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Topographic relief driven by variations in surface rock density

Nature Geoscience volume 7, pages 534–540 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

Earth’s surface topography is generated by tectonically induced variations in crustal thickness combined with erosion and, to a lesser degree, by vertical stresses caused by convection in the underlying mantle. Rock hardness and resistance to erosion are also commonly thought to influence topography because hard rocks, such as granites and basalts, usually form topographic highs in the landscape. Here we use analytical and numerical models to simulate the erosion-induced isostatic rebound of rocks. We find that the isostatic rebound that accompanies erosion causes denser rocks to occupy higher elevations in the landscape, thereby creating topographic relief that is proportional to surface rock density differences rather than rock hardness. We quantify this effect, taking into account the flexural strength of the continental lithosphere. We show that in a steady-state erosional setting, density-dependent isostatic rebound can cause the densest rocks to be exhumed at double the rate of surrounding, less-dense rocks and has a stronger effect than typical rock hardness variations. The results imply that denser rock formations should erode faster and therefore be characterized by younger thermochronological ages. Thermochronological data sets from the Kinabalu granite in Borneo and the Shakhdara–Alichur gneiss domes in Pamir confirm this counter-intuitive result. Our findings imply that lateral variations in surface rock density have significant control on the shaping of the large-scale features of Earth’s surface.

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Figure 1: Topography, erosion rate and surface lowering rate during the erosion of a dense intrusion.
Figure 2: Effect of varying the lithosphere flexural strength, through the assumed value of the effective elastic thickness (EET), Te.
Figure 3: Results of numerical model simulations in which a piece of crust is subjected to uniform uplift and erosion until geomorphic steady state is reached.
Figure 4: Predicted ages and age–elevation relationships for three values of EET.
Figure 5: Two examples of dense bodies characterized by an isostatically enhanced exhumation rate with respect to the surrounding, lighter rocks as demonstrated by their lower cooling ages.

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Acknowledgements

The work reported in this manuscript has been supported by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ISTerre, Université Grenoble-Alpes, F-38000 Grenoble, France

    Jean Braun & Thibaud Simon-Labric

  2. Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

    Thibaud Simon-Labric

  3. Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA

    Kendra E. Murray & Peter W. Reiners

Authors
  1. Jean Braun
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  2. Thibaud Simon-Labric
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  3. Kendra E. Murray
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  4. Peter W. Reiners
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Contributions

All authors have contributed to the main idea described in this manuscript and to its writing; J.B. has developed the mathematical formalism and performed the numerical simulations; T.S-L., K.E.M. and P.W.R. have suggested and documented the various examples used to support our hypothesis.

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Correspondence to Jean Braun.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Braun, J., Simon-Labric, T., Murray, K. et al. Topographic relief driven by variations in surface rock density. Nature Geosci 7, 534–540 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2171

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