Nonsynchronous, episodic incision: Evidence of threshold exceedance and complex response as controls of terrace formation

Cheetham, Michael D; Bush, Richard T; Keene, Annabelle F; Erskine, Wayne D.

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2010.07.024

Cited by 15 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 66 publications

(77 reference statements)

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“…Older terraces in this study are generally less preserved (i.e., lower TPI) than younger terraces. This is in contrast to other investigations that note the inherent bias in the preservation of older terraces thought to be more resistant to erosion (Lewin and Macklin, 2003;Lewin et al, 2005;Cheetham et al, 2010). Preservation of T1 terraces has an important influence on the preservation potential of subsequent alluvium.…”

Section: Terrace Preservationcontrasting

confidence: 75%

“…The terrace sediments dated in this study indicate an alluvial record spanning the 4-15 ka time interval, which is within the lower range of the alluvial record from similar partly confined valleys in NSW (10-35 ka) (Cohen and Nanson, 2008;Cheetham et al, 2010). However, the record detailed here is considerably shorter and younger than those from the larger and wider valleys west of the Great Dividing Range (Page et al, 1996), coastal southeastern…”

Section: Terrace Preservationsupporting

confidence: 55%

“…The age-to-height and chronostratigraphic data presented appears relatively straightforward compared with previous investigations in similar partly confined valleys in New South Wales (NSW) (Cohen and Nanson, 2008;Cheetham et al, 2010). These studies highlighted the existence of 'polycyclic' terraces and cautioned that alluvial units in these narrow valley settings can share similar elevations but be very different in basal age.…”

Section: Accepted M Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 53%

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Alluvial terrace preservation in the Wet Tropics, northeast Queensland, Australia

et al. 2015

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Alluvial terraces provide a record of aggradation and incision and are studied to understand river response to changes in climate, tectonic activity, sea level, and factors internal to the river system. Terraces form in all climatic regions and in a range of geomorphic settings; however, relatively few studies have been undertaken in tectonically stable settings in the tropics. The preservation of alluvial terraces in a valley is driven by lateral channel adjustments, vertical incision, aggradation, and channel stability, processes that can be further understood through examining catchment force-resistance frameworks. This study maps and classifies terraces using soil type, surface elevation, sedimentology, and optically stimulated luminescence dating across five tropical catchments in northeast Queensland, Australia. This allowed for the identification of two terraces across the study catchments (T1, T2).The T1 terrace was abandoned ~13.9 ka with its subsequent removal occurring until ~7.4 ka. Abandonment of the T2 terrace occurred ~4.9 ka with removal occurring until ~1.2 ka. Differences in the spatial preservation of these terraces were described using an index of terrace preservation (TPI). Assessments of terrace remnant configuration highlighted three main types of terraces: paired, unpaired, and disconnected, indicating the importance of different processes driving preservation.Regional-scale variability in TPI was not strongly correlated with catchment-scale surrogate variables for drivers of terrace erosion and resistance. However, catchmentspecific relationships between TPI and erosion-resistance variables were evident and are used here to explain the dominant processes driving preservation in these tropical settings. This study provides an important insight into terrace preservation in the tectonically stable, humid tropics and provides a framework for future research linking the timing of fluvial response to palaeoclimate change. A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT IntroductionAlluvial terraces are topographic landforms that result from floodplain abandonment when a river incises, therefore providing records of river aggradation and incision (Leopold et al., 1964). Terraces have formed in all global regions and are commonly studied to understand how rivers have responded to the combined effects of changes in external controls including climate, tectonics, and sea level (Merritts et al., 1994;Macklin et al., 2002;Bridgland and Westaway, 2008) and in internal controls, such as catchment morphology (Coulthard et al., 2005) and reach-specific conditions (Houben, 2003).Terraces are generally identified in the landscape using a range of techniques including soil properties (see reviews in Birkeland, 1990;Huggett, 1998), topographic data (Pazzaglia and Gardner, 1993;Jones et al., 2007), aerial and satellite imagery (Litchfield and Berryman, 2005), with correlations further aided by sedimentology and dating (Stokes et al., 2012). The use of soil characteristics to classify terrace...

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Section: Terrace Preservationcontrasting

confidence: 75%

Section: Terrace Preservationsupporting

confidence: 55%

Section: Accepted M Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 53%

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Alluvial terrace preservation in the Wet Tropics, northeast Queensland, Australia

et al. 2015

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“…1 and 4), with the modification that the basal large-scale trough cross-bedded pebbly coarse sand is called Stl to differentiate it from small-scale trough cross-bedded medium to coarse sand (Sts) of the sand splays encased in overbank deposits of Fl. Between 1831 and 1902, the channel was located to the right of the trench at the base of a 2.5 ka cal BP terrace (Cheetham et al, 2010b). After 1905 (Davidson, 1905), the channel moved to the other side of the valley, forming a floodplain where the channel had been.…”

Section: Biogeomorphic Processes Of Channel Contraction Since the 1900smentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This floodplain consists of a basal, large-scale, trough cross-bedded pebbly coarse sand (Stl), overlain by interbedded medium sand and muddy medium sand (Fl facies), and small-scale, trough cross-bedded medium to coarse sand (St facies), capped by thinly interbedded muddy fine sand and fine-medium sand (Fl facies). Sandwiched between the 1.3 ka cal BP terrace on the left bank (Cheetham et al, 2010b) and the floodplain on the right bank are four benches. They have an erosional contact with each other, with the floodplain and with the 1.3 ka cal BP terrace on the left bank, which is occasionally characterised by slump blocks.…”

Section: Biogeomorphic Processes Of Channel Contraction Since the 1900smentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of riparian vegetation on channel widening and subsequent contraction on a sand-bed stream since European settlement: Widden Brook, Australia

et al. 2012

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How have Cretan rivers responded to late Holocene uplift? A multi‐millennial, multi‐catchment field experiment to evaluate the applicability of Schumm and Parker's (1973) complex response model

Macklin

Booth²,

Brewer

et al. 2022

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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‘Complex response’ (Schumm, 1973, Geomorphic thresholds and complex response of drainage systems. In Morisawa, M. (ed.), Fluvial Geomorphology. Binghamton: New York State University Publications: 299‐310) describes situations in which a single event triggers a series of progressively damped morphological and sedimentary adjustments within a catchment. Schumm and Parker's (1973, Implications of complex response of drainage systems for Quaternary alluvial stratigraphy. Nature 243: 99–100) classic stream table experiment of drainage system development showed that one baselevel fall event could result in formation of two sets of paired river terraces that need not be related to additional external (e.g., climate) influences. Despite its enduring popularity in fluvial geomorphology, large‐scale and long‐term field evaluations of Schumm and Parker's complex response model are very limited. Here, we report on a multi‐millennial, multi‐catchment field experiment in south‐western Crete where a high‐magnitude earthquake (estimated magnitude 8.3–8.5) on 21 July 365 ce resulted in up to 9 m of instantaneous uplift over a land area exceeding 6000 km2. Geomorphological, sedimentological, and chronological investigations were used to investigate the erosional and depositional histories in three catchments with outlets uplifted by the 365 ce event. These catchments were compared with the Anapodaris catchment in south central Crete where baselevel was not significantly affected by the earthquake. Although all uplifted catchments experienced valley floor incision, this occurred hundreds of years after 365 ce during a period of wetter climate. The number and age of trunk stream incision and aggradation phases are similar in both uplifted and non‐uplifted catchments, indicating that river responses following the 365 ce uplift event have not followed complex response trajectories in the form documented by Schumm and Parker (1973). This finding highlights the need for rigorous evaluation of other catchment or river response concepts, including through the combined use of laboratory experimental results, field data, and geochronology. In an era of rapid environmental change, characterizing and anticipating catchment and river system response increasingly will depend on a healthy interplay between different investigative approaches.

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Nonsynchronous, episodic incision: Evidence of threshold exceedance and complex response as controls of terrace formation

Cited by 15 publications

References 66 publications

Alluvial terrace preservation in the Wet Tropics, northeast Queensland, Australia

Alluvial terrace preservation in the Wet Tropics, northeast Queensland, Australia

Influence of riparian vegetation on channel widening and subsequent contraction on a sand-bed stream since European settlement: Widden Brook, Australia

How have Cretan rivers responded to late Holocene uplift? A multi‐millennial, multi‐catchment field experiment to evaluate the applicability of Schumm and Parker's (1973) complex response model

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