Articles | Volume 13, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-219-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-219-2025
Research article
 | 
12 Mar 2025
Research article |  | 12 Mar 2025

Geometric constraints on tributary fluvial network junction angles

Jon D. Pelletier, Robert G. Hayes, Olivia Hoch, Brendan Fenerty, and Luke A. McGuire

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Cited articles

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Short summary
We demonstrate that landscapes with more planar initial conditions tend to have lower mean junction angles. Geomorphic processes on alluvial piedmonts result in especially planar initial conditions, consistent with a correlation between junction angles and the presence/absence of Late Cenozoic alluvial deposits and the constraint imposed by the intersection of planar approximations to the topography upslope from tributary junctions. We caution against using junction angles to infer paleoclimate.
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