Buried soils of Late Quaternary moraines of the Wind River Mountains, Wyoming

Conference · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1992 · Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:5504931

Dahms, D E ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA (United States). Geography Dept.

Buried soils occur on kettle floors of four Pinedale moraine catenas of the western Wind River Mountains of Wyoming. Radiocarbon ages from bulk samples of Ab horizons indicate the soils were buried during the mid-Holocene. Soils on kettle floors have silty A and Bw horizons that overlie buried A and B horizons that also formed in silt-rich sediments. Crests and backslope soils also have A and Bw horizons of sandy loam formed over 2BCb and 2Cb horizons of stony coarse loamy sand. Recent data show the silty textures of the A and B horizons are due to eolian silt and clay from the Green River Basin just west of the mountains. The buried soils appear to represent alternate periods of erosion and deposition on the moraines during the Holocene. The original soils developed on higher slopes of the moraines were eroded during the mid-Holocene and the 2BC and 2C horizons exposed at the surface. Eroded soil sediments were transported downslope onto the kettle floors. Following erosion, silt-rich eolian sediments accumulated on all surfaces and mixed with the BC and C horizons (the mixed loess of Shroba and Birkeland). The present surface soils developed within this silt-rich material. Stone lines often occur at the Bw-2BCb/2Cb boundary, and mark the depth to which the earlier soils were eroded. Thus, soil profiles at the four localities result from two periods of soil formation, interrupted by an interval of erosion during the mid-Holocene. Moraines of this study are adjacent to the Fremont Lake type area for the Pinedale glaciation of the Rocky Mountains. Buried soils in kettles of the moraines indicates the soil characteristics of the Pinedale type region are not necessarily due to continuous post-Pinedale development, but may result from more than one episode of soil formation.

• OSTI ID: 5504931
• Report Number(s): CONF-921058--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States) Journal Volume: 24:7
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
580000* -- Geosciences
AGE ESTIMATION
CENOZOIC ERA
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
EROSION
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGY
GLACIERS
LITHOLOGY
MORAINES
NORTH AMERICA
ORIGIN
PETROLOGY
QUATERNARY PERIOD
SOILS
USA
WYOMING