Research about Black Forest

USGS2022

Geochemical evidence for diachronous uplift and synchronous collapse of the high elevation Variscan hinterland

Competing end-member models for the late Paleozoic Variscan orogeny (ca. 360-290 Ma) alternatively suggest moderate 2-3 km elevations underlain by relatively thin crust (<50 km) or a thick crust (>55 km) that supported high 4-5 km elevations. We tested these models and quantified the crustal thickness and elevation evolution of the Variscan orogeny using igneous trace element geochemical proxies. The data suggest that thick crust (55-70 km) capable of supporting 3-5 km elevations developed diachronously from east to west between ca. 350 and 315 Ma. Crustal thinning occurred from ca. 315 Ma to 290 Ma across the orogen. Crustal thickness and elevation changes at ca. 340-325 Ma and 315-290 Ma correspond with increases in silicate weathering recorded by Sr and Li isotopes, consistent with models in which silicate weathering of the Variscan orogen contributed to global cooling associated with the late Paleozoic ice age.

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USGS1989

Field measurements of dry deposition to spruce foliage and petri dishes in the Black Forest, F.R.G.

Dry deposition fluxes of Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , K + , Mn 2+ , Pb 2+ and SO 2− 4 to spruce foliage and petri dishes were measured in two high-elevation sites ( > 900 m) in the southern Black Forest, F.R.G., during 12 periods (2–7 days, each) from mid-September to mid-November, 1983, In situ extraction of deposited material from small spruce branches allowed repeated use of the same foliar collecting surfaces for a direct comparison of deposition between periods. Fluxes were corrected for leaching of internally cycled constituents using factors determined from serial extraction experiments. The ratio of flux to petri dishes vs foliage ( P F "> PF ) was > 1.0 for Ca 2+ , Pb 2+ and SO 2− 4 , and somewhat < 1.0 but more constant for Mg 2+ . Temporal variations in dry deposition fluxes at an exposed site near the industrialized Rhine Valley correlated with variations in total air particulate concentrations at a nearby air quality station. Deposition rates were comparable in magnitude but different in temporal pattern at a remote site in the Black Forest interior. Fluxes at each site reached a minimum during the period of 4–9 November when a regional air inversion confined pollutants to the Rhine Valley below the study sites. High fluxes accompanied the inversion break-up.

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