Modelling surface evolution coupled with tectonics : a case study for the Pamir This study presents the development of 1D and 2D Surface Evolution Codes (SECs) and their coupling to any lithospheric scale (thermo )mechanical code with a quadrilateral structured surface mesh. Both SECs involve diffusion as approach for hillslope processes and the stream power law to reflect riverbed incision. The 1D SEC settles sediment that was produced by fluvial incision in the appropriate minimum while the supply limited 2D SEC DANSER uses a fast filling algorithm to model sedimantation. It is based on a cellular automaton. A slope dependent factor in the sediment flux extends the diffusion equation to nonlinear diffusion. The discharge accumulation is achieved with the D8 algorithm and an improved drainage accumulation routine. Lateral incision enhances the incisions modelling. Following empirical laws it incises channels of several cells width. The coupling method enables different temporal and spatial resolutions of the SEC and the thermo mechanical code. It transfers vertical as well as horizontal displacements to the surface model. A weighted smoothing of the 3D surface displacements is implemented. The smoothed displacement vectors transmit the deformation by bilinear interpolation to the surface model. These interpolation methods ensure mass conservation in both directions and prevent the two surfaces from drifting apart. The presented applications refer to the evolution of the Pamir orogen. A calibration of DANSERs parameters with geomorphological data and a DEM as initial topography highlights the advantage of lateral incision. Preserving the channel width and reflecting incision peaks in narrow channels this closes the huge gap between current orogen scale incision models and observed topographies. River capturing models in a system of fault bounded block rotations reaffirm the importance of the lateral incision routine for capturing events with channel initiation. The models show a low probability of river capturings with large deflection angles. While the probability of river capturing is directly depending on the uplift rate the erodibility inside of a dip slip fault speeds up headward erosion along the fault: The models capturing speed increases within a fault. Coupling DANSER with the thermo mechanical code SLIM 3D emphasizes the versatility of the SEC. While DANSER has minor influence on the lithospheric evolution of an indenter model the brittle surface deformation is strongly affected by its sedimentation widening a basin in between two forming orogens and also the southern part of the southern orogen to south east and west.