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Soil Development Parameters in the Absence of a Chronosequence in a Glaciated Basin of the White Mountains, California-Nevada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Terry W. Swanson ,
Deborah L. Elliott-Fisk  and
Randel J. Southard
Terry W. Swanson
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences and Quaternary Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195
Deborah L. Elliott-Fisk
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of California, Davis, California 95616
Randel J. Southard
Affiliation:
Department of Land, Air and Water Resource, University of California, Davis, California 95616
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Abstract

Detailed mapping and provisional numerical age determinations of glacial deposits in the South Chiatovich Creek Basin of the White Mountains provide an opportunity to evaluate the ability of conventional soil parameters to discriminate first- and second-order glacial events. Sampling and analytical procedures were designed to minimize variation in climate and lithology. When lithology and climate are similar among sites, age trends are more pronounced in both field and chemical soil properties. Profile development indices (PDIs), adjusted by removing melanization and pH, systematically increase with greater soil age, and discriminate first-order, but not second-order, glacial events. The best-fit curve for adjusted PDI data assumes an exponential form and suggests that the rate of soil formation in this region decreases over time, similar to the rate of weathering-rind development. Variation in eolian influx and surface erosion, which are dominant processes affecting soils of the basin, cause major uncertainties in establishing soil age and, hence, soil-development rates. Even on the youngest glacial deposits, soil age is probably significantly less than deposit age due to these geomorphic processes. Soil and weathering parameters imply that these field techniques can be inexpensively employed to define relative chronologies and to assess surface degradation and its impact on surface exposure ages. Results from this study indicate that site-selection strategy for establishing glacial chronologies should be reevaluated. Working with stable residual bedrock surfaces and associated low-relief outwash fans and terraces may prove more productive than focusing on relatively unstable moraine surfaces in tectonically active mountain systems.

Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 39 , Issue 2 , March 1993 , pp. 186 - 200
Copyright
University of Washington

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