Holocene fluvial landscape evolution driven by sea level and tectonic controls in the Gangkou River, Hengchun Peninsula
The fluvial landscape of the Hengchun Peninsula in southernmost Taiwan is generally characterized by a narrow river and a wide valley plain. Such underfit stream features are unusual in tectonically active areas such as Taiwan. In this research, we hypothesize that the relative sea level change sinc...
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doaj-0242dd09b7e04bb4b2530c7de0e8f3722021-09-29T04:01:21ZengChinese Geoscience UnionTerrestrial, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences1017-08392311-76802021-06-0132333936010.3319/TAO.2021.04.08.01Holocene fluvial landscape evolution driven by sea level and tectonic controls in the Gangkou River, Hengchun PeninsulaJia-Hong ChenShyh-Jeng ChyiJiun-Yee YenLih-Der HoChristopher LüthgensPei-Ling WangLi-Hung LinI-Chin YenChia-Hung JenJyh-Jaan Steven HuangThe fluvial landscape of the Hengchun Peninsula in southernmost Taiwan is generally characterized by a narrow river and a wide valley plain. Such underfit stream features are unusual in tectonically active areas such as Taiwan. In this research, we hypothesize that the relative sea level change since the end of the last glacial period might be the main factor driving the formation of this type of landscape on the relatively recently emerged Taiwan Island. The Gangkou River is among the largest and most pristine rivers on the Hengchun Peninsula, and well-preserved river terraces and bedrock exposures occur along the river and river mouth. Therefore, the Gangkou River was thoroughly surveyed to investigate the factors shaping the landscape and to determine the landscape evolutionary history. Our research indicates that the average uplift rate of the Gangkou River is 1.5 - 1.7 mm yr-1. Because of the low uplift rate, the rising sea level after the last glaciation caused widespread aggradation in the Gangkou River. At approximately 8.0 - 7.7 ka, maximum flooding occurred, and the sea level subsequently remained stable, while the aggradation stopped after 7.1 ka. Incision followed, forming the high terraces, and starting in the Little Ice Age, repeated aggradation and incision occurred, forming the low terraces. These processes produced the current landscape of the Gangkou River. Overall, the uplift rates calculated from this research are relatively low in this tectonically active area. http://tao.cgu.org.tw/media/k2/attachments/v323p339.pdf |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Jia-Hong Chen Shyh-Jeng Chyi Jiun-Yee Yen Lih-Der Ho Christopher Lüthgens Pei-Ling Wang Li-Hung Lin I-Chin Yen Chia-Hung Jen Jyh-Jaan Steven Huang |
spellingShingle |
Jia-Hong Chen Shyh-Jeng Chyi Jiun-Yee Yen Lih-Der Ho Christopher Lüthgens Pei-Ling Wang Li-Hung Lin I-Chin Yen Chia-Hung Jen Jyh-Jaan Steven Huang Holocene fluvial landscape evolution driven by sea level and tectonic controls in the Gangkou River, Hengchun Peninsula Terrestrial, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences |
author_facet |
Jia-Hong Chen Shyh-Jeng Chyi Jiun-Yee Yen Lih-Der Ho Christopher Lüthgens Pei-Ling Wang Li-Hung Lin I-Chin Yen Chia-Hung Jen Jyh-Jaan Steven Huang |
author_sort |
Jia-Hong Chen |
title |
Holocene fluvial landscape evolution driven by sea level and tectonic controls in the Gangkou River, Hengchun Peninsula |
title_short |
Holocene fluvial landscape evolution driven by sea level and tectonic controls in the Gangkou River, Hengchun Peninsula |
title_full |
Holocene fluvial landscape evolution driven by sea level and tectonic controls in the Gangkou River, Hengchun Peninsula |
title_fullStr |
Holocene fluvial landscape evolution driven by sea level and tectonic controls in the Gangkou River, Hengchun Peninsula |
title_full_unstemmed |
Holocene fluvial landscape evolution driven by sea level and tectonic controls in the Gangkou River, Hengchun Peninsula |
title_sort |
holocene fluvial landscape evolution driven by sea level and tectonic controls in the gangkou river, hengchun peninsula |
publisher |
Chinese Geoscience Union |
series |
Terrestrial, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences |
issn |
1017-0839 2311-7680 |
publishDate |
2021-06-01 |
description |
The fluvial landscape of the Hengchun Peninsula in southernmost Taiwan is generally characterized by a narrow river and a wide valley plain. Such underfit stream features are unusual in tectonically active areas such as Taiwan. In this research, we hypothesize that the relative sea level change since the end of the last glacial period might be the main factor driving the formation of this type of landscape on the relatively recently emerged Taiwan Island. The Gangkou River is among the largest and most pristine rivers on the Hengchun Peninsula, and well-preserved river terraces and bedrock exposures occur along the river and river mouth. Therefore, the Gangkou River was thoroughly surveyed to investigate the factors shaping the landscape and to determine the landscape evolutionary history. Our research indicates that the average uplift rate of the Gangkou River is 1.5 - 1.7 mm yr-1. Because of the low uplift rate, the rising sea level after the last glaciation caused widespread aggradation in the Gangkou River. At approximately 8.0 - 7.7 ka, maximum flooding occurred, and the sea level subsequently remained stable, while the aggradation stopped after 7.1 ka. Incision followed, forming the high terraces, and starting in the Little Ice Age, repeated aggradation and incision occurred, forming the low terraces. These processes produced the current landscape of the Gangkou River. Overall, the uplift rates calculated from this research are relatively low in this tectonically active area. |
url |
http://tao.cgu.org.tw/media/k2/attachments/v323p339.pdf
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