Influence of lithology on hillslope morphology and response to tectonic forcing in the northern Sierra Nevada of California

Many geomorphic studies assume that bedrock geology is not a first‐order control on landscape form in order to isolate drivers of geomorphic change (e.g., climate or tectonics). Yet underlying geology may influence the efficacy of soil production and sediment transport on hillslopes. We performed quantitative analysis of LiDAR digital terrain models to examine the topographic form of hillslopes in two distinct lithologies in the Feather River catchment in northern California, a granodiorite pluton and metamorphosed volcanics. The two sites, separated by <2 km and spanning similar elevations, were assumed to have similar climatic histories and are experiencing a transience in landscape evolution characterized by a propagating incision wave in response to accelerated surface uplift c. 5 Ma. Responding to increased incision rates, hillslopes in granodiorite tend to have morphology similar to model predictions for steady state hillslopes, suggesting that they adjust rapidly to keep pace with the incision wave. By contrast, hillslopes in metavolcanics exhibit high gradients but lower hilltop curvature indicative of ongoing transient adjustment to incision. We used existing erosion rate data and the curvature of hilltops proximal to the main channels (where hillslopes have most likely adjusted to accelerated erosion rates) to demonstrate that the sediment transport coefficient is higher in granodiorite (8.8 m2 ka−1) than in metavolcanics (4.8 m2 ka−1). Hillslopes in both lithologies get shorter (i.e., drainage density increases) with increasing erosion rates.

• Publication year

  2013

• Venue

  Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface

• Publication date

  2013-06-01

• Fields of study

  Geology, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1002/jgrf.20049
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• The Age of Scarplike Landforms From Diffusion‐Equation Analysis

  2013cited by this paper
• Geomorphic transport laws for predicting landscape form and dynamics

  2013cited by this paper
• Using hilltop curvature to derive the spatial distribution of erosion rates

  2012influential reference
• Landslide erosion coupled to tectonics and river incision

  2012cited by this paper
• Limits of windthrow-driven hillslope sediment flux due to varying storm frequency and intensity

  2012cited by this paper
• Hillslope response to tectonic forcing in threshold landscapes

  2012cited by this paper
• Mining soil databases for landscape‐scale patterns in the abundance and size distribution of hillslope rock fragments

  2012cited by this paper
• Quantifying bedrock-fracture patterns within the shallow subsurface: Implications for rock mass strength, bedrock landslides, and erodibility

  2011cited by this paper
• Calibration and testing of upland hillslope evolution models in a dated landscape: Banco Bonito, New Mexico

  2011cited by this paper
• Transformation of tectonic and climatic signals from source to sedimentary archive

  2011cited by this paper
• The sensitivity of hillslope bedrock erosion to precipitation

  2011cited by this paper
• Benchmark map of forest carbon stocks in tropical regions across three continents

  2011cited by this paper
• Estimation of tropical rain forest aboveground biomass with small-footprint lidar and hyperspectral sensors

  2011cited by this paper
• Hillslope response to knickpoint migration in the Southern Appalachians: implications for the evolution of post‐orogenic landscapes

  2011cited by this paper
• Evolution of hillslope soils: The geomorphic theater and the geochemical play

  2011influential reference
• Solving a conundrum of a steady-state hilltop with variable soil depths and production rates, Bodmin Moor, UK

  2011cited by this paper
• A geometric framework for channel network extraction from lidar: Nonlinear diffusion and geodesic paths

  2010cited by this paper
• A nonlocal theory of sediment transport on hillslopes

  2010cited by this paper
• Evidence for biotic controls on topography and soil production

  2010cited by this paper
• Bedrock fracturing, threshold hillslopes, and limits to the magnitude of bedrock landslides

  2010cited by this paper
• Landscape form and millennial erosion rates in the San Gabriel Mountains, CA

  2010influential reference
• Trouble with diffusion: Reassessing hillslope erosion laws with a particle-based model

  2010cited by this paper
• Bedrock erosion by root fracture and tree throw: A coupled biogeomorphic model to explore the humped soil production function and the persistence of hillslope soils

  2010cited by this paper
• A rain splash transport equation assimilating field and laboratory measurements

  2010cited by this paper
• Reservoir theory for studying the geochemical evolution of soils

  2010cited by this paper
• From grain size to tectonics

  2010cited by this paper
• Lithological composition of the North American continent and implications of lithological map resolution for dissolved silica flux modeling

  2010cited by this paper
• Modelling landscape evolution

  2010cited by this paper
• Formation of evenly spaced ridges and valleys

  2009cited by this paper
• Increased sediment transport via bioturbation at the last glacial-interglacial transition

  2009cited by this paper
• Tracing hillslope sediment production and transport with in situ and meteoric 10Be

  2009cited by this paper
• The critical role of climate and saprolite weathering in landscape evolution

  2009cited by this paper
• Long-term biogenic soil mixing and transport in a hilly, loess-mantled landscape: Blue Mountains of southeastern Washington.

  2009cited by this paper
• Characterising the origin, nature and fate of sediment exported from catchments perturbed by active tectonics

  2009cited by this paper
• Beyond threshold hillslopes: Channel adjustment to base-level fall in tectonically active mountain ranges

  2009cited by this paper
• Statistical description of slope‐dependent soil transport and the diffusion‐like coefficient

  2009cited by this paper
• Faceted spurs at normal fault scarps: Insights from numerical modeling

  2009cited by this paper
• Quaternary alluvial-fan development, climate and morphologic dating of fault scarps in Laguna Salada, Baja California, Mexico

  2008cited by this paper
• Climatic and anthropogenic effects on soil transport rates and hillslope evolution

  2008cited by this paper
• Rock type leaves topographic signature in landslide‐dominated mountain ranges

  2008cited by this paper
• Toward process-based modeling of geochemical soil formation across diverse landforms: A new mathematical framework

  2008cited by this paper
• Controls on the spacing of first-order valleys

  2008cited by this paper
• How well can hillslope evolution models “explain” topography? Simulating soil transport and production with high-resolution topographic data

  2008cited by this paper
• Rock-type control on erosion-induced uplift, eastern Swiss Alps

  2008cited by this paper
• Tectonics, fracturing of rock, and erosion

  2007cited by this paper
• Channel network extraction from high resolution topography using wavelets

  2007cited by this paper
• Responses of soil‐mantled hillslopes to transient channel incision rates

  2007cited by this paper
• Coupling chemical weathering with soil production across soil‐mantled landscapes

  2007cited by this paper
• Tectonic uplift, threshold hillslopes, and denudation rates in a developing mountain range

  2007influential reference
• Functional relationships between denudation and hillslope form and relief

  2007cited by this paper
• Nonlinear slope-dependent sediment transport in cinder cone evolution

  2007cited by this paper
• Cenozoic exhumation of the northern Sierra Nevada, California, from (U-Th)/He thermochronology

  2006cited by this paper
• Erosion of steepland valleys by debris flows

  2006cited by this paper
• Evolution of the Bonneville shoreline scarp in west-central Utah: Comparison of scarp-analysis methods and implications for the diffusion model of hillslope evolution

  2006cited by this paper
• Using LiDAR to compare forest height estimates from IKONOS and Landsat ETM+ data in Sitka spruce plantation forests

  2006cited by this paper
• Estimating stand structure using discrete-return lidar: an example from low density, fire prone ponderosa pine forests

  2005influential reference
• The illusion of diffusion: Field evidence for depth-dependent sediment transport

  2005cited by this paper
• Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/joc.1276 VERY HIGH RESOLUTION INTERPOLATED CLIMATE SURFACES FOR GLOBAL LAND AREAS

  2005cited by this paper
• Lateral migration of hillcrests in response to channel incision in soil-mantled landscapes

  2005cited by this paper
• Fire and the evolution of steep, soil-mantled landscapes

  2005cited by this paper
• Process-based model linking pocket gopher (Thomomys bottae) activity to sediment transport and soil thickness

  2005cited by this paper
• Pace of landscape evolution in the Sierra Nevada, California, revealed by cosmogenic dating of cave sediments

  2004cited by this paper
• Tectonic setting of the Jurassic Smartville and Slate Creek complexes, northern Sierra Nevada, California

  2004cited by this paper
• A mechanistic model for river incision into bedrock by saltating bed load

  2004cited by this paper
• Influence of chemical denudation on hillslope morphology

  2004cited by this paper
• Tectonics of Pliocene removal of lithosphere of the Sierra Nevada, California

  2004cited by this paper
• Constraining climatic controls on hillslope dynamics using a coupled model for the transport of soil and tracers: Application to loess‐mantled hillslopes, South Island, New Zealand

  2004cited by this paper
• Topographic response to mantle lithosphere removal in the southern Sierra Nevada region, California

  2004influential reference
• Sediment transport by dry ravel

  2003cited by this paper
• Estimation of Tree Height and Stem Volume on Plots Using Airborne Laser Scanning

  2003cited by this paper
• THE EFFECTS OF BIOTURBATION ON SOIL PROCESSES AND SEDIMENT TRANSPORT

  2003cited by this paper
• Soil transport driven by biological processes over millennial time scales

  2002cited by this paper
• Morphological dating of cumulative reverse fault scarps: examples from the Gurvan Bogd fault system, Mongolia

  2002cited by this paper
• Lidar remote sensing of above‐ground biomass in three biomes

  2002cited by this paper
• 2002 Estimates of Old Growth Forests on the 18 National Forests of the Pacific Southwest Region

  2002cited by this paper
• Hillslope evolution by nonlinear, slope‐dependent transport: Steady state morphology and equilibrium adjustment timescales

  2001cited by this paper
• Stream Incision, Tectonics, Uplift, and Evolution of Topography of the Sierra Nevada, California

  2001cited by this paper
• Fault slip rates and initiation age based on diffusion equation modeling: Wasatch Fault Zone and eastern Great Basin

  2001cited by this paper
• Strong tectonic and weak climatic control of long-term chemical weathering rates

  2001cited by this paper
• Modulation of erosion on steep granitic slopes by boulder armoring, as revealed by cosmogenic 26Al and 10Be

  2001cited by this paper
• Stability of creeping soil and implications for hillslope evolution

  2001cited by this paper
• Hillslope evolution by nonlinear creep and landsliding: An experimental study

  2001cited by this paper
• Evolution of terrace risers along the upper Rhine graben inferred from morphologic dating methods: evidence of climatic and tectonic forcing

  2000cited by this paper
• Soil production on a retreating escarpment in southeastern Australia

  2000cited by this paper
• Gopher bioturbation: field evidence for non-linear hillslope diffusion.

  2000cited by this paper
• Erosional equilibrium and disequilibrium in the Sierra Nevada, inferred from cosmogenic 26Al and 10Be in alluvial sediment

  2000cited by this paper
• Evidence for nonlinear, diffusive sediment transport on hillslopes and implications for landscape morphology

  1999cited by this paper
• Dynamics of the stream‐power river incision model: Implications for height limits of mountain ranges, landscape response timescales, and research needs

  1999cited by this paper
• Estimates of the rate of regolith production using and from an alpine hillslope

  1999cited by this paper
• The Prism Approach to Mapping Precipitation and Temperature

  1998cited by this paper
• Hillslope processes, drainage density, and landscape morphology

  1998cited by this paper
• Morphologic dating of scarps formed by repeated slip events along the San Andreas Fault, Carrizo Plain, California

  1998influential reference
• Effect of the Pacific Ocean on the Earth's seasonal wobble inferred from National Center for Environmental Prediction ocean analysis data

  1998cited by this paper
• Microtopography as an indicator of modern hillslope diffusivity in arid terrain

  1997cited by this paper
• Drainage Density and Relative Relief in Humid Steep Mountains with Frequent Slope Failure

  1997cited by this paper
• Diffusion in Landscape Development Models: On The Nature of Basic Transport Relations

  1997cited by this paper
• Determination of mean tree height of forest stands using airborne laser scanner data

  1997cited by this paper
• BADLAND MORPHOLOGY AND EVOLUTION: INTERPRETATION USING A SIMULATION MODEL

  1997cited by this paper
• Bedrock incision, rock uplift and threshold hillslopes in the northwestern Himalayas

  1996cited by this paper
• Estimating the ages of fault scarps in the Arava, Israel

  1996cited by this paper

• Revisiting slope-area thresholds for gully initiation: a systematic review and meta-analysis

  2026cites this paper
• Quantifying lithologic controls on channel steepness in the Guadalupe Mountains using a new relative durability rating and boulder distributions

  2026cites this paper
• Millennial surface denudation rates along the Tibetan Plateau’s northwestern margin

  2025cites this paper
• Landscape evolution on conical landforms with applications to drainage development on volcanoes

  2025cites this paper
• Influence of river incision on landslides triggered in Nepal by the Gorkha earthquake: Results from a pixel-based susceptibility model using inlabru

  2025cites this paper
• Drainage divides migration of the Heihe River in the Qilian Mountains, northeastern Tibet: Insights for the drainage reorganization in an orogenic belt

  2025cites this paper
• Signatures of Varying Climate on Geomorphic and Topologic Characteristics of Channel Networks

  2025cites this paper
• Landslide risk assessment on the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC): a comparative study of quantitative and machine learning approaches

  2025cites this paper
• The Yellow River headwater is shrinking in response to the northeastward expansion of the Tibetan Plateau

  2025cites this paper
• Influence of Lithology and Biota on Stream Erosivity and Drainage Density in a Semi‐Arid Landscape, Central Chile

  2024cites this paper
• The Fuyang shallow landslides triggered by an extreme rainstorm on 22 July 2023 in Zhejiang, China

  2024cites this paper
• Regional-scale, high-resolution measurements of hilltop curvature reveal tectonic, climatic, and lithologic controls on hillslope morphology

  2024cites this paper
• Tan DEM‐X Preserves the Relationship Between Hilltop Curvature and Erosion Rate in the Qilian Shan

  2023cites this paper
• Building a bimodal landscape: bedrock lithology and bed thickness controls on the morphology of Last Chance Canyon, New Mexico, USA

  2023cites this paper
• Hillslope‐Channel Transitions and the Role of Water Tracks in a Changing Permafrost Landscape

  2023influential citation
• Topographic Response to Horizontal Advection in Normal Fault‐Bound Mountain Ranges

  2023cites this paper
• Land suitability study for sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) farming in Pleret Yogyakarta

  2023cites this paper
• Patterns and rates of soil movement and shallow failures across several small watersheds on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska

  2023cites this paper
• Frost-weathering control on the rate of late Quaternary landscape evolution, western flank of the Taebaek Mountain Range, Korea: a case of passive margin landscape evolution

  2022cites this paper
• Measuring landscape evolution from inception to maturity: Insights from a coastal dune system

  2022cites this paper
• Lithology Discrimination Using Sentinel-1 Dual-Pol Data and SRTM Data

  2021cites this paper
• Hilltop Curvature Increases With the Square Root of Erosion Rate

  2021cites this paper
• Appraisal of Tectonic‐Geomorphic Features in the Hindu Kush‐ Himalayas

  2021cites this paper
• Global analysis of short- versus long-term drainage basin erosion rates

  2021cites this paper
• Impact of climate on landscape form, sediment transfer and the sedimentary record

  2021cites this paper
• Shallow landslides and vegetation at the catchment scale: A perspective

  2021cites this paper
• Late-Pleistocene catchment-wide denudation patterns across the European Alps

  2020cites this paper
• Hillslope denudation and morphologic response to a rock uplift gradient

  2020cites this paper
• Denudation systematics inferred from in situ cosmogenic 10Be concentrations in fine (50-100 (cid:22) m) and medium (100-250 (cid:22) m) sediments of the Var River basin, southern French Alps

  2020cites this paper
• New constraints on bedrock erodibility and landscape response times upstream of an active fault

  2020cites this paper
• Influence of pre-existing structure on pluton emplacement and geomorphology: The Merrimac plutons, northern Sierra Nevada, California, USA

  2020cites this paper
• Spatio-temporal dynamics of landslides in the sedimentary terrain: a case of Siwalik zone of Babai watershed, Nepal

  2020cites this paper
• Hillslope denudation and morphologic response across a rock uplift gradient

  2019cites this paper
• Lithological controls on hydrological processes that trigger shallow landslides: Observations from granite and hornfels hillslopes in Hiroshima, Japan

  2019cites this paper
• Detection of channel-hillslope coupling along a tectonic gradient

  2019cites this paper
• Influences of climate and life on hillslope sediment transport

  2019cites this paper
• Distributed landscape response to localized uplift and the fragility of steady states

  2019cites this paper
• Arrested development: Erosional equilibrium in the southern Sierra Nevada, California, maintained by feedbacks between channel incision and hillslope sediment production

  2019cites this paper
• Denudation systematics inferred from in situ cosmogenic 10Be concentrations in fine (50–100 µm) and medium (100–250 µm) sediments of the Var River basin, southern French Alps

  2019influential citation
• Respective influence of geomorphologic and climate conditions on debris-flow occurrence in the Northern French Alps

  2019cites this paper
• Bioturbation and erosion rates along the soil‐hillslope conveyor belt, part 2: Quantification using an analytical solution of the diffusion–advection equation

  2019cites this paper
• Storage and export of soil carbon and mineral surface area along an erosional gradient in the Sierra Nevada, California

  2018cites this paper
• Establishing chronologies for alluvial-fan sequences with analysis of high-resolution topographic data: San Luis Valley, Colorado, USA

  2018cites this paper
• Criteria and tools for determining drainage divide stability

  2018cites this paper
• Climate and the Pace of Erosional Landscape Evolution

  2017cites this paper
• Controls on deep critical zone architecture: a historical review and four testable hypotheses

  2017cites this paper
• The influence of climate and microclimate (aspect) on soil creep efficiency: Cinder cone morphology and evolution along the eastern Mediterranean Golan Heights

  2017influential citation
• Multiresolution analysis of characteristic length scales with high‐resolution topographic data

  2017influential citation
• Controls on fluvial networks in upland landscapes: from hillslopes to floodplains

  2017influential citation
• Sediment Flux Laws and their Topographic Predictions

  2016influential citation
• How does grid-resolution modulate the topographic expression of geomorphic processes?

  2016influential citation
• Author’s response to reviews of “A nondimensional framework for exploring the relief structure of landscapes” by S. W. D. Grieve et al

  2016cites this paper
• Colluvium supply in humid regions limits the frequency of storm-triggered landslides

  2016cites this paper
• Erosion, vegetation and the evolution of hillslopes in upland landscapes

  2016influential citation
• The morphometric slope index (MSI) as an indicator of landscape evolution: a multi-scale analysis

  2016cites this paper
• A nondimensional framework for exploring the relief structure of landscapes

  2016influential citation
• Quantification of rock control in geomorphology

  2016cites this paper
• Weathering-limited hillslope evolution in carbonate landscapes

  2016cites this paper
• Soil production and hillslope transport in mid‐latitudes during the last glacial–interglacial cycle: a combined data and modelling approach in northern Ardennes

  2016influential citation
• Uncovering signatures of geomorphic process through high resolution topography

  2016influential citation
• A nondimensional relief framework

  2016influential citation
• Climate and topography control the size and flux of sediment produced on steep mountain slopes

  2015cites this paper
• Erosion rates as a potential bottom-up control of forest structural characteristics in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

  2015cites this paper
• Lithologic, Climatic, and Biotic vs. Abiotic Controls on Erosion and Landscape Evolution

  2015cites this paper
• Alpine topography in the light of tectonic uplift and glaciation

  2015cites this paper
• Local topography and erosion rate control regolith thickness along a ridgeline in the Sierra Nevada, California

  2015cites this paper
• Identification of peneplains by multi‐parameter assessment of digital elevation models

  2015cites this paper
• Ecohydrologic role of solar radiation on landscape evolution

  2015cites this paper
• Laser vision: lidar as a transformative tool to advance critical zone science

  2015cites this paper
• The relationship between drainage density, erosion rate, and hilltop curvature: Implications for sediment transport processes

  2015cites this paper
• Laser vision : lidar as a transformative tool to advance critical zone science

  2015cites this paper
• Evolution and decay of peneplains in the northern Lhasa terrane, Tibetan Plateau

  2014cites this paper
• Controls of climate, topography, vegetation, and lithology on drainage density extracted from high resolution topography data

  2014cites this paper
• Evolution of a large landslide in the High Himalaya of central Nepal during the last half-century

  2014cites this paper
• Objective extraction of channel heads from high‐resolution topographic data

  2014cites this paper
• How long is a hillslope?

  2014influential citation
• Diagenetic variation in the Oregon Coast Range: Implications for rock strength, soil production, hillslope form, and landscape evolution

  2014cites this paper
• Mapping Quaternary alluvial fans in the southwestern United States based on multiparameter surface roughness of lidar topographic data

  2014cites this paper
• Basins and bedrock: Spatial variation in 10Be erosion rates and increasing relief in the southern Rocky Mountains, USA

  2014cites this paper
• Hillslope morphology as an indicator of landscape evolution in tectonically active landscapes

  2013cites this paper
• Hillslopes Record the Growth and Decay of Landscapes

  2013cites this paper
• Response to associate editor comment on “A nondimensional framework for exploring the relief structure of landscapes” by S. W. D. Grieve et al

  year unknowninfluential citation