Abstract
Erosional modelings are commonly carried out on geologically homogeneous terrains or on very elementary geological structures, so that results can hardly be compared with actual landscapes resulting from the erosion of geologically contrasted districts.
We are presently developing a software - CARVES - which achieves erosional landscapes by operating simple erosional laws on multifolded geological terrains which may be freely defined by the user. The available erosion laws make it possible to simulate terrain creep and wash, chemical dissolution by infiltrated waters, as well as alluvial deposition. Rock erosion parameters and intensity of rain falls may be chosen by the user.
Modeling goes through numerous iterations. The geology and morphology of the resulting landscape and the river network can be visualized at each stage.
CARVES already allows users to check the relations between contrasted geological structures and landscape evolution. It is thus a potential tool to study quantitative erosion and also to produce artificial landscapes representing mountain district. CARVES is already a flexible and evolutive software that may be subject to many extra refinements in future.
