Seasonal and spatial variations in infiltration rates in badland surfaces under Mediterranean climatic conditions

Abstract

Abstract. This paper investigates the spatial and temporal variations of infiltration rates on badland landscapes under Mediterranean climatic conditions of the eastern Iberian Peninsula. Soil infiltration was measured under simulated rainfall and by cylinder infiltrometer for typical winter, spring, summer, and autumn conditions. The spatial variability of infiltration within the badland landscapes is determined by the two main geomorphological units: slopes and pediments. Slopes show greater steady state infiltration rates than pediments (averaging 6.6 and 11.9 mm h -•, respectively), but they generate faster runoff and the runoff curves are steeper than on the slopes. For short thunderstorms, pediments generate more runoff because soils on the slopes have a wider and deeper crack network, which favors higher infiltration rates at the beginning of the rainfall. However, for simulated storms of 40 min duration, the runoff rate on the slopes (74.3%) is slightly greater than on the pediments (72.5%) due to their lower steady state infiltration rate. For both slopes and pediments, greater steady state infiltration rates were measured under simulated rainfall (fc) for summer (18.9 and 11.6 mm h-•) than for winter (11.8 and 6.8 mm h-•), spring (

Effects of soil management techniques on soil water erosion in apricot orchards

“…Vegetative cover was determined with 100 pins measurement in each 0.25 m 2 plot, and soil moisture was measured by drying 100 cm 3 ring samples, collected from the surface to 5 cm of depth before the rainfall experiments, at a temperature of 105°C for 24 h. Sediment concentration in the runoff was calculated after the desiccation of the samples in the laboratory. Soil bulk density was measure by means of the ring method (Cerdà, 1999) and soil organic matter after Walkley and Black (1934). The experiments were carried out during the Mediterranean summer drought.…”

Analysis of soil moisture condition under different land uses in the arid region of Horqin sandy land, northern China

“…In general, these processes that take place in soil strongly depend on the quantity and composition of water. In the case of the water infiltration process, soil water content dictates that water flows across the soil surface, reaches the soil profile, or, finally, percolates to recharge aquifers, which is essential to understand the hydrological cycle (Cerdà, 1999).…”

El proceso de filtración en los badlands del Este de la Península Ibérica : avances y retos

“…De hecho, Horton desarrolló su trabajo en base a espacios semiáridos, en los que los badlands no son extraños. Sin embargo, algunos resultados apuntan a que no siempre los badlands se comportan como una superficie impermeable (Cerdà, 1995b), y en ello tiene mucho que ver la presencia de grietas que permiten el flujo en macroporos mientras están abiertas y de tubificaciones o "piping", que es otra característica muy extendida de los badlands (López Bermúdez y Torcal, 1986;Gutiérrez Elorza et al, 1997;Cerdà, 1999a). Además, los cambios en el regolito en los badlands presentan una evolución estacional muy marcada que afectará a los procesos de infiltración (Cerdà y Payà, 1995).…”

“…La infiltración en las laderas de los badlands se produce durante las lluvias y estas son variables en intensidad y volumen, y no se producen encharcamientos superiores a 2-3 mm debido a que los charcos son rápidamente drenados por un relieve que suele ser abrupto y con superficies que están bien organizadas por el drenaje Solé et al, 1997;Cantón et al, 2004). Por ello, se procedió a realizar las mismas mediciones, siempre durante el verano, pero bajo lluvia simulada y en una superficie 2 órde-nes de magnitud mayor (2375,77 cm 2 ) bajo lluvia simulada (Cerdà, 1993b;1997;1999a). Este ha sido un método utilizado por distintos investigadores en distintos espacios (Bryan, 1981;Agassi et al, 1994;Meyer et al, 1994;Arnáez et al, 2007), pero especialmente en badlands donde la escorrentía superficial es abundante (Bryan et al, 1984;Alexander y Calvo, 1990).…”