In the foreland of the Tian Shan, rivers erode kilometer-wide platforms into folds that are rapidly uplifting. In our new paper, we show that the existence of these eroded surfaces implies that rivers must have changed the rate at which they migrate laterally by as much as an order of magnitude over timescales of thousands of years. Such large changes in the lateral erosion rate seem to occur in response to much smaller (less than order-of magnitude) changes in climate or tectonics. Get the full story in our new paper:
Bufe, A., Burbank, D.W., Bookhagen, B., Liu, L., Chen, J., Li, T., Thompson, J., Yang, H. (2017) Variations of lateral bedrock erosion rates control planation of uplifting folds in the foreland of the Tian Shan, NW China. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 122(12), 2431-2467. Journal Link
All posts by aaronbufe@gmail.com
AGU 2017
Come and see my poster at AGU! I will present our findings on the controls of channel-wall heights on alluvial channel migration.
Bufe, A., Turowski, J.M., Burbank, D.W., Paola, C., Tofelde, S., Wickert, A.D. (2017). Experimental evidence for a control by channel-wall height on alluvial channel migration. AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts. New Orleans, LA, USA.
New Blog Article: Field work in Taiwan
Robert Emberson wrote a great two-part AGU blog post about our recent field work in Taiwan and the major rainstorm we experienced. Have a look at Part 1 and Part 2.
New Paper: Quaternary Tectonics in the Pamir-Tian Shan
Our study on the Quaternary Tectonics in the Pamir-Tian Shan convergence zone was just published in Tectonics. This study was spearheaded by my colleague Jessica A. Thompson Jobe and demonstrates the progressive basinward propagation of deformation in this active region.
Thompson Jobe, J.A., Li, T., Chen, J., Burbank, D.W., Bufe, A. (2017). Quaternary Tectonic Evolution of the Pamir-Tian Shan Collision Convergence Zone, Northwest China. Tectonics, 36(12), 1944-9194. Journal Link
New Paper: Uplift rate changes in the Tian Shan foreland
I am excited to announce that our paper on variations in uplift rates across folds and faults in the Tian Shan foreland was accepted in Geophysical Research Letters . We use a combination of satellite images and geologic data to track how deformation rates on structures in this very actively deforming part of the world have changed through time. Have a look, and let me know what you think!
Bufe, A., Bekaert, D.P.S., Hussain, E., Bookhagen, B., Burbank, D.W., Thomspon Jobe, J.A., Chen, J., Li, T., Liu, L., Gan, W. (2017) Temporal changes in rock-uplift rates of folds in the foreland of the Tian Shan from geodetic and geologic data. Geophysical Research Letters, 44(21), 10977-10987. Journal link and Web version
EGU 2017
I will be at EGU this year. Please come and see our presentations:
I will present a talk:
Bufe, A., Burbank, D.W., Liu, L., Chen, J., Paola, C., Bookhagen, B., Thompson Jobe, J. (2017). Variations in lateral erosion rates control fluvial planation and strath terrace formation on uplifting folds: Evidence from both the field and sandbox models. EGU General Assembly. Vienna, Austria.
and a poster:
Bufe A., Pederson J., Tuzlack D. (2017). Geomorphic evidence for Quaternary tectonics on the southern flank of the Yellowstone hotspots from terraces and stream profiles along the Hoback and Snake River. EGU General Assembly. Vienna, Austria.
New Position: Postdoctoral Scholar at the GFZ, Potsdam
I am excited to announce that today, I started a new position as a postdoctoral scholar at the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) in Potsdam! I will be working with Niels Hovius on links between erosion processes and chemical weathering. I look forward to my time in this fantastic place.
AGU 2016
Watch out for my poster at AGU where I will present our work on the Quaternary tectonics on the flanks of the Yellowstone Hotspot.
Bufe A., Pederson J., Tuzlack D. (2016). Insights into the Quaternary tectonics of the Yellowstone hotspot from a terrace record along the Hoback and Snake rivers. AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts. San Francisco, CA, USA.
TerraSAR-X / TanDEM-X Meeting 2016
I will present a poster at the TerraSAR-X / TanDEM-X Science Team Meeting in Oberpfaffenhofen. I hope to see some of you there!
Bufe, A., Bookhagen, B., Bekaert, D., Hussain, E., Burbank, D. W. (2016). Rapid deformation in the foreland of the Pamir and Tian Shan, western China, revealed by Envisat-ASAR radar interferometry. TerraSAR-X / TanDEM-X Science Team Meeting. Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany.
GSA 2016
Watch out for Joel Pederson who talk at the GSA Annual Meeting in Denver:
Bufe A., Pederson J., Tuzlack D. (2016). Quaternary tectonics along the flanks of Yellowstone from terraces along the Hoback and Snake River. GSA Annual Meeting. Denver, CO, USA.