It is well recognized that the coupling between tectonics, climate, and surface processes governs the evolution of mountain belts and sedimentary basins. Yet, the strength of these couplings and their precise impact on landscapes are less constrained. Robust first-order quantitative constraints are therefore needed. These can be derived from geomorphic and sedimentary archives such as longitudinal river profiles, fluvial and marine terraces, landslides, downstream fining trends, growth strata, sediment provenance, sequence stratigraphy, and shifts in depositional environments. Complementary insights can be gained from geodetic analyses (e.g., GPS, UAV, satellite imagery) and innovative geoinformatic approaches. Increasingly, the integration of geochronological methods for quantifying erosion rates and source-to-sink sediment fluxes with landscape evolution, stratigraphic, climatic, and tectonic models is advancing our understanding of how these systems interact across scales.
We invite contributions that use geomorphic, geochronologic and/or sedimentary records to understand tectonic deformation, climate histories, and surface processes, and welcome studies that address their interactions and couplings at a range of spatial and temporal scales. In particular, we encourage coupled catchment-basin studies that take advantage of numerical/physical modelling, geochemical tools for quantifying rates of surface processes (cosmogenic nuclides, low-temperature thermochronology, luminescence dating) and high resolution digital topographic and subsurface data. We invite contributions that address the role of surface processes in modulating rates of deformation and tectonic style, or of tectonics modulating the response of landscapes to climate change.
Chloé Bouscary