scholarly journals Cryostratigraphy, sedimentology and the late Quaternary evolution of the Zackenberg Delta, Northeast Greenland

Author(s):  
Graham L. Gilbert ◽  
Stefanie Cable ◽  
Christine Thiel ◽  
Hanne H. Christiansen ◽  
Bo Elberling

Abstract. The Zackenberg Delta is located in Northeast Greenland (74°30'N, 20°30'E) at the outlet of the Zackenberg Valley. The deltaic fill at the mouth of the valley consists of a series of terraces (ca. 2 km2) formed during a fall in relative sea level. The modern Zackenberg River has incised through the paleo-deltaic deposits creating exposures (up to 22 m in height) along the rivers banks. In addition, coastal processes have exposed sediments in 4 m – 20 m high coastal cliffs. In 2012, two 20 m long ice-bonded sediment cores were retrieved from within the deltaic deposits. The combination of river and coastal exposures with the analysis of ground ice in these cores permitted the reconstruction of the valley-fill succession and evaluation of the timing and nature of permafrost aggradation. Permafrost in the palaeo-deltaic deposits is predominantly epigenetic and aggraded following the subaerial exposure of the delta plain (beginning ca. 11 ka). The exposed deposits in the Zackenberg Valley provide a unique opportunity to investigate the relationship between depositional environments and processes, grain-size properties and cryostratigraphy in epigenetic lowland permafrost environments.

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 1265-1282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham L. Gilbert ◽  
Stefanie Cable ◽  
Christine Thiel ◽  
Hanne H. Christiansen ◽  
Bo Elberling

Abstract. The Zackenberg River delta is located in northeast Greenland (74°30′ N, 20°30′ E) at the outlet of the Zackenberg fjord valley. The fjord-valley fill consists of a series of terraced deltaic deposits (ca. 2 km2) formed during relative sea-level (RSL) fall. We investigated the deposits using sedimentological and cryostratigraphic techniques together with optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. We identify four facies associations in sections (4 to 22 m in height) exposed along the modern Zackenberg River and coast. Facies associations relate to (I) overriding glaciers, (II) retreating glaciers and quiescent glaciomarine conditions, (III) delta progradation in a fjord valley, and (IV) fluvial activity and niveo-aeolian processes. Pore, layered, and suspended cryofacies are identified in two 20 m deep ice-bonded sediment cores. The cryofacies distribution, together with low overall ground-ice content, indicates that permafrost is predominately epigenetic in these deposits. Fourteen OSL ages constrain the deposition of the cored deposits to between approximately 13 and 11 ka, immediately following deglaciation. The timing of permafrost aggradation was closely related to delta progradation and began following the subaerial exposure of the delta plain (ca. 11 ka). Our results reveal information concerning the interplay between deglaciation, RSL change, sedimentation, permafrost aggradation, and the timing of these events. These findings have implications for the timing and mode of permafrost aggradation in other fjord valleys in northeast Greenland.


2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 654
Author(s):  
A. Koutsios ◽  
N. Kontopoulos ◽  
D. Kalisperi ◽  
P. Soupios ◽  
P. Avramidis

Fine and coarse grained lithofacies and depositional environments were distinguished in Selinous River delta plain, from sediment cores using an Eijkelkamp percussion corer with barrel windows. The sedimentary sequence of deltaic plain deposits of Selinous River mostly consists of fine lithofacies interbedded occasionally with conglomerate facies. Fine grained lithofacies based on sediment types, structure, color, as well as contact depths and bed characteristics were interpreted as floodplain, crevasse splay, back swamp / fresh water swamp, permanent shallow fresh water lake and ephemeral fresh water lake facies. The coarse grained lithofacies consists of pebble - conglomerates and were interpreted as paleochannels. The Time-Domain Electromagnetic technique, (TEM) was applied in order to define the spatial distribution of lenses of conglomerates, palaeochannels and fine grained sedimentary material to be recognised, at a depth up to 35m. Both the sedimentological and geophysical approaches, in combination with the available geological and geomorphological data of the area, can provide information about the evolution, existence and the geometry of paleochannels of the Selinous River flood plain, and the paleoenvironment of the area of the ancient Helike.


2020 ◽  
Vol 90 (9) ◽  
pp. 1244-1263
Author(s):  
Ryan Sincavage ◽  
Paul M. Betka ◽  
Stuart N. Thomson ◽  
Leonardo Seeber ◽  
Michael Steckler ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The stratigraphic record of Cenozoic uplift and denudation of the Himalayas is distributed across its peripheral foreland basins, as well as in the sediments of the Ganges–Brahmaputra Delta (GBD) and the Bengal–Nicobar Fan (BNF). Recent interrogation of Miocene–Quaternary sediments of the GBD and BNF advance our knowledge of Himalayan sediment dispersal and its relationship to regional tectonics and climate, but these studies are limited to IODP boreholes from the BNF (IODP 354 and 362, 2015-16) and Quaternary sediment cores from the GBD (NSF-PIRE: Life on a tectonically active delta, 2010-18). We examine a complementary yet understudied stratigraphic record of the Miocene–Pliocene ancestral Brahmaputra Delta in outcrops of the Indo-Burman Ranges fold–thrust belt (IBR) of eastern India. We present detailed lithofacies assemblages of Neogene delta plain (Tipam Group) and intertidal to upper-shelf (Surma Group) deposits of the IBR based on two ∼ 500 m stratigraphic sections. New detrital-apatite fission-track (dAFT) and (U-Th)/He (dAHe) dates from the Surma Group in the IBR help to constrain maximum depositional ages (MDA), thermal histories, and sediment accumulation rates. Three fluvial facies (F1–F3) and four shallow marine to intertidal facies (M1–M4) are delineated based on analog depositional environments of the Holocene–modern GBD. Unreset dAFT and dAHe ages constrain MDA to ∼ 9–11 Ma for the Surma Group, which is bracketed by intensification of turbidite deposition on the eastern BNF (∼ 13.5–6.8 Ma). Two dAHe samples yielded younger (∼ 3 Ma) reset ages that we interpret to record cooling from denudation following burial resetting due to a thicker (∼ 2.2–3.2 km) accumulation of sediments near the depocenter. Thermal modeling of the dAFT and dAHe results using QTQt and HeFTy suggest that late Miocene marginal marine sediment accumulation rates may have ranged from ∼ 0.9 to 1.1 mm/yr near the center of the paleodelta. Thermal modeling results imply postdepositional cooling beginning at ∼ 8–6.5 Ma, interpreted to record onset of exhumation associated with the advancing IBR fold belt. The timing of post-burial exhumation of the IBR strata is consistent with previously published constraints for the avulsion of the paleo-Brahmaputra to the west and a westward shift of turbidite deposition on the BNF that started at ∼ 6.8 Ma. Our results contextualize tectonic controls on basin history, creating a pathway for future investigations into autogenic and climatic drivers of behavior of fluvial systems that can be extracted from the stratigraphic record.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 177
Author(s):  
Eun Je Jeong ◽  
Daekyo Cheong ◽  
Jin Cheul Kim ◽  
Hyoun Soo Lim ◽  
Seungwon Shin

The Nakdong River delta, located in southeastern Korea, preserves thick and wide sediments, which are suitable for the high-resolution study of the evolution of depositional environments in the lower delta plain area. This study traces the Holocene evolution of the Nakdong River delta using deep drill core (ND-3; 46.60 m thick) sediments from the present delta plain. Sedimentary units of the sediments were classified based on grain size compositions and sedimentary structures: (A) alluvial zone, (B) estuarine zone, (C) shallow marine, (D) prodelta, (E) delta front, and (F) delta plain. The weathered sediment, paleosol, was observed at 43.16 m below the surface. There is an unconformity (43.10 m) to separate a Pleistocene sediment layer in the lowermost part differentiating from a Holocene sediment layer in the upper part of the core. The shallow marine sedimentary unit (32.20~23.50 m), in which grain size decreases upward is overlain by the prodelta unit (23.50~15.10 m), which consists of fine-grained sediments and relatively homogeneous sedimentary facies. The boundary between the delta front unit (15.10~8.00 m) and the delta plain unit (8.00~0.00 m) appears to lie at 8.0 m, and the variation in grain size is different; coarsening upward in the delta front unit and fining upward in the delta front unit, respectively. These sediments are characterized by a lot of sand–mud couplets and mica flakes aligned along with cross-stratification, which may be deposited in relatively high-energy environments. Until 13 cal ka BP, the sea level was 70 m below the present level and the drilling site might be located onshore. At 10 cal ka BP, the sea level was located 50 m below the present level and the drilling site might be moved to an estuarine environment. From 8 to 6 cal ka BP, a transgression phase occurred as a result of coastline invasion by the rapid rise of the sea level. Thus, the drilling site was drowned in a shallow marine environment. After 6 cal ka BP, the sea level reached the present level, and, since then, progradation might begin to form, primarily by more sediment input. After this period, the progradation phase continues as the sediments have advanced and the delta grows.


1986 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard G. Klein

The relationship between carnassial length and latitude south is analyzed for 17 African carnivore species to determine if individuals tend to be larger in cooler climates, as predicted by Bergmann's Rule. With modern data in support, middle and late Quaternary temperatures might then be inferred from mean carnassial length in fossil samples, such as those from Equus Cave, Elandsfontein, Sea Harvest. Duinefontein, and Swartklip in the Cape Province of South Africa. One problematic aspect of the study is the use of carnassial length and latitude as necessary but imperfect substitutes for body size and temperature, respectively. For some species, another difficulty is the relatively small number of available modern specimens, combined with their uneven latitudinal spread. Still, in 14 of the species, carnassial length does tend to increase with latitude south, while mean carnassial length in the same species tends to be greater in those fossil samples which accumulated under relatively cool conditions, as inferred from sedimentologic, palynological, or geochemical data. Given larger modern samples from a wide variety of latitudes, refinement of the mathematical relationship between carnassial length and latitude in various species may even permit quantitative estimates of past temperatures in southern Africa.


1998 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 275-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akira Nishimura ◽  
Toru Nakasone ◽  
Chikara Hiramatsu ◽  
Manabu Tanahashi

Based on sedimenlological and micropaleontological work on three sediment cores collected at about 167° Ε in the western Ross Sea, Antarctica, and accelerator mass spectrometer l4C ages of organic carbon, we have reconstructed environmental changes in the area during the late Quaternary. Since 38 ka BP at latest, this area was a marine environment with low productivity. A grounded ice sheet advanced and loaded the sediments before about 30-25 ka BP. After 25 ka BP, the southernmost site (76°46'S) was covered by floating ice (shelf ice), preventing deposition of coarse terrigenous materials and maintaining a supply of diatom tests and organic carbon until 20 ka BP. The northernmost site (74°33'S) was in a marine environment with a moderate productivity influenced by shelf ice/ice sheet after about 20 ka BP. Since about 10 ka BP, a sedimentary environment similar to the present-day one has prevailed over this area.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra B. Ramírez-García ◽  
Luis M. Alva-Valdivia

<p>Magnetite formation of serpentinized ultramafic rocks leads to variations in the magnetic properties of serpentinites; however, magnetite precipitation is still on debate.</p><p>In this work, we analyzed 60 cores of ultramafic rocks with a variety of serpentinization degrees. These rocks belong to the ultramafic-mafic San Juan de Otates complex in Guanajuato, Mexico. Geochemical studies have been previously conducted, enabling us to compare changes in the magnetic properties against the chemical variations generated by the serpentinization process. By studying the density and magnetic properties such as anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility, hysteresis curves as well as magnetic and temperature-dependent susceptibility and, we were able to identify the relationship between magnetic content and serpentinization degree, the predominant magnetic carrier, and to what extent the magnetite grain size depends on the serpentinization.  Variations in these parameters allowed us to better constrain the temperature at which serpentinization occurred, the generation of other Fe-rich phases such as Fe-brucite and/or Fe-rich serpentine as well as distinctive rock textures formed at different serpentinization degrees.</p>


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