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Cited by 63Hydrology and Sediment Transport ProcessesGeological formations and processesSoil erosion and sediment transport

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Self-formed bedrock waterfalls

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Scheingross, Joel S., Lamb, Michael P., Fuller, Brian M.·2019·Nature
DOI 10.1038/s41586-019-0991-z
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Abstract

Waterfalls are inspiring landforms that set the pace of landscape evolution as a result of bedrock incision 1-3. They communicate changes in sea level or tectonic uplift throughout landscapes 2,4 or stall river incision, disconnecting landscapes from downstream perturbations 3,5. Here we use a flume experiment with constant water discharge and sediment feed to show that waterfalls can form from a planar, homogeneous bedrock bed in the absence of external perturbations. In our experiment, instabilities between flow hydraulics, sediment transport and bedrock erosion lead to undulating bedforms, which grow to become waterfalls. We propose that it is plausible that the origin of some waterfalls in natural systems can be attributed to this intrinsic formation process and we suggest that investigations to distinguish self-formed from externally forced waterfalls may help to improve the reconstruction of Earth history from landscapes.

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References 33 · Cited by 63

Research works printed but not linked: 33

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Metadata

Authors
Scheingross, J. S., Lamb, M. P., & Fuller, B. M.
Affiliations
California Institute of Technology (US)
Corresponding author
Scheingross, Joel S.
ORCID
Venue
Nature
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2019-03
Volume
567
Issue
7747
Pages
229-233
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
DOI
10.1038/s41586-019-0991-z
OpenAlex
W2921738322
Cited by
63
References
33
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 4
FWCI
5.56
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • CaltechAUTHORS (California Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • Publication Database GFZ (GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
National Science Foundation
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Earth-Surface Processes › Hydrology and Sediment Transport Processes
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Earth-Surface Processes › Geological formations and processes
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil erosion and sediment transport
Keywords
flume experiments, sediment transport, bedrock erosion, hydraulic flow, landscape evolution

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