Exceptional river gorge formation from unexceptional floods

Antón, Loreto; Mather, Anne E.; Stokes, Martin; Muñoz-Martı́n, A.; Muñoz, Gerardo de Vicente

doi:10.1038/ncomms8963

Cited by 66 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…We propose that they formed by vertical drilling into bedrock by water jets derived from large waterfalls333435. Similar features are described albeit on a much smaller scale in natural examples333536 and in laboratory experiments37. The remarkable depth of erosion of these features into bedrock suggests that there must have been a substantial elevation drop adjacent to the scours to generate water jets capable of such erosion.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 60%

Two-stage opening of the Dover Strait and the origin of island Britain

et al. 2017

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Late Quaternary separation of Britain from mainland Europe is considered to be a consequence of spillover of a large proglacial lake in the Southern North Sea basin. Lake spillover is inferred to have caused breaching of a rock ridge at the Dover Strait, although this hypothesis remains untested. Here we show that opening of the Strait involved at least two major episodes of erosion. Sub-bottom records reveal a remarkable set of sediment-infilled depressions that are deeply incised into bedrock that we interpret as giant plunge pools. These support a model of initial erosion of the Dover Strait by lake overspill, plunge pool erosion by waterfalls and subsequent dam breaching. Cross-cutting of these landforms by a prominent bedrock-eroded valley that is characterized by features associated with catastrophic flooding indicates final breaching of the Strait by high-magnitude flows. These events set-up conditions for island Britain during sea-level highstands and caused large-scale re-routing of NW European drainage.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 60%

Two-stage opening of the Dover Strait and the origin of island Britain

et al. 2017

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“…8). This behavior is similar to narrowing and incision of bedrock channels in response to increased uplift (Duvall et al, 2004) or vertical incision followed by channel widening in response to increased discharge (Anton et al, 2015). The model predicts that not only will channels in easily eroded bedrock reach equilibrium more quickly than channels in resistant bedrock, but valleys will also begin to widen faster in easily eroded bedrock than in more resistant bedrock (Lavé and Avouac, 2001).…”

Section: Comparison Between Models and Field Studiesmentioning

confidence: 76%

Developing and exploring a theory for the lateral erosion of bedrock channels for use in landscape evolution models

Langston

Tucker

2018

Earth Surf. Dynam.

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Abstract. Understanding how a bedrock river erodes its banks laterally is a frontier in geomorphology. Theories for the vertical incision of bedrock channels are widely implemented in the current generation of landscape evolution models. However, in general existing models do not seek to implement the lateral migration of bedrock channel walls. This is problematic, as modeling geomorphic processes such as terrace formation and hillslopechannel coupling depends on the accurate simulation of valley widening. We have developed and implemented a theory for the lateral migration of bedrock channel walls in a catchment-scale landscape evolution model. Two model formulations are presented, one representing the slow process of widening a bedrock canyon and the other representing undercutting, slumping, and rapid downstream sediment transport that occurs in softer bedrock. Model experiments were run with a range of values for bedrock erodibility and tendency towards transport-or detachment-limited behavior and varying magnitudes of sediment flux and water discharge in order to determine the role that each plays in the development of wide bedrock valleys. The results show that this simple, physicsbased theory for the lateral erosion of bedrock channels produces bedrock valleys that are many times wider than the grid discretization scale. This theory for the lateral erosion of bedrock channel walls and the numerical implementation of the theory in a catchment-scale landscape evolution model is a significant first step towards understanding the factors that control the rates and spatial extent of wide bedrock valleys.

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“…At present this is possible only subjectively. Antón et al 2015) is unlikely to be useful for evaluating landscape evolution modelling of longer timescales because climatic or tectonic controls on migration will be masked. They can be used to test the validity of river-incision models based on the stream power law (e.g.…”

Section: Erosional and Morphological Records With A Focus On Tectonicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying Pattern Oriented Sampling in current fieldwork practice to enable more effective model evaluation in fluvial landscape evolution research

Briant

Cohen

Cordier

et al. 2018

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Field geologists and geomorphologists are increasingly looking to numerical modelling to understand landscape change over time, particularly in river catchments. The application of landscape evolution models (LEMs) started with abstract research questions in synthetic landscapes. Now, however, studies using LEMs on real‐world catchments are becoming increasingly common. This development has philosophical implications for model specification and evaluation using geological and geomorphological data, besides practical implications for fieldwork targets and strategy. The type of data produced to drive and constrain LEM simulations has very little in common with that used to calibrate and validate models operating over shorter timescales, making a new approach necessary. Here we argue that catchment fieldwork and LEM studies are best synchronized by complementing the Pattern Oriented Modelling (POM) approach of most fluvial LEMs with Pattern Oriented Sampling (POS) fieldwork approaches. POS can embrace a wide range of field data types, without overly increasing the burden of data collection. In our approach, both POM output and POS field data for a specific catchment are used to quantify key characteristics of a catchment. These are then compared to provide an evaluation of the performance of the model. Early identification of these key characteristics should be undertaken to drive focused POS data collection and POM model specification. Once models are evaluated using this POM/POS approach, conclusions drawn from LEM studies can be used with greater confidence to improve understanding of landscape change. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Exceptional river gorge formation from unexceptional floods

Cited by 66 publications

References 49 publications

Two-stage opening of the Dover Strait and the origin of island Britain

Two-stage opening of the Dover Strait and the origin of island Britain

Developing and exploring a theory for the lateral erosion of bedrock channels for use in landscape evolution models

Applying Pattern Oriented Sampling in current fieldwork practice to enable more effective model evaluation in fluvial landscape evolution research

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