Papers by Jef Vandenberghe
The strategraphic position of a Pliocene tidal clay deposit at Grobbendonk (Antwerp Province, Belgium)
Geologica Belgica
In a section located in Grobbendonk (Antwerp Campine area, Belgium) a tidal clay deposit is descr... more In a section located in Grobbendonk (Antwerp Campine area, Belgium) a tidal clay deposit is described which according to regional analysis could correlate with the Kruisschans Member of the Pliocene Lillo Formation. Mollusc and fish fossils point to a colder climate during the deposition of the Kruisschans Sand. A pollen analysis of the Grobbendonk clay shows that it was formed during a cold climate, either during the Pretiglian or during the Pliocene. The latter possibility is preferred because of the regional stratigraphie analysis and the absence of marine Pretiglian in the area. A dinoflagellate study of the Grobbendonk clay compares the stratigraphie position of the clay to the Waltonian, Pre- Ludhamian, Ludhamian regional stages of the U.K. Because of the cold climate during the deposition a Pre-Ludhamian formation time is preferred. This Pre-Ludhamian in the U.K. is correlated with the Reuver C or with the Praetiglian regional stages in the Netherlands.
Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia 18
Titel loess plateau–geopark
Netherlands Journal of Geosciences, 2003
In northwest Europe the pattern of earthquake distribution is correlated with known Quaternary fa... more In northwest Europe the pattern of earthquake distribution is correlated with known Quaternary faults. Excavation of fault scarps revealed that these fault zones have been active during the Late Pleistocene. In this paper we present the results of an exploratory trenching study across the Geleen Fault, part of the Feldbiss Fault Zone, the Netherlands. Middle Saalian fluvial deposits of the Meuse, overlain by local slope deposits, were excavated. The Geleen Fault has displaced the fluvial deposits by at least 5 meters. The upper layers of local slope deposits could be correlated across the fault and were all dated at approximately 15 ka B.P. This gives the opportunity to reconstruct the sequence of events that occurred about 15 ka ago. Liquefactions provide evidence for an earthquake event. However, the main offset along the Geleen Fault is not stratigraphically related to the liquefactions. The liquefactions and the fault offset are stratigraphically separated by a period of erosion...
Geoscientific Model Development, 2015
The VU Amsterdam Permafrost (VAMPER) permafrost model has been enhanced with snow thickness and a... more The VU Amsterdam Permafrost (VAMPER) permafrost model has been enhanced with snow thickness and active layer calculations in preparation for coupling within the <I>i</I>LOVECLIM Earth system model of intermediate complexity (EMIC). In addition, maps of basal heat flux and lithology were developed within ECBilt, the atmosphere component of <I>i</I>LOVECLIM, so that VAMPER may use spatially varying parameters of geothermal heat flux and porosity values. The enhanced VAMPER model is validated by comparing the simulated modern-day extent of permafrost thickness with observations. To perform the simulations, the VAMPER model is forced by…
Rapid climate warming at the end of the last glacial: new perspectives
Outburst floods control the fluvial landscape evolution in Himalayan Tsangpo Gorge
&lt;p&gt;It has been debated whether gradual, persistent river flows or infrequent outbur... more &lt;p&gt;It has been debated whether gradual, persistent river flows or infrequent outburst floods play more important roles shaping the rugged mountain landscape, partially tied to insufficient evidence based on reliable retrievals of erosion and sediment fluxes from historical outburst floods. The Himalayan Tsangpo Gorge, exhibiting rapid exhumation and outburst floods, provides a perfect avenue to shed light on this debate. Here we report the quantitative erosion and transport capacity of a recent catastrophic outburst flood in Himalayan which occurred in June 2000 by landslide-dam failure with a peak discharge of 10&lt;sup&gt;5&lt;/sup&gt; m&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt;/s. The flood lasted for only ~10 hours, but equivalent to the cumulative effect of 10&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt; years of continuously gradual fluvial transport and erosion. The valley widened three times, triggering a large number of landslides, and extensive boulder bars were formed in the channel. These boulder bars protected the channel bed from incision but promoted extensive lateral erosion through increased roughness, resulting in widespread bank erosion and concurrent landslides, which will continue to do so until the next catastrophic flood remobilizes them. We provide direct evidence that highlights the dominance of recurrent outburst floods on drastic exhumation, deep gorge formation and long-term landscape evolution over rapidly uplifting mountains.&lt;/p&gt;
The Journal of Academic Social Sciences, 2019
İklim ve tektonizma, flüvyal sistemlerde akarsu sekilerinin oluşumunu ve şekillenmesini denetleye... more İklim ve tektonizma, flüvyal sistemlerde akarsu sekilerinin oluşumunu ve şekillenmesini denetleyen en önemli kontrol mekanizmalarıdır. Bunlardan iklimsel değişimlerin nehir sistemleri üzerindeki etkisi, sekilerin morfolojik ve sedimantolojik olarak birbirinden farklı olmasına neden olmaktadır. Bu fark ise peleo ortam analizlerinde flüvyal mimarinin önemini bir kez daha ortaya koymaktadır. Ancak, iklim-flüvyal sistem etkileşimine ilişkin bilgiler her zaman istenilen yalınlıkta değildir. Örneğin, iklimsel bir döngü (sıcak-soğuk dönem ardalanması) sürecinde oluşan seki sedimantasyonun, sadece iklimle değil, tektonik birikme-kazılma süreçleriyle ya da nehirlerin yanal göçü gibi farklı etkenlerle de şekillenebilmesi bu konudaki en büyük soru işaretlerinden biridir. Bunun yanında, iklim-flüvyal sistem etkileşiminde yalınlığı bozan diğer tartışma konuları aşağıdaki gibidir. a. Sekilerin içyapısında karakteristik bir sedimanter yapı var mıdır? Her bir sedimanter tabakanın oluşum mekanizması kesin olarak tespit edilebilir mi?
Interaction of fluvial and eolian sedimentation processes, and response to climate change since the last glacial in a semiarid environment along the Yellow River
Quaternary Research, 2018
Interactions of fluvial and eolian processes are prominent in dryland environments and can signif... more Interactions of fluvial and eolian processes are prominent in dryland environments and can significantly change Earth surface morphology. Here, we report on sediment records of eolian and fluvial interactions since the last glacial period, in the semiarid area of northwest China, at the limit of the Southeast Asian monsoon. Sediment sequences of last glacial and Holocene terraces of the Yellow River are composed of channel gravels, overlain by flood sands, eolian dunes, and flood loams. These sequences, dated by optically stimulated luminescence, record interlinks between fluvial and eolian processes and their response to climate change. Sedimentologic structures and grain-size analysis show flood loams, consisting of windblown sediment, deposited from floodwater suspended sediment. The gravel and sand were deposited during cold periods. During transitions from cold to warm phases, the river incised, and dunes were formed by deflation of channel and floodplain deposits (>70 and 2...
Quaternary, 2021
The Wufo Basin at the margin of the northeastern Tibet Plateau connects the upstream reaches of t... more The Wufo Basin at the margin of the northeastern Tibet Plateau connects the upstream reaches of the Yellow River with the lowland catchment downstream, and the fluvial terrace sequence in this basin provides crucial clues to understand the evolution history of the Yellow River drainage system in relation to the uplift and outgrowth of the Tibetan Plateau. Using field survey and analysis of Digital Elevation Model/Google Earth imagery, we found at least eight Yellow River terraces in this area. The overlying loess of the highest terrace was dated at 1.2 Ma based on paleomagnetic stratigraphy (two normal and two reversal polarities) and the loess-paleosol sequence (12 loess-paleosol cycles). This terrace shows the connections of drainage parts in and outside the Tibetan Plateau through its NE margin. In addition, we review the previously published data on the Yellow River terraces and ancient large lakes in the basins. Based on our new data and previous researches, we conclude that th...
E&G Quaternary Science Journal, 2021
Quaternary, 2018
Alluvial-fan successions record changes in hydrological processes and environments that may refle... more Alluvial-fan successions record changes in hydrological processes and environments that may reflect tectonic activity, climate conditions and changes, intrinsic geomorphic changes, or combinations of these factors. Here, we focus on the evolution of a stream-dominated fan in a tectonic depression of the Xining basin of China, laid down under a semi-arid climate in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau (NETP). The fan succession is composed of three facies associations, from bottom to top: (1) matrix to clast-supported, poorly sorted, planar cross-stratified to crudely stratified sheets of coarse-grained sediments; (2) horizontal laminated sand, laminated layers of reddish fine silt and yellow coarse silt with stacked mounds of sand; and (3) clay-rich deposits with incipient paleosols. The succession shows rapid sediment aggradation from high-energy to low-energy alluvial fans and finally to a floodplain. The dating results using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) method show that a ...
Quaternary Research, 2018
In September 2016, the annual meeting of the International Union for Quaternary Research’s Loess ... more In September 2016, the annual meeting of the International Union for Quaternary Research’s Loess and Pedostratigraphy Focus Group, traditionally referred to as a LoessFest, met in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA. The 2016 LoessFest focused on “thin” loess deposits and loess transportation surfaces. This LoessFest included 75 registered participants from 10 countries. Almost half of the participants were from outside the United States, and 18 of the participants were students. This review is the introduction to the special issue for Quaternary Research that originated from presentations and discussions at the 2016 LoessFest. This introduction highlights current understanding and ongoing work on loess in various regions of the world and provides brief summaries of some of the current approaches/strategies used to study loess deposits.
Human impact on floodplain geoecology. A Holocene perspective for the Dijle catchment, Central Belgium
Quaternary Science Reviews, 2014
The Holocene, 2013
Floodplain deposition rates have increased markedly under influence of human impact throughout th... more Floodplain deposition rates have increased markedly under influence of human impact throughout the late Holocene in many western and central European catchments. Consequently the geomorphology and ecology of many floodplains changed. In this study we discuss this human impact and its influence on the floodplain geoecology during the middle and late Holocene for the headwaters of the Dijle catchment, located in the Belgian loess belt. The floodplain geoecology and the regional vegetation was reconstructed from sedimentological and palynological analyses. An age-depth model for the studied sequences was obtained using 17 radiocarbon dates. Statistical analyses of the pollen data (cluster analysis and canonical correspondence analysis) were used to detect changes in the pollen record. Our data show that until c. 2500 cal. BP, human impact was nearly absent or localized with no discernible influence on the floodplain geoecology. The floodplain was in a stable phase and consisted of a marshy environment where organic material could accumulate, which is interpreted as the natural state of the floodplain. From c. 2500 cal. BP onwards, human impact gradually increased. However, only when human impact in the catchment crossed a threshold around 500 cal. BP, the floodplain geoecology changed with clearing of the Alder carr forest, the establishment of a single channel river and the dominance of minerogenic overbank sedimentation. Spatial variability in the coupling between increasing human impact and changes in floodplain geoecology can be attributed to differences in hillslope-floodplain connectivity and local differences in human impact.
Non-uniform and diachronous Holocene floodplain evolution: a case study from the Dijle catchment, Belgium
Journal of Quaternary Science, 2014
Fluvial architecture changed under the influence of increasing human impact throughout the Holoce... more Fluvial architecture changed under the influence of increasing human impact throughout the Holocene in many north-west European catchments. Typically, peat formation - in a marshy environment during the Early and Middle Holocene - is replaced by clastic overbank deposition. In this study we show the importance of a detailed chronology of floodplain changes, with an example from the Belgian Dijle catchment. In total, 45 radiocarbon ages from 15 alluvial sites were used. Cumulative probability functions were made of the radiocarbon ages from the base (16 samples) and top (29 samples) of the peat layer. Two alluvial sites were studied in detail. The results indicate that the end of peat growth and the transition towards clastic overbank deposition is diachronous at the catchment scale, ranging between 6500 and 500 cal a BP. This diachronous pattern can be attributed to differences in timing and intensity of agricultural activities at the catchment scale, or to differences in hillslope-floodplain connectivity. Moreover, in the broad floodplain of the main valley, the top of the peat layer is even diachronous at cross-section scale. These results indicate that inferences on changes in sedimentation rate and floodplain changes should be based on a multi-transect and multi-core dating approach. Copyright # 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
L’expression morphologique de l’erosion fluviatile est largement variable dans l’histoire geologi... more L’expression morphologique de l’erosion fluviatile est largement variable dans l’histoire geologique. Ici, trois cas de differentes zones morpho-climatiques sont examines afin de trouver une evolution temporelle generale ou une similarite spatiale de morphologies specifiques. Selon la theorie traditionnelle, la denudation fluviatile se termine par un aplanissement. D’apres les processus invoques il s’agit des peneplaines, des pediplaines ou des ‘etchplains’. Celles-ci se sont developpees frequemment et globalement sous des conditions specifiques. Pourtant, il semble que ce developpement se soit termine en general vers la fin du Tertiaire. Par la suite, l’evolution se caracterise en revanche principalement par une incision fluviatile aboutissant a la formation de vallees encaissees avec plusieurs terrasses etagees. Ce changement s’est produit des le Pliocene ou debut Pleistocene et doit etre lie a un soulevement tectonique dans chacun des trois cas. Cette evolution generale des bassi...
Evidence of permafrost in the Paleoproterozoic ( c . 1.9 Ga) of Central Sweden
Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 2020
This paper reports on an ice-wedge pseudomorph that formed and is preserved in metavolcanic host ... more This paper reports on an ice-wedge pseudomorph that formed and is preserved in metavolcanic host material that was later transformed to metamorphic solid bedrock. It has been dated to 1895 ± 5 Ma by U–Pb geochronology of zircon in the bedrock, an Early Proterozoic age. Detailed observation of the deformation structures of the wedge points to an ice-wedge pseudomorph based on typical downbending around the wedge and vertical lamination in the inner part of the wedge due to slumping into the wedge after the ice melted, along with a few remains of lateral pressure structures (such as folds and upturned strata) in the adjacent host sediment. The interpretation of the wedge structure as an ice-wedge pseudomorph confirms previous work on this topic. This ice-wedge pseudomorph demonstrates for the first time the existence of permafrost at c. 1.9 Ga. It indicates that permafrost and associated conditions were present in lowlands at low latitude at discrete time intervals early in Earth’s hi...
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Papers by Jef Vandenberghe