Short communication: Forward and inverse analytic models relating river long profile to tectonic uplift history, assuming a nonlinear slope–erosion dependency

Wang, Yizhou; Goren, Liran; Zheng, Dewen; Zhang, Huiping

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-833-2022

Articles | Volume 10, issue 4

https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-833-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-833-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 10, issue 4

Short communication

|

11 Aug 2022

Short communication |

| 11 Aug 2022

Short communication: Forward and inverse analytic models relating river long profile to tectonic uplift history, assuming a nonlinear slope–erosion dependency

Yizhou Wang, Liran Goren, Dewen Zheng, and Huiping Zhang

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-833-2022-supplement

Data sets

90 m Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) DEM SRTM Data https://srtm.csi.cgiar.org/srtmdata/

Short summary

Abrupt changes in tectonic uplift rates induce sharp changes in river profile, called knickpoints. When river erosion depends non-linearly on slope, we develop an analytic model for knickpoint velocity and find the condition of knickpoint merging. Then we develop analytic models that represent the two-directional link between tectonic changes and river profile evolution. The derivation provides new understanding on the links between tectonic changes and river profile evolution.