The relief of the Swiss Alps and adjacent areas and its relation to lithology and structure: topographic analysis from a 250-m DEM (original) (raw)
2001, Geomorphology
In this paper we discuss the large-scale geomorphological characteristics of the Swiss Alps based on numerical analysis of a digital elevation model and compare these to an erodibility map constructed from a geotechnical map of Switzerland and regional geomorphological studies. Comparing the erodibility map with the large-scale morphometry shows an intimate relationship between mountain-scale erodibility and topography. On average, higher mean elevations and steeper mean slopes correlate with regions where rocks of low erodibility prevail. Areas with high peaks as well as the main water divides are controlled by the presence of bedrock with low to very low detachability. The drainage network of the Swiss Alps shows a close relationship to the lithological differences as well. Major longitudinal valleys follow easily erodible units. In the eastern and western part of the Swiss Alps, the highest values of local relief are located to the south of the main water divide, whereas in the central part, local relief is higher to the north of the main water divide. The large-scale geomorphic characteristics regarded in the framework of the geological history of uplift and denudation suggest that low and very low erodibilities lead to the development of areas of high elevations which are likely to persist over periods of 10–15 Ma. As the analysis of the Lepontine area shows, 20 Ma after cessation of exhumation, such high elevations are likely to be worn down and to manifest themselves as high relief only.
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Drainage patterns and tectonic forcing: a model study for the Swiss Alps
Basin Research, 2001
ABSTRACT A linear surface process model is used to examine the effect of different patterns of rock uplift on the evolution of the drainage network of the Swiss Alps. An asymmetric pattern of tectonic forcing simulates a phase of rapid retrothrusting in the south of the Swiss Alps (‘Lepontine’-type uplift). A domal pattern of tectonic forcing in the north of the model orogen simulates the phase of the formation of the ‘Aar massif’, an external basement uplift in the frontal part of the orogenic wedge (‘Aar’-type uplift).Model runs using the ‘Lepontine’-type uplift pattern result in a model mountain chain with a water divide in the zone of maximum uplift and orogen-normal rivers. Model runs examining the effect of ‘Lepontine’-type uplift followed by ‘Aar’-type uplift show that the initially formed orogen-normal river system and the water divide are both very stable and hardly affected by the additional uplift. This indifference to changes in tectonic forcing is mainly due to the requirement of a high model erosion capacity for the river systems in order to reproduce the exhumation data (high-grade rocks in the south of the Swiss Alps point to removal of a wedge-shaped nappe stack with a maximum thickness of about 25 km). The model behaviour is in agreement with the ancestral drainage pattern of the Alps in Oligocene and Miocene times and with the modern pattern observed in the Coast Range of British Columbia; in both cases river incision occurred across a zone of rapid uplift in the lower course of the rivers. The model behaviour does not, however, explain the modern drainage pattern in the Alps with its orogen-parallel rivers.When the model system is forced to develop two locally independent main water divides (simultaneous ‘Lepontine’- and ‘Aar’-type uplift), a zone of reduced erosional potential forms between the two divides. As a consequence, the divides approach each other and eventually merge. The new water divide remains fixed in space independent of the two persisting uplift maxima. The model results suggest that spatial and temporal changes in tectonic forcing alone cannot produce the change from the orogen-normal drainage pattern of the Swiss Alps in Oligocene–Miocene times to the orogen-parallel drainage observed in the Swiss Alps today.
Active deformation in the eastern Swiss Alps: post-glacial faults, seismicity and surface uplift
Tectonophysics, 2004
Post-glacial tectonic faults in the eastern Swiss Alps occur as single lineaments, clusters of faults or extensive fault zones consisting of several individual faults aligned along the same trend. The orientation of the faults reflects the underlying lithology and the pre-existing structures (joints, pervasive foliations) within these lithologies. Most post-glacially formed faults in the area around Chur, which undergoes active surface uplift of 1.6 mm/year, trend E–W and cut across Alpine and glacial features such as active screes and moraines. Additionally, there are NNW and ENE striking faults reactivating pervasive Alpine foliations and shear zones. Based on a comparison with the nodal planes of recent earthquakes, E–W striking faults are interpreted as active faults. Because of very short rupture lengths and mismatches of fault location with earthquake distribution, magnitude and abundance, the faults are considered to be secondary faults due to earthquake shaking, cumulative deformation in post- or interseismic periods or creep, and not primary earthquake-related faults. The maximum of recent surface uplift rates coincides with the youngest cooling of the rocks according to apatite fission-track data and is therefore a long-lived feature that extends well into pre-glacial times. Isostatic rebound owing to overthickened crust or to melting of glacial overburden cannot explain the observed surface uplift pattern. Rather, the faults, earthquakes and surface uplift patterns suggest that the Alps are deforming under active compression and that the Aar massif basement uplift is still active in response to ongoing collision.
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