Carbonate hillslopes are often soil mantled and display a classic convex morphology. In this study we examine controls on carbonate hillslope denudation and morphology using a modified regolith mass balance equation to account for chemical weathering and dust input—two fluxes that are commonly neglected in settings with silicate-dominated bedrock. We utilize seven study sites in the Eastern Mediterranean across a significant gradient in the mean annual rainfall and dust deposition flux. Combining cosmogenic 36Cl-derived hilltop denudation rates with an estimate of the regolith chemical depletion and the quantified fraction of dust in the regolith we predict hilltop curvature and compare our predictions with observations based on high-resolution airborne LiDAR (light detection and ranging).Denudation rates vary from 5 to 210 mm/k.y. and increase with mean annual rainfall. Less resistant carbonates (chalk) experience faster denudation rates relative to more resistant dolo-limestone and are less prone to chemical weathering. Soil production exhibits a humped dependency on soil thickness.The observed hilltop curvature varies as a function of rainfall and dust flux with a minimum at sub-humid sites. While trends in hilltop convexity are often solely attributed to variations in erosion rate, our results illustrate the additional effects of dust production and chemical depletion. Our mass balance model implies that drier sites in the south probably experienced a more intricate history of regolith production due to dust flux fluctuations. Thus, by incorporating dust flux and chemical weathering to the classic hillslope evolution model we are able to identify a complex relation between hilltop curvature, soil production, and climate.

中文翻译：

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碳酸盐山顶的凸度：36Cl 对剥蚀和化学风化速率的限制以及对山坡曲率的影响

碳酸盐山坡通常被土壤覆盖并显示出经典的凸面形态。在这项研究中，我们使用修正的风化层质量平衡方程来检查对碳酸盐山坡剥蚀和形态的控制，以解释化学风化和灰尘输入——这两种通量在以硅酸盐为主的基岩环境中通常被忽略。我们利用东地中海的七个研究地点，跨越年平均降雨量和沙尘沉降通量的显着梯度。将宇宙起源的 36Cl 衍生的山顶剥蚀率与风化层化学消耗的估计值和风化层中灰尘的量化分数相结合，我们预测了山顶曲率，并将我们的预测与基于高分辨率机载 LiDAR（光探测和测距）的观测结果进行比较。速率从 5 到 210 mm/ky 并随着年平均降雨量而增加。相对于抗性更强的白云石灰岩，抗性较差的碳酸盐（白垩）经历更快的剥蚀速率，并且不太容易发生化学风化。土壤生产表现出对土壤厚度的驼峰依赖。观察到的山顶曲率随降雨量和沙尘通量的变化而变化，在半湿润地区最小。虽然山顶凸度的趋势通常仅归因于侵蚀率的变化，但我们的结果说明了灰尘产生和化学物质消耗的额外影响。我们的质量平衡模型表明，由于尘埃通量波动，南部较干燥的地点可能经历了更复杂的风化层生产历史。因此，