20 Sep 2001
Dr. Rudy Slingerland, Pennsylvania State University
A growing body of evidence from field observations and
coupled numerical
models of crustal deformation and surface processes indicates that erosion
strongly determines the macrogeomorphology of active mountain belts---their
widths, heights and asymmetries. Erosion also controls the distribution
of
metamorphic rocks at the surface of mountain belts and hence the
distribution of economic deposits. It may even localize earth quakes by
modifying internal deformation.