:: Volume 12, Issue 41 (7-2018) ::
jwmseir 2018, 12(41): 95-104 Back to browse issues page
Variability of Splash Erosion from Slope Gradient and Soil Properties
Ali Balyani * , Alireza Vaezi , Hadi Emami
Abstract:   (5450 Views)

Soils in arid and semi-arid regions are strongly affected by the accumulation of salts especially carbonates and gypsum. The soils are inherently low in organic matter content and in consequence unstable in the structure which declines the soil’s resistance to water erosion processes. Moreover, the soils are weakly covered with natural vegetation cover which exposes surface soil to erosive factors particularly raindrop impact. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the splash erosion rate in relation to slope gradient in the in soils with different properties. Toward this, twelve soil texture classes were exposed to simulated rainfalls with 40 mm h-1 in intensity for 10-min in four slope gradients (0, 10, 20, and 30%). A total of 144 experimental soil boxes with 25 cm ×35 cm in dimensions were investigated using the completely randomized block design. The results of this study showed that significant difference was found among the soils in splash erosion (P<0.001). Among the soils, the highest splash erosion rate was observed in Silt (244.20 gram m-2), while sand showed the lowest value (65.71 gram m-2). Splash erosion rate was significantly affected by slope gradient Splash erosion showed a decreasing trend from 0 to 10 slope degrees and increasing trend from 10 to 30 slope degrees. Significant correlations were found between splash erosion and sand, clay, geometric mean particle diameter, bulk density, saturated hydraulic conductivity, organic matter, calcium bicarbonate equivalent and gypsum. Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that the splash erosion was significantly related to the Organic matter, Calcium Carbonate Equivalent and gypsum with a coefficient of determination of 0.75. The soil’s susceptibility of arid and semi-arid regions to splash erosion can be initially estimated using a regression equation based on these variables. 

Keywords: Soil texture, Surface Slope, Raindrop impact, Rainfall simulation, Regression equation
Full-Text [PDF 502 kb]   (2049 Downloads)    
Type of Study: Research | Subject: Special
Received: 2016/11/10 | Accepted: 2017/07/24 | Published: 2018/07/19


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Volume 12, Issue 41 (7-2018) Back to browse issues page