Abstract
Many parts of the world have been ravaged by soil and gully erosion, resulting in major environmental problems and causing extensive badland topography, devastated economies, untold human suffering, loss of agricultural land, ancestral homes and economic trees. The underlying causes are rarely fully-understood. Control measures based on incorrect information, incomplete data or wrong concepts have failed. Soil properties, rainfall and runoff intensity, wind action, geological, hydrogeochemical and geotechnical characteristics, and anthropogenic activities are factors generating soil and gully erosion processes. Three different soil and gully erosion models, the SEM, TOM and SOM ( STS), are proposed. The Sediment Off-loading Model ( SOM), and the Tectonic Origin Model ( TOM) distinguish two types of gully erosion in terms of their origin, growth and methods of control. The Soil Erosion Model ( SEM) distinguishes soil erosion from the gully erosion models. Improved understanding and application of these models based on their origin, characteristics and control modes may provide solutions to problems posed by widespread soil and gully erosion. A brief case study of the Agulu-Nanka gully system of Nigeria exemplifies the potential uses of the models and control programmes.
Published Version
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