scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Journal ArticleDOI

River terrace systems in north-west Europe: an archive of environmental change, uplift and early human occupation

01 Sep 2000-Quaternary Science Reviews (Pergamon)-Vol. 19, Iss: 13, pp 1293-1303
TL;DR: For example, it is known that the cyclic fluctuations of climate during the Quaternary have driven the generation of terraces, through the direct and indirect influence of both temperature and precipitation on fluviatile activity.
About: This article is published in Quaternary Science Reviews.The article was published on 2000-09-01. It has received 393 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: River terraces & Fluvial terrace.
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: 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 as mentioned in this paper.

480 citations


Cites background from "River terrace systems in north-west..."

  • ...The emphasis on such fluctuations in many explanations of terrace formation (Tyráček, 1983; Bridgland, 1994, 2000; Wymer, 1999) would seem to support Büdel’s view....

    [...]

  • ...A modified version of the Bridgland (2000) climatic model for terrace formation is presented in Figure 6, in which the various possibilities are accommodated....

    [...]

  • ...2 There is now a consensus that long-timescale terrace staircases are responses to, and therefore records of, regional uplift (e.g. Maddy, 1997; Antoine et al., 2000; Bridgland, 2000; van den Berg and van Hoof, 2001; Westaway et al., 2002, 2006a; cf. Kiden and Tornqvist, 1998)....

    [...]

  • ...4), Bridgland (2000) placed the downcutting during cold-to-warm transitions, as indicated by the occurrence of interglacial sediments in basal situations within each terrace....

    [...]

  • ...There is now a consensus that long-timescale terrace staircases are responses to, and therefore records of, regional uplift (e.g. Maddy, 1997; Antoine et al., 2000; Bridgland, 2000; van den Berg and van Hoof, 2001; Westaway et al., 2002, 2006a; cf. Kiden and Tornqvist, 1998)....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Nov 2008-Boreas
TL;DR: In this article, the application of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating to fluvial deposits is discussed with respect to its potential to provide important contributions to research in the fields of geomorphology, palaeoseismology and archaeology.
Abstract: Fluvial deposits and landforms are important archives of river response to climate, tectonics and base level change and are commonly associated with archaeological sites. Unlike radiocarbon dating, the target material for optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating (sands and silts) is nearly ubiquitous in fluvial deposits and the age range for OSL spans the last glacial–interglacial cycle, a time period of interest to many Quaternary scientists. Recent advances in OSL techniques and the development of single-grain dating capabilities have now allowed fluvial deposits, and other deposits commonly afflicted with incomplete zeroing of the luminescence signal, to be dated. The application of OSL dating to fluvial deposits is discussed with respect to its potential to provide important contributions to research in the fields of geomorphology, palaeoseismology and archaeology. Examples are given from each research field.

309 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A review article as mentioned in this paper discusses how ancient Mediterranean harbours have come to be preserved in the geological record; expound the basic principles and palaeoenvironmental tools underpinning ancient harbour geoarchaeology; outline some of the most significant research advances made; and discuss a new chrono-stratigraphic model applicable to harbour sequences.

227 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the question of how to distinguish the role of both tectonic and climatic factors in the development of terraces in tectonically active mountains and uplands.

194 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The concept of the Palaeoanthropocene as discussed by the authors recognizes that humans are an integral part of the Earth system rather than merely an external forcing factor, and proposes the term to recognize the Anthropocene as a new epoch of geological time.

189 citations


Cites background from "River terrace systems in north-west..."

  • ...A further development assisting Palaeoanthropocene studies is the treatment of archaeological sites as environmental archives (Bridgland, 2000; Tarasov et al., 2013)....

    [...]

  • ...the treatment of archaeological sites as environmental archives (Bridgland, 2000; Tarasov et al., 2013)....

    [...]

References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
05 Jul 1990-Nature
TL;DR: The high altitude of most mountain ranges have commonly been ascribed to late Cenozoic uplift, without reference to when crustal thickening and other tectonic processes occurred as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The high altitudes of most mountain ranges have commonly been ascribed to late Cenozoic uplift, without reference to when crustal thickening and other tectonic processes occurred. Deep incision and recent denudation of these mountain ranges, abundant late Cenozoic coarse sediment near them, and palaeobotanical evidence for warmer climates, where high mountain climates today are relatively cold, have traditionally been interpreted as evidence for recent uplift. An alternative cause of these phenomena is late Cenozoic global climate change: towards lower temperatures, increased alpine glaciation, a stormier climate, and perturbations to humidity, vegetative cover and precipitation.

1,393 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In most cases the effects of base-level change will be moderate, and they can be accommodated by changes of channel pattern, width, depth, and roughness as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Baselevel is the imaginary horizontal level or surface to which sub-aerial erosion proceeds. It is sea level. Controversy surrounds the effect of baselevel change on river behavior, the rejuvenation of landscapes, and the delivery of sediment to the shelf-slope depositional system. The effect of baselevel change depends upon many factors, such as rate of change, amount of change, direction of change, river character, and dynamics and erodibility of the sediment source area. In most cases the effects of baselevel change will be moderate, and they can be accommodated by changes of channel pattern, width, depth, and roughness. Therefore, the delivery of large amounts of sediment to a shoreline or continental shelf probably reflects not only baselevel lowering, but significant uplift of the sediment-source area and perhaps climate change.

765 citations

Book
01 Jan 1909

515 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the Mendocino triple junction was studied and the authors found that lower reaches of the rivers are dominated by the effects of oscillating sea level, primarily aggradation and formation of fill terraces during sea level high stands, alternating with deep incision during low stands.
Abstract: Along three rivers at the Mendocino triple junction, northern California, strath, cut, and fill terraces have formed in response to tectonic and eustatic processes. Detailed surveying and radiometric dating at multiple sites indicate that lower reaches of the rivers are dominated by the effects of oscillating sea level, primarily aggradation and formation of fill terraces during sea level high stands, alternating with deep incision during low stands. A eustasy-driven depositional wedge extends tens of kilometers upstream on all rivers (tapering to zero thickness). This distance is greater than expected from studies of the effects of check dams on much smaller streams elsewhere, due in part to the large size of these rivers. However, the change in gradient is nearly identical to other base level rise studies: the depositional gradient is about half that of the original channel. Middle to upper reaches of each river are dominated by the effects of long-term uplift, primarily lateral and vertical erosion and formation of steep, unpaired strath terraces exposed only upstream of the depositional wedge. Vertical incision at a rate similar to that of uplift has occurred even during the present sea level high stand along rivers with highest uplift rates. Strath terraces have steeper gradients than the modern channel bed and do not merge with marine terraces at the river mouth; consequently, they cannot be used to determine altitudes of sea level high stands. Strath formation is a continuous process of response to long-term uplift, and its occurrence varies spatially along a river depending on stream power, and hence position, upstream. Strath terraces are found only along certain parts of a coastal stream: upstream of the aggradational effects of oscillating sea level, and far enough downstream that stream power is in excess of that needed to transport the prevailing sediment load. For a given size river, the greater the uplift rate, the greater the rate of vertical incision and, consequently, the less the likelihood of strath terrace formation and preservation.

392 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the relation between fluvial development and climate is not a simple one, but is fundamentally dependant on the timescale, and local thresholds may play a decisive role in the reactions of river systems.

331 citations