Role of tectonic rock damage in erosional processes: A global analysis

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Kuhasubpasin, B.; Moon, S.; Lithgow-Bertelloni, C.
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Los Angeles; Chulalongkorn University; Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain; ETH Zurich
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.ady9857
• 发表日期: 2026-05-21
• 页码: eady9857
• 关键词: san-andreas fault; LANDSCAPE RESPONSE; PULVERIZED ROCKS; RIVER PATTERNS; LANDSLIDES; MODEL; basin; relief; uplift; CLASSIFICATION

摘要

The role of active faults in driving rock uplift is well known, but their influence on rock damage and erosional efficiency remains unclear globally. Using 1744 beryllium-10 (Be-10)-derived erosion rates, we show that erosional efficiency is elevated on average within similar to 15 kilometers of a fault trace and decreases with distance, up to similar to 100 kilometers. Reverse faults and those longer than 140 kilometers show the strongest effects. This length scale of decay suggests that tectonic damage extends beyond fault-core pulverization on primary faults, possibly including fracturing or grain-to-grain contact weakening due to seismic shaking and distributed deformation on complex fault networks. Machine learning identified fault proximity as a dominant control on erosional efficiency, exceeding precipitation and lithology, particularly when a measure of seismic shaking is included. These findings indicate that active tectonics are associated with erosion not only through uplift but also by enhancing erosional efficiency through long-range rock damage.