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Abstract Hillslope topographic change in response to climate and climate change is a key aspect of landscape evolution. The impact of short‐duration rainstorms on hillslope evolution in arid regions is persistently questioned but often not directly examined in landscape evolution studies, which are commonly based on mean climate proxies. This study focuses on hillslope surface processes responding to rainstorms in the driest regions of Earth. We present a numerical model for arid, rocky hillslopes with lithology of a softer rock layer capped by a cliff‐forming resistant layer. By representing the combined action of bedrock and clast weathering, cliff‐debris ravel, and runoff‐driven erosion, the model can reproduce commonly observed cliff‐profile morphology. Numerical experiments with a fixed base level were used to test hillslope response to cliff‐debris grain size, rainstorm intensities, and alternation between rainstorm patterns. The persistence of vertical cliffs and the pattern of sediment sorting depend on rainstorm intensities and the size of cliff debris. Numerical experiments confirm that these two variables could have driven the landscape in the Negev Desert (Israel) toward an observed spatial contrast in topographic form over the past 105–106 years. For a given total storm rain depth, short‐duration higher‐intensity rainstorms are more erosive, resulting in greater cliff retreat distances relative to longer, low‐intensity storms. Temporal alternation between rainstorm regimes produces hillslope profiles similar to those previously attributed to Quaternary oscillations in the mean climate. We suggest that arid hillslopes may undergo considerable geomorphic transitions solely by alternating intra‐storm patterns regardless of rainfall amounts.
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The Impact of Extreme Rainstorms on Escarpment Morphology in Arid Areas: Insights From the Central Negev Desert
Abstract The impact of climate on topography, which is a theme in landscape evolution studies, has been demonstrated, mostly, at mountain range scales and across climate zones. However, in drylands, spatiotemporal discontinuities of rainfall and the crucial role of extreme rainstorms raise questions and challenges in identifying climate properties that govern surface processes. Here, we combine methods to examine hyperarid escarpment sensitivity to storm‐scale forcing. Using a high‐resolution DEM and field measurements, we analyzed the topography of a 40‐km‐long escarpment in the Negev desert (Israel). We also used rainfall intensity data from a convection‐permitting numerical weather model for storm‐scale statistical analysis. We conducted hydrological simulations of synthetic rainstorms, revealing the frequency of sediment mobilization along the sub‐cliff slopes. Results show that cliff gradients along the hyperarid escarpment increase systematically from the wetter (90 mm yr−1) southwestern to the drier (45 mm yr−1) northeastern sides. Also, sub‐cliff slopes at the southwestern study site are longer and associated with milder gradients and coarser sediments. Storm‐scale statistical analysis reveals a trend of increasing extreme (>10 years return‐period) intensities toward the northeast site, opposite to the trend in mean annual rainfall. Hydrological simulations based on these statistics indicate a higher frequency of sediment mobilization in the northeast, which can explain the pronounced topographic differences between the sites. The variations in landscape and rainstorm properties across a relatively short distance highlight the sensitivity of arid landforms to extreme events.
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- PAR ID:
- 10470918
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.1029
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface
- Volume:
- 128
- Issue:
- 10
- ISSN:
- 2169-9003
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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