Relative importance of fluvial and glacial erosion in shaping the Chandra Valley, western Himalaya, India

Abstract HKT-ISTP 2013 B

Tracking the 10Be-26Al source-area signal in sediment-routing systems of arid central Australia

Sediment-routing systems continuously transfer information and mass from eroding source areas to depositional sinks. Understanding how these systems alter environmental signals is critical when it comes to inferring source-area properties from the sedimentary record. We measure cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al along three large sediment-routing systems ( ∼  100 000 km2) in central Australia with the aim of tracking downstream variations in 10Be–26Al inventories and identifying the factors responsible for these variations. By comparing 56 new cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al measurements in stream sediments with matching data (n =  55) from source areas, we show that 10Be–26Al inventories in hillslope bedrock and soils set the benchmark for relative downstream modifications. Lithology is the primary determinant of erosion-rate variations in source areas and despite sediment mixing over hundreds of kilometres downstream, a distinct lithological signal is retained. Post-orogenic ranges yield catchment erosion rates of  ∼  6–11 m Myr−1 and silcrete-dominant areas erode as slow as  ∼  0.2 m Myr−1. 10Be–26Al inventories in stream sediments indicate that cumulative-burial terms increase downstream to mostly  ∼  400–800 kyr and up to  ∼  1.1 Myr. The magnitude of the burial signal correlates with increasing sediment cover downstream and reflects assimilation from storages with long exposure histories, such as alluvial fans, desert pavements, alluvial plains, and aeolian dunes. We propose that the tendency for large alluvial rivers to mask their 10Be–26Al source-area signal differs according to geomorphic setting. Signal preservation is favoured by (i) high sediment supply rates, (ii) high mean runoff, and (iii) a thick sedimentary basin pile. Conversely, signal masking prevails in landscapes of (i) low sediment supply and (ii) juxtaposition of sediment storages with notably different exposure histories.Financial support was provided by an Australian Research Council grant (DP130104023) to Gerald Nanson and John D. Jansen, by a GeoQuEST Research Centre grant to John D. Jansen and Alexandru T. Codilean, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship to John D. Jansen, and by the Centre for Accelerator Science at ANSTO through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy. Martin Struck received an International Postgraduate Tuition Award provided by UOW and a matching scholarship funded by UOW and ANSTO

Evidence for the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet divide for 1.4 million years

Past fluctuations of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) are of fundamental interest because of the possibility of WAIS collapse in the future and a consequent rise in global sea level. However, the configuration and stability of the ice sheet during past interglacial periods remains uncertain. Here we present geomorphological evidence and multiple cosmogenic nuclide data from the southern Ellsworth Mountains to suggest that the divide of the WAIS has fluctuated only modestly in location and thickness for at least the last 1.4 million years. Fluctuations during glacial–interglacial cycles appear superimposed on a long-term trajectory of ice-surface lowering relative to the mountains. This implies that as a minimum, a regional ice sheet centred on the Ellsworth-Whitmore uplands may have survived Pleistocene warm periods. If so, it constrains the WAIS contribution to global sea level rise during interglacials to about 3.3 m above present

The ANSTO - University of Wollongong in-situ\u3csup\u3e 14\u3c/sup\u3eC extraction laboratory

We present our first 14 C in-situ results for calibration and system blanks from the recently completed Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) - University of Wollongong (UOW) in-situ 14 C extraction system. System performance parameters and quality is evidenced by low 14 C blanks and good reproducibility for multiple targets from different reference materials. The 14 C extraction scheme exploits the high temperature phase transformation of quartz to cristobalite in order to quantitatively extract the carbon as CO 2 . The in-situ 14 C extraction system comprises three independently operated and modular units that are used for initial in-vacuo removal of meteoric 14 C, followed by offline high-temperature heating of quartz to release trapped cosmogenic in-situ 14 C, and finally CO 2 gas purification and mass measurement. The design allows for rapid sample throughput of about 6 samples per week with samples masses ranging between 0.5 and 4 g of clean quartz. Other features include single-pass catalytic oxidation using mixed copper (I,II) oxide as catalyst, use of UHV-compatible components and of vacuum annealed copper tubing. We present results for sets of purified quartz samples prepared from CRONUS-A, CRONUS-R and CRONUS-N inter-comparison materials, with final averages consistent with published values. Following extraction and cleaning, CO 2 gas aliquots for some of the samples were analysed using the ETH Zürich CO 2 gas ion source at the ETH MICADAS AMS facility in addition to CO 2 being graphitised using the ANSTO laser-heated graphitisation micro-furnace and then analysed on ANSTO\u27s ANTARES AMS facility. System blanks using either CO 2 or graphite ion-sources at both facilities are on the order of ∼1 x 10 4 atoms

Cosmogenic 21Ne and 10Be reveal a more than 2 Ma alluvial fan flanking the Cape Mountains, South Africa

Cosmogenic 21Ne and 10Be analyses across a subhorizontal fossil alluvial fan flanking the Cape Mountains near Laingsburg (Western Cape, South Africa) indicate a formation age for this fan of at least 2 Ma. Maximum erosion rates obtained from samples of quartzite ridges protruding through the fan alluvium deposits are very low (<~0.4 m/Ma) and analytically indistinguishable from those derived from pebbles from the fan surface (<~1.5 m/Ma). Our results are consistent with the low denudation rates obtained from other cosmogenic nuclide analyses and predicted by apatite fission-track and offshore sedimentation analyses for southern Africa during the Cenozoic. They integrate already existing substantial evidence to show that relative tectonic stability has prevailed across southern Africa throughout this period, and that the present-day large-scale topography is largely inherited from the Cretaceous and has been only minimally resculptured by denudation during the Cenozoic

Cosmogenic \u3csup\u3e21\u3c/sup\u3eNe and \u3csup\u3e10\u3c/sup\u3eBe reveal a more than 2 Ma alluvial fan flanking the Cape Mountains, South Africa

Cosmogenic 21Ne and 10Be analyses across a subhorizontal fossil alluvial fan flanking the Cape Mountains near Laingsburg (Western Cape, South Africa) indicate a formation age for this fan of at least 2 Ma. Maximum erosion rates obtained from samples of quartzite ridges protruding through the fan alluvium deposits are very low (\u3c~0.4 m/Ma) and analytically indistinguishable from those derived from pebbles from the fan surface (\u3c~1.5 m/Ma). Our results are consistent with the low denudation rates obtained from other cosmogenic nuclide analyses and predicted by apatite fission-track and offshore sedimentation analyses for southern Africa during the Cenozoic. They integrate already existing substantial evidence to show that relative tectonic stability has prevailed across southern Africa throughout this period, and that the present-day large-scale topography is largely inherited from the Cretaceous and has been only minimally resculptured by denudation during the Cenozoic

Pre-development denudation rates for the Great Barrier Reef catchments derived using Be-10

Understanding of the pre-development, baseline denudation rates that deliver sediment to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) has been elusive. Cosmogenic 10Be in sediment is a useful integrator of denudation rates and sediment yields averaged over large spatial and temporal scales. This study presents 10Be data from 71 sites across 11 catchments draining to the GBR: representing 80% of the GBR catchment area and provide background sediment yields for the region. Modern, short-term, sediment yields derived from suspended load concentrations are compared to the 10Be data to calculate an Accelerated Erosion Factor (AEF) that highlights denudation “hot-spots” where sediment yields have increased over the long-term background values. The AEF results show that 58% basins have higher modern sediment yields than long-term yields. The AEF is considered a useful approach to help prioritise on-ground investments in remediation and the additional measured empirical data in this paper will help support future predictive models

Million-year lag times in a post-orogenic sediment conveyor

Understanding how sediment transport and storage will delay, attenuate, and even erase the erosional signal of tectonic and climatic forcings has bearing on our ability to read and interpret the geologic record effectively. Here, we estimate sediment transit times in Australia’s largest river system, the Murray-Darling basin, by measuring downstream changes in cosmogenic 26Al/10Be/14C ratios in modern river sediment. Results show that the sediments have experienced multiple episodes of burial and reexposure, with cumulative lag times exceeding 1 Ma in the downstream reaches of the Murray and Darling rivers. Combined with low sediment supply rates and old sediment blanketing the landscape, we posit that sediment recycling in the Murray-Darling is an important and ongoing process that will substantially delay and alter signals of external environmental forcing transmitted from the sediment’s hinterland.ISSN:2375-254