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Fast response of Amazon rivers to Quaternary climate cycles
  • Samuel Lukens Goldberg,
  • Morgan J Schmidt,
  • J. Taylor Perron
Samuel Lukens Goldberg
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Morgan J Schmidt
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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J. Taylor Perron
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Abstract

Large alluvial rivers transport water and sediment across continents and shape lowland landscapes. Repeated glacial cycles have dominated Earth's recent climate, but it is unclear whether these rivers are sensitive to such rapid changes. The Amazon River system, the largest and highest-discharge in the world, features extensive young terraces that demonstrate geologically rapid change temporally correlated with changes in runoff from Quaternary climate cycles. To test the plausibility of a causal relationship, we use a simple model to estimate from empirical measurements how quickly a river profile responds to changes in discharge or sediment supply. Applying this model to data from 30 gauging stations along alluvial rivers throughout the Brazilian Amazon, we find that many rivers of the Amazon basin can respond faster than glacially induced changes in runoff or sediment flux. The Amazon basin is unusually responsive compared to other large river systems due to its high discharge and sediment flux, narrow floodplains, and low slopes. As a result, we predict that the Amazon basin has been highly dynamic during Quaternary glacial cycles, with cyclical aggradation and incision of lowland rivers driving repeated habitat and environmental change throughout the region. This dynamic landscape may have contributed to the exceptional biodiversity of the region and patterns of ancient human settlement.
Nov 2021Published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface volume 126 issue 11. 10.1029/2021JF006416