the influence of crustal strength fields on the patterns and rates of fluvial incision gradients in the bedrock strength field are increasingly recognized as integral to the rates and patterns of landscape evolution to explore this influence we incorporate data from fault strength profiles into a landscape evolution model under the assumption that erodibility of rock is proportional to the inverse square root of cohesion for bedrock rivers incised by bedload abrasion our model calculations illustrate how patterns in the crustal strength field can play a dominant role in local fluvial erosion rates and consequently the development of fluvial network patterns fluvial incision within weak zones can be orders of magnitude faster than that for resistant bedrock the large difference in erosion rate leads to the formation of a straight high order channel with short orthogonal tributaries of low order in comparison channels incising into homogeneous strength fields produce dendritic drainage patterns with no directional dependence associated with erodibility gradients channels that cross the strength gradient experience local variations in knickpoint migration rate and the development of stationary knickpoints structurally confined channels can shift laterally if they incise into weak zones with a shallow dip angle and this effect is strongly dependent on the magnitude of the strength difference the dip angle and the symmetry and thickness of the weak zone the influence of the strength field on drainage network patterns becomes less apparent for erodibility gradients that approach homogeneity there are multiple natural examples with drainage network patterns similar to those seen in our numerical experiments

crustal structure due to collisional and escape tectonics in the eastern alps region based on profiles alp01 and alp02 from the alp 2002 seismic experiment 1 alp01 and alp02 are the longest profiles recorded during alp 2002 a large international seismic refraction and wide angle reflection experiment undertaken in the eastern alps in 2002 alp01 crosses the alpine orogen from north to south thus providing a cross section mainly affected by the collision between europe and the adriatic microplate alp02 extends from the eastern alps to the pannonian basin supplying evidence on the relation between alpine crustal structure and tectonic escape to the pannonian basin during this experiment 363 single channel recorders were deployed along these profiles with an average spacing of 3 2 km recordings from 20 inline shots were used in this study two dimensional forward modeling using interactive ray tracing techniques produced detailed p wave velocity models that contain many features of tectonic significance along alp01 the european moho dips generally to the south and reaches a maximum depth of 47 km below the transition from the eastern to the southern alps the adriatic moho continues further south at a significantly shallower depth moho topography and a prominent south dipping mantle reflector in the alpine area support the idea of southward subduction of the european lithosphere below the adriatic microplate the most prominent tectonic feature on the alp02 profile is a vertical step of the moho at the transition between the alpine and pannonian domains suggesting the existence of a separate pannonian plate fragment the development of the pannonian fragment is interpreted to be a consequence of crustal thinning due to tectonic escape from the alpine collision area to the pannonian basin

palinspastic reconstruction and topographic evolution of the eastern alps during late tertiary tectonic extrusion this paper presents a new palinspastic restoration of the eastern alps for neogene time and an attempt to reconstruct the neogene palaeogeology palaeotopography and palaeohydrography in connection with the structural evolution the eastern alps underwent radical horizontal displacement during the neogene due to large strike slip systems and formation of structural windows our palinspastic reconstruction considers a the rearrangement of tectonic units dismembered during tectonic extrusion b the tectonic denudation driven by displacement of the crystalline blocks c geochronological arguments and d the sedimentary record of the syn extrusion basins the rearrangement of tectonic blocks results in a remarkably good fit of highly dismembered zones both in crystalline and sedimentary areas and shows the pre miocene unstretched pattern of the eastern alps reduced to 65 of its present day e w elongation using this structural frame and considering the sedimentary record a set of palaeogeologic and palaeotopographic sketch maps with the palaeo river systems is presented for three time slices pre syn and post extension situation in late oligocene and early miocene times the western eastern alps were already mountainous whereas the eastern part of the orogen formed lowlands or hilly areas enhanced block movement in the course of the extrusion process around the early middle miocene boundary led to the formation of intramontane sedimentary basins and a fault induced reorientation of the drainage pattern which forms the basis of the modern river system in the area east of the tauern window this region where pre miocene land surfaces are preserved probably became a mountainous area not before late miocene time and never reached the elevations of the areas further west

pace of landscape evolution in the sierra nevada california revealed by cosmogenic dating of cave sediments we report 26 al 10 be based ages of sierra nevada caves that constrain detailed late pliocene and quaternary river incision his tories for five river canyons rapid incision of 0 2 mm yr from 2 7 to ca 1 5 ma slowed markedly to 0 03 mm yr thereafter likely reflecting the combined effects of a transient erosional re sponse to pliocene rock uplift and periodic mantling of riverbeds with glacially derived sediment in the late quaternary while 400 m of incision has occurred in the past 2 7 m y outpacing interfluve erosion and thereby increasing the local relief canyons as deep as 1 6 km existed prior to that time these new erosion rates strength en the case for tectonically driven late cenozoic uplift

threshold behavior of karst aquifers the example of the lurbach karst system austria threshold behavior in hydrological systems generally involves a qualitative change of a single process the system response or the functioning of the system different types of thresholds and their underlying controls are examined using the example of the lurbach karst system austria this karst system receives allogenic recharge from the sinking stream lurbach which under low flow conditions only resurges at the hammerbach spring yet under medium to high flow conditions an overflow toward another spring the schmelzbach outlet occurs thresholds in physicochemical spring responses and their underlying controls are identified from the analysis of heat and solute transport processes in karst conduits applying this concept to the hammerbach spring suggests that the threshold controlling the response of the spring water temperature was changed in the time period from 2006 to 2009 relative to the years before at the same time changes are observed in the behavior of the spring hydrograph and the discharge threshold at which the overflow to the schmelzbach system is activated all of these observations can be consistently explained by a decreased diameter of the conduit pathways within the indicated time period presumably caused by the redistribution of sediments due to a flood event in 2005 thus thresholds in the physicochemical spring response were successfully employed to support the identification of a change in the functioning of the lurbach karst system which occurred possibly because a threshold related to the sediment transport within the karst conduits was crossed

subsidence analysis and quantitative basin modelling in the styrian basin pannonian basin system austria abstract we present the results of subsidence analysis and of quantitative basin modelling using isostatical and flexural models for basin evolution along four cross sections in the styrian basin the westernmost subbasin of the pannonian basin system subsidence analysis reveals a first ottnangian karpatian synrift phase our local isostatic models predict crustal stretching values up to 1 3 and subcrustal stretching values of 1 6 for this event stretching factors of a minor sarmatian extension phase are below 1 04 the termination of subsidence during the pannonian and a rapid quaternary uplift phase can be explained by major changes in the regional stress field a w e cross section through the northern furstenfeld subbasin provides a key for the understanding of the dynamics of basin formation it crosses a narrow karpatian rift basin the metamorphic core complex of the penninic eisenberg window and shows an eastward tilting of the easternmost part of the basin during pannonian times uplift of the penninic window can only be modelled with an extremely weak lithosphere equivalent elastic thickness eet 2 km whereas a best fit between observed and modelled tilting is obtained with an eet value of 5 km these results suggest that the lithosphere was extremely weak during the onset of basin evolution in ottnangian karpatian times probably caused by high extension rates and high heat flows associated with karpatian to early badenian magmatic activity subsequent cooling led to a pronounced increase in flexural rigidity an eet of 5 km fits well with estimations in other parts of the pannonian realm depth dependent rheology models based on palaeo heat flow estimates indicate a similar increase in lithospheric strength with time the impact of plio pleistocene volcanism on rheology appears to be relatively modest which can be explained by a deep position of the magma chamber for this event

morphological analysis of the drainage system in the eastern alps abstract we study the morphology of the major rivers draining the eastern alps to test whether the active tectonics of this part of the orogen is reflected in the shape of channel profiles of the river network in our approach we compare channel profiles measured from digital elevation models with numerically modelled channel profiles using a stream power approach it is shown that regions of high stream power coincide largely with regions of highest topography and largest uplift rates while the forelands and the pannonian basin are characterised by a significantly lower stream power from stream power modelling we conclude that there is young uplift at the very east of the eastern alps in the bohemian massif and in the pohorje range the impact of the pleistocene glaciations is explored by comparing properties of rivers that drain in proximal and distal positions relative to the ice sheet during the last glacial maximum our analysis shows that most knick points wind gaps and other non equilibrium features of catchments covered by ice during the last glaciations salzach enns can be correlated with glacial processes in contrast the ice free catchments of the mur and drava are characterized by channels in morphological equilibrium at the first approximation and are showing only weak evidence of the strong tectonic activity within these catchments finally the channel profiles of the adige and the divide between the upper rhine and danube catchments differ significantly from the other catchments we relate this to the fact that the adige and the rhine respond to different base levels from the remainder of the eastern alps the adige may preserve a record from the messininan base level change and the rhine is subject to the base level lowering in the rhine graben

tectonics and sedimentation in the fohnsdorf seckau basin miocene austria from a pull apart basin to a half graben the miocene intramontane fohnsdorf seckau basin is situated at the junction of the sinistral mur murz fault system and the dextral pols lavanttal fault system the basin comprises a 2 400 m thick coal bearing fluviodeltaic lacustrine succession lower to middle miocene upper karpatian lower badenian which is overlain by a 1 000 m thick alluvio deltaic conglomeratic succession apfelberg formation middle upper badenian in the south a three stage model for the basin evolution has been reconstructed from structural analysis and basin fill geometries during a first pull apart phase subsidence occurred along ene trending sinistral strike slip faults of the mur murz fault system and ne sw to n s trending normal faults forming a composite pull apart basin between overstepping en echelon strike slip faults the seckau and fohnsdorf sub basins are considered as two adjacent pull aparts which merged into one basin during the second phase n s to nnw sse extension and normal faulting along the southern basin margin fault formed a half graben filled by wedge shaped alluvial strata apfelberg formation during the third phase after the end of basin sedimentation the dextral pols lavanttal fault system reshaped the western basin margin into a positive flower structure

earliest oligocene increase in south atlantic productivity as interpreted from rock magnetics at deep sea drilling project site 522 the magnetic properties of the sediments rock magnetics at dsdp site 522 in the south atlantic exhibit clear differences between the latest eocene and earliest oligocene based on low temperature behavior of saturation remanence and hysteresis loops we attribute the difference to a slightly greater proportion of the finest grained so called superparamagnetic magnetite in the eocene sediments we believe that the lower proportion of very fine grained magnetite in the oligocene sediments is a result of incipient reduction diagenesis caused by increased productivity and hence increased labile organic carbon transport to the sediments due to an early oligocene increase in thermohaline circulation the eocene to oligocene transition at site 522 is also expressed by changes in microfossil assemblages increased carbonate content decreased insoluble residue and decreased foraminiferal shell fragmentation the increase in carbonate is synchronous with and parallels a change in the ratio of two of the rock magnetic parameters a ratio that tracks the decrease in the very fine grained magnetite component also parallel to these is a trend toward heavier 13c values in foraminiferal tests the increase in organic carbon transport to the sediments led to chemical dissolution of the finest grain size fraction of magnetite in the oligocene sediments hence a reduction in the superparamagnetic component and the change in the rock magnetic ratio in this way rock magnetics can be sensitive indicators of environmental changes such as fluctuations in organic carbon transport which may leave little other trace in the sedimentary record

the control mechanisms of erosion and weathering at basin scale from cosmogenic nuclides in river sediment the study of a sample of river sediment enables the determination of spatially averaged denudation rates that provide an exceptional perspective on erosion and weathering processes that have taken place within a landscape these measurements are done with in situ produced cosmogenic nuclides e g 10be 26al mostly in quartz from alluvial sediment cosmogenic nuclides are produced when secondary cosmic rays interact with the very uppermost layer of the earth s surface they are produced within a characteristic depth scale of about 1 m which means that the measured concentrations record an integrated denudation history while material passed through this depth interval depending on the denudation rate the resulting integration time scales are 103 to 105 years and one obtains a robust long term estimate of natural denudation that is relatively insensitive to short term changes the last 10 years have seen significant research activity using these methods and an array of fascinating tectono geomorphologic and geochemical insights are emerging amongst these is the ability to identify the physical and chemical processes with which a landscape responds to tectonic activity or climate change a compilation of world wide denudation rates in non glaciated areas that however does not yet include some of the world s most active mountain belts has resulted in the following findings some of which have been unexpected 1 no obvious relationship between precipitation or mean annual temperature and total denudation is apparent 2 topographic relief alone does not result in high rates of denudation 3 denudation rates are high in areas of landscape rejuvenation that is triggered and controlled by tectonic activity faulting escarpment formation and retreat rifting surface uplift 4 rates of weathering using a combination of cosmogenic nuclides and zirconium normalised cation loss balances co vary primarily with physical erosion rates and much less with temperature or precipitation 5 in some areas of high land use short term rates from river load gauging exceed those from cosmogenic nuclides by several orders of magnitude which serves to highlight the severity of geomorphic change caused by human action in the future the control mechanisms over denudation will be determined on all spatial scales ranging from the single soil section to entire river basins the same analysis can be done back through time on well dated terraces lake records and marine sediment cores which is possible with 10be for the past 1 2 my the rates obtained will be used to develop a quantitative understanding of tectonic geomorphologic and geochemical landscape processes which in turn is a prerequisite to design and calibrate models of the response of landscapes to tectonic climate and anthropogenic forcing

magnetosusceptibility event and cyclostratigraphy method applied to marine rocks detrital input versus carbonate productivity magnetic susceptibility data from marine rocks can be used for global correlation due to synchronous variations in global erosion we show here that the magnetic susceptibility signature found in two forms resides mainly in paramagnetic and other detrital constituents in most marine rocks the first form is a short term low magnitude high frequency cyclic climate signature that is often useful for regional correlation the second form is a longer term higher magnitude low frequency signature resulting from transgressive and regressive events that can be used for global correlation fluctuations in detrital input due to eustatic based erosion are the primary cause of events these fluctuations are driven by large scale processes such as global orogenic cycles however variations in carbonate productivity cannot be ruled out when explaining the low magnitude climate driven cyclicity also observed in magnetic susceptibility data sets

incised relict landscapes in the eastern alps abstract we investigate landscape evolution in a region of the alps that has escaped glacial erosion during periodic glaciations of the last million years the research is thus suited to investigate landscaping processes on a longer time scale at the eastern end of the alps morphometric analysis reveals the presence of incised relict landscapes in several regions in the koralpe range topographic analysis is interpreted in terms of the relict landscape being present on both sides of the eastward tilted koralpe block this suggests that the relict landscape is younger than the tilting of the range which is inferred to have taken place between 18 and 16 ma in the pohorje region a relict landscape is developed across the contacts of a 19 ma pluton we use apatite u th he thermochronology to constrain the possible age of the koralpe and pohorje relict landscapes the results indicate that the pohorje massif had cooled below 70 c by about 15 ma suggesting that the relict landscape must be younger consistent with the interpretation of the koralpe range these results suggest that many relict landscapes of the eastern alps may have formed after 15 ma in a period of tectonic quiescence and erosion however in both ranges channel profile projections show that about 387 105 m uplift and incision occurred subsequently this incision is likely to have occurred during the last 6 5 ma in response to the uplift of the whole region it testifies to a renewed and ongoing uplift event that is earlier than the glaciation periods but might easily be confused with impact of glacial erosion elsewhere in the eastern alps

cenomanian turonian and δ13c and δ18o sea level and salinity variations at pueblo colorado stable isotopes of the surface dwelling planktic foraminifera hedbergella planispira its abundance variations and mineralogical analysis of the cenomanian turonian at pueblo co reveal cyclic variations in surface salinity due to changes in precipitation freshwater influx marine incursions and long term sea level fluctuations hedbergella planispira is a proxy for salinity variations as indicated by 2 4 more negative 18o values in intervals of peak abundances as compared to intervals with reduced populations negative 18o values reflect periods of brackish surface waters caused by freshwater influx during wet humid periods accompanied by increased clastic transport more positive 18o values reflect more normal marine salinities as a result of arid periods and or marine incursions and correlate with intervals of increased biogenic carbonate deposition the magnitude of salinity variations during the low sea level of the hartland shale is twice that during the sea level transgression of the bridge creek limestone the rapid positive 13c shift that marks the onset of oceanic anoxic event 2 oae 2 at pueblo occurred over a period of about 100 ky 93 90 94 00 ma and coincided with the major sea level transgression that culminated in the deposition of the basal bridge creek limestone a positive 13c shift also occurred in the rotalipora cushmani zone prior to oae 2 and coincided with a sea level rise and enhanced preservation of terrestrial organic matter the likely cause for oae 2 is depletion of 12c in the water column as a result of high primary productivity whereas an earlier r cushmani zone event was primarily caused by increased input of terrigenous organic matter both 13c events are associated with enhanced organic matter preservation and anoxic or dysoxic bottom waters

the use of chemical element analyses in the study of biostratigraphically barren sequences an example from the triassic of the central north sea ukcs

thermal history of tertiary basins in slovenia alpine dinaride pannonian junction abstract the transition zone between the alps the dinarides and the pannonian basin was affected by syn collisional magmatism in oligocene time and post collisional lateral escape followed by extreme extension in early and middle miocene times numeric heat flow models for sixteen sites and 650 vitrinite reflectance data from paleogene and neogene sediments were used to evaluate temporal and lateral heat flow variations related to these events oligocene oligocene smrekovec volcanism is the main heat source for paleogene sediments south of the periadriatic lineament vitrinite reflectance patterns suggest dextral displacement along the donat fault of the order of 50 km coalification of paleogene coal bearing sequences south of the pohorje is a result of the emplacement of the oligocene pohorje tonalite early middle miocene extremely elevated early middle miocene heat flow 200 mw m2 occurred in the styrian basin the pohorje area the maribor radgona area and along the boc anticline it is partly a consequence of magmatic activity however no igneous rocks are known from the maribor radgona area a large shallow early miocene pluton could explain the observed miocene heat flow rapid uplift of hot basement rocks in the pohorje kozjak region may have increased surface heat flow neither volcanic rocks nor metamorphic core complexes are known from the boc area the ormo selnica anticline was probably influenced by a middle miocene heating event 150 mw m2 coeval volcanism south of the anticline represents a potential heat source post middle miocene the wsw ene trending ljutomer and radgona depressions are characterized by moderate neogene heat flow 60 75 mw m2 whereas late miocene to present day heat flow in the ormo selnica anticline is 80 90 mw m2 a recent heat flow anomaly occurs in the somat benedikt area

erosion driven uplift of the modern central alps abstract we present a compilation of data of modern tectono geomorphic processes in the central european alps which suggest that observed rock uplift is a response to climate driven denudation this interpretation is predominantly based on the recent quantification of basin averaged late holocene denudation rates that are so similar to the pattern and rates of rock uplift rates as determined by geodetic leveling furthermore a gps data based synthesis of adriatic microplate kinematics suggests that the central alps are currently not in a state of active convergence finally we illustrate that the central alps have acted as a closed system for holocene redistribution of sediment in which the peri alpine lakes have operated as a sink for the erosional products of the inner central alps while various hypotheses have been put forward to explain central alpine rock uplift e g lithospheric forcing by convergence mantle processes or ice melting we show with an elastic model of lithospheric deformation that the correlation between erosion and rock uplift rates reflects a positive feedback between denudation and the associated isostatic response to unloading thus erosion does not passively respond to advection of crustal material as might be the case in actively converging orogens rather we suggest that the geomorphic response of the alpine topography to glacial and fluvial erosion and the resulting disequilibrium for modern channelized and associated hillslope processes explains much of the pattern of modern denudation and hence rock uplift therefore in a non convergent orogen such as the central european alps the observed vertical rock uplift is primarily a consequence of passive unloading due to erosion

an outline of neotectonic structures and morphotectonics of the western and central pannonian basin abstract neotectonic deformation in the western and central part of the pannonian basin was investigated by means of surface and subsurface structural analyses and geomorphologic observations the applied methodology includes the study of outcrops industrial seismic profiles digital elevation models topographic maps and borehole data observations suggest that most of the neotectonic structures in the pannonian basin are related to the inverse reactivation of earlier faults formed mainly during the miocene syn and post rift phases typical structures are folds blind reverse faults and transpressional strike slip faults although normal or oblique normal faults are also present these structures significantly controlled the evolution of landforms and the drainage pattern by inducing surface upwarping and river deflections our analyses do not support the postulated tectonic origin of some landforms particularly that of the radial valley system in the western pannonian basin the most important neotectonic strike slip faults are trending to east northeast and have dextral to sinistral kinematics in the south western and central eastern part of the studied area respectively the suggested along strike change of kinematics within the same shear zones is in agreement with the fan shaped recent stress trajectories and with the present day motion of crustal blocks derived from gps data

modeling surface gps velocities in the southern and eastern alps by finite dislocations at crustal depths abstract the indentation of the adria plate into the southern and eastern alps is an ongoing collisional process accompanied by seismicity surface and rock uplift and lateral escape we present a 3d quantitative description of the process by combining gps and structural data with an elastic dislocation model horizontal velocities of 70 austrian and italian permanent gps stations in the eastern and southern alps serve as boundary condition on the free surface of an elastic half space containing six rectangular faults each with a uniform slip rate the geometry of the rectangular faults and the slip rate vector are constrained by least squares taking into account the structural setting of the area and the geographic distribution of the velocity data we find that the surface velocities of the order of some mm yr require reverse north side of the tauern window transpressional giudicarie north alpine wrench corridor pustertal dinarides and normal brenner fault slips ranging from 10 to 30 mm yr at crustal depths the regional stress pattern computed from fault plane solutions agrees with the principal directions of our rectangular fault planes the model although constrained by horizontal velocities only predicts a pattern of vertical motion which qualitatively agrees with known phenomena such as the surface uplift in the tauern window area of the order of up to few mm yr if the heat on the shearing fault planes is removed mostly by upwards diffusion the absence of large heat anomalies on the earth s surface suggests for nominal geotherms shear stresses and concentration of subcrustal radiogenic elements that the time of initiation of the slip dates to pliocene hence more recent than late oligocene miocene time of collision of the adria indenter

palaeogeography subsidence and thermal history of the neogene styrian basin pannonian basin system austria abstract the neogene styrian basin represents an extensional structure on top of a crustal wedge which was moving eastward during the final stages of the alpine orogeny eastward extrusion was a consequence of continental escape and extensional collapse within the eastern alps in a simple model the evolution of the styrian basin can be subdivided into an early miocene ottnangian to karpatian synrift and a subsequent postrift phase basement subsidence rates during the synrift phase reached 30 cm 100 yr and more than 2000 m of limnic to marine sediments were deposited the coincidence of the synrift phase and the formation of pull apart structures along strike slip zones bordering the eastward moving wedge is evidence for the close genetic relation between extrusion tectonics and basin formation a miocene magmatic phase is related to subduction along the carpathian front magmatic activity started during the synrift stage and continued into the postrift stage heat flow in the vicinity of the miocene volcanoes increased dramatically 300 mw m2 a second volcanic phase producing basalts in plio pleistocene times had only little influence on the heat flow pattern limnic to marine sediments of the synrift stage are separated by a major unconformity from middle to late miocene badenian to pontian marine to limnic fluvial postrift sediments sedimentation during the postrift phase was controlled by marine ingressions during middle miocene early badenian and sarmatian times from the south and a subsequent regression with a decline in salinity subsidence rates during the postrift stage were mostly below 2 5 cm 100 yr in pliocene times subsidence was replaced by uplift which resulted in erosion of a few hundred metres of sediment present day high heat flows are a consequence of thinned crust beneath the styrian basin

postcollisional cooling history of the eastern and southern alps and its linkage to adria indentation indentation of rigid blocks into rheologically weak orogens is generally associated with spatiotemporally variable vertical and lateral block extrusion the european eastern and southern alps are a prime example of microplate indentation where most of the deformation was accommodated north of the crustal indenter within the tauern window however outside of this window only the broad late stage exhumation pattern of the indented units as well as of the indenter itself is known in this study we refine the exhumational pattern with new u th sm he and fission track thermochronology data on apatite from the karawanken mountains adjacent to the eastern periadriatic fault and from the central eastern southern alps apatite u th sm he ages from the karawanken mountains range between 12 and 5 ma and indicate an episode of fault related exhumation leading to the formation of a positive flower structure and an associated peripheral foreland basin in the southern alps apatite u th sm he and fission track data combined with previous data also indicate a pulse of mainly late miocene exhumation which was maximized along thrust systems with highly differential amounts of displacement along individual structures our data contribute to mounting evidence for widespread late miocene tectonic activity which followed a phase of major exhumation during strain localization in the tauern window we attribute this exhumational phase and more distributed deformation during adriatic indentation to a major change in boundary conditions operating on the orogen likely due to a shift from a decoupled to a coupled system possibly enhanced by a shift in convergence direction

relationships between fluvial evolution and karstification related to climatic tectonic and eustatic forcing in temperate regions this paper reviews the diversity of relationships between river evolution and karstogenesis it also underlines the fundamental role of numerical dating methods e g cosmogenic nuclides applied to sedimentary sequences in tiered cave passages as they have provided new insights into these complex interactions although karst terrain is widespread worldwide we focus on european karst catchments where the sedimentary records are especially well preserved we review the recent dating of fluvial sediments and speleothems to examine the timing of karstification incision and deposition in cave levels the most complete alluvial records occur in tectonically uplifted high mountains where some of the oldest sediment fills date to the miocene evidence indicates that not only uplift but also climatic conditions and fluvial dynamics e g knickpoint retreat increased channel flow and or sediment load and stream piracies can play a major role in speleogenesis and geomorphological evolution in evaporite rocks speleogenesis is characterized by rapid dissolution and subsidence in european catchments gypsum cave development largely occurred during cold climate periods while limestone caves formed during warm interglacial or interstadial phases our synthesis is used to propose four models of fluvial and karst evolution and highlight perspectives for further research

post collisional sediment budget history of the alps tectonic versus climatic control based on the sediment budget of the eastern swiss and western alps since the oligocene the regional tectonic evolution has been identified as the dominant factor it is superimposed on the influence of both regional and global climate change and global sea level change during late pliocene and pleistocene times climate became the dominant factor because of cyclic glaciations the early post collisional history of the alps is characterized by a doubling of sediment discharge rates around the rupelian chattian boundary this increase is attributed to isostatic re adjustment either after large scale thermal reorganization of the lithosphere related to slab break off or to crustal thickening as continental crust became subducted from middle oligocene to late miocene times the overall trend of sediment discharge rates in the entire alps was modified only during relatively short lived phases these are characterized by an increase in aquitanian ca 23 21 ma and late burdigalian times ca 18 16 4 ma and a decrease in early to middle burdigalian 21 19 ma and langhian to serravalian times 16 4 12 ma an important still ongoing period of uplift reflected by rapidly increasing sediment discharge rates started in latest miocene times in the swiss and western alps and affected the eastern alps some 2 million years later the reason for this uplift is not clear but deep seated lithospheric processes appear to be likely

correlations of cave levels stream terraces and planation surfaces along the river mur timing of landscape evolution along the eastern margin of the alps the transition zone of the eastern alps to the pannonian basin provides one of the best sources of information on landscape evolution of the eastern alpine mountain range the region was non glaciated during the entire pleistocene thus direct influence of glacial carving as a landscape forming process can be excluded and relics of landforms are preserved that date back to at least the late neogene in this study we provide a correlation between various planation surfaces across the orogen basin transition in particular we use stream terraces planation surfaces and cave levels that cover a vertical spread of some 700 m our correlation is used to show that both sides of the transition zone uplifted together starting at least about 5 ma ago for our correlation we use recently published terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide tcn burial ages from cave sediments new optically stimulated luminescence osl ages of a stream terrace and u th ages from speleothems minimum age constraints of cave levels from burial ages of cave sediments covering the last 4 ma are used to place age constraints on surface features by parallelizing cave levels with planation surfaces the osl results for the top section of the type locality of the helfbrunn terrace suggest an early wurm development 80 5 3 7 to 68 7 4 0 ka the terrace origin as a penultimate gravel deposit in classical alpine terminology riss is therefore questioned u series speleothem ages from caves nearby indicate formation during marine isotope stages mis 5c and 5a which are both interstadial warm periods as osl ages from the terrace also show a time of deposition during mis 5a ending at the mis 5 4 transition this supports the idea of temperate climatic conditions at the time of deposition in general tectonic activity is interpreted to be the main driving force for the formation and evolution of these landforms whilst climate change is suggested to be of minor importance obvious hiatuses in miocene to pleistocene sediments are related to ongoing erosion and re excavation of an uplifting and rejuvenating landscape

snežna jama slovenia interdisciplinary dating of cave sediments and implication for landscape evolution caves are important markers of surface evolution since they are as a general rule linked with ancient valley bottoms by their springs however caves can only be dated indirectly by means of the sediments they contain if the sediment is older than common dating methods one has to use multiple dating approaches in order to get meaningful results u th dating palaeomagnetic analysis of flowstone and sediment profiles cosmogenic dating of quartz pebbles and mammalian dating allowed a robust estimate of speleogenesis sediment deposition climatic change at the surface and uplift history on the periadriatic fault line during the plio pleistocene our dates indicate that sne na jama was formed in the upper miocene received its sedimentary deposits during the pliocene in a rather low lying hilly landscape and became inactive due to uplift along the periadriatic and sava faults and climatic changes at the beginning of the quaternary although it is only a single cave the information contained within it makes it an important site of the southern alps

new evidence for the incision history of the liuchong river southwest china from cosmogenic 26al 10be burial ages in cave sediments cosmogenic nuclides be 10 and al 26 have been analyzed for sediments from the multilevel riverside caves along the liuchong river at the southeastern margin of the tibetan plateau the liuchong river is the northern origin of wujiang river which passes through the northwestern guizhou plateau and cuts down hundreds of meters into the bedrock leaving behind an abundance of multilevel caves the measured al 26 be 10 ratios produced the apparent burial ages in range of 0 49 2 85 ma taking into account of geomorphic and geological backgrounds the dashi cave located at the highest level along the liuchong river system formed around 0 75 ma ago which probably suggests the initial formation age of the modern wujiang river the resulted incision rate of similar to 480 m ma in guizhou in the last 0 75 ma is slightly higher than those in adjacent areas this feature implies an intensive downcutting history of the liuchong river during the quaternary which might be primarily caused by the uplift of tibetan plateau cut through of the three gorges and soluble carbonate bedrock c 2013 elsevier ltd all rights reserved

active crustal deformation in two seismogenic zones of the pannonian region gps versus seismological observations abstract the seismicity and the associated seismic hazard in the central part of the pannonian region is moderate however the vulnerability is high as three capital cities are located near the most active seismic zones in our analysis two seismically active areas the central pannonian and mur murz zones have been considered in order to assess the style and rate of crustal deformation using global positioning system gps and earthquake data we processed data of continuous and campaign gps measurements obtained during the years 1991 2007 velocities relative to the stable eurasia have been computed at hgrn cegrn and epn gps sites in and around the pannonian basin uniform strain rates and relative displacements were calculated for the investigated regions gps data confirm the mostly left lateral strike slip character of the mur murz vienna basin fault system and suggest a contraction between the eastward moving alpine north pannonian unit and the carpathians the computation of the seismic strain rate was based on the kostrov summation the averaged unit norm seismic moment tensor which describes the characteristic style of deformation has been obtained from the available focal mechanism solutions whereas the annual seismic moment release showing the rate of the deformation was estimated using the catalogues of historical and recent earthquakes our analysis reveals that in the central pannonian zone the geodetic strain rate is significantly larger than the seismic strain rate based on the weakness of the lithosphere the stress magnitudes and the regional features of seismicity we suggest that the low value of the seismic geodetic strain rate ratio can be attributed to the aseismic release of the prevailing compressive stress and not to an overdue major earthquake in the mur murz zone although the uncertainty of the seismic geodetic strain rate ratio is high the seismic part of the deformation seems to be notably larger than in the case of the central pannonian zone these results reflect the different deformation mechanism rheology and tectonic style of the investigated zones

geochemical and climatic effects of increased marine organic carbon burial at the cenomanian turonian boundary perhaps the most significant event in the cretaceous record of the carbon isotope composition of carbonate1 2 other than the 1 2 5 negative shift in the carbon isotope composition of calcareous plankton at the cretaceous tertiary boundary3 is the rapid global positive excursion of 2 13c enrichment which took place between 91 5 myr and 90 3 myr late cenomanian to earliest turonian c t boundary event 1 4 5 this excursion has been attributed to a change in the isotope composition of the marine total dissolved carbon tdc reservoir resulting from an increase in rate of burial of 13c depleted organic carbon which coincided with a major global rise in sea level5 during the so called c t oceanic anoxic event oae 6 here we present new data from nine localities which demonstrate that a positive excursion in the carbon isotope composition of organic carbon at or near the c t boundary7 8 is nearly synchronous with that for carbonate and is widespread throughout the tethys and atlantic basins fig 1 as well as in more high latitude epicontinental seas the postulated increase in the rate of burial of organic carbon may have had a significant effect on co2 and o2 concentrations in the oceans and atmosphere and consequent effects on global climate and sedimentary facies

internal structural geometry of the paleozoic of graz the paleozoic of graz is an isolated nappe complex of about 1 500 km2 size and belongs to the austroalpine units of the eastern european alps despite more than 500 publications on stratigraphy paleontology and local structure many aspects of the internal geometry of this complex as a whole remained unclear in this contribution we present integrated geological profiles through the entire nappe complex based on these profiles we present 1 a simplified lithological subdivision into 13 rock associations 2 a modified tectonostratigraphy where we consider only two major tectonic units an upper and a lower nappe system and in which we abandon the traditionally used facies nappe concept and 3 a modified paleogeography for the whole complex finally we discuss whether the internal deformation of the paleozoic of graz is of variscan or eo alpine age and which of the published models best explain the tectonic evolution of the paleozoic of graz

cold spots during the cenozoic evolution of the eastern alps thermochronological interpretation of apatite fission track data abstract the tectonical and morphological evolution of the eastern alps during the cenozoic is discussed in the light of sedimentary record and thermochronological data of crystalline basement rocks the regional distribution of apatite fission track data in the central eastern alps reveals the differential cenozoic exhumation in contrast to the penninic of the tauern window which has been strongly uplifted and eroded since the early miocene the amount of neogene denudation was much smaller in most areas east of the hohe tauern a sudden change in the regional cooling behaviour is observed at the katschberg fault system which must have been active in post oligocene times within the austroalpine only the schladming tauern have experienced a rather strong denudation the seckau core complex east of the pols line and the area of the northern koralpe cooled to below 100 c at the end of the cretaceous and in the early eocene respectively and have never been heated again during the cenozoic these parts of the austroalpine nappe pile were always near to the surface and therefore may be summarized under the term cold spots a major post cretaceous thickening of the austroalpine can be excluded because it would have produced more uplift and erosion any remnants of miocene or older landforms are certainly not preserved in the area of the tauern window the uppermost planation surfaces in the crystalline basement at the western border of the styrian basin koralpe probably developed in the late miocene

rapid exhumation in the western alps driven by slab detachment and glacial erosion identifying topographic and erosion rate response to tectonic and climatic forcing remains challenging this is in part because of the difficulty in isolating the respective roles of climate and tectonics here we exploit 2500 thermochronometric data points collected over several decades of research using a new inverse technique to image the space time evolution of erosion rate across the european alps over the past 35 m y the most striking feature of our results is a two to three fold increase in erosion rate over the past 2 m y exclusively within the western and central alps this increase appears to be controlled by the inferred high rock uplift rate due to the progressive detachment of the european slab under the western alps the similarity in mean elevation between the western and eastern alps indicates a surprisingly low topographic response to this differential tectonic forcing and points to the role of enhanced glacial erosion in response to surface uplift

rates of erosion and topographic evolution of the sierra nevada california inferred from cosmogenic26al and10be concentrations concentrations of cosmogenic 26 al and 10 be in cave sediments and bedrock surfaces combined with studies of landscape morphology elucidate the topographic history of the southern sierra nevada over the past 5 ma caves dated by 26 al 10 be in buried sediments reveal that river incision rates were moderate to slow between c 5 and 3 ma 0 07 mm a 1 accelerated between 3 and 1 5 ma c 0 3 mm a 1 and then have subsequently become much slower c 0 02 mm a 1 although the onset of accelerated incision coincides in time with both postulated pliocene tectonism and pronounced global climate change we argue that it primarily represents the response to a discrete tectonic event between 3 and 5 ma dated cave positions reveal that prior to 3 ma river canyons displayed up to 1 6 km of local relief suggesting that pliocene rock uplift elevated pre existing topography renewed incision beginning c 3 ma deepened canyons by up to 400 m creating narrow inner gorges tributary streams exhibit strong convexities indicating that the transient erosional response to pliocene uplift has not yet propagated into upland surfaces concentrations of 26 al and 10 be in bare bedrock show that upland surfaces are eroding at slow rates of c 0 01 mm a 1 over the past c 3 ma upland surfaces eroded slowly while adjacent rivers incised rapidly increasing local relief although relief production probably drove at least modest crestal uplift considerable prepliocene relief and low spatially averaged erosion rates suggest that climatically driven rock uplift is not sufficient to explain all uplift implied by tilted markers at the western edge of the range despite the recent pulse of erosion spatially averaged erosion rates are low and have probably acted to preserve the broad topographic form of the sierra nevada throughout much of the late cenozoic copyright 2005 john wiley sons ltd

abrupt glacial valley incision at 0 8 ma dated from cave deposits in switzerland glacial erosion dramatically alters mountain landscapes but the pace at which glaciers carve a previously fluvial landscape remains poorly defined because long term valley incision rates are difficult to measure here we reconstruct the lowering history of the aare valley switzerland over the past 4 m y by dating cave sediments with cosmogenic 26al and 10be incision accelerated from 120 m m y to 1200 m m y at 0 8 1 0 ma at least 1 m y after the onset of local glaciation rapid incision may have been triggered by lowering of the equilibrium line altitude at the mid pleistocene climate transition

relation between rock uplift and denudation from cosmogenic nuclides in river sediment in the central alps of switzerland 1 a north south traverse through the swiss central alps reveals that denudation rates correlate with recent rock uplift rates in both magnitude and spatial distribution this result emerges from a study of in situ produced cosmogenic 10be in riverborne quartz in central alpine catchments as a prerequisite we took care to investigate the potential influence of shielding from cosmic rays due to snow glaciers and topographic obstructions to calculate a possible memory from last glacial maximum lgm glaciation and to identify a watershed size that is appropriate for systematic sampling mean denudation rates are 0 27 0 14 mm a for the alpine foreland and 0 9 0 3 mm a for the crystalline central alps the measured cosmogenic nuclide derived denudation rates are in good agreement with post lgm lake infill rates and are about twice as high as denudation rates from apatite fission track ages that record denudation from 9 to 5 ma in general denudation rates are high in areas of high topography and high crustal thickness the similarity in the spatial distribution and magnitude of denudation rates and those of rock uplift rates can be interpreted in several ways 1 postglacial rebound or climate change has introduced a transient change in which both uplift and denudation follow each other with a short lag time 2 the amplitude of glacial to interglacial changes in both is small and is contained in the scatter of the data 3 both are driven by ongoing convergence where their similarity might hint at some form of long term quasi steady state or 4 enhanced continuous quaternary erosion and isostatic compensation of the mass removed accounts for the distribution of present day rock uplift

stress induced late stage subsidence anomalies in the pannonian basin abstract subsidence sedimentation and tectonic quiescence of the pannonian basin was interrupted a few million years ago by tectonic reactivation this recent activity has manifested itself in uplift of the western and eastern flanks and continuing subsidence of the central part of the pannonian basin low to medium magnitude earthquakes of the carpathian pannonian region are generated mostly in the upper crust by reverse and wrench fault mechanisms there is no evidence for earthquakes of extensional origin 2 d model calculation of the subsidence history shows that a recent increase in magnitude of horizontal compressional intraplate stress can explain fairly well the observed quaternary uplift and subsidence pattern we propose that this stress increase is caused by the overall europe africa convergence in late pliocene consumption of subductible lithosphere at the eastern margin of the pannonian basin was completed and the lithosphere underlying the pannonian basin became locked in a stable continental frame consequently extensional basin formation has come to an end and compressional inversion of the pannonian basin is in progress

crustal uplift in the alps why the drainage pattern matters introductionmountain belts grow by accretion ofupper crustal material into the orogen icwedge fig 1 materialenteringthewedge gets deformed uplifted andexhumed basedontheoreticalmodels willett et al 1993 concluded thatorogensadoptadistinctgeometrywitha low tapered pro wedge facing thesubduction plate and a high taperedretro side this geometry establishesbecauseorogenstendtobeonthevergeof gravitational failure davis et al 1983 according to these models thevelocity eld of the crust and hence the exhumation path of rock particles depends on erosion at the surface e g horton 1999 consequently anychanges in erosion rates potentiallyresult in a modi cation of the patternof strain rates of surface erosion however depend on climate exposedlithologies the size of the catchmentarea thegeometriccon gurationofthedrainage basin and rates of crustaluplift tucker and slingerland 1996 although the impact of these para meters on surface erosion has beenstudied extensively using numericalmodels tucker and slingerland 1997 ku hni and p ffner 2001 schlu neggeret al 2001 verylittleattentionhas been paid to the in uence of thedrainage geometry on the spatial pat tern of erosion and on strain the central swiss alps provide anexample where the present daydrainage geometry reveals a distinctpattern that is characterized by largeorogen parallel dispersal systems therhone and rhine rivers fig 2a that drain the core of the alps and smaller orogen normal rivers according to the conceptual modelsoutlined above it is reasonable tospeculate that the asymmetry of thealpine drainage pattern is likely toin uence the pattern of crustal up lift speci cally the highest rates ofstrain release are expected in therhone and rhine valleys becausethe large drainage basins of theserivers are likely to result in enhancederosional potentials this hypothesiswill be tested in the following chap ters this present paper evaluates thepotential controls of the asymmetriccon guration of the alpine drainagepattern on possible variations oferosional potential as well as onpresent day and glacial sedimentyield this information is then rela ted to the published pattern ofcrustal uplift allowing possible pos itive feedback between surface ero sion and lithospheric forcing to beidenti ed the intention is not todiscard other processes as possiblecontrols on the pattern of crustaluplift e g exural rebound afterremoval of the pleistocene ice sheet kahle et al 1997 but rather topropose an alternative model thatmight enrich the range of possibleinterpretations pattern of crustal upliftand seismic activityfigure 2 a displays the recent verti cal movements of the swiss alpscomputed for rst order levellingbenchmarks relative to the benchmarkat aarburg gubler et al 1981 kahleet al 1997 the geodetic data wascollected repeatedly between c 1905and 1990 measured uplift is inter preted in terms of crustal upliftbecause benchmarks have not experi enced erosion i e they record theshort term velocity eld of upper most crustal levels the data indicatea considerable increase of crustaluplift rates from the foreland tothe rear of the alps where currentrates of 1 mm yr

cosmogenic nuclide derived rates of diffusive and episodic erosion in the glacially sculpted upper rhone valley swiss alps denudation rates of small tributary valleys in the upper rhone valley of the swiss central alps vary by more than an order of magnitude within a very small distance tens of kilometers morphometric data indicate two distinct erosion processes operate in these steep mountain valleys we determined the rates of these processes using cosmogenic beryllium 10 10be in pooled soil and stream sediment samples denudation in deep glacially scoured valleys is characterized by rapid non uniform processes such as debris flows and rock falls in these steep valleys denudation rates are 760 2100 mm kyr 1 in those basins which show minimal previous glacial modification denudation rates are low with 60 560 mm kyr 1 the denudation rate in each basin represents a binary mixture between the rapid non uniform processes and soil creep the soil production rate measured with cosmogenic 10be in soil samples averages at 60 mm kyr 1 mixing calculations suggest that the debris flows and rock falls are occurring at rates up to 3000 7000 mm kyr 1 these very high rates occur in the absence of baselevel lowering since the tributaries drain into the rhone trunk stream up stream of a knickzone the flux weighted spatial average of denudation rates for the upper rhone valley is 1400 mm kyr 1 which is similar to rock uplift rates determined in this area from leveling the pace and location of erosion processes are determined by the oscillation between a glacial and a non glacial state preventing the landscape from reaching equilibrium copyright 2010 john wiley sons ltd

river loads and modern denudation of the alps a review this paper presents the first comprehensive analysis of sediment and dissolved load across an entire mountain range we investigate patterns and rates of modern denudation of the european alps based on a compilation of data about river loads and reservoir sedimentation from 202 drainage basins that are between ca 1 to 10 000 km2 large the study basins cover about 50 of the total area of the alps modern glaciated basins have the highest sediment yields of up to 7000 t km 2 a 1 which are on average 5 to 10 times higher than in non glaciated basins likewise sediment yield and glacial cover are positively correlated instead relief is a relatively weak predictor of sediment yield the strong glacial impact in the correlations is due to glacier recession since the 19th century as well as due to glacial conditioning during repeated quaternary glaciations which have produced the strong transient state of the alpine landscape we suggest that this is the major cause for ca 3 fold enhanced denudation of the western compared to the eastern alps chemical denudation rates are highest in the external alps dominated by carbonate sedimentary rocks where they make up about one third of total denudation the high rates cannot be explained without anhydrite dissolution we estimated that only 45 of the sediments mobilized in headwaters are exported out off the alps most sediments being trapped in artificial reservoirs the total amount of sediment annually trapped within the alps equates to 43 mt when corrected for sediment storage we obtain an area weighted mean total denudation rate for the alps of about 0 32 mm a 1 the pre dam rate might be as high as 0 42 mm a 1 in total ca 35 plus 23 mt of mass are exported each year out of the alps as solids and solutes respectively these rates are not enough to out pace modern rock uplift nevertheless pattern of sediment yield across the alps coincides roughly with the intensity of glacial conditioning and modern rock uplift supporting the hypothesis of an erosion driven uplift of the alps

tectonic implications of the gps velocity field in the northern adriatic region 1 continuous and episodic gps observations between 1991 and 2004 show that adria moves independently of both stable eurasia and nubia adria moves nne at 3 4 5 mm yr increasing from n to s relative to eurasia and may be fragmenting along the gargano dubrovnik seismic zone the observed 2 3 mm yr of n s adria eurasia convergence is taken up by contraction across a narrow 70 km zone in the eastern alps and concomitant extrusion of the alpine north pannonian unit the adria central dinarides boundary is a broader collisional zone with intense 1 1 5 mm yr shortening near shore and 2 mm yr spread across the dinarides the remaining 1 2 mm yr motion e of the alps and ne of the dinarides is absorbed by the inverted contracting pannonian basin leaving no significant deformation above 0 5 mm yr in the western and northern carpathians and european platform

paleoceanographic significance of high resolution carbon isotope records across the cenomanian turonian boundary in the western interior and new jersey coastal plain usa carbon isotope measurements have been made on bulk carbonate and organic matter in three sections across the cenomanian turonian boundary the stratigraphy records the positive carbon isotopic excursion that is associated with the major oceanic anoxic event oae2 comparison of toc and isotopic data in sections from a range of different environments suggests that the positive excursion is a response to increased burial of organic matter in the deep ocean the lack of coupled negative shifts in 13corg and 13ccarb records at the onset of oae2 does not support a causal role for volcanism or methane hydrate dissociation

young uplift in the non glaciated parts of the eastern alps abstract we report the first incision rates derived from burial ages of cave sediments from the mur river catchment at the eastern margin of the eastern alps at the transition zone between the alpine orogen and the pannonian basin this river passes through the paleozoic of graz a region of karstifiable rocks called the central styrian karst this river dissects the study area in a north south direction and has left behind an abundance of caves these caves can be grouped into several distinct levels according to their elevation above the present fluvial base level age estimates of abandoned cave levels are constrained by dating fluvial sediments washed into caves during the waning stages of speleogenesis with the terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide method these ages and the elevations of the cave levels relative to the current valley floor are used to infer a very complex history of 4 million years of water table position influenced by the entrenchment and aggradation of the mur river we observe rather low rates of bedrock incision over the last 4 ma in the order of 0 1 mm y with an e folding decrease in this trend to lower rates at younger times we relate this incision history to a tectonic setting where an increase of drainage area of the mur river due to stream piracy in late miocene to pliocene times is linked to surface uplift the later decrease in valley lowering rates is attributed to the rise of the base level related to aggradation of sediments within the valley sediment transport through the valley from the upstream section of the mur river limited the erosional potential of the river to a transport limited state at the later stages of the incision history

high resolution magnetic susceptibility and geochemistry for the cenomanian turonian boundary gssp with correlation to time equivalent core abstract the upper cretaceous cenomanian turonian c t boundary represents the most significant thermal climatic event in the mesozoic and it has been well studied here we present a relatively new approach for providing both independent climate based cyclostratigraphic analysis and correlation among c t sections we have collected samples for bulk initial low field magnetic susceptibility ms measurement and high resolution inorganic geochemical analyses from two c t sequences 1 the well defined c t global boundary stratotype section and point gssp located at lake pueblo colorado and deposited in the upper cretaceous western interior seaway of north america and 2 the well studied marlstone and limestone usgs 1 portland core drilled at portland colorado 40 km to the west of the c t gssp comparing the lithostratigraphy chemostratigraphy and magnetostratigraphic susceptibility developed from magnetic susceptibility ms data indicates that the usgs 1 portland core closely compares with the c t gssp sequence using any of the three measures demonstrating that intervals collected and sampled from these two sequences are highly correlated a preliminary magnetostratigraphic susceptibility zonation for the c t boundary is presented to which other ms work can be compared fourier transform ft analysis of the ms data from the gssp when compared with previous ft work using geochemical analysis of portland core samples shows close similarities to the gssp with milankovitch eccentricity obliquity and precession bands well defined in both data sets using this result we assign relative ages to the intervals sampled and evaluate changes in absolute sediment accumulation rates through the c t boundary interval we show that while sediment accumulation rate is relatively high in the upper cenomanian a change toward lower accumulation rates in the gssp section at the c t boundary is due to reduced productivity following the c t extinction events that resulted from global warming associated with oceanic anoxic event 2 oae2 that began in the uppermost cenomanian

pleistocene holocene climate change re establishment of fluvial drainage network and increase in relief in the swiss alps abstract data are presented about modern sediment discharge of the swiss rivers and related to the size of catchments the information reveals that the central alps have experienced denudation rates of 0 15 mm yr 1 in the foreland and 0 5 mm yr 1 in the alpine core mapping however indicates that modern erosion only affects 30 50 of the alpine surface and that fluvial and associated hillslope processes have focused erosion in 50 200 m deep valleys these valleys are incised into the glacial surface if this limited spatial extent of erosion is considered then effective erosion rates are significantly higher than average denudation rates these effective rates equal or locally exceed modern rates of rock uplift this implies that the modification of erosional processes related to the pleistocene holocene climate change has resulted in an increase in the relief at a local scale at a drainage basin scale however the relief appears not to change at present

late cenozoic increase in accumulation rates of terrestrial sediment how might climate change have affected erosion rates abstract accumulation rates of terrestrial sediment have increased in the past few million years both on and adjacent to continents although not everywhere apparently erosion has increased in elevated terrain regardless of when last tectonically active or what the present day climate in many regions sediment coarsened abruptly in late pliocene time sparser data suggest increased sedimentation rates at 15 ma approximately when oxygen isotopes in benthic foraminifera imply high latitude cooling if climate change effected accelerated erosion understanding how it did so remains the challenge some obvious candidates such as lowered sea level leading to erosion of continental shelves or increased glaciation account for increased sedimentation in some but not all areas perhaps stable climates that varied slowly allowed geomorphic processes to maintain a state of equilibrium with little erosion until 3 4 ma when large oscillations in climate with periods of 20 000 40 000 years developed and de

application of stacking and inversion techniques to three dimensional wide angle reflection and refraction seismic data of the eastern alps summary we present new methods for the interpretation of 3 d seismic wide angle reflection and refraction data with application to data acquired during the experiments celebration 2000 and alp 2002 in the area of the eastern alps and their transition to the surrounding tectonic provinces bohemian massif carpathians pannonian domain dinarides data was acquired on a net of arbitrarily oriented seismic lines by simultaneous recording on all lines of seismic waves from the shots which allows 2 d and 3 d interpretations much 80 of the data set consists of crossline traces low signal to noise s n ratio in the area of the young orogens decreases the quality of travel time picks in these seismically heterogeneous areas it is difficult to assign clearly defined arrivals to the seismic phases in particular on crossline record sections in order to enhance the s n ratio signal detection and stacking techniques have been applied to enhance the pg pn and pmp phases further inversion methods have been developed for the interpretation of war r data based on automated 1 d inversion pg and the application of the delay time concept pn the results include a 3 d velocity model of the crust based on pg waves time and depth maps of the moho and a pn velocity map the models based on stacked data are robust and provide a larger coverage than models based on travel time picks from single fold unstacked traces but have relatively low resolution especially near the surface they were used as the basis for constructing models with improved resolution by the inversion of picks from single fold data the results correlate well with geological structures and show new prominent features in the eastern alps area and their surrounds the velocity distribution in the crust has strong lateral variations and the moho in the investigation area appears to be fragmented into three parts

the topographic state of fluvially conditioned mountain ranges abstract the topography of mountain ranges reflects the competition of constructive and destructive processes driven by tectonics and climate respectively there is a vital debate whether the topography of individual orogens reflects stages of growth steady state or decay that is fueled by the million year time scales hampering direct observations on landscape evolution the superposition of various process patterns and the complex interactions among different processes hence there is a demand for sophisticated analysis tools to extract constraints on the long term evolution of orogens from their topography we review the field of orogen scale landscape evolution from a numerical perspective summarize the most prominent modelling concepts and their implications for the fluvially driven development of mountain topography and finally evaluate their applicability for understanding real world orogens following the concept of equilibrium a state where uplift rates are balanced by erosion rates and topography remains steady over time the erosional long term response of rivers and hillslopes can be mathematically formalised by the stream power and mass diffusion equations respectively based on a simple 1 dimensional model consisting of two rivers separated by a watershed we explain the influence of uplift rate and rock erodibility on steady state channel profiles and show the time dependent development of the channel drainage divide system dynamic drainage network reorganisation adds additional complexity and its effect on topography is explored on a two dimensional model river capture events and drainage divide migrations as expression of the ongoing drainage network reorganisation cause changes in topography until a stable network topology and hence full topographic steady state is achieved the long time spans needed for this drainage network optimization suggest that orogens on earth may never reach full topographic steady state in real world orogens we find evidence for premature mature and decaying topography as well as relief rejuvenation by analysing slope elevation distributions and trace the expression of crustal strain distorting drainage networks by applying the transform we conclude that modern concepts of landscape evolution allow sophisticated analyses of real world orogens but emphasize that unambiguous results are mostly derived from regions dominated by a limited number of interacting processes such as mountain ranges with limited or no glacial imprint this results in a high demand for techniques to disentangle the complex topography of real world orogens into the signals resulting from the individual land shaping processes

tectonic and climatic control on terrace formation coupling in situ produced 10be depth profiles and luminescence approach danube river hungary central europe abstract the terrace sequence of the hungarian part of the danube valley preserves a record of varying tectonic uplift rates along the river course and throughout several climate stages to establish the chronology of formation of these terraces two different dating methods were used on alluvial terraces exposure age dating using in situ produced cosmogenic 10 be and luminescence dating using monte carlo approach to model the denudation rate corrected exposure ages in situ produced cosmogenic 10 be samples originated from vertical depth profiles enabled the determination of both the exposure time and the denudation rate post ir irsl measurements were carried out on k feldspar samples to obtain the ages of sedimentation the highest terrace horizon remnants of the study area provided a best estimate erosion corrected minimum 10 be exposure age of 700 ka we propose that the abandonment of the highest terrace of the hungarian danube valley was triggered by the combined effect of the beginning tectonic uplift and the onset of major continental glaciations of quaternary age around mis 22 for the lower terraces it was possible to reveal close correlation with mis stages using irsl ages the new chronology enabled the distinction of tiib 90 ka mis 5b c and tiiia 140 ka mis 6 in the study area surface denudation rates were well constrained by the cosmogenic 10 be depth profiles between 5 8 m ma and 10 0 m ma for all terraces the calculated maximum incision rates of the danube relevant for the above determined 700 ka time span were increasing from west

cosmogenic 10be derived denudation rates of the eastern and southern european alps denudation rates from cosmogenic 10be measured in quartz from recent river sediment have previously been used in the central alps to argue that rock uplift occurs through isostatic response to erosion in the absence of ongoing convergence we present new basin averaged denudation rates from large rivers in the eastern and southern european alps together with a detailed topographic analysis in order to infer the forces driving erosion denudation rates in the eastern and southern alps of 170 1 400 mm ky 1 are within a similar range to those in the central alps for similar lithologies however these denudation rates vary considerably with lithology and their variability generally increases with steeper landscapes where correlations with topographic metrics also become poorer tertiary igneous rocks are associated with steep hillslopes and channels and low denudation rates whereas pre alpine gneisses usually exhibit steep hillslopes and higher denudation rates molasse flysch and schists display lower mean basin slopes and channel gradients and despite their high erodibility low erosion rates exceptionally low denudation rates are also measured in permian rhyolite which has high mean basin slopes we invoke geomorphic inheritance as a major factor controlling erosion such that large erosive glaciers in the late quaternary cold periods were more effective in priming landscapes in the central alps for erosion than in the interior eastern alps however the difference in tectonic evolution of the eastern and central alps potentially adds to differences in their geomorphic response their deep structures differ significantly and unlike the central alps the eastern alps are affected by ongoing tectonic influx due to the slow motion and rotation of adria the result is a complex pattern of high mountain erosion in the eastern alps which has evolved from one confined to the narrow belt of the tauern window in late tertiary time to one affecting the entire underthrust basement orogenic lid and parts of the southern alps today

cooling and vertical motions of crustal wedges prior to during and after lateral extrusion in the eastern alps new field kinematic and fission track data from the mur murz fault system new structural and thermochronological zircon and apatite fission track data from the eastern most alps highlight distinct deformation phases affecting the austroalpine unit along a major sinistral strike slip fault system the mur murz fault mmf the data link deformation to vertical motions prior to during and after the main phase of lateral extrusion of the orogen zircon fission track ages document rapid ca 15 c myr and diachronous eastward younging cooling and rock exhumation during the latest cretaceous to paleocene subsequent regional eocene to early miocene cooling below the closure temperature of the apatite fission track system occurred at slow rates ca 2 c myr suggesting that the region was not subject to major surface uplift and erosion during that period fault kinematic analysis along the mmf document pre extrusion nnw sse contraction middle miocene syn extrusion ne sw to nne ssw directed shortening and late miocene e w contraction all phases are characterized by strike slip fault regimes formation of the complex mmf zone triggered the exhumation of small fault bound crustal blocks within the fault zone as documented by middle miocene apatite fission track ages overall ages are similar on both sides of the fault suggesting that lateral extrusion along the mmf was not associated with significant differential vertical motions local pliocene rock cooling and exhumation was probably related to the buttressing effect of the underthrust bohemian basement spur whereas large scale post extrusion surface uplift of the extruding crustal wedges such as the styrian block must have been related to long wavelength deformation processes affecting the easternmost alps

latest pannonian and quaternary evolution at the transition between eastern alps and pannonian basin new insights from geophysical sedimentological and geochronological data the transition zone between eastern alps and pannonian basin is a key area for the investigation of the interplay between regional uplift local tectonic subsidence and depositional environment our study area the western margin of the little hungarian plain is characterized by gentle hills plateaus and depressions of which several are filled by lakes including one of austria s largest and shallowest lakes lake neusiedl geological investigation is hampered by the scarcity of outcrops and thus direct observation of sedimentological or structural features is difficult despite a long research history in the area a consistent landscape evolution model considering all relevant constraints is lacking so far in this study we apply multidisciplinary methods to decipher the complex tectonic and fluvial depositional evolution of the region local data from shallow lake drilling and seismic investigation are combined with regional data from industrial seismics and core data to gain new insights into the latest pannonian late miocene and quaternary evolution shallow lake seismic data show the erosionally truncated pannonian sediments dipping and thickening toward southeast toward the modern depocenter of the little hungarian plain overlying quaternary fluvial sediments show a very similar thickening trend except for the area on the plateau north of the lake indicating ongoing subsidence in major parts of the basin drill cores from locations along the lake seismic lines were analyzed concerning their age mineralogy and heavy minerals and compared with outcrop samples from the surrounding plains and the plateau to derive indications on sediment provenance a key observation is the apparent lack of a significant gravel layer on top of the tilted pannonian sediments beneath lake neusiedl small scale faults can be observed in the lake seismic sections along with key sedimentary features significant differences of the current elevation of the top pannonian between the surrounding plains and the plateau indicate post pannonian normal faulting which is a key process in shaping the present day morphology of the region luminescence ages of samples from the quaternary fluvial gravels on top of the pannonian sediments are a significantly higher 300 ka compared to the gravels in the plain 102 11 and 76 8 ka suggesting ongoing tectonic subsidence

the magneto susceptibility event and cyclostratigraphy msec method used in geological correlation of devonian rocks from anti atlas morocco magneto susceptibility event and cyclostratigraphy msec is used here as a means of establishing sensitive chronostratigraphic markers and chronohorizons useful for high resolution correlation msec is a composite of the magnetic susceptibility ms record of marine strata and the coeval biostratigraphic record and similar to chronozones zones based on msec data have boundaries that are isochronous ms a measure of the concentration of magnetic grains in sediments proxies for the ratio of lithogenic to biogenic components controls on the detrital input of lithogenic material include eustasy and climate however induced and sea floor basin subsidence the development of an initial msec composite reference curve for the middle upper devonian of the anti atlas region of southern morocco is presented and discussed in the context of global sea level transgressive and regressive cycles msec trends composed of increasing ms magnitudes correlate well with episodes of regression whereas trends of decreasing ms magnitudes correlate with episodes of transgression

climate induced rebound and exhumation of the european alps foreland basins record the regional isostatic compensation of mountain belts during periods of crustal thickening they subside and when erosion unloads the mass of the mountains the basins rebound and are eroded in order to evaluate this mechanism for rebound it is critical that the timing and magnitude of erosion are documented we present data estimating the timing and magnitude of late orogenic or postorogenic erosion in the north alpine foreland basin of switzerland mineral cooling ages demonstrate that the basin underwent 1 3 km of erosion soon after 5 ma this erosion coincided with a decline in structural deformation in the swiss alps and a doubling of sediment accu mulation rates in surrounding depocenters we propose that accelerated erosional un roofing of the swiss alps triggered isostatic rebound and erosion of the foreland basin after 5 ma a projection of the isostatic rebound of the basin into the mountains suggests that at least 6 5 km of erosion should have occurred in the high topography of the aar massif accelerated erosion in the swiss alps at that time is explained by an increase in atmospheric moisture driven by an intensification of the atlantic gulf stream at 4 6 ma consequently we propose that the changing erosional capacity of the climate triggered late orogenic to postorogenic mass reduction and isostatic rebound of the swiss alps and their neighboring foreland basin

biomarker stratigraphic records over the last 150 kyears off the nw african coast at 25 n terrigenous and marine biomarkers were investigated in a core oa northwest africa in the northeast atlantic 25n 16w 1445 m depth to assess changes in the sedimentation pattern of organic carbon oc over the last 150 kyears alkenone derived temperatures recorded a warming of 4 5c during the last deglaciation n alkanol mass accumulation rates mar fluctuated in parallel with northeast trade winds netw intensity oc and sterol mar both increased during glacial times indicating enhanced fertility of the ocean in response to intensified netw alkenone oc ratios were higher by a factor of two over stages 4 6 than stages 1 3 thus reflecting distinct coccolithophorid inputs this transition coincides with a major change of alkenone producers inferred from coccolith counts 2000 elsevier science ltd all rights reserved

midlatitude shelf seas in the cenomanian turonian greenhouse world temperature evolution and north atlantic circulation 1 an 8 million year record of subtropical and midlatitude shelf sea temperatures derived from oxygen isotopes of well preserved brachiopods from a variety of european sections demonstrates a long term cenomanian temperature rise 16 20 c midlatitudes that reached its maximum early in the late turonian 23 c midlatitudes superimposed on the long term trend shelf sea temperatures vary at shorter timescales in relation to global carbon cycle perturbations in the mid cenomanian and the late turonian two minor shelf sea cooling events 2 3 c coincide with carbon cycle perturbations and times of high amplitude sea level falls although this evidence supports the hypothesis of potential glacioeustatic effects on cretaceous sea level the occurrence of minimum shelf sea temperatures within transgressive beds argues for regional changes in shelf sea circulation as the most plausible mechanism the major carbon cycle event in the latest cenomanian oceanic anoxic event 2 is accompanied by a substantial increase in shelf sea temperatures 4 5 c that occurred 150 kyr after the commencement of the 13c excursion and is related to the spread of oceanic conditions in western european shelf sea basins our oxygen isotope record and published 18o data of pristinely preserved foraminifera allow the consideration of north atlantic surface water properties in the cenomanian along a transect from the tropics to the midlatitudes on the basis of fossil derived 18o estimated w ranges and modeled salinities temperature salinity density ranges were estimated for tropical subtropical and midlatitude surface waters accordingly the cenomanian temperate shelf seas waters have potentially the highest surface water density and could have contributed to north atlantic intermediate to deep waters in the preopening stage of the equatorial atlantic gateway

present crustal movement and strain distribution in central europe inferred from gps measurements in 1992 an international collaboration was initiated to study the present day geodynamics of central europe the primary tool of this research is the global positioning system gps therefore the central european gps geodynamic reference network was established in 1994 the network extends from the south in the eurasian african plate boundary zone to the east european pre cambrian platform in the northeast during the first phase of the project four gps campaigns were organized between 1994 and 1997 analysis of gps data provided rms repeatabilities around 2 mm in the horizontal and 5 6 mm in the vertical component for each campaign the velocities of gps sites situated on the eurasian plate were compared with those predicted by the nnr nuvel 1a plate velocity model the intraplate velocity field shows that the northern part of central europe seems generally stable with velocities under 2 mm yr however the southern sites close to the plate boundary zone show higher values and abrupt changes of velocities indicating the existence of narrow deformation zones the primary feature revealed by the strain calculation in the alpine pannonian dinaric system is the dominant north south contraction resulting from the collision of the african and eurasian plates transmitted by the adriatic microplate however the direction of contraction in the alpine pannonian dinaric junction zone changes from nw se at the northeastern boundary of the adriatic microplate to ne sw toward the bohemian massif the magnitudes of these strain rates are similar 8 0 5 3 ppb yr and 8 6 2 5 ppb yr respectively over 200 350 km subnetworks we observe e w oriented 93 13 right lateral shear 12 5 ppb yr between the alpine north pannonian unit and the southernmost sites in the dinarides and southern alps along with left lateral shear 97 7 10 2 ppb yr relative to the stable bohemian massif in the north both the strain field and the intraplate velocities presented show that the alpine north pannonian unit is presently crushed out to the east with 2 mm yr velocity on average along two main fault zones as a consequence of the compression caused by the adria alpine collision

dating sediment burial with in situ produced cosmogenic nuclides theory techniques and limitations abstract dating sediment burial over million year time scales is crucial in many areas of the earth sciences and archeology but is often difficult using traditional techniques sediment burial can be dated by the radioactive decay of cosmogenic nuclides provided that the sediment was exposed to cosmic rays prior to burial dating calculations are straightforward if sediment is buried deeply and rapidly enough to prevent cosmogenic nuclide production after burial however the analysis can be complicated by postburial production if sediment is insufficiently shielded from secondary cosmic ray nucleons and muons this paper discusses how buried sediments can be dated over timescales up to 5 myr using 26 al and 10 be in quartz

cosmic ray production rates of 10be and 26al in quartz from glacially polished rocks we have studied the concentrations of 10be and 26al in quartz crystals extracted from glacially polished granitic surfaces from the sierra nevada range these surfaces were identified with the glacial advance during the tioga period 11 000 years ago our measurements yield the most accurate estimates to date for the absolute production rates of these nuclides in sio2 due to cosmic ray nucleons and muons for geomagnetic latitudes 43 8 44 6 n and altitudes 2 1 3 6 km the estimates are relatively free from uncertainties in snow cover since we studied a suite of rock surfaces inclined 0 75 with respect to the horizontal the principal uncertainty arises due to the lack of a precise date for the glacial retreat event about 10 the 26al 10be ratio at production 6 0 is determined more accurately since the exposure age of the samples is 2 orders of magnitude smaller than the mean lives of the two nuclides production rates of 10be and 26al in quartz at other latitudes and altitudes in the troposphere can be determined from the present measurements by scaling using the known altitude and latitude dependence of cosmic ray fluxes of nucleons and negative muons knowledge of the production rates of these nuclides is a prerequisite for their application in erosion and geomorphological studies

the dachstein paleosurface and the augenstein formation in the northern calcareous alps a mosaic stone in the geomorphological evolution of the eastern alps the central and eastern areas of the northern calcareous alps nca are characterized by remnants of the dachstein paleosurface which formed in late eocene to early oligocene time and is preserved with limited modification on elevated karst plateaus in oligocene time the dachstein paleosurface subsided and was sealed by the augenstein formation a terrestrial succession of conglomerates and sandstones which are only preserved in small remnants on the plateaus some in an autochthonous position thermochronological data suggest a maximum thickness of the augenstein formation of 1 3 km possibly 2 km the age of the augenstein formation is constrained by the overall geological situation as early oligocene to earliest miocene fission track age data support an early oligocene age of the basal parts of the formation the source area of the augenstein formation consisted predominantly of weakly metamorphic paleozoic terrains greywacke zone and equivalents as well as the late carboniferous to scythian siliciclastic base of the nca to the south of the depositional area to the west the augenstein formation interfingered with the tertiary deposits of the inntal sedimentation of the augenstein formation was terminated in early miocene time in the course of the orogenic collapse of the eastern alps the augenstein sediments were eroded and redeposited in the foreland molasse zone from pannonian times 10 ma on the nca and the denuded dachstein surface experienced uplift in several pulses the dachstein paleosurface has been preserved in areas in which thick limestone sequences allowed subsurface erosion by cave formation and thus prevented major surface erosion

quaternary regional evolution based on karst cave geomorphology in picos de europa atlantic margin of the iberian peninsula abstract alpine caves have attracted considerable geomorphological paleoenvironmental and hydrogeological interest since climate glaciations relief uplift fluvial incision and karst aquifer control their evolution in the atlantic margin of the iberian peninsula picos de europa mountains is among of the most important karst areas of the world containing some of the deepest caves explored today in addition these mountains represent a reference site for the study of the last glacial cycle in the sw of europe this work aims to reconstruct the pliocene quaternary evolution of this region based on geomorphological and geochronological research u th and al be carried out in four alpine caves cave geomorphological mapping evidences that 12 km of studied caves are made up of 47 vadose canyons and shafts 45 phreatic epiphreatic conduits organised in six cave levels and 7 breakdown modified passages their deposits are characterized by speleothems including flowstones that represent ancient cave pavements fluvial terrace deposits with allochthonous clasts slackwater deposits related to cave floods and debris deposits produced by breakdown one 26al 10be burial age indicates a minimum age of 2 1 0 5 ma for the caves origin allowing estimation of the mountain uplift at 0 15 0 25 mm a 1 since the late pliocene twenty eight new 234u 230th ages and another six previous speleothem ages give ages ranging from mis 8 to 1 the speleogenetic model comprises six phases of regional evolution phase 1 main development of cave levels with se directed phreatic flow in the nw of picos de europa in a karst partially or totally covered by the detrital permian mesozoic cover presently eroded phase 2 erosion of the permian mesozoic cover and onset of vadose conditions before 260 ka in a karst affected by fluvial captures phase 3 cave infill during 220 145 ka probably caused by the erosion of stephanian detrital outcrops phase 4 erosion of cave infill during 125 45 ka phase 5 apparent pause in the speleothem formation during 45 25 ka related to dry and cold regional conditions phase 6 reactivation of the speleothem precipitation since 25 ka regional climate fluvial incision and the ancient presence of detrital outcrops at the surface appear to have been the main factors that controlled the cave evolution and regional geomorphological evolution throughout pliocene and quaternary times

increase in late neogene denudation of the european alps confirmed by analysis of a fission track thermochronology database abstract a sharp increase in deposited sediment volume since pliocene times has been observed worldwide and in particular around the european alps this phenomenon has been linked to a rise in denudation rates controlled by an increase of either climatic or tectonic forcing observation of in situ cooling histories for orogens is critical to assess the reality of the inferred increase in denudation rates and to determine whether this phenomenon is widespread or localized at active tectonic structures we exploit the unique density of fission track ages in the western european alps to reconstruct cooling isoage surfaces and to estimate exhumation rates on the orogen scale between 13 5 and 2 5 ma our novel technique is based on the association of isoage contours with age elevation relationships it uses map view interpolation enabling a spatio temporal analysis of exhumation rates over the entire western alps the resulting exhumation histories reconstructed for eight areas of the western alps display strong similarities in timing and rates with orogen wide average denudation rates inferred from sediment volumes this consistency validates the use of both techniques for the study of an orogen characterized by strong relief and high recent exhumation rates we conclude that exhumation rates in the western alps have increased more than twofold since late miocene times this increase may have been locally modulated by the distinct response of different tectonic units

pliocene pleistocene incision of the green river kentucky determined from radioactive decay of cosmogenic 26al and 10be in mammoth cave sediments cosmogenic 26al and 10be in sediments washed into mammoth cave kentucky record the history of 3 5 m y of water table position governed by incision and aggradation of the green river a tributary of the ohio river upper levels of the cave formed during a period of slow river incision and were later filled with sediment due to river aggradation at 2 3 2 4 ma a brief surge of river incision ca 2 ma was followed by river stability and cave passage formation at a lower level rapid incision through 15 m of bedrock ca 1 5 ma was prompted by repositioning of the ohio river to its present course along an ice sheet margin renewed incision ca 1 2 ma and aggradation at 0 7 0 8 ma correlate with major ice advances in the ohio river basin measurements of 26al and 10be also indicate that sandstone capped uplands have maintained slow erosion rates of 2 7 m m y for the past 3 5 m y despite accelerated pleistocene river incision rates of 30 m m y

a 164 ka record of environmental change in the american southwest from a carlsbad cavern speleothem abstract a horizontal core 2 8 m in length drilled from the georgia giant column in carlsbad cavern provides climate information for the last 164 ka forty six alpha spectrometric u series ages determined at intervals of 7 6 cm along the core indicate five periods of deposition and five hiatuses the longest from 136 to 110 ka variations in growth rate 0 to 70 mm ka in the abundance of aragonite chalcedony and fe bearing phases and in 13c indicate that glacial intervals of the last 164 ka ois 6 4 and 2 were much wetter than today as were the colder substages 5d and 5b of ois 5 by contrast during the two warmest periods of the past 164 ka namely ois 5e and 1 there was no deposition on either side of the speleothem suggesting conditions as dry or drier than today the record from carlsbad parallels data from many other sites in the southwestern usa and northern mexico and data from marine sediments and ice cores demonstrating the extent to which ice sheet fluctuations influenced conditions in southern new mexico detailed correlation of 13c values in the georgia giant which range from 6 6 to 0 9 relative to pdb with distant speleothem records and with data from ice cores further documents the linkage of southwestern climate with global scale extent of glaciation values of 18o in the georgia giant core range from 9 7 to 4 7 relative to pdb and average 6 6 18o depleted carbonate in the georgia giant during ois 6 at a time when the world s oceans were enriched in 18o suggests that precipitation during cold intervals was brought largely by pacific air masses in fall winter and spring as a result of the southward displacement of the polar jet stream by the growth of the laurentide ice sheet termination ii marking the end of the penultimate glaciation is well defined in the core s 18o data analytical uncertainties in the radiometric ages do not preclude a start of termination ii as late as 128 ka as suggested by specmap data however data from the georgia giant core are more compatible with an earlier start like that obtained from devils hole and vostok data raising the possibility that early warming was widespread in the u s southwest region by 145 ka

unraveling rift margin evolution and escarpment development ages along the dead sea fault using cosmogenic burial ages abstract the dead sea fault dsf is one of the most active plate boundaries in the world understanding the quaternary history and sediments of the dsf requires investigation into the neogene development of this plate boundary dsf lateral motion preceded significant extension and rift morphology by 10 ma sediments of the sedom formation dated here between 5 0 0 5 ma and 6 2 2 1 inf ma yielded extremely low 10be concentrations and 26al is absent these reflect the antiquity of the sediments deposited in the sedom lagoon which evolved in a subdued landscape and was connected to the mediterranean sea the base of the overlying amora formation deposited in the terminal amora lake which developed under increasing relief that promoted escarpment incision was dated at 3 3 0 8 0 9 ma burial ages of fluvial sediments within caves 3 4 0 2 ma and 3 6 0 4 ma represent the timing of initial incision initial dsf topography coincides with the earliest red sea morb s and the east anatolian fault initiation these suggest a change in the relative arabian african plate motion this change introduced the rifting component to the dsf followed by a significant subsidence margin uplift and a reorganization of relief and drainage pattern in the region resulting in the topographic framework observed today

comparison of u th paleomagnetism and cosmogenic burial methods for dating caves implications for landscape evolution studies caves are useful in landscape evolution studies because they often mark the level of previous water tables and when dated yield incision rates dating caves is problematic however because their ages are only constrained by the oldest deposits contained within which may be far younger than the cave itself we dated cave deposits in the sierra nevada using u th dating of speleothems paleomagnetic dating of fine sediment and cosmogenic 26 al 10 be burial dating of coarse sediment the sampled caves formed sequentially as the water table lowered providing an important stratigraphic test for the dating methods large discrepancies between deposit ages from similar cave levels demonstrate that even when accurately determined deposit ages can seriously underestimate the timing of cave development drip type speleothems are most prone to this minimum age bias because they can accumulate long after caves form and because the u th method is limited to 400 ka paleomagnetic dating requires correlation with the global reversal chronology and is hindered by a lack of continuous stratigraphy the fine sediment analyzed for paleomagnetism is also highly susceptible to remobilization and deposition in cave passages well above base level cosmogenic 26 al 10 be dates bedload material deposited when caves were at or very near river level and can date material as old as 5 ma in the sierra nevada speleothem u th ages and sediment burial ages from the same cave levels differ by as much as an order of magnitude these results suggest speleothem ages alone may significantly underestimate cave ages