The Erosional Signature of Drainage Divide Motion Along the Blue Ridge Escarpment

Stokes, Maya F.; Larsen, Isaac J.; McCoy, S. W.; Prince, Philip P.; Perron, J. Taylor

doi:10.1029/2022jf006757

Cited by 8 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 86 publications

(214 reference statements)

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“…For example, Thornbury [16] describes how as the result of stream piracies the southeast-oriented Roanoke River in Virginia drains an area of almost 500 square kilometers to the west of the Blue Ridge Escarpment. More recently Prince et al [17] [18] and Stokes et al [19] used a variety of different methods (but not an interpretation of the topographic map drainage system and erosional landform evidence) to suggest that stream piracies along the Blue Ridge Escarpment (to the north of this paper's study region) are on-going and that the Eastern Continental Divide is actively retreating inland. The prediction is even made that in the Blacksburg, Virginia region stream piracies during the next few million years will capture the northeast-oriented New River headwaters.…”

Section: Accepted Paradigm Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Use of the 1893 Cranberry, North Carolina Topographic Map to Determine Blue Ridge Escarpment Area Drainage System and Erosional Landform Origins, USA

Clausen

2023

OJG

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A new and fundamentally different geology and glacial history paradigm (new paradigm) is used to interpret previously ignored and unexplained drainage system and erosional landform evidence shown on the 1893 United States Geological Survey Cranberry, North Carolina 1:125,000 scale topographic map (which has a 100-foot or about a 30-meter contour interval). In most regions including the Cranberry map area, geomorphologists have never been able to use the accepted geology and glacial history paradigm (accepted paradigm) to explain most of the topographic map drainage system and erosional landform evidence. Probably for that reason, drainage system and erosional landform evidence shown on the 1893 Cranberry topographic map and its adjacent topographic maps has been ignored for 130 years. This study demonstrates how a new geology and glacial history paradigm (new paradigm) which was developed by using Great Plains and Rocky Mountain topographic map evidence explains the 1893 Cranberry map drainage system and erosional landform evidence (and similar evidence from a small area on the adjacent 1905 Morgantown map). The new paradigm sees the Cranberry map area as being located along the southeastern rim of a continental ice sheet created and occupied deep "hole" with regional erosion occurring and present-day drainage systems developing when the headward erosion of southeast-oriented valleys from the Atlantic Ocean and of northwest-oriented valleys from the developing deep "hole" into the gradually rising deep "hole" rim captured massive and prolonged south-and southwest-oriented meltwater floods. The new paradigm permits explanations for most drainage divides, named and unnamed gaps, barbed tributaries, through valleys extending across drainage divides, isolated erosional remnants, diverging and converging valleys, and unusual river and stream direction changes which the 1893 Cranberry topo-How to cite this paper: Clausen, E.

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Section: Accepted Paradigm Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Use of the 1893 Cranberry, North Carolina Topographic Map to Determine Blue Ridge Escarpment Area Drainage System and Erosional Landform Origins, USA

Clausen

2023

OJG

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Glacial sculpting of a martian cratered landscape on the northeastern flank of the Hellas basin

Grau Galofre,

Howard,

Morgan

et al. 2024

Icarus

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Estimation of Denudation Parameters and River Capture Events From Neural Network Inverse Modeling of River Profiles and Thermo‐ and Geochronology Data

Bernard,

Glotzbach,

Peifer

et al. 2024

JGR Earth Surface

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Earth's topography represents the cumulative effects of tectonics and surface processes modulated by climate and lithology. These factors shape landscapes through time. River profiles can be inverted to estimate the rock uplift histories or lithology‐specific erodibilities. However, river systems are dynamic and evolve in response to spatial and temporal internal dynamics, such as river capture events. Here, we present a modeling framework to infer denudation rates from the inversion of river profiles and thermo‐ and geochronology data. We achieve this by coupling a landscape evolution model and an efficient inverse modeling scheme to infer poorly resolved erosional and tectonic parameters. An application of the approach is presented for the Neckar catchment, southwest Germany, characterized by stark lateral variation in bedrock erodibility and rock uplift, and that have demonstrably undergone multiple river capture events. Different end‐member scenarios are explored in the simulations. First, we test uniform and spatial variability in rock uplift rate and bedrock erodibility, and second, temporal variations in rock uplift rate and base level. Finally, we simulate river capture events by adding upstream sections (drainage area) at specific times and locations within the fluvial network. We find that spatial variation in rock uplift rate is necessary to reproduce the Neckar's river profile while honoring analytical observations. Simulations integrating river captures allow improved river profile predictions of specific tributaries of the Neckar catchment, leading to potentially more realistic erodibility and rock uplift history estimates. The time and location of the capture events determined from the modeling agree with previous estimations from geological evidence.

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The Erosional Signature of Drainage Divide Motion Along the Blue Ridge Escarpment

Abstract: River basin reorganization has wide-ranging consequences for topography, the sedimentary record, and biological evolution (

Cited by 8 publications

References 86 publications

Use of the 1893 Cranberry, North Carolina Topographic Map to Determine Blue Ridge Escarpment Area Drainage System and Erosional Landform Origins, USA

Use of the 1893 Cranberry, North Carolina Topographic Map to Determine Blue Ridge Escarpment Area Drainage System and Erosional Landform Origins, USA

Glacial sculpting of a martian cratered landscape on the northeastern flank of the Hellas basin

Estimation of Denudation Parameters and River Capture Events From Neural Network Inverse Modeling of River Profiles and Thermo‐ and Geochronology Data

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