Quantifying long-term rates of chemical weathering and physical erosion is important for understanding the long-term evolution of soils, landscapes, and Earth’s climate. Here we describe how long-term chemical weathering rates can be measured for actively eroding landscapes using cosmogenic nuclides together with a geochemical mass balance of weathered soil and parent rock. We tested this appro...

The weathering of volcanic rocks contributes significantly to the global silicate weathering budget, effecting carbon dioxide drawdown and long-term climate control. The rate of chemical weathering is influenced by the composition of the rock. Rock-dwelling micro-organisms are known to play a role in changing the rate of weathering reactions; however, the influence of rock composition on bio-we...

We used cosmogenic nuclide and geochemical mass balance methods to measure long-term rates of chemical weathering and total denudation in granitic landscapes in diverse climatic regimes. Our 42 study sites encompass widely varying climatic and erosional regimes, with mean annual temperatures ranging from 2 to 25 jC, average precipitation ranging from 22 to 420 cm year , and denudation rates ran...

It has been hypothesized that predecessors of today's bryophytes significantly increased global chemical weathering in the Late Ordovician, thus reducing atmospheric CO2 concentration and contributing to climate cooling and an interval of glaciations. Studies that try to quantify the enhancement of weathering by non-vascular vegetation, however, are usually limited to small areas and low number...

Much of the literature that analyzes the effect of various factors on basaltic weathering rates does not assess the synergistic effects of several factors at once. Those studies that do address such synergies generally report their results in formats that are difficult to integrate into geographic analysis. The research outlined in this paper employs multivariate statistics to assess the effect...

The assessment of weathering degree sandstone carvings plays an important role in scientific conservation. However, the current state research cannot meet needs evaluation. Jurassic sandstones used this study were selected, and soluble salt acid simulation experiments performed on standard samples. Non-destructive methods are to determine weight, surface hardness, ultrasonic velocity, water abs...

The isotope ratios of Sr are useful tracers for studying parent material sources, weathering processes, and biogeochemical cycling. Mineralogical and geochemical investigations of two lateritic weathering covers, in an area close to the Tropic of Cancer (Guangxi Province, southern China), were undertaken to study the regional weathering processes and Sr isotopic sources. We found that weatherin...

Meteorites are frequently not the pristine record of early solar system processes that we would like them to be. Many unique meteorites, samples that can further our understanding of the environment of the early solar system, are finds, so a knowledge of terrestrial weathering becomes a requirement to accurately interpret their preterrestrial history. This chapter outlines the weathering proces...