Patchy bedrock explained: Tectonic fracture control on landscape evolution patterns in south-Central Chile 

Abstract

<p>Rock fracturing induced by tectonic deformation is thought to promote faster denudation in more highly fractured areas by lowering grain size and directing the flow of water. That the density and pattern of fractures in a landscape play a role in controlling erosion and landscape evolution has been known for over a century, but not until recently do we have tools, like cosmogenic nuclides, to quantify erosion rates in places with varying fracture densities. In the Nahuelbuta Range in south-central Chile, we observed that >30-m thick regolith exists next to patches of unweathered bedrock. We hypothesize that the density of fractures dictates the pace and patterns of chemical weathering, regolith conversion, and erosion in the Nahuelbuta Range. To test this, we used in situ cosmogenic <sup>10</sup>Be to obtain denudation rates from amalgamated samples of bedrock, corestones and soils, and measured fracture density and orientation, as well as hillslope boulder size in several sites in the Nahuelbuta Range. We found that more highly fractured areas indeed have higher denudation rates than less fractured areas, and that bedrock denudation rates are ~10 m/Myr while soil denudation rates are ~30 m/Myr, suggesting that soil-covered areas may be sites of higher fracture density at depth. Fractures have orientations that match mapped faults across the Nahuelbuta range, and thus are considered to be tectonically-induced. In addition, both fracture and fault orientations match the orientation of streams incising the range, suggesting that fractures control stream channel orientation by weakening bedrock and thus directing flow.</p>

Combined seismic and borehole investigation of the deep granite weathering structure—Santa Gracia Reserve case in Chile

“…Based on this observation, and following the ‘top‐down’ hypothesis, we may conclude that the different weathering depths are due to different bedrock characteristics along the profile. For example, bedrock with higher fracture density at the topographic low would allow for deeper penetrating weathering (Brantley et al, 2017; Lodes et al, 2021). With the current data set, however, we are unable to provide clear evidence of different fracture density along the profile.…”