The vesicular layer and carbonate collars of desert soils and pavements: formation, age and relation to climate change

McFadden, Leslie D.; McDonald, Eric V.; Wells, Stephen; Anderson, Kirk C.; Quade, Jay; Forman, Steven L.

doi:10.1016/s0169-555x(97)00095-0

Cited by 188 publications

(199 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…Anderson et al (2002), Wells et al (1995) and McFadden et al (1998) applied thermoluminescence dating (TL) on desert pavements in the Mojave desert, USA, while Matmon et al (2009) used optically stimulated luminescence dating (OSL) for their investigations in the Negev desert of southern Israel. However, in all of these studies, the dating results are presented, but no details about the luminescence characteristics are given and discussed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They are composed of a monolayer of clasts at the surface, associated with an underlying unit of eolian fines (sandy silt), which exhibits a several centimeter thick foamy pore structure directly beneath the clasts, the vesicular horizon (Springer, 1958;McFadden et al, 1998;Anderson et al, 2002;. Desert pavements form by dust trapping, causing vertical accretionary rise above a thickening eolian mantle (Mabutt, 1977;McFadden et al, 1986;Gerson and Amit, 1987).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dating desert pavements – First results from a challenging environmental archive

Fuchs

Dietze

Al-Qudah

et al. 2015

Quaternary Geochronology

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Desert pavements are widespread landforms of arid environments. They consist of a monolayer of clasts at the surface, associated with an underlying unit of eolian fines. In some situations, buried desert pavements can be observed, which is interpreted as a change in the environmental conditions. Therefore, it is believed that desert pavements represent important paleoenvironmental sediment archives, especially for arid environments, where natural archives of past environments are rare. To better understand the formation process of desert pavements and to enable the paleoenvironmental interpretation of these valuable sediment archives, reliable chronologies are of crucial importance. Thus, OSL dating was applied to samples from well-developed desert pavements in two different study areas, the Cima Volcanic Field, eastern Mojave Desert, USA, and the desert of northeastern Badia, Jordan.To test the suitability of the sediments for OSL dating, the luminescence characteristics of the fine-and coarse-grain quartz fraction are described and compared. Finally, first OSL ages are presented.2

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dating desert pavements – First results from a challenging environmental archive

Fuchs

Dietze

Al-Qudah

et al. 2015

Quaternary Geochronology

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“…The straight line labeled by h represents a linear increase in epipedon thickness with time (Equation (1)) using e = 0·2 cm/kyr and zero initial thickness. Assuming a linear increase in eolian epipedon thickness is an approximation to the natural system, in which changes in aridity, vegetation cover, regional streamflow characteristics and playa moisture contribute to variations in the regional eolian deposition rate (McFadden et al, 1998).…”

Section: Numerical Modeling Design and Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Desert pavement dynamics: numerical modeling and field‐based calibration

Pelletier

Cline

DeLong

2007

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Desert pavements are widely used as a relative surface-dating tool because they are progressively better developed on surfaces ranging from thousands to hundreds of thousands of years in age. Recent work, however, has highlighted the dynamic nature of pavements and undermined their use as surface-age indicators. Quade ( To calibrate the model, we conducted surficial geologic mapping and pavementsedimentological analysis on two desert piedmonts. Our study areas include both proximal and distal fan environments, illustrating the role of parent-material texture in controlling the mode of pavement formation. Using available geochronology, our work provides a rigorous calibration of pavement formation rates in our study areas and provides evidence supporting the use of pavements as local relative surface-age indicators over Holocene to late Pleistocene timescales.

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“…Freshly trapped aeolian material is incorporated into the Av horizon by translocation along boundary cracks and macropores to ped interiours. The Av horizon experiences volumetric changes through shrinking and swelling, which in terms help to maintain the clasts at the surface (McFadden et al, 1986(McFadden et al, , 1998Anderson et al, 2002). These co-genetic processes of accretionary aeolian mantle deposition, pavement formation, and soil formation act together and yield a vertical sequence that thickens over time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stone pavement-covered accretionary deposits on basalt flows, alluvial fans and palaeo-shore lines in many deserts have already been extensively investigated in terms of relative age indicator (eg., Dan et al, 1982;McFadden, 1988;McFadden et al, 1998;Dunkerley, 1995;Al-Farraj and Harvey, 2000). With time the degree of soil development increases, expressed for example by increasing values of the profile development index (Harden et al, 1991) or increasing secondary carbonate contents and carbonate morphology stages.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental history recorded in aeolian deposits under stone pavements, Mojave Desert, USA

Dietze

Lomax

et al. 2016

Quat. res.

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Reconstructing the evolution of arid landscapes is challenged by limited availability of appropriate environmental archives. A wide-spread surface feature -stone pavement -traps aeolian fines and forms a special accretionary archive. Seven stone pavement-covered sections on basalt flows in the eastern Mojave Desert are condensed to a composite section, comprising five sedimentological units, supported by an OSL-based chronology. Three of the units are of accretionary nature and each is covered by a stone pavement. They were deposited >50.9-36.6 ka, <36.6-14.2 ka and <14.2 ka and are intimately coupled with the history of nearby Lake Mojave, which advances the current picture of regional aeolian activity. End-member modelling analysis of grain-size distributions yielded seven sediment transport regimes. The accretionary system operates in two modes: A) episodic formation of a stone pavement by lateral processes once a vesicular horizon has formed on a barren surface and B) accretion of dust and eventually burial of the clast layer. These findings improve current concepts about stone pavement evolution and their environmental proxy function in arid landscapes. Stone pavement-covered accretionary deposits are a new key archive that allows quantifying the relative importance of dust accretion, slope processes, soil formation and vegetation cover.

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The vesicular layer and carbonate collars of desert soils and pavements: formation, age and relation to climate change

Cited by 188 publications

References 80 publications

Dating desert pavements – First results from a challenging environmental archive

Dating desert pavements – First results from a challenging environmental archive

Desert pavement dynamics: numerical modeling and field‐based calibration

Environmental history recorded in aeolian deposits under stone pavements, Mojave Desert, USA

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