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Using 10Be and 26Al measured in sediment and bedrock, we quantify rates of upland erosion and sediment supply to a small basin in northwestern New Mexico. This and many other similar basins in the southwestern United States have been affected by cycles of arroyo incision and backfilling several times in the past few millennia. The sediment generation (275 ± 65 g m−2 yr−1) and bedrock equivalent lowering rates (102 ± 24 m myr−1) we determine are sufficient to support at least three arroyo cycles in the past 3,000 years, consistent with rates calculated from a physical sediment budget within the basin and regional rates determined using other techniques. Nuclide concentrations measured in different sediment sources and reservoirs suggest that the arroyo is a good spatial and temporal integrator of sediment and associated nuclide concentrations from throughout the basin, that the basin is in steady-state, and that nuclide concentration is independent of sediment grain size. Differences between nuclide concentrations measured in sediment sources and reservoirs reflect sediment residence times and indicate that subcolluvial bedrock weathering on hillslopes supplies more sediment to the basin than erosion of exposed bedrock.

We measured 10 Be and 26 Al in 64 sediment and bedrock samples collected throughout the arid, 187 km 2 Yuma Wash drainage basin, southwestern Arizona. From the measurements, we determine long-term, time-integrated rates of upland sediment generation (81 F 5 g m À 2 year) and bedrock equivalent lowering (30 F 2 m Ma À 1 ) consistent with other estimates for regions of similar climate, lithology, and topography. In a small ( f 8 km 2 ), upland sub-basin, differences in nuclide concentrations between bedrock outcrops and hillslope colluvium suggest weathering of bedrock beneath a colluvial cover is a more significant source of sediment (40 Â 10 4 kg year) than weathering of exposed bedrock surfaces (10 Â 10 4 kg year). Mixing models constructed from nuclide concentrations of sediment reservoirs identify important sediment source areas. Hillslope colluvium is the dominant sediment source to the upper reaches of the sub-basin channel; channel cutting of alluvial terraces is the dominant source in the lower reaches. Similarities in nuclide concentrations of various sediment reservoirs indicate short sediment storage times ( < 10 3 years). Nuclide concentrations, measured in channel sediment from tributaries of Yuma Wash and in samples collected along the length of the Wash, were used to construct mixing models and determine sediment sources to the main stem channel. We find an exponential decrease in the channel nuclide concentrations with distance downstream, suggesting that as much as 40% of sediment discharged from Yuma Wash has been recycled from storage within basin fill alluvium. Sediment generation and denudation rates determined from the main stem are greater (25%) than rates determined from upland sub-basins suggesting that, currently, sediment may be exported from the basin more quickly than it is being generated in the uplands. Independence of nuclide concentration and sediment grain size indicates that channels transport sediment in discrete pulses before rapidly depositing poorly sorted material, suggesting that differences in transport times for different size materials are minimal. D

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We use 10 Be and 26 Al to determine long-term sediment generation rates, identify significant sediment sources, and test for landscape steady state in Nahal Yael, an extensively studied, hyperarid drainage basin in southern Israel. Comparing a 33 yr sediment budget with 33 paired 10 Be and 26 Al analyses indicates that short-term sediment yield (113-138 t• km-2 •yr-1) exceeds long-term sediment production (74 ± 16 t• km-2 •yr-1) by 53%-86%. The difference suggests that the basin is not in steady state, but is currently evacuating sediment accumulated during periods of more rapid sediment generation and lower sediment yield. Nuclide data indicate that (1) sediment leaving the basin is derived primarily from hillslope colluvium, (2) bedrock weathers more rapidly beneath a cover of colluvium than when exposed, and (3) long-term erosion rates of granite, schist, and amphibolite are similar.

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