Denudation and retreat of the Serra do Mar escarpment in southern Brazil derived from in situ-produced 10 Be concentration in river sediment

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)



Description :
In this study, the AA. measured the in situ-produced 10 Be concentration in fluvial sediments to quantify the catchment-wide long-term denudation rates of the Serra do Mar escarpment. They sampled the fluvial sediments from 10 watersheds that drain both sides of the escarpment. The average long-term denudation rate of the oceanic side is higher than the rate of the continental side. The rates indicate that the coastal base level is controlling the escarpment retreat toward the continental high lands, which is consistent with observations made at other high-elevation passive margins around the globe. The results also demonstrate the differential erosion along the Serra do Mar escarpment in southern Brazil during the Quaternary, where drainages over granites had lower average denudation rates in comparison with those over migmatites and gneisses. The results also reveal that drainage over the granites decreases the average denudation rates of the ocean-facing catchments and the sugarloaf hills therefore are natural barriers that slowly retreat once they are exhumed.


Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Earth surface processes and landforms, issn : 0197-9337, 2014, vol. 39, n°. 3, p. 311-319, nombre de pages : 9, Références bibliographiques : 1 p.

Date :
2014

Editeur :
Pays édition : Royaume-Uni, Chichester, Wiley