And many others...
Low hanging fruit!
A ruler?
Slope-area plots?
Drainage density?
Flow routing?
Time consuming
Subjective
Doesn't consider topography
Picking an inflection point?
Binning or smoothing the data
Converting an area to a length
Lots of variability in results
$$D_D = \frac{L_T}{A} $$
$$L_H \approx (2D_D)^{-1} $$
Little spatial variation
Sensitive to channel network
Doesn't account for channel width
Underestimates hillslope length
Measure hillslope length as a flow path
Connect ridges to channels
Can be applied at a fine spatial scale
Accounts for local topography
Not subjective
Volume of sediment transported on a hillslope per unit area in a period of time
Sediment flux controls:
Geometry of hillslopes
Landscape response to climate and tectonic forcing
Landscape evolution modelling
Demonstrated at a landscape scale
Can be applied anywhere
First test that relies only on topographic data
Supports Roering's model
$$ E^* = \frac{-2 \color{red}{C_{HT}L_H}}{S_C}\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ R^* = \frac{\color{red}{R}}{S_{C}\color{red}{L_H}} $$
Test of nonlinear sediment flux
Identify tectonic characteristics of landscapes
Understand variablilty of landscape properties
200 million years since uplift ceased
Theory 1: Uplift is still happening, just slowly
Theory 2: Topographic rejuvenation in the Miocene
Tentatively supports the theory of Miocene rejuvenation
Using only topographic data we can:
Falsify flux laws
Identify tectonics