Re: Climate or Tectonics; what determines mountain topograph
Lyeo,
Good question and please allow me to give my opinion. I believe there are several techniques.
A) One could look at mineralogy of basement rock to assess burial history through Pressure-Temperature analysis. Different minerals forum under different P/T conditions and from this one could asses how deep certain mineral where buried prior to erosion removing the top layer, resulting in uplift due to isostacy.
B) A second option would be to look at sediment volumes and from that deduct the eroded volumes. This is tricky due to compaction and because it is usually very difficult to figure out which depocenter correspond to what areas of the hinterland. Through biostratigraphy one can, however, get a good idea of deposition speed and from that erosion speed.
C) Another option would be to look at the same biomarkers (primarilly pollen) and from that deduct vegetation of the hinterland. This can point towards the climate and elevation that was present at the time of deposition of the pollen. Often when pollen travel far they are oxidized making it more difficult to identify them. Furthermore, reworking can complicate things a lot.
I am probably missing a lot of other options, but this is what I could dream up at this moment. Additions and comments are very welcome!