The influence of soil properties on the erodibility of Belgian loamy soils: A study based on rainfall simulation experiments

Twenty soils from the Leuven region were tested in the laboratory with a rainfall simulator. Their texture varied from loam to loamy sand. On the basis of the results obtained, they were classified as a function of the runoff and splash erodibility. For every soil, several properties were determined and tentatively used to explain the classifications based on the runoff and splash erodibility. Significant negative correlations were found between silt content, aggregate stability, C_5–10 index, water content at saturation, and cohesion on the one side and erodibility on the other; a positive correlation was found between sand content and erodibility.     

Rate of soil erosion processes on vineyards in central Piedmont (NW Italy)

The ‘Tertiary Basin of Piedmont’ is a hilly region, mainly composed of marine sediments, such as marls, silts and sands. The slopes, largely devoted to grape production, are usually kept bare of vegetation and are thus prone to soil erosion processes. For two years we have measured soil loss in relation to rainfall on experimental plots located in vineyards. In all the plots considered erosion started with low rainfall intensities (0·07 mm/min), and above 0·4 mm/min the amount of soil loss dramatically increased (to over 1800 g/m in one event). Most of the erosion occurs during summer rainstorms, but the behaviour of the soil under erosive rainfalls is very different from one site to another, depending only in part upon the various rainfall rates, soil and geometrical characteristics of the plots. It can be seen that soil loss varies from nearly negligible values (20 g/m/yr) to unacceptably high levels (to over 4·7 kg/m/yr), according to the different types of land cultivation. Deep ploughing and heavy herbicide treatment give rise to accelerated erosion processes leading to soil losses much higher than in other vineyard plots in Europe.     

Surface sealing as influenced by slope angle and position of simulated stones in the top layer of loose sediments

The influence of five different slope angles and two different positions of simulated stones in the top layer of a sandy and a silty sediment on surface sealing intensity is examined in the laboratory. Sealing intensity is assessed by studying changes of percolation rate through a sediment layer with simulated rainfall duration and by measuring cohesion of the 5 mm thick upper sediment layer, a measure of seal strength, by means of a torvane. Slope has a negative influence on sealing intensity. For a constant per cent of simulated stone cover, sealing intensity is lowest in the case of stones placed on the sediment surface compared to the case of stones pushed into the surface layer. Explanations for these findings are given and some implications are further discussed.     

Limestone weathering in Eastern Australia. Part 2: Surface micromorphology study

Results from long term microerosion meter (MEM) studies indicate that microenvironments are characterized by different erosion rates. A complementary study, carried out on the same sites, examines the microscale morphology in each environment. Optical and scanning electron microscopy were used to identify a range of features thought to reflect different processes. Under subaerial conditions micromorphology is dominated by biological weathering features owing to the presence of microflora. Sites permanently covered by soil or stream water have only dissolution etch features, though stream sites may exhibit microfractures. Sites with periodic exposure exhibit both dissolution and biological etch features. The natural environment is more accurately reflected by allowing some microflora colonization of MEM sites rather than preventing colonization by artificial means.     

A review of mathematical models of river planform changes

Different mathematical models of river planform changes exist or are being developed. They are reviewed here by discussing a two-dimensional depth-averaged model, various meander models and a model for the braided Brahmaputra-Jamuna River in Bangladesh. Much emphasis is placed on topics where further research is needed. It is concluded that the models help in understanding the underlying processes, but cannot yet be considered generally valid and easy-to-use software packages. In the hands of experienced geomorphologists or river engineers, however, some of the models do already form valuable tools which allow better predictions of future river planforms.     

The effects of soil piping on contributing areas and erosion patterns

Natural piping doubles the dynamic contributing area on the upper Maesnant stream in mid-Wales, mainly through linking points well beyond the riparian zones of seepage to the stream. Both discharge and sediment transport rates in the major pipes are closely related to the size of shallow surface microtopographic hollows in which they lie, and which themselves are largely created by piping erosion. However, pipe dischrges are frequently generated by contributing areas larger than these surface depressions and some pipes run counter to the surface topography. The redistribution and acceleration of hillslope drainage processes by piping has implications for theories of hillslope development, especially through plan-form modifications, and also for channel discharge and erosion.     

Raindrop impact and water flow on the vegetative surfaces of trees and the effects on stemflow and throughfall generation

The physical processes of raindrop impact and water flow on the leaves and branches of selected tropical tree species were examined under laboratory conditions using simulated rainfall. Inclined branches were found to be particularly efficient in detaining impacting water droplets. This efficiency in raindrop detention increases linearly as a function of branch inclination on branches that are initially dry. On branches that have been thoroughly wetted, this increase in raindrop detention with branch inclination is best expressed as a logarithmic function. At branch inclinations of 60° above the horizontal, the quantity of branchflow was found to be > 80 per cent of the total quantity of impacting rainfall, indicating that < 20 per cent was lost to rainsplash. The strong positive relationship between branchflow and branch inclination explains why trees with large projected areas of steeply inclined upthrust branches have significant quantities of intercepted water draining from their branches and trunks under heavy rainfall conditions. This drainage from the woody frame of trees influences surficial processes by generating both stemflow and large throughfall droplets.     

Rates of cave and landform development in the Yorkshire Dales from speleothem age data

Uranium-series ages have been obtained for 87 speleothems collected from nine major cave systems in the Craven district of northern England. Large systems such as Ease Gill Caverns, the West Kingsdale caves, and Gaping Gill-Ingleborough Cave, which contain relict high-level tunnels, are found to be older than 350,000 years (the limit of the ²³⁰Th/²³⁴U dating method). There is little evidence to indicate a significant enlargement of these passages since this time. Estimates of the age of Victoria Cave from ²³⁴U/²³⁸U isotopic ratios suggest that the cave has been fully relict for more than 500,000 years. Ages of in situ speleothems immediately adjacent to local base level cave streams show that mean maximum downcutting rates in limestone channels are about 2 to 5 cm 1000 yr. These rates are significantly lower than those obtained from direct measurements on limestone bedrock in stream channels but are comparable to areal denudation rates based on solute budgets. Using the present elevation of caves with respect to adjacent valley floor levels, mean maximum valley entrenchment rates are found to range between 5 cm/ky and < 20cm/ky, which corresponds to 6 m to < 24 m of lowering per glacial/interglacial cycle. These rates suggest that upper beds of the limestone were incised to form the Yorkshire Dales between 1 and 2 million years ago. The results indicate that the erosional effects of individual glaciations are not as severe as previously proposed in the literature.     

Long-term erosion on granitic roadcuts based on exposed tree roots

Exposed roots were used to estimate soil and bedrock erosion on the cut slopes of a 45-year-old road constructed in granitic soils of the Idaho Batholith. The original roadcut surface was defined by projecting a straight line from the toe of the cut past the end of the exposed root to the intersection of a straight line projected along the surface of the hillslope. A cross-sectioning technique was then used to determine erosion to the present roadcut surface. A total of 41 exposed root sites were used to estimate erosion on a 1350 m-long section of road. Average erosion was 1·0 and 1·1 cm/year for soil and bedrock respectively. Buttressing by tree roots caused lower erosion rates for soil as compared to bedrock. Both soil and bedrock erosion rates showed statistically significant correlations with the gradients of the original cut slope. The bedrock erosion data provide a reasonable estimate of the disintegration rate of exposed granitic bedrock exhibiting the weathering and fracturing properties common to this area. The road is located in a study watershed where long-term sediment yield data are available. Sediment data from adjacent study watersheds with no roads were compared to sediment data from the roaded watershed to estimate the long-term increase in sediment yield caused by the road. The increase amounts to about 2·4 m³/year. This figure, compared to the average annual on-site road erosion, provides an erosion to sediment delivery ratio of less than 10 per cent. Based on study results, road construction and maintenance practices are suggested for helping reduce roadcut erosion.     

The "Little Ice Age" and its Geomorphological Consequences in Mediterranean Europe

Alpine glacier advances in the "Little Ice Age" took place in the decades around 1320, 1600, 1700 and 1810. They were the outcome of snowier winters and cooler summers than those of the twentieth century. Documentary records from Crete in particular, and also from Italy, southern France and southeast Spain point to a greater frequency in Mediterranean Europe's mountainous regions of severe floods, droughts and frosts at times of "Little Ice Age" Alpine glacier advances. Deluges, when more than 200 mm of rain fall within 24 hours, are most frequent on mountainous areas near the coast. An instance is given of the geomorphological consequences of a great deluge which struck the Tech valley in the eastern Pyrenees on 17 October 1940. An increased frequency of deluges, probably at times when Alpine glaciers were advancing in the "Little Ice Age" and earlier in the Holocene, in areas known to be tectonically unstable and underlain by soft sediments, could better explain the occurrence of fluvial terraces in Mediterranean Europe sometimes known as the "younger fill", than soil erosion resulting from deforestation.