scholarly journals A diatom and radiocarbon perspective of the palaeoenvironmental history and stratigraphy of Holocene deposits between Oostende and Nieuwpoort (Western Coastal Plain, Belgium)

2000 ◽  
Vol 2 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 111-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luc DENYS

Diatom and radiocarbon data of two cores from the north-eastern part of the western Belgian coastal plain are discussed. The palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of these sites and additional stratigraphic and geochronological information, allow an assessment of the general development of this region throughout the Holocene. Prior to c. 7500 yrs cal. BP a rapidly transgressing coast exists. Basal peat development may have been fairly widespread. Extensive erosion channels form towards the interior once the volume of the developing tidal basin has increased sufficiently. In spite of very high rates of sediment accumulation, high-intertidal environments remain poorly developed due to the high rate of RSL rise and the relatively steep slope of the transgressed terrain. Diatom taphocoenoses of this period consist primarily of coastal tychoplankton (mainly Cymatosira belgica), deposited in association with flood transported sediment, and some epipsammon. Hereafter, the incidence of negative tendencies in marine influence increases, culminating between c. 6300 to 5600 yrs cal. BP. Diatom assemblages are now more varied with an improved representation of tidal flat and salt marsh communities. The marine species Paralia sulcata and Pseudopodosira westii become abundant in high intertidal deposits, which may involve selective transport, sedimentation and preservation mechanisms. In general, the environmental changes reflect the development of a broad intertidal sedimentation zone in which sediment supply remained high, combined with a gradual slowing down of the RSL rise. Coastal progradation finally leads to sufficiently sheltered conditions for long-lasting peat growth in the intracoastal area up to perhaps c. 2100 yrs cal. BP. Presumably a coastal barrier, which remains intersected by some inlets, also develops during this period. At places, peat growth is interrupted at about 4200 yrs cal. BP by a marked but short-lived period of marine sedimentation. Within the general framework of a return to a transgressive setting and a destabilisation of the barrier system due to a decreasing sediment supply, climatic conditions and human interference may have played a role in the final termination of peat growth and the resumption of tidal activity. So far, the exact chronology of the return of tidal sedimentation in the study area remains unclear. No general sedimentation cycles, or so-called Dunkerque transgressions, are identified during the deposition of the upper tidal deposits, which are again characterized by a high representation of Cymatosira, reflecting a more open coastal setting. A tentative chronology of regional tendencies in the marine influence is derived from both bio- and lithostratigraphical indications and compared with the assumed chronology of transgressive and regressive phases in the northern Netherlands. Points of agreement are discussed in terms of possible supra-regional processes.

The Holocene ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manel Leira ◽  
Maria C Freitas ◽  
Tania Ferreira ◽  
Anabela Cruces ◽  
Simon Connor ◽  
...  

We examine the Holocene environmental changes in a wet dune slack of the Portuguese coast, Poço do Barbarroxa de Baixo. Lithology, organic matter, biological proxies and high-resolution chronology provide estimations of sediment accumulation rates and changes in environmental conditions in relation to sea-level change and climate variability during the Holocene. Results show that the wet dune slack was formed 7.5 cal. ka BP, contemporaneous with the last stages of the rapid sea-level rise. This depositional environment formed under frequent freshwater flooding and water ponding that allowed the development and post-mortem accumulation of abundant plant remains. The wetland evolved into mostly palustrine conditions over the next 2000 years, until a phase of stabilization in relative sea-level rise, when sedimentation rates slowed down to 0.04 mm yr−1, between 5.3 and 2.5 cal. ka BP. Later, about 0.8 cal. ka BP, high-energy events, likely due to enhanced storminess and more frequent onshore winds, caused the collapse of the foredune above the wetlands’ seaward margin. The delicate balance between hydrology (controlled by sea-level rise and climate change), sediment supply and storminess modulates the habitat’s resilience and ecological stability. This underpins the relevance of integrating past records in coastal wet dune slacks management in a scenario of constant adaptation processes.


2007 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 229-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
James F. P. Cotter ◽  
James M. Bloomfield ◽  
Edward B. Evenson

ABSTRACT Glacial and glaciofluvial deposits are mapped and differentiated to develop new local, relative-age (RD) stratigraphies for the North Fork of the Big Lost River, Slate Creek and Pole Creek drainages in the White Cloud Peaks and Boulder Mountains, Idaho. This stratigraphic model expands the areal extent of the "Idaho glacial model". Volcanic ash samples collected from the study area are petrographically characterized and correlated, on the basis of mineralogy and glass geochemistry, to reference samples of identified Cascade Range tephras. Four distinct tephras are recognized including; Mount St. Helens-Set S (13,600-13,300 yr BP), Glacier Peak-Set B (11,250 yr BP), Mount Mazama (6600 yr BP) and Mount St. Helens-Set Ye (4350 yr BP). A core of lake sediments containing two tephra units was obtained from a site called "Pole Creek kettle". Pollen and sediment analyses indicate three intervals of late Pleistocene and Holocene climatic change. Cool and wet climatic conditions prevailed in the region shortly before and immediately following the deposition of the Glacier Peak-Set B ash (11,250 yr BP). Climatic warming occurred from approximately 10,500 to 6600 yr BP after which warm, dry conditions prevailed. Sediment accumulation in the kettle ceased by 4350 yr BP. The presence of Glacier Peak-Set B tephra in the base of the Pole Creek kettle core provides a minimum age of 11,250 yr BP for the retreat of valley glaciers from their Late Wisconsinan maximum position. A radiocarbon date of 8450 + 85 yr BP (SI-5181), and the presence of Mount Mazama ash (6600 yr BP) up-core support the Glacier Peak-Set B identification.


2015 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 361-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. de Gans

AbstractThe Amstel river is located in the peat-covered coastal plain of the Netherlands and gives Amsterdam its name (Amstel dam). It is a small secondary branch of the repeatedly bifurcating Rhine delta system. Historically, the Amstel debouched into the peat-fringed former Oer-IJ estuary, which was connected to the North Sea, but after the closure of this inlet the estuary was transformed into an inland sea (IJ) due to erosion of the adjacent peat. The Amstel river was active between 3000 BP and 1122 AD after which time the supply water from the Rhine was stopped due to the construction of a dam far upstream near Wijk bij Duurstede. On the basis of borehole data from various sources, four cross-sections were constructed in the Amstel branch to study the unknown lithology and lithostratigraphy of the Amstel sediments in the Amsterdam area. The deposits show the Amstel was a low-energy river which carried mainly clay. The cross-sections reveal that the Amstel in its downstream part was flanked by two lithologically identical layers of overbank clay, intercalated by a peat layer. The lowermost overbank clay was deposited from 3000 BP to about 1000 AD. The intercalated peat layer is estimated to have developed between the 11th and 12th centuries AD, indicating a decreased sediment supply in the Amstel, and rise of water level in the downstream river caused by Zuiderzee influences such as storms and tide. The uppermost overbank clay was deposited during major storm surges such as those documented in 1164 and 1170 AD, and was derived from the brackish Zuiderzee; it has been traced upstream along the Amstel for over 10 km. Near the mouth of the Amstel channel in the Oer-IJ estuary its bottom has been scoured by estuarine processes to a lower level. On the basis of archaeological and geological data it is argued that the Amstel channel of medieval Amsterdam had a water depth of about 6 m before the construction of a dam in the 13th century. Soil scientists, historical geographers and historians have argued that the Amstel once consisted of two separate rivers: a northern Oer-IJ connected channel draining from the Amsterdam Stopera to the north, and a southern peat draining channel draining from the Amsterdam-Watergraafsmeer to the south. The relatively straight stretch of the present-day Amstel now positioned within the urban area has been hypothesised to be man-made between the 11th and 13th centuries AD. In this paper, on the basis of geological arguments such as channel depths, overbank clays, peat composition and other characteristics, it is concluded that the Amstel had a natural channel in the Amsterdam area.


Geology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca G. Podrecca ◽  
Maria Makarova ◽  
Kenneth G. Miller ◽  
James V. Browning ◽  
James D. Wright

The mid-Atlantic coastal plain (eastern United States) preserves high-resolution records of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) and attendant carbon isotope excursion (CIE), though preservation is highly variable from site to site. Here, we use a dip transect of expanded (as much as 15 m thick) PETM sections from the New Jersey coastal plain to build a cross-shelf PETM depositional model that explains the variability of these records. We invoke enhanced delivery of fine-grained sediments, due to the rapid environmental changes associated with this hyperthermal event, to explain relatively thick PETM deposits. We utilize δ13Cbulk, percent CaCO3, and percent coarse fraction (>63 μm) data, supported by biostratigraphic records, to correlate sites along a paleoslope dip transect. Updip cores from Medford, New Jersey, preserve expanded sections of the initiation of the PETM and the earliest portion of the CIE. Medial sites (Wilson Lake, Millville) preserve an expanded CIE body, and downdip Bass River records the CIE recovery. We interpret this pattern to reflect the progradation of clinoform foresets across the paleoshelf via fluid mud, similar to modern high-sediment-supply rivers and adjacent muddy shelves (e.g., the Amazon, Mahakam [Indonesia], and Ayeyarwady [Myanmar] Rivers). Our subaqueous-clinoform delta model explains the pattern of the CIE records and provides a framework for future PETM studies in the region.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 585-603 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaap H. Nienhuis ◽  
Andrew D. Ashton ◽  
Albert J. Kettner ◽  
Liviu Giosan

Abstract. The distinctive plan-view shape of the Ebro Delta coast reveals a rich morphologic history. The degree to which the form and depositional history of the Ebro and other deltas represent autogenic (internal) dynamics or allogenic (external) forcing remains a prominent challenge for paleo-environmental reconstructions. Here we use simple coastal and fluvial morphodynamic models to quantify paleo-environmental changes affecting the Ebro Delta over the late Holocene. Our findings show that these models are able to broadly reproduce the Ebro Delta morphology, with simple fluvial and wave climate histories. Based on numerical model experiments and the preserved and modern shape of the Ebro Delta plain, we estimate that a phase of rapid shoreline progradation began approximately 2100 years BP, requiring approximately a doubling in coarse-grained fluvial sediment supply to the delta. River profile simulations suggest that an instantaneous and sustained increase in coarse-grained sediment supply to the delta requires a combined increase in both flood discharge and sediment supply from the drainage basin. The persistence of rapid delta progradation throughout the last 2100 years suggests an anthropogenic control on sediment supply and flood intensity. Using proxy records of the North Atlantic Oscillation, we do not find evidence that changes in wave climate aided this delta expansion. Our findings highlight how scenario-based investigations of deltaic systems using simple models can assist first-order quantitative paleo-environmental reconstructions, elucidating the effects of past human influence and climate change, and allowing a better understanding of the future of deltaic landforms.


Author(s):  
V. Fedorov ◽  
E. Sleptsov ◽  
K. Plemyashov

A growth in the number of deer and an increase in their productivity are closely related to the solution of the complex problem of reproduction and rational use of deer females. Significant damage to reindeer husbandry is caused by the barrenness of northern domestic deer, the level of which has been quite high in recent years. So, in the Republic of Sakha, on 01.01.2020, the number of domesticated reindeer was 152,068, of which female deer and heifers — 71,818, offspring per 100 females — 59, business yield amounted to 52 fawns per 100 females. The causes of infertility are very diverse, as the natural and climatic conditions of the breeding zones have a significant influence on the reproductive function of reindeer. In Yakutia, the main population of northern domestic deer is bred in mountain taiga and tundra natural-climatic zones, so there are about 55 thousand deer in the mountain taiga zone and more than 65 thousand deer in the tundra zone. In this regard, the study of the peculiarities of the postpartum period course in domestic reindeer females, its morphophysiology, and behavioral reactions depending on the natural and climatic conditions of breeding is of great importance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 149-176
Author(s):  
Nur Uddin Md Khaled Chowdhury ◽  
Dustin E. Sweet

The greater Taos trough located in north-central New Mexico represents one of numerous late Paleozoic basins that formed during the Ancestral Rocky Mountains deformation event. The late Paleozoic stratigraphy and basin geometry of the eastern portion of the greater Taos trough, also called the Rainsville trough, is little known because the strata are all in the subsurface. Numerous wells drilled through the late Paleozoic strata provide a scope for investigating subsurface stratigraphy and basin-fill architecture of the Rainsville trough. Lithologic data obtained predominantly from petrophysical well logs combined with available biostratigraphic data from the greater Taos trough allows construction of a chronostratigraphic framework of the basin fill. Isopach- and structure-maps indicate that the sediment depocenter was just east of the El Oro-Rincon uplift and a westerly thickening wedge-shaped basin-fill geometry existed during the Pennsylvanian. These relationships imply that the thrust system on the east side of the Precambrian-cored El Oro-Rincon uplift was active during the Pennsylvanian and segmented the greater Taos trough into the eastern Rainsville trough and the western Taos trough. During the Permian, sediment depocenter(s) shifted more southerly and easterly and strata onlap Precambrian basement rocks of the Sierra Grande uplift to the east and Cimarron arch to the north of the Rainsville trough. Permian strata appear to demonstrate minimal influence by faults that were active during the Pennsylvanian and sediment accumulation occurred both in the basinal area as well as on previous positive-relief highlands. A general Permian decrease in eustatic sea level and cessation of local-fault-controlled subsidence indicates that regional subsidence must have affected the region in the early Permian.


2019 ◽  
pp. 42-44
Author(s):  
I.V. GUSAROV ◽  
V.A. OSTAPENKO ◽  
T.V. NOVIKOVА

Впервые в мире создана популяция зубров на территории 60 градусов северной широты. В новых климатических условиях разведения и сохранения зубров определены и проанализированы факторы существования вида на севере Европейской части РФ. Выявлены признаки, динамика численности, которые являются составной частью системы, предназначенной для управления биоразнообразием. Интродукция, являясь процессом введения в экосистему нехарактерных для нее видов, может усиливать изменения биоценозов как положительно, так и отрицательно. Насколько быстро и успешно проходит процесс адаптации заселенного вида, и усматривается его влияние на окружающую среду зависит дальнейшее существование зубров и в целом биоразнообразия. В статье обсуждаются вопросы взаимоотношения зубров с другими видами копытных и хозяйственной деятельностью человека, а также дальнейшим использованием зубров в сельскохозяйственном производстве. Пластичность зубров, выявление изменений и их анализ при вселении видов в новые условия обитания необходимы не только для определения развития или деградации биоценозов и в целом экосистемы, но и прогноза социально-экономических последствий интродукции как одного из методов сохранения редких и исчезающих видов фауны.For the first time in the world, a bison population has been created in an area of 60 degrees north latitude. In the new climatic conditions of breeding and preservation of bison, the factors of the species existence in the north of the European part of the Russian Federation are identified and analyzed. The signs, dynamics of abundance, which are an integral part of the system designed to manage biodiversity are identified, since the preservation of biological diversity on the planet is one of the main problems of our time. Introduction, being the process of introducing non-typical species into an ecosystem, can enhance changes in biocenoses, both positively and negatively. The question posing sounds especially when it comes to such a large hoofed animal as the European bison. How quickly and successfully the process of adaptation of the universe takes place and its environmental impact is seen depends on the continued existence of bison and biodiversity in general. The article discusses the relationship of bison with other types of ungulates and human activities, as well as the further use of bison in agricultural production. How these issues will be resolved positively depends on the future of these animals. Thus, the plasticity of bison, the identification of changes and their analysis, with the introduction of species into new habitat conditions is necessary not only to determine the development or degradation of biocenoses and the ecosystem as a whole, but also to predict the socio-economic consequences due to the introduction as one of the methods of preserving rare and endangered species of fauna.


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