Transience and Glacial Erosion in South Central Alaska

It is documented that a glacial presence in active orogenic belts undergoing rapid rock uplift will increase erosion rates often matching rates of rock uplift. Glacial erosion seems to have shaped the mass balance of numerous mountain ranges and tectonic settings, but the Kenai Peninsula and Chugach Mountains of south central Alaska do not conform to this pattern. The Kenai Peninsula is an uplifted forearc forming above the Aleutian subduction zone and the Chugach Mountains are the continuation of the orogenic belt around Prince William Sound. This mountain belt is comprised of accreted Mesozoic island arcs, which were sequentially metamorphosed from the cretaceous through the Tertiary. Geomorphic analysis and past studies, including Buscher et al. (2008) and Arkle et al. (2013), show that the Chugach Mountains and Kenai Peninsula are similar to the Saint Elias Mountains in the Yakutat collision zone with regards to topographic ruggedness. The region is dominated by alpine glaciers, ice fields, and extensive valley glaciers that are actively eroding the topography through headwall erosion and valley glacier down cutting. Despite this, there is a low background long term erosion rate of <0.1-0.2 mm/yr (Buscher et al, 2008). This suggests a transient landscape that has not yet fully adjusted to onset of erosive glacial conditions. Through the use of four dating techniques spanning different timescales, we aim to quantify erosion rates in the Kenai and Chugach Mountains. (U-TH)/He thermochronometry (106-7 yr), He/He thermochronometry (105-6 yr), OSL thermochronometry (105-6 yr), and 10Be and 36CL cosmogenic dating (103-4 yr), are being used in conjunction to test if short-term rates exceed long-term rates, thereby indicating a transient response to late Cenozoic glaciations. This analysis will also address how landscapes respond to the onset of glacial conditions and subsequent climate fluctuations. The history of exhumation and erosion will also characterize the role of precipitation, rock uplift rate, and topography in the response of individual basins to glacial conditions.