Spatiotemporal denudation rates of the Swabian Alb escarpment (southwestern Germany) dominated by anthropogenic impact, lithology, and base-level lowering

Schaller, Mirjam; Peifer, Daniel; Neely, Alexander B.; Bernard, Thomas; Glotzbach, Christoph; Beer, Alexander R.; Ehlers, Todd A.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-571-2025

Articles | Volume 13, issue 4

https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-571-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-571-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 13, issue 4

Research article

|

21 Jul 2025

Research article |

| 21 Jul 2025

Spatiotemporal denudation rates of the Swabian Alb escarpment (southwestern Germany) dominated by anthropogenic impact, lithology, and base-level lowering

Mirjam Schaller, Daniel Peifer, Alexander B. Neely, Thomas Bernard, Christoph Glotzbach, Alexander R. Beer, and Todd A. Ehlers

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-571-2025-supplement

Data sets

Spatiotemporal denudation rates of the Swabian Alb escarpment (Southwest Germany) dominated by anthropogenic impact, lithology, and base-level lowering Mirjam Schaller et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13588248

Model code and software

Spatiotemporal denudation rates of the Swabian Alb escarpment (Southwest Germany) dominated by anthropogenic impact, lithology, and base-level lowering Mirjam Schaller et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15918798

Short summary

This study reports chemical weathering, physical erosion, and denudation rates from river load data in the Swabian Alb, southwestern Germany. Tributaries to the Neckar River draining to the north show higher rates than tributaries draining to the southeast into the Danube River, causing a retreat of the Swabian Alb escarpment. Observations are discussed in light of anthropogenic impact, lithology, and topography. The data are further compared to other rates over space and time and to global data.