ENDOLITHIC LICHENS,RAPID BIOLOGICAL WEATHERING AND SCHMIDT HAMMER R‐VALUES ON RECENTLY EXPOSED ROCK SURFACES: STORBREEN GLACIER FORELAND,JOTUNHEIMEN, NORWAY

The endolithic lichen Lecidea auriculata is known to enhance rock surface weathering on the Little Ice Age moraines of the glacier Storbreen in Jotunheimen, central southern Norway. This study demonstrates the reduction in Schmidt hammer Rvalues that followed the rapid colonization by this lichen of pyroxene‐granulite boulders on terrain deglaciated over the last 88 years. In the absence of this lichen, the characteristic mean R‐value of boulder surfaces is 61.0 ± 0.3; where this lichen is present, R‐values are lower by at least 20 units on surfaces exposed for 30–40 years. A similar reduction in rock hardness on rock surfaces without a lichen cover requires about 10 ka. The rapid initial weakening of the rock surfaces is indicative of rates of biological weathering by endolithic lichens that may be two orders of magnitude (200–300 times) faster than rates of physico‐chemical weathering alone. If not avoided, the effects of this type of lichen are likely to negate the effectiveness of the Schmidt hammer and other methods for exposure‐age dating, including cosmogenic‐nuclide dating, in severe alpine and polar periglacial environments. The results also suggest a new method for dating rock surfaces exposed for <50 years.     

Influence of rock strength on the valley morphometry of Big Creek, central Idaho, USA

Analysis of valley morphometry and bedrock strength along Big Creek, central Idaho, shows that valley floor width is strongly controlled by bedrock. We performed statistical analysis of Schmidt hammer rock strength as a function of lithology and aspect and of valley morphometry as a function of rock strength. Rock strength is significantly greater on the south side of the valley and in Eocene granodiorites. Rock strength is weakest in Eocene volcanic tuffs. Valley floor width depends negatively on weakest valley-side rock strength, and hillslope gradient on the north side of the valley depends positively on rock strength. Stream gradient does not depend on rock strength. Valley floor width appears to be controlled by bedrock strength on the weaker side of the valley, which was generally the north (south-facing) side. We speculate that a higher degree of weathering via freeze–thaw cycles contributes to lower strength on the north side. The positive dependence of hillslope gradient on rock strength on the north side provides evidence that differential weathering across lithologies determines the gradient that can be maintained as lateral migration of the stream erodes valley walls. These results suggest that in situ rock strength exerts strong influences on some measures of valley morphometry by modulating hillslope mass wasting processes and limiting lateral erosion.     

ROCK HARDNESS: FIELD ASSESSMENT AND GEOMORPHIC IMPORTANCE

The precise correlations between rock hardness, resistance to erosion, and landform development have hitherto been difficult to establish. Rock hardness has proved difficult to assess, particularly in the field, because suitable equipment has not been applied. The Schmidt Test Hammer is demonstrated to be an effective instrument for this purpose. The hammer gives an accurate and rapid measure of surface hardness, which is shown to be useful in the context of weathering and landform development.     

Comparative analysis of coatings on granitic substrates from urban and natural settings (NW Spain)

Rock coatings are frequent on natural rock outcrops and even more on stone surfaces of historical buildings and monuments. They are interesting as some of them have a protective effect against erosion. In the last 30 years, research on rock coatings has been performed separately on either buildings or natural outcrops. This paper studies and compares thin coatings found on granitic rock surfaces of historical buildings with coatings found on natural granite outcrops in a same climatic area (NW Spain) by analysing their surface and cross-sections. As rock surfaces of buildings have known age they can be used to assess rates of weathering and coating growth. This is the first comparative study of formation of coatings on natural and built surfaces in the same region. Both endogenous (rock characteristics) and exogenous factors (climatic conditions, air pollution) that could affect the coatings formation are considered to assess the origin and formation of coatings. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyses of the underlying rocks, XRD analyses of the coatings and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) observations of surface and cross-sections of the coatings, performing Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (EDS) and X-ray maps, were carried out to establish their composition. Fieldwork and results indicate that natural outcrops are widely covered by biological coatings or coatings formed due to rock weathering, while coatings found on rock ashlars are highly variable with air pollution, other building materials, organic droppings and micro-environmental factors contributing to coatings on rock ashlars in a more significant way than substrate characteristics and exposure time.     

Shore platform abrasion in a para-periglacial environment,Galicia, northwestern Spain

The Schmidt Rock Test Hammer was used to study the effect of abrasion on shore platforms in Galicia, northwestern Spain. On platforms where tidally-induced weathering (salt, wetting and drying, etc.) is dominant, rock strength is significantly lower than in areas where abrasion is, or has been active in the recent past. This suggests that abrasion removes weathered surface material, exposing the stronger, less weathered rock below. Abrasion downwearing, measured with a transverse micro-erosion meter, ranged between 0.13 and 1.8 mm yr^− 1 over the last year. Most active abrasion occurs in the upper part of the intertidal zone, but weathering is slowly destroying formerly abraded surfaces at lower elevations. These abandoned surfaces were abraded by materials supplied by erosion of fluvio-nival and periglacial slope deposits that covered, or partially covered, parts of the Galician coast during the middle and late Weichselian. During the Holocene, rising sea level and erosion of the slope deposits caused the abrasion zone to gradually migrate up to its present position near the high tidal level. The spatial and temporal role of abrasion on this coast is, therefore, closely associated with the exhumation and inheritance of ancient platform surfaces from beneath Weichselian deposits.     

High‐precision Schmidt‐hammer exposure‐age dating of flood berms,Vetlestølsdalen,alpine southern Norway: first application and some methodological issues

Schmidt‐hammer exposure‐age dating (SHD) was applied to three flood berms in upper Vetlestølsdalen, southern Norway, using a local, high‐precision calibration curve that takes account of the colluvial origin of fluvial boulders in the youngest berm, which was deposited during the August 1979 flood. Precision of SHD dating for this berm was estimated as ±210 years, whereas predicted ages of the two older berms were 3195 ± 435 and 3405 ± 340 years, and subsections of the oldest berm yielded age ranges of ～900 years. The results demonstrate the feasibility of high‐precision SHD in the context of boulder landforms deposited by high‐magnitude floods, the requirement of a large sample of R values in the face of high natural variability, the necessity of an appropriate calibration curve to ensure accuracy, the usefulness of floods of known age for testing and improving calibration curves, and the potential effects of boulders of colluvial origin on R values (especially the susceptibility of young surfaces to roughness variations). The dated berms indicate a return period of ～1000–1500 years for floods of the magnitude of the 1979 flood event in the upper catchment. Thus, the long‐term persistence of flood boulder berms in the landscape has potential for reconstructing Holocene flood history and palaeohydrology from the geomorphic legacy of the most extreme Holocene floods.     

华北盆地埋藏地貌面与油气藏

华北盆地白垩纪以来的地层中蕴藏着8个不同尺度的地文期。每个地文期都由初期的侵蚀面—河床滞留物质、早期的粗粒物质、中—晚期的细粒物质和末期的风化壳组成。华北盆地有2个埋藏地貌面——准平原和风化壳,分别位于基底拗陷区和基底隆起区的基岩面上。溶洞、孔洞、孔隙、裂隙十分发育的地貌面与地文期初期的侵蚀面、早期的粗粒物质堆积相互重叠的地区,为石油、天然气的储集提供了理想的场地。     

Effects of direct and indirect heating on the validity of rock weathering simulation studies and durability tests

Rock surface and subsurface temperature responses in samples exposed to direct heating (insolation) under natural hot desert conditions reveal considerable variability between lithologies related to differences in thermal properties, especially albedo and thermal conductivity. However, when the same samples are heated indirectly by air in an oven-based environmental cabinet, lithological differences in temperature response disappear and all samples attain temperatures similar to the air temperature within the cabinet. Rates and patterns of rock decay produced in such environmental cabinets may not, therefore, reflect those encountered under natural conditions, where breakdown is related to micro-environmental conditions at the rock/air interface and where rock temperature is one of the most important controlling factors. In addition to implications for assessment of weathering effectiveness, use of only indirect forms of heating affects the determination of comparative rock durability because all rock types are cycled through the same temperature regimes. Because temperature exerts such a major control on rock breakdown through its control on physical and chemical weathering processes, all significant factors influencing it must be included in the design of weathering simulations and durability tests.     

Weathering and morphogenesis in a mediterranean climate, Calabria, Italy

Deeply weathered plutonic rocks occur widely in the Sila Massif, Calabria, southern Italy. Three representative weathering profiles developed on the hilltops indicate that sand represents more than 50% by weight throughout most of the weathering profile, and silt- and clay-size fractions are also well represented, filling the interstices among corestones. Both sand, and finer fractions of grus, and soil horizons, are thought to be derived from a combination of granular disintegration and chemical decomposition, developed on relatively flat terrains of the Sila massif. These slopes are now experiencing transport-limited morphodynamics, under a montane-modified Mediterranean climate. The depth of the weathered layers, that have suffered little erosional truncation, typically exceed 15 m, and may reach 50–60 m or more. Major isolated or grouped exfoliation boulders are the most common minor landform feature developed on the Sila massif granite. Boulders have developed as a result of spheroidal weathering and by removal of the sandy-textured granite. The Schmidt hammer (SH) test on boulders and corestones, suggests three distinctive degree of weathering (from moderately to completely weathered rock), and that biotite content is the major controlling factor of the granite mechanical behaviour. Understanding of the dynamics of this weathering system is crucial to the interpretation of the complex suite of variables that control landscape evolution of granitoid terrains.     

湘桂黔滇藏一线覆盖型岩溶地貌特征与岩溶(双层)夷平面

根据岩溶风化壳的发育条件及研究覆盖型岩溶特征,提出岩溶（双层）夷平面概念,认为研究区覆盖型岩溶是一个统一的岩溶（双层）夷平面的组成部分。其现阶段的存在形式如石林、岩墙等为后期不同程序风化－刻蚀作用的结果;其地貌形态多为土下成因,并随剥蚀程度、裸露时间环境的差异而叠加各种后期气下改造特征。     

南极石生地衣主要生物风化作用研究进展与展望

地衣以物理、化学方式参与矿质基质的风化作用 ,诱导和加速岩石的风化过程。本文对南极地区表生和内生型地衣的生物风化作用进行了综合论述 ,详细阐述了不同地衣种类诱导和参与几种主要岩石类型 (砂岩类和火成岩类 )风化作用的模式、机制、过程以及产物。同时指出 ,地衣等其他生物因素间接参与的风化过程 ,地衣导致的岩石抗风化效应以及生物风化速率等方面的研究工作是目前南极生物风化作用研究方面的新领域。     

Rates Of Postglacial rock weathering on glacially scoured outcrops (Abisko–Riksgränsen area, 68°N)

Ice–polished quartz veins, feldspar phenocrysts and quartzite layers were used as reference surfaces to assess the impact of Postglacial rock weathering in Lapland (68°N). Over 3200 measurements were carried out on roches moutonées and glaciofluvially scoured outcrops distributed within three study areas covering 8 km². Inferred weathering rates demonstrate that 10,000 years of Holocene weathering did not significantly modify the geometry of Weichselian rock surfaces. However, rates of general surface lowering range from 1 to 25, depending on the rock type, with average values at 0.2 mm ka⁻¹ for homogeneous crystalline rocks (irrespective of their acidity and grain size), 1 mm ka⁻¹ for biotite–rich crystalline rocks, and 5 mm ka⁻¹ for carbonate sedimentary rocks. Accelerated rates were recorded in weathering pits and along joints with values up to ten times higher than on the rest of the rock surface. Comparisons with cold and temperate areas suggest that solution rates of carbonate rocks are highly dependent on climate conditions, whilst granular disintegration of crystalline rocks operates at the same rate whatever the environment. It probably means that microgelivation is not efficient on ice–polished crystalline outcrops even under harsh climate conditions, and that granular disintegration proceeds under various climates from the same ubiquitous combination of biochemical processes. Last, the weathering state of Late–Weichselian roches moutonées can be usefully compared to that of Preglacial tors of the nearby Kiruna area.     

Rates Of Postglacial rock weathering on glacially scoured outcrops (Abisko–Riksgränsen area, 68°N)

Ice–polished quartz veins, feldspar phenocrysts and quartzite layers were used as reference surfaces to assess the impact of Postglacial rock weathering in Lapland (68°N). Over 3200 measurements were carried out on roches moutonées and glaciofluvially scoured outcrops distributed within three study areas covering 8 km². Inferred weathering rates demonstrate that 10,000 years of Holocene weathering did not significantly modify the geometry of Weichselian rock surfaces. However, rates of general surface lowering range from 1 to 25, depending on the rock type, with average values at 0.2 mm ka⁻¹ for homogeneous crystalline rocks (irrespective of their acidity and grain size), 1 mm ka⁻¹ for biotite–rich crystalline rocks, and 5 mm ka⁻¹ for carbonate sedimentary rocks. Accelerated rates were recorded in weathering pits and along joints with values up to ten times higher than on the rest of the rock surface. Comparisons with cold and temperate areas suggest that solution rates of carbonate rocks are highly dependent on climate conditions, whilst granular disintegration of crystalline rocks operates at the same rate whatever the environment. It probably means that microgelivation is not efficient on ice–polished crystalline outcrops even under harsh climate conditions, and that granular disintegration proceeds under various climates from the same ubiquitous combination of biochemical processes. Last, the weathering state of Late–Weichselian roches moutonées can be usefully compared to that of Preglacial tors of the nearby Kiruna area.     

ROCK-SURFACE TEMPERATURES OF BASALT IN THE DRAKENSBERG ALPINE ENVIRONMENT, LESOTHO

Rock temperature data are presented for a variety of topographic localities at a high Drakensberg site. The objective is to investigate the spatiotemporal variations of surface rock temperatures in high Drakensberg basalt. The temperature results are then used to discuss possible implications for thermal stress fatigue and frost‐induced weathering. Tinytalk? data loggers and probes were used for rock‐surface temperature recording. Long‐term measurements were recorded over 12 months from May 2002 to April 2003, at a 1‐hour logging interval and rock depth of 1 cm for a highaltitude (3300 m a.s.l.) interfluve and fracture site. Whilst the north‐facing rock surface experiences negligible hours below ?3°C, the south‐facing rock surface and interfluve sites are subjected to considerable periods below ?3°C, which falls within the ‘frost cracking window’. It is concluded that the substantial contrasts of recorded rock thermal parameters over small spatial scales between various topographic settings, highlight that site‐specific measurements across the broader scale are required for an adequate evaluation of regional weathering and its associated landform development.     

Rock-weathering by lichens in Antarctic: patterns and mechanisms

Saxicolous species of lichens are able to induce and accelerate weathering of their rock substrate, and effects of lichens on substrate can be attributed to both physical and chemical causes. This paper is focused on biotic weathering actions of epilithic and endolithic species on the different rock types (sandstones and volcanogenic rocks) in Antarctica. The patterns, mechanisms, processes and neoformations of rock-weathering resulting from lichen colonization are expounded in detail. Furthermore, it is pointed out that, for a better understanding of the impacts of lichens on environments, the studies on the rate of biotic weathering and the comprehensive involvement of the lichen effects on weathering of natural rocks remain to be carried out in Antarctica.     

Surface Moisture Availability and Rock Weathering in Cold Climates

The importance of moisture in determining which rock weathering processes may operate, as well as the rate at which rock weathering occurs, has long been recognised. However, little is known about how often or when moisture is available to the rock surface, or for how long the surface may be wetted. This paper gives some initial results from current research on granite rocks in Antarctica. Recordings of surface moisture, for two aspects and three locations in Victoria Land, show that moisture reaches the rock surface more frequently than might initially have been expected in this dry climate. The number of occasions the surface is wetted, and the quantity of moisture the surface received, varied with aspect and time of year. Rock surfaces could be wet for up to 40% of the time during the summer months. This has important implications for rock weathering where some processes are deemed not to operate, or to operate in very restricted locations, due to the apparent absence of moisture.     

Rock-weathering by lichens in Antarctic: patterns and mechanisms

Saxicolous species of lichens are able to induce and accelerate weathering of their rock substrate, and effects of lichens on substrate can be attributed to both physical and chemical causes. This paper is focused on biotic weathering actions of epilithic and endolithic species on the different rock types (sandstones and volcanogenic rocks) in Antarctica. The patterns, mechanisms, processes and neoformations of rock-weathering resulting from lichen colonization are expounded in detail. Furthermore, it is pointed out that, for a better understanding of the impacts of lichens on environments, the studies on the rate of biotic weathering and the comprehensive involvement of the lichen effects on weathering of natural rocks remain to be carried out in Antarctica.     

Sensitivity analysis of pediment development through numerical simulation and selected geospatial query

Dozens of references recognizing pediment landforms in widely varying lithologic, climatic, and tectonic settings suggest a ubiquity in pediment forming processes on mountain piedmonts worldwide. Previous modeling work illustrates the development of a unique range in arid/semiarid piedmont slope (< 0.2 or 11.3°) and regolith thickness (2–4 m) that defines pediments, despite varying the initial conditions and domain characteristics (initial regolith thickness, slope, distance from basin to crest, topographic perturbations, and boundary conditions) and process rates (fluvial sediment transport efficiency and weathering rates). This paper expands upon the sensitivity analysis through numerical simulation of pediment development in the presence of spatially varying rock type, various base level histories, various styles of sediment transport, and various rainfall rates to determine how pediment development might be restricted in certain environments. This work suggests that in landscapes characterized by soil and vegetation types that favor incisive fluvial sediment transport styles coupled with incisive base level conditions, pediment development will be disrupted by the roughening of sediment mantled surfaces, thereby creating spatial variability in topography, regolith thickness, and bedrock weathering rates. Base level incision rates that exceed the integrated sediment flux along a hillslope derived from upslope weathering and sediment transport on the order of 10^− 3 m y^− 1 restrict pediment development by fostering piedmont incision and/or wholesale removal (stripping) of regolith mantles prior to footslope pediment development. Simulations illustrate an insensitivity to alternating layers of sandstone and shale 3–15 m thick oriented in various geometric configurations (vertical, horizontal, and dip-slope) and generating different regolith hydrologic properties and exhibiting weathering rate variations up to 3-fold. Higher fluxes and residence times of subsurface groundwater in more humid environments, as well as dissolution-type weathering, lead to a thickening of regolith mantles on erosional piedmonts on the order of 10¹ m and an elimination of pediment morphology. An initial test of the model sensitivity analysis in arid/semiarid environments, for which field reconnaissance and detailed geomorphic mapping indicate the presence of pediments controlled by climatic conditions (soil hydrologic properties, vegetation characteristics, and bedrock weathering style) that are known and constant, supports our modeling results that pediments are more prevalent in hydrologically-open basins.     

TOWARDS A UNIFORM CONCEPT FOR THE COMPARISON AND EXTRAPOLATION OF ROCKWALL RETREAT AND ROCKFALL SUPPLY

Rates of rockwall retreat and rockfall supply are fundamental components of sediment budgets in steep environments. However, the standard procedure of referencing rockwall retreat rates using only lithology is inconsistent with research findings and results in a variability that exceeds three orders of magnitude. The concept proposed in this paper argues that the complexity inherent in rockfall studies can be reduced if the stages of (i) backweathering, (ii) filling and depletion of intermediate storage on the rock face and (iii) final rockfall supply onto the talus slopes are separated as these have different response functions and controlling factors. Backweathering responds to preweathering and weathering conditions whereas the filling and depletion of intermediate storage in the rock face is mainly a function of internal and external triggers. The noise apparent in backweathering rates and rockfall supply can be reduced by integrating the relevant controlling factors in the response functions. Simple conceptual models for the three stages are developed and are linked by a time‐dependent ‘rockfall delivery rate’, which is defined as the difference between backweathering and rockfall supply, thus reflecting the specific importance of intermediate storage in the rock face. Existing studies can be characterized according to their ‘rockfall delivery ratio’, a concept similar to the ‘sediment delivery ratio’ used in fluvial geomorphology. Their outputs can be qualified as trigger‐dependent rockfall supply rates or backweathering rates dependent on (pre‐)weathering conditions. It is shown that the existing quantitative backweathering and rockfall supply models implicitly follow the proposed conceptual models and can be accommodated into the uniform model. Suggestions are made for how best to incorporate non‐linearities, phase transitions, path dependencies and different timescales into rockfall response functions.     

云南东川地区层状地貌面的成因

在东川地区的山地及小江河谷的两侧山麓上部，分布着不同高度和不同规模的层状地貌面，对其成因仍有不同的认识。分歧主要表现在两个方面：一是高原隆升之前的初始地貌面是否是准平原型夷平面；二是山顶面之下的梯级层状地貌面的成因。本文从以下几个方面对上述问题进行讨论：(1)层状地貌面的地貌特征及其与侵蚀河谷体系的关系；(2)层状地貌面上堆积物的性质；(3)层状地貌面与断裂构造水平展布的关系；(4)相邻层状地貌面的空间过渡关系；(5)区域构造演化背景。作者认为在云贵高原抬升过程中，东川地区以挤压穹起隆升变形为主。不同海拔高度的层状地貌面具有多成因特性。山顶面及局部高原面是高原隆升之前古夷平面的残留。并遭到后期强烈的侵蚀改造。目前，尚缺乏足够证据证明高原隆升之前的古夷平面为准平原型夷平面。小江河谷两侧的梯级层状地貌面是侵蚀或剥蚀面，它们形成于高原隆升及初始地貌面解体之后，其梯级空间分布特征与区域性的阶段隆升有关。