Bedrock Clasts Research Articles

Sediment distribution along the fluvial to marine transition zone of the Dong Nai River System, southern Vietnam

Studies on the sediment distribution along the fluvial to marine transition zone are rare and have focused on large-scale systems. Here, we report a case study from the Dong Nai River System (DNRS), a small-scale, tide-dominated river delta from southern Vietnam. The study is based on 80 channel bed sediment samples, together with channel depth, temperature, and salinity measurements, identification of mangroves and mollusks, and grain-size analysis. Year-round meter-scale water-level fluctuations due to tides are present across the entire study area, whereas saline-water intrusion affects the entire studied part of the Vam Co Dong–Vam Co River and the majority of the studied part of the Dong Nai–Soai Rap River. The sediment distribution of both channels highlights the presence of a downstream area characterized by soft mud indicating active deposition, and upstream areas characterized by sand and gravel sediments with abundant bedrock clasts and other evidence of the extremely limited sedimentation (e.g., encrusting biostructures, borings, coating, and agglutinated mats). The coarser-grained sand and gravel are likely reworked from local bedrock and transported for short distances as also suggested by their angularity and the similarities with Pleistocene sedimentary and igneous rocks in the study area. The sediment of the DNRS is overall coarser and muddier than the sediment of the Mekong, likely reflecting the smaller scale of this system, the lower discharge, and the local sediment supply from the bedrock.

Chalk-glacitectonite, an important lithology in former glaciated terrains covering chalk and limestone bedrock

A glacitectonite is defined as a brecciated sediment or a cataclastic sedimentary rock formed by glaciotectonic deformation (Pedersen 1988). The term tectonite was initially introduced by Sander (1912), mainly for tectonically brecciated metamorphic rocks in the Alps. In the classic work on cataclastic rocks, Higgins (1971) stated that the term covered all rocks with fabric displaying coordinated geometric features related to continuous flow during deformation.Therefore brecciated lithologies formed by glaciotectonic deformations can be termed tectonites. Banham (1977) suggested the prefix glaci- to clarify the relation to glacial dynamics. Furthermore, Pedersen (1988) suggested the application of the bedrock prefix. Thus, a chalk-glacitectonite is a brecciated chalk formed by shear deformation during a glacial advance over an exposed bedrock surface of chalk (Fig. 1). Hence the term describes a sedimentary rock in which the primary structures are so disturbed that they cannot be continuously traced, and a glacitectonic fabric developed as joint fractures or shear surfaces superimposed on the lithology. The significance of recognising chalk-glacitectonite from chalk and limestone bedrock is the difference in textural properties, which is fundamental in geological modelling. In areas dominated by glaciotectonic complexes, which include thrust sheets of pre-glacial sedimentary rocks, the sheets are subject to shearing and dragged along the sole of the ice during its movement over the glaciotectonic complex. Due to truncation and shear-drag, the glacitectonite forms at the base of the deformational layer in a lodgement till. From the source area, which typically is a detachment anticline, the glacitectonite thins out in the direction of transport from 1–2 m (Fig. 2) to a thin shear zone only a few centimetres thick over a distance of one to a few kilometres (Pedersen 1996). Moreover, brecciation of thrust sheets displaced by glacial thrusting occurs within glaciotectonic complexes. The deformation ranges from initially anastomosing jointing (Figs 1, 3) to brecciation with bedrock clasts in crushed bedrock matrix (Fig. 4). The tectonic breccia distributed from the décollement zone at the base to the truncating glacial unconformity at the top may additionally be termed glacitectonites. Here we describe the occurrence and identification of chalk-tectonites.

Chemical depletion of sediment under the Greenland Ice Sheet

AbstractThe chemical composition of sediment sampled from a network of ice boreholes contacting the bed of the ablation zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet is compared to the composition of intact bedrock clasts. This sediment is enriched in silica and depleted in reactive cations compared to the underlying bedrock. In order to test whether these differences result from grain size biases either in sample collection or due to natural sorting, sediment samples were analyzed by grain size aliquots. Enrichment of silicon and depletion of cations is consistent across grain size classes and the compositions of bedrock and subglacial sediment are statistically separate. The difference in composition between subglacial sediment and rock aligns closely with the composition of dissolved solutes in waters sampled from the same field sites and is dissimilar to the composition of the sites' suspended sediment. This implies that chemical weathering rather than disproportionate physical removal of friable minerals is responsible for the compositional differences between rock and sediment. Mass balance analysis implies 3–10% of the sediment's mass is lost to solute dissolution, with approximately double that amount precipitated as clay minerals (a large portion of which may have been physically expelled). This result implies that temperate ice sheet subglacial environments may be more chemically active than previously realized. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Petrophysical characterization of the lacustrine sediment succession drilled in Lake El'gygytgyn, Far East Russian Arctic

Abstract. Seismic profiles of Far East Russian Lake El'gygytgyn, formed by a meteorite impact some 3.6 million years ago, show a stratified sediment succession that can be separated into subunits Ia and Ib at approximately 167 m below lake floor (=~3.17 Ma). The upper (Ia) is well-stratified, while the lower is acoustically more massive and discontinuous. The sediments are intercalated with frequent mass movement deposits mainly in the proximal areas, while the distal region is almost free of such deposits at least in the upper part. In spring 2009, a long core drilled in the lake center within the framework of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) penetrated the entire lacustrine sediment succession down to ~320 m below lake floor and about 200 m farther into the meteorite-impact-related bedrock. Downhole logging data down to 390 m below lake floor show that the bedrock and the lacustrine part differ significantly in their petrophysical characteristics. The contact between the bedrock and the lacustrine sediments is not abrupt, but rather transitional with a variable mixture of impact-altered bedrock clasts in a lacustrine matrix. Physical and chemical proxies measured on the cores can be used to divide the lacustrine part into five different statistical clusters. These can be plotted in a redox-condition vs. input-type diagram, with total organic carbon content and magnetic susceptibility values indicating anoxic or oxic conditions and with the Si / Ti ratio representing more clastic or more biogenic input. Plotting the clusters in this diagram allows identifying clusters that represent glacial phases (cluster I), super interglacials (cluster II), and interglacial phases (clusters III and IV).

Weathering processes in superficial deposits (regolith) and their influence on pedogenesis: A case study in the Swiss Jura Mountains

The last glacial period left a mantle of freshly reworked sediments covering the European landscape. Glacial, periglacial, fluvio-glacial, and aeolian dynamics enhanced transportation and mixing of materials, generating new superficial deposits in which Holocene soils developed. These assorted surface sediments often differed from the underlying bedrock in their lithological composition and texture, and were delimited by lithological discontinuities. In the Swiss Jura Mountains, the Mesozoic limestone bedrocks are covered by various superficial deposits (moraines, cover-beds, loess deposits, cryoclasts, etc.), which reduce or even suppress the influence of limestone on present-day soil development. In this context, soils and their underlying bedrock no longer present a genetic continuity. The nature and relationships between these deposits is studied within a toposequence of soils, in terms of their mineralogical and geochemical compositions. Three main superficial deposits (limestone bedrock clasts, loess, and non-carbonate moraine), are used as reference materials in order to characterize the complex mixing of sediments through the toposequence. Soils with limestone clasts undergo decarbonation and decalcification processes. Iron-rich Alpine loess deposits, composed of fine silicate particles, enhance brunification process in soils. A non-carbonate Alpine moraine displays the most acidic conditions within the toposequence due to enhanced leaching (clay and ions) processes. Consequently, the reworked surface sediments (including limestone cryoclasts, moraines, and cover-beds) have a prevailing influence on pedogenesis compared to the hard underlying bedrock.

Gravitational sliding on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at the Kane Transform: Implications for submarine basin-slope degradation and deformation

Deep-tow side-scan sonar imagery, along with submersible and camera surveys, provides a synoptic view of the sea-floor geology, leading to critical observations and new interpretations for previously unknown gravitational sliding features on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at the Kane Transform (2338N). The sliding on the rift-valley wall occurred mostly as massive slumps of slope-forming gabbroic bed rocks, possibly along mechanically weak, low-angle (30) detachment faults, creating frontal cuspate ridges and downslope-trending lineaments. The sliding on the transform-valley wall occurred mostly as debris avalanches, producing distributed surficial sediment and bedrock clasts in an apron of hummocky and chaotic terrain on the lower slope, steeply dipping (70) amphitheaterlike escarpments on the upper slope, and downslope-trending ridges and lineaments on the middle slope. Local and global comparative analysis suggests that distinct geologic settings of submarine slopes exert fundamental influence on the nature, style, and scale of gravitational sliding. The rift-valley wall differs from the transform-valley wall primarily because of their different structural grain, lithological complexity, and sediment thickness. The steeply dipping (25), sediment-free rift-valley wall on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge contrasts strongly with the gently dipping (5), passive continental margins loaded with thousands of meters of petroliferous sedimentary rocks. Results from comparative analysis not only add to the knowledge of complexities of submarine gravitational sliding structures but also contribute to a better understanding of the differences in sea-floor degradation and deformation processes in contrasting submarine geologic settings represented by mid-ocean ridges and passive continental margins.

Columbia Mountain landslide: late-glacial emplacement and indications of future failure, Northwestern Montana, USA

The well preserved and undissected Columbia Mountain landslide, which is undergoing suburban development, was studied to estimate the timing and processes of emplacement. The landslide moved westward from a bedrock interfluve of the northern Swan Range in Montana, USA onto the deglaciated floor of the Flathead Valley. The landslide covers an area of about 2 km 2, has a toe-to-crown height of 1100 m, a total length of 3430 m, a thickness of between 3 and 75 m, and an approximate volume of 40 million m 3. Deposits and landforms define three portions of the landslide; from the toe to the head they are: (i) clast-rich diamictons made up of gravel-sized angular rock fragments with arcuate transverse ridges at the surface; (ii) silty and sandy deposits resting on diamictons in an internally drained depression behind the ridges; and (iii) diamictons containing angular and subangular pebble-to block-sized clasts (some of which are glacially striated) in an area of lumpy topography between the depression and the head of the landslide. Drilling data suggest the diamictons cover block-to-slab-sized bedrock clasts that resulted from an initial stage of the failure. The landslide moved along a surface that developed at a high angle to the NE-dipping, thinly bedded metasediments of the Proterozoic Belt Supergroup. The exposed slope of the main scarp dips 30–37°W. A hypothetical initial rotational failure of the lower part of a bedrock interfluve may have transported bedrock clasts into the valley. The morphology and deposits at the surface of the landslide indicate deposition by a rock avalanche (sturzstrom) derived from a second stage of failure along the upper part of the scarp. The toe of the Columbia Mountain landslide is convex-west in planview, except where it was deflected around areas now occupied by glacial kettles on the north and south margins. Landsliding, therefore, occurred during deglaciation of the valley while ice still filled the present-day kettles. Available chronostratigraphy suggests that the ~1-km thick glacier in the region melted before 12,000 14C years BP—within 3000 years of the last glacial maximum. Deglaciation and hillslope failure are likely causally linked. Failure of the faceted interfluve was likely due tensile fracturing of bedrock along a bedding-normal joint set shortly after glacial retreat from the hillslope. Open surficial tension fractures and grabens in the Swan Range are limited to an area above the crown of the landslide. Movement across these features suggests that extensional flow of bedrock (sackung) is occurring in what remains of the ridge that failed in the Columbia Mountain landslide. The fractures and grabens likely were initiated during failure, but their morphologies suggest active extension across some grabens. Continued movement of bedrock above the crown may result in future mass movements from above the previous landslide scarp. Landslides sourced from bedrock above the scarp of the late-glacial Columbia Mountain landslide, which could potentially be triggered by earthquakes, are geologic hazards in the region.

Depósitos de vertente e evolução quaternária do planalto do Itatiaia

Nas médias e baixas encostas do vale dos Lírios e em alvéolos menores da bacia do ribeirão das Flores, encontram-se depósitos correlativos da evolução quaternária do planalto do Itatiaia. Os processos responsáveis pela deposição dos tálus suspensos, concentrações lineares de matacões, depósitos de seixos angulosos e duas gerações de colúvios refletem influências de reativação tectônica e de variações climáticas pleistoceno-holocênicas. Eventos mais antigos e eficientes na liberação de blocos e matacões das vertentes rochosas íngremes - explicados por um conjunto de ações de amplo espectro, que incluiria processos de gelivação - teriam dado lugar a episódios de coluvionamento. Colúvios C I heterométricos, com blocos do regolito, e colúvios C II mais homogêneos e finos, com pequenos seixos e grânulos, resultariam da ação de processos cada vez menos agressivos, capazes de retrabalhar apenas os produtos de fases erosivas anteriores. A diminuição da atividade denudacional nas encostas do planalto favoreceu o preenchimento das várzeas e depressões hidromórficas, com sedimentos holocênicos relativamente finos, e a formação de turfeiras.

Physical and biogenic aspects of backbarrier sedimentary sequences, Georgia Coast, U.S.A.

Configuration of the present Georgia coast, with its broad expanses of salt marsh and intricate tidal drainages behind Pleistocene—Holocene barrier islands, implies the filling of an extensive backbarrier lagoonal system. However, riverine and salt marsh estuaries dominate the modern depositional setting and reconstructed vertical sequences suggest that backbarrier filling was accomplished by estuarine processes. Backbarrier sediments exhibit considerable diversity in grain size and physical and biogenic sedimentary structures. Principal sediment textures include clean to muddy coarse and fine sand, mud and, to a lesser extent, shells, pebbles, and mud and bedrock clasts. Physical sedimentary structures, many modified by bioturbation, include large-scale cross-bedding (trough and planar) with graded sets, small-scale crossbedding (ripple lamination and flaser, wavy and lenticular bedding), laminated to interbedded sand and mud, and rare pebble or shell beds. Ebb-oriented structures predominate over flood-oriented ones. Except in upper reaches of riverine estuaries, biogenic sedimentary structures typically are diverse and abundant. characteristic lebensspuren include polychaete dwelling tubes, decapod and polychaete burrows, ray holes, and bioturbate textures imparted by amphipods, ophiuroids, bivalves and anemones. Patterns of bioturbation are controlled to some extent by sediment type, salinity levels and rates of deposition and physical reworking of sediments. Although intensity of bioturbation generally increases seaward, bioturbate textures are more readily preservable in the lower-energy, middle reaches of estuaries. Because of numerous local Pleistocene sediment sources and local variations in hydrographic regimes, the stratigraphic record of salt marsh estuaries differs relatively little from that of riverine estuaries. The basic sequence, in ascending order, typically consists of: (1) channel-lag and (or) channel-fill deposits; (2) estuarine accretionary beds; (3) point bar, tidal flat and shoal sediments; and (4) channel margin and salt marsh deposits.