Miller, Scott R., Peter B. Sak, Eric Kirby and Paul R. Bierman. Neogene Rejuvenation of Central Appalachian Topography: Evidence for Differential Rock Uplift From Stream Profiles and Erosion Rates. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 369-370 (2013): 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.04.007

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5–30 m/Myr above knickpoints to ~50–100 m/Myr below knickpoints. Overall, channel gradients, normalized for drainage area, scale linearly with catchment-averaged erosion rates. Collectively, regionally consistent spatial relationships among erosion rate, channel steepness, and knickpoints reveal an ongoing wave of transient channel adjustment to a change in relative base level. Reconstructions of relict channel profiles above knickpoints suggest that higher rates of incision are associated with ~100–150 m of relative base level fall that accompanied epierogenic rock uplift rather than a change to a more erosive climate or drainage reorganization. Channel response timescales imply that the onset of relative base level change predates ~3.5 Ma and may have begun as early as ~15 Ma. We suggest that adjustment of the channel network was likely driven by changes in mantle dynamics along the eastern seaboard of North America during the Neogene.

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