The critical role of climate and saprolite weathering in landscape evolution

Dixon, Jean L.; Heimsath, Arjun M.; Amundson, Ronald

doi:10.1002/esp.1836

Cited by 244 publications

(282 citation statements)

References 66 publications

(93 reference statements)

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“…Soil formation rates that were assessed in this study are consistent with the larger-scale reports ( was possible (Norton et al 2010;Dixon et al 2009;Heimsath et al 2001), are plotted in Fig. 6 and are parallel to those of F soil (Fig.…”

Section: Soil Formation and Production In Alpine Grasslandssupporting

confidence: 79%

“…5 and total denudation rates (D soil(I) ; Eq. 4) of alpine soils (black dots: data from Norton et al 2010;Dixon et al 2009;Heimsath et al 2001). P soil =F soil +D soil (dashed line; see Eq.…”

Section: Soil Formation and Production In Alpine Grasslandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Note: P soil is the amount of produced fine earth (<2 mm in diameter), c Estimation of soil production rates (P soil ) using soil formation rates (F soil ) obtained from Fig. 5 (actual rates) and total denudation rates of alpine soils (data from Norton et al 2010;Dixon et al 2009;Heimsath et al 2001); to obtain the instantaneous or actual rates, the values were divided by 2 ( Fig. 5b, c; see text for explanations).…”

Section: Soil Formation and Production In Alpine Grasslandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An attempt to estimate tolerable soil erosion rates by matching soil formation with denudation in Alpine grasslands

2014

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Purpose Natural rates of soil production or a target soil thickness that allows unrestricted land use can serve as a basis for defining tolerable soil erosion rates. Guidelines for tolerable soil erosion rates in alpine grasslands do not yet exist, partly due to the lack of information of soil formation and production rates. We (i) defined soil formation/production rates for alpine grasslands on siliceous lithology and compared them to measured and modelled soil erosion rates and resulting soil thickness with a special focus on the Urseren Valley (Central Swiss Alps) and (ii) discussed possible trends for alpine soils under global change. Materials and methods Ranges of soil formation, production and erosion rates were determined using published and our own data for Alpine grasslands soils. Two definitions of tolerable erosion rate were used: when (i) current soil depth remains constant over time; and (ii) at least a minimum soil depth is maintained (minimum thicknesses for individual land uses still need to be defined). Results and discussion Soil production and related tolerable erosion rates (i.e. 50-90 % of the soil production rate) are a strong function of time. Average soil production rate in alpine areas for relatively old soils (>10-18 kyr) is between 54 (±14) and 113 (±30)t km . Measured recent soil erosion rates in alpine areas at intensively used slopes range from 600 to 3000 t km −2 year −1 . Average catchment values for the Urseren Valley using the model USLE plus soil loss due to landslides resulted in an overall loss of 180 t km −2 year −1

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Section: Soil Formation and Production In Alpine Grasslandssupporting

confidence: 79%

Section: Soil Formation and Production In Alpine Grasslandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Soil Formation and Production In Alpine Grasslandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An attempt to estimate tolerable soil erosion rates by matching soil formation with denudation in Alpine grasslands

2014

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“…For example, increases in forest cover might cause systematic variations in soil retention (45) and bedrock weathering (2) due to differences in rooting and organic ligand release (1). This should lead to differences in soil production and erosion by chemical, physical, and biological processes (46). Cosmogenic nuclides in quartz from bedrock surfaces and stream sediment help quantify these relationships (Methods and SI Text).…”

Section: Implications For Landscape Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bedrock composition regulates mountain ecosystems and landscape evolution

Hahm

Riebe

Lukens

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

213

205

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Earth's land surface teems with life. Although the distribution of ecosystems is largely explained by temperature and precipitation, vegetation can vary markedly with little variation in climate. Here we explore the role of bedrock in governing the distribution of forest cover across the Sierra Nevada Batholith, California. Our sites span a narrow range of elevations and thus a narrow range in climate. However, land cover varies from Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), the largest trees on Earth, to vegetation-free swaths that are visible from space. Meanwhile, underlying bedrock spans nearly the entire compositional range of granitic bedrock in the western North American cordillera. We explored connections between lithology and vegetation using measurements of bedrock geochemistry and forest productivity. Tree-canopy cover, a proxy for forest productivity, varies by more than an order of magnitude across our sites, changing abruptly at mapped contacts between plutons and correlating with bedrock concentrations of major and minor elements, including the plant-essential nutrient phosphorus. Nutrient-poor areas that lack vegetation and soil are eroding more than two times slower on average than surrounding, more nutrientrich, soil-mantled bedrock. This suggests that bedrock geochemistry can influence landscape evolution through an intrinsic limitation on primary productivity. Our results are consistent with widespread bottom-up lithologic control on the distribution and diversity of vegetation in mountainous terrain.erosion rates | bedrock weathering | critical zone | forest distribution V egetation captures solar energy and sends it cascading through ecosystems, creating habitats for other organisms and fixing nutrients and carbon from the atmosphere. Vegetation also plays an important although still incompletely understood role in the breakdown and erosion of rock (1-3) and thus the evolution of Earth's topography (4). Understanding the factors that determine where vegetation thrives-and where it does not-is therefore fundamental to many disciplines, including ecology, geomorphology, geochemistry, and pedology. As a substrate for life, lithology can influence overlying vegetation, spurring endemism due to the presence of toxins (5, 6) and limiting productivity where rock-derived nutrients are scarce (7-9). However, lithologic effects on vegetation are generally considered secondary to climatic factors such as the length of the growing season and the amount of moisture available for plant growth (10). Here we show that bedrock composition can drive differences in vegetation on par with the systematic altitudinal differences found in mountains between their hot, dry foothills and cold, wet alpine summits.

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“…We also let w o depend on temperature T and precipitation rate P , following White and Blum (1995) and Dixon et al (2009a) among others:…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Colluvial deposits as a possible weathering reservoir in uplifting mountains

Carretier¹,

Goddéris²,

Martı́nez³

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Abstract. The role of mountain uplift in the global climate over geological times is controversial.At the heart of this debate is the capacity of rapid denudation to drive silicate weathering, a CO 2 consumer. Here we present the results of a 3D model that couples erosion and weathering during mountain uplift, in which the weathered material is traced during its stochastic transport from the hillslopes to the mountain outlet. During mountain uplift, the erosion rate increases and the climate 5 cools, which thins the regolith and produces a hump in the weathering rate evolution. Nevertheless, lateral river erosion drives mass wasting and the temporary storage of colluvial deposits on the valley borders. This new reservoir is comprised of fresh material which has a residence time ranging from several years up to several thousand years. During this period, the weathering of colluvium sustains the mountain weathering flux at a significant level. The relative weathering contribution 10 of colluvium depends on the area covered by regolith on the hillslopes. For mountains sparsely covered by regolith during cold periods, colluvium produce most of the simulated weathering flux for a large range of erosion parameters and precipitation rate patterns. In addition to other reservoirs such as deep fractured bedrock, colluvial deposits may help to maintain a substantial and constant weathering flux in rapidly uplifting mountains during cooling periods.

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The critical role of climate and saprolite weathering in landscape evolution

Cited by 244 publications

References 66 publications

An attempt to estimate tolerable soil erosion rates by matching soil formation with denudation in Alpine grasslands

An attempt to estimate tolerable soil erosion rates by matching soil formation with denudation in Alpine grasslands

Bedrock composition regulates mountain ecosystems and landscape evolution

Colluvial deposits as a possible weathering reservoir in uplifting mountains

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