Spatial pattern of denudation in a lithologically controlled sub-tropical flat landscape: insights from the Kimberley region, NW Australia

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dc.contributor.authorCazes, Gen_AU
dc.contributor.authorFink, Den_AU
dc.contributor.authorCodilean, ATen_AU
dc.contributor.authorFülöp, RHen_AU
dc.date.accessioned2016-06-14T05:56:36Zen_AU
dc.date.available2016-06-14T05:56:36Zen_AU
dc.date.issued2016-01-01en_AU
dc.date.statistics2016-06-14en_AU
dc.description.abstractThe Kimberley region, northwest Australia, is well known for its expansive and diverse collection of prehistorical aboriginal rock art that potentially dates back to 40,000 years ago. The region is characterized by a tropical, semiarid climate with a monsoonal rainfall distribution and a flat landscape interrupted by massive sandstone mesas and deeply incised bedrock river gorges. In order to constrain the chronology of the rock art it is necessary to quantify the spatial and temporal dimensions of landscape evolution. We report cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al concentrations in modern fluvial sediment collected from 27 catchments with areas spanning several orders of magnitude (13.6 – 13,900 km2 ). All catchments are characterized by a very low topographic gradient (average basin slopes < 3◦ ) and subdued local relief of at most 200m. Assuming negligible sediment storage times and rapid sediment transport driven by the annual monsoonal washout, we calculate 10Be based catchment-wide denudation rates ranging between 1.87 ± 0.23 and 9.48 ± 1.05 m.Myr−1 . These low rates are among the slowest recorded in the world, despite the strong climatic seasonality of the region. Our measured denudation rates exhibit a strong correlation with topographic gradient, which in the overall flat landscapes of the Kimberley, is controlled by the prevailing sandstone bedrock lithology and the presence of numerous escarpments adjacent to the river channels. We present a modelling approach that makes use of the 26Al/10Be ratio in the fluvial sediments as a source tracer (ie escarpment cliffs, river channels, plateau bedrocks), and use this to explore the control and retreat rate of the eroding escarpment cliffs in order to provide information on the spatial distribution of denudation in the landscape. © Author(s) 2016. CC Attribution 3.0 License.en_AU
dc.identifier.citationCazes, G. , Fink, D., Codilean, A. T., & Fülöp, R.-H. (2016). Spatial pattern of denudation in a lithologically controlled sub-tropical flat landscape: insights from the Kimberley region, NW Australia. Paper presented at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2016, Vienna, Austria, 17-22 April 2016.en_AU
dc.identifier.conferenceenddate22 April 2016en_AU
dc.identifier.conferencenameEuropean Geosciences Union General Assembly 2016en_AU
dc.identifier.conferenceplaceVienna, Austriaen_AU
dc.identifier.conferencestartdate17 April 2016en_AU
dc.identifier.govdoc6655en_AU
dc.identifier.otherEGU2016-16405-4en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttp://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2016/EGU2016-16405-4.pdfen_AU
dc.identifier.urihttp://apo.ansto.gov.au/dspace/handle/10238/6978en_AU
dc.language.isoenen_AU
dc.publisherEuropean Geophysical Unionen_AU
dc.subjectSpatial distributionen_AU
dc.subjectLithologyen_AU
dc.subjectAustraliaen_AU
dc.subjectRock bedsen_AU
dc.subjectLandscapingen_AU
dc.subjectRiversen_AU
dc.titleSpatial pattern of denudation in a lithologically controlled sub-tropical flat landscape: insights from the Kimberley region, NW Australiaen_AU
dc.typeConference Abstracten_AU
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