Terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dating of the oldest glacial successions in the Himalayan orogen: Ladakh Range, northern India

2006 ◽  
Vol 118 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 383-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. A. Owen ◽  
M. W. Caffee ◽  
K. R. Bovard ◽  
R. C. Finkel ◽  
M. C. Sharma
Geomorphology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 125 (4) ◽  
pp. 541-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lewis A. Owen ◽  
Kurt L. Frankel ◽  
Jeffrey R. Knott ◽  
Scott Reynhout ◽  
Robert C. Finkel ◽  
...  

2010 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason M. Dortch ◽  
Lewis A. Owen ◽  
Marc W. Caffee

AbstractThree glacial stages (Deshkit 1, Deshkit 2 and Dishkit 3 glacial stages) are identified in the Nubra and Shyok valleys in northernmost Ladakh, northwest India, on the basis of geomorphic field mapping, remote sensing, and 10Be terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dating. The glacial stages date to ∼ 45 ka (Deshkit 1 glacial stage), ∼ 81 ka (Deshkit 2 glacial stage) and ∼ 144 ka (Deshkit 3 glacial stage). A mean equilibrium line altitude depression of ∼ 290 m for the Deshkit 1 glacial stage was calculated using the area accumulation ratio, toe-to-headwall ratio, area–altitude, and area–altitude balance ratio methods. Comparison of glaciation in the Nubra and Shyok valleys with glaciations in the adjacent Central Karakoram of northern Pakistan and northern side of the Ladakh Range of northern India indicates that glaciation was synchronous on Milankovitch timescales across the region during MIS-6, but differed greatly in extent, with more extensive glaciation in the Karakoram than the morphostratigraphically equivalent glaciation on the northern slopes of the Ladakh Range. This highlights the strong contrast in the extent of glaciation across ranges in the Himalaya–Tibetan orogen, necessitating caution when correlating glacial successions within and between mountain ranges.


2008 ◽  
Vol 57 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 179-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Ivy-Ochs ◽  
Florian Kober

Abstract. In the last decades surface exposure dating using cosmogenic nuclides has emerged as a powerful tool in Quaternary geochronology and landscape evolution studies. Cosmogenic nuclides are produced in rocks and sediment due to reactions induced by cosmic rays. Landforms ranging in age from a few hundred years to tens of millions of years can be dated (depending on rock or landform weathering rates) by measuring nuclide concentrations. In this paper the history and theory of surface exposure dating are reviewed followed by an extensive outline of the fields of application of the method. Sampling strategies as well as information on individual nuclides are discussed in detail. The power of cosmogenic nuclide methods lies in the number of nuclides available (the radionuclides 10Be, 14C, 26Al, and 36Cl and the stable noble gases 3He and 21Ne), which allows almost every mineral and hence almost every lithology to be analyzed. As a result focus can shift to the geomorphic questions. It is important that obtained exposure ages are carefully scrutinized in the framework of detailed field studies, including local terrace or moraine stratigraphy and regional morphostratigraphic relationships; as well as in light of independent age constraints.


2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Winkler

AbstractThis study provides the first attempt to combine terrestrial (in situ) cosmogenic nuclide (10Be) surface exposure dating with Schmidt hammer relative-age dating for the age estimation of Holocene moraines at Strauchon Glacier, Southern Alps, New Zealand. Numerous Schmidt hammer tests enable a multi-ridged lateral moraine system to be related to three late-Holocene ‘Little Ice Age’-type events. On the basis of cosmogenic 10Be ages, those events are dated to c. 2400, 1700, and 1100 years ago. Linear age-calibration curves are constructed in order to relate Schmidt hammer R-values to cosmogenic 10Be ages. The high explanation yielded reveals the causal link between both data sets. The potential of combining both methods in a ‘’multiproxy approach’ is discussed alongside possible future improvements. Terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide dating delivers absolute ages needed as fixed points for Schmidt hammer age-calibration curves. The Schmidt hammer technique can be used to crosscheck the boulder surfaces chosen for surface exposure dating by terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides. It should, therefore, reduce the number of samples necessary and costs.


2008 ◽  
Vol 57 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 226-238
Author(s):  
Naki Akcar ◽  
Susan Ivy-Ochs ◽  
Christian Schlüchter

Abstract. The wide applicability of in-situ produced Terrestrial Cosmogenic Nuclides (TCNs) to geological problems and experiences in development and testing gained over the past decade is encouraging for its application to archaeological questions, where there is a distinct need for an additional independent dating tool beyond the limits of radiocarbon (~ 40 ka). Just as TCNs are applicable to a broader time period with considerable precision in archaeology, so also are they applicable to all lithologies. Application of TCNs to archaeological problems is relatively simple: either surface exposure dating (using cosmogenic nuclide production) or burial dating (using decay of radioactive cosmogenic nuclides) can be applied. For a successful application, close collaboration between archaeologists and TCN experts is required. The total exposure from 100 a to 5 Ma of a given surface of archaeological origin can be determined by surface exposure dating. The range of burial dating is from ~0.1 to 5 Ma. TCNs have been successfully applied to many archaeological problems during the last decade and both surface exposure dating and burial dating show high potential in the solving of archaeological problems.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Jackson ◽  
Gordon Bromley ◽  
Pierre-Henri Blard ◽  
Sidney Hemming

<p>Determining the geographic footprint of past climate events is a fundamental step in identifying the mechanisms that drive and propagate these changes around the globe. Glacial deposits are a particularly robust source of such data; glaciers are sensitive indicators of climate that leave records of their past fluctuations on the landscape. Given precise chronologic control, glacial deposits can be used to reconstruct past climate variability. Recent advances in cosmogenic nuclide surface-exposure dating have established past glacial fluctuations as a key climate proxy. However, uncertainties in the application of cosmogenic nuclide production-rate-scaling frameworks hinder efforts to compare past glacial fluctuations with other records of past climate conditions. Production-rate scaling is particularly uncertain in the tropics, where the theorized impacts of changing magnetic field strength on the incoming cosmic ray flux are greatest. Here we present results in-progress from the CoNTESTA [Cosmogenic Nuclide Temporal and Elevation Scaling: Testing and Application] Project, which seeks to establish multiple nuclide production-rate calibration sites of varying age from the low latitudes in order to assess directly the impacts of changing magnetic field strength on nuclide production over time. We also report new data that address empirically the impacts of elevation on nuclide production. The results of this project will strengthen our understanding of cosmogenic nuclide production globally and will improve surface-exposure age calculations from all regions. This in turn will enable more robust assessment of the global phasing of glacial fluctuations and will forward our understanding of landscape dynamics and Earth surface history. </p>


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