Late Quaternary glacial and climate history of the Pamir Mountains derived from cosmogenic Be exposure ages

Moraines southwest of Lake Yashilkul, Pamir, Tajikistan, were dated using ¹⁰Be exposure ages of boulder surfaces. We found evidence for (1) an extensive glaciation ∼60,000 yr ago; (2) a less extensive glacial advance, which deposited a characteristic hummocky moraine lobe with exposure ages ranging from ∼11,000 to 47,000 yr, probably deposited at or before 47,000 yr ago; and (3) lateral moraines with exposure ages of ∼40,000 yr, 27,000 yr and 19,000 yr, respectively. Increasing aridity in the Pamir is most likely responsible for the progressively limited extent of the glaciers during the Late Pleistocene.     

Geomorphology and glacial history of Rauer Group, East Antarctica

The presence of glacial sediments across the Rauer Group indicates that the East Antarctic ice sheet formerly covered the entire archipelago and has since retreated at least 15 km from its maximum extent. The degree of weathering of these glacial sediments suggests that ice retreat from this maximum position occurred sometime during the latter half of the last glacial cycle. Following this phase of retreat, the ice sheet margin has not expanded more than ∼ 1 km seaward of its present position. This pattern of ice sheet change matches that recorded in Vestfold Hills, providing further evidence that the diminutive Marine Isotope Stage 2 ice sheet advance in the nearby Larsemann Hills may have been influenced by local factors rather than a regional ice-sheet response to climate and sea-level change.     

Marine biogeochemistries of Be and Al: A study based on cosmogenic10Be, Be and Al in marine calcite, aragonite, and opal

The geochemical behaviors of Be and Al in ocean waters have been successfully studied in recent years using natural, cosmogenic, radioactive¹⁰Be and²⁶Al as tracers. The present day dissolved concentrations and distribution of the stable and radioactive isotopes of Be and Al in ocean waters have revealed their short residence times and appreciable effects of exchange fluxes at the coastal and ocean-sediment interfaces. It follows that concentrations of these particle-active elements must have varied in the past with temporal changes in climate, biological productivity and aeolian flux of continental detritus to the oceans. We therefore investigated the feasibility of extending the measurements of Be and Al isotope concentrations in marine systems to the 10³–10⁶ y BP time scale. We report here the discovery of significant amounts of intrinsic Be and Al in marine foraminiferal calcite and coral aragonite, and of Al in opal (radiolarians) and aragonite (coral), which makes it possible to determine¹⁰Be/Be and²⁶Al/Al in oceans in the past. We also report measured¹⁰Be/⁹Be in foraminiferal calcite in Pacific Ocean cores, which reveal that the concentrations and ratios of the stable and cosmogenic isotopes of Be and Al have varied significantly in the past 30 ky. The implications of these results are discussed.     

Cosmogenic10Be: A critical view on its widespread dominion in geosciences

The radionuclide¹⁰Be (half-life = 1.5my), produced naturally in the Earth’s atmosphere by nuclear interactions of cosmic rays, was sought in ocean sediments in the late fifties, considering its potential usefulness as a radiotracer for dating sediments.¹⁰Be was discovered independently by two groups, one in India and the other in the USA, and used only for dating marine sediments and manganese nodules until the seventies. Subsequently, as a result of a technical advance resulting in the improvement in the sensitivity of measurement of¹⁰Be by about a factor of 10⁶, there was a global rush to measure this nuclide in most materials participating in the physical, chemical and biological processes in the dynamic geosphere. This paper outlines the reasons for this “isotope rush”, and the lessons learned from these studies. I also present my personal views of the special attractive features of this nuclide on the one hand, and on the other, the pitfalls or the wrong message this nuclide could convey!     

Periglacial climate at the 2.5 Ma onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciation inferred from the Whippoorwill Formation, northern Missouri, USA

The Whippoorwill Formation is a gleyed diamicton that is present locally within bedrock depressions beneath the oldest glacial till in northern Missouri, USA. Stratigraphy, paleomagnetism, and cosmogenic-nuclide burial ages show that it was deposited between the Matuyama-Gauss magnetostratigraphic boundary at 2.58 Ma and the first advance of the Laurentide ice sheet into Missouri at 2.47 ± 0.19 Ma. High cosmogenic-nuclide concentrations also show that the constituents of the Whippoorwill Formation experienced long exposure at a stable landscape surface with erosion rates of 1-2 m/Ma. However, cosmogenic-nuclide concentrations are invariant with depth below the Whippoorwill Formation surface, indicating active mixing of the soil profile shortly before burial by till. The Whippoorwill Formation retains numerous features indicative of cryoturbation. Therefore, we interpret it as a buried Gelisol, a soil formed under periglacial conditions in the presence of permafrost. At the onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciation, climate cooling established permafrost conditions and accelerated erosion by inducing landscape instability. Thus, weathered regolith materials were mobilized and redeposited by gelifluction shortly before the ice sheet overrode the landscape.     

地面测年技术--宇生同位素测年

宇生同位素测年法是一种用于地面测年的技术,它能够测出103～106a之间的地貌面的裸露年代。常用的宇生同位素有³He、¹⁰Be、²¹Ne、²⁶A1、³⁶Cl。地面宇生同位素的浓度与时间和地面侵蚀速率之间存在着函数关系。该测年法在地貌学年代测量中具有很大的潜力。     

原地生成宇宙成因核素暴露和埋藏年龄计算方法的统一

原地生成宇宙成因核素测年技术计算暴露和埋藏年龄以往分属于不同的计算方法体系,采用的计算等式不同。实际上,无论是暴露过程还是埋藏过程,都涉及了核素的新生和已生成核素的减少,其浓度计算方法原理上有相通之处。考察被研究样品历史上某时点的状态,侵蚀使样品距地表深度不断减小,埋藏使样品距地表深度不断增加,刚好是一种相反的过程,而原地生成宇宙成因核素的生成速率与距地表深度呈指数函数形式相关。本文按照原地生成宇宙成因核素浓度与暴露时间、侵蚀速率间关系的计算原理,推导出在匀速埋藏过程中,计算被测试样品的浓度随时间的变化时,以样品目前生成速率为标准,可将埋藏速率(β)视为负侵蚀速率(-ε),从而将暴露年龄和埋藏年龄的计算等式统一起来。非匀速埋藏情况,通过求导计算,仍可视埋藏为负侵蚀。在埋藏速率和侵蚀速率用同一参数指代,埋藏速率可视为负侵蚀速率的基础上,推导出不同埋藏(侵蚀)模式下样品的核素浓度计算等式。理论上根据不同埋藏(侵蚀)模式,可计算复杂地表演化过程样品的埋藏(暴露)年龄。

     

Did large ice caps persist on low ground in north‐west Scotland during the Lateglacial Interstade?

Recent research based primarily on exposure ages of boulders on moraines has suggested that extensive ice masses persisted in fjords and across low ground in north‐west Scotland throughout the Lateglacial Interstade (≈ Greenland Interstade 1, ca. 14.7–12.9 ka), and that glacier ice was much more extensive in this area during the Older Dryas chronozone (ca. 14.0 ka) than during the Younger Dryas Stade (ca. 12.9–11.7 ka). We have recalibrated the same exposure age data using locally derived ¹⁰Be production rates. This increases the original mean ages by 6.5–12%, implying moraine deposition between ca. 14.3 and ca. 15.1 ka, and we infer a most probable age of ca. 14.7 ka based on palaeoclimatic considerations. The internal consistency of the ages implies that the dated moraines represent a single readvance of the ice margin (the Wester Ross Readvance). Pollen–stratigraphic evidence from a Lateglacial site at Loch Droma on the present drainage divide demonstrates deglaciation before ca. 14.0 ka, and therefore implies extensive deglaciation of all low ground and fjords in this area during the first half of the interstade (ca. 14.7–14.0 ka). This inference appears consistent with Lateglacial radiocarbon dates for shells recovered from glacimarine sediments and a dated tephra layer. Our revised chronology conflicts with earlier proposals that substantial dynamic ice caps persisted in Scotland between 14 and 13 ka, that large active glaciers probably survived throughout the Lateglacial Interstade and that ice extent was greater during the Older Dryas period than during the Younger Dryas Stade. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

昆仑山垭口地区\"望昆冰期\"冰碛宇宙成因核素10Be测年

昆仑山垭口地区是东昆仑山现代冰川作用中心之一,在第四纪冰期间冰期旋回中保留了多套较为完整的冰川沉积.位于垭口盆地西侧山脊上的望昆冰碛,是本区已知最老的冰川沉积.应用宇宙成因核素10Be暴露年龄方法对望昆冰碛进行年代测定,5个样品中有4个介于(56.9±5.6)～(38.2±3.5)ka BP之间,相当于MIS3阶段,明显年轻于前人所测ESR和古地磁年代,且与地貌系列不符.这一结果不能代表望昆冰碛的实际年代,而应为所测漂砾后期暴露的年代,反映了MIS3阶段昆仑山垭口地区曾遭受过强烈地表剥蚀过程.望昆冰碛10Be暴露年龄显著地年轻,表明应用宇宙核素暴露年代测定冰碛物形成时代具有复杂性,应充分考虑后期剥蚀等地表过程,并应使用其他测年方法进行相互验证.     

原地宇宙成因核素暴露测年方法中石英的提取

原地宇宙成因核素10Be和26Al的暴露年龄测定是近年来发展较快的测年技术,已在地学研究中得到广泛应用。该方法需要选用经一系列前处理过程获得的纯净石英作为待测样品,制备成BeO和Al2O3以供加速器质谱仪测量。因此获得高纯度的石英样品,是该测年方法的关键环节之一。本研究在已有报道的石英提纯化学流程的基础上,尝试对流程进行部分优化,通过实验对比不同粒径组分、不同固液比水浴振荡器和滚筒HF-HNO3蚀刻效果,确定使用HF-HNO3(1%或2%,固液比15.0 g/L)滚筒加热法刻蚀样品以去除铝硅酸盐,多钨酸钠重液分离样品中的石英和其他组分。优化的分离纯化流程应用于处理采自祁连山北缘河流阶地含石英的岩石样品,经纯化的石英纯度可达98%以上,Al的含量小于200μg/g,表明采用优化的提取流程获得了高纯度的石英样品,可以满足10Be和26Al暴露测年所需样品要求。     

Glacial advances constrained by Be exposure dating of bedrock landslides, Kyrgyz Tien Shan

Numerous large landslide deposits occur in the Tien Shan, a tectonically active intraplate orogen in Central Asia. Yet their significance in Quaternary landscape evolution and natural hazard assessment remains unresolved due to the lack of "absolute" age constraints. Here we present the first ¹⁰Be exposure ages for three prominent (> 10⁷ m³) bedrock landslides that blocked major rivers and formed lakes, two of which subsequently breached, in the northern Kyrgyz Tien Shan. Three ¹⁰Be ages reveal that one landslide in the Alamyedin River occurred at 11–15 ka, which is consistent with two ¹⁴C ages of gastropod shells from reworked loess capping the landslide. One large landslide in Aksu River is among the oldest documented in semi-arid continental interiors, with a ¹⁰Be age of 63–67 ka. The Ukok River landslide deposit(s) yielded variable ¹⁰Be ages, which may result from multiple landslides, and inheritance of ¹⁰Be. Two ¹⁰Be ages of 8.2 and 5.9 ka suggest that one major landslide occurred in the early to mid-Holocene, followed by at least one other event between 1.5 and 0.4 ka. Judging from the regional glacial chronology, all three landslides have occurred between major regional glacial advances. Whereas Alamyedin and Ukok can be considered as postglacial in this context, Aksu is of interglacial age. None of the landslide deposits show traces of glacial erosion, hence their locations and ¹⁰Be ages mark maximum extents and minimum ages of glacial advances, respectively. Using toe-to-headwall altitude ratios of 0.4–0.5, we reconstruct minimum equilibrium-line altitudes that exceed previous estimates by as much as 400 m along the moister northern fringe of the Tien Shan. Our data show that deposits from large landslides can provide valuable spatio-temporal constraints for glacial advances in landscapes where moraines and glacial deposits have low preservation potential.     

Records of climatic changes and volcanic events in an ice core from Central Dronning Maud Land (East Antarctica) during the past century

The depth profiles of electrical conductance, δ¹⁸O,²¹⁰Pb and cosmogenic radio isotopes¹⁰Be and³⁶Cl have been measured in a 30 m ice core from east Antarctica near the Indian station, Dakshin Gangotri. Using²¹⁰Pb and δ¹⁸O, the mean annual accumulation rates have been calculated to be 20 and 21 cm of ice equivalent per year during the past ∼ 150 years. Using these acumulation rates, the volcanic event that occurred in 1815 AD, has been identified based on electrical conductance measurements. Based on δ¹⁸O measurements, the mean annual surface air temperatures (MASAT) data observed during the last 150 years indicates that the beginning of the 19th century was cooler by about 2‡ C than the recent past and the middle of 18th century. The fallout of cosmogenic radio isotope¹⁰Be compares reasonably well with those obtained on other stations (73‡ S to 90‡ S) from Antarctica and higher latitudes beyond 77‡N. The fallout of³⁶Cl calculated based on the present work agrees well with the mean global production rate estimated earlier by Lal and Peters (1967). The bomb pulse of³⁶Cl observed in Greenland is not observed in the present studies – a result which is puzzling and needs to be studied on neighbouring ice cores from the same region.     

宇生核素26Al/10Be埋藏测年法铝化学分析程序的改进

原地宇生核素26Al/10Be埋藏测年法是最近十多年涌现的测年新技术之一,广泛应用于地貌演化、古人类等研究领域,Al回收率及其纯度很大程度上决定着年代结果的精度.美国Purdue大学现用Al分离纯化程序有一些步骤尚待完善.本文通过条件实验,对该程序提出如下修改建议:①用38 ～ 75 μm阴离子交换树脂取代原用的75 ～ 150 μm树脂,以减少淋洗液(0.05 mol/L草酸-0.5 mol/L盐酸)体积并实现Al与主要干扰元素Fe、Ti的定量分离;②用阳离子交换法从草酸-盐酸中提取Al,以规避较为冗长的化学法破坏草酸.模拟样品的分析结果表明,经改进的两步骤可实现Al近于定量的回收,全流程Al回收率达91％-+5％,纯度为98％.     

暴露测年样品中26Al和10Be分离及其加速器质谱测定

在已有实验流程基础上,建立并优化了石英样品中Be和Al提取、纯化等实验流程,设计的流程条件实验包括实验试剂、器皿和离子交换柱选择、离子交换树脂分离Be和Al时酸浓度选择等。结果表明,选择钢铁研究总院研制的⁹Be标准溶液作为¹⁰Be样品制备的载体;使用一次性实验器皿;选用4 cm规格的离子交换柱;用0.05 mol/L草酸和0.75 mol/L盐酸混合溶液洗脱吸附于阴离子树脂上的Al,可有效提取、纯化样品中的Be和Al。加速器质谱(AMS)测量结果显示,13组化学空白的¹⁰Be/⁹Be和²⁶Al/²⁷Al比值平均值分别为7.48×10^-15和1.96×10^-15,与国内已有宇宙成因核素实验室的结果(5×10^-15~8×10^-15)具有可比性。电感耦合等离子体发射光谱(ICP-AES)的测量结果表明,Be、Al回收率分别达90%和60%。基于新建立的实验流程分析了祁连山北侧金佛寺的一个岩石样品,获得了¹⁰Be和²⁶Al的暴露年代分别为(10.7±1.0) ka和(10.0±1.2) ka,与前人研究结果一致。     

Uplift and active tectonics of southern Albania inferred from incision of alluvial terraces

In Albania, the Osum and Vjoje rivers cross the active graben system and the active frontal thrust system of the Albanides. The effects of climatic and geodynamic forcing on the development of these two rivers were investigated by the means of field mapping, topographic surveying and absolute exposure-age dating. We established the chronology of terraces abandonment from the compilation of new dating (¹⁴C and in situ produced ¹⁰Be) and previously published data. We identified nine fluvial terraces units developed since Marine Isotope Stage 6 up to historic times. From this reconstituted history, we quantified the vertical uplift on a time scale shorter than the glacial climatic cycle. Regional bulging produces an overall increase of the incision rate from the west to the east that reaches a maximum value of 2.8 m/ka in the hinterland. Local pulses of incision are generated by activation of normal faults. The most active faults have a SW–NE trend and a vertical slip rate ranging from 1.8 to 2.2 m/ka. This study outlines the geodynamic control in the development of rivers flowing through the Albanides on the scale of 10³–10⁵ka.     

西藏列廷冈-勒青拉矽卡岩型Fe-Cu-Pb-Zn多金属矿床白云母40Ar/39Ar年龄及其地质意义

以列廷冈-勒青拉Fe-Cu-Pb-Zn多金属矿床为研究对象,通过对其Fe矿化阶段白云母的定年研究,从成矿流体演化持续时间的角度对该问题进行了新的探索。系统的野外踏勘、显微镜下观察和电子探针工作表明,列廷冈-勒青拉矿床中发育与磁铁矿共生的白云母。对白云母进行的Ar-Ar同位素测年工作表明,白云母Ar-Ar坪年龄为51.00±0.38 Ma,等时线年龄为50.45±0.62 Ma,认为其代表了列廷冈-勒青拉矿床氧化物阶段铁矿化过程中开始结晶的白云母达到Ar-Ar体系封闭后的年龄。对比前人得出的辉钼矿年龄(61.96±0.58 Ma),提出二者年龄的差异可能由于不同同位素体系在不同矿物中封闭温度的不同所致,认为该矿床热液演化经历了较长时间,演化过程导致的温度梯度的出现加剧了岩浆热液中带来的多金属物质(如Pb、Zn、Cu、Fe)的分异,为矿区多种金属矿物的共存提供了重要条件;该矿床所属的冈底斯北成矿亚带相比较于其它两个成矿亚带具有更长的岩浆演化时间和区域矿化持续时间,与其丰富的矿种组合发育相一致。