Evolution of terrace risers along the upper Rhine graben inferred from morphologic dating methods: Evidence of climatic and tectonic forcing

Abstract

We show that morphologic dating techniques that have been applied successfully in arid and semi-arid areas are also suitable for slowly evolving scarps that are usually found in temperate climate environments. We have attempted two morphologic approaches, based on diffusion, to relate the present-day shape of an abandoned terrace riser to its age. The first assumes a model of scarp degradation based on a diffusive process (the D method). The second evaluates the state of scarp degradation using the slope distribution (the SD method) along a topographic profile. By using a manmade scarp of known age, we have obtained a mass diffusivity close to 1.4 m2 ka-1 when the area experiences a temperate climate characterized by a continuous vegetation cover. However, this value decreases during glacial episodes, probably on account of the permafrost. Even though the SD method requires an age correction that can be easily computed, only this method reveals that at several profiles a later scarp reactivation event has occurred. Indeed, along several profiles, the slope distribution was best fitted by two offset Gaussian curves, suggesting that some scarps have undergone a complex evolution that cannot be modelled with a single diffusive process. This scarp reactivation may correspond to a new incisive episode and allows one to estimate the vertical incision rate along the terrace riser. Applied to a Wurmian terrace riser of the upper Rhine valley (NE France), this approach reveals that the vertical incision rate ranges from 0.2 to 0.85 mm yr-1 between 35 and 15 ka and that the terrace bevelling occurred during two episodes related to climatic forcing. Moreover, we can identify a component of tectonic forcing evidenced by an increase to the north of vertical incision rate and Rhine stream-power. Another major result is showing that this terrace riser is not isochronous along its strike and that younger portions result from lateral incision of a 30 ka pre-existing scarp.