Quantification of termite bioturbation in a savannah ecosystem: Application of OSL dating |
| |
| Institution: | 1. Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Denmark;2. Center for Nuclear Technologies, Technical University of Denmark, DTU Risø Campus, Roskilde, Denmark;3. Nordic Laboratory for Luminescence Dating, Department of Geoscience, Aarhus University, Risø Campus, Roskilde, Denmark;1. U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25046, MS 974, Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225, USA;2. Cooperative Institute for Environmental Research, University of Colorado – Boulder, CO 80302, USA;1. Center for Nuclear Technologies, Technical University of Denmark, DTU Risø Campus, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark;2. Institut de Recherche sur les Archéomatériaux, UMR 5060 CNRS – Université de Bordeaux, Centre de Recherche en Physique Appliquée à l''Archéologie (CRP2A), Esplanade des Antilles, Maison de l''archéologie, 33607 Pessac Cedex, France;3. Nordic Laboratory for Luminescence Dating, Department of Geoscience, Aarhus University, DTUNutech, Risø Campus, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark;1. UCLA Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, 595 Charles Young Drive East, Box 951567, 90095 Los Angeles, CA, USA;2. University of Sheffield, Geography, Winter Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S10 2TN, UK;1. College of Resource Environment and Tourism–Capital Normal University, 100048 Beijing, China;2. Center for Nuclear Technologies, Technical University of Denmark, DTU Risø Campus, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark;3. Nordic Laboratory for Luminescence Dating, Department of Geoscience, University of Aarhus, Risø Campus, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark;4. Institute of Earthquake Science, CEA, 100036 Beijing, China;1. School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 612 Hardin Hall, 3310 Holdrege Street, Lincoln, NE 68583-0961, USA;2. Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 550 N. Park Street, Madison, WI 53706-1404, USA;3. Department of Geography and Geology, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 800 West Main Street, Whitewater, WI 53190, USA |
| |
| Abstract: | Luminescence dating is one of the most promising technique available for studying bioturbation on pedological timescales. In this study, we use multi-grain and single-grain quartz OSL to quantify termite bioturbation processes (Macrotermes natalensis) in a savannah ecosystem in Ghana. Termites transport soil from depth to the surface to construct termitaria. Over time, erosion levels these mounds and returns the sediment to the soil surface. These two processes of construction and erosion together represent an upward “conveyor belt” sediment transport process. We find that the sediment is effectively bleached during the erosion process allowing us to quantify retrospectively, for the first time, the surface deposition rate, the inverse of the upwards transport rate. At this site, this is ~0.28 mm year?1 and began about 4.000 years ago. Downward mixing through subsurface galleries may replace 10–20% of the volume ka?1 below the unit formed by reburied termite deposits. |
| |
| Keywords: | Bioturbation Soil formation Luminescence dating |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
