image: The flowchart tells the functions of the program and the input data and output results of each function. view more
Credit: ©Science China Press
This study is led by Dr. Yizhou Wang, Huiping Zhang (Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration) and Dr. Dewen Zheng (Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences). The erosional landscape evolves as the joint products of both tectonic activity and climate. The morphology of the long profiles of active rivers has been proven to be an archieve to preserve and record the relationship of topographic relief, temporary and/or differential rock uplift rate, and climatically and/or lithologically related erosional efficiency. A simple but universal equation of the stream-power incision model provides an important means to analyze channel long profiles and to extract both temporal and spatial patterns of regional tectonic activity.
Based on the analytical solutions to the steady-state and linear transient-state forms of model equation, the authors develop a set of open-source Matlab scripts, RiverProAnalysis, to integrate the functions of drainage basin concavity calibration, channel steepness estimate, drainage divide stability determination, paleo-channel profile projection, and tectonic uplift history inversion. The products of the tool set are in the format of image, text, and vector files, which not only can be used for visual analysis, but also be read by geographic information system softwares.
To illustrate the ability of the tool set, the authors take examples of two transient drainage catchments in the northern margin of the Taiyuan Basin. They analyze the long profiles of the trunk streams, identify two generations of knickpoints, and estimate the minimum depth of river incision. They combine all the trunk and tributary channels together to model the catchment-wide uplift history and find moderate increases in the uplift rates since the Middle Pliocene and rapid accelation since the late Quaternary. The inversed results are consistent with the sedimentary records in the adjacent basin. By comparing the chi value, slope, and topographic relief of both sides of the catchment divide, they conclude the stability of the drainage divide. The tool set integrates the main functions of the modern studies on fluvial landsape, thus providing a powerful tool for analyzing river long profiles and for understanding tectonic geomorphology.
See the article:
The methods and program implementation for river longitudinal profile analysis — RiverProAnalysis, a set of open-source functions based on the Matlab platform
https://engine.scichina.com/doi/10.1007/s11430-021-9938-x
Journal
Science China Earth Sciences