A comparison of rates of hornblende etching in soils in glacial deposits of the northern Rocky Mountains: Influence of climate and characteristics of parent material
- Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States). Dept. of Geology
- Indiana Univ.--Purdue Univ., Indianapolis, IN (United States). Dept. of Geology
Etching rates of hornblende grains in the soil matrix of glacial deposits in the Northern Rocky Mountains are dependent primarily upon the influences on soil moisture of the climate and texture of the parent materials. Etching is measured as the deepest penetration of weathering along cleavages. Previous works have shown that hornblende etching is a logarithmic function of depth. Hornblende etching is also a logarithmic function of age of the parent material, with etching rates declining rapidly after initially high rates during the first 10 to 15 kyr after deposition. A comparison of etching rates was made among four chronosequences from the Wind River Range, Wyoming and the Tobacco Root Range, Montana, which have differences in mean annual precipitation (MAP) and texture of the till parent materials. Using rates calculated from both ranges for the first 12 kyr after deposition, etching is slowest (0.02 [mu]m/1,000 yrs) in coarse-textured granitic parent materials where the MAP is 25--40 cm. In contrast, etching is faster by an order of magnitude (0.21 [mu]m/1,000 yrs) where MAP is 110--150 cm and the parent material is finer textured due to about 15% sedimentary rock material mixed with a granitic component. Within individual chronosequences, deposits at higher elevations have accelerated etching rates due to higher orographic precipitation or the influence of late-lying snow. These factors result in higher soil moisture content.
- OSTI ID:
- 5023911
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9305259-; CODEN: GAAPBC
- Journal Information:
- Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Vol. 25:5; Conference: 89. annual meeting of the Cordilleran Section and the 46th annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Section of the Geological Society of America (GSA), Reno, NV (United States), 19-21 May 1993; ISSN 0016-7592
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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