Problem Tools Current elevation Original elevation Tectonic displacement Geomorphic displacement Field obs. DEMGeochron.Interpretive Environment Models Surface processes act to change elevation through erosion and deposition while tectonic processes depress or elevate the surface directly. Elevation change with time Divergence of sediment flux and rock uplift rate Pollard & Fletcher, 2005

The study of landforms and landscapes which record a measurable tectonic signal (Burbank and Anderson, 2001). A “Poster child” for a landscape that records the record of fold growth: Wheeler Ridge California, view to NW; John S. Shelton photograph Tectonic geomorphology

How do surficial processes respond to deformation (and what are the possible feedbacks between them)? How can we use the signal of deformation in the landscape (and the late Quaternary) to bridge the gap between annual and Myr timescales?

Active tectonics What are spatial and temporal scales of continental lithospheric deformation? What are the roles of faulting versus distributed deformation? What drives the deformation? What is the role of pre- existing heterogeneity? Spatial dimensions of W. North American active deformation

Fault system dynamics What are the spatial and temporal distributions of earthquakes in a region over the (late) Holocene and how do they reflect the regime and the modulation of deformation? What is the effect of mechanical interaction?

Typical range of time scales studied in tectonic geomorphology Modified from PBO Geology White Paper “No dates, no rates!” Movement towards better access and more differently datable materials and events and more dates for all studies Thermochronology

Challenge of multiple scales and idealization: How to represent the action of a fault or a channel at the appropriate scale? Main Pamir thrust in the Pamir-Alai region, Kyrgyzstan

Next picture Continuous and homogeneousDiscrete and heterogenous Chi Chi, Taiwan Earthquake (Mw 7.7)

8 m knickpoint formed in the Chi Chi earthquake near Fengyuen—sending the signal into the landscape

Hierarchical approach to delineation of tectonically active zones What is the question and why important? Spatial scale System: km-scale data integration Structure: Dm-scale structural characterization Event: cm-scale measure of timing and process