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Abstract Glacial isostatic adjustment produces crustal deformation capable of altering the slope of the landscape and diverting surface water drainage, thereby modulating the hydraulic conditions that govern river evolution. These effects can be especially important near the margins of ice sheets. In Maine, USA, post-glacial changes in sedimentation within major river systems have been interpreted as the result of regional tilting and drainage rerouting due to glacial isostatic adjustment. In this study, we model isostatic adjustment driven by retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, quantify the associated tilting and drainage rerouting, and explore how these changes impacted sediment transport in Maine's rivers. Through an analysis of changes to river slope and drainage area produced by glacial isostatic adjustment, we show that ice sheet retreat altered the median sediment grain size that rivers could entrain. We also find support for previous estimates of the timing and direction of drainage reversal at Moosehead Lake, Maine's largest lake. Our results suggest that the history of sedimentation in Maine's rivers reflects time-dependent effects of glacial isostatic adjustment that are superimposed on any changes in runoff associated with deglaciation. Further, our case study demonstrates that isostatic adjustment affects alluvial channel evolution and sediment delivery to the coastline for several millennia after an ice sheet retreats. 

Abstract Terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides (TCN) are widely employed to infer denudation rates in mountainous landscapes. The calculation of an inferred denudation rate (D_inf) from TCN concentrations is typically performed under the assumptions that denudation rates were steady during TCN accumulation and that soil chemical weathering negligibly impacted soil mineral abundances. In many landscapes, however, denudation rates were not steady and soil composition was significantly impacted by chemical weathering, which complicates interpretation of TCN concentrations. We present a landscape evolution model that computes transient changes in topography, soil thickness, soil mineralogy, and soil TCN concentrations. We used this model to investigate TCN responses in transient landscapes by imposing idealized perturbations in tectonically (rock uplift rate) and climatically sensitive parameters (soil production efficiency, hillslope transport efficiency, and mineral dissolution rate) on initially steady‐state landscapes. These experiments revealed key insights about TCN responses in transient landscapes. (a) Accounting for soil chemical erosion is necessary to accurately calculateD_inf. (b) Responses ofD_infto tectonic perturbations differ from those to climatic perturbations, suggesting that spatial and temporal patterns inD_infare signatures of perturbation type and magnitude. (c) If soil chemical erosion is accounted for, basin‐averagedD_infinferred from TCN in stream sediment closely tracks actual basin‐averaged denudation rate, showing thatD_infis a reasonable proxy for actual denudation rate, even in many transient landscapes. (d) Response times ofD_infto perturbations increase with hillslope length, implying that response times should be sensitive to the climatic, biological, and lithologic processes that control hillslope length.