Articles | Volume 10, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-473-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-473-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
02 Jun 2022
Research article |
| 02 Jun 2022
| 02 Jun 2022
Investigation of stochastic-threshold incision models across a climatic and morphological gradient
Aix-Marseille Univ., CNRS, IRD, INRAE, Coll France, CEREGE, 13100 Aix-en-Provence, France
Vincent Godard
Aix-Marseille Univ., CNRS, IRD, INRAE, Coll France, CEREGE, 13100 Aix-en-Provence, France
Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), Paris, France
Dimitri Lague
Univ. Rennes, CNRS, Géosciences Rennes, UMR 6118, 35000 Rennes, France
Guillaume Duclaux
Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, IRD, Géoazur, 250 rue Albert Einstein, Sophia Antipolis, 06560 Valbonne, France
Jules Fleury
Aix-Marseille Univ., CNRS, IRD, INRAE, Coll France, CEREGE, 13100 Aix-en-Provence, France
Lucilla Benedetti
Aix-Marseille Univ., CNRS, IRD, INRAE, Coll France, CEREGE, 13100 Aix-en-Provence, France
Olivier Bellier
Aix-Marseille Univ., CNRS, IRD, INRAE, Coll France, CEREGE, 13100 Aix-en-Provence, France
A full list of authors appears at the end of the paper.
Related authors
No articles found.
Oswald Malcles, Stéphane Mazzotti, Philippe Vernant, and Vincent Godard
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2154, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2154, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The Armorican region (NW France), is marked by several old coastal and marine markers that are today located several tens of meters above the sea level. This fact is commonly explained by sea-level variations and complex tectonic processes (e.g. mantle dynamic). In this study we test the role of the erosion and the associated flexural (lithospheric bending) response. We show that this simple model of flexural adjustment is to be taken into account to explain the regional evolution.
Carole Petit, Tristan Salles, Vincent Godard, Yann Rolland, and Laurence Audin
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 183–201, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-183-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-183-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We present new tools in the landscape evolution model Badlands to simulate 10Be production, erosion and transport. These tools are applied to a source-to-sink system in the SW French Alps, where the model is calibrated. We propose a model that fits river incision rates and 10Be concentrations in sediments, and we show that 10Be in deep marine sediments is a signal with multiple contributions that cannot be easily interpreted in terms of climate forcing.
Philippe Steer, Laure Guerit, Dimitri Lague, Alain Crave, and Aurélie Gourdon
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 1211–1232, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-1211-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-1211-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The morphology and size of sediments influence erosion efficiency, sediment transport and the quality of aquatic ecosystem. In turn, the spatial evolution of sediment size provides information on the past dynamics of erosion and sediment transport. We have developed a new software which semi-automatically identifies and measures sediments based on 3D point clouds. This software is fast and efficient, offering a new avenue to measure the geometrical properties of large numbers of sediment grains.
M. Letard, A. Collin, D. Lague, T. Corpetti, Y. Pastol, and A. Ekelund
Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., XLIII-B3-2022, 463–470, https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLIII-B3-2022-463-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLIII-B3-2022-463-2022, 2022
Irene Schimmelpfennig, Joerg M. Schaefer, Jennifer Lamp, Vincent Godard, Roseanne Schwartz, Edouard Bard, Thibaut Tuna, Naki Akçar, Christian Schlüchter, Susan Zimmerman, and ASTER Team
Clim. Past, 18, 23–44, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-23-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-23-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Small mountain glaciers advance and recede as a response to summer temperature changes. Dating of glacial landforms with cosmogenic nuclides allowed us to reconstruct the advance and retreat history of an Alpine glacier throughout the past ~ 11 000 years, the Holocene. The results contribute knowledge to the debate of Holocene climate evolution, indicating that during most of this warm period, summer temperatures were similar to or warmer than in modern times.
Ante Ivčević, Hubert Mazurek, Lionel Siame, Raquel Bertoldo, Vania Statzu, Kamal Agharroud, Isabel Estrela Rego, Nibedita Mukherjee, and Olivier Bellier
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 3749–3765, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-3749-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-3749-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The results from two Mediterranean case studies, in north Morocco and west Sardinia, confirm the importance of interdisciplinarity and risk awareness sessions for risk management. The policy literature and interviews held with the administration, associations and scientists indicate that although recognised, the importance of risk awareness sessions is not necessarily put into practice. As a consequence, this could lead to a failure of risk management policy.
Thomas G. Bernard, Dimitri Lague, and Philippe Steer
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 1013–1044, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1013-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1013-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Both landslide mapping and volume estimation accuracies are crucial to quantify landscape evolution and manage such a natural hazard. We developed a method to robustly detect landslides and measure their volume from repeat 3D point cloud lidar data. This method detects more landslides than classical 2D inventories and resolves known issues of indirect volume measurement. Our results also suggest that the number of small landslides classically detected from 2D imagery is underestimated.
Nabil Hocini, Olivier Payrastre, François Bourgin, Eric Gaume, Philippe Davy, Dimitri Lague, Lea Poinsignon, and Frederic Pons
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2979–2995, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2979-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2979-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Efficient flood mapping methods are needed for large-scale, comprehensive identification of flash flood inundation hazards caused by small upstream rivers. An evaluation of three automated mapping approaches of increasing complexity, i.e., a digital terrain model (DTM) filling and two 1D–2D hydrodynamic approaches, is presented based on three major flash floods in southeastern France. The results illustrate some limits of the DTM filling method and the value of using a 2D hydrodynamic approach.
Anthony Jourdon, Charlie Kergaravat, Guillaume Duclaux, and Caroline Huguen
Solid Earth, 12, 1211–1232, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-12-1211-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-12-1211-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The borders between oceans and continents, called margins, can be convergent, divergent, or horizontally sliding. The formation of oceans occurs in a divergent context. However, some divergent margin structures display an accommodation of horizontal sliding during the opening of oceans. To study and understand how the horizontal sliding part occurring during divergence influences the margin structure, we performed 3D high-resolution numerical models evolving during tens of millions of years.
Benjamin Campforts, Charles M. Shobe, Philippe Steer, Matthias Vanmaercke, Dimitri Lague, and Jean Braun
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 3863–3886, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-3863-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-3863-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Landslides shape the Earth’s surface and are a dominant source of terrestrial sediment. Rivers, then, act as conveyor belts evacuating landslide-produced sediment. Understanding the interaction among rivers and landslides is important to predict the Earth’s surface response to past and future environmental changes and for mitigating natural hazards. We develop HyLands, a new numerical model that provides a toolbox to explore how landslides and rivers interact over several timescales.
Vincent Godard, Jean-Claude Hippolyte, Edward Cushing, Nicolas Espurt, Jules Fleury, Olivier Bellier, Vincent Ollivier, and the ASTER Team
Earth Surf. Dynam., 8, 221–243, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-221-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-221-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Slow-slipping faults are often difficult to identify in landscapes. Here we analyzed high-resolution topographic data from the Valensole area at the front of the southwestern French Alps. We measured various properties of hillslopes such as their relief and the shape of hilltops. We observed systematic spatial variations of hillslope morphology indicative of relative changes in erosion rates. These variations are potentially related to slow tectonic deformation across the studied area.
Timothée Sassolas-Serrayet, Rodolphe Cattin, Matthieu Ferry, Vincent Godard, and Martine Simoes
Earth Surf. Dynam., 7, 1041–1057, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-1041-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-1041-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The topographic steady-state assumption is often used in geomorphology. However, recent studies suggest that a drainage network is more mobile than previously thought. Using landscape evolution models, we show that those migrations have a significant impact on basin-wide denudation rates even if an overall topographic steady state is achieved at large scale. Our approach provides new tools to derive minimal uncertainties in basin-scale denudation rates due to this topographic disequilibrium.
Philippe Steer, Thomas Croissant, Edwin Baynes, and Dimitri Lague
Earth Surf. Dynam., 7, 681–706, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-681-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-681-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
We use a statistical earthquake generator to investigate the influence of fault activity on river profile development and on the formation of co-seismic knickpoints. We find that the magnitude distribution of knickpoints resulting from a purely seismic fault is homogeneous. Shallow aseismic slip favours knickpoints generated by large-magnitude earthquakes nucleating at depth. Accounting for fault burial by alluvial cover can modulate the topographic expression of earthquakes and fault activity.
Related subject area
Physical: Landscape Evolution: modelling and field studies
Scaling between volume and runout of rock avalanches explained by a modified Voellmy rheology
Past anthropogenic land use change caused a regime shift of the fluvial response to Holocene climate change in the Chinese Loess Plateau
Steady-state forms of channel profiles shaped by debris flow and fluvial processes
Refining patterns of melt with forward stratigraphic models of stable Pleistocene coastlines
Optimising global landscape evolution models with 10Be
Self-organization of channels and hillslopes in models of fluvial landform evolution and its potential for solving scaling issues
Stream laws in analog tectonic-landscape models
A control volume finite-element model for predicting the morphology of cohesive-frictional debris flow deposits
Erosion and weathering in carbonate regions reveal climatic and tectonic drivers of carbonate landscape evolution
Patterns and rates of soil movement and shallow failures across several small watersheds on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska
River incision, 10Be production and transport in a source-to-sink sediment system (Var catchment, SW Alps)
The flexural isostatic response of climatically driven sea-level changes on continental-scale deltas
Simulating the effect of subsurface drainage on the thermal regime and ground ice in blocky terrain in Norway
An experimental study of drainage network development by surface and subsurface flow in low-gradient landscapes
The push and pull of abandoned channels: how floodplain processes and healing affect avulsion dynamics and alluvial landscape evolution in foreland basins
Climate changes and the formation of fluvial terraces in central Amazonia inferred from landscape evolution modeling
Comparing the transport-limited and ξ–q models for sediment transport
Autogenic knickpoints in laboratory landscape experiments
Transmissivity and groundwater flow exert a strong influence on drainage density
Graphically interpreting how incision thresholds influence topographic and scaling properties of modeled landscapes
Escarpment retreat rates derived from detrital cosmogenic nuclide concentrations
Hilltop curvature as a proxy for erosion rate: wavelets enable rapid computation and reveal systematic underestimation
Short communication: Analytical models for 2D landscape evolution
Effect of rock uplift and Milankovitch timescale variations in precipitation and vegetation cover on catchment erosion rates
Modeling glacial and fluvial landform evolution at large scales using a stream-power approach
Topographic disequilibrium, landscape dynamics and active tectonics: an example from the Bhutan Himalaya
Last-glacial-cycle glacier erosion potential in the Alps
The rate and extent of wind-gap migration regulated by tributary confluences and avulsions
Inferring potential landslide damming using slope stability, geomorphic constraints, and run-out analysis: a case study from the NW Himalaya
Groundwater erosion of coastal gullies along the Canterbury coast (New Zealand): a rapid and episodic process controlled by rainfall intensity and substrate variability
Erosional response of granular material in landscape models
Transport-limited fluvial erosion – simple formulation and efficient numerical treatment
Dimensional analysis of a landscape evolution model with incision threshold
Computing water flow through complex landscapes – Part 2: Finding hierarchies in depressions and morphological segmentations
Rivers as linear elements in landform evolution models
Interactions between main channels and tributary alluvial fans: channel adjustments and sediment-signal propagation
Drainage divide networks – Part 1: Identification and ordering in digital elevation models
Drainage divide networks – Part 2: Response to perturbations
Hillslope denudation and morphologic response to a rock uplift gradient
Geomorphic signatures of the transient fluvial response to tilting
The destiny of orogen-parallel streams in the Eastern Alps: the Salzach–Enns drainage system
Statistical modelling of co-seismic knickpoint formation and river response to fault slip
A versatile, linear complexity algorithm for flow routing in topographies with depressions
Can the growth of deltaic shorelines be unstable?
Development of proglacial lakes and evaluation of related outburst susceptibility at the Adygine ice-debris complex, northern Tien Shan
Reconstruction of four-dimensional rockfall trajectories using remote sensing and rock-based accelerometers and gyroscopes
Short communication: flow as distributed lines within the landscape
Morphological effects of vegetation on the tidal–fluvial transition in Holocene estuaries
Scaling and similarity of a stream-power incision and linear diffusion landscape evolution model
A lattice grain model of hillslope evolution
Stefan Hergarten
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 219–229, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-219-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-219-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Large landslides turn into an avalanche-like mode of flow at high velocities, which allows for a much longer runout than predicted for a sliding solid body. In this study, the Voellmy rheology widely used in models for hazard assessment is reinterpreted and extended. The new approach predicts the increase in runout length with volume observed in nature quite well and may thus be a major step towards a more consistent modeling of rock avalanches and improved hazard assessment.
Hao Chen, Xianyan Wang, Yanyan Yu, Huayu Lu, and Ronald Van Balen
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 163–180, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-163-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-163-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The Wei River catchment, one of the centers of the agricultural revolution in China, has experienced intense land use changes since 6000 BCE. This makes it an ideal place to study the response of river systems to anthropogenic land use change. Modeling results show the sensitivity of discharge and sediment yield to climate change increased abruptly when the agricultural land area exceeded a threshold at around 1000 BCE. This regime shift in the fluvial catchment led to a large sediment pulse.
Luke A. McGuire, Scott W. McCoy, Odin Marc, William Struble, and Katherine R. Barnhart
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 1117–1143, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-1117-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-1117-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Debris flows are mixtures of mud and rocks that can travel at high speeds across steep landscapes. Here, we propose a new model to describe how landscapes are shaped by debris flow erosion over long timescales. Model results demonstrate that the shapes of channel profiles are sensitive to uplift rate, meaning that it may be possible to use topographic data from steep channel networks to infer how erosion rates vary across a landscape.
Patrick Boyden, Paolo Stocchi, and Alessio Rovere
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 917–931, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-917-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-917-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Preservation bias often hampers the extraction of sea level changes from the stratigraphic record. In this contribution, we use a forward stratigraphic model to build three synthetic subtropical fringing reefs for a site in southwestern Madagascar (Indian Ocean). Each of the three synthetic reefs represents a different ice sheet melt scenario for the Pleistocene. We then evaluate each resultant reef sequence against the observed stratigraphic record.
Gregory A. Ruetenik, John D. Jansen, Pedro Val, and Lotta Ylä-Mella
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 865–880, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-865-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-865-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We compare models of erosion against a global compilation of long-term erosion rates in order to find and interpret best-fit parameters using an iterative search. We find global signals among exponents which control the relationship between erosion rate and slope, as well as other parameters which are common in long-term erosion modelling. Finally, we analyse the global variability in parameters and find a correlation between precipitation and coefficients for optimised models.
Stefan Hergarten and Alexa Pietrek
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 741–755, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-741-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-741-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The transition from hillslopes to channelized flow is typically attributed to a threshold catchment size in landform evolution models. Here we propose an alternative concept directly based on topography. Using this concept, channels and hillslopes self-organize, whereby the catchment size of the channel heads varies over some range. Our numerical results suggest that this concept works better than the established idea of a strict threshold catchment size.
Riccardo Reitano, Romano Clementucci, Ethan M. Conrad, Fabio Corbi, Riccardo Lanari, Claudio Faccenna, and Chiara Bazzucchi
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 731–740, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-731-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-731-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Tectonics and surface processes work together in shaping orogens through their evolution. Laboratory models are used to overcome some limitations of direct observations since they allow for continuous and detailed analysis of analog orogens. We use a rectangular box filled with an analog material made of granular materials to study how erosional laws apply and how erosion affects the analog landscape as a function of the applied boundary conditions (regional slope and rainfall rate).
Tzu-Yin Kasha Chen, Ying-Chen Wu, Chi-Yao Hung, Hervé Capart, and Vaughan R. Voller
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 325–342, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-325-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-325-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Predicting the extent and thickness of debris flow deposits is important for assessing and mitigating hazards. We propose a simplified mass balance model for predicting the morphology of terminated debris flows depositing over complex topography. A key element in this model is that the termination of flow of the deposit is determined by prescribed values of yield stress and friction angle. The model results are consistent with available analytical solutions and field and laboratory observations.
Richard Ott, Sean F. Gallen, and David Helman
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 247–257, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-247-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-247-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We compile data on carbonate denudation, the sum of mechanical erosion and chemical weathering, from cosmogenic nuclides and use them in conjunction with weathering data to constrain the partitioning of denudation into erosion and weathering. We show how carbonate erosion and weathering respond to different climatic and tectonic conditions and find that variations in denudation partitioning can be used to explain the vastly different morphology of carbonate landscapes on Earth.
Joanmarie Del Vecchio, Emma R. Lathrop, Julian B. Dann, Christian G. Andresen, Adam D. Collins, Michael M. Fratkin, Simon Zwieback, Rachel C. Glade, and Joel C. Rowland
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 227–245, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-227-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-227-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In cold regions of the Earth, thawing permafrost can change the landscape, impact ecosystems, and lead to the release of greenhouse gases. In this study we used many observational tools to better understand how sediment moves on permafrost hillslopes. Some topographic change conforms to our understanding of slope stability and sediment transport as developed in temperate landscapes, but much of what we observed needs further explanation by permafrost-specific geomorphic models.
Carole Petit, Tristan Salles, Vincent Godard, Yann Rolland, and Laurence Audin
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 183–201, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-183-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-183-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We present new tools in the landscape evolution model Badlands to simulate 10Be production, erosion and transport. These tools are applied to a source-to-sink system in the SW French Alps, where the model is calibrated. We propose a model that fits river incision rates and 10Be concentrations in sediments, and we show that 10Be in deep marine sediments is a signal with multiple contributions that cannot be easily interpreted in terms of climate forcing.
Sara Polanco, Mike Blum, Tristan Salles, Bruce C. Frederick, Rebecca Farrington, Xuesong Ding, Ben Mather, Claire Mallard, and Louis Moresi
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-53, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-53, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Two-thirds of the world's most populated cities are situated close to deltas. We use computer simulations to understand how deltas sink or rise in response to climate-driven sea-level changes that operate from thousands to millions of years. Our research shows that because of the interaction between the outer layers of the Earth, sediment transport and sea-level changes deltas develop a self-regulated mechanism that modifies the space they need to gain or lose land.
Cas Renette, Kristoffer Aalstad, Juditha Aga, Robin Benjamin Zweigel, Bernd Etzelmüller, Karianne Staalesen Lilleøren, Ketil Isaksen, and Sebastian Westermann
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 33–50, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-33-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-33-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
One of the reasons for lower ground temperatures in coarse, blocky terrain is a low or varying soil moisture content, which most permafrost modelling studies did not take into account. We used the CryoGrid community model to successfully simulate this effect and found markedly lower temperatures in well-drained, blocky deposits compared to other set-ups. The inclusion of this drainage effect is another step towards a better model representation of blocky mountain terrain in permafrost regions.
Brian G. Sockness and Karen B. Gran
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 581–603, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-581-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-581-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
To study channel network development following continental glaciation, we ran small physical experiments where networks slowly expanded into flat surfaces. By changing substrate and rainfall, we altered flow pathways between surface and subsurface. Initially, most channels grew by overland flow. As relief increased, erosion through groundwater sapping occurred, especially in runs with high infiltration and low cohesion, highlighting the importance of groundwater in channel network evolution.
Harrison K. Martin and Douglas A. Edmonds
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 555–579, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-555-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-555-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
River avulsions (rivers suddenly changing course) redirect water and sediment. These floods can harm people and control how some landscapes evolve. We model how abandoned channels from older avulsions affect where, when, and why future avulsions occur in mountain-front areas. We show that abandoned channels can push and pull avulsions, and the way they heal controls landscapes. Avulsion models should include abandoned channels; we also highlight opportunities for future field workers.
Ariel Henrique do Prado, Renato Paes de Almeida, Cristiano Padalino Galeazzi, Victor Sacek, and Fritz Schlunegger
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 457–471, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-457-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-457-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Our work is focused on describing how and why the terrace levels of central Amazonia were formed during the last 100 000 years. We propose to address this question through a landscape evolution numerical model. Our results show that terrace levels at lower elevation were established in response to dry–wet climate changes and the older terrace levels at higher elevations most likely formed in response to a previously higher elevation of the regional base level.
Jean Braun
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 301–327, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-301-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-301-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
By comparing two models for the transport of sediment, we find that they share a similar steady-state solution that adequately predicts the shape of most depositional systems made of a fan and an alluvial plain. The length of the fan is controlled by the size of the mountain drainage area feeding the sedimentary system and its slope by the incoming sedimentary flux. We show that the models differ in their transient behavior to external forcing and are characterized by different response times.
Léopold de Lavaissière, Stéphane Bonnet, Anne Guyez, and Philippe Davy
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 229–246, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-229-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-229-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Rivers are known to record changes in tectonic or climatic variation through long adjustment of their longitudinal profile slope. Here we describe such adjustments in experimental landscapes and show that they may result from the sole effect of intrinsic geomorphic processes. We propose a new model of river evolution that links long profile adjustment to cycles of river widening and narrowing. This result emphasizes the need to better understand control of lateral erosion on river width.
Elco Luijendijk
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 1–22, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-1-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-1-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The distance between rivers is a noticeable feature of the Earth's surface. Previous work has indicated that subsurface groundwater flow may be important for drainage density. Here, I present a new model that combines subsurface and surface water flow and erosion, and demonstrates that groundwater exerts an important control on drainage density. Streams that incise rapidly can capture the groundwater discharge of adjacent streams, which may cause these streams to become dry and stop incising.
Nikos Theodoratos and James W. Kirchner
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 1545–1561, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1545-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1545-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We examine stream-power incision and linear diffusion landscape evolution models with and without incision thresholds. We present a steady-state relationship between curvature and the steepness index, which plots as a straight line. We view this line as a counterpart to the slope–area relationship for the case of landscapes with hillslope diffusion. We show that simple shifts and rotations of this line graphically express the topographic response of landscapes to changes in model parameters.
Yanyan Wang and Sean D. Willett
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 1301–1322, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1301-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1301-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Although great escarpment mountain ranges are characterized by high relief, modern erosion rates suggest slow rates of landscape change. We question this interpretation by presenting a new method for interpreting concentrations of cosmogenic isotopes. Our analysis shows that erosion has localized onto an escarpment face, driving retreat of the escarpment at high rates. Our quantification of this retreat rate rationalizes the high-relief, dramatic landscape with the rates of geomorphic change.
William T. Struble and Joshua J. Roering
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 1279–1300, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1279-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1279-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We used a mathematical technique known as a wavelet transform to calculate the curvature of hilltops in western Oregon, which we used to estimate erosion rate. We find that this technique operates over 1000 times faster than other techniques and produces accurate erosion rates. We additionally built artificial hillslopes to test the accuracy of curvature measurement methods. We find that at fast erosion rates, curvature is underestimated, raising questions of measurement accuracy elsewhere.
Philippe Steer
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 1239–1250, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1239-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1239-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
How landscapes respond to tectonic and climatic changes is a major issue in Earth sciences. I have developed a new model that solves for landscape evolution in two dimensions using analytical solutions. Compared to numerical models, this new model is quicker and more accurate. It can compute in a single time step the topography at equilibrium of a landscape or be used to describe its evolution through time, e.g. during changes in tectonic or climatic conditions.
Hemanti Sharma, Todd A. Ehlers, Christoph Glotzbach, Manuel Schmid, and Katja Tielbörger
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 1045–1072, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1045-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1045-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We study effects of variable climate–vegetation with different uplift rates on erosion–sedimentation using a landscape evolution modeling approach. Results suggest that regardless of uplift rates, transients in precipitation–vegetation lead to transients in erosion rates in the same direction of change. Vegetation-dependent erosion and sedimentation are influenced by Milankovitch timescale changes in climate, but these transients are superimposed upon tectonically driven uplift rates.
Stefan Hergarten
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 937–952, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-937-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-937-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents a new approach to modeling glacial erosion on large scales. The formalism is similar to large-scale models of fluvial erosion, so glacial and fluvial processes can be easily combined. The model is simpler and numerically less demanding than established models based on a more detailed description of the ice flux. The numerical implementation almost achieves the efficiency of purely fluvial models, so that simulations over millions of years can be performed on standard PCs.
Martine Simoes, Timothée Sassolas-Serrayet, Rodolphe Cattin, Romain Le Roux-Mallouf, Matthieu Ferry, and Dowchu Drukpa
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 895–921, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-895-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-895-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Elevated low-relief regions and major river knickpoints have for long been noticed and questioned in the emblematic Bhutan Himalaya. We document the morphology of this region using morphometric analyses and field observations, at a variety of spatial scales. Our findings reveal a highly unstable river network, with numerous non-coeval river captures, most probably related to a dynamic response to local tectonic uplift in the mountain hinterland.
Julien Seguinot and Ian Delaney
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 923–935, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-923-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-923-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Ancient Alpine glaciers have carved a fascinating landscape of piedmont lakes, glacial valleys, and mountain cirques. Using a previous supercomputer simulation of glacier flow, we show that glacier erosion has constantly evolved and moved to different parts of the Alps. Interestingly, larger glaciers do not always cause more rapid erosion. Instead, glacier erosion is modelled to slow down during glacier advance and peak during phases of retreat, such as the one the Earth is currently undergoing.
Eitan Shelef and Liran Goren
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 687–700, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-687-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-687-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Drainage basins are bounded by water divides (divides) that define their shape and extent. Divides commonly coincide with high ridges, but in places that experienced extensive tectonic deformation, divides sometimes cross elongated valleys. Inspired by field observations and using simulations of landscape evolution, we study how side channels that drain to elongated valleys induce pulses of divide migration, affecting the distribution of water and erosion products across mountain ranges.
Vipin Kumar, Imlirenla Jamir, Vikram Gupta, and Rajinder K. Bhasin
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 351–377, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-351-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-351-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Despite a history of landslide damming and flash floods in the NW Himalaya, only a few studies have been performed. This study predicts some potential landslide damming sites in the Satluj valley, NW Himalaya, using field observations, laboratory analyses, geomorphic proxies, and numerical simulations. Five landslides, comprising a total landslide volume of 26.3 ± 6.7 M m3, are found to have the potential to block the river in the case of slope failure.
Aaron Micallef, Remus Marchis, Nader Saadatkhah, Potpreecha Pondthai, Mark E. Everett, Anca Avram, Alida Timar-Gabor, Denis Cohen, Rachel Preca Trapani, Bradley A. Weymer, and Phillipe Wernette
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 1–18, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We study coastal gullies along the Canterbury coast of New Zealand using field observations, sample analyses, drones, satellites, geophysical instruments and modelling. We show that these coastal gullies form when rainfall intensity is higher than 40 mm per day. The coastal gullies are formed by landslides where buried channels or sand lenses are located. This information allows us to predict where coastal gullies may form in the future.
Riccardo Reitano, Claudio Faccenna, Francesca Funiciello, Fabio Corbi, and Sean D. Willett
Earth Surf. Dynam., 8, 973–993, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-973-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-973-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Looking into processes that occur on different timescales that span over thousands or millions of years is difficult to achieve. This is the case when we try to understand the interaction between tectonics and surface processes. Analog modeling is an investigating technique that can overcome this limitation. We study the erosional response of an analog landscape by varying the concentration of components of analog materials that strongly affect the evolution of experimental landscapes.
Stefan Hergarten
Earth Surf. Dynam., 8, 841–854, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-841-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-841-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Many contemporary models of large-scale fluvial erosion focus on the detachment-limited regime where all material entrained by the river is immediately excavated. This limitation facilitates the comparison with real river profiles and strongly reduces the numerical complexity. Here a simple formulation for the opposite case, transport-limited erosion, and a new numerical scheme that achieves almost the same numerical efficiency as detachment-limited models are presented.
Nikos Theodoratos and James W. Kirchner
Earth Surf. Dynam., 8, 505–526, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-505-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-505-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We non-dimensionalized a commonly used model of landscape evolution that includes an incision threshold. Whereas the original model included four parameters, we obtained a dimensionless form with a single parameter, which quantifies the relative importance of the incision threshold. Working with this form saves computational time and simplifies theoretical analyses.
Richard Barnes, Kerry L. Callaghan, and Andrew D. Wickert
Earth Surf. Dynam., 8, 431–445, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-431-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-431-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Maps of elevation are used to help predict the flow of water so we can better understand landslides, floods, and global climate change. However, modeling the flow of water is difficult when elevation maps include swamps, lakes, and other depressions. This paper explains a new method that overcomes these difficulties, allowing models to run faster and more accurately.
Stefan Hergarten
Earth Surf. Dynam., 8, 367–377, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-367-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-367-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Models of fluvial erosion have a long history in landform evolution modeling. Interactions between rivers and processes acting at hillslopes (e.g., landslides) are receiving growing interest in this context. While present-day computer capacities allow for applying such coupled models, there is still a scaling problem when considering rivers to be linear elements on a topography. Based on a reinterpretation of old empirical results, this study presents a new approach to overcome this problem.
Sara Savi, Stefanie Tofelde, Andrew D. Wickert, Aaron Bufe, Taylor F. Schildgen, and Manfred R. Strecker
Earth Surf. Dynam., 8, 303–322, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-303-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-303-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Fluvial deposits record changes in water and sediment supply. As such, they are often used to reconstruct the tectonic or climatic history of a basin. In this study we used an experimental setting to analyze how fluvial deposits register changes in water or sediment supply at a confluence zone. We provide a new conceptual framework that may help understanding the construction of these deposits under different forcings conditions, information crucial to correctly inferring the history of a basin.
Dirk Scherler and Wolfgang Schwanghart
Earth Surf. Dynam., 8, 245–259, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-245-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-245-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Drainage divides are believed to provide clues about divide migration and the instability of landscapes. Here, we present a novel approach to extract drainage divides from digital elevation models and to order them in a drainage divide network. We present our approach by studying natural and artificial landscapes generated with a landscape evolution model and disturbed to induce divide migration.
Dirk Scherler and Wolfgang Schwanghart
Earth Surf. Dynam., 8, 261–274, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-261-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-261-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Drainage divides are believed to provide clues about divide migration and the instability of landscapes. Here, we present a novel approach to extract drainage divides from digital elevation models and to order them in a drainage divide network. We present our approach by studying natural and artificial landscapes generated with a landscape evolution model and disturbed to induce divide migration.
Vincent Godard, Jean-Claude Hippolyte, Edward Cushing, Nicolas Espurt, Jules Fleury, Olivier Bellier, Vincent Ollivier, and the ASTER Team
Earth Surf. Dynam., 8, 221–243, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-221-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-221-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Slow-slipping faults are often difficult to identify in landscapes. Here we analyzed high-resolution topographic data from the Valensole area at the front of the southwestern French Alps. We measured various properties of hillslopes such as their relief and the shape of hilltops. We observed systematic spatial variations of hillslope morphology indicative of relative changes in erosion rates. These variations are potentially related to slow tectonic deformation across the studied area.
Helen W. Beeson and Scott W. McCoy
Earth Surf. Dynam., 8, 123–159, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-123-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-123-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We used a computer model to show that, when a landscape is tilted, rivers respond in a distinct way such that river profiles take on unique forms that record tilt timing and magnitude. Using this suite of river forms, we estimated tilt timing and magnitude in the Sierra Nevada, USA, and results were consistent with independent measures. Our work broadens the scope of tectonic histories that can be extracted from landscape form to include tilting, which has been documented in diverse locations.
Georg Trost, Jörg Robl, Stefan Hergarten, and Franz Neubauer
Earth Surf. Dynam., 8, 69–85, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-69-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-69-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The evolution of the drainage system in the Eastern Alps is inherently linked to different tectonic stages. This leads to a situation in which major orogen-parallel alpine rivers, such as the Salzach and the Enns, are characterized by elongated east–west-oriented catchments. We investigate the stability of present-day drainage divides and the stability of reconstructed paleo-drainage systems. Our results indicate a progressive stability of the network towards the present-day situation.
Philippe Steer, Thomas Croissant, Edwin Baynes, and Dimitri Lague
Earth Surf. Dynam., 7, 681–706, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-681-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-681-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
We use a statistical earthquake generator to investigate the influence of fault activity on river profile development and on the formation of co-seismic knickpoints. We find that the magnitude distribution of knickpoints resulting from a purely seismic fault is homogeneous. Shallow aseismic slip favours knickpoints generated by large-magnitude earthquakes nucleating at depth. Accounting for fault burial by alluvial cover can modulate the topographic expression of earthquakes and fault activity.
Guillaume Cordonnier, Benoît Bovy, and Jean Braun
Earth Surf. Dynam., 7, 549–562, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-549-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-549-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
We propose a new algorithm to solve the problem of flow routing across local depressions in the topography, one of the main computational bottlenecks in landscape evolution models. Our solution is more efficient than the state-of-the-art algorithms, with an optimal linear asymptotic complexity. The algorithm has been designed specifically to be used within landscape evolution models, and also suits more generally the efficient treatment of large digital elevation models.
Meng Zhao, Gerard Salter, Vaughan R. Voller, and Shuwang Li
Earth Surf. Dynam., 7, 505–513, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-505-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-505-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Typically, we think of a shoreline growing with a smooth line separating the land and the water. If the growth is unstable, however, the land–water front will exhibit a roughness that grows with time. Here we ask whether the growth of deltaic shorelines cab be unstable. Through mathematical analysis we show that growth is unstable when the shoreline is building onto an adverse slope. The length scale of the unstable signal in such a case, however, might be obscured by other geomorphic processes.
Kristyna Falatkova, Miroslav Šobr, Anton Neureiter, Wolfgang Schöner, Bohumír Janský, Hermann Häusler, Zbyněk Engel, and Vojtěch Beneš
Earth Surf. Dynam., 7, 301–320, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-301-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-301-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
In the last 50 years the Adygine glacier has been subject to relatively fast recession comparable to other glaciers in Tien Shan. As a consequence, a three-level cascade of glacial lakes formed, two of which were categorised as having medium outburst susceptibility. By 2050, the glacier is expected to have shrunk to 56–73 % of its 2012 extent. Further development of the site will result in formation of new lakes and probably also increase of outburst susceptibility due to permafrost degradation.
Andrin Caviezel, Sophia E. Demmel, Adrian Ringenbach, Yves Bühler, Guang Lu, Marc Christen, Claire E. Dinneen, Lucie A. Eberhard, Daniel von Rickenbach, and Perry Bartelt
Earth Surf. Dynam., 7, 199–210, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-199-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-199-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
In rockfall hazard assessment, knowledge about the precise flight path of assumed boulders is vital for its accuracy. We present the full reconstruction of artificially induced rockfall events. The extracted information such as exact velocities, jump heights and lengths provide detailed insights into how rotating rocks interact with the ground. The information serves as future calibration of rockfall modelling tools with the goal of even more realistic modelling predictions.
John J. Armitage
Earth Surf. Dynam., 7, 67–75, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-67-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-67-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Landscape evolution models (LEMs) aim to capture an aggregation of the processes of erosion and deposition and predict evolving topography. A key aspect of any LEM is how water is chosen to be routed down the surface, which can impact the model results and, importantly, the numerical accuracy. I find that by treating flow as lines within the model domain and by distributing water down all slopes, the results are independent of resolution, pointing to a new method to model landscape evolution.
Ivar R. Lokhorst, Lisanne Braat, Jasper R. F. W. Leuven, Anne W. Baar, Mijke van Oorschot, Sanja Selaković, and Maarten G. Kleinhans
Earth Surf. Dynam., 6, 883–901, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-6-883-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-6-883-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
In estuaries, mud sedimentation enhances salt marsh accretion. Here we explore system-scale effects of plants and mud on planform shape and size of estuaries. We coupled Delft3D for hydromorphodynamics with our vegetation model and ran controls for comparison. Effects are greatest at the fluvial–tidal transition, where for the first time in a model, a bedload convergence zone formed. Regardless of local vegetation effects, mud and vegetation cause gradual filling of estuaries over time.
Nikos Theodoratos, Hansjörg Seybold, and James W. Kirchner
Earth Surf. Dynam., 6, 779–808, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-6-779-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-6-779-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We perform dimensional analysis on a frequently used landscape evolution model (LEM). Defining characteristic scales in a novel way, we significantly simplify the LEM and develop an efficient numerical modeling approach. Our characteristic scales are physically meaningful; they quantify competitions between landscape-forming processes and are related to salient properties of landscape topography. Dimensional analyses of other LEMs may benefit from our approach in defining characteristic scales.
Gregory E. Tucker, Scott W. McCoy, and Daniel E. J. Hobley
Earth Surf. Dynam., 6, 563–582, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-6-563-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-6-563-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This article presents a new technique for computer simulation of slope forms. The method provides a way to study how events that disturb soil or turn rock into soil add up over time to produce landforms. The model represents a cross section of a hypothetical landform as a lattice of cells, each of which may represent air, soil, or rock. Despite its simplicity, the model does a good job of simulating a range of common of natural slope forms.
Cited articles
Adams, B. A., Whipple, K. X., Forte, A. M., Heimsath, A. M., and Hodges, K. V.: Climate controls on erosion in tectonically active landscapes, Sci. Adv., 6, 758, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaz3166, 2020. a, b, c
Attal, M., Mudd, S. M., Hurst, M. D., Weinman, B., Yoo, K., and Naylor, M.: Impact of change in erosion rate and landscape steepness on hillslope and fluvial sediments grain size in the Feather River basin (Sierra Nevada, California), Earth Surf. Dynam., 3, 201–222, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-3-201-2015, 2015. a, b
Balco, G., Stone, J. O., Lifton, N. A., and Dunai, T. J.: A complete and easily accessible means of calculating surface exposure ages or erosion rates from 10Be and 26Al measurements, Quatern. Geochronol., 3, 174–195, ISBN 1871-1014, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2007.12.001, 2008.
a
Campforts, B., Vanacker, V., Herman, F., Vanmaercke, M., Schwanghart, W., Tenorio, G. E., Willems, P., and Govers, G.: Parameterization of river incision models requires accounting for environmental heterogeneity: insights from the tropical Andes, Earth Surf. Dynam., 8, 447–470, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-447-2020, 2020. a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m
Carretier, S., Regard, V., Vassallo, R., Aguilar, G., Martinod, J., Riquelme,
R., Pepin, E., Charrier, R., Herail, G., Farias, M., Guyot, J.-L., Vargas,
G., and Lagane, C.: Slope and climate variability control of erosion in the
Andes of central Chile, Geology, 41, 195–198, https://doi.org/10.1130/G33735.1, 2013. a, b
Clauset, A., Shalizi, C. R., and Newman, M. E. J.: Power-law distributions in
empirical data, SIAM Review, 51, 43, https://doi.org/10.1109/ICPC.2008.18, 2007. a, b
Clubb, F. J., Mudd, S. M., Hurst, M. D., and Grieve, S. W.: Differences in
channel and hillslope geometry record a migrating uplift wave at the Mendocino triple junction, California, USA, Geology, 48, 184–188,
https://doi.org/10.1130/G46939.1, 2020. a
Cyr, A. J., Granger, D. E., Olivetti, V., and Molin, P.: Quantifying rock
uplift rates using channel steepness and cosmogenic nuclide-determined
erosion rates: Examples from northern and southern Italy, Lithosphere, 2,
188–198, https://doi.org/10.1130/L96.1, 2010. a
Deal, E., Botter, G., and Braun, J.: Understanding the role of rainfall and
hydrology in determining fluvial erosion efficiency, J. Geophys.
Res.-Earth, 123, 744–778, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JF004393, 2018. a
Dezileau, L., Terrier, B., Berger, J. F., Blanchemanche, P., Latapie, A.,
Freydier, R., Bremond, L., Paquier, A., Lang, M., and Delgado, J. L.: A
multidating approach applied to historical slackwater flood deposits of the
Gardon River, SE France, Geomorphology, 214, 56–68,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2014.03.017, 2014. a
DiBiase, R. A., Whipple, K. X., Heimsath, A. M., and Ouimet, W. B.: Landscape
form and millennial erosion rates in the San Gabriel Mountains, CA, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 289, 134–144, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2009.10.036, 2010. a
DiBiase, R. A., Rossi, M. W., and Neely, A. B.: Fracture density and grain size controls on the relief structure of bedrock landscapes, Geology, 46, 1–14, https://doi.org/10.1130/G40006.1, 2018. a
Dietrich, W. E., Bellugi, D. G., Sklar, L. S., Stock, J. D., Heimsath, A. M.,
and Roering, J. J.: Geomorphic transport laws for predicting landscape form
and dynamics, in: Prediction in Geomorphology, vol. 135, Geophysical Monograph Series, edited by: Wilcock, P. R. and Iverson, R. M., American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, 103–132, https://doi.org/10.1029/GM135, 2003. a
Ferrier, K. L., Huppert, K. L., and Perron, J. T.: Climatic control of bedrock river incision, Nature, 496, 206–209, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11982, 2013a. a, b, c
Ferrier, K. L., Taylor Perron, J., Mukhopadhyay, S., Rosener, M., Stock, J. D., Huppert, K. L., and Slosberg, M.: Covariation of climate and long-term
erosion rates across a steep rainfall gradient on the Hawaiian island of
Kaua'i, Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., 125, 1146–1163, https://doi.org/10.1130/B30726.1, 2013b. a, b
Finlayson, D. P., Montgomery, D. R., and Hallet, B.: Spatial coincidence of
rapid inferred erosion with young metamorphic massifs in the Himalayas,
Geology, 30, 219–222, https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0219:SCORIE>2.0.CO;2, 2002. a
Finnegan, N. J., Hallet, B., Montgomery, D. R., Zeitler, P. K., Stone, J. O.,
Anders, A. M., and Yuping, L.: Coupling of rock uplift and river incision in
the Namche Barwa-Gyala Peri massif, Tibet, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 120, 142–155, https://doi.org/10.1130/B26224.1, 2008. a
Fisher, G. B., Amos, C. B., Bookhagen, B., Burbank, D. W., and Godard, V.:
Channel widths, landslides, faults, and beyond: The new world order of
high-spatial resolution Google Earth imagery in the study of earth
surface processes, Geological Society of America Special Papers 492, Geological Society of America, Incorporated, 1–22, https://doi.org/10.1130/2012.2492(01), 2012. a
Gasparini, N. M. and Brandon, M. T.: A generalized power law approximation for fluvial incision of bedrock channels, J. Geophys. Res., 116, F02020, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JF001655, 2011. a
Gob, F., Bilodeau, C., Thommeret, N., Belliard, J., Albert, M.-B., Tamisier,
V., Baudoin, J.-M., and Kreutzenberger, K.: A tool for the characterisation
of the hydromorphology of rivers in line with the application of the
European Water Framework Directive in France (CARHYCE), Géomorphologie, 20, 57–72, https://doi.org/10.4000/geomorphologie.10497, 2014. a, b, c
Godard, V., Lavé, J., Carcaillet, J., Cattin, R., Bourlès, D., and Zhu, J.: Spatial distribution of denudation in Eastern Tibet and regressive
erosion of plateau margins, Tectonophysics, 491, 253–274, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2009.10.026, 2010. a
Godard, V., Burbank, D. W., Bourlès, D. L., Bookhagen, B., Braucher, R., and
Fisher, G. B.: Impact of glacial erosion on 10Be concentrations in fluvial sediments of the Marsyandi catchment, central Nepal, J. Geophys. Res., 117, F03013, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JF002230, 2012. a
Godard, V., Bourles, D. L., Spinabella, F., Burbank, D. W., Bookhagen, B.,
Fisher, G. B., Moulin, A., and Leanni, L.: Dominance of tectonics over
climate in Himalayan denudation, Geology, 42, 243–246, https://doi.org/10.1130/G35342.1, 2014. a, b
Godard, V., Dosseto, A., Fleury, J., Bellier, O., Siame, L., and ASTER, T.:
Transient landscape dynamics across the Southeastern Australian Escarpment, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 506, 397–406, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2018.11.017, 2019. a
Harel, M.-A., Mudd, S., and Attal, M.: Global analysis of the stream power law parameters based on worldwide 10Be denudation rates, Geomorphology, 268, 184–196, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2016.05.035, 2016. a, b
Harkins, N., Kirby, E., Heimsath, A., Robinson, R., and Reiser, U.: Transient
fluvial incision in the headwaters of the Yellow River, northeastern Tibet, China, J. Geophys. Res., 112, F03S04, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JF000570, 2007. a
Howard, A. D.: A detachment-limited model of drainage basin evolution, Water
Resour. Res., 30, 2261–2285, https://doi.org/10.1029/94WR00757, 1994. a, b
Howard, A. D., Dietrich, W. E., and Seidl, M. A.: Modeling fluvial erosion on
regional to continental scales, J. Geophys. Res., 99, 13971–13986, https://doi.org/10.1029/94JB00744, 1994. a
Joly, D., Brossard, T., Cardot, H., Cavailhes, J., Hilal, M., and Wavresky, P.: Types of climates on continental France, a spatial construction, Cybergeo, 501, https://doi.org/10.4000/cybergeo.23155, 2010. a
Kirby, E. and Ouimet, W.: Tectonic geomorphology along the eastern margin of
Tibet: insights into the pattern and processes of active deformation
adjacent to the Sichuan Basin, Geol. Soc. Lond. Spec. Publ., 353, 165–188, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP353.9, 2011. a
Kirby, E. and Whipple, K.: Quantifying differential rock-uplift rates via
stream profile analysis, Geology, 29, 415–418, https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<0415:QDRURV>2.0.CO;2, 2001. a
Kirby, E. and Whipple, K. X.: Expression of active tectonics in erosional
landscapes, J. Struct. Geol., 44, 54–75, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2012.07.009, 2012. a, b, c
Lavé, J. and Avouac, J. P.: Active folding of fluvial terraces across the
Siwaliks Hills, Himalayas of central Nepal, J. Geophys. Res., 105, 5735–5770, https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JB900292, 2000. a
Lavé, J. and Avouac, J. P.: Fluvial incision and tectonic uplift across the Himalayas of central Nepal, J. Geophys. Res., 106, 26561–26591, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JB000359, 2001. a
Le Lay, M. and Saulnier, G. M.: Exploring the signature of climate and
landscape spatial variabilities in flash flood events: Case of the 8–9 September 2002 Cévennes-Vivarais catastrophic event, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L13401, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL029746, 2007. a
Malcles, O., Vernant, P., Chéry, J., Camps, P., Cazes, G., Ritz, J.-F., and Fink, D.: Determining the Plio-Quaternary uplift of the southern French Massif Central; a new insight for intraplate orogen dynamics, Solid Earth, 11, 241–258, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-241-2020, 2020. a, b
Marshall, J. A., Roering, J. J., Bartlein, P. J., Gavin, D. G., Granger, D. E., Rempel, A. W., Praskievicz, S. J., and Hales, T. C.: Frost for the trees:
Did climate increase erosion in unglaciated landscapes during the late
Pleistocene?, Sci. Adv., 1, e1500715, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1500715, 2015. a
Mazzotti, S., Jomard, H., and Masson, F.: Processes and deformation rates
generating seismicity in metropolitan France and conterminous Western Europe, BSGF – Earth Sci. Bull., 191, 19, https://doi.org/10.1051/bsgf/2020019, 2020. a
Mocochain, L., Audra, P., Clauzon, G., Bellier, O., Bigot, J.-Y., Parize, O.,
and Monteil, P.: The effect of river dynamics induced by the Messinian Salinity Crisis on karst landscape and caves: Example of the Lower
Ardèche river (mid Rhône valley), Geomorphology, 106, 46–61,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2008.09.021, 2009. a
Molliex, S., Rabineau, M., Leroux, E., Bourlès, D., Authemayou, C., Aslanian, D., Chauvet, F., Civet, F., and Jouët, G.: Multi-approach quantification of denudation rates in the Gulf of Lion source-to-sink system (SE France), Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 444, 101–115, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2016.03.043, 2016. a, b
Molnar, P., Anderson, R. S., Kier, G., and Rose, J.: Relationships among
probability distributions of stream discharges in floods, climate, bed load
transport, and river incision, J. Geophysi. Res.-Earth, 111, F02001, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JF000310, 2006. a, b, c, d
Moon, S., Page Chamberlain, C., Blisniuk, K., Levine, N., Rood, D. H., and
Hilley, G. E.: Climatic control of denudation in the deglaciated landscape of
the Washington Cascades, Nat. Geosci., 4, 469–473, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1159 2011. a
Naulet, R., Lang, M., Ouarda, T. B., Coeur, D., Bobée, B., Recking, A., and Moussay, D.: Flood frequency analysis on the Ardèche river using French documentary sources from the last two centuries, J. Hydrol., 313, 58–78, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2005.02.011, 2005. a
Niemi, N. A., Oskin, M., Burbank, D. W., Heimsath, A. M., and Gabet, E. J.:
Effects of bedrock landslides on cosmogenically determined erosion rates,
Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 237, 480–498, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2005.07.009, 2005. a
Olivetti, V., Balestrieri, M. L., Godard, V., Bellier, O., Gautheron, C.,
Valla, P. G., Zattin, M., Faccenna, C., Pinna-Jamme, R., and Manchuel, K.:
Cretaceous and late Cenozoic uplift of a Variscan Massif: The case of the French Massif Central studied through low-temperature thermochronometry, Lithosphere, 12, 133–149, https://doi.org/10.1130/L1142.1, 2020. a
Ouimet, W. B., Whipple, K. X., and Granger, D. E.: Beyond threshold hillslopes: Channel adjustment to base-level fall in tectonically active mountain ranges, Geology, 37, 579–582, https://doi.org/10.1130/G30013A.1, 2009. a, b, c
Perron, J. T. and Royden, L.: An integral approach to bedrock river profile
analysis, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 38, 570–576, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3302, 2012. a
Ritz, J.-F., Baize, S., Ferry, M., Larroque, C., Audin, L., Delouis, B., and
Mathot, E.: Surface rupture and shallow fault reactivation during the 2019 Mw 4.9 Le Teil earthquake, France, Commun. Earth Environ., 1, 10, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-020-0012-z, 2020. a
Roberts, G. G. and White, N.: Estimating uplift rate histories from river
profiles using African examples, J. Geophys. Res., 115, B02406, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JB006692, 2010. a
Schaller, M., von Blanckenburg, F., Hovius, N., and Kubik, P.: Large-scale
erosion rates from in situ-produced cosmogenic nuclides in European river
sediments, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 188, 441–458, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X(01)00320-X, 2001. a, b, c
Schaller, M., von Blanckenburg, F., Veldkamp, A., Tebbens, L., Hovius, N., and Kubik, P.: A 30 000 yr record of erosion rates from cosmogenic 10Be in Middle European river terraces, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 204, 307–320, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X(02)00951-2, 2002. a
Scherler, D., Bookhagen, B., and Strecker, M. R.: Tectonic control on 10Be derived erosion rates in the Garhwal Himalaya, India, J.
Geophys. Res.-Earth, 119, 1–23, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JF002955, 2014. a, b
Scherler, D., DiBiase, R. A., Fisher, G. B., and Avouac, J.-P.: Testing
monsoonal controls on bedrock river incision in the Himalaya and Eastern
Tibet with a stochastic-threshold stream power model, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 122, 1389–1429, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JF004011, 2017. a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m
Sheffer, N. A., Enzel, Y., Benito, G., Grodek, T., Poart, N., Lang, M., Naulet, R., and Cœur, D.: Paleofloods and historical floods of the Ardèche River, France, Water Resour. Res., 39, 1–13, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003WR002468, 2003. a
Shobe, C. M., Tucker, G. E., and Rossi, M. W.: Variable-Threshold Behavior in Rivers Arising From Hillslope-Derived Blocks, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 123, 1931–1957, https://doi.org/10.1029/2017JF004575, 2018. a
Sklar, L. and Dietrich, W. E.: Sediment and rock strength controls on river
incision into bedrock, Geology, 29, 1087–1090,
https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<1087:SARSCO>2.0.CO;2, 2001. a
Sklar, L. S. and Dietrich, W. E.: The role of sediment in controlling
steady-state bedrock channel slope: Implications of the saltation-abrasion
incision model, Geomorphology, 82, 58–83, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2005.08.019, 2006. a
Snyder, N. P., Whipple, K. X., Tucker, G. E., and Merritts, D. J.: Importance
of a stochastic distribution of floods and erosion thresholds in the bedrock
river incision problem, J. Geophys. Res., 108, 2117, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JB001655, 2003. a, b
Tassy, A., Mocochain, L., Bellier, O., Braucher, R., Gattacceca, J., and
Bourlès, D.: Coupling cosmogenic dating and magnetostratigraphy to constrain the chronological evolution of peri-Mediterranean karsts during the
Messinian and the Pliocene: Example of Ardèche Valley, Southern France, Geomorphology, 189, 81–92, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2013.01.019, 2013. a
Tucker, G. E. and Bras, R. L.: A stochastic approach to modeling the role of
rainfall variability in drainage basin evolution, Water Resour. Res., 36, 1953–1964, https://doi.org/10.1029/2000WR900065, 2000. a, b
Turowski, J. M., Lague, D., and Hovius, N.: Cover effect in bedrock abrasion:
A new derivation and its implications for the modeling of bedrock channel
morphology, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth., 112, 1–16, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JF000697, 2007. a
Vanacker, V., von Blanckenburg, F., Govers, G., Campforts, B., Molina, A., and Kubik, P.: Transient river response, captured by the channel steepness and its concavity, Geomorphology, 228, 234–243, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2014.09.013, 2015.
a, b
Whipple, K. X. and Tucker, G. E.: Dynamics of the stream-power river incision
model: Implications for height limits of mountain ranges, landscape response timescales, and research needs, J. Geophys. Res., 104, 17661–17674, https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JB900120, 1999. a
Whipple, K. X. and Tucker, G. E.: Implications of sediment-flux-dependent river incision models for landscape evolution, J. Geophys. Res., 107, 2039, https://doi.org/10.1029/2000JB000044, 2002. a
Whipple, K. X., Hancock, G. S., and Anderson, R. S.: River incision into
bedrock: Mechanics and relative efficacy of plucking, abrasion, and cavitation, Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., 112, 490–503,
https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(2000)112<490:RIIBMA>2.0.CO;2, 2000. a
Whittaker, A. C.: How do landscapes record tectonics and climate?, Lithosphere, 4, 160–164, https://doi.org/10.1130/RF.L003.1, 2012. a
Willenbring, J. K., Gasparini, N. M., Crosby, B. T., and Brocard, G.: What does a mean mean? The temporal evolution of detrital cosmogenic denudation rates in a transient landscape, Geology, 41, 1215–1218, https://doi.org/10.1130/G34746.1, 2013. a
Wobus, C., Heimsath, A., Whipple, K., and Hodges, K.: Active out-of-sequence
thrust faulting in the central Nepalese Himalaya, Nature, 434, 1008–1011, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03499, 2005. a
Wobus, C., Whipple, K. X., Kirby, E., Snyder, N. P., Johnson, J., Spyropolou,
K., Crosby, B., and Sheehan, D.: Tectonics from topography: Procedures,
promise, and pitfalls, Geol. Soc. Ame. Spec. Pap., 398, 55–74, https://doi.org/10.1130/SPE398, 2006. a
Yanites, B. J., Tucker, G. E., and Anderson, R. S.: Numerical and analytical
models of cosmogenic radionuclide dynamics in landslide-dominated drainage
basins, J. Geophys. Res., 114, F01007, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JF001088, 2009. a
Yanites, B. J., Tucker, G. E., Mueller, K. J., Chen, Y.-G., Wilcox, T., Huang, S.-Y., and Shi, K.-W.: Incision and channel morphology across active
structures along the Peikang River, central Taiwan: Implications for the importance of channel width, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 122, 1192–1208, https://doi.org/10.1130/B30035.1, 2010. a
Short summary
Landscape evolution is highly dependent on climatic parameters, and the occurrence of intense precipitation events is considered to be an important driver of river incision. We compare the rate of erosion with the variability of river discharge in a mountainous landscape of SE France where high-magnitude floods regularly occur. Our study highlights the importance of the hypotheses made regarding the threshold that river discharge needs to exceed in order to effectively cut down into the bedrock.
Landscape evolution is highly dependent on climatic parameters, and the occurrence of intense...
