CLIMATE SEASONALITY AND ITS RELEVANCE FOR SOIL EROSION DURING SUMMER IN EXTRA-CARPATHIAN MOLDOVA

Andreea-Diana Damian,Mădălina Mega

doi:10.15551/pesd2020142015

Abstract

Rainfall erosivity is one of the most important topics, linking geomorphological and climatological studies. Rainwater plays an important role in triggering soil erosion. Thus, the impact of raindrops during significant torrential episodes causes the destabilization of soil aggregates and leads to erosion. Romania is a country where dry periods alternate with the rainy ones and studying rainfall erosivity is essential due to its importance for agriculture. The highest intensity of erosion occurs during violent rainfall episodes in the summer months, this being triggered by the energy of the torrential rains, but also by the liquid runoff. The extra-Carpathian Moldova is located in the northeastern and eastern part of Romania. In this study, The Suceava Plateau, The Moldavian Plain, The Moldavian Subcarpathians and The Bârlad Plateau were considered as part of the extra-Carpathian Moldova. Four indices were used to assess the climate seasonality on a general level with focus on the summer climate conditions: De Martonne Aridity Index (IdM), Lang Factor (L), Precipitation Concentration Index (PCI) and Angot Index (K). Our results indicate moderate seasonality in precipitation concentration along the year which underlines that the region cannot be considered climaticaly prone to massive soil erosion induced by rainfall erosivity.

Highlights

Rainfall erosivity is the subject of numerous studies due to its importance and topicality (Moțoc, 1963; Bojoi, 1992; Păltineanu et al, 2007; Sfîru et al, 2011; Stângă, 2011; Biali et al, 2014; Panagos et al, 2015a; Dumitrașcu et al, 2017; Rusănescu et al, 2018, Borrelli et al, 2020)
The temperature seasonality induces modification in the soil structure, and secondly, 194 Climate seasonality and its relevance for soil erosion during summer in extra-Carpathian Moldova precipitation seasonality leads to the concentration of precipitation in summer, which can detach and mobilize the small particles of the soil
Soil erosion through water has an increasing trend, but we found that rainfall erosivity has a rather secondary role in this process, in the studied region

Summary

Introduction

Rainfall erosivity is the subject of numerous studies due to its importance and topicality (Moțoc, 1963; Bojoi, 1992; Păltineanu et al, 2007; Sfîru et al, 2011; Stângă, 2011; Biali et al, 2014; Panagos et al, 2015a; Dumitrașcu et al, 2017; Rusănescu et al, 2018, Borrelli et al, 2020). One of the main drivers of rainfall erosivity can be considered the climatic seasonality. Rainfall is one of the main triggers of soil erosion and the reason why it accounts for the greatest loss of soil mass in Europe compared to other erosion processes (Panagos et al, 2015b). During the last few decades, among other climate extremes, those focused on precipitation caught international attention and became some of the most important topics in climatic literature (Croitoru et al, 2018)

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