''Deciphering Tectonic and Climatic Controls on Erosion and Sediment
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Deciphering tectonic and climatic controls on erosion and sediment transfer in the NW Himalaya A dissertation submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of Geology of the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences by Elizabeth N. Orr MSc., Royal Holloway, University of London BSc., University of Glasgow 19th of April 2019 Dissertation Committee Dr. Lewis A. Owen Dr. Dylan Ward Dr. Craig Dietsch Dr. Richard Beck Abstract Central to examining orogenic belt formation and evolution are efforts to define the relative roles of tectonics and climate in landscape denudation, and the complex feedbacks that exist between them. Studies in high altitude, high relief mountain settings such as the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen show that these relationships are not completely straightforward and that denudation can scale with tectonics, precipitation and/or topography. Steep north-south trending gradients in elevation, relief, rock uplift and precipitation make the NW Himalaya an excellent location to examine these controls of landscape denudation. As a first step to help elucidate the erosional processes involved in sediment mobilization from primary sources at catchment headwaters, rates of lateral rockwall slope erosion are defined for a suite of 12 catchments between the Baltistan region of Pakistan and Garhwal, northern India. These rates are derived from 10Be cosmogenic nuclide concentrations in medial moraine sediment, and affirm that between ~0.02 and 7 m of lateral slope erosion through periglacial processes can be achieved across a single millennium in this setting, and >2 km when extrapolated for the whole Quaternary. This erosion is sufficient to influence topographic change at the catchment head, and emphasizes the importance of localized erosion when evaluating broader landscape change. Statistically significant relationships are apparent between slope erosion and apatite fission track cooling ages and inferred rates of exhumation. The distribution and magnitude of these latter records of denudation are argued to be the result of the Indo- Eurasian convergence and the geometry and shortening of the Main Himalayan Thrust. Rockwall slope erosion in the NW Himalaya is therefore found to be primarily governed by tectonically driven rock uplift, with precipitation as a secondary control. ii To examine the nature and timing of sediment transfer from primary sources to transient sinks, such as landforms and sediment deposits, 18 new and 29 recalculated 10Be fan surface exposure ages define the timing of surface abandonment for a suite of 10 fans across the Greater Himalaya ranges in Ladakh, Lahul, Kullu and Garhwal in northern India. The fans are found to evolve during interglacials and periods of deglaciation, which are associated with a higher intensity monsoon. As glacial conditions or periods of relative cooling and increasing aridity become reestablished, aggradation ceases or becomes more restricted and the fan surfaces stabilize and/or are abandoned. A regional temporal framework of landform abandonment/aggradation cessation and incision events for the monsoon-influenced western Himalaya ranges (MWHR) and the semi- arid western Himalaya ranges (SWHR) are defined for the NW Himalaya. The timing of regional landform abandonment events for the MWHR and SWHR is consistent with the fan record, occuring during periods of relative cooling and increasing aridity. Regional incision events are less straightforward as they are recognized across various climatic conditions, likely due to the ubiquitous nature of erosion in these active alpine settings. A preservation bias in favor of Holocene geomorphic evidence in the MWHR is due to elevated rates of erosion in this region, which rapidly rework and overprint landforms and sediment deposits. Lower rates of erosion in the SWHR, assist in the preservation of geomorphic evidence throughout the last glacial. Climate and climate-driven processes largely moderate sediment transfer in the NW Himalaya; however, the distribution of precipitation and temperature are themselves influenced by the structural evolution of the orogen. Although the primary controls of erosion and sediment transfer in this study are shown to be rock uplift and climate respectively, this research overall argues that the various components of Himalayan mountain range evolution cannot each be governed by one mechanism alone. Instead, the coupling between tectonics and climate is central to examining processes of erosion and sediment transfer in this setting and in evaluating broad trends in landscape change. The specific iii nature and rates of landscape change on the catchment scale are shown to be influenced by longstanding catchment-specific feedbacks between topography, geology, surface processes, climate and tectonics, in addition to regional forcings on the mountain range and/or orogen scale. Catchment-wide landscape change can be viewed as a continuum of sediment transfer cycles, which trace sediment from a source to its eventual evacuation from the catchment. Each step within a transfer cycle is moderated by a set of preconditioning factors, and one or more forcing factor. This approach emphasizes the important contribution of preexisting landscape dynamics and variability in external forcings over space and time, in the landscape development of high altitude, high relief mountains ranges of the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen. iv v ‘When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe’ − John Muir (1838−1914) vi Acknowledgments My PhD program, research projects and associated field campaigns have been funded by the Department of Geology at the University of Cincinnati, PRIME Laboratories at Purdue University, National Geographic, the Geological Society of America and the UC Graduate Student Governance Association. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to my primary advisor Professor Lewis Owen for his invaluable instruction and continued support throughout this process. I would like to acknowledge my committee members, Dr. Dylan Ward, Dr. Craig Dietsch and Dr. Richard Beck who have generously shared their time and expertise with me over the past four years. Heart felt thanks are extended to Sourav Saha for his support, experience and humor in the field and out, and to Sarah Hammer for her instruction and friendship in the Geochronology Laboratories. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Jeff Havig, Dr. Tom Lowell, Dr. Aaron Diefendorf and Jason Cesta for constructive conversations about research projects and career. Thanks are also extended to Dr. Marc Caffee for comments on iterations of manuscripts. Many thanks to Discover Ladakh Adventure Tours and Travel for providing vital logistical support across three field campaigns. In my four years at the University of Cincinnati, my path has crossed countless people who have contributed to my research, and professional and personal development (sadly, too many people to mention individually). I would therefore just like to thank the students, postdocs, staff and faculty of the Department of Geology, past and present, for making this process as enjoyable and rewarding as it has been. Finally, none of this would have been possible without the unwavering support, generosity and patience of my friends and family on either side of the Atlantic Ocean, and my partner. Thank you for putting up with me. I would like to dedicate this dissertation research to my grandmother – for had she lived in a different time and under different circumstances, she would have done this and more. vii Table of Contents page Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………….ii Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………………………. vii 1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………….1 2. Regional setting………………………………………………………………………………...4 3. Methodology……………………………………………………………………………………6 3.1 Remote sensing and terrain analyses………………………………………………….6 3.2 Sedimentological analyses…………………………………………………………….6 3.3 Cosmogenic nuclide analyses…………………………………………………………7 3.4 Statistical analyses…………………………………………………………………….8 4. Foci summaries…………………………………………………………………………………9 4.1. Focus 1. ‘Rates of periglacial rockwall slope erosion in the upper Bhagirathi catchment, Garhwal, northern India’.……………………………………………………………………………….9 4.2. Focus 2. ‘Rockwall slope erosion in the NW Himalaya’…………………………………….11 4.3. Focus 3. ‘Climate driven late Quaternary fan surface abandonment in the NW Himalaya’…….....13 4.4. Focus 4. ‘Defining controls of regional geomorphic change in the NW Himalaya’……………...14 5. Discussion ……………………………………………………………………………………..15 5.1. Controls of landscape change……………………………………………………….15 5.2. Cycles of Himalayan catchment sediment transfer………………………………….17 6. Future directions……………………………………………………………………………...18 7. References……………………………………………………………………………………..23 8. Manuscript 1…………………………………………………………………………………..30 9. Manuscript 2…………………………………………………………………………………..90 10. Manuscript 3………………………………………………………………………………..142 11. Supplementary items………………………………………………………………………182 11.1 Supplementary geomorphic maps…………………………………………………182 11.2. Supplementary items 1 (Manuscript 1)…………………………………………...184 11.3. Supplementary items 2 (Manuscript 2)…………………………………………...198 11.4. Supplementary items 3 (Manuscript 3)…………………………………………...202 viii 1. Introduction Much attention has been paid to understanding the large-scale coupling between tectonic and climatic processes in the geology and dynamics of orogenic