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A conceptual model of valley incision, planation and terrace formation during cold and arid permafrost conditions of Pleistocene southern England

Bibliographic Data

ID24087761
AuthorsJulian B Murton (0000-0002-9469-5856, University of Sussex, corresponding author), Roger K Belshaw
Year2011
Volume75
Issue2
Pages385-394
Publication date2011-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueQuaternary Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-5894 • E-ISSN: 1096-0287
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.yqres.2010.10.002
OpenAlexW1978821625
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited58

Staircases of gravelly river terrace deposits in southern England occupy valleys typically underlain by frost-susceptible and brecciated bedrocks. The valleys developed during the Quaternary by alternating episodes of (1) brecciation, incision and planation through the bedrock, forming wide low-relief erosion surfaces; and (2) aggradation in braidplains of gravel a few meters thick that bury the erosion surfaces. A conceptual model to account for some of the terraces proposes that brecciation resulted from ice segregation in the ice-rich layer in the upper meters of Pleistocene permafrost, making them vulnerable to fluvial thermal erosion and therefore predisposing the bedrock to planation. The low gradients of the valleys were adjusted such that rivers transferred fine materials out of the basins but lacked the competence to remove gravel, which therefore accumulated within floodplains. The model challenges the prevailing view of incision during climate transitions. It attributes incision and planation to very cold and arid permafrost conditions, when rivers had limited discharges and hillslopes supplied limited volumes of stony debris into valley bottoms.

Aggradation · Archaeology · Arid · Bedrock · Erosion · Fluvial · Geochemistry · Geomorphology · Permafrost · Pleistocene · Quaternary · Structural basin · Terrace (agriculture) · Climate change and permafrost · Geological formations and processes · Geology · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Oceanography · Paleontology

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Unique citing works1
Citations per year0,08
Citation span2013 - 2013 (1)
Citation velocityhistorical
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 1
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