Gully Erosion Development in Drainage Basins: A New Morphometric Approach

Ugo Ciccolini, Margherita Bufalini (), Marco Materazzi and Francesco Dramis
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Ugo Ciccolini: Corso Duca Luigi 11/a, 01035 Gallese, VT, Italy
Margherita Bufalini: School of Science and Technology, Geology Division, University of Camerino, Via Gentile III da Varano 7, 62032 Camerino, MC, Italy
Marco Materazzi: School of Science and Technology, Geology Division, University of Camerino, Via Gentile III da Varano 7, 62032 Camerino, MC, Italy
Francesco Dramis: Department of Sciences, University of Roma Tre, L.go San Leonardo Murialdo 1, 00146 Rome, RM, Italy

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 6, 1-17

Abstract: The formation and evolution of management gullies is a highly intense process of soil erosion often overlooked in policies and river basin strategies. Despite the worldwide spread of the phenomenon, our ability to assess and simulate gullying and its impacts remains limited; therefore, predicting the development and evolution of these river reaches represents a significant challenge, especially in areas where the loss of productive soil or the hazards linked to landslides or floods represent critical factors. Our study demonstrates how an exclusively morphometric approach, based on the construction of the hypsometric curve and applied to small hydrographic basins that are lithologically homogeneous and hierarchized according to the Strahler classification method, is able to predict the triggering height of the gullies; this height corresponds to the mean elevation of the basin and the inflection point of the hypsometric curve itself, confirming the hypothesis that this point coincides with the point at which a sudden change in surface runoff energy occurs, The study also shows that the portion of the basin necessary to trigger these intense erosive processes is always within a small range, regardless of the size and morphology (slope) of the basin itself. Such an approach, which is quick and relatively easy to apply, could help develop hydrogeological hazard mitigation practices in land planning projects.

Keywords: gullies; morphometry; catchments; hypsometric curve (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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