A new numerical framework for simulating the control of weather and climate on the evolution of soil-mantled hillslopes
Résumé
We present a new numerical framework for simulating short to long-term hillslope evolution. This modeling framework, to which we have given the name CLICHE (CLImate Control on Hillslope Evolution), aims to better capture the control of climate on soil dynamics. It allows the use of realistic forcing that involves, through a specific time discretization scheme, the variability of both the temperature and precipitation at time scales ranging from the daily rainfall events to the climatic oscillations of the Quaternary, also including seasonal variability. Two simple models of soil temperature and soil water balance permit the link between the climatic inputs and derived quantities that take part in the computation of the soil flux, such as the surface water discharge and the depth of the non-frozen soil layer. Using this framework together with a multi-process parameterization of soil transport, we apply an original method to calculate hillslope effective diffusivity as a function of climate. This allows us to demonstrate the ability of the model to simulate observed rates of hillslope erosion under different climates (cold and temperate) with a single set of parameter values. Numerical experiments furthermore suggest a potential high peak of sediment transport on hillslopes during the glacial-interglacial transitions of the Quaternary. We finally discuss the need to improve the parameterization of the soil production and transport processes in order to explicitly account for other key controlling factors that are also climate-sensitive, such as biological activity.