Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (46) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Riebe, C. S. Articles by Finkel, R. C. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

Erosional equilibrium and disequilibrium in the Sierra Nevada, inferred from cosmogenic ²⁶Al and ¹⁰Be in alluvial sediment

¹ Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-4767, USA
² PRIME Lab and Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-1397, USA
³ Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551-9900, USA

We used cosmogenic ²⁶Al and ¹⁰Be in stream sediment to measure landscape-scale erosion rates for topographically diverse catchments at seven Sierra Nevada sites. At three sites, erosion rates and hillslope gradients are strongly correlated, increasing with proximity to fault scarps and river canyons, which appear to have accelerated local base-level lowering rates, and thus increased catchment erosion rates by up to 15-fold. At four other sites, far from fault scarps and river canyons, erosion rates are much more uniform and less sensitive to average hillslope gradient. Our measurements show that contrasts in landscape erosion rates cannot be inferred from hillslope gradients alone, because landscapes can evolve toward a state of erosional equilibrium, in which steep and gentle slopes erode at similar rates.

Key Words: cosmogenic nuclides • erosion rates • landscape evolution

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Kuhlemann, I. Krumrei, M. Danisik, and K. v. d. Borg Weathering of granite and granitic regolith in Corsica: short-term 10Be versus long-term thermochronological constraints Geological Society, London, Special Publications, January 1, 2009; 324(1): 217 - 235. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. J. Cyr and D. E. Granger Dynamic equilibrium among erosion, river incision, and coastal uplift in the northern and central Apennines, Italy Geology, February 1, 2008; 36(2): 103 - 106. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. W. Reiners Thermochronologic Approaches to Paleotopography Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, October 1, 2007; 66(1): 243 - 267. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. Scarciglia, E. Le Pera, and S. Critelli The onset of the sedimentary cycle in a mid-latitude upland environment: Weathering, pedogenesis, and geomorphic processes on plutonic rocks (Sila Massif, Calabria) Geological Society of America Special Papers, January 1, 2007; 420(0): 149 - 166. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				I. S.E. Carmichael, R. A. Lange, C. M. Hall, and P. R. Renne Faulted and tilted Pliocene olivine-tholeiite lavas near Alturas, NE California, and their bearing on the uplift of the Warner Range Geological Society of America Bulletin, September 1, 2006; 118(9-10): 1196 - 1211. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. M. Heimsath Eroding the land: Steady-state and stochastic rates and processes through a cosmogenic lens Geological Society of America Special Papers, January 1, 2006; 415(0): 111 - 129. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				RECENT PAPERS Geological Society of America Special Papers, January 1, 2006; 415(0): vii - xii. [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. H. Jones, G. L. Farmer, and J. Unruh Tectonics of Pliocene removal of lithosphere of the Sierra Nevada, California Geological Society of America Bulletin, November 1, 2004; 116(11-12): 1408 - 1422. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. A.P. Cockburn and M. A. Summerfield Geomorphological applications of cosmogenic isotope analysis Progress in Physical Geography, March 1, 2004; 28(1): 1 - 42. [Abstract] [PDF]

				A. Matmon, P. R. Bierman, J. Larsen, S. Southworth, M. Pavich, R. Finkel, and M. Caffee Erosion of an Ancient Mountain Range, The Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina and Tennessee Am J Sci, November 1, 2003; 303(9): 817 - 855. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Hewawasam, F. von Blanckenburg, M. Schaller, and P. Kubik Increase of human over natural erosion rates in tropical highlands constrained by cosmogenic nuclides Geology, July 1, 2003; 31(7): 597 - 600. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Muzikar, D. Elmore, and D. E. Granger Accelerator mass spectrometry in geologic research Geological Society of America Bulletin, June 1, 2003; 115(6): 643 - 654. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. S.J. Dollar Fluvial geomorphology Progress in Physical Geography, March 1, 2002; 26(1): 123 - 143. [PDF]

				J. W. Kirchner, R. C. Finkel, C. S. Riebe, D. E. Granger, J. L. Clayton, J. G. King, and W. F. Megahan Mountain erosion over 10 yr, 10 k.y., and 10 m.y. time scales Geology, July 1, 2001; 29(7): 591 - 594. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. S. Riebe, J. W. Kirchner, D. E. Granger, and R. C. Finkel Strong tectonic and weak climatic control of long-term chemical weathering rates Geology, June 1, 2001; 29(6): 511 - 514. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. S. Riebe, J. W. Kirchner, D. E. Granger, and R. C. Finkel Minimal climatic control on erosion rates in the Sierra Nevada, California Geology, May 1, 2001; 29(5): 447 - 450. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]