Landscape response to climate change: Insights from an experimental model

Arvind Singh, University of Minnesota Minneapolis Minnesota, . sing0336@umn.edu

Liam Reinhardt, University of Exeter Cornwall , UK"UK" is not in the list (Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, ...) of allowed values for the "CSDMS meeting coauthor country" property..

Efi Foufoula-Georgiou, University of Minnesota Minneapolis Minnesota, USA"USA" is not in the list (Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, ...) of allowed values for the "CSDMS meeting coauthor country" property..

[[Image:|300px|right|link=File:]]A series of controlled laboratory experiments were conducted at the St. Anthony Falls laboratory of the University of Minnesota for studying the effect of changing precipitation patterns on landscape evolution at the short and long-time scales. High resolution digital elevation (DEM) both in space and time along with the instantaneous sediment transport rates were measured for a range of rainfall patterns and uplift rates. These experiments were designed to develop a complete drainage network by growth and propagation of erosional instabilities in response to tectonic uplift. We focus our study to the investigation of how changes in the frequency and magnitude of large rainfall events might influence mountainous landscapes. Preliminary analysis suggests that the statistics of topographic signatures, for example, evolution of drainage network, slopes, curvatures, etc., show dependence on both rainfall patterns and uplift rate. The implications of these results for predictive modeling of landscapes and the resulting sediment transport are discussed.

Meeting:Abstract 2011 CSDMS meeting-033

Landscape response to climate change: Insights from an experimental model