Climatic influences on hillslope soil transport efficiency

The soil transport coefficient D represents the relationship between local topographical gradient and soil flux in the landscape evolution model. This work presents new estimates of the soil transport coefficient D at 9 sites and compares them, along with a compilation of 16 previously published estimates of D, against three climate proxies (mean annual precipitation, aridity index, and mean annual temperature) with the goal of characterizing climatic influences on soil transport efficiency. The new measurements were performed at sites that extend the range into both drier and wetter climates than those published. Together the data suggest that D increases with mean annual precipitation and aridity in dry climates, and levels off or decreases gradually in wetter climates.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Author dc:creator

• Schurr, Naomi D. (Naomi Danika)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• J. Taylor Perron.

• Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/90655

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/90655