New preprint available
A new preprint is available for our work “Slower erosion in carbonate landscapes due to partitioning of energy between surface and groundwater flow”. When precipitation falls to Earth’s surface in mountains, it still has substantial gravitational potential energy relative to water at sea level. That energy, when dissipated as overland flow on hillslopes and in rivers, is a central driver of landscape evolution. However, most water takes pathways through the subsurface, even in mountains. So, at least some of water’s potential energy is dissipated not overland, but in the subsurface. What are the consequences of this for large-scale landscape evolution? We examine this question with modelling and data synthesis approaches, drawing on the karstified Swabian Alb in Southern Germany as an example. I hope you’ll check it out!