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.     

A large landslide on the urban fringe of metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona

A granitic rock avalanche, one of the largest Quaternary landslides in Arizona outside the Grand Canyon with a volume of approximately 5.25 M m³ and a width a little under 0.5 km, ran 1 km from the eastern McDowell Mountains. With lateral levees and pressure ridges, the rock avalanche deposit displays many features found on classic sturzstroms. Failure occurred along a major joint plane paralleling the slope with a dip of 44°, when a major base level lowering event in the Salt River system would have undermined the base of the failed slope, and probably during a period of more moisture than normally available in the present-day arid climate. Failure at the subsurface weathering front highlights the importance of the dramatic permeability change between grussified regolith and relatively fresh bedrock. Rock varnish microlaminations (VMLs) dating, in concert with other geomorphic evidence, suggests that the rock avalanche deposit is slightly older than 500 ka. The rock vanish results also have important implications for sampling strategies designed to use cosmogenic nuclide to date Quaternary landslide deposits. Discovery of a large landslide in close proximity to the extending urban fringe of metropolitan Phoenix argues for a more careful analysis of landslide hazards in the region, especially where rapid development excavates bedrock at the base of steep mountain slopes and where the subsurface weathering front is near the surface.     

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.     

裂隙岩石介质中核素迁移的模型及其算子分裂、迎风、均衡格式

建立了放射性核素在裂隙岩石介质中迁移的双重介质模型,对模型的求解提出了一种新的数值方法—Galerkin有限元法与算子分裂、迎风、均衡格式相结合的新方法,给出了水质模型算子分裂、迎风、均衡格式的稳定性条件,且所得到的计算格式是非负的。最后通过对核素90Sr 100年、99Tc 1000年的预测计算,验证了本文所提方法的有效性和稳定性,并得出了一些有重要意义的结论。     

Lake George revisited: New evidence for the origin and evolution of a large closed lake,Southern Tablelands,NSW, Australia

Lake George contains the longest continuous sedimentary record of any Australian lake basin, but previous age models are equivocal, particularly for the oldest (pre-Quaternary) part of the record. We have applied a combination of cosmogenic nuclide burial dating, magnetostratigraphy and biostratigraphy to determine the age of the basal (fluvial) unit in the basin, the Gearys Gap Formation. Within the differing resolutions achievable by the three dating techniques, our results show that (i) the Gearys Gap Formation, began accumulating at ca 4 Ma, in the early Pliocene (Zanclean), and (ii) deposition had ceased by ca 3 Ma, in the mid late Pliocene (Piacenzian). Whether the same age control provides an early Pliocene (Zanclean) age for the formation of the lake basin is uncertain. During the Piacenzian, the vegetation at the core site was a wetland community dominated by members of the coral fern family Gleicheniaceae, while the surrounding dryland vegetation was a mix of sclerophyll and temperate rainforest communities, with the latter including trees and shrubs now endemic to New Guinea–New Caledonia and Tasmania. Mean annual rainfall and temperatures are inferred to have been ～2000–3000 mm, although probably not uniformly distributed throughout the year, and within the mesotherm range (>14°C <20°C), respectively. Unresolved issues are: (1) Does the basal gravel unit predate uplift of the Lake George Range and therefore provide evidence that one of the proposed paleo-spillways of Lake George, that above Geary's Gap, has been elevated up to 100–200 m by neotectonic activity over the past 4 million years? (2) Did a shallow to deepwater lake exist elsewhere in the lake basin during the Pliocene?     

原地生成宇宙成因核素在地学研究中的应用

传统测年方法(14C、热释光、光释光等)无法直接测量地貌面或基岩面的形成年代,利用宇宙生成核素定出的年代可以直接计算地质、地貌体的暴露年代和埋藏时代。随着测量仪器的长足进步,特别是加速器质谱(AMS)检出限(可测至106原子)的大幅度提高,原地生成宇宙成因核素定年技术给地貌学带来了革命性的变化,因此宇宙生成核素被广泛应用于古气候学、构造地质学、火山年代学及古地磁学等。本文阐释了原地生成宇宙核素定年方法的基本原理,并在地学领域应用的现有基础上,从冰川、断层、阶地等研究对象出发,以沉积物埋藏年龄、地表侵蚀速率、断层滑动速率等为研究内容,具体描述该定年技术在冰川地貌、构造地貌、地貌过程及地貌演化研究中的国内外研究现状,以及应用中尚待解决的诸如核素产生速率与空间、时间关系;样品地质、地貌条件对结果造成的不确定性等问题。     

稻城冰帽库照日冰碛垄的宇生核素10Be年代测定

沙鲁里山南端的稻城冰帽在第四纪曾发生过大规模的冰川作用,然而,关于冰川作用的年代数据相对较少。选择稻城冰帽南缘库照日附近的3套冰碛垄进行宇生核素10Be的暴露年代测定,研究结果表明:(1)库照日最老冰碛垄(E)的暴露年代为(714±8.0)～(529±8.0)kaBP,D垄的暴露年代为(121±2.9)～(114±2.9)kaBP,DC垄的暴露年代为(47±1.3)～(43±1.3)kaBP。由于宇生核素暴露年代所反映的是冰川消退时的年代,因此,我们结合深海氧同位素的气候特征以及其他测年数据推断,E垄、D垄、DC垄可能是MIS16、MIS6以及MIS3b阶段冰川作用的产物;(2)冰川退却是一种逐步退却的模式。样品E的两次测验结果比较吻合,表明宇生核素10 Be暴露测年方法对冰碛垄形成年代的测定是可靠的,该方法在地貌学和第四纪年代学研究中有着巨大的潜力。     

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。     

The potential of historic rock avalanches and man-made structures as chlorine-36 production rate calibration sites

Samples from three medieval rock avalanches from the French (Le Claps, Mont Granier) and Austrian Alps (Dobratsch) and a man-made structure, i.e. the Stephansdom in Vienna, have been analysed for in-situ produced ³⁶Cl by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). All four sampling sites of independently known exposure duration turned out to be not appropriate as calibration sites for the determination of the ³⁶Cl-production rate from Ca. Indeed, the determination of short exposure ages for dating rock avalanches and man-made structures by ³⁶Cl is hindered dramatically by inheritance, especially for samples characterized by high ^natCl-concentrations. Generally, there are hints that the theoretical calculation of ³⁶Cl-production from epithermal and thermal neutron-capture on ³⁵Cl is highly underestimated in all existing models, thus, asking for particular precaution if working on high-Cl samples for any project. Hence, this work evidences that potential high inheritance, even for samples reasonably shielded before exhumation, has to be considered especially when dealing with recently exposed surfaces such as glacially polished rocks, alluvial terraces, fault scarps etc.     

Surface lowering of limestone pavement as determined by cosmogenic (36Cl) analysis

Determination of the rate and total amount of limestone pavement surface lowering is a critical issue in developing models of regional landscape change in limestone terrain. Erratic‐capped pedestals have frequently been used for this purpose but problems concerning definition and measurement of pedestal height, and the absence of a secure timeframe for erratic emplacement, have resulted in conflicting interpretations. We have used cosmogenic (³⁶Cl) to establish the emplacement age of erratic boulders and the total amount of pavement surface lowering at sites in northwest England. Since erratic emplacement at 17.9 ka the limestone pavement has been lowered by 22–45 cm (average: 33 ± 10 cm), assuming lowering was continuous. Although indicating some spatial heterogeneity, the results contrast with earlier reported values based on the measurement of pedestal heights and inferred age for deglaciation. We consider that changes in climate and the character and duration of regolith covers to have been important influences in promoting surface lowering. It is argued that nivation (chemical and mechanical snow‐related processes) associated with several cool/cold periods is likely to have played an important role in surface lowering. Complicating factors associated with surface lowering (thickness and longevity of snow and regolith covers) are identified but as yet cannot be quantified. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.