Research Overview

My group studies how sediment transport shapes planetary surfaces through erosion and deposition. We use mathematical theory, numerical modeling, fieldwork, and physical experiments to better understand how landforms like rivers and hillslopes fundamentally work, with an eye toward connecting geomorphology with other fields. Ongoing research focuses on the formation of large-scale spatial patterns in arctic soils and their connection to fluid instabilities; sediment diffusion in rivers; the evolution of blocky, rocky hillslopes; and development and testing of landscape evolution models. In our lab, we're in the process of building a frozen hillslope inside of a walk-in climate chamber and a laminar flume to study sediment transport in rivers. 

Research Interests

• Geomorphology; landscape evolution; sediment transport; fluids mechanics; granular physics; pattern formation

Selected Publications

• Glade, R.C., Fratkin, M., Pouragha, M., Seiphoori, A., and Rowland, J. Arctic soil patterns analogous to fluid instabilities (2021) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118 (21) DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2101255118.
• Shobe, C.M., Turowski, J.M., Nativ, R., Glade, R.C., Bennett, G.L., and Dini, B. The role of large, infrequently mobile boulders in modulating landscape evolution and geomorphic hazards (2021) Earth-Science Reviews, in press.
• Barnhart, K.R., Tucker, G.E., Doty, S., Shobe, C.M., Glade, R.C., Rossi, M.W., and Hill, M.C. (2020) Inverting topography for landscape evolution model process representation: Part 3, calibration and validation. JGR Earth Surface. DOI: 10.1029/2019JF005287.
• Barnhart, K.R., Tucker, G.E., Doty, S., Shobe, C.M., Glade, R.C., Rossi, M.W., and Hill, M.C. (2020) Inverting topography for landscape evolution model process representation: Part 2, a review of parameter ranges. JGR Earth Surface. DOI: 10.1029/2018JF004963.
• Barnhart, K.R., Tucker, G.E., Doty, S., Shobe, C.M., Glade, R.C., Rossi, M.W., and Hill, M.C. (2020)Inverting topography for landscape evolution model process representation: Part 1, conceptualization and sensitivity analysis. JGR Earth Surface. DOI: 10.1029/2018JF004961.
• Glade, R.C.*, Shobe, C.M.*, Anderson, R.S., and Tucker, G.E. (2019) Canyon shape and erosion dynamics governed by channel-hillslope feedbacks. Geology, 47.7: 650-654. *Equal author contributions.
• Barnhart, K.R., Glade, R.C., Shobe, C.M., and Tucker, G.E. (2019) terrainbento 1.0: a Python package for multi-model analysis in long-term drainage basin evolution. Geoscientific Model Development, 12(4), 1267-1297.
• Glade, R.C., and Anderson, R.S. (2018) Quasi-steady evolution of hillslopes in layered landscapes: An analytic approach: JGR Earth Surface. DOI: 10.1002/2017JF004466.
• Glade, R.C., Anderson, R.S., and Tucker, G.E. (2017) Block-controlled hillslope form and persistence of topography in rocky landscapes: Geology, v. 45, p. 311-314, DOI:10.1130/G38665.1.