Field measurements of incision rates following bedrock exposure: implications for process controls on the long profiles of valleys cut by rivers and debris flows
Stock JD, Montgomery DR, Collins BD, Dietrich WE, Sklar L. 2005. Field measurements of incision rates following bedrock exposure: implications for process controls on the long profiles of valleys cut by rivers and debris flows. Geological Society of America Bulletin. 117(11-12):174-194
From the Abstract: "Until recently, published rates of incision of bedrock valleys came from indirect dating of incised surfaces. A small but growing literature based on direct measurement reports short-term bedrock lowering at geologically unsustainable rates. We report observations of bedrock lowering from erosion pins monitored over 1-7 yr in 10 valleys that cut indurated volcanic and sedimentary rocks in Washington, Oregon, California, and Taiwan. Most of these channels have historically been stripped of sediment. Their bedrock is exposed to bed-load abrasion, plucking, and seasonal wetting and drying the comminutes hard, intact rock into plates or equant fragments that are removed by higher flows. Consequent incision rates are proportional to the square of rock tensile strength, in agreement with experimental results of others."
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Stock, Jonathan; Montgomery, David; Collins, Brian; Dietrich, William; Sklar, Leonard
- Units
- OLYM
- Keywords
- Debris Flow, Erosion, Geology, Geomorphology, river valley