Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation

 

Subsurface Evolution: Characterizing the physical and geochemical changes in weathered bedrock of Lower Gordon Gulch, Boulder Creek Critical Zone Observatory Public Deposited

https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/bc386j53w
Abstract
  • In rock below the surface, temperature swings are damped, water flow is limited, and biota are few. Yet rock weathers, presumably driven by environmental parameters. I use rock strength as an indicator of rock weathering in Gordon Gulch in the Boulder Creek Critical Zone Observatory, a watershed at 2500 m underlain by Proterozoic gneiss intruded by the Boulder Creek granodiorite. I use the Brazilian splitting test to determine tensile strength of cores collected with a portable drilling rig. Spatial variations in rock strength that we measure in the top 2 m of the weathered rock mantle can be connected to two specific environmental variables: slope aspect and the presence of a soil mantle. I find weaker rock on N-facing slopes and under soil. Water is more effectively delivered to the subsurface on N-facing slopes, and is more likely held against rock surfaces under soil than on outcrops.
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  • 2012
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  • 2019-11-17
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