scholarly journals Features of terraces and the incision rate along the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River east of Namche Barwa: Constraints on tectonic uplift

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1645-1652
Author(s):  
Chao Xie ◽  
Bengang Zhou ◽  
Zhengfang Li ◽  
Fan Yang ◽  
Wei Pang ◽  
...  

AbstractAlong the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, scattered alluvium sections appear on T1 and T2 terraces. The alluvial deposits on the T1 terrace in Linduo and Ximogou and the T2 terrace in Guoguotang are composed principally of coarse-grained sand particles and rock fragments, with no observable fine-grained components. The T1 terrace alluvium section is dominated by clay and silt and occurs near the town of Dexing, and optically stimulated luminescence dating of sample from this site revealed an age of 18.2 kyear, which indicates that the incision rate of the Yarlung Zangbo River has been 4.7 mm/year since the formation of this section. On the basis of the component characteristics of terraces in Motuo County, the provenance for the terraces is probably related to the breaking of the palaeo-dammed lakes in the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River. A 430 m elevation difference still exists between the study area and the local base level downstream of the Yalung Zangbo River (Assam Plain), although this river has a strong incision capability (4.7 mm/year), which suggests that tectonic uplift remains very intense east of the Namche Barwa syntaxis.

1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 715-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.N. Adair ◽  
R.A. Burwash

The middle Cretaceous Crowsnest Formation west of Coleman, Alberta, is composed of bedded alkaline volcanic deposits containing heterolithic volcanic rock fragments and crystal clasts. Comparison with modern examples of subaerial pyroclastic rocks suggests that pyroclastic flows, surges, fallout of material from vertical eruption columns, and minor mud flows emplaced the deposits. Textural evidence in the form of plastically deformed volcanic fragments, chilled deposit margins, baked rock fragment margins, recrystallization, and the presence of charred wood and charred wood molds indicate emplacement at elevated temperature. Massive deposits containing a fine-grained basal zone are interpreted as the product of pyroclastic flows, whereas deposits characterized by a block-rich base overlain by a thin layer of block-depleted stratified material are interpreted as the product of density-stratified surges. Deposits exhibiting pronounced stratification were emplaced by ash-cloud surges. Thickly bedded breccias exhibiting rheomorphic textures were emplaced as vent-proximal pyroclastic flows. Deposits characterized by parallel beds and graded structures are interpreted as fallout tephra deposits, and deposition by lahars is indicated by coarse-grained beds that lack evidence for emplacement at elevated temperatures. The eruptions of the Crowsnest Formation were cyclical. An initial explosive phase generated deposits by pyroclastic flows, surges, fallout, and lahars. As an eruption progressed, it evolved into a poorly gas-charged effusive stage that emplaced coarsely porphyritic domes, plugs, spines, and vent-proximal lava flows. Subsequent eruptions destroyed the effusive vent facies deposits and produced abundant heterolithic clasts typical of the formation.


2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Roskosch ◽  
Sumiko Tsukamoto ◽  
Manfred Frechen

Abstract Luminescence dating was applied on coarse-grained monomineralic potassium-rich feld-spar and polymineralic fine-grained minerals of five samples derived from fluvial deposits of the Riv-er Weser in northwestern Germany. We used a pulsed infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) single aliquot regenerative (SAR) dose protocol with an IR stimulation at 50°C for 400 s (50 μs on-time and 200 μs off-time). In order to obtain a stable luminescence signal, only off-time IRSL signal was rec-orded. Performance tests gave solid results. Anomalous fading was intended to be reduced by using the pulsed IRSL signal measured at 50°C (IR50), but fading correction was in most cases necessary due to moderate fading rates. Fading uncorrected and corrected pulsed IR50 ages revealed two major fluvial aggradation phases during the Late Pleistocene, namely during marine isotope stage (MIS) 5d (100 ± 5 ka) and from late MIS 5b to MIS 4 (77 ± 6 ka to 68 ± 5 ka). The obtained luminescence ages are consistent with previous 230Th/U dating results from underlying interglacial deposits of the same pit, which are correlated with MIS 7c to early MIS 6.


2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (7) ◽  
pp. 677-708 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Sharpe ◽  
André J.-M. Pugin ◽  
Hazen A.J. Russell

The Laurentian trough (LT), a depression >100 km long, >3000 km2 in area, and 100 m deep at the base of the Niagara Escarpment, extends from within Georgian Bay to Lake Ontario. It has a complex erosional history and is filled and buried by up to 200 m of interglacial and glacial sediment. The primary depression fronts a cuesta landscape and is attributed to differential erosion by fluvial, glacial, and glaciofluvial processes, exposing Ordovician rocks along the Canadian Shield margin. The fill succession includes sediments from the last two glacial periods (Illinoian, Wisconsinan) and the intervening interglacial time (Sangamonian), a poorly dated succession with at least three regional unconformities. A subaerial (interglacial, Don Formation) unconformity relates to low base level mainly preserved in lows of the LT, succeeded by a long period of rising water levels and glaciolacustrine conditions as ice advanced into the Lake Ontario basin. A second unconformity, within the Thorncliffe Formation, is the result of rapid channel erosion to bedrock, forming an ∼north–south network filled with coarse-grained glaciofluvial, transitional to fine-grained glaciolacustrine subaqueous fan sediment. The overlying drumlinized Newmarket Till, up to 50 m thick, is a distinct regional unit with a planar to undulating base. A third unconformity event eroded Newmarket Till, locally truncating it and underlying sediment to bedrock. Three younger sediment packages, Oak Ridges Moraine (channel and ridge sediment), Halton, and glaciolacustrine overlie this erosion surface. Significant regional aquifers are hosted within the LT. Upper Thorncliffe Formation sediments, north–south glaciofluvial channel–fan aquifers, are protected by overlying mud and Newmarket Till aquitards. Similarly, Oak Ridges Moraine sediments comprise a north–south array of glaciofluvial channel–fans and east–west fan aquifers, locally covered by silt–clay rhythmite and till aquitards.


Geologos ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 135-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria I. Waksmundzka

Abstract Fining-upwards cyclothems found in five boreholes in the Carboniferous (Lower Bashkirian) of the Lublin Basin were analysed sedimentologically. It was established that the cyclothems represent fluvial deposits, and the lithofacies were grouped into lithofacies associations. Most lithofacies associations represent three types of sand-bed braided rivers: (1) high-energy, (2) deep and (3) distal sheetflood-affected. Other associations represent hyperconcentrated flows. Both coarse-grained (type I) and fine-grained (types IIa and IIb) occur among the fining-upward cyclothems. The formation of most thick cyclothems was related mainly to allocyclic factors, i.e. a decrease in the river’s gradient. The thickest fining-upward cyclothems are characteristic of hyperconcentrated flows and braided-river channels. The aggradation ratios were commonly high. During the early Namurian C and early Westphalian A (Early Bashkirian), the eastern part of the Lublin Basin was located close to the source area. The sedimentary succession developed due to a transition from high-energy braidedrivers and hyperconcentrated flows to lower-energy braided rivers, controlled by a rise of the regional base level.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 581-587
Author(s):  
Weston J. Koehn ◽  
Stacey E. Tucker-Kulesza ◽  
David R. Steward

The fluxes between groundwater and surface water play a significant role in quantifying water balance along stream reaches to continent scales. Changes in these dynamics are occurring due to aquifer depletion, where pre-development baseflow conditions have transitioned to losing conditions. This problem is studied along the Arkansas River in Western Kansas across a stream reach that transitions from near steady state to losing conditions, and contributes focused recharge to a depleting Ogallala Aquifer. Existing hydrologic data illustrates the lack of understanding they provide related to the control of fluxes exerted by alluvial deposits. Electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) surveys were conducted along this river transect to elucidate the dynamic hydrologic connection existing between the Arkansas River and underlying Arkansas Alluvial and Ogallala Aquifers. Temporal changes in ERI profiles are associated with the transient hydrologic conditions below the water-sediment interface, and complement the hydrogeologic interpretations of the individual ERI profiles. Additionally, fine grained soil inclusions may become revealed by temporal changes in resistivity due to differences in their water holding capacity relative to that of a surrounding matrix of coarser grained soil across changes in recharge. These findings corroborate the role of river-aquifer connectivity and riverbed heterogeneity on localized recharge through embedded assemblages of fine and coarse grained soils.


1993 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 174-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Eberth ◽  
Anthony P. Hamblin

The lithostratigraphic interval between the Taber and Lethbridge coal zones in the upper portion of the nonmarine Judith River Group of southeastern Alberta is divisible into two lithostratigraphic units separated by a regionally extensive and diachronous discontinuity. The lower unit, referred to here as the Oldman Formation, is characterized by very fine grained to fine-grained sandstones that contain fewer than 2% volcanic rock fragments; sandstone bodies with numerous sets of horizontally stratified sandstone, showing little or no evidence of lateral accretion; siliceous paleosols (ganisters); and a relatively high gamma-ray signal in the upper half of the formation. The Oldman Formation comprises deposits of a low-sinuosity, perhaps ephemeral fluvial system that originated in the southern Cordillera of Canada and northern Montana and flowed northeastward, perpendicular to the axis of the Alberta Basin.The upper unit is assigned to a new formation, the Dinosaur Park Formation, and is characterized by fine- to medium-grained sandstones with up to 10% volcanic rock fragments; sandstone bodies that exhibit lateral-accretion surfaces in the form of inclined heterolithic stratification; numerous articulated dinosaurs and dinosaur bone beds; and a relatively low gamma-ray signal in the lower half of the formation. The Dinosaur Park Formation comprises deposits of a high-sinuosity, fluvial-to-estuarine system that originated in the north and central Cordillera and flowed southeastward, subparallel to the axis of the Alberta Basin.40Ar/39Ar and K–Ar dating of Judith River Group bentonites shows that the contact between the Oldman and Dinosaur Park formations becomes younger toward the south and southeast. These data also demonstrate that the Dinosaur Park Formation clastics migrated southeastward at a rate of approximately 130–140 km/Ma, gradually overstepping the Oldman Formation elastics.The widely recognized north-to-south increase in intensity of overthrust loading along the western margin of the Alberta Basin during the Late Cretaceous is thought to be responsible for (i) differences in accommodation space for the proximal portions of the Oldman and Dinosaur Park formations, and (ii) the establishment of a southerly tilt in the Alberta Basin leading to the southeastward migration of the Dinosaur Park Formation elastics. In the northern portion of the basin, relatively lower rates of subsidence, combined with periods of isostatic rebound in the foredeep, resulted in the southeastward migration of Dinosaur Park Formation elastics as sediment input exceeded accommodation space. In the southern portion of the basin, relatively higher rates of subsidence and little isostatic rebound acted to trap coarse-grained Oldman Formation elastics in the foredeep and may have led to periods of sediment starvation in more distal portions of the basin. An inferred lower depositional slope associated with the Dinosaur Park Formation (relative to the Oldman Formation) is thought to have resulted from gradual loading of the basin as Dinosaur Park Formation elastics migrated southeastward or some form of tectonically induced subsidence.


Geochronology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 305-323
Author(s):  
Daniela Mueller ◽  
Frank Preusser ◽  
Marius W. Buechi ◽  
Lukas Gegg ◽  
Gaudenz Deplazes

Abstract. Luminescence dating has become a pillar of the understanding of Pleistocene glacial advances in the northern foreland of the Swiss Alps. However, both quartz and feldspar from the region are equally challenging as dosimeters with anomalous fading and partial bleaching being some of the obstacles to overcome for the establishment of decisive chronologies. In this study, luminescence properties of coarse- and fine-grained quartz, feldspar, and polymineral fractions of eight samples from a palaeovalley, Rinikerfeld in northern Switzerland, are systematically assessed. Standard performance tests are conducted on all four fractions. Deconvolution of luminescence signals of the quartz fractions is implemented and shows the dominance of stable fast components. Reader-specific low preheat temperatures are investigated on the infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) signal of feldspar. Thermal stability of this signal is found for low preheats, and thermal quenching could be excluded for higher preheats. However, anomalous fading is observed in the feldspar and polymineral IRSL signals and two correction approaches are applied. For one approach, fading corrected coarse-grained feldspar ages are consistent with those derived from quartz. In general, coarse-grained quartz and feldspar, as well as the fine-grained polymineral fraction of one sample, are in chrono-stratigraphic agreement and present negligible evidence for partial bleaching. However, ages derived from fine-grained quartz are found to underestimate those of the coarse-grained quartz fractions. Hence, the impact of alpha efficiency and water content on the dose rate and thus the ages are assessed. A finite explanation for the observed discrepancies remains lacking, but this systematic investigation of different luminescence signals allows for the establishment of a chronology for the palaeovalley fill dating back to at least Marine Isotope Stage 6 (MIS 6).


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivien Mai Yung Sen

<p>The evolution of the Alpine mountain belt during the Quaternary is strongly controlled by periodic glaciations and deglaciations. The significant erosion during these glacial/interglacial cycles has left very few sedimentary archives to study the surface dynamics within the mountain belt over the last hundreds of thousands of years. Valleys within the periglacial zone are the best candidates to target long-term geological archives in the Alps because they potentially preserve ancient fluvial deposits that have been preserved from glacial abrasion. The Drac River in the French western Alps preserves the alluvial fills of three generations of paleo-valleys, which were filled in response to glacial damming of the river and subsequently re-incised during glacial retreat. Detailed 3D mapping of the paleo-valleys was carried out to constrain their geometry and reconstruct the evolution of the Drac fluvial profile over time. The age of the fills of the three paleo-valleys was constrained by measuring the luminescence signal of feldspars, targeting sandy intervals within the coarse fluvial deposits. Dating these fills allows to quantitatively constrain the alluviation and incision dynamics of the Drac paleo-valleys. The onset of alluviation of the most recent paleo-valley occurred before the Last Glacial Maximum, between 40 ka and 90 ka BP (MIS 3 -5). The fill of the intermediate paleo-valley is dated to the previous cold period at 134±20 ka BP (MIS 6). Finally, the oldest paleo-valley was filled more than 200 ka ago. The filling periods correspond to the global climatic cooling stages and are much longer than the incision phases, which took place during global warm intervals. The pattern of sedimentary filling implies it is controlled by an increase in sediment flux in the context of glacial advance, while the incision phases are due to rapid base-level lowering linked to the retreat of glaciers damming the Drac basin. Complementary luminescence dating is currently carried out on the terraces, at the tops of the fillings, and will lead to a better understanding of the control of glaciations on the dynamics of alluvial deposits in the periglacial zone.</p>


2007 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.J.P. Gouw

AbstractAlluvial architecture has been subject of many studies because of the occurrence of natural resources in ancient fluvial successions. This paper provides an overview of the current state of research on alluvial architecture with special reference to Holocene fluvio-deltaic settings. Several examples from modern fluvio-deltaic areas, especially the Holocene Rhine-Meuse delta (the Netherlands) and the Lower Mississippi Valley (U.S.A.), are used to illustrate the architectural elements that can be distinguished in fluvial successions and to show the influence of the various controls on alluvial architecture (base level, climate, tectonism, aggradation, avulsion, and compaction). Avulsion is regarded as a principal process in the formation of fluvio-deltaic sequences, because it determines the location and number of active channels on the floodplain. The avulsion mechanism is still subject of debate, though. A brief description of the evolution of process-based alluvial-architecture models is given. These models simulate the proportion and distribution of coarse-grained channel belts in fine-grained overbank deposits. The major drawback of the present-day alluvial-architecture models is the lack of (three-dimensional) quantitative field data to test and validate them. The paper concludes with the suggestion to collect more architectural data from natural fluvial settings, to improve simulation of channel-belt geometry in alluvial-architecture models, and to implement new data and knowledge of fluvial processes into models.


2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Anechitei-Deacu ◽  
Alida Timar-Gabor ◽  
Kathryn Fitzsimmons ◽  
Daniel Veres ◽  
Ulrich Hambach

Abstract In this study we present luminescence investigations of four samples of loess bracketing the Campanian Ignimbrite/Y5 tephra at the Rasova-Valea cu Pietre site, on the eastern bank of the Danube River, southeastern Romania. Investigations involved SAR-OSL dating on aliquots of fine (4–11 μm) and medium-grained (63–90 μm) quartz, as well as single grain analyses on 125–180 μm quartz. Luminescence dating results coupled with glass-shard chemical fingerprinting assign the depositional age and origin of the ash layer to that of the Campanian Ignimbrite/Y5 tephra, dated elsewhere using 40Ar/39Ar to 39.28 ± 0.11 ka. Fine-grained (4–11 μm) quartz SAR-OSL analyses yielded ages of 44.4 ± 4.5 ka below the ash, and 41.4 ± 4.2 ka above the ash layer. Single grain analysis on coarse-grained quartz, however, demonstrates that coarse material from these samples exhibits low sensitivity and responds poorly to internal checks of the SAR protocol in comparison with the finer sediment. This observation highlights the need for more extensive investigations into the luminescence properties of quartz as well as into the origin of quartz contributions from different primary sources in the Lower Danube loess steppe.


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