Soil erosion is a geomorphological and, at the same time, a land degradation process that may cause environmental and property damage, loss of livelihoods and services as well as social and economic disruption. Erosion not only lowers soil quality on-site, but causes also significant sediment-related problems off-site. Given the large number of research papers on this topic, one might therefore conclude that we know now almost everything about soil erosion and its control so that little new knowledge can be added. This conclusion can be refuted by pointing to some major research gaps. There is a need for more research attention to 1) improved understanding of both natural and anthropogenic soil erosion processes and their interactions, 2) scaling up soil erosion processes and rates in space and time, and 3) innovative techniques and strategies to prevent soil erosion or reduce erosion rates. This is illustrated with various case studies from around the world. If future research addresses these research gaps, we will 1) better understand processes and their interactions operating at a range of spatial and temporal scales, predict their rates as well as their on-site and off-site impacts, which is academically spoken rewarding but also crucial for better targeting erosion control measures, and 2) we will be in a better position to select the most appropriate and effective soil erosion control techniques and strategies which are highly necessary for a sustainable use of soils in the Anthropocene.

Soil erosion in the Anthropocene: Research needs

The Anthropocene is a major new concept in the Earth sciences and this book examines the effects on geomorphology within this period. Drawing examples from many different global environments, this comprehensive volume demonstrates that human impact on landforms and land-forming processes is profound, due to various driving forces, including: use of fire; extinction of fauna; development of agriculture, urbanisation, and globalisation; and new methods of harnessing energy. The book explores the ways in which future climate change due to anthropogenic causes may further magnify effects on geomorphology, with respect to future hazards such as floods and landslides, the state of the cryosphere, and sea level. The book concludes with a consideration of the ways in which landforms are now being managed and protected. Covering all major aspects of geomorphology, this book is ideal for undergraduate and graduate students studying geomorphology, environmental science and physical geography, and for all researchers of geomorphology.

Geomorphology in the Anthropocene

This article introduces the term "bombturbation" for cratering of the soil surface and mixing of the soil by explosive munitions, usually during warfare or related activities. Depending on exactly where the explosion occurs (above, on, or below the soil surface), bombturbation excavates a volume of

Introducing "BOMBTURBATION," a Singular Type of Soil Disturbance and Mixing

The land surfaces of Earth, of other planets and of moons show both scalespecific
and scaling behaviour. Size and spacing of landforms often show clustering
around characteristic scales or between limits related to process thresholds or to the space
available. This is clearest for various bedforms, in dynamic equilibrium with the last
dominant flow or several flows. It is also clear for glacial cirques and for some types of
landslides, sinkholes, abyssal hills and volcanoes.
Strong scale-specificity as in cirques may be global. Weaker forms of scale specificity
are also recognised, limited by either material or process variations to regions or to
locales. The implications of global, regional and local scale-specificity are explored.
Even the weaker forms of scale-specificity are not expected on surfaces generated by
fractal models.
The contrast between efficiency of surface flow and of consistently channelled flow
imposes a lower characteristic scale (length of slope, drainage density) on fluvial
erosional topography. The most common horizontal scales observed in the Earth’s
topography are (1) tens or hundreds of m for slopes to (minor) streams; (2) km for major
slopes, relevant to deep bedrock landsliding; and (3) tens to hundreds of km for broader
tectonic and volcanic relief features. The internal properties of the Earth’s lithosphere and
mantle impose limits to relief.
Scaling may involve statistical self-similarity or self-affinity (fractal behaviour)
over a few orders of magnitude, but is bounded by both upper and lower limits. Scaling
is also found, over more limited ranges, for the characteristics of scale-specific features
such as cirques and dunes. Scaling may be isometric (constant shape) or allometric (shape
changes with size). Clear thresholds in the impact cratering process give changes in
morphology and breaks of slope in depth: diameter scaling plots; these vary in orderly
fashion between different planets and moons. Given the number of scale thresholds
evident in geomorphology, it is dangerous to use scaling relationships for extrapolation
beyond the data on which they are based.

https://www.terrapub.co.jp/e-library/ohmori/pdf/061.pdf

Arthur H. Westing

Papers

The Cratering of Indochina