Cosmogenic {sup 36}Cl accumulation in unstable landforms 2. Simulations and measurements on eroding moraines
- New Mexico Tech., Socorro, NM (United States)
- Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)
Cosmogenic {sup 36}Cl ages of boulders from late Pleistocene moraines in Bishop Creek, Sierra Nevada, California, provided valuable details about {sup 36}Cl surface exposure dating and the nature of post depositional processes that modify glacial landforms. The natural variability of the apparent {sup 36}Cl ages among morainal boulders is due to soil erosion and gradual exposure of boulders at the surface. Two mechanisms are responsible for the resulting distributions of the apparent {sup 36}Cl ages. Variability of the initial burial depth among boulders and variability in the chemical composition of boulders from the same depth both result in different {sup 36}Cl ages due to the dependence of the depth production profile on the boulder chemistry. The authors measured cosmogenic {sup 36}Cl in boulders from a late Pleistocene moraine. The distribution of the calculated apparent ages allowed them to calculate the true age of 85 kyr and the erosion rate of 570 g cm{sup -2}. These results are in excellent agreement with independently estimated values of 87 kyr and 600 g cm{sup -2} for the age and erosion depth, respectively. These results indicate that the model satisfactorily simulates effects of erosion processes and can thus aid in surface exposure dating of eroding landforms.
- OSTI ID:
- 41799
- Journal Information:
- Water Resources Research, Vol. 30, Issue 11; Other Information: PBD: Nov 1994
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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