Earth Surface Dynamics最新文献

{"title":"Channel cross-section heterogeneity of particulate organic carbon transport in the Huanghe","authors":"Yutian Ke, Damien Calmels, Julien Bouchez, Marc Massault, Benjamin Chetelat, Aurélie Noret, Hongming Cai, Jiubin Chen, Jérôme Gaillardet, Cécile Quantin","doi":"10.5194/esurf-12-347-2024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-347-2024","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. The Huanghe (Yellow River), one of the largest turbid river systems in the world, has long been recognized as a major contributor of suspended particulate matter (SPM) to the ocean. However, over the last few decades, the SPM export flux of the Huanghe has decreased over 90 % due to the high management, impacting the global export of particulate organic carbon (POC). To better constrain sources and modes of transport of POC beyond the previously investigated transportation of POC near the channel surface, SPM samples were for the first time collected over a whole channel cross-section in the lower Huanghe. Riverine SPM samples were analyzed for particle size and major element contents, as well as for POC content and dual carbon isotopes (13C and 14C). Clear vertical and lateral heterogeneities of the physical and chemical properties of SPM are observed within the river cross-section. For instance, finer SPM carry more POC in general with higher 14C activity near the surface of the right bank. Notably, we discuss how bank erosion in the alluvial plain is likely to generate lateral heterogeneity in POC composition. The Huanghe POC is millennial-aged (4020 ± 500 radiocarbon years) and dominated by organic carbon (OC) from the biosphere, while the lithospheric fraction is ca. 12 %. The mobilization of aged and refractory OC, including radiocarbon-dead biospheric OC, from deeper soil horizons of the loess–paleosol sequence through erosion in the Chinese Loess Plateau is an important mechanism contributing to fluvial POC in the Huanghe drainage basin. Altogether, anthropogenic activities can drastically change the compositions and transport dynamics of fluvial POC, consequentially altering the feedback of the source-to-sink trajectory of a river system to regional and global carbon cycles.","PeriodicalId":48749,"journal":{"name":"Earth Surface Dynamics","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139759260","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dimensionless argument: a narrow grain size range near 2 mm plays a special role in river sediment transport and morphodynamics","authors":"Gary Parker, Chenge An, Michael P. Lamb, Marcelo H. Garcia, Elizabeth H. Dingle, Jeremy G. Venditti","doi":"10.5194/esurf-12-367-2024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-367-2024","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. The grain size 2 mm is the conventional border between sand and gravel. This size is used extensively, and generally without much physical justification, to discriminate between such features as sedimentary deposit type (clast-supported versus matrix-supported), river type (gravel bed versus sand bed), and sediment transport relation (gravel versus sand). Here we inquire as to whether this 2 mm boundary is simply a social construct upon which the research community has decided to agree or whether there is some underlying physics. We use dimensionless arguments to show the following for typical conditions on Earth, i.e., natural clasts (e.g., granitic or limestone) in 20 ∘C water. As grain size ranges from 1 to 5 mm (a narrow band including 2 mm), sediment suspension becomes vanishingly small at normal flood conditions in alluvial rivers. We refer to this range as pea gravel. We further show that bedload movement of a clast in the pea gravel range with, for example, a size of 4 mm moving over a bed of 0.4 mm particles has an enhanced relative mobility compared to a clast with a size of 40 mm moving over a bed of the same 4 mm particles. With this in mind, we use 2 mm here as shorthand for the narrow pea gravel range of 1–5 mm over which transport behavior is distinct from both coarser and finer material. The use of viscosity allows the delineation of a generalized dimensionless bed grain size discriminator between “sand-like” and “gravel-like” rivers. The discriminator is applicable to sediment transport on Titan (ice clasts in flowing methane/ethane liquid at reduced gravity) and Mars (mafic clasts in flowing water at reduced gravity), as well as Earth.","PeriodicalId":48749,"journal":{"name":"Earth Surface Dynamics","volume":"170 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139759262","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cirque-like alcoves in the northern mid-latitudes of Mars as evidence of glacial erosion","authors":"An Li, Michelle Koutnik, Stephen Brough, Matteo Spagnolo, Iestyn Barr","doi":"10.5194/egusphere-2023-2568","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2568","url":null,"abstract":"<strong>Abstract.</strong> While glacial remnants in the form of viscous flow features in the mid-latitudes of Mars are considered to be cold-based in the present-day, an increasing amount of geomorphic evidence suggests that at least some flow features were previously wet-based or had a mixed thermal state (polythermal) at during their evolution. Many of the viscous flow features known as glacier-like forms have been observed to emerge from alcoves that appear similar to cirques on Earth. Terrestrial cirques are typically characterized by a concave basin connected to a steep backwall. Cirques are expected to form from depressions in mountainsides that fill with snow/ice and over time support active glaciers that deepen the depressions by wet-based glacial erosion. To assess which alcoves on Mars are most “cirque-like”, we mapped a population of ~2000 alcoves in Deuteronilus Mensae, a region in the mid-latitudes of Mars characterized by mesas encompassed by glacial remnants. Based on visual characteristics and morphometrics, we refined our dataset to 386 “cirque-like alcoves”, which is five times the amount of glacier-like forms in the region, and used this to assess the past extent and style of glaciation on Mars. Using high resolution imagery, we find geomorphic evidence for glacial occupation associated with the cirque-like alcoves, including crevasse-like features, surface lineations, polygonal terrain, and moraine-like ridges. We propose that the cirque-like alcoves with icy remnants similar to rock glaciers on Earth represent a late stage of glacier-like form evolution. We also outline stages of cirque-like alcove evolution, linking a potential early stage of cirque-like alcoves to gully activity. On a population-wide scale, the cirque-like alcoves have a south to southeastward aspect bias, which may indicate a requirement for increased insolation for melting to occur and a connection to gullies on Mars. While the alcoves also have similarities to other features such as landslide scarps and amphitheater-headed valleys, the cirque-like alcoves have unique morphologies and morphometrics that differentiate their origin. Assuming warm-based erosion rates, the cirque-like alcoves have timescales consistent with both glacier-like forms and other viscous flow features like lobate debris aprons, whereas cold-based erosion rates would only allow the older timescales of lobate debris aprons. We propose that based on the geomorphic features and southward aspect, cirque-like alcove formation is more consistent with warm-based glaciation.","PeriodicalId":48749,"journal":{"name":"Earth Surface Dynamics","volume":"205 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139759277","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Path length and sediment transport estimation from DEMs of difference: a signal processing approach","authors":"Lindsay Marie Capito, Enrico Pandrin, Walter Bertoldi, Nicola Surian, Simone Bizzi","doi":"10.5194/esurf-12-321-2024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-321-2024","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. The difficulties of measuring bedload transport in gravel-bed rivers have given rise to the morphological method wherein sediment transport can be inferred from changes in riverbed elevation and estimates of the distance traveled by sediment: its path length. Because current methods for estimating path length are time- and labor-intensive, we present a method to estimate a characteristic path length from repeat digital elevation models (DEMs of difference, i.e., DoDs). We propose an automated method to extract the spacing between erosional and depositional sites on the DoD by the application of variational mode decomposition (VMD), a signal processing method, to quantify the spacing as a proxy for path length. We developed this method using flume experiments where bed topography and sediment flux were measured and then applied it to published field data with physical path length measured from tracer measurements. Our sediment transport estimates were not significantly different than the measured sediment flux at lower discharges in the lab. However, we observed an underestimation of sediment flux at the higher discharges in the flume study. We interpret this as a limit of the method in confined settings, where sediment transport becomes decoupled from morphological changes. We also explore how the time between survey acquisitions, the morphological active width relative to the channel width, and DoD thresholding techniques affect the proposed method and the potential issues they pose for the morphological method in general.","PeriodicalId":48749,"journal":{"name":"Earth Surface Dynamics","volume":"80 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139759279","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The impact of bedrock meander cutoffs on 50 ka-year-scale incision rates, San Juan River, Utah","authors":"Aaron T. Steelquist, Gustav B. Seixas, Mary L. Gillam, Sourav Saha, Seulgi Moon, George E. Hilley","doi":"10.5194/egusphere-2024-71","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-71","url":null,"abstract":"<strong>Abstract.</strong> Incision rates of major rivers may reflect the effects of drainage reorganization, hillslope processes, tectonic uplift, climate, the properties of rocks into which rivers incise, and other autogenic processes. On the Colorado Plateau, incision rates along the Colorado River have been interpreted as resulting from abrupt base-level changes produced by the integration of the Colorado River system. Specifically, the integration of the Colorado River in the location of Grand Canyon is thought to have created a knickpoint, enhanced by lithologic contrasts, which is retreating upstream. While evidence exists for a &lt;1 Ma acceleration of incision on parts of the Colorado River, uncertainty about the processes reflected in shorter-term incision rates muddies comparison with longer-term averages. In this work, we combine a cosmogenic radionuclide depth profile exposure age and post-Infrared Infrared Stimulated Luminescence (p-IR IRSL) to date fluvial deposits adjacent to the San Juan River, a major tributary of the Colorado River, near Mexican Hat, Utah. The deposits, resting on a 32 m strath surface, are constrained to be ∼28–40 ka, suggesting an incision rate of 804–1151 m Myr^-1, nearly an order of magnitude higher than the long-term rate of ∼140 m Myr^-1 over the past ∼1.2 Ma. We observe fluvial deposits that were abandoned due to a bedrock meander cutoff, which partially explains our accelerated incision rate. We use a simple geometric model, informed by our field data, to demonstrate how planform river evolution may, in some circumstances, increase short-term incision rates, relative to long-term incision rates. These short-term rates may also reflect a combination of autocyclic and climatic processes, which limits their ability to resolve longer-term changes in incision rate that may be related to changes in base-level or tectonics.","PeriodicalId":48749,"journal":{"name":"Earth Surface Dynamics","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139759542","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A numerical model for duricrust formation by water table fluctuations","authors":"Caroline Fenske, Jean Braun, François Guillocheau, Cécile Robin","doi":"10.5194/egusphere-2024-160","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-160","url":null,"abstract":"<strong>Abstract.</strong> Duricrusts are hard elemental layers forming in climatically contrasted environments. Ferricretes (or iron duricrusts) are a type of duricrust, made of indurated iron layers. They form in tropical to semi-arid environments, but can be currently observed all around the world, in areas such as Africa, South America, India, and Australia. In most cases, they cap hills and appear to protect softer layers beneath. Two hypotheses have been proposed for the formation of duricrusts, i.e., the hydrological or horizontal model where the enrichment in the hardening element (iron for ferricretes) is the product of leaching and precipitation through the beating of the water table during contrasted seasonal cycles, and the laterisation or vertical model, where the formation of iron duricrusts is the final stage of laterisation. In this article, we present the first numerical model for the formation of iron duricrusts based on the hydrological hypothesis. The model is an extension to an existing regolith formation model where the position of the water table is used to predict the formation of a hardened layer at a rate set by a characteristic time scale τ and over a depth set by the beating range of the water table, λ. Hardening causes a decrease in surface erodibility, which we introduce in the model as a dimensionless factor κ that multiplies the surface transport coefficient of the model. Using the model we show under which circumstances duricrusts form by introducing two dimensionless numbers that combine the model parameters (λ and τ) as well as parameters representing external forcing like precipitation rate and uplift rate. We demonstrate that by using model parameter values obtained by independent constraints from field observations, hydrology and geochronology, the model predictions reproduce the observed conditions for duricrust formation. We also show that there exists a strong feedback from duricrust formation on the shape of the regolith and the position of the water table. Finally we demonstrate that the commonly accepted view that, because they are commonly found at the top of hills, duricrusts protect elements of the landscape is most likely an over-interpretation and that caution must be taken before using duricrusts as markers of uplift and/or base level falls.","PeriodicalId":48749,"journal":{"name":"Earth Surface Dynamics","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139759568","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Flexural isostatic response of continental-scale deltas to climatically driven sea level changes","authors":"Sara Polanco, Mike Blum, Tristan Salles, Bruce C. Frederick, Rebecca Farrington, Xuesong Ding, Ben Mather, Claire Mallard, Louis Moresi","doi":"10.5194/esurf-12-301-2024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-301-2024","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. The interplay between climate-forced sea level change, erosional and depositional processes, and flexural isostasy in deep time on passive margin deltas remains poorly understood. We performed a series of conceptual simulations to investigate flexural isostatic responses to high-frequency fluctuations in water and sediment load associated with climatically driven sea level changes. We model a large drainage basin that discharges to a continental margin and produces a large deltaic depocenter, then prescribe synthetic and climatic-driven sea level curves of different frequencies to assess flexural response. Results show that flexural isostatic responses are bidirectional over 100–1000 kyr timescales and are in sync with the magnitude, frequency, and direction of sea level fluctuations and that isostatic adjustments play an important role in driving along-strike and cross-shelf river mouth migration and sediment accumulation. Our findings demonstrate that climate-forced sea level changes produce a feedback mechanism that results in self-sustaining creation of accommodation into which sediment is deposited and plays a major role in delta morphology and stratigraphic architecture.","PeriodicalId":48749,"journal":{"name":"Earth Surface Dynamics","volume":"61 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139661571","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Probing the exchange of CO2 and O2 in the shallow critical zone during weathering of marl and black shale","authors":"Tobias Roylands, Robert G. Hilton, Erin L. McClymont, Mark H. Garnett, Guillaume Soulet, Sébastien Klotz, Mathis Degler, Felipe Napoleoni, Caroline Le Bouteiller","doi":"10.5194/esurf-12-271-2024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-271-2024","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Chemical weathering of sedimentary rocks can release carbon dioxide (CO2) and consume oxygen (O2) via the oxidation of petrogenic organic carbon and sulfide minerals. These pathways govern Earth's surface system and climate over geological timescales, but the present-day weathering fluxes and their environmental controls are only partly constrained due to a lack of in situ measurements. Here, we investigate the gaseous exchange of CO2 and O2 during the oxidative weathering of black shales and marls exposed in the French southern Alps. On six field trips over 1 year, we use drilled headspace chambers to measure the CO2 concentrations in the shallow critical zone and quantify CO2 fluxes in real time. Importantly, we develop a new approach to estimate the volume of rock that contributes CO2 to a chamber, and assess effective diffusive gas exchange, by first quantifying the mass of CO2 that is stored in a chamber and connected rock pores. Both rock types are characterized by similar contributing rock volumes and diffusive movement of CO2. However, CO2 emissions differed between the rock types, with yields over rock outcrop surfaces (inferred from the contributing rock volume and the local weathering depths) ranging on average between 73 and 1108 tCkm-2yr-1 for black shales and between 43 and 873 tCkm-2yr-1 for marls over the study period. Having quantified diffusive processes, chamber-based O2 concentration measurements are used to calculate O2 fluxes. The rate of O2 consumption increased with production of CO2, and with increased temperature, with an average O2:CO2 molar ratio of 10:1. If O2 consumption occurs by both rock organic carbon oxidation and carbonate dissolution coupled to sulfide oxidation, either an additional O2 sink needs to be identified or significant export of dissolved inorganic carbon occurs from the weathering zone. Together, our findings refine the tools we have to probe CO2 and O2 exchange in rocks at Earth's surface and shed new light on CO2 and O2 fluxes, their drivers, and the fate of rock-derived carbon.","PeriodicalId":48749,"journal":{"name":"Earth Surface Dynamics","volume":"37 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139646612","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Influence of cohesive clay on wave–current ripple dynamics captured in a 3D phase diagram","authors":"Xuxu Wu, Jonathan Malarkey, Roberto Fernández, Jaco H. Baas, Ellen Pollard, Daniel R. Parsons","doi":"10.5194/esurf-12-231-2024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-231-2024","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Wave–current ripples that develop on seabeds of mixed non-cohesive sand and cohesive clay are commonplace in coastal and estuarine environments. While laboratory research on ripples forming in these types of mixed-bed environments is relatively limited, it has identified deep cleaning, the removal of clay below the ripple troughs, as an important factor controlling ripple development. New large-scale flume experiments seek to address this sparsity in data by considering two wave–current conditions with initial clay content, C0, ranging from 0 % to 18.3 %. The experiments record ripple development and pre- and post-experiment bed clay contents to quantify clay winnowing. The present experiments are combined with previous wave-only, wave–current, and current-only experiments to produce a consistent picture of larger and smaller flatter ripples over a range of wave–current conditions and C0. Specifically, the results reveal a sudden decrease in the ripple steepness for C0 > 10.6 %, likely associated with a decrease in hydraulic conductivity of 3 orders of magnitude. Accompanying the sudden change in steepness is a gradual linear decrease in wavelength with C0 for C0 > 7.4 %. Ultimately, for the highest values of C0, the bed remains flat, but clay winnowing still takes place, albeit at a rate 2 orders of magnitude lower than for rippled beds. For a given flow, the initiation time, when ripples first appear on a flat bed, increases with increasing C0. This, together with the fact that the bed remains flat for the highest values of C0, demonstrates that the threshold of motion increases with C0. The inferred threshold enhancement, and the occurrence of large and small ripples, is used to construct a new three-dimensional phase diagram of bed characteristics involving the wave and current Shields parameters and C0, which has important implications for morphodynamic modelling.","PeriodicalId":48749,"journal":{"name":"Earth Surface Dynamics","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139588684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Massive sediment pulses triggered by a multi-stage 130 000 m3 alpine cliff fall (Hochvogel, DE–AT)","authors":"Natalie Barbosa, Johannes Leinauer, Juilson Jubanski, Michael Dietze, Ulrich Münzer, Florian Siegert, Michael Krautblatter","doi":"10.5194/esurf-12-249-2024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-249-2024","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Massive sediment pulses in catchments are a key alpine multi-risk component. Substantial sediment redistribution in alpine catchments frequently causes flooding, river erosion, and landsliding and affects infrastructure such as dam reservoirs as well as aquatic ecosystems and water quality. While systematic rock slope failure inventories have been collected in several countries, the subsequent cascading sediment redistribution is virtually unaccessed. For the first time, this contribution reports the massive sediment redistribution triggered by the multi-stage failure of more than 130 000 m3 from the Hochvogel dolomite peak during the summer of 2016. We applied change detection techniques to seven 3D-coregistered high-resolution true orthophotos and digital surface models (DSMs) obtained through digital aerial photogrammetry later optimized for precise volume calculation in steep terrain. The analysis of seismic information from surrounding stations revealed the temporal evolution of the cliff fall. We identified the proportional contribution of > 600 rockfall events (> 1 m3) from four rock slope catchments with different slope aspects and their volume estimates. In a sediment cascade approach, we evaluated erosion, transport, and deposition from the rock face to the upper channelized erosive debris flow channel, then to the widened dispersive debris flow channel, and finally to the outlet into the braided sediment-supercharged Jochbach river. We observe the decadal flux of more than 400 000 m3 of sediment, characterized by massive sediment waves that (i) exhibit reaction times of 0–4 years in response to a cliff fall sediment input and relaxation times beyond 10 years. The sediment waves (ii) manifest with faster response times of 0–2 years in the upper catchment and over 2 years in the lower catchments. The entire catchment (iii) undergoes a rapid shift from sedimentary (102–103 mm a−1) to massive erosive regimes (102 mm a−1) within single years, and the massive sediment redistribution (iv) shows limited dependency on rainfall frequency and intensity. This study provides generic information on spatial and temporal patterns of massive sediment pulses in highly sediment-charged alpine catchments.","PeriodicalId":48749,"journal":{"name":"Earth Surface Dynamics","volume":"40 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139670015","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}