RUI: Collaborative Research: Quantifying the roles of tectonic activity and climate as drivers of glacial-interglacial landscape evolution in the Teton Range, Wyoming

构造和气候的相互作用是山地景观演变的一个重要方面。侧重于山地景观与气候和构造作用的相互作用的研究工作，特别是那些旨在定量重建气候和构造驱动的扰动的工作，对于了解地球表面过去和未来的演变是基本的，对人类适应和保护资源的努力至关重要。该项目以怀俄明州大提顿国家公园的提顿山脉为重点，那里过去的气候和构造扰动被冰川地貌、断层陡峭和湖泊沉积物档案异常良好地记录下来，所有这些都可以精确地确定年代。该项目的总体目标是量化构造驱动的扰动(地震、滑坡)和气候驱动的变化和扰动(例如，冰川消融、冰川波动、植被变化、火灾发生)对高山侵蚀速率和在晚更新世和全新世(过去25ka)运行的地貌演变的影响。具体地说，这项研究结合了详细的地貌测绘、10Be地表暴露年代测定、古地震断层挖掘、湖泊地震调查和湖泊沉积岩芯，以形成以下互补记录：i)冰川波动，包括冰川消融和新冰川作用的时间和特征；ii)沿提顿山脉海拔梯度的环境变异性；以及iii)与提顿断裂冰后破裂有关的地震时间和频率。提顿山脉高度活跃的构造环境、独特的地貌和相对原始的生态系统为这项研究提供了一个特殊的机会。此外，这些技术的结合将提供对气候和构造过程之间的耦合和反馈的全面洞察，这些过程在不同的长度和时间尺度上改变了所有的山脉景观。

The interplay of tectonics and climate is an essential aspect of mountain landscape evolution. Research efforts focusing on the interactions of mountain landscapes with climate and tectonism, especially those directed toward quantitative reconstructions of climatically and tectonically driven disturbances, are fundamental to understanding the past and future evolution of Earth's surface, and are critical for human adaptation and resource conservation efforts. This project focuses on the Teton mountain range in Grand Teton National Park, WY, where past climatic and tectonic disturbances are unusually well-recorded by glacial landforms, fault scarps, and lake sediment archives, all of which can be precisely dated. The overarching goals of this project are to quantify the influences of tectonic-driven disturbances (earthquakes, landslides) and climate-driven changes and disturbances (e.g. deglaciation, glacier fluctuations, vegetative shifts, fire occurrence) on alpine erosion rates and landscape evolution operating during the late Pleistocene and Holocene (past 25 ka). Specifically, the study combines detailed landform mapping, 10Be surface exposure dating, paleoseismic fault trenching, lake seismic surveys, and lake sediment cores to develop complementary records of: i) glacier fluctuations, including the timing and character of deglaciation and Neoglaciation; ii) environmental variability along the elevation gradient of the Teton range; and iii) earthquake timing and frequency related to postglacial ruptures of the Teton fault. The highly-active tectonic setting, distinctive geomorphology, and relatively pristine ecosystem of the Tetons present an exceptional opportunity for this research. Moreover, the integration of these techniques will provide comprehensive insights into the couplings and feedbacks among climatic and tectonic processes that modify all mountain landscapes over diverse length and time scales.