ARS | Publication request: SEDIMENT SIZE CHARACTERISTICS UNDER DIFFERENT SURFACE CONDITIONS

Submitted to: American Society of Agronomy
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: October 26, 1997
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Considerable effort to quantify sediment delivery has been conducted, but much less information is available on sediment size distributions and their relationships to soil condition and sediment regime during rainfall events. This study was designed to quantify sediment size characteristics at different positions along a hillslope under various rainfall and surface conditions. A two-box system, consisting of a lower 5-m long study box and an upper 1.8-m sediment source box, was designed. These two boxes can be set at different slopes, seepage or drainage conditions and rained at different intensities. This setup allows us to simulate surface and subsurface hydrologic conditions of a 5-m slope segment anywhere on the hillslope. Runoff samples were sieved during rainfall events. Sediment size data, along with total sediment delivery, were analyzed and related to soil erosion processes at different surface conditions and hillslope positions.