The Topographic History of the Alps and its Tectonic and Climatic Drivers (TOPOALPS)

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TOPOALPS is a multidisciplinary project to establish the topographic history of the Alps and the past and present tectonic and climatic processes responsible for its formation. The project is based on two new methodologies: surface geochemical methods based on cosmogenic and stable isotopes, and surface process models which provide quantitative linkage between tectonic and climatic forcing and geological observables. We identify six tasks in this undertaking: (1) development of tectonic “templates” of the Alps based on published and new data to establish space and time distribution of tectonic activity that has contributed to the topographic evolution of the Alps; (2) the use of the sedimentary record of the north and south foreland basins to establish the source area, the rate of sediment yield, and the transport and dispersal systems including drainage patterns from Alpine source areas; (3) estimation of the spatial distribution of modern rates of erosion from cosmogenic nuclide generation and sediment loads of rivers throughout the Alps; (4) estimation of late Tertiary paleoelevation of high Alpine regions from stable isotope measurement and inference of paleo-meteoric water, targeting clays in syn-orogenic sediments, paleosols, and dated fault zones; (5) quantification of impacts of glaciation on topography and geomorphology of the Alps at a regional scale, by a multidisciplinary focus on one area and construction and calibration of a glacial erosion model; (6) integration of tectonic, sediment yield, denudation, paleo-elevation and exhumation rate data through a series of surface process numerical models designed to constrain paleotopography at specific times through the late Neogene. Taken together, these collaborative projects will provide a detailed regional view of the erosional processes in the modern Alps, and a perspective on the geologically recent history of topographic evolution.