Doctoral Dissertation Research: Using Cosmogenic Nuclides to Understand the Interrelationship between Erosion Rates, Environmental Factors, and Landscape Response

更好地了解侵蚀速率及其对河流泥沙负荷的影响，对于评估对水可获得性和农业土地生产力的影响很重要。这一博士论文研究项目将调查美国西南部极端温度和降水事件导致的河流突然切入泛滥平原，导致泥沙负荷增加，并影响许多社区的水资源。这名博士生将提供新的见解，了解侵蚀速率和泥沙产量以及泥沙供应对这些河流的影响将如何帮助预测未来的河道调整和管理社会影响。学生将与当地社区和政府机构密切合作，评估水和农田对这些变化的脆弱性。对水资源的影响对土地和资源管理者以及利益攸关方具有重要的政策影响。作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生能够建立强大的独立研究事业。由于侵蚀速率的变化影响河流的泥沙含量，这些速率的快速变化可能会破坏肥沃的农田并影响水资源的可获得性。该项目将解决侵蚀速率如何随气候变量、岩性和地形而变化的核心问题，以及这种变化如何影响该区域的资源变化。这位博士生将从犹他州大楼梯-埃斯卡兰特国家纪念碑地区的两个集水区采集沉积物样本。她将分析河流沉积物中陆地宇宙成因核素铍-10(TCN 10Be)的浓度。这些分析将对地貌对基岩和与环境有关的侵蚀率和泥沙供应变化的反应进行定量评估。研究成果将影响高泥沙负荷塑造和破坏地区大片公共土地的资源和景观管理。

A better understanding of erosion rates and their influence on sediment loads in streams is important for assessing the impacts on water availability and agricultural land productivity. This doctoral dissertation research project will investigate the abrupt incision of streams into their floodplains caused by extreme temperature and precipitation events in the southwestern U.S. that led to increased sediment loads and impacted the water resources of many communities. The doctoral student will provide new insights into how erosion rates and sediment yields and the effects of sediment supply on these streams will help predict future channel adjustments and manage societal impacts. The student will work closely with local communities and government agencies to assess the vulnerability of water and agricultural land to these changes. The impact on water resources has important policy implications for land and resource managers as well as for stakeholders. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.Because variability in erosion rates influences the sediment content of a stream, rapid changes in those rates may damage productive agricultural land and impact water resources availability. This project will address the core question regarding how erosion rates vary as a function of climatic variables, lithology, and topography, and how such variability influences resource variability in the region. The doctoral student will collect sediment samples from two catchment areas in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument area in Utah. She will analyze the terrestrial cosmogenic-nuclide Beryllium-10 (TCN 10Be) concentrations in fluvial sediment. The analyses will provide a quantitative assessment of the landscape's response to bedrock and environmentally related changes in erosion rates and sediment supply. The research outcomes will influence resource and landscape management of the large tracts of public lands in a region that is both shaped and impaired by high sediment loads.