Abstract
Purpose
How to predict gully erosion rates was one of the most important issues at present. A model implemented in the Channel Hillslope Integrated Landscape Development (CHILD) model based on the shape factor (Sf) of the plunge pools, which successfully predicted the headcut retreat rates over a long timescale. But whether this model was also valid in the short-term scale? What factors affected the prediction effects of the model? These issues still need evaluation.
Material and method
Four gully head plots with consistent initial topography and soil types were constructed for conducting in-situ scouring experiments with different flow discharges. Eighteen tests were conducted in each plot to monitor the plunge pool growth and headcut retreat rates using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to create high-precision topographic data.
Results and discussion
The topographic parameters of the plunge pools generally increased with scouring duration and were strongly correlated with the total runoff energy consumption (0.55 < R2 < 0.92, P < 0.01). In contrast, headcut retreat was an intermittent process that suddenly migrated in a short time after relatively long stable periods lasting from 20 to 130 min. The relationships between the headcut retreat rates and total energy consumption were weaker than those with the plunge pools.
Conclusion
As the timescale shortened, the contribution of mass failure due to gravity to headcut migration significantly increased, leading to the pool effects of the model to influence the prediction of the gully headcut retreat rates, which assumed that flow hydraulics were the key dynamics.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Al-Madhhachi AT, Hanson GJ, Fox GA et al (2013) Measuring soil erodibility using a laboratory “mini” jet. Trans ASAE 56:901–910. https://doi.org/10.13031/trans.56.9742
Alonso CV, Bennett SJ, Stein OR (2002) Predicting head cut erosion and migration in concentrated flows typical of upland areas. Water Resour Res 38:39-1–39–15. https://doi.org/10.1029/2001WR001173
Bennett SJ (1999) Effect of slope on the growth and migration of headcuts in rills. Geomorphology 30:273–290. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-555X(99)00035-5
Bennett SJ, Alonso CV (2005) Kinematics of flow within headcut scour holes on hillslopes. Water Resour Res 41:1–12. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004WR003752
Bennett SJ, Alonso CV, Prasad SN (2000) Experiments on headcut growth and migration in concentrated flows typical of upland areas. 36:1911–1922. https://doi.org/10.1029/2000WR900067
Campo-Bescos MA, Flores-Cervantes JH, Bras RL et al (2013) Evaluation of a gully headcut retreat model using multitemporal aerial photographs and digital elevation models. J Geophys Res 118:2159–2173. https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrf.20147
Capra A, Mazzara LM, Scicolone B (2005) Application of the EGEM model to predict ephemeral gully erosion in Sicily, Italy. Catena 59:133–146
Castillo C, Gómez JA (2016) A century of gully erosion research: urgency, complexity and study approaches. Earth-Science Rev 160:300–319. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2016.07.009
Dong Y, Xiong D, Su Z et al (2014) The distribution of and factors influencing the vegetation in a gully in the Dry-hot Valley of southwest China. Catena 116:60–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2013.12.009
Dong Y, Xiong D, Su Z et al (2018) Effects of vegetation buffer strips on concentrated flow hydraulics and gully bed erosion based on in situ scouring experiments. L Degrad Dev 29:1672–1682. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.2943
Dong Y, Wu Y, Qin W et al (2019) The gully erosion rates in the black soil region of northeastern China: induced by different processes and indicated by different indexes. Catena 182: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2019.104146
Flores-Cervantes JH (2004) Headcut retreat resulting from plunge pool erosion in a 3D landscape evolution model. Master Thesis of Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Flores-Cervantes JH, Istanbulluoglu E, Bras RL (2006) Development of gullies on the landscape: a model of headcut retreat resulting from plunge pool erosion. J Geophys Res 111:F01010. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JF000226
Hanson GJ (1990) Surface erodibility of earthen channels at high stresses part II-developing an in situ testing device. Trans ASAE 33:132–137. https://doi.org/10.13031/2013.31306
Hanson GJ, Cook KR (2004) Apparatus, test procedures, and analytical methods to measure soil erodibility in situ. Appl Eng Agric 20:455–462
Hessel R, Van Asch T, Van Asch T (2003) Modelling gully erosion for a small catchment on the Chinese Loess Plateau. Catena 54:131–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0341-8162(03)00061-4
Koci J, Sidle RC, Jarihani B et al (2019) Linking hydrological connectivity to gully erosion in savanna rangelands tributary to the Great Barrier Reef using structure-from-motion photogrammetry. L Degrad Dev 31:1–17. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.3421
Li Z, Zhang Y, Zhu Q et al (2015) Assessment of bank gully development and vegetation coverage on the Chinese Loess Plateau. Geomorphology 228:462–469. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2014.10.005
Liu K, Ding H, Tang G et al (2016) Detection of catchment-scale gully-affected areas using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on the Chinese Loess Plateau. ISPRS Int J Geo-Information 5:238. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi5120238
Moeyersons J, Makanzu Imwangana F, Dewitte O (2015) Site- and rainfall-specific runoff coefficients and critical rainfall for mega-gully development in Kinshasa (DR Congo). Nat Hazards 79:203–233. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-015-1870-z
Nazari Samani A, Ahmadi H, Mohammadi A et al (2010) Factors controlling gully advancement and models evaluation (Hableh Rood Basin, Iran). Water Resour Manag 24:1531–1549. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-009-9512-4
Oostwoud Wijdenes D, Poesen J, Vandekerckhove L et al (1999) Gully-head morphology and implications for gully development on abandoned fields in a semi-arid environment, Sierra de Gata, southeast Spain. Earth Surf Process Landf 24:585–603. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1096-9837(199907)24:7<585::AID-ESP976>3.0.CO;2-#
Oostwoud Wijdenes DJ, Poesen J, Vandekerckhove L et al (2000) Spatial distribution of gully head activity and sediment supply along an ephemeral channel in a Mediterranean environment. Catena 39:147–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0341-8162(99)00092-2
Poesen J (2018) Soil erosion in the Anthropocene: research needs. Earth Surf Process Landf 43:64–84. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.4250
Poesen J, Nachtergaele J, Verstraeten G et al (2003) Gully erosion and environmental change : importance and research needs. Catena 50:91–133. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0341-8162(02)00143-1
Rengers FK, Tucker GE (2015) The evolution of gully headcut morphology: a case study using terrestrial laser scanning and hydrological monitoring. Earth Surf Process Landf 40:1304–1317. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3721
Rieke-Zapp DH, Nichols MH (2011) Headcut retreat in a semiarid watershed in the southwestern United States since 1935. Catena 87:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2011.04.002
Stein OR, Julien PY (1993) Criterion delineating the mode of headcut migration. J Hydraul Eng 119:37–50. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9429(1993)119:1(37)
Stein OR, Latray DA (2002) Experiments and modeling of head cut migration in stratified soils. Water Resour Res 38:20-1–20–12. https://doi.org/10.1029/2001WR001166
Su Z, Xiong D, Dong Y et al (2014) Simulated headward erosion of bank gullies in the Dry-hot Valley Region of southwest China. Geomorphology 204:532–541. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2013.08.033
Su Z, Xiong D, Dong Y et al (2015a) Influence of bare soil and cultivated land use types upstream of a bank gully on soil erosion rates and energy consumption for different gully erosion zones in the dry-hot valley region, Southwest China. Nat Hazards 79:183–202. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-015-1722-x
Su Z, Xiong D, Dong Y et al (2015b) Hydraulic properties of concentrated flow of a bank gully in the dry-hot valley region of Southwest China. Earth Surf Process Landf 40:1351–1363. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3724
Valentin C, Poesen J, Li Y (2005) Gully erosion: impacts, factors and control. Catena 63:132–153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2005.06.001
Vandekerckhove L, Poesen J, Oostwoud Wijdenes D et al (2000) Thresholds for gully initiation and sedimentation in Mediterranean Europe. Earth Surf Process Landf 25:1201–1220. https://doi.org/10.1002/1096-9837(200010)25:11<1201::AID-ESP131>3.0.CO;2-L
Vandekerckhove L, Poesen J, Oostwoud Wijdenes D et al (2001) Short-term bank gully retreat rates in Mediterranean environments. Catena 44:133–161. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0341-8162(00)00152-1
Vandekerckhove L, Poesen J, Govers G (2003) Medium-term gully headcut retreat rates in Southeast Spain determined from aerial photographs and ground measurements. Catena 50:329–352. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0341-8162(02)00132-7
Vanmaercke M, Poesen J, Van Mele B et al (2016) How fast do gully headcuts retreat? Earth-Science Rev 154:336–355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2016.01.009
Zhang B, Xiong D, Zhang G et al (2018) Impacts of headcut height on flow energy, sediment yield and surface landform during bank gully erosion processes in the Yuanmou Dry-hot Valley region, southwest China. Earth Surf Process Landf 43:2271–2282. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.4388
Zhang K, Yu Y, Dong J et al (2019) Adapting & testing use of USLE K factor for agricultural soils in China. Agric Ecosyst Environ 269:148–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2018.09.033
Acknowledgements
The authors also gratefully acknowledge the support for the experiments provided by the Yuanmou Gully Erosion and Collapse Experimental Station.
Funding
Financial support for this study was provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41671288, U2002209, and 41807075), the Basic Research Project of Yunnan Province, the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2017YFC0505102).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Consent to publish
Manuscript is approved by all authors for publication.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Responsible editor: Xiuping Jia
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dong, Y., Duan, X., Huang, J. et al. The validation of a gully headcut retreat model in short-term scale based on an in-situ experiment in dry-hot valley. J Soils Sediments 21, 2228–2239 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-021-02937-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-021-02937-8