Centennial- to millennial-scale hard rock erosion rates deduced from luminescence-depth profiles

The measurement of erosion and weathering rates in different geomorphic settings and over diverse temporal and spatial scales is fundamental to the quantification of rates and patterns of earth surface processes. A knowledge of the rates of these surface processes helps one to decipher their relative contribution to landscape evolution – information that is crucial to understanding the interaction between climate, tectonics and landscape. Consequently, a wide range of techniques has been developed to determine short- (<102 a) and long-term (>104 a) erosion rates. However, no method is available to quantify hard rock erosion rates at centennial to millennial timescales. Here we propose a novel technique, based on the solar bleaching of luminescence signals with depth into rock surfaces, to bridge this analytical gap. We apply our technique to glacial and landslide boulders in the Eastern Pamirs, China. The calculated erosion rates from the smooth varnished surfaces of 7 out of the 8 boulders sampled in this study vary between <0.038±0.002 and 1.72±0.04 mmka-1 (the eighth boulder gave an anomalously high erosion rate, possibly due to a recent chipping/cracking loss of surface). Given this preferential sampling of smooth surfaces, assumed to arise from grain-by-grain surface loss, we consider these rates as minimum estimates of rock surface denudation rates in the Eastern Pamirs, China

A contemporary reinterpretation of Jorn Utzon’s material and technological innovations

Standardisation and the use of repetitive production processes was a key determinant of achievable forms in the industrial paradigm, impressively displayed in the Sydney Opera House. Today, complex non-repetitive, yet readily achievable, forms can be designed using computational design techniques that explicitly embedstructural, and fabrication logic from the beginning and which later enable the direct generation of instruction code for their accurate and efficient production viaComputer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machines.This paper builds on the thesis that Utzon's approach - the consideration of technology as an integral part of the design process - can give rise to novel structures which take advantage of the new technological situation. Furthering earlier research by the authors, a method for constructing a hybrid grid shellstructure combining timber and pre-cast concrete elements is proposed. The method is tested through the realisation of a pavilion in relation to the UtzonSymposium in Sydney in March 2014. The previous research shows how a grid shell structure of discrete concrete components can be produced with lasercut amorphous polyethylene terephthalate (PET) templates. The casting method minimises the material use for templates in relation to customisation. This paperconcerns realisation of a hybrid construction through integration of customised plywood components. Furthermore, the concrete construction is improved.Precision is improved through stabilisation of the template and modification of the geometry. Stability of the construction is achieved through new joint solutions. Reinforcement and joints are treated as a single element, thereby simplifying both production and assembly. In previous case studies scaffolding was amajor task, and this aspect is minimised with the method described here

Widespread erosion on high plateaus during recent glaciations in Scandinavia

Glaciers create some of Earth’s steepest topography; yet, many areas that were repeatedly overridden by ice sheets in the last few million years include extensive plateaus. The distinct geomorphic contrast between plateaus and the glacial troughs that dissect them has sustained two long-held hypotheses: first, that ice sheets perform insignificant erosion beyond glacial troughs, and, second, that the plateaus represent ancient pre-glacial landforms bearing information of tectonic and geomorphic history prior to Pliocene–Pleistocene global cooling (~3.5 Myr ago). Here we show that the Fennoscandian ice sheets drove widespread erosion across plateaus far beyond glacial troughs. We apply inverse modelling to 118 new cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al measurements to quantify ice sheet erosion on the plateaus fringing the Sognefjorden glacial trough in western Norway. Our findings demonstrate substantial modification of the pre-glacial landscape during the Quaternary, and that glacial erosion of plateaus is important when estimating the global sediment flux to the oceans

Glacial isostatic uplift of the European Alps

Following the last glacial maximum (LGM), the demise of continental ice sheets induced crustal rebound in tectonically stable regions of North America and Scandinavia that is still ongoing. Unlike the ice sheets, the Alpine ice cap developed in an orogen where the measured uplift is potentially attributed to tectonic shortening, lithospheric delamination and unloading due to deglaciation and erosion. Here we show that ∼90% of the geodetically measured rock uplift in the Alps can be explained by the Earth's viscoelastic response to LGM deglaciation. We modelled rock uplift by reconstructing the Alpine ice cap, while accounting for postglacial erosion, sediment deposition and spatial variations in lithospheric rigidity. Clusters of excessive uplift in the Rhône Valley and in the Eastern Alps delineate regions potentially affected by mantle processes, crustal heterogeneity and active tectonics. Our study shows that even small LGM ice caps can dominate present-day rock uplift in tectonically active regions