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The Significance of Ancient Buried Landscapes as Natural Geomorphic Experiments

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Repository DOI


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Authors

Conway-Jones, BW 

Abstract

jats:titleAbstract</jats:title>jats:pThere is considerable interest in developing quantitative methods for analyzing present‐day fluvial landscapes with a view to extracting information about tectonic forcing and drainage evolution, together with the influence of lithologic substrates and of paleoclimatic variations. In view of the multifactorial nature of this complex problem, it has previously been proposed that natural geomorphic experiments could play a significant role in developing a quantitative understanding of landscape growth and decay. Here, we describe and analyze a stacked sequence of five buried transient landscapes that punctuate marine strata along the fringes of the North Atlantic Ocean. We propose that these landscapes constitute a suite of natural experiments, which illuminate significant aspects of quantitative fluvial geomorphology. Our preliminary analysis of four of these buried landscapes suggests that the amplitude of external tectonic forcing plays a significant role in fluvial landscape evolution. In future, we hope that this suite of natural experiments will be further exploited by the fluvial community with a view to identifying the most appropriate analytical techniques.</jats:p>

Description

Publication status: Published

Keywords

37 Earth Sciences, 3709 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience, 3705 Geology

Journal Title

Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2169-9003
2169-9011

Volume Title

129

Publisher

American Geophysical Union (AGU)