JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

Rill erosion is the first step in soil erosion process in the hillslopes, particularly in arid and semiarid regions. This study was conducted to investigate the role of rainfall intensity and raindrop impact on the physical properties of soils and particle detachment capacity (Dc) in a marl soil. Marl soil samples were filled into the flumes with 4 m long and 0.9 m wide and exposed to simulated rainfalls with different intensity varying from 10 mm h-1 to 100 mm h-1. Particle Size Distribution (PSD), aggregate size, porosity, crust thickness, and Dc were determined in each rainfall simulation. The results found that the physical soil properties i.e. PSD, aggregate size, porosity and crust thickness (P< 0.000) were significantly influenced by different rainfall intensities. Also, the rainfall intensity was also an important factor in controlling Dc in the soil. Rainfall intensity of 30 mm.h^-1 was recognized as the threshold rainfall intensity for transporting soil particles in the marl soil and rill erosion. An increase in the rainfall intensity was attributed to the increases in the raindrop impacts and in consequence aggregate breakdown, and higher production of concentrated flows in the rills. Raindrop impact is the most important characteristics of the rainfall in the rill erosion and Dc in the marl soil.

Soil erosion by surface runoff introduced as surface erosion is one of the main mechanisms of land degradation in the hill slopes. Slope characteristics including aspect and gradient can control the differences of soil properties along the hillslope. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of slope aspect and gradient on variations of some soil properties in the short slopes. Five hills including both north and south aspects with different gradients (9-10%,
13-16%, 17-22%, 29-31% and 33-37%) were considered in a semi-arid region with 30 ha in area, in the west of Zanjan, northwest of Iran. The hills were weakly covered with pasture vegetation covers. Soil samples were collected along the slopes from two depths (0-5 cm and 5-15 cm) in four positions with 2 m distance along each slope with two replications. A total of 160 soil samples were analyzed for particle size distribution (sand, silt and clay), gravel and bulk density. Surface erosion was determined based on the variation of grain size distribution and bulk density. Differences of the grain size distribution and surface erosion between the two slope aspects and among the slope gradients were analyzed using the Tukey test. No significant difference was found between slope aspects in surface soil erosion. Nevertheless, surface soil erosion was affected by slope gradient in each slope aspect (R²= 0.78, p< 0.05). Surface erosion in the north slopes was more dependent on the slope gradient, as compared to the corresponding south slopes. In the south slopes, surface erosion was affected by the movement of silt particles from soil surface, while in the north slopes, it was significantly affected by the loss of clay particles.

One of the major issues in the contemporary world is climate change. The behavior and characteristics of parameters affecting climate change can cause them to be seen and hidden. As one of the effective ways to detect overt and covert behaviors for periodic climatic data series, Spectral analysis can be used. It is the analysis of each of the wavelengths series, making this behavior clear. Accordingly, the present study was an attempt to use the method of spectral analysis, data cycles in the minimum temperature, maximum temperature and precipitation in Ramsar station (located in the western regions of Mazandaran province) an nd Babolsar (located in the central parts of this province) in a period from1961 to 2014. For this purpose, temperature and precipitation data were obtained from these stations; MATLAB software environment and the environment for the software were logged for each of the variable in the stations. The results revealed that the minimum temperature at both stations had significant cycles, with the return period being 2 to 5 years; Remote Link could be fit into the cycle parameters such as NAO, AO and ENSO. Analysis of the period gram showed cycles 8 and 5/13-year-old and 5-year-old period in Ramsar and Babolsar. During the rainy cycles, the difference between the two stations and the difference in the geographical position affected systems, and rain accounted for the difference in speed dual-zone climate indicator for Remote Link.

In the vast majority parts of the Earth, a prospect now visible is the mostly synthetic thinking and fabrication by the human hand. Collision and impact of humans on the natural environment in the short and long-term courses for obvious geographical features have changed a variety of spaces. One of the consequences of human impact on the natural environment during the current period is the phenomenon of climate change. One of the climatic parameters that plays an important role in agriculture, energy, urban, tourism and road transport is the minimum temperature. In this study, an attempt was made using the minimum temperature data from 5 meteorological stations in the West Mazandaran province, as well as HADCM3 model data, to show how to change this parameter in the future periods based on simulation by the SDSM model. Accordingly, after selection of the suitable climate variables and model calibration, the accuracy of the created model in the base period was evaluated; after ensuring the sufficient accuracy of the model according to A2 and B2 scenario, data minimum temperature in 2100 was simulated. Based on the simulation results showed that the values of minimum temperature in the region over the coming years would increase. This parameter was such that the average seasonal periods 2016 to 2039, 2040 to 2069 and 2070 to 2099, as compared to the baseline period would increase, on average, by 1.8, 3.5 and 6 percent. The largest increases in the minimum temperature in the western and southern parts of the region could occur. It was also found that unlike other months of the year, the minimum temperature in January would be a decreasing trend.

Rainfall erosion is the first type of water erosion on the land which is affected by various factors such as land use change and previous rainfall. This study was carried out to investigate the influence of previous rainfalls on the process of rainfall erosion in two marl soils (pasture and that changed to agriculture) under the simulated rainfall. Toward this goal, aggregate samples with the diameters of 6 to 8 mm were randomly collected from the marl areas in the west of Zanjan. Soil aggregates were packed into 48 boxes with the dimension of 30×40 cm to examine the effects of eight rainfall durations with three replications. Eight simulated rainfalls with the duration of 0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42 and 49 min and a constant intensity of 40 mm h^-1 were used in the experiment. The soils were exposed to another simulated rainfall with 40 mm h^-1 in terms of intensity for 15 min to study the rainfall erosion processes. The results showed that the aggregate breakdown was significantly affected by the previous rainfalls in the pasture soil (P<0.01), while there was no significant difference among the previous rainfalls in the case of agriculture soil.  Soil compaction and particles splash were significantly affected by previous rainfalls (P<0.05). Aggregate breakdown and particles splash were 1.41 and 1.31 times bigger than their values in the pasture soil. This study, therefore, revealed that the land use change in the mal areas increases the soil vulnerability to rainfall erosion processes. The rate of rainfall erosion processes in each rainfall event depends on the amount of previous rainfall. Increasing aggregate break down and soil water content by the previous rainfall could significantly influence the splash erosion rate in a marl soil.