Journal ArticleDOI
Weathering and Porosity Formation in Subsoil Granitic Clasts, Bishop Creek Moraines, California
Ann M. Rossi,Robert C. Graham +1 more
TLDR
This article measured porosity and pore characteristics on granodiorite clasts in soils of the Bishop Creek moraines, eastern Sierra Nevada, California, and found that the most weathered clasts have significant porosity that contributes to the ecosystem functions of the regolith.Abstract:
Porous weathered rock can play an important role in storing water and nutrients that are accessible to plants and microbes, especially in thin or skeletal soils. The objectives of this study were to measure the rate of porosity development in granitic rock fragments and determine how pore morphology changes with time. Total porosity and pore characteristics were measured on granodiorite clasts in soils of the Bishop Creek moraines, eastern Sierra Nevada, California. The soils formed a chronosequence; soil surface age represented the weathering time for the clasts. Clast porosity was estimated to form at a rate of 0.10% per thousand years. Pores were dominantly inter- and intramineral planar voids formed by stress fracturing induced through biotite expansion. Granodiorite clasts in the older moraines had greater total porosity, microporosity, and connectivity of pores, increasing potential for water movement and storage and ease of root and mycorrhizal penetration. Roots and clay films observed in pores inside the weathered clasts indicate water storage and movement from the soil into clasts. The most weathered clasts have significant porosity that contributes to the ecosystem functions of the regolith.read more
Citations
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Regolith geology of the Yilgan Craton, Western Australia-implications for exploration
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present and review the processes responsible for the distribution and formation of regolith and associated landscapes of the Yilgarn Craton and highlight their implications for mineral exploration.
Journal ArticleDOI
Soil Moisture Response to Snowmelt and Rainfall in a Sierra Nevada Mixed-Conifer Forest
Roger C. Bales,Jan W. Hopmans,Anthony T. O'Geen,M. W. Meadows,P. C. Hartsough,P. B. Kirchner,Carolyn T. Hunsaker,Dylan Beaudette +7 more
TL;DR: In this paper, a water-balance instrument cluster with spatially distributed sensors was used to determine the magnitude and within-catchment variability of components of the catchmentscale water balance, focusing on the relationship of seasonal evapotranspiration to changes in snowpack and soil moisture storage.
Journal ArticleDOI
Seismic Constraints on Critical Zone Architecture, Boulder Creek Watershed, Front Range, Colorado
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used a minimally invasive, shallow geophysical technique to image the structure of the criti cal zone from surface to bedrock (0-20 m) in two small drainages within the Boulder Creek Criti cal Zone Observatory (BcCZO).
Journal ArticleDOI
Characterization of deep weathering and nanoporosity development in shale—A neutron study
Lixin Jin,Gernot Rother,David R. Cole,David F. R. Mildner,Christopher J. Duffy,Susan L. Brantley +5 more
TL;DR: In this paper, small-angle and ultra-small-angle neutron scattering (SANS/USANS) was used to characterize the evolution of nanoscale features in weathering Rose Hill shale within the Susquehanna/Shale Hills Observatory (SSHO).
Journal ArticleDOI
Mechanisms controlling the impact of multi-year drought on mountain hydrology.
Roger C. Bales,Michael L. Goulden,Carolyn T. Hunsaker,Martha H. Conklin,P. C. Hartsough,Anthony T. O'Geen,Jan W. Hopmans,Mohammad Safeeq +7 more
TL;DR: The impact of the warm 2012–15 California drought on the heavily instrumented Kings River basin provides an extraordinary opportunity to enumerate four mechanisms that controlled the impact of drought on mountain hydrology.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Macropores and water flow in soils
Keith Beven,Peter F. Germann +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, the importance of large continuous openings (macropores) on water flow in soils is discussed and the limitations of models that treat macropores and matrix porosity as separate flow domains are stressed.
Journal ArticleDOI
Terrestrial in situ cosmogenic nuclides: theory and application
John C. Gosse,Fred M. Phillips +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present the theory necessary for interpreting cosmogenic nuclide data, reviews estimates of parameters, describes strategies and practical considerations in field applications, and assesses sources of error in interpreting Cosmogenic Nuclide measurements.
Journal ArticleDOI
A Study in Rock-Weathering
TL;DR: In this article, the progress of the decomposition of residual clay is interpreted from a series of six samples of residual clays, and fourteen new chemical analyses of material from Medford, Massachusetts, diabase are presented as a check on the older data.
Journal ArticleDOI
An Index of Weathering for Silicate Rocks
TL;DR: In this paper, an index of weathering for silicate rocks is proposed, based on the proportions of the alkali and alkaline earth metals present, which are considered to be the most mobile of the major elements.
Journal ArticleDOI
Chemical weathering indices applied to weathering profiles developed on heterogeneous felsic metamorphic parent rocks
Jason R. Price,Michael A. Velbel +1 more
TL;DR: The Weathering Index of Parker (WIP) as mentioned in this paper is the most appropriate index for application to weathering profiles on heterogeneous (and homogeneous) parent rock, because it includes only the highly mobile alkali and alkaline earth elements in its formulation, yielding values that differ greatly from those of the parent rock.