A model of equilibrium bed topography for meander bends with erodible banks

Channel curvature produces secondary currents and a transverse sloping channel bed, along which the depth increases towards the outer bank. As a result deep pools tend to form adjacent to the outer bank, promoting bank collapse. The interaction of sediment grains with the primary and secondary flow and the transverse sloping bed also causes meanders to move different grain sizes in different proportions and directions, resulting in a consistent sorting pattern. Several models have been developed to describe this process, but they all have the potential to over‐predict pool depth because they cannot account for the influence of erodible banks. In reality, bank collapse might lead to the development of a wider, shallower cross‐section and any resulting flow depth discrepancy can bias associated predictions of flow, sediment transport, and grain‐size sorting. While bed topography, sediment transport and grain sorting in bends will partly be controlled by the sedimentary characteristics of the bank materials, the magnitude of this effect has not previously been explored. This paper reports the development of a model of flow, sediment transport, grain‐size sorting, and bed topography for river bends with erodible banks. The model is tested via intercomparison of predicted and observed bed topography in one low‐energy (5·3 W m^?2 specific stream power) and one high‐energy (43·4 W m^?2) study reach, namely the River South Esk in Scotland and Goodwin Creek in Mississippi, respectively. Model predictions of bed topography are found to be satisfactory, at least close to the apices of bends. Finally, the model is used in sensitivity analyses that provide insight into the influence of bank erodibility on equilibrium meander morphology and associated patterns of grain‐size sorting. The sensitivity of meander response to bank cohesion is found to increase as a function of the available stream power within the two study bends. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

GIS支持下的山东省土壤侵蚀空间特征分析

利用遥感（RS）技术提取土壤侵蚀信息，在地理信息系统（GIS）支持下，借助数据库管理系统（DBMS），建立空间数据库和属性数据库；以县级行政区域为综合分析单元，计算土壤侵蚀强度综合评价指数并进行分级处理，对山东省土壤侵蚀空间特征进行分析。     

分布式侵蚀预报模型中网格面积的选定——以黄土高原丘陵沟壑区为例

在分布式土壤侵蚀过程模型中 ,承载数据以及进行运算的最小单元 ,即基本地块的选取是非常关键的 ,它直接关系到模型的模拟精度和运算数据量。目前大多数分布式模型都采用平均布设矩形网格的方法 ,这种方法在基本网格的大小选取上存在着盲目性和不统一性。本文以黄土高原丘陵沟壑区为例 ,利用GIS和SPSS分析了黄土高原丘陵沟壑区属性均一的基本地块在面积上的统计规律 ,给出了基本地块选取的合理依据 ,以促进建立更好的分布式模型     

我国低山丘陵区水土流失生态环境背景分析

我国是一个以山地为主的国家，山地多为大江大河的源头，而低山丘陵为这些大江大河支流的发源地，这些区域的水土流失必然会带来环境问题。本文以TM影象为数据源，以GIS为技术支撑，从DEM中获取低山丘陵层，以此为MASK层，提取水土流失及相应的生态环境背景各层，包括土地利用、坡度、年降水、积温、植被等生态背景层，这些背景层是多年数据的平均，然后把水土流失层与环境背景各层分别叠加，分析不同环境背景下水土流失状况，从而为治理水土流失提出科学依据。     

云南省金沙江流域水土流失基本特征分析

在应用新近建立的云南金沙江流域土壤流失方程测算该流域各县(市、区)年均土壤流失总量和各地类年均 土壤流失量基础上,分析了该流域水土流失的总体特征、各地类水土流失特征和不同坡度级坡耕地的水土流失特 征,为因地制宜地防治水土流失提供了依据。     

Soil degradation: a global problem endangering sustainable development

1 Introduction Soil is not only the major natural resource on which human being depends for the production of food, feed, fiber, renewable energy and raw materials, but also plays a key role in maintaining the complex terrestrial ecosystems and climate systems of this planet. Recent rapid increase in the human population is placing a great strain on the worlds soil resources. Only about 11% of the global land surface covered by the soils are being used to raise crops and livestock, in other …     

History and necessity: the evolution of soil conservation technology in a Jamaican farming system

The soil conservation campaigns that have been a prominent feature of Jamaican agricultural policy since the 1950s are frequently presented as having failed to ameliorate the problem of soil erosion in hillside agriculture. A case study of a small farming community in the Blue Mountains explores the development of the soil conservation practices currently employed by farmers. The use of trash barriers in carrot farming is described and the origins of this technology and its subsequent adaptation are considered. The study concludes that extension interventions and government policy have influenced the development of current soil conservation practices; practices which have their roots in indigenous techniques. Other factors such as the adaptation of trash barriers to suit local conditions and their importance in soil fertility management also play a role in their widespread use in the study area. The study demonstrates that to understand the process of technical change in farming communities, it is necessary to consider a range of factors, external and internal, technical and social, that have over time influenced farmers' decision making.     

Erosion response to anthropogenic activity and climatic changes during the Holocene: case studies in northwestern China and southern Norway

Soil erosion assessment and prediction play critical roles in addressing problems associated with erosion control or soil conservation. The past dynamics of soil erosion can provide valuable information for us to understand the relations of soil erosion to environmental change and anthropogenic activity. The present paper has compared Holocene climatic changes in northwestern China with those in southern Norway, and investigated the past dynamics of erosion activity during the Holocene. Modern soil erosion on the Loess Plateau is a combination of the intensive natural erosion and human-induced erosion, the latter being four times greater than the former. Because of global warming and increasing human activities, climate on the Loess Plateau is becoming dryer and more unstable, causing an enhanced erosion problem and water scarcity. In the arctic-alpine region of southern Norway, however, the global warming and regional wetting caused expansion of the largest European ice cap. This has accentuated the erosion in that region, with a higher frequency of avalanches and debris flows.     

西藏自治区土壤侵蚀特点及现状

西藏自治区地域辽阔,土壤侵蚀复杂多样。本文在野外调查的基础上,对西藏自治区土壤侵蚀特点作了全面论述,并对西藏自治区不同类型土壤侵蚀区的土壤侵蚀现状做了较全面的分区评价。同时取雅江中游地区19个县作为典型区域,利用1999年1:20万TM遥感图像土壤侵蚀解译结果,对该典型区域的土壤侵蚀现状作了定量评价。最后根据评价结果,对西藏自治区土壤侵蚀的发展趋势做了预测。     

Exploring some relationships between biological soil crusts, soil aggregation and wind erosion

A portable wind tunnel was used to test the contribution of biological and physical elements to overall soil aggregation on a soil dominated by biological soil crusts in south-eastern Australia. After moderate disturbance and simulated wind erosion, 90% of surface aggregates on the loamy soil and 76% on the sandy soil were dominated by biological elements (cryptogams). Lower levels of biological bonding were observed on the severely disturbed treatment. Linear regression indicated a significant positive relationship (r²=0·72) between biological soil crust cover and dry aggregation levels greater than 0·85mm. To maintain sediment transport below an erosion control target of 5gm⁻¹s⁻¹ for a 65kmh⁻¹ wind at 10m height, a crust cover of approximately 20% is required. When a multiple regression model which sequentially fitted biological crust cover and dry aggregation greater than 0·85mm was applied to the data, dry aggregation accounted for more of the variation in sediment transport rate than biological crust cover. These data were used to develop a conceptual model which integrates crust cover and dry aggregation, and provides a useful framework within which to predict the likely impacts of changes in soil crust cover and aggregation.