Raindrop‐impact‐induced erosion processes and prediction: a review

Raindrop‐impact‐induced erosion is initiated when detachment of soil particles from the surface of the soil results from an expenditure of raindrop energy. Once detachment by raindrop impact has taken place, particles are transported away from the site of the impact by one or more of the following transport processes: drop splash, raindrop‐induced flow transport, or transport by flow without stimulation by drop impact. These transport processes exhibit varying efficiencies. Particles that fall back to the surface as a result of gravity produce a layer of pre‐detached particles that provides a degree of protection against the detachment of particles from the underlying soil. This, in turn, influences the erodibility of the eroding surface. Good understanding of rainfall erosion processes is necessary if the results of erosion experiments are to be properly interpreted. Current process‐based erosion prediction models do not deal with the issue of temporal variations in erodibility during a rainfall event or variabilities in erodibility associated with spatial changes in dominance of the transport processes that follow detachment by drop impact. Although more complex erosion models may deal with issues like this, their complexity and high data requirement may make them unsuitable for use as general prediction tools. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Internal erosion of chemically reinforced granular materials: a mathematical modeling approach

Internal erosion (IE) affects the stability of natural and reinforced materials by causing instability within their granular structure. The dislodgement and transport of eroded particles affect both the particulate concentration of eroding fluid and the pore network of eroded material. In this study, we examined these modifications using a transport model with a finite element code. First, IE tests on chemically reinforced sand columns were performed to obtain information about eroded material loss of mass, particulate concentration of effluent, porosity and permeability modifications, and existing IE stages. Second, based on experimental results, a mathematical one‐dimensional model has been formulated to monitor the evolution and spatial distribution of erodible solids, fluidized particles, porosity, permeability, and seepage stresses. The model consists of a set of coupled nonlinear differential equations solved in sequence. It provides valuable information about the extent and the dynamics of structural changes, which can be used to estimate an IE time for the hydraulic work to reach failure. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Breach erosion of earthfill dams (BEED) model

A computer model has been developed for simulation of breach erosion of earthfill dams (BEED). The model incorporates the processes of surface erosion and slope sloughing to simulate breach enlargement. Depletion of reservoir water is approximated by a volume continuity equation while broad-crested weir hydraulics is utilized to describe flow over and through the breach. Due to the implicit form of these equations, an iterative solution is proposed with convergence achieved within only a few iterations. The BEED model is written in both FORTRAN 77 and BASIC computer languages. Testing of the model using historical data of the failures of Teton and Huaccoto dams showed that timing, shape, and magnitude of the predicted outflow hydrograph were adequately simulated by this model. The same is true for the dimensions of the terminal breach. A sensitivity analysis indicated that internal friction angle and the relation for surface erosion were the major factors affecting the model results.     

武汉市陆家街地面塌陷的形成机制

发生于武汉市陆家街的地面塌陷,是隐伏岩溶区的一种地质灾害,由于它与人类工程及社会经济活动有关,所以也是一种环境工程地质问题。用潜蚀机制解释这种现象较为合理,它是一个累进变形破坏过程。地面塌陷的发生与一定的地质、地貌条件密切相关。在搞清地面塌陷的形成机制、地质背景和发生条件的基础上,这种地质灾害是可以预测和防治的。     

A comparison of channel erosion in small urban and rural catchments,Armidale, New South Wales

Five years after the cessation of housing construction in a small urban catchment in Armidale, New South Wales, the stability of the channel bed and banks was investigated with the use of erosion pins. After eighteen months of monitoring, the rate of channel bank erosion was found to be 3.6 times greater than that of a nearby rural channel and the rate of knickpoint retreat was 2.4 times greater. There was, however, no evidence to suggest that the urban channel was inherently unstable, but that the increased rate of erosion was the product of changed runoff conditions associated with urban development. Both channels are considered to be in a state of equilibrium.     

北京市北山泥石流分布规律及形成过程

北京北山泥石流的分布受构造控制，呈北东方向展布。其分布在时间上和空间上均有一定的规律可寻。一条泥石流沟谷的形成从开始到结束，概括分为形成、位移和堆积。区内泥石流的形成主要有三种形式：以水力侵蚀为主，以坡面侵蚀为主和以沟源崩、滑塌形式触发沟床物质活动而形成的泥石流。     

Prediction of tension crack location and riverbank erosion hazards along destabilized channels

Riverbank erosion, associated sedimentation and land loss hazards are a land management problem of global significance and many attempts to predict the onset of riverbank instability have been made. Recently, Osman and Thorne (1988) have presented a Culmann-type analysis of the stability of steep, cohesive riverbanks; this has the potential to be a considerable improvement over previous bank stability theories, which do not account for bank geometry changes due to toe scour and lateral erosion. However, in this paper it is shown that the existing Osman-Thorne model does not properly incorporate the influence of tension cracking on bank stability since the location of the tension crack on the floodplain is indirectly determined via calculation or arbitrary specification of the tension crack depth. Furthermore, accurate determination of tension crack location is essential to the calculation of the geometry of riverbank failure blocks and hence prediction of land loss and bank sediment yield associated with riverbank instability and channel widening. In this paper, a rational, physically based method to predict the location of tension cracks on the floodplain behind the eroding bank face is presented and tested. A case study is used to illustrate the computational procedure required to apply the model. Improved estimates of failure block geometry using the new method may potentially be applied to improve predictions of bank retreat and floodplain land loss along river channels destabilized as a result of environmental change.     

Within-storm variations in runoff and sediment export from a rapidly eroding coal-refuse deposit

Measurements of rainfall, runoff and sediment export from a barren deposit of coal mine refuse in south-western Indiana were collected during three storms in the summer and autumn of 1990. Interfluve sheetwash, sediment mass flux, sediment concentration and, to a lesser extent, trunk gully discharge all responded quickly to changes in rainfall intensity. Grain-size distributions varied considerably during storms, containing exclusively fine-grained sediment at low sediment discharges but very large quantities of coarse (> 2mm) sediment at peak sediment discharges. Although data from a fairly long, multipulsed storm indicate that sediment production is limited by supply, the imbricated layer of flat chips that exists at the surface of the deposit is apparently mobilized during most high-intensity pulses of rainfall, thereby producing large volumes of coarse sediment during summer thunderstorms.     

福建永安石林地貌的现代生物喀斯特侵蚀营力

本文以永安石林为例，阐述分析了石林地貌的现代生物喀斯特侵蚀现象的类型及形态特征。结果表明，地表及地下的生物喀斯特侵蚀营力是石林现代侵蚀过程的主要因素，石林表面的大部分均有微生物覆盖并起侵蚀作用，形成明显的微观及超微溶蚀形态，石林表面的溶蚀作用性质不同于传统认识。对石林地貌发育提出了新的思考。     

宝顶石刻区污染地下水对造像岩体的破坏作用

污染地下水渗入大佛湾摩岩造像群，在石刻表面积聚可溶盐，加剧了石刻的侵蚀破坏，其中尤以泥质细粒长石砂岩风化剥落最为严重。研究渗水病害对石刻保护有重要意义。