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Geomorphology

Rivers split as mountains grow

Nature Geoscience volume 2, pages 747–748 (2009)Cite this article

Mountain landscapes are shaped by tectonics and climate. A series of laboratory experiments has documented a mechanism by which mountain river networks split as the geometry of a mountain evolves in response to an orographic precipitation gradient.

In mountainous landscapes the organization of fluvial networks is not random. Valleys tend to be evenly spaced1 and, at the front of mountain ranges, the spacing of the drainage basin outlets is a direct function of the distance between the main drainage divide and the front of the range2,3. Numerous studies have focused on explaining why such geometrical properties emerge as landscapes develop under given tectonic or climatic regimes1. However, little is known about the mechanisms that modify the organization of fluvial networks in response to a change in climate or tectonics. On page 766 of this issue, Bonnet4 identifies a mechanism that helps maintain these geomorphic laws: the number of drainage outlets along the dry side of mountain fronts increases when mountain geometry is altered by a precipitation gradient in a regime of tectonic uplift.

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Figure 1: Drainage splitting.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mikaël Attal is at the School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Drummond Street, Edinburgh EH8 9XP, Scotland, UK. mikael.attal@ed.ac.uk,

    Mikaël Attal

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  1. Mikaël Attal
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Attal, M. Rivers split as mountains grow. Nature Geosci 2, 747–748 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo675

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