Geochemistry and Chemical Weathering in Soils along an Earthworm Invasion Gradient

One of the central tenets in geomorphology is that a chemical denudation rate is limited by the total denudation rate, which controls how fast minerals are exposed to reactive environments of the earth’s surface. Though the mineral supply rate has been routinely tied to tectonic uplifts, in soil mantled landscapes, organisms such as earthworms may also significantly contribute to exposing minerals to varying geochemical environments and thus altering chemical denudation rates of the landscapes they inhabit through mineral translocation. In glaciated parts of North America, many forests evolved without native earthworms, since the last glacial retreat, until they were invaded by exotic earthworm species that arrived with agriculture, recreational fishing, and logging. Therefore, an earthworm invasion chronosequence in northern Minnesota--the focus of this ongoing study--provides an ideal natural laboratory to quantitatively study how burrowing organisms, by mixing soils, contribute to chemically denuding the landscapes. We are currently determining the inorganic chemistry of soils along a ~200 meter long transect that includes pre earthworm invasion soils as well as soils populated with several earthworm species with different burrowing habits. Additionally, six soils pits along the transect are densely installed with lysimeters, piezometers, and gas sampling tubes. The soils’ elemental chemistry profiles show that earthworms have significantly relocated minerals vertically, which is consistent with the 210Pb activity profiles determined with gamma spectroscopy. Major elements, depending on their solubility, biological demands, and susceptibility to be complexed with organic matter, respond to the enhanced mixing rates in different ways. To constrain the impacts of earthworm burrowing on chemical denudation, we are also measuring cations, anions, and alkalinity in the water samples collected with the lysimeters and piezometers. Ultimately, the soil and water chemistry and 210Pb activities, together with ongoing monitoring of earthworms’ species composition and population density, will allow us to understand how and to what degree the soil mixing organisms affect chemical denudation of landscapes, which is central to our efforts in finding the topographic signatures of life.