47 research outputs found

    Zur Waermegeschichte im Kalkalpin Bayerns und Nordtirols. Inkohlung und Illit-Kristallinitaet

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    With 78 figs., 12 tabs.SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: RO1997(10) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

    Terrigenous flux in the Rio Grande Rise area during the past 1500 ka: Evidence of deepwater advection or rapid response to continental rainfall patterns?

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    Surface sediment samples and three gravity cores from the eastern terrace of the Vema Channel, the western flank of the Rio Grande Rise, and the Brazilian continental slope were investigated for physical properties, grain size, and clay mineral composition. Discharge of the Rio Doce is responsible for kaolinite enrichments on the slope south of 20 degrees and at intermediate depths of the Rio Grande Rise. The long-distance advection of kaolinite with North Atlantic Deep Water from lower latitudes is of minor importance as evidenced by low kaolinite/chlorite ratios on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Cyclic variations of kaolinite/chlorite ratios in all our cores, with maxima in interglacials, are attributed to low- and high-latitude forcing of paleoclimate on the Brazilian mainland and the related discharge of the Rio Doce. A longterm trend toward more arid and "glacial" conditions from 1500 ka to present is superimposed on the glacial-interglacial cyclicity

    Temporal Variability of Fluvial Sand Composition: An Annual Time Series From Four Rivers in SW Germany

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    AbstractThe sampling of fluvial sediment is subject to many sources of uncertainty, for example, time and location, and the number of samples collected. It is nevertheless commonly assumed that a sample taken at one time and location provides a somewhat averaged compositional signal. Any spatial or temporal variability of this signal is often neglected. This study investigates how the composition of bed load sand changes over an observation period of 1 year in four river basins with differing bedrock geology in southwestern Germany. Up to 12 bulk sediment samples were taken at the same locations using the same approach and analyzed for their granulometry and geochemistry. The results indicate that (a) different grain sizes yield different compositions due to source rock composition and hydraulic sorting effects, (b) bulk sediment composition changes temporally due to changing grain‐size distribution, and (c) compared to the bulk sample, the composition of narrow grain sizes is temporally more stable but nevertheless has an average variability of 15%. Because heavy mineral‐bound elements such as Zr have the highest variability, we relate a major component of compositional variability to temporally varying heavy mineral concentrations in response to hydrodynamic processes. Mixing modeling demonstrates that the fluvial sand faithfully reflects its catchment geology and that the sediment sources do not change substantially during the observation period, even during a flooding event. We conclude (a) that the causes for compositional variability may be disentangled using chemical and granulometric time series data and (b) that narrow grain sizes yield representative source rock contributions.Plain Language Summary: Sediment transported by rivers is generated by the erosion of the rocks present within the river catchment area. The composition of this sediment is controlled by various processes in the catchment, for example, climate, rock type, weathering, and flow strength. Geoscientists can use modern river sediment to understand how these processes impact sediment composition, and then apply this information to the geologic time. Sampling the river sediment is often the first step in such studies, but few studies consider the sources of uncertainty during sampling, for example, time and location of sampling, and number of collected samples. For this study, we returned to the same river location during the course of 1 year to take bulk sediment samples and analyzed how variable the size of sediment grains and the sediment chemistry are. We discovered that different grain sizes yield different chemical compositions, and this is caused by differences in rock type and hydraulic processes. Because the proportion of different grain sizes in the bulk sediment changes over the year due to water flow conditions, the chemistry of the bulk sediment sample changes over the year. We provide some quantitative estimates for this variability that should be considered in similar studies.Key Points: Bed load sand from 4 rivers was sampled monthly over the course of 1 year to analyze the temporal compositional variability. Composition is grain‐size‐dependent, and narrow grain‐size fractions show less variability than bulk sediment samples. Composition changes during the year, and this is related to changing grain‐size distributions rather than changing sediment sources.https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.95900

    Temporal Variability of Fluvial Sand Composition: An Annual Time Series From Four Rivers in SW Germany

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    The sampling of fluvial sediment is subject to many sources of uncertainty, for example, time and location, and the number of samples collected. It is nevertheless commonly assumed that a sample taken at one time and location provides a somewhat averaged compositional signal. Any spatial or temporal variability of this signal is often neglected. This study investigates how the composition of bed load sand changes over an observation period of 1 year in four river basins with differing bedrock geology in southwestern Germany. Up to 12 bulk sediment samples were taken at the same locations using the same approach and analyzed for their granulometry and geochemistry. The results indicate that (a) different grain sizes yield different compositions due to source rock composition and hydraulic sorting effects, (b) bulk sediment composition changes temporally due to changing grain‐size distribution, and (c) compared to the bulk sample, the composition of narrow grain sizes is temporally more stable but nevertheless has an average variability of 15%. Because heavy mineral‐bound elements such as Zr have the highest variability, we relate a major component of compositional variability to temporally varying heavy mineral concentrations in response to hydrodynamic processes. Mixing modeling demonstrates that the fluvial sand faithfully reflects its catchment geology and that the sediment sources do not change substantially during the observation period, even during a flooding event. We conclude (a) that the causes for compositional variability may be disentangled using chemical and granulometric time series data and (b) that narrow grain sizes yield representative source rock contributions
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