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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
A Stochastic Sediment Delivery Model For A Steep Mediterranean Landscape, Emmanuel Gabet, Thomas Dunne
A Stochastic Sediment Delivery Model For A Steep Mediterranean Landscape, Emmanuel Gabet, Thomas Dunne
Faculty Publications
It is a truism in geomorphology that climatic events operate on a landscape to drive sediment transport processes, yet few investigations have formally linked climate and terrain characteristics with geomorphological processes. In this study, we incorporate sediment transport equations derived from fieldwork into a computer model that predicts the delivery of sediment from hillslopes in a steep Mediterranean landscape near Santa Barbara, California. The sediment transport equations are driven by rainstorms and fires that are stochastically generated from probability distributions. The model is used to compare the rates and processes of sediment delivery under two vegetation types: coastal sage scrub …
Sediment Transport By Dry Ravel, Emmanuel Gabet
Sediment Transport By Dry Ravel, Emmanuel Gabet
Faculty Publications
Dry ravel is a general term that describes the rolling, bouncing, and sliding of individual particles down a slope and is a dominant hillslope sediment transport process in steep arid and semiarid landscapes. During fires, particles can be mobilized by the collapse of sediment wedges that have accumulated behind vegetation. On a daily basis, particles may be mobilized by bioturbation and by small landslides. Experiments on a dry ravel flume indicate that a basic expression of the momentum equation predicts the distance traveled by particles propelled down a rough surface. This equation is further elaborated to produce a nonlinear slope-dependent …
Sediment Detachment By Rain Power, Emmanuel Gabet, Thomas Dunne
Sediment Detachment By Rain Power, Emmanuel Gabet, Thomas Dunne
Faculty Publications
In interrill areas, overland flow is often incapable of detaching soil particles so detachment is primarily by raindrop impact. We derive a mathematical expression, rain power (R, W m−2), relating the energy expenditure of raindrops impacting a soil surface to the rate of detachment of soil particles. Rain power incorporates rainfall, hillslope, and vegetation characteristics and is modulated by flow depths. Rainfall simulation experiments on natural hillslopes were performed to measure detachment rates and across-slope flow depth distributions in surface runoff. Our results indicate that flow depths follow a Poisson distribution, and this observation is used to develop a dimensionless …