Imperial College London
Portrait Picture

Dr Alex Whittaker

Faculty of Engineering, Department of Earth Science & Engineering

Reader in Landscape Dynamics
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 7491a.whittaker Website

 
 
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Location

 

3.51Royal School of MinesSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Fernandes:2019:10.1029/2018JF004979,
author = {Fernandes, VM and Roberts, GG and White, N and Whittaker, AC},
doi = {10.1029/2018JF004979},
journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface},
pages = {2689--2722},
title = {Continental-scale landscape evolution: a history of North American topography},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2018JF004979},
volume = {124},
year = {2019}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - The generation and evolution of continental topography are fundamental geologic and geomorphic concerns. In particular, the history of landscape development might contain useful information about the spatiotemporal evolution of deep Earth processes, such as mantle convection. A significant challenge is to generate observations and theoretical predictions of sufficient fidelity to enable landscape evolution to be constrained at scales of interest. Here, we combine substantial inventories of stratigraphic and geomorphic observations with inverse and forward modeling approaches to determine how the North American landscape evolved. First, stratigraphic markers are used to estimate postdepositional regional uplift. Presentday elevations of these deposits demonstrate that >2 km of longwavelength surface uplift centered on the ColoradoRockyMountain plateaus occurred in Cenozoic times. Second, to bridge the gaps between these measurements, an inverse modeling scheme is used to calculate the smoothest spatiotemporal pattern of rock uplift rate that yields the smallest misfit between 4,161 observed and calculated longitudinal river profiles. Our results suggest that Cenozoic regional uplift occurred in a series of stages, in agreement with independent stratigraphic observations. Finally, a landscape evolution model driven by this calculated rock uplift history is used to determine drainage patterns, denudation, and sedimentary flux from Late Cretaceous times until the present day. These patterns are broadly consistent with stratigraphic and thermochronologic observations. We conclude that a calibrated inverse modeling strategy can be used to reliably extract the temporal and spatial evolution of the North American landscape at geodynamically useful scales.
AU  - Fernandes,VM
AU  - Roberts,GG
AU  - White,N
AU  - Whittaker,AC
DO  - 10.1029/2018JF004979
EP  - 2722
PY  - 2019///
SN  - 2169-9011
SP  - 2689
TI  - Continental-scale landscape evolution: a history of North American topography
T2  - Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2018JF004979
UR  - http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000498773200001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
UR  - https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2018JF004979
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/79087
VL  - 124
ER  -
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