TY - JOUR

T1 - Spatial patterns of erosion and landscape evolution in a bivergent metamorphic core complex revealed by cosmogenic 10Be: The central menderes massif (western Turkey)

AU - Heineke, Caroline

AU - Hetzel, Ralf

AU - Nilius, Nils-Peter

AU - Glotzbach, Christoph

AU - Akal, Cüneyt

AU - Christl, Marcus

AU - Hampel, Andrea

N1 - Funding information: We thank Eric Portenga, Liam Reinhardt, and Associate Editor Jeff Lee for constructive reviews, which significantly improved this paper. We are grateful to A. Niehus, K. Schoppengerd, and P. Gebbeken for their help during the separation of 10Be from quartz and target preparation. V. Rapelius is thanked for inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy analysis. This work was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) grants HE 1704/18-1 and GL 724/7-1 provided to R. Hetzel and C. Glotzbach.

PY - 2019/12/1

Y1 - 2019/12/1

N2 - In extensional provinces with low-angle normal faulting (such as the Aegean region), both tectonic processes and erosion induce landscape change, but their interaction during the evolution of topography and relief accompanying continental extension has rarely been addressed. Here we present local and catchment-wide 10Be erosion rates that document the spatial pattern of erosion in the central Menderes Massif, a metamorphic core complex consisting of two asymmetric mountain ranges (Bozdag and Aydin) bound by detachment faults and active grabens. Catchment-wide erosion rates on the northern flank of the Bozdag Range are rather low (40-110 mm/k.y.) but reach values of >300 mm/k.y. on the steep southern escarpment-a pattern that reflects both topography and bedrock lithology. In the Aydin Range, erosion rates are generally higher, with mean erosion rates of ~190 and ~260 mm/k.y. on the northern and southern flank, respectively, and more variable along strike. In both ranges, erosion rates of ridge crests derived from amalgamated clasts are 30-90 mm/k.y. The difference between local and catchment-wide erosion rates indicates that topographic relief increases in most parts of the massif in response to ongoing fault-related uplift and concomitant river incision. Our findings document that tectonic processes exert a significant control on landscape evolution during active continental extension and are reflected in both the topographic signature and the spatial pattern of erosion. In the Menderes Massif, rock susceptibility to weathering and erosion is a dominant factor that controls the erosional contribution to rock exhumation, which varies spatially between ~10% and ~50%.

AB - In extensional provinces with low-angle normal faulting (such as the Aegean region), both tectonic processes and erosion induce landscape change, but their interaction during the evolution of topography and relief accompanying continental extension has rarely been addressed. Here we present local and catchment-wide 10Be erosion rates that document the spatial pattern of erosion in the central Menderes Massif, a metamorphic core complex consisting of two asymmetric mountain ranges (Bozdag and Aydin) bound by detachment faults and active grabens. Catchment-wide erosion rates on the northern flank of the Bozdag Range are rather low (40-110 mm/k.y.) but reach values of >300 mm/k.y. on the steep southern escarpment-a pattern that reflects both topography and bedrock lithology. In the Aydin Range, erosion rates are generally higher, with mean erosion rates of ~190 and ~260 mm/k.y. on the northern and southern flank, respectively, and more variable along strike. In both ranges, erosion rates of ridge crests derived from amalgamated clasts are 30-90 mm/k.y. The difference between local and catchment-wide erosion rates indicates that topographic relief increases in most parts of the massif in response to ongoing fault-related uplift and concomitant river incision. Our findings document that tectonic processes exert a significant control on landscape evolution during active continental extension and are reflected in both the topographic signature and the spatial pattern of erosion. In the Menderes Massif, rock susceptibility to weathering and erosion is a dominant factor that controls the erosional contribution to rock exhumation, which varies spatially between ~10% and ~50%.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85078535166&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1130/GES02013.1

DO - 10.1130/GES02013.1

M3 - Article

VL - 15

SP - 1846

EP - 1868

JO - Geosphere

JF - Geosphere

SN - 1553-040X

IS - 6

ER -