Climate's watermark in the geometry of stream networks
Abstract
Branching stream networks are a ubiquitous feature of the Earth's surface, but the processes that shape them, and their dependence on the climate in which they grow, remain poorly understood. Research has mainly focused on climatic controls of channel incision rates, while the climatic influence on planform geometry has often been overlooked. In this work, we analyze nearly one million digitally mapped river junctions throughout the contiguous United States and show that branching angles vary systematically with climatic aridity. In arid landscapes, which are thought to be dominated by surface runoff erosion, junction angles average roughly 45° in the driest places. Branching angles are systematically wider in humid regions, averaging roughly 72°, which is the theoretically predicted angle for network growth in a diffusive field such as groundwater seepage. The correlation of mean junction angle with aridity is stronger than with topographic gradient, downstream concavity, or other geometric factors that have been proposed as controls of junction angles. Thus, it may be possible to identify channelization processes from stream network geometry in relict landscapes, such as those on Mars.
- Authors:
-
[1];
[2];
[3]
- Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Lorenz Center and Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; ETH Zurich (Switzerland). Dept. of Environmental Systems Science
- Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Lorenz Center and Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
- ETH Zurich (Switzerland). Dept. of Environmental Systems Science; Swiss Federal Inst. for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Birmensdorf (Switzerland)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Division
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1473898
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1402167
- Grant/Contract Number:
- FG02-99ER15004
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 44; Journal Issue: 5; Journal ID: ISSN 0094-8276
- Publisher:
- American Geophysical Union
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; stream networks; climatic controls; aridity
Citation Formats
Seybold, Hansjörg, Rothman, Daniel H., and Kirchner, James W. Climate's watermark in the geometry of stream networks. United States: N. p., 2017.
Web. doi:10.1002/2016GL072089.
Seybold, Hansjörg, Rothman, Daniel H., & Kirchner, James W. Climate's watermark in the geometry of stream networks. United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL072089
Seybold, Hansjörg, Rothman, Daniel H., and Kirchner, James W. Sat .
"Climate's watermark in the geometry of stream networks". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL072089. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1473898.
@article{osti_1473898,
title = {Climate's watermark in the geometry of stream networks},
author = {Seybold, Hansjörg and Rothman, Daniel H. and Kirchner, James W.},
abstractNote = {Branching stream networks are a ubiquitous feature of the Earth's surface, but the processes that shape them, and their dependence on the climate in which they grow, remain poorly understood. Research has mainly focused on climatic controls of channel incision rates, while the climatic influence on planform geometry has often been overlooked. In this work, we analyze nearly one million digitally mapped river junctions throughout the contiguous United States and show that branching angles vary systematically with climatic aridity. In arid landscapes, which are thought to be dominated by surface runoff erosion, junction angles average roughly 45° in the driest places. Branching angles are systematically wider in humid regions, averaging roughly 72°, which is the theoretically predicted angle for network growth in a diffusive field such as groundwater seepage. The correlation of mean junction angle with aridity is stronger than with topographic gradient, downstream concavity, or other geometric factors that have been proposed as controls of junction angles. Thus, it may be possible to identify channelization processes from stream network geometry in relict landscapes, such as those on Mars.},
doi = {10.1002/2016GL072089},
journal = {Geophysical Research Letters},
number = 5,
volume = 44,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Feb 18 00:00:00 EST 2017},
month = {Sat Feb 18 00:00:00 EST 2017}
}
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