Quantifying the landscape erosion, and its

influence on the mountain evolution

Jérôme Lavé (CRPG – Nancy)

Manaslu _ Népal

Workshop on Quantitative
Geomorphology _ IIT Gandhinagar
February 2020
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Why is the study of erosion and its control

important in Earth sciences? And why quantifying
surface processes is fundamental?
• Surface processes shape the landscape of continental surface = this
is the question at the heart of geomorphology.
• The interactions between Tectonics, Climate, Erosion and
Topography
= surface processes have a major role on the evolution of
mountain system
• Landscape and more particularly river profiles keep information on
present and past rock uplift, i.e. underlying crustal and mantle
deformation
• Sediment archives provide important data on past environments and
climate, but most sediments are the direct product of erosion

• Economic and societal reasons: natural hazard, ressources (placers,

supergene concentrations, fluvial sand ressources), life habitat for
fishes… 2

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 Relief of Mars

The landscape fabrics

Two essential ingredient(s) to

build mountains:

* topography creation by
tectonics motion (or volcanism)

* relief creation (deep valleys and

sharp peaks) by water and Relief of the Earth
erosion

Some fundamental questions

relative to the building
of mountain ranges

• What does control the evolution of the mountain

ranges from their growth to their waning ? How do
tectonics and erosion interact ?
• How relief is sculpted into mountain topographies ?
Which role do the rivers play in this process ?
• What are the conditions to maintain mountain range at
steady state ?
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 In absence of erosion,
mountain range would
grow in response to
compressive forces,
eventually form
double sided ranges,
and then…

(Beaumont et al., 2000) 5

Sustained crustal shortening in absence of erosion leads to the

formation of a plateau-like range with lateral expansion of the orogen
(the lateral expansion is favored compaired to thickening because
thermal evolution of a thickened crust leads to its mechanical weakening

(Beaumont et al., 2004)

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Including erosion helps to maintain narrow mountain belts
without erosion with infinite erosion efficiency

Beaumont et al., 2000

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In intermediate cases, can a dynamic equilibrium be

reached between tectonic and erosion and lead to a steady
topography ?

Present erosion flux FE =

700±200×109 kg y-1
Tectonic flux FA =
700±160×109 kg y-1

Mass Fluxes of the Southern Alp in New Zeland

(Willett & Brandon, 2002)

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Which conditions are necessary to reach a steady topography
and to prevent a plateau formation ?

L A necessary condition:

Steady topography can be reached

mechanical stability limit
If the maximum theoretical plateau
elevation is sufficient to provide the
High erodibility « potential energy » for erosion to be
High precipitation at pace with the uplift .
If erosion cannot remove all the matter
brought by thickening, the mountain
range keeps on growing

High erodibility
High precipitation => Requires quantification of the laws of
the landscape erosion, and on how
erosion depends on uplift rate,
precipitation and substrate lithology
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Efficient erosion
or orogens in
construction

Low-efficiency
of erosion =>
Orogenic
plateau

(Vanderhaeghe, 2011)

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 Geodynamic interest = construction of mountain ranges and
coupling climate/tectonics
e.g.: Do erosion and climate really have a stabilising role on
the geometry of mountain ranges? And within what limits?
Conceptual example of
stabilization of mountain
range geometry by
tectonic/climate/erosion
coupling

Hypothesis: Erosion is
positively dependent on
rainfall.

(Roe & Brandon, 2009)

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thermo-mechanic model

Influence of climate on
deformation distribution
(test = main direction of input of
moist air masses and
deformation mode)

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Beaumont et al., 2000

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 And in nature? …

Southern Alps
Willett, JGR, 1999
New Zealand
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And in nature? …

Olympic Mts., NW USA

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Willett, JGR, 1999

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 Metamorphic grade

Erosion

Olympic Mts.: focused erosion

on the « retro-wedge »
New Zealand: focused erosion
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on the « pro-wedge »

Sensitivity of the landscapes to climate ?

Is Quaternary period characterized by higher erosion rates
induced by changing climate?

Lisiecki & Raymo, 2005

Olson et al. (2016)

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 (Zhang et al., 2001)

Geological and climatic interest =

Interpretation of sedimentary
archives (eroded volumes,
geochemical tracers, ...) in terms
of climatic or tectonic forcing.

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(Cascades range _ Reiners et al., 2003)

At regional scale, many erosion studies show a positive

influence of rainfall on erosion.

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 Gradient :
R2 = 0.66
Local Relief
R2 = 0.79

Altitude : Basin Relief

R2 = 0.66 R2 = 0.71

However, at large
scale, it is difficult to
highlight the influence Discharge : Runoff
R2 = 0.54 variability
of the climate.

What are the reasons

Temperature : Precipitation:
for this? R2 = 0.52
R2 = 0.34

(Summerfield and Hulton, 1994) 19

Dynamic markers of the vertical deformation

Slope response to
a high uplift rate

Slope response to a
moderate uplift rate

• Hypothesis : an element of the landscape (hillslope, river …) is in dynamic

equilibrium, i.e the uplift equals erosion
• Necessity to relate the geometry of this landscape element to the erosion
rate … through a physical based or an empirical model of erosion.

=> Adressed issue : is river geometry a convenient dynamic

marker of the vertical deformation ?

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 Geomorphological and geological interest: measuring
erosion rates at low cost?
San Gabriel Mountains
- morphotectonics: if topography is
at steady state, erosion rate map
roughly display a map of uplift
rate, highlighting active structures.

Taux d’érosion vu par le 10Be dans

les sables (DiBiase & Whipple, 2011)

Los Angeles basin Modèle d’incision fluviale

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(Lavé & Burbank, 2004)

Unraveling the uplift

history of a slowly
eroding region

(Roberts & White, 2010) 22

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 Economic and societal reasons (natural hazard, ressources, …)

Landslide hazard: more than $7 billion/yr Many mineral ressources enrichment

in human and infrastructures loss process are linked to supergene
processes (weathering)
30% in the Himalayas
Developing countries particularly
vulnerable

Copper mine in Chile

1. Hillslope erosion

3. Glaciar erosion

The physical
erosion of
landscapes
10 km

2. Fluvial erosion and transport

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 1. Hillslope erosion
The physical erosion of landscapes :
3 reasons to study rivers
The river network represents <5% of the surface area of the
landscape => most of the sediments come from the slopes.
However the rivers have a dominant role:

1rst reason : N
Hillslopes are sensitive to the
lowering of their local base level,
i.e. they are controlled by the
evolution of the hydrographic
network.
10 km
=> Rivers are the most
important agents in shaping
2. Fluvial erosion and transport
landscapes in mountain ranges
through their role both in
bedrock incision and sediment
transport out of the range.

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2nd reason : A majority of the relief in mountain ranges is "carried"

by the river system => understanding what controls the elevation of
a mountain range requires an understanding of what controls the
profile of rivers

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3rd reason : dynamic marker of the rock uplift

hillslopes Rivers

Landsliding
Erosion rates
become
independent of
the angle of the
hillslope

Sc

The rivers are more sensitive to tectonic uplift than hillslope

So, let’s first consider river processes

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