When did the drainage system of the Kızılırmak River form in Cappadocia (Anatolia, Turkey)? A revised geological and geomorphological stratigraphy

The Kızılırmak is the longest river in Turkey, extending from the western part of eastern Anatolia to the Black Sea, and crossing the orogenic Central Anatolian Plateau (CAP) and Black Sea Mountains. This study focuses on the formation period of the drainage system of the Kızılırmak River in the Cappadocia region, which is situated in the middle of the CAP. The Upper Pliocene-Quaternary geological and geomorphological stratigraphy of the Cappadocia region was revised with new findings and those of previous studies. In this study, the oldest terrace (Sünnetli Tepe Terrace, T0) of the Kızılırmak River was identified 214 m above the current river level. The terrace deposit is located between the Pliocene lacustrine Kışladağ Limestone Member (~5–2.7 Ma) and the ~2.7 Ma Valibaba Tepe ignimbrite. A minimum age for the terrace deposits was provided by the Valibaba Tepe ignimbrite, which caps the terrace. Therefore, the terrace T0 revealed that the Kızılırmak River drainage system existed in the eastern part of the CAP after the deposition of the Kışladağ Limestone Member (~5–2.7 Ma ago) and before the formation of the Valibaba Tepe ignimbrite 2.7 Myr ago. Contrary to most previous studies, this finding shows that Valibaba Tepe ignimbrite cannot be included in the Late Miocene-Pliocene Ürgüp Formation, which formed under an extensional tectonic regime and was incised by the Kızılırmak River. The data obtained showed that 17 of the Kızılırmak River terraces that have formed since ~2.7 Ma have been preserved to the present day.

Debris avalanche impoundments of Squamish River, Mount Cayley area, southwestern British Columbia

Squamish River has been impounded temporarily by debris avalanches from Mount Cayley on numerous occasions. Evidence of these impoundments comes from backwater deposits and also from a cluster of in situ stumps protruding from a bar along Squamish River. Backwater deposits consist of both lacustrine and fluvial deposits that have formed within the low-energy depositional environment created by a river impoundment. Three main backwater deposits occur in the study area. The fan toe deposit is ~14 m thick and represents a single impoundment of Squamish River that likely formed behind a large ~4800 BP debris avalanche. In situ ~3200 BP stumps along Squamish River probably were killed by a river impoundment due to a debris avalanche. The upper terrace backwater deposit is ~6 m thick and forms an aggradational terrace along Squamish River which probably accumulated behind an ~1100 BP debris avalanche. The lower terrace deposit also forms an aggradational terrace along Squamish River but represents four or possibly five separate impoundments. These occurred between ~1100 BP and 1955 AD, and it seems likely that one of the deposits relates to an ~500 BP debris avalanche. Seven or eight Holocene impoundments of Squamish River have been identified in the study area.

Reexamination of the benthic foraminiferal fauna from a late Pleistocene marine terrace deposit near Goleta, California

A benthic foraminiferal fauna of 39 species was quantitatively examined from a late Pleistocene marine terrace deposit near Goleta, California. This foraminiferal fauna, dominated by Cribroelphidium microgranulosum, Buccella tenerrima, Buliminella elegantissima, and Cribroelphidium tumidum, is presently most common in cool, shallow (<12 m, but usually 0–5 m) subtidal environments north of Point Conception, California. This indicates slightly cooler water temperatures during the time of deposition than found near Goleta today, and agrees closely with the results of a previous paleoenvironmental interpretation of the section based on molluscan fossils.

A late Wisconsinan Coleopterous assemblage from southern Ontario and its environmental significance

A flood debris assemblage of fossil Coleoptera is described from a 10 600 year old terrace deposit in southern Ontario. It is a small sample of the fauna that had colonized the region after deglaciation and although the species are extant, the assemblage is a surprising mixture of faunistic elements for which there is no known modern analog. Species with wide-spread boreal, arctic-alpine, northwestern boreal, southern boreal, and eastern distributions are recorded. The present ecologic and geographic distributions of the species indicate a valley environment with similar habitat diversity and climate to those which characterize the tundra–forest transition zone of northern Canada. This interpretation is supported by macroscopic plant evidence but conflicts with pollen evidence which implies a climate with warmer summers. To resolve the problem it is proposed that the valley fauna and flora survived in an isolated cold microenvironment surrounded by regionally warmer conditions and for which analogies presently exist on the north and east shores of Lake Superior.

Ipswichian mammalian fauna from the Beeston Terrace at Boulton Moor, near Derby

SummaryMammalian remains are reported from a Pleistocene terrace deposit in the lower Derwent Valley near Derby, which is a correlative of the Beeston Terrace of the nearby River Trent. The faunal assemblage is characteristic of the Ipswichian interglacial and compares favourably with previous finds at other Ipswichian sites in southern Britain. The discovery is significant as it provides the strongest evidence so far for a dating of the Beeston Terrace which is critical to the Pleistocene chronology of the region.