GM4.1/EG8

Tectonics, climate and landscape (co-organized)
Convener: A. Whittaker  | Co-Conveners: H. Sinclair , R. Thiede 
Oral Programme
 / Thu, 23 Apr, 13:30–17:00  / Room 29
Poster Programme
 / Attendance Thu, 23 Apr, 17:30–19:00  / Hall A

Understanding the detailed coupling of tectonics, climate and erosion remains one of the major challenges within earth systems science. The expression of this coupling within the landscape is moderated both by geomorphic process and by lithology. The response times of landscape processes to tectono-climatic forcing are required for us to fully capture the nature and importance of the couplings and feedbacks that determine system sensitivity. This session is intended to integrate numerical, experimental and field research into the controls, feedbacks and timescales of geomorphic response to boundary condition change; topics could range from quantifying the erosional response to rock uplift during orogenesis to the statistics of threshold surpassing storms on passive margins.

Techniques for measuring the magnitude and rates of erosion will span from low temperature thermochronometers to cosmogenic nuclides, and from river sediment loads to hillslope fluxes. We are also keen to see studies that consider the critical components of the climatic and tectonic systems that may either drive or inhibit long term erosion. Results of numerical modelling and field studies that explore the timescales of landscape response to boundary condition change are also encouraged. Finally, the depositional record of these tectono-climatic interactions provides the most detailed record of the nature of Earth surface processes on the geological timescale, and we welcome submissions that exploit this archive.