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Material Fluxes on the Surface of the Earth (1994) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:

Glacial to Modern Changes in Global River Fluxes
Pages 86-98

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From page 86...
... Relatively small-scale cyclic fluctuations of fluvial activity characterized the Holocene of the temperate zone. New research methods, such as the study of flood slackwater deposits and paleostage indicators, offer the potential for very accurate paleoflow reconstructions.
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From page 87...
... Despite the problems with both the regime theory and the sediment transport mechanical approaches to fluvial paleohydrology, these methods have the most universal range of applicability with regard to ancient river deposits. Most of the literature on late Quaternary fluvial change is based on the study of alluvial valleys interpreted by classical stratigraphy combined with some regime or sediment transport theoretical analysis.
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From page 88...
... Even rather small-scale climatic changes, if persistent, can produce rather dramatic responses in flood magnitudes and frequencies, as demonstrated for the upper Mississippi River (Knox, 1984, 19934. To improve understanding of cataclysmic floods one must expand the horizons of time and space, reconstructing ancient flood occurrences on a global scale.
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From page 89...
... , however, especially concerning the drumlin topography ascribed to cataclysmic flood origin (Straw et al., 1989~. A complex system of preglacial lakes developed during deglaciation along the southern margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet in North America.
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From page 90...
... Studies of the great late-glacial floods provide knowledge of possible extreme effects of short-term changes in river fluxes. In addition to the Laurentide Ice Sheet floods, glacial cataclysmic floods have recently been recognized for the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet in Swedish Lapland (Elfstrom, 19871.
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From page 91...
... This chapter can only highlight selected aspects of global fluvial paleohydrology, because the whole subject will be expanding greatly over the next several years. Europe and North America Considerable fluvial paleohydrological work was performed from 1977 to 1988 under the auspices of the International Geological Correlation Programme (IGCP)
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From page 92...
... South America Baker (1983) suggested that the effects of Quaternary climatic change on South American rivers might be used as a surrogate to explore potential effects of man-induced environmental change in the region.
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From page 93...
... This energetic early Holocene fluvial activity persisted until approximately 4.5 ka, at which time a phase of overbank sedimentation generated a lower terrace inset in relation to the extensive late Pleistocene aggradational fill. After approximately 3 ka the scale of fluvial change lessened with streams characterized by general incision and minor phases of deposition.
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From page 94...
... There is also a need to relate changes in atmospheric circulation patterns to the spatial and temporal variability of extreme floods. The approach to fluvial paleohydrology of IGCP Project 158 and of the INQUA Holocene Commission Working Group on Global Paleohydrology has been to reconstruct river fluxes on a regional scale in drainage basins selected to represent major climatic and hydrological zones.
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From page 95...
... . Cataclysmic late Pleistocene flooding from glacial Lake Missoula: A review, Quaternary Science Review 4, 1-41.
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From page 96...
... Paleodischarge of the late Pleistocene Bonneville Flood, Snake River, Idaho, computed from new evidence, Geological Society of America Bulletin 97, 127-134.
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From page 97...
... (1993~. Hydrology, hydraulics, and sediment transport of Pleistocene Lake Bonneville flooding on the Snake River, Idaho, in Geological Society of America Special Paper 274, 183.
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From page 98...
... (1987~. Proglacial lakes and the southern margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, in North America and Adjacent Oceans During the Last Deglaciation, W
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Key Terms

  • paleoflood hydrology
  • late pleistocene
  • late quaternary
  • quaternary research
  • ice sheet

  • america bulletin
  • sediment transport
  • river fluxes
  • fluvial paleohydrology
  • lake missoula

  • environmental change
  • glacial lake
  • cataclysmic floods
  • laurentide ice
  • geological survey

  • climatic change
  • northern australia
  • fluvial paleohydrological
  • temperate zone
  • flood frequency

  • fluvial activity
  • snake river
  • surface processes
  • igcp project
  • climatic changes

  • professional paper
  • late holocene
  • monsoonal activity
  • survey professional
  • earth surface


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