Nott, J., Forsyth, A., Rhodes, E. et al. (1 more author) (2015) The origin of centennial- to millennial-scale chronological gaps in storm emplaced beach ridge plains. Marine Geology, 367. C. pp. 83-93. ISSN 0025-3227
Abstract
Recent studies of tropical cyclone surge and wave emplaced beach ridge plains have shown that these sequences often contain centennial to millennial scale gaps in their chronologies. Two explanations for the gaps exist — they are due to erosion, or alternatively a cessation or substantial slowing of depositional processes suggestive of a quieter phase in intense storm activity. Differentiating between the two is important for uncovering reliable long-term storm histories from these sequences. We use landform morphology, sediment texture and luminescence chronology to determine the origin of substantial chronological gaps in a plain containing more than 100 shore-parallel ridges composed of fine-grained sand located in northeast Australia. We identify and describe the characteristics associated with both erosional and non-erosional gaps. The erosional gaps are associated with changes in orientation between ridge sets and often a high ridge with hummocky topography that appears to have been disturbed by aeolian activity. River floods likely caused the partial erosion of ridge sets. Non-erosional gaps do not display these morphological characteristics and are likely associated with quiescence in severe tropical cyclone activity. These geomorphic and chronological signatures can be used to identify different sorts of gaps in other ridge plains and are an important tool in the reconstruction of long-term storm histories from these coastal landforms. The data also suggests that fine-grained ridges can, like their coarse-grained counterparts, be predominantly deposited by storm waves and surge and their texture need not necessarily be indicative of the processes responsible for ridge development.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2015 Elsevier. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Marine Geology. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) |
Keywords: | Beach ridges; Chronological gaps; Fine-grained sand storm deposit; Palaeo-tropical cyclone record |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Geography (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 14 Dec 2016 16:30 |
Last Modified: | 02 Jul 2017 01:23 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2015.05.011 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.margeo.2015.05.011 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:109376 |