Articles | Volume 7, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-275-2019
© Author(s) 2019. 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-7-275-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
14 Mar 2019
Research article |
| 14 Mar 2019
| 14 Mar 2019
How steady are steady-state mountain belts? A reexamination of the Olympic Mountains (Washington state, USA)
Lorenz Michel
Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, 72074 Tübingen,
Germany
Christoph Glotzbach
Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, 72074 Tübingen,
Germany
Sarah Falkowski
Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, 72074 Tübingen,
Germany
Byron A. Adams
Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, 72074 Tübingen,
Germany
School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1RJ,
UK
Todd A. Ehlers
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, 72074 Tübingen,
Germany
Related authors
No articles found.
Christoph Glotzbach, Alexander Neely, and Todd Alan Ehlers
Geochronology, 8, 567–588, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-8-567-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-8-567-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
We present a simple, robust method for triple dating (U–Pb, fission track, and in-situ (U–Th)/He) of apatite using Teflon mounts. The approach increases analytical throughput and ensures data quality via a decision matrix. Validation with Durango apatite and application to the Odenwald demonstrates its reliability and the ability to resolve complex thermal histories.
Ann-Kathrin Maier, Christoph Glotzbach, and Sarah Falkowski
Geochronology, 8, 165–189, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-8-165-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-8-165-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
(U-Th-Sm)/He dating is a tool to investigate when and how rocks cooled through the upper Earth’s crust. We explore strategies to reconstruct thermal histories of individual apatite crystals by direct measurement of their helium concentration profile and radionuclide distribution. This approach allows for the inclusion of inhomogeneous grains in thermal modelling, which is often problematic in traditional (U-Th-Sm)/He methods.
Mirjam Schaller, Daniel Peifer, Alexander B. Neely, Thomas Bernard, Christoph Glotzbach, Alexander R. Beer, and Todd A. Ehlers
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 571–591, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-571-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-571-2025, 2025
Short summary
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.
Christoph Glotzbach and Todd A. Ehlers
Geochronology, 6, 697–717, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-697-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-697-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The (U–Th–Sm) / He dating method helps understand the cooling history of rocks. Synthetic modelling experiments were conducted to explore factors affecting in situ vs. whole-grain (U–Th) / He dates. In situ dates are often 30 % older than whole-grain dates, whereas very rapid cooling makes helium loss negligible, resulting in similar whole-grain and in situ dates. In addition, in situ data can reveal cooling histories even from a single grain by measuring helium distributions.
Daniel Boateng, Sebastian G. Mutz, Armelle Ballian, Maud J. M. Meijers, Katharina Methner, Svetlana Botsyun, Andreas Mulch, and Todd A. Ehlers
Earth Syst. Dynam., 14, 1183–1210, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-1183-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-1183-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We present model-based topographic sensitivity experiments that provide valuable constraints for interpreting past proxies and records of climate and tectonic processes. The study uses a climate model to quantify the response of regional climate and oxygen isotopic composition of precipitation to diachronous surface uplift scenarios across the European Alps. The results suggest that isotopic signal changes can be measured in geologic archives using stable isotope paleoaltimetry.
Hemanti Sharma and Todd A. Ehlers
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 1161–1181, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-1161-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-1161-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Seasonality in precipitation (P) and vegetation (V) influences catchment erosion (E), although which factor plays the dominant role is unclear. In this study, we performed a sensitivity analysis of E to P–V seasonality through numerical modeling. Our results suggest that P variations strongly influence seasonal variations in E, while the effect of seasonal V variations is secondary but significant. This is more pronounced in moderate and least pronounced in extreme environmental settings.
Hemanti Sharma, Sebastian G. Mutz, and Todd A. Ehlers
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 997–1015, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-997-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-997-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We estimate global changes in frost cracking intensity (FCI) using process-based models for four time slices in the late Cenozoic ranging from the Pliocene (∼ 3 Ma) to pre-industrial (∼ 1850 CE, PI). For all time slices, results indicate that FCI was most prevalent in middle to high latitudes and high-elevation lower-latitude areas such as Tibet. Larger deviations (relative to PI) were observed in colder (LGM) and warmer climates (Pliocene) due to differences in temperature and glaciation.
Astrid Oetting, Emma C. Smith, Jan Erik Arndt, Boris Dorschel, Reinhard Drews, Todd A. Ehlers, Christoph Gaedicke, Coen Hofstede, Johann P. Klages, Gerhard Kuhn, Astrid Lambrecht, Andreas Läufer, Christoph Mayer, Ralf Tiedemann, Frank Wilhelms, and Olaf Eisen
The Cryosphere, 16, 2051–2066, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2051-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2051-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study combines a variety of geophysical measurements in front of and beneath the Ekström Ice Shelf in order to identify and interpret geomorphological evidences of past ice sheet flow, extent and retreat.
The maximal extent of grounded ice in this region was 11 km away from the continental shelf break.
The thickness of palaeo-ice on the calving front around the LGM was estimated to be at least 305 to 320 m.
We provide essential boundary conditions for palaeo-ice-sheet models.
Andrea Madella, Christoph Glotzbach, and Todd A. Ehlers
Geochronology, 4, 177–190, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-177-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-177-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Cooling ages date the time at which minerals cross a certain isotherm on the way up to Earth's surface. Such ages can be measured from bedrock material and river sand. If spatial variations in bedrock ages are known in a river catchment, the spatial distribution of erosion can be inferred from the distribution of the ages measured from the river sand grains. Here we develop a new tool to help such analyses, with particular emphasis on quantifying uncertainties due to sample size.
Mirjam Schaller and Todd A. Ehlers
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 131–150, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-131-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-131-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Soil production, chemical weathering, and physical erosion rates from the large climate and vegetation gradient of the Chilean Coastal Cordillera (26 to 38° S) are investigated. Rates are generally lowest in the sparsely vegetated and arid north, increase southward toward the Mediterranean climate, and then decrease slightly, or possible stay the same, further south in the temperate humid zone. This trend is compared with global data from similar soil-mantled hillslopes in granitic lithologies.
Emilija Krsnik, Katharina Methner, Marion Campani, Svetlana Botsyun, Sebastian G. Mutz, Todd A. Ehlers, Oliver Kempf, Jens Fiebig, Fritz Schlunegger, and Andreas Mulch
Solid Earth, 12, 2615–2631, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-12-2615-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-12-2615-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Here we present new surface elevation constraints for the middle Miocene Central Alps based on stable and clumped isotope geochemical analyses. Our reconstructed paleoelevation estimate is supported by isotope-enabled paleoclimate simulations and indicates that the Miocene Central Alps were characterized by a heterogeneous and spatially transient topography with high elevations locally exceeding 4000 m.
Kirstin Übernickel, Jaime Pizarro-Araya, Susila Bhagavathula, Leandro Paulino, and Todd A. Ehlers
Biogeosciences, 18, 5573–5594, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5573-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5573-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Animal burrowing is important because it impacts the physical and chemical evolution of Earth’s surface. However, most studies are species specific, and compilations of animal community effects are missing. We present an inventory of the currently known 390 burrowing species for all of Chile along its climate gradient. We observed increasing amounts of excavated material from an area with dry conditions along a gradient towards more humid conditions.
Cited articles
Adam, J., Klaeschen, D., Kukowski, N., and Flueh, E.: Upward delamination of
Cascadia Basin sediment infill with landward frontal accretion thrusting
caused by rapid glacial age material flux, Tectonics, 23,
TC3009, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002TC001475, 2004.
Adams, B. A. and Ehlers, T. A.: Deciphering topographic signals of
glaciation and rock uplift in an active orogen: a case study from the
Olympic Mountains, USA: Signals of glaciation and rock uplift in the Olympic
Mountains, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 42, 1680–1692,
https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.4120, 2017.
Adams, B. A. and Ehlers, T. A.: Tectonic controls of Holocene erosion in a glaciated orogen, Earth Surf. Dynam., 6, 595–610, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-6-595-2018, 2018.
Adams, B. A., Hodges, K. V., Whipple, K. X., Ehlers, T. A., van Soest, M. C.,
and Wartho, J.: Constraints on the tectonic and landscape evolution of the
Bhutan Himalaya from thermochronometry: Late Cenozoic Evolution of Bhutan,
Tectonics, 34, 1329–1347, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015TC003853, 2015.
Batt, G. E. and Brandon, M. T.: Lateral thinking: 2-D interpretation of
thermochronology in convergent orogenic settings, Tectonophysics, 349,
185–201, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-1951(02)00053-7, 2002.
Batt, G. E., Brandon, M. T., Farley, K. A,. and Roden-Tice, M.: Tectonic
synthesis of the Olympic Mountains segment of the Cascadia wedge, using
two-dimensional thermal and kinematic modeling of thermochronological ages,
J. Geophys. Res., 106, 26731–26746, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JB000288, 2001.
Bendick, R. and Ehlers, T. A.: Extreme localized exhumation at syntaxes
initiated by subduction geometry, Geophys. Res. Lett., 41, 2014GL061026,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL061026, 2014.
Bernard, T., Steer, P., Gallagher, K., Szulc, A., Whitham, A., and Johnson,
C.: Evidence for Eocene–Oligocene glaciation in the landscape of the East
Greenland margin, Geology, 44, 895–898, 2016
Berger, A. L., Gulick, S. P. S., Spotila, J. A., Upton, P., Jaeger, J. M.,
Chapman, J. B., Worthington, L. A., Pavlis, T. L., Ridgway, K. D., Willems,
B. A., and McAleer, R. J.: Quaternary tectonic response to intensified
glacial erosion in an orogenic wedge, Nat. Geosci., 1, 793–799,
https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo334, 2008.
Booth, D. B., Troost, K. G., Clague, J. J., and Waitt, R. B.: The Cordilleran
Ice Sheet, in: Developments in Quaternary Sciences, 1, 17–43,
Elsevier, 2003.
Booth-Rea, G., Klaeschen, D., Grevemeyer, I., and Reston, T.: Heterogeneous
deformation in the Cascadia convergent margin and its relation to thermal
gradient (Washington, NW USA), Tectonics, 27, TC4005, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007TC002209,
2008.
Brandon, M. T.: Decomposition of fission-track grain-age distributions,
Am. J. Sci., 292, 535–564, 1992.
Brandon, M. T.: Probability density plot for fission-track grain-age sample,
Radiat. Meas., 26, 663–676, 1996.
Brandon, M. T. and Calderwood, A. R.: High-pressure metamorphism and uplift
of the Olympic subduction complex, Geology, 18, 1252,
https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1990)018<1252:HPMAUO>2.3.CO;2,
1990.
Brandon, M. T. and Vance, J. A.: Tectonic evolution of the Cenozoic Olympic
subduction complex, Washington State, as deduced from fission track ages for
detrital zircons, Am. J. Sci., 292, 565–636,
https://doi.org/10.2475/ajs.292.8.565, 1992.
Brandon, M. T., Roden-Tice, M. K., and Garver, J. I.: Late Cenozoic
exhumation of the Cascadia accretionary wedge in the Olympic Mountains,
northwest Washington State, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 110,
985–1009, https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1998)110<0985:LCEOTC>2.3.CO;2, 1998.
Braun, J.: Estimating exhumation rate and relief evolution by spectral
analysis of age–elevation datasets, Terra Nova, 14, 210–214, 2002.
Braun, J.: Pecube: a new finite-element code to solve the 3-D heat transport
equation including the effects of a time-varying, finite amplitude surface
topography, Comput. Geosci., 29, 787–794,
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0098-3004(03)00052-9, 2003.
Calvert, A. J., Preston, L. A., and Farahbod, A. M.: Sedimentary underplating
at the Cascadia mantle-wedge corner revealed by seismic imaging, Nat.
Geosci., 4, 545–548, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1195, 2011.
Carpentier, M., Weis, D., and Chauvel, C.: Fractionation of Sr and Hf
isotopes by mineral sorting in Cascadia Basin terrigenous sediments,
Chem. Geol., 382, 67–82, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2014.05.028, 2014.
Clague, J. J. and James, T. S.: History and isostatic effects of the last
ice sheet in southern British Columbia, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 21,
71–87, 2002.
Clowes, R. M., Brandon, M. T., Green, A. G., Yorath, C. J., Brown, A. S.,
Kanasewich, E. R., and Spencer, C.: LITHOPROBE-southern Vancouver Island:
Cenozoic subduction complex imaged by deep seismic reflections, Can. J. Earth Sci., 24, 31–51, 1987.
Davis, D., Suppe, J., and Dahlen, F. A.: Mechanics of fold-and-thrust belts
and accretionary wedges, J. Geophys. Res., 88, 1153–1172, 1983.
Davis, E. E. and Hyndman, R. D.: Accretion and recent deformation of
sediments along the northern Cascadia subduction zone, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 101, 1465–1480, 1989.
Doubrovine, P. V. and Tarduno, J. A.: A revised kinematic model for the
relative motion between Pacific oceanic plates and North America since the
Late Cretaceous, J. Geophys. Res., 113, TC4005,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JB005585, 2008.
du Bray, E. A. and John, D. A.: Petrologic, tectonic, and metallogenic
evolution of the Ancestral Cascades magmatic arc, Washington, Oregon, and
northern California, Geosphere, 7, 1102–1133, 2011.
Easterbrook, D. J.: Stratigraphy and chronology of quaternary deposits of
the Puget Lowland and Olympic Mountains of Washington and the Cascade
Mountains of Washington and Oregon, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 5, 145–159,
https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-3791(86)90180-0, 1986.
Eddy, M. P., Clark, K. P., and Polenz, M.: Age and volcanic stratigraphy of
the Eocene Siletzia oceanic plateau in Washington and on Vancouver Island,
Lithosphere, 9, 652–664, https://doi.org/10.1130/L650.1, 2017.
Ehlers, T. A.: Computational Tools for Low-Temperature Thermochronometer
Interpretation, Rev. Mineral. Geochem., 58, 589–622,
https://doi.org/10.2138/rmg.2005.58.22, 2005.
Ehlers, T. A., Farley, K. A., Rusmore, M. E., and Woodsworth, G. J.: Apatite
(U-Th)/He signal of large-magnitude accelerated glacial erosion, southwest
British Columbia, Geology, 34, 765–768, https://doi.org/10.1130/G22507.1, 2006.
Falkowski, S. and Enkelmann, E.: Upper-crustal cooling of the Wrangellia
composite terrane in the northern St. Elias Mountains, western Canada,
Lithosphere, 8, 359–378, https://doi.org/10.1130/L508.1, 2016.
Falkowski, S., Enkelmann, E., and Ehlers, T. A.: Constraining the area of
rapid and deep-seated exhumation at the St. Elias syntaxis, Southeast
Alaska, with detrital zircon fission-track analysis, Tectonics, 33,
597–616, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013TC003408, 2014.
Farley, K. A.: (U-Th)/He Dating: Techniques, Calibrations, and Applications,
Rev. Mineral. Geochem., 47, 819–844,
https://doi.org/10.2138/rmg.2002.47.18, 2002.
Fitzgerald, P. G., Stump, E., and Redfield, T. F.: Late Cenozoic uplift of
Denali and its relation to relative plate motion and fault morphology,
Science, 259, 497–497, 1993.
Flueh, E. R., Fisher, M. A., Bialas, J., Childs, J. R., Klaeschen, D.,
Kukowski, N., Parsons, T., Scholl, D. W., ten Brink, U., and Tréhu, A.
M.: New seismic images of the Cascadia subduction zone from cruise
SO108–ORWELL, Tectonophysics, 293, 69–84, 1998.
Galbraith, R. F.: Statistics for fission track analysis, CRC Press, 2005.
Gallagher, K., Brown, R., and Johnson, C.: Fission track analysis and its
applications to geological problems, Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 26,
519–572, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.earth.26.1.519, 1998.
Glotzbach, C., van der Beek, P., Carcaillet, J., and Delunel, R.: Deciphering
the driving forces of erosion rates on millennial to million-year timescales
in glacially impacted landscapes: An example from the Western Alps, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 118, 1491–1515,
https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrf.20107, 2013.
Gulick, S. P. S., Jaeger, J. M., Mix, A. C., Asahi, H., Bahlburg, H.,
Belanger, C. L., Berbel, G. B. B., Childress, L., Cowan, E., Drab, L.,
Forwick, M., Fukumura, A., Ge, S., Gupta, S., Kioka, A., Konno, S., LeVay,
L. J., März, C., Matsuzaki, K. M., McClymont, E. L., Moy, C.,
Müller, J., Nakamura, A., Ojima, T., Ribeiro, F. R., Ridgway, K. D.,
Romero, O. E., Slagle, A. L., Stoner, J. S., St-Onge, G., Suto, I., Walczak,
M. D., Worthington, L. L., Bailey, I., Enkelmann, E., Reece, R., and Swartz,
J. M.: Mid-Pleistocene climate transition drives net mass loss from rapidly
uplifting St. Elias Mountains, Alaska, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 112, 15042–15047, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1512549112, 2015.
Gutscher, M.-A., Klaeschen, D., Flueh, E., and Malavieille, J.: Non-Coulomb
wedges, wrong-way thrusting, and natural hazards in Cascadia, Geology,
29, 379–382, 2001.
Han, S., Carbotte, S. M., Canales, J. P., Nedimović, M. R., Carton, H.,
Gibson, J. C., and Horning, G. W.: Seismic reflection imaging of the Juan de
Fuca plate from ridge to trench: New constraints on the distribution of
faulting and evolution of the crust prior to subduction, J. Geophys. Res.-Sol. Ea., 121, 1849–1872,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JB012416, 2016.
Haug, G. H., Ganopolski, A., Sigman, D. M., Rosell-Mele, A., Swann, G. E. A., Tiedemann, R., Jaccard, S. L., Bollmann, J., Maslin, M. A.,
Leng, M. J. and Eglinton, G.: North Pacific seasonality and the glaciation of North America 2.7 million years ago, Nature, 433, 821–825,
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03332, 2005.
Hayes, G. P., Wald, D. J., and Johnson, R. L.: Slab1.0: A three-dimensional
model of global subduction zone geometries, J. Geophys. Res.-Sol. Ea., 117, B01302,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JB008524, 2012.
Herman, F. and Brandon, M.: Mid-latitude glacial erosion hotspot related to
equatorial shifts in southern Westerlies, Geology, 43, 987–990,
https://doi.org/10.1130/G37008.1, 2015.
Herman, F., Seward, D., Valla, P. G., Carter, A., Kohn, B., Willett, S. D.,
and Ehlers, T. A.: Worldwide acceleration of mountain erosion under a
cooling climate, Nature, 504, 423–426, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12877, 2013.
Hourigan, J. K., Reiners, P. W., and Brandon, M. T.: U-Th zonation-dependent
alpha-ejection in (U-Th)/He chronometry, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac.,
69, 3349–3365, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2005.01.024, 2005.
Hurford, A. J.: Standardization of fission track dating calibration:
Recommendation by the Fission Track Working Group of the I.U.G.S.
Subcommission on Geochronology, Chem. Geol., 80, 171–178, 1990.
Hyndman, R. D. and Wang, K.: Thermal constraints on the zone of major thrust
earthquake failure: The Cascadia Subduction Zone, J. Geophys. Res.-Sol. Ea., 98, 2039–2060, https://doi.org/10.1029/92JB02279, 1993.
Hyndman, R. D., Yorath, C. J., Clowes, R. M., and Davis, E. E.: The northern
Cascadia subduction zone at Vancouver Island: Seismic structure and tectonic
history, Can. J. Earth Sci., 27, 313–329, 1990.
Kiyokawa, S. and Yokoyama, K.: Provenance of turbidite sands from IODP EXP
1301 in the northwestern Cascadia Basin, western North America, Mar. Geol., 260, 19–29, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2009.01.003, 2009.
Knudson, K. P. and Hendy, I. L.: Climatic influences on sediment deposition
and turbidite frequency in the Nitinat Fan, British Columbia, Mar. Geol., 262, 29–38, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2009.03.002, 2009.
Kulm, L. V. D., von Huene, R., Duncan, J. R., Ingle, J. C., Kling, S. A.,
Musich, L. F., Piper, D. J. W., Pratt, R. M., Schrader, H.-J., Weser, O. E.,
and Wise, S. W.: Site 174, edited by: Kulm, L. V. D., von Huene, R.,
Duncan, J. R., Ingle, J. C., Kling, S. A., Piper, D. J. W., Pratt, R. M.,
Schrader, H.-J., Wise, S. W., Musich, L. F., and Weser, O. E., Initial Reports of the
Deep Sea Drilling Project, Publisher Texas A & M University, Ocean Drilling Program, College Station, TX, United States, 18, 97–167,
https://doi.org/10.2973/dsdp.proc.18.1973,
1973.
Lease, R. O. and Ehlers, T. A.: Incision into the Eastern Andean Plateau
During Pliocene Cooling, Science, 341, 774–776,
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1239132, 2013.
Lease, R. O., Haeussler, P. J., and O'Sullivan, P.: Changing exhumation
patterns during Cenozoic growth and glaciation of the Alaska Range: Insights
from detrital thermochronology and geochronology, Tectonics, 35,
934–955, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015TC004067, 2016.
Leeman, W. P., Lewis, J. F., Evarts, R. C., Conrey, R. M., and Streck, M. J.:
Petrologic constraints on the thermal structure of the Cascades arc, J. Volcanol. Geoth. Res., 140, 67–105,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2004.07.016, 2005.
Lewis, T. J. and Bentkowski, W. H.: Potassium, Uranium and Thorium
Concentrations of Crustal Rocks: a Data File, Open File Report 1744,
Geological Survey of Canada, Sidney, 1988.
Lewis, T. J., Bentkowski, W. H., Davis, E. E., Hyndman, R. D., Souther, J.
G., and Wright, J. A.: Subduction of the Juan de Fuca Plate: Thermal
consequences, J. Geophys. Res.-Sol. Ea., 93,
15207–15225, https://doi.org/10.1029/JB093iB12p15207, 1988.
McCaffrey, R., King, R. W., Payne, S. J., and Lancaster, M.: Active tectonics
of northwestern U.S. inferred from GPS-derived surface velocities, J. Geophys. Res.-Sol. Ea., 118, 709–723,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JB009473, 2013.
McCrory, P. A.: Tectonic model explaining divergent contraction directions
along the Cascadia subduction margin, Washington, Geology, 24, 929,
https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1996)024<0929:TMEDCD>2.3.CO;2,
1996.
McCrory, P. A., Blair, J. L., Waldhauser, F., and Oppenheimer, D. H.: Juan de
Fuca slab geometry and its relation to Wadati-Benioff zone seismicity,
J. Geophys. Res.-Sol. Ea., 117, B09306,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JB009407, 2012.
McNeill, L. C., Goldfinger, C., Kulm, L. D., and Yeats, R. S.: Tectonics of
the Neogene Cascadia forearc basin: Investigations of a deformed late
Miocene unconformity, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 112,
1209–1224, 2000.
Meesters, A. G. C. A. and Dunai, T. J.: A noniterative solution of the
(U-Th)/He age equation, Geochem. Geophy. Geosy., 6,
Q04002, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004GC000834, 2005.
Michel, L., Ehlers, T. A., Glotzbach, C., Adams, B. A., and Stübner, K.:
Tectonic and glacial contributions to focused exhumation in the Olympic
Mountains, Washington, USA, Geology, 46, 491–494, https://doi.org/10.1130/G39881.1, 2018.
Montgomery, D. R.: Valley formation by fluvial and glacial erosion, Geology,
30, 1047–1050, https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<1047:VFBFAG>2.0.CO;2, 2002.
Montgomery, D. R. and Greenberg, H. M.: Local relief and the height of Mount
Olympus, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 25, 385–396, 2000.
Mullen, E. K., Weis, D., Marsh, N. B., and Martindale, M.: Primitive arc
magma diversity: New geochemical insights in the Cascade Arc, Chem. Geol., 448, 43–70, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2016.11.006, 2017.
Mutz, S. G., Ehlers, T. A., Werner, M., Lohmann, G., Stepanek, C., and Li, J.: Estimates of late Cenozoic climate change relevant
to Earth surface processes in tectonically active orogens, Earth Surf. Dynam., 6, 271–301, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-6-271-2018, 2018.
Pazzaglia, F. J. and Brandon, M. T.: A fluvial record of long-term
steady-state uplift and erosion across the Cascadia forearc high, western
Washington State, Am. J. Sci., 301, 385–431, 2001.
Phillips, B. A., Kerr, A. C., Mullen, E. K., and Weis, D.: Oceanic mafic
magmatism in the Siletz terrane, NW North America: Fragments of an Eocene
oceanic plateau?, Lithos, 274–275, 291–303,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2017.01.005, 2017.
Porter, S. C.: Composite Pleistocene snow line of Olympic Mountains and
Cascade Range, Washington, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 75,
477–482, 1964.
Priest, G. R.: Volcanic and tectonic evolution of the Cascade Volcanic Arc,
central Oregon, J. Geophys. Res.-Sol. Ea., 95,
19583–19599, https://doi.org/10.1029/JB095iB12p19583, 1990.
Prytulak, J., Vervoort, J. D., Plank, T., and Yu, C.: Astoria Fan sediments,
DSDP site 174, Cascadia Basin: Hf–Nd–Pb constraints on provenance and
outburst flooding, Chem. Geol., 233, 276–292,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2006.03.009, 2006.
Reiners, P. W., Zhou, Z., Ehlers, T. A., Xu, C., Brandon, M. T., Donelick,
R. A., and Nicolescu, S.: Post-orogenic evolution of the Dabie Shan, eastern
China, from (U-Th)/He and fission-track thermochronology, Am. J. Sci., 303, 489–518, 2003.
Reiners, P. W., Spell, T. L., Nicolescu, S., and Zanetti, K. A.: Zircon
(U-Th)/He thermochronometry: He diffusion and comparisons with
40Ar/39Ar dating, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 68, 1857–1887,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2003.10.021, 2004.
Stewart, R. J. and Brandon, M. T.: Detrital-zircon fission-track ages for
the “Hoh Formation”: implications for late Cenozoic evolution of the
Cascadia subduction wedge, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull.,
116, 60–75, 2004.
Stolar, D., Roe, G., and Willett, S.: Controls on the patterns of topography
and erosion rate in a critical orogen, J. Geophys. Res.,
112, F04002, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JF000713, 2007.
Stübner, K., Drost, K., Schoenberg, R., Böhme, M., Starke, J., and
Ehlers, T. A.: Asynchronous timing of extension and basin formation in the
South Rhodope core complex, SW Bulgaria, and northern Greece, Tectonics,
35, 136–159, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015TC004044, 2016.
Su, X., Baumann, K. H., and Thiede, J.: Calcareous nannofossils from Leg 168:
biochronology and diagenesis, in Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program,
Scientific Results, 168, 39–50, 2000.
Tabor, R. W. and Cady, W. M.: The structure of the Olympic Mountains,
Washington: Analysis of a subduction zone, US Govt. Print. Off., 1978.
Thackray, G. D.: Extensive Early and Middle Wisconsin Glaciation on the
Western Olympic Peninsula, Washington, and the Variability of Pacific
Moisture Delivery to the Northwestern United States, Quaternary Res.,
55, 257–270, https://doi.org/10.1006/qres.2001.2220, 2001.
Thiede, R. C. and Ehlers, T. A.: Large spatial and temporal variations in
Himalayan denudation, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 371–372,
278–293, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.03.004, 2013.
Thomson, S. N., Brandon, M. T., Tomkin, J. H., Reiners, P. W., Vásquez,
C., and Wilson, N. J.: Glaciation as a destructive and constructive control
on mountain building, Nature, 467, 313–317, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09365,
2010.
Thomson, S. N., Reiners, P. W., Hemming, S. R., and Gehrels, G. E.: The
contribution of glacial erosion to shaping the hidden landscape of East
Antarctica, Nat. Geosci., 6, 203–207, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1722, 2013.
Tomkin, J. H. and Roe, G. H.: Climate and tectonic controls on glaciated
critical-taper orogens, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 262,
385–397, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2007.07.040, 2007.
Valla, P. G., Shuster, D. L., and van der Beek, P. A.: Significant increase
in relief of the European Alps during mid-Pleistocene glaciations, Nat.
Geosci., 4, 688–692, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1242, 2011.
Wang, K.: Simplified analysis of horizontal stresses in a buttressed forearc
sliver at an oblique subduction zone, Geophys. Res. Lett., 23,
2021–2024, https://doi.org/10.1029/96GL02067, 1996.
Wells, R. E. and McCaffrey, R.: Steady rotation of the Cascade arc, Geology,
41, 1027–1030, https://doi.org/10.1130/G34514.1, 2013.
Wells, R. E., Bukry, D., Friedman, R., Pyle, D., Duncan, R., Haeussler, P.,
and Wooden, J.: Geologic history of Siletzia, a large igneous province in
the Oregon and Washington Coast Range: Correlation to the geomagnetic
polarity time scale and implications for a long-lived Yellowstone hotspot,
Geosphere, 10, 692–719, 2014.
Westbrook, G. K., Carson, B., Musgrave, R. J., Ashi, J., Baranov, B., Brown, K. M., Camerlenghi, A., Caulet, J.-P., Chamov, N., Clenell, M. B.,
Cragg, B. A., Dietrich, P., Foucher, J.-P., Housen, B., Hovland, M., Jarrard R. D., Kastner, M., Kopf, A., MacKay, M. E., Moore, C., Moran, K.,
Parkes, R. J., Sample, J., Sato, T., Screaton, E. J., Tobin, H. J., Whiticar, M. J., Zellers, S. D.: Proceedings of the ODP, Initial
Reports, 146 (Part 1), Texas A & M University, Ocean Drilling Program, College Station, TX , United States, 611 pp.,
https://doi.org/10.2973/odp.proc.ir.146-1.1994, 1994.
Whipple, K. X.: The influence of climate on the tectonic evolution of
mountain belts, Nat. Geosci., 2, 97–104, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo413, 2009.
Whipple, K. X. and Meade, B.: Orogen response to changes in climatic and
tectonic forcing, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 243, 218–228,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2005.12.022, 2006.
Willett, S. D.: Orogeny and orography: The effects of erosion on the
structure of mountain belts, J. Geophys. Res., 104, 28957–28981,
https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JB900248, 1999.
Willett, S. D. and Brandon, M. T.: On steady states in mountain belts,
Geology, 30, 175–178, https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0175:OSSIMB>2.0.CO;2, 2002.
Willett, S. D., McCoy, S. W., Perron, J. T., Goren, L., and Chen, C.-Y.:
Dynamic Reorganization of River Basins, Science, 343,
1248765–1248765, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1248765, 2014.
Wilson, D. S.: Confidence intervals for motion and deformation of the Juan
de Fuca Plate, J. Geophys. Res.-Sol. Ea., 98,
16053–16071, https://doi.org/10.1029/93JB01227, 1993.
Wilson, D. S.: The Juan de Fuca plate and slab: Isochron structure and
Cenozoic plate motions, in: The Cascadia Subduction Zone and related
subduction systems: seismic structure, intraslab earthquakes and processes,
and earthquake hazards, US Geological Survey, Reston, VA, 2002.
Yanites, B. J. and Ehlers, T. A.: Global climate and tectonic controls on
the denudation of glaciated mountains, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett.,
325–326, 63–75, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2012.01.030, 2012.
Yanites, B. J., Ehlers, T. A., Becker, J. K., Schnellmann, M., and Heuberger,
S.: High magnitude and rapid incision from river capture: Rhine River,
Switzerland, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 118,
1060–1084, https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrf.20056, 2013.
Yuan, T., Spence, G. D., and Hyndman, R. D.: Seismic velocities and inferred
porosities in the accretionary wedge sediments at the Cascadia margin,
J. Geophys. Res.-Sol. Ea., 99, 4413–4427,
https://doi.org/10.1029/93JB03203, 1994.
Short summary
Mountain-building processes are often investigated by assuming a steady state, meaning the balance between opposing forces, like mass influx and mass outflux. This work shows that the Olympic Mountains are in flux steady state on long timescales (i.e., 14 Myr), but the flux steady state could be disturbed on shorter timescales, especially by the Plio–Pleistocene glaciation. The contribution highlights the temporally nonsteady evolution of mountain ranges.
Mountain-building processes are often investigated by assuming a steady state, meaning the...
