Abstract
Current soil-erosion prediction technology addresses processes of rainsplash, overland-flow sediment transport, and rill erosion in small watersheds. The effects of factors determining sediment yield from larger-scale drainage basins, in which sediment movement is controlled by the combined small-scale processes and a complex set of channel and other basin-scale sediment-delivery processes, such as soil creep, bioturbation, and accelerated erosion due to denudation of vegetation, have been poorly evaluated. General suggestions are provided for the development of erosion-prediction technology at the geomorphic or drainage-basin scale based on the separation of sediment-yield data for channel and geomorphic processes from those of field-scale soil loss. An emerging technology must consider: (1) the effects on sediment yield of climate, geology and soils, topography, biotic interactions with other soil processes, and land-use practices; (2) all processes of sediment delivery to a channel system; and (3) the general tendency in most drainage basins for progressively greater sediment storage in the downstream direction.
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Received: 8 November 1995 · Accepted: 20 November 1995
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Osterkamp, W., Toy, T. Geomorphic considerations for erosion prediction. Environmental Geology 29, 152–157 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002540050113
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002540050113