Erosional decay of the Yucca Mountain crest, Nevada

Abstract

A simple numerical landscape evolution model is used to investigate the rate of erosional decay of the Yucca Mountain crest in Nevada, USA — a location proposed as a permanent repository for high level radioactive waste. The model is based on a stream power approach in which we assume that the rate of erosion is proportional to the size of the catchment as a proxy for water flux and to the square of the topographic gradient. The proportionality constants in the model are determined using the structural history of the region: extensional tectonics has dissected the region into a series of well-defined tilt blocks in the last 11 my and the ratio of fault displacement and gully incision during ..