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Abstract Features of landscape morphology—including slope, curvature, and drainage dissection—are important controls on runoff generation in upland landscapes. Over long timescales, runoff plays an essential role in shaping these same features through surface erosion. This feedback between erosion and runoff generation suggests that modeling long‐term landscape evolution together with dynamic runoff generation could provide insight into hydrological function. Here we examine the emergence of variable source area runoff generation in a new coupled hydro‐geomorphic model that accounts for water balance partitioning between surface flow, subsurface flow, and evapotranspiration as landscapes evolve over millions of years. We derive a minimal set of dimensionless numbers that provide insight into how hydrologic and geomorphic parameters together affect landscapes. Across the parameter space we investigated, model results collapsed to a single inverse relationship between the dimensionless relief and the ratio of catchment quickflow to discharge. Furthermore, we found an inverse relationship between the Hillslope number, which describes topographic relief relative to aquifer thickness, and the proportion of the landscape that was variably saturated. While the model generally produces fluvial topography visually similar to simpler landscape evolution models, certain parameter combinations produce wide valley bottom wetlands and non‐dendritic, trellis‐like drainage networks, which may reflect real conditions in some landscapes where aquifer gradients become decoupled from topography. With these results, we demonstrate the power of hydro‐geomorphic models for generating new insights into hydrological processes, and also suggest that subsurface hydrology may be integral for modeling aspects of long‐term landscape evolution.
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This content will become publicly available on April 21, 2026
Landscape Evolution Models of Incision on Mars: Implications for the Ancient Climate
Abstract Large dendritic valley networks observed on Mars present a paleoclimate paradox. Geologic observations of Noachian units on Mars reveal a global extent of valley networks, which are believed to have been formed through incisions made by flowing water. However, most climate models predict global surface temperatures too far below the freezing point of water to support an active hydrological system. Conflicting observations and models have led to disparate theories for the climate of early Mars. In this work, we surveyed a large region of the cratered southern highlands to identify the location, elevation, and distribution of observed valley heads. These valley head locations were compared to landscape evolution simulations in which the spatial distribution of runoff was varied. The measured valley head distributions were compared to predictions from landscape evolution models for two end‐member hypotheses: (a) a warm wet climate that supported spatially distributed precipitation, and (b) surface runoff from ice cap margins, as envisioned by the Late Noachian Icy Highland model (LNIH). The observed elevation distribution in valley heads is consistent with the prediction of precipitation‐fed models, and inconsistent with models in which runoff derives exclusively from a single line‐source of high‐elevation ice‐melt. The results support the view that it is unlikely for ice caps to be the sole source of water and are consistent with the hypothesis that precipitation significantly contributed to valley network formation on ancient Mars.
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- PAR ID:
- 10585939
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.1029
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets
- Volume:
- 130
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 2169-9097
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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