CALL FOR PROPOSALS:

ORGANIZERS

  • Harvey Thorleifson, Chair
    Minnesota Geological Survey
  • Carrie Jennings, Vice Chair
    Minnesota Geological Survey
  • David Bush, Technical Program Chair
    University of West Georgia
  • Jim Miller, Field Trip Chair
    University of Minnesota Duluth
  • Curtis M. Hudak, Sponsorship Chair
    Foth Infrastructure & Environment, LLC

 

Paper No. 5
Presentation Time: 9:00 AM-6:00 PM

CO-VARIATION OF ANNUAL PRECIPITATION AND RIDGE-VALLEY RELIEF


GEMPERLINE, Johanna, Department of Geology, University of Illinois, 1301 West Green St, MC 102, Urbana, IL 61801 and ANDERS, Alison M., Department of Geology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 245 Natural History Building, 1301 West Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801, jgemper2@illinois.edu

Spatial variability in annual average precipitation rates from TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) satellite precipitation radar data corresponds with spatial variability in ridge-valley relief in several tropical mountain ranges including the Cordillera de Talamanca of Costa Rica, the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico, the Peruvian Andes, and the Western Ghats of India. We examine topography derived from SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) data and precipitation patterns in swaths cutting perpendicular to the strike of these mountain ranges. Ridge-valley relief is defined as the standard deviation of topographic elevation parallel to the strike of the range. Ridge-valley relief varies systematically across these ranges in concert with annual average precipitation. Where precipitation rates are high, ridge-valley relief is diminished and where precipitation rates are low, ridge-valley relief is maximized. These relationships are consistent with an idealized model of the co-evolution of orographic precipitation with topography. This model highlights the potential for mutual adjustment between precipitation patterns and topography to be realized through spatial variability in topographic relief. We suggest that spatial variability in ridge-valley relief may be a characteristic signature of the dynamic relationship between topography and precipitation-driven erosional processes.
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