Local Variability in Early Oligocene Paleosols As a Result of Ancient Soil Catenary Processes, Brule Formation, Toadstool Park, Nebraska
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LOCAL VARIABILITY IN EARLY OLIGOCENE PALEOSOLS AS A RESULT OF ANCIENT SOIL CATENARY PROCESSES, BRULE FORMATION, TOADSTOOL PARK, NEBRASKA A Thesis Submitted to The Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF SCIENCE By Raymond C. Kennedy May 2011 Dr. Dennis O. Terry, Jr., Advisor Dr. David E. Grandstaff Dr. Allison Tumarkin-Deratzian ABSTRACT Paleopedology is often employed in paleoenvironmental reconstructions because the features of paleosols are affected by changes in climate, ecology, topography, and lithology over time. These changes cause small-scale variations in the morphology and apparent development of paleosols and influence the degree to which certain soil features are preserved in the rock record. When drawing inferences about paleoenvironments based on paleosols, care must be taken to ensure that as many of the soil forming factors as possible are understood. Whereas climates can be ignored over small areas, and lithology represents the medium of soil preservation, topographic relief can vary dramatically over local scales, thereby influencing the partitioning of plant communities and contributing greatly to the development of soils. In this study, paleo- geomorphological relationships were investigated along a paleovalley sequence in the Early Oligocene Orella Member of the Brule Formation in the White River Group of Toadstool Park, NE. A series of three separate, but laterally contiguous, soil profiles exhibit variation in the type and degree of apparent pedogenesis. Changes in the presence, abundance, and size of soil features, such as root traces and soil structure, were observed over a distance of ~350 meters. The morphology and mineralogy of the soils along this paleovalley varied according to those processes which are influenced by paleotopography. Geochemical proxies of soil processes, as well as soil micromorphology, indicate only weak pedogenesis. This limited the utility of geochemical climofunctions used in the study, which were not found to differ significantly between geomorphological positions. i DEDICATION This project is dedicated to the memory of my late father, Raymond P. Kennedy, who inspired and encouraged my interest in the natural world. His determination and persistence continue to inspire me, and I hold his achievements as a measure against my own. I love you, Dad. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project was supported by Challenge Cost Share Agreement 05-PA-11020700 to Dr. Dennis O. Terry Jr. (DT) from the United States Forest Service, with the logistical assistance of Barbara Beasley. The inspiration for this project was the fruit of the many enjoyable discussions with my advisor, DT. His interdisciplinary interest in soils is what brought me to Temple University in the first place. I would also like to mention Mr. David Lane, Dr. Randal Miles, and Dr. Kenneth Macleod, who led me on my gradual path toward paleopedology. The mountain of paperwork and bureaucracy, which stood between me and the culmination of my time at Temple University, could not have been scaled without the dedication and kindness of Shelah Cox. The critical assessment of my work provided by my committee members, Dr. David Grandstaff and Dr. Allison Tumarkin-Deratzian, and by Dr. George Myer and the other faculty in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, is greatly appreciated, and has contributed to the quality of this project, as has the help of Dr. Stan Mertzman from the X-ray Laboratory at Franklin and Marshall College. The cooperation and support of my peers, notably Stephen Peterson, Neil Griffis, Jesse Thornburg , Bill Lukens, Ed Welsh, and Sarah Lyter, in both the field and in the laboratory and by intellectual exchange, helped to maintain my momentum in this project. I am indebted to them. iii To my Mother, Jerri Kennedy, I owe enormous gratitude. Her patience and encouragement through all of the stages of my life allowed me to become the person I am today. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………..…... i DEDICATION………………………………………………………………..…... ii AKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………..….. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………..…... v LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………..…. viii LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………………..…… ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………….…... 1 1.1 Soil Catena Concept ……………………………………………….…. 3 1.2 Field Area………………………………………..……………………. 5 1.3 Previous Work on Paleosols in the White River Group……………... 10 CHAPTER 2: MATERIALS AND METHODS……………………………….…12 2.1 Field Work and Macromorphology…………………………………...12 2.2 Soil Micromorphology…………………………………………….….13 2.3 Clay Mineralogy……………………………………………….……...13 2.4 Bulk Rock Chemical Composition……………………………….......14 v Page 2.5 Calculation of Paleoclimate Proxies…………………………….…..….17 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS………………………………………………….……..…18 3.1 Macromorphology……………………………………………..………..18 3.1.1 Summit……………………………………………….……….18 3.1.2 Shoulder……………………………………………….….…..22 3.1.3 Backslope……………………………………………….…….23 3.2 Micromorphology………………………………………………………24 3.2.1 Summit………………………………………………….…….24 3.2.2 Shoulder…………………………………………………..…..24 3.2.3 Backslope………………………………………….………….24 3.3 Bulk Geochemistry……………………………………………………..25 3.3.1 Summit………………………………………………………..25 3.3.2 Shoulder…………………………………………………..…..26 3.3.3 Backslope…………………………………………….……….27 3.4 Clay Mineralogy…………………………………………….………….27 3.5 Climofunctions……………………………………………………...….28 vi Page CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION……………………………………………...……….32 4.1 Paleocatena…………………………………………………..………...32 4.1.1Summit………………………………………………..………33 4.1.2 Shoulder………………………………………………..…….37 4.1.3 Backslope……………………………………………......…...38 4.2 Classification…………………………………………………...………40 4.3 Climofunctions…………………………………………………..……..42 4.4 Implications……………………………………………………...……..44 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION…………………………………………………..…46 REFERENCES………………………………………………………………..……48 APPENDIX……………………………………………………………………..….57 vii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1. Climofunctions used in this study……………………………………...…15 Table 2. Description of summit profile………………………………………….... 18 Table 3. Description of shoulder profile………………………………………...…22 Table 4. Description of backslope profile……………………………………….…23 Table 5. Calculated climofunctions for Summit horizons……………………….…28 Table 6. Calculated climofunctions for backslope horizon 2Bw………………...…29 Table 7. Relationship between landscape position and soil features……………….43 Appendix A. X-ray fluorescence instrument error…………………………….……57 Appendix B. Major element geochemistry in weight percent of oxides……………57 Appendix C. Minor element geochemistry in parts per million…………….………59 viii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. Location of Toadstool Geologic Park……………………………………3 Figure 2. Idealized hillslope geomorphology and associated processes …………..5 Figure 3. Stratigraphy of Toadstool Geologic Park……………………....………..6 Figure 4. Measured section of the study interval…………………………….…….9 Figure 5. Paleosol morphology and molecular weathering ratios of profiles along the paleotopography of figure 4.……………………….………………….20 Figure 6. Field photo-stitch of the study interval and photomicrographs of selected paleosol features……………………………………………………………21 Figure 7. X-ray diffractograms of glycolated samples from the uppermost surface of each profile……………………..…………………………………...….30 Figure 8. P(CIW), P(BASES), T( ), and T( ) of paleosols plotted with inherent error………………………………………………………………….….…31 Figure 9. Idealized temporal evolution of the paleovalley…………………..…….34 ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The morphology, chemistry, and mineralogy of modern soils result from interactions between the five primary soil forming factors: climate, organisms, relief, parent material, and time (Jenny, 1961). Although modern soil taxonomy is non-genetic, soil classification schemes generally relate soil properties to modern environmental processes and conditions, such as climate and duration of pedogenesis (Soil Survey Staff, 2010). Using modern soils as a baseline, the physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties of paleosols, such as relative abundance of major elements and clay minerals, and the size and position of soil horizons, have been used to reconstruct paleoclimates (Retallack, 1992, 2005, 2007; Terry, 2001; Sheldon et al., 2002; Sheldon and Retallack, 2004; Sheldon and Tabor, 2009), along with other proxies including stable isotopes (Sheldon and Tabor, 2009), leaf morphology (Wolfe, 1978; Uhl et al., 2007), and comparative paleophysiology (Leopold and Clay-Poole, 2001; Utescher and Mosbrugger, 2007). Geochemical proxies are often used as a quantitative measure of pedogenic products and thus processes (Retallack, 1992, 2005, 2007; Terry, 2001; Sheldon et al., 2002; Retallack et al., 2004; Sheldon and Retallack, 2004; Sheldon and Tabor, 2009). Modern soil chemical data published by Marbut (1935) have been developed into a series of climofunctions which quantitatively relate the chemical composition of modern soils to mean annual precipitation (MAP) and mean annual temperature (MAT) (Nesbitt and Young, 1982; Maynard, 1992; Retallack, 1992, 2005; Sheldon et al., 2002; Nordt et al., 2006; Sheldon and Tabor, 2009). 1 In modern environments where climate and lithology are constant, soil properties vary as a function of relief and drainage (Birkeland, 1999). High stability and better drainage in upland positions promote greater chemical weathering and less erosion resulting in thick, mature soils, whereas steeper slopes can truncate the active pedogenic surface producing thin, immature soils with only incipient chemical weathering