Surficial Processes and Geomorphic Evolution of Desert Pavement Landscapes

研究内容包括：（1）测试风成/成壤作用 宇宙成因~ 3 He暴露年龄的沙漠路面形成模型 在莫哈韦沙漠和大盆地的选定研究地点测年 产于北美洲西部和南部的阿塔卡马沙漠 （2）阐明成壤类型（如，囊泡A 层位形成），物理的（例如，土体变形与颗粒 运动）和生物（例如，植物引起的碎屑位移 在路面上操作和修改路面的工艺， 实验室研究;（3）建立潜在的 古火星行星研究地球模拟 风化层发育 宇宙成因3 He地表暴露年龄 玄武岩熔岩流表面上发育的路面碎屑 确认碎屑自 熔岩流的喷发 传统和实验方法 在三维空间中的土壤变形和碎屑运动将 在选定的研究地块使用地下和地表 测量. 这些数据集将与（1）土壤 研究地块内的剖面特性和发展，（2） 路面碎屑的化学风化参数， 地下的不同水平，和（3）植物样带， 沟渠数据显示植物分布与 路面特性、生物扰动和碎屑浓度， 风成增生地幔 这项研究将有助于 野外地质学家利用人行道绘制地图 目的，地貌学家和地质年代学家谁使用人行道 考古学家研究文物， 分布在人行道上，第四纪地质学家重建了 世界沙漠地区地表的古环境， 和行星地质学家，他们寻找地球的类似物， 火星风化层的演化

The project were (1) test the eolian/pedogenic accretionary model of desert pavement formation by cosmogenic 3He exposure age dating at selected study sites in the Mojave Desert and Great Basin of western North America and in the Atacama Desert of South America; (2) elucidate the types of pedogenic (e.g., vesicular A horizon formation), physical (e.g.,soil deformation and particle movement) and biological (e.g., clast displacement due to plant growth) processes operating on and modifying pavements by field and laboratory investigations; and (3) establish a potential terrestrial analog for planetary studies of ancient Martian regolith development. Initial cosmogenic 3He surface exposure ages on clasts from pavements developed on basaltic lava flow surfaces confirm that clasts have remained at the pavement surface since the eruption of the lava flow. Traditional and experimental methods of soil deformation and clast movement in 3-D space will be accomplished at selected study plots using subsurface and surface measurements. These data sets will be compared with (1) soil profile properties and development within the study plots, (2) chemical weathering parameters on clasts from the pavement and at various levels within the subsurface, and (3) plant transect and trench data showing relations between plant distribution and pavement properties and bioturbation and clast concentrations in the eolian accretionary mantle. This research will help the endeavors of field geologists who use pavements for mapping purposes, geomorphologists and geochronologists who use pavements for dating landscapes, archaeologists who examine cultural artifact distribution on pavements, Quaternary geologists who reconstruct paleoenvironments of land surfaces in desert regions of the world, and planetary geologists who seek terrestrial analogs for the evolution of the Martian regolith.