Global Analysis of Topographic and Climatic Controls on Drainage Basin Shapes
Abstract Drainage basins are fundamental units of Earth's surface, describing how flows accumulate across landscapes. They are direct expressions of how tectonics and climatic forces alter Earth's surface morphology. Here, we measure the width‐to‐length ratios (WLRs) of 386,931 drainage ba...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105804 https://doaj.org/article/ffacd78d01ed4d3fb2c7c9bf3ab085ec |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:ffacd78d01ed4d3fb2c7c9bf3ab085ec 2024-09-15T17:46:36+00:00 Global Analysis of Topographic and Climatic Controls on Drainage Basin Shapes Minhui Li Hansjörg Seybold Baosheng Wu Yi Chen Xudong Fu James W. Kirchner 2024-04-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105804 https://doaj.org/article/ffacd78d01ed4d3fb2c7c9bf3ab085ec EN eng Wiley https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105804 https://doaj.org/toc/0094-8276 https://doaj.org/toc/1944-8007 1944-8007 0094-8276 doi:10.1029/2023GL105804 https://doaj.org/article/ffacd78d01ed4d3fb2c7c9bf3ab085ec Geophysical Research Letters, Vol 51, Iss 8, Pp n/a-n/a (2024) Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 article 2024 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105804 2024-08-05T17:49:22Z Abstract Drainage basins are fundamental units of Earth's surface, describing how flows accumulate across landscapes. They are direct expressions of how tectonics and climatic forces alter Earth's surface morphology. Here, we measure the width‐to‐length ratios (WLRs) of 386,931 drainage basins (average area ∼157 km2), covering all continents except Antarctica and Greenland. Global variations in WLRs are correlated with climatic aridity, whole‐basin slope, and local topographic roughness. Basins in arid landscapes tend to be narrower, potentially reflecting a higher prevalence of surface runoff and therefore a stronger slope‐parallel component of the transporting flow. Local topographic roughness is associated with wider basins, potentially reflecting greater dispersion of flow directions. Conversely, whole‐basin topographic gradients, potentially reflecting gradients in uplift, are associated with narrower basins. However, steeper basins are also often rougher, so revealing the effects of whole‐basin slope requires correcting for the confounding effects of roughness variations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Greenland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Geophysical Research Letters 51 8 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 |
spellingShingle |
Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 Minhui Li Hansjörg Seybold Baosheng Wu Yi Chen Xudong Fu James W. Kirchner Global Analysis of Topographic and Climatic Controls on Drainage Basin Shapes |
topic_facet |
Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 |
description |
Abstract Drainage basins are fundamental units of Earth's surface, describing how flows accumulate across landscapes. They are direct expressions of how tectonics and climatic forces alter Earth's surface morphology. Here, we measure the width‐to‐length ratios (WLRs) of 386,931 drainage basins (average area ∼157 km2), covering all continents except Antarctica and Greenland. Global variations in WLRs are correlated with climatic aridity, whole‐basin slope, and local topographic roughness. Basins in arid landscapes tend to be narrower, potentially reflecting a higher prevalence of surface runoff and therefore a stronger slope‐parallel component of the transporting flow. Local topographic roughness is associated with wider basins, potentially reflecting greater dispersion of flow directions. Conversely, whole‐basin topographic gradients, potentially reflecting gradients in uplift, are associated with narrower basins. However, steeper basins are also often rougher, so revealing the effects of whole‐basin slope requires correcting for the confounding effects of roughness variations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Minhui Li Hansjörg Seybold Baosheng Wu Yi Chen Xudong Fu James W. Kirchner |
author_facet |
Minhui Li Hansjörg Seybold Baosheng Wu Yi Chen Xudong Fu James W. Kirchner |
author_sort |
Minhui Li |
title |
Global Analysis of Topographic and Climatic Controls on Drainage Basin Shapes |
title_short |
Global Analysis of Topographic and Climatic Controls on Drainage Basin Shapes |
title_full |
Global Analysis of Topographic and Climatic Controls on Drainage Basin Shapes |
title_fullStr |
Global Analysis of Topographic and Climatic Controls on Drainage Basin Shapes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Global Analysis of Topographic and Climatic Controls on Drainage Basin Shapes |
title_sort |
global analysis of topographic and climatic controls on drainage basin shapes |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105804 https://doaj.org/article/ffacd78d01ed4d3fb2c7c9bf3ab085ec |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Greenland |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Greenland |
op_source |
Geophysical Research Letters, Vol 51, Iss 8, Pp n/a-n/a (2024) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105804 https://doaj.org/toc/0094-8276 https://doaj.org/toc/1944-8007 1944-8007 0094-8276 doi:10.1029/2023GL105804 https://doaj.org/article/ffacd78d01ed4d3fb2c7c9bf3ab085ec |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105804 |
container_title |
Geophysical Research Letters |
container_volume |
51 |
container_issue |
8 |
_version_ |
1810494888348745728 |