Geochemical cycling in the Hooghly estuary, India

U–Th decay series isotopes, δ¹⁸O and Si measurements in the river estuarine waters and sediments of the polluted Hooghly estuary as well as the surface waters of the Bay of Bengal, its high salinity end member, are reported. Dissolved Si indicates that there are probably two mixing regimes, dissolved U behaviour is nonconservative and δ¹⁸O behaves conservatively in the overall estuarine region. Isotopes of reactive elements, viz. ²³⁴Th and ²¹⁰Po, are removed from the estuarine waters in <2 days and <1 month, respectively, which is due to high suspended matter (30–301 mg l⁻¹). ²²⁸Ra and ²²⁶Ra are profusely released into the estuarine waters in the low to mid-salinity regions.As expected, the opposite trend is observed in the case of estuarine sediments and suspended matter. Reactive isotopes of Th, ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po are enriched, whereas Ra isotopes are depleted with respect to their parent nuclides in the estuarine sediments and suspended matter. ²³²Th/Al ratio appears well suited to study the distribution and mixing of the bed load sediments of the Ganga–Brahmaputra (G–B) and the Hooghly rivers with those from other rivers on the Bay of Bengal floor.     

Cosmogenic nuclide methods for measuring long-term rates of physical erosion and chemical weathering

Understanding the evolution of geochemical and geomorphic systems requires measurements of long-term rates of physical erosion and chemical weathering. Erosion and weathering rates have traditionally been estimated from measurements of sediment and solute fluxes in streams. However, modern sediment and solute fluxes are often decoupled from long-term rates of erosion and weathering, due to storage or re-mobilization of sediment and solutes upstream from the sampling point. Recently, cosmogenic nuclides such as ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al have become important new tools for measuring long-term rates of physical erosion and chemical weathering. Cosmogenic nuclides can be used to infer the total denudation flux (the sum of the rates of physical erosion and chemical weathering) in actively eroding terrain. Here we review recent work showing how this total denudation flux can be partitioned into its physical and chemical components, using the enrichment of insoluble tracers (such as Zr) in regolith relative to parent rock. By combining cosmogenic nuclide measurements with the bulk elemental composition of rock and soil, geochemists can measure rates of physical erosion and chemical weathering over 1000- to 10,000-year time scales.     

Production of selected cosmogenic radionuclides by muons: 2. Capture of negative muons

We have determined the production yields for radionuclides in Al₂O₃, SiO₂, S, Ar, K₂SO₄, CaCO₃, Fe, Ni and Cu targets, which were irradiated with slow negative muons at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen (Switzerland). The fluences of the stopped negative muons were determined by measuring the muonic X-rays. The concentrations of the long-lived and short-lived radionuclides were measured with accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and γ-spectroscopy, respectively. Special emphasis was put on the radionuclides ¹⁰Be, ¹⁴C and ²⁶Al produced in quartz targets, ²⁶Al in Al₂O₃ and S targets, ³⁶Cl in K₂SO₄ and CaCO₃ targets, and ⁵³Mn in Fe₂O₃ targets. These targets were selected because they are also the naturally occurring target minerals for cosmic ray interactions in typical rocks. We also present results of calculations for depth-dependent production rates of radionuclides produced after cosmic ray μ⁻ capture, as well as cosmic ray-induced production rates of geologically relevant radionuclides produced by the nucleonic component, by μ⁻ capture, by fast muons and by neutron capture.     

Erosion rates of alpine bedrock summit surfaces deduced from in situ Be and Al

We have measured the concentration of in situ produced cosmogenic ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al from bare bedrock surfaces on summit flats in four western U.S. mountain ranges. The maximum mean bare-bedrock erosion rate from these alpine environments is 7.6 ± 3.9 m My⁻¹. Individual measurements vary between 2 and 19 m My⁻¹. These erosion rates are similar to previous cosmogenic radionuclide (CRN) erosion rates measured in other environments, except for those from extremely arid regions. This indicates that bare bedrock is not weathered into transportable material more rapidly in alpine environments than in other environments, even though frost weathering should be intense in these areas. Our CRN-deduced point measurements of bedrock erosion are slower than typical basin-averaged denudation rates ( 50 m My⁻¹). If our measured CRN erosion rates are accurate indicators of the rate at which summit flats are lowered by erosion, then relief in the mountain ranges examined here is probably increasing.

We develop a model of outcrop erosion to investigate the magnitude of errors associated with applying the steady-state erosion model to episodically eroding outcrops. Our simulations show that interpreting measurements with the steady-state erosion model can yield erosion rates which are either greater or less than the actual long-term mean erosion rate. While errors resulting from episodic erosion are potentially greater than both measurement and production rate errors for single samples, the mean value of many steady-state erosion rate measurements provides a much better estimate of the long-term erosion rate.     

青藏高原的剥蚀与构造抬升*

利用宇宙成因核素¹⁰ Be和²⁶ Al对西昆仑和可可西里北部地表基岩的剥蚀速率进行了测定,得到的结果是:西昆仑的平均剥蚀速率为12m/Ma, 可可西里北部的平均剥蚀速率为15m/Ma。裂变径迹和宇宙成因核素这两种手段所得到的平均剥蚀速率的时间尺度是不同的,前者得到的是几个至数十百万年的平均剥蚀速率,而后者得到的是十几至几十万年的平均剥蚀速率。比较通过这两种手段得到的青藏高原北部和中部的平均剥蚀速率可以发现其平均剥蚀速率从20Ma以来的100m/Ma以上减少到了最近几十万年以来的10m/Ma,我们认为这一剥蚀速率下降的趋势反映了青藏高原从中新世到第四纪晚期构造活动的减弱,据此推断青藏高原北部和中部的隆升应该主要发生在第四纪晚期之前,而不是在最近的几十万年。     

Rates of erosion and landscape change along the Blue Ridge escarpment,southern Appalachian Mountains,estimated from in situ cosmogenic 10Be

The Blue Ridge escarpment, located within the southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia and North Carolina, forms a distinct, steep boundary between the lower‐elevation Piedmont and higher‐elevation Blue Ridge physiographic provinces. To understand better the rate at which this landform and the adjacent landscape are changing, we measured cosmogenic beryllium‐10 (¹⁰Be) in quartz separated from sediment samples (n = 50) collected in 32 streams and from three exposed bedrock outcrops along four transects normal to the escarpment, allowing us to calculate erosion rates integrated over 10⁴–10⁵ years. These basin‐averaged erosion rates (5.4–49 m Myr^?1) are consistent with those measured elsewhere in the southern Appalachain Mountains and show a positive relationship between erosion rate and average basin slope. Erosion rates show no relationship with basin size or relative position of the Brevard fault zone, a fundamental structural element of the region. The cosmogenic isotopic data, when considered along with the distribution of average basin slopes in each physiographic province, suggest that the escarpment is eroding on average more rapidly than the Blue Ridge uplands, which are eroding more rapidly than the Piedmont lowlands. This difference in erosion rates by geomorphic setting suggests that the elevation difference between the uplands and lowlands adjacent to the escarpment is being reduced but at extremely slow rates. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

ESTIMATING RATES OF DENUDATION USING COSMOGENIC ISOTOPE ABUNDANCES IN SEDIMENT

We propose, as a testable hypothesis, a basin-scale approach for interpreting the abundance of in situ produced cosmogenic isotopes, an approach which considers explicitly both the isotope and sediment flux through a drainage basin. Unlike most existing models, which are appropriate for evaluating in situproduced cosmogenic isotope abundance at discrete points on Earth's surface, our model is designed for interpreting isotope abundance in sediment. Because sediment is a mixture of materials, in favourable cases derived from throughout a drainage basin, we suggest that measured isotope abundances may reflect spatially averaged rates of erosion. We investigate the assumptions and behaviour of our model and conclude that it could provide geomorphologists with a relatively simple means by which to constrain the rate of landscape evolution if a basin is in isotopic steady state and if sampled sediments are well mixed.     

地磁场强度变化对暴露年代测定的影响及校正

在103-105a的尺度上,地磁场强度变化是影响陆地宇生核素生成速率的主要因素,其影响程度取决于样品的地理位置和暴露时间。根据已有的磁场古强度数据,模拟200 ka以来海拔2 km、25°N和40°N的地表10Be生成速率的变化,进而分析地表宇生核素生成速率变化对岩石暴露年代测定的影响及其模式年龄的校正。校正磁场强度变化后,海拔2 km、25°N上,50-200 ka的模式年龄可被压缩14%~19%,大于1σ的误差,相同海拔40°N上的模式年龄可减小约8%。对中低纬两组模式年龄的校正充分证明,磁场强度引起的陆地宇生核素生成速率变化是暴露年代测定中主要误差源之一,尤其在低纬高海拔地区这一影响更不容忽视。     

活动构造研究中相关速率的原地宇宙成因核素年代学约束

活动构造研究中获得的相关速率是解释活动构造运动方式和幅度的重要基础,同时也能够提供检验和建立有关运动学和动力学模型的必要参数。原地宇宙成因核素年代学是近几十年来随着加速质谱的出现而逐渐发展并不断广泛应用于地学,特别是地表过程以及活动构造研究中来的。由于仪器测试费用高以及处理流程比较复杂,国内早期相关研究没有得以广泛开展,然而目前正呈现逐渐升温的趋势。在样品采集以及精细野外地质调查测量的基础上,活动构造研究中的活动断裂运动速率,活动构造区的河流水系侵蚀下切速率以及古地震事件,活动火山喷发事件等均可以通过原地宇宙成因核素年代学定量约束。文中在概述原地宇宙成因核素年代学基本原理的基础上,总结了国内外有关该年代学在活动构造研究应用中的最新成果和资料,重点介绍了基于原地宇宙成因核素年代学方法获取和解释活动构造研究中相关速率的成果     

COSMOGENIC 10BE-AGES FROM THE STORE KOLDEWEY ISLAND, NE GREENLAND

Earlier work in northeast Greenland has suggested a limited advance of the Greenland Ice Sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). However, this concept has recently been challenged by marine geological studies, indicating grounded ice on the continental shelf at this time. New ¹⁰Be‐ages from the Store Koldewey island, northeast Greenland, suggest that unscoured mountain plateaus at the outer coast were covered at least partly by cold‐based ice during the LGM. It is, however, still inconclusive whether this ice was dynamically connected to the Greenland Ice Sheet or not. Regardless of the LGM ice sheet extent, the ¹⁰Be results from Store Koldewey add to a growing body of evidence suggesting considerable antiquity of crystalline unscoured terrain near present and Pleistocene ice sheet margins.