Climatic and tectonic control on fluvial and alluvial fan sequence formation in the Central Makran Range, SE-Iran

The geomorphic evolution of the Makran Range of SE-Iran and SW-Pakistan has been controlled by the prevailing SW-Asian monsoon and Mediterranean winter rainfall climate and the surface uplift processes resulting from the Arabia–Eurasia collision. The impact of climate on Quaternary fluvial and alluvial sequence formation and their regional correlation has been little investigated due to limited age control of these sequences. Using 10Be cosmogenic nuclide exposure ages we established a Middle to Late Pleistocene terrace chronology. Our record tentatively indicates that terrace levels were abandoned towards the transition to or during warmer/pluvial periods (interglacials and/or interstadials) back to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 7, but abandoned ages show a large spread. It is hypothesized that pluvial phases correspond with times of enhanced SW-monsoons and a northward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Furthermore, orbital periodicities can be deduced on frequencies related to obliquity and precession cycles. Overall, caution has to be placed in sampling and interpreting alluvial deposits, which may have complex inheritance patterns and spatially and temporarily variable catchment erosion histories and terrace-channel dynamics. the dominant climate control on terrace formation, elevated channel steepness indices around major thrusts and numerous knickpoints indicate an additionally tectonic influence on terrace formation. Local incision rates (mean ~ 0.6–0.8 mm·a− 1) are variable in space and time but are similar to uplift rates obtained from coastal terraces and thus suggest a regional surface uplift.