摘要:

AbstractScanning electron microscopy reveals thatLecidea auriculatapenetrates rock surfaces, detaching, incorporating and expelling flakes of rock. Measurements on an age sequence of moraine ridges illustrate changes in the extent and intensity of weathering over time. A minimum rate of surface lowering (0·0012 mm a−1) is 25 to 50 times faster than weathering due to other processes in the same area. The spatial pattern of weathering is influenced by the narrow ecological range of the species. Surface rocks on dry, exposed sites are probably weathering much more rapidly than those in adjacent damp hollows and beneath snowpatch

ISSN:0197-9337    

DOI:10.1002/esp.3290200302

出版商:John Wiley&Sons, Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractSurface stones are a common feature of desert hillslopes. They influence slope processes ranging from the interception and partitioning of rainwater to the dislodgement and transport of regolith particles. The aspects of a stone mantle which relate to these various influences are diverse, and include surface cover fraction, dimensions of the infiltration annulus, and geometric and packing effects.Analyses of the characteristics of stone cover at two study sites were made using photographic methods and are used to evaluate different means of reporting mean stone sizes. It is found that mean diameter based on weight, as conventionally employed in sieve analysis, is insensitive to important stone cover characteristics and may be influenced greatly by uncommon, large stones. Similarly, mean diameters based on count become inappropriate if large numbers of small stones dominate the calculated mean, concealing other site‐to‐site differences in stone cover. As a more appropriate parameterization of stone geometry, the use of mean diameters weighted by stone surface area and perimeter length are proposed. These weighting factors have the advantage that they relate closely to stone characteristics relevant to slope hydrology and erosion proces

ISSN:0197-9337    

DOI:10.1002/esp.3290200303

出版商:John Wiley&Sons, Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractIn the first part of this project, the extent to which moisture content of alluvial soils could be predicted from imagery derived from an airborne thematic mapper (ATM) was investigated. From sampling done on the same day as the flight, it was found that digital numbers derived from the thermal channel (waveband 11) were strongly correlated with gravimetric moisture content. From sampling three fields of contrasting land cover, the relationship between waveband 11 values and moisture content was found to be independent of land cover type. Spatial variation in waveband 11 values and thus moisture content were related to palaeochannel patterns on the alluvial land. This was investigated by deriving variograms for long transects from each of the three investigated fields. The range and sills of the variograms are shown to express the nature and pattern of palaeochannels. By the application of such geostatistical techniques, high resolution imagery can thus be used to quantify palaeochannel characteristics on alluvial land.

ISSN:0197-9337    

DOI:10.1002/esp.3290200304

出版商:John Wiley&Sons, Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractRecent research in geomorphology has considered the significance of progressive pedogenesis and climatic change to slope failure initiation for the Holocene, using physically based models. To date, the significance of vegetation change to slope stability has been largely unexplored through modelling, since available physically based models cannot consider vegetation effects directly. To address the existing deficiency this paper adapts, parameterizes and applies a physically based model of slope hydrology and stability to the combined effect of vegetation change and progessive pedogenesis on slope failure initiation. There is considerable debate in the literature concerning the relative significance of climatic change and vegetation modification to slope failure initiation in the Holocene. This paper uses the model to provide additional evidence for situations in which either climatic or vegetation change is significant to slope failure, depending on the prevailing degree of soil development. The results indicate that young podsols appear to be stable under all the climatic and vegetation conditions considered, but mature podsols may be susceptible to failure. Both climate and vegetation influence slope stability, but their relative significance depends on the stage of soil development. In particular, the stability of young soils is influenced considerably by vegetation, while climate assumes greater significance in mature soils. It is recognized that this conclusion is limited to freely draining podsol profiles, and that more research is needed to consider other soil type and vegetation combinations.

ISSN:0197-9337    

DOI:10.1002/esp.3290200305

出版商:John Wiley&Sons, Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractField observations of shoreline conditions at Hyrum Reservoir, Utah, were conducted during the summers of 1991 to 1993. A process of bluff retreat is described for a multiple‐layered bluff environment of sand and clay layers. Failure is initiated by wetting and drying of clay sediments, which produces horizontal cracks within bluff material. These cracks appear to penetrate to a depth of approximately 100‐150 mm before initiating vertical cracking in the sediments. The vertical cracks are propagated by continued drying of the surface sediment, ultimately leading to failure of the bluff material. The physical dimensions of sediment blocks succumbing to this mechanism range from a few hundred millimetres up to 3 m on a side, with a depth of approximately 100‐150 mm. The mechanism described here appears to operate optimally when the supply of subsurface moisture is abundant and nearly continuous throughout the spring and early summer. Reservoir draw‐down, large capillary fringe effects in the bluff and periodic wetting from upslope undrained hollows are the dominant moisture controls at this site. Moisture delivery to the face is strongly influenced by anisotropy of saturated hydraulic conductivity in the alternating clay and sand layers and related differences in sediment

ISSN:0197-9337    

DOI:10.1002/esp.3290200306

出版商:John Wiley&Sons, Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThe concept of dynamic equilibrium has provided geomorphologists with a challenging paradigm for studying landform evolution but quantitative evidence for its existence has proved illusive, particularly for complex geomorphological systems. The authors believe that the principle has now been verified through the application of the ‘archival photogrammetric technique’ to a sequence of historical photographs spanning 50 years of process at the Black Ven mudslide complex in Dorset, U.K.The principles and limitations of the archival photogrammetric technique are described. The method is applied to oblique and vertical aerial photographs of Black Ven at five epochs, commencing in 1946, continuing at approximately 10 year intervals until 1988. The technique is used to generate plans/contours/sections and a dense and accurate digital elevation model (DEM) of the whole site at each epoch. This is used to generate ‘DEMs of difference’ and a ‘distribution of slope angle’ which suggest that the mudslides are in equilibrium despite the removal of 200 000 m3of sediment between 1958 and 1988. Extrapolation of the slope distribution through time suggests that the frequency of an episodic landform change model at Black Ven may be approximate

ISSN:0197-9337    

DOI:10.1002/esp.3290200307

出版商:John Wiley&Sons, Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractA simple model of raindrop erosion—the combined effects of the detachment of sediment by raindrops and its transport by splash or by overland flow—is developed to examine the role of this process in the formation of desert pavements. Application of the model to soils in areas of existing pavement initially simulates the formation of pavements, but the changing sediment size distributions lead to the subsequent destruction of these modelled surfaces. An improved model that accounts for the feedback effects of the changing size distributions on infiltration and microtopography is then developed. Incorporating these effects allows simulated pavements to be maintained over longer periods. The model yields desert pavements whose particle size compositions differ in response to differences in initial soil characteristics, slope and rainfall intensity. This model is tested against empirical data from a site where there is intershrub pavement and associated mounds of fines beneath desert shrubs. The results successfully predict the accumulation of fines under shrubs but underestimate the development of the pavement between shrubs. These findings suggest that the raindrop erosion mechanism on its own cannot account for the development of the pavement and that some other mechanism leading to the surface concentration of coarse particles must also be operat

ISSN:0197-9337    

DOI:10.1002/esp.3290200308

出版商:John Wiley&Sons, Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0197-9337    

DOI:10.1002/esp.3290200301

出版商:John Wiley&Sons, Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY