River terraces hold information about perturbations in climate and tectonics, but different perturbations can have similar effects on the stratigraphic record. For example, both a decrease in sediment discharge or an increase in water discharge can cause river incision, which complicates the interpretation of incised terraces. In our new paper that is open for review and discussion in Earth Surface Dynamics, we present results from physical experiments of channels that were subject to perturbations of water and sediment discharges. We demonstrate that combining terrace geometries with information on (1) the timescales of terrace formation and/or (2) the sediment discharge from the river system, allows to distinguish between water and sediment discharges as the driver for river incision. You can have a closer look and discuss the paper here.
Tofelde, S., Savi, S., Wickert A.W., Bufe, A., Schildgen, T. Alluvial channel response to environmental perturbations: Fill-terrace formation and sediment-signal disruption. under review at Earth Surface Dynamics
All posts by aaronbufe@gmail.com
Goldschmidt and AK Geomorph meetings 2018
I will be presenting our results on the impact of soil and landslide erosion processes on weathering at both Goldschmidt in Boston and the AK Geomorphologt meeting in Gießen.
Bufe, A., Emberson, R., Hovius, N., Caves Rugenstein, J.K., Hassenruck-Gudipati, H. (2018). Impact of soil and landslide erosion processes on coupled sulfide oxidation and carbonate weathering. Goldschmidt. Boston, USA.
Bufe, A., Emberson, R., Hovius, N., Caves Rugenstein, J.K., Hassenruck-Gudipati, H. (2018). The impact of soil and landslide erosion processes on carbonate and silicate weathering in southern Taiwan. Central European Conference on Geomorphology and Quaternary Sciences. Gießen, Germany.
EGU 2018
I will be at EGU again, and this year, we have a lot going on.
I will be chairing a session:
Chemical weathering, soil formation, and organic carbon mobilization across spatial and temporal scales.
I will present a talk on our work on lateral channel migration rates:
Bufe, A., Turowski, J.M., Burbank, D.W., Paola, C., Wickert, A.D., Tofelde, S. (2018). Controls on lateral channel mobility and the reworked area of active alluvial surfaces. EGU General Assembly. Vienna, Austria.
I will present a poster on our most recent water chemistry from southern Taiwan:
Bufe, A., Emberson, R., Hovius, N., Caves-Rugenstein, J.K., Hassenruck-Gudipati, H. (2018). Impact of soil and landslide erosion processes on chemical weathering. EGU General Assembly. Vienna, Austria.
Moreover, Jeff Prancevic will present new grain size data from landslides in New Zealand:
Prancevic, J.P., Roda-Boluda, D., Tofelde, S., Bufe, A., Hemingway, J.D. (2018). Sediment sizes produced by landslides in a threshold landscape. EGU General Assembly. Vienna, Austria.
New Paper: Lateral bedrock erosion rates in the Tian Shan foreland
In the foreland of the Tian Shan, rivers erode kilometer-wide platforms into folds that are rapidly uplifting. In our new paper, we show that the existence of these eroded surfaces implies that rivers must have changed the rate at which they migrate laterally by as much as an order of magnitude over timescales of thousands of years. Such large changes in the lateral erosion rate seem to occur in response to much smaller (less than order-of magnitude) changes in climate or tectonics. Get the full story in our new paper:
Bufe, A., Burbank, D.W., Bookhagen, B., Liu, L., Chen, J., Li, T., Thompson, J., Yang, H. (2017) Variations of lateral bedrock erosion rates control planation of uplifting folds in the foreland of the Tian Shan, NW China. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 122(12), 2431-2467. Journal Link
AGU 2017
Come and see my poster at AGU! I will present our findings on the controls of channel-wall heights on alluvial channel migration.
Bufe, A., Turowski, J.M., Burbank, D.W., Paola, C., Tofelde, S., Wickert, A.D. (2017). Experimental evidence for a control by channel-wall height on alluvial channel migration. AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts. New Orleans, LA, USA.
New Blog Article: Field work in Taiwan
Robert Emberson wrote a great two-part AGU blog post about our recent field work in Taiwan and the major rainstorm we experienced. Have a look at Part 1 and Part 2.
New Paper: Quaternary Tectonics in the Pamir-Tian Shan
Our study on the Quaternary Tectonics in the Pamir-Tian Shan convergence zone was just published in Tectonics. This study was spearheaded by my colleague Jessica A. Thompson Jobe and demonstrates the progressive basinward propagation of deformation in this active region.
Thompson Jobe, J.A., Li, T., Chen, J., Burbank, D.W., Bufe, A. (2017). Quaternary Tectonic Evolution of the Pamir-Tian Shan Collision Convergence Zone, Northwest China. Tectonics, 36(12), 1944-9194. Journal Link
New Paper: Uplift rate changes in the Tian Shan foreland
I am excited to announce that our paper on variations in uplift rates across folds and faults in the Tian Shan foreland was accepted in Geophysical Research Letters . We use a combination of satellite images and geologic data to track how deformation rates on structures in this very actively deforming part of the world have changed through time. Have a look, and let me know what you think!
Bufe, A., Bekaert, D.P.S., Hussain, E., Bookhagen, B., Burbank, D.W., Thomspon Jobe, J.A., Chen, J., Li, T., Liu, L., Gan, W. (2017) Temporal changes in rock-uplift rates of folds in the foreland of the Tian Shan from geodetic and geologic data. Geophysical Research Letters, 44(21), 10977-10987. Journal link and Web version
EGU 2017
I will be at EGU this year. Please come and see our presentations:
I will present a talk:
Bufe, A., Burbank, D.W., Liu, L., Chen, J., Paola, C., Bookhagen, B., Thompson Jobe, J. (2017). Variations in lateral erosion rates control fluvial planation and strath terrace formation on uplifting folds: Evidence from both the field and sandbox models. EGU General Assembly. Vienna, Austria.
and a poster:
Bufe A., Pederson J., Tuzlack D. (2017). Geomorphic evidence for Quaternary tectonics on the southern flank of the Yellowstone hotspots from terraces and stream profiles along the Hoback and Snake River. EGU General Assembly. Vienna, Austria.
New Position: Postdoctoral Scholar at the GFZ, Potsdam
I am excited to announce that today, I started a new position as a postdoctoral scholar at the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) in Potsdam! I will be working with Niels Hovius on links between erosion processes and chemical weathering. I look forward to my time in this fantastic place.