Peter van der Beek

Universität Potsdam · Institut für Geowissenschaften

Fluvial drainage patterns in orogenic belts reflect interactions among tectonics, climate, and lithology. The central South Tian Shan displays a complex fluvial drainage pattern that shifts from longitudinal (flowing parallel to mountain ranges) in the west to transverse (flowing across ranges) in the east. Whether such drainage patterns reflect un...

Investigating rock‐uplift variations in time and space provides insights into the processes driving mountain‐belt evolution. The Apennine Mountains of Italy underwent substantial Quaternary rock uplift that shaped the present‐day topography. Here, we present linear river‐profile inversions for 28 catchments draining the eastern flank of the Norther...

Reconstructing mountainous landscape evolution throughout the Quaternary is challenging because of the poor long-term preservation of geomorphic records in a context of rapid surface dynamics and topographic rejuvenation. The Quaternary geomorphic evolution of the western European Alps has been strongly controlled by climatic oscillations between g...

Synthesizing uniform and high concentrations of ³He within minerals via high‐energy proton irradiation is paramount for ⁴He/³He thermochronology and helium diffusion kinetic studies. Proton irradiations of geological material have hitherto exclusively been routinely conducted at the Francis H. Burr Proton Therapy Center (FHB); we thus explored alte...

Fluvial drainage patterns in orogenic belts reflect the interaction between tectonics, climate, and lithology. The central South Tian Shan displays a complex fluvial drainage pattern that shifts from longitudinal (flowing parallel to mountain ranges) in the west to transverse (flowing across ranges) in the east. Whether such drainage patterns refle...

The Gofa Province and Chew Bahir Basin in the Broadly Rifted Zone (BRZ) between the southern Main Ethiopian Rift (sMER) and the northern Kenya Rift (nKR) record early volcanism and associated faulting in East Africa; however, the spatiotemporal relationships between volcanism and faulting remain poorly constrained. We applied apatite (U‐Th)/He (AHe...

The tectonically active South American margin is characterized by the accumulation of deformation contributing to uplift of the Andean forearc at millennial time scales. However, the mechanisms responsible for permanent coastal uplift are debated, mainly because methodologically consistent, continental‐scale analyses of uplifted terraces have not y...

Himalayan rivers transport around a gigaton of sediment annually to ocean basins. Mountain valleys are an important component of this routing system: storage in these valleys acts to buffer climatic and tectonic signals recorded by downstream sedimentary systems. Despite a critical need to understand the spatial distribution, volume and longevity o...

Thermochronological data are essential to constrain thermal and exhumation histories in active mountain ranges. In the Central Andes, bedrock outcrops are rare, being blanketed by widespread late Palaeogene–Neogene and younger volcanic formations. For this reason, the exhumation history of the Western Cordillera (WC) in the Peruvian Andes has only...

The evolution of orogenic wedges can be determined through stratigraphic and thermochronological analysis. We used apatite fission-track (AFT) and apatite and zircon (U–Th–Sm) / He (AHe and ZHe) low-temperature thermochronology to assess the thermal evolution of the Ukrainian Carpathians, a prime example of an orogenic wedge forming in a retreating...

Sparsely vegetated badlands are loci of intense erosion that is sufficiently rapid to have observable effects on human timescales. Characterizing and understanding the physical weathering processes in these settings are key to predict the temporal variability of regolith production and sediment flux, as well as their evolution under changing climat...

Interpreting cooling ages from multiple thermochronometric systems and/or from steep elevation transects with the help of a thermal model can provide unique insights into the spatial and temporal patterns of rock exhumation. Although several well-established thermal models allow for a detailed exploration of how cooling or exhumation rates evolved...

Interpreting cooling ages from multiple thermochronometric systems and/or from steep elevation transects with the help of a thermal model can provide unique insights into the spatial and temporal patterns of rock exhumation. This information can, in turn, provide clues to the driving mechanisms of landscape evolution. Although several well-establis...

The evolution of orogenic wedges can be determined through stratigraphic and thermochronological analysis. We used apatite fission-track (AFT) and apatite and zircon (U-Th-Sm)/He (AHe and ZHe) low-temperature thermochronology to assess the thermal evolution of the Ukrainian Carpathians, a prime example of an orogenic wedge forming in a retreating s...

Both the kinematics and dynamics of topographic growth of the Tibetan Plateau remain debated, despite their significance for understanding the evolution of continental lithospheric geodynamics, climate, and biodiversity in Asia. Topographic swath profiles reveal the diversity of high-elevation, low-relief plateau surfaces or “relict landscapes” thr...

The origin of the First Bend of the Yangtze River is key to understanding the birth of the modern Yangtze River. Despite considerable efforts, the timing and mechanism of formation of the First Bend remain highly debated. Inverse river-profile modeling of three tributaries (Chongjiang, Lima, and Gudu) of the Jinsha River, integrated with regional t...

The Jiacha Gorge in southeastern Tibet is the second-largest deeply incised gorge of the Yarlung-Tsangpo River, after the Tsangpo Gorge. A late Cenozoic N-S−trending normal fault, the Woka Rift fault, coincides with the western limit of the gorge. However, the relationship between the formation of the gorge, drainage evolution, and rift activity re...

Drainage-divide migration, controlled by rock-uplift and rainfall patterns, may play a major role in the geomorphic evolution of mountain ranges. However, divide-migration rates over geologic timescales have only been estimated by theoretical studies and remain empirically poorly constrained. Geomorphological evidence suggests that the Sierra de Ac...

At the interface between the lithosphere and the atmosphere, the critical zone records the complex interactions between erosion, climate, geologic substrate, and life and can be directly monitored. Long data records (30 consecutive years for sediment yields) collected in the sparsely vegetated, steep, and small marly badland catchments of the Draix...

At the interface between the lithosphere and the atmosphere, the critical zone records the complex interactions between erosion, climate, geologic substrate and life, and can be directly monitored. Long data records collected in the sparsely vegetated, steep marly badland catchments of the Draix-Bléone Critical Zone Observatory (CZO), SE France, al...

Large thermochronologic data sets enable orogen-scale investigations into spatio-temporal patterns of erosion and deformation. We present the results of a thermo-kinematic modeling study that examines large-scale controls on spatio-temporal variations in exhumation as recorded by multiple low-temperature thermochronometers in the Pyrenees mountains...

The Three Rivers Region in south-east Tibet represents a transition between the strongly deformed zone around the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis (EHS) and the less deformed south-east Tibetan Plateau margin in Yunnan and Sichuan. In this study, we compile and model published thermochronometric ages for two massifs facing each other across the Mekong Ri...

It is well documented that the interplay between crustal thickening and surface processes determines growth of continent‐continent collision orogens from small and cold to large and hot. Additionally, studies have demonstrated that the structural style of a mountain belt is strongly influenced by inherited (extensional) structures, the pattern of e...

The Abancay Deflection, forming the northern edge of the Altiplano in the Peruvian Andes, is a remarkable geomorphological feature marking the along-strike segmentation of the Andes. Little is known about the timing and spatial distribution of exhumation in this area. To constrain the exhumation history of the Abancay Deflection and its drivers, we...

The drivers of the Pyrenean post-orogenic exhumation are debated including drainage migration, flexural rebound or tectonic reactivation. Here, we provide new low-temperature thermochronological data and inverse thermal modeling from both the hinterland and foreland of the western Pyrenees. Our new thermochronological ages range from 6.6 Ma to 61.4...

The Three Rivers Region in Southeast Tibet represents a transition between the strongly deformed zone around Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis and the less deformed southeast Tibetan plateau margin in Yunnan and Sichuan. In this study, we compile and model published thermochronologic ages for two massifs facing each other across the Mekong River in the co...

Both the kinematics and dynamics for topographic growth of the Tibetan Plateau remain debated despite their significance for understanding the evolution of continental lithospheric geodynamics, climate, and biodiversity in Asia. Morphometric analysis reveals the continuity of high-elevated peneplains through the Songpan-Garze-Yidun, Qiangtang and L...

The manuscript submitted by Willett et al. shows a welcome appreciation by the authors of the potential biases, errors, and resolution in their inversions of thermochronometric data using GLIDE. However, it also contains several misrepresentations of both the Herman et al. (2013) study and our (Schildgen et al., 2018) criticism of that study, and i...

Supplementary Material for Govin et al., Geology 2020

The Himalayan syntaxes, characterized by extreme rates of rock exhumation co-located with major trans-orogenic rivers, figure prominently in the debate on tectonic versus erosional forcing of exhumation. Both the mechanism and timing of rapid exhumation of the Namche Barwa massif in the eastern syntaxis remain controversial. It has been argued that...

The Abancay Deflection, forming the northern edge of the Altiplano in the Peruvian Andes, is a remarkable geomorphic feature marking the along-strike segmentation of the Andes. Little is known about the timing and spatial distribution of exhumation in this remote area. To constrain the exhumation of the Abancay Deflection, we present apatite (U-Th)...

The incision history of the Three Rivers (Salween, Mekong, and Yangtze) region in the Southeast Tibetan Plateau has been linked to both tectonic and climatic controls. In this study, we report new apatite (U‐Th)/He and fission‐track thermochronology data from the >6,000‐m‐high Kawagebo massif, which forms the edge of the high plateau on the western...

An understanding of the depositional environment and paleogeography of the Siwalik foreland basin are crucial in interpreting the basin configuration, sediment transport pathways and its evolutionary history. This study examines the sedimentology of the Siwalik successionof the Kameng River valley, Arunachal Himalaya, northeastern India. The facies...

The geomorphologic evolution of orogens has been a subject of revived interest and accelerated development over the past few decades, thanks to both the increasing availability of high-resolution data and computing power and the realisation that orogenic topography plays a central role in coupling deep-earth and surface processes. Low-temperature t...

According to paleoseismological studies, the last earthquake that ruptured the Main Frontal Thrust in western Nepal occurred in 1505 AD. No evidence of large earthquakes has been documented since, giving rise to the concept of a seismic gap in the central Himalaya. Here, we report on a new record of earthquake-triggered turbidites from Lake Rara, w...

We present the results of a numerical modeling study of the Pyrenees Mountains investigating the spatio-temporal variation in lithospheric flexure in response to the developing orogen, with the aim of setting constraints on paleotopography. We employ a finite-element method to model the 3D flexural deformation of the lithosphere beneath the Pyrenea...

We use two-dimensional thermomechanical models to investigate the potential role of rapid filling of foreland basins in the development of orogenic foreland fold-and-thrust belts. We focus on the extensively studied example of the Western European Alps, where a sudden increase in foreland sedimentation rate during the mid-Oligocene is well document...

The timing and mechanisms of uplift in southeastern Tibet remain disputed. To address this debate, we conducted structural and morphological analyses of the Yulong thrust belt; we also reconstruct the cooling and exhumation history of the Jianchuan basin in the hanging wall of the thrust system using inverse thermal modeling of apatite fission‐trac...

The erosion history of Antarctica is fundamental to our understanding of interlinks between climate and glacier dynamics. However, because of the vast polar ice sheet covering more than 99% of Antarctica land mass, the continental surface response to glacial erosion remains largely unknown. Over the last decade the subglacial topography of Antarcti...

The Pyrenean-Cantabrian mountain belt extends in an E-W direction along the northern border of Spain and resulted from the convergence between the Eurasian plate and the Iberian subplate from Late Cretaceous to Miocene times. In the central part of this belt, the Basque-Cantabrian Zone (BCZ) developed as one of the most subsiding Cretaceous basins...

We use two-dimensional thermo-mechanical models to investigate the potential role of rapid filling of foreland basins in the development of orogenic foreland fold-and-thrust belts. We focus on the extensively studied example of the Western European Alps, where a sudden increase in foreland sedimentation rate is well documented during the mid-Oligoc...

The Namche Barwa massif, occupying the eastern syntaxis of the Himalaya, is characterized by young metamorphism, rapid and highly localized exhumation, and extreme river-incision and modern erosion rates. Both the timing and mechanism of rapid exhumation in the massif, as well as the potential links with the evolution of drainage patterns in the ea...

The Siwalik sedimentary rocks of the Himalayan foreland basin preserve a record of Himalayan orogenesis, paleo-drainage evolution, and erosion. This study focuses on the still poorly studied easternmost Himalaya Siwalik record located directly downstream of the Namche Barwa syntaxis. We use luminescence, palaeomagnetism, magnetostratigraphy, and ap...

We report a new interlaboratory exercise to evaluate the reproducibility of apatite fission-track (AFT) and (U-Th)/He (AHe) data and thermal history analysis. Twelve laboratory groups participated, analyzing apatite separates from two previously studied localities. Ten groups returned AFT data from 13 analysts, five groups returned AHe data, one co...

The Namche Barwa massif in the eastern Himalayan syntaxis is characterized by very rapid exhumation and provides a significant proportion of the sediment flux carried by the Brahmaputra River. We present new detrital zircon fission-track (ZFT) and muscovite 40Ar/39Ar (MAr) data from modern sediments of rivers draining the eastern Himalaya. The cool...

The potential link between erosion rates at the Earth’s surface and changes in global climate has intrigued geoscientists for decades1,2 because such a coupling has implications for the influence of silicate weathering3,4 and organic-carbon burial5 on climate and for the role of Quaternary glaciations in landscape evolution1,6. A global increase in...

The Himalayan proximal foreland is characterized by Quaternary megafans, of which the formational mechanisms remain debated. The Tista megafan spreads over more than 16,000 km² from the mountain front, where it is strongly incised, to the confluence of the Tista River with the Jamuna/Brahmaputra River, and stores sediments produced in the Sikkim Hi...

Abstract. One of the main purposes of detrital thermochronology is to provide constraints on the regional-scale exhumation rate and its spatial variability in actively eroding mountain ranges. Procedures that use cooling age distributions coupled with hypsometry and thermal models have been developed in order to extract quantitative estimates of er...

The Shillong Plateau (northeastern India) constitutes the only significant topography in the Himalayan foreland. Knowledge of its surface uplift history is key to understanding topographic development and unraveling tectonic-climate-topographic coupling in the eastern Himalaya. We use the sedimentary record of the Himalayan foreland basin north of...

The Himalaya has a major influence on global and regional climate, in particular on the Asian monsoon system. The foreland basin of the Himalaya contains a record of tectonics and paleoclimate since the Miocene. Previous work on the evolution of vegetation and climate has focused on the central and western Himalaya, where a shift from C3 to C4 vege...

One of the main purposes of detrital thermochronology is to provide constraints on the regional-scale exhumation rate and its spatial variability in actively eroding mountain ranges. Procedures that use cooling age distributions coupled with hypsometry and thermal models have been developed in order to extract quantitative estimates of erosion rate...

Studying past weathering regimes is important for a better understanding of the influence of climate on weathering, erosion, and runoff. The Himalayan foreland basin contains a record of tectonics and paleoclimate since Miocene times. Spanning the entire mountain range, the Mio-Pliocene detrital Siwalik Group allows studies to directly compare the...

Whereas the large-scale morphology and dynamics of orogenic wedges are well explained by critical-taper theory, many questions remain unanswered regarding the details of how deformation is accommodated internally. Here, we investigate the dynamics of a collisional orogenic wedge bounded by an over-thickened continental plateau, using two-dimensiona...

Recent crustal deformation through the southeast Zagros, Iran

River networks regulate mass fluxes and modulate the topography produced by tectonic forces, transporting critical information downstream in the foreland basin. River sediments contain an inventory of the characteristics of the source rocks eroded in the hinterland of a drainage basin. Thus, detrital thermochronology can be used as a tool to infer...

River networks regulate mass fluxes and modulate the topography produced by tectonic forces, transporting critical information downstream in the foreland basin. River sediments contain an inventory of the characteristics of the source rocks eroded in the hinterland of a drainage basin. Thus, detrital thermochronology can be used as a tool to infer...

It is crucial to understand lateral differences in paleo-climate and weathering in order to fully understand the evolution of the Himalayan mountain belt. While many studies have focused on the western and central Himalaya, the eastern Himalaya remains poorly studied with regard to paleoclimate and past weathering history. Here we present a multi-p...