Seminar

Detrital low-temperature thermochronological data from modern sediments has been recognized as a reliable proxy to assess spatial variations and long-term evolution of catchment erosion. Indeed, the detrital sample is assumed to represent a mixture of grains originating from a potentially unknown sampling of the present elevation range in the catchment. Based on the distribution of detrital cooling ages and the hypsometry of the catchment, a recent approach infers hypothetical vertical profile and subsequent thermal history of a single catchment using a novel inverse modelling strategy. Thus, assuming a similar history across the catchment, a single detrital sample may provide an integrated signal of rock cooling from all the sediment source areas in the catchment, including areas inaccessible for bedrock dating. Using this inverse modelling approach, the thermal history of 8 catchments of the central Patagonian Andes, where few vertical profiles exist, has been investigated to constrain exhumation history related to fault activity and rock uplift.

Additional information: Dr. Marie C. GENGE, mcgenge@hku.hk