Articles | Volume 12, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1071-2024
© Author(s) 2024. 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-12-1071-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
20 Sep 2024
Research article |
| 20 Sep 2024
| 20 Sep 2024
The impact of bedrock meander cutoffs on 50 kyr scale incision rates, San Juan River, Utah
Aaron T. Steelquist
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Geological Sciences, Stanford University, 450 Jane Stanford Way, Building 320, Stanford, California 94305, USA
Gustav B. Seixas
Skagit River System Cooperative, La Conner, Washington 98257, USA
Mary L. Gillam
Colorado Geological Survey, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA
Sourav Saha
Kentucky Geological Survey, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506, USA
Seulgi Moon
Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA
George E. Hilley
Department of Geological Sciences, Stanford University, 450 Jane Stanford Way, Building 320, Stanford, California 94305, USA
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Nancy Weinheimer, Claire Lukens, Clifford Riebe, Leonard Sklar, Russell Callahan, Seulgi Moon, Daniel Richter, W. Steven Holbrook, and Kevin Norton
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-5792, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-5792, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Earth Surface Dynamics (ESurf).
Short summary
Short summary
Studies of soil production often assume rates of soil formation and erosion are equal. To check this assumption, we developed a two-sample test using beryllium-10 in soil and underlying weathered rock. Across varied landscapes, we found steady-state and disturbed soils coexisting on nearby hillslopes. Modeling shows that disturbances can alter inferred relationships between soil thickness and production rates. Our test helps improve interpretations of erosion, weathering, and soil development.
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Short summary
The rates at which rivers erode their bed can be used to interpret the geologic history of a region. However, these rates depend significantly on the time window over which you measure. We use multiple dating methods to determine an incision rate for the San Juan River and compare it to regional rates with longer timescales. We demonstrate how specific geologic events, such as cutoffs of bedrock meander bends, are likely to preserve material we can date but also bias the rates we measure.
The rates at which rivers erode their bed can be used to interpret the geologic history of a...
