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Climate control on Quaternary coal fires and landscape evolution, Powder River basin, Wyoming and Montana

2009; Geological Society of America; Volume: 37; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1130/g25195a.1

1943-2682

C. A. Riihimaki, Peter W. Reiners, E.L. Heffern,

Climate change and permafrost

Research Article| March 01, 2009 Climate control on Quaternary coal fires and landscape evolution, Powder River basin, Wyoming and Montana Catherine A. Riihimaki; Catherine A. Riihimaki * 11Biology Department, Drew University, Madison, New Jersey 07940, USA *E-mail: criihimaki@drew.edu. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Peter W. Reiners; Peter W. Reiners 22Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Edward L. Heffern Edward L. Heffern 33U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 5353 Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Catherine A. Riihimaki * 11Biology Department, Drew University, Madison, New Jersey 07940, USA Peter W. Reiners 22Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA Edward L. Heffern 33U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 5353 Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009, USA *E-mail: criihimaki@drew.edu. Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 27 Jun 2008 Revision Received: 27 Oct 2008 Accepted: 31 Oct 2008 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 © 2009 Geological Society of America Geology (2009) 37 (3): 255–258. https://doi.org/10.1130/G25195A.1 Article history Received: 27 Jun 2008 Revision Received: 27 Oct 2008 Accepted: 31 Oct 2008 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation Catherine A. Riihimaki, Peter W. Reiners, Edward L. Heffern; Climate control on Quaternary coal fires and landscape evolution, Powder River basin, Wyoming and Montana. Geology 2009;; 37 (3): 255–258. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G25195A.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Late Cenozoic stream incision and basin excavation have strongly influenced the modern Rocky Mountain landscape, but constraints on the timing and rates of erosion are limited. The geology of the Powder River basin provides an unusually good opportunity to address spatial and temporal patterns of stream incision. Numerous coal seams in the Paleocene Fort Union and Eocene Wasatch Formations within the basin have burned during late Cenozoic incision, as coal was exposed to dry and oxygen-rich near-surface conditions. The topography of this region is dominated by hills capped with clinker, sedimentary rocks metamorphosed by burning of underlying coal beds. We use (U-Th)/He ages of clinker to determine times of relatively rapid erosion, with the assumption that coal must be near Earth's surface to burn. Ages of 55 in situ samples range from 0.007 to 1.1 Ma. Clinker preferentially formed during times in which eccentricity of the Earth's orbit was high, times that typically but not always correlate with interglacial periods. Our data therefore suggest that rates of landscape evolution in this region are affected by climate fluctuations. Because the clinker ages correlate better with eccentricity time series than with an oxygen isotope record of global ice volume, we hypothesize that variations in solar insolation modulated by eccentricity have a larger impact on rates of landscape evolution in this region than do glacial-interglacial cycles. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.