The relationship between topography, bedrock weathering, and water storage across a sequence of ridges and valleys

Bedrock weathering regulates nutrient mobilization, water storage, and soil production. Relative to the mobile soil layer, little is known about the relationship between topography and bedrock weathering. Here, we identify a common pattern of weathering and water storage across a sequence of three ridges and valleys in the sedimentary Great Valley Sequence in Northern California that share a tectonic and climate history. Deep drilling, downhole logging, and characterization of chemistry and porosity reveal two weathering fronts. At ridgetops, the elevation of each front relative to the channel increases with hillslope length. The shallower front is approximately 7 m deep at the ridge of all three hillslopes and marks the onset of pervasive fracturing and oxidation of pyrite and organic carbon. A deeper weathering front marks the onset extent of open fractures and discoloration. This front is 11 m deep under two ridges of similar ridge-valley spacing, but 17.5 m deep under a ridge with nearly twice the ridge-valley spacing. In all three hillslopes, closed fractures in otherwise unweathered bedrock are found under ridges to at least the elevation of the adjacent channels. Neutron probe surveys reveal that seasonally dynamic moisture is stored to approximately the same depth as the shallow weathering front. Under the channels that bound our study hillslopes, the two weathering fronts coincide and occur within centimeters of the ground surface. Our findings provide evidence for feedbacks between erosion and weathering in mountainous landscapes that result in systematic subsurface structuring and water routing.