impact of late holocene aridification trend climate variability and geodynamic control on the environment from a coastal area in sw spain a detailed pollen analysis has been carried out on two sediment cores taken from a marsh area located in the donana national park southwestern spain the studied sedimentary sequences contain a si

cosmic ray labeling of erosion surfaces in situ nuclide production rates and erosion models a number of in situ cosmogenic radionuclides and stable nuclides have been measured in natural exposed rock surfaces with a view to study their in situ production and rock erosion rates 1 the in situ radionuclides can be used for a high resolution tomography of the erosional history of an exposed surface two stable nuclides 3he 21ne and five radionuclides 10be 26al 36cl 14c 39ar having half lives in the range of 300 1 5 106 yr half life are measurable in many rock types a prerequisite for the application of the in situ nuclides for the study of erosional histories of surfaces is a knowledge of their production rates under different irradiation conditions altitude latitude irradiation geometry and shielding relative nuclide production rates can be determined fairly accurately using the extensive available data on cosmic ray neutrons 2 absolute nuclide production rates cannot generally be predicted with any accuracy because of lack of data on excitation functions of nuclides unless some normalization is possible as was done in the case of several cosmic ray produced isotopes in the atmosphere 3 based on a recent natural calibration experiment in which erosion free surfaces exposed to cosmic radiation for 11 000 yrs were sampled the absolute production rates of 10be and 26al in quartz have been accurately estimated for mountain altitudes in sierra nevada 4 the absolute production rates of 10be and 26al in quartz can therefore be estimated fairly accurately for any given latitude and altitude some measurements of 14c in rocks of low erosion rate 5 similarly allow an estimate of its production rate attempts made to measure the in situ production rates of 3he in rocks have not yet led to a convergent production rate in view of the importance of knowing the production rates of isotopes of he ne and ar i present here theoretical estimates of their production rates based on available cross section data i discuss the information that can be extracted from the study of the in situ nuclides in rocks useful parameters characterizing the exposure history of a rock surface are 1 the effective surface exposure age and 2 the time averaged erosion rate the implications of these parameters for single and multiple nuclide studies are discussed in terms of the erosion models considered

internal architecture and evolution of bioclastic beach ridges in a megatidal chenier plain field data and wave flume experiment beach ridges in macrotidal environments experience strong multi annual to multi decennial fluctuations of tidal inundation the duration of tide flooding directly controls the duration of sediment reworking by waves and thus the ridge dynamics flume modelling was used to investigate the impact of low frequency tidal cycles on beach ridge evolution and internal architecture the experiment was performed using natural bioclastic sediment constant wave parameters and low frequency variations of the mean water level the morphological response of the beach ridge to water level fluctuations and the preservation of sedimentary structures were monitored by using side view and plan view photographs results were compared with the internal architecture of modern bioclastic beach ridges in a macrotidal chenier plain mont st michel bay france surveyed with ground penetrating radar the experimentally obtained morphologies and internal structures matched those observed in the field and the three ridge development stages identified in ground penetrating radar profiles early transgressive late transgressive and progradational were modelled successfully flume experiments indicate that flat bioclastic shapes play a key role in sediment sorting in the breaker zone and in sediment layering in the beach and washover fans water level controls washover geometry beach ridge evolution and internal structure low water levels allow beach ridge stabilization and sediment accumulation lower on tidal flats during subsequent water level rise accumulated sediment becomes available for deposition of new washover units and for bayward extension of the beach ridges in the field low frequency water level fluctuations are related to the 4 4 year and 18 6 year tidal cycles experimental results suggest that these cycles may represent the underlying factor in the evolution of the macrotidal chenier coast at the multi decadal to centennial time scale

linking morphology across the glaciofluvial interface a 10be supported chronology of glacier advances and terrace formation in the garonne river northern pyrenees france abstract the garonne river drains an important part of the northern pyrenees and its northern foreland we investigated the middle reaches of the garonne river establishing a detailed morphogenetic profile of its foreland terrace staircase and the preserved palaeoglacier margins we particularly focussed on the glaciofluvial interface linking also genetically the fluvial sediment archives in the foreland with the terminal glacial basin upstream of the pyrenees mountain front using cosmogenic nuclide 10be analyses two terrace exposures have been dated including a prominent fluvioglacial outwash fan at the foreland transition we identified three terminal margins of late pleistocene glacier advances the prominent garonne staircase consists of three major terrace complexes comprising eight individual terrace levels results indicate a young age of the lower terrace complex of the garonne staircase mis 4 2 the morphogenetic relationships and the new 10be exposure age constraints suggest that during the last glaciation wurmian the garonne glacier reached its maximum extent at the north pyrenean mountain front apparently already during mis 4 two different ice margins were associated with mis 2 indicating close to maximum ice extent during early mis 2 lgm and relatively stationary ice recession in the late mis 2 the extensive garonne terrace complexes formed under cold climate conditions and were abandoned by incision during major glacial interglacial transitions during warm cold climate transitions lateral erosion caused the reworking of previously abandoned palaeofloodplains the long term quaternary incision of the garonne and other north pyrenean rivers indicates that the proximal aquitaine foreland basin experienced uplift however non uniform lateral course migrations and valley asymmetries of the north pyrenean piedmont rivers indicate that uplift magnitude is variable with maximum amounts in the centre of the molasse fan of lannemezan rivers on the western part of the fan were tilted toward the west whereas rivers in the eastern part like the garonne were tilted to the east

the coastal archives of the last 15 ka in the atlantic mediterranean spanish linkage area sea level and climate changes sea level and climate changes archived in various coastal environments during the last part of the last glacial and present interglacial periods are investigated by interpolating available geomorphology sedimentology palaeontology and geochronology data the coastal response to these changes depended on the environment and geographic location changes of sea level during the rising transgressive phase are well recorded in the sedimentary filling of the estuaries whereas during the phase of highstand they are best recorded in beach barrier environments the postglacial rise of sea level took place in two phases a rapid rise until 6500 cal bp and a second phase of near stability with minor oscillations of metric magnitude regarding climate changes there is no record of changing temperatures in the coastal zones of southern spain although there is in precipitation and wind intensity velocity after 7 5 cal ka bp the general climatic trend towards aridity was punctuated by several short lived centennial episodes of increased aridity that occurred with a millennial cycle often coincident with bond cool events and in some cases with decreases of sea surface temperatures the absence of human intervention in vegetation composition until 2000 bp suggests that most environmental coastal shifts were climatically driven

models for sediment yield in mountainous greek catchments abstract in this study we explore the controls over suspended sediment yield in 11 stations situated along six major rivers of western northern greece arachthos achelooos evinos aoos kalamas and aliakmon values of area specific sediment yield for these stations come from reanalysis of existing records by adaptation of the broken rating curve concept and range from 140 to 2300 t km 2 y 1 we investigate the correlations among suspended sediment yield values and many geomorphic topographic morphometric textural tectonic geological lithological and climatic precipitation runoff characteristics of the corresponding basins along with land cover variables and rusle factors ls r k and c rusle from maps of the european soil data center we find the principal controls to be slope and lithology followed by precipitation runoff and landslide frequency factors such as ground cover percentage of barren land within the basin and alluviation of the river have also some relevance with the use of stepwise multiple regression analysis we build a model that employs three variables slope in percent precipitation mean annual in mm and lithology as percentage of the easily erodible geological formations within the catchment where the contribution of lithology is an additive term to the slope precipitation power relationship the proposed model achieves good statistics nse 0 84 from the other models tested with our data set bqart performs well while rusle2015 of the esdc performs poorly

the development of the princess charlotte bay chenier plain new results and insights abstract chenier plains record changes in the mode of coastal progradation between periods of mudflat accumulation and coarse sediment deposition the geomorphic development of the princess charlotte bay chenier plain was last considered in the 1980s and the conclusions have contributed to knowledge of muddy coastal morphodynamics obtaining new data through the use of luminescence dating techniques provided an opportunity to reassess previous findings data were obtained from the south western portion of the bay where the chenier ridges were most distinct whereas previous research had been concentrated on the far eastern periphery of the plain optically stimulated luminescence age estimates and radiocarbon ages from eight of the 11 most seaward chenier ridges yielded a new depositional chronology the recent chenier sequence in this area began forming with the establishment of the most landward chenier ridge ridge 1 no more than 4000 yr bp in the 1500 years following this two more chenier ridges were built ridges 2 and 3 which were not sampled ridge 4 was being built at around 2400 yr bp ridges 5 and 6 at around 2100 yr bp ridge 7 at around 1900 yr bp ridges 8 and 9 at around 1300 yr bp ridge 10 which was not dated between 1300 and 820 yr bp and ridge 11 at around 820 cal yr bp comparing the new data to previous data and conclusions yielded new insights into the holocene development of the chenier plain these new insights may provide a means for australian chenier plains to inform contemporary coastal morphodynamics more broadly

comment on formation of chenier plain of the donana marshland sw spain observations and geomorphic model by a rodriguez ramirez and c m yanez camacho marine geology 254 2008 187 196 abstract rodriguez ramirez and yanez camacho 2008 rodriguez vidal et al 2009 and rodriguez ramirez et al 2009 have kept an ongoing discussion about the validity of radiocarbon ages in reconstructing holocene palaeogeographical models in the gulf of cadiz the discussion considered the validity and correctness of the r value to be used in the area to calibrate radiocarbon ages of marine samples these papers suggest that the r value proposed by lario 1996 and dabrio et al 1999 2000 is erroneous and consequently that all the evolutionary models based on radiocarbon ages from marine samples that have been proposed in this area since 1996 must be revised however the papers commented here use erroneously the r regional r and r values after reviewing the published data it is apparent that the most reliable values of r in the gulf of cadiz for middle late holocene samples range between r 35 85 yr and r 95 15 yr this means that the values used in lario 1996 and dabrio et al 1999 2000 fall in this range and also that the calibrated ages used by several authors adopting these values are fully reliable calibrations using r values inside this range do not yield significant differences in terms of geological age owing to the magnitude of errors resulting from the methods employed

the tectonic development of albania explanation and prediction of structural styles abstract this paper summarises the results of a study of the regional geological development of albania carried out with the objective to develop a better understanding of the complicated geometry and kinematics within the framework of the tectonic development the available geological information has been integrated into a model that is consistent with all the data the data included the geological map of albania well data interpreted satellite imagery existing and new shell seismic offshore and onshore published paleomagnetic data and radiometric ages and own field work the model offers a geomechanical explanation for the tectonic style and kinematics of the albanian fold and thrust belt this includes an explanation for out of sequence thrusting as a function of the mechanical stratigraphy brittle limestones and viscous salt and the structural style in the peri adriatic depression the timing of the tectonic events is consistent with plate tectonic movements as modelled for the eastern mediterranean the result of the study demonstrates the value of regional geology for a better understanding of the local geology and the importance of an integrated approach

geomarkers of the 218 209 bc atlantic tsunami in the roman lacus ligustinus sw spain a palaeogeographical approach between 218 and 209 bc the western coasts of iberia suffered the impact of a historical tsunami with an epicentre probably located in the atlantic ocean near the cape st vincent area sw portugal palaeogeographical changes in the river guadalquivir estuary the ancient roman lacus ligustinus have been recorded in erosional and depositional landforms both stratigraphically and as landscape relicts the tsunamigenic waves run up of w5 m and their subsequent backwash eroded the previous littoral spits transversally generating rectilinear cliffs and incisions the littoral foredunes were also eroded and reactivated as transgressive dunes over the edge of the marshes former coastal sediments w520e100 bc generated overwash deposits ebb tide deltas and sand sheets within the estuary as well as a subsequent bioclastic beach on the lagoon shore defining the post tsunami 130 bce80 ad estuarine shoreline roman lagoon some coastal pre roman 7th to 3rd centuries bc human settlements were abandoned and later in the roman period 1st century ad saltworks were installed morphological and sedimentological changes in the coast triggered by this event were similar or greater than the changes in coastal features related to the ad 1755 lisbon tsunami

late quaternary palaeoecology palynology and palaeolimnology of a tropical lowland swamp rawa danau west java indonesia abstract sedimentological limnological and palynological analyses of a sediment core from a lowland site in west java indonesia provide a detailed palaeoenvironmental record for the late glacial and the holocene the record suggests open vegetation under inferred drier climatic conditions for the late glacial however there is no unequivocal evidence for cooler conditions at this time the onset of the holocene coincides with a change to more humid climatic conditions with the development of a fern rich closed forest vegetation type dramatic changes in diatom community composition provide a striking record of habitat change associated with lake shallowing but this process appears to be a result of basin in filling rather than variations in precipitation evaporation balance associated with climatic fluctuations evidence for human impact on the vegetation development is restricted to the last few hundred years

dating faulted alluvial fans with cosmogenic 10be in the gurvan bogd mountain range gobi altay mongolia climatic and tectonic implications the gurvan bogd mountain range is a fault system characterized by strong earthquakes m 8 separated by long periods of quiescence further to the previous works in the area our study provides new data concerning the tectonic and climatic processes in the gobi altay to quantify the slip rates along the faults we dated offset alluvial fans analysing the in situ produced 10 be along profiles at depth the slip rates along the bogd strike slip fault and its associated thrust faults over the upper pleistocene holocene period are 0 95 0 29 mm yr 1 and comprised between 0 12 0 02 and 0 13 0 02 mm yr 1 respectively the surfaces ages account for a cyclic formation of the fans over the past 360 ka in correlation with the terminations of the marine isotope stages 2 6 8 and 10

late quaternary activity of the scorciabuoi fault southern italy as inferred from morphotectonic investigations and numerical modeling 1 following a detailed morphotectonic analysis of the fluvial terraces of the sauro river basilicata southern italy the present research documents for the first time the late quaternary tectonic activity of the scorciabuoi fault and discusses its inferred seismogenic potential on the basis of both remote sensing techniques and detailed field investigations four fill terraces have been recognized and mapped along the sauro valley showing differential cumulative displacements across the fault these terraces are genetically correlated with four highstand sea level periods following stratigraphic and geological age constraints and on the basis of the correlation with a sequence of marine and fluvial terraces characterizing the lower agri valley the sauro terraces likely formed between 80 or 100 ka and present the inferred long term slip rate of the scorciabuoi fault ranges between 0 5 and 1 0 mm a numerical simulations based on a crustal elastic deformation model also contribute to separate and tentatively quantify the regional uplift rate 1 0 1 4 mm a and to improve the overall reconstruction of the late quaternary evolution of the area the synergic but distinct roles played by eustatism regional uplift and faulting are eventually appreciated

current strain regime in the western alps from continuous global positioning system measurements 1996 2001 four to six years of continuous measurements at 10 permanent global positioning system sites in the western alps show horizontal residual velocities of 2 mm yr with respect to stable europe uncertainties range from 0 3 to 1 4 mm yr these velocities and the associated strain rate field indicate that the central part of the range is currently dominated by east west extension whereas the southern part shows north south to northwest southeast compression the geodetic and seismotectonic data are consistent with a model where strain is essentially controlled by the counterclockwise rotation of the adriatic microplate with respect to eurasia this rotation together with the arcuate shape of the contact between the adriatic microplate and the alps induces dextral shear kinematic boundary conditions across the western alps with an additional divergence component in their central part and in switzerland and a convergence component in their southern part

late quaternary fluvial sedimentation in the voidomatis basin epirus northwest greece abstract detailed morpho and lithostratigraphic investigations allied with radiometric dating in the voidomatis basin epirus northwest greece have identified four quaternary terraced alluvial fills that range from middle pleistocene to historic in age major periods of alluviation during the late quaternary were associated with valley glaciation ca 26 000 20 000 yr b p and subsequent deglaciation ca 20 000 15 000 yr b p in the pindus mountains during late wurmian times and more recently linked to overgrazing sometime before the 11th century ad the late quaternary alluvial stratigraphy of the voidomatis river is more complex than the older fill and younger fill model outlined previously and it is suggested that these terms should no longer form the basis for defining alluvial stratigraphic units in the mediterranean basin

climatically controlled river terrace staircases a worldwide quaternary phenomenon a comparison of fluvial terrace sequences from around the world based on data collected as part of international geoscience programme igcp project no 449 has revealed significant patterns river terraces provide important records of uplift which is essential for their formation and of landscape evolution their cyclic formation however almost invariably seems to have been a response to climatic fluctuation sequences in the european core area of igcp 449 which has the longest and most extensive research history have been used as templates for worldwide comparison there is evidence for a global acceleration of uplift at the time of and perhaps in response to the mid pleistocene revolution when climatic fluctuation switched to 100 kyr milankovitch cycles terraces formed prior to this generally consist of wide aggradational sheets that probably each represent formation over several 41 kyr cycles subsequently river valleys became more steeply entrenched and terraces formed in response to the stronger 100 kyr climatic forcing in many cases at approximately one per cycle this paper uses the new data resource to explore differences between records in different climate zones between sequences with variable numbers of middle late pleistocene terraces and between systems in which the all important incision event has occurred in different parts of climatic cycles key records discussed include european examples from the rhine thames somme dniester dnieper don volga and aguas from asia the gediz turkey and orontes syria from north america the south platte and colorado from south africa the vaal and sundays from australia the shoalhaven and from south america the amazon paraguay and tributaries of the colorado and negro

thermochronological evidence for mio pliocene late orogenic extension in the north eastern albanides albania new apatite and zircon u th he and apatite fission track ft data allow constraining the timing of miocene pliocene extensional exhumation that affected the central part of the dinarides albanides hellenides orogen apatite u th he ages in the northern and western internal albanides range from 57 to 17 ma contrasting to younger ages of 5 2 9 3 ma in the eastern internal albanides eastward younging is also reflected in zircon u th he ages varying from 101 ma in the north western internal albanides to 19 50 ma in the east as well as in recently published apatite ft ages thermal history predictions with the new data point to a phase of rapid exhumation of the eastern internal albanides around 6 4 ma while the western internal albanides record slower continuous exhumation since the eocene this asymmetric exhumation pattern is most likely linked to extensional reactivation of ne sw trending thrusts east of the mirdita zone and within the korabi zone of the eastern internal albanides

fire and alluvial chronology in yellowstone national park climatic and intrinsic controls on holocene geomorphic processes we employed a systemwide approach a large and robust set of radiocarbon ages and modern process analogs to interpret the holocene history of forest fire related sedimentation and overall alluvial activity in northeastern yellowstone national park debris flow and flood events following the 1988 fires provided facies models for interpreting the stratigraphic record of fire related sedimentation within valley side alluvial fans of soda butte creek fire related deposits make up approximately 30 of the late holocene fan alluvium fifty 14 c ages on fire related events cluster within the intervals of 3300 2900 2600 2400 2200 1800 and 1400 800 yr b p and suggest earlier episodes of large fires and fan aggradation around 7500 5500 and 4600 4000 yr b p a major pulse of fire related debris flow activity between 950 and 800 yr b p coincided with the height of the widely recognized medieval warm period ca a d 1050 1200 instrumental climate records over the last 100 yr in yellowstone imply that the intensity and interannual variability of summer precipitation are greater during warmer periods enhancing the potential for severe short term drought major forest fires and storm generated fan deposition along lower soda butte creek fill cut terrace treads were created by lateral migration of channels and accumulation of overbank sediments ca 8000 yr b p terrace level t1a 7000 5600 t1b 3100 2600 t2 2000 1300 t3 and post 800 yr b p t4 these periods coincide with overbank sedimentation on slough creek and the lamar river but alternate with intervals of fire related fan deposition implying a strong climatic control local paleoclimatic data suggest cooler effectively wetter conditions during terrace tread formation in warmer drier intervals reduced average runoff in axial streams results in meander belt narrowing concurrent channel incision may be caused by infrequent large floods greater resistance to downcutting however allowed fewer terraces to be formed along slough creek and the lamar river alluvial systems in northeastern yellowstone show a clear response to millennial scale climatic cycles wherein alluvial fans aggrade and prograde over flood plains in drier periods axial streams widen their flood plains and trim back the fans during wetter periods small scale climatic fluctuations of the holocene thus had substantial impact on postglacial landscapes in northeastern yellowstone

recent coastal evolution of the donana national park sw spain abstract since the last holocene sea level rise about 6900 bp a series of depositional littoral landforms has been generated at the outlet of the guadalquivir river with progradation along the predominant longshore drift towards the east the first coastal progradation occurred between 6900 and 4500 bp the donana and perhaps la algaida spits both associated with the oldest and highest marshland in the donana national park are assumed to have been developed at an early stage originally the guadalquivir estuary was wider and deeper than now and its environment was mainly marine the oldest littoral formations have been dated as ca 4735 bp they show erosional events and indicate the breaking up of earlier spit barriers to form inlets the marine environment became increasingly dominant with heavy erosion of cliffs and a retreating coastline this period was followed by another sedimentary cycle 4200 2600 bp that surrounded the earlier eroded barriers the size of the estuary decreased due to the increasing marsh deposits and a fluvial environment was born about 2600 years ago progradation gave way to a new period of intense erosion the resulting morphology of littoral strands and erosional surfaces permitted the return to a marine environment the shoreline again retreated from 2300 bp coastal progradation has prevailed with an erosional interruption at 1000 bp the present day outlet of the guadalquivir is an estuarine delta of inactive marshland the donana national park the dominant environment is fluvial

mediterranean pluvial periods and sapropel formation over the last 200 000 years abstract three mediterranean deep sea cores have been studied to reconstruct the hydrological conditions at the time of deposition of interglacial and glacial sapropels during the time interval 200 60 kyr bp the isotopic and sea surface temperature records of planktonic foraminifera were used to estimate the oxygen isotopic composition of surface water w in the tyrrhenian sea and levantine basin our results show a strong w salinity decrease in both basins associated with each sapropel these w decreases reflect a drastic change in the local freshwater budget and were comparable to that observed during the last sapropel s 1 centred at ca 8 kyr bp a strong precipitation increase transformed the whole mediterranean sea into a non concentration basin the low surface salinity was responsible for the water column stratification while nutrients brought in by the runoff enhanced productivity it resulted in a significant reduction in the rate of deep water oxygenation and sapropel formation in the eastern basin in addition the mediterranean sea 18 o record is very similar to that of the bay of bengal as the latter is very sensitive to the summer monsoon rain this similarity suggests that both glacial and interglacial sapropels result from enhanced monsoon like precipitation due to an increase in summer insolation driven by precession variations

holocene coastal morphologies and shoreline reconstruction for the southwestern coast of the bohai sea china abstract ground penetrating radar gpr reflection profiles were interpreted and combined with sedimentological data to highlight the morpho evolutionary history of the southwestern sector of the bohai sea the internal structures in gpr images obtained near the holocene maximum transgression boundary revealed concave upward and onlap types of transgressive paleo topography the relationship between historical courses of the yellow river and the distribution of shell ridges at three periods 6 ka 2 ka and recent times showed that the concave upward types derived from the marine sediments overlap the fluvial sediments and the onlap types from the marine sediments cover the coastal lagoon sediments based on the above paleo geographical setting previous sea level markers were corrected taking into account uncertainties of their relationship to former water levels the rates of vertical tectonic displacement evaluated through comparison of the relative sea level rsl data from the gpr images and the holocene predicted sea level elevation markedly affected rsl changes the fitted rsl curves from the corrected sea level indicators showed that the accuracy of former sea level determinations can be improved by comparing with the maximum transgressive position of gpr detection a topographic digital elevation model dem for 6 ka is reconstructed based on the corrected data

holocene estuary development in the algarve region southern portugal a reconstruction of sedimentological and ecological evolution this paper presents a reconstruction of the former coastal estuaries of the quarteira and carcavai estuaries in southern portugal based on sedimentological geochemical and palynological analyses of holocene sediment cores the results show that each estuary developed differently depending on the morphology of the palaeovalley environmental conditions and especially the influence of the sea and the formation of barrier systems both estuaries were flooded between 7000 and 5500 cal bp by sea level rise and were almost completely filled by sediment by the beginning of the roman occupation 226 bc 2176 cal bp a clear change in sedimentological processes is evident in both estuaries between 5500 and 3000 cal bp and is interpreted as an erosion phase or evidence of high energy events such as storms or tsunamis

gps constraints on current tectonics of albania abstract current tectonics of albania is documented by neotectonics evidences and by a large number of medium size earthquakes focal mechanisms suggest a current shortening across the external albanides whereas internal albanides are affected by extension with direction varying from e w to n s extension to investigate the kinematics of albanides we integrate continuous and episodic gps velocity measurements with focal mechanisms of the regional centroid moment tensor catalog this study has allowed distinguishing the followings 1 western albania affected by southwestward motions relative to apulia microplate the foreland of albanides illustrating the ongoing collision of external albanides 2 the inner albanides affected by a southward motion with a southward increase relative to both apulia and stable eurasia active thrusts and backthrusts of external albanides are segmented by strike slip faults the fault between the external albanides and the ionian zone appears to be particularly active the fault zone forming the boundary between dinarides and albanides is identified as the northern limit of an area including albania and western greece affected by a clockwise rotation relative to apulia and also the northern limit of the area inner albanides macedonia bulgaria affected by southward motion relative to apulia and stable eurasia the ene wsw transverse fault zone in central albania and western macedonia diber elbasani fault appears to be mainly affected by a moderate extension cgps data confirm that the external inner albanides transition is the western border of the domain inner albania northern greece macedonia bulgaria affected by southward displacements relative to stable eurasia and apulia whereas the fault zone forming the boundary between dinarides and albanides constitutes probably its northern limit

trace elements in holocene sediments of the southern donana national park sw spain historical pollution and applications the multidisciplinary analysis of core sediments from donana national park south spain permits to delimitate both the paleoenvironmental changes and the geochemical evolution of this area during the holocene in a first phase 10 6 5 kyr cal this area was occupied by freshwater brackish marshes with periodical alternation of dry periods and humid intervals in a second phase these marshes were inundated during the flandrian transgression 6 5 kyr cal with the deposition of bioclastic sands the third phase 6 5 3 6 kyr cal is characterized by the transition to an old lagoon with unpolluted bottom sediments the geochemical concentrations of these clayey sediments can be used as a geochemical background for present day and future environmental evaluations of this area in the following 600 years approximately two tsunamis caused the partial infilling of this area with bioclastic marine sediments in the interval comprised between these two tsunamis this lagoon was polluted with heavy metals derived from historical mining activities this environmental contamination represents one of the oldest evidences of mining pollution in the world 3 kyr cal bp

late holocene evolution of the southwestern donana national park guadalquivir estuary sw spain a multivariate approach four phases are distinguished in the late holocene evolution of the southwestern donana national park sw spain based on a multidisciplinary analysis of the sediments present in drill cores in the oldest phase 2400 2500 cal yr bp a coastal lagoon the roman lacus ligustinus was recognized in the central part of this area partly closed by the donana spit and limited by fluvial levees the following phase 2400 2200 cal yr bp is characterized by high energy events which caused the breakthrough of the donana spit and the creation of new littoral strands in the inner areas in the third phase 2200 2050 cal yr bp this new outlet was closed coinciding with the progradation of the donana spit the last phase 2050 cal yr bp recent comprises three periods a an unstable period 2050 1950 cal yr bp with the deposit of cheniers over the previous levees b an infilling period with a diminution of the marine influence and c the appearance of temporary ponds between the emerged levees and cheniers

the lateglacial and holocene environmental history of the ioannina basin north west greece this study centres on palaeoenvironmental analysis of the upper part of a long core from the partially drained tectonic ioannina basin north west greece the data span the lateglacial and holocene and comprise pollen mollusc magnetic susceptibility loss on ignition and particle size analyses these augment previously published ostracod and stable isotope data from the same sediment sequence the age model for the sequence is based on 19 ams dates five of which were obtained using a novel procedure for the separation of microcharcoal from sediment the pollen data suggest that although temperate woodland expanded at the beginning of the lateglacial only limited woodland contraction occurred during the younger dryas chronozone despite strong evidence for a sharp drop in sea surface temperature in the neighbouring adriatic at this time in contrast large scale vegetational and sedimentological changes occur in concert during the holocene some of which may be ascribed to human impact comparison with other records from the ioannina basin suggests that previous more littoral pollen sequences did not constitute a wholly representative record of lateglacial and holocene vegetational change

chenier plain development in northern sierra leone west africa abstract the coast of northern sierra leone between the scarcies and mellacoree estuaries forms a prograding muddy holocene plain comprising two separate as yet undated clusters of sand cheniers the general coastal morpho stratigraphy and available data on regional climatic and sealevel history suggest that alternations between muddy progradation and chenier cluster formation have been controlled by a probable conjunction of several factors including the local geomorphic framework a climatically induced change in mud supply and relative sealevel oscillations since the middle holocene the inner chenier cluster was apparently elaborated under conditions of efficient wave action over a deep largely unfilled mellacoree estuary and at a time of reduced mud availability it peters out seaward probably in response to several factors including an increase in mud supply from the upland a negative sealevel pulse resulting in higher rates of mud export from accreted inner tidal flats increased muddy sedimentation over a shallower nearshore zone and attenuated wave action as a result of energy capture by accreted estuarine shoals the outer cluster which partly fringes the coast was formed in a mayor embayment representing the terminus of longshore sand drift it is suggested that its formation may have been favoured by a higher sealevel resulting in efficient winnowing of sands from subtidal muds a greater propensity for accretion of tidal flats landwards and consequently a lower mud supply to the foreshore although the timing of muddy progradation and chenier formation has not been determined the foregoing interpretation suggests a complex sequence of events reflecting as much the influence of local morphodynamic factors as external factors

the continuity of active fault systems in greece summary evidence from geomorphology the distribution of large earthquakes and geodetic measurements suggests that the active faulting in mainland greece and the north aegean sea is concentrated into a small number of discrete linear zones that bound relatively rigid blocks on land the zones are most clearly identified where the faulting is associated with large escarpments particularly in hard footwall rocks the zones can become indistinct and diffuse near their ends sometimes because they enter high unstable topography where landsliding obscures the fault morphology but mostly because the extension rates decrease along strike as a consequence of the relative rotation of the blocks they bound the main graben systems of chalkidiki southern thessaly and the north gulf of evia all seem to connect with the strike slip faulting in the offshore aegean and to die out in the west a configuration related to clockwise rotations in east central greece by contrast the gulf of corinth which is the fastest opening graben system in greece opens more rapidly in the west than the east both these features of the gulf of corinth are consequences of the motion of the south aegean and peloponnese as a single block late pliocene and quaternary geology and geomorphology indicate that the boundaries of the rigid blocks in central greece have changed over that time with faulting migrating into the hanging walls sometimes changing in orientation these changes are probably related to the way faulting in the seismogenic layer adapts to block rotation so as to maintain the general features of a velocity field that is controlled by larger scale effects such as buoyancy forces and the seaward migration of the subducting slab beneath crete the image of greece as a mosaic of rigid blocks whose boundaries change with time is a useful framework for seismic hazard evaluation but we emphasize that some moderate sized earthquakes do occur away from the main fault zones within the relatively rigid blocks and especially near their diffuse ends

holocene strath terraces climate change and active tectonics the clearwater river basin olympic peninsula washington state the 400 km 2 clearwater river basin located on the pacific flank of the actively uplifting olympic mountains of western washington state contains a well preserved flight of holocene fluvial terraces we have collected a large data set of numeric ages from these terraces that is used to elucidate the geomorphic fluvial active tectonic and climatic processes that operate at holocene spatial and temporal scales detailed field mapping reveals three prominent holocene straths and their overlying terrace deposits terrace ages fall into three broad ranges ca 9000 11 000 yr b p qt4 4000 8000 yr b p qt5 and 0 3000 yr b p qt6 terrace deposit stratigraphy sedimentology and age distributions allow us to consider two alternative models for their genesis the favored model states that the terrace ages are coincident with lateral incision of the clearwater channel emplacement of the terrace alluvium and the carving of the straths vertical incision of the clearwater channel was primarily relegated to the brief 1000 yr intervals when we have no record of terraces alternatively the straths were carved as the channel incised vertically during the brief time periods between dated terrace deposits and the terrace ages record a subsequent long time of alluviation atop the straths and concomitant termination of vertical incision in both models we envision a clearwater river channel at or near capacity with a temporally variable rate of both lateral and vertical incision small deviations from this at capacity condition are driven by variations in the liberation and delivery of hillslope sediment to the channel we consider several causes for variable hillslope sediment flux in this tectonically active setting including holocene climate change and ground accelerations related to earthquakes holocene rates of vertical incision are reconstructed along nearly the entire clearwater valley from the wide distribution of dated terraces incision rates clearly increase upstream mimicking a pattern documented for pleistocene terraces in the same basin however the rates are 2 3 times those determined for the pleistocene terraces the faster holocene incision rates may be interpreted in terms of an increase in the rates of rock uplift however we favor an alternative explanation in which the holocene rates represent a channel rapidly reacquiring its stable graded concavity following protracted periods of time in the pleistocene when it could not accomplish any vertical incision into tectonically uplifted bedrock because the channel was raised above the bedrock valley bottom by climatically induced alluviation these results illustrate how even in tectonically active settings representative rates of rock uplift inferred from studies of river incision should be integrated over at least one glacial interglacial cycle

examination of surface exposure ages of antarctic moraines using in situ produced 10be and 26al concentrations of 10be t12 1 5 106 y and 26a1 t12 0 72 106 y have been determined by accelerator mass spectrometry ams in a suite of quartz samples taken from sandstone boulders in several moraines in arena valley a dry valley adjacent to the taylor glacier in the quatermain mountains southern victoria land east antarctica these isotopes are produced in surficial quartz by cosmic ray spallation of o and si the concentrations in these samples ranged from 6 1 105 to 3 0 107 at g 1 for 10be and from 9 4 106 to 1 2 108 at g 1 for 26a1 depending upon the extent of exposure at the surface analyses of 10be in several samples from a single moraine at altitudes ranging from 1300 to 1650 m permitted an estimation of the air attenuation pathlength of cosmic ray neutrons the value of 142 96 41 g cm 2 is consistent with other published values production rates of 17 6 4 at g 1 y 1 for 10be and 113 54 16 at g 1 y 1 for 26a1 at 1300 m and 87 s and a 26al 10be production ratio of 6 5 1 3 1 3 were calculated from the data these values correspond to sea level production rates at high geomagnetic latitude of 6 4 at g 1 y 1 and 41 7 at g 1 y 1 for 10be and 26a1 respectively consistent with determinations based on 11 ky glacially polished surfaces in the sierra nevada in california these production rates imply exposure ages for the various moraines ranging from 50 ky to 2 5 my in accordance with other geological evidence the 10be and 26al ages of these rocks compare favorably with those found using a similar dating method based on in situ production of 3he examination of the 3he concentrations in conjunction with the present data set yields an estimate of 3he production of 230 8540 at g 1 y 1 corresponding to 85 31 15 at g 1 y 1 at sea level this is lower than previously reported values of 240 60 at g 1 y 1 and 190 at g 1 y 1 scaled to sea level and high geomagnetic latitude based respectively on volcanic flows less than 2000 years old at low latitude and samples collected from 14 400 year old volcanic flows this discrepancy is likely due to diffusive losses which may become significant up to 50 for surface exposure ages on the order of 2 0 my nevertheless the general correlations among the three isotopes suggest that 3he does not suffer gross losses through diffusion

itrf2005 a new release of the international terrestrial reference frame based on time series of station positions and earth orientation parameters 1 unlike the past international terrestrial reference frame itrf versions where global long term solutions were combined the itrf2005 uses as input data time series weekly from satellite techniques and 24 h session wise from very long baseline interferometry of station positions and daily earth orientation parameters eops the advantage of using time series of station positions is that it allows to monitor station non linear motion and discontinuities and to examine the temporal behavior of the frame physical parameters namely the origin and the scale the itrf2005 origin is defined in such a way that it has zero translations and translation rates with respect to the earth center of mass averaged by the satellite laser ranging slr time series spanning 13 years of observations its scale is defined by nullifying the scale and its rate with respect to the very long baseline interferometry vlbi time series spanning 26 years of observations the itrf2005 orientation at epoch 2000 0 and its rate are aligned to the itrf2000 using 70 stations of high geodetic quality the estimated level of consistency of the itrf2005 origin at epoch 2000 0 and its rate with respect to the itrf2000 is respectively 0 1 0 8 5 8 mm and 0 2 0 1 1 8 mm yr along the x yand z axis we estimate the formal errors on these components to be 0 3 mm and 0 3 mm yr we believe that this low level of agreement between the two frame origins is most probably due to the poor slr network geometry and its degradation over time the itrf2005 combination involving 84 co location sites revealed a scale inconsistency of 1 ppb 6 3 mm at the equator at epoch 2000 0 and 0 08 ppb yr between the slr and vlbi long term solutions as obtained by the stacking of their respective time series possible causes of this inconsistency may include the poor slr and vlbi networks and their co locations local tie uncertainties systematic effects and possible inconsistent model corrections used in the data analysis of both techniques for the first time of the itrf history the itrf2005 rigorous combination provides self consistent series of eops including polar motion from vlbi and satellite techniques and universal time and length of day from vlbi only a velocity field of 152 sites with an error less than 1 5 mm yr is used to estimate absolute rotation poles of 15 tectonic plates that are consistent with the itrf2005 frame this new absolute plate motion model supersedes and significantly improves that of the itrf2000 which involved six major tectonic plates citation altamimi z x collilieux j legrand b garayt and c boucher 2007 itrf2005 a new release of the international terrestrial reference frame based on time series of station positions and earth orientation parameters j geophys res 112 b09401

cheniers and chenier plains a general introduction abstract cheniers and chenier plains have been studied in many coastal regions throughout the world an inventory of the investigations currently being carried out is presented in this and accompanying papers cheniers and chenier plains are azonal features their distribution ranges from tropical to the subarctic regions and they show a variety of features progradational shorelines where mud accretion is temporarily interrupted favour the development of these features in addition to the concept of otvos and price who define cheniers and chenier plains as being formed exclusively in relation to littoral progradational environments it is suggested here that chenier formation in deltaic progradational environments should also be included genetically two types of cheniers can be distinguished depending on the origin of the related sediments cheniers developing due to wave winnowing of the muddy sediments and the subsequent concentration of the coarser particles to form a longshore bar or ridge which is driven shoreward and cheniers built by littoral drift in both cases they can be recognised by their sedimentary structures when cheniers arrive onshore they will migrate further landward due to washover processes under extreme hydrodynamical conditions e g spring tides storm surges etc to summarise the information concerning the episodic development of chenier plains in order to produce a or a few universal model s appears to be very difficult owing to the numerous factors that influence their formation these include river mouth shifting sealevel changes climatic changes storm frequency mortality of shellfish and bay geometry owing to this sensitivity to environmental changes during their formation cheniers are considered to be very important geomorphological features they provide a relatively accurate record of sealevel and environmental changes which can be dated with high resolution

computational framework for simulating rock burst in shear and compression abstract this paper presents results from a series of numerical modeling tests conducted with the objective of developing a computational framework for studying rock burst events a commercially available distinct element code with its explicit time stepping scheme is adopted for modeling the initial quasi static and the subsequent dynamic response of rock burst in compression and shear ground reaction curves are introduced to discuss criteria for stability of a failure through stress analyses energy balance equations are analyzed for assessing the rock burst intensity by estimating radiated seismic energy once conditions of instability emerge two methods are discussed for estimating radiated seismic energy tracking of the energy conversion during failure recording the kinetic energy that is damped by mechanical damping schemes modeling approach and methodologies for studying compressive type rock burst are developed and calibrated against available analytical solutions with respect to radiated seismic energy and excavation convergence factors participating in the intensity of rock burst in compression are examined by modeling a rectangular tabular excavation supported by a single pillar with ductile semi brittle and brittle failure responses under different compressive loading a shear type rock burst along a strike slip fault model is simulated and modeling approach is calibrated by checking the resulting slip distribution radiated seismic energy and seismic moment against analytical solutions factors contributing to the occurrence and intensity of shear type rock burst are explored by simulating different slip scenarios under different loading conditions with presented analyses this paper provides a computational framework calibrated for studying rock burst events and as a reference for treatment of more complex cases shows how young s modulus of the rock failure stress drop rock brittleness and slip weakening behaviors of faults govern the rock burst occurrence and intensity

seismicity and associated strain of central greece between 1890 and 1988 summary we examined the seismicity of central greece between 1890 and 1988 using macroseismic and instrumental data to ask two questions 1 does the seismicity of this period reveal all the major tectonic structures that are known to be active and 2 what are the likely strains associated with the seismicity over this period many known active structures have been effectively aseismic for the last hundred years and even the inclusion of all known large events earlier than 1890 reveals no activity associated with the ne coast of evia gulf of argos or graben ne of mt parnassos it is clear that even 100 years data are inadequate for either a reasonable assessment of seismic risk or for a confident estimation of maximum magnitude however we are aware of no earthquakes in central greece during the last 200 yr that were larger than ms 7 0 it is probable that the maximum magnitude is restricted by the maximum length of fault segments which appears to be around 15 20 km the earthquakes of ms 5 8 during 1890 1988 can account for a n s displacement of around 45 70 cm with maximum and minimum estimates a factor of two greater and smaller than this across part of a 1890 1900 triangulation network in central greece that was resurveyed in 1988 the contribution of smaller events may increase this displacement by about 50 per cent this cumulative seismic displacement is similar to that estimated from the geodetic work about 100 cm but a detailed comparison of the two sets of observations will be reported elsewhere a re evaluation of all the important earthquakes of 1890 1988 in central greece is presented in the appendix which summarizes information of use to both earth scientists and engineers

a fluvial record of long term steady state uplift and erosion across the cascadia forearc high western washington state six late quaternary river terraces preserved along the clearwater river in northwestern washington state provide a 140 ka record of long term incision and uplift across the western side of the cascadia forearc high terrace ages are constrained by weathering rind and radiocarbon dating and by correlation to dated coastal glacio fluvial deposits and the global eustatic curve the terraces overlie flat bedrock surfaces called straths which represent uplifted segments of the river channel bedrock incision is measured by the height of a strath relative to the adjacent modern river channel the straths along the clearwater show an upstream increase in bedrock incision ranging from 0 at the coast to a maximum of 110 m in the headwaters the incision at any point along the profile increases systematically with strath age the calculated incision rates range from 10 ky the clearwater river valley has maintained a steady state profile defined by a long term balance in the rates of incision and rock uplift upstream divergence of terraces is best explained by an increase in the rate of rock uplift from the coast toward the central part of the range these results are consistent with other evidence indicating a long term steady state balance between the accretionary influx and the erosional outflux for this part of the cascadia subduction wedge since 14 ma these results help show how terrace deposits form in tectonically active landscapes the dominantly fluvial clearwater drainage was forming straths while alpine glaciers were advancing in adjacent drainages in turn the straths were buried during the transition to interglacial times because of increased sediment supply due to local deglaciation and because of eustatic highstands that forced aggradation in the lower reach of the drainage and across the continental shelf as well the fluvial system shows strong forcing by the glacial climate cycle even so the river appears to have returned to the same valley profile during each cycle of strath cutting thus bedrock incision is clearly unsteady at time scales shorter than the glacial climate cycle 100 ky but appears to be relatively steady when averaged over longer time scales a simple kinematic model is used to examine how uplift of the cl our analysis indicates that the accretionary flux into the wedge occurs mainly by frontal accretion and not by underplating if accretion occurred entirely at the front of the wedge the present west coast should be moving to the northeast at 3 m ky relative to a fixed puget sound this prediction is in good agreement with offset of a 122 ka sea cliff preserved at the southwest side of the clearwater valley profile in this case the long term margin perpendicular shortening would account for 20 to 35 percent of the geodetically measured northeast southwest shortening across the olympic mountains

correlation of fluvial sequences in the mediterranean basin over the last 200 ka and their relationship to climate change macklin mark fuller i c lewin j maas g a 2002 correlation of fluvial sequences in the mediterranean basin over the last 200 ka and their relationship to climate change quaternary science reviews 21 14 15 pp 1633 1641 rae2008

earthquake mechanisms of the adriatic sea and western greece implications for the oceanic subduction continental collision transition summary we present 21 focal solutions magnitude 5 5 reliably computed by body wave modelling for the western hellenic arc from yugoslavia to the southern peloponnese mechanisms located within the aegean show normal faulting the t axis trending n s in the centre and parallel to the active boundary in the external part mechanisms associated with the keffalinia fault are consistent with dextral strike slip motion reverse mechanisms located along the active boundary are remarkably consistent and do not depend on the nature of the active boundary continental collision or oceanic subduction the consistency in azimuth of the slip vectors and of the gps velocity relative to africa all along the active boundary suggests that the deformation is related to the same motion the discrepancy between seismic energy release and the amount of shortening confirms that the continental collision is achieved by seismic slip on faults but the oceanic subduction is partially aseismic the northward decrease in velocity between continental collision and oceanic subduction suggests the continental collision to be a recent evolution of the active subduction

gps results for macedonia and its importance for the tectonics of the southern balkan extensional regime abstract gps results from 25 stations in macedonia measured in 1996 and 2000 show that macedonia moves sse relative to eurasia essentially as a single crustal piece along with parts of westernmost bulgaria geological studies show active n s normal faults and two nnw striking right lateral faults in western macedonia and nw trending left lateral faults se macedonia with a region in central macedonia essentially devoid of active faults distribution of seismic activity supports the geological studies however the gps results cannot discriminate the active faulting except perhaps in the northern part of macedonia in the skopje and adjacent areas where active ns extension occurs slip rates on the strike slip faults must be low in the range of 0 2 mm year there is a progressive increase in gps velocities southward in northern greece toward the north anatolian fault zone across which the velocities increase and change direction dramatically

ionian marine terraces of southern italy insights into the quaternary tectonic evolution of the area 1 new detailed morphotectonic analyses of a well exposed flight of marine terraces along the ionian coast of southern italy has been carried out the area represents a key transect for investigating the middle late quaternary evolution of the southern apennines chain foredeep foreland geodynamic system a major result of the research is the reconstruction of a virtually complete 3d geometry of the marine surfaces along a coastal sector of ca 70 km which 1 documents the occurrence of 18 paleo shorelines and 2 provides evidence for a strong regional uplift affecting the investigated area following a systematic critical review of literature relating to geochronological data integrated with a morphogenetic model based on the interaction between tectonic uplift and eustatic sea level changes the different terraces are correlated to as many highstand sea level peaks dating the highest oldest terrace to ca 600 ka mis 15 the vertical and horizontal distribution of the terraces show a general convergence of the paleo shorelines toward nne which indicates a decreasing trend in differential uplift in that direction ranging from almost 2 mm a in the southwestern sector to about 0 2 mm a in the northeastern sector detailed mapping and 3d reconstruction also emphasize the partitioning of the area into three distinct sectors characterized by different tilting rates this behavior is likely caused by the combined role and activity of three major tectonic structures working at different scales and rates including 1 the reactivation of an out of sequence thrust 2 sliding along the basal detachment of the external apennines wedge and 3 a lithospheric scale duplexing crustal or deeper as a major conclusion within the external sector of the southern apennines chain and its foredeep regional shortening and a contractional tectonic regime persisted throughout the whole quaternary and it is probably still active

delta progradation and chenier formation in the huanghe yellow river delta china abstract to clarify holocene development of the huanghe yellow river delta and the relationship between delta progradation and chenier formation detailed sediment analyses and high resolution radiocarbon dating were done on borehole samples taken from two sites on the present huanghe h9601 latitude 37 40 5 n and longitude 118 28 7 e with an altitude of 5 5 m and h9602 lat 37 47 8 n and long 118 54 3 e 4 8 m downcore changes of sediment facies and accumulation rate show that delta progradation occurred at least twice during ca 2 6 1 2 c 14 yrbp and 1855 present at the two borehole sites these phases of progradation correlate with superlobes 6 and 7 and superlobe 10 respectively of ten superlobes composing the holocene huanghe delta shown by c xue historical changes in the yellow river delta china marine geology 113 321 329 1993 the boundary of these sediments at h9602 is sharp and erosional and correlates with cheniers located between borehole sites on the delta plain the diastem period between these phases of progradation almost coincides with the periods when the river mouth of the huanghe was located in the northwestern part of the bohai sea during 1048 1128 ad superlobe 8 and the jiangsu region facing the yellow sea during 1128 1855 superlobe 9 this suggests that chenier formation and delta progradation are linked and controlled by sediment supply and river course shifts of the lower reaches of the huanghe

long term fluvial incision rates and postglacial river relaxation time in the french western alps from 10be dating of alluvial terraces with assessment of inheritance soil development and wind ablation effects studying river long profile development as a response to tectonic and climatic controls requires reliable age dating of paleo profile remnants preserved as river terraces cosmic ray exposure cre dating often represents the only method available to date river terraces but the interpretation of cosmogenic nuclide concentrations is complicated by pre depositional inheritance and post depositional disturbance of the terrace deposits through pedogenesis and surface inflation or deflation here we use cosmogenic 10be measurements to date alluvial terraces in the french western alps in order to estimate river incision rates and to infer river response to climatic fluctuations and tectonic forcing we assess inheritance by constructing 10be concentration vs pebble depth profiles and use a monte carlo technique to estimate terrace ages we find that inheritance is negligible on all terraces enabling us to date terraces as young as 5 ky terraces that predate the last glaciation experienced intense pedogenesis and wind ablation which led to significant scatter in the 10be concentrations of surface samples we assess these effects using a model of 10be ingrowth and show that the oldest cre ages of surface clasts are close to the probable terrace age we study two catchments which have undergone varying degrees of glacial disruption the buech river experienced variations in runoff and sediment flux during the last glaciation as well as occasional ice dammings of its outlet its upper terraces record incision rates averaged over 190 ky of 0 8 mm yr consistent with denudation rates estimated in the surrounding areas and suggesting long term stability of river incision rates climatic forcing is well documented for the drac river which was repeatedly dammed by glaciers during cold periods its postglacial incision history was triggered by an 800 m drop in base level following ice dam disappearance long profile development by knickpoint propagation explains the time lag of 2 5 ky between this base level drop and terrace abandonment upstream as well as subsequent peak incision rates of 6 cm yr followed by a gradual decrease in incision rates the present knickpoint location 55 km upstream from the glacial damming site enables us to calculate a fluvial response time of 15 20 ky controlled by knickpoint propagation rates of several meters per year within the drac river

shelly cheniers on a modern macrotidal flat mont saint michel bay france internal architecture revealed by ground penetrating radar abstract the relationship between short term morphodynamics and internal structure of shelly chenier ridges is investigated using ground penetrating radar and core x ray analysis complemented with a comparison of aerial photographs these cheniers are located on the uppermost part of a macrotidal flat in mont saint michel bay north western france they actively migrate landward over the salt marshes by washover processes when they are submerged during the coincidence of spring tides and enhanced wave activity the architecture of the cheniers is imaged using high frequency radar antennas 400 mhz to 2 6 ghz three types of cheniers are recognized featuring differences in morphology and internal structure the altitude of the banks on the tidal flat relative to the level of tidal flooding as well as local sediment supply seem to be important forcing parameters in chenier development and stages of evolution on a multi annual time scale evolution of this chenier system is influenced by a combination of the 18 year and the 4 year tidal cycles superimposed on wave activity during minima of the 18 year cycle spring tide level is globally lower on the tidal flat allowing salt marsh progradation and chenier ridge development during peak periods of the tidal cycle former barriers are reworked by wave action and experience onshore migration associated with salt marsh erosion the 4 year tidal cycle coupled with enhanced wave activity is probably responsible for the deposition of large washover units observed in gpr reflection profiles

sedimentological and geomorphological imprints of holocene tsunamis in southwestern spain an approach to establish the recurrence period this paper reviews the sedimentological and geomorphological imprints of prehistoric and historical tsunamis in the four main estuaries of sw spain these imprints include beach erosion filling of intertidal channels deposition of bioclastic layers washover fans and reworked aeolian sheets and the breaching of spits and tombolos most of these imprints were caused by the 218 209 bc and ad 1755 tsunamis although evidence of other tsunamis has been identified in these two events effects on human populations were severe and diverse such as human loss of life changes in coastal settlements and international borders damage to port infrastructure or flooding of marsh and inhabited areas new radiocarbon reservoir data were included in order to obtain an approach to the recurrence period of these high energy events 700 1000 years in this area 2013 elsevier b v

mesozoic tertiary tectonic evolution of albania in its regional eastern mediterranean context abstract research carried out since the opening of albania to the western geological community in the 1990s allows the geology and tectonics of this small balkan country to be integrated into an overall interpretation of neotethys in the eastern mediterranean region specifically greece and the former yugoslavia region albanian geology is most famous for the occurrence of contrasting ophiolites of jurassic age the country is sub divided into three main geotectonic units those in the west i e sazani ionian kruja krasta cukali and the albanian alps relate to the western margin of apulia effectively part of north africa from early mesozoic time onwards in the east is the korabi zone interpreted as a microcontinent located further northeast within neotethys between the two is the mirdita zone dominated by two contrasting jurassic ophiolites the western type ophiolite and the eastern type ophiolite taking account of evidence from greece and former yugoslavia the following tectonic evolution is proposed from early mesozoic time onwards neotethys in albania existed as a northward continuation of the pindos oceanic basin in greece pindos mirdita ocean a korabi microcontinent was rifted off apulia in the early mid triassic followed by passive margin subsidence until late middle jurassic time a rifted slow spreading mor type ophiolite formed within the western pindos mirdita oceanic basin in late triassic early late jurassic time using present co ordinates the shkoder peje scutari pec lineament in the north of albania is interpreted as an important transform fault zone that influenced the regional tectonic evolution during the entire mesozoic early tertiary rift drift emplacement history of the pindos mirdita ocean taking account of evidence from the greek and former yugoslavia ophiolites the easterly albanian ophiolites formed within the pindos mirdita ocean above a westward dipping intra oceanic subduction zone in the early late jurassic metamorphic soles were formed during initial intra oceanic displacement ca 162 174 m y and underlying melanges originated as subduction accretion complexes the mor western type ophiolite evolved into the iat boninitic eastern type ophiolite after subduction began during tithonian berriasian time trench margin collision emplaced the ophiolites eastwards over the korabi margin coupled with redeposition of ophiolitic and continental margin material as exotic blocks debris flow deposits and turbidites these were emplaced onto the upper surface of the ophiolitic thrust sheet during the latest stages of emplacement onto the korabi microcontinent following collision in the east oceanic crust remained within a small remnant pindos mirdita oceanic basin passive conditions were restored in the mid late cretaceous with shallow water carbonate deposition on microcontinental units and both pelagic and redeposited carbonates in basinal settings from the maastrichtian onwards africa eurasia convergence resulted in large scale westward thrusting deforming the apulian foreland in oligo miocene time the suture zone was re activated in oligo miocene time as the albanie thassalie piggy back type basin in central and southern albania albania as a whole was rotated 45 clockwise as part of the western aegean arc in post eocene time coastal and offshore albania experienced strong subsidence after early miocene time forming the periadriatic basin including the tirana depression interpreted as a foredeep related to continuing regional convergence southern albania experienced extensional tectonics in plio quaternary time related to southward roll back of the aegean active margin

the chenier coast of suriname modern and geological development abstract the holocene coastal plain of suriname is part of the extensive chenier plain between the amazon river and the orinoco river the development began approximately 6000 yrs b p and was interrupted twice by periods of erosion or non deposition along the present coastline large shoreface attached mudbanks migrate continually to the west cheniers are formed in the interbank areas the geological development and stratigraphy of the suriname chenier plain and the morphodynamic development of the modern coastline are discussed some hypothetical explanations of the geological development from the actual morphodynamics are briefly discussed a new approach has been developed involving the analysis of aerial photographs using a geographical information system this was used to analyse the geomorphological changes of the suriname coastline

coastal morphodynamics and chenier plain evolution in southwestern louisiana usa a geomorphic model abstract using 28 topographic profiles air photo interpretation and historical shoreline change data coastal processes were evaluated along the chenier plain to explain the occurrence distribution and geomorphic hierarchy of primary landforms and existing hypotheses regarding chenier plain evolution were reconsidered the chenier plain of sw louisiana classified as a low profile microtidal storm dominated coast is located west and downdrift of the mississippi river deltaic plain this late holocene marginal deltaic environment is 200 km long and up to 30 km wide and is composed primarily of mud deposits capped by marsh interspersed with thin sand and shell rich ridges cheniers that have elevations of up to 4 m in this study the term ridge is used as a morphologic term for a narrow linear or curvilinear topographic high that consists of sand and shelly material accumulated by waves and other physical coastal processes thus most ridges in the chenier plain represent relict open gulf shorelines on the basis of past movement trends of individual shorelines ridges may be further classified as transgressive regressive or laterally accreted geomorphic zones that contain two or more regressive transgressive or laterally accreted ridges are termed complexes consequently we further refine the chenier plain definition by otvos and price otvos e g and price w a 1979 problems of chenier genesis and terminology an overview marine geology 31 251 263 and define chenier plain as containing at least two or more chenier complexes based on these definitions a geomorphic hierarchy of landforms was refined relative to dominant process for the louisiana chenier plain the chenier plain is defined as a first order feature 5000 km2 composed of three second order features 30 to 300 km2 chenier complex beach ridge complex and spit complex individual ridges of each complex type were further separated into third order features chenier beach ridge and spit to understand the long term evolution of a coastal depositional system primary process response mechanisms and patterns found along the modern chenier plain coast were first identified especially tidal inlet processes associated with the sabine calcasieu and mermentau rivers tidal prism and quantity of littoral transport mtotal are the most important factors controlling inlet stability greater discharge and or tidal prism increase the ability of river and estuarine systems to interrupt longshore sediment transport maintain and naturally stabilize tidal entrances and promote updrift deposition thus prior to human modification and stabilization efforts the mermentau river entrance would be classified as wave dominated sabine pass as tide dominated and calcasieu pass as tide dominated to occasionally mixed hoyt hoyt j h 1969 chenier versus barrier genetic and stratigraphic distinction am assoc petrol geol bull 53 299 306 presented the first detailed depositional model for chenier genesis and mudflat progradation which he attributed to changes in mississippi river flow direction i e delta switching caused by upstream channel avulsion however hoyt s model oversimplifies chenier plain evolution because it omits ridges created by other means thus the geologic evolution of the chenier plain is more complicated than channel avulsions of the mississippi river and it involved not only chenier ridges i e transgressive but also ridges that are genetically tied to regression beach ridges and lateral accretion recurved spits a six stage geomorphic process response model was developed to describe chenier plain evolution primarily as a function of i the balance between sediment supply and energy dissipation associated with mississippi river channel avulsions ii local sediment reworking and lateral transport iii tidal entrance dynamics and iv possibly higher than present stands of holocene sea level consequently the geneses of three different ridge types transgressive regressive and laterally accreted typically occur contemporaneously along the same shoreline at different locations

glacial activity and catchment dynamics in northwest greece long term river behaviour and the slackwater sediment record for the last glacial to interglacial transition woodward j c hamlin r h b macklin m g hughes p d lewin j 2008 glacial activity and catchment dynamics in northwest greece long term river behaviour and the slackwater sediment record for the last glacial to interglacial transition geomorphology 101 1 2 44 67 sponsorship uk science and engineering research council woodward the school of geography at the university of leeds hamlin and the university of cambridge hughes the uk natural environment research council gr9 2916 and ip 754 0302 funded the bulk of the analyses reported here specialissue sp iss si

geomorphological record of extreme wave events during roman times in the guadalquivir estuary gulf of cadiz sw spain an archaeological and paleogeographical approach abstract analysis of the geological record has made it possible to delimit for the guadalquivir estuary the traces of extreme wave events ewes during the roman period in the iberian peninsula 218 bce to 476 ce the largest event occurred in the 2nd 3rd century ce it generated clearly visible erosive effects in the coastal barriers including washover fans and erosional scarps in the inner estuary however the effects were minor crevasse splays that broke levees and cheniers as well as a residual sedimentary lag the significant development of the spits protected the inner estuary from the marine incursion which only caused a water level rise with low regime waves correlation of the geomorphological and sedimentary marks left by this event with the archaeological and geological evidence of other events recognized elsewhere in the gulf of cadiz effectively argues for a tsunami as to the nature of the 2nd 3rd century ce event yet this and the other identified ewes in the guadalquivir estuary during the pre roman and the roman period all fit a model of paleogeographic evolution dominated by processes of coastal progradation and estuarine infilling radiocarbon dating geomorphological analysis and historical references fail to warrant the so called 218 209 bce atlantic tsunami as hypothesized in the received scientific literature in pre roman and roman times human occupation at the mouth of the guadalquivir river was strongly influenced by various geodynamic processes the location of the settlements being contingent upon dependable fast communication with the sea and above all upon adequate protection from ewes on the leeward side of spits progressive progradation of these coastal barriers combined with the gradual infilling of the estuary to make navigation to open sea increasingly difficult and eventually to result in the abandonment of settlements

benthic foraminiferal salinity index in marginal marine environments a case study from the holocene guadalquivir estuary sw spain abstract here we developed and validated a new benthic foraminiferal salinity bfs index from marginal marine environments by analysing benthic foraminifera from the holocene guadalquivir estuary sediments sw spain this index is formulated utilising only four species ammonia tepida and haynesina germanica with higher tolerance to brackish waters and indicating lower salinity and elphidium translucens and elphidium granosum indicative of greater marine influence and pointing to higher salinity thus the bfs index is calculated easily and rapidly and therefore it makes it possible to analyse a higher number of samples in less time the bfs index values from the studied cores enabled the detailed description of subtle changes in the guadalquivir estuary restriction during the holocene for this purpose three degrees of salinity depending on marine influence were defined higher bfs index 0 0 0 4 high marine influence moderate bfs index 0 4 0 7 moderate marine influence and lower bfs index 0 7 1 0 low marine influence before 2000 bce the estuary was moderately open and well connected to the atlantic ocean from 2000 bce the estuary experienced a greater marine influence increasing in extension as a consequence of a sea level rise and subsidence immediately afterwards it began to experience restriction processes due to southward shoreline progradation related to the growth of littoral spits and sediment supply from 1400 to 1000 bce gradual restriction transformed the open estuary into a semiclosed estuary a last phase of estuary restriction occurred from 1000 bce to the present day leading to the lowest salinity and the highest estuary restriction finally the bfs index was successfully applied in two other marginal marine environments a pleistocene lagoon in northern italy and a pliocene coastal bay in southeastern spain the index allowed assessment of the degree of restriction in these different environments supporting its utility in different regions environments and timescales

numerical modeling of fluvial strath terrace formation in response to oscillating climate many river systems in western north america retain a fluvial strath terrace rec ord of discontinuous downcutting into bedrock through the quaternary their importance lies in their use to interpret climatic events in the headwaters and to determine long term incision rates terrace formation has been ascribed to changes in sediment supply and or water discharge produced by late quaternary climatic fluctuations we use a one dimensional channel evolution model to explore whether temporal variations in sediment and water discharge can generate terrace sequences the model includes sediment transport vertical bedrock erosion limited by alluvial cover and lateral valley wall erosion we set limits on our modeling by using data collected from the terraced wind river basin two types of experiments were performed constant period sinusoidal input histories and variable period inputs scaled by the marine 18 o rec ord our simulations indicate that strath terrace formation requires input variability that produces a changing ratio of vertical to lateral erosion rates straths are cut when the channel floor is protected from erosion by sediment and are abandoned and terraces formed when incision can resume following sediment cover thinning high sediment supply promotes wide valley floors that are abandoned as sediment supply decreases in contrast wide valleys are promoted by low effective water discharge and are abandoned as discharge increases widening of the valley floors that become terraces occurs over many thousands of years the transition from valley widening to downcutting and terrace creation occurs in response to subtle input changes affecting local divergence of sediment transport capacity formation of terraces lags by several thousand years the input changes that cause their formation our results suggest that use of terrace ages to set limits on the timing of a specific event must be done with the knowledge that the system can take thousands of years to respond to a perturbation the incision rate calculated in the field from the lowest terrace in these systems will likely be higher than the rate calculated by using older terraces because the most recent fluvial response in the field is commonly downcutting associated with declining sediment input since the last glacial maximum this apparent increase in incision rates is observed in many river systems and should not necessarily be interpreted as a response to an increase in rock uplift rate

geomagnetic effects on time integrated cosmogenic nuclide production with emphasis on in situ 14c and 10be abstract production of cosmogenic nuclides cns in geologic material is a function of the cosmic ray flux at the earth s surface which in turn is a function of the intensity and orientation of the earth s geomagnetic field temporal variations in the intensity of the geomagnetic field and the position of the geomagnetic dipole axis i e polar wander must be considered when calculating production rates that are integrated through time we have developed a model based in part on protocols set forth by desilets and zreda earth planet sci lett 206 2003 21 42 that accounts for these variations in an effort to systematically determine their impact on time integrated production of short lived in situ 14c t1 2 5 73 ka and long lived in situ 10be t1 2 1 5 ma cns our modeling results show that for samples exposed for the last 3 ka integrated in situ 14c and 10be production rates that account for temporal variations in the intensity of the earth s geomagnetic field are up to 13 lower than modern rates at the same location modern rates are referenced to the 1945 0 definitive geomagnetic reference field dgrf in contrast intensity corrected 10be rates are up to 30 higher than modern for samples exposed for 25 30 ka intensity variations have little effect our modeling results also show that the impact of polar wander on integrated cn production is secondary compared to intensity variations accounting for polar wander is critical however when determining modern production rates at midlatitudes 30 40 because of the current offset between the geomagnetic and geographic poles at sea level integrated in situ 14c production rates that account for both intensity variations and polar wander range from 27 higher to 24 lower than modern rates at the same location and integrated in situ 10be rates range from 48 higher to 26 lower than modern differences between integrated and modern rates increase significantly at higher altitudes based on these results we recommend correcting the modern production rate referenced to the 1945 0 dgrf or another specific geomagnetic reference field at site latitudes

particle size characterisation of holocene back barrier sequences from north atlantic coasts sw spain and se england abstract in this paper we present the results of bivariate plots of grain size parameters mean against sorting in the reconstruction of holocene environmental change in coastal environments where barrier formation has had an important control on sedimentation sites on the north atlantic coast with differing histories of climate sediment flux sea level change and barrier integrity are investigated to determine the general efficacy of this bivariate parameter model in distinguishing between open and closed basin conditions and in reviewing the significance of aperiodic high energy geomorphic events in controlling late stage back barrier sedimentation

the role of neo tectonics in the sedimentary infilling and geomorphological evolution of the guadalquivir estuary gulf of cadiz sw spain during the holocene abstract a multidisciplinary analysis of cores and geomorphic patterns in the marshes of donana national park sw spain has yielded new evidence regarding the sedimentary infilling and geomorphological evolution of the guadalquivir estuary during the holocene the sedimentation and geomorphological disposition have been strongly conditioned by neotectonic activity along a set of sw ne alignments interrupted by other alignments that follow e w and nw se directions the most conspicuous of the sw ne alignments is the torre carbonero marilopez fault tcmf south of this fault the estuary experienced a marked subsidence from about 4000 to 2000 cal yr bp through a series of sedimentary sequences of retrogradation and aggradation within the context of relative sea level rise from c 2000 cal yr bp to the present the subsidence has remained relatively dormant with progradation of the littoral systems and infilling of the marshland progressing within a context of sea level stability our results reveal that neotectonic activity is a critical factor that must also be reckoned with in any attempt to understand the holocene geomorphological evolution in the guadalquivir estuary

late pleistocene dip slip faulting along the dunajec fault west carpathians insights from alluvial sediments abstract this paper presents vertical movement along the dunajec fault during the late pleistocene and suggests quaternary tectonic reactivation of diagonal strike slip faults and their transformation into dip slip faults in the west carpathians optically stimulated luminescence osl dating of pleistocene alluvial sediments of the dunajec and the ochotnica rivers was employed to determine the time range of deposition of these sediments vertical and spatial distribution of the obtained osl ages imply that the alluvial sediments were affected by the dunajec fault which appears to have acted as a scissor fault during the late pleistocene the results contribute to the discussion on the recent evolution of the carpathians and may support the concept of extensional collapse of the orogen

fluvial responses to climate and sea level change a review and look forward summary fluvial landforms and deposits provide one of the most readily studied quaternary continental records and alluvial strata represent an important component in most ancient continental interior and continental margin successions moreover studies of the long term dynamics of fluvial systems and their responses to external or allogenic controls can play important roles in research concerning both global change and sequence stratigraphy as well as in studies of the dynamic interactions between tectonic activity and surface processes these themes were energized in the final decades of the twentieth century and may become increasingly important in the first decades of this millennium this review paper provides a historical perspective on the development of ideas in the fields of geomorphology quaternary geology vs sedimentary geology and then summarizes key processes that operate to produce alluvial stratigraphic records over time scales of 103 106 years of particular interest are changes in discharge regimes sediment supply and sediment storage en route from source terrains to sedimentary basins as well as changes in sea level and the concept of accommodation late quaternary stratigraphic records from the loire france mississippi usa colorado texas usa and rhine meuse the netherlands rivers are used to illustrate the influences of climate change on continental interior rivers as well as the influence of interacting climate and sea level change on continental margin systems the paper concludes with a look forward to a bright future for studies of fluvial response to climate and sea level change at present empirical field based research on fluvial response to climate and sea level change lags behind a the global change community s understanding of the magnitude and frequency of climate and sea level change b the sequence stratigraphic community s desire to interpret climate and especially sea level change as forcing mechanisms and c the modelling community s ability to generate numerical and physical models of surface processes and their stratigraphic results a major challenge for the future is to catch up which will require the development of more detailed and sophisticated quaternary stratigraphic sedimentological and geochronological frameworks in a variety of continental interior and continental margin settings there is a particular need for studies that seek to document fluvial responses to allogenic forcing over both shorter 102 103 years and longer 104 106 years time scales than has commonly been the case to date as well as in larger river systems from source to sink studies of quaternary systems in depositional basin settings are especially critical because they can provide realistic analogues for interpretation of the pre quaternary rock record

radiocarbon calibration beyond 20 000 14c yr b p by means of planktonic foraminifera of the iberian margin we present a new set of 14c ages obtained by accelerator mass spectrometry ams on planktonic foraminifera from a deep sea core collected off the iberian margin md952042 this site at 37 n is distant from the high latitude zones where 14c reservoir age is large and variable many independent proxies alkenones magnetic susceptibility ice rafted debris foraminifera stable isotopes abundances of foraminifera pollen and dinoflagellates show abrupt changes correlative with dansgaard oeschger and heinrich events of the last glacial period the good stratigraphic agreement of all proxies from the fine to the coarse size fractions indicates that the foraminifera 14c ages are representative of the different sediment fractions to obtain reliable 14c ages of foraminifera beyond 20 000 14c yr b p we leached the shells prior to carbonate hydrolysis and subsequent analysis for a calendar age scale we matched the iberian margin u37k profile with that of greenland summit 18o both are proxies for temperature which in models varies synchronously in the two areas the match creates no spurious jumps in sedimentation rate and requires only a limited number of tie points except for ages older than 40 000 14c yr b p greenland s gisp2 and grip records yield similar calendars the 14c and imported calendar ages of the iberian margin record are then compared to data from lacustrine annual varves and from corals and speleothems dated by u th previously used to extend the calibration beyond 20 000 14c yr b p the new record follows a smooth pattern between 23 000 and 50 000 cal yr b p we find good agreement with the previous data sets between 23 000 and 31 000 cal yr b p in the interval between 33 000 and 41 000 cal yr b p for which previous records disagree by up to 5000 cal yr the iberian margin record closely follows the polynomial curve that was previously defined by an interpolation of the coral ages and runs between the lake suigetsu and the bahamian speleothem data sets

evidence of high energy events in the geological record mid holocene evolution of the southwestern donana national park sw spain abstract four phases are distinguished in the mid holocene evolution of the southwestern donana national park sw spain based on the multidisciplinary study of sediments in drill cores in the oldest phase 5500 5400 cal years bp a coastal brackish lagoon occupied the central part of the study area partly enclosed by the donana spit and limited by fluvial levees an evolution from subtidal to intertidal conditions characterized the areas located close to the inner side of the donana spit during the same phase the following phase 5400 5200 cal years bp is characterized by a high energy event tsunami which caused the breakthrough of the donana spit and the creation of new littoral strands in the inner areas in the first period of the third phase 5200 4200 cal years bp estuarine infilling was probably the dominant process with the accumulation of phyllosilicate rich clays in the lagoon bed this was followed by a renewed phase of instability 4200 4100 cal years bp indicated by the presence of fine storm lain deposits and thicker probably tsunami induced shelly deposits the last phase 4100 3700 cal years bp comprises a an infilling period with a diminution of the marine influence and b two new high energy events which caused the erosion of the donana spit and the creation of new cheniers in the last 7000 years the comparison of these results with a revision of both geological and historical records has revealed the occurrence of twenty tsunamis at least during this period in portugal and southern spain evidences of these high energy events are washover fans bioclastic coarse sized layers within salt marsh deposits or the presence of giant boulders and pebbles the determination of the recurrence period is very difficult owing to the very scarce data although our data and other authors do not discard a possible periodicity of 2000 years for a cycle of two events separated by 300 400 years

subparallel thrust and normal faulting in albania and the roles of gravitational potential energy and rheology contrasts in mountain belts the active tectonics of albania and surrounding regions on the eastern margin of the adriatic sea is characterized by subparallel thrust and normal faulting which we suggest is likely to be related to gravitational potential energy contrasts between the low lying adriatic sea and the elevated mountainous areas inland we calculate the magnitude of the force which the mountains and lowlands exert upon each other as a result of this potential energy contrast it is likely that this force is largely supported by shear stresses on faults and if so the average stresses are less than 20 mpa alternatively if the mountains are supported by stresses in the ductile part of the lithosphere the stresses are likely to be 80 240 mpa in magnitude the mountains of albania are significantly lower than other ranges such as the peruvian andes which are thought to be extending in response to potential energy differences and we discuss the relation between albania and these other higher mountain belts from the perspective of differences in lithosphere rheology we suggest that the lowlands of western albania and the adriatic sea may have been weakened through time as a result of the deposition of large thicknesses of sediment which lead to heating of the crystalline basement a reduction in the potential energy contrast that could be supported by the lowlands and so normal faulting in the mountains of eastern albania

mineralogical assemblages geochemistry and fossil associations of pleistocene holocene complex siliciclastic deposits from the southwestern donana national park sw spain a palaeoenvironmental approach abstract on the basis of mineralogy chemical and palaeontological data collected in a long core 93 m three associations of facies are distinguished in the late pleistocene late holocene evolution of the sedimentary infilling in nowadays donana national park from the lower middle and upper associations of facies three sedimentological phases have been established in the oldest phase 44 kyr bp this area was occupied by supratidal freshwater marshes located close to a brackish lagoon and inundated suddenly by brackish marine inputs the following phase 44 7 kyr bp is characterized by the transition from supratidal to intertidal conditions with the alternation of freshwater or brackish marshes situated very close or in the margin of the former lagoon and submitted to episodes of desiccation or tidal inundation the last phase 7 3 0 cal kyr bp comprised a a marine inundation during the maximum of the flandrian transgression 7 6 5 cal kyr bp and b the progressive infilling of a brackish lagoon with marine connection and permanent fresh water inputs 6 5 3 5 cal kyr bp partially enclosed by the donana spit the phyllosilicate rich clayey silty sequence of this latter infilling is interrupted by tsunami like deposits at 4 2 3 6 cal kyr bp and 3 6 3 0 cal kyr bp these high energy events are characterized by textural bimodal grain size distribution sorting decrease mineralogical crystallochemical changes in illites increasing dolomite content and geochemical changes ti anomaly besides a sudden introduction of marine bivalves and microfauna and a strong decrease or the almost disappearance of the brackish ostracode assemblage ages of these deposits coincide with those indicated for other tsunamigenic layers detected in the southwestern spanish coasts and some deep cores collected near the african european plate boundary

relative motion of the adriatic with respect to the confining plates seismological and geodetic constraints summary the most reliable and significant seismological and geodetic constraints on the kinematics of the adriatic plate are tentatively recognized and used for determining adriatic eurasia eulerian poles the poles so obtained in spite of the considerable uncertainty that might affect them significantly differ from the ones of previous studies possible explanations of this discrepancy are discussed it is then argued that the distribution of quaternary deformation and seismotectonic activity in the adriatic and surrounding regions suggests that no appreciable relative motion can be recognized between the adriatic and africa this evidence implies that the kinematics of the adriatic may provide a constraint on the motion of africa in the central mediterranean region

beach ridges definitions and significance abstract beach ridges frequent components of quaternary coastal plains and other coastal landforms have been cited as indicators of the positions of ancient seashores and associated sea levels numerous authors utilized the term beach ridge for active and relict usually wave built supratidal and or intertidal forms wind built ridges have been only occasionally included in the definition the term was applied also to submerged landward shifting eventually stranded bars a consistent redefinition of the term is highly desirable beach ridges should include all relict strandplain ridges whether dominated by wave swash built or by eolian lithosomes all active ridge like shore features regardless of dimensions morphology and origin are excluded because of the resistance of coarse clastic ridges to wave and wind erosion swash built gravel or coarse shell storm ridges may build several meters above the level of high tide swash built high berms even on pure sandy beaches exceed the highest tides during episodes of wind induced record water levels frequently but not always burying underlying low relief berm ridges of berm lithosomes sequences of relatively steep multiple foredunes are commonly named beach ridge plains the narrow subparallel relict foredunes that form these strandplains presently are designated as eolian beach ridges beach ridges thus are defined as relict semiparallel multiple wave and wind built landforms that originated in the inter and supratidal zones until separated from the shoreline by progradation sandy pebbly or shell enriched backshore berm ridges behind an active foreshore should not be considered beach ridges strandplain progradation is either continuous or with the inclusion of subtidal cat s eye ponds discontinuous contrary to claims transgressive cheniers do not represent true cheniers alone within their overall progradational context cheniers a special category of beach ridges bracketed by subtidal intertidal mudflats may be transgressive or regressive in character landward driven transgressive ridges should be designated beach ridges only after they are stabilized on intertidal flats when recognizable between clearly identifiable intertidal and overlying eolian intervals the horizontal interface between these lithosomes in beach ridges may help the reconstruction of ancient tide lake levels diagnostic sedimentary textures structures and fossils however often may be unavailable in the deposits along with various types of elevated terraces composed of raised marine deposits and certain coastal landforms of erosional origin that occur worldwide beach ridges of clearly proven wave built origin may also serve as indicators of ancient higher than present sea levels

reply to the comment on formation of chenier plain of the donana marshland sw spain observations and geomorphic model by a rodriguez ramirez and c m yanez camacho marine geology 254 2008 187 196 abstract the application of the regional reservoir effect r on the south atlantic coast of iberia requires adjustments as a result of the variations it has undergone throughout the holocene since 1996 a constant value of 440 84 14c yr has been used dabrio c j zazo c lario j goy j l sierro f j borja f gonzalez j a flores j a 1999 sequence stratigraphy of holocene incised valley fills and coastal evolution in the gulf of cadiz southern spain geologie en mijnbouw 77 23 281 dabrio c j zazo c lario j goy j l sierro f j borja f gonzalez j a flores j a 2000 depositional history of estuarine infill during the last postglacial transgression gulf of cadiz southern spain marine geology 162 381 404 however a constant value for the whole of the holocene cannot be expected which has led to time intervals with different r being established morales j a borrego j san miguel e g lopez gonzalez n carro b 2008 sedimentary record of recent tsunamis in the huelva estuary southwestern spain quaternary science reviews 27 734 746 deduced from the marine reservoir correction database from calib radiocarbon calibration version 5 0 2html by m stuiver p j reimer and r reimer later soares soares a m m 2008 radiocarbon dating of marine samples from gulf of cadiz abstracts annual conference igcp 495 faro portugal 6 7 established a constant r value of 135 20 14c yr which can be applied to samples younger than 4000 14c yr bp rodriguez vidal et al comment on formation of chenier plain of the donana marshland sw spain observations and geomorphic model by a rodriguez ramirez and c m yanez camacho marine geology 254 2008 187 196 marine geology 2009 in press use these disquisitions about the correct r value to question the geodynamic model proposed by rodriguez ramirez and yanez camacho rodriguez ramirez a yanez camacho c m 2008 formation of chenier plain of the donana marshland sw spain observations and geomorphic model marine geology 254 187 196 without providing any data of their own these authors base their particular critique on the chronological difference caused by using a different r value from the one they use which in this case is the soares soares a m m 2008 radiocarbon dating of marine samples from gulf of cadiz abstracts annual conference igcp 495 faro portugal 6 7 value however if we take into account new progress in the r value all studies since 1996 have some kind of chronological error of this kind and therefore this critique should extend to all these works including their own a critique on geodynamic models based solely on chronological differences of this kind is not justifiable at the same time the ages determined by these authors by re calibrating the samples in rodriguez ramirez and yanez camacho rodriguez ramirez a yanez camacho c m 2008 formation of chenier plain of the donana marshland sw spain observations and geomorphic model marine geology 254 187 196 do contain serious errors due to the incorrect use of the calib 5 0 2 programme

holocene cheniers in the yangtze delta china abstract nineteen cheniers formed in the middle and late holocene have been distinguished and studied in fair weather the wave action along the yangtze delta is weak with a wave height of 0 5 1 0 m and average wave energy of 0 127 erg s however in late summer and early autumn the coastal area is usually swept by typhoons which sometimes are extremely violent the development of cheniers is mainly controlled by these strong typhoons as a result a number of the sedimentary characteristics of the cheniers are related to the typhoon generated high energy environment moreover the study shows that the top elevation of a fully developed chenier indicates the spring high water level during a violent typhoon 11 12 on the beaufort scale

comment on formation of chenier plain of the donana marshland sw spain observations and geomorphic model by a rodriguez ramirez and c m yanez camacho marine geology 254 2008 187 196 abstract the application of the regional marine 14 c reservoir effect r to obtain an accurate calibration of conventional marine shell 14 c dates requires prior research concerning the oceanographic conditions and the r of that region rodriguez ramirez and yanez camacho a rodriguez ramirez c m yanez camacho formation of chenier plain of the donana marshland sw spain observations and geomorphic model marine geology 254 2008 187 196 and afterwards a rodriguez ramirez j a morales j borrego and e g san miguel in a reply a rodriguez ramirez j a morales j borrego e g san miguel reply to the comment on formation of chenier plain of the donana marshland sw spain observations and geomorphic model by a rodriguez ramirez and c m yanez camacho marine geology 254 2008 187 196 marine geology 263 2009 123 125 to the comment by j rodriguez vidal f ruiz and l m caceres on the paper mentioned above j rodriguez vidal f ruiz l m caceres comment on formation of chenier plain of the donana marshland sw spain observations and geomorphic model by a rodriguez ramirez c m yanez camacho marine geology 254 2008 187 196 marine geology 263 2009 120 122 use in both cases not only incorrect r values for the calibration of 14 c dates obtained from shell samples collected from the east coast of the gulf of cadiz but they also confuse the r concept with that of r t the 14 c reservoir age because the misunderstanding of these concepts by these authors and in the first case also their failure to take into account the r values obtained by us and already published from the east coast of gulf of cadiz all the calibrated dates presented either in the first paper or in the reply cannot be accepted here i present a new calibrated dataset using accurate r values and i recommend that the conclusions obtained by rodriguez ramirez and their collaborators be revised as j rodriguez vidal f ruiz and l m caceres proposed in their comment

seismicity deformation and seismic hazard in the western rift of corinth new insights from the corinth rift laboratory crl this paper presents the main recent results obtained by the seismological and geophysical monitoring arrays in operation in the rift of corinth greece the corinth rift laboratory crl is set up near the western end of the rift where instrumental seismicity and strain rate is highest the seismicity is clustered between 5 and 10 km defining an active layer gently dipping north on which the main normal faults mostly dipping north are rooting it may be interpreted as a detachment zone possibly related to the phyllade thrust nappe young active normal faults connecting the aigion to the psathopyrgos faults seem to control the spatial distribution of the microseismicity this seismic activity is interpreted as a seismic creep from gps measurements which shows evidence for fast continuous slip on the deepest part on the detachment zone offshore either the shallowest part of the faults is creeping or the strain is relaxed in the shallow sediments as inferred from the large ns strain gradient reported by gps the predicted subsidence of the central part of the rift is well fitted by the new continuous gps measurements the location of shallow earthquakes between 5 and 3 5 km in depth recorded on the on shore helike and aigion faults are compatible with 50 and 60 mean dip angles respectively the offshore faults also show indirect evidence for high dip angles this strongly differs from the low dip values reported for active faults more to the east of the rift suggesting a significant structural or rheological change possibly related to the hypothetical presence of the phyllade nappe large seismic swarms lasting weeks to months seem to activate recent synrift as well as pre rift faults most of the faults of the investigated area are in their latest part of cycle so that the probability of at least one moderate to large earthquake m 6 to 6 7 is very high within a few decades furthermore the region west to aigion is likely to be in an accelerated state of extension possibly 2 to 3 times its mean interseismic value high resolution strain measurement with a borehole dilatometer and long base hydrostatic tiltmeters started end of 2002 a transient strain has

river response to high frequency climate oscillations in southern europe over the past 200 k y a 200 k y chronology of river response to climate related environmental change has been established for northeast spain using newly developed luminescence dating techniques this constitutes the best documented record of late quaternary river behavior currently available for the north atlantic region and enables fluvial stratigraphies to be compared with high resolution ice core and marine oxygen isotope climate series pleistocene and holocene river aggradational episodes coincide with stadial or neoglacial events while phases of river incision occur during interstadial or interglacial periods alluviation and erosion cycles would appear to track variations in sediment supply controlled by vegetation cover and winter storm frequency

uplift and active tectonics of southern albania inferred from incision of alluvial terraces abstract in albania the osum and vjoje rivers cross the active graben system and the active frontal thrust system of the albanides the effects of climatic and geodynamic forcing on the development of these two rivers were investigated by the means of field mapping topographic surveying and absolute exposure age dating we established the chronology of terraces abandonment from the compilation of new dating 14c and in situ produced 10be and previously published data we identified nine fluvial terraces units developed since marine isotope stage 6 up to historic times from this reconstituted history we quantified the vertical uplift on a time scale shorter than the glacial climatic cycle regional bulging produces an overall increase of the incision rate from the west to the east that reaches a maximum value of 2 8 m ka in the hinterland local pulses of incision are generated by activation of normal faults the most active faults have a sw ne trend and a vertical slip rate ranging from 1 8 to 2 2 m ka this study outlines the geodynamic control in the development of rivers flowing through the albanides on the scale of 103 105ka

quaternary evolution of a large alluvial fan in a periglacial setting crau plain se france constrained by terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide 10be abstract located in the foreland of the western alps the crau plain was the outlet of the durance river in the pleistocene in order to constrain its geodynamic evolution in terms of chronology and denudation rates the two main quaternary deposits of this plain have been studied based on cosmogenic nuclide 10 be concentration measurements along depth profiles the abandonment of the miramas and luquier alluvial surfaces occurred at the beginning of glacial periods wurm isotopic stage 4 and riss isotopic stage 6 respectively discrepancy in denudation rates under similar geomorphological and lithological conditions suggests different denudation processes during glacial and interglacial periods the denudation rate has been estimated at about 25 mm ka 1 for the interglacial period and about 60 mm ka 1 for the glacial period the abandonment of the crau plain as the outlet of the durance river occurred sometime between 75 and 35 ka

about the tidal oscillations of temperature in a tidally driven estuary the case of guadalquivir estuary southwest spain abstract an 18 month time series of temperature collected in the vicinity of the guadalquivir estuary mouth has been analyzed to investigate tidal signals in the temperature records two sources of similar importance are acting jointly to produce these signals the gravitational tide generating potential that acts through the tidal currents induced by the vertical tide at the estuary s mouth and the radiational potential whose origin is the sun s radiation the most important signal is the radiational diurnal s1 which exhibits a seasonal modulation the next one in importance is m2 introduced via the advective term which shows semiannual modulation due to the change of sign of the horizontal temperature gradient the s2 constituent is a mixture of radiational via the first harmonic of s1 and gravitational contributions the former being about twice the latter the harmonic constants of all these constituents are time dependent so that caution is needed to interpret results deduced from time series of few months

a beach ridge progradation complex reflecting periodical sea level and climate variability during the holocene gulf of almeria western mediterranean detailed mapping based on aerial photographs at various scales analysis of morpho sedimentary units and radiocarbon dating of the prograding beach ridge complex of campo de dalias almeria allow the differentiation of six prograding units these are called h1 7400 6000 cal bp h2 5400 4200 cal bp h3 4200 3000 cal bp h4 2700 1900 cal bp h5 1900 1100 cal bp and h6 500 cal bp present h units are deposited during periods of high relative sea level and increased sediment input to the coast they are bounded by large swales or erosional surfaces associated with lower sea levels and reduced input of sediment to the coast these correspond to short periods of increased aridity inside the general arid trend recorded in the western mediterranean since 5 4 ka changes in the flux of atlantic superficial waters into the mediterranean sea and relative strength of the w sw winds account for the recorded oscillations of relative sea level we deduce a decadal periodicity for the deposition of a beach ridge and the adjacent swale and suggest that it is related to fluctuations of the north atlantic oscillation nao index and to variations of solar activity the duration of h units shows a quasi millennial periodicity punctuated by short hundred years episodes of reduced progradation or erosion representing events of increased aridity likely to be related to bond s holocene cold events

depositional history of estuarine infill during the last postglacial transgression gulf of cadiz southern spain abstract the late pleistocene and holocene evolution of the estuaries in the gulf of cadiz is interpreted for the first time using drill cores logs trenches and 38 new radiocarbon data and the results compared with the shelf the odiel tinto and guadalete rivers deposited conglomerates during a highstand that did not reach the present sea level dated at ca 25 30 ka isotopic stage is 3 corresponding to a relatively humid period in the area rivers incised these coarse grained deposits during the last main lowstand at ca 18 ka when sea level dropped to 120 m and the coastline lay 14 km seawards from the present the erosional surface is a sequence boundary and the flooding surface of the postglacial eustatic rise overlain by the valley fill deposits of the transgressive and highstand phases of the last fourth and fifth order depositional sequences recognised in the shelf the first marine influence in the estuaries during the transgression occurs at 25 30 m at ca 10 000 years bp according to fossil assemblages the transgressed basins changed from brackish to more open marine as the sea rose until ca 6500 years bp when it reached the maximum flooding and the sandy estuarine barriers ceased to retrograde toward the muddy central basins then the rate of eustatic rise decreased drastically and the estuarine filling followed a two fold pattern governed by the progressive change from vertical accretion to lateral centripetal progradation at ca 4000 years bp the fluvial input surpassed the already negligible rate of rise causing partial emergence of tidal flats and spit barriers in the largely filled estuarine basins prevalence of coastal progradation upon vertical accretion at ca 2400 years bp caused accelerated expansion of tidal flats and rapid growth of the sandy barriers further changes since the 16th century reflect widespread anthropic impacts

scaling factors for the rates of production of cosmogenic nuclides for geometric shielding and attenuation at depth on sloped surfaces abstract the decrease in rates of production of cosmogenic nuclides occurs because of shielding of cosmic rays by mountains sloped surfaces and local rock formations that block them when a large part of the sky is blocked this correction is large and requires detailed model calculations this paper considers three geometries a rectangular obstruction a triangular obstruction and a sloped surface other geometries can be considered as a combination of these the results are presented in terms of formulas and graphs so that the reader can easily apply them to common field situations any use of cosmogenic nuclides in the study of geomorphic processes or forms must consider factors that introduce variations in the production of nuclides

sub millennial scale climatic oscillations in the central adriatic during the lateglacial palaeoceanographic implications abstract a multi proxy study of a sedimentary core obtained from the central adriatic basin provides evidence of short term events of palaeoceanographic variability during the last glacial lateglacial period grip event stages gi 1 and gs 1 comparison of the adriatic results with other mediterranean records reveals a common sequence of changes in palaeoceanographic conditions variations in foraminiferal assemblage data and in stable isotopic compositions indicate two short term cold oscillations which interrupted an overall cooling trend that commenced at the beginning of the greenland gi 1 episode bolling allerod episode these cold events considered to be contemporaneous with gi 1b and gi d of the grip ice core record are indicated by distinctive foraminiferal assemblages which reflect episodes of high productivity under relatively restricted water circulation with in particular reduced vertical mixing during winter differences in the foraminiferal assemblages indicate that the younger of the two cold spells is characterized by reduced ventilation of bottom waters our results combined with published data from neighbouring marine basins suggest a widespread reduction in deep water formation in the central mediterranean which commenced during the gi 1b episode and reached its maximum effect during the onset of the gs 1 younger dryas episode moreover three intervals with reduced vertical mixing correspond to the two cold spells during gi 1 and the lower phase of the gs 1 episode and show close similarities with the palaeoceanographic changes reported for the north atlantic this similarity indicates that the mediterranean and north atlantic may have been responding more or less synchronously to common forcing mechanisms

formation of chenier plain of the donana marshland sw spain observations and geomorphic model abstract the guadalquivir estuary is one of the most important in europe it is isolated from the sea by two important littoral spits donana and la algaida its sedimentary filling occurred as a result of deltaic contributions of the guadalquivir river giving rise to marshes primarily composed of mud deposits among which a succession of sandy and shelly ridges can be found the aim of this paper is to explain the genesis and evolution of these sandy and shelly ridges clarifying what types of ridges are found and their spatial distribution identifying the processes responsible for their formation these ridges extend in the form of long strands along the estuary influencing its evolution during the late holocene the geomorphologic and lithostratigraphic features of these ridges allow them to be defined as transgressive cheniers regressive cheniers and laterally accreted ridges spits as components of the guadalquivir estuary chenier plain complex this chenier plain has the peculiarity of developing on a semi enclosed shoreline contrary to other chenier plains in the world which develop on open coasts in the guadalquivir estuary the chenier plain formation is related to two relatively higher sea level 4200 2800 yr bp and 1400 1000 yr bp during which high energy events occur storms and tsunamis that transgressed the large littoral spits the carrizosa 4000 yr bp and vetalengua 1400 1300 yr bp spits have been formed across the inlet and prograded landwards of the estuary from here several sequences of cheniers mainly transgressive cheniers associated with these events were formed these cheniers form two groups las nuevas 1100 1000 yr bp and marilopez 3000 yr bp composed mainly of shells and shell fragments these cheniers were constructed by waves which reworked the shells above estuarine levees and led to their intense landward migration thus explaining the peculiar high inland position of the cheniers

evidence of past environmental conditions during the evolution of a calcretised wadi system in southern jordan using stable isotopes abstract a stratigraphically and temporally ordered sequence of channel calcretes preserved along the wadi dana southern jordan records the quaternary evolution of the formation and infilling of rock cut channels and their subsequent incision in a tectonically subsiding basin it is currently unknown under what palaeoenvironmental conditions these non pedogenic calcretes formed stable isotope analyses have been used to investigate whether any past topographical hydrological vegetational diagenetic and or temporal signatures can be identified from the channel calcretes the results of this research indicate that channel calcrete development is influenced by altitudinal variation affecting vegetation and hydrology within the landscape as well as location within individual wadi channels which has an affect on diagenetic processes the lack of calcretisation of a terrace that is between 1 and 1 5 m above the modern wadi floor supports the idea that the environment is currently too arid for calcrete to develop thus the presence of older wadi dana channel duricrusts suggests wetter conditions when they formed the 18o data of the calcrete implies cooler conditions than today as there is little evidence of a strong evaporative effect any temporal control is limited and mainly a function of stratigraphic position with some numeric dating

in situ produced 10be measurements at great depths implications for production rates by fast muons in situ cosmogenic 10be values have been used to investigate a brazilian quartz vein from the surface to a depth of 15 m at depths greater than 1000 g cm2 deep enough for neutron induced reactions to be insignificant there is only a slight decrease in 10be concentration with increasing depth our results are consistent with deep production of 10be by a mechanism presumably induced by fast muons with an attenuation length of 5300 950 g cm2 and a contribution of 0 65 0 25 to the total surface production results are compared with values from the literature and implications of this re evaluation are discussed

the adriatic region an independent microplate within the africa eurasia collision zone 1 we use gps measurements and block modeling to investigate the present day deformation of the adriatic region whose kinematics within the nubia eurasia plate boundary zone is not well constrained and remains controversial block modeling allows us to compute rigid plate angular velocities while accounting for elastic strain accumulation along block bounding faults results suggest that the adriatic is a microplate adria and that the southern boundary with the nubia plate and the aegean domain may be located along the apulia escarpment and the kefallinia fault geodetic data alone cannot discriminate between a single block ap or a two blocks gdap description of adria but the gdap model predicts boundary slip rates that are in better agreement with observations from previous studies

implications of sediment flux dependent river incision models for landscape evolution 1 developing a quantitative understanding of the factors that control the rate of river incision into bedrock is critical to studies of landscape evolution and the linkages between climate erosion and tectonics current models of long term river network incision differ significantly in their treatment of the role of sediment flux we analyze the implications of various sediment flux dependent incision models for large scale topography in an attempt 1 to identify quantifiable and diagnostic differences between models that could be detected from topographic data or from the transient responses of perturbed systems and 2 to explain the apparent ubiquity of mixed bedrock alluvial channels in active orogens although certain forms of the various models can be discarded as inconsistent with morphological data we find that the relative intrinsic concavity indices of detachment and transport limited systems defined herein largely dictate whether the various models can be tied to distinctive steady state morphologies preliminary data suggest that no such diagnostic differences may exist and other methods must be developed to test models accordingly we develop and explore differences in the scaling behavior of topographic relief and the extent of detachment versus transport limited channels as a function of rock uplift rate that may allow discrimination among various models further we explore potentially diagnostic differences in the rates and patterns of transient channel response to changes in rock uplift rate in addition to general differences between detachment and transport limited systems our analysis identifies an interesting hysteresis in landscape evolution hybrid channels at the threshold between detachment and transport limited conditions are expected to act as detachment limited systems in response to an increase in rock uplift rate or base level fall and as transport limited systems in response to a decrease in rock uplift rate especially during postorogenic topographic decline the analyses presented set the stage for field studies designed to test quantitatively the various river incision models that have been proposed

terrestrial 10 be and electron spin resonance dating of fluvial terraces quantifies quaternary tectonic uplift gradients in the eastern pyrenees the 120 km longt et river flows out of the pyrenees to the mediterranean by displaying a mappable sequence of quaternary alluvial units between the pleistocene frontal moraines of the high range and the offshore sedimentary depocentres its 1400 km 2 watershed is well suited to quantifying gradients of topographic uplift five main generations of terrace treads had previously been inferred from constrasts in regolith weathering features but here we present the first radiometric age constraints based on 15 esr sediment burial ages covering the full sequence and 3 vertical tcn age profiles restricted to three mid sequence terraces analytically robust results were obtained for the oldest and uppermost terrace t5 esr age 1099 179 ka for t3b esr age 374 47 ka mis 10 and for t2 esr age 174 44 ka mis 6 these results are consistent with the contrasts in weathering grade of the deposits the tcn profiles only yielded minimum exposure ages but provided precise post depositional denudation rates for the fluvial terrace treads the land to sea geometry of the chronosequence also provided clues about valley incision rates in response to topographic uplift during the last 1 ma based on a critical review of similar data obtained for other mediterranean and atlantic watersheds in the pyrenees the full regional correlation reveals that post orogenic topographic uplift was substantial and relatively uniform throughout the entire mountain range patterns and magnitudes suggest a shared probably subcrustal driving mechanism of neogene and quaternary mountain growth with only subsidiary influence from isostasy and climatic forcing