Under the threat of ongoing global warming, predictions concerning how much temperatures will rise and precipitation will change are undergoing continual improvement, but the spatial distribution of predicted changes and their impacts on Earth-surface processes, notably erosion and sedimentation, are subject to great uncertainty. Such processes have immediate consequences for people living along alluvial or “transport-limited” rivers, which constitute the majority of rivers on Earth, yet their evolution in response to external forcing conditions is not well understood. In the GyroSCoPe project, we address these knowledge gaps through an innovative approach that focuses on how periodic changes in climate affect Earth-surface processes.

Specifically, because the dominant forcing frequencies have changed through time (notably at the Mid-Pleistocene Transition, MPT), and the frequency of each forcing period likely dictates how far downstream in alluvial channels impacts are felt, it should be possible to decipher the impacts of individual periodic forcings in the geologic record. We apply novel tools to decipher erosion histories in mountainous regions, specifically at the MPT, and we investigate alluvial fans and terraces in the context of a newly developed model of alluvial channel evolution. Our field sites comprise locations in Argentina (Central Andes, Patagonia) and in Kyrgyzstan.