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Wind Erosion (wind + erosion)
Selected AbstractsWind erosion and intensive prehistoric agriculture: A case study from the Kalaupapa field system, Moloka'i Island, Hawai'iGEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 5 2007Mark D. McCoy Wind erosion is a major problem for modern farmers, a key variable affecting nutrient levels in ecosystems, and a potentially major force impacting archaeological site formation; however, it has received scant consideration in geoarchaeological studies of agricultural development compared with more easily quantifiable environmental costs, such as vegetation change or fluvial erosion. In this study, soil nutrient analysis is used in the Kalaupapa field system, Moloka'i Island, Hawai'i, to detect an increase in wind erosion attributable to intensive agriculture following the burning of endemic forest. This practice began on a small scale in the 13th century A.D., expanded around cal A.D. 1450,1550, and continued until the near total abandonment of the fields after European contact in the 18th century. Nutrients that naturally occur in high amounts in coastal windward areas due to the long-term, cumulative effect of sea spray were especially impacted. However, thanks to the unique landform of the Kalaupapa Peninsula, nutrient depletion in windward areas was offset by downwind enrichment and likely contributed to the long-term sustainability of the system as a whole. Future research on tropical and arid agriculture should consider the cumulative environmental cost of increased eolian erosion attributable to anthropogenic landscape modification. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Recent decay of a single palsa in relation to weather conditions between 1996 and 2000 in Laivadalen, northern SwedenGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES A: PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, Issue 2 2002Frieda Sjoukje Zuidhoff This study presents the decay of a small palsa complex between 1996 and 2000 in Sweden's southernmost major palsa bog. The outline of the palsa was mapped during three summers in 1996, 1999 and 2000 and an automatic weather station measured air temperature, precipitation, snow depth, wind speed and wind direction between 1997 and 2000. The decay of the palsa was enormous in the dome,shaped part of the palsa complex: the height decreased during the observation period from 2.3 m to 0.5 m. In 2000, the palsa dome had almost totally disappeared: only some peat blocks in a palsa pond were left. The decay of the palsa was complex with a number of degradational processes, of which the main processes were block erosion, thermokarst and wind erosion. Thermal melting has occurred along the edges of the palsa and possibly below the frozen core of the palsa since 1998/99. Wind erosion was observed during summer and the maximum estimated deflation was 80 cm. The decay of the palsa dome was especially large between 1999 and 2000, probably due to a high mean annual temperature, high summer precipitation and the warming influence of the large pond surrounding the palsa. The present climate in the palsa bog with a mean annual temperature of ,0.8°C is not favourable for palsa development and maintenance, despite a strong wind regime which can provide suitable conditions for snowdrift. [source] Microbiotic crusts as biomarkers for surface stability and wetness duration in the Negev DesertEARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 12 2009Giora J. Kidron Abstract Microbiotic crusts play an important role in arid and semi-arid regions. Yet, very little information exists regarding the factors that impact their development. In an attempt to assess the main factors that may determine their growth, measurements of the amount of fines (silt and clay), rain, moisture content, wetness duration and wind erosion and deposition were carried out along a 12 station transect within a partially crusted dune field in the western Negev Desert and compared to the crust cover and chlorophyll content. Surface stability was the only variable that exhibited significant relationship with crust cover while daylight wetness duration exhibited strong positive relationship (r2 = 0·92,0·99) with the crust's chlorophyll content. The data point out that microbiotic crusts may serve as a useful biomarker for surface stability. While wetness duration and wind will control crust cover and the crust chlorophyll content in semi-stable habitats (with absolute annual change in sand level of 2,3 mm), stable habitats (absolute change <1 mm) will be controlled primarily by moisture, while habitats with low surface stability (absolute change of tens and hundreds of millimeters) will be primarily controlled by wind. Furthermore, owing to the strong positive relationship between daylight wetness duration and the crust's chlorophyll content, the crust may serve as a useful biomarker for the quantification of surface wetness duration. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Windblown dust influenced by conventional and undercutter tillage within the Columbia Plateau, USA,EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 10 2009B. S. Sharratt Abstract Exceedance of the US Environmental Protection Agency national ambient air quality standard for PM10 (particulate matter ,10 µm in aerodynamic diameter) within the Columbia Plateau region of the Pacific Northwest US is largely caused by wind erosion of agricultural lands managed in a winter wheat,summer fallow rotation. Land management practices, therefore, are sought that will reduce erosion and PM10 emissions during the summer fallow phase of the rotation. Horizontal soil flux and PM10 concentrations above adjacent field plots (>2 ha), with plots subject to conventional or undercutter tillage during summer fallow, were measured using creep and saltation/suspension collectors and PM10 samplers installed at various heights above the soil surface. After wheat harvest in 2004 and 2005, the plots were either disked (conventional) or undercut with wide sweeps (undercutter) the following spring and then periodically rodweeded prior to sowing wheat in late summer. Soil erosion from the fallow plots was measured during six sampling periods over two years; erosion or PM10 loss was not observed during two periods due to the presence of a crust on the soil surface. For the remaining sampling periods, total surface soil loss from conventional and undercutter tillage ranged from 3 to 40 g m,2 and 1 to 27 g m,2 while PM10 loss from conventional and undercutter tillage ranged from 0·2 to 5·0 g m,2 and 0·1 to 3·3 g m,2, respectively. Undercutter tillage resulted in a 15% to 65% reduction in soil loss and 30% to 70% reduction in PM10 loss as compared with conventional tillage at our field sites. Therefore, based on our results at two sites over two years, undercutter tillage appears to be an effective management practice to reduce dust emissions from agricultural land subject to a winter wheat,summer fallow rotation within the Columbia Plateau. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The effect of single vegetation elements on wind speed and sediment transport in the Sahelian zone of Burkina FasoEARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 10 2007J. K. Leenders Abstract Soil loss caused by wind erosion is a widespread phenomenon in the Sahelian zone of West Africa. According to Sahelian farmers, scattered vegetation standing in amongst the crop has the potential for a wind erosion control strategy. This study was conducted to study the effect of single vegetation elements on the pattern of average wind speed and sediment transport. This was done by two experiments that were carried out during the rainy seasons of 2002 and 2003 in north Burkina Faso, West Africa. Wind speeds were measured using three sonic anemometers, at a sampling frequency of 16 Hz. Sediment transport was determined by calculating the mass fluxes from 17 MWAC catchers. In this study, a shrub was defined as a vegetation element with branches until ground and a tree as a vegetation element with a distinctive trunk below a canopy. Behind shrubs wind speed near the soil surface was reduced up to approximately seven times the height of the shrub. The observed reduction in wind speed in the area where wind speed was reduced was 15 per cent on average. At the sides of the shrub, wind speed was increased, by on average 6 per cent. As the area of increase in wind speed is one-third of the area of decrease in wind speed, the net effect of a shrub is a reduction in wind speed. A similar pattern was visible for the pattern of sediment transport around a shrub. Downwind of a shrub, sediment transport was diminished up to seven times the height of the shrub. Probably most of this material was trapped by the shrub. Trees showed a local increase of wind around the trunk, which is expected to relate to an increase in sediment transport around the trunk. Mass flux measurements of sediment transport were not made, but visual observations in the field substantiate this. Behind the canopy of a tree, a tree acts similarly to a shrub regarding its effects on average wind speed, but as a tree is generally a larger obstacle than a shrub the extent of this effect is larger than for shrubs. Thus, whereas shrubs are more effective than trees regarding their direct effect on soil loss by trapping sand particles near the soil surface, trees are more effective in affecting soil loss indirectly by reducing the wind speed downwind more effectively than shrubs. Therefore, to reduce soil loss in an area, the presence of both trees and shrubs is crucial. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Mineral soil surface crusts and wind and water erosionEARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 9 2004Michael J. Singer Abstract The ,rst few millimetres of soil largely control the soil's response to the eroding forces of wind and water. The tendency of soils to form surface seals and crusts in,uences the processes of wind and water erosion differently. For wind, dry particle size distribution and particle organization determine the shear strength and threshold wind velocity necessary to initiate particle movement. In loams and clay loams, seals and crusts decrease roughness but increase surface soil strength, generally decreasing wind erosion. Conversely, in sand and sandy loams, loose erodible sandy material may either deposit on the crust and is subject to erosion or it may disrupt the crust, accelerating the erosion process. For water erosion, particle size distribution and structure determine in,ltration rate, time to ponding, and energy required for soil particle detachment. Seals and crusts tend to decrease in,ltration rate and time to ponding thus increasing overland ,ow and soil erosion. This paper brie,y reviews how permanent and time-dependent soil properties in,uence surface seals and crusts and how these affect soil erosion by wind and water. The tendency of a soil to form a seal and crust depends to some degree on the time-dependent property of soil structural stability, which tends to increase with increasing clay content and smectitic mineralogy which are permanent properties. These permanent properties and their effect on structure are variable depending on dynamic properties of exchangeable sodium percentage and soil solution electrical conductivity. Antecedent water content prior to irrigation or rainfall, rate of wetting before an erosive event and aging, the time between wetting and an erosive event, greatly in,uence the response of soil structure to raindrop impact. The effect of these dynamic processes is further in,uenced by the static and dynamic properties of the soil. Weak structure will be less in,uenced by wetting rate than will a soil with strong structure. Process-based models of wind and water erosion need to consider the details of the interactions between soil static and dynamic properties and the dynamic processes that occur prior to erosive events. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Aeolian dust dynamics in agricultural land areas in Lower Saxony, GermanyEARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 7 2001Dirk Goossens Abstract The dynamics of fine aeolian dust emitted from agricultural land was investigated over 15 months near Grönheim, Lower Saxony, Germany. The following aspects were studied: airborne dust concentration, the ratio of mineral versus organic dust, the vertical distribution of the particles in the atmosphere, horizontal and vertically integrated horizontal dust flux, vertical dust flux, dust deposition at ground level, grain-size distribution of the mineral dust component, and vertical distribution of organic matter in the dust. Standard meteorological parameters (wind speed and direction, precipitation) were measured as well. Dust activity in Grönheim is high in spring (March,May) and autumn (October,November) and low to very low during the rest of the year. There is a strong relationship between the periods of tillage and the intensity of dust activity. Also, there is high dust activity during wind erosion events. For the year 1999, dust emission due to tillage was 6·6 times higher than dust emission due to wind erosion. A dust transport of 15·8 ton km,1 a,1 was calculated for the first 10 m of the atmosphere in 1999. Total dust transport (in the entire mixing layer) was estimated between 16 and 20 ton km,1 a,1. About 25,30 per cent of this dust is mineral dust, emitted from the fields during tillage or during wind erosion events. In spring and autumn there is a strong vertical stratification in the airborne sediment, with much (coarse) dust in the lower air layers and significantly less (and finer) dust at higher altitudes. In summer and winter, when there is no local dust production, there is no stratification: equal amounts of dust are transported at all heights. The stratification in spring and autumn is exclusively caused by the mineral part of the dust. The organic particles are much better mixed in the atmosphere because of their lower density. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Recent decay of a single palsa in relation to weather conditions between 1996 and 2000 in Laivadalen, northern SwedenGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES A: PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, Issue 2 2002Frieda Sjoukje Zuidhoff This study presents the decay of a small palsa complex between 1996 and 2000 in Sweden's southernmost major palsa bog. The outline of the palsa was mapped during three summers in 1996, 1999 and 2000 and an automatic weather station measured air temperature, precipitation, snow depth, wind speed and wind direction between 1997 and 2000. The decay of the palsa was enormous in the dome,shaped part of the palsa complex: the height decreased during the observation period from 2.3 m to 0.5 m. In 2000, the palsa dome had almost totally disappeared: only some peat blocks in a palsa pond were left. The decay of the palsa was complex with a number of degradational processes, of which the main processes were block erosion, thermokarst and wind erosion. Thermal melting has occurred along the edges of the palsa and possibly below the frozen core of the palsa since 1998/99. Wind erosion was observed during summer and the maximum estimated deflation was 80 cm. The decay of the palsa dome was especially large between 1999 and 2000, probably due to a high mean annual temperature, high summer precipitation and the warming influence of the large pond surrounding the palsa. The present climate in the palsa bog with a mean annual temperature of ,0.8°C is not favourable for palsa development and maintenance, despite a strong wind regime which can provide suitable conditions for snowdrift. [source] Threshold wind velocity as an index of soil susceptibility to wind erosion under variable climatic conditionsLAND DEGRADATION AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 1 2009Laura A. de Oro Abstract Wind erosion starts when the threshold wind velocity (µt) is exceeded. We evaluated the sensitivity of µt to determine the wind erosion susceptibility of soils under variable climatic conditions. Three years field data were used to calculate µt by means of the equation µt,=,, - , ,,1 (,), where , is the mean wind speed (m,s,1), , the , standard deviation (m,s,1), , the saltation activity and , the standard normal distribution function of ,. Saltation activity was measured with a piezoelectric sensor (Sensit). Results showed that , of the whole studied period (3·41 m,s,1) was lower than µt (7·53,m,s,1), therefore, wind erosion was produced mainly by wind gusts. The µt values ordered in the sequence: Winter (6·10 m,s,1),<,Spring (8·22,m,s,1),=,Summer (8·28,m,s,1),<,Autumn (26·48,m,s,1). Higher µt values were related to higher air humidity and lower wind speeds and temperatures. The µt values did not agree with the erosion amounts of each season, which ordered as follows: Summer (12·88,t ha,1),>,Spring (3·11,t ha,1),=,Winter (0·17,t ha,1),=,Autumn (no erosion). Low µt and erosion amounts of Winter were produced by a scarce number of gusts during eroding storms. We concluded that µt is useful as an index of soil susceptibility to wind erosion of different climatic periods. The use of a unique µt value in wind erosion prediction models can lead to erroneous wind erosion calculations. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Erosion predictions with the Wind Erosion Equation (WEQ) using different climatic factorsLAND DEGRADATION AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 1 2008J. E. Panebianco Abstract Little information is available on the performance of the Wind Erosion Equation (WEQ) for estimating wind erosion under differing climatic conditions. The objective of this study was to assess the fitting of measured and WEQ-estimated wind erosion with different climatic C factors. Results showed that WEQ underestimated the annual wind erosion by 45 per cent when loaded with the historic C, obtained with climatic data records between 1981 and 1990. The monthly averaged C factor (monthly C, n,=,12) underestimated the erosion by 29 per cent, the C factors of each one of the six studied years (annual C, n,=,6) underestimated the erosion by 19 per cent, and the C factors of each one of the evaluated months (monthly C, n,=,72) overestimated the erosion by 31 per cent. Precipitation explained most of C factors variability. C factors corresponding to high precipitation periods predicted low erosion amounts in no-till (NT) and conventional tillage (CT). C factors corresponding to low precipitation periods calculated high erosion rates in CT (143,t,ha,1,y,1) and low in NT (2·4,t,ha,1,y,1). The historical C factor predicted no erosion in NT and 7·1,t,ha,1,y,1 in CT. These results indicated that the WEQ should be used with variable C factors in order to assess different climatic scenarios of the semiarid Argentina. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||