Complex multiple cosmogenic nuclide concentration and histories in the arid Rio Lluta catchment, northern Chile

Terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide (TCN) concentrations measured in river sediments can be used to estimate catchment‐wide denudation rates. By investigating multiple TCN the steadiness of sediment generation, transport and depositional processes can be tested. Measurements of 10Be, 21Ne and 26Al from the hyper‐ to semi‐arid Rio Lluta catchment, northern Chile, yield average single denudation rates ranging from 12 to 75 m Myr–1 throughout the catchment. Paired nuclide analysis reveals complex exposure histories for most of the samples and thus the single nuclide estimates do not exclusively represent catchment‐wide denudation rates. The lower range of single nuclide denudation rates (12–17 m Myr–1), established with the noble gas 21Ne, is in accordance with palaeodenudation rates derived from 21Ne/10Be and 26Al/10Be ratio analysis. Since this denudation rate range is measured throughout the system, it is suggested that a headwater signal is transported downstream but modulated by a complex admixture of sediment that has been stored and buried at proximal hillslope or terrace deposits, which are released during high discharge events. That is best evidenced by the stable nuclide 21Ne, which preserves the nuclide concentration even during storage intervals. The catchment‐wide single 21Ne denudation rates and the palaeodenuation rates contrast with previous TCN‐derived erosion rates from bedrock exposures at hillslope interfluves by being at least one order of magnitude higher, especially in the lower river course. These results support earlier studies that identified a coupling of erosional processes in the Western Cordillera contrasting with decoupled processes in the Western Escarpment and in the Coastal Cordillera. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.