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Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 2006; v. 253; p. 327-339;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.17
© 2006 Geological Society of London

Models of Surface Processes and Deformation

Macroscale dynamics of experimental landscapes

Stephane Bonnet & Alain Crave

Géosciences Rennes, UMR 6118 CNRS/Université de Rennes 1, 35042 Rennes cedex, France

(e-mail: sbonnet{at}univ-rennes1.fr)

We review results from laboratory-scale modelling of erosion and relief dynamics under variable uplift and rainfall rates. Under constant values of these forcing parameters an experimental landscape typically evolves towards a steady-state between uplift and erosion, and we show how the geometry of the steady-state landscape adjusts to the rates of uplift and rainfall. The comparison between these laboratory-scale landscapes and the natural ones is not straightforward because contrary to analogue modelling in tectonics, natural conditions of relief evolution cannot be downscaled to the laboratory without any scale distortions. Laboratory-scale modelling in geomorphology is therefore only experimental, not analogue. Despite these limitations, experimental models may be used to provide physical tests for numerical models and they give insights into first-order behaviours and directions for future research.