Title: Demonstration and applications of nonlocal hillslope sediment transport
Abstract: In the past decade, a relatively new class of mathematical models that describe the hillslope sediment flux has gained attention. Collectively known as nonlocal models, this class of models explicitly includes particle travel distance as a central ingredient and is therefore capable of relating the sediment flux at one location to the conditions at upslope or upstream nonlocal positions. This differs from more common and classic descriptions of sediment transport that depend only on the local conditions at a particular point. Theory that develops nonlocal models is well-established, however there is a need to demonstrate nonlocal transport in a natural setting. This presentation partially fills that gap by demonstrating nonlocal transport on lateral moraines in the Sierra Nevada, CA. In doing so, we are able to extract parameters that are physically well-defined, and relate to the pace of sediment motion on Earth's surface. Last, we present some opportunities that a nonlocal model and framework brings to questions regarding Earth's surface.