Cosmogenic Chlorine-36 Chronology for Glacial Deposits at Bloody Canyon, Eastern Sierra Nevada

Use of silver–bentonite in sorption of chloride and iodide ions

Ag–bentonite was prepared by ion exchange process to sorb iodide and chloride ions in batch experiments. The modified bentonite was examined with XRF and XRD. 75% of the cation exchange capacity was exchanged by silver ions. It was found that the sorption of chloride ions is an exothermic precipitation process because the solubility decreases with increasing temperature. In the case of iodide sorption, the dissolution of AgI was observed under high concentration of non-radioactive iodide ions, which is well known in analytical chemistry. The phenomenon occurs not only in the bulk aqueous phase but also in the interlayer space of montmorillonite.

Sources and significance of variation in the dose estimates of 36Cl biosphere transfer models: a model intercomparison study

A range of performance assessments have indicated that the long-lived activation product (36)Cl will be among the more significant contributors to dose following release to the biosphere from deep or near-surface repositories for radioactive wastes. Described here are results of a BIOPROTA model intercomparison study, investigating dose assessment uncertainties and variability on the basis of six (36)Cl models from three countries. The models share a compartmental approach with transfers between compartments handled on the basis of empirical transfer factors (IMARC, ERB2A, Aquabios), on the basis of defined specific activities (AquaCl36, SA_36Cl), or on a combination of these methods (MTA_Cl36). The dose estimates that these models produce for a consensus well-water irrigation scenario, as well as the effect of altering certain critical assumptions, are reported, and the causes of variation examined. For the scenario considered, the calculated doses are within a factor of 15 of each other. Major differences were attributable to the data used for stable Cl concentrations and (36)Cl transfer parameter values, both typically site-specific parameters. Additional critical assumptions were studied such as the impact of stable chloride in the diet on dose coefficients, the effect of irrigating pasture with contaminated water on (36)Cl concentrations in animal products, and the explicit consideration of foliar uptake.

Surface dating of dynamic landforms: young boulders on aging moraines

The dating of landforms is crucial to understanding the evolution, history, and stability of landscapes. Cosmogenic isotope analysis has recently been used to determine quantitative exposure ages for previously undatable landform surfaces. A pioneering application of this technique to date moraines illustrated its considerable potential but suggested a chronology partially inconsistent with existing geological data. Consideration of the dynamic nature of landforms and of the ever-present processes of erosion, deposition, and weathering leads to a resolution of this inconsistency and, more generally, offers guidance for realistic interpretation of exposure ages.

Beryllium-10 Dating of the Duration and Retreat of the Last Pinedale Glacial Sequence

Accurate terrestrial glacial chronologies are needed for comparison with the marine record to establish the dynamics of global climate change during transitions from glacial to interglacial regimes. Cosmogenic beryllium-10 measurements in the Wind River Range indicate that the last glacial maximum (marine oxygen isotope stage 2) was achieved there by 21,700 +/- 700 beryllium-10 years and lasted 5900 years. Ages of a sequence of recessional moraines and striated bedrock surfaces show that the initial deglaciation was rapid and that the entire glacial system retreated 33 kilometers to the cirque basin by 12,100 +/- 500 beryllium-10 years.

Age and Duration of Weathering by 40K-40Ar and 40Ar/39Ar Analysis of Potassium-Manganese Oxides

Supergene cryptomelane [K(1-2)(Mn(3+)Mn(4+))(8)O(16). chiH(2)O] samples from deeply weathered pegmatites in southeastern Brazil subjected to (40)K-(40)Ar and (40)Ar/(39)Ar analysis yielded (40)K-(40)Ar dates ranging from 10.1 +/- 0.5 to 5.6 +/- 0.2 Ma (million years ago). Laser-probe (40)Ar/(39)Ar step-heating of the two most disparate samples yielded plateau dates of 9.94 +/- 0.05 and 5.59 +/- 0.10 Ma, corresponding, within 2 sigma, to the (40)K-(40)Ar dates. The results imply that deep weathering profiles along the eastern Brazilian margin do not reflect present climatic conditions but are the result of a long-term process that was already advanced by the late Miocene. Weathering ages predate pulses of continental sedimentation along the eastern Brazilian margin and suggest that there was a time lag between weathering and erosion processes and sedimentation processes.

Paleoclimatic Signature in Terrestrial Flood Deposits

Large-scale process simulation was used to reconstruct the geologic evolution during the past 600,000 years of an alluvial fan in northern California. In order to reproduce the sedimentary record, the simulation accounted for the dynamics of river flooding, sedimentation, subsidence, land movement that resulted from faulting, and sea level changes. Paleoclimatic trends induced fluctuations in stream flows and dominated the development of the sedimentary deposits. The process simulation approach serves as a quantitative means to explore the genesis of sedimentary architecture and its link to past climatic conditions and fault motion.