Date of Award:

12-2013

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Geosciences

Department name when degree awarded

Geology

Committee Chair(s)

Tammy Rittenour

Committee

Tammy Rittenour

Committee

Joel Pederson

Committee

Patrick Belmont

Abstract

The Golo River in Corsica, France, is a short, steep river (~95 km, 2706 m relief) in the Western Mediterranean with formerly glaciated headwaters. The small size and location of the Golo River make this system ideal for observing the influence of climate and sea-level change on river dynamics over the 100,000 years. A rapidly advancing dating technique, optically stimulated luminescence, was utilized to determine the timing of these river deposits on the coastal plain in order to frame them in the context of previous glacial and interglacial episodes. Climate fluctuations in the headwaters supplied the vast majority of sediment into the system during glacial time periods, which was then transported and deposited near the mouth of the Golo River on the coastal Marana Plain. Sea-level also played a vital role in defining a geometric configuration that ultimately governed whether large amounts of sediment stored onshore or offshore. Analysis of the Golo River longitudinal profile and watershed reveals changes in steepness and gradient that are related to changes in rock type, fault movement and tectonically-driven base-level fall.

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