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Process–form relationships in Southern Italian badlands: erosion rates and implications for landform evolution
Author(s) -
Clarke Michèle L.,
Rendell Helen M.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
earth surface processes and landforms
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.294
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1096-9837
pISSN - 0197-9337
DOI - 10.1002/esp.1226
Subject(s) - landform , geology , erosion , weathering , bedrock , saprolite , fault scarp , geomorphology , dome (geology) , period (music) , physical geography , paleontology , fault (geology) , geography , physics , acoustics
Characteristic badlands are incised into Plio‐Pleistocene clays in Basilicata, southern Italy, creating steep, scarp slopes with knife‐edge ridges ( calanchi ) and small dome‐shaped forms ( biancane ). Erosion pin data for the period 1997–2003 give mean annual erosion rates for dome‐shaped biancane in the range 9–19 mm a −1 , while rates for the calanchi scarps are lower, at 7–10 mm a −1 . The erosion pin data also show a non‐linear relationship with slope angle. Maximum erosion rates coincide with a slope angle of 35°, within an envelope defined by combining the theoretical effects of both rainsplash and surface weathering. Monitoring of surface changes and erosion rates for two 0·5 m 2 cleared swathes on biancane forms reveals a complex relationship between weathering and erosion. Characteristic forms can develop from large blocks of intact clay bedrock over a time period of less than 30 a. The implications of the measured erosion rates for the landform association of mountain front/pediment/domed inselberg are explored. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.