Earth Surface Processes and Landforms

Journal: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms

Abbreviation

Earth Surf Process Landforms

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell

ISSN

0197-9337
1096-9837

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Publications1 - 10 of 38

The micro‐topography of the wetlands of the Okavango Delta, Botswana
Gumbricht, Thomas; McCarthy, Terence S.; Bauer, Peter (2005)
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
The surface of the 40 000 km2 Okavango alluvial fan is remarkably smooth, and almost everywhere lies within two to three metres of a perfectly smooth theoretical surface. Deviations from this perfect surface give rise to islands in the Okavango wetlands. This micro-topography was mapped by assigning empirical elevations to remotely sensed vegetation community classes, based on the observation that vegetation is very sensitive to small, local differences in elevation. Even though empirical, the method produces fairly accurate results. The technique allows estimation of depths of inundation and therefore will be applicable even when high resolution radar altimetry becomes available. The micro-topography has arisen as a result of clastic sedimentation in distributary channels, which produces local relief of less than two metres, and more importantly as a result of chemical precipitation in island soils, which produces similar local relief. The micro-topography is, therefore, an expression of the non-random sedimentation taking place on the fan. Volume calculations of islands extracted from the micro-topography, combined with estimates of current sediment inﬂux, suggest that the land surface of the wetland may only be a few tens of thousands of years old. Constant switching of water distribution, driven by local aggradation, has distributed sediment widely. Mass balance calculations suggest that over a period of c. 150 000 years all of the fan would at one time or other have been inundated, and thus subject to sedimentation. Coalescing of islands over time results in net aggradation of the fan surface. The amount of vertical aggradation on islands and in channels is restricted by the water depth. Restricted vertical relief, in turn, maximizes the distribution of water, limiting its average depth. Aggradation in the permanent swamps occurs predominantly by clastic sedimentation. Rates of aggradation here are very similar to those in the seasonal swamps, maintaining the overall gradient, possibly because of the operation of a feedback loop between the two. The limited amount of local aggradation arising from both clastic and chemical sedimentation, combined with constant changes in water distribution, has resulted in a near-perfect conical surface over the fan. In addition to providing information on sedimentary processes, the micro-topography has several useful hydrological applications.
Proglacial erosion rates and processes in a glacierized catchment in the Swiss Alps
Delaney, Ian A.; Bauder, Andreas; Huss, Matthias; et al. (2018)
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
In the Swiss Alps, climatic changes have not only caused glacier retreat, but also likely increased sedimentation downstream of glaciers. This material either originates from below the glacier or from periglacial environments, which are exposed as glaciers retreat, and often consist of easily erodible sediment. Griesgletscher's catchment in the Swiss Alps was examined to quantify erosion in the proglacial area, possible hydrological drivers and contributions of the sub‐ and periglacial sources. Digital elevation models, created from annual aerial photographs, were subtracted to determine annual volume changes in the proglacial area from 1986 to 2014. These data show a strong increase in proglacial erosion in the decade prior to 2012, coincident with increasing proglacial area size. However, examination of the gradient between discharge and sediment evacuation, and modeled sediment transport, could suggest that the proglacial area began to stabilize and sediment supply is limited. The large influx of sediment into the proglacial reservoir, which is roughly 2.5 times greater than the amount of sediment eroded from the proglacial area, demonstrates the importance of subglacial erosion to the catchment's sediment budget. Although far more sediment originates subglacially, erosion rates in the proglacial area are over 50 times greater than the rest of the catchment. In turn, both sub‐ and periglacial processes, in addition to constraining sediment supply, must be considered for assessing future sediment dynamics as glacier area shrinks and proglacial areas grow.
Bedload hysteresis in a glacier-fed mountain river
Mao, Luca; Dell`Agnese, Andrea; Huincache, Carolina; et al. (2014)
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
Bed morphology and generation of step-pool channels
Weichert, Roman; Bezzola, Gian Reto; Minor, Hans-Erwin (2008)
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
Range imaging
Nitsche, Manuel; Turowski, Jens M.; Badoux, Alexandre; et al. (2013)
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
Erosional power in the Swiss Alps
Bennett, G.L.; Molnar, P.; Eisenbeiss, H.; et al. (2012)
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
Disturbance regimes at the interface of geomorphology and ecology
Rice, Stephen; Stöffel, Markus; Turowski, Jens M.; et al. (2012)
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
Soil formation and weathering in a permafrost environment of the Swiss Alps: A multi-parameter and non-steady-state approach
Zollinger, Barbara; Alewell, Christine; Kneisel, Christof; et al. (2017)
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
A review of terrestrial radar interferometry for measuring surface change in the geosciences
Caduff, Rafael; Schlunegger, Fritz; Kos, Andrew; et al. (2015)
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
Graphical methods of river profile analysis to unravel drainage area change, uplift and erodibility contrasts in the Central Range of Taiwan
Chen, Chia-Yu; Willett, Sean D. (2016)
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms

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Journal: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms

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