Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2xdlg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-01T06:33:17.800Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Evidence for Regional Stream Aggradation in the Central Oregon Coast Range during the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Stephen F. Personius ,
Harvey M. Kelsey  and
Paul C. Grabau
Stephen F. Personius
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25046, MS 966, Denver, Colorado 80225
Harvey M. Kelsey
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Humboldt State University, Arcata, California 95521
Paul C. Grabau
Affiliation:
K. W. Brown and Associates, Inc., 812 Horton Road, Suite B, Bellingham, Washington 98226
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Low, nearly continuous terraces of similar age are present along streams in drainage basins that range in size from Drift Creek (190 km2) to the Umpqua River (11,800 km2) in the Oregon Coast Range. Radiocarbon ages from near the bose of fluvial sediments underlying these terraces are clustered at about 9000-11,000 14C yr B.P. Beveled bedrock surfaces (straths) that underlie the fluvial sediments are 1-8 m above summer stream levels and are present along most of the nontidal reaches of the rivers that we studied. Where exposed, the bedrock straths are overlain by 2-11 m of fluvial sediment that consists of a bottom-stratum (channel) facies of sandy pebble-cobble gravel and a top-stratum (overbank) facies of sandy silt or silt. Eight radiocarbon ages from the fluvial sediments allow correlation of the lowest continuous terrace over a wide area and thus indicate that a regional aggradation episode occurred in Coast Range drainage basins during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. The cause of such widespread aggradation is unknown but may be related to climate-induced changes in the frequency of evacuation of colluvium from hollows, which are common in all drainage basins in the region.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 40 , Issue 3 , November 1993 , pp. 297 - 308
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adam, D. P. (1988). Pollen zonation and proposed informal climatic units for Clear Lake, California, cores CL-73-4 and CL-73-7. In “Late Quaternary Climate, Tectonism, and Sedimentation in Clear Lake, Northern California Coast Ranges” (Sims, J. D., Ed.), pp. 63–80. Geological Society of America Special Paper No. 214.Google Scholar
Baldwin, E. M. (1956). “Geologic Map of the Lower Siuslaw River Area, Oregon.” U.S. Geological Survey Oil and Gas Investigations Series Map OM-186.Google Scholar
Barnosky, C. W. (1985). Late Quaternary vegetation near Battle Ground Lake, southern Puget Trough, Washington. Geological Society of America Bulletin 96, 263–271.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Becker, B. Kromer, B., and Trimhom, P. (1991). A stable-isotope tree-ring timescale of the late Glacial/Holocene boundary. Nature 353, 647–649.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benda, L. (1990). The influence of debris flows on channels and valley floors in the Oregon Coast Range U.S.A. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 15, 457–466.Google Scholar
Benda, L., and Dunne, T. (1987). Sediment routing by debris flow. In “Erosion and Sedimentation in the Pacific Rim” (Beschta, R. L. Blinn, T. Grant, G. E. Swanson, F. J., and Ice, G. G., Eds.), pp. 213–223. International Association of Hydrological Sciences Publication No. 165.Google Scholar
Blong, R. J., and Gillespie, R. (1978). Fluvially transported charcoal gives erroneous l4C ages for recent deposits. Nature 271, 739–741.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brakenridge, G. R. (1984). Alluvial stratigraphy and radiocarbon dating along the Duck River, Tennessee: Implications regarding flood-plain origin. Geological Society of America Bulletin 95, 9–25.Google Scholar
Dietrich, W. E., and Dunne, T. (1978). Sediment budget for a small catchment in mountainous terrain. Zeitzschrift für Geomorphologie, Supplementband 29, 191–206.Google Scholar
Grabau, P. C. (1990). “Floodplain Aggradation in an Intermontane Area of the Oregon Coast Range as a Geomorphic Response to the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition.” Unpublished M.S. thesis, Western Washington University.Google Scholar
Harden, D. R. Janda, R. J., and Nolan, K. M. (1978). “Mass Move-ment and Storms in the Drainage Basin of Redwood Creek, Hum-boldt County, California—A Progress Report.” U.S. Geological Sur-vey Open-file Report No. 78–486.Google Scholar
Kelsey, H. M. (1980). A sediment budget and an analysis of geomorphic process in the Van Duzen River basin. Geological Society of America Bulletin 91, 190–195.Google Scholar
Leopold, L. B., and Bull, W. B. (1979). Base level, aggradation, and grade. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 123, 168–202.Google Scholar
Leopold, L. B. Wolman, M. G., and Miller, J. P. (1964). “Fluvial Processes in Geomorphology.” Freeman, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Lisle, T. E. (1982). Effects of aggradation and degradation on riffle-pool morphology in natural gravel channels, northwestern California. Water Resources Research 18, 1643–1651.Google Scholar
Long, A. (1990). A quality assurance protocol for radiocarbon dating laboratories. Radiocarbon 32, 109–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDowell, P. F. (1987). Geomorphic processes in the Pacific coast and mountain system of Oregon and Washington. In “Geomorphic Systems of North America,” part of Chapter 13, “Pacific Coast and Mountain System” (Graf, W. L., Ed.), pp. 539–549. Geological Society of America Centennial Special Volume 2. Google Scholar
Nelson, R. E. Carter, L. D., and Robinson, S. W. (1988). Anomalous radiocarbon ages from a Holocene detrital organic lens in Alaska and their implications for radiocarbon dating and paleoenvironmental reconstructions in the Arctic. Quaternary Research 29, 66–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oregon State Water Resources Board (1958). “Umpqua River Basin.” Oregon State Water Resources Board, Salem.Google Scholar
Oregon State Water Resources Board (1965). “Mid-coast Basin.” Oregon State Water Resources Board, Salem.Google Scholar
Personius, S. F. (1993). “Age and Origin of Fluvial Terraces in the Central Coast Range, Western Oregon.” U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin No. 2038.Google Scholar
Pierson, T. C. (1977). “Factors Controlling Debris-Flow Initiation on Forested Hillslopes in the Oregon Coast Range.” Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Washington.Google Scholar
Porter, S. C Pierce, K. L., and Hamilton, T. D. (1983). Late Wisconsin mountain glaciation in the western United States. In “Late Quaternary Environments of the United States,” Vol. 1, “The Late Pleistocene” (Porter, S. C., Ed.), pp. 71–111. Univ. of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.Google Scholar
Reneau, S. L., and Dietrich, W. E. (1990). Depositional history of hollows on steep hillslopes, coastal Oregon and Washington. National Geographic Research 6, 220–230.Google Scholar
Reneau, S. L. Dietrich, W. E. Donahue, D. J. Jull, A. J. T., and Rubin, M. (1990). Late Quaternary history of colluvial deposition and erosion in hollows, central California Coast Ranges. Geological Society of America Bulletin 102, 969–982.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reneau, S. L. Dietrich, W. E. Dorn, R. I. Berger, C. R., and Rubin, M. (1986). Geomorphic and paleoclimatic implications of latest Pleistocene radiocarbon dates from conuvium-mantled hollows, California. Geology 14, 655–658.Google Scholar
Reneau, S. L. Dietrich, W. E. Rubin, M. Donahue, D. J., and Jull, A. J. T. (1989). Analysis of hillslope erosion rates using dated collu-vial deposits. Journal of Geology 91, 45–63.Google Scholar
Rypins, S. Reneau, S. L. Byrne, R., and Montgomery, D. R. (1989). Palynologic and geomorphic evidence for environmental change during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition at Point Reyes Peninsula, central coastal California. Quaternary Research 32, 72–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schlicker, H. G., and Deacon, R. J. (1974). “Environmental Geology of Coastal Lane County Oregon.” Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries Bulletin No. 85.Google Scholar
Scott, E. M. Aitchison, T. C. Harkness, D. D. Cook, G. T., and Baxter, M. S. (1990). An overview of all three stages of the international radiocarbon intercomparison. Radiocarbon 32, 309–319.Google Scholar
Snavely, P. D. Jr. MacLeod, N. S. Wagner, H. C, and Rau, W. W. (1976). “Geologic Map of the Cape Foulweather and Euchre Moun-tain Quadrangles, Lincoln County, Oregon.” U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map 1-868.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M. Braziunas, T. F. Becker, B., and Kromer, B. (1991). Climatic, solar, oceanic, and geomagnetic influences on late-glacial and Holocene atmospheric 14C/I2C change. Quaternary Research 35, 1–24.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M., and Pearson, G. W. (1986). High precision calibration of the radiocarbon time scale, AD 1950-500 BC. Radiocarbon 28, 805–838.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M., and Reimer, P. J. (1986). A computer program for radiocarbon age calibration. Radiocarbon 28, 1022–1030.Google Scholar
Waananen, A. O. Harris, D. D.. and Williams, R. C. (1971). “Floods of December 1964 and January 1965 in the Far Western States, Part I—Description.” U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper No. 1866-A.Google Scholar
Walker, G. W., and Duncan, R. A. (1989). “Geologic Map of the Salem 1° by 2° Quadrangle, Western Oregon.” U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map 1-1893. Google Scholar
Walker, G. W., and MacLeod, N. S. (1991). “Geologic Map of Ore-gon.” U.S. Geological Survey Special Map. Google Scholar