Byron D. Stone

Pleistocene glacial and interglacial stratigraphy of new England, Long Island, and adjacent georges bank and gulf of Maine

Provisional correlations of Quaternary deposits of New England, Long Island, Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine (Fig. 1, Chart 1) are based on 14C dates and amino acid racemization estimated (AARE) ages, borehole records and stratigraphic sections, shallow seismic profiles, and biostratigraphic analyses obtained since publication of summaries by Schafer and Hartshorn (1965), Muller (1965), and Pratt and Schlee (1969). Stratigraphic units record at least three, and possibly four, middle Pleistocene and late Pleistocene glaciations and intervening nonglacial episodes in the southern coastal zone (Fig. 2) where continental glacial and marine nonglacial units are intercalated. Subsurface seismic units on Georges Bank may record two additional glaciations of middle Pleistocene and early Pleistocene ages. Most of the stratigraphic units shown in Chart 1 are informal units and many of the informal stratigraphic names have not been adopted by all workers, either for older units of the largely abandoned four glaciation chronology advocated by Fuller (1914), Woodworth and Wigglesworth (1934), Kay (1964a), and Flint (1971) or for local units of Wisconsin age. The stratigraphic units and limiting dates are grouped in Chart 1 according to their positions in major lowland areas that controlled the configurations of ice lobes and other sectors of the ice-sheet during late Wisconsin deglaciation.

Late Pleistocene and Holocene uplift history of Cyprus: implications for active tectonics along the southern margin of the Anatolian microplate

Abstract The nature of the southern margin of the Anatolian microplate during the Neogene is complex, controversial and fundamental in understanding active plate-margin tectonics and natural hazards in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Our investigation provides new insights into the Late Pleistocene uplift history of Cyprus and the Troodos Ophiolite. We provide isotopic (14C) and radiogenic (luminescence) dates of outcropping marine sediments in eastern Cyprus that identify periods of deposition during marine isotope stages (MIS) 3, 4, 5 and 6. Past sea-levels indicated by these deposits are c. 95±25 m higher in elevation than estimates of worldwide eustatic sea-level. An uplift rate of c. 1.8 mm/year and possibly as much as c. 4.1 mm/year in the past c. 26–40 ka is indicated. Holocene marine deposits also occur at elevations higher than those expected for past SL and suggest uplift rates of c. 1.2–2.1 mm/year. MIS-3 marine deposits that crop out in southern and western Cyprus indicate uniform island-wide uplift. We propose a model of tectonic wedging at a plate-bounding restraining bend as a mechanism for Late Pleistocene to Holocene uplift of Cyprus; uplift is accommodated by deformation and seismicity along the margins of the Troodos Ophiolite and re-activation of its low-angle, basal shear zone. Supplementary material: An expanded description of the procedures used in determining OSL ages for samples given in Table 2 is available at www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18533.

The Scientific Assessment and Strategy Team Contributions Assessing the 1993 Flood on the Mississippi and Missouri River Basins

ABSTRACT The Scientific Assessment and Strategy Team was formed to provide scientific advice and assistance to federal officials responsible for making decisions with respect to flood recovery in the Upper Mississippi River Basin (above Cairo, Illinois) as a result of the 1993 flooding. The team assembled data from a wide variety of sources within federal, state, and local governments, and the private sector. The huge volume of data (over 250 gigabytes) made analysis of all the data difficult. The locating, obtaining, and conversion of the data were extremely difficult leading to a recommendation for an on-line source or at least an on-line listing of available data. Parts of the data were analyzed and scientific bases were establishedfor discussions concerning levee effects on flood stages, effects of wetlands on flooding, effects of man s increased intervention in the floodplains and uplands, and proposals regarding floodways on the nations rivers. The data collected indicated that the 1993 flooding co...

THE ROLE OF BACKBARRIER INFILLING IN THE FORMATION OF BARRIER ISLAND SYSTEMS

Barrier islands develop through a variety of processes, including spit accretion, barrier elongation, and inlet filling. New geophysical and sedimentological data provide a means of documenting the presence of a paleoinlet within a barrier lithosome in the western Gulf of Maine, illuminating the process of backbarrier infilling and its effect on barrier and tidal inlet morphodynamics. The transport of sediment into the backbarrier through tidal inlets as well as sediment contribution from nearby rivers led to bay infilling, formation of tidal flats and marshes, and a vast reduction in the bay tidal prism. Using existing marsh stratigraphy and high resolution imaging of a paleo inlet, this study investigates the effects of this diminishing tidal prism and inlet closure process. Chronostratigraphic reconstructions and digital backstripping of the backbarrier explain rates and timing of infilling and eventual conversion of an open water lagoon to the modern high marsh and tidal creek system.