Soil Development in Recent Loess in the Matanuska Valley, Alaska

Rieger, Samuel; Juve, R. L.

doi:10.2136/sssaj1961.03615995002500030029x

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…6). These observations support those of earlier workers (Rieger and Juve, 1961;Trainer, 1961;Schoephorster, 1968;Clark and Kautz, 1998) that the degree of podzolization in the Matanuska Valley increases to the west. …”

Section: Chemical Weathering In Surface Soils Of Matanuska Valley Loesssupporting

confidence: 90%

Holocene loess deposition and soil formation as competing processes, Matanuska Valley, Southern Alaska

et al. 2004

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Although loess -paleosol sequences are among the most important records of Quaternary climate change and past dust deposition cycles, few modern examples of such sedimentation systems have been studied. Stratigraphic studies and 22 new accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon ages from the Matanuska Valley in southern Alaska show that loess deposition there began sometime after f6500 14 C yr B.P. and has continued to the present. The silts are produced through grinding by the Matanuska and Knik glaciers, deposited as outwash, entrained by strong winds, and redeposited as loess. Over a downwind distance of f40 km, loess thickness, sand content, and sand-pluscoarse-silt content decrease, whereas fine-silt content increases. Loess deposition was episodic, as shown by the presence of paleosols, at distances >10 km from the outwash plain loess source. Stratigraphic complexity is at a maximum (i.e., the greatest number of loesses and paleosols) at intermediate (10 -25 km) distances from the loess source. Surface soils increase in degree of development with distance downwind from the source, where sedimentation rates are lower. Proximal soils are Entisols or Inceptisols, whereas distal soils are Spodosols. Ratios of mobile CaO, K 2 O, and Fe 2 O 3 to immobile TiO 2 show decreases in surface horizons with distance from the source. Thus, as in China, where loess deposition also takes place today, eolian sedimentation and soil formation are competing processes. Study of loess and paleosols in southern Alaska shows that particle size can vary over short distances, loess deposition can be episodic over limited time intervals, and soils developed in stabilized loess can show considerable variability under the same vegetation.

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Section: Chemical Weathering In Surface Soils Of Matanuska Valley Loesssupporting

confidence: 90%

Holocene loess deposition and soil formation as competing processes, Matanuska Valley, Southern Alaska

et al. 2004

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“…This characteristic is considered to be inherited from the till, which is probably derived from rocks most readily comminuted into fine sand-sized material under glacial crushing and abrasion (Dreimanis and Vagners, 1972). Also of possible relevance to this size distribution is the observation that the 200-60pm fraction coincides with the size range of aeolian material reported from investigations in Norway (Holtedahl, 1953;Klemsdal, 1969;Worsley and Alexander, 1976) and Iceland (Boulton and Dent, 1974), while the 6620pm range is similar to that of wind-blown material in Alaska (Swineford and Frye, 1945;PCwC, 1951;Rieger and Juve, 1961). It is possible, therefore, that some of the fine sand fraction is of an aeolian origin, particularly in the Regosol, where there is a surface maximum of 200-20pm material.…”

Section: Particle Sizesupporting

confidence: 79%

AN INVESTIGATION OF WEATHERING IN SOME ARCTIC‐ALPINE SOILS ON THE NORTHEAST FLANK OF OKSSKOLTEN, NORTH NORWAY¹

Ellis

1980

Journal of Soil Science

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Morphological. particle sizc and mineralogical analyses of three soils iiidicate that the degree of weathering during pedogenesis has been of a low order. Textural characteristics and mineral content variations are attributed largely to inheritance from the till parent material, rather than to pedological processes. These observations suggest that frost action as a soil weathering process in this particular environment is minimal. Hydration and dissolution by chelation are discussed as possible alternative mechanisms, but their operation is probably impaired by restricted water availability resulting from the extensive duration of seasonally frozen ground conditions. lntroducrion THE only known detailed investigation of weathering in high altitude soils of Norway is a study of the sand fractions of two profiles from Trollheimen by Holtedahl (1953) (Fig. I). He concluded that the soils were o f different origins, one having formed by in sifu weathering of bedrock and the other having developed on a till deposit. The principal weathering processes operating were considered to be chemical alteration of hornblende, recognized in thin section, and frost shattering, although no convincing evidence for this process was presented. It is the objective of the present investigation to examine further the nature and intensity of weathering in Norwegian mountain soils, selecting for analysis three profiles developed under contrasting environmental conditions at Okstindan (Fig.

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“…Glenn et al (1983) concluded that in glacial times winds were from the north and most likely from katabatic (cold air) winds descending from the greater Yellowstone glacial system. Such an origin of loess via deflation of locally dry outwash plains by katabatic winds probably also produced loess deposits in southern Alaska (Rieger and Juve, 1961) and central Alaska (Thorson and Bender, 1985;Muhs and Budahn, 2006). Loess in Jackson Hole has mineralogy similar to loess found in other regions.…”

Section: Loess In the Jackson Hole Areamentioning

confidence: 95%

A loess–paleosol record of climate and glacial history over the past two glacial–interglacial cycles (~ 150 ka), southern Jackson Hole, Wyoming

et al. 2011

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Loess accumulated on a Bull Lake outwash terrace of Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 6 (MIS 6) age in southern Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The 9 m section displays eight intervals of loess deposition (Loess 1 to Loess 8, oldest), each followed by soil development. Our age-depth model is constrained by thermoluminescence, meteoric 10Be accumulation in soils, and cosmogenic 10Be surface exposure ages. We use particle size, geochemical, mineral-magnetic, and clay mineralogical data to interpret loess sources and pedogenesis. Deposition of MIS 6 loess was followed by a tripartite soil/thin loess complex (Soils 8, 7, and 6) apparently reflecting the large climatic oscillations of MIS 5. Soil 8 (MIS 5e) shows the strongest development. Loess 5 accumulated during a glacial interval (~ 76–69 ka; MIS 4) followed by soil development under conditions wetter and probably colder than present. Deposition of thick Loess 3 (~ 43–51 ka, MIS 3) was followed by soil development comparable with that observed in Soil 1. Loess 1 (MIS 2) accumulated during the Pinedale glaciation and was followed by development of Soil 1 under a semiarid climate. This record of alternating loess deposition and soil development is compatible with the history of Yellowstone vegetation and the glacial flour record from the Sierra Nevada.

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Soil Development in Recent Loess in the Matanuska Valley, Alaska

Cited by 12 publications

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Holocene loess deposition and soil formation as competing processes, Matanuska Valley, Southern Alaska

Holocene loess deposition and soil formation as competing processes, Matanuska Valley, Southern Alaska

AN INVESTIGATION OF WEATHERING IN SOME ARCTIC‐ALPINE SOILS ON THE NORTHEAST FLANK OF OKSSKOLTEN, NORTH NORWAY¹

A loess–paleosol record of climate and glacial history over the past two glacial–interglacial cycles (~ 150 ka), southern Jackson Hole, Wyoming

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Soil Development in Recent Loess in the Matanuska Valley, Alaska

Cited by 12 publications

References 0 publications

Holocene loess deposition and soil formation as competing processes, Matanuska Valley, Southern Alaska

Holocene loess deposition and soil formation as competing processes, Matanuska Valley, Southern Alaska

AN INVESTIGATION OF WEATHERING IN SOME ARCTIC‐ALPINE SOILS ON THE NORTHEAST FLANK OF OKSSKOLTEN, NORTH NORWAY1

A loess–paleosol record of climate and glacial history over the past two glacial–interglacial cycles (~ 150 ka), southern Jackson Hole, Wyoming

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AN INVESTIGATION OF WEATHERING IN SOME ARCTIC‐ALPINE SOILS ON THE NORTHEAST FLANK OF OKSSKOLTEN, NORTH NORWAY¹