Academic literature on the topic 'Geology, Stratigraphic Holocene'

AbstractThe geology of the Wicken Vision Area in the lower Cam valley is described with reference to a stacked series of ten cross-sections through Holocene and Pleistocene deposits, and Cretaceous/Jurassic bedrock across the region. A detailed cross-section through a Holocene palaeochannel, with radiocarbon dating and pollen analyses is also presented. The structural geology of the bedrock and the stratigraphic arrangement of the Pleistocene and Holocene deposits are used to describe landscape development for the area. This study offers a new understanding of the stratigraphy and context of the Holocene, Weichselian and earlier Pleistocene deposits of the lower Cam valley, and provides a unique view of sediment architecture in valley-fill sediments at the fen edge.

This study offers a new understanding of the stratigraphy and context of the Pleistocene (including Elsterian and Weichselian) and Holocene deposits of the Middle Cam valley, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom, and provides a unique and detailed view of the sediment architecture of these valley-fill and interfluve sediments. The new insights into the geology of the area, including dating, pollen analyses, and sediment architecture, are presented with reference to a series of nine cross-sections through Holocene and Pleistocene deposits, as well as Cretaceous bedrock across the region. The structural geology of the bedrock and the stratigraphic arrangement of younger deposits are used to explain the landscape evolution of the area.

Ankindinova et al. (2020) describe a series of hydrological events that have led to sedimentation and stratigraphic variations in the gradual sinking of the Black Sea shelf during the Holocene. A key aspect of the study is the attempt to provide a reliable stratigraphic basis for proving of a transgression in the basin throughout the Holocene. However, the conclusions of this approach run counter to the stratigraphic rules: redeposition and significant hiatus in the transgressive phase change of depth of sediment core location (M05-03P) – principle of superposition; merging of transgressive and regressive deposits into a common stratigraphic unit (contradicts the sequential stratigraphy). For this reason, the stability of the conclusion of Ankindinova et al. (2020) for the totally transgressive Holocene development of the Black Sea is doubtful. In addition, the study is based on the interpretation that the increase in the 87Sr /86Sr ratio is solely dependent on ocean water inflow, which is not always correct for enclosed and semi-enclosed basins.

Loess deposition within the Loess Plateau of China records the history of environmental change over the last 2.5 Myr. Loess-paleosol sequences of the last 10 ka, which have preserved information of global climate change, relate closely to human occupation of the area. Hence, studies of the deposition and development of Holocene loess are significant for studying environmental change and problems associated with engineering geology. We present here stratigraphic relations among four profiles from the south, west and center of the Loess Plateau. On the basis of 14C radiometric and AMS dates of organic material extracted from the paleosols, together with magnetic susceptibility measurements down each profile, we discuss Holocene stratigraphic divisions within the Loess Plateau, and suggest that the Holocene optimum, characterized by paleosol complexes, occurred between 10 and 5 ka bp. From 5 ka BP to the present, neoglacial activity is characterized by recently deposited loess.

The paper presents the results for the 14C dating obtained recently in the Laboratory of the Institute of Geology, Ufa Science Centre, Russian Academy of Science, on the basis of megafaunal bones, peats, wood and mollusk shells. Dates are reported in stratigraphic sequence from the Late Würmian to the Holocene.

Nearshore areas off northern Richards Island can be expected to show considerable variability in lithology, strengths, and geothermal setting both in a temporal and a spatial sense. Drilling and laboratory studies carried out along onshore–offshore transects at a stable coastal site and an actively eroding coastal site have identified six major stratigraphic units of Holocene and pre-Holocene (Wisconsinan) age. The main factors controlling the geotechnical properties of these sediments and their distribution are the occurrence of shallow permafrost beneath areas seasonally covered by landfast sea ice, rapid degradation of permafrost in areas farther offshore, ice content of thawing pre-Holocene sediments, and variability in coastal processes. Key words: nearshore deposits, engineering geology, permafrost, physical properties, acoustic properties.

AbstractThe Fenland basin is filled with unconsolidated Holocene marine and freshwater deposits. Stratigraphic studies of the basin date back to 1877. This paper reviews the various lithostratigraphic schemes which have been proposed. Particular attention is paid to the presently accepted lithostratigraphy. Examples and a case study of a newly surveyed area are used to highlight its failings. Many of the difficulties experienced in Fenland are common to problems of lithostratigraphic classification in coastal lowland environments, as is demonstrated by reference to recent debate in the southeastern North Sea. In Fenland, as a result of the shortcomings of the various schemes, it is proposed that a new lithostratigraphy with formal stratotypes is devised. Suggestions are made as to the form this new stratigraphy could take. In the meantime, an informal lithostratigraphy should be adopted which has no regional or chronostratigraphic connotations.

Abstract Analysis of the late Miocene to Holocene McCallum sedimentary basin, located along the south side of the eastern Denali fault system, provides a better understanding of strike-slip basin evolution, timing of displacement on the Denali fault, and tectonics of the southern Alaska convergent margin. Analysis of the McCallum basin utilizing measured stratigraphic sections, lithofacies analyses, and 40Ar/39Ar tephra ages documented a 564-m-thick, two-member stratigraphy. Fine-grained, lacustrine-dominated environments characterized deposition of the lower member, and coarse-grained, stream-dominated alluvial-fan environments characterized deposition of the upper member. The 40Ar/39Ar dating of tephras indicated that the lower member was deposited from 6.1 to 5.0 Ma, and the upper member was deposited from 5.0 to 3.8 Ma. Our stratigraphic analysis of the McCallum basin illuminates the development of a composite strike-slip basin, with the deposition of the lower member occurring along a transtensional fault section, and deposition of the upper member occurring along a transpressional fault section. This change in depositional and tectonic settings is interpreted to reflect ~79–90 km of transport of the basin along the Denali fault system based on Pleistocene–Holocene slip rates. Previous studies of the timing of Cenozoic displacement on the Denali fault system utilizing sedimentary records emphasized a Paleogene component; our findings, however, also require a significant Neogene component. Neogene strike-slip displacement and basin development along the Denali fault system were broadly coeval with development of high topography and related clastic wedges across southern Alaska in response to flat slab subduction of the Yakutat microplate.

The model of Late Pleistocene-Holocene sequence stratigraphy of the subaqueous Red River delta and the adjacent shelf is proposed by interpretation of high-resolution seismic documents and comparison with previous research results on Holocene sedimentary evolution on the delta plain. Four units (U1, U2, U3, and U4) and four sequence stratigraphic surfaces (SB1, TS, TRS and MFS) were determined. The formation of these units and surfaces is related to the global sea-level change in Late Pleistocene-Holocene. SB1, defined as the sequence boundary, was generated by subaerial processes during the Late Pleistocene regression and could be remolded partially or significantly by transgressive ravinement processes subsequently. The basal unit U1 (fluvial formations) within incised valleys is arranged into the lowstand systems tract (LST) formed in the early slow sea-level rise ~19-14.5 cal.kyr BP, the U2 unit is arranged into the early transgressive systems tract (E-TST) deposited mainly within incised-valleys under the tide-influenced river to estuarine conditions in the rapid sea-level rise ~14.5-9 cal.kyr BP, the U3 unit is arranged into the late transgressive systems tract (L-TST) deposited widely on the continental shelf in the fully marine condition during the late sea-level rise ~9-7 cal.kyr BP, and the U4 unit represents for the highstand systems tract (HST) with clinoform structure surrounding the modern delta coast, extending to the water depth of 25-30 m, developed by sediments from the Red River system in ~3-0 cal.kyr BP.ReferencesBadley M.E., 1985. Practical Seismic Interpretation. International Human Resources Development Corporation, Boston, 266p.Bergh G.D. 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Handbook of geophysical exploration, Elsevier, Oxford, 37509p.Yoo D.G., Kim S.P., Chang T.S., Kong G.S., Kang N.K., Kwon Y.K., Nam S.L., Park S.C., 2014. Late Quaternary inner shelf deposits in response to late Pleistocene-Holocene sea-level changes: Nakdong River, SE Korea. Quaternary International, 344, 156-169.

The paper defines a description of geological structure, conditions of formation and paleofaunistic material from two new locations of fossil mammals within the Minusinsk Depression. Three types of sedimentation are determined for the Chernousov Log section. The upper part of the section is represented by subaerial deposits of the Late Holocene. The middle section part is characterised by traces of soil formation of the Holocene optimum. The lower stratum is represented by alluvial deposits of the Late Karginian-Early Sartanian time. Two locations of mammals dating from the Sartanian and Holocene optimum are identified. The age of faunas is substantiated by their stratigraphic position in the section and results of radiocarbon dating.

Five coastal sites have been studies on the Isle of Skye to investigate Late Devensian and Holocene relative sea level changes. In the field, detailed stratigraphical work, geomorphological mapping and levelling were undertaken and representatives cores were sampled. Detailed pollen and diatom analyses were undertaken in the laboratory and samples were submitted for radiocarbon assay where distinct pollen, diatom or lithostratigraphical changes were recorded. Loss on ignition analysis was also undertaken to ascertain the carbon content of the samples. The investigations have revealed that during the Late Devensian marine transgressions were experienced at two sites in southern Skye. These are thought to relate to readvances of the ice that arrested the isostatic recovery of the land, caused renewed isostatic depression and upon deglaciation, allowed marine waters to penetrate the sites. At Inver Aulavaig the transgression is thought to relate to the Wester Ross Readvance recorded in Wester Ross, Coll and Tiree and at Point of Sleat the transgression is thought to relate the Loch Lomond Readvance recorded extensively in Scotland. Relative sea level at Point of Sleat (southern Skye) then fell below an altitude of 4.13mOD at 10460+-50BP and remained low during the early Holocene until the Main Postglacial Transgression occurred. This transgression is recorded at three of the sites: at Inver Aulavaig (southern Skye) at 8850+-70BP where it had attained an altitude of at least 5.10mOD, at Peinchorran (eastern Skye) where it is thought to have been underway by 7980+-BP and attained an altitude of 4.49mOD and at Talisker Bay (western Skye) at 7790+-100BP where it had attained an altitude of -2.18mOD. At Ardmore Bay (northern Skye) it is thought that the Main Postglacial Transgression did not reach an altitude of 3.34mOD. It is possible that barrier formation at some of the sites accompanied the early states of the Mian Postglacial Transgression. It is thought that regression of the sea occurred between circa 6600 BP and circa 5400 BP and remained low until circa 4200 BP when a later rise in relative sea level took place at Peinchorran attaining a maximum altitude of 4.90mOD. A late Holocene transgression is also recorded at Point of Sleat at between circa 3800 BP and circa 2900 BP where it attained an altitude of greater than 4.13mOD and at Inver Aulavaig after circa 3200 BP where it attained an altitude of between 5.10-6.01mOD. It is unclear whether this episode of high relative sea level represents the diachronous nature of one late Holocene transgression or several fluctuations in relative sea level during the late Holocene. Following the late Holocene transgression, relative sea level fell until the present day. Comparison of the data obtained from Skye with the isobase maps and rheological models suggests that the isobases for the Main Lateglacial Shoreline (Firth et al., 1993) show a good fit in age and altitude but the rheological model of Lambeck (1993b) for 10500 BP requires modification. The isobases for the Main Postglacial Shoreline appear to lie circa 4m too high for the sites studied on Skye and the isobases produced for a late Holocene shoreline appear to be greatly in error (Firth et al., 1993). It is possible that the build up of ice during the Loch Lomond Stadial may have had a greater effect on crustal movements than previously thought and this may account for discrepancies identified in the isobase maps. The study of isolation basins and back-barrier environments has allowed an assessment of their potential in recording relative sea level changes. The use of isolation basins in areas devoid of estuarine sedimentation has been particualrly demonstrated. The vegetation reconstruction undertaken, suggests that variations do occur in coastal locations compared to sites further inland, although these are subtle. The dates obtained for the increase in taxa such as 'Corylus avellana' and 'Alnus' and the recording of anthropogenic indicators on the vegetation, agree with those previously obtained for Skye. The use of pollen analysis in verifying the radiocarbon dates obtained, particualrly for the Late Devensian, has been recognised and, combined with diatom analysis, has provided a comprehensive database from which to reconstruct past relative sea levels.

Land-surface subsidence can be a major contributor to the relative sea-level rise that is threatening many coastal communities. Loosely constrained subsidence rate estimates across the Mississippi Delta make it difficult to differentiate between subsidence mechanisms and complicate modeling efforts. New data from a nearly 40 m long, 12 cm diameter core taken during the installation of a subsidence monitoring superstation near the Mississippi River, southeast of New Orleans, provides insight into the stratigraphic and geotechnical properties of the Holocene succession at that site. Stratigraphically, the core can be grouped into four units. The top 12 m is dominated by clastic overbank sediment with interspersed organic-rich layers. The middle section, 12–35 m, consists predominately of mud, and the bottom section, 35–38.7 m, is marked by a transition into a Holocene-aged basal peat (~11.3 ka) which overlies densely packed Pleistocene sediment. Radiocarbon and OSL ages are used to calculate vertical displacement and averages subsidence rates as far back as ~3.5 ka, yielding values as high as 8.0 m of vertical displacement (up to 2.34 mm/yr) as obtained from a transition from mouth bar to overbank deposits. We infer that most of this was due to compaction of the thick, underlying mud package. The top ~80 cm of the core is a peat that represents the modern marsh surface and is inducing minimal surface loading. This is consistent with the negligible shallow subsidence rate as seen at a nearby rod-surface elevation table–marker horizon station. Future compaction scenarios for the superstation can be modeled from the stratigraphic and geotechnical properties of the core, including the loading from the planned Mid-Barataria sediment diversion which is expected to dramatically change the coastal landscape in this region.

AbstractThis chapter represents a comprehensive review of Kuwait’s surface geology and stratigraphy from previous works accomplished by numerous geoscience researchers in the past decades. The surface of Kuwait is characterized by nearly flat topography, featureless to gently undulating, apart from a few tens of meters of escarpments in the north and south, and flat low to moderately elevated hills and ridges. It predominantly consists of siliciclastic sediments and sedimentary rock units ranging in age from Middle Eocene to Holocene. The main stratigraphic exposed successions are located in Jal Az-Zor escarpment, Al-Subyiah (Bahrah) area, Ahmadi Quarry, the Khiran Ridges, and the Enjefa Beach. The oldest exposed rock units are represented by the Middle Eocene Dammam Formation, which is exposed at the Ahmadi Quarry, whereas the youngest recent deposits cover most of Kuwait’s surficial area and lie on top of the Kuwait Group’s deposits. This chapter will illustrate the geology and stratigraphy of Kuwait's surface sediments and sedimentary rock strata. Recommendations and future insights were also documented as part of the way forward to improve the presently available work for the surface geology of Kuwait.

Abstract The human species has deeply impacted the geology of our planet, our current environmental conditions now being very different from the stable interglacial conditions of the Holocene Epoch, in which human civilization flowered. Hence, a new epoch has been proposed, the Anthropocene, starting in tandem with the mid-20th-century Great Acceleration of population, industrialization, and globalization. One of the clearest measures of human impact on our planet is energy use, as reflected by rapidly increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Through this lens, the large-scale historical patterns of human activity show not gradual change but sudden and massive linked changes to geology and ecosystems. This has been driven by growth of the technosphere, a quasi-autonomous and emergent sphere of human-driven processes that interacts with the other Earth spheres. Consequences include the rapid accumulation of unrecycled waste, increasingly threatening the success of this development and hence of humans too.

Early climatic interpretations for the Lisan and later formations (Late Pleistocene and Holocene—Neev and Emery, 1967, figs. 16, 17) were supported and updated by information from additional coreholes. Although most new and old coreholes bottomed at relatively shallow depths, 20 to 30 m, four of them reached greater depths, 74, 80, 161, and 285 m beneath the 1960 floor of the Dead Sea south basin. The sequences consist of alternating layers of marl and rocksalt. Most marls were deposited from dilute brine during high lake levels and contain alternating laminae of chemical deposits of white aragonite, gray gypsum, and fine-grained detritus consisting of yellowish, brown, green, or dark gray carbonates, quartz, and clay. The detrital fraction is coarser and more dominant toward the deltas, especially near Amazyahu escarpment in the south. Rocksalt layers indicate deposition from more concentrated brine when the levels dropped to about -400 m m.s.l. Lower elevations could have been reached when the sea continued to shrink and when the runoff-to-evaporation ratio diminished, bringing the south basin to complete dessication. As neither the geochemical nature (ionic ratios) of the brines nor the physiography of the terminal water body has changed at least since Late Pleistocene or Lisan Lake time (Katz, Kolodny, and Nissenbaum, 1977), it is probable that through the past 60,000 years rocksalt was precipitated only when the water surface was at or below the critical level of -400 m m.s.l. Gamma-ray logs for some of the new coreholes provide more objective and precise depths of marl and rocksalt layers than do actual samples of sediments. Content of radiogenic minerals in the rocksalt is negligible compared with that in the marl; thus, these layers identify changing physical environments and climates as well as correlating stratigraphy. On gamma-ray logs the peaks or highest intensities of positive anomalies indicate that marl layers or wet climatic subphases and their thicknesses on the logs are proportional to their duration. Presence of negative anomalies or very low levels of gamma radiation show both the existence and thickness of rocksalt layers that denote dry climatic phases.

ABSTRACT In this paper, we present old and new data about our integrated interdisciplinary stratigraphic study of sedimentary deposits preserved in the Grotta dei Baffoni Cave of the Frasassi hypogenic cave complex, including sedimentological, paleontological, archaeometric, and radiometric analyses. This research work allowed us to reconstruct the geologic, environmental, and human history of this part of the northeastern Apennines of Italy for the past 200,000 years, from the late Middle Pleistocene to the Present. Accumulation of alluvial sediment began in this cave ~200,000 years ago, when an entrance was breached by the Sentino River during its process of incision and deepening of the Frasassi Gorge coupled with regional tectonic uplift. Flooding of the cave went on until the entrance sill of the cave was lifted up to an elevation that could no longer be reached by the river, sometime in the mid–Late Pleistocene. After this, windblown dust (i.e., loess) and coarser carbonate clasts derived from the disintegration of the vaults due to cryogenic processes and/or seismically induced collapses of the limestone vaults, accumulated on this now-dry underground environment. The stratigraphy of an ~4-m-thick sedimentary deposit accumulated in the vast atrium room of the cave was measured, sampled, and documented in two excavation trenches in 1952 by archaeologist Anton Mario Radmilli. By collecting a dozen stratigraphically located osteological finds for 14C dating, and revisiting artifacts collected by Radmilli, which are archived respectively in the Museum of Natural History of Verona and in the National Museum of Archaeology of Ancona, we assessed that the cave was frequented by wild animals, such as cave bear and ibex, starting in the mid–Late Pleistocene. Dating of charcoal particles from subsurface sediments in the inner part of the cave suggested that fires were lit in this cave by Epigravettian visitors during the Younger Dryas cold period. Scarce archaeological evidence nevertheless suggests that man began using this underground environment for worship practices probably in the early Neolithic. Human bones in the lower part of one of Radmilli’s excavations yielded early Eneolithic ages. No other human bones were found in overlying levels of this excavation, but the typology of animal bones and associated ceramic artifacts, corroborated by our 14C dates, suggest that this cave was utilized as a worship or ritual place until the early Middle Bronze Age. After that, the cave was sporadically used as a shelter for herders until recent times.

Parlare di tempo geologico è un modo di contestualizzare i processi materiali della terra nella sua storia. La scala dei tempi geologici suddivide la lunga storia della terra in eoni, ere, periodi ed epoche, non omogenei tra loro, ma in relazione l'un l'altro a seconda di ciò che emerge dall'analisi dei dati stratigrafici o dallo studio della stratificazione dei diversi livelli della crosta terrestre. Recentemente negli studi relativi a territorio e paesaggio è stata introdotta l'idea che l'epoca dell'Olocene, iniziata circa 11.700 anni fa, sia terminata e che sia stata sostituita da una nuova epoca geologica chiamata Antropocene, ovvero, 'l'era della razza umana'. Per confermare o meno questa ipotesi, siamo partiti da due categorie concettuali di paesaggio: il paesaggio terrestre ed il paesaggio costruito. Il caso studio della città di Catania, in Sicilia, ben si applica a questa ricerca: il suolo della città si è costruito sia tramite l'intensa opera dell'uomo -negli ultimi 40 anni fino a risalire al XVII secolo ed al nucleo greco antico- sia tramite una non indifferente attività geologica, rappresentata dalle molteplici eruzioni vulcaniche e dai frequenti terremoti che hanno colpito la conurbazione nel corso dei secoli. L'analisi -tramite sezioni e carotaggi- della stratigrafia storica ha evidenziato come la forma non solo della città ma del paesaggio di Catania abbia risentito in maniera eccezionale delle mutazioni geologiche intercorse, più di ogni altra città europea, e la rende un oggetto di studio privilegiato per esaminare la correlazione tra paesaggio, tempo ed usi. Geologic time is a way of contextualizing the material processes of the Earth within its long history. The geologic time scale divides the long history of the earth in eons, eras, periods and epochs, not separately, but in relation to each other depending on what emerges from the analysis of stratigraphic data and the different levels of the crust of the earth.Recently, studies related to territory and landscape have introduced the idea that the current Holocene epoch that began 11,700 years ago has ended and has been replaced by a new geological epoch called the Anthropocene, or, 'the era of human race'. To confirm or reject this hypothesis, we started from two conceptual categories of landscape: the terrestrial landscape and the constructed landscape. We apply this research using the case study of Catania, Sicily. The soil of the city of Catania is built is through both the intense work of man – in the last 40 years going back to the seventeenth century and to antiquity with the ancient Greeks – and, through substantial geological activity – by the many volcanoes and frequent earthquakes over the centuries. The analysis is defined by a sectioning and dissection of the historical stratigraphy of the ground of Catania. It reveals how the form of the city and landscape of Catania has undergone exceptional change and mutation evolving slowly in geologic time, more so than any other European city. It is therefore an interesting object of study to examine the relationship between landscape, time and use.

Abstract Current offshore wind activities within the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf are within water depths suitable for fixed-bottom foundations, generally considered as water depths shallower than 60 m. Recent BOEM designated call areas within the Central Atlantic include two areas on the continental slope in water depths greater than 200 m that will require floating offshore wind turbines. The objective of this study is to expand upon a previously completed BOEM-funded desktop study and focus on the geological and geotechnical conditions and the engineering constraints for the deep-water Central Atlantic call areas E and F. This study focused on compiling public domain geophysical and geotechnical data to evaluate the seafloor and shallow subsurface geological and geotechnical conditions relevant to offshore wind within the area of interest. Data available from published scientific literature and government agencies were integrated and evaluated using GIS and seismic interpretation software to identify and map geohazards, seabed and subsurface conditions, and key stratigraphic geotechnical units. Our evaluation of the area of interest indicates generally favorable conditions for floating offshore wind development, with site-specific considerations to be factored into engineering design. Soil provinces with similar geologic characteristics and geotechnical properties include the upper slope (roughly 200 m to 2000 m water depths) and the lower slope (greater than 2000 m water depth). General sediment conditions for both these provinces include Holocene-Pleistocene age silts and clays with intervals of sandy clay or sandy layers related to mass transport deposits (MTDs) from gravity flows. A key difference between the provinces is the potential for older geological units, such as the coastal plain deposits (CPD) within the foundation depth of interest proximal to the upper slope, and a higher frequency of submarine landslide deposits within the lower slope. The potential for slope instability and steep seabed gradients will be a constraint for these developments, as well as the potential for hard grounds, such as submarine landslide blocks or authigenic carbonate/benthic features. Based on these conditions, the suitability of various anchor concepts is discussed.