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Constraining Rates of Chemical and Physical Erosion Using U-Series Radionuclides

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Handbook of Environmental Isotope Geochemistry

Part of the book series: Advances in Isotope Geochemistry ((ADISOTOPE))

Abstract

This chapter relates recent developments concerning the use of several U-series nuclides, in particular 234U-238U and 230Th-238U disequilibria, for constraining physical and chemical erosion rates and sediment age. Indeed, the ability to measure these disequilibria with an extremely high precision, even in samples with low concentrations such as natural waters, has opened new avenues for investigating erosional processes. This chapter is articulated in three main parts: a brief introduction and presentation of modern technical methods is followed by a description of how 234U-238U and 230Th-238U disequilibria measured in dissolved (water) and solid (sediment) river phases can be used to provide quantitative constraints on physical and chemical erosion rates at the basin scale. In parallel, recoil effects occurring during sediment formation can now be modelled and used to estimate the residence time of a sediment within a basin. Finally, the last part of this chapter presents the latest findings concerning the study of weathering profiles and the modelling of U and Th migration within an aquifer system.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the two reviewers, Kate Maher and Anthony Dosseto, for their helpful comments on this chapter. We are also grateful for the constructive comments of the Editor, Mark Baskaran.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CRPG-CNRS, Nancy Université, 15 rue Notre Dame des Pauvres, 54500, Vandoeuvre les Nancy, France

    Nathalie Vigier

  2. Institute of Geochemistry and Petrology, ETH Zurich, Clausiusstrasse 25, Zurich, 8092, Switzerland

    Bernard Bourdon

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  1. Nathalie Vigier
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Correspondence to Nathalie Vigier .

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  1. Dept. Geology, Wayne State University, Detroit, 48202, Michigan, USA

    Mark Baskaran

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Vigier, N., Bourdon, B. (2012). Constraining Rates of Chemical and Physical Erosion Using U-Series Radionuclides. In: Baskaran, M. (eds) Handbook of Environmental Isotope Geochemistry. Advances in Isotope Geochemistry. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-10637-8_27

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