Accession Number : ADA427430

Title :   Modeling the Dynamics of Gully and Arroyo Formation Fort Carson and Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site, Colorado

Descriptive Note : Final progress rept. 1 Jun 2001-31 May 2004

Corporate Author : OXFORD UNIV (UNITED KINGDOM)

Personal Author(s) : Tucker, Gregory E.

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Report Date : AUG 2004

Pagination or Media Count : 125

Abstract : Gully erosion is one of the most dramatic outcomes of environmental change, whether that change is of natural or anthropogenic origin. The initiation and growth of gully systems can lead to significant land degradation. the resulting sediment loads can lead to significant downstream impacts, including water quality degradation, reservoir and waterway sedimentation, and disturbance of aquatic ecosystems. In order to develop a better understanding of gully networks and their physics, this project has brought together a complementary suite of techniques: mathematical and numerical modeling, field survey, repeat aerial photograph analysis, paleohydrology, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, and dendrogeomorphology. The most general aim is to develop a better quantitative understanding of the dynamics of gully initiation and growth. More specifically, we have to sough to achieve the following objectives: 1) develop an improved landscape evolution model capable of simulating the key processes involved in rangeland gully formation and evolution; 2) test this model by discovering necessary and sufficient conditions required to explain key features of semi-arid gully/arroyo systems; 3) discover testable implications of key contributing factors, such as sediment-entrainment thresholds, grassland vegetation dynamics, and convective-storm hydrology; 4) test the hypothesis of autocyclicity in observed alternating erosion-deposition cycles; 5) document the tempo of gully erosion on three different time scales; 6) test the potential for dendrogeomorphic methods to contribute useful quantitative data on channel evolution and dynamics; 7) assess the potential for turning the research-grade numerical model into practical decision-support tools for land management, and the data and computational ingredients required.

Descriptors :   *SEDIMENTATION, *WATERWAYS, *CANYONS, MATHEMATICAL MODELS, COMPUTATIONS, ENVIRONMENTS, IMPACT, DEGRADATION, MODELS, DYNAMICS, SITES, TERRAIN, SURVEYS, ECOSYSTEMS, HYPOTHESES, AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS, VEGETATION, LAND USE, CHANNELS, FIELD CONDITIONS, LAND AREAS, COLORADO, AQUATIC BIOLOGY, GRASSLANDS.

Subject Categories : GEOGRAPHY
      HYDROLOGY, LIMNOLOGY AND POTAMOLOGY

Distribution Statement : APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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