Signals of Climate Change in Erosion and Sedimentation Systems

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Earth's surface landscapes act as conveyor belts that transfer sediment from erosional sources (e.g., uplifting mountain ranges) to depositional sinks (e.g., basins). As such, surface processes generate the terrestrial sedimentary record, which is one of the few physical records available of how Earth's surface environments have evolved through time. Occupying the interface between the solid Earth and the atmosphere, landscapes and their internal processes might be highly sensitive to climate change, and in turn their sedimentary products might record valuable signals of how climate has changed in the past and what consequences this had for surface processes. It remains unclear how sensitive landscapes are to climate change and the extent to which we can invert their sedimentary deposits for useful information about past climate. The proposed research aims to address these questions by bringing together targeted field-based geomorphology and sedimentology, geochemistry and geochronology, and quantitative modelling of climate, landscape evolution, and stratigraphy. I am proposing a research program that will advance our understanding of (1) how eroding landscapes respond to climate change; (2) how we can extract palaeoclimatic signals from terrestrial sediments; and (3) how specific episodes of greenhouse gas-driven global warming in Earth's ancient history impacted the erosion and deposition of sediment. These questions constitute an important and long-standing challenge in the geosciences. Answering them will advance our knowledge of how landscapes function today and our ability to decipher how the climate has changed in the past. The proposed research will also help us anticipate the potential impacts of near-future climate change scenarios on the landscapes that we all live and depend on, in Canada and elsewhere. The personnel funded and trained within the proposed research program will contribute towards cutting-edge research that examines the signatures and consequences of climate change for surface processes. These young scientists will receive high-quality training in the geosciences that will position them to make valuable societal contributions through careers in academia or the public or private sectors.