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Outburst floods provide erodability estimates consistent with long-term landscape evolution

July 16, 2018

Most current models for the landscape evolution over geological timescales are based on semi-empirical laws that consider riverbed incision proportional to rock erodability (dependent on lithology) and to the work performed by water flow (stream power). However, the erodability values obtained from these models are entangled with poorly known conditions of past climate and streamflow. Here we use the erosion reported for 82 outburst floods triggered by overtopping lakes as a way to estimate the outlet erodability. This avoids the common assumptions regarding past hydrology because water discharge from overtopping floods is often well constrained from geomorphological evidence along the spillway. This novel methodology yields values of erodability that show a quantitative relation to lithology similar to previous river erosion analyses, expanding the range of hydrological and temporal scales of fluvial incision models and suggesting some consistency between the mathematical formulations of long-term and catastrophic erosional mechanisms. Our results also clarify conditions leading to the runaway erosion responsible for outburst floods triggered by overtopping lakes.

Publication Year 2018
Title Outburst floods provide erodability estimates consistent with long-term landscape evolution
DOI 10.1038/s41598-018-28981-y
Authors Daniel Garcia-Castellanos, Jim E. O'Connor
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Scientific Reports
Index ID 70198125
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
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