Articles | Volume 7, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-609-2019
© 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-7-609-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| Highlight paper
| 
01 Jul 2019
Research article | Highlight paper |
| 01 Jul 2019
| 01 Jul 2019
Alluvial channel response to environmental perturbations: fill-terrace formation and sediment-signal disruption
Institut für Umweltwissenschaften und Geographie, Universität Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
Helmholtz Zentrum Potsdam, GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ) Potsdam, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Sara Savi
Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Potsdam, 14476
Potsdam, Germany
Andrew D. Wickert
Department of Earth Sciences and Saint Anthony Falls Laboratory,
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
Aaron Bufe
Helmholtz Zentrum Potsdam, GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ) Potsdam, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Taylor F. Schildgen
Helmholtz Zentrum Potsdam, GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ) Potsdam, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Potsdam, 14476
Potsdam, Germany
Related authors
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Sophia Dosch, Niels Hovius, Marisa Repasch, Joel Scheingross, Jens M. Turowski, Stefanie Tofelde, Oliver Rach, and Dirk Sachse
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 907–927, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-907-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-907-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The transport of plant debris in rivers is an important part of the global carbon cycle and influences atmospheric carbon levels through time. We sampled plant debris at the bed of a lowland river and determined the sources as it is transported hundreds of kilometers. Plant debris can persist at the riverbed, but mechanical breakdown reduces its amount, and it is only a small fraction compared to the suspended load. This plant debris and transport patterns need further investigation globally.
Jens Martin Turowski, Aaron Bufe, and Stefanie Tofelde
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 493–514, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-493-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-493-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Fluvial valleys are ubiquitous landforms, and understanding their formation and evolution affects a wide range of disciplines from archaeology and geology to fish biology. Here, we develop a model to predict the width of fluvial valleys for a wide range of geographic conditions. In the model, fluvial valley width is controlled by the two competing factors of lateral channel mobility and uplift. The model complies with available data and yields a broad range of quantitative predictions.
Sara Savi, Stefanie Tofelde, Andrew D. Wickert, Aaron Bufe, Taylor F. Schildgen, and Manfred R. Strecker
Earth Surf. Dynam., 8, 303–322, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-303-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-303-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Fluvial deposits record changes in water and sediment supply. As such, they are often used to reconstruct the tectonic or climatic history of a basin. In this study we used an experimental setting to analyze how fluvial deposits register changes in water or sediment supply at a confluence zone. We provide a new conceptual framework that may help understanding the construction of these deposits under different forcings conditions, information crucial to correctly inferring the history of a basin.
Sara Savi, Stefanie Tofelde, Hella Wittmann, Fabiana Castino, and Taylor Schildgen
Earth Surf. Dynam. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-2017-30, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-2017-30, 2017
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
When using cosmogenic nuclides to determine exposure ages or denudation rates in rapidly evolving landscapes, challenges arise related to the small number of nuclides that have accumulated in surface materials. Here we describe an approach that defines a lower threshold above which samples with low 10Be content can be statistically distinguished from laboratory blanks. This in turn dictates the meaning and reliability of the samples and their possible use.
Fergus McNab, Taylor F. Schildgen, Jens Martin Turowski, and Andrew D. Wickert
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2468, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2468, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Andrew D. Wickert, Jabari C. Jones, and Gene-Hua Crystal Ng
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1409, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1409, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Two common questions about water in rivers are: (1) "How high is the water?" and "How much water is moving downstream?" Measuring (1) is relatively easy and tells us if a river is flooding. Measuring (2) is relatively difficult, but links flow in the river to upstream rainfall, evaporation, and other watershed processes. Here we provide a straightforward but physically based way to translate between (1) and (2), and our method can keep working even if the river channel changes shape.
Kerry L. Callaghan, Andrew D. Wickert, Richard Barnes, and Jacqueline Austermann
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 1463–1486, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1463-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1463-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We present the Water Table Model (WTM), a new model for simulating groundwater and lake levels at continental scales over millennia. The WTM enables long-term evaluations of water-table changes. As a proof of concept, we simulate the North American water table for the present and the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), showing that North America held more groundwater and lake water during the LGM than it does today – enough to lower sea levels by 14.98 cm. The open-source code is available on GitHub.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Lingxiao Gong, Peter van der Beek, Taylor F. Schildgen, Edward R. Sobel, Simone Racano, Apolline Mariotti, and Fergus McNab
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 973–994, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-973-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-973-2024, 2024
Short summary
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.
Matias Romero, Shanti B. Penprase, Maximillian S. Van Wyk de Vries, Andrew D. Wickert, Andrew G. Jones, Shaun A. Marcott, Jorge A. Strelin, Mateo A. Martini, Tammy M. Rittenour, Guido Brignone, Mark D. Shapley, Emi Ito, Kelly R. MacGregor, and Marc W. Caffee
Clim. Past, 20, 1861–1883, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1861-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1861-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Investigating past glaciated regions is crucial for understanding how ice sheets responded to climate forcings and how they might respond in the future. We use two independent dating techniques to document the timing and extent of the Lago Argentino glacier lobe, a former lobe of the Patagonian Ice Sheet, during the late Quaternary. Our findings highlight feedbacks in the Earth’s system responsible for modulating glacier growth in the Southern Hemisphere prior to the global Last Glacial Maximum.
Sophia Dosch, Niels Hovius, Marisa Repasch, Joel Scheingross, Jens M. Turowski, Stefanie Tofelde, Oliver Rach, and Dirk Sachse
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 907–927, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-907-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-907-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The transport of plant debris in rivers is an important part of the global carbon cycle and influences atmospheric carbon levels through time. We sampled plant debris at the bed of a lowland river and determined the sources as it is transported hundreds of kilometers. Plant debris can persist at the riverbed, but mechanical breakdown reduces its amount, and it is only a small fraction compared to the suspended load. This plant debris and transport patterns need further investigation globally.
Jens Martin Turowski, Aaron Bufe, and Stefanie Tofelde
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 493–514, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-493-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-493-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Fluvial valleys are ubiquitous landforms, and understanding their formation and evolution affects a wide range of disciplines from archaeology and geology to fish biology. Here, we develop a model to predict the width of fluvial valleys for a wide range of geographic conditions. In the model, fluvial valley width is controlled by the two competing factors of lateral channel mobility and uplift. The model complies with available data and yields a broad range of quantitative predictions.
Andrew D. Wickert, Jabari C. Jones, and Gene-Hua Crystal Ng
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-3118, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-3118, 2024
Preprint archived
Short summary
Short summary
For over a century, scientists have used a simple algebraic relationship to estimate the amount of water flowing through a river (its discharge) from the height of the flow (its stage). Here we add physical realism to this approach by explicitly representing both the channel and floodplain, thereby allowing channel and floodplain geometry and roughness to these estimates. Our proposed advance may improve predictions of floods and water resources, even when the river channel itself changes.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Aaron Bufe, Kristen L. Cook, Albert Galy, Hella Wittmann, and Niels Hovius
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 513–530, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-513-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-513-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Erosion modulates Earth's carbon cycle by exposing a variety of lithologies to chemical weathering. We measured water chemistry in streams on the eastern Tibetan Plateau that drain either metasedimentary or granitoid rocks. With increasing erosion, weathering shifts from being a CO2 sink to being a CO2 source for both lithologies. However, metasedimentary rocks typically weather 2–10 times faster than granitoids, with implications for the role of lithology in modulating the carbon cycle.
Maximillian Van Wyk de Vries and Andrew D. Wickert
The Cryosphere, 15, 2115–2132, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2115-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2115-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We can measure glacier flow and sliding velocity by tracking patterns on the ice surface in satellite images. The surface velocity of glaciers provides important information to support assessments of glacier response to climate change, to improve regional assessments of ice thickness, and to assist with glacier fieldwork. Our paper describes Glacier Image Velocimetry (GIV), a new, easy-to-use, and open-source toolbox for calculating high-resolution velocity time series for any glacier on earth.
Richard Barnes, Kerry L. Callaghan, and Andrew D. Wickert
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 105–121, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-105-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-105-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Existing ways of modeling the flow of water amongst landscape depressions such as swamps and lakes take a long time to run. However, as our previous work explains, depressions can be quickly organized into a data structure – the depression hierarchy. This paper explains how the depression hierarchy can be used to quickly simulate the realistic filling of depressions including how they spill over into each other and, if they become full enough, how they merge into one another.
Richard Barnes, Kerry L. Callaghan, and Andrew D. Wickert
Earth Surf. Dynam., 8, 431–445, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-431-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-431-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Maps of elevation are used to help predict the flow of water so we can better understand landslides, floods, and global climate change. However, modeling the flow of water is difficult when elevation maps include swamps, lakes, and other depressions. This paper explains a new method that overcomes these difficulties, allowing models to run faster and more accurately.
Sara Savi, Stefanie Tofelde, Andrew D. Wickert, Aaron Bufe, Taylor F. Schildgen, and Manfred R. Strecker
Earth Surf. Dynam., 8, 303–322, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-303-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-303-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Fluvial deposits record changes in water and sediment supply. As such, they are often used to reconstruct the tectonic or climatic history of a basin. In this study we used an experimental setting to analyze how fluvial deposits register changes in water or sediment supply at a confluence zone. We provide a new conceptual framework that may help understanding the construction of these deposits under different forcings conditions, information crucial to correctly inferring the history of a basin.
Mitch K. D'Arcy, Taylor F. Schildgen, Jens M. Turowski, and Pedro DiNezio
Earth Surf. Dynam., 7, 755–771, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-755-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-755-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The age of formation of sedimentary deposits is often interpreted to record information about past environmental changes. Here, we show that the timing of abandonment of surfaces also provides valuable information. We derive a new set of equations that can be used to estimate when a sedimentary surface was abandoned based on what is known about its activity from surface dating. Estimates of abandonment age can benefit a variety of geomorphic analyses, which we illustrate with a case study.
Kerry L. Callaghan and Andrew D. Wickert
Earth Surf. Dynam., 7, 737–753, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-737-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-737-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Lakes and swales are real landscape features but are generally treated as data errors when calculating water flow across a surface. This is a problem because depressions can store water and fragment drainage networks. Until now, there has been no good generalized approach to calculate which depressions fill and overflow and which do not. We addressed this problem by simulating runoff flow across a landscape, selectively flooding depressions and more realistically connecting lakes and rivers.
Andrew D. Wickert, Chad T. Sandell, Bobby Schulz, and Gene-Hua Crystal Ng
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 2065–2076, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-2065-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-2065-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Measuring Earth's changing environment is a critical part of natural science, but to date most of the equipment to do so is expensive, proprietary, and difficult to customize. We addressed this challenge by developing and deploying the ALog, a low-power, lightweight, Arduino-compatible data logger. We present our hardware schematics and layouts, as well as our customizable code library that operates the ALog and helps users to link it to off-the-shelf sensors.
Leila Saberi, Rachel T. McLaughlin, G.-H. Crystal Ng, Jeff La Frenierre, Andrew D. Wickert, Michel Baraer, Wei Zhi, Li Li, and Bryan G. Mark
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 405–425, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-405-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-405-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The relationship among glacier melt, groundwater, and streamflow remains highly uncertain, especially in tropical glacierized watersheds in response to climate. We implemented a multi-method approach and found that melt contribution varies considerably and may drive streamflow variability at hourly to multi-year timescales, rather than buffer it, as commonly thought. Some of the melt contribution occurs through groundwater pathways, resulting in longer timescale interactions with streamflow.
Andrew D. Wickert and Taylor F. Schildgen
Earth Surf. Dynam., 7, 17–43, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-17-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-17-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Rivers can raise or lower their beds by depositing or eroding sediments. We combine equations for flow, channel/valley geometry, and gravel transport to learn how climate and tectonics shape down-valley profiles of river-bed elevation. Rivers steepen when they receive more sediment (relative to water) and become straighter with tectonic uplift. Weathering and breakdown of gravel is needed to produce gradually widening river channels with concave-up profiles that are often observed in the field.
G.-H. Crystal Ng, Andrew D. Wickert, Lauren D. Somers, Leila Saberi, Collin Cronkite-Ratcliff, Richard G. Niswonger, and Jeffrey M. McKenzie
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 4755–4777, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-4755-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-4755-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The profound importance of water has led to the development of increasingly complex hydrological models. However, implementing these models is usually time-consuming and requires specialized expertise, stymieing their widespread use to support science-driven decision-making. In response, we have developed GSFLOW–GRASS, a robust and comprehensive set of software tools that can be readily used to set up and execute GSFLOW, the U.S. Geological Survey's coupled groundwater–surface-water flow model.
Sara Savi, Stefanie Tofelde, Hella Wittmann, Fabiana Castino, and Taylor Schildgen
Earth Surf. Dynam. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-2017-30, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-2017-30, 2017
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
When using cosmogenic nuclides to determine exposure ages or denudation rates in rapidly evolving landscapes, challenges arise related to the small number of nuclides that have accumulated in surface materials. Here we describe an approach that defines a lower threshold above which samples with low 10Be content can be statistically distinguished from laboratory blanks. This in turn dictates the meaning and reliability of the samples and their possible use.
Andrew D. Wickert
Earth Surf. Dynam., 4, 831–869, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-831-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-831-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The ice sheets that once spread across northern North America dramatically changed the drainage basin areas and discharges of rivers across the continent. As these ice sheets retreated, starting around 19 500 years ago, they sent meltwater to the oceans, influencing climate and building a geologic record of deglaciation. This record can be used to evaluate ice-sheet reconstructions and build an improved history and understanding of past ice-sheet collapse across North America.
A. D. Wickert
Geosci. Model Dev., 9, 997–1017, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-997-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-997-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Earth's lithosphere bends beneath surface loads, such as ice, sediments, and mountain belts. The pattern of this bending, or flexural isostatic response, is a function of both the loads and the spatially variable strength of the lithosphere. gFlex is an easy-to-use program to calculate flexural isostastic response, and may be used to better understand how ice sheets, glaciers, large lakes, sedimentary basins, volcanoes, and other surface loads interact with the solid Earth.
Related subject area
Physical: Geomorphology (including all aspects of fluvial, coastal, aeolian, hillslope and glacial geomorphology)
AI-based tracking of fast-moving alpine landforms using high-frequency monoscopic time-lapse imagery
Use of simple analytical solutions in the calibration of shallow water equation debris flow models
Localised geomorphic response to channel-spanning leaky wooden dams
Surface grain-size mapping of braided channels from SfM photogrammetry
Spatiotemporal denudation rates of the Swabian Alb escarpment (southwestern Germany) dominated by anthropogenic impact, lithology, and base-level lowering
Short communication: Learning how landscapes evolve with neural operators
Sediment aggradation rates in Himalayan rivers revealed through the InSAR differential residual topographic phase
The glacial paleolandscapes of Southern Africa: the legacy of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age
Multiple equilibrium configurations in river-dominated deltas
Investigating the celerity of propagation for small perturbations and dispersive sediment aggradation under a supercritical flow
Short communication: Multiscale topographic complexity analysis with pyTopoComplexity
Sub-surface processes and heat fluxes at coarse blocky Murtèl rock glacier (Engadine, eastern Swiss Alps): seasonal ice and convective cooling render rock glaciers climate-robust
Influence of alluvial slope on avulsion in river deltas
Surficial sediment remobilization by shear between sediment and water above tsunamigenic megathrust ruptures: experimental study
Curvature-based pebble segmentation for reconstructed surface meshes
Haloturbation in the northern Atacama Desert revealed by a hidden subsurface network of calcium sulfate wedges
Improving a multi-grain size total sediment load model through a new standardized reference shear stress for incipient motion and an adjusted saltation height description
An evaluation of flow-routing algorithms for calculating contributing area on regular grids
Geometric constraints on tributary fluvial network junction angles
Effect of grain-sorting waves on alternate bar dynamics: Implications of the breakdown of the hydrograph boundary layer
Automatic detection of floating instream large wood in videos using deep learning
Investigating uncertainty and parameter sensitivity in bedform analysis by using a Monte Carlo approach
Geomorphic imprint of high-mountain floods: insights from the 2022 hydrological extreme across the upper Indus River catchment in the northwestern Himalayas
A numerical model for duricrust formation by water table fluctuations
Width evolution of channel belts as a random walk
Evidence of slow millennial cliff retreat rates using cosmogenic nuclides in coastal colluvium
Equilibrium distance from long-range dune interactions
Slow-moving rock glaciers in marginal periglacial environment of Southern Carpathians
Examination of analytical shear stress predictions for coastal dune evolution
Post-fire evolution of ravel transport regimes in the Diablo Range, CA
Landscape response to tectonic deformation and cyclic climate change since ca. 800 ka in the southern central Andes
The Aare main overdeepening on the northern margin of the European Alps: basins, riegels, and slot canyons
A simple model for faceted topographies at normal faults based on an extended stream-power law
Testing floc settling velocity models in rivers and freshwater wetlands
River suspended-sand flux computation with uncertainty estimation using water samples and high-resolution ADCP measurements
Barchan swarm dynamics from a Two-Flank Agent-Based Model
A landslide runout model for sediment transport, landscape evolution, and hazard assessment applications
Tracking slow-moving landslides with PlanetScope data: new perspectives on the satellite's perspective
Topographic metrics for unveiling fault segmentation and tectono-geomorphic evolution with insights into the impact of inherited topography, Ulsan Fault Zone, South Korea
Biomechanical parameters of marram grass (Calamagrostis arenaria) for advanced modeling of dune vegetation
Acceleration of coastal-retreat rates for high-Arctic rock cliffs on Brøggerhalvøya, Svalbard, over the past decade
The impact of bedrock meander cutoffs on 50 kyr scale incision rates, San Juan River, Utah
How water, temperature, and seismicity control the preconditioning of massive rock slope failure (Hochvogel)
Large structure simulation for landscape evolution models
Terrace formation linked to outburst floods at the Diexi palaeo-landslide dam, upper Minjiang River, eastern Tibetan Plateau
Pliocene shorelines and the epeirogenic motion of continental margins: a target dataset for dynamic topography models
Decadal-scale decay of landslide-derived fluvial suspended sediment after Typhoon Morakot
Role of the forcing sources in morphodynamic modelling of an embayed beach
A machine learning approach to the geomorphometric detection of ribbed moraines in Norway
Stream hydrology controls on ice cliff evolution and survival on debris-covered glaciers
Hanne Hendrickx, Melanie Elias, Xabier Blanch, Reynald Delaloye, and Anette Eltner
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 705–721, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-705-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-705-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents a novel AI-based method for tracking and analysing the movement of rock glaciers and landslides, key landforms in high mountain regions. By utilising time-lapse images, our approach generates detailed velocity data, uncovering movement patterns often missed by traditional methods. This cost-effective tool enhances geohazard monitoring, providing insights into environmental drivers, improving process understanding, and contributing to better safety in alpine areas.
Riccardo Bonomelli, Marco Pilotti, and Gabriele Farina
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 665–681, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-665-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-665-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Debris flows are fundamental components of the hazard in mountain regions, and numerical models must be used for the related risk computation. Most existing commercial software strongly conceptualizes the main characteristics of the flow, leading to an inevitable calibration process, which is time-consuming and difficult to accomplish. This contribution offers some physically based solutions to confine the calibration process and to better understand the implications of the selected choice.
Joshua M. Wolstenholme, Christopher J. Skinner, David Milan, Robert E. Thomas, and Daniel R. Parsons
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 647–663, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-647-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-647-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Leaky wooden dams are a popular form of natural flood management used to slow the flow of water by increasing floodplain connectivity whilst decreasing connectivity along the river profile. By monitoring two leaky wooden dams in North Yorkshire, UK, we present the geomorphological response to their installation, highlighting that the structures significantly increase channel complexity in response to different river flow conditions.
Loïs Ribet, Frédéric Liébault, Laurent Borgniet, Michaël Deschâtres, and Gabriel Melun
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 607–627, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-607-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-607-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This work presents a protocol and a model to obtain the sizes of the pebbles in mountain rivers from uncrewed aerial vehicle images. A total of 12 rivers located in southeastern France were photographed to build the model. The results show that the model has little error and should be usable for similar rivers. The grain size of mountain rivers is an important parameter for environmental diagnostics by mapping the aquatic habitats and for flood management by estimating the pebble fluxes during floods.
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.
Gareth G. Roberts
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 563–570, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-563-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-563-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The use of new artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to learn how landscapes evolve is demonstrated. A few “snapshots” of an eroding landscape at different stages of its history provide enough information for AI to ascertain rules governing its evolution. Once the rules are known, predicting landscape evolution is extremely rapid and efficient, providing new tools to understand landscape change.
Jingqiu Huang and Hugh D. Sinclair
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 531–547, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-531-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-531-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We develop a novel approach based on satellite radar images to quantify millimetre-scale sedimentation during monsoon floods over a 15 km stretch of four rivers, from the Himalayan mountain front to the gravel–sand transition. The results show how sediment accumulates more rapidly near the mountain front and decreases downstream, while the floodplain sinks. This method can improve river monitoring, enhance flood prediction, and benefit communities at risk of flooding in Nepal and India.
Pierre Dietrich, François Guillocheau, Guilhem A. Douillet, Neil P. Griffis, Guillaume Baby, Daniel P. Le Héron, Laurie Barrier, Maximilien Mathian, Isabel P. Montañez, Cécile Robin, Thomas Gyomlai, Christoph Kettler, and Axel Hofmann
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 495–529, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-495-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-495-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
At the evocation of icy landscapes, Africa is not the first place that comes to mind. The modern relief of Southern Africa is generally considered to be a result of uplift and counteracting erosion. We show that some of the modern relief of this region is due to fossil glacial landscapes – striated pavements, valleys, and fjords – tied to an ice age that occurred ca. 300 Myr ago. We focus on how these landscapes have escaped being erased for hundreds of millions of years.
Lorenzo Durante, Nicoletta Tambroni, and Michele Bolla Pittaluga
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 455–471, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-455-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-455-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
River deltas evolve due to natural forces and human activities, posing challenges for communities relying on stable water flow. This study examines how different flow distributions shape delta channels. Using a new theoretical model, we identify branch length as the key factor influencing stability. Applying this to Italy's Po River Delta, we highlight areas at risk of change, providing insights for better management and planning.
Hasan Eslami, Erfan Poursoleymanzadeh, Mojtaba Hiteh, Keivan Tavakoli, Melika Yavari Nia, Ehsan Zadehali, Reihaneh Zarrabi, and Alessio Radice
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 437–454, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-437-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-437-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
A channel may be aggraded by overloaded sediment. In this study we realize an aggradation experiment and determine the celerity at which an aggradation wave, due to sediment overloading, migrates. We also investigate the celerity of small perturbations, as quantified by mathematical formulations. The celerities of the two kinds are correlated with each other. However, the celerity of small perturbations is larger than the other one, which is less than a few percent of the water velocity.
Larry Syu-Heng Lai, Adam M. Booth, Alison R. Duvall, and Erich Herzig
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 417–435, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-417-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-417-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
pyTopoComplexity is an open-source Python tool for multiscale land surface complexity analysis. Applied to a landslide-affected area in Washington, USA, it accurately identified landform features at various scales, enhancing our understanding of landform recovery after disturbances. By integrating with Landlab’s landscape evolution simulations, the software allows researchers to explore how different processes drive the evolution of surface complexity in response to natural forces.
Dominik Amschwand, Jonas Wicky, Martin Scherler, Martin Hoelzle, Bernhard Krummenacher, Anna Haberkorn, Christian Kienholz, and Hansueli Gubler
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 365–401, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-365-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-365-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Rock glaciers are comparatively climate-robust permafrost landforms. We estimated the energy budget of the seasonally thawing active layer (AL) of Murtèl rock glacier (Swiss Alps) based on a novel sub-surface sensor array. In the coarse blocky AL, heat is transferred by thermal radiation and air convection. The ground heat flux is largely spent on melting seasonal ice in the AL. Convective cooling and the seasonal ice turnover make rock glaciers climate-robust and shield the permafrost beneath.
Octria A. Prasojo, Trevor B. Hoey, Amanda Owen, and Richard D. Williams
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 349–363, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-349-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-349-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Decades of delta avulsion (i.e. channel abrupt jump) studies have not resolved what the main controls of delta avulsion are. Using a computer model, integrated with field observation, analytical, and laboratory-made deltas, we found that the sediment load, which itself is controlled by the steepness of the river upstream of a delta, controls the timing of avulsion. We can now better understand the main cause of abrupt channel changes in deltas, a finding that aids flood risk management in river deltas.
Chloé Seibert, Cecilia McHugh, Chris Paola, Leonardo Seeber, and James Tucker
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 341–348, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-341-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-341-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We propose a new mechanism of co-seismic sediment entrainment induced by shear stress at the sediment–water interface during major subduction earthquakes rupturing to the trench. Physical experiments show that flow velocities consistent with long-period earthquake motions can entrain synthetic marine sediment, and high-frequency vertical shaking can enhance this mobilization. They validate the proposed entrainment mechanism, which opens new avenues for paleoseismology in deep-sea environments.
Aljoscha Rheinwalt, Benjamin Purinton, and Bodo Bookhagen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1110, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1110, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Our study presents a computer-based method to detect and measure pebbles in 3D models reconstructed from camera photos. We tested it in a controlled setup and achieved 98 % accuracy in detecting pebbles. Unlike traditional 2D methods, our approach provides full 3D size and orientation data. This improves sediment analysis and riverbed studies by offering more precise measurements. Our work highlights the potential of 3D modeling for studying natural surfaces.
Aline Zinelabedin, Joel Mohren, Maria Wierzbicka-Wieczorek, Tibor Janos Dunai, Stefan Heinze, and Benedikt Ritter
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 257–276, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-257-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-257-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
In order to interpret the formation processes of subsurface salt wedges and polygonal patterned grounds from the northern Atacama Desert, we present a multi-methodological approach. Due to the high salt content of the wedges, we suggest that their formation is dominated by subsurface salt dynamics requiring moisture. We assume that the climatic conditions during the wedge growth were slightly wetter than today, offering the potential to use the wedges as palaeoclimate archives.
Marine Le Minor, Dimitri Lague, Jamie Howarth, and Philippe Davy
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1271, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1271, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
In natural rivers, flow variability and sediment heterogeneity affect how sediment grains are transported. A unique law that predicts the total amount of sediment transportable by a river for a wide range of sediment mixtures and flow conditions exist but unclear trends remain. Two improvements of this law, a standardized onset of sediment transport and a common reference transport height across all sizes, appear to be critical to have a functional multi grain-size total sediment load.
Alexander B. Prescott, Jon D. Pelletier, Satya Chataut, and Sriram Ananthanarayan
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 239–256, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-239-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-239-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Many Earth surface processes are controlled by the spatial pattern of surface water flow. We review commonly used methods for predicting such spatial patterns in digital landform models and document the pros and cons of commonly used methods. We propose a new method that is designed to minimize those limitations and show that it works well in a variety of test cases.
Jon D. Pelletier, Robert G. Hayes, Olivia Hoch, Brendan Fenerty, and Luke A. McGuire
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 219–238, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-219-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-219-2025, 2025
Short summary
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.
Soichi Tanabe and Toshiki Iwasaki
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-103, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-103, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We try to understand how the sediment supply from the upstream river reach affect the downstream river morphology using a numerical model. If the supplied sediment is composed of variety of size class of particles, a small size bed wave that is composed of mainly fine particles (sorting wave) can propagate to downstream very long distance. However, presence of bars suppresses the effect of sorting wave greatly, and thus the sediment supply has limited role in the downstream river morphology.
Janbert Aarnink, Tom Beucler, Marceline Vuaridel, and Virginia Ruiz-Villanueva
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 167–189, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-167-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-167-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents a novel convolutional-neural-network approach for detecting instream large wood in rivers, addressing the need for flexible monitoring methods across diverse data sources. Using a database of 15 228 fully labelled images, the model achieved a weighted mean average precision of 67 %. Fine-tuning parameters and sampling techniques can improve performance by over 10 % in some cases, offering valuable insights into ecosystem management.
Julius Reich and Axel Winterscheid
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 191–217, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-191-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-191-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Analyzing the geometry and the dynamics of riverine bedforms (so-called dune tracking) is important for various fields of application and contributes to sound and efficient river and sediment management. We developed a workflow that enables a robust estimation of bedform characteristics and with which comprehensive sensitivity analyses can be carried out. Using a field dataset, we show that the setting of input parameters in bedform analyses can have a significant impact on the results.
Abhishek Kashyap, Kristen L. Cook, and Mukunda Dev Behera
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 147–166, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-147-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-147-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Short-lived, high-magnitude flood events across high mountain regions leave substantial geomorphic imprints, which are frequently triggered by excess precipitation, glacial lake outbursts, and natural dam breaches. These catastrophic floods highlight the importance of understanding the complex interaction between climatic, hydrological, and geological forces in bedrock catchments. Extreme floods can have long-term geomorphic consequences on river morphology and fluvial processes.
Caroline Fenske, Jean Braun, François Guillocheau, and Cécile Robin
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 119–146, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-119-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-119-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We have developed a new numerical model to represent the formation of duricrusts, which are hard mineral layers found in soils and at the surface of the Earth. We assume that the formation mechanism implies variations in the height of the water table and that the hardening rate is proportional to precipitation. The model allows us to quantify the potential feedbacks they generate on the surface topography and the thickness of the regolith/soil layer.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Rémi Bossis, Vincent Regard, Sébastien Carretier, and Sandrine Choy
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 71–79, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-71-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-71-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The erosion of rocky coasts occurs episodically through wave action and landslides, constituting a major natural hazard. Documenting the factors that control the coastal retreat rate over millennia is fundamental to evidencing any change in time. However, the known rates to date are essentially representative of the last few decades. Here, we present a new method using the concentration of an isotope, 10Be, in sediment eroded from the cliff to quantify its retreat rate averaged over millennia.
Jean Vérité, Clément Narteau, Olivier Rozier, Jeanne Alkalla, Laurie Barrier, and Sylvain Courrech du Pont
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 23–39, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-23-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-23-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Using a numerical model in 2D, we study how two identical dunes interact with each other when exposed to reversing winds. Depending on the distance between the dunes, they either repel or attract each other until they reach an equilibrium distance, which is controlled by the wind strength, wind reversal frequency, and dune size. This process is controlled by the modification of wind flow over dunes of various shapes, influencing the sediment transport downstream.
Alexandru Onaca, Flavius Sirbu, Valentin Poncos, Christin Hilbich, Tazio Strozzi, Petru Urdea, Răzvan Popescu, Oana Berzescu, Bernd Etzelmüller, Alfred Vespremeanu-Stroe, Mirela Vasile, Delia Teleagă, Dan Birtaș, Iosif Lopătiță, Simon Filhol, Alexandru Hegyi, and Florina Ardelean
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3262, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3262, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study establishes a methodology for the study of slow-moving rock glaciers in marginal permafrost and provides the basic knowledge for understanding rock glaciers in south east Europe. By using a combination of different methods (remote sensing, geophysical survey, thermal measurements), we found out that, on the transitional rock glaciers, low ground ice content (i.e. below 20 %) produces horizontal displacements of up to 3 cm per year.
Orie Cecil, Nicholas Cohn, Matthew Farthing, Sourav Dutta, and Andrew Trautz
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 1–22, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-1-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-1-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Using computational fluid dynamics, we analyze the error trends of an analytical shear stress distribution model used to drive aeolian transport for coastal dunes, which are an important line of defense against storm-related flooding hazards. We find that compared to numerical simulations, the analytical model results in a net overprediction of the landward migration rate. Additionally, two data-driven approaches are proposed for reducing the error while maintaining computational efficiency.
Hayden L. Jacobson, Danica L. Roth, Gabriel Walton, Margaret Zimmer, and Kerri Johnson
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 1415–1446, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1415-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1415-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Loose grains travel farther after a fire because no vegetation is left to stop them. This matters since loose grains at the base of a slope can turn into a debris flow if it rains. To find if grass growing back after a fire had different impacts on grains of different sizes on slopes of different steepness, we dropped thousands of natural grains and measured how far they went. Large grains went farther 7 months after the fire than 11 months after, and small grain movement didn’t change much.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Fritz Schlunegger, Edi Kissling, Dimitri Tibo Bandou, Guilhem Amin Douillet, David Mair, Urs Marti, Regina Reber, Patrick Schläfli, and Michael Alfred Schwenk
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 1371–1389, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1371-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1371-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Overdeepenings are bedrock depressions filled with sediment. We combine the results of a gravity survey with drilling data to explore the morphology of such a depression beneath the city of Bern. We find that the target overdeepening comprises two basins >200 m deep. They are separated by a bedrock riegel that itself is cut by narrow canyons up to 150 m deep. We postulate that these structures formed underneath a glacier, where erosion by subglacial meltwater caused the formation of the canyons.
Stefan Hergarten
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 1315–1327, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1315-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1315-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Faceted topographies are impressive footprints of active tectonics in geomorphology. This paper investigates the evolution of faceted topographies at normal faults and their interaction with a river network theoretically and numerically. As a main result beyond several relations for the geometry of facets, the horizontal displacement associated with normal faults is crucial for the dissection of initially polygonal facets into triangular facets bounded by almost parallel rivers.
Justin A. Nghiem, Gen K. Li, Joshua P. Harringmeyer, Gerard Salter, Cédric G. Fichot, Luca Cortese, and Michael P. Lamb
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 1267–1294, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1267-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1267-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Fine sediment grains in freshwater can cohere into faster-settling particles called flocs, but floc settling velocity theory has not been fully validated. Combining three data sources in novel ways in the Wax Lake Delta, we verified a semi-empirical model relying on turbulence and geochemical factors. For a physics-based model, we showed that the representative grain diameter within flocs relies on floc structure and that heterogeneous flow paths inside flocs increase floc settling velocity.
Jessica Marggraf, Guillaume Dramais, Jérôme Le Coz, Blaise Calmel, Benoît Camenen, David J. Topping, William Santini, Gilles Pierrefeu, and François Lauters
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 1243–1266, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1243-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1243-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Suspended-sand fluxes in rivers vary with time and space, complicating their measurement. The proposed method captures the vertical and lateral variations of suspended-sand concentration throughout a river cross-section. It merges water samples taken at various positions throughout the cross-section with high-resolution acoustic velocity measurements. This is the first method that includes a fully applicable uncertainty estimation; it can easily be applied to any other study sites.
Dominic T. Robson and Andreas C. W. Baas
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 1205–1226, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1205-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1205-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Barchans are fast-moving sand dunes which form large populations (swarms) on Earth and Mars. We show that a small range of model parameters produces swarms in which dune size does not vary downwind – something that is observed in nature but not when using earlier models. We also show how the shape of dunes and the spatial patterns they form are affected by wind direction. This work furthers our understanding of the interplay between environmental drivers, dune interactions, and swarm properties.
Jeffrey Keck, Erkan Istanbulluoglu, Benjamin Campforts, Gregory Tucker, and Alexander Horner-Devine
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 1165–1191, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1165-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1165-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
MassWastingRunout (MWR) is a new landslide runout model designed for sediment transport, landscape evolution, and hazard assessment applications. MWR is written in Python and includes a calibration utility that automatically determines best-fit parameters for a site and empirical probability density functions of each parameter for probabilistic model implementation. MWR and Jupyter Notebook tutorials are available as part of the Landlab package at https://github.com/landlab/landlab.
Ariane Mueting and Bodo Bookhagen
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 1121–1143, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1121-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1121-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates the use of optical PlanetScope data for offset tracking of the Earth's surface movement. We found that co-registration accuracy is locally degraded when outdated elevation models are used for orthorectification. To mitigate this bias, we propose to only correlate scenes acquired from common perspectives or base orthorectification on more up-to-date elevation models generated from PlanetScope data alone. This enables a more detailed analysis of landslide dynamics.
Cho-Hee Lee, Yeong Bae Seong, John Weber, Sangmin Ha, Dong-Eun Kim, and Byung Yong Yu
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 1091–1120, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1091-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1091-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Topographic metrics were used to understand changes due to tectonic activity. We evaluated the relative tectonic activity along the Ulsan Fault Zone (UFZ), one of the most active fault zones in South Korea. We divided the UFZ into five segments, based on the spatial variation in activity. We modeled the landscape evolution of the study area and interpreted tectono-geomorphic history during which the northern part of the UFZ experienced asymmetric uplift, while the southern part did not.
Viktoria Kosmalla, Oliver Lojek, Jana Carus, Kara Keimer, Lukas Ahrenbeck, Björn Mehrtens, David Schürenkamp, Boris Schröder, and Nils Goseberg
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2688, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2688, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study analysed seasonal biomechanical traits of marram grass at two coastal dune sites using monthly field and lab data acquired 2022. Differences in density, leaf length, and flower stems were observed, which are unaffected by wind and deemed transferable. These findings enable surrogate model development for numerical and physical experiments alike, where live vegetation is impractical. Results address the knowledge gap how dune stability and erosion resistance are affected by vegetation.
Juditha Aga, Livia Piermattei, Luc Girod, Kristoffer Aalstad, Trond Eiken, Andreas Kääb, and Sebastian Westermann
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 1049–1070, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1049-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1049-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Coastal rock cliffs on Svalbard are considered to be fairly stable; however, long-term trends in coastal-retreat rates remain unknown. This study examines changes in the coastline position along Brøggerhalvøya, Svalbard, using aerial images from 1970, 1990, 2010, and 2021. Our analysis shows that coastal-retreat rates accelerate during the period 2010–2021, which coincides with increasing storminess and retreating sea ice.
Aaron T. Steelquist, Gustav B. Seixas, Mary L. Gillam, Sourav Saha, Seulgi Moon, and George E. Hilley
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 1071–1089, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1071-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1071-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The rates at which rivers erode their bed can be used to interpret the geologic history of a region. However, these rates depend significantly on the time window over which you measure. We use multiple dating methods to determine an incision rate for the San Juan River and compare it to regional rates with longer timescales. We demonstrate how specific geologic events, such as cutoffs of bedrock meander bends, are likely to preserve material we can date but also bias the rates we measure.
Johannes Leinauer, Michael Dietze, Sibylle Knapp, Riccardo Scandroglio, Maximilian Jokel, and Michael Krautblatter
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 1027–1048, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1027-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1027-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Massive rock slope failures are a significant alpine hazard and change the Earth's surface. Therefore, we must understand what controls the preparation of such events. By correlating 4 years of slope displacements with meteorological and seismic data, we found that water from rain and snowmelt is the most important driver. Our approach is applicable to similar sites and indicates where future climatic changes, e.g. in rain intensity and frequency, may alter the preparation of slope failure.
Julien Coatléven and Benoit Chauveau
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 995–1026, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-995-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-995-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The aim of this paper is to explain how to incorporate classical water flow routines into landscape evolution models while keeping numerical errors under control. The key idea is to adapt filtering strategies to eliminate anomalous numerical errors and mesh dependencies, as confirmed by convergence tests with analytic solutions. The emergence of complex geomorphic structures is now driven exclusively by nonlinear heterogeneous physical processes rather than by random numerical artifacts.
Jingjuan Li, John D. Jansen, Xuanmei Fan, Zhiyong Ding, Shugang Kang, and Marco Lovati
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 953–971, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-953-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-953-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we investigated the geomorphology, sedimentology, and chronology of Tuanjie (seven terraces) and Taiping (three terraces) terraces in Diexi, eastern Tibetan Plateau. Results highlight that two damming and three outburst events occurred in the area during the late Pleistocene, and the outburst floods have been a major factor in the formation of tectonically active mountainous river terraces. Tectonic activity and climatic changes play a minor role.
Andrew Hollyday, Maureen E. Raymo, Jacqueline Austermann, Fred Richards, Mark Hoggard, and Alessio Rovere
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 883–905, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-883-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-883-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Sea level was significantly higher during the Pliocene epoch, around 3 million years ago. The present-day elevations of shorelines that formed in the past provide a data constraint on the extent of ice sheet melt and the global sea level response under warm Pliocene conditions. In this study, we identify 10 escarpments that formed from wave-cut erosion during Pliocene times and compare their elevations with model predictions of solid Earth deformation processes to estimate past sea level.
Gregory A. Ruetenik, Ken L. Ferrier, and Odin Marc
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 863–881, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-863-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-863-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Fluvial sediment fluxes increased dramatically in Taiwan during Typhoon Morakot in 2009, which produced some of the heaviest landsliding on record. We analyzed fluvial discharge and suspended sediment concentration data at 87 gauging stations across Taiwan to quantify fluvial sediment responses since Morakot. In basins heavily impacted by landsliding, rating curve coefficients sharply increased during Morakot and then declined exponentially with a characteristic decay time of <10 years.
Nil Carrion-Bertran, Albert Falqués, Francesca Ribas, Daniel Calvete, Rinse de Swart, Ruth Durán, Candela Marco-Peretó, Marta Marcos, Angel Amores, Tim Toomey, Àngels Fernández-Mora, and Jorge Guillén
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 819–839, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-819-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-819-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The sensitivity to the wave and sea-level forcing sources in predicting a 6-month embayed beach evolution is assessed using two different morphodynamic models. After a successful model calibration using in situ data, other sources are applied. The wave source choice is critical: hindcast data provide wrong results due to an angle bias, whilst the correct dynamics are recovered with the wave conditions from an offshore buoy. The use of different sea-level sources gives no significant differences.
Thomas J. Barnes, Thomas V. Schuler, Simon Filhol, and Karianne S. Lilleøren
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 801–818, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-801-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-801-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper, we use machine learning to automatically outline landforms based on their characteristics. We test several methods to identify the most accurate and then proceed to develop the most accurate to improve its accuracy further. We manage to outline landforms with 65 %–75 % accuracy, at a resolution of 10 m, thanks to high-quality/high-resolution elevation data. We find that it is possible to run this method at a country scale to quickly produce landform inventories for future studies.
Eric Petersen, Regine Hock, and Michael G. Loso
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 727–745, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-727-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-727-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Ice cliffs are melt hot spots that increase melt rates on debris-covered glaciers which otherwise see a reduction in melt rates. In this study, we show how surface runoff streams contribute to the generation, evolution, and survival of ice cliffs by carving into the glacier and transporting rocky debris. On Kennicott Glacier, Alaska, 33 % of ice cliffs are actively influenced by streams, while nearly half are within 10 m of streams.
Cited articles
Allen, P. A.: From landscapes into geological history, Nature, 451, 274–276,
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06586, 2008.
Allen, P. A.: Sediment routing systems: The fate of sediment from source to
sink, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, USA, https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316135754, 2017.
Allen, P. A. and Densmore, A. L.: Sediment flux from an uplifting fault
block, Basin Res., 12, 367–380, https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2117.2000.00135.x, 2000.
Alloway, B. V., Lowe, D. J., Barrell, D. J. A., Newnham, R. M., Almond, P.
C., Augustinus, P. C., Bertler, N. A. N., Carter, L., Litchfield, N. J.,
Mcglone, M. S., Shulmeister, J., Vandergoes, M. J., Williams, P. W., and
Members, N.-I.: Towards a climate event stratigraphy for New Zealand over
the past 30 000 years (NZ-INTIMATE project), J. Quaternary Sci., 22, 9–35,
https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.1079, 2007.
Armitage, J. J., Duller, R. A., Whittaker, A. C., and Allen, P. A.:
Transformation of tectonic and climatic signals from source to sedimentary
archive, Nat. Geosci., 4, 231–235, 2011.
Armitage, J. J., Dunkley Jones, T., Duller, R. A., Whittaker, A. C., and
Allen, P. A.: Temporal buffering of climate-driven sediment flux cycles by
transient catchment response, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 369–370, 200–210,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.03.020, 2013.
Baynes, E. R. C., Lague, D., and Kermarrec, J.: Supercritical river terraces
generated by hydraulic and geomorphic interactions, Geology, 46, 1–4,
https://doi.org/10.1130/G40071.1, 2018.
Begin, Z. B., Meyer, D. F., and Schumm, S. A.: Development of longitudinal
profiles of alluvial channels in response to base-level lowering, Earth
Surf. Proc. Land., 6, 49–68, 1981.
Bierman, P. and Steig, E. J.: Estimating rates of denudation using
cosmogenic isotope abundances in sediment, Earth Surf. Proc. Land.,
21, 125–139, https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1096-9837(199602)21:2<125::AID-ESP511>3.0.CO;2-8, 1996.
Blom, A., Viparelli, E., and Chavarrías, V.: The graded alluvial river:
Profile concavity and downstream fining, Geophys. Res. Lett, 43, 6285–6293,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL068898, 2016.
Blom, A., Arkesteijn, L., Chavarrias, V., and Viparelli, E.: The equilibrium
alluvial river under variable flow and its channel-forming discharge, J.
Geophys. Res.-Earth, 122, 1924–1948, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JF004213, 2017.
Blum, M. D. and Tornqvist, T. E.: Fluvial responses to climate and sea-level
change: a review and look forward, Sedimentology, 47, 2–48,
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3091.2000.00008.x, 2000.
Bonnet, S. and Crave, A.: Landscape response to climate change: Insights
from experimental modeling and implications for tectonic versus climatic
uplift of topography, Geology, 31, 123–126, 2003.
Bookhagen, B., Fleitmann, D., Nishiizumi, K., Strecker, M. R., and Thiede, R.
C.: Holocene monsoonal dynamics and fluvial terrace formation in the
northwest Himalaya, India, Geology, 34, 601–604, https://doi.org/10.1130/G22698.1,
2006.
Bridgland, D. and Westaway, R.: Climatically controlled river terrace
staircases: a worlwide Quaternary phenomenon, Geomorphology, 98,
285–315, 2008.
Brown, E. T., Stallard, R. F., Larsen, M. C., Raisbeck, G. M., and Yiou, F.:
Denudation rates determined from the accumulation of in situ-produced 10Be
in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett.,
129, 193–202, https://doi.org/10.1016/0012-821X(94)00249-X, 1995.
Bufe, A., Turowski, J. M., Burbank, D. W., Paola, C., Wickert, A. D., and
Tofelde, S.: Controls on lateral channel mobility and the reworked area of
active alluvial surfaces, in: EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts, 8–13 April 2018,
Vienna, Austria, p. 13437, 2018.
Buffington, J. M.: Changes in channel morphology over human time scales, chap. 32, Gravel-Bed Rivers Processes, Tools, Environments, edited by: Church, M., Biron, P. M., and Roy, A. G., Wiley, Chichester, UK, 435–463, 2012.
Bull, W. B.: Stream-terrace genesis: implications for soil development,
Geomorphology, 3, 351–367, https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-555X(90)90011-E, 1990.
Bull, W. B.: Geomorphic responses to climatic change, Oxford University
Press, USA, 1991.
Cantelli, A., Paola, C., and Parker, G.: Experiments on upstream-migrating
erosional narrowing and widening of an incisional channel caused by dam
removal, Water Resour. Res., 40, W03304, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003WR002940, 2004.
Castelltort, S. and Van Den Driessche, J.: How plausible are high-frequency
sediment supply-driven cycles in the stratigraphic record?, Sediment. Geol.,
157, 3–13, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0037-0738(03)00066-6, 2003.
Coulthard, T. J. T., Lewin, J., and Macklin, M. G.: Modelling differential
catchment response to environmental change, Geomorphology, 69, 222–241,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2005.01.008, 2005.
Dey, S., Thiede, R. C., Schildgen, T. F., Wittmann, H., Bookhagen, B.,
Scherler, D., Jain, V., and Strecker, M. R.: Climate-driven sediment
aggradation and incision since the late Pleistocene in the NW Himalaya,
India, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 449, 321–331,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2016.05.050, 2016.
Dixon, J. L., Heimsath, A. M., Kaste, J., and Amundson, R.: Climate-driven
processes of hillslope weathering, Geology, 37, 975–978,
https://doi.org/10.1130/G30045A.1, 2009.
Erkens, G., Dambeck, R., Volleberg, K. P., Bouman, M. T. I. J., Bos, J. A.
A., Cohen, K. M., Wallinga, J., and Hoek, W. Z.: Fluvial terrace formation in
the northern Upper Rhine Graben during the last 20,000 years as a result of
allogenic controls and autogenic evolution, Geomorphology, 103, 476–495,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2008.07.021, 2009.
Farabaugh, R. L. and Rigsby, C. A.: Climatic influence on sedimentology and
geomorphology of the Rio Ramis valley, Peru, J. Sediment. Res., 75,
12–28, 2005.
Faulkner, D. J., Larson, P. H., Jol, H. M., Running, G. L., Loope, H. M., and
Goble, R. J.: Autogenic incision and terrace formation resulting from abrupt
late-glacial base-level fall, lower Chippewa River, Wisconsin, USA,
Geomorphology, 266, 75–95, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2016.04.016, 2016.
Fisk, N. H.: Geological investigation of the alluvial valley of the lower
Mississippi River, Mississippi River Commission Print, Vicksburg, Mississippi, USA, 1944.
Frankel, K. L., Pazzaglia, F. J., and Vaughn, J. D.: Knickpoint evolution in
a vertically bedded substrate, upstream-dipping terraces, and Atlantic slope
bedrock channels, GSA Bull., 119, 476–486, https://doi.org/10.1130/B25965.1, 2007.
Fuller, I. C., Macklin, M. G., Lewin, J., Passmore, D. G., and Wintle, A. G.:
River response to high-frequency climate oscillations in southern Europe
over the past 200 ky, Geology, 26, 275–278,
https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1998)026<0275:RRTHFC>2.3.CO;2,
1998.
Garcin, Y., Schildgen, T. F., Torres Acosta, V., Melnick, D., Guillemoteau,
J., Willenbring, J., and Strecker, M. R.: Short-lived increase in erosion
during the African Humid Period: Evidence from the northern Kenya Rift,
Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 459, 58–69, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2016.11.017, 2017.
Gardner, T. W.: Experimental study of knickpoint and longitudinal profile
evolution in cohesive, homogeneous material, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull, 94,
664–572, https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1983)94<664:ESOKAL>2.0.CO;2, 1983.
Gilbert, G. K.: Report on the Geology of the Henry Mountains, US Gov. Print.
Off., Washington, D.C., USA, https://doi.org/10.3133/70038096, 1877.
Godard, V., Tucker, G. E., Burch Fisher, G., Burbank, D. W., and Bookhagen,
B.: Frequency-dependent landscape response to climatic forcing, Geophys.
Res. Lett., 40, 859–863, https://doi.org/10.1002/grl.50253, 2013.
Gonzalez, M. A.: Recent formation of arroyos in the Little Missouri Badlands
of southwestern North Dakota, Geomorphology, 38, 63–84, 2001.
Granger, D. E., Kirchner, J. W., and Finkel, R.: Spatially averaged long-term
erosion rates measured from in situ-produced cosmogenic nuclides in alluvial
sediment, J. Geol., 104, 249–257, 1996.
Hanson, P. R., Mason, J. A., and Goble, R. J.: Fluvial terrace formation
along Wyoming's Laramie Range as a response to increased late Pleistocene
flood magnitudes, Geomorphology, 76, 12–25,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2005.08.010, 2006.
Hardy, D. R., Bradley, R. S., and Zolitschka, B.: The climatic signal in varved sediments from Lake C2, northern Ellesmere Island, Canada, J. Paleolimnol., 16, 227–238, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00176938, 1996.
Hippe, K., Kober, F., Zeilinger, G., Ivy-ochs, S., Maden, C., Wacker, L.,
Kubik, P. W., and Wieler, R.: Quantifying denudation rates and sediment
storage on the eastern Altiplano, Bolivia, using cosmogenic 10Be, 26Al, and
in situ 14C, Geomorphology, 179, 58–70, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2012.07.031,
2012.
Howard, A. D.: Numerical systems of terrace nomenclature: A critique, J.
Geol., 67, 239–243, 1959.
Howard, A. D.: Equilibrium and time scales in geomorphology: Application to
sand-bed alluvial streams, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 7, 303–325,
1982.
Huntington, E.: Some characteristics of the glacial period in non-glaciated
region, Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., 18, 351–388, 1907.
Hurst, M. D., Mudd, S. M., Walcott, R., Attal, M., and Yoo, K.: Using hilltop
curvature to derive the spatial distribution of erosion rates, J. Geophys.
Res.-Earth, 117, 1–19, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JF002057, 2012.
Lane, E. W.: Importance of fluvial morphology in hydraulic engineering,
Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers, 81, 1–17, 1955.
Langbein, W. B. and Schumm, S. A.: Yield of sediment in relation to mean
annual precipitation, EOS T. Am. Geophys. Un., 39, 1076–1084, 1958.
Larson, P. H., Dorn, R. I., Faulkner, D. J., and Friend, D. A.: Toe-cut
terraces: A review and proposed criteria to differentiate from traditional
fluvial terraces, Prog. Phys. Geogr., 39, 417–439, 2015.
Lewis, W. V.: Stream trough experiments and terrace formation, Geol. Mag.,
81, 241–253, 1944.
Limaye, A. B. S. and Lamb, M. P.: Numerical model predictions of autogenic
fluvial terraces and comparison to climate change expectations, J. Geophys.
Res.-Earth, 121, 512–544, https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JF003392, 2016.
Litchfield, N. and Berryman, K.: Relations between postglacial fluvial
incision rates and uplift rates in the North Island, New Zealand, J.
Geophys. Res., 111, 1–15, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JF000374, 2006.
Litty, C., Duller, R., and Schlunegger, F.: Paleohydraulic reconstruction of
a 40 ka-old terrace sequence implies that water discharge was larger than
today, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 41, 884–898,
https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3872, 2016.
Mackin, J. H.: Concept of the graded river, Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., 59,
463–512, 1948.
Maddy, D., Bridgland, D., and Westaway, R.: Uplift-driven valley incision and
climate-controlled river terrace development in the Thames Valley, UK, Quatern.
Int., 79, 23–36, 2001.
Malatesta, L. C. and Avouac, J.: Contrasting river incision in north and
south Tian Shan piedmonts due to variable glacial imprint in mountain
valleys, Geology, 46, 659–662, 2018.
Malatesta, L. C. and Lamb, M. P.: Formation of waterfalls by intermittent
burial of active faults, GSA Bull., 130, 522–536, 2018.
Malatesta, L. C., Prancevic, J. P., and Avouac, J.: Autogenic entrenchment
patterns and terraces due to coupling with lateral erosion in incising
alluvial channels, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 122, 335–355,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JF003797, 2017.
Malatesta, L., Avouac, J.-P., Brown, N. D., Breitenbach, S. F. M., Pan, J.,
Chevalier, M.-L., Rhodes, E., Saint-Carlier, D., Zhang, W., Charreau, J.,
Lavé, J., and Blard, P.-H.: Lag and mixing during sediment transfer
across the Tian Shan piedmont caused by climate- driven aggradation-incision
cycles, Basin Res., 30, 613–635, https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12267, 2018.
McPhillips, D., Bierman, P. R., and Rood, D. H.: Millennial-scale record of
landslides in the Andes consistent with earthquake trigger, Nat. Geosci.,
7, 925–930, 2014.
Merritts, D. J., Vincent, K. R., and Wohl, E. E.: Long river profiles,
tectonism, and eustasy: A guide to interpreting fluvial terraces, J.
Geophys. Res., 99, 14031–14050, 1994.
Métivier, F. and Gaudemer, Y.: Stability of output fluxes of large
rivers in South and East Asia during the last 2 million years?: implications
on floodplain processes, Basin Res., 11, 293–303, 1999.
Meyer-Peter, E. and Müller, R.: Formulas for Bed-Load Transport, in: 2nd Meeting of the International Association
for Hydraulic Structures Research, 7–9 June 1948, Stockholm,
Sweden, International Association for Hydraulic Structures
Research, 39–64,
1948.
Mizutani, T.: Laboratory experiment and digital simulation of multiple
fill-cut terrace formation, Geomorphology, 24, 353–361,
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-555X(98)00027-0, 1998.
Norton, K. P., Schlunegger, F., and Litty, C.: On the potential for regolith control of fluvial terrace formation in semi-arid escarpments, Earth Surf. Dynam., 4, 147–157, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-147-2016, 2016.
Paola, C., Heller, P. L., and Angevine, C. L.: The large-scale dynamics of
grain-size variation in alluvial basins, 1: Theory, Basin Res., 4,
73–90, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2117.1992.tb00145.x, 1992.
Paola, C., Mullin, J., Ellis, C., Mohrig, D. C., Swenson, J. B., Parker, G.,
Hickson, T., Heller, P. L., Pratson, L., and Syvitski, J.: Experimental
stratigraphy, GSA Today, 11, 4–9, 2001.
Parker, G.: Hydraulic geometry of active gravel rivers, J. Hydraul. Div.,
105, 1185–1201, 1979.
Patton, P. C. and Schumm, S. A.: Ephemeral-Stream Processes: Implications
for Studies of Quaternary Valley Fills, Quaternary Res., 15, 24–43, 1981.
Pazzaglia, F. J.: 9.23 Fluvial terraces, in: Treatise of Geomorphology, edited by: Wohl, E., Elsevier, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 379–-412, 2013.
Pederson, J. L., Anders, M. D., Rittenhour, T. M., Sharp, W. D., Gosse, J.
C., and Karlstrom, K. E.: Using fill terraces to understand incision rates
and evolution of the Colorado River in eastern Grand Canyon, Arizona, J.
Geophys. Res., 111, F02003, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JF000201, 2006.
Penck, A. and Brückner, E.: Die Alpen im Eiszeitalter, Tauchnitz, Leipzig, Germany, 1909.
Pepin, E., Carretier, S., Hérail, G., Regard, V., Charrier, R.,
Farías, M., García, V., and Giambiagi, L.: Pleistocene landscape
entrenchment: a geomorphological mountain to foreland field case, the Las
Tunas system, Argentina, Basin Res., 25, 613–637, 2013.
Poisson, B. and Avouac, J. P.: Holocene Hydrological Changes Inferred from
Alluvial Stream Entrenchment in North Tian Shan (Northwestern China), J.
Geol., 112, 231–249, 2004.
Roering, J. J., Perron, J. T., and Kirchner, J. W.: Functional relationships
between denudation and hillslope form and relief, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett.,
264, 245–258, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2007.09.035, 2007.
Romans, B. W., Castelltort, S., Covault, J. A., Fildani, A., and Walsh, J.
P.: Environmental signal propagation in sedimentary systems across
timescales, Earth-Sci. Rev., 153, 7–29,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2015.07.012, 2016.
Savi, S., Norton, K. P., Picotti, V., Akçar, N., Delunel, R.,
Brardinoni, F., Kubik, P., and Schlunegger, F.: Quantifying sediment supply
at the end of the last glaciation: Dynamic reconstruction of an alpine
debris-flow fan, GSA Bull., 126, 773–790, https://doi.org/10.1130/B30849.1, 2014.
Savi, S., Delunel, R., and Schlunegger, F.: Efficiency of frost-cracking
processes through space and time: An example from the eastern Italian Alps,
Geomorphology, 232, 248–260, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.01.009, 2015.
Schaller, M., von Blanckenburg, F., Hovius, N., Veldkamp, A., van den Berg,
M. W., and Kubik, P. W.: Paleoerosion rates from cosmogenic 10Be in a 1.3 Ma
terrace sequence: Response of the River Meuse to changes in climate and rock
uplift, J. Geol., 112, 127–144, 2004.
Scherler, D., Bookhagen, B., Wulf, H., Preusser, F., and Strecker, M. R.:
Increased late Pleistocene erosion rates during fluvial aggradation in the
Garhwal Himalaya , northern India, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 428, 255–266,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2015.06.034, 2015.
Scherler, D., Lamb, M. P., Rhodes, E. J., and Avouac, J. P.: Climate-change
versus landslide origin of fill terraces in a rapidly eroding bedrock
landscape: San Gabriel River, California, Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., 128,
1228–1248, https://doi.org/10.1130/B31356.1, 2016.
Schildgen, T., Dethier, D. P., Bierman, P., and Caffee, M.: 26Al and 10Be
dating of Late Pleistocene and Holocene fill terraces: A record of fluvial
deposition and incision, Colorado Front Range, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 27, 773–787, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.352, 2002.
Schildgen, T. F., Cosentino, D., Bookhagen, B., Niedermann, S., Yildirim,
C., Echtler, H., Wittmann, H., and Strecker, M. R.: Multi-phased uplift of
the southern margin of the Central Anatolian plateau, Turkey: A record of
tectonic and upper mantle processes, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 317–318,
85–95, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2011.12.003, 2012.
Schildgen, T. F., Robinson, R. A. J., Savi, S., Phillips, W. M., Spencer, J.
Q. G., Bookhagen, B., Scherler, D., Tofelde, S., Alonso, R. N., Kubik, P.
W., Binnie, S. A., and Strecker, M. R.: Landscape response to late
Pleistocene climate change in NW Argentina: Sediment flux modulated by basin
geometry and connectivity, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 121, 392–414,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JF003607, 2016.
Schmid, M., Ehlers, T. A., Werner, C., Hickler, T., and Fuentes-Espoz, J.-P.: Effect of changing vegetation and precipitation on denudation – Part 2: Predicted landscape response to transient climate and vegetation cover over millennial to million-year timescales, Earth Surf. Dynam., 6, 859–881, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-6-859-2018, 2018.
Schumm, S. A.: Geomorphic thresholds and complex response of drainage
systems, Fluv. Geomorphol., 6, 69–85, 1973.
Schumm, S. A.: Geomorphic thresholds: the concept and its applications, R.
Geogr. Soc., 4, 485–515, 1979.
Schumm, S. A. and Parker, R. S.: Implication of complex response of drainage
systems for Quaternary alluvial stratigraphy, Nat. Phys. Sci., 243, 99–100,
1973.
Shen, Z., Törnqvist, T. E., Autin, W. J., Mateo, Z. R. P., Straub, K. M.,
and Mauz, B.: Rapid and widespread response of the Lower Mississippi River
to eustatic forcing during the last glacial-interglacial cycle, GSA Bull.,
124, 690–704, https://doi.org/10.1130/B30449.1, 2012.
Simpson, G. and Castelltort, S.: Model shows that rivers transmit
high-frequency climate cycles to the sedimentary record, Geology, 40,
1131–1134, https://doi.org/10.1130/G33451.1, 2012.
Slingerland, R. L. and Snow, R. S.: Stability analysis of a rejuvenated fluvial
system, Z. Geomorphol., 67, 93–102, 1988.
Steffen, D., Schlunegger, F., and Preusser, F.: Drainage basin response to
climate change in the Pisco valley, Peru, Geology, 37, 491–494, 2009.
Steffen, D., Schlunegger, F., and Preusser, F.: Late Pleistocene fans and
terraces in the Majes valley, southern Peru, and their relation to climatic
variations, Int. J. Earth Sci., 99, 1975–1989, 2010.
Tebbens, L. A., Veldkamp, A., Van Dijke, J. J., and Schoorl, J. M.: Modeling
longitudinal-profile development in response to Late Quaternary tectonics,
climate and sea-level changes: the River Meuse, Global Planet. Change, 27,
165–186, 2000.
Tofelde, S., Schildgen, T. F., Savi, S., Pingel, H., Wickert, A. D.,
Bookhagen, B., Wittmann, H., Alonso, R. N., Cottle, J., and Strecker, M. R.:
100 kyr fluvial cut-and-fill terrace cycles since the Middle Pleistocene in
the southern Central Andes, NW Argentina, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 473,
141–153, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.06.001, 2017.
Tofelde, S., Duesing, W., Schildgen, T. F., Wickert, A. D., Wittmann, H.,
Alonso, R. N., and Strecker, M.: Effects of deep-seated versus shallow
hillslope processes on cosmogenic 10Be concentrations in fluvial sand and
gravel, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 43, 3086–3098, 2018.
Tofelde, S., Savi, S., Wickert, A., Bufe, A., and Schildgen, T.: Physical experiments on fill-terrace formation and sediment-signal disruption, SEAD Internal Repository, https://doi.org/10.26009/s0ZYPUYN, 2019.
Torres Acosta, V., Schildgen, T. F., Clarke, B. A., Scherler, D., Bookhagen,
B., Wittmann, H., von Blanckenburg, F., and Strecker, M. R.: Effect of
vegetation cover on millennial-scale landscape denudation rates in East
Africa, Lithosphere, 7, 408–420, https://doi.org/10.1130/L402.1, 2015.
Tucker, G. E. and Slingerland, R.: Drainage basin responses to climate
change, Water Resour. Res., 33, 2031–2047, 1997.
Vandenberghe, J.: Timescales, climate and river development, Quaternary Sci.
Rev., 14, 631–638, https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-3791(95)00043-O, 1995.
Vandenberghe, J.: Climate forcing of fluvial system development: An
evolution of ideas, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 22, 2053–2060,
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(03)00213-0, 2003.
van den Berg van Saparoea, A.-P. H. and Postma, G.: Control of climate
change on the yield of river systems, Recent Adv. Model. Siliciclastic
Shallow-Marine Stratigr. SEPM Spec. Publ., 90, 15–33, 2008.
Wegmann, K. W. and Pazzaglia, F. J.: Late Quaternary fluvial terraces of the
Romagna and Marche Apennines, Italy: Climatic, lithologic, and tectonic
controls on terrace genesis in an active orogen, Quaternay Sci. Rev., 28,
137–165, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2008.10.006, 2009.
Werner, C., Schmid, M., Ehlers, T. A., Fuentes-Espoz, J. P., Steinkamp, J., Forrest, M., Liakka, J., Maldonado, A., and Hickler, T.: Effect of changing vegetation and precipitation on denudation – Part 1: Predicted vegetation composition and cover over the last 21 thousand years along the Coastal Cordillera of Chile, Earth Surf. Dynam., 6, 829–858, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-6-829-2018, 2018.
Wickert, A. D. and Schildgen, T. F.: Long-profile evolution of transport-limited gravel-bed rivers, Earth Surf. Dynam., 7, 17–43, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-17-2019, 2019.
Wickert, A. D., Martin, J. M., Tal, M., Kim, W., Sheets, B., and Paola, C.:
River channel lateral mobility: Metrics, time scales, and controls, J.
Geophys. Res.-Earth, 118, 396–412, https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JF002386, 2013.
Wittmann, H., von Blanckenburg, F., Maurice, L., Guyot, J. L., and Kubik, P.
W.: Recycling of Amazon floodplain sediment quantified by cosmogenic 26Al
and 10Be, Geology, 39, 467–470, https://doi.org/10.1130/G31829.1, 2011.
Wittmann, H., Malusà, M. G., Resentini, A., Garzanti, E., and Niedermann,
S.: The cosmogenic record of mountain erosion transmitted across a foreland
basin: source-to-sink analysis of in situ 10Be, 26Al and 21Ne in sediment of
the Po river catchment, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 452, 258–271,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2016.07.017, 2016.
Wobus, C. W., Tucker, G. E., and Anderson, R. S.: Does climate change create
distinctive patterns of landscape incision?, J. Geophys. Res.,
115, F04008, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JF001562, 2010.
Wohl, E. and Ikeda, H.: Experimental simulation of channel incision into a
cohesive substrate at varying gradients, Geology, 25, 295–298, 1997.
Womack, W. R. and Schumm, S. A.: Terraces of Douglas Creek, northwestern
Colorado: An example of episodic erosion, Geology, 5, 72–76,
https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1977)5<72:TODCNC>2.0.CO;2, 1977.
Zhang, P., Molnar, P., and Downs, W. R.: Increased sedimentation rates and
grain sizes 2–4 Myr ago due to the influence of climate change on erosion
rates, Nature, 410, 891–897, https://doi.org/10.1038/35073504, 2001.
Short summary
We performed seven physical experiments to explore terrace formation and sediment export from a braided alluvial river system that is perturbed by changes in water discharge, sediment supply, or base level. Each perturbation differently affects (1) the geometry of terraces and channels, (2) the timing of terrace formation, and (3) the transient response of sediment discharge. Our findings provide guidelines for interpreting fill terraces and sediment export from fluvial systems.
We performed seven physical experiments to explore terrace formation and sediment export from a...
