Quaternary Sedimentology and Geomorphology

The Lake George Basin is a small, closed basin about 50km NE from Canberra, Australia’s capital city.
The basin is a very distinct landscape unit, and for many generations it has been a natural meeting place for several Aboriginal groups. There is evidence of at least 6000 years old human artefacts on the shores of the lake, and a currently ongoing PhD project is adding detail to our understanding of the human occupation of this area. There are also known mega-fauna fossil finds, including of the extinct kangaroo genus Procoptodon from deposits originally dated to between 21,000 and 26,000 years BP, but now considered to be older.
The site for Canberra was chosen in 1908, resolving a long running debate about where the National Capital should be located. The main rivals were Sydney and Melbourne, and the diplomatic compromise was to establish a new capital midway between the two. Lake George had been a substantial body of water until 1900, and the Lake George Basin had been considered as a possible site for the new capital. Luckily, another nearby site was chosen because lake levels fell during several years of drought and the lake was dry from 1901 to 1915 and on several occasions since.
Currently the lake is dry again, giving access for a large interdisciplinary team to study the landscape, its tectonic, sedimentary and hydrogeological evolution, as well as the paleontological and archaeological history of the area.
The Lake George Fault, elevated 200 metres above the western shores, is a 75 km long major north-south tectonic feature. The lake bed is filled with up to 165 metres of sediments, providing the longest known continuous Quaternary and Pliocene sedimentary record of any lake in Australia, encompassing approximately 4 million years.
Today the land around the lake is privately owned, while the lake bed is Crown Land. The landscape elements are defining features in current land use, planning and development. Our research aims to create new knowledge that will advance the protection and sharing of the landscape without hampering its development.
Our project is “work in progress”, with funding for another two years. Funding is provided from the Australian Research Council (LP140100911). We acknowledge the First People of Australia as the traditional owners of the land on which we live and work.

O presente livro apresenta uma rica abordagem sobre os
estudos relacionados ao tema do Tecnógeno e Antropoceno,
vinculado a uma perspectiva eminentemente geográfica. Neste
sentido, a Geografia como a ciência que estuda o espaço
geográfico, sendo este materializado a partir das relações que a
sociedade exerce sobre a natureza, não poderia deixar de se furtar
a respeito do tema das transformações que a sociedade tem
acarretado ao ambiente, gerando modificações nas formas de
relevo em áreas urbanas.
https://asebabaolorigbin.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/geomorfologia-tecno-antropo.pdf

Using ArcGIS and 24 K 10 m and 1 m LiDAR base map elevation data, ancient beach ridges and wave cut scarps were traced in Pennsylvania in order to map and evaluate former shorelines.  Using the Spatial analyst slope function of ArcGIS, these DEM’s were converted to slope maps.  Shorelines were then traced and recorded as xyz data in Microsoft Excel.  The resultant map of the traced shorelines gave similar, yet different correlations made by Schooler (1974), possibly caused by previous mapping methods.  Accuracy of 10 m vs. 1 m DEM’s were also shown to be minuscule showing no need for high resolution elevation data for mapping shorelines.

The laser diffraction (LD) is one of the most widely applied grain size measurement methods. The main advantages of LD are: (1) relatively short time of single measurement, (2) low cost of analysis, (3) simplicity of sample preparation, (4) great amount of acquired numerical data. One of the less frequently obtained parameters, often provided only by application of dedicated external hardware, is so-called “elongation parameter”, “grain shape factor” or “grain shape parameter”.
Due to the inability of direct export of numerical grain shape data from the Malvern Hydro Sight camera, authors proposed own method of digitalization and recalculation
of grain shape graphs produced by the Malvern software.
Acquired sedimentological and geochemical data were analysed using statistical methods, such as correlation/regression analysis and principal components analysis (PCA).
Proposed method of data extraction and analysis of grain shape parameters may be especially useful tool during investigation of Quaternary sediments and reconstruction of environmental changes.

Географското изучаване разглежда резултата от взаимодействието между скали, релеф, климат, растителност, животинска и антропогенна активност във времето. В границите на административната единица почвено-оценъчното изследване анализира диференциращата роля на почвообразуващите фактори. Осъществяването на поставената цел се подкрепя с конкретно нормативно почвено бонитиране и пазарно оценяване на земеделска земя в едно землище. Крайната икономическа оценка установява по-висока нормативно определена цена от пазарната цена през 2014 година.

ABSTRACT.
Wetlands are critical natural resources that serve various purposes including environmental, hydrological and socioeconomic functions. However, this important resource is so fragile and has suffered deterioration due to human activities such as cultivation, grazing, water abstraction among others. Several current studies have studied wetland ecosystem changes using GIS and remote sensing and other scientific methods. These studies lack information on the impacts of the land use activities in the wetlands, on the physical environment and on human health. In this study, degradation of Lubigi wetland ecosystem was assessed basing on the land use activities within the wetland to find out the major land use activities, their impacts and to develop an adaptive management approach for Lubigi wetland. The Story Telling Approach (STA), questionnaire surveys, interviews and field observations were used to collect data.  Random sampling technique was used in the selection of the case study (Lubigi wetland; Namungona and Bwaise) and the various respondents. The study found out that there are several human activities such as wetland cultivation, water abstraction, settlement and cattle grazing in Lubigi wetland which have resulted in the alteration of ecosystem functions and interactions, and also the ever reported cases of floods in Bwaise and Namungona. There have been reported changes in land cover, species richness, species evenness and the hydrology of Lubigi wetland. The present study recommends that since humans are the critical driving force behind wetland ecosystem degradation as their activities negatively affect the wetland by changing the type, number and interactions of vegetative and animal species on the wetland, the government through its environmental organisations like NEMA, should implement the constitutional buffer zone of 100m away from the highest water mark and also limiting land use activities like settlement and papyrus harvest in the wetland.

This study estimates the maximum and minimum degrees of autocompaction for radiocarbon-dated Holocene mangrove sediments in Singapore, in order to correct apparent sediment accretion rates for the effects of sediment compression due to autocompaction. Relationships developed for a suite of modern (surface) sediment samples between bulk density, particle-size distribution, and organic matter content were used to estimate the initial (uncompacted) bulk density of buried and variably compressed Holocene sediments, based on the grain-size distribution and organic matter content of the sediment. The difference between measured (compacted) and initial (uncompacted) bulk density of each buried sediment interval can be interpreted as the amount of length shortening experienced by each interval since burial. This allows the elevation of samples selected for 14C dating to be corrected for the effects of autocompaction of the underlying sediment sequence, so that accurate estimates of vertical...

Carolina bays are oriented, shallow upland ponds occurring on the Atlantic Coastal Plain from New Jersey to North Florida.  Historically, Carolina bays have received attention from those speculating on a catastrophic emplacement through cometary, meteoric, or airburst impacts.  Recently, it has even been speculated that bays formed from steam outgassing within superheated distal ejecta from an impact over the Great Lakes region.  In this scenario, Quaternary-aged cover sands along the eastern seaboard, including "enigmatic" sand ridge scarps (e.g., Goldsboro Scarp) and Carolina bays, are purported to be causally linked to a catastrophic impact.  Carolina bay shape, orientation, and sand rims are all used as evidence for an alignment with an impact crater not observed and not known to exist.  Other researchers have posited that bays are linked with the purported Younger Dryas comet impact/airburst at ca. 12.9 ka, whereby bay formation was through aerial air-bursts or through a rain of distal impact ejecta to form oblique craters.

While these claims persist, our data indicate that Carolina bay origin and evolution are much better explained through more mundane, uniformitarian processes.  The evidence gathered from Carolina bays in South Carolina and beyond demonstrate bay genesis as oriented lakes and formation through lacustrine processes of wind on shallow ponded water.  Ray Kaczorowski's wind table modeling in 1977 revealed quite clearly how unidirectional winds on ponded water produce subaqueous circulation cells that shape and orient the bays, while constructing their sand rims as high-energy shoreline features. 

More recent work, including GPR, granulometry, OSL dating, and evidence from examination of LiDAR data, reveals that bays reflect long-term, pervasive and evolving environmental and climatological factors over millennia, not sudden or catastrophic events.  Thus, a catastrophic origin is neither supported by geological data, nor needed to explain features we attribute to Carolina bays; Carolina bays are neither enigmatic, nor mysterious, but rather are relatively well understood oriented lakes.  While nuances of bay formation through lacustrine shore processes remain to be resolved, the fundamental concepts are well understood and have been for some time.  Kaczorowski was right!

Quaternary geological investigations were undertaken
in the Snyder–Grevstad lakes area, situated in the far
northwestern corner of Manitoba, as part of the Manitoba
Far North Geomapping Initiative. In conjunction with
detailed bedrock mapping (Kremer et al., GS-1, this
volume), this work provides a modern geoscience
knowledge base tailored towards current and future
mineral exploration and/or infrastructure development.
This report presents a summary of fi eldwork activities
related to a month-long detailed survey in July 2011.
Geological observations, sampling of glacial sediments
(till) and/or measurements of ice-fl ow indicators were
recorded at 131 stations within a 577 km2 area along the
shores of Snyder and Grevstad lakes. Preliminary fi ndings
of this mapping (1:50 000 scale, Trommelen, 2011) are
presented herein, and include the description of a bedrock
regolith site that may have been preserved under a patch
of locally cold-based ice. Dominant glacial landforms
include hummocky stagnant ice moraine, streamlined
landforms, ground moraine and eroded moraine within
subglacial meltwater corridors.

The Quaternary geology survey focused on collection
of ice-fl ow indicator data and till samples for dispersal-train
analysis. Once analysis and interpretations are completed,
knowledge of dispersal orientation and transport distance
will be used to update drift-prospecting methodology for
mineral (uranium and rare earth element) exploration in
northwestern Manitoba. New ice-fl ow indicators were
found that delimit ice fl ow to the east and east-southeast,
in addition to known ice-fl ow indicators trending towards
the southeast, south, southwest and west-southwest. These
new ice-fl ow indicators are commonly rare and protected
features indicative of old, relict ice-fl ow orientations. The
ice-fl ow indicator record around Grevstad Lake is quite
sparse, and most interpretations were made on indicators
from the Snyder Lake area.

ABSTRACT The preservation of bedforms related to supercritical flows and hydraulic jumps is commonly considered to be rare in the geologic record, although these bedforms are known from a va-riety of depositional environments. This field-based study presents a detailed analysis of the sedimentary facies and stacking pattern of deposits of cyclic steps, chutes-and-pools, antidunes and humpback dunes from three-dimensional outcrops. The well exposed Middle Pleistocene successions from northern Germany comprise glacilacustrine ice-contact subaqueous fan and glacial lake-outburst flood deposits. The studied successions give new insights into the depositional architectures of bedforms related to supercritical flows and may serve as an analogue for other high-energy depositional environments such as fluvial settings, coarse-grained deltas or turbidite systems. Deposits of cyclic steps occur within the glacial lake-outburst flood succession and are char-acterised by lenticular scours infilled by gently to steeply dipping backsets. Cyclic steps formed due to acceleration and flow thinning when the glacial lake-outburst flood spilled over a push-moraine ridge. These bedforms are commonly laterally and vertically truncated and alternate with deposits of chutes-and-pools and antidunes. The subaqueous fan successions are dominated by laterally extensive sinusoidal waveforms, which are interpreted as deposits of aggrading stationary antidunes, which require quasi-steady flows at the lower limit of the supercritical flow stage and high rates of sedimentation. Humpback dunes are characterised by downflow divergent cross-stratification, displaying differentiation into topsets, foresets and bottomsets, and are interpreted as deposited at the transition from subcritical to supercritical flow conditions or vice versa. Gradual lateral and vertical transitions between humpback dunes and antidune deposits are very common. The absence of planar-parallel stratification in all studied successions suggests that the for-mative of these bedforms is suppressed in flows characterised by hydraulic jumps and highly aggradational conditions. The large-scale lateral and vertical successions of bedforms are interpreted as representing the temporal and spatial evolution of the initial supercritical flows, which was strongly affected by the occurrence of hydraulic jumps. Small-scale facies changes and the formation of individual bedforms are interpreted as controlled by fluctuating discharge, bed topography and pulsating unstable flows.

Alluvial fan development in Alpine areas is often affected by catastrophic sedimentary processes associated with extreme floods events, causing serious risks for people living on the fans. Hazard assessment in these areas depends on proper identification of the dominant sedimentary processes on the fans. Data from a set of 209 alluvial fans from the central Alps of Italy are presented in this paper and analysed with the help of various statistical techniques (linear regression, principal components analysis, cluster analysis, discriminant analysis and logistic regression). First, we used modern sedimentary facies and historical records (flood events since 15th century), to distinguish between the two dominant sedimentary processes on alluvial fans: debris flows and streamflows. Then, in order to analyse the main controls on past and present fan processes, 36 morphological, geological and land-use variables were analysed. As with observations for arid-environment fans, catchment morphology is the most influential factor in the study area, whereas geology and land use are minor controls. The role of climatic change and landsliding within the catchments also seems to be very important and is discussed. Statistical techniques also help in differentiating groups of alluvial fans by sets of controlling factors, including stage and type of evolution. Finally, by using discriminant analysis and logistic regression, we classified alluvial fans according to the dominant sedimentary process, with a success rate ranging between 75 and 92 per cent.

The seven counties of Caltrans District 6/9 encompass a diverse landscape, extending eastward from the
Diablo and Temblor ranges, across the San Joaquin Valley and Sierra Nevada, to the southwestern Great Basin and
northern Mojave Desert (Figure 1). Included within the study area are Mt. Whitney and Death Valley, the highest
(4,421 meters [14,505 feet] above sea level) and lowest (86 meters [282 feet] below sea level) points, respectively, in
the contiguous United States. Over the span of human occupation in the new world, roughly the past 15,000
years, this landscape has changed dramatically, providing a dynamic backdrop for human colonization, social
development, and economic change. In response to world-wide fluctuations in climate, massive glaciers that once
occupied the highest peaks of the Sierra Nevada receded, extensive river and lake systems east and west of the Sierra
Nevada declined and often dried, 35 genera of mammals including the largest ice-age herbivores became extinct
(Grayson 1993), and repeated cycles of erosion and deposition sculpted and transformed the landscape. Such
extensive changes not only affected the ways in which humans interacted with the environment, but also how and
where evidence of past human occupation is preserved in the modern landscape.
The current study begins with the premise that the archaeological record is inherently biased by processes
of landscape evolution. Older archaeological deposits are frequently under-represented at the surface of the
modern landscape due to cyclical periods of erosion and deposition during the Holocene (<11,500 cal BP). This
is particularly true in the southern San Joaquin Valley and basins east of the Sierra Nevada where substantial
alluvial fans and floodplains developed episodically during the span of human occupation. Yet the region also has
among the highest concentrations of surface archaeological deposits in California dating to the late Pleistocene
and early Holocene. The presence of these ancient surface sites attests to the temporal mosaic that is the modern
geomorphic landscape.
With this in mind, a primary goal of the current study was to establish the age and depositional history
of late Pleistocene landforms (<25,000 years old) within the seven counties of Caltrans District 6/9.
Understanding the age of different landforms is first-order geochronology (Butzer 1980; Renfrew 1976; Waters
1992), a fundamental step in discerning where the archaeological record is likely to be buried, and where
cultural remains deposited over the entire span of human occupation may be preserved on or just below the
modern ground surface. By mapping the age of surface landforms, we are able to make an initial assessment of
the potential for buried archaeological resources throughout a large segment of south-central California, from
the eastern foothills of the Coast Ranges to the valleys of the western Great Basin and northern Mojave Desert,
providing baseline information on the age of associated archaeological sites. Maps and descriptions of Holocene
landscape evolution generated by this study should supplement surface surveys and provide additional contextual
information that can be used by resource managers to make decisions about the need for subsurface
reconnaissance in particular project areas.

Mockhorn Island in Northampton County, Virginia has an extensive late Quaternary geological and archaeological record. Investigations at 44NH440 and 44NH441 conducted throughout 2009 and 2010 on the island revealed evidence of drowned late prehistoric settlements. Excavations at 44NH440 exposed a drowned 1,500 year old midden area with evidence of prehistoric fishing. Excavations at 44NH441 documented a drowned 2,500 year old prehistoric house structure and an associated refuse area. In tandem with regional geologic evidence and sea level data, the island’s extensive archaeological record provides a more thorough understanding of the long-term human use of an Atlantic coastal island and the active role that marine transgression played on environmental and ecological change.

The promontory of Monte Gallo (Palermo, NW Sicily) is a spectacular site where Upper Triassic-
Eocene carbonate platform rocks and Quaternary continental to marine deposits are well
exposed. A Mesozoic-Paleogene rock succession allows the potential visitor to easily detect
the features and the evolution of the Panormide carbonate platform, a shallow-water
paleogeographic domain of the Southern Tethyan margin. Quaternary deposits, as well many
landforms, enable the visitor to directly identify the interplay between climate changes,
tectonics and fluctuations of marine level that occurred during the Quaternary Period. A
detailed geological map (1:15,000 mapping scale) is presented, accompanied by a
stratigraphic correlation of logged sections and morpho-stratigraphic and tectonic schemes
of the area, aimed at highlighting the geological heritage of Monte Gallo in support of the
establishment of a Geosite. The Geological Map and relevant explanatory notes should be
used as cartographic support and as a field trip guide for possible geological itineraries.

The Bhagirathi-Hooghly Basin in India is one of the most densely populated regions in the world and is undergoing rapid urbanization. Human activities and interventions on basin landforms and the processes that shape those landforms have accelerated at an alarming rate. This book uses spatio-temporal analysis to understand the major anthropogenic signatures on land use and land cover changes, the rapid urbanization of the area, and the impact these activities have on fluvial forms and processes. It answers the what, where, why, and how of the anthropogenic signatures involved. Recent case studies on the impact of urban signatures on fluvial processes make this book a useful resource for students and researchers in the earth sciences, local governments, urban planners, and all concerned with rural developments. Features:  Explores for the first time the new concept of anthropogeomorphology for the river basin-an emerging field  Analyzes the impact of urbanization and urban sprawl o...

Leopard remains are rare in the European fossil record, probably a consequence of its solitary and elusive habits. Equi, dating back to Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS3), represents a rich and outstanding exception. Historical excavations (from 1911 to about 1917) at Equi allowed  more than 200 remains to be recovered of this large felid, a sample attesting the richest leopard-bearing site in the Pleistocene of Europe. The Equi site testifies the survival of a prosperous leopard population in northwestern Italy (the Apuan Alps area) during the pre Last Glacial Maximum Late Pleistocene. Almost all skeletal elements are represented in the collection (except ribs, and most of axial skeleton). At Equi, leopard is represented by both young and adult animals  and, up to now, it seems the first and unique Pleistocene evidence of cave usage for cubs raised in Europe.
This study focuses on the whole record of leopard from Equi, housed in the Museum of Natural History of Florence, and is aimed to analyze the taphonomical assemblage, to provide an anatomical description of the remains and the comparison to the European evidences. Moreover, we infer the paleoecology of leopards, and their relationships with other large carnivores from the Equi guild (Ursus spelaeus, Canis lupus, and Panthera leo spelaea). The site was probably an occasional large carnivores den, used over time by different large carnivore taxa, perhaps in different seasons or times (mutual avoiding).
Our morphological analysis allows us to recognize sexual dimorphic characters in the cranium, and a large morphological variability in body size.

This paper describes the results of archaeological testing conducted at 18 TA 212b, which is part of the Paw Paw Cove Paleo-Indian Site Complex in Talbot County on Maryland’s portion of the Delmarva Peninsula.  The Paw Paw Cove Complex represents one of Maryland’s largest and most intact Paleo-Indian occupation sites.  The site is presently in a coastal setting, but approximately 13,000 years ago the setting was an interior upland situated near a series of spring-fed wetlands.  Previous archaeological investigations have focused on the archaeological components associated with 18 TA 212a.  The report presents the history linked to the site’s discovery, an overview of the historical impacts to the study area, an overview of the prehistoric impacts to the study area, and provides a summary of all of the earlier work linked to the various archaeological sites in the same vicinity as 18 TA 212b.  Archaeological excavations were conducted at 18 TA 212b through a non-capital grant from the Maryland Historical Trust; efforts donated by members of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Archaeological Research Foundation; volunteer time provided by Dr. R. Michael Stewart of Temple University; efforts donated by Geo-Sci Consultants, Inc.; and countless hours of earlier research conducted by the principle investigator.  The methodologies associated with the 1999-2000 excavations at 18 TA 212b are described.  The excavations located and documented stratified Paleo-Indian and Early Archaic cultural materials.  The Paleo-Indian occupation surface is associated with a buried landscape.  The Paleo-Indian landscape was buried during a Late Pleistocene aeolian loess event coeval with the Younger Dryas climate episode.  Current research suggests that this Paleo-Indian landscape occurs throughout the region and would seem to be an easily recognizable chronostratigraphic unit unique to the northern and western sections of the Delmarva Peninsula. 
Previous Paleo-Indian researchers in the region have summarized the Paleo-Indian period of the Delmarva Peninsula.  The views of local Paleo-Indian lifeways have been largely reconstructed by means of limited stone tool assemblage data.  As such, the report summarizes the lithic materials associated with the Delmarva Peninsula and highlights the Paleo-Indian lithic technologies based on local assemblages.  Some researchers have suggested that the Delmarva Peninsula Paleo-Indian record is documented by a limited number of isolated fluted point finds.  These same researchers have suggested that the greatest concentration of Clovis or Clovis-like points in the region is located near the primary jasper quarries associated with the Delaware Chalcedony Complex in northern Delaware.  Specific data are provided that indicate these assertions are in error.  The middle to lower Delmarva Peninsula has revealed a Paleo-Indian archaeological database that is as rich as anywhere in North America.  It is argued that this rich Paleo-Indian record is linked to restricted mobility and entrenched settlement patterns that may have been focused toward the food and animal resources unique to the outer coastal plain.  Paleo-Indian settlement patterns are compared with the local Late Woodland sites that are situated in the same ecological settings as their earlier Paleo-Indian counterparts.  It is noted that Delmarva’s interior upland Late Woodland sites and the Paleo-Indian sites in the equivalent settings have the same “character” and overall make-up.  The report suggests Paleo-Indian peoples in the coastal plain may have been exploiting marine resources along the Late Pleistocene Atlantic seashore and within the diminutive ancestral Chesapeake Bay.  The suggested dense Paleo-Indian populations, restricted mobility, and entrenched settlement patterns with possible territorial boundaries would imply that the claims for earlier pre-Clovis peoples in the Middle Atlantic are valid.  The report concludes with suggestions for future research.

This research deals with the surface dynamics and key factors –
hydrological regime, sediment load, and erodibility of floodplain
facies – of frequent channel shifting, intensive meandering, and
lateral instability of the Bhagirathi River in the western part of the
Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta (GBD). At present, the floodplain of
the Bhagirathi is categorized as a medium energy (specific stream
power of 10–300 W m−2), non-cohesive floodplain, which exhibits a
mixed-load and a meandering channel, an entrenchment ratio >2.2,
width–depth ratio >12, sinuosity >1.4, and channel slope <0.02. In
the study area, since 1975, four meander cutoffs have been shaped
at an average rate of one in every 9–10 years. In the active meander
belt and sand-silt dominated floodplains of GBD, frequent shifting
of the channel and meander migration escalate severe bank erosion
(e.g. 2.5 × 106 m3 of land lost between 1999 and 2004) throughout the
year. Remote sensing based spatio-temporal analysis and stratigraphic
analysis reveal that the impact of the Farakka barrage, completed in
1975, is not the sole factor of downstream channel oscillation; rather,
hydrogeomorphic instability induced by the Ajay–Mayurakshi fluvial
system and the erodibility of floodplain sediments control the channel
dynamics of the study area.

Multidisciplinary analysis on high-resolution undisturbed core material gives new insight in the development of the Late-Pleistocene Rhine-Meuse system (southern North Sea Basin, the Netherlands). Over 120 quartz OSL-dates allowed constructing a detailed geochronological framework and makes the Rhine-Meuse record by far the best dated Late-Pleistocene fluvial record in the world. The Late-Pleistocene Rhine-Meuse sedimentary sequence starts with fine-grained sediments from the last interglacial and early glacial period (130-80kyr BP). These sediments are overlain by a massive sequence of coarse grained sediments that were deposited between 80-15 kyr BP. The sequence is mapped as twelve sedimentary units based on regionally traceable bounding surfaces and sediment characteristics. Strong climatic and sea-level controls are evident as variations in sedimentary characteristics (grainsize, lithology, geometries) and architecture (erosion-deposition history, reworking, preservation) while part of the system architecture is related to forebulge upwarping and collapse, caused by glaciations in Scandinavia and Britain. Results from 3D landscape evolution modelling indicate a strong non-lineair relation between sediment source areas (Germany) and the depositional record (Netherlands) and explains grain-size and incision/aggradation trends. The model shows that particularly the timing of delayed responses needs to be taken into account to explain the type and timing of sediment-delivery to the study area.

A Phase I archaeological survey was conducted within western Talbot County, Maryland within the Bay Hundred District. The survey was funded by the Maryland Historical Trust and Preservation Maryland. Matching funds and support was provided by the Bay Hundred Foundation, the Chesapeake Watershed Archaeological Research Foundation, Talbot County, and the Smithsonian Institution. The survey included a shoreline survey component, which examined almost 100 linear miles of coastline. The survey included a tilled field component, which examined approximately 98 acres of tilled field. The project documented data on twenty-six archaeological sites that span the region’s 13,000 years of prehistory up to the early 20th century. Twenty-one of the sites had not been previously recorded. The survey included a public education component that included public lectures and involved volunteers and students with the field surveys, site mapping, and local geology.

The island of Britain is surrounded by a ‘moat’ of water, of which the English Channel and the North Sea are two major components. This talk described some major events that occurred to shape these seaways and, in particular, the evidence preserved on the Channel seabed. Here a system of valleys occurs that was carved by the westward-flowing Channel River. At its maximum in the last glacial period this river was larger than any other river in Europe today. It carried water not only from the rivers currently entering the Channel, but also from rivers flowing into the southern North Sea. Today the Holocene is characterised by limited glaciation and therefore high sea level. However, for much of the time, global sea level was lower, exposing shallow areas as dry land.
Throughout the last 2–3Ma, the build-up and decay of ice sheets on the continents have driven spectacular changes of global sea level. Driven by climatic fluctuations, these sea-level changes resulted in cycles of emergence and submergence of the Channel floor. About 500,000 years ago the English Channel and North Sea were flooded, as they are today, but unlike today there was a substantial land barrier, the Weald–Artois ridge, that linked Britain to the European continent. During cold periods up to 500,000 years ago the two seas were drained by separate river systems: the Channel River, aligned along the Channel basin’s axis, drained towards the Atlantic Ocean, while in the North Sea the major rivers flowed northward.
Although there were earlier events, the first major extension of a continental-scale ice sheet into lowland central Europe and Britain occurred c. 450,000 years ago (the Anglian advance). Critically, this ice advanced across the emergent North Sea floor from the mountains of southern Scandinavia and Scotland, blocking the northward-flowing rivers and causing an immense glacial lake to develop in the basin south of the ice front. Once dammed, the water that continued flowing from most of western Europe’s rivers caused the lake
level to rise. The substantial land barrier of the Weald–Artois Anticline held up the water and it was this barrier that was overtopped and breached. The narrow waterway thus formed became the Dover Strait (a.k.a. Pas de Calais), linking the North Sea to the English Channel. The breaching of the ridge to form the Dover Strait was critical to the evolution of the Channel from then onward, up to the present. It forced the rivers Thames and Scheldt to flow through the new Dover Strait and into the Channel River. This drainage system continued to evolve for the next 200,000 years, but events were brought to a climax some 160,000 years ago when a second major continental-scale glaciation occurred (known as the Saalian advance). The resulting megafloods sealed Britain’s fate: during high sealevel periods it would henceforth be an island.
The implications of such striking geographical changes for plant and animal — including human — migration are profound, resulting, among other things, in the impoverishment of British flora and fauna during warm periods such as today’s British climate, but providing a major route [between the Continent and Britain] during glacial periods. In addition, the rapid release of huge volumes of fresh water in megafloods into the Atlantic Ocean could have triggered changes in oceanic circulation, which, in turn, could have affected the climate of the whole North Atlantic region.

[OUGS Canterbury Symposium: Marine Geotales; original transcription by Dick Millard from the seminar recording; written up by Prof. Gibbard and Dr Cohen, and edited by POUGS Editor David M. Jones]

Tank deposits consist in the main source of information about the Paleoecology of Quaternary vertebrates of Brazil and paleoenvironments of the Brazilian Intertropical Region (BIR) during the Late Pleistocene-early Holocene. Taphonomic researches involving fossil assemblages of tank deposits performed recently have always local amplitude, not allowing the recognizing of regional processes/phenomena (e.g. climate, stratigraphic control, geomorphology) that can have driven the taphonomic histories of deposits of this sort. This Thesis aims the proposition of a taphonomic model for Quaternary vertebrates of tank deposits through a regional-scale taphonomic analysis of bearing-vertebrate tank deposits. Taphonomic aspects of five paleontological sites were evaluated: (i) Jirau (municipality of Itapipoca, CE); (ii) João Cativo (municipality of Itapipoca, CE); (iii) Campo Alegre (municipality of Taperoá, PB); (iv) Curimatãs (municipality of Pocinhos, PB); and (v) Lage Grande (municipality of Alagoinha, PE). All material analyzed here is housed at Paleovertebrates collections of Museu Nacional and of Paleontology of Museu de Pré-história de Itapipoca. Biostratinomic, fossildiagenetic and paleoecological features were recognized and interpreted. When disponible, sedimentological and stratigraphic features were also analyzed and interpreted. This analysis indicates taphonomic similarities among the tank deposits related mainly to biostratinomic processes, such as transport and weathering, however, also indicates differences related to the biogenic processes (e.g. scavenging, trampling and butchering). Paleoecological features are constant for nearly all tank deposits, such as the predominance of the ground sloth Eremotherium laurillardi and the paucity of small-sized vertebrates. In general, the fossil assemblages show different degrees of time-averaging, and some consist in “time-averaged samples” (Lage Grande) and others in “time-averaged samples” (Jirau, João Cativo Curimatãs and Campo Alegre). Furthermore, the comparative taphonomic analysis among different vertebrate groups of a same fossil
assemblage (megamammals and anurans) indicates the occurrence of spatial-mixing within a same tank deposit. The taphonomic model for tank deposits includes taphonomic features unleashed by physical processes and variations related to biogenic aspects. The integrative approach of the data gathered in this Thesis evidences that the probable taphonomic scenario for this model is a result from a paleoclimatic control on the genesis of fossiliferous deposits of tanks during the Late Pleistocene-early Holocene.

It is quite impossible to travel far in India without observing the remarkable ferruginous crust to which F. Buchanan in 1807 gave the name of laterite. In Indian peninsula it is a post-Cretaceous stratigraphic succession with polycyclic nature of evolution which marks the unconformity with Recent Quaternary Alluvium. There are perennial problems and research gaps in the investigation of laterites in India as well as West Bengal – (1) defining, indentifying and classifying lateritic materials, (2) mode of formation of laterite and its other horizons, (3) determining the ages of laterites, (4) reliability of laterites as palaeoclimatic indicators, (5) identifying topographic requirements and pedo-geomorphic processes for laterite formation and (6) reconstructions of former lateritized landscapes. The formation of north – south lateritc cover (i.e. Rarh Bengal) on the Rajmahal Traps, Archaean granite – gneiss, Gondwana sedimentary, Paleogene gravels and Old Deltaic Alluvium is analyzed here to resolve the aforesaid problems and to depict the variable characteristics of laterites with special reference to its tectono – climatic evolution in northwest marginal part of the Bengal Basin. This paper reveals that the low-level secondary laterites (probably Pliocene – Early Pleistocene age) of Rarh Bengal are composed of heterogeneous iron – aluminum rich gravelly materials which were derived from the high-level primary laterites (probably Eocene – Miocene age) of Plateau since Paleogene Period by the peninsular river system, following the underlying structure of the Bengal Basin. Alongside the roles of drifting of Indian Plate, establishment of monsoon climate, neo-tectonic uplifts and re-lateritisation of ferruginous shelf deposits are determined here to unearth the palaeogenesis of primary and secondary laterites in West Bengal.

Kültepe, the ancient city of Kanesh, is defined as one of the most important urban centers in the ancient Near
East. The lower town, surrounding the mound measures up to two and a half kilometers in diameter, and must
have provided enough space for fifty to sixty thousand people to live and do business during the Asssyrian Trading
Colony period. After the final phase of this Bronze Age occupation, Kültepe remained unsettled for about
eight hundred years, which includes the time of the Hittite Kingdom and Empire. It is obvious from the written
documentation found at Kültepe that individuals bearing Hittite and Luwian names lived in the city during
the Colony period. Moreover, based on the examples discovered at Kültepe that the Hittite artistic style has
its roots in the Colony period. However the excavations carried out at the site did not reveal any architectural
remains attesting to their presence after the formation of the Hittite state. Consequently a question arises, why
and how the life at this rich trading post did end? Why did not the Hittites settled in this site?
The weakened relations Mesopotamia and Syria after the collapse of the trading system were undoubtedly
a major reason for Kanesh loosing its importance as an urban center. However, on the other hand that the natural
disasters or changes directly affecting the region of Kültepe, such as the apparent ponding of the Sarımsaklı
Basin might have been an even more important factor.

The landscape evolution of the southern North Sea basin is complex and has left a geographically varying record of marine, lacustrine, fluvial and glacial sedimentation and erosion. Quaternary climatic history, which importantly included glaciation, combined with tectonics gave rise to cyclic and non-cyclic changes of sedimentation and erosion patterns. Large-scale landscape reorganisations left strong imprints in the preserved record, and are important for the detail that palaeogeographical reconstructions for the North Sea area can achieve. In the spirit of the North Sea Prehistory Research and Management Framework (NSPRMF; Peeters et al., 2009), this paper provides background geological information regarding the North Sea. It summarises current stratigraphical and chronological frameworks and provides an overview of sedimentary environments. As we go back in time, the understanding of Quaternary palaeo-environmental evolution in the North Sea basin during the last 1 million years becomes decreasingly accurate, with degree of preservation and accuracy of age control equally important controls. Comparing palaeogeographical reconstructions for the Middle Pleistocene, the last interglacial-glacial cycle and the period following the Last Glacial Maximum illustrates this. More importantly, a series of palaeogeographical maps provide an account of basin-scale landscape change, which provides an overall framework for comparing landscape situations through time.

The special issue is a background volume to the 2009 anglo-dutch policy document http://www.academia.edu/209383/: NSPRMF North Sea Prehistory Research and Management Framework, Peeters et al., RCE and English Heritage) -