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# Climate as the great equalizer of continental-scale erosion

Preferred citation (DataCite format):

  Jepson, Gilby (2021).
  Climate as the great equalizer of continental-scale erosion.
  University of Arizona Research Data Repository.
  Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25422/azu.data.14298227


Corresponding Author:   
  Gilby Jepson, University of Arizona, gjepson@email.arizona.edu


License:
  CC BY 4.0


DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.25422/azu.data.14298227



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## Summary

The following supporting information contains: The detailed location and age
data for the thermochronology used in this study, and their associated
publications, paleogeographical reconstructions, bouguer gravity anomaly
(crustal thickness) for Central Asia, averaged modern rainfall for Central
Asia and paleoclimate simulation methods.  
  
Table S1. List of samples, latitude, longitude (WGS84), reported age, reported
error, associated publication, and thermochronometric method.
  

Table S2. A complete list of publications used in this study. Publications
which did not provide precise latitude and longitude measurements are noted.
Thermochronometric ages can be found in Table S1.

Central Asia is one of the most topographically diverse regions on Earth. 
The relative role of tectonics versus climate in producing the modern 
Asian topography remains one of the major debates in Earth sciences. In 
order to elucidate this we compare a compilation of erosional data to 
structural, geophysical, and climate datasets. We find that erosion is 
initially controlled by active tectonic boundaries. However, increased 
erosion is associated with areas of high precipitation, whereas areas 
that have been sheltered from significant precipitation retain old 
topography. Thus, we suggest that climate plays a key role in enhancing 
erosion in areas with developed topography and high precipitation 
whereas areas which experienced sustained aridity record older 
topography and lower erosion.