Articles | Volume 12, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-271-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-271-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
31 Jan 2024
Research article |
| 31 Jan 2024
| 31 Jan 2024
Probing the exchange of CO2 and O2 in the shallow critical zone during weathering of marl and black shale
Tobias Roylands
Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
Robert G. Hilton
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3AN, United Kingdom
Erin L. McClymont
Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
Mark H. Garnett
NEIF Radiocarbon Laboratory, SUERC, East Kilbride, G75 0QF, United Kingdom
Guillaume Soulet
Ifremer, Geo-Ocean, Brest University, CNRS, 29280 Plouzané, France
Sébastien Klotz
INRAE, Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, 38000 Grenoble, France
Mathis Degler
Institute of Geosciences, Christian Albrecht University, 24118 Kiel, Germany
Felipe Napoleoni
Centro de Estudios Científicos, Valdivia, 5110466, Chile
Caroline Le Bouteiller
INRAE, Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, 38000 Grenoble, France
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Yassine Boukhari, Antoine Lucas, Caroline Le Bouteiller, Sébastien Klotz, Gabrielle Chabaud, and Stéphane Jacquemoud
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1726, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1726, 2025
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We combine UAV LiDAR surveys with sediment export and density measurements in order to compute a catchment-scale mass balance in a badland environment. We find out that landslides and crests failures account for 15 % of the total mass export while affecting only 1 % of the bare surfaces, and also that low drainage areas produce 3.5 times more sediment than average slopes within such catchments.
Mark A. Stevenson, Dominic A. Hodgson, Michael J. Bentley, Darren R. Gröcke, Neil Tunstall, Chris Longley, Alice Graham, and Erin L. McClymont
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-513, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-513, 2025
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We present a record of sea ice and climate inferred from novel snow petrel stomach oil deposits from East Antarctica. Snow petrels feed in the sea ice on a mixture of marine organisms and regurgitate these oils close to their nesting sites in nunatak mountains. We use makers of past diet and productivity from within a deposit to show how sea ice and climate has varied over part of the Holocene. Three periods are identified ranging from low to intermediate and increased sea ice cover.
Louise C. Sime, Rahul Sivankutty, Irene Malmierca-Vallet, Sentia Goursaud Oger, Allegra N. LeGrande, Erin L. McClymont, Agatha de Boer, Alexandre Cauquoin, and Martin Werner
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-288, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-288, 2025
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We used climate models to study how stable water isotopes in ice cores changed in the Arctic and Antarctica during the warm Last Interglacial (LIG) period. Whilst standard simulations underestimate polar warming, when the effects of ice sheet meltwater from the preceding deglaciation are included, there is a much better match with observations. Findings suggest that previous estimates of LIG Arctic warming were too high. Understanding these past polar changes can help improve future predictions.
Alex Houston, Mark H. Garnett, Jo Smith, and William E. N. Austin
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3281, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3281, 2024
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The organic carbon stored in saltmarsh soils can be up to 15,000 years old. We found that less energy is required to decompose young carbon than old carbon, i.e., young carbon tends to be more labile. We show that the labile carbon can still be up to 2,000 years old, implying that even old carbon in saltmarsh soils may contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Protecting saltmarshes from degradation may help conserve these stores of old, labile organic carbon and hence limit CO2 emissions.
Robert G. Bingham, Julien A. Bodart, Marie G. P. Cavitte, Ailsa Chung, Rebecca J. Sanderson, Johannes C. R. Sutter, Olaf Eisen, Nanna B. Karlsson, Joseph A. MacGregor, Neil Ross, Duncan A. Young, David W. Ashmore, Andreas Born, Winnie Chu, Xiangbin Cui, Reinhard Drews, Steven Franke, Vikram Goel, John W. Goodge, A. Clara J. Henry, Antoine Hermant, Benjamin H. Hills, Nicholas Holschuh, Michelle R. Koutnik, Gwendolyn J.-M. C. Leysinger Vieli, Emma J. Mackie, Elisa Mantelli, Carlos Martín, Felix S. L. Ng, Falk M. Oraschewski, Felipe Napoleoni, Frédéric Parrenin, Sergey V. Popov, Therese Rieckh, Rebecca Schlegel, Dustin M. Schroeder, Martin J. Siegert, Xueyuan Tang, Thomas O. Teisberg, Kate Winter, Shuai Yan, Harry Davis, Christine F. Dow, Tyler J. Fudge, Tom A. Jordan, Bernd Kulessa, Kenichi Matsuoka, Clara J. Nyqvist, Maryam Rahnemoonfar, Matthew R. Siegfried, Shivangini Singh, Verjan Višnjević, Rodrigo Zamora, and Alexandra Zuhr
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2593, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2593, 2024
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The ice sheets covering Antarctica have built up over millenia through successive snowfall events which become buried and preserved as internal surfaces of equal age detectable with ice-penetrating radar. This paper describes an international initiative to work together on this archival data to build a comprehensive 3-D picture of how old the ice is everywhere across Antarctica, and how this will be used to reconstruct past and predict future ice and climate behaviour.
Sophie Hage, Megan L. Baker, Nathalie Babonneau, Guillaume Soulet, Bernard Dennielou, Ricardo Silva Jacinto, Robert G. Hilton, Valier Galy, François Baudin, Christophe Rabouille, Clément Vic, Sefa Sahin, Sanem Açikalin, and Peter J. Talling
Biogeosciences, 21, 4251–4272, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4251-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4251-2024, 2024
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The land-to-ocean flux of particulate organic carbon (POC) is difficult to measure, inhibiting accurate modeling of the global carbon cycle. Here, we quantify the POC flux between one of the largest rivers on Earth (Congo) and the ocean. POC in the form of vegetation and soil is transported by episodic submarine avalanches in a 1000 km long canyon at up to 5 km water depth. The POC flux induced by avalanches is at least 3 times greater than that induced by the background flow related to tides.
James D. Annan, Julia C. Hargreaves, Thorsten Mauritsen, Erin McClymont, and Sze Ling Ho
Clim. Past, 20, 1989–1999, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1989-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1989-2024, 2024
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We have created a new global surface temperature reconstruction of the climate of the mid-Pliocene Warm Period, representing the period roughly 3.2 million years before the present day. We estimate that the globally averaged mean temperature was around 3.9 °C warmer than it was in pre-industrial times, but there is significant uncertainty in this value.
Jack T. R. Wilkin, Sev Kender, Rowan Dejardin, Claire S. Allen, Victoria L. Peck, George E. A. Swann, Erin L. McClymont, James D. Scourse, Kate Littler, and Melanie J. Leng
J. Micropalaeontol., 43, 165–186, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-43-165-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-43-165-2024, 2024
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The sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia has a dynamic glacial history and is sensitive to climate change. Using benthic foraminifera and various geochemical proxies, we reconstruct inner–middle shelf productivity and infer glacial evolution since the late deglacial, identifying new mid–late-Holocene glacial readvances. Fursenkoina fusiformis acts as a good proxy for productivity.
Lauren E. Burton, Alan M. Haywood, Julia C. Tindall, Aisling M. Dolan, Daniel J. Hill, Erin L. McClymont, Sze Ling Ho, and Heather L. Ford
Clim. Past, 20, 1177–1194, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1177-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1177-2024, 2024
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The Pliocene (~ 3 million years ago) is of interest because its warm climate is similar to projections of the future. We explore the role of atmospheric carbon dioxide in forcing sea surface temperature during the Pliocene by combining climate model outputs with palaeoclimate proxy data. We investigate whether this role changes seasonally and also use our data to suggest a new estimate of Pliocene climate sensitivity. More data are needed to further explore the results presented.
Charlotte M. Carter, Michael J. Bentley, Stewart S. R. Jamieson, Guy J. G. Paxman, Tom A. Jordan, Julien A. Bodart, Neil Ross, and Felipe Napoleoni
The Cryosphere, 18, 2277–2296, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2277-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2277-2024, 2024
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We use radio-echo sounding data to investigate the presence of flat surfaces beneath the Evans–Rutford region in West Antarctica. These surfaces may be what remains of laterally continuous surfaces, formed before the inception of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, and we assess two hypotheses for their formation. Tectonic structures in the region may have also had a control on the growth of the ice sheet by focusing ice flow into troughs adjoining these surfaces.
Rebecca J. Sanderson, Kate Winter, S. Louise Callard, Felipe Napoleoni, Neil Ross, Tom A. Jordan, and Robert G. Bingham
The Cryosphere, 17, 4853–4871, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4853-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4853-2023, 2023
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Ice-penetrating radar allows us to explore the internal structure of glaciers and ice sheets to constrain past and present ice-flow conditions. In this paper, we examine englacial layers within the Lambert Glacier in East Antarctica using a quantitative layer tracing tool. Analysis reveals that the ice flow here has been relatively stable, but evidence for former fast flow along a tributary suggests that changes have occurred in the past and could change again in the future.
Sebastien Klotz, Caroline Le Bouteiller, Nicolle Mathys, Firmin Fontaine, Xavier Ravanat, Jean-Emmanuel Olivier, Frédéric Liébault, Hugo Jantzi, Patrick Coulmeau, Didier Richard, Jean-Pierre Cambon, and Maurice Meunier
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 4371–4388, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-4371-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-4371-2023, 2023
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Mountain badlands are places of intense erosion. They deliver large amounts of sediment to river systems, with consequences for hydropower sustainability, habitat quality and biodiversity, and flood hazard and river management. Draix-Bleone Observatory was created in 1983 to understand and quantify sediment delivery from such badland areas. Our paper describes how water and sediment fluxes have been monitored for almost 40 years in the small mountain catchments of this observatory.
Guillaume Soulet, Philippe Maestrati, Serge Gofas, Germain Bayon, Fabien Dewilde, Maylis Labonne, Bernard Dennielou, Franck Ferraton, and Giuseppe Siani
Geochronology, 5, 345–359, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-5-345-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-5-345-2023, 2023
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The marine reservoir age (MRA) is the difference between the 14C age of the ocean and that of the atmosphere at a given time. In geochronology, knowing the local MRA is important to derive accurate calibrated ages for 14C-dated marine material. However, MRA values for coastal West Africa are scarce. From the 14C dating of known-age bivalves from museum collections, we calculated MRA values and populated the MRA dataset for coastal West Africa over a latitudinal transect from 33°N to 15°S.
Georgia R. Grant, Jonny H. T. Williams, Sebastian Naeher, Osamu Seki, Erin L. McClymont, Molly O. Patterson, Alan M. Haywood, Erik Behrens, Masanobu Yamamoto, and Katelyn Johnson
Clim. Past, 19, 1359–1381, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1359-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1359-2023, 2023
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Regional warming will differ from global warming, and climate models perform poorly in the Southern Ocean. We reconstruct sea surface temperatures in the south-west Pacific during the mid-Pliocene, a time 3 million years ago that represents the long-term outcomes of 3 °C warming, which is expected for the future. Comparing these results to climate model simulations, we show that the south-west Pacific region will warm by 1 °C above the global average if atmospheric CO2 remains above 350 ppm.
Bjørg Risebrobakken, Mari F. Jensen, Helene R. Langehaug, Tor Eldevik, Anne Britt Sandø, Camille Li, Andreas Born, Erin Louise McClymont, Ulrich Salzmann, and Stijn De Schepper
Clim. Past, 19, 1101–1123, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1101-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1101-2023, 2023
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In the observational period, spatially coherent sea surface temperatures characterize the northern North Atlantic at multidecadal timescales. We show that spatially non-coherent temperature patterns are seen both in further projections and a past warm climate period with a CO2 level comparable to the future low-emission scenario. Buoyancy forcing is shown to be important for northern North Atlantic temperature patterns.
Maxime Morel, Guillaume Piton, Damien Kuss, Guillaume Evin, and Caroline Le Bouteiller
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 1769–1787, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-1769-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-1769-2023, 2023
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In mountain catchments, damage during floods is generally primarily driven by the supply of a massive amount of sediment. Predicting how much sediment can be delivered by frequent and infrequent events is thus important in hazard studies. This paper uses data gathered during the maintenance operation of about 100 debris retention basins to build simple equations aiming at predicting sediment supply from simple parameters describing the upstream catchment.
James A. Smith, Louise Callard, Michael J. Bentley, Stewart S. R. Jamieson, Maria Luisa Sánchez-Montes, Timothy P. Lane, Jeremy M. Lloyd, Erin L. McClymont, Christopher M. Darvill, Brice R. Rea, Colm O'Cofaigh, Pauline Gulliver, Werner Ehrmann, Richard S. Jones, and David H. Roberts
The Cryosphere, 17, 1247–1270, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1247-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1247-2023, 2023
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The Greenland Ice Sheet is melting at an accelerating rate. To understand the significance of these changes we reconstruct the history of one of its fringing ice shelves, known as 79° N ice shelf. We show that the ice shelf disappeared 8500 years ago, following a period of enhanced warming. An important implication of our study is that 79° N ice shelf is susceptible to collapse when atmospheric and ocean temperatures are ~2°C warmer than present, which could occur by the middle of this century.
Erin L. McClymont, Michael J. Bentley, Dominic A. Hodgson, Charlotte L. Spencer-Jones, Thomas Wardley, Martin D. West, Ian W. Croudace, Sonja Berg, Darren R. Gröcke, Gerhard Kuhn, Stewart S. R. Jamieson, Louise Sime, and Richard A. Phillips
Clim. Past, 18, 381–403, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-381-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-381-2022, 2022
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Sea ice is important for our climate system and for the unique ecosystems it supports. We present a novel way to understand past Antarctic sea-ice ecosystems: using the regurgitated stomach contents of snow petrels, which nest above the ice sheet but feed in the sea ice. During a time when sea ice was more extensive than today (24 000–30 000 years ago), we show that snow petrel diet had varying contributions of fish and krill, which we interpret to show changing sea-ice distribution.
Coline Ariagno, Caroline Le Bouteiller, Peter van der Beek, and Sébastien Klotz
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 81–96, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-81-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-81-2022, 2022
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The
critical zonenear the surface of the Earth is where geologic substrate, erosion, climate, and life meet and interact. This study focuses on mechanisms of physical weathering that produce loose sediment and make it available for transport. We show that the sediment export from a monitored catchment in the French Alps is modulated by frost-weathering processes and is therefore sensitive to complex modifications in a warming climate.
Thomas Croissant, Robert G. Hilton, Gen K. Li, Jamie Howarth, Jin Wang, Erin L. Harvey, Philippe Steer, and Alexander L. Densmore
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 823–844, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-823-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-823-2021, 2021
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In mountain ranges, earthquake-derived landslides mobilize large amounts of organic carbon (OC) by eroding soil from hillslopes. We propose a model to explore the role of different parameters in the post-seismic redistribution of soil OC controlled by fluvial export and heterotrophic respiration. Applied to the Southern Alps, our results suggest that efficient OC fluvial export during the first decade after an earthquake promotes carbon sequestration.
Charlotte L. Spencer-Jones, Erin L. McClymont, Nicole J. Bale, Ellen C. Hopmans, Stefan Schouten, Juliane Müller, E. Povl Abrahamsen, Claire Allen, Torsten Bickert, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Elaine Mawbey, Victoria Peck, Aleksandra Svalova, and James A. Smith
Biogeosciences, 18, 3485–3504, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3485-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3485-2021, 2021
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Long-term ocean temperature records are needed to fully understand the impact of West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapse. Glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) are powerful tools for reconstructing ocean temperature but can be difficult to apply to the Southern Ocean. Our results show active GDGT synthesis in relatively warm depths of the ocean. This research improves the application of GDGT palaeoceanographic proxies in the Southern Ocean.
Felipe Napoleoni, Stewart S. R. Jamieson, Neil Ross, Michael J. Bentley, Andrés Rivera, Andrew M. Smith, Martin J. Siegert, Guy J. G. Paxman, Guisella Gacitúa, José A. Uribe, Rodrigo Zamora, Alex M. Brisbourne, and David G. Vaughan
The Cryosphere, 14, 4507–4524, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4507-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4507-2020, 2020
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Subglacial water is important for ice sheet dynamics and stability. Despite this, there is a lack of detailed subglacial-water characterisation in West Antarctica (WA). We report 33 new subglacial lakes. Additionally, a new digital elevation model of basal topography was built and used to simulate the subglacial hydrological network in WA. The simulated subglacial hydrological catchments of Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers do not match precisely with their ice surface catchments.
Erin L. McClymont, Heather L. Ford, Sze Ling Ho, Julia C. Tindall, Alan M. Haywood, Montserrat Alonso-Garcia, Ian Bailey, Melissa A. Berke, Kate Littler, Molly O. Patterson, Benjamin Petrick, Francien Peterse, A. Christina Ravelo, Bjørg Risebrobakken, Stijn De Schepper, George E. A. Swann, Kaustubh Thirumalai, Jessica E. Tierney, Carolien van der Weijst, Sarah White, Ayako Abe-Ouchi, Michiel L. J. Baatsen, Esther C. Brady, Wing-Le Chan, Deepak Chandan, Ran Feng, Chuncheng Guo, Anna S. von der Heydt, Stephen Hunter, Xiangyi Li, Gerrit Lohmann, Kerim H. Nisancioglu, Bette L. Otto-Bliesner, W. Richard Peltier, Christian Stepanek, and Zhongshi Zhang
Clim. Past, 16, 1599–1615, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1599-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1599-2020, 2020
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We examine the sea-surface temperature response to an interval of climate ~ 3.2 million years ago, when CO2 concentrations were similar to today and the near future. Our geological data and climate models show that global mean sea-surface temperatures were 2.3 to 3.2 ºC warmer than pre-industrial climate, that the mid-latitudes and high latitudes warmed more than the tropics, and that the warming was particularly enhanced in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Maria Luisa Sánchez-Montes, Erin L. McClymont, Jeremy M. Lloyd, Juliane Müller, Ellen A. Cowan, and Coralie Zorzi
Clim. Past, 16, 299–313, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-299-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-299-2020, 2020
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In this paper, we present new climate reconstructions in SW Alaska from recovered marine sediments in the Gulf of Alaska. We find that glaciers reached the Gulf of Alaska during a cooling climate 2.9 million years ago, and after that the Cordilleran Ice Sheet continued growing during a global drop in atmospheric CO2 levels. Cordilleran Ice Sheet growth could have been supported by an increase in heat supply to the SW Alaska and warm ocean evaporation–mountain precipitation mechanisms.
Sarah Cook, Mick J. Whelan, Chris D. Evans, Vincent Gauci, Mike Peacock, Mark H. Garnett, Lip Khoon Kho, Yit Arn Teh, and Susan E. Page
Biogeosciences, 15, 7435–7450, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-7435-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-7435-2018, 2018
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This paper presents the first comprehensive assessment of fluvial organic carbon loss from oil palm plantations on tropical peat: a carbon loss pathway previously unaccounted for from carbon budgets. Carbon in the water draining four plantations in Sarawak was monitored across a 1-year period. Greater fluvial carbon losses were linked to sites with lower water tables. These data will be used to complete the carbon budget from these ecosystems and assess the full impact of this land conversion.
Guillaume Soulet, Robert G. Hilton, Mark H. Garnett, Mathieu Dellinger, Thomas Croissant, Mateja Ogrič, and Sébastien Klotz
Biogeosciences, 15, 4087–4102, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-4087-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-4087-2018, 2018
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Oxidative weathering of sedimentary rocks can release carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Here, we designed a chamber-based method to measure these CO2 emissions directly for the first time. The chamber is drilled in the rock and allows us to collect the CO2 to fingerprint its source using carbon isotopes. We tested our method in Draix (France). The measured CO2 fluxes were substantial, with ~20% originating from oxidation of the rock organic matter and ~80% from dissolution of carbonate minerals.
Paul E. Bachem, Bjørg Risebrobakken, Stijn De Schepper, and Erin L. McClymont
Clim. Past, 13, 1153–1168, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-1153-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-1153-2017, 2017
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We present a high-resolution multi-proxy study of the Norwegian Sea, covering the 5.33 to 3.14 Ma time window within the Pliocene. We show that large-scale climate transitions took place during this warmer than modern time, most likely in response to ocean gateway transformations. Strong warming at 4.0 Ma in the Norwegian Sea, when regions closer to Greenland cooled, indicate that increased northward ocean heat transport may be compatible with expanding glaciation and Arctic sea ice growth.
K. E. Clark, A. J. West, R. G. Hilton, G. P. Asner, C. A. Quesada, M. R. Silman, S. S. Saatchi, W. Farfan-Rios, R. E. Martin, A. B. Horwath, K. Halladay, M. New, and Y. Malhi
Earth Surf. Dynam., 4, 47–70, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-47-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-47-2016, 2016
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The key findings of this paper are that landslides in the eastern Andes of Peru in the Kosñipata Valley rapidly turn over the landscape in ~1320 years, with a rate of 0.076% yr-1. Additionally, landslides were concentrated at lower elevations, due to an intense storm in 2010 accounting for ~1/4 of the total landslide area over the 25-year remote sensing study. Valley-wide carbon stocks were determined, and we estimate that 26 tC km-2 yr-1 of soil and biomass are stripped by landslides.
K. E. Clark, M. A. Torres, A. J. West, R. G. Hilton, M. New, A. B. Horwath, J. B. Fisher, J. M. Rapp, A. Robles Caceres, and Y. Malhi
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 18, 5377–5397, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-5377-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-5377-2014, 2014
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This paper presents measurements of the balance of water inputs and outputs over 1 year for a river basin in the Andes of Peru. Our results show that the annual water budget is balanced within a few percent uncertainty; that is to say, the amount of water entering the basin was the same as the amount leaving, providing important information for understanding the water cycle. We also show that seasonal storage of water is important in sustaining the flow of water during the dry season.
S.-J. Kao, R. G. Hilton, K. Selvaraj, M. Dai, F. Zehetner, J.-C. Huang, S.-C. Hsu, R. Sparkes, J. T. Liu, T.-Y. Lee, J.-Y. T. Yang, A. Galy, X. Xu, and N. Hovius
Earth Surf. Dynam., 2, 127–139, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-2-127-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-2-127-2014, 2014
R. G. Hilton, A. Galy, A. J. West, N. Hovius, and G. G. Roberts
Biogeosciences, 10, 1693–1705, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-1693-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-1693-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Cross-cutting themes: Critical zone processes
Decadal in situ hydrological observations and empirical modeling of pressure head in a high-alpine, fractured calcareous rock slope
Sediment export in marly badland catchments modulated by frost-cracking intensity, Draix–Bléone Critical Zone Observatory, SE France
A hybrid data–model approach to map soil thickness in mountain hillslopes
Sediment size on talus slopes correlates with fracture spacing on bedrock cliffs: implications for predicting initial sediment size distributions on hillslopes
Designing a network of critical zone observatories to explore the living skin of the terrestrial Earth
Quantifying the controls on potential soil production rates: a case study of the San Gabriel Mountains, California
Soilscape evolution of aeolian-dominated hillslopes during the Holocene: investigation of sediment transport mechanisms and climatic–anthropogenic drivers
Exploring the sensitivity on a soil area-slope-grading relationship to changes in process parameters using a pedogenesis model
Designing a suite of measurements to understand the critical zone
Riccardo Scandroglio, Samuel Weber, Till Rehm, and Michael Krautblatter
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 295–314, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-295-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-295-2025, 2025
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Despite the critical role of water in alpine regions, its presence in bedrock is frequently neglected. This research examines the dynamics of water in fractures using 1 decade of measurements from a tunnel 50 m underground. We provide new insights into alpine groundwater dynamics, revealing that up to 800 L d-1 can flow in one fracture during extreme events. These quantities can saturate the fractures, enhance hydraulic conductivity, and generate pressures that destabilize slopes.
Coline Ariagno, Caroline Le Bouteiller, Peter van der Beek, and Sébastien Klotz
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 81–96, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-81-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-81-2022, 2022
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The
critical zonenear the surface of the Earth is where geologic substrate, erosion, climate, and life meet and interact. This study focuses on mechanisms of physical weathering that produce loose sediment and make it available for transport. We show that the sediment export from a monitored catchment in the French Alps is modulated by frost-weathering processes and is therefore sensitive to complex modifications in a warming climate.
Qina Yan, Haruko Wainwright, Baptiste Dafflon, Sebastian Uhlemann, Carl I. Steefel, Nicola Falco, Jeffrey Kwang, and Susan S. Hubbard
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 1347–1361, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1347-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1347-2021, 2021
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We develop a hybrid model to estimate the spatial distribution of the thickness of the soil layer, which also provides estimations of soil transport and soil production rates. We apply this model to two examples of hillslopes in the East River watershed in Colorado and validate the model. The results show that the north-facing (NF) hillslope has a deeper soil layer than the south-facing (SF) hillslope and that the hybrid model provides better accuracy than a machine-learning model.
Joseph P. Verdian, Leonard S. Sklar, Clifford S. Riebe, and Jeffrey R. Moore
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 1073–1090, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1073-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1073-2021, 2021
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River behavior depends on the size of rocks they carry. Rocks are born on hillslopes where erosion removes fragments from solid bedrock. To understand what controls the size of rock fragments, we measured the spacing between cracks exposed in 15 bare-rock cliffs and the size of rocks on the ground below. We found that, for each site, the average rock size could be predicted from the average distance between cracks, which varied with rock type. This shows how rock type can influence rivers.
Susan L. Brantley, William H. McDowell, William E. Dietrich, Timothy S. White, Praveen Kumar, Suzanne P. Anderson, Jon Chorover, Kathleen Ann Lohse, Roger C. Bales, Daniel D. Richter, Gordon Grant, and Jérôme Gaillardet
Earth Surf. Dynam., 5, 841–860, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-5-841-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-5-841-2017, 2017
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The layer known as the critical zone extends from the tree tops to the groundwater. This zone varies globally as a function of land use, climate, and geology. Energy and materials input from the land surface downward impact the subsurface landscape of water, gas, weathered material, and biota – at the same time that differences at depth also impact the superficial landscape. Scientists are designing observatories to understand the critical zone and how it will evolve in the future.
Jon D. Pelletier
Earth Surf. Dynam., 5, 479–492, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-5-479-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-5-479-2017, 2017
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The rate at which bedrock can be converted into transportable material is a fundamental control on the topographic evolution of mountain ranges. Using the San Gabriel Mountains, California, as an example, in this paper I demonstrate that this rate depends on topographic slope in mountain ranges with large compressive stresses via the influence of topographically induced stresses on fractures. Bedrock and climate both control this rate, but topography influences bedrock in an interesting new way.
Sagy Cohen, Tal Svoray, Shai Sela, Greg Hancock, and Garry Willgoose
Earth Surf. Dynam., 5, 101–112, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-5-101-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-5-101-2017, 2017
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Soil-depleted hillslopes across the Mediterranean and Europe are thought to be the result of human activity in the last 2–5 millennia. We study a site on the margin between Mediterranean and desert climates which was subject to intense wind-borne soil accumulation for tens of thousands of years but is now mostly bare. Using a numerical simulator we investigated the processes that may have led to this landscape and identified the specific signatures of different processes and drivers.
W. D. Dimuth P. Welivitiya, Garry R. Willgoose, Greg R. Hancock, and Sagy Cohen
Earth Surf. Dynam., 4, 607–625, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-607-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-607-2016, 2016
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This paper generalises the physical dependence of the relationship between contributing area, local slope, and the surface soil grading first described by Cohen et al. (2009, 2010) using a soil evolution model called SSSPAM. We show the influence of weathering on the equilibrium soil profile and its spatial distribution. We conclude that the soil grading relationship is robust and will occur for most equilibrium soils. This spatial organisation is also true below the surface.
Susan L. Brantley, Roman A. DiBiase, Tess A. Russo, Yuning Shi, Henry Lin, Kenneth J. Davis, Margot Kaye, Lillian Hill, Jason Kaye, David M. Eissenstat, Beth Hoagland, Ashlee L. Dere, Andrew L. Neal, Kristen M. Brubaker, and Dan K. Arthur
Earth Surf. Dynam., 4, 211–235, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-211-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-211-2016, 2016
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In order to better understand and forecast the evolution of the environment from the top of the vegetation canopy down to bedrock, numerous types of intensive measurements have been made over several years in a small watershed. The ability to expand such a study to larger areas and different environments requiring fewer measurements is essential. This study presents one possible approach to such an expansion, to collect necessary and sufficient measurements in order to forecast this evolution.
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Short summary
Chemical weathering of sedimentary rocks can release carbon dioxide and consume oxygen. We present a new field-based method to measure the exchange of these gases in real time, which allows us to directly compare the amount of reactants and products. By studying two sites with different rock types, we show that the chemical composition is an important factor in driving the weathering reactions. Locally, the carbon dioxide release changes alongside temperature and precipitation.
Chemical weathering of sedimentary rocks can release carbon dioxide and consume oxygen. We...
