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Analytic solution of the mean elevation of a watershed dominated by fluvial incision and hillslope landslides
Author(s) -
Lavé J.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2005gl022482
Subject(s) - bedrock , landslide , elevation (ballistics) , geology , fluvial , watershed , geomorphology , hydrology (agriculture) , range (aeronautics) , erosion , precipitation , geotechnical engineering , geometry , meteorology , materials science , mathematics , structural basin , machine learning , computer science , composite material , physics
In active mountainous landscapes dominated by detachment‐limited fluvial incision and hillslope landslides, the scaling relations that characterize both river profiles and planimetric organization of the river network can be linked to provide an analytic solution to describe the mean elevation of a watershed. This new analytical approach directly links mountain elevation, precipitation, bedrock erodibility and uplift rate, and yields results that are consistent with those obtained through classic 2‐D surface process model. When applied to a growing linear mountain range the approach provides an approximate, but much faster, solution for 2‐D or 3‐D numerical models of crustal deformation that explicitly include surface processes.