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Abstract
Processes contributing to development of ephemeral gully channels are of great importance to landscapes worldwide, and particularly in dryland regions where soil loss and land degradation from gully erosion pose long-term, land-management problems. Whereas gully formation has been relatively well studied, much less is known of the processes that anneal gullies and impede their growth. This work investigates gully annealing by aeolian sediment, along the Colorado River downstream of Glen Canyon Dam in Glen, Marble, and Grand Canyons, Arizona, USA (Figure 1). In this segment of the Colorado River, gully erosion potentially affects the stability and preservation of archaeological sites that are located within valley margins. Gully erosion occurs as a function of ephemeral, rainfall-induced overland flow associated with intense episodes of seasonal precipitation. Measurements of sediment transport and topographic change have demonstrated that fluvial sand in some locations is transported inland and upslope by aeolian processes to areas affected by gully erosion, and aeolian sediment activity can be locally effective at counteracting gully erosion (Draut, 2012; Collins and others, 2009, 2012; Sankey and Draut, 2014). The degree to which specific locations are affected by upslope wind redistribution of sand from active channel sandbars to higher elevation valley margins is termed “connectivity”. Connectivity is controlled spatially throughout the river by (1) the presence of upwind sources of fluvial sand within the contemporary active river channel (e.g., sandbars), and (2) bio-physical barriers that include vegetation and topography that might impede aeolian sediment transport. The primary hypothesis of this work is that high degrees of connectivity lead to less gullying potential.
Study Area
Publication type | Conference Paper |
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Publication Subtype | Conference Paper |
Title | Gully annealing by fluvially-sourced Aeolian sand: remote sensing investigations of connectivity along the Fluvial-Aeolian-hillslope continuum on the Colorado River |
Year Published | 2015 |
Language | English |
Publisher | Joint Federal Interagency Conference |
Contributing office(s) | Southwest Biological Science Center |
Description | 7 p. |
Larger Work Type | Conference Paper |
Larger Work Title | Proceedings of the Joint Federal Interagency Conference 2015 |
Conference Title | Joint Federal Interagency Conference 2015 |
Conference Location | Reno, NV |
Conference Date | April 19-23, 2015 |
Country | United States |
Other Geospatial | Colorado river; Grand Canyon |
Online Only (Y/N) | N |
Additional Online Files (Y/N) | N |
Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |