Hydrological Response of Sloping Farmlands with Different Rock Fragment Covers in the Purple Soil Area of China
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 18, Issue 4
Abstract
In the mountainous area of China, the rock fragments in top soils are often removed by farmers because of their side effects on tillage. To understand hydrological processes and to assess the risk of soil erosion in purple soil areas with sloping farmlands, this study investigated the effects of rock fragment cover on surface runoff, infiltration, subsurface runoff, and erosion under field conditions using a portable rainfall simulator. Experimental twin plots (two subplots, 1 m wide by 2 m long, 32% slope) with different rock fragment covers ranging from 0 to 42% were exposed to four rainfall intensities: (I1), (I2), (I3), and (I4). Surface runoff, subsurface runoff, soil moisture, and sediment were measured. The results show that the hydrological response was influenced by the rock fragment cover and rainfall intensity. The rate of surface runoff in bare soils was affected by the rainfall intensity and increased with increasing rainfall intensity. The values of the surface runoff rates in bare soils were lower than under the I1, I2, and I3 rainfall intensities. As the rock fragment cover increased, the surface runoff rate decreased while the infiltration rate, the subsurface runoff rate and the deep percolation coefficient increased. On the other hand, when the surface runoff rates in the bare soils were higher than (in rainfall of I4), there were no significant differences in these hydrological variables among soils with different rock fragment covers. The differences in hydrological variables among soils with varying rock fragment covers decreased with increasing rainfall intensity. The rock fragment cover determined the erosive response. As the rock fragment cover increased, the sediment concentration decreased. The presence of surface rock fragments significantly reduces soil erosion, and the relationship between the soil erosion rate and rock fragment cover can be expressed by an exponential function with a high degree of reliability for different rainfall intensities. However, the effectiveness of the rock fragment cover in reducing soil erosion decreased with increasing rainfall intensity.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank anonymous reviewers for their valuable and constructive comments. This work was supported by 11th Five-Year Plan of the National Scientific (2009BADC6B01), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2120132445) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (40930529 and 40901132). Special thanks are also given to Juanjuan Si, Lichao Zhang, Wei Yang, Junguang Wang, and Nufang Fang for their assistance with fieldwork.
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Published In
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 18 • Issue 4 • April 2013
Pages: 446 - 456
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 5, 2011
Accepted: Jan 4, 2012
Published online: Jan 11, 2012
Published in print: Apr 1, 2013
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