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Sedimentary evolution of the embayed beach from Qinghai Lake, northern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China

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Abstract

Lacustrine beach ridges are often used to reconstruct past lake levels. However, the sedimentary architecture involved in their sedimentary evolution remains unclear, particularly for embayed beaches. To better understand the sedimentary processes, the sedimentary architecture and geomorphology of an embayed beach on the southern of Qinghai Lake were investigated using ground penetrating radar (GPR), trenches, and modern beach observation. The embayed beach's deposits are composed of three major sedimentary facies: washover deposition, fair-weather swash deposition, and lagoonal deposition. According to the variations in sedimentary facies, the formation of the embayed beach can be divided into two stages: lake-level highstand and lake-level lowstand. During lake-level highstand stage, geomorphic changes primarily occur in the cross-shore direction. A single beach ridge with washover lobes and sheets developed along the entire embayed beach. During lake-level lowstand stage, the sediments are mainly transported alongshore within the embayed beach. The northern end shows progradational complex deposits including beach ridge, lagoon and beach system, while only a beach ridge is present at the southern end. Hydrodynamic changes in two stages lead to the heterogeneity of sediment distribution, reflected in the morphology and the sedimentary architecture. The interaction of topography and hydrodynamics controls the formation and evolution of the embayed beach. This study improves the understanding of the sedimentary processes involved in embayed beaches.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 41502142, 41772142 and 41972155) and the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (STEP; grant number 2019QZKK0704). We are grateful to editors and two anonymous reviewers for their careful assessment of our work and their constructive comments, which greatly improved the manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Numbers 41502142, 41772142 and 41972155) and the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (STEP; Grant Number 2019QZKK0704).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources, Gansu Province. Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu, China

    Lewei Hao, Huifei Tao, Shutong Li, Junli Qiu & Chengfu Lv

  2. Laboratory of Ocean and Coast Geology, Ministry of Natural Resources, Third Institute of Oceanography, Xiamen, 361005, China

    Shasha Liu

  3. Department of Geology, University of Vienna, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Eun Young Lee

  4. School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Xi’an Shiyou University, Xi’an, 710065, China

    Ruiliang Guo

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  1. Lewei Hao
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Contributions

Leiwei Hao: Conceptualization, Writing-Original Draft, Funding acquisition. Huifei Tao: Investigation, Writing-Reviewing and Editing. Shasha Liu and Eun Young Lee: Writing-Reviewing and Editing. Ruiliang Guo: Investigation. Shutong Li: Investigation, Funding acquisition. Junli Qiu: Data curation. Chengfu Lv: Supervision, Funding acquisition. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Hao, L., Tao, H., Liu, S. et al. Sedimentary evolution of the embayed beach from Qinghai Lake, northern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. J Paleolimnol 70, 225–240 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-023-00293-w

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