Studying soils along a slope, is one of the simplest, yet, most elegant ways to discern spatial interrelationships between soils and topography. The geometry and nature of slopes can be used to define and describe the slope, and can be used as a predictor of soil character on the slope. The characteristics that are used to describe a slope are the factors of gradient, length, aspect, curvature and elevation. These characteristics/factors describe the term catena.
Slope Gradient: is the steepness or inclination of a lope from a horizontal plane. It is used to predict soil patterns. Slope gradient changes along most catenas along flowlines and laterally. For example, a steep slope will cause the rate of movement of water and debris down the slope to be more rapid. Water can either infiltrate or run-off, promoting soil development when it infiltrates and does not when it runs-off, instead it may cause erosion. Therefore, steep slopes are associated with thinner soil profiles and less developed soils. According to Vreeken (1973), less water moves into and through the soil as soil gradient increases.
Slope Length: slope length is directly correlated to erosion potential, and therefore correlates with soil development (Musgrave 1935, Gard and Van Doren 1949).
Slope Aspect: According to Schaetzl and Anderson, slope aspect indicates the compass direction towards which the slope faces, looking downslope. It becomes a major factor in the amount of solar radiation received.
Slope curvature: “sloe curvature refers to the change in aspect along the slope face, and is normally best demonstrated by the manner in which contour lines (lines of equal elevation) bend to curve (Schaetzl and Anderson, 2005).
Slope Elevation: slope elevation affec...
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...y become increasingly important to soil development. Soils impact one another on parts of the landscape especially those downslope. Soils vary along catenas for two main reasons:
The slope affects fluxes of water and matter and water table effects. Fluxes are divided into debris flux (sediment and organics) and moisture flux.
REFERENCES
• Gardiner, D. T. and Raymond, W. M. 2004. Soils in our environment, Pearson Prentice Hall, New Jersey.
• Henry, D. Forth. 1990. Fundamentals of Soil science, John Wiley and Sons
• Knapp B.J.1979. Soil Processes, George Allen & Unwin
• Peter W. Birkeland. (1999) Soils and Geomorphology, Oxford University Press
• Schaetzl, R. and Anderson, S. 2005. Soils: Genesis and Geomorphology, Cambridge University Press.
• Weyman D. And Weyman V.1977. Landscape Processes: An introduction to Geomorphology, George Allen & Unwin
As can be seen from the photo( Image 1), looking downstream, there were steep sections of bank where it appeared the erosive forces of the river when high have cause part of the bank to fall away leaving steep about 1m high drops on the bank with exposed rocky soil visible. The phenomenon also illustrate that it is an alluvial landforms, which will find erosional feature from fluvial
Longshore drift influences the deposition and erosion of sediments. Waves erode the coast and transport the eroded material along the coastline. Over a period of time, the material will be deposited on a beach or form a larger feature such as a spit. Groynes are structures built at equal intervals along the coastline. Their purpose is to restrict longshore drift, preventing coastal erosion.
Of course, you can’t forget the abiotic factors! Basically, just telling a bit more about the landscape. First, we have the physical features. The landscape of the slope impacts plant growth, hurts natural ecosystems by erosion, and unfortunately destroys the homes of animals. Although, animals and structures adapt to the slopes. T...
Mississippi has a variety of different soils .The three general soils are 1) the river flood plain, known as the Delta, 2) a loess region, or bands of soils formed in windblown material that adjoins the Delta, and 3) Coastal Plain. The Mississippi Delta is better for growing row crop, while the loess and Coastal Plain region are better for animal production and forestry. The loess and Coastal Plain regions are divided based on similar soils, geology, climate, water resources, and land use called Major Land Resource Areas. The Mississippi Delta’s soil comes from sediments left by flooding various rivers in the region, rather than being a typical Delta formed by the mouth of a river. In the Delta most of the land is farmed, with three-fourths of the cropland to the north. Controlling surface water and drainage are major soil management issues. In the Delta soils are naturally diverse because of their alluvial origin. Particle sizes within the sediment decrease as distance from the originating stream increase. Another factor in Delta soil formation us surface water movement over time, because soils that formed under standing water have different properties than soils formed under moving water. Soils with large amounts of clay particles have unique features. When the soil is dry, small round aggregates form at the surface that look like shotgun buckshot, which is where the popular name for Delta clay soils “buckshot” came from. Soils with large clay content have very slow water filtration rates; this has led to significant aquaculture and rice production in the region. When floodwaters receded in the Delta, strong winds blew some of the dry sediment left by flooded river to the adjacent uplands to form the loess areas. Because of eas...
A topographic profile is a side view of the land surface that can be constructed from a topographic map (Figure 6-4). Profiles are often exaggerated vertically to show more detail. For example, if the horizontal scale is 1 in = 1,000 ft and the vertical scale is 1 in = 250 ft, the vertical exaggeration would be 1,000/250 = 4.
How does the vegetation surface type affect the amount of runoff? Speculate why this happens.
· Beach Face - is the sharp break of slope that the zone affected by
Soil erosion is a major issue for Australian agriculture and catchment management. The rate of soil production in Australia is very low, and in many areas it is greatly exceeded by the rate of soil loss. Erosion is widespread in Australia, especially the in the
After weighing the soil, we went directly to the determining soil texture by feel test. This test was arguably the easiest of the tests. The group simply held t...
Changes in water transport processes may decrease local slope stability, reduce rainfall infiltration rates, increase soil erodibility, and induce higher water loss and soil erosion problems, leading to an increase in land degradation throughout the continent and potentially altering agricultural production zones (Wei et al. 2009). It is, therefore, likely that this instability will play a crucial role in the occurrence and magnitude of mass movement events, particularly within mountain belts where erosion rates are higher. Hence, climate change will continue to reshape Australia’s alpine regions, as mass movement events lead to physical changes to Australia’s landscape and topography. Increased wind strength will also have a significant impact on the plain-lands of Australia, as well as coastal areas where erosion is on the rise. As a result, physical changes to coastal landscapes will become more pronounced, as sediments and bedrock are increasingly removed from the shoreline. Consequently, it is evident that Australia’s landscape zones will be greatly impacted by changes in climatic conditions, which will thereby alter the effects of lateral transport
In most instances, a combination of the foregoing factors is responsible for any given landscape. In a few cases, tectonism, some special combination of denudational effects, or volcanism may control the entire landform suite. Where tectonism exists in the form of orogenic uplift, the high-elevation topography depends on the nature of denudation. In humid or glacial environments whose geomorphic agencies can exploit lithologic variations, the rocks are etched into mountainous relief like that of the Alps or the southern Andes. In arid orogenic settings, the effects of aggradation and planation often result in alluviated intermontane basins that merge with high plateaus interrupted or bordered by mountains such as the central Andes or those of Tibet and Colorado in the western United States.
Steeper slopes pose increased run-off speeds that can damage the bunds. Such steep slopes require another soil conservation technique such as trenches.
I predict that the as I increase the height of the slope (or the angle
Slope stability is the potential of soil covered slopes to withstand and undergo movement. Stability is determined by the balance of shear stress and shear strength. A previously stable slope may be initially affected by preparatory factors, making the slope conditionally unstable. Triggering factors of a slope failure can be climatic events can then make a slope actively unstable, leading to mass movements. Mass movements can be caused by increase in shear stress, such as loading, lateral pressure, and transient forces. Alternatively, shear strength may be decreased by weathering, changes in pore water pressure, and organic material.
Experts encourage contour farmers to use additional soil and water conservation techniques to supplement the former in order to yield the best results. Such supplements include strip cropping, use of cover crops, use of wind breaks, grassing water ways, and building terraces among others. Strip cropping is good for long and steeper slopes while irregular slopes need more than a single key contour line. In getting the key line, farmers should use a contour gauge or a hand level and thereafter plant parallel to the key line. Grassed waterways are also important especially where there is a high concentration of runoff water while grassed strips come in handy where the contour lines are too sharp for farming equipment to plough. Other techniques to include are growing bush or tree borders across the slopes (vegetative barriers), residue management, and mulching to protect the