Cycles of sand-flat sandstone and playa–lacustrine mudstone in theTriassic–Jurassic Blomidon redbeds, Fundy rift basin, Nova Scotia: implications for tectonic and climatic controls

1990 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 442-451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl A. Mertz Jr. ◽  
John F. Hubert
Keyword(s):  
Fault Zone ◽  
Shallow Lakes ◽  
Alluvial Fan ◽  
Rift Basin ◽  
Sand Flat ◽  
Basin Subsidence ◽  
Evaporite Minerals ◽  
Sand Flats ◽  
Sandy Mudstone

The redbeds of the 220 m Blomidon Formation comprise more than 100 pairs of (i) sand-flat sandstone (distal alluvial fan) and (ii) playa sandy mudstone and (or) lacustrine claystone. These pairs are tectonic autocycles generated by rift-basin subsidence and sagging along the Glooscap fault zone that shifted loci of active fan sedimentation toward and away from the playa surface as fan lobes migrated into topographically low areas.Intervals of intense and prolonged aridity are recorded in many of the sand-flat sandstones and playa sandy mudstones by evaporite minerals, principally gypsum, precipitated by subsurface evolution of a CaSO4–NaCl brine. Aridity is further demonstrated by intense disruption of sediment fabrics beneath evaporite crusts, deep mudcracks, eolian-sandstone layers and patches, and the presence of authigenic Ca–Mg-rich illite–smectite and analcime. During relatively wetter intervals, claystone beds accumulated in shallow lakes that filled the playa depression, lapping onto the sand flats. The claystones lack evaporite minerals and textures, and many are partially bioturbated.The long-term climate became progressively wetter from latest Triassic to earliest Jurassic time, as evidenced by an increase upsection in the ratio of lacustrine claystone to playa sandy mudstone and by less evaporite mineralization in the sand-flat sandstones.

scholarly journals Flooding dynamics in a large low-gradient alluvial fan, the Okavango Delta, Botswana, from analysis and interpretation of a 30-year hydrometric record

2006 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Wolski ◽  
M. Murray-Hudson
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Loading ◽  
Nutrient Recycling ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Alluvial Fan ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Okavango Delta ◽  
Discharge Data ◽  
Flood Dynamics

Abstract. The Okavango Delta is a flood-pulsed wetland, which supports a large tourism industry and the subsistence of the local population through the provision of ecosystem services. In order to obtain insight into the influence of various environmental factors on flood propagation and distribution in this system, an analysis was undertaken of a 30-year record of hydrometric data (discharges and water levels) from one of the Delta distributaries. The analysis revealed that water levels and discharges at any given channel site in this distributary are influenced by a complex interplay of flood wave and local rainfall inputs, modified by channel-floodplain interactions, in-channel sedimentation and technical interventions, both at the given site and upstream. Additionally, cyclical variation of channel vegetation due to intermittent nutrient loading, possibly sustained by nutrient recycling, may play a role. It is shown that short and long-term flood dynamics are mainly due to variation in floodplain flows. As a consequence, discharge data collected within the main channels of distributaries do not adequately represent flooding dynamics in the system. The paper contributes to the understanding of seasonal and long-term flood pulsing and their variation in low gradient systems of channels and floodplains.

scholarly journals Stress fields of ancient seismicity recorded in the dynamic geometry of pseudotachylyte in the Outer Hebrides Fault Zone, UK

2020 ◽  
Vol 178 (1) ◽  
pp. jgs2020-101
Author(s):  
L.R. Campbell ◽  
G.E. Lloyd ◽  
R.J. Phillips ◽  
R.C. Walcott ◽  
R.E. Holdsworth
Keyword(s):  
Fault Zone ◽  
Dynamic Geometry ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Stress Fields ◽  
Tectonic Activity ◽  
Sensitivity Testing ◽  
Fault Rocks ◽  
Outer Hebrides ◽  
Supplementary Material

Heterogeneous sequences of exhumed fault rocks preserve a record of the long-term evolution of fault strength and deformation behaviour during prolonged tectonic activity. Along the Outer Hebrides Fault Zone (OHFZ) in NW Scotland, numerous pseudotachylytes record palaeoseismic slip events within sequences of mylonites, cataclasites and phyllonites. To date, the kinematics and controls on seismicity within the long active history of the OHFZ have been poorly constrained. Additional uncertainties over the relative location of a meteorite impact and possible pre-OHFZ brittle faulting also complicate interpretation of the diffuse seismic record. We present kinematic analyses of seismicity in the OHFZ, combining observations of offset markers, en echelon injection veins and injection vein geometry to reconstruct slip directions and stress fields. This new dataset indicates that a range of fault orientations, slip directions and slip senses hosted seismicity in the OHFZ. Such complexity requires several stress field orientations, in contrast with the NW–SE Caledonian compression traditionally attributed to frictional melting along the OHFZ, indicating that seismicity had a long-term presence across the fault zone. Persistence of strong frictional failure alongside the simultaneous development of weak fault rocks and phyllonitic shear zones in parts of the OHFZ has significant implications for understanding seismic hazard along mature continental faults.Supplementary material: Tables listing analysed orientation measurements plus further information and sensitivity testing of palaeostress analysis parameters are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5134797

scholarly journals Consequences of Fish Kills for Long-Term Trophic Structure in Shallow Lakes: Implications for Theory and Restoration

Ecosystems ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 1289-1309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl D. Sayer ◽  
Thomas A. Davidson ◽  
Ruth Rawcliffe ◽  
Peter G. Langdon ◽  
Peter R. Leavitt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Shallow Lakes ◽  
Trophic Structure ◽  
Fish Kills

LONG-TERM RATES OF FAULTING DERIVED FROM COSMOGENIC NUCLIDES AND SHORT-TERM VARIATIONS CAUSED BY GLACIAL-INTERGLACIAL VOLUME CHANGES OF GLACIERS AND LAKES

2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (03) ◽  
pp. 261-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
RALF HETZEL ◽  
ANDREA HAMPEL
Keyword(s):  
Slip Rate ◽  
Alluvial Fan ◽  
Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial Period ◽  
Slip Rates ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
River Terraces ◽  
The Last Glacial

Seismic hazard evaluations on major faults in Earth's crust are based on their slip histories, which reflect the frequency of earthquakes that ruptured a fault in the past. On a 100 000-year timescale, the slip rate of a fault can be determined by dating geomorphic surfaces that are offset by a fault. Application of this method to alluvial fan surfaces and river terraces offset by thrust faults in Tibet yields long-term slip rates of less than 1mm/a. Slip rates on a 10 000-year timescale are derived from paleoseismologic data and document that faults experience considerable slip rate variations on timescales of 100 to 1000 years. In particular, slip rates are often considerable higher in the present interglacial, the Holocene, than during the last glacial period, the Late Pleistocene. The causes of this behavior have remained enigmatic but their assessment is essential for an accurate evaluation of a fault's past and future seismicity. Numerical experiments show that the retreat of lakes and glaciers at the end of the last glacial period can cause an increase in the Holocene slip rate of a fault. Such a correlation between enhanced seismicity and climate-driven mass fluctuations on Earth's surface is best documented for the Wasatch Fault, Utah.

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