We applied a spatiotemporally highly resolved dataset of discharge, sediment transport and bedrock erosion data to assess the validity of landscape evolution models at the process scale (resolution of square meters and minutes). The tools effect is found to be the dominant driver of erosion and an easy model is able to predict measured erosion. For larger scales common discharge-dependend modeling with a discharge threshold is adequate to regive the overal trend of the erosion signal.

The export of coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM) from mountain catchments seems to be strongly linked to rising discharge, but the mechanism leading to this is unclear. We show that log jams in a steep headwater stream are an effective barrier for CPOM export. Exceptional discharge events play a dual role: First, they destroy existing jams, releasing stored material. Second, they intensify channel--hillslope coupling, thereby recruiting logs to the channel, around which new jams can form.

This study mainly focused on the comparison between braided river channels and meandering river channels. We show that the morphology of braided and meandering channels are comparable and their width, depth and slope scale in same way against water discharge. This is the key finding of our study and it has never been tested before.

A semi-distributed hydrological model is used to analyse the hydrological cycle of a glaciated high-mountain catchment in the Pamirs. We overcome data scarcity by utilising various raster data sets as meteorological input. Temperature in combination with the amount of snow provided in winter play the key role in the annual cycle. This implies that expected Earth surface processes along precipitation and altitude gradients differ substantially.

Soils are vital resources put at risk by erosional loss. Evaluating agricultural effects on erosion is complicated where natural rates are high, as in central Nepal. This study infers erosion rates over thousands of years and compares these rates to those observed over the short term. Results suggest that effects of agriculture are small and that most erosion takes place through natural processes. However, present-day erosion on degraded lands is significantly faster than over the long term.

Groundwater seepage creates valleys with typical theater-shaped valley heads, which are found on Earth and on Mars. For a better interpretation of these systems, we conducted scale experiments on the formation such valleys. We find that entire landscapes, instead of just the shape of the valleys, provide insights into the source of groundwater. Landscapes filled with valleys indicate a local groundwater source in contrast to sparsely dissected landscapes formed by a distal source of groundwater.

This study shows that the weathering rates of limestone, determined from of an ancient eroded edifice, can exhibit highly non-Gaussian behavior. Moreover, the asymmetric long-tailed curve was found to have similar characteristics to those of rate distributions measured on microscopic regions of limestone surfaces in laboratory experiments. Such similar behavior could reflect analogous chemical and mechanical weathering mechanisms operating over a range of spatial and temporal scales.