Rapid Soil Production and Weathering in the Southern Alps, New Zealand

Larsen, Isaac J.; Almond, Peter C.; Eger, André; Stone, John O.; Montgomery, David R.; Malcolm, B

doi:10.1126/science.1244908

Cited by 187 publications

(232 citation statements)

References 83 publications

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“…Several authors (Riebe et al 2004a, b;West et al 2005;Maurin et al 2005;Larsen et al 2014) showed the importance of physical erosion on denudation rates. Erosion can be calculated with the chemical depletion factor, CDF.…”

Section: Soil Production and Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most soils feature a maximum possible CDF of 0.5 to 0.1 (that finally depends on climate and parent material: Dixon and von Blanckenburg 2012;Larsen et al 2014); consequently soil erosion accounts for at least half of the denudation.…”

Section: Soil Production and Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the latter is only valid to a certain break point (see Dixon and von Blanckenburg 2012) that corresponds to the weathering speed limit. However, this speed limit is still under discussion (Egli et al 2014;Larsen et al 2014;Heimsath 2014). With such high erosion rates, soils would be completely removed in the long-term.…”

Section: Soil Sediment Budgets Indicate Unsustainable Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An attempt to estimate tolerable soil erosion rates by matching soil formation with denudation in Alpine grasslands

2014

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Purpose Natural rates of soil production or a target soil thickness that allows unrestricted land use can serve as a basis for defining tolerable soil erosion rates. Guidelines for tolerable soil erosion rates in alpine grasslands do not yet exist, partly due to the lack of information of soil formation and production rates. We (i) defined soil formation/production rates for alpine grasslands on siliceous lithology and compared them to measured and modelled soil erosion rates and resulting soil thickness with a special focus on the Urseren Valley (Central Swiss Alps) and (ii) discussed possible trends for alpine soils under global change. Materials and methods Ranges of soil formation, production and erosion rates were determined using published and our own data for Alpine grasslands soils. Two definitions of tolerable erosion rate were used: when (i) current soil depth remains constant over time; and (ii) at least a minimum soil depth is maintained (minimum thicknesses for individual land uses still need to be defined). Results and discussion Soil production and related tolerable erosion rates (i.e. 50-90 % of the soil production rate) are a strong function of time. Average soil production rate in alpine areas for relatively old soils (>10-18 kyr) is between 54 (±14) and 113 (±30)t km . Measured recent soil erosion rates in alpine areas at intensively used slopes range from 600 to 3000 t km −2 year −1 . Average catchment values for the Urseren Valley using the model USLE plus soil loss due to landslides resulted in an overall loss of 180 t km −2 year −1

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Section: Soil Production and Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Soil Production and Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Soil Sediment Budgets Indicate Unsustainable Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An attempt to estimate tolerable soil erosion rates by matching soil formation with denudation in Alpine grasslands

2014

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“…On Mars, as on Earth, mechanical weathering is the precursor to sediment production and rock erosion, see, for example, refs 1-4, and can potentially influence chemical weathering and subsequent atmospheric feedbacks [5][6][7][8] . Hence, identifying the key drivers of weathering is therefore possibly tantamount to understanding the key drivers of landscape change on the Martian surface.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cracks in Martian boulders exhibit preferred orientations that point to solar-induced thermal stress

et al. 2015

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The origins of fractures in Martian boulders are unknown. Here, using Mars Exploration Rover 3D data products, we obtain orientation measurements for 1,857 cracks visible in 1,573 rocks along the Spirit traverse and find that Mars rock cracks are oriented in statistically preferred directions similar to those compiled herein for Earth rock cracks found in mid-latitude deserts. We suggest that Martian directional cracking occurs due to the preferential propagation of microfractures favourably oriented with respect to repeating geometries of diurnal peaks in sun-induced thermal stresses. A numerical model modified here with Mars parameters supports this hypothesis both with respect to the overall magnitude of stresses as well as to the times of day at which the stresses peak. These data provide the first direct field and numerical evidence that insolation-related thermal stress potentially plays a principle role in cracking rocks on portions of the Martian surface.

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“…Datasets from soil pits and riverine fluxes show a monotonic relationship between both the denudation rate and weathering rate in some cases (Millot et al, 2002;Dixon et al, 2009b;West et al, 2005), but also 30 evidence a possible maximum erosion rate above which the weathering rate decreases (Dixon and von Blanckenburg, 2012). Recent data from the Southern Alps in New Zealand have challenged the existence of this erosion rate limit by demonstrating that weathering was able to continue increasing at the highest erosion rates when rainfall is abundant (Larsen et al, 2014). In such regions, landslides constitute a significant weathering reservoir (Emberson et al, 2016a, b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Colluvial deposits as a possible weathering reservoir in uplifting mountains

Carretier¹,

Goddéris²,

Martı́nez³

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Abstract. The role of mountain uplift in the global climate over geological times is controversial.At the heart of this debate is the capacity of rapid denudation to drive silicate weathering, a CO 2 consumer. Here we present the results of a 3D model that couples erosion and weathering during mountain uplift, in which the weathered material is traced during its stochastic transport from the hillslopes to the mountain outlet. During mountain uplift, the erosion rate increases and the climate 5 cools, which thins the regolith and produces a hump in the weathering rate evolution. Nevertheless, lateral river erosion drives mass wasting and the temporary storage of colluvial deposits on the valley borders. This new reservoir is comprised of fresh material which has a residence time ranging from several years up to several thousand years. During this period, the weathering of colluvium sustains the mountain weathering flux at a significant level. The relative weathering contribution 10 of colluvium depends on the area covered by regolith on the hillslopes. For mountains sparsely covered by regolith during cold periods, colluvium produce most of the simulated weathering flux for a large range of erosion parameters and precipitation rate patterns. In addition to other reservoirs such as deep fractured bedrock, colluvial deposits may help to maintain a substantial and constant weathering flux in rapidly uplifting mountains during cooling periods.

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Rapid Soil Production and Weathering in the Southern Alps, New Zealand

Cited by 187 publications

References 83 publications

An attempt to estimate tolerable soil erosion rates by matching soil formation with denudation in Alpine grasslands

An attempt to estimate tolerable soil erosion rates by matching soil formation with denudation in Alpine grasslands

Cracks in Martian boulders exhibit preferred orientations that point to solar-induced thermal stress

Colluvial deposits as a possible weathering reservoir in uplifting mountains

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