Significant degradation of glacial moraines quantified with cosmogenic
10Be, Mono Basin, CA
Abstract
We present results that unequivocally demonstrate that glacier moraines
erode at their crests and accumulate sediment at their toes, resulting
in significant landscape evolution over the lifespan of these landforms.
We measured the concentration of cosmogenic 10Be in
quartz from ~meter deep soil profiles dug at the crest,
flank, and toe of two lateral moraines of different ages in the Mono
Basin, CA. The concentrations of 10Be in the profiles
show erosion at the moraine crests, and accumulation at their flanks and
toes on the order of 0.01 – 0.1 mm/yr for the past 10-20,000 years.
Additionally, 10Be concentrations increase downslope
significantly. These results are consistent only with sediment transport
models that begin with steep and sharp crested moraines that widen and
flatten from meters to tens of meters over their lifespans.