Appalachian Landscape Evolution
Actively deforming orogens have received extensive attention and have elucidated fascinating linkages between surface processes, geodynamics, and topographic development. However, our understanding of the driving forces renewing topographic relief and controlling sediment production and routing in continental interiors or stable continental margins lags far behind their active counterparts. My dissertation research concentrated heavily on the Appalachians of eastern North America, where the modern topography bears no connection to the regional tectonic or geologic history and the along strike variability of maximum elevation and relief make it difficult to describe the range in the context of an old and uniformly decaying landscape. I use apatite U-Th/He thermochronology and various kinetic and thermal modeling techniques to quantify the spatial variation of the timing and pace of erosion from the landscape, which can then be used to infer the drivers of topographic development and sediment production.