Polar desert chronologies through quantitative measurements of salt accumulation
We measured salt concentration and speciation in the top horizons of moraine sediments from the Transantarctic Mountains (Antarctica) and compared the salt data to cosmogenic-nuclide exposure ages on the same moraine. Because the salts are primarily of atmospheric origin, and their delivery to the s...
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Geological Society of America
2018
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Online Access: | https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/41621/ https://doi.org/10.1130/g39650.1 |
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ftunivnorthumb:oai:nrl.northumbria.ac.uk:41621 2023-05-15T13:41:26+02:00 Polar desert chronologies through quantitative measurements of salt accumulation Graly, Joseph A. Licht, Kathy J. Druschel, Gregory K. Kaplan, Michael R. 2018-04-01 https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/41621/ https://doi.org/10.1130/g39650.1 unknown Geological Society of America Graly, Joseph A., Licht, Kathy J., Druschel, Gregory K. and Kaplan, Michael R. (2018) Polar desert chronologies through quantitative measurements of salt accumulation. Geology, 46 (4). pp. 351-354. ISSN 0091-7613 F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences Article PeerReviewed 2018 ftunivnorthumb https://doi.org/10.1130/g39650.1 2022-09-25T06:11:09Z We measured salt concentration and speciation in the top horizons of moraine sediments from the Transantarctic Mountains (Antarctica) and compared the salt data to cosmogenic-nuclide exposure ages on the same moraine. Because the salts are primarily of atmospheric origin, and their delivery to the sediment is constant over relevant time scales, a linear rate of accumulation is expected. When salts are measured in a consistent grain-size fraction and at a consistent position within the soil column, a linear correlation between salt concentration and exposure age is evident. This correlation is strongest for boron-containing salts (R2 > 0.99), but is also strong (R2 ≈ 0.9) for most other water-extracted salt species. The relative mobility of salts in the soil column does not correspond to species solubility (borate is highly soluble). Instead, the highly consistent behavior of boron within the soil column is best explained by the extremely low vapor pressure of boric acid at cold temperatures. The environment is sufficiently dry that mobility of salt species within the soil column is controlled by vapor phase effects. In other cold desert settings, topsoil salts, specifically boron, may be employed as a proxy for relative sediment exposure age. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica polar desert Northumbria University, Newcastle: Northumbria Research Link (NRL) Transantarctic Mountains Geology 46 4 351 354 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Northumbria University, Newcastle: Northumbria Research Link (NRL) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivnorthumb |
language |
unknown |
topic |
F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences |
spellingShingle |
F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences Graly, Joseph A. Licht, Kathy J. Druschel, Gregory K. Kaplan, Michael R. Polar desert chronologies through quantitative measurements of salt accumulation |
topic_facet |
F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences |
description |
We measured salt concentration and speciation in the top horizons of moraine sediments from the Transantarctic Mountains (Antarctica) and compared the salt data to cosmogenic-nuclide exposure ages on the same moraine. Because the salts are primarily of atmospheric origin, and their delivery to the sediment is constant over relevant time scales, a linear rate of accumulation is expected. When salts are measured in a consistent grain-size fraction and at a consistent position within the soil column, a linear correlation between salt concentration and exposure age is evident. This correlation is strongest for boron-containing salts (R2 > 0.99), but is also strong (R2 ≈ 0.9) for most other water-extracted salt species. The relative mobility of salts in the soil column does not correspond to species solubility (borate is highly soluble). Instead, the highly consistent behavior of boron within the soil column is best explained by the extremely low vapor pressure of boric acid at cold temperatures. The environment is sufficiently dry that mobility of salt species within the soil column is controlled by vapor phase effects. In other cold desert settings, topsoil salts, specifically boron, may be employed as a proxy for relative sediment exposure age. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Graly, Joseph A. Licht, Kathy J. Druschel, Gregory K. Kaplan, Michael R. |
author_facet |
Graly, Joseph A. Licht, Kathy J. Druschel, Gregory K. Kaplan, Michael R. |
author_sort |
Graly, Joseph A. |
title |
Polar desert chronologies through quantitative measurements of salt accumulation |
title_short |
Polar desert chronologies through quantitative measurements of salt accumulation |
title_full |
Polar desert chronologies through quantitative measurements of salt accumulation |
title_fullStr |
Polar desert chronologies through quantitative measurements of salt accumulation |
title_full_unstemmed |
Polar desert chronologies through quantitative measurements of salt accumulation |
title_sort |
polar desert chronologies through quantitative measurements of salt accumulation |
publisher |
Geological Society of America |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/41621/ https://doi.org/10.1130/g39650.1 |
geographic |
Transantarctic Mountains |
geographic_facet |
Transantarctic Mountains |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica polar desert |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica polar desert |
op_relation |
Graly, Joseph A., Licht, Kathy J., Druschel, Gregory K. and Kaplan, Michael R. (2018) Polar desert chronologies through quantitative measurements of salt accumulation. Geology, 46 (4). pp. 351-354. ISSN 0091-7613 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1130/g39650.1 |
container_title |
Geology |
container_volume |
46 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
351 |
op_container_end_page |
354 |
_version_ |
1766150821440913408 |