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Erosion

About: Erosion is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 23478 publications have been published within this topic receiving 585557 citations. The topic is also known as: erosions.


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Book
01 Jan 1978
TL;DR: The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) as discussed by the authors is a model designed to predict the average rate of soil erosion for each feasible alternative combination of crop system and management practices in association with a specified soil type, rainfall pattern and topography.
Abstract: The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) enables planners to predict the average rate of soil erosion for each feasible alternative combination of crop system and management practices in association with a specified soil type, rainfall pattern, and topography. When these predicted losses are compared with given soil loss tolerances, they provide specific guidelines for effecting erosion control within specified limits. The equation groups the numerous interrelated physical and management parameters that influence erosion rate under six major factors whose site-specific values can be expressed numerically. A half century of erosion research in many states has supplied information from which at least approximate values of the USLE factors can be obtained for specified farm fields or other small erosion prone areas throughout the United States. Tables and charts presented in this handbook make this information available for field use. Significant limitations in the data are identified. The USLE is an erosion model designed to compute longtime average soil losses from sheet and rill erosion under specified conditions. It is also useful for construction sites and other non-agricultural conditons, but it does not predict deposition and does not compute sediment yields from gully, streambank, and streambed erosion

6,947 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, data from 280 rivers discharging to the ocean indicates that sediment loads/yields are a log-linear function of basin area and maximum elevation of the river basin.
Abstract: Analysis of data from 280 rivers discharging to the ocean indicates that sediment loads/yields are a log-linear function of basin area and maximum elevation of the river basin. Other factors controlling sediment discharge (e.g., climate, runoff) appear to have secondary importance. A notable exception is the influence of human activity, climate, and geology on the rivers draining southern Asia and Oceania. Sediment fluxes from small mountainous rivers, many of which discharge directly onto active margins (e.g., western South and North America and most high-standing oceanic islands), have been greatly underestimated in previous global sediment budgets, perhaps by as much as a factor of three. In contrast, sediment fluxes to the ocean from large rivers (nearly all of which discharge onto passive margins or marginal seas) have been overestimated, as some of the sediment load is subaerially sequestered in subsiding deltas. Before the proliferation of dam construction in the latter half of this century, rivers...

3,227 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the stream power erosion model in an effort to elucidate its consequences in terms of large-scale topographic (fluvial) relief and its sensitivity to tectonic and climatic forcing.
Abstract: The longitudinal profiles of bedrock channels are a major component of the relief structure of mountainous drainage basins and therefore limit the elevation of peaks and ridges. Further, bedrock channels communicate tectonic and climatic signals across the landscape, thus dictating, to first order, the dynamic response of mountainous landscapes to external forcings. We review and explore the stream-power erosion model in an effort to (1) elucidate its consequences in terms of large-scale topographic (fluvial) relief and its sensitivity to tectonic and climatic forcing, (2) derive a relationship for system response time to tectonic perturbations, (3) determine the sensitivity of model behavior to various model parameters, and (4) integrate the above to suggest useful guidelines for further study of bedrock channel systems and for future refinement of the streampower erosion law. Dimensional analysis reveals that the dynamic behavior of the stream-power erosion model is governed by a single nondimensional group that we term the uplift-erosion number, greatly reducing the number of variables that need to be considered in the sensitivity analysis. The degree of nonlinearity in the relationship between stream incision rate and channel gradient (slope exponent n) emerges as a fundamental unknown. The physics of the active erosion processes directly influence this nonlinearity, which is shown to dictate the relationship between the uplift-erosion number, the equilibrium stream channel gradient, and the total fluvial relief of mountain ranges. Similarly, the predicted response time to changes in rock uplift rate is shown to depend on climate, rock strength, and the magnitude of tectonic perturbation, with the slope exponent n controlling the degree of dependence on these various factors. For typical drainage basin geometries the response time is relatively insensitive to the size of the system. Work on the physics of bedrock erosion processes, their sensitivity to extreme floods, their transient responses to sudden changes in climate or uplift rate, and the scaling of local rock erosion studies to reach-scale modeling studies are most sorely needed.

1,805 citations

Book
01 Jan 1986
TL;DR: In this article, a review of worldwide land degradation problems is presented, focusing on delineating and estimating the magnitude of soil erosion, quantifying erosion and sedimentation impacts on land productivity, establishing quantitative values for erosion-causing parameters, and implementing global and regional soil and water conservation programs.
Abstract: This is a review of worldwide land degradation problems. Four themes are emphasized: delineating and estimating the magnitude of soil erosion, quantifying erosion and sedimentation impacts on land productivity, establishing quantitative values for erosion-causing parameters, and implementing global and regional soil and water conservation programs. Papers deal with both developing and developed countries and illustrate how erosion control techniques used in developed countries can or cannot be applied in developing countries.

1,698 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
20231,911
20223,646
20211,090
20201,104
20191,038
20181,090