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Abstract: The Lesser Antilles have very high chemical weathering rates, with values that can reach 1290t/km2/a. The tropical environment induces high precipitation rates, high temperature, dense vegetation, with sharp relief and thick soils. Because of volcanic activity, frequent pyroclastic flows produce very erodible and porous materials. In addition, agriculture induces important land use changes which replace existing native forest cover with banana and sugar cane plantations. Their surface can cover as much as 40% of the total area of a river basin. The aim of this study is to identify key parameters, either natural or anthropogenic, that control chemical weathering rates. Among the combined impact of all parameters (climate, runoff, slopes, vegetation etc.), basin age seems to be the control parameter: the younger the basin, the higher the weathering rate. A correlation between the chemical weathering rate and the basin age suggests that young volcanic rocks are more easily weathered than old ones: young fresh material is easily mobilized by erosion, while for older rocks with thick soil covers, chemical rates are much lower. A combined effect between the higher erodibility and a higher climate erosivity of the younger relief could be observed. Moreover, a correlation between banana plantations and the chemical weathering rates that can be explained by an increase of infiltration, due to stem flow processes is shown here. Banana plantations also have a correlation with the basin age, older basins being more favorable terrains for cultivation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Guadeloupe, Martinique and Dominica islands, like numerous tropical environments, have extreme weathering regimes. Physical denudation is mainly controlled by landslides, which reflect the torrential dynamics of the rivers. In Guadeloupe, the mechanical weathering rates vary between 800 and 4000 t/km2/yr. The lithology is very porous with high infiltration rates, which suggests that most of the element fluxes are produced in the subsurface, with chemical erosion rates 2–5 times higher than the rates from surface water. We show how the kinetics of chemical weathering rates depend on the age of the lava and subsurface circulation. In addition, erosion timescales were calculated from U-series analyses of river sediments. Our results show a broad range: 0–150 ka in Martinique and 0–60 ka in Guadeloupe. We evaluated residence times in river water on the basis of the dissolved load analyses. It appears that water circulation is globally 3-fold longer for subsurface water than for surficial water (Rad et al. 2011a,b). Moreover, these islands are highly impacted by agriculture. However, contrary to what one might think, our results show that human activity does not disturb critical zone processes. Indeed, we show that among the combined impacts of all parameters (climate, runoff, slope, vegetation, etc.), the basin's age seems to be the control parameter for chemical weathering and land use—the younger the basin, the higher the weathering rates. We could observe a combined effect between the higher erodibility and a higher climate erosivity of the younger reliefs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]