Lithologic controls on valley width and strath terrace formation

• Valley width is 2–3 times wider in erosion-prone lithologies.
• Slaking rapidly widens channels once bedrock is exposed above the low flow channel.
• Easily friable bedrock follows total stream power models for erosion.
• Loss of in-stream wood may be contributing to an Anthropocene strath terrace.

Valley width and the degree of bedrock river terrace development vary with lithology in the Willapa and Nehalem river basins, Pacific Northwest, USA. Here, we present field-based evidence for the mechanisms by which lithology controls floodplain width and bedrock terrace formation in erosion-resistant and easily friable lithologies. We mapped valley surfaces in both basins, dated straths using radiocarbon, compared valley width versus drainage area for basalt and sedimentary bedrock valleys, and constructed slope-area plots. In the friable sedimentary bedrock, valleys are 2 to 3 times wider, host flights of strath terraces, and have concavity values near 1; whereas the erosion-resistant basalt bedrock forms narrow valleys with poorly developed, localized, or no bedrock terraces and a channel steepness index half that of the friable bedrock and an average channel concavity of about 0.5. The oldest dated strath terrace on the Willapa River, T2, was active for nearly 10,000 years, from 11,265 to 2862 calibrated years before present (cal YBP), whereas the youngest terrace, T1, is Anthropocene in age and recently abandoned. Incision rates derived from terrace ages average 0.32 mm y− 1 for T2 and 11.47 mm y− 1 for T1. Our results indicate bedrock weathering properties influence valley width through the creation of a dense fracture network in the friable bedrock that results in high rates of lateral erosion of exposed bedrock banks. Conversely, the erosion-resistant bedrock has concavity values more typical of detachment-limited streams, exhibits a sparse fracture network, and displays evidence for infrequent episodic block erosion and plucking. Lithology thereby plays a direct role on the rates of lateral erosion, influencing valley width and the potential for strath terrace planation and preservation.