Gullies and badlands of India: Genesis, geomorphology and land management

Majhi, Anindya; Harris, Angela; Evans, Martin; Shuttleworth, Emma

doi:10.1002/esp.5579

Cited by 4 publications

References 226 publications

(609 reference statements)

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Morphological characteristics of permanent gullies and their relationship with topography in two typical agro‐geomorphic regions of Northeast China

Chen,

Song,

Guo

et al. 2024

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Gully erosion poses significant challenges to land degradation and food security. The Mollisols region of Northeast China (MNC) is the main grain‐producing region in China. The low mountainous and hilly region (MFI) and the rolling hilly region (RFI), as the prominent topographic units in MNC, have suffered significantly from severe gully erosion. However, the actual situation and influencing factors of gully erosion in both regions are still unclear. Thus, we selected two field investigation regions of 103.4 km2 in MFI and 123.9 km2 in RFI to obtain a detailed inventory of gullies. Results showed that the gully number density in MFI was 25.7 No. km−2, 8.3 times greater than in RFI. Conversely, the gully average gully length (511.7 m), width (7.8 m) and depth (2.8 m) in RFI were 156.8%, 112.6% and 37.4% greater than those in MFI, respectively. The three types of gullies, developed in different land uses (GF, farmland; GW, woodland; GR, unpaved road), had significantly varying morphologies. In RFI, GF was the longest, and GW was the widest and deepest. Conversely, in MFI, GR was the longest but exhibited the least width and depth. Notably, farmland posed the highest risk of gully erosion in both MFI and RFI, with 74.4% and 89.6% of the gullies developed there, respectively. Topography was the critical factor influencing the differences in gully erosion between the two regions. To effectively control gully erosion, topographic conditions most susceptible to gully erosion should be prioritized for attention, e.g., slopes of 8–10° and 2–4° were the slope intervals most likely to contribute to gully development in MFI and RFI, respectively. We provide the potential for large‐scale prediction of gully erosion. Corresponding prediction models based on gully area were provided and the effectiveness of the predictions was improved by separating different land uses. The study's findings could serve as a valuable foundation for gully erosion control and prediction for MNC.

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Morphological characteristics of permanent gullies and their relationship with topography in two typical agro‐geomorphic regions of Northeast China

Chen,

Song,

Guo

et al. 2024

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Are human activities or climate changes the main causes of soil erosion in the South African drylands?: A palaeo‐perspective from three sites in the interior

Lyons,

Tooth,

Duller

et al. 2024

J Quaternary Science

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Soil erosion across South Africa's drylands occurs widely in the form of gullies and badlands (locally termed dongas) that have developed in colluvium and in valley fills along incised rivers. This erosion has commonly been attributed to land mismanagement, particularly since European settlement, but natural factors such as soil properties, local base level fall and climate change have also been invoked. To disentangle human and natural factors, we use optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, supported by documentary and archaeological evidence, to constrain the timing and causes of donga formation at three widely spaced sites across interior South Africa. At all three sites, the exposed stratigraphy indicates that hillslopes and floodplains underwent net sediment accumulation during most of the late Quaternary, and that present‐day deep erosion is of a magnitude unprecedented probably within at least the past 100 ka. OSL ages indicate that the onset of erosion at each site significantly pre‐dates European incursion and instead was broadly coincident with abrupt climatic changes that occurred during the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA, ~ad 900–1300) and Little Ice Age (LIA, ~ ad 1300–1800). Based on correlation with palaeoclimate proxy records, we propose that erosion was triggered by abrupt hydroclimatic oscillations during the MCA, and continued during the LIA in response to climate‐driven, large floods. At these sites, soil type and local base level falls exert secondary controls on the specific locations, processes, rates and depths of erosion. In other areas of South Africa, clear links between land mismanagement and soil erosion have been demonstrated, but for sites where detailed investigations have yet to be undertaken, these findings challenge an often default assumption that soil erosion is necessarily attributable to human factors. Our findings have significant implications for soil erosion control strategies and assessment of South African dryland landscape response to future climate changes.

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Water Erosion and Mass Movements

Goudie

2023

Landscapes of the Anthropocene With Google Earth

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Gullies and badlands of India: Genesis, geomorphology and land management

Cited by 4 publications

References 226 publications

Morphological characteristics of permanent gullies and their relationship with topography in two typical agro‐geomorphic regions of Northeast China

Morphological characteristics of permanent gullies and their relationship with topography in two typical agro‐geomorphic regions of Northeast China

Are human activities or climate changes the main causes of soil erosion in the South African drylands?: A palaeo‐perspective from three sites in the interior

Water Erosion and Mass Movements

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