How a stationary knickpoint is sustained: New insights into the formation of the deep Yarlung Tsangpo Gorge

Wang, Yizhou; Zhang, Huiping; Zheng, Dewen; Dassow, Wesley von; Zhang, Zhuqi; Pang, Jianzhang

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2017.02.005

Cited by 36 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 90 publications

(151 reference statements)

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“…Vol. :(0123456789) Scientific RepoRtS | (2020) 10:14371 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71335-w www.nature.com/scientificreports/ The uplift of the Tibetan Plateau is the main driving force for topographic development and geomorphic change in this region 26,27 . In the EHSs, river profile steepness values predict that steep fluvial knick points at the southeastern plateau margin should erode rapidly 27 , driving a wave of incision back into the plateau 2 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The uplift of the Tibetan Plateau is the main driving force for topographic development and geomorphic change in this region 26 , 27 . In the EHSs, river profile steepness values predict that steep fluvial knick points at the southeastern plateau margin should erode rapidly 27 , driving a wave of incision back into the plateau 2 . However, dams that reform or persist at the same location could stabilize knickpoints due to the long-term effects of sedimentation, and recurrent landside dams could stall fluvial kinckpoint retreat, headward incision, and reorganization of the river network 7 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evidence for repeated failure of the giant Yigong landslide on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau

Guo

Montgomery

Zhang

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Field surveys and radiocarbon dating of detrital materials provide evidence that repeated landslides dammed the Yigong Tsangpo River ca. 3500 bc, 1300 bc, 1000 bc, 600 bc, and twice more recently. Together with historical slides in 1900 and 2000, these six older slides make for a total of eight known channel-damming landslide events at the same location over the past six millennia, indicating submillennia recurrence intervals over this time period. Together with the likely incomplete nature of the sedimentary record of past channel-damming episodes uncovered to date, our findings indicate late Holocene multi-century-scale recurrence intervals for large landslides at this location. Hence, the riverbed at and immediately upstream of this location may have been inundated by sediment, and therefore not incising, for much of the post-glacial period. Together with the location of this landslide complex at the head of the major knickzone defining the fluvial edge of the Tibetan Plateau, our findings support the hypothesis that repeated glacial and landslide damming in this region inhibited headward propagation of river incision into the Tibetan Plateau. Landslides can be important erosional processes in upland landscapes with moderate to steep hillslopes 1. In particular, landsliding dominates hillslope erosion in rapidly uplifting terrain where high-relief, threshold hillslopes, and relatively narrow river gorges are common 1-5. Landslides can introduce large amounts of sediment into river systems and large landslides can dam channels, impounding water and sediment 6,7. In turn, an elevated sediment supply can retard river incision by shielding bedrock 8. Korup and Montgomery proposed that frequent glacial damming in the eastern Himalayan syntaxis (EHS) during the Quaternary inhibited headward incision of major rivers, thereby retarding dissection into the edge of the Tibetan Plateau 2. While this hypothesis was rooted in evidence for repeated glacial damming of the Yarlung Tsangpo immediately above its gorge through the Himalaya 9 , similar glacial and landslide blockages occur on other major tributaries upstream of the deeply incised bedrock gorges in the EHS 2. Little is known, however, about the frequency with which channel damming events have occurred in the region. The Lulang landslide-dammed lake in the upper reaches of the Lulang River, a tributary to the Parlung Tsangpo, was reported recently to have remained stable from before 24.2 ka bp to around 8.8 ka bp 10. This period extends roughly through the last glacial maximum and well into the early Holocene. Like the glacial dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo, the Lulang landslide sits just upstream of the headward extent of the knickzone upstream of the deeply incised-trans-Himalayan bedrock gorge 10. In April, 2000, the giant Yigong landslide dammed the Yigong Tsangpo River with 3 × 10 8 m 3 of sediment that formed a 60 m high dam 11. Subsequent failure of the dam sent floodwaters rushing down through the gorge, causing extensive damage for 500 km downstream into India...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for repeated failure of the giant Yigong landslide on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau

Guo

Montgomery

Zhang

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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“…We slightly modified the DEM to correct inaccuracies in basin boundaries close to the headwater of the Parlung river. The choice of model parameters (see Table 1) is coarsely guided by values suggested in the literature (Wang et al, 2017;Govin et al, 2018;Yang et al, 2018;Zhang et al, 2019) and adjusted to the present-day relief. Note that this simulation aims to demonstrate the potential influence of network topology on wind-gap migration in a natural setting and not to investigate the development of the Parlung-Siang-Lohit capture specifically.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The rate and extent of wind-gap migration regulated by tributary confluences and avulsions

Shelef

Goren

2021

Earth Surf. Dynam.

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Abstract. The location of drainage divides sets the distribution of discharge, erosion, and sediment flux between neighboring basins and may shift through time in response to changing tectonic and climatic conditions. Major divides commonly coincide with ridgelines, where the drainage area is small and increases gradually downstream. In such settings, divide migration is attributed to slope imbalance across the divide that induces erosion rate gradients. However, in some tectonically affected regions, low-relief divides, which are also called wind gaps, abound in elongated valleys whose drainage area distribution is set by the topology of large, potentially avulsing side tributaries. In this geometry, distinct dynamics and rates of along-valley wind-gap migration are expected, but this process remains largely unexplored. Inspired by field observations, we investigate along-valley wind-gap migration by simulating the evolution of synthetic and natural landscapes, and we show that confluences with large side tributaries influence migration rate and extent. Such confluences facilitate stable wind-gap locations that deviate from intuitive expectations based on symmetry considerations. Avulsions of side tributaries can perturb stable wind-gap positions, and avulsion frequency governs the velocity of wind-gap migration. Overall, our results suggest that tributaries and their avulsions may play a critical role in setting the rate and extent of wind-gap migration along valleys and thus the timescale of landscape adjustment to tectonic and climatic changes across some of the tectonically most affected regions of Earth, where wind gaps are common.

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“…1) and Normalized steepness index ( k sn were computed at reference concavity ( θ ref ), which allows a fair comparison across the basin despite having greatly varying basin area (Wobus et al ., 2006). To determine θ ref , we followed the method of least scattered chi ( χ )-profile 59 where we have considered more than 300 channels of Dibang basin and calculated the Chi ( χ) profile for a range of θ (0.05 to 0.7). We sub divided the χ -space into 100 bins and estimated the corresponding mean of the distribution over standard deviation of elevation.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mio-Pliocene piracy, relict landscape and drainage reorganization in the Namcha Barwa syntaxis zone of eastern Himalaya

Jaiswara

Pandey

2019

Sci Rep

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The presence of unique elevated low relief relict landscape in the transient Dibang catchment, at the orographic edge of Tibet-Himalaya in the tectonically active Namcha Barwa syntaxial zone, is modelled to understand evolving regional landscape, drainage reorganization and tectonics. This elevated low relief landscape represents a Mio-Pliocene abandoned paleo-channel of the Yarlung river, which was captured by the headward eroding Siang river owing to >600 m base level advantage. The river capture caused isolation of the Dibang river, which evolved as a transient parched catchment since 3–6 Ma after loss of ~17 times drainage area and 4–17 times discharge. The drainage area and discharge gained by the Siang river triggered enormous incision causing aneurysm leading to the accelerated growth of the Tsangpo gorge and affected regional tectonics. This paleo-drainage reorganization is reflected in the Mio-Pliocene sedimentation pattern in the southern Tibet-Himalaya and foreland basins.

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How a stationary knickpoint is sustained: New insights into the formation of the deep Yarlung Tsangpo Gorge

Cited by 36 publications

References 90 publications

Evidence for repeated failure of the giant Yigong landslide on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau

Evidence for repeated failure of the giant Yigong landslide on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau

The rate and extent of wind-gap migration regulated by tributary confluences and avulsions

Mio-Pliocene piracy, relict landscape and drainage reorganization in the Namcha Barwa syntaxis zone of eastern Himalaya

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