The potential link between erosion rates at the Earth’s surface and changes in global climate has intrigued geoscientists for decades1,2 because such a coupling has implications for the influence of silicate weathering3,4 and organic-carbon burial5 on climate and for the role of Quaternary glaciations in landscape evolution1,6. A global increase in late-Cenozoic erosion rates in response to a cooling, more variable climate has been proposed on the basis of worldwide sedimentation rates7. Other studies have indicated, however, that global erosion rates may have remained steady, suggesting that the reported increases in sediment-accumulation rates are due to preservation biases, depositional hiatuses and varying measurement intervals8–10. More recently, a global compilation of thermochronology data has been used to infer a nearly twofold increase in the erosion rate in mountainous landscapes over late-Cenozoic times6. It has been contended that this result is free of the biases that affect sedimentary records11, although others have argued that it contains biases related to how thermochronological data are averaged12 and to erosion hiatuses in glaciated landscapes13. Here we investigate the 30 locations with reported accelerated erosion during the late Cenozoic6. Our analysis shows that in 23 of these locations, the reported increases are a result of a spatial correlation bias—that is, combining data with disparate exhumation histories, thereby converting spatial erosion-rate variations into temporal increases. In four locations, the increases can be explained by changes in tectonic boundary conditions. In three cases, climatically induced accelerations are recorded, driven by localized glacial valley incision. Our findings suggest that thermochronology data currently have insufficient resolution to assess whether late-Cenozoic climate change affected erosion rates on a global scale. We suggest that a synthesis of local findings that include location-specific information may help to further investigate drivers of global erosion rates.Reported acceleration of erosion in mountainous landscapes during the late Cenozoic is the result of combining thermochronology data with disparate exhumation histories, thereby converting spatial variations in erosion rates into temporal increases.

中文翻译：

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来自热年代学的晚新生代侵蚀历史中的空间相关偏差

几十年来，地球表面侵蚀率与全球气候变化之间的潜在联系一直吸引着地球科学家 1,2，因为这种耦合对硅酸盐风化 3,4 和有机碳埋藏 5 对气候的影响以及第四纪冰川的作用具有影响在景观演变1,6。在全球沉积速率的基础上，已经提出了由于气候变冷、气候变化更大而导致晚新生代侵蚀速率在全球范围内的增加 7。然而，其他研究表明，全球侵蚀率可能保持稳定，这表明所报告的沉积物堆积率增加是由于保存偏差、沉积中断和不同的测量间隔8-10。最近，已使用全球热年代学数据汇编来推断晚新生代时期山区景观的侵蚀率增加了近两倍。有人争辩说，这个结果没有影响沉积记录的偏差 11，尽管其他人认为它包含与热年代学数据如何平均 12 和冰川景观中的侵蚀中断 13 相关的偏差。在这里，我们调查了在晚新生代 6 期间报告加速侵蚀的 30 个位置。我们的分析表明，在其中 23 个地点，报告的增加是空间相关偏差的结果——即将数据与不同的挖掘历史相结合，从而将空间侵蚀率变化转化为时间增加。在四个地点，这种增加可以用构造边界条件的变化来解释。在三种情况下，记录了由局部冰川谷切口驱动的气候引起的加速度。我们的研究结果表明，热年代学数据目前没有足够的分辨率来评估晚新生代气候变化是否影响全球范围的侵蚀率。我们建议综合包括特定地点信息的当地发现可能有助于进一步调查全球侵蚀率的驱动因素。 新生代晚期山区景观的侵蚀加速报告是将热年代学数据与不同的挖掘历史相结合的结果，从而转换侵蚀率的空间变化转化为时间增加。由局部冰川谷切口驱动。我们的研究结果表明，热年代学数据目前没有足够的分辨率来评估晚新生代气候变化是否影响全球范围的侵蚀率。我们建议综合包括特定地点信息的当地发现可能有助于进一步调查全球侵蚀率的驱动因素。 新生代晚期山区景观的侵蚀加速报告是将热年代学数据与不同的挖掘历史相结合的结果，从而转换侵蚀率的空间变化转化为时间增加。由局部冰川谷切口驱动。我们的研究结果表明，热年代学数据目前没有足够的分辨率来评估晚新生代气候变化是否影响全球范围的侵蚀率。我们建议综合包括特定地点信息的当地发现可能有助于进一步调查全球侵蚀率的驱动因素。 新生代晚期山区景观的侵蚀加速报告是将热年代学数据与不同的挖掘历史相结合的结果，从而转换侵蚀率的空间变化转化为时间增加。