Modeling the Effect of Climatic and Human Impacts on Margin Sedimentation
Abstract
LONG-TERM GOALS. Coordinate the EuroSTRATAFORM modeling effort. Model the hydrological routing of water and sediment into the Northern Adriatic and the Gulf of Lions. Determine the impact of changes in climate, the impact of humans, and fluctuations in sea level, on the transfer of sediment from land to sea. Determine the dispersal mechanisms of this terrestrial flux of sediment, including the impact of hyperpycnal discharge from rivers, and the coastal trapping of sediment of deltaic distributary channels. OBJECTIVES. 1A) Coordinate the EuroSTRATAFORM modeling efforts designed to formulate predictive and diagnostic models on how sedimentary processes contribute to the stratigraphic record. 2A) Determine the long-term and short-term climate changes, and the perturbations from human impacts, on the hydrological routing of water and sediment (e.g., floods, droughts) including the Po, selected rivers along the Apennines, and the Rhone River. 2B) Determine any connections between point-source and line-source sediment supply and sea level, and whether these connections control canyon morphology, failure frequency, and gravity flow dynamics. Determine if the formation and intensity of hyperpycnal flows generated at river mouths directly affects the position and formation of submarine canyons. 2C) Support the effort to understand how the dynamics of delta lobe switching frequency imparts a recognizable signature on margin architecture (e.g., through plume sedimentation). 2D) Support the effort to understand the dynamic response of a continental margin to large-amplitude sea-level changes, beginning with those of the last glacial cycle. 2E) Support the effort to develop coherent techniques for upscaling individual processes/events into long-term stratigraphic-architecture and seascape-evolution models.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 30, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA628107
Entities
People
- Jaia P. M. Syvitski
Organizations
- University of Colorado Boulder