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G082: Development of Quantitative Weathering Indicators in Proximal Alluvial Sediments to Assess Glacial Activity in the Rock Record

Start date:
Late December
End date:
late January
Locations:
Wright Valley, Taylor Valley
Principle Investigator:
Gerilyn Soreghan
State
Oklahoma
Field season overview:
Field team members will travel by helicopter to a camp in Wright Valley. There, they will sample from the proximal Onyx River draining Wright glacier, and from the fans draining both Clark and Denton glaciers. They also plan to visit the established Taylor Valley field camp and make day trips from there to the fan draining Goldman Glacier in Taylor Valley.
This Dry Valleys project is part of a larger project aimed at assessing weathering in proximal alluvial systems across a variety of climates. Researchers will collect sediment samples and compare them to parent rock compositions to determine the effects of weathering within a cold arid climate system on the bulk chemistry of siliclastic sediments. They will also collect limited water samples to supplement their weathering studies.