Sediment-routing systems continuously transfer information and mass from eroding source areas to depositional sinks. Understanding how these systems alter environmental signals is critical when it comes to inferring source-area properties from the sedimentary record. We measure cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al along three large sediment-routing systems (∼ 100 000 km2) in central Australia with the aim of tracking downstream variations in 10Be–26Al inventories and identifying the factors responsible for these variations. By comparing 56 new cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al measurements in stream sediments with matching data (n= 55) from source areas, we show that 10Be–26Al inventories in hillslope bedrock and soils set the benchmark for relative downstream modifications. Lithology is the primary determinant of erosion-rate variations in source areas and despite sediment mixing over hundreds of kilometres downstream, a distinct lithological signal is retained. Post-orogenic ranges yield catchment erosion rates of ∼ 6–11 m Myr−1 and silcrete-dominant areas erode as slow as ∼ 0.2 m Myr−1. 10Be–26Al inventories in stream sediments indicate that cumulative-burial terms increase downstream to mostly ∼ 400–800 kyr and up to ∼ 1.1 Myr. The magnitude of the burial signal correlates with increasing sediment cover downstream and reflects assimilation from storages with long exposure histories, such as alluvial fans, desert pavements, alluvial plains, and aeolian dunes. We propose that the tendency for large alluvial rivers to mask their 10Be–26Al source-area signal differs according to geomorphic setting. Signal preservation is favoured by (i) high sediment supply rates, (ii) high mean runoff, and (iii) a thick sedimentary basin pile. Conversely, signal masking prevails in landscapes of (i) low sediment supply and (ii) juxtaposition of sediment storages with notably different exposure histories.

Sediment-routing systems continuously transfer information and mass from eroding source areas to depositional sinks. Understanding how these systems alter environmental signals is critical when it comes to inferring source-area properties from the sedimentary record. We measure cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al along three large sediment-routing systems (∼ 100 000 km2) in central Australia with the aim of tracking downstream variations in 10Be–26Al inventories and identifying the factors responsible for these variations. By comparing 56 new cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al measurements in stream sediments with matching data (n= 55) from source areas, we show that 10Be–26Al inventories in hillslope bedrock and soils set the benchmark for relative downstream modifications. Lithology is the primary determinant of erosion-rate variations in source areas and despite sediment mixing over hundreds of kilometres downstream, a distinct lithological signal is retained. Post-orogenic ranges yield catchment erosion rates of ∼ 6–11 m Myr−1 and silcrete-dominant areas erode as slow as ∼ 0.2 m Myr−1. 10Be–26Al inventories in stream sediments indicate that cumulative-burial terms increase downstream to mostly ∼ 400–800 kyr and up to ∼ 1.1 Myr. The magnitude of the burial signal correlates with increasing sediment cover downstream and reflects assimilation from storages with long exposure histories, such as alluvial fans, desert pavements, alluvial plains, and aeolian dunes. We propose that the tendency for large alluvial rivers to mask their 10Be–26Al source-area signal differs according to geomorphic setting. Signal preservation is favoured by (i) high sediment supply rates, (ii) high mean runoff, and (iii) a thick sedimentary basin pile. Conversely, signal masking prevails in landscapes of (i) low sediment supply and (ii) juxtaposition of sediment storages with notably different exposure histories.

There is considerable evidence that the amount of sediment reaching the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia, has increased since agricultural development commenced in the 1870’s. This sediment is having deleterious effects on freshwater and marine ecosystems. However, identifying the primary source and processes driving the increased sediment delivery has been challenging due to the large size and diversity of adjacent catchments.

Molluscs incorporate negligible uranium into their skeleton while they are living, with any uranium uptake occurring post-mortem. As such, closed-system U-series dating of molluscs is unlikely to provide reliable age constraints for marine deposits. Even the application of open-system U-series modelling is challenging, because uranium uptake and loss histories can affect time-integrated uranium distributions and are difficult to constrain. We investigate the chemical and isotopic distribution of uranium in fossil Tridacna gigas (giant clams) from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e (128–116ka) and MIS 11 (424–374ka) reefs at Huon Peninsula in Papua New Guinea. The large size of the clams enables detailed chemical and isotopic mapping of uranium using LA-ICPMS and LA-MC-ICPMS techniques. Within each fossil Tridacna specimen, marked differences in uranium concentrations are observed across the three Tridacna growth zones (outer, inner, hinge), with the outer and hinge zones being relatively enriched. In MIS 5e and MIS 11 Tridacna, the outer and hinge zones contain approximately 1ppm and 5ppm uranium respectively. In addition to uptake of uranium, loss of uranium appears prevalent, especially in the MIS 11 specimens. The effect of uranium loss is to elevate measured [230Th/238U] values with little effect on [234U/238U] values. Closed-system age estimates are on average 50% too young for the MIS 5e Tridacna, and 25% too young for the MIS 11 Tridacna. A complex, multi-stage uptake and loss history is interpreted for the fossil Tridacna and we demonstrate that they cannot provide independent, reliable geochronological controls on the timing of past reef growth at Huon Peninsula.

Terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides (TCNs) such as Beryllium-10 (10Be) are now routinely used to reconstruct erosional rates over tens of thousands of years at increasingly large basin scales (>100,000km2). In Australia, however, the approach and its assumptions have not been systematically tested within a single, large drainage basin. This study measures 10Be concentrations in river sediments from the Burdekin catchment, one of Australia's largest coastal catchments, to determine long-term (>10,000years), time-integrated rates of sediment generation and denudation. A nested-sampling design was used to test for effects of increasing catchment scale on nuclide concentrations with upstream catchment areas ranging from 4 to 130,000km2. Beryllium-10 concentrations in sediment samples collected from the upstream headwater tributaries and mid-stream locations range from 1.8 to 2.89×105atomsg−1 and data confirm that nuclide concentrations are well and rapidly mixed downstream. Sediment from the same tributaries consistently yielded 10Be concentrations in the range of their upstream samples. Overall, no decrease in 10Be concentrations can be observed at the range of catchment scales measured here. The mean denudation rate for all river sediment samples throughout the Fanning subcatchment (1100km2) is 18.47mMa−1, which compares with the estimate at the end of the Burdekin catchment (130,000km2) of 16.22mMa−1. Nuclide concentrations in the lower gradient western and southern catchments show a higher degree of variability, and several complications emerged as a result of the contrasting geomorphic processes and settings. This study confirms the ability of TCNs to determine long-term denudation rates in Australia and highlights some important considerations in the model assumptions that may affect the accuracy of limited sampling in large, low-gradient catchments with long storage times.

Marine Isotope Stage 11 (MIS 11) from ∼424,000 to 374,000 yrs ago included one of the longest and warmest interglacials of the last 800,000 yrs, and is a potential analogue for the Holocene due to the similarity of Earth's orbital configuration at this time. The question of how the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) responds to warmer background climates remains unanswered and is critical to understand how the ENSO system will evolve under the influence of anthropogenic warming. In this study, we present a 35 yr-long, high-resolution record of MIS 11 climate variability in the Western Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP) based on coupled measurements of skeletal Mg/Ca and δ18O in giant Tridacna gigas clams from Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea. The δ18O of modern T. gigas from Huon Peninsula faithfully records sea surface temperature, salinity/rainfall and regional ENSO variability. The geochemical integrity of the MIS 11 T. gigas for recording paleo-ENSO events was established through trace element screening, detailed petrography and SEM analysis. The fossil T. gigas δ18O record indicates that ENSO was operating during a 35-yr window in MIS 11, but with fewer events of shorter duration compared to those experienced during the last 100 yrs. The suppressed ENSO variability in the MIS 11 T. gigas record corresponds with a reduction in the amplitude of the average annual cycle in δ18O values. Distinctive changes in local insolation seasonality, and T. gigas δ18O, brought about by changes in Earth's orbit, provide an additional geochronological constraint on the timing of reef growth at Huon Peninsula to around 402 ka during the MIS 11.3 sub-stage (∼424–395 ka).

Aeolian dust mantle soils are an important element of many landscapes in south-eastern Australia, though the age of these aeolian deposits has not been radiometrically determined. At Fowlers Gap in western New South Wales, surface cobbles of silcrete and quartz overlie a stone-free, aeolian dust mantle soil, which has a thickness of about 1.6 m. The clay-rich aeolian dust deposit in turn lies upon a buried silcrete and quartz stone layer. Modelling in-situ cosmogenic 26Al and 10Be concentrations measured in both the surface quartz stones and in the buried quartz layer of rocks, reveals that each has experienced a complex exposure-burial history. Due to the absence of quartz stones or sand at intermediate depths, our cosmogenic 26Al and 10Be modelling was not able to determine a definitive mechanism of stone pavement formation and stone burial. Various scenarios of stone formation, transport, burial and exhumation were tested that constrain the age of the deposit to range from 0.9 ± 0.2 Ma to 1.8 ± 0.2 Ma, based largely on different assumptions taken for the time-dependency of the net sedimentation rate. This corresponds with the initiation of the Simpson Desert dune fields and the deflation of lakes in central Australia, which probably responded to the shift to longer-wavelength, larger-amplitude Quaternary glacial cycles at around 1 Ma. Sensitivity analyses were carried out to identify those parameters which better constrained model outputs. Within model errors, which largely are the result of analytical errors in measured 26Al and 10Be concentrations, all three competing theories of colluvial wash, upward displacement of stones, and cumulic pedogenesis are possible mechanisms for the formation of the surface stone pavement.

地球表面每时每刻都在经历各式各样的侵蚀作用,了解侵蚀过程及其速率大小有助于人们认识许多重要的地质作用和过程.本文介绍的内容是长江流域河流沉积物宇宙成因核素10Be的研究工作,目的是在于定量估算长江流域及其子流域的平均侵蚀速率,更好地理解沉积物的由源到汇过程以及评价人类活动对水土流失的影响提供自然背景,分析样品来自于长江主要干流和支流的表层现代沉积.研究表明,长江干流10Be含量从金沙江流域到长江口呈现出由高到低的趋势,不同的是支流10Be含量值偏低而且比较稳定.这很可能受核素产生率和侵蚀速率两个因素的共同影响.在长江上游干流沉积物中10Be含量最高,随着低含量物质的不断从支流汇入,产生“西高东低”的现象.10Be侵蚀速率估算表明长江干流金沙江上游段平均侵蚀速率较低,在44.7～48.1m/Ma之间；长江中游段(枝江至彭泽)长江干流侵蚀速率数据变化较大,在65.7 ～ 175m/Ma的范围内波动；到长江口平均侵蚀速率比较稳定,在50～60m/Ma之间变化.与干流相比,长江支流侵蚀速率显著偏高.侵蚀速率最高的地区在大渡河-岷江流域,平均侵蚀速率在300m/Ma之上；侵蚀速率最低的区域发生在乌江流域,平均的侵蚀速率在10 ～ 30m/Ma之间.比较长江流域10Be和水文估算的侵蚀速率可以看出,水文估算总体上反映的侵蚀速率要普遍高于10Be反映的侵蚀速率.大渡河-岷江流域地表侵蚀速率高主要与构造活动、地貌发育、岩石特征以及气候条件等自然因素有关.嘉陵江、汉江等流域水文数据估算侵蚀速率明显超过10Be估算的结果,可能与地形地貌等地质因素对侵蚀作用的影响显著下降,以及人类长期活动导致水土流失加剧有关.

Since their inception, cosmogenic nuclide methods have enhanced our understanding of Earth's surface processes by providing a basis for directly determining surface exposure times and erosion rates of landscape elements. The ability to measure exposure ages up to several million years and erosion rates as low as a decimetre per million years means that the method is particularly useful for environments where landscapes change very slowly, such as deserts in tectonically stable regions. In this paper, we review cosmogenic nuclide studies of various aspects of desert landscapes, including regional to continental-scale landscape evolution in arid-semiarid Australia and the hyper-arid Namib, Atacama and Negev Deserts, together with mechanisms and timescales of formation of desert pavements and dune fields that have been difficult to be evaluated by other methods. The timescales revealed by these studies range beyond the Quaternary into the Miocene, and provide links between desert landscapes and late Cenozoic climate changes. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

We compare monthly resolved oxygen isotope records derived from a giant bivalve shell, Tridacna gigas and massive Porites corals collected along the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. This intercomparison study demonstrates that δ18O profiles obtained from these different aragonite-secreting organisms collected from within a 30km range are correlated in great detail and record the timing and amplitude of seasonal and interannual (ENSO-related) variations in sea surface temperature (SST) and water isotopic composition which is closely related to rainfall. Furthermore, the T. gigas record is shown to be close to isotopic equilibrium with the local sea-water, in contrast to the corals which are approximately −4‰ offset. These results reveal that living and fossil T. gigas clam shells have the potential to yield reliable records of past changes in seasonality and ENSO variability, as well as mean climate conditions. In particular, since the non-porous shells are generally more resistant to diagenesis than coral skeletons, they may provide robust estimates of past tropical climate for periods and locations where unaltered corals are absent.

Abstract Australian climate and vegetation, known from marine and lacustrine sediments and fossils, varied dramatically throughout the Cenozoic Era, with several warm reversals superimposed on overall drying and cooling. A suite of landforms, including stony deserts, dunefields and playa lakes, formed in response to the advancing aridity but their age generally remained uncertain until fairly recently, owing to a lack of suitable dating methods. Within the last 5 years, the chronology of Late Quaternary fluctuations of lakes, dunes and dust-mantles has been established by luminescence dating methods, and mid-Pleistocene onset of playa conditions in a few closed basins has been estimated using palaeomagnetic reversal chronology. Only recently has it been shown, by cosmogenic isotope dating, that major tracts of arid landforms including the Simpson Desert dunefield, and stony deserts of the Lake Eyre Basin, were formed in early Pleistocene and late Pliocene times, respectively. These landscapes represent a stepwise response to progressive climatic drying and, speculatively, were accompanied by biological adaptations. Recent molecular DNA studies indicate that Australia's arid-adapted species evolved from mesic-adapted ancestors during the Pliocene or earlier, but whether speciation rapidly accompanied the development of stony deserts and other arid geomorphological provinces awaits further studies of arid landscape chronology.

Abstract We report erosion rates determined from in situ produced cosmogenic 10Be across a spectrum of Australian climatic zones, from the soil-mantled SE Australian escarpment through semi-arid bedrock ranges of southern and central Australia, to soil-mantled ridges at a monsoonal tropical site near the Arnhem escarpment. Climate has a major effect on the balance between erosion and transport and also on erosion rate: the highest rates, averaging 35 m Ma−1, were from soil-mantled, transport-limited spurs in the humid temperate region around the base of the SE escarpment; the lowest, averaging about 1.5 m Ma−1, were from the steep, weathering-limited, rocky slopes of Kings Canyon and Mt Sonder in semi-arid central Australia. Between these extremes, other factors come into play including rock-type, slope, and recruitment of vegetation. We measured intermediate average erosion rates from rocky slopes in the semi-arid Flinders and MacDonnell ranges, and from soil-mantled sites at both semi-arid Tyler Pass in central Australia and the tropical monsoonal site. At soil-mantled sites in both the SE and tropical north, soil production generally declines exponentially with increasing soil thickness, although at the tropical site this relationship does not persist under thin soil thicknesses and the relationship here is ‘humped’. Results from Tyler Pass show uniform soil thicknesses and soil production rates of about 6.5 m Ma−1, supporting a longstanding hypothesis that equilibrium, soil-mantled hillslopes erode in concert with stream incision and form convex-up spurs of constant curvature. Moreover, weathering-limited slopes and spurs also occur in the same region: the average erosion rate for rocky sandstone spurs at Glen Helen is 7 m Ma−1, similar to the Tyler Pass soil-mantled slopes, whereas the average rate for high, quartzite spurs at Mount Sonder is 1.8 m Ma−1. The extremely low rates measured across bedrock-dominated landscapes suggest that the ridge–valley topography observed today is likely to have been shaped as long ago as the Late Miocene. These rates and processes quantified across different, undisturbed landscapes provide critical data for landscape evolution models.

Development of continental aridity has been linked to late Cenozoic global cooling, but the evidence is indirect, based on terrestrial loess deposits and eolian silt in marine sediments, whereas direct dating of the inception of and landforms has been frustrated by a lack of suitable methods. Here we report the first age determination (if a major arid-zone dune field, based on cosmogenic Be-10 and Al-26 measurements of drill cores from dunes in the Simpson Desert, central Australia. Results show that the dune field began to form ca. 1 Ma, whereas dating using quartz optically stimulated luminescence indicates episodic dune building during late Quaternary ice ages. Less intense desertification began earlier; the previous cosmogenic exposure dating showed that neighboring stony deserts began to form at the onset of Quaternary ice ages 2-4 Ma. Aridity deepened and the dune field formed when ice age cycles increased their amplitude and switched their periods from 40 k.y. to 100 k.y. ca. 1 Ma.

This study investigates the environmental and biological controls on trace element partitioning and stable isotope composition of modern giant long-lived bivalves (Tridacna gigas) with the aim to use these archives for paleoclimatic reconstructions. Firstly, the intra-shell variability is studied by measuring time equivalent profiles in the different shell layers characterised by different growth rates. Secondly, the inter-site variability is studied by comparing profiles derived from three modern specimens collected in sites across the Indo-Pacific region characterised by different ranges of temperature and productivity.These results show that delta O-18 profiles are highly reproducible across the shell regardless of significantly different growth rates. Shell delta O-18 is primarily controlled by water delta O-18 and temperature. Comparison of intra shell Mg/Ca profiles shows a clear and systematic partitioning where inner layer Mg/Ca values are a least 23 times higher than outer layer and hinge areas. Inner layer Mg/Ca shows seasonal oscillations but superimposed on an ontogenetic trend with increasing values and increasing amplitude Mg/Ca oscillations with age. The Sr/Ca profiles do not show clear reproducible seasonal trends in the different shell zones. It is concluded that Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca profiles appear to reflect a combination of biological and environmental controls that will need to be disentangled before using these proxies in paleoclimatic studies.Finally, intra shell Ba/Ca profiles are reproducible in great detail for all modern specimens studied. Inter-site comparison shows that the amplitude and the timing of the Ba/Ca peaks appear to reflect the timing and the amplitude of the chlorophyll peaks associated with phytoplankton blooms at each locality making this tracer a potential paleoproductivity indicator. Crown Copyright (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Differences in chemical weathering extent and character are expected to exist across topographic escarpments due to spatial gradients of climatic and/or tectonic forcing. The passive margin escarpment of south‐eastern Australia has a debated but generally accepted model of propagation in which it retreated (within 40 Ma) to near its current position following rifting between Australia and New Zealand 85–100 Ma before present. We focus on this escarpment to quantify chemical weathering rates and processes and how they may provide insight into scarp evolution and retreat. We compare chemical weathering extents and rates above and below the escarpment using a mass balance approach coupling major and trace element analyses with previous measurements of denudation rates using cosmogenic nuclides ( 10 Be and 26 Al). We find a slight gradient in saprolite chemical weathering rate as a percentage of total weathering rate across the escarpment. The lowlands area, encompassing the region extending from the base of the escarpment to the coast, experiences a greater extent of chemical weathering than the highland region above the escarpment. Percents of denudation attributable to saprolite weathering average 57 ± 6% and 47 ± 7% at low and high sites respectively. Furthermore, the chemical index of alteration (CIA), a ratio of immobile to mobile oxides in granitic material that increases with weathering extent, have corresponding average values of 73·7 ± 3·9 and 65·5 ± 3·4, indicating lower extents of weathering above the escarpment. Finally, we quantify variations in the rates and extent of chemical weathering at the hillslope scale across the escarpment to suggest new insight into how climate differences and hillslope topography help drive landscape evolution, potentially overprinting longer term tectonic forcing. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The sustainability of soil is a major issue for society. In principle, the evolution of soil resources can be constrained by comparing the rates of soil erosion and production. Cosmogenic isotopes provide one measurement of soil erosion rates. They can also be used to estimate soil production rates but only if erosion is assumed to be balanced by production. This implies that the evolution of soil resources (thinning, thickening or constant) since soil thickness is assumed to be constant with time. Here we utilise an independent method to estimate soil production rates, using uranium-series (U-series) isotopes. The study of a site in temperate Australia undisturbed by human activity shows that soil production rates inferred from U-series isotopes are similar to erosion rates derived from beryllium-10 (10Be) measurements, implying that at this site there is no net accumulation or loss of soil. Saprolite production rates (the migration rate of the weathering front into the bedrock) are also similar to erosion rates so the thickness of the entire weathering profile is effectively in steady-state. This study demonstrates that the combination of U-series and cosmogenic isotopes can be used to quantitatively assess soil evolution and the development of weathering profiles. Preliminary observations suggest that the rate of bedrock weathering (i.e. saprolite production) in temperate Australia is of the same order of magnitude as that inferred for laterites in tropical climates. This may suggest that, for thick weathering profiles, although the extent of weathering strongly differs between temperate and tropical climates, the migration of the weathering front into the bedrock occurs at a relatively uniform rate regardless of present-day climatic conditions.

Ocean drilling in the Bengal Fan has revealed the uplift history of the Himalayas and Indian monsoon,but there is no analogous deep-water fan in the Western Pacific marginal seas that can be drilled and used to constrain the Tibet uplift history from its eastern side.The Yangtze river,originating from northeastern Tibet and draining a large area prevailed by monsoon precipitation,is highly sensitive to plateau uplift and monsoon evolution.A systematical study of the Yangtze river deposits will test various hypotheses concerning plateau uplift and its link with monsoon evolution.Along the modern Yangtze river,the upper reach is decoupled from the lower reach by the Three Gorges.About 30% of the total sediment load from the Yangtze river is laid in the Jianghan Basin immediately out from the Gorges,~40% is deposited in the lower reach and delta,and only ~30% is transported to the East China Sea.Therefore,a combination of ocean and continental drilling along the Yangtze River will recover records useful for carving the history of uplift and monsoon.A close timing of tectonic and climatic events mainly at four time intervals has been proposed as evidence for a link between Tibet uplift and the Asian monsoon initiation: the late Pliocene(2~3 Ma),the late Miocene(~8 Ma),the early-middle Miocene(~15 Ma) and the latest Oligocene(~25 Ma).On the basis of the Three Gorges incision or delta development data,however,the history of the Yangtze River can be traced back only to the late Pliocene or early Pleistocene,and the East China Sea came into existence only in the latest Miocene.A younger Yangtze river is in a sharp contrast to the early uplift of Tibet.In the Paleogene,a broad belt of aridity stretched across China from west to east,and numerous lake basins developed in rift grabens,prohibiting any east-flowing large rivers.Large rivers like the Yangtze river could have developed only since Neogene with the advent of an east-tilting topography and monsoon in East Asia.The proposed joint IODP/ICDP project will provide sediment records from marine and terrestrial basins to help clarify the most puzzling issues in East Asian environmental evolution and to test the hypothetical link between Tibetan uplift and monsoon climate from the eastern side of the plateau.