Journal article
Magnetic detection of paleoflood layers in stalagmites and implications for historical land use changes
Earth and planetary science letters, Vol.530, p.115946
01/15/2020
DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2019.115946
Abstract
•We image paleoflooding events in stalagmites using scanning magnetic microscopy.•This approach compiles recurrence histories of extreme paleo-precipitation events.•Case study: Mean recurrence rates are ≤5 events per century for the last 500 years in SE Minnesota.•Flooding recurrence rates increase to 7 events per century during the last 100 years.•Land use changes increased the cave's hydrogeologic response rate, carrying more fine sediment.
Flooding events are major natural hazards that present significant risk to communities worldwide. Calculations of flood recurrence rate through time are important tools for regulating land use, determining insurance rates, and for the design and construction of levees and dams. Typically, flood recurrence rates are based on limited historical data or on evidence preserved in the geologic record as overbank deposits, tree ring scars, or high water scour marks. However, these approaches are either limited in their ability to produce continuous time series of flooding events or do not consider the effects of regional land use change. Here we use scanning superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) microscopy to rapidly image the magnetization associated with flood layers in a polished surface of an annually laminated stalagmite from Spring Valley Caverns (SVC) in southeastern Minnesota. A time series of magnetization peaks, each of which corresponds to a flooding event, yields an average flood recurrence rate of ≤5 events per century for the last 500 years. This rate increases to ∼7 events per century since 1900, coincident with historical timber and agricultural land-use changes in Minnesota. This approach produces a continuous record of well-dated, extreme-precipitation events that can be examined within the context of land use change.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Magnetic detection of paleoflood layers in stalagmites and implications for historical land use changes
- Creators
- J.M Feinberg - Institute for Rock Magnetism, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USAJ.A Dorale - Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USAI Lascu - Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USAE.A Lima - Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USAB.P Weiss - Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USAE.C Alexander - Institute for Rock Magnetism, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USAR.L Edwards - Institute for Rock Magnetism, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Earth and planetary science letters, Vol.530, p.115946
- Publisher
- Elsevier B.V
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.epsl.2019.115946
- ISSN
- 0012-821X
- eISSN
- 1385-013X
- Grant note
- DOI: 10.13039/100007249, name: University of Minnesota; DOI: 10.13039/100000001, name: National Science Foundation
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 01/15/2020
- Academic Unit
- Earth and Environmental Sciences
- Record Identifier
- 9984066337402771
Metrics
11 Record Views