Contrasting soils and landscapes of the Piedmont and Coastal Plain, eastern United States

The Piedmont and Coastal Plain physiographic provinces comprise 80 percent of the Atlantic Coastal states from New Jersey to Georgia. The provinces are climatically similar. The soil moisture regime is udic. The soil temperature regime is typically thermic from Virginia through Georgia, although it is mesic at altitudes above 400 m in Georgia and above 320 m in Virginia. The soil temperature regime is mesic for the Piedmont and Coastal Plain from Maryland through New Jersey. The tightly folded, structurally complex crystalline rocks of the Piedmont and the gently dipping “layer-cake” clastic sedimentary rocks and sediments of the Coastal Plain respond differently to weathering, pedogenesis, and erosion. The different responses result in two physiographically contrasting terrains; each has distinctive near-surface hydrology, regolith, drainage morphology, and morphometry.The Piedmont is predominantly an erosional terrain. Interfluves are as narrow as 0.5 to 2 km, and are convex upward. Valleys are as narrow as 0.1 to 0.5 km and generally V-shaped in cross section. Alluvial terraces are rare and discontinuous. Soils in the Piedmont are typically less than 1 m thick, have less sand and more clay than Coastal Plain soils, and generally have not developed sandy epipedons. Infiltration rates for Piedmont soils are low at 6–15 cm/h. The soil/saprolite, soil/rock, and saprolite/rock boundaries are distinct (can be placed within 10 cm) and are characterized by ponding and/or lateral movement of water. Water movement through soil into saprolite, and from saprolite into rock, is along joints, foliation, bedding planes and faults. Soils and isotopic data indicate residence times consistent with a Pleistocene age for most Piedmont soils.The Coastal Plain is both an erosional and a constructional terrain. Interfluves commonly are broader than 2 km and are flat. Valleys are commonly as wide as 1 km to greater than 10 km, and contain numerous alluvial and estuarine terrace sequences that can be correlated along valleys for tens of kilometers. Coastal Plain soils are typically as thick as 2 to 8 m, have high sand content throughout, and have sandy epipedons. These epipedons consist of both A and E horizons and are 1 to 4 m thick. In Coastal Plain soils, the boundaries are transitional between the solum and the underlying parent material and between weathered and unweathered parent material. Infiltration rates for Coastal Plain soils are typically higher at 13–28 cm/h, than are those for Piedmont soils. Indeed, for unconsolidated quartz sand, rates may exceed 50 cm/h. Water moves directly from the soil into the parent material through intergranularpores with only minor channelization along macropores, joints, and fractures. The comparatively high infiltration capacity results in relatively low surface runoff, and correspondingly less erosion than on the Piedmont uplands.Due to differences in Piedmont and Coastal Plain erosion rates, topographic inversion is common along the Fall Zone; surfaces on Cenozoic sedimentary deposits of the Coastal Plain are higher than erosional surfaces on regolith weathered from late Precambrian to early Paleozoic crystalline rocks of the Piedmont. Isotopic, paleontologic, and soil data indicate that Coastal Plain surficial deposits are post-middle Miocene to Holocene in age, but most are from 5 to 2 Ma. Thus, the relatively uneroded surfaces comprise a Pliocene landscape. In the eastern third of the Coastal Plain, deposits that are less than 3.5 Ma include alluvial terraces, marine terraces and barrier/back-barrier complexes as morphostratigraphic units that cover thousands of square kilometers. Isotopic and soil data indicate that eastern Piedmont soils range from late Pliocene to Pleistocene in age, but are predominantly less than 2 Ma old. Thus, the eroded uplands of the Piedmont “peneplain” comprise a Pleistocene landscape.     

Seasonal controls on sediment delivery in a small coastal plain watershed, North Carolina, USA

Field measurements of drainage ditch sedimentation and suspended sediment transport were used to construct a simple sediment budget and relate seasonal variations in vegetation and the hydrological characteristics of storms to sediment dynamics in a small agricultural watershed in North Carolina. Results indicate that seasonal variations in crop coverage and vegetation in drainage ditches influence sediment delivery. Following the harvesting of crops and mowing of drainage ditches in late autumn, conditions are favorable to soil erosion and sediment transport through early spring. Storms need not be very intense or produce large rainfall totals to transport significant sediment loads. The maturation of field crops and ditch vegetation in spring produces conditions less conducive to both soil erosion and sediment transport. Intense summer thunderstorms, however, are capable of mobilizing and transporting significant amounts of sediment. The computed sediment yield of 0.1 Mg/ha/yr probably represents a low estimate that, nevertheless, is an order of magnitude less than measured ditch storage and more than two orders of magnitude less than regional estimates of soil loss on Coastal Plain croplands. The results show that headwater ditches may be decoupled from slopes so that much of the eroded soil is stored within small watersheds rather than being transported out of the basin.     

Eolian Dust Erosion from an Agricultural Field on the North Carolina Coastal Plain

Eolian erosion typically has not been considered a significant process on the humid southeastern coastal plain of the United States. A preliminary study of eolian erosion from an agricultural field was undertaken during the late winter of 2002 and early spring of 1999. During those times local agricultural practices leave fields bare while frontal systems produce frequent high wind events. Dust emissions were measured with two samplers; modified Wilson and Cooke passive dust traps and high-volume air samplers. Results of the study indicate that wind erosion is a significant process on agricultural fields of the North Carolina Coastal plain. Dust flux off of the field during the largest of five measured events was estimated as high as 126 kg/m with total losses of 3070 kg/ha. Atmospheric concentrations of suspended material were measured at 58,815 μgm^-3. Sediment erosion was not evenly distributed across the field. Erosion was focused over soils that are better drained. Low levels of soil moisture did not eliminate erosion but instead produced pulses of sediment emission as sustained wind continually dried then activated sequential layers of the field surface. Soil moisture and topography appear to be the primary controls on spatial erosion differences and soil characteristics likely play a secondary role.     

SOIL CATENAS,TROPICAL DEFORESTATION,AND ANCIENT AND CONTEMPORARY SOIL EROSION IN THE PETéN,GUATEMALA

The Petexbatún region of Guatemala's Petén tropical forest lowlands has been largely deforested since the early 1980s as landless peasants have turned even national parks into milpas. The soils of these tropical forest, karst landscapes are known mainly from small-scale maps and archaeological investigations. This paper investigates soil catenas and natural slope processes from the region's last virgin tropical forests and compares these with catenas and processes on slashed and burned slopes. Soils were sampled and analyzed for physical, fertility, and taxonomic measures. This primary forest toposequence forms a typical downward translocation catena, with the thickest soils (>200 cm) in depressions, the thinnest soils on shoulder slopes, and moderately thin soils on the crests and backslopes. Most crest and sloping soils are Lithic Rendolls and contain simple O-A-C horizon sequences, and most soils have little sign of either eluviation or illuviation. A few deeper soils on the slopes are Vertic Rendolls and have moderate slick-ensides, whereas footslopes and seasonally drained depressions are well developed Vertisols. The primary forest soil catena was compared with two slash-and-burn milpas, one with comparable slopes and one with steeper slopes. The comparably sloped milpa had soil thicknesses that were 7.9 to 13.8 cm thinner, truncated horizons, and physical evidence of erosion. The steeper milpa had soil thicknesses that were 11.1 to 18.2 cm thinner and also had truncated horizons and physical evidence of erosion. Where ancient Maya terraces (Late Classic, ca. 550 to 830 A.D.) are present in the slash-and-burn landscape, an average of 25 to 46.5 cm soil remain upslope and 9.3 to 16.1 cm remain downslope. The findings show high soil truncation rates and erosion to bedrock in a decade in one place, though ancient Maya terraces are still holding 2.7 to 3.6 times more soil than the surrounding hillslopes. Despite high modern erosion, lake sediments show surprisingly low soil losses in the Maya Late Classic during the period of the most intensive land use. In contrast, studies at Copán, Honduras and in the northern Petén, where terrace evidence is scant, show high rates of erosion during this period. [Key words: soil catenas, tropical deforestation, milpa, soil erosion, Maya Lowlands.]     

Preliminary reconstruction of sediment-source linkages for the past 6000 yr at the Petit Lac d'Annecy, France, based on mineral magnetic data

An 8 m core from the central plain of the Petit Lac d'Annecy, France, two floodplain cores, river bedload sediments and several hundred soil samples from the catchment have been studied using magnetic techniques. The soils, mainly developed on limestones and local glacial tills, show widespread magnetic enhancement with higher ferrimagnetic concentrations and contents of SP grains than found in the lake sediments. Some soils show significant concentrations of canted antiferromagnetic minerals (mainly haematite). Using magnetic quotient parameters the surface soils are classified into four mineralogical types. The lake and floodplain sediment properties over the past 6000 yrs can largely be explained by the erosion and deposition of these sources, with a smaller superimposed biogenic (magnetosomes) signal. Derived sediment-source linkages allow the construction of several hypotheses about geomorphological changes in the catchment system: (i) the long-term erosion of high altitude unweathered substrates has gradually increased towards the present day; (ii) the erosion of high altitude soils has increased within the last 1000 yrs, possibly during the period of the 'Little Ice Age'; (iii) shifts towards an increased erosion of surface lowland soil occurred ~2000 and 1000 yrs ago and may be linked to an accelerated accretion of floodplain overbank deposits; (iv) there has been a significant storage of surface soil within floodplains, which leads to an underestimation of the importance of soil erosion in the lake sediment records; (v) the sediment transported by high magnitude, low frequency flood events has shifted in source from high altitude soils before ~1000 cal. yr BP to lowland and mid-altitude free draining soils after ~1000 cal. yr BP.     

Interactions among millennial-scale geomorphic processes in different parts of a drainage basin,arid China

The geomorphic evolution of different parts of the Shiyang River catchment was analyzed in this study, using Quaternary chronologies, sedimentary facies, grain size, geochemical proxies, and pollen proxies of sedimentary sections and study sites to examine millennial-scale geomorphic processes. Results indicate that during the early and middle Holocene, most sections and study sites were eroded in the upper reaches, with an average erosion rate around 0.042 cm/yr, while sediment deposition appeared in the middle reaches, at a rate of 0.091 cm/yr. At the same time, the average deposition rate was 0.062 cm/yr in the lower reaches. During the late Holocene, erosion in the upper reaches was more severe, with the rate of 0.169 cm/yr, due to the development of steep river banks. The middle reaches showed an average late-Holocene erosion rate of 0.089 cm/yr, and sediments in the lower reaches were deposited at a rate of 0.011 cm/yr. Characteristics of all proxies are well related to the changes of erosion and deposition rates; therefore, climate change is assumed to be the primary factor for geomorphic evolution at the millennia scale, and geomorphic responses of different parts of the river are understood to be connected but distinct.     

Soil erosion assessment using RUSLE model in the Congo Nile Ridge region of Rwanda

This research assessed the soil erosion threat in the Congo Nile Ridge Region of Rwanda. The study forecasted erosion by applying the Revised Universal Soil Erosion (RUSLE) with five factors (rainfall, soil, topography, cover management, and support practices) and spatial data. About 85.5% of the area under investigation was predisposed to erosion with unsustainable average soil loss rates of > 1 t/ha/yr. The outcomes of the research highlighted that the average rate of estimated soil loss in the region prone to erosion was > 63.62 t/ha/yr, resulting in an overall annual predicted soil loss of approximately 44 × 10⁶ t in 2016. All of the districts studied have steep slope gradients (30.4%–36.1%) and high annual rainfall totals (1199–1484 mm/yr), except Rubavu district. More than 88.8% of croplands had unsustainable average soil loss rates of > 1 t/ha/yr. The analysis indicated that both terracing and strip cropping have the potential to reduce rates of soil loss in the farmland, by 64.4% and 10.4%, respectively. The results of this study will serve as a baseline for soil erosion mitigation and land-use planning in the study area and Rwanda at large.     

Landscapes and Literature: A Look at the Early Twentieth Century Rural South

Abstract

This article examines samples of southern literature from the first half of the twentieth century that can be used to understand geographically the rural landscapes of the Coastal Plain from North Carolina through Mississippi. The socioeconomic imprint upon the land, climatic perceptions, and the role of the forest are themes addressed. The advantages and significance of using a literary approach are also discussed.     

THE FALL LINE: A PHYSIOGRAPHIC‐FOREST VEGETATION BOUNDARY*

ABSTRACT. The range boundaries for many tree species in the southeastern United States correspond to the Fall Line that separates the Coastal Plain from the Appalachian Highlands. Trees in the Coastal Plain with northern range boundaries corresponding to the Fall Line occur exclusively in alluvial valleys created by lateral channel migration. These species grow mostly on lower bottomland sites characterized by a high water table, soils that are often saturated, and low annual water fluctuation. In contrast to the Coastal Plain, the southern Appalachian Highlands are occupied mostly by bedrock streams that have few sites suitable for the regeneration of these species. The Fall Line is also an approximate southern boundary for trees common in the southern Appalachians that typically occur on either dry, rocky ridgetops or in narrow stream valleys, habitats that are uncommon on the relatively flat Coastal Plain. The ranges for many trees in eastern North America are controlled by large‐scale climatic patterns. Tree species with range boundaries corresponding to the Fall Line, however, are not approaching their physiological limits caused by progressively harsher climatic conditions or by competition. Instead, the Fall Line represents the approximate boundary of habitats suitable for regeneration.     

风蚀作用下的土壤碳库变化及在中国的初步估算

土壤有机碳库储量巨大且在表层富集 ,而风力侵蚀具有巨大的卷挟起沙、搬移输运和空间再分配能力 ,对土壤有机碳库的演变具有重要影响。在风力侵蚀作用下 ,风蚀发生地、风蚀土壤输运途中以及风蚀土壤沉降地的土壤有机碳库有着不同的变化过程。基于质量平衡原理 ,可以建立土壤有机碳流失及各路径碳输移量估算的模型。依据第二次全国遥感侵蚀调查以及第二次全国土壤普查数据 ,在GIS支持下 ,分析了中国土壤有机碳库以及风力侵蚀的空间格局 ,并计算得到风力侵蚀作用下中国土壤有机碳库储量变化以及各路径碳输移量。研究表明 ,我国因风力侵蚀造成的土壤有机碳流失量约为 5 9 76× 10 6 tC/yr,风蚀所致CO2 排放约为 2 9 88× 10 6 tC/yr;风蚀所致的土壤有机碳流失主要发生在中国西北部的干旱半干旱的农区和牧区     

Restructuring of Hog Farming in North Carolina: Explosion and Implosion

Over the past six years hog farming in North Carolina has undergone a significant restructuring. For most of this century raising hogs was a casual farm activity found throughout the state. During the past decade hog farming has been transformed along industrial-corporate lines. In the process, the swine population has expanded rapidly (exploded) and simultaneously collapsed in geographical bounds (imploded). This paper examines the linkage between the development of the industrial-corporate hog farming regime, the rapid growth in hog populations, and the geographical concentration of hog production in a newly emerging high-density hog production district in the south central area of the Coastal Plain region.     

开垦对高寒草甸土壤有机碳影响的初步研究

在中国科学院海北高寒草甸生态系统定位站地区,选择高寒草甸开垦后形成的一年生人工草地作为研究对象,开垦年限分别为0、1、11、16和20年,利用土壤有机碳密度分组法,进行了0~40cm土层土壤有机碳及不同组分（轻组有机碳,重组有机碳）含量及随开垦年限变化关系的研究。结果表明：高寒草甸开垦后其土壤有机碳的变化主要发生在0~10cm土层,土壤中SOC、LFOC和HFOC呈下降趋势,至20年时分别下降了10.5 %、26.7%、8.1 %,主要原因为当地较为强烈的风蚀作用、耕作侵蚀和开垦加剧了表层（0 ~10cm）土壤有机质的氧化分解,表层土壤中的粗有机物质在降水淋溶作用下,在土体下部重新淀积。而0 ~40 cm土体内,SOC、LFOC和HFOC略有增加,开垦20年,他们的累积速率分别为0.08 t C·hm-2·yr-1、0.07 t C·hm-2·yr-1、0.14 t C·hm-2·yr-1。人工草地长期种植虽然没有改变高寒草甸作为碳汇的基本功能,但却大大降低了其碳汇效应,植物-土壤系统年固定碳量由未开垦前的7.38t C·hm-2·yr-1下降至6.89 t C·hm-2·yr-1。     

农牧交错带农田土壤风蚀PM10释放特征

粉尘释放是风蚀造成危害的一个重要过程。以农牧交错带沙区和非沙区农田土壤为研究对象,利用室内风洞模拟实验,实时监测了风蚀过程中释放的PM₁₀,分析了PM₁₀的动态变化特征,以深入认识土壤风蚀粉尘释放机理。结果表明：非沙区农田土壤风蚀强度远低于沙区农田,与风速呈指数函数关系;非沙区农田的土壤粉尘释放在不同风速下均以气流直接抬升模式为主,平均PM₁₀通量与风速呈线性函数关系,最大PM₁₀通量与风速呈幂函数关系;沙区农田的土壤粉尘释放在风速增大到一定程度后呈气流直接抬升和砂粒跃移冲击复合模式,最大PM₁₀通量增加不明显,但平均PM₁₀通量明显高于非沙区农田;对于沙区和非沙区农田而言,平均PM₁₀通量与风蚀速率呈对数函数关系。     

Restructuring of Hog Farming in North Carolina: Explosion and Implosion

Over the past six years hog farming in North Carolina has undergone a significant restructuring. For most of this century raising hogs was a casual farm activity found throughout the state. During the past decade hog farming has been transformed along industrial-corporate lines. In the process, the swine population has expanded rapidly (exploded) and simultaneously collapsed in geographical bounds (imploded). This paper examines the linkage between the development of the industrial-corporate hog farming regime, the rapid growth in hog populations, and the geographical concentration of hog production in a newly emerging high-density hog production district in the south central area of the Coastal Plain region.     

中国海岸侵蚀述要

中国近代海岸侵蚀自50年代末期日渐明显,70年代末期加剧。目前约有70％的沙质海岸和大部分开敞的粉砂淤泥质海岸遭受侵蚀。人工挖沙和河流输沙减少是侵蚀发生的主要原因。海岸侵蚀已危及沿岸房舍、道路、海岸工程、旅游资源。     

137Cs示踪技术在黑土区农业非点源污染负荷研究中的应用

利用¹³⁷Cs核素示踪和定位监测相结合,研究松嫩平原黑土区3个旱作坡面土壤的流失厚度和流失速率,坡面土壤流失厚度1.20~5.25 mm/a,侵蚀强度1 355.0~7 558.2 t/(km²·a);近40 a来,松嫩平原黑土区年均入河(湖)农业非点源污染负荷分别为TN 1.43 t/(km²·a)、NH₃^-N 15.01 kg/(km²·a)、NO₃^-N 8.51 kg/(km²·a)TP 0.42 t/(km²·a)、PO₄^3--P 1.85 kg/(km²·a);土壤流失氮以有机氮为主;水溶态无机氮占总氮的0.51%,水溶性磷酸盐磷占总磷的0.12%。黑土区农业非点源污染物的输出和水土流失密切相关,深入研究其输移机理及防治措施具有重要的环境意义。     

三江平原不同流域水土流失变化特征分析

运用地理信息系统(GIS)结合美国通用水土流失方程(USLE),根据研究区现状合理选择USLE中水土流失各因子的计算方法,求算出三江平原1954年、1976年、1986年以及2000年的水土流失状况图。通过与2000年遥感普查结果进行对比,验证了方法的有效性。分别对三江平原六个流域水土流失变化情况进行分析,认为土地利用方式对水土流失有重要影响,农田开发是造成水土流失面积增加、强度增强的主要原因。土地垦荒活动强度降低以及部分旱地改种水田后,水土流失面积增加的幅度明显下降。     

Anthropogenic alluvial sediments in North Carolina Piedmont gullies indicate swift geomorphic response to 18th century land-use practices

ABSTRACT

Gullies are common erosional features in the Piedmont of North Carolina that have often been studied as indicators of poor land-management practices. However, the timing of gully formation, and thus the specific practices that caused their formation, has been largely overlooked in the literature. Here, we use the timing of gully formation to examine the geomorphic and anthropogenic triggers for erosion in the Piedmont. To do this, we mapped 74 gullies in the landscape and found that most contained alluvium within the gully or in alluvial fans. Soil pits were dug at a subset of the gully sites (16 in alluvium, 1 in colluvium, and 1 upland comparison) and examined for soil development, organic content, and particle size. Seven charcoal fragments were sampled from the soil pits and were radiocarbon dated. Radiocarbon ages cluster in the late 1700s, which suggests that early European settlers had an immediate impact on the landscape through deforestation and agriculture. The swift response of the landscape to deforestation and agriculture indicates that the argillic Piedmont soils are pre-disposed to erosion. Our results highlight the importance of erosion prevention as reforested farmland is cleared during urban expansion.     

An Innovative Method of Model Integration to Forecast Spatial Patterns of Shoreline Change: A Case Study of Nags Head,North Carolina*

Many coastal erosion models are designed to be used at transects or discrete points but they produce valid results only for locations that meet a set of well-defined criteria. Results obtained from these models are difficult to generalize, since adjoining areas may not meet these requirements. In this paper, a GIS-based methodology is described for combining the results from two two-dimensional coastal erosion models and a three-dimensional static inundation model to forecast the possible response of a coastline to several alternative sea level rise scenarios. These shoreline forecasts are unique in that they integrate results obtained from several different models and allow graphical representations of these alternative future shorelines to be produced. Coastal planners may use these integrated shoreline forecasts to assess the possible impact of sea level rise on a given region. To demonstrate this methodology a case study was conducted for Nags Head, North Carolina.