Fig. 5. Factors affecting the sensitivity of detrital thermochronometers to stochastic erosion processes.

(A) Factors that increase sensitivity of detrital thermochronometers to stochastic erosion include a small basin area, frequent erosion by landsliding or other stochastic mass wasting processes, high-relief and/or steep topography, rapid evacuation of catchment sediment from the basin (heavy blue lines), and a large range of ages in the catchment bedrock. (B) In contrast, detrital thermochronometers are less likely to be affected by stochastic erosion when the basin area is large, erosion by landslides is infrequent or landslide deposits remain perched on hillslopes, the topographic relief is low, fluvial evacuation is inefficient (thinner blue lines) and large volumes of sediment are stored in the catchment for decades or more (brown regions), or the range of ages in the catchment bedrock is small.