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Long-term glacial erosion of active mountain belts: Example of the Chugach–St. Elias Range, Alaska

¹ Department of Geosciences, 4044 Derring Hall, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA
² Department of Geosciences, 104 Wilkinson Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, USA
³ Department of Geology and Geophysics, P.O. Box 208109, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA

An emerging paradigm that equates glaciers to "buzz saws" of exceptional erosional efficiency has been strengthened by short-term (<10² yr) sediment yields from southern Alaska. New low-temperature cooling ages from this area, the glaciated Chugach– St. Elias Mountains, constrain long-term (10⁶ yr) exhumation rates. Vertically averaged exhumation rates reach 3 mm/yr, but are an order of magnitude lower than rates based on short-term sediment yields. Whereas these exhumation rates are not exceptional for orogenic belts, denudation patterns are strongly correlated with the distribution of glaciers, and erosion appears to keep pace with convergence and uplift. These findings imply a coupling between glacially dominated erosion and tectonics.

Key Words: mountain building • denudation • glacial erosion • (U-Th)/He dating • tectonics • southeast Alaska

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