This short communication presents an efficient method for analyzing large fault scarp data sets. The programs and workflow required are open-source and the methodology is easy to use, thus the barrier to entry is low. This tool can be applied to a broad range of active tectonic studies. A case study in the Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand exemplifies the novelty of this tool by generating results that are consistent with extensive field campaigns in only a few hours at a workstation.

Drainage divides are are believed to provide clues about divide migration and the instability of landscapes. Here, we present a novel approach to extract drainage divides from digital elevation models and to order them in a drainage divide network. We present our approach by studying natural as well as artificial landscapes, generated with a landscape evolution model, and disturbed to induce divide migration.

During the Miocene (18 Ma), the massive Hazeva River drained the western flank Arabian Peninsula into the Mediterranean, before it was dismantled in the early Pliocene. During this time, rates of erosion were dramatically higher (at least twice as fast) compared to modern rates. We attribute the change in rates of surface processes to either topographic changes brought on by tectonic activity, wetter conditions in the region during the Miocene compared to the current hyper-arid climate, or both.

In this contribution, we explore the spatial determinants of bedrock river incision in the tropical Andes. The model results illustrate the problem of confounding between climatic and lithological variables, such as rock strength. Incorporating rock strength explicitly into river incision models enables us to clarify the role of rainfall variability in controlling river incision rates.

Bedrock channels are the conveyor belts of mountain regions, evacuating sediment produced by erosion. Bedrock channel morphology and dynamics affects sediment transport rates, local erosion and set the baselevel for hillslope response. Here, using mechanistic considerations of the processes of fluvial erosion and transport, and considerations of the mass balance of sediment and bedrock, I discuss the principles governing steady state channel morphology and the dynamic paths to achieve it.

We studied coastal sea floor terraces in parts of the Baltic Sea using various types of sonar data, sediment cores and video. Terraces (~ 1 m high, > 100 m long) are widespread in depths < 15 m, and are formed in glacial clay. Our study supports an origin from groundwater flow through silty layers, undermining overlying layers when discharged at the sea floor. Submarine groundwater discharge like these may be a significant source of freshwater to the Baltic Sea that needs to be studied further.

In this study, we examine river patterns and the evolution of the landscape within the Marlborough Fault System, South Island, New Zealand, where the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates collide. We find that faulting, uplift, river capture and the long-lived nature of the drainage network all dictate river patterns at this site. Based on these results and a wealth of previous geologic studies, we propose two broad stages of landscape evolution over the last 25 million years of orogenesis.

This work is the first assessment of the suitability of the in situ ¹⁰Be method to determine denudation rates from fine (50–100 μm) detrital quartz at the watershed scale. This method is used worldwide to determine denudation rates from sand grained sediments (250 μm–1 mm). We show that in the Var catchment, fine-grained sediments (50–100 μm) are suited to the ¹⁰Be method, which is vital for future applications of ¹⁰Be in sedimentary archives such as offshore sediments.

Scaling relationships describe mathematically how two geometric traits of a geomorphic feature change relative to each other in a systematic way: how length changes with area in drainage basins and sedimentary deposits, for example. Here we demonstrate the emergence of scaling relationships in coastal overwash morphology. These findings may help to predict overwash deposition, and offer insight into how spatial patterns in overwash morphology may self-organise.