Longitudinal river profiles are increasingly used for unraveling the tectonic history on a regional scale. In the last years, the introduction of the so-called chi transform brought significant technical progress, but this method is still limited to the domain governed by fluvial erosion covering only a small part of the surface. Here we present and compare extensions of the method towards smaller catchment sizes where hillslope processes or debris flows significantly contribute to erosion.

Knickpoints represent localized steps along a river profile (e.g. waterfalls or rapids) that are commonly interpreted as the geomorphic response of river systems to external changes. We used a simple experiment to show that knickpoints may not only respond to external base-level change but are also able to self-organize. We highlight the effect of alluvial cover in delaying knickpoint formation and show that river bed strength controls both retreat velocity and geometry of knickpoints.

We studied the propagation of natural and human-induced perturbations in large braided sand-bed rivers using a physics-based 3-D model. The results show that the perturbations not only affect the local morphology but their effects amplify while propagating through the braided network. This occurs by destabilization of bifurcations in combination with reshaping of bars and branches. These results could have a major impact on the assessment of engineering measures in large braided sand-bed rivers.

The key findings of this paper are that landslides in the eastern Andes of Peru in the Kosñipata Valley rapidly turn over the landscape in ~1320 years, with a rate of 0.076% yr^-1. Additionally, landslides were concentrated at lower elevations, due to an intense storm in 2010 accounting for ~1/4 of the total landslide area over the 25-year remote sensing study. Valley-wide carbon stocks were determined, and we estimate that 26 tC km^-2 yr^-1 of soil and biomass are stripped by landslides.

We use a geomorphic approach in order to unravel the recent tectonic evolution of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas and Maya Mountains (northern Central America). Our results highlight elevated relict landscapes that are characterized by a low-amplitude relief. The distribution of these landscapes results from a tectonic control. We combine our results with published GPS and seismotectonic data in order to extend existing geodynamic models of the North American–Caribbean–Cocos plate boundary.

In regions formerly, or currently, covered by glaciers, landscapes have largely been shaped by glaciers. Glaciers erode bedrock through three main mechanisms: abrasion, quarrying, and subglacial meltwater erosion (SME). The latter, however, remains enigmatic. We present the first numerical modelling study of bedrock erosion by subglacial water and find that SME is negligible compared to abrasion and quarrying across the glacier, but its localization can explain the formation of bedrock channels.

Cut-fill terraces are common landforms throughout the world. Their distribution both in space and time is not clear-cut, as they can arise from numerous processes. We apply a climate-dependent regolith production algorithm to determine potential sediment loads during climate shifts. When combined with transport capacity, our results suggest that the cut-fill terraces of western Peru can result from transient stripping of hillslope sediment but not steady-state hillslope erosion.

When studying long-term glacial landscape evolution one must make simplifying assumptions about the nature of glacial flow. In this study we show that for two different numerical models such simplifications are mostly unimportant in the setting of glacial landscape evolution. Following this we find that glacial erosion is most intense in the early stages of glaciation and its effects are reduced with time due to flow patterns in the ice removing areas of highest resistance to flow.

Floodplain vegetation response to flooding and drying represents one of the few quantitative studies that have used adaptive cycles. This paper examines the response of vegetation productivity (measured as NDVI) through a hypothesized adaptive cycle to determine whether the cycle repeats over time and how it is affected by differently sized flood events. Thus, it represents a significant contribution to our knowledge of floodplain vegetation response to multiple flooding and drying sequences.

Depositional shoreline spits are found along many of the Earth's modern and paleo-shorelines. Here we use a numerical model of shoreline evolution to develop a comprehensive model of the controls on spit shape, demonstrating that spits are graded shapes that arise from feedbacks between the headland, neck, and hook through the migration of a "fulcrum point". Our results suggest that spit form is controlled not only by the directional wave climate but also by the rate of headland recession.

In order to better understand and forecast the evolution of the environment from the top of the vegetation canopy down to bedrock, numerous types of intensive measurements have been made over several years in a small watershed. The ability to expand such a study to larger areas and different environments requiring fewer measurements is essential. This study presents one possible approach to such an expansion, to collect necessary and sufficient measurements in order to forecast this evolution.

We introduce moving clasts (grains, minerals, cobbles) in a landscape evolution model. This coupling has many potential applications, such as sediment provenance or the tracing of weathered material. It fills a gap between long-term landscape dynamics, which are difficult to tackle, and sediment clast populations studied in the field.

This paper considers the influence of lithology on the landscape development in the Central Swiss Alps. In high-alpine settings such as the upper Rhône valley, external forcing by climate, glaciation and uplift affects the geomorphological evolution of the landscape. By careful compilation of published data and geomorphological analysis we found that the rock type and its susceptibility to erosion are the main factors controlling the response time to those perturbations.

In meandering rivers, flow and sediments are carried in a single thread whereas in braided rivers they are carried through numerous threads. The geometry of single-thread follows scaling relationships with discharge. The most famous of these, "Lacey's law", states that a river's width scales with the square root of its discharge. We here show that threads from braided rivers also accord with Lacey's law, and that the geometry of meandering and braided threads cannot be differenciated.