2015/08/14 by Günther Prasicek, Isaac J. Larsen, David R. Montgomery · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Landslides and related hazards #Cryospheric studies and observations
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/ncomms9028
openalex publication_date 2015/08/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
One of the most fundamental insights for understanding how landscapes evolve is based on determining the extent to which topography was shaped by glaciers or by rivers. More than 10(4) years after the last major glaciation the topography of mountain ranges worldwide remains dominated by characteristic glacial landforms such as U-shaped valleys, but an understanding of the persistence of such landforms is lacking. Here we use digital topographic data to analyse valley shapes at sites worldwide to demonstrate that the persistence of U-shaped valleys is controlled by the erosional response to tectonic forcing. Our findings indicate that glacial topography in Earth's most rapidly uplifting mountain ranges is rapidly replaced by fluvial topography and hence valley forms do not reflect the cumulative action of multiple glacial periods, implying that the classic physiographic signature of glaciated landscapes is best expressed in, and indeed limited by, the extent of relatively low-uplift terrain.