Ephemeral gully erosion in northwestern Spain
This study aimed to describe types of ephemeral gullies and to determine their origin, evolution and importance as sediment sources in A Coruña province (northwest Spain). Ephemeral gullies and/or rills have been measured in a representative sample of medium-textured soils, most prone to crusting, d...
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| Published in: | Catena (Giessen) Vol. 50; no. 2; pp. 199 - 216 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier B.V
2003
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | This study aimed to describe types of ephemeral gullies and to determine their origin, evolution and importance as sediment sources in A Coruña province (northwest Spain). Ephemeral gullies and/or rills have been measured in a representative sample of medium-textured soils, most prone to crusting, developed over basic schist. This sample consisted of 11 small sites, ranging from 0.63 to 7.34 ha. A case study of concentrated (rill+gully) erosion in a 0.47-ha catchment with coarse-textured soils developed over granite was also reported. The mean slope of the sites studied ranged from 6.1% to 16.8%. Main periods when soil surface was poorly covered were late spring (maize seedbeds) and late autumn–early winter (grassland and winter cereal seedbeds). Case studies where fields were left bare in winter were also investigated. Soil incision and channel formation were observed even with relatively low rainfall intensities when the soil surface was sealed, but also after a single short intense rainfall event on recently tilled surfaces. Concentrated erosion took place mainly on seedbeds and newly tilled soils in late spring and by autumn or early winter, but gullies also appeared in other seasons when the soil surface was left bare. In most of the cases studied, ephemeral gully erosion caused significant soil losses, ranging between 2 and 5 m
3/ha for a single season to locally, over 25 m
3/ha. Gully development was significantly affected by agricultural operations, such as lineal elements often acting as initial axes of concentrated erosion. Main gullies tended to reappear at the same position. |
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| Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
| ISSN: | 0341-8162 1872-6887 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/S0341-8162(02)00139-X |