Negro, filling tectonic basins as successive sediment traps with sand in the upper basins and fines in the downstream ones, illustrates how a large river system responses to profound changes in Late Quaternary base level and sediment supply. The most stable equilibrium conditions have been achieved in the Holocene in reaches IIb and IIIa, where an anabranching channel and erosional–relictual island system relatively efficiently convey water and sediment downstream. Reaches IIIb and V never achieved equilibrium conditions during the Holocene, characterised as they are today with incomplete floodplains and open water.  相似文献   

16.
荒漠化发育方式和过程的各不相同 ,具有明显的地域性和成因差异性特点。半干旱区季节性河流在荒漠化地貌发育中的作用是引人注目的一个科学问题。内蒙古四子王旗塔布河流域内有丰富的第三系和第四系河湖相冲 (洪 )积沉积物。该流域正发生着内蒙古乌兰察布盟最严重的荒漠化。本文基于LandsatTM图像的处理与分析 ,对该区季节性河流流域的荒漠化程度、分布及其成因作了研究 ,探讨了风 -水复合作用下荒漠化发育的具体模式。在干旱 -半干旱的气候背景下 ,地表植被稀疏、甚至裸露 ,在暴雨作用下 ,形成的洪流搬运大量泥沙碎屑物质沉积在中下游的宽谷地带 ,随着河道的淤积、抬高与加宽 ,干燥的流沙向两岸蔓延 ;再在特殊地段河道的“狭管效应”与局部气流循环共同作用下 ,流沙向四周进一步扩展 ,与山前洪积扇相连 ,造成荒漠化大范围的发生和发展 ,并可能导致整个地区的荒漠化。  相似文献   

17.
分布在华北北部山顶面上的“冰臼”,无论从地理环境、地貌演化,还是从海拔高度方面分析,都不是第四纪大冰盖的证据,而是古地貌面上流水侵蚀的遗迹。它分布在3个海拔高度不同的山地夷平面上和现代河流谷地内,与当时的地理环境和山地的地貌演化密切相关。未构成山地夷平面前准平原上的河流以河网密集的曲流河为主。随着准平原的抬升,河流也开始下切,下切的河流以溯源侵蚀为主。在源头地区的顺直型谷地中,一是河流流速较急,且挟有数量不多、颗粒较粗的砂砾石;二是源头地区大块石较多,容易形成涡流;三是河水不深,丰水期刚刚没过块石,枯水期块石露出水面。在质地不均的岩体(特别是花岗岩)中,挟带砂砾石的涡流在岩面上形成了壶穴。准平原及壶穴最后被抬升到山地的顶部,构成了山地夷平面。  相似文献   

18.
While studies on gravel mantled and mixed alluvial bedrock rivers have increased in recent decades, few field studies have focused on spatial distributions of bedrock and alluvial reaches and differences between reach types. The objective of this work is to identify the spatial distribution of alluvial and bedrock reaches in the Upper Guadalupe River. We compare reach length, channel and floodplain width, sinuosity, bar length and spacing, bar surface grain size, and slope in alluvial and bedrock reaches to identify whether major differences exist between channel reach types. We find that local disturbances, interaction of the channel and valley sides, variation in lithology, and regional structural control contribute to the distribution of bedrock reaches in the largely alluvial channel. Alluvial and bedrock channel reaches in the Upper Guadalupe River are similar, particularly with respect to the distribution of gravel bars, surface grain size distributions of bars, and channel slope and width. Our observations suggest that the fluvial system has adjusted to changes in base level associated with the Balcones Escarpment Fault Zone by phased incision into alluvial sediment and the underlying bedrock, essentially shifting from a fully alluvial river to a mixed alluvial bedrock river.  相似文献   

19.
Late Quaternary alluvial induration has greatly influenced contemporary channel morphology on the anabranching Gilbert River in the monsoon tropics of the Gulf of Carpentaria. The Gilbert, one of a number of rivers in this region, has contributed to an extensive system of coalescing low-gradient and partly indurated riverine plains. Extensive channel sands were deposited by enhanced flow conditions during marine oxygen isotope (OI) Stage 5. Subsequent flow declined, probably associated with increased aridity, however, enhanced runoff recurred again in OI Stages 4–3 (65–50 ka). Aridity then capped these plains with 4–7 m of mud. A widespread network of sandy distributary channels was incised into this muddy surface from sometime after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the mid Holocene during a fluvial episode more active than the present but less so than those of OI Stages 5 and 3. This network is still partly active but with channel avulsion and abandonment now occurring largely proximal to the main Gilbert flow path.A tropical climate and reactive catchment lithology have enhanced chemical weathering and lithification of alluvium along the river resulting in the formation of small rapids, waterfalls and inset gorges, features characteristic more of bedrock than alluvial systems. Thermoluminescence (TL) and comparative optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages of the sediments are presented along with U/Th ages of pedogenic calcrete and Fe/Mn oxyhydroxide/ oxide accumulations. They show that calcrete precipitated during the Late Quaternary at times similar to those that favoured ferricrete formation, possibly because of an alternating wet–dry climate. Intense chemical alteration of the alluvium leading to induration appears to have prevailed for much of the Late Quaternary but, probably due to exceptional dryness, not during the LGM. The result has been restricted channel migration and a reduced capacity for the channel to adjust and accommodate sudden changes in bedload. Consequent avulsions have caused local stream powers to increase by an order of magnitude, inducing knickpoint erosion, local incision and the sudden influx of additional bedload that has triggered further avulsions. The Gilbert River, while less energetic than its Pleistocene ancestors, is clearly an avulsive system, and emphasizes the importance in some tropical rivers of alluvial induration for reinforcing the banks, generating nickpoints, reworking sediment and thereby developing and maintaining an indurated and anabranching river style.  相似文献   

20.
We compare the present-day sediment discharge (solid phase) of some of the largest rivers in Asia to the average discharge deduced from the mass accumulated in several sedimentary basins during the Quaternary. There is a very good correlation, especially for the largest rivers: the Ganges–Brahmaputra, the Changjiang, the Huanghe and, to a lesser extent, the Indus and the Zhujiang. This suggests that present-day average discharge at the outlet has remained constant throughout the Quaternary at least for very large rivers (drainage area of the order of 105–106 km2). This, in turn, suggests either that continental denudation of large Asian catchments has remained on average constant, implying a strong tectonic control on erosion during the Quaternary, or that the river network has the ability to buffer changes in hillslope erosion or in sea-level in order to conserve the total discharge at the outlet. We show how this buffering capacity relies on the characteristic reaction time-scale of Asian alluvial plains (of the order of 105–6 years), that is, much higher than the time-scales of the Quaternary climate oscillations (of the order of 104 years). A short-term perturbation originating in hillslopes will be diluted by the floodplain. At the outlet the signal should have a longer time span and a smaller amplitude. In the same manner, an alluvial plain should not instantaneously react to a 104-year sea-level drop because of its inertia. Along with long-term tectonic control we infer this buffering to be the main cause for the average constancy of sediment yield of large Asian rivers during the Quaternary.  相似文献   

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