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The significance of rainsplash in the surficial debris cascade of the colorado front range foothills
Author(s) -
Morris Scott E.
Publication year - 1986
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.3290110104
Subject(s) - debris , geology , sediment , flux (metallurgy) , sediment transport , erosion , precipitation , range (aeronautics) , hydrology (agriculture) , debris flow , front (military) , environmental science , geomorphology , oceanography , geography , materials science , geotechnical engineering , meteorology , metallurgy , composite material
The surficial characteristics and precipitation regime of sparsely vegetated hillslopes in the montane zone of the Colorado Front Range suggest that rainsplash may be an important component of the surficial debris cascade. Site sediment flux data from two study periods reveal marked spatial and temporal variability. Comparison of these date with sediment movement data from splashcups suggests the following conclusions: (1) Detachment rates of the rainsplash process appear great enough to account for the sediment flux in the open Gerlach‐type traps; (2) Areal extrapolation of rainsplash transport suggest that 88 per cent of the fine sediment flux in 1982 can be attributed to rainsplash; (3) Estimates of rainfall energy and changes in the potential energy of hillslopes by mass transport suggests a process efficiency of 0.05 per cent for rainsplash. If this procedure is applied to sediment flux values from open traps, the low precipitation‐energy cascade of 1982 appears to be largely rainsplash‐transported sediment. Extrapolation with the 1981 data suggests more aggressive overland flow erosion and transport.