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My interest in attending the workshop stems from my commitment to studying how landscapes record tectonic deformation through the filter of geomorphic processes. Because processes like sediment transport and bedrock incision can be observed on short timescales, it’s compelling to consider how we can best extrapolate modern observations to geologic timescales. In this sense, spatial patterns of landscape form and erosion offer opportunities to constrain geomorphic models and parameters if the tectonic boundary conditions are well constrained. On the flip side, tectonicists often look to geomorphologists for morphologic (or other) proxies for deformation. The extent to which these two perspectives/needs can be moved forward together requires a collective effort with sufficient disciplinary representation.
I am interested in learning about advances in the modeling of tectonic processes as well as how coupling with surface process models can be accomplished. My graduate students and postdocs have worked on a diverse array of geomorphic models and field settings that exploit tectonic gradients to assess landscape evolution. Defining the potential couplings and feedbacks will require improvements in our models and datasets and the workshop would be highly inspiring and influential for our community. +
My interests are in improving our knowledge of active plate boundaries and our understanding how active structures in these settings connect, interact and co-evolve, with a particular focus on geohazards, heat flow potential and the link between plate boundary architecture and surface processes. My main study areas are southern California (Santa Barbara Channel, Los Angeles Basin and Cajon Pass and the Salton Trough - N. Gulf of California), the Indo-Burma Arc and Lipari Island, Italy. Using seismic imaging techniques and the analysis of borehole breakouts, I am able to provide constraints on crustal structure and in situ stress and also monitor the influence of fluids on natural seismicity. Some of my main results include stress variations at the sub-kilometer scale in the Los Angeles basin near active faults, which interestingly show an increased variation at shallower depths. I have also shown with numerical models using FLAC style codes that basal shear and rift obliquity control the number of basins and distributed faulting in transtensional settings. However, increasing evidence suggests that surface loads, e.g., changes in sediment distribution and sedimentation rate; groundwater recharge or depletion and subsidence related to seasonal groundwater changes or CO2 storage are in some cases controlled by active faults and basement structure. Conversely, what role do surface processes play in reactivating faults or transferring slip between fault segments through stress perturbations? What are the best methods for modeling and integrating surface processes with long term tectonic models that reflect ~10,000 year time scales and the smallest spatial scales of hundreds of meters. And how do these processes change the architecture and interactions within active fault networks? +
My main research interest lies in recognizing and quantifying (or trying to) the tectonic from the erosion/slope processes/landsliding processes in active/seismogenically deforming areas. Up to now the study areas are the seismogenic normal faults in the central Apennines where we run a network of measurement points along these bedrock fault scarps in order to access their exposure and try to individualize the fault slip rates from the cumulative exposure rates.
I would very much like to attend this workshop in order to participate in presentations and discussions of the numerical techniques designed to study the coupling between tectonic and surface processes, the activity we are entering in with trying to model the evolution of the mountain fronts bearing the seismogenic normal faults. +
My main research interests are in tectonics and geomorphology. I use a wide array of techniques to study evolving landscapes in tectonic settings, including numerical modeling, field observations, and geochronological and thermochronological data. I am pleased to see a coming together of the CIG and CSDMS communities as we have many overlapping scientific pursuits and techniques, but have, to this point, interacted very little. I look forward to attending this meeting and will be presenting one of the overview talks regarding future needs in surface processes. +
My name is Rachel Atkins and I am working on my PhD at NC State University with Drs. Karl Wegmann and Paul Byrne. My research focuses on the interactions between tectonic processes and channel profile evolution. As such, I am applying and adapting methodological techniques and physical scaling relationships from Earth-based studies to channels developed on fault-uplifted topography on Mars. My research is at the point where I would benefit significantly from a solid understanding of the current state of CIG and CSBMS, and the resources available to address my research questions pertaining to Mars and Earth-analog sites.
Professionally, the opportunity to attend the CTSP workshop would allow me to make connections with other researchers in the field. I am particularly interested in developing research connections with others involved in coupling tectonics and surface processes and brainstorming avenues that would allow for future collaboration. +
My research efforts in the past several years focused on the identification and categorization of fluvial surficial patterns that emerge in response to various tectonic kinematic regimes, and on the possibility and techniques for inferring 3D tectonic rates and modes of deformation from fluvial patterns. My main research tool is numerical modelling.
By attending the workshop, I hope to learn about challenges and to participate in and contribute to discussions that address outstanding questions with regard to the coupled interactions between tectonic and surface processes.
I’m listing here five questions that emerge from recent discussions that I had with various colleagues and relate to this coupling:
1. What is the degree of uniqueness of the interpretation of surficial patterns as an outcome of tectonic deformation?
2. What are the scales over which tectonics affects surface processes and surface processes affect the state of stress in the crust and in the lithosphere?
3. As the above scales are expected to differ, what kind of numerical schemes could bridge over the various scales?
4. How geologic structures interact with surface processes? and how can these interactions be represented in numerical models?
5. How can we learn about past and present planetary tectonic activity from planetary surface observations?
I hope that insights and tools derived from the workshop will serve me as a teacher of undergraduate and graduate students by providing motivations and perspectives for explaining and demonstrating the coupling between the two fields (that are perceived by many students as independent). As a supervisor of graduate students, I hope to learn how to guide them in exploring broader implications of their research to the interactions between tectonic and surface processes, and as an investigator in this field, I hope to be able to contribute to discussions that address the directions in which the community should be heading, to learn about new tools and approaches that can be adopted in my research, and to form new collaborations.
My research focused on quantifying landscape evolution to understand the interactions among the geosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. My work bridges the modeling and observation fields to advance a quantitative understanding of landscape dynamics. Tectonics is a first order driver of landscape dynamics in many landscapes across the Earth and thus a primary interest in my research is to understand how tectonics processes influence topography. Modeling is a vital tool in this endeavor. My goal for attending this workshop is twofold: (1) learn about state-of-the-art approaches in modeling tectonics that could help drive numerical models of landscapes; and (2) develop new and existing relationships across these disciplinary boundaries to advance coupled surface-tectonic modeling approaches to help advance new frontiers in this research direction. +
My research focuses on the integration of a wide range of data types (sedimentology, thermochronology, geochronometry, remote sensing) and models (numerical and analogical) to understand the evolution of the landscape. I am currently focusing on the development of new tools for numerical modeling, as a member of the Landlab development team. I would like to develop tools that help coupling of long-term, sub-surface processes (tectonics, isostasy) with surface processes and landscape evolution. This workshop is the perfect opportunity for me to understand what type of tools would help the community. +
My research interesting is to under the co evolution of plants, their communities and landscape. Though this is mainly through the interaction betseen plants and the surface processes, the tectonic acctivitis set the stage for these interaction occur and in very long term , vegetation can also affect tectonic acctivities. This mechanism has poorly ivestigated.
I want to learn the most advanced knowledge on the interaction between techtonic and surface processes, which will highly benefit my study. +
My research interests sit at the intersection of surface and geodynamic processes. Much of my approach comes from field and laboratory studies. However, recently during my postdoc working with Jean Braun I’ve been using continental-scale landscape modeling combined with geologic data to investigate the geodynamic history of southern Africa. Such a project, which requires many tens of thousands of large-scale landscape model runs, has only been feasible due to the development of extremely efficient algorithms such as FastScape. I am more of a user than a developer of algorithms like this, but I am very interested in the strengths, uses, limitations, and ongoing development of these efficient numerical models. I am interested in attending this workshop to get a better sense of the state of the art of the available numerical techniques, and the direction in which they are headed. As someone who collects geologic data, I am also particularly interested in discussing data integration and model validation using real world data. Finally, I am interested in attending this workshop for the excellent networking opportunity it provides to meet researchers and potential collaborators who are interested in the types of problems which couple surface and tectonic processes. +
My research is primarily focused on using a number of independent datasets to determine the subsurface geometry of the Himalayas. I am currently using seismic and thermochronologic constraints to define the correct lateral geometry of the Main Himalayan Thrust. I would like to extend this to understanding the connection between subsurface geometry in convergent margins to topography and geomorphic markers. The exact relationship between the two is not currently well-defined. One way that I would like to understand the connection is to combine kinematic models of the region with a landscape evolution model. This combination would allow me to test different subsurface geometries, and understand how differences in the sequential development of an orogen can lead to differences in topography. Combining this with results from thermal modeling and seismic data would result in a three-pronged approach in producing a thoroughly well-constrained three-dimensional model for the subsurface of Nepal. This method could in the future then be extended across the Himalayas, and eventually to other orogens.
This workshop would assist me greatly in understanding the mathematics and physics underlying the numerical modeling of landscapes, and how I can potentially apply them to my own work. Additionally, it would allow me to interact with research groups that are doing research on different applications of landscape evolution models, and how tectonics are coupled to them. As a graduate student, this would allow me to broaden my focus and understand the total breadth of issues and potential uses of the methods. I would also be able to look for potential post-doctoral projects, and move forward to becoming and independent researcher in my own right. +
My research primarily focuses on exploring the geomorphic response to tectonic movement at mountain range scale, in particular along convergent margins across the globe. My approach is heavily dependent on numerical methods for which I model kinematic velocity fields based on realistic fault geometries that are then fed into landscape evolution models. This integration allows me to efficiently combine realistic bedrock motion with surface processes in a controlled environment to study how landscapes adjust to such motion. In an advanced step kinematic models can be derived from more complex, possibly multiple, palinspastic reconstructions across fold-thrust belts and also used to model crustal heat transfer to predict cooling ages. From here an entire set of tools would be available to be applied in the field to test such numerically generated landscapes, e.g. comparison of topographic features, river profile analysis, comparison of measured and predicted thermochronological ages in bedrock and as detrital signal.
However, this approach does face, not unexpectedly, technical challenges due to its large spatial and temporal scale. Thus, I am very interested in exploring more efficient solutions in modeling landscapes on such scale, as well as testing new algorithms that are suitable to integrate efficiently the modeling of tectonic motion and erosion through surface processes without losing access to tools I wish to apply (e.g. channel steepness analysis, cooling age prediction). As a post-doc I would also be looking forward to meet established figures to survey the current status in the field, and receive input on potential new research opportunities. The workshop would also provide a chance for potential future collaborations and ideas on joint funding proposals in my first step as a more independent researcher striving for a faculty position in the near future. +
My scientific interests lie at the intersection of Earth's surface dynamics and other geologic processes. My current research focuses on the long-term and large-scale evolution of terrestrial drainage networks in response to tectonic and other forcings, and how surface processes affect other geologic systems. Towards that end, I am currently working to couple a continent-scale landscape evolution model to kinematic tectonic models. I have developed a surface process model that incorporates bedrock river incision, alluvial transport and deposition, delta formation and progradation, and submarine sediment diffusion. By perturbing this model with tectonic and geodynamic deformation, I hope to connect our process understanding of surface dynamics over short timescales to longer-term change evident in the geologic record, and to characterize the patterns of river networks and their changes that emerge from different tectonic regimes.
I hope to use this meeting both to share what I have been working on with others and to hear new perspectives, from both the surface process and tectonics communities. Since my research integrates geomorphology with geodynamic processes, I believe that it is critical for me to have a solid grounding in both. I expect that exposure to an intellectually diverse group of scientists will help me better inform my scientific approach and the questions I hope to answer. I also hope to receive guidance from other scientists on improving my model algorithms, both for the surface process and tectonic/geodynamic components. By explicitly combining tectonics and surface processes, this conference offers a unique opportunity to connect with these two fields at the intersections between them. +
Organising committee and invited speaker +
Organizing Committee +
Part of the organizing committee but am interested in attending only if there is space available. +
Rivers are coupled to tectonic processes through surface and rock uplift, regional faulting and temporal variations of clastic sediment supply and runoff. The general way in which rivers respond to each of these drivers is well known. For example, the popular Lane's balance conceptualizes how a river profile will evolve given a change in sediment and/or water supply (or sediment caliber). The timescale over which these changes occur is difficult to predict due in part to local filtering of the upstream supply changes along a river network. The raises the question whether landscape evolution models adequately represent this uncertainty, and whether models capture the underlying physical processes governing the filtering of upstream signals. This knowledge gap is growing in importance as landscape evolution models tend toward higher spatial resolutions. One goal of my future research is to contribute work to this problem, building off of my PhD which offers one means to estimate response timescales. I think this CSDMS workshop provides an excellent opportunity to take the first concrete step toward this goal, and to learn from landscape evolution modeling experts so that the context for the questions raised above is well founded and focused on the true gaps. +
The competition between surface processes (e.g. sedimentation) and the vertical flow of the dee crust (exhumation) influences strain localisation during rifting. Ductile layers in the lithosphere will exert a first-order control on the deformation mode within a rift, and sedimentation will impact the thermal structure of the rift. The dynamic interaction between sedimentation and ductile flow is addressed in a suite of 2D numerical experiments under lithospheric extension (2 cm/yr^1), where two densities of rift infill (2620, 2800 kg/m^3) and three deep crust viscosities (weak, moderate, strong) are used. In addition, the thickness of the crust (40-60 km) and the temperature of the Moho (600-800°C) are varied between reasonable end-member values.
Experiments with a 40 km crust exhibit lithospheric thinning as the result of strain localisation, regardless of the viscosity of the deep crust or the density of the rift infill. However, the viscosity of the deep crust and the density of rift infill control how the deep crust is thinned. Experiments with an intermediate or strong deep crust exhibit crustal scale conjugate shear zones and a triangular shaped basin. Experiments with a weak deep crust and a high-density rift infill exhibit basin depths of ~25 km concurrent with uplift of the asthenosphere to ~30 km, which results in lateral transport of the deep crust. The transition from rifting to drifting occurs at 33-40% extension, depending on the viscosity of the deep crust. Experiments with a 60 km crust do not exhibit rift to drift transition prior to 55% extension. Instead a weak or intermediate deep crust results in the formation of thin basins that expand laterally above a mobile deep crust, and a strong deep crust results in graben formation similar to that present in experiments with a 40 km crust. These experiments illustrate that the deposition of sediments and its impact on the mechanical behavior of the deep crust will influence rifting processes.
The corrugated topography of the Basin and Range province of North America is the manifestation of a coupling between tectonics and topographic evolution. Researchers in the USGS Geologic Mapping program are discussing a new multi-year project to conduct variable-scale mapping on a large east-west transect from Colorado through Nevada. This promises to produce fundamental observations about the history of deformation, erosion, and deposition across gradients in climate, lithology, and rates and durations of tectonic deformation. My research interest in this endeavor is to identify natural experiments where spatial substitutions could help understand the role and record of tectonics (among other forcings) in landscape morphology. This conference would be a great opportunity to learn more about the issues central to the pursuits of a broader academic community and to identify collaborations that could benefit from geologic maps (with associated data) constructed by the USGS. In particular, I would look forward to discussions about how we as a community can incorporate geologic data (e.g., spatial and geometric data from maps and geo- and thermo- chronologic data) into coupled tectonic-surface process models. How can we use primary geologic observations in an effort to test both our numerical models and our interpretations of the geologic framework? I have limited experience with the tectonic side of this problem, so could gain a lot from interacting with this group. +
The coupling of surface process models with lithospheric deformation models lies at the heart of two of my current projects, with Lucile Bruhat on one side and with Jean-Arthur Olive, Mark Behn and Roger Buck on the other. In the first one, a model for wave-base erosion is coupled to a reconstruction of the interseismic deformation over the Cascadia subduction zone to identify the morphological signatures of fault coupling. The second project (ongoing since 2013) seeks to establish the evolution of normal faults under varying climatic and lithospheric conditions. In it, we couple a 2D horizontal landscape evolution model to a 2D vertical visco-plasto-elastic geodynamic model of the lithosphere.
My background is in geomorphology and my collaborators are geophysicists. The very questions that will be discussed at the CSDMS workshop reflect thoughts and discussions I have with them. I would be very interested in taking part in the workshop to better integrate the community that spans the interface between geodynamics and geomorphology and participate in the discussions that will potentially shape the path forward. I am a postdoctoral researcher at UC Santa Cruz after finishing my PhD at Caltech in 2016. +
