Articles | Volume 12, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-973-2024
© 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-12-973-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
06 Sep 2024
Research article |
| 06 Sep 2024
| 06 Sep 2024
Drainage rearrangement in an intra-continental mountain belt: a case study from the central South Tian Shan, Kyrgyzstan
Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
Peter van der Beek
Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
Taylor F. Schildgen
Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Edward R. Sobel
Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
Simone Racano
Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
Apolline Mariotti
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Fergus McNab
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
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Andreas Ruby, Taylor F. Schildgen, Fergus McNab, Andrew D. Wickert, Apolline Mariotti, Hella Wittmann, Bolot Moldobekov, Thomas Kolb, and Markus Fuchs
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3489, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3489, 2026
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River terraces host information about past environmental processes that formed them. However, these processes may act simultaneously, which can hinder their accurate interpretation. Here, we map, date and model terraces of such a complex location, the Naryn River in the Central Asian Tien Shan. We reveal spatially limited impacts of terrace formation in response the rapid drainage of a large landslide-dammed lake, while climatic variations represent a regional terrace formation driver.
Maxime Bernard, Pieter van der Beek, Cody Colleps, Xavier Robert, Kerry Gallagher, William Guenthner, Julien Amalberti, and Georgina E. King
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2286, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2286, 2026
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Pecube, a 3D thermal-kinematic software that predicts thermochronometer data, has been widely used to constrain the past evolution of mountain belts, but its accessibility and application is still limited. This work overcomes this limitation by offering a graphical user interface to Pecube, PecubeGUI, and by broadening its application to a wider range of tectonic settings through the implementation thermochronometer prediction models in line with the most recent research developments.
Maxime Bernard, Georgina E. King, Pieter van der Beek, Isabel Wapenhans, Lingxiao Gong, and Xavier Robert
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2508, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2508, 2026
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Thermochronometry data inversions using the Pecube software are useful to constrain the past evolution of mountain belts. However, configuring the neighbourhood algorithm for Pecube inversions remains challenging for new Pecube users. This contribution aims to provide intuition and guidelines for setting up NA-Pecube inversions to support informed decision-making. It forms part of a broader effort to improve the accessibility of Pecube to new users.
Andrew D. Wickert, Jabari C. Jones, Devon Libby, Phillip H. Larson, Katherine R. Barnhart, Maximillian S. Van Wyk de Vries, and Taylor F. Schildgen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1018, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1018, 2026
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Some rivers are wide. Others are narrow. Why is this, and do they change over time? To answer these questions, we developed a model and tested it against real rivers. Rivers erode bank materials to widen, but transported sediments can settle on and rebuild the banks. Rivers generally widen during large floods and narrow during moderate ones. We demonstrate how changing streamflow alters river-channel width over time, with implications for erosion and flood hazards.
Fergus McNab, Taylor F. Schildgen, Jens M. Turowski, and Andrew D. Wickert
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 1059–1092, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-1059-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-1059-2025, 2025
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Alluvial rivers form networks, but many concepts we use to analyse their long-term evolution derive from models that treat them as single streams. We develop a model including tributary interactions and show that, while patterns of sediment output can be similar for network and single-segment models, complex signal propagation affects aggradation and incision within networks. We argue that understanding a specific catchment's evolution requires a model with its specific network structure.
Zihao Zhao, Tianyi Shen, Guocan Wang, Peter van der Beek, Yabo Zhou, and Cheng Ma
Solid Earth, 16, 503–530, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-16-503-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-16-503-2025, 2025
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This study examines the evolution of the Harlik Mountains in the eastern Tian Shan. Low-relief surfaces were formed by the Early Cretaceous erosion and subsequent tectonic stability. Later fault activity segmented these surfaces, with uplift and tilting in the Cenozoic driven by tectonic reactivation. These findings provide insights into how landscapes evolve in response to geological and environmental changes over millions of years.
Jens M. Turowski, Fergus McNab, Aaron Bufe, and Stefanie Tofelde
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 97–117, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-97-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-97-2025, 2025
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Channel belts comprise the area affected by a river due to lateral migration and floods. As a landform, they affect water resources and flood hazard, and they often host unique ecological communities. We develop a model describing the evolution of channel-belt area over time. The model connects the behaviour of the river to the evolution of the channel belt over a timescale of centuries. A comparison to selected data from experiments and real river systems verifies the random walk approach.
Elizabeth N. Orr, Taylor F. Schildgen, Stefanie Tofelde, Hella Wittmann, and Ricardo N. Alonso
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 1391–1413, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1391-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1391-2024, 2024
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Fluvial terraces and alluvial fans in the Toro Basin, NW Argentina, record river evolution and global climate cycles over time. Landform dating reveals lower-frequency climate cycles (100 kyr) preserved downstream and higher-frequency cycles (21/40 kyr) upstream, supporting theoretical predications that longer rivers filter out higher-frequency climate signals. This finding improves our understanding of the spatial distribution of sedimentary paleoclimate records within landscapes.
Marion Roger, Arjan de Leeuw, Peter van der Beek, Laurent Husson, Edward R. Sobel, Johannes Glodny, and Matthias Bernet
Solid Earth, 14, 153–179, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-14-153-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-14-153-2023, 2023
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We study the construction of the Ukrainian Carpathians with LT thermochronology (AFT, AHe, and ZHe) and stratigraphic analysis. QTQt thermal models are combined with burial diagrams to retrieve the timing and magnitude of sedimentary burial, tectonic burial, and subsequent exhumation of the wedge's nappes from 34 to ∼12 Ma. Out-of-sequence thrusting and sediment recycling during wedge building are also identified. This elucidates the evolution of a typical wedge in a roll-back subduction zone.
Peter van der Beek and Taylor F. Schildgen
Geochronology, 5, 35–49, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-5-35-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-5-35-2023, 2023
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Thermochronometric data can provide unique insights into the patterns of rock exhumation and the driving mechanisms of landscape evolution. Several well-established thermal models allow for a detailed exploration of how cooling rates evolved in a limited area or along a transect, but more regional analyses have been challenging. We present age2exhume, a thermal model that can be used to rapidly provide a synoptic overview of exhumation rates from large regional thermochronologic datasets.
Johannes Rembe, Renjie Zhou, Edward R. Sobel, Jonas Kley, Jie Chen, Jian-Xin Zhao, Yuexing Feng, and Daryl L. Howard
Geochronology, 4, 227–250, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-227-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-227-2022, 2022
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Calcite is frequently formed during alteration processes in the basaltic, uppermost layer of juvenile oceanic crust. Weathered oceanic basalts are hard to date with conventional radiometric methods. We show in a case study from the North Pamir, Central Asia, that calcite U–Pb age data, supported by geochemistry and petrological microscopy, have potential to date sufficiently old oceanic basalts, if the time span between basalt extrusion and latest calcite precipitation (~ 25 Myr) is considered.
Coline Ariagno, Caroline Le Bouteiller, Peter van der Beek, and Sébastien Klotz
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 81–96, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-81-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-81-2022, 2022
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The
critical zonenear the surface of the Earth is where geologic substrate, erosion, climate, and life meet and interact. This study focuses on mechanisms of physical weathering that produce loose sediment and make it available for transport. We show that the sediment export from a monitored catchment in the French Alps is modulated by frost-weathering processes and is therefore sensitive to complex modifications in a warming climate.
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Short summary
We choose the large Saryjaz river from South Tian Shan to analyse topographic and fluvial metrics. By quantifying the spatial distribution of major metrics and comparing with modelling patterns, we suggest that the observed transience was triggered by a big capture event during the Plio-Pleistocene and potentially affected by both tectonic and climate factors. This conclusion underlines the importance of local contingent factors in driving drainage development.
We choose the large Saryjaz river from South Tian Shan to analyse topographic and fluvial...
