In 2011, the discovery of shatter cones confirmed the 28 km-diameter Tunnunik complex impact structure, Northwest Territories, Canada. This study presents the first results of ground-based electromagnetic, gravimetric and magnetic surveys over this impact structure. Its central area is characterized by a ~10 km wide negative gravity anomaly of about 3 mGal amplitude, roughly corresponding to the area of shatter cones, and associated with a positive magnetic field anomaly of ~120 nT amplitude and 3 km wavelength. The latter correlates well with the location of the deepest uplifted strata, an impact-tilted Proterozoic dolomite layer of the Shaler Supergroup exposed near the center of the structure and intruded by dolerite dykes. Locally, electromagnetic field data unveil a conductive superficial formation which corresponds to an 80-100 m thick sand layer covering the impact structure. Based on measurements of magnetic properties of rock samples, we model the source of the magnetic anomaly as the magnetic sediments of the Shaler Supergroup combined with a core of uplifted crystalline basement with enhanced magnetization. More classically, the low gravity signature is attributed to a reduction in density measured on the brecciated target rocks and to the isolated sand formations. However, the present-day fractured zone does not extend deeper than ~1 km in our model, indicating a possible 1.5 km of erosion since the time of impact, about 430 Ma ago.

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Erosion related to glacial activity produces enormous amounts of sediment. However, sediment mobilization in glacial systems is extremely complex. Sediment is derived from headwalls, slopes along the margins of glaciers, and basal erosion; however, the rates and relative contributions of each are unknown. To test and quantify conceptual models for sediment generation and transport in a simple valley glacier system, we collected samples for 10 Be analysis from the Kahiltna Glacier, which flows off Denali, the tallest mountain in North America. We collected angular quartz clasts on bedrock ledges from a high mountainside above the equilibrium line altitude (ELA), amalgamated clast samples from medial moraines, and sand samples from the river below the glacier. We also collected sand from nine other rivers along the south flank of the Alaska Range. In the upper catchment of the Kahiltna drainage system, toppling, rockfall, and slab collapse are significant erosional processes. Erosion rates of hundreds of millimeters per thousand years were calculated from 10 Be concentrations. The 10 Be concentrations in amalgamated samples from medial moraines showed concentrations much lower than those measured from the high mountainside, a result of the incorporation of thick, and effectively unexposed, blocks into the moraine, as well as the incorporation of material from lower-elevation nearby slopes above the moraines. The 10 Be sediment samples from downstream of the Kahiltna Glacier terminus showed decreasing concentrations with increasing distance from the moraine, indicating the incorporation of material that was less exposed to cosmic rays, most likely from the glacier base as well as from slopes downstream of the glacier. Taken together, 10 Be concentrations in various samples from the Kahiltna drainage system indicated erosion rates of hundreds of millimeters per thousand years, which is typical of tectonically active terrains. We also measured 10 Be concentrations from river sediment samples collected from across the south flank of the Alaska Range. Calculation of basinwide weighted erosion rates that incorporated hypsometric curves produced unrealistically high erosion rates, which indicates that the major source of sediment was not exposed to cosmic rays and was primarily derived from the base of glaciers. Moreover, the apparently high erosion rates suggest that parts of each drainage system are not in erosional steady state with respect to cosmogenic isotope accumulation.

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Groundwater springs in karstified carbonate aquifers are known to transport carbon, nutrients and trace elements to the coastal ocean. The biogeochemical significance of submarine karstic springs and their impact on coastal primary production are often difficult to quantify. We investigated several karstic springs, including the first-order Port-Miou spring, in an urbanized watershed that is also severely impacted by sewage effluent (Calanques of Marseille-Cassis, France). Karstic springs were elevated in major nutrients and bioactive trace metals over Mediterranean seawater, with relatively low concentration ranges. Groundwater NO3- was likely derived from atmosphere-aquifer interactions, while DOC:DON ratios reveal that NO2- and NH4+ was autochthonously produced during mixing between karst groundwater and seawater. Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) during March 2018 (wet season, baseflow conditions) was 6.7 ± 2.0 m3 s-1 for the entire investigated coastline, determined from simultaneous 224Ra and 226Ra mass balances. The contribution of groundwater PO43-, the major limiting nutrient of the Mediterranean Sea, sustained only 1% of primary production adjacent to sewage outfall, but between 7 and 100% of the local primary production in areas that were not impacted by sewage. Groundwater and seawater Fe:DIN and Fe:DIP ratios suggest that Fe was not a limiting micro-nutrient during the period of study, where bioactive trace metal fluxes were dominated by sewage and atmospheric deposition, although excess Fe from groundwater may locally enhance N fixation. Groundwater solute fluxes may easily vary by a factor of two or more over time because karst aquifers are sensitive to precipitation, as is the case of the regional carbonate karstified aquifer of Port-Miou, highlighting the critical importance of properly characterizing nutrient and trace metal inputs in these coastal environments.

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