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Erosion by rivers is the dominant driver of topographic change over much of Earth's terrestrial surface, and sets the pace of change for other landscape processes. In this thesis, I explore the complexities of landscapes evolving under fluvial processes. I address questions of how rivers respond to climate, geologic substrate, and tectonics across scales, how landscape disequilibrium results from changing tectonic and climatic forces, and implications of landscape evolution for past human settlement. In the first chapter, I use a process model of river erosion that includes sediment transport feedbacks to show that climate controls the degree to which rock type affects erosion through transport limitations, with arid regions showing a much weaker dependence on rock type than humid regions. This complexity is not captured by typical models of river erosion. In the second chapter, I study the unusual case of the Rio Casiquiare, an ongoing river capture of the Amazon River from the Rio Orinoco. I use this case study to show that large lowland rivers with slope asymmetry across drainage divides reorganize their planform geometry towards a more equilibrated state, and in doing so can create perennial interbasin connections for centuries or longer. In the third chapter, I show that large lowland Amazon rivers have been quickly responsive to cyclical Quaternary climate changes, and as a result have repeatedly incised and aggraded with successive wettings and dryings of the region. In the fourth chapter, I use remote-sensing imagery and machine-learning classification to identify spatial patterns and distributions of ancient settlements, and find that they are almost universally located at the bluff edge at the interface between uplands and floodplains; this is an example of the ways in which geologic and environmental history can influence human society. These studies advance our knowledge of landscape evolution towards a more realistic understanding of the complexities of the natural world and its constant change.
An updated treatment of management and geomorphology of large rivers around the world The newly revised Second Edition of Large Rivers: Geomorphology and Management delivers a thoroughly updated exploration of the form and function of major rivers. The book brings together a set of papers on the large rivers of the world, offering readers an insightful examination of a demanding subject. The new Second Edition of the book includes fully updated and revised chapters, as well as two entirely new chapters on the Ayeyarwady and the Arctic rivers. This fascinating volume describes the environmental requirements for creating and maintaining a major river system, case studies on over a dozen large rivers from different continents in a variety of physical environments, and the measurement and management of large rivers. Unmatched in scope, Large Rivers sheds light on a subject lacking in comprehensive study. Readers will benefit from the inclusion of: A thorough introduction to the geology of large river systems, hydrology and discharge, transcontinental moving and storage of sediment, and the greatest floods and largest rivers An exploration of the classification, architecture, and evolution of large-river deltas Discussions of sedimentology and stratigraphy of large river deposits, including their recognition in the ancient record and the distinction from incised valley fills An examination of the effects of tectonism, climate change, and sea-level change on the form and behavior of the modern Amazon river and its floodplain Measurement and management of large rivers The effect of climatic change on large rivers Perfect for postgraduate students and researchers in fluvial geomorphology, hydrology, sedimentary geology, and river management, Large Rivers: Geomorphology and Management will also earn a place in the libraries of engineers and environmental consultants in the private and public sectors working on major rivers around the world.
It is self-evident that a better understanding of depositional systems and analogs leads to better inputs for geological models and better assessment of risk for plays and prospects in hydrocarbon exploration, as well as enhancing interpretations of earth history. Depositional environments - clastic and carbonate, fine- and coarse-grained, continental, marginal marine and deep marine - show latitudinal variations, which are sometimes extreme. Most familiar facies models derive from temperate and, to a lesser extent, tropical examples. By comparison, depositional analogs from higher latitudes are sparser in number and more poorly understood. Numerous processes are amplified and/or diminished at higher latitudes, producing variations in stratigraphic architecture from more familiar depositional "norms." The joint AAPG/SEPM Hedberg Conference held in Banff, Alberta, Canada in October 2014 brought together broad studies looking at global databases to identify differences in stratigraphic models and sedimentary concepts that arise due to differences in latitude and to search for insights that may be applicable for subsurface interpretations. The articles in this Special Publication represent a cross-section of the work presented at the conference, along with the abstracts of the remaining presentations. This volume should be of great interest to all those working with stratigraphic models and sedimentary concepts.
Landscape Evolution of Continental-Scale River Systems: A Case Study of North America's Pre-Pleistocene Bell River Basin provides a detailed case study and complete analysis of this continental-scale North American paleo-river system. The book uses detrital zircon provenance data to link incision of the Grand Canyon to deposition of its erosional products in a giant drowned delta in the Labrador Sea, in the context of sedimentary source-to-sink processes and Plio-Pleistocene continental drainage changes. The case study describes the tectonic changes in this continental-scale paleo-river system, with global implications, and contrasts this system to other continental-scale river systems around the world. This book is a valuable reference for postgraduate students, academics and researchers in the fields of geology, fluvial geomorphology and other geosciences. Readers will be able to use this detailed case study to better understand the implications for how active tectonics of headwaters regions influence delta deposition in continental-scale river systems around the world. Details the landscape evolution of a continental-scale paleo-river system using detrital zircon geochronology with fluvial processes Provides a multidisciplinary case study with applications to other continental-scale river systems around the world Compares and contrasts the Bell river to the Amazon and uses these examples as analogs to discuss other systems
Regional Geology and Tectonics: Principles of Geologic Analysis, 2nd edition is the first in a three-volume series covering Phanerozoic regional geology and tectonics. The new edition provides updates to the first edition’s detailed overview of geologic processes, and includes new sections on plate tectonics, petroleum systems, and new methods of geological analysis. This book provides both professionals and students with the basic principles necessary to grasp the conceptual approaches to hydrocarbon exploration in a wide variety of geological settings globally. Discusses in detail the principles of regional geological analysis and the main geological and geophysical tools Captures and identifies the tectonics of the world in detail, through a series of unique geographic maps, allowing quick access to exact tectonic locations Serves as the ideal introductory overview and complementary reference to the core concepts of regional geology and tectonics offered in volumes 2 and 3 in the series
Accompanying CD-ROM contains digital version of this publication.
There is little dispute within the scientific community that humans are changing Earth's climate on a decadal to century time-scale. By the end of this century, without a reduction in emissions, atmospheric CO2 is projected to increase to levels that Earth has not experienced for more than 30 million years. As greenhouse gas emissions propel Earth toward a warmer climate state, an improved understanding of climate dynamics in warm environments is needed to inform public policy decisions. In Understanding Earth's Deep Past, the National Research Council reports that rocks and sediments that are millions of years old hold clues to how the Earth's future climate would respond in an environment with high levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases. Understanding Earth's Deep Past provides an assessment of both the demonstrated and underdeveloped potential of the deep-time geologic record to inform us about the dynamics of the global climate system. The report describes past climate changes, and discusses potential impacts of high levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases on regional climates, water resources, marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and the cycling of life-sustaining elements. While revealing gaps in scientific knowledge of past climate states, the report highlights a range of high priority research issues with potential for major advances in the scientific understanding of climate processes. This proposed integrated, deep-time climate research program would study how climate responded over Earth's different climate states, examine how climate responds to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and clarify the processes that lead to anomalously warm polar and tropical regions and the impact on marine and terrestrial life. In addition to outlining a research agenda, Understanding Earth's Deep Past proposes an implementation strategy that will be an invaluable resource to decision-makers in the field, as well as the research community, advocacy organizations, government agencies, and college professors and students.
Stratigraphers and sedimentologists who are presently describing and interpreting the infill of sedimentary basins are generally agreed that it is difficult to disentangle the signatures of tectonic processes from those of climate and eustatic sea level change in the resultant rock succession. Until better criteria are developed to distinguish between the roles played by the major variables, it is still most useful to document and interpret basin-fill architectures where we know, from independent evidence, that one of the main controls is likely to have been a major contributor. This book contains a collection of papers describing situations where the tectonic setting is fairly well established, and it can be assumed that at least the tectonic factor has contributed to the resultant signatures.
Accretionary orogens form at convergent plate boundaries and include the supra-subduction zone forearc, magmatic arc and backarc components. They can be broken into retreating and advancing types, based on their kinematic framework and resulting geological character.Accretionary systems have been active throughout Earth history, extending back until at least 3.2 Ga, and provide an important constraint on the initiation of horizontal motion of lithospheric plates on Earth. Accretionary orogens have been responsible for major growth of the continental lithosphere, through the addition of juvenile magmatic products, but are also major sites of consumption and reworking of continental crust through time.The aim of this volume is to provide a better understanding of accretionary processes and their role in the formation and evolution of the continental crust. Fourteen papers deal with general aspects of accretion and metamorphism and discuss examples of accretionary orogens and crustal growth through Earth history, from the Archaean to the Cenozoic.