Articles | Volume 16, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-16-1289-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-16-1289-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
11 Nov 2025
Research article |
| 11 Nov 2025
| 11 Nov 2025
Deformation and exhumation in thick continental crusts induced by valley incision of elevated plateaux
Thomas Geffroy
Univ.Rennes, CNRS, Géosciences Rennes UMR 6118, 35000 Rennes, France
Philippe Yamato
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Univ.Rennes, CNRS, Géosciences Rennes UMR 6118, 35000 Rennes, France
Institut universitaire de France (IUF), Paris, France
Philippe Steer
Univ.Rennes, CNRS, Géosciences Rennes UMR 6118, 35000 Rennes, France
Institut universitaire de France (IUF), Paris, France
Benjamin Guillaume
Univ.Rennes, CNRS, Géosciences Rennes UMR 6118, 35000 Rennes, France
Thibault Duretz
Institut für Geowissenschaften, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
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Continuum mechanics-based modelling of physical processes at large scale requires huge computational resources provided by massively parallel hardware such as graphical processing units. We present a suite of numerical algorithms, implemented using the Julia language, that efficiently leverages the parallelism. We demonstrate that our implementation is efficient, scalable and robust and showcase applications to various geophysical problems.
Maxime Mouyen, Romain Plateaux, Alexander Kunz, Philippe Steer, and Laurent Longuevergne
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How landscapes respond to tectonic and climatic changes is a major issue in Earth sciences. I have developed a new model that solves for landscape evolution in two dimensions using analytical solutions. Compared to numerical models, this new model is quicker and more accurate. It can compute in a single time step the topography at equilibrium of a landscape or be used to describe its evolution through time, e.g. during changes in tectonic or climatic conditions.
Thomas G. Bernard, Dimitri Lague, and Philippe Steer
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Both landslide mapping and volume estimation accuracies are crucial to quantify landscape evolution and manage such a natural hazard. We developed a method to robustly detect landslides and measure their volume from repeat 3D point cloud lidar data. This method detects more landslides than classical 2D inventories and resolves known issues of indirect volume measurement. Our results also suggest that the number of small landslides classically detected from 2D imagery is underestimated.
Lorenzo G. Candioti, Thibault Duretz, Evangelos Moulas, and Stefan M. Schmalholz
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We quantify the relative importance of forces driving the dynamics of mountain building using two-dimensional computer simulations of long-term coupled lithosphere–upper-mantle deformation. Buoyancy forces can be as high as shear forces induced by far-field plate motion and should be considered when studying the formation of mountain ranges. The strength of rocks flooring the oceans and the density structure of the crust control deep rock cycling and the topographic elevation of orogens.
Thomas Croissant, Robert G. Hilton, Gen K. Li, Jamie Howarth, Jin Wang, Erin L. Harvey, Philippe Steer, and Alexander L. Densmore
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In mountain ranges, earthquake-derived landslides mobilize large amounts of organic carbon (OC) by eroding soil from hillslopes. We propose a model to explore the role of different parameters in the post-seismic redistribution of soil OC controlled by fluvial export and heterotrophic respiration. Applied to the Southern Alps, our results suggest that efficient OC fluvial export during the first decade after an earthquake promotes carbon sequestration.
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With computer simulations, we study the interplay between thermo-mechanical processes in the lithosphere and the underlying upper mantle during a long-term (> 100 Myr) tectonic cycle of extension–cooling–convergence. The intensity of mantle convection is important for (i) subduction initiation, (ii) the development of single- or double-slab subduction zones, and (iii) the forces necessary to initiate subduction. Our models are applicable to the opening and closure of the western Alpine Tethys.
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Short summary
While erosion's role in mountain building is well known, deformation from valley incision in inactive regions is less understood. Using our numerical models, we show that incision alone can cause significant crustal deformation and drive lower crust exhumation. This is favored in areas with thick crust, weak lower crust, and high plateaux. Our results show surface processes can reshape Earth's surface over time.
While erosion's role in mountain building is well known, deformation from valley incision in...
