Climate Oscillation and Fault Slip Rate Control Sediment Aggradation and Channel Morphology Along Strike-Slip Faults

T. F. Aránguiz-Rago; A. R. Duvall; G. E. Tucker; B. Campforts

doi:10.1029/2025GL118146

Climate Oscillation and Fault Slip Rate Control Sediment Aggradation and Channel Morphology Along Strike-Slip Faults

T. F. Aránguiz-Rago^*
, A. R. Duvall
, G. E. Tucker
, B. Campforts

^*Corresponding author for this work

Earth Sciences

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Strike-slip faults act as landscape change agents, offsetting rivers, driving river capture, and generating hillslope responses. In this study, inspired by the hyperarid Atacama Fault System in Chile, we use numerical models to investigate how landscapes that experience oscillatory dry and humid periods respond to strike-slip faulting at variable slip rates. Our results show that riverbed aggradation from hillslope sediment flux during dry periods delays stream capture, increases deflection angles of fault-crossing channels, and produces highly perturbed longitudinal river profiles. In some cases, these phenomena, as well as the thickness of aggraded sediment, are slip-rate dependent. Lags in capture timing and/or fully missed captures that occur in landscapes with climatic oscillation have a profound impact on the long-term evolution of strike-slip landscapes. Our work also highlights the importance of hillslope contributions to landscape modification in arid and semi-arid settings with ephemeral rivers.

Original language	English
Article number	e2025GL118146
Pages (from-to)	1-12
Number of pages	12
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	52
Issue number	21
Early online date	30 Oct 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL118146
Publication status	Published - 16 Nov 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025. The Author(s).

Funding

Aránguiz-Rago received support from a visiting scholarship to CSDMS (OpenEarthscape NSF ACI-2104102), UW Earth and Space Sciences, and ANID-Chile/Fulbright 2018 Doctorate Scholarship (n° 56180002). We appreciate thoughtful reviews from Helen Dow and an anonymous reviewer, which enriched this manuscript. Thanks to UW Geoscapes group for discussions, and to Martha Poppy Sinclair and JM for edits. Aránguiz‐Rago received support from a visiting scholarship to CSDMS (OpenEarthscape NSF ACI‐2104102), UW Earth and Space Sciences, and ANID‐Chile/Fulbright 2018 Doctorate Scholarship (n° 56180002). We appreciate thoughtful reviews from Helen Dow and an anonymous reviewer, which enriched this manuscript. Thanks to UW Geoscapes group for discussions, and to Martha Poppy Sinclair and JM for edits.

Funders	Funder number
Helen Dow
NSF	ACI‐2104102
UW Earth and Space Sciences	56180002

Keywords

climate variability
fluvial processes
hillslope processes
sediment
slip rate
strike-slip fault

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10.1029/2025GL118146Licence: CC BY

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title = "Climate Oscillation and Fault Slip Rate Control Sediment Aggradation and Channel Morphology Along Strike-Slip Faults",

abstract = "Strike-slip faults act as landscape change agents, offsetting rivers, driving river capture, and generating hillslope responses. In this study, inspired by the hyperarid Atacama Fault System in Chile, we use numerical models to investigate how landscapes that experience oscillatory dry and humid periods respond to strike-slip faulting at variable slip rates. Our results show that riverbed aggradation from hillslope sediment flux during dry periods delays stream capture, increases deflection angles of fault-crossing channels, and produces highly perturbed longitudinal river profiles. In some cases, these phenomena, as well as the thickness of aggraded sediment, are slip-rate dependent. Lags in capture timing and/or fully missed captures that occur in landscapes with climatic oscillation have a profound impact on the long-term evolution of strike-slip landscapes. Our work also highlights the importance of hillslope contributions to landscape modification in arid and semi-arid settings with ephemeral rivers.",

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author = "Ar{\'a}nguiz-Rago, \{T. F.\} and Duvall, \{A. R.\} and Tucker, \{G. E.\} and B. Campforts",

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AU - Aránguiz-Rago, T. F.

AU - Duvall, A. R.

AU - Tucker, G. E.

AU - Campforts, B.

PY - 2025/11/16

Y1 - 2025/11/16

N2 - Strike-slip faults act as landscape change agents, offsetting rivers, driving river capture, and generating hillslope responses. In this study, inspired by the hyperarid Atacama Fault System in Chile, we use numerical models to investigate how landscapes that experience oscillatory dry and humid periods respond to strike-slip faulting at variable slip rates. Our results show that riverbed aggradation from hillslope sediment flux during dry periods delays stream capture, increases deflection angles of fault-crossing channels, and produces highly perturbed longitudinal river profiles. In some cases, these phenomena, as well as the thickness of aggraded sediment, are slip-rate dependent. Lags in capture timing and/or fully missed captures that occur in landscapes with climatic oscillation have a profound impact on the long-term evolution of strike-slip landscapes. Our work also highlights the importance of hillslope contributions to landscape modification in arid and semi-arid settings with ephemeral rivers.

AB - Strike-slip faults act as landscape change agents, offsetting rivers, driving river capture, and generating hillslope responses. In this study, inspired by the hyperarid Atacama Fault System in Chile, we use numerical models to investigate how landscapes that experience oscillatory dry and humid periods respond to strike-slip faulting at variable slip rates. Our results show that riverbed aggradation from hillslope sediment flux during dry periods delays stream capture, increases deflection angles of fault-crossing channels, and produces highly perturbed longitudinal river profiles. In some cases, these phenomena, as well as the thickness of aggraded sediment, are slip-rate dependent. Lags in capture timing and/or fully missed captures that occur in landscapes with climatic oscillation have a profound impact on the long-term evolution of strike-slip landscapes. Our work also highlights the importance of hillslope contributions to landscape modification in arid and semi-arid settings with ephemeral rivers.

KW - climate variability

KW - fluvial processes

KW - hillslope processes

KW - sediment

KW - slip rate

KW - strike-slip fault

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ER -

Climate Oscillation and Fault Slip Rate Control Sediment Aggradation and Channel Morphology Along Strike-Slip Faults

Abstract

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Keywords

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