Strontium isotope composition of runoff from a glaciated carbonate terrain |
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| Authors: | Martin Sharp Robert A CreaserMark Skidmore |
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| Institution: | 1 Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada
2 Bristol Glaciology Centre, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1SS, United Kingdom |
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| Abstract: | The relationship between subglacial chemical weathering processes and the Sr isotope composition of runoff from Robertson Glacier, Alberta, Canada, is investigated. This glacier rests on predominantly carbonate bedrock of Upper Devonian age, but silicate minerals are also present. The provenance of solute in meltwaters is found to vary systematically with solute concentration and, by inference, subglacial water residence time. In dilute waters, the principal process of solute acquisition is calcite dissolution fueled by protons derived from the dissolution of CO2 and subsequent dissociation of carbonic acid. At higher solute concentrations, dolomite dissolution coupled to sulfide oxidation is more important. Sr concentration is found to increase with total solute concentration in two separate meltwater streams draining from the glacier, but 87Sr/86Sr only increases in the eastern melt stream. Carbonate and K-feldspar sources are shown to dominate the Sr content of the western stream, irrespective of concentration. They also dominate the Sr content of the eastern stream at low and intermediate concentrations, but at higher concentrations, muscovite (with high 87Sr/86Sr) is also an important Sr source. This reflects the outcrop of muscovite-bearing lithologies in the catchment of the eastern stream and an increase in the rate of weathering of K-silicates relative to that of carbonates as more concentrated solutions approach saturation with respect to carbonates. Nonstoichiometric release of 87Sr/86Sr and preferential release of Sr over K from freshly ground K-silicate surfaces may also occur. This may help to explain the radiogenic nature of runoff from distributed subglacial drainage systems, which are characterized by long water:rock contact times and water flow through environments in which crushing and grinding of bedrock are active processes.Although the exchangeable Sr in tills has higher 87Sr/86Sr than local carbonate bedrock, only the more concentrated meltwaters from the eastern stream display similarly high values. The most dilute waters, which probably transport the bulk of the dissolved Sr flux from the glacier, have 87Sr/86Sr characteristic of local carbonate bedrock. Thus, the results suggest that although enhanced weathering of silicate minerals containing radiogenic Sr (such as muscovite) does occur in glaciated carbonate terrains, it is unlikely to contribute to any enhanced flux of radiogenic Sr from glaciated continental surfaces to the oceans. |
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