Extreme event-driven sediment aggradation and erosional buffering along a tectonic gradient in southern Taiwan

In most landscape evolution models, extreme rainfall enhances river incision. In steep landscapes, however, these events trigger landslides that can buffer incision via increased sediment delivery and aggradation. We quantify landslide sediment aggradation and erosional buffering with a natural experiment in southern Taiwan where a northward gradient in tectonic activity drives increasing landscape steepness. We find that landscape response to extreme rainfall during the 2009 typhoon Morakot varied along this gradient, where steep areas experienced widespread channel sediment aggradation of >10 m and less steep areas did not noticeably aggrade. We model sediment export to estimate a sediment removal timeline and find that steep, tectonically active areas with the most aggradation may take centuries to resume bedrock incision. Expected sediment cover duration reflects tectonic uplift. We find that despite high stream power, sediment cover may keep steep channels from eroding bedrock for up to half of a given time period. This work highlights the importance of dynamic sediment cover in landscape evolution and suggests a mechanism by which erosional efficiency in tectonically active landscapes may decrease as landscape steepness increases.

Automated summary

Most landscape evolution models suggest that extreme rainfall leads to river incision, but in steep landscapes, landslides triggered by rainfall can actually slow down incision by increasing sediment delivery and aggradation. This study conducted a natural experiment in southern Taiwan to understand the effects of extreme rainfall on landscape response. The findings show that steep areas experienced widespread sediment aggradation during a typhoon, while less steep areas did not show noticeable aggradation. The study highlights the significance of dynamic sediment cover in landscape evolution and provides insights into how erosional efficiency may decrease in tectonically active landscapes as steepness increases.