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Abstract In this study, we present direct field measurements of modern lateral and vertical bedrock erosion during a 2‐year study period, and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages of fluvial material capping a flat bedrock surface at Kings Creek located in northeast Kansas, USA. These data provide insight into rates and mechanisms of bedrock erosion and valley‐widening in a heterogeneously layered limestone‐shale landscape. Lateral bedrock erosion outpaced vertical incision during our 2‐year study period. Modern erosion rates, measured at erosion pins in limestone and shale bedrock reveal that shale erosion rate is a function of wetting and drying cycles, while limestone erosion rate is controlled by discharge and fracture spacing. Variability in fracture spacing amongst field sites controls the size of limestone block collapse into the stream, which either allowed continued lateral erosion following rapid detachment and transport of limestone blocks, or inhibited lateral erosion due to limestone blocks that protected the valley wall from further erosion. The OSL ages of fluvial material sourced from the strath terrace were older than any material previously dated at our study site and indicate that Kings Creek was actively aggrading and incising throughout the late Pleistocene. Coupling field measurements and observations with ages of fluvial terraces can be useful to investigate the timing and processes linked to how bedrock rivers erode laterally over time to form wide bedrock valleys.
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This content will become publicly available on October 1, 2025
Quartz luminescence sensitivity enhanced by residence time in the critical zone
The emerging field of quartz luminescence properties in Earth-surface processes research shows promise, with optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) sensitivity proposed as a valuable tool for provenance or sediment history tracing. However, the geologic processes that lead to quartz sensitization remain under investigation. Here we study the impact of source rock and surface processes on the luminescence properties of quartz sand from bedrock and modern and Late Pleistocene alluvium generated from a mountainous catchment in northern Utah, USA. Continuous wave and linear modulated OSL are used to characterize the luminescence sensitivity and intensity of the fast-decay component. We compare the OSL sensitivity with sand-grain provenance and with proxies for surface processes such as topographic metrics, cosmogenic 10Be-derived erosion rates, chemical weathering indices, and magnetic susceptibility. Late Pleistocene sediment has low OSL sensitivity and a weak fast-decay component, similar to bedrock samples from the source area. In contrast, modern alluvium is dominated by the fast-decay component and has higher and more variable OSL sensitivity, with no clear relationship to bedrock sources in their prospective catchment areas. There is, however, an inverse relationship between OSL sensitivity and catchment-averaged erosion rates and a positive relationship with chemical weathering indices and magnetic susceptibility. These metrics suggest that the modern alluvium has experienced increased residence time in the shallow critical zone compared to the Late Pleistocene sediments. We suggest that changes in hillslope processes between the effectively wetter, cooler Pleistocene and the dryer, warmer conditions of the Holocene modulated the luminescence properties. The results suggest that climatic controls on rates and processes of chemical and mechanical weathering and sediment transport and residence within the critical zone are encoded in the luminescence properties of quartz sand.
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- PAR ID:
- 10558606
- Publisher / Repository:
- Elseveir, Quaternary Geochronology
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Quaternary Geochronology
- Volume:
- 84
- Issue:
- C
- ISSN:
- 1871-1014
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 101613
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- Quartz luminescence sensitivity surface processes critical zone magnetic susceptibility chemical weathering indices 10Be erosion rates
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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