Quantifying glacial erosion on a limestone bed and the relevance for landscape development in the Alps

Glacial erosion is the basic process that has shaped the landscapes of the Alps. Despite intense research over centuries, and the use of various techniques, determination of glacial erosion rates remains challenging. This is not only because the location where the process occurs is almost inaccessible, but also because it is dependent on many different factors, including ice thickness and velocity, glacier thermal regime and lithology. Reported glacial erosion rates range over several orders of magnitude (0.01 to >10 mm a⁻¹). Most studies focus on crystalline bedrock, whereas few researchers have investigated glacial erosion on limestone. Here we analyse glacially polished bedrock surfaces at the recently deglaciated forefield of the Tsanfleuron glacier, Swiss Alps. The nearly horizontally bedded limestone hosts a well-developed karst system. Meltwater from the glacier drains into the subsurface within a few metres of the ice margin. By combining geomorphological mapping, measurement of cosmogenic ³⁶Cl concentrations of glacially eroded bedrock surfaces and a numerical model (MECED), we quantify at each sample location the amount of rock removed during glacier occupation. The glacial erosion rates calculated from these values range from 0 to 0.08 mm a⁻¹. These are orders of magnitude lower than values measured at comparable sites on crystalline bedrock. The high ³⁶Cl concentrations we measured show that the Tsanfleuron glacier was unable to effectively erode the gently dipping, strongly karstified limestone. We suggest that this effect may play a key role in formation and preservation over many glacial cycles of high-elevation, low-relief limestone plateaus in the Alps. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Hydrodynamic behaviour of karstic aquifers in Boroujerd,western Iran

Abstract

Considering the geological conditions of the southwest of Boroujerd and northwest of Doroud, Iran, karst development is analysed with respect to the hydrodynamic behaviour of the main draining springs of the units and the karstic aquifers are classified as either those developed in Cretaceous limestone or those developed in Oligomiocene limestone. For this purpose, the yields of the main karstic springs of the region—Absardeh and Zoorabad (Cretaceous karstic limestone aquifer), Kalamsooz and Azizabad (Oligomiocene karstic limestone aquifer)—were measured and analysed. Analysis of the recession curve is used for hydrodynamical analysis and to construct the conceptual model for estimation of karst development in the selected aquifers. Based on the results, the dynamic storage capacity of the saturated zone in Cretaceous limestone is evaluated as low to medium and that in Oligomiocene limestone as medium to high. The dynamic storage capacity of the unsaturated zone in Cretaceous limestone is evaluated as high and that in Oligomiocene limestone as low to medium. Moreover, the contribution of quickflow in karstic aquifers developed in the Cretaceous limestone drained by the Absardeh and Zoorabad springs is 23.5 and 82.2%, respectively, and that for the Kalamsooz and Azizabad springs (Oligomiocene limestone) is 5.7 and 22.5%, respectively. Flow in the Cretaceous limestone aquifer drained by the Zoorabad Spring is of concentrated type and the main flow occurs in the well-developed karstic conduits. The main flow in the Oligomiocene limestone aquifer, drained by the Kalamsooz Spring, occurs in a network of joints and fractures and the contribution of concentrated flow is very low. The transmissivity of the saturated zone in the karstic aquifer drained by the Zoorabad and Absardeh springs is medium to high and that for the Kalamsooz and Azizabad springs is found to be low.     

Quantifying the role of karstic groundwater in a snowmelt-dominated hydrologic system

River discharge in mountainous regions of the world is often dominated by snowmelt, but base flows are sustained primarily by groundwater storage and discharge. Although numerous recent studies have focused on base-flow discharge in mountain systems, almost no work has explicitly investigated the role of karst groundwater in these systems across a full range of flow conditions. We directly measured groundwater discharge from 48 karst springs in the Kaweah River and its five forks in the Sierra Nevada mountains, California, United States. Relationships between spring and river discharge showed that karst aquifers and springs provide significant storage and delayed discharge to the river. Regression models showed that, of all potential seasonal groundwater storage compartments in the river basin, the area of karst (0.1–4.4%) present provides the best explanation of base-flow recession in each fork of the Kaweah River (directly measured contributions from karst springs ranged from 3.5 to 16% during high-flow to 20 to 65% during base-flow conditions). These results show that, even in settings where karst represents a small portion of basin area, it may play an over-sized role in seasonal storage and water resources in mountain systems. Karst aquifers are the single most important non-snow storage component in the Kaweah River basin, and likely provide similar water storage capacities and higher base flows in other mountain river systems with karst when compared with systems without karst.     

Microscale biopitting by the endolithic lichen Verrucaria baldensis and its proposed role in mesoscale solution basin development on limestone

Data are reported demonstrating the potential role of microscale morphologies, induced by endolithic lichen communities, specifically Verrucaria baldensis, in the initiation and development of mesoscale solution basin formation on limestone in the Burren, County Clare. A biophysical model is proposed outlining the different microscale stages leading to solution basin initiation with a progression from initial lichen colonization and growth, associated perithecial biopitting followed by biopit coalescence to form biotroughs, their subsequent enlargement and eventual incipient solution basin formation. This model provides one explanation for solution basin development as this end state may also be achieved through simple solutional means without biological input. The complexity of interactions at the lichen–rock interface are identified with emphasis on the spatial and temporal variability of these underlining the point that, as with macrotopographies at the landscape scale, rock surface microtopographies also reflect historical weathering legacies. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Plate tectonics,palaeoenvironments and limestone geomorphology in West-Central Britain

The variety of active, exhumed, and buried limestone landforms of northern England, North Wales, and the Isle of Man arises in part from the way in which Dinantian (Lower Carboniferous) sedimentation was affected by a tilt-block basement structure evolved during the closure of the Iapetus Ocean suture to the north, and partly to subsequent plate tectonic movements associated with the closure of the proto-Tethys ocean, the opening of the Atlantic Ocean and the Alpine orogeny. Landforms created during the Dinantian now form important exhumed and buried landscape features. The Permian half-graben structures of the eastern Irish Sea-Cheshire-Worcester Basins account for many of the contrasts between the upland karsts of the Pennines and the lowland karsts of coastal areas.     

Drainage-basin evolution and aquifer development in a karstic limestone terrain South-Central Texas,U.S.A.

The Edwards artesian aquifer occurs in cavernous limestones of Cretaceous (Albian) age within the Balcones fault zone in south-central Texas. The major recharge and discharge zones of the aquifer are contained within the upper reaches of three river systems: the Nueces, the San Antonio, and the Guadalupe. Within these watersheds, recharge dominates in the semiarid Nueces basin to the west while most discharge occurs farther east from wells in the subhumid San Antonio basin and from springs in the subhumid Guadalupe basin. This long-distance transfer of ground water (up to 240 km) is a result of several factors: depositional and early diagenetic history of the limestone host rock, geometry and magnitudes of fault displacement, and physiographic responses to faulting. The loci of greatest discharge from the aquifer occur in an area that was exposed subaerially with concomitant porosity enhancement due to dissolution of limestone during late Early Cretaceous time. This area also was subjected to the greatest fault displacement during Miocene time. Thus, faults and associated joints superimposed additional avenues for porosity and permeability development onto an area that already had considerable secondary porosity. Further determinants on aquifer properties resulted from late Tertiary and Quaternary drainage evolution in response to faulting along the Balcones trend. The strike of the fault zone lay at acute angles to the courses of the main trunk streams in the ancestral Guadalupe and San Antonio River systems, whereas in the Nueces basin the trend of the fault zone was normal to the courses of the main streams. Thus, as a fault-line scarp began to form in the eatern basins, scarp-normal streams were incised rapidly into northwest-trending canyons. These steep-gradient streams captured the eastward-flowing major streams in the easten watersheds. These pirate streams incised into the aquifer at the lowest topographic levels within the region because of: 1. The sudden acquisition of extensive catchment areas in a subhumid area; and 2. Steep stream gradients that reflected the larger fault displacement in the east. The low topographic points of discharge became the loci of major springs. Recharge is dominant in the Nueces basin mainly because streams cross permeable limestone units at higher topographic levels than in the San Antonio and Guadalupe basins. The topographic characteristics of the Nueces watershed resulted from a combination of diverse factors: lesser fault displacement, no major stream piracy, and less vigorous erosion because of a semiarid climate.     

The South Connemara Group reinterpreted: a subduction-accretion complex in the Caledonides of Galway Bay, western Ireland

The Caledonian geology of western Ireland records the collision of two arc complexes with the Laurentian Margin during the closure of the Iapetus Ocean. An earlier complex collided with this hitherto passive margin in the mid-Ordovician during the Grampian Orogeny. Subsequently, arc magmatism developed along the Laurentian margin and continued until the late Silurian collision between Laurentian and Avalonia. The Ordovician volcanic and sedimentary rocks comprising the South Connemara Group lie along the Southern Uplands Fault, the terrane boundary separating these two arc complexes. Palaeontological dating indicates an Arenig-Llanvirn age for part of this complex (Williams, Armstrong and Harper, 1988), making it contemporaneous with the earlier arcs. However, most authors correlate this complex with the northern belt of the Southern Uplands (Morris, 1983; Williams, D.M., 1984. The stratigraphy and sedimentology of the Ordovician Party Group, south-eastern Murrisk, Ireland. Geological Journal, 19, 173–186; Williams et al., 1988), associated with post-Grampian subduction of north directed polarity. We present new field evidence that the South Connemara Group is tectonically disrupted by bedding parallel shear zones and that contacts previously interpreted as conformable are marked by units of tectonic mélange. We present structural and provenance arguments consistent with the mélanges forming above a north-dipping subduction zone after 463Ma. This Group is reinterpreted as occurring within a subduction–accretion complex that was generated by the accretion of early Ordovician mafic seamounts into a post-Grampian trench, thus reconciling the age of the Group with its generally accepted tectonic setting. We discuss the regional significance of this finding with respect to the Caledonide-Appalachian orogeny and argue that this is the site along which the Iapetus Ocean closed.     

Lotic communities of two small temporary karstic stream systems (East Westphalia, Germany) along a longitudinal gradient of hydrological intermittency

The spatial and temporal discharge regime and its effects on benthic communities were studied in two small temporary karstic stream systems of the Paderborner Hochfläche (East Westphalia, Germany). Both streams are characterized by very small perennial springbrook sections. Benthic invertebrates were sampled three times at 12 sites and discharge was measured monthly from March to September 2000. The spatial extension of streamflow was observed regularly to evaluate the duration of drought. Both streams showed a longitudinal gradient of hydrological intermittency from very small perennial reaches with low intermittency to an extremely harsh hydrological situation. The benthic communities displayed a decreasing species richness at increasing intermittency. The different hydrological stream sections were colonized by different lotic communities, characterized by typical species of temporary streams and by several typical species of springs. Particularly the perennial springs and springbrooks are very important for the species richness in these karstic stream systems.     

Spatial and temporal variations of pCO2, dissolved inorganic carbon and stable isotopes along a temperate karstic watercourse

This study investigated CO₂ degassing and related carbon isotope fractionation effects in the Wiesent River that drains a catchment in the karst terrain of the Franconian Alb, Southern Germany. The river was investigated by physico‐chemical and stable isotope analyses of water and dissolved inorganic carbon during all seasons along 65‐km long downstream transects between source and mouth. Calculated pCO₂ values at the source were 21 400 ± 2400 µatm. The pCO₂ rapidly decreased in the river water and dropped to an average of 1240 ± 330 µatm near the mouth. About 90% of this decrease occurred within the first 6 km of the river. The river was supersaturated with respect to CO₂ over its entire course and must have acted as a continuous year‐round CO₂ source to the atmosphere. The average CO₂ flux from the karst river was estimated with 450 mmol m^?2 day^?1 with higher fluxes up to 5680 mmol m^?2 day^?1 at the source. At the source, δ¹³C_DIC values showed no seasonal variations with an average of ?14.2 ± 0.2‰. This indicated that groundwater retained high pCO₂ mainly from soil CO₂. The contribution of soil CO₂ to dissolved inorganic carbon was estimated at 65% to 72%. The downstream CO₂ loss caused a positive shift in δ¹³C_DIC values of 2‰ between source and mouth because of the preferential loss of the ¹²C isotope during degassing. Considering the findings of this study and the fact that carbonate lithology covers a significant part of the earth's surface, CO₂ evasion from karst regions might contribute notably to the annual carbon dioxide release from global freshwater systems. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A note on the role of the lichen collema auriforma in solution basin development on a carboniferous limestone substrate

A study carried out on Carboniferous limestone in the north and west of Ireland supports the idea that rock substrate is removed by the direct mechanical action of lichens. An experiment in which the lichen Collema auriforma was subjected to a number of wetting-drying cycles, showed, using scanning electron microscopy, that contraction of the lichen thallus during the drying phase plucked rock fragments from the substrate surface. This process could contribute to the formation of karstic features including solution basins.     

Spatial characterization of salt accumulation in early stage limestone weathering using probe permeametry

This research characterizes the weathering of natural building stone using an unsteady‐state portable probe permeameter. Variations between the permeability properties of fresh rock and the same rocks after the early stages of a salt weathering simulation are used to examine the effects of salt accumulation on spatial variations in surface rock permeability properties in two limestones from Spain. The Fraga and Tudela limestones are from the Ebro basin and are of Miocene age. Both stone types figure largely in the architectural heritage of Spain and, in common with many other building limestones, they are prone to physical damage from salt crystallization in pore spaces. To examine feedbacks associated with salt accumulation during the early stages of this weathering process, samples of the two stone types were subjected to simulated salt weathering under laboratory conditions using magnesium sulphate and sodium chloride at concentrations of 5% and 15%. Permeability mapping and statistical analysis (aspatial statistics and spatial prediction) before and after salt accumulation are used to assess changes in the spatial variability of permeability and to correlate these changes with salt movement, porosity change, potential rock deterioration and textural characteristics. Statistical analyses of small‐scale permeability measurements are used to evaluate the drivers for decay and hence aid the prediction of the weathering behaviour of the two limestones. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Carbon isotope stratigraphy of Torinosu‐type limestone in the western Paleo‐Pacific and its implication to paleoceanography in the Late Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous

Carbon isotope stratigraphy of the Late Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous was revealed from Torinosu‐type limestone, which was deposited in a shallow‐marine setting in the western Paleo‐Pacific, in Japan. Two sections were examined; the Nakanosawa section of the late Kimmeridgian to early Tithonian age (Fukushima Prefecture, Northeast Japan), and the Furuichi section of the late Kimmeridgian to early Berriasian age (Ehime Prefecture, Southwest Japan). The age‐model was established using Sr isotope ratio and fossil occurrence. The limestone samples have a low Mn/Sr ratio (mostly <0.5) and lack a distinct correlation between δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O, indicating a low degree of diagenetic alteration. Our composite δ¹³C profile from the two limestone sections shows three stratigraphic correlation points that can be correlated with the profiles of relevant ages from the Alpine Tethyan region: a large‐amplitude fluctuation (the lower upper Kimmeridgian, ～152 Ma), a positive anomaly (above the Kimmeridgian/Tithonian boundary, ～150 Ma), and a negative anomaly (the upper lower Tithonian, ～148 Ma). In addition, we found that δ¹³C values of the Torinosu‐type limestone are ～1‰ lower than the Tethyan values in the late Kimmeridgian. This inter‐regional difference in δ¹³C values is likely to have resulted from a higher productivity and/or an organic burial in the Tethyan region. The difference gradually reduces and disappears in the late Tithonian, where the Tethyan and our δ¹³C records show similar stable values of 1.5–2.0‰. This isotopic homogenization is probably due to changes in the continental distribution and the global ocean circulation, which propagated the ¹³C‐depleted signature from the larger Paleo‐Pacific to the smaller Tethys Ocean during this time.     

川西北岷山灰岩区喀斯特堰塞湖形成中的生物作用

川西北岷山灰岩区内的喀斯特堰塞湖是一种特殊的湖泊地貌类型,它是在一定的地质地貌条件及水化学条件下由生物作用参与并促进生物型灰华的快速沉积并堰塞河道而成。野外沉积构造和湖泊形态观察、水化学分析及室内对灰华体的光学显微镜和扫描电镜的观察结果表明,生物作用以多种方式存在着。多种生物(苔藓、藻类、灌草丛等)在生物型灰华堤堰的形成(也即喀斯特堰塞湖的形成)过程中的不同生物作用(包括同化作用、拦截作用、毛管作用、捕获粘结作用及构架作用)贯穿于灰华沉积的复杂循环过程之中。     

The mixed-bed glacial landform imprint of the North Sea Lobe in the western North Sea

During the last glacial cycle an intriguing feature of the British-Irish Ice Sheet was the North Sea Lobe (NSL); fed from the Firth of Forth and which flowed south and parallel to the English east coast. The controls on the formation and behaviour of the NSL have long been debated, but in the southern North Sea recent work suggests the NSL formed a dynamic, oscillating terrestrial margin operating over a deforming bed. Further north, however, little is known of the behaviour of the NSL or under what conditions it operated. This paper analyses new acoustic, sedimentary and geomorphic data in order to evaluate the glacial landsystem imprint and deglacial history of the NSL offshore from NE England. Subglacial tills (AF2/3) form a discontinuous mosaic interspersed with bedrock outcrops across the seafloor, with the partial excavation and advection of subglacial sediment during both advance and retreat producing mega-scale glacial lineations and grounding zone wedges. The resultant ‘mixed-bed’ glacial landsystem is the product of a dynamic switch from a terrestrial piedmont-lobe margin with a net surplus of sediment to a partially erosive, quasi-stable, marine-terminating, ice stream lobe as the NSL withdrew northwards. Glaciomarine sediments (AF4) drape the underlying subglacial mixed-bed imprint and point to a switch to tidewater conditions between 19.9 and 16.5 ka cal BP as the North Sea became inundated. The dominant controls on NSL recession during this period were changing ice flux through the Firth of Forth ice stream onset zone and water depths at the grounding line; the development of the mixed-bed landsystem being a response to grounding line instability. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Zinc concentrations in marine macroalgae and a lichen from western Ireland in relation to phylogenetic grouping, habitat and morphology

Zinc concentrations in 19 species of marine macroalgae and a lichen from western Ireland (Spiddal, Co. Galway) were analysed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Algae were collected from a single site but occupied different shore levels and belonged to distinct phylogenetic groupings and to different (previously recognised) morphological groups. Concentrations ranged from 15-115 microg g(-1) dry weight. The greatest variation in concentration occurred amongst the red algal species, containing both maximum and minimum concentrations. Zn concentrations in brown and green algae were generally lower than those in red algae. When grouped according to thallus morphology, thin, branched sheets (which consisted mainly of red algae) contained the highest Zn concentrations. In filamentous algae, Zn levels were higher than in thick-leathery or coarsely branched algae. However, all green algal species examined had similar Zn concentrations, despite their different morphologies. In brown algae, the highest Zn levels were detected in mid-shore fucoids (Fucus vesiculosus and Fucus serratus), while thicker, subtidal and low-shore brown algae (Laminaria digitata, Halydris siliquosa) exhibited lower Zn concentrations. The lowest Zn concentrations were detected in high-intertidal species (Fucus spiralis, Pelvetia canaliculata), the only marine lichen examined (Ramalina siliquosa) and a red crustose alga (Corallina officinalis). In all morphological groups, red algal representatives contained relatively higher levels of Zn, the exception being Corallina officinalis. Zn levels in 4 species from a second, estuarine site in Galway Bay exhibited the same relative differences amongst species, but were all consistently higher than in algae from Spiddal. It is concluded that Zn accumulation in macroalgae is closely related to ecological growth strategies, following a functional-form model. However, the phylogenetic origin of species which determines carbohydrate and phenol composition, and responses to ambient environmental conditions ultimately determine, the availability of binding sites for polyvalent cations.     

Heterogeneous distributions of CO2 may be more important for dissolution and karstification in coastal eogenetic limestone than mixing dissolution

Mixing dissolution, a process whereby mixtures of two waters with different chemical compositions drive undersaturation with respect to carbonate minerals, is commonly considered to form cavernous macroporosity (e.g. flank margin caves and banana holes) in eogenetic karst aquifers. On small islands, macroporosity commonly originates when focused dissolution forms globular chambers lacking entrances to the surface, suggesting that dissolution processes are decoupled from surface hydrology. Mixing dissolution has been thought to be the primary dissolution process because meteoric water would equilibrate rapidly with calcium carbonate as it infiltrates through matrix porosity and because pCO₂ was assumed to be homogeneously distributed within the phreatic zone. Here, we report data from two abandoned well fields in an eogenetic karst aquifer on San Salvador Island, Bahamas, that demonstrate pCO₂ in the phreatic zone is distributed heterogeneously. The pCO₂ varied from less than log ?2.0 to more than log ?1.0 atm over distances of less than 30 m, generating dissolution in the subsurface where water flows from regions of low to high pCO₂ and cementation where water flows from regions of high to low pCO_2. Using simple geochemical models, we show dissolution caused by heterogeneously distributed pCO₂ can dissolve 2.5 to 10 times more calcite than the maximum amount possible by mixing of freshwater and seawater. Dissolution resulting from spatial variability in pCO₂ forms isolated, globular chambers lacking initial entrances to the surface, a morphology that is characteristic of flank margin caves and banana holes, both of which have entrances that form by erosion or collapse after cave formation. Our results indicate that heterogeneous pCO₂, rather than mixing dissolution, may be the dominant mechanism for observed spatial distribution of dissolution, cementation and macroporosity generation in eogenetic karst aquifers and for landscape development in these settings. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Depositional environments of well‐sorted detrital limestone from the Minatogawa Formation in the southern part of Okinawa Island,the Ryukyu Archipelago,Japan

Well‐sorted detrital limestone is one of the typical lithofacies of the latest interval of the Pleistocene Ryukyu Group, which is exposed in the Ryukyu Archipelago in southwestern Japan. The depositional environments of the limestone are interpreted to be extremely shallow and to include back‐reef lagoons or moats and subaerial sand dunes. However, detailed micropaleontological analyses have not been performed on this limestone. In this study, the interpretation of the depositional environments and paleo‐water depths was improved by quantitative examination of foraminiferal assemblages for the well‐sorted detrital limestone of the Minatogawa Formation in the southern part of Okinawa Island. Thin sections of limestone collected from the Minatogawa (Horikawa) quarry were subjected to sedimentological and foraminiferal analyses. Comparison with modern foraminiferal distribution within the Ryukyu Archipelago indicates that back‐reef and fore‐reef dwelling foraminifers characterize the fossil assemblages from the well‐sorted detrital limestone (bioclastic grainstone). Three ratios of indicator foraminiferal taxa (ratios of back‐reef to fore‐reef taxa, planktonic foraminifers to Amphistegina lobifera and Amphistegina lessonii, and Calcarina gaudichaudii to other Calcarina species), as well as multivariate analyses suggest that the well‐sorted detrital limestone was deposited in fore‐reef setting shallower than 40 m in water depth. A comparable depth range was reconstructed from the coral assemblage in the associated coral limestone, suggesting that the Minatogawa Formation was deposited in a gently inclined ramp setting with patch reefs and/or fringing reefs. Stratigraphic changes in paleo‐water depth, together with evidence of several unconformities associated with paleosol layers suggest that there were repeated transgressions and regressions, with an amplitude up to several tens of meters, when the Minatogawa Formation was deposited.     

Towards an improved understanding of erosion rates and tidal notch development on limestone coasts in the Tropics: 10 years of micro‐erosion meter measurements,Phang Nga Bay,Thailand

Knowledge and understanding of shore platform erosion and tidal notch development in the tropics and subtropics relies mainly on short‐term studies conducted on recently deposited carbonate rocks, predominantly Holocene and Quaternary reef limestones and aeolianites. This paper presents erosion rates, measured over a 10 year period on notches and platforms developed on the Permian, Ratburi limestone at Phang Nga Bay, Thailand. In so doing it contributes to informing a particular knowledge gap in our understanding of the erosion dynamics of shore platform and tidal notch development in the tropics and subtropics – notch erosion rates on relatively hard, ancient limestones measured directly on the rock surface using a micro‐erosion meter (MEM) over time periods of a decade or more. The average intertidal erosion rate of 0.231 mm/yr is lower than erosion rates measured over 2–3 years on recent, weaker carbonate rocks. Average erosion rates at Phang Nga vary according to location and site and are, in rank order from highest to lowest: Mid‐platform (0.324 mm/yr) > Notch floor (0.289 mm/yr) > Rear notch wall (0.228 mm/yr) > Lower platform (0.140 mm/yr) > Notch roof (0.107 mm/yr) and Supratidal (0.095 mm/yr). The micro‐relief of the eroding rock surfaces in each of these positions exhibits marked differences that are seemingly associated with differences in dominant physical and bio‐erosion processes. The results begin to help inform knowledge of longer term shore platform erosion dynamics, models of marine notch development and have implications for the use of marine notches as indicators of changes in sea level and the duration of past sea levels. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Variation of δ18O, δD and 3H in karst springs of south Kashmir,western Himalayas (India)

Water samples were collected from cold and warm karst springs for stable isotopes (δ¹⁸O and δD) and ³H from SE of Kashmir valley (western Himalayas) to distinguish the sources of recharge and infer their recharge areas. The spring water samples were most depleted in heavier isotopes in May (average δ¹⁸O: ?8.87‰ and δD: ?50.3‰) and enriched in September (average δ¹⁸O: ?7.58‰ and δD: ?48.1‰). The depleted ¹⁸O and ²H of spring waters bear the signatures of winter precipitation while as the enriched ¹⁸O and ²H of spring waters bear the signature of summer rainfall. D‐excess and ³H corroborate with the stable isotope results that the spring flow in spring season (May) and autumn (September) is dominantly controlled by the melting of winter snowmelt and summer rainfall, respectively. The results showed that unlike δD, the δ¹⁸O value in the karst spring waters decreases in January suggesting δ¹⁸O shift. The spring water samples also fall above the Local Meteoric Water Line and Global Meteoric Water Line indicating the δ¹⁸O shift due to interaction of groundwater with the host carbonate rocks during its traverse. The mean elevation of the recharge areas of the springs using δ¹⁸O and δD tracers was also estimated. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.