Implications of sediment‐flux‐dependent river incision models for landscape evolution

Developing a quantitative understanding of the factors that control the rate of river incision into bedrock is critical to studies of landscape evolution and the linkages between climate, erosion, and tectonics. Current models of long‐term river network incision differ significantly in their treatment of the role of sediment flux. We analyze the implications of various sediment‐flux‐dependent incision models for large‐scale topography, in an attempt (1) to identify quantifiable and diagnostic differences between models that could be detected from topographic data or from the transient responses of perturbed systems and (2) to explain the apparent ubiquity of mixed bedrock‐alluvial channels in active orogens.…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• AR
  Army Research Office