Alpine Glaciation and Mass-Movement Relief Production in the Western Himalaya

气候力量，构造活动和表面过程都是已知的相互作用的影响高山地区地形起伏的转变的因素，但相当大的不确定性仍然是通过这种相互作用发生的复杂动态。 相当需要实地地貌工作和数字模拟，因为这是控制救灾生产的主要因素。 本研究计划将实施一个三维动态侵蚀演化模式，以促进尺度相关的表面过程，侵蚀速率和救济生产的调查。 研究目的是评估高山冰川作用和物质运动对喀喇昆仑-喜马拉雅山高山K2地貌生产的多因影响。 具体目标包括测定高水平、岩石切割的冰川阶地的年代，以重建冰川作用的年表;冰碛、块体运动沉积物和河流沉积物的地形分析和地貌测绘;巴尔托罗冰川的冰川学特征;古气候模拟研究;以及景观数值模拟研究。 研究人员将通过详细的实地考察，先进的遥感，地形分析和控制救济生产的内部和外部因素的数值模拟来进行这个项目。这个项目应该有助于学术界对深冰川侵蚀，普遍的物质运动，季风冰川增加，多基因救济生产，和集成的尺度依赖景观演化建模，以了解在喀喇昆仑山救灾生产的一阶地球动力学。 这些结果为人们普遍认为的地表过程对地形地貌产生的作用以及关于构造是否驱动了长期气候变化或反之亦然的争论提供了新的见解。 就更广泛的影响而言，该项目的成果应产生新的分析方法，利用卫星图像和数字高程模型评估难以处理的地形上的山区地貌，开发用于研究和教育的地貌模拟模型，并阐明地貌潜在危害。 对喀喇昆仑喜马拉雅山高山冰川作用和物质运动的研究还应为各种学科提供使用空间数据评估和绘制山区环境的新能力。

Climatic forces, tectonic activity, and surface processes are all known to interact with each other as factors that influence the transformation of topographic relief in high mountain regions, but considerable uncertainty remains regarding the complex dynamics through which such interactions occur. Considerable need exists for both field-based geomorphological work and for numerical simulations that account for the dominant controls on relief production. This research project will implement a 3-D dynamic landscape-evolution model to facilitate investigation of scale-dependent surface processes, erosion rates, and relief production. The research objective is to evaluate the polygenetic influence of alpine glaciation and mass-movements on relief production at K2 in the high mountains of the Karakoram Himalaya. Specific objectives include dating of high-level, rock-cut glacial terraces to reconstruct a chronology of glaciation; terrain analysis and geomorphological mapping of moraines, mass-movement deposits, and fluvial deposits; glaciological characterization of the Baltoro Glacier; paleoclimate simulation studies; and numerical landscape simulation studies. The investigators will pursue this project through detailed fieldwork, advanced remote sensing, terrain analysis, and numerical modeling of the internal and external factors that govern relief production.The project should contribute to scholarly understanding about deep glacial erosion, pervasive mass movement, monsoonal glacier augmentation, polygenetic relief production, and integrated scale-dependent landscape evolution modeling to understand the first-order geodynamics of relief production in the Karakoram. The results to provide new insights into commonly perceived notions about the role of surface processes on relief production and the debate on whether tectonics has driven long-term climate change or vice versa. In terms of broader impacts, the project results should yield new analytical methods for using satellite imagery and digital elevation models in the assessment of mountain geomorphology over intractable topography, development of a landscape simulation model for research and education, and elucidation of landscape hazard potential. The study of alpine glaciation and mass movement in the Karakoram Himalaya also should provide new capabilities to a wide variety of disciplines for assessing and mapping mountain environments using spatial data.