Erosion and Sediment Transport Across Pronounced Topographic and Climatic Gradients in the Himalayan Orogen

Abstract:

The interaction between the NW-directed trajectories of moisture transport associated with the Indian Summer Monsoon circulation and the high topography of the Himalayan orogen results in one of the most efficient orographic barriers on Earth. The steep topographic gradients, the impact of focused rainfall along the southern flank of the range, and northward shifts of rainfall during frequent intensified Indian Summer Monsoons are responsible for an efficient erosional regime, with some of the highest known erosion rates. The spatiotemporal correlation between various topographic, tectonic, climatic, and exhumational phenomena in this region has resulted in the formulation of models of possible long-term erosional and tectonic feedback processes that drive the lateral expansion and vertical growth of the mountain belt. However, despite an increase in thermochronologic, cosmogenic radionuclide, and sedimentological datasets that help explain the underlying mechanisms, the true nature of these relationships is still unclear and controversies particularly exist concerning the importance of the different forcing factors that drive exhumation and, ultimately, deformation. Here, we synthesize and assess these controversies with observations from studies conducted perpendicular to and along strike of the orogen, and combine them with our new basin-wide erosion-rate data from the Sutlej Valley in the NW Himalaya. In our regional comparison we highlight the importance of large river systems and climate-controlled aspects of weathering concerning fluvial mass distribution as there appear to be positive feedbacks between tectonics and surface processes. In contrast, observations from smaller catchments along the orogenic front suggest a negative correlation. Similar to other environments with steep topographic and climatic gradients, our observations from the Sutlej catchments emphasize that erosional processes in the Himalayan realm are most efficient in geomorphic environments that combine large catchments characterized by sufficiently high precipitation and runoff with spatiotemporal shifts in the locus of intensified monsoonal rainfall.