Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T06:30:51.288Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Geochemical and glacio-geomorphic implications of basalt weathering in the Queen Maud Mountains, Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

R. W. Talkington ,
P. A. Mayewski  and
H. E. Gaudette
R. W. Talkington
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Carleton University, Ottawa, OntarioCanada K1S 5B6
P. A. Mayewski
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New HampshireU.S.A.03824
H. E. Gaudette
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New HampshireU.S.A.03824
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The weathering of a suite of basalt clasts, that have been transported by mass wasting downslope in the Cumulus Hills region of the Queen Maud Mountains, Antarctica, is examined from both geochemical and glacio-geomorphic viewpoints. Chemical weathering, predominantly oxidation and hydration, increases in severity from clast core to rim for the suite. These weathering processes and concomitant formation of a weathering rind are suggested to be an accumulative process, culminating in the disaggregation of the rock due in part both to the chemical breakdown of the interstitial and intersertal basaltic glass and to physical weathering processes.

Mass wasting rates in the range of 1.4 × 10−3−1.13 × 10−1 cm. y−1 are estimated, assuming that the style of transport is dry creep. These transport rates suggest that the rock-surface/air-temperature differences in the study area may have been as little as 0.5 °C and heating and cooling cycles as few as 1 cy. y−1 for the last 4.2 Ma.

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 119 , Issue 6 , November 1982 , pp. 553 - 566
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bain, D. C., Ritchie, P. F. S., Clark, D. R. & Duthie, D. M. L. 1980. Geochemistry and mineralogy of weathered basalt from Morvern, Scotland. Mineralog. Mag. 43, 856–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birkeland, P. W. 1974. Pedology, Weathering and Geomorphological Research. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bull, C. 1971. Snow accumulation in Antarctica. In Research in the Antarctic (ed. Quam, L.), Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 367–421.Google Scholar
Claridge, G. G. C. & Campbell, I. B. 1968. Soils of the Shackleton Glacier region, Queen Maud Range. N.Z. J. Sci. 11, 171–218.Google Scholar
Clark, S. P. Jr. 1966. Thermal conductivity. In Handbook of Physical Constants (ed. Clark, S. P. Jr.), Mem. geol. Soc. Am. 97, 461–82.Google Scholar
Colman, S. M. & Pierce, K. L. 1981. Weathering rinds on andesitic and basaltic stones as a Quaternary age indicator. Western United States. Prof. Pap. U.S. geol. Surv. 1210.Google Scholar
Cooke, R. U. & Smalley, I. J. 1968. Salt weathering in deserts: Nature, Lond. 220, 1226–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daly, R. A., Manger, G. E. & Clark, S. P. Jr. 1966. Density of rocks. In Handbook of Physical Constants (ed. Clark, S. P. Jr), Mem. geol. Soc. Am. 97, 20–6.Google Scholar
Finger, L. W. & Hadidiacos, C. G. 1972. Electron microprobe automation. Yb. Carnegie Instn Wash. 71, 591–600.Google Scholar
Fritz, S. J. & Ragland, P. C. 1980. Weathering rinds developed on plutonic igneous rocks in the North Carolina Piedmont. Am. J. Sci. 280, 546–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 1973 (ed. Weast, R. C.). Cleveland, Ohio: Chemical Rubber Co. Press.Google Scholar
Jackson, T. A. & Keller, W. D. 1970. A comparative study of the role of lichens and ‘inorganic’ processes in the chemical weathering of recent Hawaiian lava flows. Am. J. Sci. 269, 446–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leeman, W. P. & Vitaliano, C. J. 1976. Petrology of McKinney Basalt, Snake River Plain, Idaho. Bull. geol. Soc. Am. 87, 1777–92.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayewski, P. A. 1975. Glacial geology and Late Cenozoic history of the Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica. Institute of Polar Studies Report 56, The Ohio State University.Google Scholar
Mayewski, P. A. & Goldthwait, R. P. (in the Press). The glacial history of the Transantarctic Mountains: a record of the East Antarctic ice sheet. In Transantarctic Mountains (ed. Spelettstoesser, J. and Turner, M.). Am. Geophys. Union Spec. Vol.Google Scholar
Melson, W. G. 1973. Basaltic glasses from the Deep Sea Drilling Project: chemical characteristics, compositions of alteration products, and fission track ‘ages’. EOS 54, 1011–14.Google Scholar
Melson, W. G., Thompson, G., Vallier, T. L., Wright, T. L., Beyerly, G. & Nelen, J. 1975. Chemical diversity of abyssal volcanic glass erupted along Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Ocean sea-floor spreading centers. Wollard Symp. Vol., Geophys. Res., Monograph series.Google Scholar
Muffler, L. J. P., Short, J. M., Keith, T. E. C. & Smith, V. C. 1969. Chemistry of fresh and altered basaltic glass from the Upper Triassic Hound Island Volcanics, southeastern Alaska. Am. J. Sci. 267, 196–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Porter, S. C. 1975. Weathering rinds as a relative-age criterion: application to subdivision of glacial deposits in the Cascade Range. Geology 3, 101–4.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheidegger, A. E. 1970. Theoretical Geomorphology. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singer, A. & Navrot, J. 1970. Diffusion rings in altered basalt. Chem. Geol. 6, 31–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skinner, B. J. 1966. Thermal expansion. In Handbook of Physical Constants (ed. Clark, S. P. Jr,). Mem. geol. Soc. Am. 97, 78–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Talkington, R. W., Gaudette, H. E. & Mayewski, P. A. 1976. Preliminary investigation of the weathering stages of a tholeiitic basalt (dolerite), Queen Maud Mountains, Antarctica. Antarctic J. 14, 242–5.Google Scholar
Thompson, G. 1973. A geochemical study of the low-temperature interaction of sea-water and oceanic igneous rocks. EOS 54, 1015–19.Google Scholar
Weyant, W. S. 1967. The Antarctic atmosphere: climatology of the surface environment. Am. Geo. Soc. Folio 8.Google Scholar