Evaluation of biogeochemical prospecting methods in the search for sulfide deposits in the Appalachian piedmont, Virginia, U.S.A.

Soil and stream sediment sampling have been the primary geochemical exploration tools in the Appalachian piedmont to date. However, the great thicknesses of soil and saprolite found in the region coupled with the dense vegetation frequently encountered favor biogeochemistry as an alternative or supplemental method since deep-rooted plants sample closer to bedrock. To evaluate this method, an orientation survey was performed in which soils and vegetation at 17 sites north of Mineral, Virginia, were sampled and analyzed for Ag, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn. The traverse included stations over the host rocks of massive sulfide mineralization, as well as over apparent “barren” country rock. Samples were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry using standard digestion and analytical techniques.Both A- and B-horizon soil metals generally appear to be reliable indicators of mineralization, with soils developed over sulfides showing up to three-fold enrichment in metal content relative to the average soils developed on the country rock. Correlation of metal concentrations in vegetation to soil metal concentrations reveal plant concentrations expressed on a dry-weight basis correlate stronger and more frequently to soil metals than do ash-weight concentrations. Copper shows some promise in selected organs and species, Ag appears fair but data are limited to one organ of one species, and plant Pb seems totally unresponsive to soil metal concentrations perhaps because foliar absorption is an important plant uptake mechanism here. However, Zn and Cd in organs of the oak group, especially mature leaves and twigs of the current year's growth show the greatest promise as prospecting tools. They correlate well with soil metals and when compared directly to the geology they reliably reflect mineralization. Although results using White oak were slightly less profound than those obtained from the Black-Red oak group, White oak may be preferred as it is a single, more widespread, easily-identifiable species. Copper and especially Zn although essential elements to plants, do not appear to be “difficult” elements for biogeochemical prospecting in the Appalachian piedmont.     

Seafloor hydrothermal activity and spreading rates: the eocene carbon dioxide greenhouse revisited

A suggestion has been made that enhanced rates of hydrothermal activity during the Eocene could have caused a global warming by adding calcium to the ocean and pumping CO₂ into the atmosphere (Owen and Rea, 1984). This phenomenon was purported to be consistent with the predictions of the CO₂ geochemical cycle model of Berner, Lasaga and Garrels (1983) (henceforth BLAG). In fact, however, the BLAG model predicts only a weak connection between hydrothermal activity and atmospheric CO₂ levels. By contrast, it predicts a strong correlation between seafloor spreading rates and pCO₂, since the release rate of CO₂ from carbonate metamorphism is assumed to be proportional to the mean spreading rate. The Eocene warming can be conveniently explained if the BLAG model is extended by assuming that the rate of carbonate metamorphism is also proportional to the total length of the midocean ridges from which the spreading originates.     

Sedimentary rocks at Meridiani Planum: Origin, diagenesis, and implications for life on Mars

The MER rover Opportunity has carried out the first outcrop-scale investigation of ancient sedimentary rocks on Mars. The rocks, exposed in craters and along fissures in Meridiani Planum, are sandstones formed via the erosion and re-deposition of fine grained siliciclastics and evaporites derived from the chemical weathering of olivine basalts by acidic waters. A stratigraphic section more than seven meters thick measured in Endurance crater is dominated by eolian dune and sand sheet facies; the uppermost half meter, however, exhibits festoon cross lamination at a length scale that indicates subaqueous deposition, likely in a playa-like interdune setting. Silicates and sulfate minerals dominate outcrop geochemistry, but hematite and Fe3D3 (another ferric iron phase) make up as much as 11% of the rocks by weight. Jarosite in the outcrop matrix indicates precipitation at low pH. Cements, hematitic concretions, and crystal molds attest to a complex history of early diagenesis, mediated by ambient ground waters. The depositional and early diagenetic paleoenvironment at Meridiani was arid, acidic, and oxidizing, a characterization that places strong constraints on astrobiologial inference.     

Use of a watershed hydrologic model to estimate interbasin groundwater flow in a Costa Rican rainforest

The watershed hydrologic model TOPMODEL was used to estimate interbasin groundwater flow (IGF) into a small lowland rainforest watershed in Costa Rica. IGF is a common hydrological process but often difficult to quantify. Four‐year simulations (2006–2009) using three different model approaches gave estimates of IGF that were very similar to each other (10.1, 10.2, and 9.8 m/year) and to an earlier estimate (10.0 m/year) based on 1998–2002 data from a budget study that did not use a hydrologic simulation model, providing confidence in the new estimates and suggesting each of the three model approaches is viable. Results show no significant temporal variation in IGF during 2006–2009 (or between this period and the earlier study from 1998–2002). Simulations of the 16 consecutive 3‐month periods in 2006–2009 gave 16 values of IGF rate with a mean (10.1 m/year, standard deviation = 0.6 m/year) very similar to the estimates above from the 4‐year simulations. This suggests the modified version of TOPMODEL can be used to model stream discharge and estimate IGF for sub‐annual time periods during which change in water storage is not necessarily equal to zero. Thus, simple watershed models may be used to estimate IGF based on even relatively short calibration periods, making such models useful tools in the study of this widespread hydrological process that affects water and chemical fluxes and budgets but is often difficult and costly to quantify. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The mid-ocean ridge axial valley as a steady-state neck

In this paper the mid-ocean ridge axial valley is modelled as a steady-state lithospheric neck in which lithospheric stretching balances lithospheric accretion. Conversely, the axial high is a steady-state lithospheric bulge. The lithosphere is modelled as a thin plate with a Newtonian rheology. It is shown that an axial valley will occur if the rate of viscosity increase away from the ridge axis is faster than the rate at which accretion decreases. An axial high will occur if the opposite condition holds. This is consistent with the observation that axial valleys occur at low spreading rates and axial highs at high spreading rates. By fitting our model to profiles across the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the East Pacific Rise and assuming the lithospheric thickness at the ridge axis to be 5 km, we find accretion widths of 6–8 km. We find the width over which there is a significant increase in lithospheric viscosity to be also 6–8 km.     

Strong slope-aspect control of regolith thickness by bedrock foliation

The porous near-surface layer of the Earth's crust – the critical zone – constitutes a vital reservoir of water for ecosystems, provides baseflow to streams, guides recharge to deep aquifers, filters contaminants from groundwater, and regulates the long-term evolution of landscapes. Recent work suggests that the controls on regolith thickness include climate, tectonics, lithology, and vegetation. However, the relative paucity of observations of regolith structure and properties at landscape scales means that theoretical models of critical zone structure are incompletely tested. Here we present seismic refraction and electrical resistivity surveys that thoroughly characterize subsurface structure in a small catchment in the Santa Catalina Mountains, Arizona, USA, where slope-aspect effects on regolith structure are expected based on differences in vegetation. Our results show a stark contrast in physical properties and inferred regolith thickness on opposing slopes, but in the opposite sense of that expected from environmental models and observed vegetation patterns. Although vegetation (as expressed by normalized difference vegetation index [NDVI]) is denser on the north-facing slope, regolith on the south-facing slope is four times thicker (as indicated by lower seismic velocities and resistivities). This contrast cannot be explained by variations in topographic stress or conventional hillslope morphology models. Instead, regolith thickness appears to be controlled by metamorphic foliation: regolith is thicker where foliation dips into the topography, and thinner where foliation is nearly parallel to the surface. We hypothesize that, in this catchment, hydraulic conductivity and infiltration capacity control weathering: infiltration is hindered and regolith is thin where foliation is parallel to the surface topography, whereas water infiltrates deeper and regolith is thicker where foliation intersects topography at a substantial angle. These results suggest that bedrock foliation, and perhaps by extension sedimentary layering, can control regolith thickness and must be accounted for in models of critical zone development. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Grid cell distortion and MODFLOW's integrated finite-difference numerical solution

The ground water flow model MODFLOW inherently implements a nongeneralized integrated finite-difference (IFD) numerical scheme. The IFD numerical scheme allows for construction of finite-difference model grids with curvilinear (piecewise linear) rows. The resulting grid comprises model cells in the shape of trapezoids and is distorted in comparison to a traditional MODFLOW finite-difference grid. A version of MODFLOW-88 (herein referred to as MODFLOW IFD) with the code adapted to make the one-dimensional DELR and DELC arrays two dimensional, so that equivalent conductance between distorted grid cells can be calculated, is described. MODFLOW IFD is used to inspect the sensitivity of the numerical head and velocity solutions to the level of distortion in trapezoidal grid cells within a converging radial flow domain. A test problem designed for the analysis implements a grid oriented such that flow is parallel to columns with converging widths. The sensitivity analysis demonstrates MODFLOW IFD's capacity to numerically derive a head solution and resulting intercell volumetric flow when the internal calculation of equivalent conductance accounts for the distortion of the grid cells. The sensitivity of the velocity solution to grid cell distortion indicates criteria for distorted grid design. In the radial flow test problem described, the numerical head solution is not sensitive to grid cell distortion. The accuracy of the velocity solution is sensitive to cell distortion with error <1% if the angle between the nonparallel sides of trapezoidal cells is <12.5 degrees. The error of the velocity solution is related to the degree to which the spatial discretization of a curve is approximated with piecewise linear segments. Curvilinear finite-difference grid construction adds versatility to spatial discretization of the flow domain. MODFLOW-88's inherent IFD numerical scheme and the test problem results imply that more recent versions of MODFLOW 2000, with minor modifications, have the potential to make use of a curvilinear grid.     

Erosion rates in the southern oregon coast range: Evidence for an equilibrium between hillslope erosion and sediment yield

The relationship of hillslope erosion rates and sediment yield is often poorly defined because of short periods of measurement and inherent spatial and temporal variability in erosion processes. In landscapes containing hillslopes crenulated by alternating topographic noses and hollows, estimates of local hillslope erosion rates averaged over long time periods can be obtained by analysing colluvial deposits in the hollows. Hollows act as local traps for a portion of the colluvium transported down hillslopes, and erosion rates can be calculated using the age and size of the deposits and the size of the contributing source area. Analysis of colluvial deposits in nine Oregon Coast Range hollows has yielded average colluvial transport rates into the hollows of about 35cm³cm^?1yr^?1 and average bedrock lowering rates of about 0.07 mm yr^?1 for the last 4000 to 15000 yr. These rates are consistent with maximum bedrock exfoliation rates of about 0.09 mm yr^?1 calculated from six of the hollows, supporting the interpretation that exfoliation rates limit erosion rates on these slopes. Sediment yield measurements from nine Coast Range streams provide similar basin-wide denudation rates of between 0.05 and 0.08mm yr^?1, suggesting an approximate steady-state between sediment production on hillslopes and sediment yield. In addition, modern sediment yields are similar in basins varying in size from 1 to 1500 km², suggesting that erosion rates are spatially uniform and providing additional evidence for an approximate equilibrium in the landscape.