IU Indianapolis ScholarWorks :: Browsing by Author "Licht, Kathy J."

Browsing by Author "Licht, Kathy J."

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Analysis of Antarctic glacigenic sediment provenance through geochemical and petrologic applications
(Elsevier, 2017-05) Licht, Kathy J.; Hemming, Sidney R.; Department of Earth Sciences, School of Science
The number of provenance studies of glacigenic sediments in Antarctica has increased dramatically over the past decade, providing an enhanced understanding of ice sheet history and dynamics, along with the broader geologic history. Such data have been used to assess glacial erosion patterns at the catchment scale, flow path reconstructions over a wide range of scales, and ice sheet fluctuations indicated by iceberg rafted debris in circumantarctic glacial marine sediments. It is notable that even though most of the bedrock of the continent is ice covered and inaccessible, provenance data can provide such valuable information about Antarctic ice and can even be used to infer buried rock types along with their geo- and thermochronologic history. Glacigenic sediments provide a broader array of provenance analysis opportunities than any other sediment type because of their wide range of grain sizes, and in this paper we review methods and examples from all size fractions that have been applied to the Antarctic glacigenic sedimentary record. Interpretations of these records must take careful consideration of the choice of analytical methods, uneven patterns of erosion, and spatial variability in sediment transport and rock types, which all may lead to a preferential identification of different elements of sources in the provenance analyses. Because of this, we advocate a multi-proxy approach and highlight studies that demonstrate the value of selecting complementary provenance methods.
Antarctica’s Dry Valleys: A potential source of soluble iron to the Southern Ocean?
(AGU, 2015-03) Bhattachan, Abinash; Wang, Lixin; Miller, Molly F.; Licht, Kathy J.; D'Odorico, Paolo; Department of Earth Sciences, IU School of Science
The soluble iron content and dust emission potential of sediment samples collected from the Taylor Valley in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDVs) and sea ice in the McMurdo Sound were evaluated to determine whether inputs to the Southern Ocean may be sufficient to affect ocean productivity. Our results show that the dust-generating potential from the MDVs soils are comparable to those of sediments from other major dust sources in the Southern Hemisphere. Sediments from the MDVs and sea ice are one order of magnitude richer in soluble iron than those in other dust sources in the Southern Hemisphere. Forward trajectory analyses show that the dust from the MDVs is likely to be deposited in the Southern Ocean. These results provide evidence of the possible supply of soluble iron to the Southern Ocean associated with dust transport from the MDVs, should climate change expand the exposed areas of the continent.
Chemical weathering signatures at Mt. Achernar, Central Transantarctic Mountains II: Surface exposed sediments
(Elsevier, 2022-10-01) Graly, Joseph A.; Licht, Kathy J.; Bader, Nicole A.; Kassab, Christine M.; Bish, David L.; Kaplan, Michael R.; Earth and Environmental Sciences, School of Science
Mt Achernar Moraine is a high altitude, high latitude blue ice moraine where typical conditions preclude the presence of liquid water. Cosmogenic and salt accumulation dating indicate that the moraine’s surface is progressively older away from the active ice margin, with surface exposure ages up to 1 Ma. We analyze the chemical and mineralogical transformations in the <63 µm fraction along transects across the moraine. Data include bulk chemical composition, crystalline mineralogy by X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the composition of amorphous or low abundance products of chemical weathering by sequential extraction. These data are analyzed by multiple regression as a function of exposure age and as a function of composition of the moraine’s cobble and pebble-sized clasts. Change with exposure age is defined by the development of salts and carbonate minerals along with the input of detrital material, principally from sedimentary rocks. Clay minerals and amorphous cements breakdown as detrital material in proportions far above their abundance in the rock clasts, whereas framework silicates (i.e. feldspars and quartz) break down in relatively small proportions. Both the carbonate minerals and some of the salts form from atmospheric acids (i.e. H2CO3) that in turn react with other minerals. Mass balance shows that the input of these atmospheric acids balances with gains in authigenic smectites, zeolites, and amorphous material. Many of these minerals also form in the subglacial environment, but are poorly represented in the underlying rock, suggesting a similar chemical weathering regime in both the subglacial and surface environments of this hyper cold and arid setting. The rate of CO2 drawdown into carbonate minerals increases as the moraine progressively thickens, from 3 mg·m2·a−1 in freshly emerging sediments to ∼50 mg·m2·a−1 after 500 ka of exposure. Weathering from acidic aerosols is proportional to atmospheric flux documented in ice cores and does not vary with moraine thickness. The carbonate mineral formation rates are more than an order of magnitude below those of the subglacial environment and as much as two orders of magnitude below those found in warm desert soils. Nevertheless, the drawdown of atmospheric CO2 into carbonate minerals occurs in a terrestrial setting where water exists only in vapor form.
Chemical weathering signatures from Mt. Achernar Moraine, Central Transantarctic Mountains I: Subglacial sediments compared with underlying rock
(Elsevier, 2020-08) Graly, Joseph A.; Licht, Kathy J.; Bader, Nicole A.; Bish, David L.; Earth Sciences, School of Science
In order to determine chemical weathering rates on the subglacial land surface of Antarctica, we compare the composition and mineralogy of freshly emerging fine sediments to that of the underlying bedrock, as represented by glacially derived cobble-sized clasts. Samples were collected from Mt. Achernar Moraine, a large blue ice moraine, where subglacial material naturally emerges through sublimation of the surrounding ice. Both rocks and sediments were analyzed for total elemental composition, mineral abundance by X-ray diffraction, and by sequential extractions targeting chemical weathering products. The fine sediment fraction is significantly enriched in chemical weathering products and depleted in primary minerals compared with the cobble clasts. The alteration pathways consist primarily of the development of smectite, kaolinite, carbonate minerals, and amorphous material. Extensive Fe oxidation is evidenced by a decline in magnetic susceptibility and by increases in extractable Fe. If we assume the only input into the subglacial system is the water and ice-trapped gas supplied by basal melt, the net chemical alteration is explained through oxidation of organic matter equal to ∼0.7% of the bedrock mass and subsequent carbonation weathering. The underlying sedimentary rock is sufficiently rich in organic matter for this pathway to be plausible. For the O2 that is oxidizing organic matter to be supplied by basal meltwater, water fluxes would need to be three orders of magnitude larger than sediment fluxes. Independent models of basal melt and sediment transport at our field site confirm that such a difference between water and sediment flux is likely at the study site. The rate of subglacial carbonation weathering inferred from the Mt. Achernar Moraine site may be comparable to that found in high latitude subaerial environments. If Mt. Achernar Moraine is typical of other Antarctic sites, the subglacial land surface of Antarctica does play a role in global geochemical cycling.
Construction of Late Cretaceous, Mid-Crustal Sheeted Plutons from the Eastern Transverse Ranges, Southern California
(2009-01-16T16:57:10Z) Brown, Kenneth Lee; Licht, Kathy J.; Swope, R. Jeffrey; Li, Lin
Differential exhumation within the eastern Transverse Ranges of southern California has revealed a tilted crustal section that provides a unique view into the architecture of the Mesozoic arc. At the base of this crustal section is a group of well-exposed sheeted plutons. Well-developed, gentle to moderately dipping magmatic and solid-state fabrics within these plutons are regionally consistent, margin-parallel, discordant to internal sheeting and layering, and are generally parallel to equivalent host rock structures and fabrics. In some plutons, magmatic foliations define regional fold structures, thus recording regional contraction during chamber construction. Collectively, field mapping and fabric analyses within these sheeted plutons show that the observed fabric patterns are better explained by regional deformation rather than internal magma chamber processes. This interpretation is in direct contrast to previous mapping in the region. The host rocks also record complex processes during sheeted pluton emplacement. Deflection of host rock foliations and structures into parallelism with pluton contacts suggest that downward ductile flow played a role in making space for these plutons. However, evidence of regional faulting and shearing is not observed, suggesting that they did not play a significant role. Although there is considerable microstructural variability within each pluton, the observed microstructures are generally consistent with a transition from magmatic to submagmatic/ high-temperature solid-state deformation. Magmatic microstructures are defined by euhedral to subhedral plagioclase, hornblende, and biotite that do not show significant internal crystal-plastic deformation. Evidence for high-temperature solid-state deformation includes high-temperature grain boundary migration in quartz, plagaioclase, potassium feldspar, and hornblende; chessboard extinction in quartz; and ductile bending in plagioclase and hornblende. Microstructural observations also indicate that mafic and intermediate compositions record stronger magmatic fabrics than felsic compositions. Based on the structural and microstructural observations presented in this study, I interpret that these sheeted plutons were emplaced into an active continental arc setting that was undergoing regional contraction. The strong magmatic fabrics and high-temperature solid-state overprinting is likely a consequence of regional deformation during crystallization. The weak fabrics within upper crustal plutons relative to the strong fabrics within the mid-crustal plutons suggest that deformation was largely localized to the more compositionally heterogeneous mid-crustal portions of the arc structure.
Determining the Laurentide Ice Sheet and Bedrock Provenance of Midwestern Till by Applying U-Pb Geochronology to Detrital Zircons
(2019-10) Mickey, Jeremiah Lee; Licht, Kathy J.; Bird, Broxton; Malone, David; Loope, Henry
A broad range of samples were collected from the Huron-Erie Lobe, Lake Michigan Lobe, Saginaw Lobe, and Tipton Till Plain of northern Indiana to determine the provenance of Laurentide Ice Sheet till in the Midwest U.S. during the Illinoian and Wisconsinan glaciations. U-Pb age distributions from approximately 300 detrital zircons (DZ) were used as provenance indicators for each till sample. Till from the Lake Michigan Lobe and was found to be largely homogenized. The distinct lobe DZ age distributions are the Lake Michigan Lobe till with a dominant ~1465 Ma peak, the northern Huron-Erie Lobe till with a dominant ~1060 Ma and a secondary peak at ~1450 Ma, the southern Huron-Erie Lobe till with nearly equal peaks at ~1435 Ma, ~1175 Ma, and ~1065 Ma, and the southern Saginaw Lobe till with a dominant peak at ~1095 Ma. Those four DZ age distributions were treated as endmembers in a nonlinear least-squares mixing model to calculate the contribution of each lobe to till in the Tipton Till Plain. Huron-Erie and Saginaw lobe tills were found to be the primary components of the Tipton Till Plain, and Lake Michigan Lobe till was only found in the western Tipton Till Plain. Zircons from the Saginaw Lobe till increased 39 % in the eastern Tipton Till Plain between the Illinoisan and Wisconsinan glaciations. The mixing model was also applied to relate the DZ age distributions of the lobes to bedrock within and near their flow paths. When comparing nearby bedrock to each lobe’s till, mixing model results, yield an approximate maximum transport distance between 500 and 630 kilometers for the matrix vii fraction of till in the Lake Michigan, Huron-Erie, and Saginaw lobes. Samples for the southern Huron-Erie Lobe indicate that the most of the zircon ages within the southern Huron-Erie Lobe till in Indiana were specifically entrained between Niagara County, New York and east-central Indiana. Within the model’s error, 93 – 100 % of the detrital zircons in each of the three lobes are relatable to nearby Paleozoic and Precambrian sedimentary and metamorphic bedrock formations.
Double dating detrital zircons in till from the Ross Embayment, Antarctica
(2014-05-21) Welke, Bethany Marie; Licht, Kathy J.; Hemming, Sidney R.; Martin, Pamela
U/Pb and (U-Th)/He (ZHe) dating of detrital zircons from glacial till samples in the Ross Embayment, Antarctica records cooling after the Ross/Pan-African orogeny (450-625 Ma) followed by a mid-Jurassic to mid-Cretaceous heating event in the Beacon basin. Zircons were extracted from till samples from heads of major outlet glaciers in East Antarctica, one sample at the mouth of Scott Glacier, and from beneath three West Antarctic ice streams. The Ross/Pan-African U/Pb population is ubiquitous in these Antarctic tills and many Beacon Supergroup sandstones, thus 83 grains were analyzed for ZHe to subdivide this population. Two ZHe age populations are evident in East Antarctic tills, with 64% of grains 115-200 Ma and 35% between 200-650 Ma. The older population is interpreted to be associated with the Ross/Pan-African orogeny including cooling of the Granite Harbour Intrusives and/or exhumation of the older basement rocks to form the Kukri Peneplain. The lag time between zircon U/Pb, ZHe and 40Ar/39Ar ages from K-bearing minerals show cooling over 200 My. Grains in East Antarctic tills with a ZHe age of 115-200 Ma likely reflects regional heating following the breakup of Gondwana from the Ferrar dolerite intrusions, subsidence within the rift basin, and a higher geothermal gradient. Subsequent cooling and/or exhumation of the Transantarctic Mountains brought grains below the closure temperature over a span of 80 My. This population may also provide a Beacon Supergroup signature as most of the tills with this age are adjacent to nunataks mapped as Beacon Supergroup and contain an abundance of vi Beacon pebbles within the moraine. Nine zircons grains from three Beacon Supergroup sandstones collected from moraines across the Transantarctic Mountains yield ages from 125-180 Ma. West Antarctic tills contain a range of ZHe ages from 75-450 Ma reflecting the diverse provenance of basin fill from East Antarctica and Marie Byrd Land. ZHe and U/Pb ages <105 Ma appear to be distinctive of West Antarctic tills. The combination of U/Pb, ZHe and 40Ar/39Ar analyses demonstrates that these techniques can be used to better constrain the tectonic evolution and cooling of the inaccessible subglacial source terrains beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet.
The Dynamics of the Late Neogene Antarctic Ice Sheets in the Central Ross Sea using a Multianalytical Approach
(2022-06) Mallery, Christopher Wallace; Licht, Kathy J.; Macris, Catherine A.; Gilhooly, William P. III
With the goal of determining ice sheet history in the central Ross Sea since the late Miocene, the provenance of glacial till from IODP expedition 374 site U1522 was assessed using a suite of three analyses. A total of 3,869 zircons, between 250-63 microns in size, from sixteen different cores were measured for U-Pb isotopes via LA-ICP-MS. Zircon data was compared to neodymium isotope and clast lithology datasets from collaborators. Site U1522 shows three distinct provenance shifts from the late Miocene to the Pleistocene, two of which are coincident with Ross Sea Unconformities three and two. Late Miocene samples have abundant Cretaceous zircon populations, radiogenic neodymium values, and clasts interpreted as having a West Antarctic provenance. In latest Miocene samples, zircons are mostly Ross Orogeny age (c. 470 615 Ma) and Cretaceous zircon grains are almost absent, neodymium values are relatively un radiogenic, and dolerite clasts are present signaling a shift to East Antarctic derived ice. Above Ross Sea Unconformity 3, early to mid Pliocene samples show a shift back to West Antarctic provenance with abundant Cretaceous zircons and more radiogenic neodymium values. Late Pliocene to Pleistocene samples, deposited above Ross Sea Unconformity 2, reflect dominant East Antarctic provenance with few Cretaceous zircon dates, relatively un radiogenic neodymium values, and the presence of dolerite clasts. These data are broadly in agreement with ice sheet interpretations suggested by clast analysis from ANDRILL site AND-1B. Permo-Triassic zircon dates suggest the presence of unexposed bedrock of this age beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet based on their association with Cretaceous dates that have not been reported from East Antarctica. The zircon dataset also reveals two late Miocene intervals with a previously undocumented Eocene Oligocene magmatic event ~30 40 Ma. The coexistence of Cretaceous dates in these intervals suggests a likely West Antarctic source. The absence of Eocene Oligocene zircons in subsequent Plio Pleistocene sediments may be explained by substantial erosion and offshore deposition of the West Antarctic interior, including volcanic edifices following the Middle Miocene Climatic Transition.
EASTERN EQUATORIAL PACIFIC PRODUCTIVITY VIA TWO GEOCHEMICAL PROXIES
(2012-03-16) Robertson, Angela K.; Filippelli, Gabriel M.; Latimer, Jennifer C.; Licht, Kathy J.
Drivers that influence oceanic productivity are not clearly constrained. However, sea level changes during glacial cycles have been proposed as a potential driver for productivity variations observed over warm and cold climate periods. In order to determine this, additional oceanic paleoproductivity data collection is necessary to estimate the ocean’s feedback in response to a dynamic climate. The eastern equatorial Pacific (EEP) is an ideal site for productivity studies due to its high levels of nutrients and deep upwelling. This research examines the phosphorous and barite geochemisty of four EEP sites while also comparing the sites’ glacial and interglacial productivity variations to the geochemistry and productivity results of an independent central equatorial pacific site. Phosphorus and other elemental data were collected from sites 845, 848, 849, and 853 (ODP Leg 138). Using a Ba/Ti and P/Ti proxy (“excess” proxies), distinct productivity variations during glacial and interglacial periods were observed. While the age model for these sites has been estimated, the observed variations more than likely agree with high productivity during glacial periods and lower productivity during interglacial periods. Central equatorial Pacific cores RR0603-03TC and RR0603-03JC (IODP site survey cruise for Proposal 626) have been used as a reference for geochemical concentration parameters, as well as a comparison tool for productivity variations among the central and eastern sites. The central equatorial geochemistry results provided support for sea level changes driving paleoproductivity variations. The similar variation patterns displayed by the EEP’s geochemical data in this research could provide additional support for this hypothesis.
Evidence for Extending Anomalous Miocene Volcanism at the Edge of the East Antarctic Craton
(Wiley, 2018-04) Licht, Kathy J.; Groth, T.; Townsend, J. P.; Hennessy, Andrea J.; Hemming, S. R.; Flood, T. P.; Studinger, M.; Earth Sciences, School of Science
Using field observations followed by petrological, geochemical, geochronological, and geophysical data, we infer the presence of a previously unknown Miocene subglacial volcanic center ~230 km from the South Pole. Evidence of volcanism is from boulders of olivine‐bearing amygdaloidal/vesicular basalt and hyaloclastite deposited in a moraine in the southern Transantarctic Mountains. 40Ar/39Ar ages from five specimens plus U‐Pb ages of detrital zircon from glacial till indicate igneous activity 25–17 Ma. The likely source of the volcanism is a circular −735 nT magnetic anomaly 60 km upflow from the sampling site. Subaqueous textures of the volcanics indicate eruption beneath ice or into water at the margin of an ice mass during the early Miocene. These rocks record the southernmost Cenozoic volcanism in Antarctica and expand the known extent of the oldest lavas associated with West Antarctic Rift system. They may be an expression of lithospheric foundering beneath the southern Transantarctic Mountains.

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