Abstract
In this chapter, we present a successful application of optically-stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating for reconstructing Quaternary alluvial and colluvial terrace sequences in the Pisco valley of western Peru. Here, climate-driven changes in debris-flow activity resulted in sediment aggradation and subsequent dissection forming distinct terrace levels. The terraces are made up of rather well-sorted, polymict, clast-supported conglomerates at the base and monomict, matrix-supported breccias towards the top. Both the abundance and thicknesses of breccias increase upsection and form the top of each sequence, leading to fan-shaped geometries. The well-sorted and clast-supported fabric of the conglomerates is interpreted as deposition by the perennial braided Pisco trunk stream. In contrast, the matrix-supported breccias were deposited by debris-flows sourced locally in the adjacent tributary valleys. The superposition of breccias on conglomerates implies that tributary debris-flow fans prograded from the valley margin towards the centre. OSL dating reveals that initiation of sediment accumulation was concurrent with a shift to more humid conditions. OSL ages also show that sediment aggradation started at the valley outlet, with the locus of sediment deposition then propagating farther upstream. Subsequent erosion and dissection of the valley fill commenced later during the same humid interval and continued throughout the following drier climate. Interestingly, the destructive phases also started at the valley outlet and propagated upstream, presumably as the hillslope sediment reservoirs became depleted. It is concluded that the sedimentary fill of the Pisco valley, and presumably that in other mountain belts, records a transient, non-steady response of debris-flows and fluvial processes to climate change, where non-steady sediment flux by hillslope erosion is buffered for a limited time span.
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Schlunegger, F., Norton, K., Steffen, D. (2013). Timing the Interface Between Mass Wasting and Fluvial Processes with OSL. In: Schneuwly-Bollschweiler, M., Stoffel, M., Rudolf-Miklau, F. (eds) Dating Torrential Processes on Fans and Cones. Advances in Global Change Research, vol 47. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4336-6_19
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