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101. [Article] The fluvial response to glacial-interglacial climate change in the Pacific Northwest, USA
This research focuses on the development of new techniques to explore terrestrial-ocean climate linkages along the Pacific Northwest-northeast Pacific Ocean margin. This is done by investigating river ...Citation Citation
- Title:
- The fluvial response to glacial-interglacial climate change in the Pacific Northwest, USA
- Author:
- VanLaningham, Sam J.
This research focuses on the development of new techniques to explore terrestrial-ocean climate linkages along the Pacific Northwest-northeast Pacific Ocean margin. This is done by investigating river response to climate change and by unraveling this history preserved in continental margin sediments. A significant component of this work centers on developing a 40Ar-39Ar incremental heating method to fingerprint bulk fluvial sediment entering this region. Results show reproducible ages from individual rivers accounting for the majority of sediment delivered offshore. A 40Ar-39Ar detrital mixture model is developed to examine the fidelity of these results and shows that the bulk ages measured from river mouth sediments can be accurate indicators of the average age of feldspars eroded from a given catchment area. The bulk sediment ages are combined with Nd isotopic analyses into a ternary mixing model to better understand the sources of terrigenous material delivered to offshore continental margin sites. Downcore Ar-Nd isotopic compositions can be described by three general river sediment sources proximal to the core site, the Umpqua, Rogue+Klamath, and Eel Rivers, from ~14 ka to Present. Results from the ternary model also suggest that differential contributions of eroded material plays the primary role in provenance changes seen at the core site, rather than sediment transport changes due to ocean circulation. This research culminates in a modeling effort to examine downcore provenance changes. We develop a model that balances basin-averaged 40Ar-39Ar ages (detrital mixtures) of the contributing fluvial basins and predicts the bulk sediment value at the core site. We find that the Upper Klamath Basin (which contained pluvial Lake Modoc during Marine Isotope Stage 2) is the most influential source area that can contribute to younger bulk sediment 40Ar-39Ar ages at the core site, relative to present day values. The Eel River is also shown to have a considerable influence on changes in margin sedimentation. Combinations of increases in the sediment fluxes out of these two basins can describe the 40Ar-39Ar provenance evolution observed at the core site over the 22-14 ka time period. Overall, this new 40Ar-39Ar isotopic technique, together with the Nd isotopic system and the use of detrital mixture modeling show tremendous promise as a multi-faceted strategy to assess erosion and provenance change through the continuous history preserved in fine-grained marine sedimentary records.
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102. [Article] Abrupt deglacial climate changes in the North Pacific and implications for climate tipping points
Paleoclimate archives have revealed abrupt climate events that are superimposed on more gradual climate changes throughout the last glacial and deglacial periods. The underlying causes of such rapid climate ...Citation Citation
- Title:
- Abrupt deglacial climate changes in the North Pacific and implications for climate tipping points
- Author:
- Praetorius, Summer Kate
Paleoclimate archives have revealed abrupt climate events that are superimposed on more gradual climate changes throughout the last glacial and deglacial periods. The underlying causes of such rapid climate changes are still poorly understood, but the strong expression of these events in northern hemisphere records likely points to climatic mechanisms of a northern origin. A leading hypothesis for the trigger of these climate fluctuations has been changes in the strength of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). However, the very rapid nature of some of the observed climate transitions (3-50 years) suggests a potential role for abrupt shifts in atmospheric circulation or nonlinear feedbacks within the climate system. Understanding the relative timing and magnitude of these events in different regions of the globe will help to identify the sources and possible amplifying mechanisms that have led to abrupt climate changes in the past, which will provide insight and constraints on the potential for abrupt climate changes in the future. This dissertation seeks to characterize climate changes occurring in the Northeast Pacific during the last deglaciation, a time period that encompasses the dynamic transition between the last ice age and the modern day interglacial period. So far, high-resolution records with precise chronologies from the North Pacific have been sparse, and paleoclimate models and proxy reconstructions disagree about the deglacial climate changes that are both predicted and observed to have occurred in this region. Marine sediment records from the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) have exceptionally high resolution (~1 cm/yr), making it possible to reconstruct climate changes in unprecedented detail for the North Pacific region. We establish new multi-decadal scale records of surface ocean variability using planktonic oxygen isotopes and sea-surface temperature (SST) estimates based on the alkenone U₃₇[superscript K'] unsaturation index, as well as regional records of ice-rafting and deglacial volcanic activity sourced from the Mt. Edgecumbe volcanic field (MEVF). The age models for these records are constrained by high-precision radiocarbon dating, tephra correlation, and "tuning" to the decadal-scale North Greenland Ice Core Project (NGRIP) oxygen isotope record. We combine new and previously published data from a depth transect of marine sites in the GOA and Northeast Pacific to place surface ocean changes in context of oceanic variability throughout the water column. These reconstructions are then used to evaluate three fundamental questions: 1) what are the timing and patterns of deglacial climate changes in the North Pacific relative to other regions, 2) what are the potential forcing mechanisms for deglacial climate variability in this region, and 3) how does the subsurface ocean respond to and influence abrupt climate change. In chapter two, we compare the timing and patterns of climate changes occurring between the North Pacific and North Atlantic regions. A major debate in the paleoclimate literature has been whether these regions operate in a synchronized or seesaw like mode. We compare the high resolution GOA and NGRIP oxygen isotope records as proxies for local temperature, and find that both synchronous and asynchronous climate patterns occur between regions throughout the past 18,000 years. The most abrupt climate transitions are preceded/accompanied by synchronous behavior, whereas times of relative climate stability exhibit asynchronous or anticorrelated (seesaw) patterns. This implies that coupling of North Pacific and North Atlantic heat transport could act as an amplifying mechanism in abrupt northern hemisphere climate change, whereas opposing oceanic regimes could act to balance northern hemisphere heat transport, and thus promote climate stability. In chapter three, we examine the timing between regional deglaciation and volcanism to evaluate potential feedbacks between climate and volcanic activity. Although volcanic eruptions have been observed to contribute to abrupt climate fluctuations with global effects in historical times, the role of volcanic forcing in climate variability of the more distant past (prior to the Holocene) has been neglected due to the very short-time scales in which volcanic events occur, and the difficulty of obtaining records with high enough resolution to capture these events and their associated climate effects. We evaluate the source and timing of a sequence of 23 tephra layers preserved in high-accumulation rate sediment cores proximal to the MEVF, and examine the regional climate response to this volcanic activity through comparison with reconstructions of sea surface temperatures, oxygen isotopes, and the δ¹⁸O of seawater. We find that the onset of enhanced volcanic activity coincides with abrupt warming at the onset of the Bølling Allerød, regional retreat of glaciers, and a period of rapid vertical land motion predicted from a model of regional isostatic rebound. These finding support the hypothesis that deglaciation may promote volcanism by removing crustal loading. The records of sea surface variability show large fluctuations during the episode of intense volcanic activity, suggesting that deglacial volcanic activity may not only respond to climate, but may also contribute to climate variance during the deglacial interval. In Chapter four, we examine the oceanographic changes that lead to two episodes of hypoxia in the GOA that lasted for millennia during the deglaciation. Similar hypoxic events have been documented across the North Pacific, indicating a widespread expansion of the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) during the Bølling Allerød and early Holocene warm periods. These episodes have been linked to enhanced export productivity in many sites, however, the driving mechanisms for enhanced productivity and ocean deoxygenation remain elusive. Our alkenone temperature reconstructions reveal two abrupt warmings of 4-5°C that precisely coincide with the onset of increased export productivity and a sudden shift to hypoxic conditions, suggesting a strong link between ocean warming, marine productivity, and deoxygenation. Oxygen isotopes throughout the water column indicate that a transient subsurface warming of ~2°C might have accompanied the first hypoxic event during the BA. We propose that abrupt ocean warming lead to an expansion of the North Pacific OMZ through a reduction in oxygen solubility, enhanced thermal stratification, and a stimulation of marine productivity through the stabilization of the euphotic zone (related to stratification), combined with enhanced nutrient input from remobilization of iron in hypoxic shelf sediments. These studies indicate that large surface and subsurface ocean changes occurred in the North Pacific during the last deglaciation, with the potential for important feedbacks on global climate.
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103. [Article] Augmenting and interpreting ice core greenhouse gas records
The three studies that comprise this dissertation seek to answer significant questions in paleoclimatology through unconventional applications of ice core greenhouse gas data. These studies involve different ...Citation Citation
- Title:
- Augmenting and interpreting ice core greenhouse gas records
- Author:
- Rosen, Julia L
The three studies that comprise this dissertation seek to answer significant questions in paleoclimatology through unconventional applications of ice core greenhouse gas data. These studies involve different gases and span the interval of time between the Last Glacial Maximum and the Industrial Revolution, but are united by their nontraditional use of greenhouse gases and their attempt to realize the potential for greenhouse gases to reveal important information about Earth’s climate. Ever since their discovery, the abrupt climate changes of the last glacial period known as Dansgaard-Oeschger (D-O) events have proved challenging to explain. The dominant hypothesis involves periodic freshwater discharges into the North Atlantic, which may regulate the strength of the Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) and its role in transporting heat to high latitudes. These events were not restricted to the North Atlantic, and can also be recognized in paleoclimate archives around the world. However, numerous uncertainties surrounding the mechanism behind D-O events remain, including how they are communicated to low latitudes and whether other hypotheses can be definitively ruled out. To constrain the mechanism behind abrupt climate changes, we investigate the phasing of climate changes in high- and low-latitude regions at the Bølling Transition, the penultimate abrupt warming event of the last glacial period. We use methane and the ¹⁵N/¹⁴N ratio of N₂ from the North Greenland Eemian (NEEM) ice core, which serve as proxies for tropical climate and Greenland temperature, respectively. We find that these gases change synchronously in the ice core record, and use a firn air model together with a Monte Carlo approach to constrain the phase lag to within several decades. Our results indicate that the mechanism behind the Bølling Transition was capable of rapidly transmitting the climate signal across the planet in a matter of years, and must therefore involve components of the climate system that are suitably reactive. The glacial-interglacial change in atmospheric methane concentrations revealed in ice core records has spurred a decade of debate about its cause. The most likely explanations involve dramatic changes in methane emissions, which originate from both high- and low-latitude wetlands. One method of investigating the changing latitudinal distribution of methane sources is to quantify the difference in methane concentrations between Greenland and Antarctica, which changes in proportion to the fraction of methane produced at high northern latitudes. Previous attempts to determine the methane interpolar difference (IPD) abound, but many have been hampered by complications in synchronizing bipolar ice core records and analytical uncertainties. We present the first continuous estimate of the methane IPD across the termination using high-resolution methane data from the NEEM and West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide ice cores. Our results reveal the dominant role of tropical sources in driving abrupt changes in atmospheric methane concentrations, and show that boreal methane sources were surprisingly insensitive to dramatic climate changes. We hypothesize that changes in Northern Hemisphere snow and ice cover exerted strong control over tropical methane emissions, while gradually increasing solar insolation and land area allowed boreal sources to grow during the termination. We also investigate the IPD across the major climate transitions of the termination, and during four centennial-scale methane variations, and find opposing trends in boreal and tropical source strengths during these transient events. We propose that temporary decoupling of the locus of interhemispheric mixing, the position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, and tropical precipitation may explain these results. Atmospheric concentrations of nitrous oxide (N₂O) have risen by ~20% from preindustrial to modern times, but the cause of this increase is not fully understood. The change has been previously attributed to various agricultural activities which perturb microbial processes in soils, but exactly how remains an outstanding question with important implications for future mitigation of N₂O emissions. We present the first measurements of the isotopomers of tropospheric N₂O over the interval from 1450 to 1920 CE. Our results confirm that the preindustrial atmosphere was enriched in all isotopes relative to the modern atmosphere. Furthermore, we estimate that the net anthropogenic source of nitrous oxide must be depleted in all heavy isotopes and have a strong site preference, consistent with a strong role for agricultural emissions and characteristic of N₂O derived from nitrification. We also find a large oscillation in the site preference of the ¹⁵N in N₂O during the Little Ice Age between 1500 and 1700 CE. We hypothesize that this excursion may be due to changing climate conditions that led to an increase in the amount of N₂O produced by nitrification vs. denitrification.
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104. [Article] Southern Ocean control of glacial AMOC stability and Dansgaard-Oeschger interstadial duration
Access to this item has been restricted by repository administrators at the request of the publisher until June 30, 2016.Citation Citation
- Title:
- Southern Ocean control of glacial AMOC stability and Dansgaard-Oeschger interstadial duration
- Author:
- Buizert, Christo, Schmittner, Andreas
Access to this item has been restricted by repository administrators at the request of the publisher until June 30, 2016.
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105. [Article] Variable relationship between accumulation and temperature in West Antarctica for the past 31,000 years
Access to this item has been restricted by repository administrators at the request of the publisher until October 28, 2016.Citation Citation
- Title:
- Variable relationship between accumulation and temperature in West Antarctica for the past 31,000 years
- Author:
- Steig, Eric J., Fudge, T. J., Buizert, Christo, Markle, Bradley R., Taylor, Kendrick C., Cuffey, Kurt M., Waddington, Edwin D., Koutnik, Michelle, Conway, Howard
Access to this item has been restricted by repository administrators at the request of the publisher until October 28, 2016.
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106. [Article] Igneous petrology, structural geology, and mineralization of the central part of the Bayhorse Mining District, Custer County, Idaho
The central part of the Bayhorse Mining District is located in the Salmon River Mountains in north-central Idaho between the towns of Challis and Clayton. The area is underlain by metasedimentary rocks ...Citation Citation
- Title:
- Igneous petrology, structural geology, and mineralization of the central part of the Bayhorse Mining District, Custer County, Idaho
- Author:
- Hodges, Wade Allan
The central part of the Bayhorse Mining District is located in the Salmon River Mountains in north-central Idaho between the towns of Challis and Clayton. The area is underlain by metasedimentary rocks of Early to Middle Paleozoic age that were profoundly affected by the emplacement of a plutonic complex in Middle Cretaceous time, both of which were later intruded and covered by volcanic rocks of Early Tertiary age. Both intrusive events were accompanied by significant mineralization. These basement rocks and the associated mineral deposits have been partly exposed by post-Miocene uplift and subsequent glacial and deep stream erosion. The stratigraphic succession within the Bayhorse area consists of a series of alternating pelitic, carbonate and quartzite units that range from Latest Cambrian to Middle Ordovician in age. Five sedimentary rock units have been described within the area of study and consist, from oldest to youngest, of the Garden Creek Phyllite, Bayhorse Dolomite, Ramshorn Slate, mixed lithology sequence and Clayton Mine Quartzite. The lithologic and textural varieties of the Lower Paleozoic rocks, combined with regional considerations, collectively indicate that the Bayhorse area was transitional between marine shelf areas to the west, north and east and deeper miogeosynclinal areas to the south for most of Paleozoic time. Central Idaho was affected by magmatic activity continually from Late Jurassic to Middle Cretaceous time. Synchronous with the onset of batholithic scale magmatism was folding and thrust faulting of the Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. The magmatic activity culminated in the formation of the Idaho Batholith and related outlying plutons, one of which is locally represented by the Juliette Creek intrusive complex. Geologic evidence indicates that the Juliette Creek intrusive complex represents the upper parts of a much larger and somewhat deeper plutonic mass that was forcefully emplaced into the surrounding sedimentary rocks at depths ranging from 4 to 5 miles along anticlinal axes that paralleled the north-south structural grain of the region. In approximate order of emplacement the exposed part of the intrusive complex consists of quartz diorite, granodiorite grading to granite, and quartz-feldspar porphyry. The effects of thermal metamorphism were variably imposed upon the adjacent sedimentary rocks and the resulting changes in the lithologic characteristics of the country rocks aided in the modification of the pre-existing local structure by the forceful emplacement of the intrusive complex. Hydrothermal alteration and sulfide metallization are predominantly structurally controlled and spatially, temporally and probably genetically related to the Juliette Creek intrusive complex. Fluorite mineralization is related to the later igneous activity of Early Tertiary age. The emplacement of the intrusive complex was of major importance in preparing the ground for the two later episodes of mineralization by significantly altering the pre-existing local structure and lithologic characteristics of the sedimentary rocks The predominant structural feature of the district consists of two parallel elongate folds that formed in the Paleozoic sedimentary rocks by eastwardly directed compressional movement. Subsequent ethplacement of the Juliette Creek intrusive complex has locally modified the pre-existing structure and caused the sedimentary rocks to break along predictable zones of weakness. The sulfide metallization is related to the upper parts of a large hydrothermal system that may be associated with stock-work molybdenum or porphyry-copper type mineralization at depth. After this major period of magmatic, tectonic and hydrothermal activity the rocks of the district were again affected by a later, but similar sequence of events that culminated in the eruption of the rhyodacitic, andesitic and basaltic flows and pyroclastic deposits of the Challis Volcanics and the deposition of significant fluorspar in Early Tertiary time.
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107. [Article] Geology, geomorphology, and dynamics of mass movement in parts of the Middle Santiam River drainage basin, western Cascades, Oregon
Landforms sculpted by mass movements comprise much of the landscape in the Middle Santiam study area. Bedrock in the area is mostly basalt and andesite flows and varied volcaniclastic rocks of the Little ...Citation Citation
- Title:
- Geology, geomorphology, and dynamics of mass movement in parts of the Middle Santiam River drainage basin, western Cascades, Oregon
- Author:
- Hicks, Bryan A.
Landforms sculpted by mass movements comprise much of the landscape in the Middle Santiam study area. Bedrock in the area is mostly basalt and andesite flows and varied volcaniclastic rocks of the Little Butte Volcanic Series of Oligocene and early Miocene age, unconforniably overlain by andesite flows and tuffs of the Sardine Formation of middle and late Miocene age. Some mass movements in the study area may have originally occurred during glacial or interglacial periods of the late Pleistocene, although this is largely speculative. Active slump-earthflows, debris avalanches, and debris torrents impact streams, timber resources and man-made structures. Earthflows are associated with intercalated lava flows and volcaniclastics, especially stratified volcaniclastics which have low strength, high plasticity, and contain montmorillonite, an expandable clay mineral. Debris avalanches are associated with non-cohesive soils on steep slopes. Slump-earthflows show distinctive morphological and vegetative characteristics which reflect recency and rates of movement. Areas with different levels of activity can be mapped and the data used for certain land-planning applications. Surface movement rates can be measured on active earthflows by conventional surveying and the use of stake arrays. Results indicate that rapid surface movement exceeding 20 ft/yr is occurring on at least two earthflows, and that intraannual and annual periods of accelerated movement coincide with periods of greater water input from precipitation and snowmelt Movement of the Jude Creek earthflow also appears to be related to erosion of the toe by Jude Creek Movement on the Middle Santiam earthflow has greatly accelerated in the last three years (since 1978), compared with average rates for the previous 13 years Road construction in 1965 preceded the most recent pulse of movement at this site Inventory of debris avalanches in the study area indicate a link between road construction, storm history and debris avalanche occurrence Rates of soil transfer for road-related events is much greater than those for either forested or clearcut events.
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Sedimentary records from the North Atlantic, instrumental in the development of modern paleo-geomagnetic concepts, show a highly variable field even during times of constant polarity. Yet, our understanding ...
Citation Citation
- Title:
- Deep-sea sediment paleomagnetism : a case study from the North Atlantic
- Author:
- Strano, Sarah Elianna
Sedimentary records from the North Atlantic, instrumental in the development of modern paleo-geomagnetic concepts, show a highly variable field even during times of constant polarity. Yet, our understanding of how the magnetization is acquired in the sediments is poorly understood. Primary magnetizations preserved in deep-sea sediments are known to be acquired through a depositional or possibly, a post-depositional remanent magnetization (DRM or pDRM). A pDRM process implies that the magnetization is locked-in at depth creating an offset between the age of the magnetization and the age of sediment. The process is not currently accounted for in paleomagnetic records despite the wide use of magnetic records to elucidate the timing and rate of change of many paleomagnetic and environmental processes. This dissertation uses seven Northern North Atlantic (NNA) deep-sea sediment cores that were studied by alternating field demagnetization of natural and laboratory imposed remanence on uchannel samples, providing for detailed paleomagnetic and environmental magnetic records. These high-quality Holocene and deglacial magnetic data are combined with independent radiocarbon chronologies to better understand the: (1) magnetic acquisition process, (2) the NNA paleo-geomagnetic signal and (3) the influence of rock magnetic parameters on the sedimentary paleomagnetic record. Under the traditional paradigm of magnetostratigraphy, sediment deposition and magnetization are assumed to occur synchronously and with little to no signal attenuation. In Chapter 2, we compare independently dated Holocene paleomagnetic records from the seven deep-sea sediments cores across the North Atlantic with regional paleo-geomagnetic reconstructions derived from ultra-high resolution sediment records. We find variable delays between the timing of these records, consistent with a magnetization “locked-in” at depth and over an interval that results in smoothing of the geomagnetic signal. Optimization modeling of the post-depositional remanent magnetization (pDRM) accounts for both offset and some of this smoothing. It also demonstrates that the preserved magnetization is acquired ~20 cm below the sediment-water interface. Consistent with previous observations, this potentially ubiquitous process results in age offsets of 350-2000 years even in deep-sea sediment accumulation rates in excess of 10 cm/kyr that is rarely if ever accounted for in magnetostratigraphy or paleomagnetic records. In Chapter 3, we assume that the new pDRM-corrected chronologies developed for Chapter 2 more accurately represent each paleomagnetic record and create a NNA stack of both direction and intensity from ~15,000 years ago to present (NAPstack15). Uncertainty analyses and comparison to data derived from global field models at the same locations suggest that both, our directional and intensity stacks robustly capture the evolution of the mean geomagnetic field variations of the NNA. Broader regional comparisons with data from North America and Europe begin to define the evolution of the geomagnetic field during this time interval. Geomagnetic morphology and spatial/temporal variability can be roughly broken into three time intervals consistent with the evolution of global intensity and implicate the dynamics of the high-latitude Holocene flux patches as a source of this variability. We evaluate the effect of rock magnetic properties on the fidelity of the NNA paleomagnetic record from the Holocene through the last deglaciation. NNA records have been argued to consistently record high-quality paleomagnetic records over millennial to orbital time scales with little concern for lithologic variability resulting from glacial-interglacial environmental changes. We find that rock magnetic variability has little effect on the fidelity of the NNA's directional record, but has a variable and sometimes large influence on normalized remanence records, which are commonly used as a relative paleomagnetic intensity proxy. We find that the eastern NNA records are most affected by the use of different normalizers during the Holocene. The western NNA cores are more affected by the use of different normalizers during the deglacial period but to a lesser extent. The Iceland Basin cores are an exception, providing consistent normalized remanence records regardless of the normalizer during both the Holocene and deglacial interval. This likely reflects their proximity to Icelandic basaltic sources and the consistent magnetite grain-size regardless of physical grain-size that these sources provide.
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109. [Article] The Deschutes Formation-- High Cascade transition in the Whitewater River area, Jefferson County, Oregon
The Whitewater River area is located directly east of Mt. Jefferson in the Cascades of central Oregon. Approximately 90 mi2 (230 km2) were mapped (scale 1/24,000) and four new K-Ar ages and 151 major element ...Citation Citation
- Title:
- The Deschutes Formation-- High Cascade transition in the Whitewater River area, Jefferson County, Oregon
- Author:
- Yogodzinski, Gene M.
The Whitewater River area is located directly east of Mt. Jefferson in the Cascades of central Oregon. Approximately 90 mi2 (230 km2) were mapped (scale 1/24,000) and four new K-Ar ages and 151 major element analyses were obtained in a study of the stratigraphic and magmatic transition from the Miocene - Pliocene Deschutes Formation on the east to the Pliocene - Pleistocene High Cascades on the west. Deschutes strata in the Whitewater River area overlie late Miocene (8-11+ m.y.) andesites, dacites, and rhyodacites along an erosional unconformity. The oldest Deschutes rocks exposed in the Whitewater River area are approximately 6 m.y. old, and the youngest are probably between 4.5 and 5 m.y. old. The oldest High Cascade rocks exposed in the Whitewater River area are approximately 4.3 m.y. old. There is no evidence for a hiatus in volcanic activity between Deschutes and High Cascade time in the Whitewater River area. Late Pleistocene explosive volcanism, probably free Mt. Jefferson, is evidenced in a hornblende rhyodacite pyroclastic-flow deposit which occurs within the glacial stratigraphy and is tentatively thought to be between approximately 60,000 and 20,000 years old. Deschutes strata are dominated by pyroclastic lithologies (mostly ash-flow tuffs) with some lava flows and minor epiclastic sediment. Compositions range mostly between basaltic andesite and dacite. Many Deschutes-age rocks are aphyric, high in Fed, TiO2, and alkalies, and low in MgO, CaO, and A12O3. They define a tholeiitic trend extending at least from basaltic andesite to dacite that can largely be derived through fractional crystallization of plagioclase, olivine, magnetite, and clinopyroxene from a parent magma, probably of basaltic composition. These rocks are compositionally similar to "tholeiitic anorogenic andesites" that are most commonly associated with areas of crustal extension. Rocks of High Cascade age in the Whitewater River area are mostly lava flaws that range in composition from basalt (high-alumina, olivine tholeiite) to rhyodacite. The High Cascade suite forms a calc-alkalic association that is typical of subduction-related magmatic arcs. Fractional crystallization of the basalts leads to iron-enrichment. Fractional crystallization of the basaltic andesites might lead to calc-alkalic compositions, but the mineral phases necessary to deplete the magmas in FeO, TiO2, and CaO (magnetite and clinopyroxene) are not common phenocryst phases in the basaltic andesites or andesites. Two northwest-trending, down-to-the-west normal faults with sane possible strike-slip motion have been mapped in the upper Whitewater River area, directly west of Lion's Head. Motion on these faults occurred after approximately 4 m.y. ago, but probably began prior to that time. There is between 200 and 400 ft (60-120 m) of apparent vertical separation on the western side of these faults. There may be a large, northwest-trending fault running from the south end of Green Ridge, through Bald Peter and the Whitewater River area, but this structure is largely buried by younger volcanic rocks. There is no evidence for a northern extension of the north-trending Green Ridge faults, and there is no evidence for large structural displacement in the lower Whitewater River along north- or northwest-trending structures. The Deschutes Formation - High Cascade transition in the Whitewater River area is marked by a switch in the eruptive style and in the dominant magmatic compositions during Deschutes and High Cascade times. Volcanism in the Whitewater River area does not appear to have been episodic with respect to volume and/or intensity; rather, the character of magmatism has varied with time and with the tectonic style through the period immediately prior to and following the formation of the High cascade graben.
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110. [Article] Present-day and future contributions of glacier melt to the Upper Middle Fork Hood River : implications for water management
Glaciers are effective reservoirs because they moderate variations in runoff and supply reliable flow during drought periods. Thus, there needs to be a clear understanding of the influence of glacier runoff ...Citation Citation
- Title:
- Present-day and future contributions of glacier melt to the Upper Middle Fork Hood River : implications for water management
- Author:
- Phillippe, Jeff
Glaciers are effective reservoirs because they moderate variations in runoff and supply reliable flow during drought periods. Thus, there needs to be a clear understanding of the influence of glacier runoff at both the basin and catchment scale. The objectives of this study were to quantify the late summer contributions of glacier melt to the Upper Middle Fork Hood River and to simulate potential impacts of climate change on late summer streamflow. The Upper Middle Fork Hood River catchment (50.6 km²) is located on the northeast flanks of Mount Hood Oregon. Discharge measurements and isotope samples were used to calculate glacier meltwater contributions to the entire catchment, which feeds into a major water diversion used for farmland irrigation. Data were collected over the period August 10 - September 7, 2007. This late summer period was selected because there is typically little rain and suspected high glacier melt contributions. Discharge measurements taken at glacier termini, show that just two of the mountains glaciers, Eliot and Coe, contributed 41% of the total surface water in the catchment. The Eliot Glacier contributed 87% of the total flow in the Eliot Creek, while the Coe Glacier supplied 31% of the runoff in Coe Creek. Isotopic analyses, which include the inputs of all other glacier surfaces in the catchment, show a total glacier contribution of 88% from the Eliot Glacier to the Eliot Creek, in excellent agreement with the streamflow measurements. Isotopes also showed an 88% contribution from the Coe Glacier to the Coe Creek, higher than the amount measured from streamflow. This latter discrepancy is likely due to undersampling of streamflow from the Coe Glacier. During the isotope measurement period, overall contributions of both Coe and Eliot Glaciers to the Upper Middle Fork Hood River were 62 - 74% of catchment discharge. A temperature index model was used to simulate projected impacts of glacier recession and warmer temperatures on streamflow. The Snowmelt Runoff Model (SRM) was chosen for this task because it has been shown to effectively model runoff in glacierized catchments where there are limited meteorological records. SRM was calibrated using the 2007 discharge records to quantify August – September glacier runoff in the Upper Middle Fork catchment under a variety of glacier and temperature scenarios. SRM simulations indicate that runoff from the catchment glaciers are highly sensitive to changes in glacial area, glacier debris-cover, and air temperature. Model simulations show that glacier recession has a greater effect on runoff than do projected temperature increases. Thus, even without warmer summer temperatures, glacier contributions to streamflow will decrease as long as the glacier continues to lose mass. Applying both current glacier recession rates and a 2°C temperature forcing, the model predicts a decrease of 31% of late summer glacier runoff by 2059, most of which is lost in August. This study suggests that glaciers currently play a significant hydrological role in the headwater catchments of the Hood River Basin at a time when water is needed most, and that these contributions are projected to diminish over time.