Characterizing the transient geomorphic response to base-level fall in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau

Analysis of hillslope gradient, landscape relief, and channel steepness in the Daxia River basin provides evidence of a transient geomorphic response to base-level fall on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. Low-gradient channels and gentle hillslopes of the upper watershed are separated from a steeper, high-relief landscape by a series of convex knickzones along channel longitudinal profiles. Downstream projection of the “relict” portions of the profiles implies ~800–850 m of incision, consistent with geologic and geomorphic records of post ~1.7 Ma incision in the lower watershed. We combine optically stimulated luminescence dating of fluvial terrace deposits to constrain incision rates downstream of knickpoints with catchment-averaged ¹⁰Be concentrations in modern sediment to estimate erosion rates in tributary basins both above and below knickpoints. Both sources of data imply landscape lowering rates of ~300 m Ma⁻¹ below the knickpoint and ~50–100 m Ma⁻¹ above. Field measurements of channel width (n = 48) and calculations of bankfull discharge (n = 9) allow determination of scaling relations among channel hydraulic geometry, discharge, and contributing area that we employ to estimate the patterns of basal shear stress, unit stream power, and bed load transport rate throughout the channel network. Our results imply a clear downstream increase of incision potential; this result would appear to be consistent with a detachment-limited response to imposed base-level fall, in which steepening of channels drives an increase in erosion rates. In contrast, however, we do not observe apparent narrowing of channels across the transition from slowly eroding to rapidly eroding portions of the watershed. Rather, the present-day channel morphology as well as its scaling of hydraulic geometry imply that the river is primarily adjusted to transport its sediment load and suggest that channel morphology may not always reflect the presence of knickpoints and differences in landscape relief.