<p>Soil organic carbon (OC) is one of the most important terrestrial carbon pools and plays a major role in climate regulation, water quality, provisional services, and numerous other ecosystem functions. The conversion of natural vegetation and the supporting soil to intensively managed agricultural systems put soil at risk for loss due to erosion and enhanced microbial degradation with loss rates increased by orders of magnitude above the pre-managed system. The process has negatively impacted agricultural productivity on hillslopes by diminishing soil health, as well as the quality of stream water and coastal aquatic environments, and it is an important but as of yet poorly quantified factor in the region’s terrestrial C budgets. There have been substantial debates on the role of erosional and depositional processes on the landscape as a control on exchange of C between the land surface and the atmosphere. A central aspect of the debate stems from the limited data regarding the fate of soil erosion-induced transport of OC through stages of detachment and splash, transport and redistribution, deposition and burial. The overarching purpose of this thesis is to evaluate how dynamic patterns of soil OC erosion due to intensive agricultural management influences soil aggregate strength, the chemical nature of mobilized organic particles, and connectivity and sourcing between hillslope and streams. Using both simulated and natural, short-term, event-based erosive rainfall processes, with a multiproxy geochemical approach, we attempt to develop a comprehensive understanding of how upland watershed mechanistic controls soil movement and associated chemical alterations to the material exported through dissected segments from hillslope to the fluvial network. </p> <p>Our results demonstrate that erosive processes on hillslope connects between terrestrial sources to receiving potential deposition settings, actively ‘filter’ soil aggregates and particles and associated OC at each erosional stage (i.e., detachment and transport downhill/downstream), with distinct geochemistry in low relief and poorly drained agricultural systems, like the CCW. Complex interactions among tillage intensity, tillage practice-induced, oriented surface roughness, and storm-induced hydrological connectivity, that potentially impact the fate of these transported OC upon decomposition, deposition and burial, and have important implications for predicting landscape level heterogeneity in surface and buried soil chemistry upon mobilization and burial, as well as the dynamics of sourcing and transformation of material exported to inland water systems.</p>

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L'aménagement des versants méditerranéens en terrasses et en fossés avait pour but d'augmenter la surface agricole et de permettre une meilleure gestion de l'eau. La dégradation des terrasses et des drains peut conduire à une augmentation des risques d'inondation, d'érosion et de maintien des cultures. Pour améliorer la connaissance de l'impact réel sur la réponse hydrologique des versants, cette thèse suit différentes approches de modélisation. D'abord la réponse hydrologique d'un bassin versant méditerranéen (0.91 km2) avec des terrasses et des fossés aménagés est simulée à l'aide d'un modèle distribué, événementiel, à base physique, adapté aux bassins versants agricoles. La performance est très satisfaisante pour certains événements simulés, même si le modèle ne tient pas compte des terrasses. Afin de modéliser l'impact des terrasses agricoles et de l'écoulement artificiel, nous avons conçu un nouveau modèle distribué et parcimonieux qui utilise une distribution linéaire du temps de réponse, combiné avec l'hydrogramme unitaire instantané géomorphologique. Les simulations sur des versants et bassins virtuels avec un réseau non-optimal de drainage (non-OCN) montrent que (i) pour de longues interfaces entre une parcelle et un cours d'eau la réponse hydrologique est plus rapide et le débit de pointe plus élevé; (ii) la vitesse du ruissellement de surface a un plus grand impact sur le débit de pointe que la vitesse d'écoulement dans les fossés; et (iii) la densité de drainage accrue combinée avec la création de terrasses résulte en un débit de pointe plus élevé en aval et moins élevé en amont. / Terrace cultivation and artificial drainage were implemented on Mediterranean hillslopes for multiple reasons: agricultural terraces increase arable land surface and artificial drainage allows for better water management. Degradation of terraces and channels inevitably leads to an increase in flood risk, erosion and, eventually, crop damage. Little is known about their effect on hillslope hydrologic response, and therefore this thesis presents an integrated method where we compare different modelling approaches. We first simulated the hydrologic response of a Mediterranean catchment (0.91 km2) with terrace cultivation and artificial drainage using a physically-based, fully distributed storm flow model for agricultural catchments. Simulation performance is impressive for some storms, even though the model does not account for terraces. In order to model the effects of terrace cultivation and artificial drainage on hillslope hydrologic response explicitly, we subsequently developed a new distributed model with only geometric and flow velocity parameters, using a linear response time distribution combined with the hillslope geomorphologic instantaneous unit hydrograph. Simulations on virtual hillslopes and catchments with a non-optimal channel network suggest that (i) drainage is faster and attains higher peak flows for longer interface lengths between agricultural fields and drainage channels; (ii) overland flow velocity has greater influence on peak flow than channel flow velocity; and (iii) the combined effect of increased drainage density and introduction of terrace cultivation is enhanced peak flow at the outlet, and a reduction of peak flow from upstream terraces.

Les transferts latéraux de produits phytosanitaires en proche surface constituent une voie potentielle de contamination des eaux de surface dans certains contextes agro pédo climatique. L'objectif de cette thèse est d'apporter des éléments de connaissance et de compréhension de ces transferts. Un site viticole, dans le Nord Beaujolais, a ainsi été instrumenté avec une tranchée d'interception des écoulements latéraux, un canal Venturi et un réseau piézométrique. Cette instrumentation a ensuite été utilisée pour suivre les transferts latéraux et le ruissellement de produits phytosanitaires sur deux années viticoles. Enfin, une expérimentation de traçage in situ a été menée puis modélisée. Les résultats montrent une relation de seuil entre les volumes évènementiels d'écoulements latéraux captés, le degré de connectivité du versant, les volumes pluviométriques évènementiels, et l'humidité initiale du sol. La dynamique de transfert latéral des pesticides en proche surface s'est avérée très variable à l'échelle de l'évènement, mais en accord avec les propriétés physico chimiques des substances. À l'échelle de l'ensemble des évènements, les concentrations de ces produits dans l'écoulement latéral suivent une décroissance exponentielle temporelle. À l'échelle annuelle, la saisonnalité de l'écoulement latéral et du ruissellement semble expliquer la saisonnalité observée des transferts. L'expérimentation de traçage a permis d'identifier une composante préférentielle de l'écoulement latéral et une composante matricielle. La composante préférentielle a engendré des flux de substance significatifs et de concentrations élevées, mais fugaces. La composante matricielle a généré un flux de faible concentration, mais continu et de longue durée, qui a impliqué une contribution finale plus élevée que la composante préférentielle. Des liens explicatifs entre les propriétés des substances et ces composantes du transfert latéral ont pu être soulignés / Subsurface lateral flow may stand for a risky pathway in several agro pedo climatic contexts: in this way, the aim of this thesis work is to improve our understanding of pesticide transfer and dynamics by this pathway. A farmed vine plot, located on a hillslope in the Nord Beaujolais, was instrumented with a trench, a Venturi flume and a shallow groundwater well network. The instrumentation was used during two farming years to continuously monitor pesticide transfers in both subsurface lateral flows and surface runoff at a fine temporal resolution. Lastly, an in situ tracing experiment was conducted and modeled. Hydrological results highlighted a threshold relationship between subsurface lateral flow volumes measured in the trench, the degree of lateral connectivity of the hillslope, rainfall amounts and initial soil water content. The dynamics of these transfers was very variable at the event scale, and in agreement with the physico chemical properties of the substances. Considering all subsurface lateral flow events, pesticides concentrations were described using a decreasing exponential function depending on the time interval between a given event and the last application of the considered pesticides, and their physico chemical properties. At the year scale, the seasonality of pesticide transfers seemed related with the seasonality of subsurface lateral flow and surface runoff. The tracing experiment highlighted two components in subsurface lateral flow: a matrix related one and a preferential related flow component. The preferential component implied short, highly concentrated and significant lateral fluxes. Matrix related component produced continuous and slightly concentrated fluxes over a long period, and was responsible for a bigger part of the total transfer than the preferential component. Links between substance properties and transfer components were highlighted

Our understanding of subsurface flow depends on assumptions of how event characteristics and spatial scale affect the relationships between subsurface water velocity, discharge, water table dynamics, and runoff response. In this thesis, three chapters explore some of these patterns for a hillslope and small watershed in coastal British Columbia. In the first chapter, tracers were applied under natural and steady state conditions to determine the relationship between lateral tracer velocities and various hillslope and event characteristics; such as hillslope subsurface flow, rainfall intensity, water table level, hillslope length, and antecedent condition. The results showed that preferential flow made up a large percentage of the subsurface flow from the gauged hillslope. Flow velocities as measured by tracers were affected by slope length and boundary conditions. The flow velocity was most closely related to the rainfall intensity, and changes in flow velocity were large compared to the changes in the water table. In the second chapter, the preferential flow features that transmitted water during steady state were investigated by staining the soil with a food dye solution and excavating the soil. These data were used to explore the link between the topographical factors (slope and contributing area), the network of preferential features and soil properties. The contributing area appeared to be an indicator of the size of the preferential features and their connectivity. In the final manuscript chapter, water table level and stream discharge measurements were used to determine if areas within a watershed with runoff dominated by preferential flow could be grouped based on the observable physical information such as slope, contributing area, distance to stream, and vegetation. Preferential flow made the water table responses dynamic and thus, distinct zones could not be identified. Models of the water table – runoff were not able to predict the water table response for other sites with similar physical characteristics. Even though there was high variability in the results, the patterns and relationships revealed in this thesis conform to existing conceptual models of hillslope subsurface preferential flow. These patterns and relationships may be useful in developing or validating numerical models.

The subarctic boreal forest biome is predicted to experience higher magnitudes of warming than other biomes due to climate change. The effects of this warming will be pronounced in areas underlain by discontinuous permafrost where melting permafrost and distinct changes in vegetation patterns are expected. To better understand rates of hillslope diffusion in the boreal forest I have used a geomorphic process modeling approach, using data from a sequence of Quaternary fluvial terraces located in the Nenana River valley of central Alaska. I hypothesized that diffusion rates here would be slower when compared to the mid-latitudes, and faster on north versus south-facing slopes. Calculated diffusion rates do support the hypothesis as they fall on the lower end of the global spectrum of documented hillslope diffusion rates. However, a significant difference in diffusion rates is not seen between the predominantly northeast and southwest facing slopes used in this study.

Our understanding of subsurface flow depends on assumptions of how event characteristics and spatial scale affect the relationships between subsurface water velocity, discharge, water table dynamics, and runoff response. In this thesis, three chapters explore some of these patterns for a hillslope and small watershed in coastal British Columbia. In the first chapter, tracers were applied under natural and steady state conditions to determine the relationship between lateral tracer velocities and various hillslope and event characteristics; such as hillslope subsurface flow, rainfall intensity, water table level, hillslope length, and antecedent condition. The results showed that preferential flow made up a large percentage of the subsurface flow from the gauged hillslope. Flow velocities as measured by tracers were affected by slope length and boundary conditions. The flow velocity was most closely related to the rainfall intensity, and changes in flow velocity were large compared to the changes in the water table. In the second chapter, the preferential flow features that transmitted water during steady state were investigated by staining the soil with a food dye solution and excavating the soil. These data were used to explore the link between the topographical factors (slope and contributing area), the network of preferential features and soil properties. The contributing area appeared to be an indicator of the size of the preferential features and their connectivity. In the final manuscript chapter, water table level and stream discharge measurements were used to determine if areas within a watershed with runoff dominated by preferential flow could be grouped based on the observable physical information such as slope, contributing area, distance to stream, and vegetation. Preferential flow made the water table responses dynamic and thus, distinct zones could not be identified. Models of the water table – runoff were not able to predict the water table response for other sites with similar physical characteristics. Even though there was high variability in the results, the patterns and relationships revealed in this thesis conform to existing conceptual models of hillslope subsurface preferential flow. These patterns and relationships may be useful in developing or validating numerical models.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:27:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2004-02-04Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:56:34Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 arruda_em_me_rcla.pdf: 5956567 bytes, checksum: ed468990b15b939b7622d4e881ceacd3 (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / O trabalho aqui apresentado se insere no contexto do projeto temático História da Exumação da Plataforma Sul-americana, o exemplo da região Sudeste brasileira: termocronologia por traços de fissão e sistemáticas Ar/Ar e Sm/Nd, e tem como coordenador geral, o Prof. Dr. Peter Christian Hackspacher do Departamento de Petrologia e Metalogenia do IGCE/UNESP-Rio Claro, sendo financiado pela FAPESP (Processo n.º 00/03960-5). Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo analisar os eventos deposicionais, esculturadores do relevo, na bacia do Ribeirão Entupido, Serra da Mantiqueira, Estado de São Paulo, a partir do estudo morfoestratigráfico dos depósitos recentes da área. As feições deposicionais registradas em campo foram analisadas visando à definição de áreas tipo para coleta de amostras. Análises de datação foram realizadas com o material amostrado. As relações de conectividade entre as unidades deposicionais foram testadas a partir dos resultados de análises sedimentológicas e granulométricas. As análises foram enriquecidas pela datação absoluta do material sedimentar por LOE (Luminescência Opticamente Estimulada) do quartzo e do feldspato. O cruzamento de dados relativos às diversas técnicas aplicadas forneceu subsídios para a compreensão dos mecanismos que comandam a morfogênese na bacia em foco ao longo do último milhão de anos. / The research presented here inserts in the context of the thematic project History of the Exhumation of the South American Platform in the southeastern Brazil: Thernochronology by Fission Track Analysis and Ar/Ar and Sr/Nd systematics, and it has as general co-ordinating Prof. Dc. Peter Christian Hackspcher from IGCE/Unesp - Rio Claro, at the Department of Petrology and Metallogy, being financed for FAPESP (Process nº 00/03960-5). This research had as objective to analyze the depositionals events, sculpture of the relief, at the River Entupido's basin, Mantiqueira's Sierra, State of São Paulo, from the morphostratigraphic study of the recent deposits of the area. The main found and registered in field had been analyzed aiming at to the definition of areas type for collection of samples. Analyses of dating were realized through the showed sample. The relations of connection among the main units had been tested from the results of sendimentological and granulometrics analyses. The analyses had been enriched by the absolute dating of the sedimentary material by OSL (Optically Stimulated Luminescence) of the quartz and the feldspar. The data were compared many ways of techniques and gave us subsidies to insight of the mechanisms that commands morphogenesy in the basin analyzed the last million of years.

Resumo: O trabalho aqui apresentado se insere no contexto do projeto temático "História da Exumação da Plataforma Sul-americana, o exemplo da região Sudeste brasileira: termocronologia por traços de fissão e sistemáticas Ar/Ar e Sm/Nd", e tem como coordenador geral, o Prof. Dr. Peter Christian Hackspacher do Departamento de Petrologia e Metalogenia do IGCE/UNESP-Rio Claro, sendo financiado pela FAPESP (Processo n.º 00/03960-5). Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo analisar os eventos deposicionais, esculturadores do relevo, na bacia do Ribeirão Entupido, Serra da Mantiqueira, Estado de São Paulo, a partir do estudo morfoestratigráfico dos depósitos recentes da área. As feições deposicionais registradas em campo foram analisadas visando à definição de áreas tipo para coleta de amostras. Análises de datação foram realizadas com o material amostrado. As relações de conectividade entre as unidades deposicionais foram testadas a partir dos resultados de análises sedimentológicas e granulométricas. As análises foram enriquecidas pela datação absoluta do material sedimentar por LOE (Luminescência Opticamente Estimulada) do quartzo e do feldspato. O cruzamento de dados relativos às diversas técnicas aplicadas forneceu subsídios para a compreensão dos mecanismos que comandam a morfogênese na bacia em foco ao longo do último milhão de anos. / Abstract: The research presented here inserts in the context of the thematic project "History of the Exhumation of the South American Platform in the southeastern Brazil: Thernochronology by Fission Track Analysis and Ar/Ar and Sr/Nd systematics", and it has as general co-ordinating Prof. Dc. Peter Christian Hackspcher from IGCE/Unesp - Rio Claro, at the Department of Petrology and Metallogy, being financed for FAPESP (Process nº 00/03960-5). This research had as objective to analyze the depositionals events, sculpture of the relief, at the River Entupido's basin, Mantiqueira's Sierra, State of São Paulo, from the morphostratigraphic study of the recent deposits of the area. The main found and registered in field had been analyzed aiming at to the definition of areas type for collection of samples. Analyses of dating were realized through the showed sample. The relations of connection among the main units had been tested from the results of sendimentological and granulometrics analyses. The analyses had been enriched by the absolute dating of the sedimentary material by OSL (Optically Stimulated Luminescence) of the quartz and the feldspar. The data were compared many ways of techniques and gave us subsidies to insight of the mechanisms that commands morphogenesy in the basin analyzed the last million of years. / Orientador: Iandara Alves Mendes / Coorientador: Antônio Carlos de Barros Corrêa / Banca: Peter Christian Hackspacher / Banca: Cenira Maria Lupinacci da Cunha / Mestre

Our understanding of subsurface flow depends on assumptions of how event characteristics and spatial scale affect the relationships between subsurface water velocity, discharge, water table dynamics, and runoff response. In this thesis, three chapters explore some of these patterns for a hillslope and small watershed in coastal British Columbia. In the first chapter, tracers were applied under natural and steady state conditions to determine the relationship between lateral tracer velocities and various hillslope and event characteristics; such as hillslope subsurface flow, rainfall intensity, water table level, hillslope length, and antecedent condition. The results showed that preferential flow made up a large percentage of the subsurface flow from the gauged hillslope. Flow velocities as measured by tracers were affected by slope length and boundary conditions. The flow velocity was most closely related to the rainfall intensity, and changes in flow velocity were large compared to the changes in the water table. In the second chapter, the preferential flow features that transmitted water during steady state were investigated by staining the soil with a food dye solution and excavating the soil. These data were used to explore the link between the topographical factors (slope and contributing area), the network of preferential features and soil properties. The contributing area appeared to be an indicator of the size of the preferential features and their connectivity. In the final manuscript chapter, water table level and stream discharge measurements were used to determine if areas within a watershed with runoff dominated by preferential flow could be grouped based on the observable physical information such as slope, contributing area, distance to stream, and vegetation. Preferential flow made the water table responses dynamic and thus, distinct zones could not be identified. Models of the water table – runoff were not able to predict the water table response for other sites with similar physical characteristics. Even though there was high variability in the results, the patterns and relationships revealed in this thesis conform to existing conceptual models of hillslope subsurface preferential flow. These patterns and relationships may be useful in developing or validating numerical models. / Forestry, Faculty of / Graduate