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| Title |
Hill Erosion and the Geomorphic Environment of Reclaimed Surface-Mined Hillslopes
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| Author(s) |
Soulliere, Jr., Edward J.
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| School/Department |
Department of Geography
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| Institution |
University of Denver
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| Degree Type |
Master's
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| Degree Name |
M.A.
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| Type of Resource |
text
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| Degree Date |
1983 June
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| Digital Origin |
reformatted digital
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| Rights Statement |
All Rights Reserved
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| Reason for Restrictions |
No restrictions
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| Type of Restriction |
No restrictions
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| Keyword(s) |
Geography
Geology
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| Genre |
Dissertations, Academic
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| Abstract |
From a geomorphologic standpoint, surface-mining drastically disturbs the existing balance between the landforms and the processes which have shaped them. Surface and sub-surface hydrology are altered, and erosion is temporarily accelerated substantially above the geologic norm. The control of said erosion through reclamation must be considered a primary objective in order to reinstate this balance.The purpose of this research was directed toward developing useful equations to predict the magnitude and frequency of rill erosion on reclaimed hillslopes. They study site was the Dave Johnston Coal Company located in the southeastern Powder River Basin of Wyoming. The dependent variables in this study are the rill parameters of width, depth, length, frequency (rills per meter), and width times depth. The independent variables are the environmental variables of percent slope, slope aspect, soil pH, percent bare soil, soil compressive strength, soil shear strength, soil bulk density, clay ratio, slope age, slope length, percent silt, and the cross-product variable bulk density times slope. Five equations were developed to predict responses in the five dependent variables. Rill width is best predicted by the independent variables of bulk density, slope age, and slope length with a standard error of .004. The optimum equation for rill depth includes the variables soil shear strength and slope length with the standard error again at .004. The regression, equation which best predicts rill length contains only one variable, that of slope length, with a standard error of .147. The variables which best predict rill frequency are soil bulk density, the clay ratio, soil compaction, soil pH, and slope with a standard error of .021. The final regression equation for the cross-product term rill width times depth includes the variables of soil shear strength and slope length with a standard error of .007.
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| Handle |
http://hdl.handle.net/10176/codu:57512
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| Attached Files |
| Name |
Description |
MIMEType |
Size |
Downloads |
du_mas_1983_Soulliere.pdf
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du_mas_1983_Soulliere.pdf |
application/pdf |
3.49MB |
0 |
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