Geologic Reconstructions of Changes in Erosion Rates and Hillslope Processes in Response to Climate Forcing

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Landscapes integrate the influence of tectonic and climate-driven processes acting on the Earth’s surface. Unraveling the complex dynamics of surface processes is crucial for understanding how landscapes respond to climate change, especially in the context of global change. By reconstructing past changes in erosion rates and hillslope processes associated with wet climate periods, we can link climate change with landscape response in the past and in the future. In this study, I will use cosmogenic isotopes to determine paleoerosion rates for sedimentary deposits associated with past wet periods. Studies of associated surface processes will include quantifying soil production rates and noting any changes in sediment provenance and physical characteristics of the sedimentary deposits. The erosion rates will be compared to modern erosion rates and long-term geologic exhumation rates to capture the long-term average behavior of the system and shorter-term variability. By calibrating numerical models with the field data, I will gain insight into (1) how sensitive different landscapes are to climate change; (2) the nature of the system response in terms of lag time, maximum response, and time to reach new steady conditions; and (3) the processes that control system responses. This approach will take us past our qualitative understanding that increased precipitation leads to greater erosion, and into the realm of predicting specific landscape responses to a change in climate.