Quantification and geochemical characterization of total mass fluxes in river catchments of the Rhenish Massif and the Black Forest, Germany
Final Report Abstract
In order to unravel the Quaternary landscape evolution in low mountain ranges typical of central Europe, denudation rates on different temporal and spatial scales have been determined in the Rhenish Massif and the Black Forest. In river catchments of the Rhenish Massif, the comparison between catchment-wide denudation rates on different temporal scales yields about three times higher long-term denudation rates derived from in-situ produced 10Be concentrations compared to short-term denudation rates derived from river loads. Reasons for the higher long-term denudation rates are a sparse vegetation cover in the past (for instance during the Younger Dryas, the Roman period, and the Middle Ages) and possibly a high denudation signal inherited from the last glaciation. In river catchments of the Black Forest, relief development was quantified by comparing 10Be-based denudation rates on different spatial scales. Here, the difference between relatively high catchment-wide denudation rates and low local denudation rates from the ridge crests bounding these basins results in a relief growth rate of 24 ± 12 mm/ka. The onset of relief development has been determined by thermal modelling of apatite fission track data at ~19 Ma. Using this age constraint and the rate of relief increase, we obtain a total relief of 450 ± 230 m that has been generated since the Middle Miocene. This value is consistent with the present-day relief of the studied catchments. In both the Rhenish Massif and the Black Forest we measured silicate weathering rates by means of the stable isotopic ratios ?13CDIC, ?34SSO4 and ?18OSO4. The resulting rates highlight the influence of sulphuric acid in addition to carbonic acid in weathering reactions and show that silicate weathering rates are strongly dependent on lithology and local relief.
Publications
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AGU Fall Meeting (2007) in San Francisco, USA: Long-term and short-term erosion rates in river catchments of the Rhenish Massif and the Black Forest, Germany
H. Meyer, R. Hetzel, and H. Strauss
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Goldschmidt conference (2007) in Cologne: Quantification and geochemical characterization of total mass fluxes in river catchments of the Rhenish Massif and the Black Forest, Germany
Henning Meyer, Ralf Hetzel, And Harald Strauss
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DGG/GV conference (2008) in Aachen: Erosion rates on different timescales derived from cosmogenic 10Be and river loads: A case study from the Rhenish Massif, Germany
Henning Meyer, Ralf H Etzel, Harald Strauss
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EGU conference (2008) in Vienna, Austria: Erosion rates on different timescales in river catchments of the Rhenish Massif and the Black Forest, Germany
H. Meyer, R. Hetzel, and H. Strauss
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Goldschmidt conference (2008) in Vancouver, Canada: Erosion rates on different timescales in river catchments of low mountain ranges
H. Meyer, R. Hetzel, and H. Strauss
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(2009). Erosion rates on different timescales derived from cosmogenic 10Be and river loads: Implications for landscape evolution in the Rhenish Massif, Germany. Int. J. Earth Sci.
Meyer H., Hetzel R., Strauss H.
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(2009). The role of supergene sulphuric acid during weathering in small river catchments in low mountain ranges of Central Europe: Implications for calculating the atmospheric CO2 budget. Chem. Geol., 268, 41-51
Meyer H., Strauss H., Hetzel R.
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EGU conference (2009) in Vienna, Austria: Erosion and weathering rates on timescales of 10^1 to 10^4 years derived from cosmogenic 10Be and river loads
H. Meyer, R. Hetzel, and H. Strauss
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Geomorphology conference (2009) in Melbourne, Australia: Erosion and weathering rates on different timescales derived from cosmogenic beryllium-10 and river loads
H. Meyer, R. Hetzel, and H. Strauss
