Quinn River Research Articles

Errors in Martian paleodischarges skew interpretations of hydrologic history: Case study of the Aeolis Dorsa, Mars, with insights from the Quinn River, NV

Changes in Martian fluvial geomorphology with time-stratigraphic age, including decreases in paleochannel widths, suggest waning paleodischarges through time. Where fluvial landforms do not preserve paleochannel widths (e.g., meander deposits), other landform dimensions (i.e., radius of curvature) may be used to estimate paleodischarges. In the Aeolis Dorsa region, topographically inverted and stacked fluvial deposits – wide meander point bars overlain by thin channel fills – preserve ostensible evidence of decreasing paleodischarges through time. However, a robust paleohydraulic analysis of these distinct deposits requires knowledge of the accuracy of a terrestrial-based empirical relationship that estimates channel width from point-bar radius of curvature. We assess the accuracy of this radius-width relationship by applying it to a well-studied terrestrial analog, the Quinn River, Nevada. We find that radii of curvature from the Quinn River exceed the values predicted from the empirical relationship. These anomalously high radii are associated with greater resistance in the channel cut banks, indicating that bank strength is a confounding factor in the radius-width relationship. Some deposits in the Aeolis Dorsa include irregular meander morphologies, suggesting variably resistant channel banks and overestimates of both paleochannel widths and paleodischarges. Furthermore, the morphometry of the overlying thin channel fills suggests their widths have been eroded, such that their paleodischarges are underestimates. These overestimates and underestimates, when considered together, suggest little change in paleodischarge during the stratigraphic transition from meander deposits to channel fills. This work demonstrates the importance of terrestrial analog studies for revealing confounding factors in Martian fluvial systems and cautions against simplistic interpretations of Martian fluvial history. The discovered inaccuracies of paleodischarge estimates expose sources of uncertainty in the extant paleodischarge data that bias inferences toward waning hydrologic activity through time.

River meandering on Earth and Mars: A comparative study of Aeolis Dorsa meanders, Mars and possible terrestrial analogs of the Usuktuk River, AK, and the Quinn River, NV

The paleo-meanders in the Aeolis Dorsa (AD) region show that meandering channels can develop in the absence of vegetation. Three possible mechanisms other than vegetation could contribute to the bank cohesion required to promote meandering: permafrost, abundant mud, and chemical cementation. Banks at the meandering Quinn River show little vegetation cover. Almost all sediment samples collected from the Quinn River deposits contain at least 41% mud (silt/clay), which is much higher than for most meandering streams. Ion chromatography (IC) analysis and scanning electron microscope (SEM) images showed presence of salts in river waters and sediments which may induce fine sediment to flocculate and be deposited. We find that bank cohesion promoting meandering can be provided by silt/clay, the deposition of which may be induced by dissolved salts. The sinuous Usuktuk River in the continuous permafrost region near Barrow, Alaska exhibited no exposed permafrost on stream banks. Instead vegetation seemed to be the dominant control of bank erosion. We have not found evidence for ice control of bank cohesion in this or other terrestrial rivers of similar size and in meandering pattern to the Martian AD meanders. We conclude that bank cohesion in the AD meanders was probably provided by deposition of fine suspended sediment that was flocculated by dissolved salts.

Modeling planform evolution of a mud‐dominated meandering river: Quinn River, Nevada, USA

ABSTRACTA depth‐averaged linearized meander evolution model was calibrated and tested using the field data collected at the Quinn River in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada. Two approaches used to test the model were: (1) simulating meander evolution and comparing the results with the observed 38 year migration pattern; and (2) fitting the model parameters to present bank asymmetry (the ratio of the maximum bank gradients on opposite sides of the channel). The data required as input were collected in the field during a high flow in May 2011 and from aerial photographs and LiDAR data. Both approaches yielded similar results for the best fit parameter values. The bank asymmetry analysis showed that the bank asymmetry and the velocity perturbation have high correlation at close to zero spatial lag while the maximum correlation between the bank asymmetry and maximum bend curvature is offset by about 25 m. The model sufficiently replicated 38 years of channel migration, with a few locations significantly under‐ or over‐predicted. Inadequacies of the flow model and/or variation in bank properties unaccounted for are most likely the causes for these discrepancies. Flow through the Quinn River was also simulated by a more general 3D model. The downstream pattern of near‐bank shear stresses simulated by the 3D model is nearly identical to those resulting from the linearized flow model. Topographic profiles across interior bends are essentially invariant over a wide range of migration rates, suggesting that the traditional formulation that cut bank erosion processes govern migration rates is appropriate for the Quinn River. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Case for Humboldtensis: A Subspecies Name for the Indigenous Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii) of the Humboldt River, Upper Quinn River, and Coyote Basin Drainages, Nevada and Oregon

In the early years of his research on the native trouts of western North America, Behnke (1960, 1966, 1979) observed consistent differences in certain meristic characters between the cutthroat trout of the Humboldt River drainage and those from the Truckee, Carson, and Walker river drainages of the Lahontan Basin, and proposed that the Humboldt trout be recognized as a distinct subspecies. He coined the subspecies name humboldtensis, but a formal description was never published. Here we again present the early evidence for subspecific distinction of the Humboldt drainage cutthroat trout, and add more recent findings from the fields of population genetics and Pleistocene and recent zoogeography that support this interpretation. Based on this evidence, we offer a formal description of the cutthroat subspecies Oncorhynchus clarkii humboldtensis and map its likely historical distribution. Available meristic and zoogeographic evidence indicates that the native trouts of the upper Quinn River, Nevada and Oregon and the Coyote Basin of Oregon should be included with humboldtensis as well.

Landscape topography and the distribution of Lahontan cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi) in a high desert stream

Lahontan cutthroat trout, Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi, are currently limited in their distribution to a patchwork of small isolated populations, the result of habitat degradation and natural variation in landscape and in-stream conditions. The objectives of this study were to determine if landscape topography influences trout distribution, and if water temperatures control this response. The work was carried out in a sub-basin of the Quinn River system, McDermitt Creek, which drains the sagebrush desert of southeastern Oregon and northern Nevada. Headwater tributaries of this creek consist of alternating canyon-confined and valley bounded reaches. Trout within these systems are challenged by low discharge and high temperatures during the summer, and anchor ice during the winter. Contiguous whole stream surveys were used to look at trout distribution during the summer of 2003 and spring and fall of 2004. Our results suggested that topography can affect trout distribution. Trout numbers were highest in areas with greater numbers of nick-points (the transition zones between less confined and more confined valley segments) and greater valley confinement. Additionally, in the downstream portion of our headwater reaches, more trout were found in nick-points than expected based on the availability of this habitat type. Our data suggest that hyporheic inputs may be high in such areas, thus providing trout with shelter from warm water in the summer, anchor ice in the winter, and shallow stream depths during all seasons. Spatial occurrence of these areas of refugia can be taken into consideration when planning land use activities and restoration efforts. Further research is required to confirm that topography can affect the distribution of Lahontan cutthroat trout in other systems, and to better understand the mechanisms behind these patterns.

A Permian-Triassic boundary section at Quinn River Crossing, northwestern Nevada, and implications for the cause of the Early Triassic chert gap on the western Pangean margin

The Upper Permian–Lower Triassic Quinn River Formation in northwestern Nevada was previously thought to represent an incomplete Permian–Triassic boundary sequence, owing to an inferred disconformable relationship between Permian radiolarian- and spicule-rich chert and overlying Triassic siltstone. Petrographic and geochemical studies demonstrate that the “siltstone” is in fact a radiolarian-bearing early authi-genic dolomicrite, with both the chert and dolomicrite deposited conformably in deep water. Chert production declined or ceased in the Late Permian and reappeared in the Spathian, forming a widespread “chert gap” in Permian–Triassic sequences. Given the conformable lithofacies relationships, deep-water depositional setting, new radiolarian data extending ranges of key taxa, and the presence of the global chert gap, sedimentation in the Quinn River Formation was apparently continuous across the Permian–Triassic boundary. This represents the first Permian–Triassic boundary section in the United States portion of the North American Cordillera, and one of the few deep-water sections worldwide. Organic carbon isotope stratigraphy of the Quinn River Formation displays multiple excursions through sediments of Wuchiapingian–Anisian age, with a negative excursion 1.54 m above the chert-shale transition likely representing the Permian–Triassic boundary. The multiple excursions in the organic carbon record verify studies of the carbonate carbon record in China that suggest instability in the isotopic record throughout the Early Triassic, and demonstrate that the Permian–Triassic boundary isotope excursion was not an isolated event. Stratigraphic variation in redox-sensitive trace metals indicates that seawater became less oxic slightly before the chert-shale transition, in turn impacting siliceous sponge communities and creating the widespread chert gap. The distinctive dolomicrites in the Quinn River Formation represent a widespread lithofacies deposited in many localities during the Late Permian–Early Triassic and express early authigenic formation of dolomite via microbial sulfate reduction in organic-rich, low-oxygen environments.

Radiolarian and conodont biozonation in the pelagic Guadalupian–Lopingian boundary interval at Dachongling, Guangxi, South China, and mid-upper Permian global correlation

High–resolution microbiostratigraphy has identified six conodont zones and five coeval radiolarian zones in the Guadalupian–Lopingian (G-L) transitional interval from a section of middle and upper Permian pelagic cherts at Dachongling, near Qinzhou city in Guangxi, South China. The basal Lopingian GSSP at Penglaitan, South China, is correlated with the base of bed Dch 45-21 at Dachongling on the basis of the first occurrence of the conodont Clarkina postbitteri postbitteri Mei and Wardlaw. The first appearances of the radiolarians Albaillella yamakitai Kuwahara and A. cavitata Kuwahara at the same level indicate that both FADs can be used for identifying theG–L boundary in radiolarian-bearing pelagic cherty facies. The appearance of both radiolarian species in the sections at Sasayama, Gujo-Hachima in Southwest Japan, and in the Quinn River Formation of north-central Nevada, indicates that both boundary-index fossils can be traced worldwide. We therefore suggest that Dachongling secion is a good candidate as an auxiliary reference section for the Guadalupian-Lopingian boundary.

Assessing the Conservation Value of Hybridized Cutthroat Trout Populations in the Quinn River Drainage, Nevada

Abstract The Lahontan cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi, an interior basin salmonid, is endemic to the hydrographic Lahontan Basin, which encompasses parts of northern Nevada, northeastern California, and southeastern Oregon. This subspecies is currently listed as threatened under the 1975 U.S. Endangered Species Act. Landscape- and population-level research suggests that this subspecies has survived in a desert environment by living in large, interconnected stream and/or stream-and-lake systems that support a metapopulation dynamic. Threats to the subspecies include habitat fragmentation as well as competition and hybridization with nonnative salmonids. Hybridization with the closely related rainbow trout O. mykiss compromises rangewide recovery efforts by increasing the risk of introgression and subsequent loss of pure populations in restored population networks. Here we use a suite of highly variable genetic markers (microsatellites, simple sequence repeats, and arbitrarily amplified regions...

Radiolarian Biostratigraphy of the Quinn River Formation, Black Rock Terrane, North-Central Nevada: Correlations with Eastern Klamath Terrane Geology

The Quinn River Formation, Black Rock terrane, Quinn River Crossing, is one of the few Nevadan sections of Permian and Triassic strata that are unaffected by Sonoman deformation. The formation consists of: (1) a basal tuff overlain by limestone and ferruginous dolomite, (2) interbedded radiolarian-bearing chert and argillite, (3) siltstone and carbonaceous shale, and (4) partly volcaniclastic rocks that include siltstone, shale, and minor sandstone and radiolarian-bearing argillite. Disconformities separate the dolomite from the radiolarian chert and the chert from the siltstone and shale. Abrupt lithologic and faunal changes indicate that the partly volcaniclastic unit is faulted. All but the uppermost (barren) chert samples contain Late Permian (Abadehian and Djulfian) radiolarian taxa belonging to Albaillella, Deflandrella, Ishigaum, Neoalbaillella, and Triplanospongos. These radiolarians suggest that early Wordian conodonts reported from near the top of the chert and argillite unit are reworked. Poorly preserved Early(?) or Middle Triassic radiolarians and Middle Triassic ammonites and pectenacid bivalves from the middle part of the volcaniclastic unit indicate that Early Triassic deposition cannot be documented at the Quinn River locality. Late Triassic (early to middle Carnian) radiolarians assignable to the Triassocampe nova Assemblage Zone of Yao occur about 21 meters below the top of the Quinn River section; diagnostic genera include Castrum, Corum, Poulpus, Pseudostylosphaera, Triassocampe, and Xipha. The ages of the Quinn River brachiopod, conodont, and radiolarian faunas resemble those of the Dekkas and Pit Formations, eastern Klamath terrane, northern California. The Early Triassic age for the lower part of the Pit Formation is questioned because the unit contains only unidentifiable primitive radiolarians and long-ranging (Late Permian and Early Triassic) neogondolellid conodonts. The analogous Quinn River and eastern Klamath rock types and faunal ages, as well as similar hiatuses in their stratigraphic records, suggest that they may be lateral equivalents that formed in the same island-arc sedimentary basin.

Biostratigraphy and structural setting of the Permian Coyote Butte Formation of central Oregon

Larger isolated outcrops of the limestones of the Coyote Butte Formation consistently contain younger over older faunas that range through most of the Leonardian Series of the Early Permian. The outcrops of the Coyote Butte Formation are interpreted as right-side up blocks probably introduced into the area as one massive exotic unit. The Coyote Butte Formation is very similar to the Lower Permian limestone near Quinn River Crossing, Nevada, and both are suggested to have a similar origin. The Coyote Butte Formation was probably introduced during a late-stage event to deforming Mesozoic oceanic sediments in Mesozoic time.

Permian and Triassic rocks near Quinn River Crossing, Humboldt County, Nevada

Permian and Triassic rocks near Quinn River Crossing, Humboldt County, Nevada, consist of four structural blocks: (1) a Lower Permian volcanic block; (2) a Permian(?) chert-arenite block; (3) a Lower Permian limestone block; and (4) a Permian and Triassic block. The contacts between the Permian volcanic block and the others are interpreted as thrust faults or glide surfaces. None of these rocks are metamorphosed, in contrast to those of the surrounding mountain ranges. Each of the blocks is lithically similar in some respects to rocks of the Osgood Mountains area 80 km to the southeast. The fusulinid and brachiopod faunas of two of the blocks display affinities to those of the McCloud Limestone of northern California and the Coyote Butte Limestone of central Oregon, and the fauna of another block has elements in common with autochthonous rocks of eastern Nevada and Utah. All four blocks probably are allochthonous with respect to the rocks exposed in the surrounding mountain ranges, but their points of origin remain obscure. The rocks at Quinn River Crossing provide a link among the Permian rocks of north-central Nevada, northern California, and central Oregon and a possible key to their original relations, but more comparative data are needed.