Distributed discharge and sediment concentration predictions in the sub‐humid Ethiopian highlands: the Debre Mawi watershed

Experimental research in the Ethiopian highlands found that saturation excess induced runoff and erosion are common in the sub‐humid conditions. Because most erosion simulation models applied in the highlands are based on infiltration excess, we, as an alternative, developed the Parameter Efficient Distributed (PED) model, which can simulate water and sediment fluxes in landscapes with saturation excess runoff. The PED model has previously only been tested at the outlet of a watershed and not for distributed runoff and sediment concentration within the watershed. In this study, we compare the distributed storm runoff and sediment concentration of the PED model against collected data in the 95‐ha Debre Mawi watershed and three of its nested sub‐watersheds for the 2010 and 2011 rainy seasons. In the PED model framework, the hydrology of the watershed is divided between infiltrating and runoff zones, with erosion only taking place from two surface runoff zones. Daily storm runoff and sediment concentration values, ranging from 0.5 to over 30 mm and from 0.1 to 35 g l^?1, respectively, were well simulated. The Nash Sutcliffe efficiency values for the daily storm runoff for outlet and sub‐watersheds ranged from 0.66 to 0.82, and the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency for daily sediment concentrations were greater than 0.78. Furthermore, the model uses realistic fractional areas for surface and subsurface flow contributions, for example between saturated areas (15%), degraded areas (30%) and permeable areas (55%) at the main outlet, while close similarity was found for the remaining hydrology and erosion parameter values. One exception occurred for the distinctly greater transport limited parameter at the actively gullying lower part of the watershed. The results suggest that the model based on saturation excess provides a good representation of the observed spatially distributed runoff and sediment concentrations within a watershed by modelling the bottom lands (as opposed to the uplands) as the dominant contributor of the runoff and sediment load. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Paraglacial response of steep,sediment‐mantled slopes to post‐‘Little Ice Age’ glacier recession in the central Swiss Alps

This research assesses the morphological consequences of recent (post‐‘Little Ice Age’) paraglacial reworking of valley‐side sediment mantles in the European Alps. It aims to identify the extent and conditioning factors of slope adjustment at sites in the Swiss Alps, model the temporal pattern, and assess the rates of sediment reworking involved. Gully systems have cut into steep, high‐level lateral moraines, and debris cones have accumulated downslope. Debris flow is the dominant agent of sediment transfer. Factors controlling the extent of this activity include moraine slope gradient, relief and moisture availability. Gullies appear to have reached their maximum dimensions within ca. 50 yr of deglaciation, after which gully relief is reduced by removal of inter‐gully slopes and gully infilling (within 80–140 yr). On the most recently deglaciated terrain, minimum erosion rates average ca. 95 mm yr^?1 since gully initiation, greatly exceeding ‘normal’ erosion rates in other environments. Mean annual accumulation of a single debris cone since ice retreat was calculated to be ca. 30 mm yr^?1. Implications of these findings are applied to patterns of paraglacial sediment‐mantled slope adjustment, conceptualising paraglacial landscape response in terms of a sediment release exhaustion model, and paraglacial landform succession. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

地震与强降雨作用下堆积体滑坡变形破坏机理及防治方案分析

位于西南山地堆积体滑坡常受到地震和强降雨的双重作用,查明此类滑坡变形破坏机理是地质灾害防治和风险防控的基础。文章的研究对象是鲜水河断裂带附近的炉霍县马居滑坡。研究表明,地震作用对位于斜坡地带堆积体滑坡体结构损伤明显,不但使滑坡整体稳定性下降,还促使坡体内裂隙大量发育,利于降雨入渗,进一步恶化滑坡的水文地质条件。强降雨形成的大规模洪水和泥石流下切坡脚沟道,牵引滑坡体整体向下。长历时强降雨入渗影响坡体稳定性,且在降雨结束后较长时间持续影响坡体稳定性。因此,对此类滑坡防治的对策应考虑坡脚防护和抗滑支挡设置。在对防治方案的有效性分析后,表明防护方案在极端条件下仍然能保障安全性,达防治和风险管控的目的。     

汶川县绵虒镇板子沟“8·20”大型泥石流堵河特征及危害性预测

汶川地震后,板子沟曾发生过多次大规模泥石流,尤其是2019年“8·20”泥石流对沟口的道路桥梁以及村寨造成了严重的破坏,将主河道向对岸严重挤压,今后仍存在较大堵河的风险。文章在野外调查以及对泥石流基本特征和形成条件综合分析的基础上,分析了堵河特征,计算了不同频率下泥石流的堵河参数,并预测了各频率下溃决洪水对绵虒镇可能产生的影响。计算结果表明,频率为2％、5％和10％的泥石流造成岷江堵塞的可能性较小,假设发生堵河事件,绵虒镇也不会受到溃坝洪水的危害。频率为1％的泥石流很可能造成主河堵塞。体积约57.38×104 m3的泥石流物质可以到达岷江,形成高度约为51.61 m的堰塞坝。在主河洪水的作用下,堰塞坝发生溃坝,溃坝洪水的峰值流量为5 935.49 m3/s,到达绵虒镇后降至2 312.25 m3/s。由于相应的洪水深度（4.00 m）大于防护堤的高度（3.50 m）,因此溃坝洪水很可能会对绵虒镇防护堤附近民房造成破坏。为今后大型泥石流堵河特征的分析,以及溃决洪水对下游城镇可能造成的影响提供了参考。     

狭陡型泥石流成灾特征与防治对策研究——以阿坝州金川县刘家沟泥石流为例

刘家沟位于四川省阿坝州金川县,是一条狭陡型高频泥石流沟,每年雨季,降雨激发泥石流灾害链。本文在野外调查和实地勘测的基础上,分析认为,受汶川MS8.0地震扰动,刘家沟形成流通区单位面积上松散固体物质达98.11×10⁴ m³,在409.8‰的平均纵坡降下,泥石流活动频率明显增强,泥石流沿程放大效应明显,最终形成了降雨+径流侵蚀-滑坡-堰塞体-堰塞体溃决-增大的泥石流-堵河形成堰塞湖-卡撒沟中、下游损害的灾害链。提出采用格宾石笼进行固坡护床,结合拦挡坝拦粗排细的作用,根据保护对象设置防护堤,优化排导槽与主河交汇条件的综合治理措施,可为小流域高频狭陡型泥石流灾害的治理提供参考。     

黄土丘陵沟壑区地形复杂度分析

针对黄土丘陵沟壑区地形复杂度难以准确量化的问题,该文提出了基于区统计的评价方法,采用地形分析方法提取坡度、地势起伏度、地表切割深度,沟壑密度等地形因子,应用区统计法、变异系数法对研究区地形复杂度进分析评价。结果表明:彭阳县地形复杂度的空间分布特征与坡度、地势起伏度、地表切割深度的变化规律相似,中复杂区域和高复杂区域所占面积较大,且存在明显的分异规律;基于1:50 000数字高程模型数据的地形复杂度提取与分析方法能够快速有效地获取研究区地形地貌信息,为黄土丘陵沟壑区流域治理、土地规划、地形及景观格局的分区和尺度推绎等研究提供依据。     

Effect of subsurface water level on gully headcut retreat in tropical highlands of Ethiopia

Gully erosion is a major cause of soil loss and severe land degradation in sub-humid Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to investigate the role and the effect of subsurface water level change on gully headcut retreat, gully formation and expansion in high rainfall tropical regions in the Ethiopian highlands. During the rainy seasons of 2017–2019, the expansion rate of 16 fixed gullies was measured and subsurface water levels were measured by piezometers installed near gully heads. During the study period, headcut retreats ranged from 0.70 to 2.35 m, with a mean value of 1.49 ± 0.56 m year⁻¹, and average depth of the surface water level varied between 1.12 and 2.82 m, with a mean value of 2.62 m. Gully cross-section areas ranged from 2.90 to 20.90 m², with an average of 9.31 ± 4.80 m². Volumetric retreat of gully headcuts ranged from 4.49 to 40.55 m³ and averaged 13.34 ± 9.10 m³. Soil loss from individual gullies ranged from 5.79 to 52.31 t year⁻¹ and averaged 17.21 ± 11.74 t year⁻¹. The headcut retreat rate and sediment yield were closely related over the three study seasons. Elevated subsurface water levels facilitated the slumping of gully banks and heads, causing high sediment yield. When the soil was saturated, bank collapse and headcut retreat were favoured by the combination of elevated subsurface water and high rainfall. This study indicates that area exclosures are effective in controlling subsurface water level, thus reducing gully headcut retreat and associated soil loss.     

Model prediction capacity of ephemeral gully evolution in conservation tillage systems

Ephemeral gully (EG) erosion has an important impact on agricultural soil losses and increases field surface hydrology connectivity and transport of pollutants to nearby water bodies. Watershed models including an EG component are scarce and not yet properly evaluated. The objective of this study is to evaluate the capacity of one such tool, AnnAGNPS, to simulate the evolution of two EG formed in a conservation tillage system. The dataset for model testing included runoff measurements and EG morphological characteristics during 3 years. Model evaluation focused on EG evolution of volume, width, and length model outputs, and included calibration and testing phases and a global sensitivity analysis (GSA). While the model did not fully reproduce width and length, the model efficiency to simulate EG volume was satisfactory for both calibration and testing phases, supporting the watershed management objectives of the model. GSA revealed that the most sensitive factors were EG depth, critical shear stress, headcut detachment exponent coefficient b, and headcut detachment leading coefficient a. For EG outputs the model was additive, showing low sensitivity to interactions between the inputs. Prediction of EG spatial evolution on conservation tillage systems requires improved development of gully erosion components, since many of the processes were developed originally for traditional tillage practices or larger channel systems. Our results identify the need for future research when EG form within conservation tillage systems, in particular to study gully headcut, soil erodibility, and width functions specific to these practices.     

Spatially distributed modelling of soil erosion and sediment yield at regional scales in Spain

Initiated by the need to quantify erosion rates and the impacts of global changes on erosion, several attempts have been made to apply erosion models at regional scales. However, these models have often been directed towards on-site soil erosion estimates, emphasising sheet and rill erosion processes, and disregarding gully erosion, channel erosion and sediment transport. These models are therefore of limited use for the assessment of sediment yield, off-site impacts of erosion, and for the development of environmental management to control these impacts at regional scale. This study analyses and compares three spatially distributed models for the prediction of soil erosion and/or sediment yield at regional scales: the WATEM-SEDEM model that is based on the empirical Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) in combination with a sediment transport equation, the physics-based Pan European Soil Erosion Risk Assessment model (PESERA), and a newly developed Spatially Distributed Scoring model (SPADS). The three models were applied to 61 Spanish drainage basins and model predictions were evaluated against data on measured reservoir sedimentation rates. Global data sets on land use, climate, elevation and soil characteristics were used as model input for WATEM-SEDEM and SPADS, whereas published soil erosion estimates of PESERA at 1 km² resolution were used directly. SPADS and WATEM-SEDEM provided best results after separate calibration for basins with a Sediment Delivery Ratio (SDR) higher than 5% and those with an SDR lower than 5%. In this way, SPADS explained 67% of variation in sediment yield, while WATEM-SEDEM explained 48% of the variation. PESERA represents a promising alternative to the use of empirical models at the regional scale as it can be applied to very diverse environments with little calibration. However, PESERA provides soil erosion rates and not sediment yield estimates. For most basins PESERA soil erosion rates vary between fifty and close to zero percent of total sediment yield. Two major factors may explain this discrepancy between modelled soil erosion rates and measured sediment yield. First, it may be that PESERA underestimates soil erosion under Mediterranean conditions, although PESERA soil erosion rates are of the same order of magnitude as erosion rates measured in erosion plot studies. Second, gully-, river channel erosion and sediment transport processes may be much more important than sheet- and rill erosion for regional scale sediment yield in these environments. These issues therefore require further attention in future model development. Although spatially lumped models provide better predictions of sediment yield at the basin scale, and while validation of the predicted spatial patterns of sources and sinks of sediment requires further research, spatially distributed models are expected to be of value to support management decisions regarding the assessment of on-site and off-site impacts of erosion at the regional scale.     

黄土高原沟谷地貌发育演化研究进展与展望

黄土沟谷是黄土地貌中最有活力、最具变化、最富特色的对象单元,黄土高原千沟万壑的地貌形态以及触目惊心的侵蚀状态也让区域内沟谷地貌的形成、发育及演化问题成为研究中焦点及前沿性科学问题。近年来,诸多学者采用地学测年法、特征表达法、监测模拟法力图实现对黄土沟谷发育演化进程中“过去-现代-未来”的科学认知。这些研究在相当程度上丰富了黄土沟谷发育过程的认知。本文梳理了黄土高原沟谷地貌演化相关研究的现状,并从黄土高原地貌演化、黄土沟谷发育、基于DEM的沟谷信息提取与表达等研究进行了系统的回顾、梳理与分析。此外,本文提出“黄土沟道剖面群组”概念与方法,试图从新的视角审视黄土沟谷地貌发育演化过程。沟道剖面在黄土沟谷发育演化进程中传递物质能量和累积地形动力,并通过径流节点的串联实现剖面群的连接与组合,形成独特的剖面“群组”模式;该沟道剖面群组是集黄土沟谷地貌特征与过程于一体的综合信息集成体,其三维空间结构是对黄土沟谷地貌发育演化的高度抽象与映射,并可望进一步丰富黄土高原数字地形分析理论与方法体系,为黄土高原黄土地貌成因机理与空间分异格局带来创新的认识。