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Monazite chemical weathering, rare earth element behavior, and paleoglaciohydrology since the last glacial maximum for the Loch Vale watershed, Colorado, USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 February 2017

Jason R. Price ,
Joel Moore  and
Dalton Kerans
Jason R. Price*
Affiliation:
Illinois College, Environmental Studies Program, 1101 West College Avenue, Jacksonville, llinois 62650, USA
Joel Moore
Affiliation:
Towson University, Department of Physics, Astronomy, and Geoscience, 8000 York Road, Towson, Maryland 21252, USA
Dalton Kerans
Affiliation:
Illinois College, Environmental Studies Program, 1101 West College Avenue, Jacksonville, llinois 62650, USA
*
*Corresponding author at: Illinois College, Environmental Studies Program, 1101 West College Avenue, Jacksonville, IL 62650, United States. E-mail address: Jason.Price@mail.ic.edu (J.R. Price).
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Abstract

Rare earth element (REE) release from weathering of accessory monazite [(REE)PO4] since the last glacial maximum at 18.1 ka was investigated in sediment recovered from an outlet lake within the glaciated Loch Vale watershed, Colorado, USA. Labile REEs in the sediments reveal monazite weathering increased during the Younger Dryas chronozone (YDC) 13.2 to 11.1 ka when alpine glaciers advanced as climate cooled and bedrock comminution increased. Monazite dissolution peaked at approximately the Pleistocene-Holocene transition ~10.5 ka. During the Holocene, REE concentrations decline, reflecting a reduction in monazite weathering. The REE cerium (Ce) may occur as trivalent or tetravalent cations, and the Ce anomaly (Cen/Ce*n) in sediment permits interpretations of paleoredox conditions. The Cen/Ce*n decreases from 18.1 ka to the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary. Initially, oxidizing conditions within the watershed increased because of enlargement of the proglacial area as the ice retreated. At the onset of the YDC, oxidation further escalated in response to enhanced chemical weathering associated with glacial advance. A more stable Holocene climate and landscape resulted in relatively small changes in Cen/Ce*n values. Slightly decreasing Cen/Ce*n values over the last several hundred years are consistent with present-day stream water values and may reflect the onset of present-day hydrobiogeochemical conditions.

Keywords

Monazite weatheringRare earth element behaviorPaleoglaciohydrologyLake sedimentLoch Vale watershedYounger Dryas chronozoneCerium anomaly
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 87 , Issue 2 , March 2017 , pp. 191 - 207
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2017 

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