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Dynamic equilibrium among erosion, river incision, and coastal uplift in the northern and central Apennines, Italy

¹ Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA

Erosion, river incision, and uplift rates in the northern and central Apennines, Italy, since 0.9 Ma, are determined from new cosmogenic nuclide data. Beryllium-10 concentrations in modern and middle Pleistocene sediments indicate erosion rates from 0.20 to 0.58 mm/yr. These rates are similar to estimates of sediment yield (0.12–0.44 mm/yr), river incision (0.35 mm/yr), and uplift (0.01–1.0 mm/yr) rates inferred from other methods that integrate landscape process rates since the early Pleistocene. These rates of landscape change are significantly lower than long-term exhumation rates of 1.2 mm/yr since ca. 4.5 Ma, inferred from thermochronometry. Collectively, these data suggest that hillslope erosion and river incision rates in the northern and central Apennines have balanced local uplift rates for 1 My, but that exhumation rates have slowed significantly since emergence of the mountain chain in the Pliocene. This condition of dynamic equilibrium was potentially achieved within ca. 3 Ma, similar to some model predictions of hillslope and fluvial system adjustment.

Key Words: Landscape evolution • dynamic equilibrium • cosmogenic nuclides • erosion • northern Apennines • Italy

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