Tectonic plate motion, and the resulting change in land surface elevation, has been shown to have a fundamental impact on landscape morphology. Changes to uplift rates can drive a response in fluvial channels, which then drives changes to hillslopes. Because hillslopes respond on different time scales than fluvial channels, investigating the geometry of channels and hillslopes in concert provides novel opportunities to examine how uplift rates may have changed through time. Here we perform coupled topographic analysis of channel and hillslope geometry across a series of catchments at the Mendocino triple junction (MTJ) in northern California, USA. These catchments are characterized by an order-of-magnitude difference in uplift rate from north to south. We find that dimensionless hillslope relief closely matches the uplift signal across the area and is positively correlated with channel steepness. Furthermore, the range of uncertainty in hillslope relief is lower than that of channel steepness, suggesting that it may be a more reliable recorder of uplift in the MTJ region. We find that hilltop curvature lags behind relief in its response to uplift, which in turn lags behind channel response. These combined metrics show the northward migration of the MTJ and the corresponding uplift field from topographic data alone.

中文翻译：

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美国加利福尼亚州门多西诺三重交界处的水道和山坡几何形状的差异记录了迁移的隆起波

构造板块运动以及由此产生的地表高程变化已被证明对景观形态具有根本性影响。抬升率的变化可以驱动河流通道的响应，然后驱动山坡的变化。由于山坡在与河流河道不同的时间尺度上做出响应，因此共同研究河道和山坡的几何形状提供了新的机会来检查抬升率如何随时间变化。在这里，我们对美国加利福尼亚州北部门多西诺三重交界处 (MTJ) 的一系列集水区的渠道和山坡几何进行耦合地形分析。这些流域的特点是从北到南的隆升率存在数量级的差异。我们发现无量纲山坡起伏与整个地区的隆起信号密切匹配，并且与渠道陡度呈正相关。此外，山坡起伏的不确定性范围低于河道陡度，表明它可能是 MTJ 地区隆起的更可靠记录器。我们发现山顶曲率对隆起的响应滞后于地势，而后者又滞后于渠道响应。这些组合指标显示了 MTJ 的向北迁移和仅来自地形数据的相应隆起场。我们发现山顶曲率对隆起的响应滞后于地势，而后者又滞后于渠道响应。这些组合指标显示了 MTJ 的向北迁移和仅来自地形数据的相应隆起场。我们发现山顶曲率对隆起的响应滞后于地势，而后者又滞后于渠道响应。这些组合指标显示了 MTJ 的向北迁移和仅来自地形数据的相应隆起场。