Untangling the Quaternary Period—A Legacy of Stephen C. Porter
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Stephen C. Porter was an international leader in Quaternary science for several decades, having worked on most of the world’s continents and having led international organizations and a prominent interdisciplinary journal. His work influenced many individuals, and he played an essential role in linking Chinese Quaternary science with the broader international scientific community. This volume brings together nineteen papers of interdisciplinary Quaternary science honoring Porter. Special Paper 548 features papers from six continents, on wide-ranging topics including glaciation, paleoecology, landscape evolution, megafloods, and loess. The topical and geographical range of the papers, as well as their interdisciplinary nature, honor Porter’s distinct approach to Quaternary science and leadership that influences the field to this day.
Climate-driven late Quaternary fan surface abandonment in the NW Himalaya
*E-mails: corresponding author, E.N. Orr: elizabeth.orr@gfz-potsdam.de; L.A. Owen: lewis.owen@ncsu.edu; S. Saha: sahasv@ucla.edu; M.W. Caffee: mcaffee@purdue.edu.
*E-mails: corresponding author, E.N. Orr: elizabeth.orr@gfz-potsdam.de; L.A. Owen: lewis.owen@ncsu.edu; S. Saha: sahasv@ucla.edu; M.W. Caffee: mcaffee@purdue.edu.
*E-mails: corresponding author, E.N. Orr: elizabeth.orr@gfz-potsdam.de; L.A. Owen: lewis.owen@ncsu.edu; S. Saha: sahasv@ucla.edu; M.W. Caffee: mcaffee@purdue.edu.
*E-mails: corresponding author, E.N. Orr: elizabeth.orr@gfz-potsdam.de; L.A. Owen: lewis.owen@ncsu.edu; S. Saha: sahasv@ucla.edu; M.W. Caffee: mcaffee@purdue.edu.
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Published:April 07, 2021
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CiteCitation
Elizabeth N. Orr*, Lewis A. Owen*, Sourav Saha*, Marc W. Caffee*, 2021. "Climate-driven late Quaternary fan surface abandonment in the NW Himalaya", Untangling the Quaternary Period—A Legacy of Stephen C. Porter, Richard B. Waitt, Glenn D. Thackray, Alan R. Gillespie
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ABSTRACT
We defined the timing of surface abandonment for 10 alluvial and debris-flow fans across contrasting climatic settings in the NW Himalaya of northern India using cosmogenic 10Be surface exposure dating. Debris-flow fans in the Garhwal, Kullu, and Lahul-Spiti regions of the monsoon-influenced Greater Himalaya were largely abandoned during the Mid- to Late Holocene. Large alluvial fans and smaller debris-flow fans in the semiarid Ladakh region of the Greater and Tethyan Himalaya have surface ages that extend throughout the last glacial. Regional events of landform abandonment and incision were defined for the monsoon-influenced western Himalaya ranges and the semiarid western Himalaya ranges over the past ~120 k.y. In the monsoon-influenced and semiarid western Himalaya ranges, these regional events were limited to the Holocene and from ca. 40 ka, respectively. The timing of fan surface abandonment and regional landform abandonment events coincided with periods of weakening monsoon strength and cooling, and local and regional glacier advances. Regional incision events from the monsoon-influenced and semiarid western Himalaya regions were recognized across various climatic conditions due to the ubiquitous nature of erosion in mountain settings. This study showed that climate-driven processes and glaciation were important drivers in fan sedimentation, catchment sediment flux, and the topographic evolution of the NW Himalaya during the late Quaternary.
- alkaline earth metals
- alluvial fans
- Asia
- ASTER instrument
- atmospheric precipitation
- Be-10
- beryllium
- Cenozoic
- climate effects
- data processing
- debris flows
- Earth Observing System
- erosion
- erosion rates
- geographic information systems
- geomorphology
- glacial erosion
- Google Earth
- Himalayas
- incised valleys
- India
- Indian Peninsula
- information systems
- isotopes
- land cover
- landform description
- landform evolution
- Landsat
- mass movements
- metals
- monsoons
- paleoclimatology
- paleogeography
- paleohydrology
- paleorelief
- Quaternary
- radioactive isotopes
- remote sensing
- satellite methods
- semi-arid environment
- surface water
- terrestrial environment
- topography
- northwestern Himalayas
- Kullu Valley
- Chandra Valley
- Karzok Valley
- channel abandonment