Eric W. Portenga

Understanding Earth’s eroding surface with 10Be

For more than a century, geologists have sought to measure the distribution of erosion rates on Earth’s dynamic surface. Since the mid-1980s, measurements of in situ 10Be, a cosmogenic radionuclide, have been used to estimate outcrop and basin-scale erosion rates at 87 sites around the world. Here, we compile, normalize, and compare published 10Be erosion rate data (n = 1599) in order to understand how, on a global scale, geologic erosion rates integrated over 103 to 106 years vary between climate zones, tectonic settings, and different rock types. Drainage basins erode more quickly (mean = 218 m Myr−1; median = 54 m Myr−1) than outcrops (mean = 12 m Myr−1; median = 5.4 m Myr−1), likely reflecting the acceleration of rock weathering rates under soil. Drainage basin and outcrop erosion rates both vary by climate zone, rock type, and tectonic setting. On the global scale, environmental parameters (latitude, elevation, relief, mean annual precipitation and temperature, seismicity, basin slope and area, and percent basin cover by vegetation) explain erosion rate variation better when they are combined in multiple regression analyses than when considered in bivariate relationships. Drainage basin erosion rates are explained well by considering these environmental parameters (R2 = 0.60); mean basin slope is the most powerful regressor. Outcrop erosion rates are less well explained (R2 = 0.32), and no one parameter dominates. The variance of erosion rates is better explained when subpopulations of the global data are analyzed. While our compilation is global, the grouped spatial distribution of cosmogenic studies introduces a bias that will only be addressed by research in under-sampled regions.

A Cosmogenic view of erosion, relief generation, and the age of faulting in southern Africa

Southernmost Africa, with extensive upland geomorphic surfaces, deep canyons, and numerous faults, has long interested geoscientists. A paucity of dates and low rates of background seismicity make it challenging to quantify the pace of landscape change and determine the likelihood and timing of fault movement that could raise and lower parts of the landscape and create associated geohazards. To infer regional rates of denudation, we measured 10Be in river sediment samples and found that south-central South Africa is eroding ~5 m m.y.−1, a slow erosion rate consistent with those measured in other non-tectonically active areas, including much of southern Africa. To estimate the rate at which extensive, fossil, upland, silcrete-mantled pediment surfaces erode, we measured 10Be and 26Al in exposed quartzite samples. Undeformed upland surfaces are little changed since the Pliocene; some have minimum exposure ages exceeding 2.5 m.y. (median, 1.3 m.y.) and maximum erosion rates of We directly dated a recent displacement event on the only recognized Quaternary-active fault in South Africa, a fault that displaces both silcrete and the underlying quartzite. The concentrations of 10Be in exposed fault scarp samples are consistent with a 1.5 m displacement occurring ca. 25 ka. Samples from this offset upland surface have lower minimum limiting exposure ages and higher maximum erosion rates than those from undeformed pediment surfaces, consistent with Pleistocene earthquakes and deformation reducing overall landscape stability proximal to the fault zone. Rates of landscape change on the extensive, stable, silcretized, upland pediment surfaces are an order of magnitude lower than basin-average erosion rates. As isostatic response to regional denudation uplifts the entire landscape at several meters per million years, valleys deepen, isolating stable upland surfaces and creating the spectacular relief for which the region is known.

Erosion rates in and around Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, determined using analysis of cosmogenic 10Be

We use cosmogenic 10Be analysis of fluvial sediments and bedrock to estimate erosion rates (104-105 year timescale) and to infer the distribution of post-orogenic geomorphic processes in the Blue Ridge Province in and around Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. Our sampling plan was designed to investigate relationships between erosion rate and lithology, mean basin slope, basin area, and sediment grain size. Fifty-nine samples were collected from a variety of basin sizes (<1-3305 km2) and average basin slopes (6-24°) in each of four different lithologies that crop out in the park: granite, metabasalt, quartzite, and siliciclastic rocks. The samples include bedrock (n = 5), fluvial sediment from single-lithology basins (n = 43), and fluvial sediment from multilithology basins (n = 11): two multilithology samples are from rivers with tributary streams draining the eastern and western slopes of the park, respectively (Rappahannock and Shenandoah Rivers), and two samples are temporal replicates. In one sample of each lithology, we measured 10Be in four different grain sizes from fine sand to gravel. Inferred erosion rates for the medium sand fraction of all fluvial samples from all lithologies range from 3.0 to 21 m/My. The area-weighted mean erosion rate for single-lithology basins in the Park is 12.2 m/My. Single-lithology erosion rate ranges for fluvial samples are: granite, 7.0 to 20 m/My; metabasalt, 3.8 to 21 m/My; quartzite, 3.8 to 15 m/My; and siliciclastic rocks, 5.2 to 15 m/My. Multilithology basins erode at rates between 3.0-16 m/My. The Shenandoah River basin (3305 km2) is eroding at 6.6 m/My. Bedrock erosion rates range from 1.8 to 11 m/My across all lithologies, with a mean of 6.5 ± 4.3 m/My. Grain-size specific 10Be analysis of four samples showed no consistent trend of concentration with grain size. Cosmogenic analysis of bedrock and sediment from the Shenandoah National Park area allows us to speculate about why some parts of the Appalachian Mountains erode more slowly and some more rapidly. Overall, it appears that steep drainage basins erode more rapidly than gently sloped basins. Climate and lithology may also influence basin-scale rates of erosion as suggested by the difference in average erosion rates east and west of the divide and the difference between the erosion rates of quartzite- and granite-dominated basins. Data are conflicting in regards to the evolution of relief over time. Analyses made of exposed bedrock along ridgelines suggest that such rock is eroding either more slowly than adjacent drainage basins (Susquehanna River, Shenandoah National Park region) or at similar rates (Great Smoky Mountains) providing a mechanism for growing relief at the scale of individual ridgelines. However, considering relief on a landscape or physiographic province scale, by comparing erosion rates of the highlands versus the lowlands, suggests that relief of the range as a whole is either steady or very slowly decreasing over multi-millennial timescales. The presence of significant erosion rate/slope relationships negates a broad Hackian view of the landscape because there is not uniform erosion across this landscape. The aspect-erosion rate and slope-erosion rate relationships present in the Shenandoah area suggest that the landscape is not fully adjusted to rock strength.

Low rates of bedrock outcrop erosion in the central Appalachian Mountains inferred from in situ 10Be

Bedrock outcrops are common on central Appalachian Mountain ridgelines. Because these ridgelines define watersheds, the rate at which they erode influences the pace of landscape evolution. To estimate ridgeline erosion rates, we sampled 72 quartz-bearing outcrops from the Potomac and Susquehanna River Basins and measured in situ–produced 10 Be. Ridgeline erosion rates average 9 ± 1 m m.y. −1 (median = 6 m m.y. −1 ), similar to 10 Be-derived rates previously reported for the region. The range of erosion rates we calculated reflects the wide distribution of samples we collected and the likely inclusion of outcrops affected by episodic loss of thick slabs and periglacial activity. Outcrops on main ridgelines erode slower than those on mountainside spur ridges because ridgelines are less likely to be covered by soil, which reduces the production rate of 10 Be and increases the erosion rate of rock. Ridgeline outcrops erode slower than drainage basins in the Susquehanna and Potomac River watersheds, suggesting a landscape in disequilibrium. Erosion rates are more similar for outcrops meters to tens of meters apart than those at greater distances, yet semivariogram analysis suggests that outcrop erosion rates in the same physiographic province are similar even though they are hundreds of kilometers apart. This similarity may reflect underlying lithological and/or structural properties common to each physiographic province. Average 10 Be-derived outcrop erosion rates are similar to denudation rates determined by other means (sediment flux, fission-track thermochronology, [U-Th]/He dating), indicating that the pace of landscape evolution in the central Appalachian Mountains is slow, and has been since post-Triassic rifting events.

Timing of post-European settlement alluvium deposition in SE Australia: A legacy of European land-use in the Goulburn Plains

The timing of landscape change, post-settlement alluvium (PSA) deposition and gully erosion in the southeastern Australian Tablelands remains at the centre of a long-standing discussion over the geomorphological effects of European land-use compared with Aboriginal land-use and climate change. Few quantitative studies date the onset of gully erosion and subsequent PSA deposition in the Tablelands and those that do determine the timing of landscape change for individual catchments rather than across the region. In this study, we present optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) burial ages of swampy meadow (SM) sediment and PSA from six sites spread throughout the Goulburn Plains to place better regional constraints on the timing of landscape change. PSA burial ages at each of our sample sites range between 213 and 81 years before AD 2013, the year during which all samples were collected and measured – corresponding to AD 1800–1932. All measured PSA burial ages post-date European arrival to Australia and are therefore consistent with the generic name and implied age assigned to these sediments before quantitative age estimates were available for them. We suggest, however, that the term ‘post-European settlement alluvium’ may be more appropriate in the Australian context as Aboriginal Australians were living in the Tablelands prior to European arrival. Associations between the occurrence of gully incision and PSA deposition throughout the Tablelands and climatic factors are tenuous, and we suggest that European land-use practices in the region dominate landscape evolution, which had been driven by climatic factors throughout the Holocene.

Rates of erosion and landscape change along the Blue Ridge escarpment, southern Appalachian Mountains, estimated from in situ cosmogenic 10Be

The Blue Ridge escarpment, located within the southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia and North Carolina, forms a distinct, steep boundary between the lower-elevation Piedmont and higher-elevation Blue Ridge physiographic provinces. To understand better the rate at which this landform and the adjacent landscape are changing, we measured cosmogenic beryllium-10 (10Be) in quartz separated from sediment samples (n = 50) collected in 32 streams and from three exposed bedrock outcrops along four transects normal to the escarpment, allowing us to calculate erosion rates integrated over 104–105 years. These basin-averaged erosion rates (5.4–49 m Myr−1) are consistent with those measured elsewhere in the southern Appalachain Mountains and show a positive relationship between erosion rate and average basin slope. Erosion rates show no relationship with basin size or relative position of the Brevard fault zone, a fundamental structural element of the region. The cosmogenic isotopic data, when considered along with the distribution of average basin slopes in each physiographic province, suggest that the escarpment is eroding on average more rapidly than the Blue Ridge uplands, which are eroding more rapidly than the Piedmont lowlands. This difference in erosion rates by geomorphic setting suggests that the elevation difference between the uplands and lowlands adjacent to the escarpment is being reduced but at extremely slow rates. Copyright

A late Holocene onset of Aboriginal burning in southeastern Australia

The extent to which Aboriginal Australians used fire to modify their environment has been debated for decades and is generally based on charcoal and pollen records rather than landscape responses to land-use change. Here we investigate the sensitivity of in-situ–produced 10 Be, an isotope commonly used in geomorphological contexts, to anthropogenic perturbations in the southeastern Australian Tablelands. Comparing 10 Be-derived erosion rates from fluvial sediment (8.7 ± 0.9 mm k.y. –1 ; 1 standard error, SE; n = 11) and rock outcrops (5.3 ± 1.4 mm k.y. –1 ; 1 SE; n = 6) confirms that landscape lowering rates integrating over 10 4 –10 5 yr are consistent with rates previously derived from studies integrating over 10 4 to >10 7 yr. We then model an expected 10 Be inventory in fluvial sediment if background erosion rates were perturbed by a low-intensity, high-frequency Aboriginal burning regime. When we run the model using the average erosion rate derived from 10 Be in fluvial sediment (8.7 mm k.y. –1 ), measured and modeled 10 Be concentrations overlap between ca. 3 ka and 1 ka. Our modeling is consistent with intensified Aboriginal use of fire in the late Holocene, a time when Aboriginal population growth is widely recognized.

Combining bulk sediment OSL and meteoric 10Be fingerprinting techniques to identify gully initiation sites and erosion depths

Deep erosional gullies dissect landscapes around the world. Existing erosion models focus on predicting where gullies might begin to erode, but identifying where existing gullies were initiated and under what conditions is difficult, especially when historical records are unavailable. Here we outline a new approach for fingerprinting alluvium and tracing it back to its source by combining bulk sediment optically stimulated luminescence (bulk OSL) and meteoric 10Be (10Bem) measurements made on gully-derived alluvium samples. In doing so, we identify where gully erosion was initiated and infer the conditions under which such erosion occurred. As both 10Bem and bulk OSL data have distinctive depth profiles in different uneroded and depositional settings, we are able to identify the likely incision depths in potential alluvium source areas. We demonstrate our technique at Birchams Creek in the southeastern Australian Tablelands—a well-studied and recent example of gully incision that exemplifies a regional landscape transition from unchanneled swampy meadow wetlands to gully incision and subsequent wetland burial by post-European settlement alluvium. We find that such historic alluvium was derived from a shallow erosion of valley fill upstream of former swampy meadows and was deposited down the center of the valley. Incision likely followed catchment deforestation and the introduction of livestock, which overgrazed and congregated in valley bottoms in the early 20th century during a period of drought. As a result, severe gully erosion was likely initiated in localized, compacted, and oversteepened reaches of the valley bottom.

Retracted: Background rates of erosion and sediment generation in the Potomac River basin, USA, derived using in situ 10Be, meteoric 10Be, and 9Be

This article has been retracted by the authors. Beryllium isotopes are often used to estimate rates of landscape change, but results from different beryllium isotope systems have rarely been compared. Here, we combine measurements of in situ and meteoric 10 Be ( 10 Be i and 10 Be m , respectively) with the reactive and mineral phases of 9 Be ( 9 Be reac and 9 Be min , respectively) to elucidate short- and long-term rates of erosion and sediment transport in the Potomac River basin on the North American passive margin. Sixty-two measurements of 10 Be i in alluvium show that the Potomac watershed is eroding on average at 11 m m.y. −1 (∼30 Mg km −2 yr −1 ), which is consistent with regional erosion rate estimates. The 10 Be i erosion rates correlate with basin latitude, suggesting that periglacial weathering increased proximal to the Laurentide ice sheet. The average of 55 10 Be m / 9 Be reac -derived sediment generation rates (26.2 ± 18.3 Mg km −2 yr −1 ) is indistinguishable from the average of 62 10 Be i rates; however, 10 Be m / 9 Be reac - and 10 Be i -based sediment generation rates are uncorrelated for individual basins. The lack of correlation on a basin-by-basin basis suggests biogeochemical assumptions inherent to the 10 Be m / 9 Be reac technique are not valid everywhere. Contemporary sediment yields ( n = 10) are up to 10 times greater than 10 Be i - or 10 Be m -derived sediment generation rates. However, we find that benchmark levels set to manage sediment export into Chesapeake Bay are within the uncertainty of long-term sediment generation rates. Erosion indices derived from 10 Be m measurements range from 0.07 to 1.24, signifying that sediment retention occurs throughout the basin, except in the Appalachian Plateau. Paleo−erosion indices, calculated from the 150 k.y. Hybla Valley sediment core, suggest sediment excavation and storage under colder and warmer climate conditions, respectively.