Landscape evolution constrained by the intraplate stress field: Direct coupling of tectonics and the influence of biota on long-term geomorphic development in the Chilean Coastal Ranges

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Kurt Stüwe
• Subject Area: Physical Geography ; Palaeontology
• Term: from 2018 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 408247826

The relationship between slope and elevation in the topography of the Chilean Coastal Ranges changes systematically from north to south and may be interpreted in terms of the influence of biota because it is consistent with erosion being a function of the observed vegetation gradient. The region presents therefore a unique opportunity to investigate how landscape evolution models can be modulated for biota. For the project it is planned to use a numerical model developed by PIs in Austria that allows the modelling of surface processes on a mechanically coupled, deformable grid. Within this model we will use the well-constrained intraplate stress field of the Chilean Coastal Ranges and its evolution since the Miocene as boundary conditions to describe rock uplift. The surface process model of our code will then be modulated for the observed vegetation gradient until the observed surface uplift and slope-elevation distributions are reproduced. The result of the project will be a quantitative tool (a biota-modulated erosion law) which describes the relative importance of biota and tectonics on erosion processes in surface process models. The project is an invited (Austrian) addition to EarthShape (Phase 2, cluster 5) because: (a) the use of the Chilean intraplate stress field is missing in the programme portfolio, (b) the numerical code used herein is not available in Germany and (c) the question tackled crucial to the priority programme. The project is laid out for the duration of one year and will provide its results to the substantially longer running overall EarthShape project.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1803: EarthShape: Earth Surface Shaping by Biota
• International Connection: Austria, Chile
• Co-Investigators: Professor Martin Reich, Ph.D.; Privatdozent Jörg Robl, Ph.D.
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Thomas Hickler; Professor Dr. Werner Piller