The present-day topography of the European Alps shows evidence of intense glacial reshaping. However, significant questions regarding Alpine landscape evolution during glaciations still persist. In this study, we focus on the Rhône valley (Swiss Alps), and use a numerical model to estimate patterns and magnitudes of glacial erosion. Comparing modeling results on a reconstructed pre-glacial topo...

[1] Glacial occupation of alpine valleys results in a distinct signature in the long-valley profile, including steepening of the profile in the headwaters, flattening at lower elevations, and a step in the profile at the convergence of headwater tributaries. We present analytic results for glacial erosion patterns by making the following assumptions: (1) the initial profile is linear, (2) the w...

[1] Climate change indirectly alters the distribution of tectonic uplift at active orogens by modifying the action of surface processes, which in turn alters mountain topography. The impact of alpine glaciation on tectonic activity is explored here. The predictions of previous analytical, critical wedge models are compared with the output of a numerical model that explicitly couples rock uplift...

Assessing the impact of glaciation on Earth's surface requires understanding glacial erosion processes. Developing erosion theories is challenging because of the complex nature of the erosion processes and the difficulty of examining the ice/bedrock interface of contemporary glaciers. We demonstrate that the glacial erosion rate is proportional to the ice-sliding velocity squared, by quantifyin...

Some of Earth’s greatest relief occurs where glacial processes act on mountain topography1,2. This dramatic landscape is thought to be an imprint of Pleistocene glaciations3,4. However, whether the net effect of glacial erosion on mountains is to increase5–7 or decrease8–10 relief remains disputed. It has been suggested that in the European Alps, the onset of widespread glaciation since the mid...

Keyword: Mars, surface Mars, climate Geological processes Observations of Mars from the surface and from orbit suggest that erosion rates over the last 3 Gyr (the Amazonian) have been as slow as 10 5 m/Myr and have been dominated by aeolian processes, while ancient (Noachian) erosion rates may have been orders of magnitude higher due to impact bombardment and fluvial activity. Amazonian-aged gl...

Glacial-interglacial cycles affect the processes through which water and rocks are redistributed across the Earth’s surface, thereby linking the solid Earth and climate dynamics. Regional and global scale studies suggest that continental lithospheric unloading due to ice melting during the transition to interglacials leads to increased continental magmatic, volcanic, and degassing activity. Suc...

A numerical model was developed for simulating the formation of U-shaped glacial valleys by coupling a two-dimensional ice flow model with an erosion model for a transverse cross section. The erosion model assumes that the erosion rate varies quadratically with sliding speed. We compare the two-dimensional model with a simple shallow-ice approximation model and show the differences in the evolu...