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Medium‐term effects of afforestation on sediment dynamics in a water supply catchment: A mineral magnetic interpretation of reservoir deposits in the macclesfield forest, N.W. England
Author(s) -
Stott A. P.
Publication year - 1987
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.3290120605
Subject(s) - sediment , afforestation , geology , hydrology (agriculture) , erosion , environmental science , soil water , subsoil , drainage basin , soil science , geomorphology , agroforestry , geography , geotechnical engineering , cartography
Short term increases in stream sediment loads during pre‐afforestation ground preparation have often been followed by a return to low sediment loads. However, in the Macclesfield Forest in the southern Pennines, comparison of the magnetic characteristics of soils and downstream reservoir deposits suggest that significant changes in the processes of soil erosion occur later in the cycle of forest management at the time of canopy closure. A preliminary magnetic mixing model indicates that the proportion of reservoir sediments derived from the subsoil (below 0·3 m depth) has increased from 30 to 70 per cent between 1929 and 1981. Changes in hydraulic stresses subsequent to road construction and forest development, in association with unstable Pleistocene deposits, may provide an explanation for these events.