Study on Wave-influenced resistance to erosion of silty soil in Huanghe (Yellow) River Delta

Along with the reduction of sediment yield of the Huanghe （Yellow） River, the erosion of the Huanghe River Delta aggravates, which has becomes an important factor that threatens the coastal protection structures. Starting from the study of the erosion resistibility of the sediment, this paper explores the internal mechanism of erosion phenomenon. This paper takes Diaokou as the study area and takes soils as samples which are mixed with clay into reconstructed samples whose ratio of clay content are 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% respectively, then dynamic tri-axial apparatus is applied to simulate wave loads of different intensity; then the resistibility of soil to erosion is determined via concentrated flow test and the structural property is determined via the disintegration test. Finally, the resistibility to erosion and the structural property of the non-compressed soil samples are compared with the compressed data. The results indicates that liquefaction failure exerts significant influence on the resistibility to erosion and the structural property of the silty soil in the Huanghe River Delta. Therefore, in the future erosion studies, the liquefaction phenomenon shall be fully considered.

Effects of moss-dominated biocrusts on soil detachment by overland flow in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area of China

Biological soil crusts(biocrusts)are important landscape components that exist in various climates and habitats.The roles of biocrusts in numerous soil processes have been predominantly recognized in many dryland regions worldwide.However,little is known about their effects on soil detachment process by overland flow,especially in humid climates.This study quantified the effects of moss-dominated biocrusts on soil detachment capacity(Dc)and soil erosion resistance to flowing water in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area which holds a subtropical humid climate.Potential factors driving soil detachment variation and their influencing mechanism were analyzed and elucidated.We designed five levels of coverage treatments(1%–20%,20%–40%,40%–60%,60%–80%,and 80%–100%)and a nearby bare land as control in a mossdominated site.Undisturbed soil samples were taken and subjected to water flow scouring in a hydraulic flume under six shear stresses ranging from 4.89 to 17.99 Pa.The results indicated that mean Dc of mosscovered soil varied from 0.008 to 0.081 kg m^-2 s^-1,which was 1.9 to 21.0 times lower than that of bare soil(0.160 kg m^-2 s^-1).Rill erodibility(Kr)of mosscovered soil ranged from 0.0095 to 0.0009 s m^-1,which was 2 to 20 times lower than that of bare soil(0.0187 s m^-1).Both relative soil detachment rate and Kr showed an exponential decay with increasing moss coverage,whereas the critical shear stress(τc)for different moss coverage levels did not differ significantly.Moss coverage,soil cohesion,and sand content were key factors affecting Dc,while moss coverage and soil bulk density were key factors affecting Kr.A power function of flow shear stress,soil cohesion,and moss coverage fitted well to estimate Dc(NSE=0.947).Our findings implied that biocrusts prevented soil detachment directly by their physical cover and indirectly by soil properties modification.Biocrusts could be rehabilitated as a promising soil conservation measure during ecological recovery to enhance soil erosion resistance in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area.