Extremes in a slow-eroding landscape: Episodic erosion in the Atacama Desert

Episodic runoff events play a major role in shaping arid landscapes. In this talk, I will explore how these short-lived but intense events influence geomorphological processes in the Atacama Desert, drawing on examples from recent rainfall events as well as long-term erosion estimates. Together, we will revisit classic research questions in arid-zone geomorphology through the lens of my own datasets and the methods I have developed to investigate these processes in such sparsely monitored regions. The talk will highlight how extreme runoff events can have disproportionate impacts on erosion and sediment transport in the drylands of our planet.
This presentation may be of interest not only to dryland researchers, but also to geoscientists interested in the challenge of reconciling processes across temporal and spatial scales.

• AushangUBT-cabre_20260423.pdf