Skip to main content

Gamma-ray dose rate surveys help investigating century-scale beach ridge progradation in the wave-dominated Catumbela delta (Angola)

Geo-Marine Letters volume 37, pages 489–500 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

A strandplain at the downdrift side of the wave-dominated Catumbela delta (Angola) includes distinguishable deposits with very high natural radioactivity (up to 0.44 microSv/hour). In order to establish the geometry of these sedimentary units and understand their genetic processes, dose rate surveys were performed with the portable equipment Rados RDS-40WE. In addition, grain-size distribution, heavy-mineral composition and gamma-ray mass spectra of the high dose rate deposits were analysed. High dose rate values are found in ribbon units aligned parallel to the shoreline, which are a few tens of meters wide and up to approximately 3 km long. These units reflect the concentration of Th-bearing grains in coastal deposits enriched in heavy minerals. An integrated analysis of the high dose rate ribbons in GIS environment with aerial photography and topographic maps suggests that parts of the high dose rate units formed during the last two centuries may be related with the erosion of older shoreline deposits, due to updrift displacements of the Catumbela river outlet and recycling of shoreline accumulations with downdrift deposition. Simple gamma-ray surveys carried out with a portable detector can unravel depositional units characterised by significant enrichment in heavy-mineral grains that are likely to correspond to key events in the evolution of wave-dominated accumulations. The location of such deposits should be taken into account when planning future work using more expensive or time-consuming techniques.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

References

  • Abecassis FM (1958) Les flèches de sable de la côte d’Angola. Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil, Mém 140, Lisboa

  • Alam MN, Chowdhury MI, Kamal M, Ghose S, Islam MN, Mustafa MN, Miah MMH, Ansary MM (1999) The 226Ra, 232Th and 40K activities in beach sand minerals and beach soils of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. J Environ Radioact 46:243–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anthony EJ (2015) Wave influence in the construction, shaping and destruction of river deltas: a review. Mar Geol 361:53–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacharya JP, Giosan L (2003) Wave-influenced deltas: geomorphological implications for facies reconstruction. Sedimentology 50:187–210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carvalho GS (1963) Problemas de sedimentologia das praias do litoral de Angola: entre a foz do rio coporolo e o Lobito. Garcia de Orta 11:291–313

    Google Scholar 

  • Carvalho H (1980) Geologia de Angola, escala 1:1.000.000, folha 3. Laboratório Nacional de Investigação Cientifica e Tropical, Lisboa

  • Carvalho H, Tassinari C, Alves PH, Guimarães F, Simões MC (2000) Geochronological review of the Precambrian in western Angola: links with Brazil. J Afr Earth Sci 31:383–402

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chu ZX, Sun XG, Zhai SK, Xu KH (2006) Changing pattern of accretion/erosion of the modern Yellow River (Huanghe) subaerial delta, China: based on remote sensing images. Mar Geol 227:13–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coelho FDS, Couceiro PRDC, Lopes AL, Fabris JD (2005) Iron oxides and monazite from sands of two beaches in Espirito Santo, Brazil. Quimica Nov. 28:233–237

  • Correggiari A, Cattaneo A, Trincardi F (2005) The modern Po Delta system: lobe switching and asymmetric prodelta growth. Mar Geol 222:49–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Waele B, Johnson SP, Pisarevsky SA (2008) Palaeoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic growth and evolution of the eastern Congo Craton: its role in the Rodinia puzzle. Precamb Res 160:127–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dinis PA, Silva LS, Huvi J, Dinis JM, Cunha PP (2012) Evolução recente (1950-2010) da morfologia dos deltas do Catumbela e Cavaco (Benguela, Angola). In: Campar de Almeida A, Bettencourt AMS, Moura D, Monteiro-Rodrigues S, Caetano Alves MI (eds) Environmental changes and human interaction along the Western Atlantic edge (Mudanças ambientais e interação humana na fachada Atlântica Ocidental). Sersilito-Empresa Gráfica, Maia, pp 259–264

  • Dinis P, Mantas V, Andrade PS, Tonecas J, Kapula E, Pereira A, Carvalho FS (2013) Contribution of TRMM rainfall data to the study of natural systems and risk assessment. Cases of application in SW Angola. Estudos do Quaternário 9:33–43

  • Dinis PA, Huvi J, Cascalho J, Garzanti E, Vermeesch P, Callapez P (2016) Sand-spits systems from Benguela region (SW Angola). An analysis of sediment sources and dispersal from textural and compositional data. J Afr Earth Sci 117:171–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diniz AC (2006) Características Mesológicas de Angola. IPAD, Lisboa

    Google Scholar 

  • Dominguez JML (1996) The São Francisco strandplain: a paradigm for wave-dominated deltas? Geol Soc Lond Spec Publ 117:217–231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • El-Gamal AA, Saleh IH (2012) Radiological and mineralogical investigation of accretion and erosion coastal sediments in Nile Delta region, Egypt. J Oceanogr Mar Sci 3:41–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Florenchie P, Lutjeharms JRE, Reason CJC, Masson S, Rouault M (2003) The source of Benguela Niños in the South Atlantic Ocean. Geophys Res Lett 30:1505. doi:10.1029/2003GL017172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frihy OE (2007) The Nile Delta: processes of heavy mineral sorting and depositional patterns. In: Developments in Sedimentology, vol 58. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 49–74

  • Frihy OE, Komar PD (1993) Long-term shoreline changes and the concentration of heavy minerals in beach sands of the Nile Delta, Egypt. Mar Geol 115:253–261

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garzanti E, Andò S, Vezzoli G, Lustrino M, Boni M, Vermeesch P (2012) Petrology of the Namib Sand Sea: long-distance transport and compositional variability in the wind-displaced Orange Delta. Earth-Sci Rev 112:173–189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garzanti E, Resentini A, Andò S, Vezzoli G, Pereira A, Vermeesch P (2015) Physical controls on sand composition and relative durability of detrital minerals during ultra‐long distance littoral and aeolian transport (Namibia and southern Angola). Sedimentology 62:971–996

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield M, de Meijer RJ, Put I, Wiersma J, Donoghue J (1989) Monitoring beach sand transport by use of radiogenic heavy minerals. Int J Radiation Appl Instrument E Nuclear Geophys 3:231–244

    Google Scholar 

  • Guiraud M, Buta-Neto A, Quesne D (2010) Segmentation and differential post-rift uplift at the Angola margin as recorded by the transform-rifted Benguela and oblique-to-orthogonal-rifted Kwanza basins. Mar Petrol Geol 27:1040–1068

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaiser MF, Aziz AM, Ghieth BM (2014) Environmental hazards and distribution of radioactive black sand along the Rosetta coastal zone in Egypt using airborne spectrometric and remote sensing data. J Environ Radioact 137:71–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirst GJ, Schneider RR, Muller PJ, von Storch I, Wefer G (1999) Late Quaternary temperature variability in the Benguela Current system derived from alkenones. Quat Res 52:92–103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Komar PD (2007) The entrainment, transport and sorting of heavy minerals by waves and currents. In: Developments in Sedimentology, vol 58. Elsevier, Amsterdam pp 3–48

  • Komar PD, Wang C (1984) Processes of selective grain transport and the formation of placers on beaches. J Geol 96:637–655

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Korus JT, Fielding CR (2015) Asymmetry in Holocene river deltas: patterns, controls, and stratigraphic effects. Earth-Sci Rev 150:219–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maia CRMF (1937) Algumas modificações geofísicas em portos e embocaduras de rios da África portuguesa. A Terra Rev Port Geof 28:11–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Malanca A, De Pieri R, Gazzola A (1998) Radiogenic heavy minerals in Brazilian beach sand. J Radioanal Nuclear Chem 230:257–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peel MC, Finlayson BL, McMahon TA (2007) Updated world map of the Koppen-Geiger climate classification. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 11:1633–1644

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pereira A, Neves L (2012) Estimation of the radiological background and dose assessment in areas with naturally occurring uranium geochemical anomalies - a case study in the Iberian Massif (Central Portugal). J Environ Radioact 112:96–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pereira A, Pereira D, Neves L, Peinado M, Armenteros I (2013) Radiological data on building stones from a Spanish region: Castilla y León. Natural Hazards Earth Syst Sci 13:3493–3501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prakash TN, Raju GK, Prithviraj M (1991) Radioelement distribution in river, beach, and offshore areas and their significance to Chavara placer deposit, southern Kerala coast of India. Geo-Mar Lett 11:32–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pranzini E (2001) Updrift river mouth migration on cuspate deltas: two examples from the coast of Tuscany (Italy). Geomorphology 38:125–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Preoteasa L, Vespremeanu-Stroe A, Tătui F, Zăinescu F, Timar-Gabor A, Cîrdan I (2016) The evolution of an asymmetric deltaic lobe (Sf. Gheorghe, Danube) in association with cyclic development of the river-mouth bar: long-term pattern and present adaptations to human-induced sediment depletion. Geomorphology 253:59–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rao CB (1957) Beach erosion and concentration of heavy mineral sands. J Sed Res 27:143–147

    Google Scholar 

  • Rouault M, Illig S, Bartholomae C, Reason CJC, Bentamy A (2007) Propagation and origin of warm anomalies in the Angola Benguela upwelling system in 2001. J Mar Syst 68:473–488

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seddeek MK, Badran HM, Sharshar T, Elnimr T (2005) Characteristics, spatial distribution and vertical profile of gamma-ray emitting radionuclides in the coastal environment of North Sinai. J Environ Radioact 84:21–50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shannon LV, Boyd AJ, Brundrit GB, Taunton-Clark J (1986) On the existence of an El Niño-type phenomenon in the Benguela system. J Mar Res 44:495–520

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szczygielski A, Stattegger K, Schwarzer K, da Silva AGA, Vital H, Koenig J (2015) Evolution of the Parnaíba Delta (NE Brazil) during the late Holocene. Geo-Mar Lett 35:105–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tamura T (2012) Beach ridges and prograded beach deposits as paleoenvironmental records. Earth-Sci Rev 114:279–297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trask CB, Hand BM (1985) Differential transport of fall-equivalent sand grains, Lake Ontario, New York. J Sed Petrol 55:226–234

    Google Scholar 

  • Vassas C, Pourcelot L, Vella C, Carpéna J, Pupin JP, Bouisset P, Guillot L (2006) Mechanisms of enrichment of natural radioactivity along the beaches of the Camargue, France. J Environ Radioact 91:146–159

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the FCT (Portuguese National Board of Scientific Research) through the Strategic Programs MARE (Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, UID/MAR/04292/2013) and CEMMPRE (UID/EMS/00285/2013). Also acknowledged are constructive assessments by three anonymous reviewers for an earlier version of this article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3030-790, Coimbra, Portugal

    Pedro A. Dinis

  2. CEMMPRE, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3030-790, Coimbra, Portugal

    Alcides C. Pereira

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3030-790, Coimbra, Portugal

    Domingos Quinzeca & Domingos Jombi

Authors
  1. Pedro A. Dinis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alcides C. Pereira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Domingos Quinzeca
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Domingos Jombi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pedro A. Dinis.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest with third parties.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Dinis, P.A., Pereira, A.C., Quinzeca, D. et al. Gamma-ray dose rate surveys help investigating century-scale beach ridge progradation in the wave-dominated Catumbela delta (Angola). Geo-Mar Lett 37, 489–500 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-017-0497-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-017-0497-3

Keywords

  • Heavy Mineral
  • High Dose Rate
  • Natural Radioactivity
  • Angola
  • Beach Ridge