This study presents an integrated synthesis of the sedimentological, stratigraphic, and compositional characteristics, as well as the tectono-sedimentary evolution, of the lower–middle Messinian deep-water turbidite successions of the Southern Laga Basin (SLB), representing the final depocenter of the Marnoso-arenacea foredeep in the central Apennines. The analysis is based on the integration of previous datasets with new stratigraphic-sedimentological surveys (more than 100 sections for a total thickness of ~20 km) and correlation panels, allowing the reconstruction of the depositional architecture of a 3000 m thick turbidite complex that represents the deep-water sedimentation of a high-rank composite depositional sequence named the Laga Depositional Sequence (LDS). The latter consists of five low-rank sequences (Laga 1a, b, c, d, and Laga 2), organized into lowstand, transgressive, and highstand systems tracts, that in turn are characterized by the presence of several turbidite systems organized in forestepping and backstepping stacking patterns. The turbidite architecture elements include channels, channel–lobe transition zones, and basin-floor lobes, whose distribution and geometry are primarily controlled by depositional gradient, variations in sediment supply, and tectonic activity. The results highlight that, in tectonically active margin settings such as Apennine foreland basins, stratigraphic cyclicity and turbidite sedimentation are predominantly controlled by allogenic factors, such as tectonic and climate. The analysis of sedimentation and subsidence rates indicates comparable values (≈0.9–1.5 mm yr-1), with systematic variations between channel and lobe zones and among different systems tracts, reflecting changes in sediment supply, subsidence, and paleobathymetry. Basin evolution shows a progressive reduction in water depth and a transition from confined to semi-confined conditions, ultimately leading to basin infilling. From a tectonic perspective, basin configuration and evolution are strongly controlled by the propagation of thrust systems, which generated a complex seafloor topography and influenced both stratigraphic organization and facies distribution. The result of this study is significant because it describes an example of an internally deformed wedge recording the transition from a foredeep to a wedge-top depozone. It also provides a high-resolution, basin-scale stratigraphic dataset, which is uncommon for complex turbidite systems and demonstrates that classical sequence stratigraphic models, largely based on eustatic controls, are insufficient along tectonically active margins. It also contributes to a better understanding of confined turbidite systems, which are inherently more complex and less predictable than those of continental passive margins.
This study examines the primary issue of suppression of vitrinite reflectance (%VRo) and the delay in organic matter reflectance in sedimentary rocks. If not recognized, these %VRo suppression and delay phenomena can lead to an underestimation of the local and regional thermal maturity required to initiate oil generation from hydrogen-rich organic matter relative to oxygen-rich organic matter, ultimately affecting the assessment of condensate liquids and wet/dry gas potential. Overlooking or misinterpreting %VRo suppression and delay can significantly influence basin analysis, hydrocarbon exploration and production, and petroleum resource evaluation.Several parameters may cause suppression of %VRo in vitrinite, including:- Maceral subtypes in low-rank coals and rocks with low maturity.- Lithology and mineral matrix found in both coal-bearing and graptolite-bearing strata.- The chemical composition of vitrinite (for example, perhydrous vitrinite) found in humic coals, cannel coals, and in lacustrine and marine oil shales.- The influence of liptinite maceral concentration and soluble bitumen.The study also assesses the degree of %VRo suppression in lacustrine oil shales compared to associated coals, based on their Hydrogen Index from Rock-Eval pyrolysis and the retardation of %VRo caused by overpressure.
The Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA) was one of the most pronounced icehouse intervals of the Phanerozoic and offers a natural setting for examining how long-term boundary conditions and orbital forcing shaped continental hydroclimate and sedimentary archives. This review synthesizes late Mississippian–early Permian records within a process chain linking atmospheric composition, paleogeography, ice volume and sea level, surface temperature and water balance, chemical weathering, and stratigraphic expression. A harmonized compilation of orbitally paced records is evaluated together with fully coupled CESM1.2.2 experiments. The model ensemble comprises twelve time-slice simulations from 360 to 250 Ma and a suite of end-member orbital experiments under approximately 290 Ma boundary conditions. Common radiative and orbital forcing across the time slices isolates paleogeographic controls on the simulated climate states. The results show persistent meridional organization of annual-mean temperature and net precipitation, while Pangean assembly increased longitudinal hydroclimate heterogeneity through stronger land–sea contrast and continental moisture limitation. Within-record standardized chemical index of alteration (CIA) series show relative low-latitude weathering variations compatible with changes in effective moisture and runoff. Differences in lithology, provenance, sedimentary sorting, and diagenesis limit quantitative comparison of CIA variability among basins. At orbital timescales, low-latitude marine and coastal records commonly preserve precession sensitivity modulated by short- or long-eccentricity variability, while extratropical lacustrine records more frequently record obliquity pacing. The modeled orbital dominance index identifies variable-specific latitudinal tendencies with extensive regional overlap between eccentricity-related and obliquity responses. Atmospheric composition, cryospheric extent, paleogeography, and basin hydrology consequently regulate the transfer of orbital forcing into hydroclimatic and stratigraphic signals. Compiled resource occurrences exhibit overlapping hydroclimatic affinities, indicating that water balance established a permissive climatic context whose deposit-scale expression depended on local geological and preservational conditions.
Erosion and sediment transport are still major challenges to the sustainability of agriculture, water quality, and aquatic ecosystem functioning, especially with changing climatic conditions. Understanding sediment transport processes is critical for researchers, policymakers, and environmental managers interested in formulating effective watershed-management and erosion-control solutions. This work presents a systematic review of sediment-related erosion, delivery, and transport models following the PRISMA 2020 protocol (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses). A formal PRISMA-based screening set of 1344 records was assessed against predefined eligibility criteria, resulting in 138 peer-reviewed studies and 73 distinct sediment-related models, including soil-loss, sediment-yield, sediment-delivery, and sediment-transport models. To enable structured comparison across environmental contexts, we applied Factor Analysis of Mixed Data (FAMD), a statistical method suited to integrate qualitative descriptors such as spatial scale, temporal resolution, and data requirement with binary process-output indicators coded as presence/absence variables, including sediment yield, runoff, peak flow, soil loss, and erosion–deposition outputs. This enabled classification of models based on their operational context and dominant process representation. The analysis identified major patterns in model structure and applicability, grouping models according to their spatial and temporal resolution as well as data requirements. An additional heatmap summarizes the suitability of each model across spatial and temporal scales, providing a scale-explicit guide for model selection. To increase decision-making value, we benchmarked representative models using performance metrics Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) and coefficient of determination (R2) derived from validation studies. Benchmarking values, compiled from heterogeneous published sediment-validation studies, varied widely both within and between clusters; because each value is a single, context-dependent validation statistic, they are reported descriptively rather than tested for statistical significance and are not interpreted as a ranking of model accuracy. This integrated framework offers a reproducible, evidence-informed approach for selecting sediment transport models tailored to environmental and operational demands, highlighting the importance of considering spatial extent, temporal resolution, and data availability in model selection. Overall, the five clusters form a clear structure–application gradient, ranging from simple, empirical plot- and field-scale models with low data requirements to process-rich, spatially distributed, data-intensive catchment models. Coupled with the scale-explicit suitability heatmap — which lets users read off candidate models directly from a target spatial and temporal scale — this yields a reproducible framework that helps shortlist structurally plausible model classes from a user's target scale and data availability, subject to local validation.
Riparian vegetation is commonly recognized as a key ecosystem engineer affecting fluvial processes within river corridors. Several literature works dealt with the effects of the canopy and stems, whereas less attention was paid to the active role of the below-ground biomass, namely plant roots. In this paper, a comprehensive review of plant root biomechanics and its implications for river morphodynamic processes is presented by highlighting the different spatial and temporal scales involved in the several root-soil-water dynamics and mutual interactions. Firstly, the growth of roots and the governing processes (tropisms) are presented, then the root-soil biomechanical properties and available models are discussed, by focusing on the different uprooting mechanisms. The influence on incipient conditions of sediment transport, sediment transport rate, and local and large-scale morphodynamic processes, such as bank stabilization and braided-meander transition, is outlined, as well. The resulting identification of current research gaps aims to steer future investigations toward the development of new relationships for root-soil interactions, the improvement of numerical tools for bank stability and river ecomorphodynamic simulations, and the enhanced design of more resilient nature-based solutions for river restoration and flood protection.
The South China Block (SCB) underwent intense magmatism, deformation and mineralisation in the Mesozoic. These events were the combined result of Triassic collisions along three plate margins, and subduction of the Paleo-Pacific Ocean from the east. Beyond this framework there are gaps in our understanding. We propose that growth of an orogenic plateau controlled the Mesozoic tectonic and magmatic evolution of South China. The plateau was similar to the modern Central Andes, but >1000 km across. Thickening was the result of compressional stresses generated at the Paleo-Pacific convergent margin, and continental collisions at other margins. Retroarc, compressional deformation migrated westwards through the Jurassic and Cretaceous, thickening crust as far as the Sichuan Basin. Structures are convex towards the foreland, consistent with the influence of gravitational flow. Two sets of folds occur in the Eastern Yangtze Fold Zone. One set of folds is roughly concentric, convex towards the plate interior. The other set is radial and contains nine long wavelength folds (~100 km). Folding may be the result of constrictional strain, producing two sets of structures simultaneously. We find little evidence for Triassic or Jurassic extension, which is commonly inferred from pluton geochemistry. Regional extension began in the Early Cretaceous at ~135 Ma and was oriented WNW-ESE. Extension was plausibly triggered by a change in the regional force balance, itself related to plate re-organization. Extension in the interior was contemporary with thrusting to the west, in the East Sichuan fold-and-thrust belt, and to east, in the Southeast Coast Magmatic Belt; this configuration is difficult to explain solely by Paleo-Pacific plate rollback or foundering mechanisms. Permian and Mesozoic magmatism took place within regions affected by progressive crustal thickening from the Permian to the Early Cretaceous. A ~700 km wide magmatic belt was in existence by the Late Triassic, ~60 Myr after initial Paleo-Pacific subduction. Magmatism includes I-, S- and A-type granites. Different compositions were broadly contemporary, with a tendency for A-type intrusions to postdate other types. Magmatism continued through the Jurassic and Cretaceous, with lulls inland at 200–180 Ma and 115–100 Ma. There were lateral shifts in the focus of magmatism over time, with a pronounced move to the southeast in the Early Cretaceous. A-type granites may result from high temperature crustal melting, generated in thickened crust by radiogenic heating. We propose that thick, hot, lower crust of orogenic plateaus is a productive tectonic setting for the generation of A-type granites, without needing extensional strain and crustal thinning, in regions dehydrated by prior melt extraction during orogeny. Within-plate signatures in rare Jurassic mafic rocks may relate to lithospheric drips. Topographic plateau relicts are distributed across South China, including the Wu Shan and Xuefengshan ranges. Scattered surfaces at 1500–2000 m altitude may be remnants of an extensive plateau, and consistent with an original crustal thickness of ~45–50 km. Plateau development took place between the Late Triassic and Early Cretaceous. The minimum age is constrained by Lower Cretaceous syn-rift strata which disrupt the plateau remnant surfaces, and by ~135 Ma extensional core complexes.
The morphology-based phylogenetic analysis presented by Luo et al. (2022) is not readily reproducible. Here, I identify inconsistencies in the reported character descriptions, tree-search procedures, support calculations, phylogenetic results, and character interpretations, and provide a reproducible reanalysis of the published matrix. The reanalysis recovers a less resolved and more weakly supported phylogeny of Alienopteridae and Umenocoleidae within Dictyoptera than that reported in the original study. It also identifies a different set of apomorphic and homoplastic characters. These discrepancies demonstrate that the principal phylogenetic results and interpretations of Luo et al. (2022) cannot be independently reproduced from the published matrix and methodological description.
The rapid growth of municipal solid waste and plastic production has led to the widespread accumulation of anthropogenic debris across terrestrial, coastal, and marine environments. While traditionally considered an environmental pollutant, large waste deposits increasingly behave as geomorphological materials capable of interacting with Earth surface processes. Here, we propose a conceptual framework that recognizes solid waste as a distinct Anthropocene geomaterial and introduces a hierarchical classification of waste-driven geomorphological processes. The framework integrates four interconnected levels: (i) transport-driven accumulation systems, including litter blooms, garbage patches, and windrows; (ii) anthropogenic depositional landforms such as plastic berms, debris ridges, and litter-generated dunes; (iii) mass-loading systems represented by landfill slopes and coastal waste piles; and (iv) gravitational processes, including waste slides, landfill slumps, debris flows, avalanches, and creep. These processes are linked through a waste geomorphological cascade. By extending classical geomorphological classifications to include anthropogenic materials, this study demonstrates that waste deposits can generate previously unrecognized forms of slope instability and sediment redistribution. Documented landfill disasters worldwide further demonstrate the hazard potential associated with these processes. The recognition of solid waste geomorphology as an emerging field provides a new perspective for understanding the role of anthropogenic materials in landscape evolution, hazard assessment, and environmental management. As waste continues to accumulate globally, its influence on geomorphological systems is expected to increase, requiring integrated and interdisciplinary approaches within Earth system science.
The Arabian Shield is an extensive region of poorly understood, largely Neoproterozoic, volcanic arc-related rock systems with known metal mineralisation that is found mainly within Saudi Arabia. The volcanic arcs that were responsible for much of the formation of the region were also active during considerable turbulence in many Earth surface systems—the significance of which is presently unquantified. Here we propose that the Arabian Shield be divided into 14 terranes and systematically review the lithostratigraphy of each terrane, place the geology into a chronostratigraphic framework by reviewing the available geochronology and suggest a tectonic evolution of the region in the context of microplate formation, the subduction of the Mozambique Ocean and the formation of Gondwana. Two Tonian to early Cryogenian microplates developed: One in the east of the region consists of the Khida-Siham, Suwaj and Ha'il terranes, with a second microplate consisting of the Jiddah, Bidah, An Nimas, Al Qarah-Malahah and Tathlith terranes (now found in the west of the Kingdom). This latter microplate was joined by the Hijaz and Midyan terranes in the Cryogenian and formed an Arabian-Nubian microplate that collided with the active margin of nascent Africa and the Khida-Siham, Suwaj, Ha'il microplate by the beginning of the Ediacaran. The Ad Dawadmi terrane developed as a turbidite-dominated basin to the east of this amalgam and closed with the Ediacaran collision of the Ar Rayn terrane—the easternmost exposed, and youngest, terrane in the Arabian Shield.
The Neoproterozoic geological evolution of the Yangtze Block and its positional affiliation within the Rodinia supercontinent have been intensely debated. Our latest 1:50,000-scale regional geological survey, new high-precision litho-tectonic mapping, and systematic geochronological and geochemical analyses for the Huashan Group in the Dahongshan area, northern Yangtze Block, provide crucial insights into this controversy. The Huashan Group is structurally subdivided into northern and southern domains. The northern Huashan Group, formed between 971 Ma and 793 Ma, is dominated by calc-alkaline basic-intermediate-acidic volcanic and pyroclastic rocks with little siltstone, accompanied by the Sanligang pluton and scattered mafic intrusive rocks. Both mafic and felsic rocks in the northern domain have positive bulk-rock εNd(t) and zircon εHf(t) values, indicating a magmatic source of metasomatized mantle wedge and juvenile crust, respectively. The southern Huashan Group consists of a sedimentary-dominated succession interbedded with tholeiitic pillow lavas, basalts and alkaline brecciated lavas, associated with mafic intrusive rocks, formed between 930 Ma and 794 Ma. The tholeiitic rocks are characterized by flat REE patterns and positive bulk-rock εNd(t) values, consistent with a source of metasomatized mantle wedge. The alkaline rocks display OIB-like REE patterns and negative εNd(t) values, indicative of an enriched mantle source. The Huashan Group records prominent Neoproterozoic deformation, including top-to-the-NE thrust faults, folds and mélange-like characteristics, and an angular unconformity with the overlying post-780 Ma Liantuo Formation. We proposed that the Huashan Group formed in an arc-backarc setting above a south-dipping subduction zone, where late-stage slab breakoff triggered a significant influx of enriched mantle components. The Huashan Group documents a complete Neoproterozoic tectonic transition from convergence to divergence in the northern Yangtze Block, including the pre-835 Ma arc, ca. 835–820 Ma backarc basin, ca. 820–780 Ma slab breakoff and accretionary orogen, and post-780 Ma extension. The Huashan Group provides new evidence supporting an external model for the Yangtze Block's position within Rodinia.
