Subsurface architecture of the Boulder Creek Critical Zone Observatory from electrical resistivity tomography
ABSTRACT The architecture of the critical zone includes the distribution, thickness, and contacts of various types of slope deposits and weathering products such as saprolite and weathered bedrock resting on solid bedrock. A quantitative analysis of architecture is necessary for many model‐driven ap...
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crwiley:10.1002/esp.3420 2024-09-15T18:30:12+00:00 Subsurface architecture of the Boulder Creek Critical Zone Observatory from electrical resistivity tomography Leopold, Matthias Völkel, Jörg Huber, Juliane Dethier, David 2013 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/esp.3420 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fesp.3420 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/esp.3420 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Earth Surface Processes and Landforms volume 38, issue 12, page 1417-1431 ISSN 0197-9337 1096-9837 journal-article 2013 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3420 2024-08-06T04:15:57Z ABSTRACT The architecture of the critical zone includes the distribution, thickness, and contacts of various types of slope deposits and weathering products such as saprolite and weathered bedrock resting on solid bedrock. A quantitative analysis of architecture is necessary for many model‐driven approaches used by pedologic, geomorphic, hydrologic or biologic studies. We have used electrical resistivity tomography, a well‐established geophysical technique causing minimum surficial disturbance, to portray the subsurface electrical resistivity differences at three study sites (Green Lakes Valley; Gordon Gulch; Betasso) at the Boulder Creek Critical Zone Observatory (BcCZO). Possible limitations of the technique are discussed. Interpretation of the specific resistivity values using natural outcrops, pits, roadcuts and drilling data as ground truth information allows us to image the critical zone architecture of each site. Green Lakes Valley (3700 MASL), a glacially eroded alpine basin, shows a rather simple, split configuration with coarse blockfields and sediments, partly containing permafrost above bedrock. The critical zone in Gordon Gulch (2650 MASL), a montane basin with rolling hills, and Betasso (1925 MASL), a lower montane basin with v‐shaped valleys, is more variable due to a complex Quaternary geomorphic history. Boundaries between overlying stratified slope deposits and saprolite were identified at mean depths of 3.0 ± 2.2 m and 4.1 ± 3.6 m in the respective sites. The boundary between saprolite and weathered bedrock is deeper in Betasso at 5.8 ± 3.7 m, compared with 4.3 ± 3.0 m in Gordon Gulch. In general, the data are consistent with results from seismic studies, but electrical resistivity tomography documents a 0.5–1.5 m shallower critical zone above the weathered bedrock on average. Additionally, we document high lateral variability, which results from the weathering and sedimentation history and seems to be a consistent aspect of critical zone architecture within the BcCZO. Copyright © 2013 John ... Article in Journal/Newspaper permafrost Wiley Online Library Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 38 12 1417 1431 |
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English |
description |
ABSTRACT The architecture of the critical zone includes the distribution, thickness, and contacts of various types of slope deposits and weathering products such as saprolite and weathered bedrock resting on solid bedrock. A quantitative analysis of architecture is necessary for many model‐driven approaches used by pedologic, geomorphic, hydrologic or biologic studies. We have used electrical resistivity tomography, a well‐established geophysical technique causing minimum surficial disturbance, to portray the subsurface electrical resistivity differences at three study sites (Green Lakes Valley; Gordon Gulch; Betasso) at the Boulder Creek Critical Zone Observatory (BcCZO). Possible limitations of the technique are discussed. Interpretation of the specific resistivity values using natural outcrops, pits, roadcuts and drilling data as ground truth information allows us to image the critical zone architecture of each site. Green Lakes Valley (3700 MASL), a glacially eroded alpine basin, shows a rather simple, split configuration with coarse blockfields and sediments, partly containing permafrost above bedrock. The critical zone in Gordon Gulch (2650 MASL), a montane basin with rolling hills, and Betasso (1925 MASL), a lower montane basin with v‐shaped valleys, is more variable due to a complex Quaternary geomorphic history. Boundaries between overlying stratified slope deposits and saprolite were identified at mean depths of 3.0 ± 2.2 m and 4.1 ± 3.6 m in the respective sites. The boundary between saprolite and weathered bedrock is deeper in Betasso at 5.8 ± 3.7 m, compared with 4.3 ± 3.0 m in Gordon Gulch. In general, the data are consistent with results from seismic studies, but electrical resistivity tomography documents a 0.5–1.5 m shallower critical zone above the weathered bedrock on average. Additionally, we document high lateral variability, which results from the weathering and sedimentation history and seems to be a consistent aspect of critical zone architecture within the BcCZO. Copyright © 2013 John ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Leopold, Matthias Völkel, Jörg Huber, Juliane Dethier, David |
spellingShingle |
Leopold, Matthias Völkel, Jörg Huber, Juliane Dethier, David Subsurface architecture of the Boulder Creek Critical Zone Observatory from electrical resistivity tomography |
author_facet |
Leopold, Matthias Völkel, Jörg Huber, Juliane Dethier, David |
author_sort |
Leopold, Matthias |
title |
Subsurface architecture of the Boulder Creek Critical Zone Observatory from electrical resistivity tomography |
title_short |
Subsurface architecture of the Boulder Creek Critical Zone Observatory from electrical resistivity tomography |
title_full |
Subsurface architecture of the Boulder Creek Critical Zone Observatory from electrical resistivity tomography |
title_fullStr |
Subsurface architecture of the Boulder Creek Critical Zone Observatory from electrical resistivity tomography |
title_full_unstemmed |
Subsurface architecture of the Boulder Creek Critical Zone Observatory from electrical resistivity tomography |
title_sort |
subsurface architecture of the boulder creek critical zone observatory from electrical resistivity tomography |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/esp.3420 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fesp.3420 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/esp.3420 |
genre |
permafrost |
genre_facet |
permafrost |
op_source |
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms volume 38, issue 12, page 1417-1431 ISSN 0197-9337 1096-9837 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3420 |
container_title |
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms |
container_volume |
38 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
1417 |
op_container_end_page |
1431 |
_version_ |
1810471668428046336 |