Climate change, flooding in arid environments, and erosion rates

Research Article| December 01, 2001 Climate change, flooding in arid environments, and erosion rates Peter Molnar Peter Molnar 1Department of Geological Sciences and Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Geology (2001) 29 (12): 1071–1074. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<1071:CCFIAE>2.0.CO;2 Article history received: 03 Apr 2001 rev-recd: 15 Jun 2001 accepted: 09 Jul 2001 first online: 02 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share MailTo Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Peter Molnar; Climate change, flooding in arid environments, and erosion rates. Geology 2001;; 29 (12): 1071–1074. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<1071:CCFIAE>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Although regional climates throughout much of the world appear to have become more arid in late Cenozoic time, sedimentation rates, and therefore presumably erosion rates, have increased. For sustained erosion of elevated terrain, at least where glaciers are not the major erosive agent, rivers must incise. Therefore bed-load transport by rivers should be a rate-limiting process in erosion. Theories of bed-load transport call for a threshold in either stream power per unit area or shear stress before the bed load can be moved, and most transport should be accomplished during high discharge. The frequency- magnitude distribution of floods shows that the ratio of magnitudes of, for example, 100 yr floods and annual floods is greater in arid than in humid environments. Thus, a shift toward more arid conditions may have increased relative magnitudes of rare floods or, conversely, increased the frequency of large floods. Such a shift, despite a decrease in precipitation and discharge, could have doubled incision rates, particularly in regions already quite arid. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.