Landscape evolution models using the stream power incision model show unrealistic behavior when <i>m</i> ∕ <i>n</i> equals 0.5

Kwang, Jeffrey S.; Parker, Gary

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-5-807-2017

Articles | Volume 5, issue 4

https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-5-807-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-5-807-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 5, issue 4

Research article

|

06 Dec 2017

Research article |

| 06 Dec 2017

Landscape evolution models using the stream power incision model show unrealistic behavior when m ∕ n equals 0.5

Jeffrey S. Kwang and Gary Parker

Data sets

Dataset: Landscape evolution models using the stream power incision model show unrealistic behavior when m/n equals 0.5 Jeffrey Kwang https://doi.org/10.13012/B2IDB-7434833_V2

Short summary

A prevalent bedrock incision relation used in landscape evolution is the stream power incision model (SPIM), which relates incision rate to drainage area to the m power and slope to the n power. We show the most commonly used ratio, m ∕ n = 0.5, leads to scale invariance: a landscape that has a horizontal domain of 1 km × 1 km has exactly the same relief pattern as one with a 100 km × 100 km domain. This conclusion indicates that SPIM must yield unrealistic results over a wide range of conditions.