US-Gabon Cooperative Research: Examination of Weathering Using In-Situ Produced Cosmogenic Nuclides

这笔赠款为西非加蓬马苏库科技大学的地质学家Edou-Minko博士提供了部分支助，使他能够与明尼苏达大学大湖观测站地球化学助理教授Erik Brown合作，利用现场产生的宇宙成因核素确定密西西比河谷各流域的长期风化率。 Edou-Minko博士是红土和红土金矿地球化学方面的专家，在西非热带和赤道地区拥有丰富的实地经验。Brown教授和Edou-Minko博士提供的风化动力学检查的多种方法将提供对不同地质环境影响的见解。 试图量化风化速率的重要性是对地球所有表面过程的全面了解的基础。 此外，随着时间的推移，海洋的整体化学性质受到岩石类型和气候变化引起的风化率差异的影响。 研究人员希望能够对不同纬度范围内的定量风化速率进行比较，这可能有助于更好地了解不同气候条件下的风化过程。

This grant provides partial support for Dr. Edou-Minko, a geologist with the University of Science and Technology of Masuku, in Gabon, West Africa, to collaborate with Erik Brown, Assistant Professor of Geochemistry at the Large Lakes Observatory with the University of Minnesota, on the use in-situ produced cosmogenic nuclides to determine long-term weathering rates at various watershed sites in the Mississippi Valley. Dr. Edou-Minko is a specialist in the geochemistry of laterites and lateritic gold deposits, and has had extensive field experience in tropical and equatorial West Africa. The multiple approaches to examination of weathering dynamics offered by Professor Brown and Dr. Edou-Minko will provide insights into the effects of the differing geological settings. The importance of attempting to quantify weathering rates is fundamental to an overall understanding of all surficial processes of the Earth. Furthermore, through time the overall chemistry of the ocean is influenced by differences in weathering rates caused by variations in rock type and climate. The researchers expect to be able to make a comparison of quantitative weathering rates within different latitudes, which could lead to a better understanding of weathering processes in different climatic regimes.