Late Quaternary Evolution of the Rio Grande Delta: Complex Response to Eustasy and Climate Change

Banfield, Laura A.; Anderson, John B.

doi:10.2110/pec.04.79.0289

Cited by 10 publications

(18 citation statements)

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“…In summary, this study agrees with the hypotheses of Lobo & Ridente (2014) that 20 kyr cyclicities in shelf deposits are controlled by: (i) shelf physiography during highstands and intermediate stages in sea-level (Ridente et al, 2009); and (ii) the incisional dynamics of rivers (e.g. Anderson et al, 2016;Banfield & Anderson, 2004).…”

Section: Implications For 'Source To Sink' Sediment Routingsupporting

confidence: 90%

Clay mineralogy of Gulf of Papua Shelf and Pandora Trough deposits constrains sediment routing during the last sea‐level cycle

Wei

Driscoll

2020

Sedimentology

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The Gulf of Papua inner mid‐shelf clinothem and lowstand deposits in Pandora Trough record sediment source and routing through the last sea‐level cycle on 20 kyr cycles. Clay mineralogy tracked dispersal of sediment from the two types of rivers (wide versus narrow floodplains) to constrain the contributions of river systems to the Gulf of Papua clinothem and Pandora Trough deposits. Fly River sediment has higher illite:smectite than clays from the small mountainous rivers (Bamu, Turama, Kikori and Purari rivers) that drain regions with more limestones. X‐ray diffraction shows high illite:smectite proximal to the Fly River delta that decrease towards the north‐east. Downcore mineralogy of inner mid‐shelf cores reveals that the largest shifts in illite:smectite correspond to changes in sediment units. The relict clinothem emplaced on the Gulf of Papua shelf during Marine Isotope Stage 3 has lower illite:smectite than the Holocene clinothem that has been building since 2 ka and the Marine Isotope Stage 5a relict clinothem. In the inner mid‐shelf, downcore decreases in illite:smectite during Marine Isotope Stage 3 suggest that this region received less clay from the Fly River and more contributions from small mountainous rivers. During Marine Isotope Stage 3, the exposed physiography and narrower shelf in this region may have deflected Fly River sediment more south‐eastward, where it bypassed the inner shelf via the Kiwai, Purutu and Umuda valleys and was deposited in the Pandora Trough. The Fly River may have been more susceptible to valley incision because of its limited shelf accommodation and higher ratio of water to sediment discharge. Such bypass of the inner mid‐shelf by Fly River sediment during the Marine Isotope Stage 2 sea‐level lowstand is recorded in Pandora Trough deposits with high illite:smectite ratios. Inner mid‐shelf clinothems with compositional shifts on the order of 20 kyr may be influenced by shelf physiography, accommodation and the variable incision by small and large rivers.

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Section: Implications For 'Source To Sink' Sediment Routingsupporting

confidence: 90%

Clay mineralogy of Gulf of Papua Shelf and Pandora Trough deposits constrains sediment routing during the last sea‐level cycle

Wei

Driscoll

2020

Sedimentology

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“…The Mississippi, Western Louisiana, Brazos, and Colorado deltas occupied the shelf margin and upper slope by MIS 3 time ( Fig. 9) while the Rio Grande delta lagged behind, being mostly an MIS 2 feature (Anderson, et al, 1996;Abdulah et al, 2004;Banfield and Anderson, 2004;Anderson, 2005 Anderson, 2003) and that the Western Louisiana MIS 3 delta was abandoned by ~ 36 ka (Wellner et al, 2004). Upstream of where the Brazos and Trinity valleys merged on the outer shelf, the Sabine and Calcasieu valleys converged with the Trinity Valley ( Fig.…”

Section: Lowstand Deltas and Fansmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…9). Detailed sequence stratigraphic analysis revealed that the growth of these deltas was strongly regulated by the episodic nature of the overall sea-level fall (Morton and Suter, 1996;Wellner et al, 2004;Abdulah et al, 2004;Banfield and Anderson, 2004) ( During MIS 4, sea level fell to ~-80 meters and then during MIS 3 rose to between ~-60 and ~-30 meters, followed by a gradual fall to ~-80 to ~-90 meters at the end of MIS 3 (Fig. 2).…”

Section: Falling-stage Deltasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These valleys were formed by rivers that flowed across a prograded shoreline that terminated on the midshelf, resulting in a significant gradient change with time (Eckles et al, 2004). In contrast, the Rio Grande valley provides another unique fluvial geomorphology, one where a single, relatively narrow valley on the inner shelf widens and deepens seaward, reaching a depth of ~100 meters at the shelf margin (Suter and Berryhill, 1985;Banfield and Anderson, 2004) ( Fig. 13).…”

Section: Incised Valleysmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Louisiana, Brazos, Colorado and Rio Grande rivers had constructed deltas situated at the shelf margin (Suter and Berryhill, 1985;Abdulah et al, 2004;Wellner et al, 2004;Banfield and Anderson, 2004;Figs. 8 and 9).…”

Section: Lowstand Deltas and Fansmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Recycling sediments between source and sink during a eustatic cycle: Systems of late Quaternary northwestern Gulf of Mexico Basin

Anderson

Wallace

Simms

et al. 2016

Earth-Science Reviews

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111

133

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The Northwestern Gulf of Mexico Basin is an ideal natural laboratory to study and understand source-to-sink systems. An extensive grid of high-resolution seismic data, hundreds of sediment cores and borings and a robust chronostratigraphic framework were used to examine the evolution of late Quaternary depositional systems of the northwestern Gulf of Mexico throughout the last eustatic cycle (~125 ka to Present). The study area includes fluvial systems with a wide range of drainage basin sizes, climate settings and water and sediment discharges. Detailed paleogeographic reconstructions are used to derive volumetric estimates of sediment fluxes (Volume Accumulation Rates). The results show that the response of rivers to sea-level rise and fall varied across the region. Larger rivers, including the former Mississippi, Western Louisiana (presumably the ancestral Red River), Brazos, Colorado and Rio Grande rivers, constructed deltas that advanced across the shelf in step-wise fashion during Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 5-2. Sediment delivery to these deltas increased during the overall sea-level fall due to increases in drainage basin area and erosion of sediment on the inner shelf, where subsidence is minimal, and transport of that sediment to the more rapidly subsiding outer shelf. The sediment supply from the Brazos River to its delta increased at least 3-fold and the supply of the Colorado River increased at least 6-fold by the late stages of sea-level fall through the lowstand. Repeated filling and purging of fluvial valleys from ~119-22 ka contributed to the episodic growth of falling-stage deltas. During the MIS 2 lowstand (~22-17 ka), the Mississippi River abandoned its fallingstage fluvial-deltaic complex on the western Louisiana shelf and drained to the Mississippi Canyon. Likewise, the Western Louisiana delta was abandoned, presumably due to merger

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Holocene progradation and retrogradation of the Central Texas Coast regulated by alongshore and cross‐shore sediment flux variability

Odezulu

Swanson

Anderson

2020

The Depositional Record

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Fifteen transects of sediment cores located off the central Texas coast between Matagorda Peninsula and North Padre Island were investigated to examine the offshore record of Holocene evolution of the central Texas coast. The transects extend from near the modern shoreline to beyond the toe of the shoreface. Lithology, grain size and fossil content were used to identify upper shoreface, lower shoreface, ebb‐tidal delta and marine mud lithofacies. Interpretations of these core transects show a general stratigraphic pattern across the study area that indicates three major episodes of shoreface displacement. First, there was an episode of shoreface progradation that extended up to 5 km seaward. Second, an episode of landward shoreline displacement is indicated by 3–4 km of marine mud onlap. Third, the marine muds are overlain by shoreface sands, which indicates another episode of shoreface progradation of up to 5 km seaward. Radiocarbon ages constrain the onset of the first episode of progradation to ca 6.5 ka, ending at ca 5.0 ka when the rate of sea‐level rise slowed from an average rate of 1.6–0.5 mm/yr. Results from sediment budget calculations and sediment transport modelling based on reasonable estimates of an ancient shoreline shape and wave climate indicate that the first progradation was a result of sand supplied from erosion of the offshore Colorado and Rio Grande deltas. The transgressive phase occurred between ca 4.9 ka and ca 1.6 ka and coincided with a major expansion of the Texas Mud Blanket, which resulted in burial of offshore sand sources and the shoreface being inundated with mud. The second, more recent episode of shoreface progradation began ca 500 years ago with a maximum rate of ca 6 m/yr. This most recent change signals a healing phase of coastal evolution from the late Holocene transgressive event. Currently, the shoreline along the central Texas coast is retreating landward at an average rate of 0.30 m/yr, indicating that the second progradation event has ended.

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Late Quaternary Evolution of the Rio Grande Delta: Complex Response to Eustasy and Climate Change

Cited by 10 publications

References 0 publications

Clay mineralogy of Gulf of Papua Shelf and Pandora Trough deposits constrains sediment routing during the last sea‐level cycle

Clay mineralogy of Gulf of Papua Shelf and Pandora Trough deposits constrains sediment routing during the last sea‐level cycle

Recycling sediments between source and sink during a eustatic cycle: Systems of late Quaternary northwestern Gulf of Mexico Basin

Holocene progradation and retrogradation of the Central Texas Coast regulated by alongshore and cross‐shore sediment flux variability

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