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The separation of Gondwana was controlled by preexisting Proterozoic structures and by the development of rift aborted basins, of which the Araripe Basin (NE Brazil) is one of the best examples. Previous studies have focused on the presence and provenance of Aptian–Albian shallow-marine incursions in the Araripe Basin but to date, little attention has been given to its paleodrainage evolution during sedimentation stages. Understanding the paleodrainage evolution is crucial for determining sediment sources and how topographic changes relate to the geodynamic development of the northern part of South America during the fragmentation of Gondwana, and this study investigates the provenance of Mesozoic rift and post-rift sedimentary rocks in the Araripe Basin using a multi-proxy dataset comprising major and trace element concentrations, Sm–Nd isotopic composition, and detrital zircon U–Pb ages. The low Eu/Eu* ratios (0.3–0.9) and high Th/Sc ratios (>0.64) in the most of analyzed samples suggest a felsic and silicic source. The εNd(0) values (−12.3 to −23.7) and T DM ages (1.68 to 2.55 Ga) of analyzed samples suggest overall ancient crustal sources. The presence of oval and elongated zircon grains suggests a major contribution of first-cycle transport sediments. The presence of 2.3–1.8 Ga and 0.63–0.58 Ga U–Pb zircon ages further indicates the dominant contribution of the Borborema Province influenced by the Brasiliano cycle (650–520 Ma). The low contribution of Tonian (∼940 Ma) zircons to the U–Pb zircon age distribution of the rift-beginning stage sample associated with published paleocurrent direction suggests sources located in the northern and northwestern terranes of the Borborema Province. The increase of Tonian (0.9–1.0 Ga) zircon grains during the rift stage suggests a provenance change with a dominant source in the eastern terranes during the rift stage. During the post-rift I stage, the decrease of 1.2–0.72 Ga zircon ages suggests a change in the source areas, with the paleodrainage coming from northern Borborema Province, similar to that of the rift-beginning stage. The samples of the post-rift II stage exhibit dominant contributions of Paleoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic U–Pb ages related to the Albian to Cenomanian uplift of the Borborema plateau during the opening of Equatorial Atlantic Ocean. Together with previous published studies, these findings highlight the significant role played by the post-rift continental uplift to the paleodrainage of the northern part of South America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The near-field glacial record of the late Paleozoic Ice Age in Gondwanan basins is widely used in global paleogeographic and paleoclimatic models. Nevertheless, several late Paleozoic glacial successions still lack a detailed depositional history or reassessment of their genesis under modern glacial sedimentology concepts. One such example is the Aquidauana Formation in the western Paraná Basin, Brazil, which corresponds to about 65 % of the total outcrop area of the late Paleozoic glacial strata (Itararé Group) within the basin. Yet, the stratigraphic architecture and depositional environments are full of uncertainties as the strata are very poorly exposed. This study brings new insights on the depositional history and stratigraphic architecture for the upper half of the Aquidauana Formation by describing a 290-m-thick section cropping out along a recently developed highway in the Mato Grosso do Sul state. A subaqueous slope and glaciated outer shelf depositional setting is interpreted for the upper half of the Aquidauana Formation, which differs considerably from the glacioterrestrial and postglacial arid context traditionally proposed. More specifically, deposition chiefly took place under ice-free conditions on a subaqueous slope within an erosionally-confined channel–levee complex through sediment density flows and subaqueous landslides. Episodic glacial influence on sedimentation is recorded within the uppermost portion of the section by glacially-modified and iceberg-rafted debris as well as a deglacial trace fossil assemblage within proglacial deposits. Sediment transport toward the southeast into the basin indicates a glacial source placed westward of the Paraná Basin, reinforcing the hypothesis of ice-spreading centers located westward of the basin. The outcomes of this study also emphasize the relevance of subaqueous gravity-driven resedimentation in emplacing the late Paleozoic glacial record. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Source-to-sink evolution of a basin is a key to understand sedimentary processes, especially in a complex regional orogenic setting. Detrital zircon populations can be traced from their primary sources to their depositional settings. The resulting interpretations are enhanced by calculation of the adjacent orogen's paleoaltimetry, which provides additional insights into paleogeography. In this study, we present a combined methodology which aims to reconstruct source-to-sink evolution by the analysis of detrital zircon age distribution in sandstones, together with the calculation of paleo-elevation of surrounding orogens based on the chemical compositions of coeval magmatic rocks. We test the method using detrital zircon U–Pb geochronological data sets from the Triassic Songpan–Ganzi basin in central China, combined with whole-rock geochemical data from intermediate-composition magmatic rocks in adjacent crustal blocks. Application of the combined methodology supports a syn-collisional basin model for the formation of the Triassic Songpan-Ganzi basin in preference to a continental back-arc basin. The clastic sediments, mainly deep-marine turbidites, accumulated in a remnant Paleotethyan Ocean that was surrounded by the converging North China Block, South China Block, East Kunlun Orogenic Belt and the Qiangtang Block. The North China Block and the North Qaidam Block were major proto-sources of detrital zircons to the basin, contributing on average 12 % and 15 %, respectively. Triassic magmatic rocks in the East Kunlun and Qiangtang regions were major sources of igneous zircons, up to 68 % for the former and up to 56 % for the latter. Despite being located at a calculated elevation of ca. 4000 m, the Qinling Orogenic Belt contributed only ca. <10 % of the zircons, mostly restricted to the eastern depocenter of the basin. In contrast, supply from the North Qiangtang Block, despite its calculated lower elevation (1000–3000 m), accounts for 2–10 % of the detrital zircons in the basin, suggesting high erosion rates of this block. The minimal supply of zircons from the South China Block, restricted to 3–6 % in the central and western depocenters, is inconsistent with the zircon abundances predicted in the alternative back-arc basin model of the Songpan–Ganzi basin. [Display omitted] • A combined method is proposed to help reconstruct source-to-sink sediment transport. • Source proportions are tested using simulations of detrital zircon age populations. • Paleo-elevation calculations of adjacent blocks shed light on sediment provenance. • The method leads to a new interpretation of sediment sources, supply and deposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major challenge in provenance and source-to-sink analysis is deciphering intrabasinal versus extrabasinal sediment sources and processes. This issue is well-illustrated by the Paleogene Pearl River Mouth Basin (PRMB), whose provenance reflects a combination of sediments eroded from the Cathaysia Block (CB), southeastern China, and from intrabasinal structural highs. Here we use new detrital zircon U Pb ages from Paleogene formations in seven boreholes, southern PRMB, to investigate such local versus regional influences on provenance. Detrital zircons from the upper Eocene-lower Oligocene Enping Formation are dominated by Jurassic-Cretaceous ages, with a 125–110 Ma age-cluster, absent in modern river data from the CB and diagnostic of intrabasinal sediment sources. In the northern part of the basin, Mesozoic-dominated zircon age-spectra give way to Paleozoic and Precambrian grains, a pattern also recognized for the late Oligocene Zhuhai Formation, suggesting a major change in provenance likely related to extrabasinal influence from the CB. The age spectra for these samples are most similar to the northeastern Pearl River, narrowing this region as the most likely source. Spatial analysis of the results suggests that during deposition of the Enping Formation, sediment transport was not uniform and that the basin's architecture strongly influenced provenance, with structural highs acting as both sediment sources and barrier to sediment transport from the CB; whereas structural lows, with clear extrabasinal influence, functioned as sediment transport corridors. Such spatial differences are lost in samples from the Zhuhai Formation and their provenance suggests that the paleo-Pearl River and tectono-climatically driven surface processes in the CB dominated deposition thereafter. • Paleogene sediments reflect a combination of intrabasinal and extrabasinal sources and processes. • Sediment delivery from the Cathaysia Block (CB) was not uniform and the basin's architecture strongly influenced provenance. • Erosion and delivery of sediments from the CB was limited to the northeastern Pearl River area until the late Oligocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Upper Devonian Duvernay Formation of western Canada is a prolific source rock that in recent years has become an important exploration target for shale gas and oil. We present a sequence stratigraphic model for the Duvernay Formation that characterizes relationships between sea level, basin circulation, lithofacies distribution, and mechanisms for sediment transport and organic-enrichment. The study demonstrates lateral and stratigraphic variability in the character of sequence stratigraphic surfaces and systems tracts and interprets this variability in the context of sea level cycles at varying time scales. Correlation of 24 core descriptions to a network of 759 wells with wireline logs led to the creation of a basin-scale sequence stratigraphic framework. Three 3rd order depositional sequences are identified; the middle sequence straddles a 2nd order maximum flooding surface. Each systems tract shows unique trends in lithofacies, rock properties, and wireline character. Transgressive systems tracts are characterized by the increasingly widespread deposition of clay-poor, siliceous, organic-rich mudstones in the basin, resulting from decreased clastic and carbonate input, concentration of pelagic organic matter and siliceous radiolaria, and low oxygen concentrations in basin center bottom waters. Highstand systems tracts are characterized by sustained radiolarian input and increases in carbonate sediment due to shedding of carbonate detritus during aggradation and progradation of platform margins and reefs. Lowstand systems tracts are more clastic-rich and organic-poor. Near reef complexes, coarse carbonates locally mark the base of the lowstand systems tract. Bottom currents reworked mud- and silt-sized material in toe-of-slope locations and contributed to slope-parallel progradation during regression. • Depositional sequences, parasequences, and bedsets are recognized. • Lowstand: widespread oxygenation, reduced TOC, increased clastics and carbonates • Organic-rich, biosiliceous mudstones widespread during transgression and highstand • Contourite siltstones are interbedded with organic-rich biosiliceous mudstones. • Currents erode platform slope and contribute to slope-parallel progradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The changes in morphology and surficial sediments of an outwash braidplain developed under high Arctic conditions are closely related to geomorphic processes, tectonic conditions and climate variations, and are affected by the existence of permafrost. These factors control the changes in river channel slope, their morphology and active braidplain width, which influence the downstream variation in grain size of outwash surficial sediments. Interdependence between these parameters has not previously been considered in relation to the spatial distribution of surficial sediments of outwash braidplain developed in the forefield of a retreating subpolar glacier. In this study, controls affecting the surficial lithology of the Waldemar River outwash (NW Spitsbergen, Svalbard) were recognised and indicated multiple correlations between the downstream changes in sediment texture, the geomorphometry of distributary channels, and outwash surface slope. Due to this, the techniques of multivariate regression modelling, artificial neural network and multivariate adaptive regression splines were used. Results show that observed relations between the sedimentary and morphological features indicate the existence of thresholds for downstream variation in bed material size which are not constant. Moreover, the processes of sediment transport in an outwash braidplain are strictly related to Shields stress, which is proportional to changes in braidplain slope, median grain diameter and sediment sorting in the proximal and middle zones of the outwash, but is inversely proportional to median grain diameter in the distal zone, contrary to Shields' bed-material threshold entrainment model. The results of this study will help understand outwash fan and plain evolution in paraglacial landscapes under conditions of changeable rate and source of sediment supply and transport capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The transport of continental materials of natural and/or anthropic origin as well as their dispersion and final deposition in marine environments can be inferred from the analysis of the textural tendencies of sediments. The exploitation of copper ore (since the 19th century) in the Santa Rosalía mining district has caused the accumulation of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in sediments off the western coast of the Gulf of California; however, after several decades of mining, little is known about the mobilization and final destination of these PTEs. In the present work, the net sedimentary transport and dispersion of Cu and Zn is inferred in front of the mining district of Santa Rosalía at the western margin of the Gulf of California. Net sedimentary transport is dominantly towards the southeast, with a change towards the east of the port of Santa Rosalía. The spatial distribution of Cu and Zn showed the same pattern as the net sediment transport, which suggests that the dispersion of PTEs is controlled by the textural tendencies of the sediments and their transport, corroborated by hydrodynamic models of the marine currents at the western margin of the Gulf of California. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The properties of sediment grain shape provide valuable information about the transport mechanisms in different sedimentary and geomorphological environments. With the emergence of new, high-resolution analytical techniques, it has become possible to quickly examine the grain shape properties of a large number of individual mineral grains. In this study, we used automated image analysis (Malvern Morphologi G3SE-ID) to investigate mineral particles of four sediment types from different depositional environments (sand sheet (1), floodplain (2) and fluvial channel deposits (3), Pleistocene infilling material of sand wedges (4), n = 20) in the Carpathian Basin (Central Europe). Our primary objective was to identify quantitative key variables that can help objectively distinguish certain geomorphological environments located in the Carpathian Basin. In our analysis and data processing (which included techniques such as hierarchical cluster analysis, Wilks' λ, Kruskal–Wallis, multivariate analysis of variance and principal component analysis) we focused on four variables related to grain shape: circularity (form), convexity (surface texture), solidity (roundness) and elongation (form). The form of sedimentary grains depends largely on the physical properties of their source area, while the roundness depends on the energy of the transport medium and the distance of transportation. Surface texture or convexity can change in a relatively short time in a fluvial environment. The study revealed that distinguishing geomorphological environments can be achieved by analyzing the circularity, convexity and solidity parameters of the sediment grains. Based on the established grouping, the analyses carried out with hundred repetitions showed that high sensitivity circularity, convexity and solidity variables were the most effective attributes regarding Kruskal–Wallis test statistics that provided significant (p < 0.001) results between the analyzed sedimentary environments, while the elongation was not able to provide significant results between the grouped samples. Statistical analyses of the MANOVA test with hundredfold repetitions showed significant differences between the derived groups. Wilks' λ test statistics and PCA showed that convexity and high sensitivity circularity discriminate the groups. Separate analyses of aeolian and fluvial sediments have been carried out. The Kruskal–Wallis analysis of variance showed the significant differences considering all four variables, and differences were also significant in the case of the MANOVA test. Wilks' λ test statistics and PCA showed that convexity, high sensitivity circularity and solidity discriminate the groups. According to our results, the circularity parameter can provide information about the transport distance, while the solidity parameter can indicate the transport energy. The convexity parameter can serve as an indicator of both transport distance, as well as post-depositional processes. Some infilling materials underwent multiple transport processes, including high energy aqueous, wind transport mechanisms, and the post-depositional alteration process (frost weathering), while others originated from sand-sheet covered areas (active during Pleistocene glacials). The solidity parameter proved effective in separating sediments with similarly high convexity values (smooth surface), which were, in our case, from recent aeolian and fluvial environments. This result was due to the investigated fluvial sediments that inherited their form and low level of roundness from their source area. Our research supports that aeolian transport is more effective in rounding the grains than the aqueous environment. Using automated static image analysis producing statistically stable results with hundreds of analyzed mineral grains provides useful indicators for paleogeographical reconstruction studies by investigating paleo and recent sediments. • The high HS circularity values can indicate a longer transport distance. • The solidity factors can be used to identify relative transport energy. • The convexity variable may indicate the post-depositional process. • The low level of roundness can be inherited from the source environment. • Automated static image analysis produces statistically robust results on mineral grains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We know less about subglacial meltwater flow properties in distributed inefficient and semi-efficient systems in comparison to those of ice marginal eskers and proglacial environments. While previous studies have indicated the overall common presence of upper-flow-regime (UFR) bedforms in glacigenic settings, facies expressions of subglacial meltwater flows remain poorly documented. Three ca. 3 m deep and up to 70 m long trenches excavated across a triangle-shaped subglacial landform called a murtoo in a Lateglacial to Holocene meltwater route in SW Finland provide a detailed window into sedimentary structures presumably formed ca. 40–50 km away from the coeval subaqueous margin of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet (FIS). The aim of this paper is to document small-scale bedforms, which formed subglacially by meltwater flow and to characterize the proximal and central parts of the studied murtoo during its early evolutionary phase. We defined seven main facies types that characterize the depositional processes of the unit. Overall, the studied deposits reflect increasing meltwater delivery through time and are characterized by abrupt lateral changes in sedimentary structures and grain size. While the initial deposits are dominated by massive and horizontally laminated silt with sand lenses interpreted as lower-flow-regime deposits, the latter sediments are characterized by sinusoidal stratification, sigmoidal cross-stratification and scours with backsets or chaotic fill interpreted as deposits of antidunes, humpback dunes, chutes-and-pools and cyclic steps of the upper-flow regime. The upper-flow-regime bedforms developed on a 1 m high and 15 m long bed slope and are associated with the formation of a short-lived enlarged water-filled cavity or pond, where supercritical density flows allowed for the deposition of upper-flow regime bedforms. The final coarse-grained murtoo head-bar development, characterized by planar-cross stratified gravel and pebbly sand, indicates avalanche processes that were controlled by grain size. Our results confirm that the core of the murtoo is depositional and meltwater processes played a key role in its deposition. Despite the subglacial setting with a subaqueous ice-sheet margin, the meltwater flow was not permanently characterized by pipe-flow conditions. Overall, the findings contribute to the understanding of semi-distributed subglacial meltwater systems during the retreat of a continental ice sheet (FIS) in a rapidly warming climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The late Paleozoic glacial-to-postglacial turnover evolved complexly across Gondwana. Successions bearing volcaniclastic material that can be radiometrically dated provide crucial information about the timing of those climate events. The southernmost part of the Paraná Basin, for instance, has a high-precision geochronological framework. The eastern sector of this basin (Paraná State and north of Santa Catarina State), however, lacks radiometric ages, but conversely, has a more complete stratigraphic record, and paleontological information still poorly explored for the purpose of biostratigraphic correlation. This work examines the glacial-to-postglacial interval in the Paraná State, represented by the upper Itararé Group (Taciba Formation; glacial) and lower–middle Rio Bonito Formation (postglacial). Sedimentological, paleontological and geochemical data from outcrops, cores and well logs were used to decipher the timing, paleoclimatic and paleogeographic scenarios of this transition. The examined succession comprises four stacked units (U1 to U4, from older to younger). Diamictite-dominated units (U1 and U3), here interpreted as consecutive glaciation–deglaciation events, are separated by non-glacial, continental to shallow marine deposits, commonly bearing fossil plants and coal seams (U2). An important transgression followed the first deglaciation, which is equivalent to the " Eurydesma transgression", based on the presence of marine invertebrates of the homonymous fauna in the Passinho Shale. U2 holds elements of two different floras, i.e., Phyllotheca – Gangamopteris (P–G), predating the " Eurydesma transgression", and Glossopteris – Brasilodendron (G–B), above the transgression. Therefore, U2 is interpreted as an interglacial interval, once it records a climate improving before the last glacial episode of U3, which is further supported by relatively high values of the Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA). Deposits of U3, associated with a decrease in the value of the CIA, are unconformably overlain by U4. The occurrence of coal-bearing postglacial facies (U4) associated with the G–B Flora, coincides with an increase in the CIA values. Sediment transport was toward the SW in all units and in the same direction it is observed an overall thinning of U1 and U3 and thickening of U2. The interglacial P–G Flora of the study area correlates with postglacial southernmost floras, based on U–Pb CA-TIMS Asselian ages of tonsteins. Correlation of the Eurydesma fauna-containing Passinho Shale with equivalent successions with high-precision age control in southern Africa, allowed us to position both deglaciations of the Taciba Formation (U1 and U3) in the Asselian. These findings suggest that U1 and U3 record two early Permian glacial episodes, with the younger one (U3) disappearing southward. Accordingly, our results indicate that the glacial-to-postglacial turnover was diachronous along the eastern belt of the Paraná Basin, being progressively older southward, considering that interglacial fossil plant assemblages in the eastern margin correspond in time to postglacial assemblages farther south. • The examined succession includes two glaciation-deglaciation stages insterspersed by interglacial deposits and an uppermost postglacial interval. • The interglacial stage is time equivalent to postglacial deposits farther south, suggesting that the last glaciation was limited to NE Paraná Basin • Biostratigraphy based on floral and faunal assemblages indicates an early Permian age. • The glacial–postglacial transition is diachronous along the eastern margin of the basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most commonly cited control on delivery of sand to deep water is the rate of relative sea-level fall. The rapid rate of accommodation loss on the shelf causes sedimentation to shift basinward. Field and experimental numerical modeling studies have shown that deep-water sand delivery can occur during any stage of relative sea level position and across a large range of values of rate of relative sea-level change. However, these studies did not investigate the impact of sediment transport efficiency on the relationship between rate of relative sea-level change and deep-water sand delivery rate. We explore this relationship using a deterministic nonlinear diffusion-based numerical stratigraphic forward model. We vary across three orders of magnitude the diffusion coefficient value for marine settings, which controls sediment transport efficiency. We find that the rate of relative sea-level change can explain no more than 1% of the variability in deep-water sand delivery rates, regardless of sediment transport efficiency. Model results show a better correlation with relative sea level, with up to 55% of the variability in deep water sand delivery rates explained. The results presented here are consistent with studies of natural settings which suggest stochastic processes such as avulsion and slope failure, and interactions among such processes, may explain the remaining variance. Relative sea level is a better predictor of deep-water sand delivery than rate of relative sea-level change because it is the sea-level fall itself which promotes sand delivery, not the rate of the fall. We conclude that the poor relationship between sea level and sand delivery is not an artifact of the modeling parameters but is instead due to the inadequacy of relative sea level and the rate of relative sea-level change to fully describe the dimensional space in which depositional systems reside. Subsequently, sea level itself is unable to account for the interaction of multiple processes that contribute to sand delivery to deep water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two episodes of intense flooding and sediment movement occurred in the Westmorland Stream alluvial system near Caveside, Australia in January 2011 and June 2016. The events were investigated in order to better understand the drivers and functioning of this composite alluvial system on a larger scale, so as to provide awareness of the potential hazard from future flood and debris flow events. A novel combination of methods was employed, including field surveys, catchment morphometry, GIS mapping from LiDAR and aerial imagery, and hydraulic modelling using RiverFlow-2D software. Both events were initiated by extreme rainfall events (< 1% Annual Exceedance Probability for durations exceeding 6 h) and resulted in flooding and sediment deposition across the alluvial fan. The impacts of the 2011 and 2016 events on the farmland appeared similar; however, there were differences in sediment source and transport processes that have implications for understanding recurrence probabilities. A debris flow was a key driver in the 2011 event, by eroding the stream channel in the forested watershed and delivering a large volume of sediment downstream to the alluvial fan. In contrast, modelled flooding velocities suggest the impacts of the 2016 event were the result of an extended period of extreme stream flooding and consequent erosion of alluvium directly above the current fan apex. The morphometry of the catchment is better aligned with values from fluvially dominated fans found elsewhere, which suggests that flooding represents a more frequent future risk than debris flows. These findings have wider implications for the estimation of debris flow and flood hazard on alluvial fans in Tasmania and elsewhere, as well as further demonstrating the capacity of combined hydraulic modelling and geomorphologic investigation as a predictive tool to inform hazard management practices in environments affected by flooding and sediment movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sandbars are iconic features of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, Arizona, U.S.A. Following completion of Glen Canyon Dam in 1963, sediment deficit conditions caused erosion of eddy sandbars throughout much of the 360 km study reach downstream from the dam. Controlled floods in 1996, 2004, and 2008 demonstrated that sand on the channel bed could be redistributed to higher elevations, and that floods timed to follow tributary sediment inputs would increase suspended sand concentrations during floods. Since 2012, a new management protocol has resulted in four controlled floods timed to follow large inputs of sand from a major tributary. Monitoring of 44 downstream eddy sandbars, initiated in 1990, shows that each controlled flood deposited significant amounts of sand and increased the size of subaerial sandbars. However, the magnitude of sandbar deposition varied from eddy to eddy, even over relatively short distances where main-stem suspended sediment concentrations were similar. Here, we characterize spatial and temporal trends in sandbar volume and site-scale (i.e., individual eddy) sediment storage as a function of flow, channel, and vegetation characteristics that reflect the reach-scale (i.e., kilometer-scale) hydraulic environment. We grouped the long-term monitoring sites based on geomorphic setting and used a principal component analysis (PCA) to correlate differences in sandbar behavior to changes in reach-scale geomorphic metrics. Sites in narrow reaches are less-vegetated, stage changes markedly with discharge, sandbars tend to remain dynamic, and sand storage change dominantly occurs in the eddy compared to the main channel. In wider reaches, where stage-change during floods may be half that of narrow sites, sandbars are more likely to be stabilized by vegetation, and floods tend to aggrade the vegetated sandbar surfaces. In these locations, deposition during controlled floods is more akin to floodplain sedimentation, and the elevation of sandbar surfaces increases with successive floods. Because many sandbars are intermediate to the end members described above, high-elevation bar surfaces stabilized by vegetation often have a more dynamic unvegetated sandbar on the channel-ward margin that aggrades and erodes in response to controlled flood cycles. Ultimately, controlled floods have been effective at increasing averaged sandbar volumes, and, while bar deposition during floods decreases through time where vegetation has stabilized sandbars, future controlled floods are likely to continue to result in deposition in a majority of the river corridor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New geophysical data from the leeward slope of Great Bahama Bank show how contour currents shape the slope and induce re-sedimentation processes. Along slope segments with high current control, drift migration and current winnowing at the toe of slope form a deep moat. Here, the slope progradation is inhibited by large channel incisions and the accumulation of large mass transport complexes, triggered by current winnowing. In areas where the slope is bathed by weaker currents, the accumulation of mass transport complexes and channel incision is rather controlled by the position of the sea level. Large slope failures were triggered during the Mid-Pleistocene transition and Mid-Brunhes event, both periods characterized by changes in the cyclicity or the amplitude of sea-level fluctuations. Within the seismic stratigraphic framework of third order sequences, four sequences of higher order were identified in the succession of the upper Pleistocene. These higher order sequences also show clear differences in function of the slope exposure to contour currents. Two stochastic models emphasize the role of the contour currents and slope morphology in the facies distribution in the upper Pleistocene sequences. In areas of high current influence the interplay of erosional and depositional processes form a complex facies pattern with downslope and along strike facies alterations. In zones with lower current influence, major facies alternations occur predominately in downslope direction, and a layer-cake pattern characterizes the along strike direction. Therefore, this study highlights that contour currents are an underestimated driver for the sediment distribution and architecture of carbonate slopes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The well-known 1755 CE Lisbon tsunami caused widespread destruction along the Iberian and northern Moroccan coastlines. Being affected by the powerful 1755 CE Lisbon tsunami, the southwestern Algarve shelf provides environments for detecting offshore tsunami imprints. Our multidisciplinary investigations (hydroacoustics, sedimentology, geochemistry, radiocarbon dating) of the Holocene sediments have revealed tsunami deposits linked to this tsunami and a ca. 3600 cal yr BP event. The latter event is until now unidentified in Portugal. Both event deposits contrast with the background shelf sedimentation by their coarser grain size, element composition, internal structure, and erosive base, making them discernible in the sub-bottom data and cores. Especially the ca. 3600 cal yr BP deposit is exceptionally well-preserved at one of the coring sites. The clear differentiation into several sections enables further insights into offshore tsunami transport and depositional processes. This study demonstrates that the record and preservation of tsunami deposits were possible on the Algarve shelf in specific locations sheltered from possible alterations. Our findings extend the tsunami catalogs of Portugal with a previously unknown tsunami dated to ca. 3600 cal yr BP. • Offshore tsunami deposits of the 1755 CE Lisbon and a previously unknown tsunami • The ca. 3600 cal yr BP tsunami extends the Portuguese tsunami catalog. • Characteristics of offshore tsunami deposits are strongly site-specific. • Tsunami backwash can transport sediments as grain or debris flows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Definitive criteria for identifying the triggers of soft-sediment deformation structures (SSDSs) from sedimentary deposits are still under construction. In this work, we aimed to contribute to advancing this issue describing the sedimentological characteristics of an interval of SSDSs formed in a region of the Amazonian lowlands having numerous morphostructural evidences of neotectonic reactivation. The deformed interval is 1.5 m thick and consists of load and flame structures interbedded with massive beds sandwiched between well-stratified deposits of a fluvial sandy channel succession with a radiocarbon age of 1301–1382 cal yr BP. The SSDSs are intercepted by numerous small-scale, normal graded-faults. The most interesting is that these faults display segmented, NW-SE trending planes that propagate upward after horizontal displacements of a few millimeters. Processes intrinsic to channel dynamics could not justify this fault morphology, which is related to recurrent short-lived seismic perturbations with intervening sedimentation following a main tremor. A relation to fault reactivation is proposed with basis on the fault trend compatible with the regional structural pattern and the numerous morphostructural anomalies verified in the study area, including: trellis and sub-trellis drainage; rectangular and, to a less extent, annular channels; anomalously enlarged channels; orthogonal channels and valleys; channel captures; sudden changes in channel morphology; moderate to high basin asymmetry factor (AF between 10 and 27); moderate to high transverse topography symmetry factor ( T = 0.3–0.5); and anomalous longitudinal river profiles, with concavity values (11 to 30%) indicative of rivers in process of adjustments. The morphology of the fault-graded beds described herein might constitute a feature of relevance for identifying seismites in other fluvial deposits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Upper Devonian Duvernay Formation of western Canada is an organic-rich shale formation now targeted as a hydrocarbon reservoir. We present a detailed sedimentological analysis of the Duvernay Formation in order to better understand organic-rich mudstone depositional processes and conditions and to characterize the vertical and lateral heterogeneity of mudstone lithofacies that affect petrophysical and geomechanical rock properties. Organic-rich mudstone facies of the Duvernay Formation were deposited in a dynamic depositional environment by a variety of sediment transport mechanisms, including suspension settling, turbidity currents, and bottom water currents in variably oxygenated bottom waters. Suspension settling dominated in distal relatively deep areas of the basin, but evidence for weak turbidity currents and bottom water currents was observed in the form of graded beds and thin grain-supported siltstone laminae. Organic enrichment primarily occurred in distal areas as a result of bottom water anoxia and low depositional rates of inorganic sediment. In deep water locations near platform margins, alternating silty-sandy contourite beds and organic-rich mudstone beds are present, the former interpreted to have been deposited and reworked by bottom water currents flowing parallel to slope. In shallower, more oxygenated settings, mudstone lithologies vary from calcareous to argillaceous. These sediments were deposited from suspension settling, turbidity currents, and bottom water currents, although primary sedimentary structures are often obscured by extensive bioturbation. Locally, organic enrichment in dysoxic rather than anoxic bottom waters was driven by a slightly increased sedimentation rate and possibly also by aggregation of sedimentary particles in the water column due to interaction between organic matter and clay minerals. Large variations observed in sediment composition, from siliceous to calcareous to argillaceous, reflect multiple biogenic, carbonate, and clastic sediment sources. Sediment composition is influenced by basin morphology, circulation patterns, sea level variation, and proximity to sediment sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the processes and conditions at the time of deposition is key to the development of robust geological models which adequately approximate the heterogeneous delta morphology and stratigraphy they represent. We show how the mechanism of sediment transport (the proportion of the sediment supply transported as bed load vs. suspended load) impacts channel kinematics, delta morphology and stratigraphy, to at least the same extent as the proportion of cohesive sediment supply. This finding is derived from 15 synthetic delta analogues generated by processes-based simulations in Delft3D. The model parameter space varies sediment transport mechanism against proportions of cohesive sediment whilst keeping the total sediment mass input constant. Proximal morphology and kinematics previously associated with sediment cohesivity are also produced by decreasing the proportion of bed load sediment transport. However, distal depositional patterns are different for changes in sediment transport and sediment load cohesivity. Changes in sediment transport mechanisms are also shown to impact clinoform geometry as well as the spatiotemporal scale of autogenic reorganisation through channel avulsions. We conclude that improving insight into the ratio of bed load to suspended load is crucial to predicting the geometric evolution of a delta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although distally steepened carbonate ramps have been studied by numerous researchers, the processes that control the development of these carbonate systems, including tectonics, differential carbonate production along the ramp profile, or antecedent physiography of the slopes, are an ongoing discussion. We use a stratigraphic forward model to test different hypotheses to unravel controls over distally steepened ramp development, referenced to the well-known Upper Miocene Menorca carbonate ramp (Spain). Sensitivity tests show that distally steepened ramps develop under complex interaction among accommodation, carbonate production and sediment transport parameters. Ramp slope initiation is favoured by still stands and falls of sea-level, in a setting with high-frequency sea-level fluctuations with amplitude between 20 m and 40 m. Low-frequency and higher amplitude sea-level fluctuations of about 115 m tend to form models with no significant slope development. The impact of antecedent slope on the geometry of ramps is determined by the paleoslope inclination, with flat to subhorizontal paleosurfaces resulting in ramps that mirror the antecedent slope. In contrast, steeper paleosurfaces tend to result in ramps with well-defined slopes. Our models, therefore, show that the ramp profile becomes more influenced by the depth constraints on the carbonate sediment producers than by the geometry of the underlying topography as the inclination of the paleosurface increases. The presented models also show that seagrass-dominated shallow carbonate production tends to result in steep slopes due to the low-transport characteristic imposed by seagrass trapping. This steepness can, however, be altered by the introduction of high transport sediment grains from deeper carbonate producers, which fill the slopes and more distal sections of the ramp profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study deals with unsteady transport of suspended sediment in a fluid flow through an open channel that carries non-uniform particles coming from erodible sediment beds in which the flow is considered to be uniform and time-independent. To that purpose, the advection-diffusion equation is modified for the i -th grain-size class. The hiding and hindering effects caused by the interactions between non-uniform sediment particles have been taken into account through the modified expression of settling velocity. Additionally, the study utilizes the concentration-dependent expression of mixing length, which has been used previously for the transport of uniform sediment particles. The reference level for each non-uniform grain-size class has been calculated by determining the average saltation height of that class of grain. The effects of incipient motion probability, non-ceasing possibility and particle pick-up probability are taken into account while computing the reference concentration for each grain-size class. The governing equation has been solved numerically by the fourth order Runge-Kutta method. The temporal evolution of the grain-size distribution over a sediment bed has been shown at different heights. The findings indicate that starting from a unimodal bed distribution, a bimodal distribution of grain-size with one strong peak and one weak peak evolves to a bimodal distribution with two strong peaks as the vertical height increases. The effects of mixing length and modified settling velocity on the concentration profiles of non-uniform sediment particles have been shown. Both the effects result in a decrease in the magnitude of the concentration profile. Due to lack of data for unsteady transport, the obtained solution has been compared with the experimental data for steady transport of non-uniform grain-size particles at a sufficiently large time. Because the model reaches steady state after a sufficiently long time, has been shown through the analysis of relative change in concentration over time. Close agreement has been observed in all the cases. Also, the efficacy of the considered effects has been shown through the error analysis. The main advantage of the study is that, unlike most of the previous studies, the present model is able to predict the grain-size distribution in suspension without having any fitting parameters. • Non-uniform grain size distribution over sediment beds is studied from concept of mixing length with varying time. • Effects of hiding and hindering during settling of particles are considered. • Time variation of grain-size profiles are discussed together with considered effects. • Validation of the model has been done with experimental data under certain restriction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A standard source-to-sink approach examines sediment transport along an imaginary axis (regarded here as primary) extending between land, the continental margin and a nearby basin. This approach oversimplifies the development of depositional environments located off the axis (regarded here as secondary). Similarly, it imposes that factors affecting the primary source (e.g. climate) will directly be reflected in the secondary sink. The current study examines this suggested hierarchy in a confined basin, where the sedimentary budget remains closed. It evaluates the mechanism connecting between the primary and secondary axes. The study focuses on the Nile sedimentary system, across northeastern Africa and the eastern Mediterranean basin (primary axis) and the Levant depositional system (secondary sink). We hypothesize that since secondary river input into the Levant basin is negligible, the main secondary source is seafloor currents. The Levant Jet System (LJS) transported sediments from the Nile cone along the Levant margin at depths between 0 and 350 m, during the Holocene and until today. Once the LJS reaches its capacity to transport sediments, the surplus falls downslope to the deep basin. By integrating seismic and bathymetric data, this paper suggests a unifying mechanism integrating deposition, erosion and transport of sediments across the Levant margin and basin throughout the Quaternary. Results show that during both highstand and lowstand conditions the primary source-to-sink axis delivers sediments to the deep basin via south to north meandering channels. The LJS transports sediments that build the shelf, while unconfined overspills slide downslope to accumulate across the continental rise. However, when sea levels drop, the capacity of the LJS weakens. This results in a drastic decrease in sedimentation across the shelf and rise, accompanied by confined downslope turbidity flows into the deep basin. We conclude that seafloor currents serve as an immediate supplier from the mouth of the primary source (i.e. a major river) to the off-axis system. Variations in seafloor current dynamics and their capacity to transport sediments will be directly reflected in the secondary sink. The primary continental source is expected to have only an indirect effect on the secondary sink. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study applies heavy mineral analysis to the Storegga tsunami deposit across a range of locations (Whale Firth, Maggie's Kettle Loch and Scatsta Voe) in Shetland (Scotland). The usefulness of this proxy is tested in the identification and characterization of these palaeotsunami units. Furthermore, provenance relationships are established based on the mineralogical content of tsunami deposits and their potential source. Finally, the capability of identifying different phases of tsunami inundation in an 8200 years old tsunami deposit is attempted. Our results show that, overall, tsunamigenic samples presented a clear dominance of garnets and amphiboles. While Whale Firth presented a more balanced distribution between these two mineral groups, in Maggie's Kettle Loch and Scatsta Voe the tsunamigenic samples are dominated by amphiboles (> 90% of transparent heavy minerals). Focusing on the two dominant heavy minerals (garnets and amphiboles) and their vertical variation, one could observe that garnets mimic the heavy mineral concentration variability — higher values at the base and decreasing values to the top. This effect of concentration of the heaviest of the heavy minerals assemblage presents similarities with the formation of beach placer deposits. In fact, based on the heavy mineral vertical variation of the tsunami deposits in Maggie's Kettle Loch, Scatsta Voe and Whale Firth it is possible to conclude that hornblende (most likely amphibole of the assemblage) has the lowest concentration factor indicating that its transport process is more efficient and consequently most of its particles eventually may have moved offshore in the backwash phase of the tsunami. Furthermore, the more platy shape of amphiboles also favours a slower deposition. The opposite can be observed for garnets, which require more energy to be transported (i.e. they are more difficult to entrain by the tsunami waves) and tend to be more easily preserved in the formation of a tsunamigenic (placer) deposit. The work presented here is of particular relevance for future high resolution sedimentological studies aiming to distinguish different inundation phases of the Storegga tsunami, and assess the degree of preservation of these deposits, especially considering the specific geomorphological and stratigraphic depositional setting of Scotland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detailed petrographic studies of shales show that they consist of a wide range of components, including a wide spectrum of composite particles that were contributed to the precursor muds in the form of high-water-content suspended floccules, bedload floccules, rip-up intraclasts, pedogenic aggregates, and fully lithified shale clasts. Experimental studies show that shale clasts of sand to silt size (shale lithics) can survive hundreds to thousands of kilometers of bedload transport. Observations of modern river and shelf muds reveal the common presence of shale lithics in these sediments, and suggest that a significant portion of ancient shale formations could potentially consist of reworked shale lithics and not, as commonly assumed, of primary composite particles such as clay floccules and organo-minerallic aggregates. Identification of shale lithics in the rock record presents challenges, but careful petrographic examination (using SEM and ion-milled samples) and case studies will help to develop robust criteria for recognition. The presented observations have manifold implications for the interpretation of many aspects of shales: mud transport and accumulation, sediment compaction and basin-fill modeling, and geochemical proxies. They emphasize the essential need for petrographic examination of shale samples before more advanced analyses are undertaken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sedimentary development of a continental margin is directly related to seafloor current dynamics. Yet the linkage between the processes remains vague due to the different time scales they represent. To narrow this gap we focus on the thoroughly studied distribution system of Nile derived sediments across the Levant continental margin (eastern Mediterranean). These sediments dominate the Late Quaternary stratigraphy of the entire margin. Their mobilization has been explained exclusively by longshore transport, while oceanographic evidence from the basin and margin are not incorporated in the known mechanism. New data indicates that longshore mechanism is part of a much larger system. Based on integrated interpretation of multibeam bathymetry, high-resolution single-channel seismic reflection and oceanographic (temperature, salinity and chlorophyll) data we suggest a jet current system mobilizes the Levant Surface Water (LSW), Levant Intermediate Water (LIW) and Atlantic Water (AW) northwards along the margin, between 0 and 400 m water depths. On the seafloor, contourite currents form elongated along-strike morphologies. Below 400 m along-dip gravity flows dominate sediment transport to down the slope, below the Eastern Mediterranean Deep Water (EMDW). Initiation of this mechanism during the Pleistocene–Holocene transition and not at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) indicates a gradual recovery of the thermo-haline circulation. Current intensification in the early Holocene may have also increased water stratification. This comprehensive mechanism explains sediment transport along the entire depth range of the continental margin, while integrating seafloor currents, morphology, as well as their relation to sea level rise and stratigraphy of water masses in the Levant basin since the LGM. Given the consistency of seafloor currents throughout the Holocene we propose to address them as the Levant Jet System. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To identify and interpret tsunami deposits correctly, a better understanding of the effects of both tsunami magnitude and topographic setting are required. In the present study, laboratory experiments were performed to model these effects on sedimentary processes and the distribution of tsunami deposits on coastal lowlands. The experiments directed tsunamis of eight different magnitudes on to three different models of terrestrial topography: one with flat topography, one with a shallow water-filled pool, and one with a deep water-filled pool. The results suggested a relationship between the distribution of tsunami deposits and the hydraulic condition of the tsunami flow onto the terrestrial topography. In particular, the tsunami deposits in the pools were spatially more variable than those on land because of the variation in flow intensity associated with transformation of the flow from supercritical to subcritical with a hydraulic jump. We observed a gap between the landward extent of deposits and the tsunami inundation distance, particularly in the experiments with a pool. The total amount of sediment in tsunami deposits on the terrestrial area was found to depend on the magnitude of the tsunami, but the thickness of the deposits at any one given spot did not always depend on the tsunami magnitude, even in the same topographic. These results show that terrestrial topography has significant effects on the spatial distribution of tsunami deposits that must be taken into consideration when interpreting the history and magnitude of paleotsunami events from tsunami deposits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An improved method is presented to determine the threshold boundary velocity required to entrain sediments under waves, using the non-dimensional group settling velocity of sediments ranging from very fine sand to granules (0.1–3.3 mm), together with a dimensionless boundary velocity. In combination with a more accurate method to calculate the actual boundary velocity under linear as well as non-linear waves, this allows sediment entrainment to be predicted from deep water up to the breaker zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Barbalha Formation (Aptian) records deposition in a fluvial and lacustrine environment accumulated in an early post-rift sag basin. Characterization of the facies architecture and sequence stratigraphic framework of the alluvial succession was carried out through detailed description and interpretation of outcrops and cored wells. The development of depositional sequences in this unit reflects variation in the accommodation-to-sediment supply (A/S) ratio. Two depositional sequences, showing an overall fining-upward trend, are preserved within the succession. The sequences are bounded by regional subaerial unconformities formed during negative A/S ratio, and may be subdivided in Low-accommodation Systems Tracts (LAST) (positive A/S ratio close to zero) and High accommodation Systems Tracts (HAST) (A/S ratio between 0.5 and 1). Sequence 1, with a minimum thickness of 100 m, is characterized by amalgamated, multi-storey, braided fluvial channel sand bodies, defining a LAST. These are interlayered with crevasse splay and floodplain deposits toward the top, passing to open lacustrine deposits, defining a HAST. Sequence 2, with minimum thickness ranging from 50 to 90 m, overlies the organic-rich lacustrine deposits. At the base, this sequence is composed of amalgamated, multistorey braided fluvial channel sand bodies (LAST), similar to Sequence 1, overlain by well-drained floodplain with fixed fluvial channel deposits, interpreted as an anastomosed fluvial system, which are in turn capped by lacustrine deposits, both grouped in a HAST. Paleocurrent data on fluvial deposits of sequences 1 and 2 show a consistent paleoflow to the SE. Sedimentological evidence indicates humid to sub-humid climatic conditions during deposition of sequences 1 and 2. Accumulation of fluvial sequences 1 and 2 was mainly controlled by tectonics. Variation in A/S ratios must be related to tectonic subsidence and uplift of the basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At least 26 genera of macroalgae have been observed attached to and carrying sedimentary materials (rock, veneer, or carbonate) to beaches and the sea floor. Most studies have been descriptive, with few quantifying flux rates. This study reviews and quantifies the mainly-biological literature on macroalgae-mediated sediment transport in coastal and marine environments. Dislodgement of macroalgae from a hard substrate can result in erosion up to 0.01 mm y − 1 . The proportion of buoyant macroalgae carrying rock material (usually a thin veneer, but sometimes boulders up to 365 kg) varies by location, but can reach as high as 35%. Macroalgae carrying attached carbonate material (e.g., crustose coralline algae, shells) are more common: up to 85% of holdfasts on a beach may contain up to 116 g CaCO 3 each. Sand and carbonate trapped in haptera, along with encrusting carbonate-producing organisms, have a mass of up to tens of grammes. While most dislodged macroalgae land close to where they came from, others may be stranded many thousands of km from their place of origin. Sediment deposited by macroalgal transport depends largely on the characteristics of local source rocks. While hard rocks may only provide a few g m − 2 y − 1 , highly fractured basalt has been shown to provide up to 78 g m − 2 y − 1 . Rock transport by macroalgae is less than carbonate flux, which may reach over 8000 g m − 2 y − 1 . Based on the projected abundance of macroalgal rafts, some 350 tonnes of sediment (both carbonate and clastic) may be afloat in the Southern Ocean at any one time. Macroalgal transport may explain the presence of exotic rocks and shells found far from their source environment. While cold-climate rafting of sediment is dominated by glacial processes, in warm periods rafting may be limited to biological transport. Overall the transport of rock and carbonate by macroalgae has the potential in some environments of being a significant source of sediment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: General facies models developed for modern and ancient Mediterranean temperate-water carbonates in the last two decades have shown that the style of deposition on outer-ramp, slope, and basin environments in low-energy areas such as the Mediterranean Sea differs overall from that of high-energy open-ocean areas, given the wider variety of smaller-scale topographic and hydrodynamic conditions in the former setting. However, these depositional models generally lack relevant information about sedimentary processes, transport mechanisms and controlling factors on offshore sediment redeposition, which are potential sources of information for sequence stratigraphic, palaeoclimate and exploration studies. Several examples from the Neogene Betic basins of the western Mediterranean region have been selected to integrate the processes and controlling factors on the offshore sediment transport and the resulting deposits. Additional published data from other Mediterranean localities have also been considered. An idealized model of temperate-water carbonate deposition in the study examples comprises a shallow-water coastal belt and a shoal area developed landwards of a carbonate-factory zone, and deeper-water outer-ramp, slope, and basin settings below the storm wave base. The environments off the factory bear a variety of remobilized deposits characterized by distinctive features. These deposits include storm shell beds, sediment gravity flows (debrites and turbidites), bed packages with hummocky and swaley cross-stratification (HCS and SCS), slope sandwaves, and channel as well as lobe deposits. The different types of redeposited facies resulted from various offshore sediment-transport processes interacting with the local conditions. Storm shell beds developed in low-energy protected basins, regardless of the ramp profile. Debrites and turbidites formed in the distal parts of moderately-steep ramps within moderately energetic hydrodynamic contexts. Similar gradients but with higher hydrodynamic energy and appropriate sediment grain size favoured the formation of deposits with HCS and SCS in relatively deep-water settings. The circulation pattern of currents within the basin was the main factor controlling the formation of downslope migrating sandwaves. In the case of channel and lobe deposits, hydrodynamic-flow behaviour through the channels and at the transition point conditioned the features of the resulting deposits. Offshore resedimentation is consistent with a highstand shedding model in the case of storm-driven event deposits (storm beds, sediment gravity flows and deposits with HCS–SCS) while offshore directed and persistent unidirectional currents generated prograding margin clinoforms during falling and low sea levels. This review provides a concise depositional framework to understand the different redeposition processes operating in low-energy, temperate-water carbonate ramps and to interpret remobilized deposits in low-energy regions such as the Mediterranean Sea. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The impressive 2000m thick conglomerates of the Bucegi Formation exposed in the southernmost part of the Eastern Carpathians were interpreted initially as large alluvial fans, and later suggested to be deposited as deepwater submarine-slope deposits. However, the routing system of the coarse sediment transfer from the source area to the deepwater slope (source-to-sink analysis) has not been explained and the mechanisms involved in the shelf sediment storage and bypass onto the slope have not been discussed. The present research on the Albian Bucegi Formation has provided the following new insights on their source-to-sink aspect: (1) that the Upper Member of the Bucegi Formation, with its frequent channelized and sheet like fine conglomerates and sandstones, contrasts greatly with the Middle and Lower members of deepwater slope and basin-floor origin. The Upper Member is interpreted as fluvial and shallow-marine deposits that were temporarily stored and reworked on a ‘shelf’, albeit a narrow one, bridging the area between the deforming hinterland and the deepwater slope deposits; (2) the Upper and Middle members are genetically linked and developed through the basinward migration of a large-scale (hundreds of metres in amplitude) clinoform with relative flat-lying topsets and slightly steeper (few degrees), coarser grained slopes that built out to the south and southeast; a configuration that is common along continental margins and also generally along all types of deepwater basin margins; (3) the Middle Member contains a range of submarine, sediment density flows that vary from high-density, mobile debris flows to lower-density sandy turbidites. The sediment textures (sorted grain populations) inherited from the shelf ‘sorting factory’ can to some extent still be recognised in the slope stratigraphy; and (4) the large (10–20m diameter) carbonate and metamorphic olistoliths that are ubiquitous on the shelf and (to a lesser extent) slope, reflect the steep gradients and very active tectonic setting of the fractured and thrusted hinterland, from which these outsized blocks were transported onto the adjacent shelf. The now-proposed, narrow shelf platform of the Albian Bucegi basin margin thus functioned to temporarily store sands and gravels, to distinctly sort some of this sediment, and to eventually bypass both sorted and new flood-generated, unsorted materials onto the slope. Compared with other basin margins, this Albian Bucegi margin was extremely coarse grained because of its proximity to the actively deforming mountain range, to a fractured basement that produced more gravel than sand, to the great sediment flux from steep short rivers, and to the narrowness (10–20km) of the shelf. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We evaluated sediment sources of the 2011 Tohoku-Oki tsunami deposits along a 4500m inland transect from the central east Japan coast, using grain size, mineralogy and foraminifera analyses. The tsunami run-up height in our study area was 13 to 20m near the coastline, 1.4 to 2.8m in the middle of the valley and 1.3m around the inundation limit. The inundation distance was around 4800m. The deposits are composed of sand and mud and show a fining and thinning trend. Mineral composition of the tsunami deposits was similar to that of coastal dune and beach deposits, indicating that most of the tsunami sediment originated from there. A minor foraminifera population in the deposit (≤15 specimens per 5g of sample compared with ≥100 specimens per 1g for typical marine sediment) indicates that marine sediment source was not dominant. Topography played an important role in sediment transport process and deposit distribution. The run-up wave accelerated faster in concave topography, became more erosive, and resulted in a thin deposit in topographic lows. We infer that the deposits up to 2300m from the coastline were deposited by bedload and suspension, whereas suspension was responsible for deposits farther inland. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Different geometries of bending channels are set up without distortion and with distortion ratios of 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 in order to study its influence on bed deformation induced by suspended sediment transport in these channels. Experiment results show that the kinematics of suspended sediment is inversely proportional to the distortion ratio of the physical model, but proportional to the width–depth ratio and curvature ratio. The similar bed deformation to that of the non-distorted model is only observed in the distorted models with distortion ratios of not more than 4 and width–depth ratios of not less than 6.3. It is recommended that the geometric distortion ratio be less than 4 in order to meet the similarity requirements of river bed deformation in bending channels. With the same distortion ratio, deviation of bed deformation was observed more in the bending reaches than in the straight ones and more with a fixed convex bank than with a mobile convex bank. The geometric distortion affects the river bed deformation in the model, i.e., the amount of deposition and erosion and the profiles of river bed deformation in longitude and transverse directions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Two meter-scale pyroclastic levels are interbedded within the early Miocene succession of the Estancia 25 de Mayo (Patagoniense transgression) and Santa Cruz formations in the foreland Austral (or Magallanes) Basin, Argentina. The Lower Pyroclastic Level (LPL) is a tabular body interbedded within offshore marine deposits, laterally continuous for 30km and varying in thickness from few centimeters to around 4m. Grain-size grades from coarse to extremely fine ash with upward-fining along with a northeastern-fining trends. Structureless fine to very fine tuffs dominate and rare parallel laminations are the only tractive sedimentary structures. The Upper Pyroclastic Level (UPL) lies within low energy fluvial deposits and is laterally discontinuous, and it is composed by lenticular bodies reaching a maximum of 15m thick and 100m wide, with a concave-up base and a plane top. Grain-size range is similar to the LPL but it coarsens upward. The lower portion of the UPL shows parallel lamination, current ripple lamination and mud drapes with large pumice lapilli and plant debris, whereas the upper portion shows parallel lamination and trough cross-stratification. Both pyroclastic levels are composed mainly of pumice grains and glass shards with minor proportions of quartz and plagioclase crystals and lithic fragments. The LPL shows no mixing with epiclastic material whereas the UPL shows an upward increase in epiclastic material, and an upward increment in the scale of cross-bedding. The large thickness in relation to the possible emission center and the content of plant debris of the LPL does not suggest a direct, submarine, ash-fallout origin. The LPL is interpreted as a deposit of hyperpycnal-flows generated at the coastal zone when tephra-laden rivers plunged into the ocean. Large amounts of well preserved plant debris support the hypothesis of a terrestrial source of the sediments. The UPL is entirely composed of tractive deposits, so an ash fallout origin is disregarded. This, together with the lenticular shape and the alluvial plain origin of the encasing sediments, suggests accumulation within fluvial channels. Cycles of upper-flow-regime parallel lamination, current-ripple lamination and mud drapes at the lower portion, suggest short-lived turbulent flows that initially filled semi-abandoned channels. They were followed by sheet floods and channel reactivation, expressed by large-scale cross-bedding. The low degree of particle mixing observed in both levels is explained by the inability of streams to erode the substrate as they are suddenly over-saturated with pyroclastic sediments during and after the eruption. The grain-size distribution of the LPL and geochemical data indicate a contemporaneous volcanic source located to the west/southwest in the Andean ranges, where the South Patagonian Batholith is presently located. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper reports on the sedimentary processes of sand and boulder deposition at Sabusawa Island, Japan as a result of the 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunami. Boulders were composed of tuffaceous rocks and sourced from an earthquake-triggered slope failure as well as concrete fragments of seawall. They were scattered over the ground surface and did not form boulder ridges, although there was some local imbrication. The boulders were deposited on top of a sand layer indicating that the latter, possibly deposited from bed load, covered the ground surface first. This sand layer probably reduced friction allowing boulders to be transported more easily than might be expected across a hard ground with a high bottom friction. Sand deposits showed landward thinning and fining features, while the boulders showed a landward coarsening (tuffaceous boulders) or a landward fining (concrete boulders), indicating that large clasts were not necessarily scattered randomly but rather might have a clast size gradient with distance inland. These features are explained by the local topographic setting that constrained the directions of incoming and returning tsunami flows. Some clasts at the inland extent of the boulder field were covered by an upward fining sand layer. This feature suggests that the boulders were deposited prior to the suspended sands, with the latter subsequently laid down before the water level dropped below the top of the boulders. Such modern investigations of the sedimentary features of various sizes of grains and clasts immediately after a tsunami provide invaluable data for the reconstruction of inundation processes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Tsunami deposits contain information about the flow that created them which can be interpreted to estimate tsunami magnitude. Sandy deposits near Sendai Airport are modeled using an inverse sediment transport model to explore the spatial and temporal variation of tsunami flow speed in the 11 March 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunami. The 2011 deposits contain grain-size signatures of both sediment transport convergences and sediment settling out of suspension. Sediment transport convergences form massive or inversely graded intervals. Sediment falling out of suspension forms a specific type of normal grading, termed suspension grading. The Jaffe and Gelfenbaum (2007) inverse sediment transport model, which relates the thickness and bulk grain size of suspension-graded intervals to tsunami flow speed, was applied to 24 suspension-graded intervals, ranging in thickness from 2 to 4cm, at 7 trenches located from about 250 to 1350m inland from the shoreline. Modeled tsunami flow speeds range from 2.2 to 9.0m/s, and were strongly dependent on the choice of Manning''s n roughness parameterization. Flow speeds were highest from about 75–300m landward of the forested sand dunes where the tsunami encountered lower roughness in a low-lying area as it traveled downslope, and decreased by 16% as the tsunami moved inland over the subsequent 596m. As many as 5 suspension-graded intervals, interpreted as forming during the onshore flow of up to 5 waves, were identified at each location, with a tendency for an inland decrease in the number of suspension-graded intervals suggesting fewer waves inland. Tsunami flows tended to be fastest in the lower two intervals (earlier waves) and slowest in the uppermost interval (last wave) of the deposits. Modeled reconstructions of the suspension-graded intervals at a vertical resolution of 1-cm reproduced observed upward fining of the distributions reasonably well, supporting the use of the inverse model. Estimates of the time required to form 99% of the thickness of the suspension-graded intervals ranged 2 to 5min, allowing that sediment falling from suspension could have formed these portions of the deposits in the time between waves. Application of the inverse model to determine paleotsunami flow speeds from deposits, although now possible, is complicated by uncertainty in roughness. As inverse approaches to estimating roughness and tsunami flow speed improve, the magnitude of paleotsunamis will be better understood and the ability to assess tsunami hazard from paleotsunami deposits will improve. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Geological effects of the 2010 Chilean tsunami were quantified at five near-field sites along a 200km segment of coast located between the two zones of predominant fault slip. Field measurements, including topography, flow depths, flow directions, scour depths, and deposit thicknesses, provide insights into the processes and morphological changes associated with tsunami inundation and return flow. The superposition of downed trees recorded multiple strong onshore and alongshore flows that arrived at different times and from different directions. The most likely explanation for the diverse directions and timing of coastal inundation combines (1) variable fault rupture and asymmetrical slip displacement of the seafloor away from the epicenter with (2) resonant amplification of coastal edge waves. Other possible contributing factors include local interaction of incoming flow and return flow and delayed wave reflection by the southern coast of Peru. Coastal embayments amplified the maximum inundation distances at two sites (2.4 and 2.6km, respectively). Tsunami vertical erosion included scour and planation of the land surface, inundation scour around the bases of trees, and channel incision from return flow. Sheets and wedges of sand and gravel were deposited at all of the sites. Locally derived boulders up to 1m in diameter were transported as much as 400m inland and deposited as fields of dispersed clasts. The presence of lobate bedforms at one site indicates that at least some of the late-stage sediment transport was as bed load and not as suspended load. Most of the tsunami deposits were less than 25cm thick. Exceptions were thick deposits near open-ocean river mouths where sediment supply was abundant. Human alterations of the land surface at most of the sites provided opportunities to examine some tsunami effects that otherwise would not have been possible, including flow histories, boulder dispersion, and vegetation controls on deposit thickness. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The largest rivers draining to the Gulf of Mexico in Texas are at more advanced stages of valley filling than rivers with smaller drainage areas, with corresponding differences in alluvial morphology and architecture, and avulsion style. This seems to imply that the larger fluvial systems either produce more sediment relative to the accommodation space in the alluvial valleys, or that they have undergone longer periods of valley aggradation. However, it is not clear that either of these is the case. This paper presents a theoretical analysis showing that fluvial systems with larger drainage areas can produce more advanced stages of infilling than those with smaller drainage areas (but with identical histories and sediment production per unit area) due to the nature of the scaling relationships between drainage basin area and incised valley size, and between basin area and sediment yield. Data for rivers in the region shows a strong linear relationship between valley width and drainage area. The nonlinear relationship between drainage area and proportion of the incised valley filled is somewhat weaker, but still significant, and major deviations are readily explained in terms of local inherited morphology or tectonic features. Results show that major differences in the degree or stage of valley filling could occur due to differences in drainage basin size alone. This indicates caution in interpreting incised valley fills of drainage basins of different sizes in terms of sediment supply. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A better understanding of the interplay between rift basin evolution and sediment transport paths can improve the success rate of locating hydrocarbon reservoirs at passive rift margins. This paper reviews the current knowledge and suggests future research directions. Relay ramps at extensional basin margins can form drainage entry points if tectonic activity exceeds sedimentation and incision rates, leading to a diversion of sedimentary flow paths towards the ramp. During base level lowstands, channels and canyons may incise into the relay ramp and provide flow paths from the basin margin into the basin. Their orientation and geometry mainly develops as a response to faulting and fracturing, and their activity is influenced by base level fluctuations. Flow constraints such as channels parallel to the ramp axis direct flows to the foot of the relay ramp where sediment accumulates in response to the basin topography. In subaqueous settings, however, turbidity currents are likely to spill at least partly over channel levees and flow down the fault slope into the basin, depositing its load adjacent to the en-echelon boundary faults. Channels and canyons with oblique and perpendicular orientations to the boundary faults can funnel flows down the hanging wall fault onto the basin floor, by-passing the relay ramp. The prevalent basinward tilt of relay ramps can direct unconstrained subaqueous gravity flows also directly into the basin. In subaerial settings, the duration of channel activity in relation to relay ramp evolution strongly depends on the ratio between flow incision rates and tectonic uplift. Drainage direction on the footwall may revert if footwall uplift exceeds incision rates, and the feeding of former depocentres terminates. In the course of rift margin development relay ramp bounding faults may link, causing the breaching of relay ramps and eventually their burial. The effect of continued rifting on ramp remnants and associated syn-rift deposits, however, is not sufficiently known and needs further investigation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: There has been considerable interest in recent years in the development of theoretical models of subglacial transport and deposition of sediment, but relatively few studies report field documentation of the resultant sediment stratigraphies. This paper presents detailed sedimentological description and analysis of a succession of late Quaternary deposits interpreted to record subglacial overriding and deformation of previously deposited lacustrine sediments exposed in the Vineland Quarry that sits close to the crest of the Niagara Escarpment within the Lake Ontario basin. The predominately fine-grained sediments record deposition under glaciolacustrine conditions followed by deformation and deposition by overriding glacial ice. Laminated silt and clay deposits overlie the striated bedrock surface and were deposited within a lake that formed as the Ontario Lobe of the Laurentide Ice Sheet advanced during the Port Huron stadial and ponded water against the Niagara Escarpment. The laminated silt and clay facies show increasing amounts of deformation up-section, passing from planar through ductile to brittle deformation. This succession of deformed facies is overlain by a macroscopically massive clay-rich diamict that caps the section. This pattern of sediment deposition and deformation is consistent with that proposed by current models of subglacial sediment deformation with the disrupted laminated silts and clays representing ‘glacitectonites’ resulting from downward penetrating stresses imparted by an overriding ice sheet. The uppermost massive diamict unit represents full macroscopic homogenization of the overridden sediment and is classified as a subglacial ‘traction till’. The gradual transition from undisturbed laminated deposits through increasingly deformed sediment to structureless, diamict suggests that these deposits record a single episode of ice advance across the region. This ice advance was probably the short-lived advance of the Ontario Lobe of the Laurentide Ice Sheet that occurred at approximately 13,000ybp. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: It is shown that the middle Cretaceous succession in the northern Cordilleran foreland basin consists of several-million-year tectonically-driven cycles comprising two components: strata deposited in an underfilled basin with a prominent forebulge zone and strata deposited in an overfilled basin lacking evidence of a forebulge. The episodic thrusting of the Cordilleran orogenic wedge and its rich sediment supply to the basin are two main controlling factors for the formation of these cycles. A qualitative model of several-million-year tectonically-driven underfilled–overfilled cycle for migration and stratigraphic fill in this basin is proposed. During the early underfilled period (orogenic loading period), due to orogenic loading of emplaced thrust sheets, flexural subsidence is created in the region proximal to the mountain belt and a prominent forebulge is developed. During the late underfilled period (early orogenic unloading period), as the cratonward migration of the subsidence center of sediment loading in the foredeep zone, forebulge zones and backbulge zones migrate cratonwards, forming a diachronic erosion surface in the central basin. During the overfilled period (late orogenic unloading period), a prominent erosion forms in the proximal basin and a peripheral sag develops above the forebulge area of the previous underfilled period. This model may provide a pattern to subdivide sedimentary successions in the Cordilleran foreland basin. Using this model, alternative interpretations are suggested for some important, but controversial stratigraphic phenomena in the Cretaceous Cordilleran foreland basin: traditionally defined eustatic highstands, wide sedimentation area of the basin, erosion surfaces and widespread subtle topographic uplifts in the central basin, high-frequency coarsening-up cycles, extensively distributed erosive-based sandstones and conglomerates enclosed in marine mudstones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Although current velocity profiles are commonly used to predict sediment entrainment under unidirectional currents, it has not been possible to use this method for waves because the nature of velocity profiles within the wave boundary layer was unknown. Based upon theoretical wave modelling that allows the thickness of the boundary layer and the boundary velocity to be determined in any water depth, combined with an empirical method to determine the critical boundary velocity, the different forms of the law of the wall for smooth, transitional and rough boundary conditions are evaluated for the wave boundary layer. The results show that velocity profiles in the wave boundary layer are of the same form as in unidirectional currents, but that the critical shear velocity differs from that of the latter. For smooth boundaries, the shear velocity necessary to entrain grains of a specific size and density is more than that required under unidirectional currents, but the inverse is true for fully rough conditions. This is attributed to additional forces under waves related to the balance between the static pressure and static pressure gradient. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In-situ and laboratory-based magnetic measurements were made on sand samples from the beach on the eastern side of Point Pelee National Park (PPNP) in northwestern Lake Erie, in order to examine both the composition and spatial distribution of magnetic minerals. Magnetic remanence measurements on bulk and particle size fractions showed that the magnetic properties were dominated by multidomain ferrimagnetic grains, probably magnetite and/or maghemite. Particle size-specific measurements on different grain size fractions showed that the <250μm fraction of the beach sands was responsible for the majority of the bulk magnetic signal and that these magnetic grains, and other dense minerals, were concentrated into the finer fractions by sorting processes. Selective entrainment and erosion of lighter quartz minerals lead to concentration of heavy magnetic minerals as placer deposits in the finer fractions. Highest in-situ magnetic susceptibility values were observed in the mid-back beach sands where the beach was the narrowest and had experienced significant erosion in the past. Lowest magnetic susceptibility values were in beach areas which were wider and appeared to be less sensitive to erosion; therefore magnetic susceptibility provided a useful proxy for mapping erosion along the PPNP beaches. Mapping in-situ magnetic susceptibility along the 8.9km length of eastern PPNP identified 2.4km (31%) of the beach where erosion was high and where efforts to minimize erosion should be directed. This technique can be applied to a wide range of sedimentary settings and permits quantitative identification of areas of erosion and better targeting of mitigation measures aimed at reducing the impacts of erosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Magnetic susceptibility (MS) and grain sizes of surface sediments are measured to characterize sediment sources and their distribution in the South China Sea (SCS). Distribution characteristics of MS of bulk samples (MSB), fine-grained fraction (MSF) and coarse-grained fraction (MSC) are examined to explore the factors affecting MS values in sediment transport and deposition processes. Affected by dilution of quartz and carbonate abundance, MSC is not suitable for tracing sediment sources in the region. Instead, MSF provides a good parameter for tracking transport and deposition of complex and coarse-grained sediments such as those from Luzon Island volcanics and from the Pearl and Mekong Rivers, which often have high MSF values showing a decreasing trend with water depth on the continental shelf (water depth<200m). To the west of Luzon Island, Kuroshio intrusion into the SCS is the predominant factor for sediment transport after high MSF volcanic materials from the Luzon Island are discharged into the sea. Sediments from the Pearl River are transported southwestward under the China coastal current and then deposited between the Pearl River mouth and Hainan Island. To the southwest of Taiwan Island in the northeastern SCS, where sediments are mainly derived from Taiwan Island and/or the Yangtze River, both the Kuroshio intrusion and the China coastal current are significant in determining sediment transport and deposition. In the south, most of high MSF sediments from the Mekong River are transported eastward under the influence of northeastward currents in summer after entering the sea and then deposited on the northern Sunda Shelf. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, Radio Frequency Identification technology has been applied to track both underwater and subaerial displacement of pebbles along an artificial coarse beach at Marina di Pisa, Italy. Several preliminary laboratory tests have been performed to adapt the RFID technique for underwater use, which has been the primary impediment to this promising approach to the study of coarse sediment transport and movement. Tests showed the reliability of low frequencies for this kind of work, since they enable good signal transmission and reception through water. Passive ABS plastic transponders were inserted into about 100 pebbles and released onto the beach in March, 2009. A CORE-125 reader was chosen as the operating antenna to continuously transmit low frequency (125kHz) signals. An acoustic signal toned whenever a pebble was detected while the unambiguous identification code of the pebble is shown immediately on the screen of a laptop connected to the reader. The positions of the pebbles were recorded with a total station. After two months (May, 2009), 74 marked pebbles were retrieved, 77% of the total. The positions of the retrieved pebbles were also recorded with the total station, thus allowing calculation of the coarse sediment transport tendency. About 60% of the recovered pebbles (44 out of 74) were found on the upper shoreface. The analysis of the marked pebble trajectories revealed a divergent transport movement in the northernmost sector of the beach. This movement was probably triggered by an irregularity of the submerged breakwater fronting the shoreline. The southern sector is characterised by chaotic pathways related to the formation and evolution of beach cusps. This outcome highlights and confirms the importance of a complete definition of the beach system, with no separation between the underwater and the subaerial portion of the shore when it comes to sediment transport and movement. This successful application of RFID technology to the underwater environment provides a chance to broaden understanding of a topic in need of further study. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The stratigraphic section of the Upper Triassic–Lower Jurassic Whitmore Point Member of the Moenave Formation at Potter Canyon, Arizona, comprises c. 26m of gray to black shales and red mudstones interbedded with mainly sheet-like siltstones and sandstones. These strata represent deposition from suspension and sheetflow processes in shallow, perennial meromictic to ephemeral lakes, and on dry mudflats of the terminal floodout of the northward-flowing Moenave stream system. The lakes were small, as indicated by the lack of shoreline features and limited evidence for deltas. Changes in base level, likely forced by climate change, drove the variations between mudflat and perennial lacustrine conditions. Lenticular sandstones that occur across the outcrop face in the same stratigraphic interval in the lower part of the sequence represent the bedload fill of channels incised into a coarsening-upward lacustrine sequence following a fall in base level. These sandstones are distinctive for the common presence of over-steepened bedding, dewatering structures, and less commonly, folding. Deformation of these sandstones is interpreted as aseismic due to the lack of features typically associated with seismicity, such as fault-graded bedding, diapirs, brecciated fabrics and clastic dikes. Rapid deposition of the sands on a fluid-rich substrate produced a reverse density gradient that destabilized, and potentially fluidized the underlying, finer-grained sediments. This destabilization allowed synsedimentary subsidence of most of the channel sands, accompanied by longitudinal rotation and/or ductile deformation of the sand bodies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Many sediment entrainment equations for oscillatory waves are based on the linear (Airy) theory for deep water, but at the depth where such waves begin to transport sediments they commonly have trochoidal or cnoidal (non-linear) forms. These changes in the wave profile, together with the fact that it is displaced upward with respect to the still water level (SWL), have a profound influence on the hydrodynamics. A method is presented to determine the thickness of the boundary layer from the wave profile, which can be used to calculate the boundary velocity under the wave crest and trough, respectively, in any water depth. The critical boundary velocity can be determined from a published procedure based on laboratory experiments that takes account of the sediment and water properties as well as the wave period. An adjustment is made for the bottom slope and roughness, so that differential land- or seaward sediment entrainment can be predicted for any defined wave cycle. The results explain why sediments are normally transported landward under fair weather conditions and seaward during storms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The grain-size fractions in the bedload transported over the five heterogeneous sediment beds of different values of bed roughness were computed from the flume experiments. The existence of an entrapment factor associated with the sorting observed from the bed to active layer was modeled based on the modified critical shear stress to estimate the grain-size fractions in the transport layer under given hydraulic conditions. The efficiency of these models was tested with the observed data. Subsequently, the patterns of observed grain-size distributions in the transport layer were tested to identify the distributions developed in the active layer due to sorting using three probability density functions (pdf), such as, log-normal, log-hyperbolic and log-skew-Laplace. Tests indicated that a log-skew-Laplace distribution fitted best for 49%, a log-hyperbolic for 31%, and a log-normal for 20% out of forty-five bedload samples collected under unidirectional flow with changes in flow discharge and bed roughness. The results of this study would be useful to specify the grain-size distributions in the bedload formed under different hydrodynamic conditions in various sedimentary environments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Predicting facies distribution and the stratigraphic architecture of sedimentary basins by process-oriented numerical models is nowadays an essential tool in geologic studies. They constitute a new approach to predict the geologic heterogeneity and the spatial distribution of the diverse facies generated in a depositional system jointly with the distribution of the physical, chemical, and petrophysical characteristics of the sedimentary deposits in a quantitative way. SIMSAFADIM-CLASTIC is a 3D process-based, forward numerical model for the simulation of clastic sediment transport and sedimentation in aquatic systems. It simulates the physical process of clastic transport using the advective, diffusive, and dispersive terms of the transport equation and clastic sediment deposition as a result of a variety of processes. The capabilities of SIMSAFADIM-CLASTIC have been confirmed through the application of the program to a large deep elongated artificial lake, the Camarasa reservoir in the Noguera Pallaresa River, NE of Spain. Simulation results yield sedimentation rates ranging from 0.04 to 0.09 cm·yr− 1 close to the dam, and from 1.73 to 1.63 cm·yr− 1 in the upper reservoir section. The sample experiment results match well with the observed transport pattern linked to the flow system in Camarasa''s reservoir near-bottom water layer, which transports more than 50% of the sediment that is supplied to the reservoir. Opening and closure of turbine gates and the basin geometry are the main controlling factors on the fluid flow and depositional pattern in the reservoir, with a more diversified pattern obtained when an open boundary is defined. However, the resulting model also shows some limitations of the program as it does consider a stratified water column that is consistently observed in the reservoir. Refined modeling exercises of the type described in this paper are of potential application to predict and quantify sedimentation patterns allowing the implementation of efficient preservation measures against reservoir siltation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In Lake Banyoles (northeastern Spain), warm water enters through lake bottom seeps and generates two hydrothermal turbid plumes. One of them is perennial in character and the other is active only after fluidisation events of the bottom sediment caused by reactivation of the bottom seeps after rainfall in the aquifer recharge area. The vertical development of both hydrothermal plumes is very sensitive to the thermal stratification of the water column. When a plume reaches a level of neutral buoyancy, a turbidity current spreads laterally and transports sediment particles across the lake. Silt particles transported by the plume are used in ADCP backscatter images to determine its maximum and equilibrium heights. Field results are compared and found to be in accordance with models for thermal convection from finite isolated sources. When the lake is stratified, the vertical transport of sediment is confined to the hypolimnion; when the lake water column is mixed, the plume reaches the surface of the lake. The turbidity current is usually confined to the southern sub-basin of the lake during stratification, resulting in higher sedimentation rates. During fluidisation events the sedimentation rates are one order of magnitude greater than in periods without fluidisation. For the fluidisation periods, turbidity has been estimated to be ~10 FTU. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This study describes the structure of gravel bars in Nahal Zin, an ephemeral stream in the Negev desert. The internal structure of the bars was examined along trenches and in shallow pits. Gravel sheets and unit bars form during transporting flow events in the main channel, on intra-bar channels and near bar heads. Unit bars are dominated by the Go facies. Compound bars develop from accretion around, and modification of, unit bars. Compound bars are active under the current flow regime and the average depth of the fill layer is about 35cm. The structure of compound bars is dominated by Gm (massive), containing large amounts of sand. The second most common facies is clast-supported, openwork, and well sorted sediments of the Go (pebbles) facies. Bar formation, and the development of the range of facies evident in the bars is controlled by sediment supply, particularly the high volumes of sand-sized sediment, the passage of gravel sheets and bedforms during floods, and the lateral and vertical instability of the channel. Repeated scour and fill events have produced a diverse arrangement of facies, with numerous erosional contacts between depositional units. Lateral and downstream shifts in the pattern of scour and fill due to flow and antecedent conditions shape the channel morphology and bar internal structure. Ephemeral river bars differ from those of humid and proglacial rivers in terms of the dominant facies present, the arrangement of the facies within the bars, and the sedimentary structures developed within the depositional units and on the bar surface. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]