Topographic profile analysis of piedmont scarps, northern Wasatch Front, Utah

Evidence of age based on characteristics of slope form and the relationships between fault scarps and geomorphic features of Lake Bonneville is used to gain an understanding of how the profile form of piedmont scarps changes over time. Topographic profile analysis of fault scarps and the wave-cut cliffs of Lake Bonneville have provided a degree of age control that can be used to document the changes in the form of a piedmont scarp over time. Several variables of slope form were measured and found to be age dependent. These form attributes are poorly correlated immediately after offset, and become increasingly interadjusted as erosion modifies the scarp. The morphology of piedmont scarps can be explained by a shift in the focus of erosional stresses to the portion of the scarp profile that is most out of adjustment with the rest of the slope system. General groupings of scarps of approximately equivalent age are noted.