Linking source and sink in the Rwenzori Mountains and adjacent rift basins, Uganda: Landscape evolution and the sedimentary record of extreme uplift

鲁文佐里山脉和邻近的裂谷翼代表了地球上裂谷翼的最高隆升，它的隆升可能对晚中新世以来东非的干旱化起了重要作用。在步枪方案范围内，该项目旨在利用地形特性、宇宙核素（10Be）和冲积沉积物重建鲁文佐里山脉自极端隆起以来的侵蚀演变。在遥感的基础上，将选择具有代表性的活跃侵蚀和暴露的河流梯田或近端盆地填充物的地点进行实地研究。将从沉积学和河流动力学的角度研究合适的露头。一些OSL（光学刺激发光）定年法将提供较年轻冲积沉积物的时间框架。高分辨率DEM（30米）用于分析裂谷两侧的景观形态及其对隆升率、降雨量分布、基岩可信度和剥蚀率的依赖。特别注意识别新构造运动。利用现有地表过程模型的适当计算机代码，通过野外测绘、GIS分析和数值实验来探索侵蚀的控制因素。最后，将结果整合到东非裂谷中西部分支的侵蚀、沉积物通量和裂谷盆地填充的演化模型中。

The Rwenzori Mountains and adjacent rift flanks represent the highest uplift of rift flanks on Earth and its uplift may have signifiantly contributed to the aridisation of East Africa since the Late Miocene. Within the RIFLE programme this project aims to reconstruct the erosional evolution of the Rwenzori Mountains since their extreme uplift using topographic properties, cosmogenic nuclides (10Be) and alluvial sedi-ments. Based on remote sensing, representative localities of active erosion and exposures of river terraces or the proximal basin fill will be selected for field studies. Suitable outcrops will be studied with respect to sedimentology and fluvial dynamics. Some OSL (optically stimulated lumines-cence) datings will deliver a time frame for the younger alluvial deposits. A highly resolved DEM (30 m) is used to analyse the landscape morphometry of the rift flanks and its dependence on uplift rates, rain-fall distribution, credibility of bedrocks, and denudation rates. Specific attention is paid to identify neotectonic movements. The controlling factors of erosion will be explored by field mapping, GIS analysis and numerical experiments using a suitable computer code of existing surface process models. Finally, the results will be integrated into an evolutionary model of erosion, sediment flux, and rift basin fill for the central western branch of the East African Rift.