Quantifying the impact of former glaciation on catchment-wide denudation rates derived from cosmogenic ¹⁰Be

authored by

Christoph Glotzbach, Markus Röttjer, Andrea Hampel, Ralf Hetzel, Peter W. Kubik

Abstract

Glacial denudation can significantly perturb terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide depth profiles and, if this is not corrected for, derived apparent denudation rates will overestimate the actual denudation rates. Here we determine how much ¹⁰Be-derived denudation rates - calculated under the assumption of steady state - deviate from actual denudation rates as a function of three parameters: (1) the total amount of glacial denudation, (2) the post-glacial denudation rate and (3) the time elapsed since deglaciation. We provide correction lines for the full parameter space explored (glacial denudation: 0.01-100 m; post-glacial denudation rate: 1-1000 mm/ka; deglaciation: 1-100 ka before present), to evaluate and, if necessary, correct denudation rates for the impact of glacial denudation. Applied to ¹⁰Be-derived catchment-averaged denudation rates for formerly glaciated catchments in the Black Forest, Germany, we find that uncorrected denudation rates overestimate actual rates by up to a factor of three.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Geology
Geology Section
Tectonics, structural geology and tectonic geomorphology
Institute of Earth System Sciences

External Organisation(s)

University of Münster
ETH Zurich

Type

Article

Journal

TERRA NOVA

Volume

26

Pages

186-194

No. of pages

9

ISSN

0954-4879

Publication date

06.2014

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Geology

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 15 - Life on Land

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1111/ter.12085 (Access: Closed)