Role of tectonic rock damage in erosional processes: A global analysis

The role of active faults in driving rock uplift is well known, but their influence on rock damage and erosional efficiency remains unclear globally. Using 1744 beryllium-10 (¹⁰Be)-derived erosion rates, we show that erosional efficiency is elevated on average within ~15 kilometers of a fault trace and decreases with distance, up to ~100 kilometers. Reverse faults and those longer than 140 kilometers show the strongest effects. This length scale of decay suggests that tectonic damage extends beyond fault-core pulverization on primary faults, possibly including fracturing or grain-to-grain contact weakening due to seismic shaking and distributed deformation on complex fault networks. Machine learning identified fault proximity as a dominant control on erosional efficiency, exceeding precipitation and lithology, particularly when a measure of seismic shaking is included. These findings indicate that active tectonics are associated with erosion not only through uplift but also by enhancing erosional efficiency through long-range rock damage.