Climate and relief-induced controls on the temporal variability of denudation rates in a granitic upland

How soil erosion rates evolved over the last about 100 ka and how they relate to environmental and climate variability is largely unknown. This is due to a lack of suitable archives that help to trace this evolution. We determined in situ cosmogenic beryllium-10 (¹⁰Be) along vertical landforms (tors, boulders and scarps) on the Sila Massif to unravel their local exhumation patterns to develop a surface denudation model over millennia. Due to the physical resistance of tors, their rate of exhumation may be used to derive surface and, thus, soil denudation rates over time. We derived soil denudation rates that varied in the range 0–0.40 mm yr^-1. The investigated boulders, however, appear to have experienced repositioning processes about ~20–25 ka bp and were therefore a less reliable archive. The scarps of the Sila upland showed a rapid bedrock exposure within the last 8–15 ka. Overall, the denudation rates increased steadily after 75 ka bp but remained low until about 17 ka bp . The exhumation rates indicate a denudation pulse that occurred about 17–5 ka bp . Since then the rates have continuously decreased. We identify three key factors for these developments – climate, topography and vegetation. Between 75 and 17 ka bp , climate was colder and drier than today. The rapid changes towards warmer and humid conditions at the Pleistocene–Holocene transition apparently increased denudation rates. A denser vegetation cover with time counteracted denudation. Topography also determined the extent of denudation rates in the upland regime. On slopes, denudation rates were generally higher than on planar surfaces. By determining the exhumation rates of tors and scarps, soil erosion rates could be determined over long timescales and be related to topography and particularly to climate. This is key for understanding geomorphic dynamics under current environmental settings and future climate change. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluating debris-flow and anthropogenic disturbance on 10Be concentration in mountain drainage basins: implications for functional connectivity and denudation rates across time scales

We examine the sensitivity of ¹⁰Be concentrations (and derived denudation rates), to debris-flow and anthropogenic perturbations in steep settings of the Eastern Alps, and explore possible relations with structural geomorphic connectivity. Using cosmogenic ¹⁰Be as a tracer for functional geomorphic connectivity, we conduct sampling replications across four seasons in Gadria, Strimm and Allitz Creek. Sampling sites encompass a range of structural connectivity configurations, including the conditioning of a sackung, all assessed through a geomorphometric index (IC). By combining information on contemporary depth of erosion and sediment yield, disturbance history and post-LGM (Last Glacial Maximum) sedimentation rates, we constrain the effects of debris-flow disturbance on ¹⁰Be concentrations at the Gadria sites. Here, we argue that bedrock weakening imparted by the sackung promotes high depth of erosion. Consequently, debris flows recruit sediment beyond the critical depth of spallogenic production (e.g., >3 m), which in turn, episodically, due to predominantly muogenic production pathways, lowers ¹⁰Be concentration by a factor of 4, for at least 2 years. In contrast, steady erosion in Strimm Creek yields very stable ¹⁰Be concentrations through time. In Allitz Creek, we observe two- to fourfold seasonal fluctuations in ¹⁰Be concentrations, which we explain as the combined effects of water diversion and hydraulic structures on sediment mixing. We further show that ¹⁰Be concentration correlates inversely with the IC index, where sub-basins characterized by high concentrations (long residence times) exhibit low IC values (structurally disconnected) and vice versa, implying that, over millennial time scales a direct relation exists between functional and structural connectivity, and that the IC index performed as a suitable metric for structural connectivity. The index performs comparably better than other metrics (i.e., mean slope and mean normalized channel steepness index) previously used to assess topographic controls on denudation rates in active unglaciated ranges. In terms of landscape evolution, we argue that the sackung, by favouring intense debris-flow activity across the Holocene, has aided rapid postglacial reshaping of the Gadria basin, which currently exhibits a topographic signature characteristic of unglaciated debris-flow systems. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tracking denudation and sediment production and transport with cosmogenic 10Be in arid,high-altitude Himalayan half-grabens,Zanskar, northern India

Understanding the extent to which local factors, including bedrock and structure, govern catchment denudation in mountainous environments as opposed to broader climate or tectonic patterns provides insight into how landscapes evolve as sediment is generated and transported through them, and whether they have approached steady-state equilibrium. We measured beryllium-10 (¹⁰Be) concentrations in 21 sediment samples from glaciated footwall and hanging wall catchments, including a set of nested catchments, and 12 bedrock samples in the Puga and Tso Morari half-grabens located in the high-elevation, arid Zanskar region of northern India. In the Puga half-graben where catchments are underlain by quartzo-feldspathic gneissic bedrock, bedrock along catchment divides is eroding very slowly, about 5 m/Ma, due to extreme aridity and ¹⁰Be concentrations in catchment sediments are the highest (~60–90 × 10⁵ atoms/g SiO₂) as colluvium accumulates on hillslopes, decoupled from their ephemeral streams. At Puga, ¹⁰Be concentrations and the average erosion rates of a set of six nested catchments demonstrate that catchment denudation is transport-limited as sediment stagnates on lower slopes before reaching the catchment outlet. In the Tso Morari half-graben, gneissic bedrock is also eroding very slowly but ¹⁰Be concentrations in sediments in catchments underlain by low grade meta-sedimentary rocks, are significantly lower (~10–35 × 10⁵ atoms/g SiO₂). In these arid, high-elevation environments, ¹⁰Be concentrations in catchment sediments have more to do with bedrock weathering and transport times than steady-state denudation rates. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Discussion: denudation rates in southeast Northumberland since the Devensian glaciation

Field examination and review of previous studies show that glacial landforms are widespread in southeast Northumberland and across the local altitude range. Ice-contact deposits occur on the main valley floors. Numerous subglacial channels descend to or close to present valley floors, and many of the lesser valleys have carried meltwater and glaciofluvial sediment. In major part, the land surface retains its end-glacial form and age. Evidence for a landscape largely end-glacial in form and age rather than one produced since loss of ice cover by laterally diverse erosion indicates that rates of denudation over the last 15 ka have been less than those obtained from height differences between actual surface and a reconstructed notional end-glacial surface. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

CENOZOIC BASIN EVOLUTION, STRUCTURAL STYLES OF THE QAIDAM AND AN ESTIMATE OF DENUDATION IN ADJACENT MOUNTAIN SYSTEMS, NORTHEAST QINGHAI—TIBETAN PLATEAU

CENOZOIC BASIN EVOLUTION, STRUCTURAL STYLES OF THE QAIDAM AND AN ESTIMATE OF DENUDATION IN ADJACENT MOUNTAIN SYSTEMS, NORTHEAST QINGHAI—TIBETAN PLATEAU     

流体包裹体分析法在铀矿床研究中的应用——以相山铀矿田邹家山、沙洲矿床为例

矿物包裹体在形成过程中保存了所在地质环境及不同阶段的物理化学条件信息,并且其形成后没有外来物质的加入和自身物质的带出,因此对流体包裹体进行分析是研究成矿地质环境的重要手段之一。本文以相山铀矿田邹家山、沙洲矿床为例,采用流体包裹体分析法计算矿床的成矿深度和剥蚀厚度。结果表明,邹家山矿床成矿深度320～1640m,剥蚀厚度320～416m;沙洲矿床成矿深度38～1425m,剥蚀厚度190～240m,大体上与前人研究结论一致。Haas（1976）图解法在沙洲矿床成矿深度研究中比较接近合理,邵洁涟等（1986）的经验公式法在邹家山矿床成矿深度研究中最为合理,Bischoff et al.（1991）T-ρ相图法误差均较大。     

诸暨铜岩山矿区剥蚀程度地球化学判别指标之研究

本文简述了铜岩山矿床地质概况，分析了矿区内蚀变带和主要矿体特征，综合研究本矿区剥蚀程度地球化学判别指标。利用累乘晕比值方法，建立5组累乘元素比值公式，求得各组剥蚀系数，以显示矿区内矿体矿化序列和剥蚀程度。发现本矿区内高温成矿元素分布在矿体上方，中低温成矿元素聚集在矿体下部之矿化反序列现象。     

吉林桦甸市夹皮沟本区金矿剥露历史和矿床保存变化——来自磷灰石裂变径迹年代学证据

有关吉林省桦甸市夹皮沟金矿区剥露历史的研究,至今尚不多见,然而成矿后的变化与保存是矿床学研究的一个重要领域,并且矿区剥露历史对于区内矿体保存状况具有重要的指示意义。裂变径迹是研究区域隆升剥露的一种有效手段,能提供剥蚀速率和剥蚀量的定量数据,本文应用裂变径迹技术研究夹皮沟金矿区中生代成矿以来的剥露历史。使用磷灰石裂变径迹年龄数据进行热历史模拟,揭示其演变机理。实验中获得8个了磷灰石裂变径迹测试结果,裂变径迹年龄可分为3组:(128~111Ma、86~64Ma和48~29Ma)。夹皮沟金矿区的热演化历史可分为了3个阶段,分别为:第1阶段160Ma到85±10 Ma;第2阶段85±10 Ma到28±2 Ma;第3阶段28±2 Ma至今,相应的剥露深度为2.90km、0km和1.17km。根据剥露厚度及成矿深度推测,夹皮沟本区中下戏台、立山两矿区金矿床保存状况良好,下部仍有较大探矿潜力。     

Chemical denudation in arctic-alpine Latnjavagge (Swedish Lapland) in relation to regolith as assessed by radio magnetotelluric-geophysical profiles

In Latnjavagge, a 9-km² drainage basin with homogeneous lithology in periglacial northern Swedish Lapland, water balance, water chemistry and radio magnetotelluric geophysical investigations along selected profiles were integrated with assessment of regolith thickness as well as of ground frost conditions within the basin. In combination with direct field observations, the geophysical profiles demonstrated presence of relatively thin regolith in most of the investigated area, yet in some parts, the bedrock was located deeper and locally was not detected at 40-m depth. TDS values of the water were generally very low. The areas that contributed with the lowest ion concentrations were cold and had a thin regolith, whereas there were higher concentrations in water that drained radiation exposed slopes with earlier thaw and thicker regolith. The low resistivities found along the profiles in the geophysical investigations in combination with the relatively higher TDS values found in related runoff and subsurface water samples showed that larger volumes of ice-rich frozen ground were not found along the investigated profiles in late August.     

A World Model of Chemical Denudation in Karst Terrains

In this paper, I develop global karst chemical denudation models using chemical equilibrium equations. Theoretical karst chemical denudation rates are calculated as soil carbon dioxide concentration varies from 10^?3.5 atm to 10^?1.0 atm, temperature varies from 0°C to 30°C, and annual runoff varies from 500 mm to 3,000 mm. Both open and closed karst solution systems are examined. The Drake (1980) and the Brook-Folkoff-Box (1983) soil pCO² equations are used to develop chemical denudation models for different carbonate rocks (limestone and dolomite), climate (tropical, temperate, and arctic/alpine terrains), and karst solution type (open and closed systems). The major conclusion is that the karst solution type, least known in the past karst studies, is an important factor in controlling chemical denudation rates.