Hillslope response to climate-modulated river incision in the waipaoa catchment, East Coast North Island, New Zealand

Abstract

Quantifying how hillslopes respond to river incision and climate change is fundamental to understanding the evolution of uplifting landscapes during glacial-interglacial cycles. We investigated the interplay among uplift, river incision, and hillslope response in the nonglacial Waipaoa River catchment located in the exhumed inner forearc of an active subduction margin on the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand. New high-resolution topographic data sets (light detection and ranging [lidar] and photogrammetry) combined with field mapping and tephrochronology indicate that hillslopes adjusted to rapid latest Pleistocene and Holocene river incision through the initiation and reactivati..