In unstable landscapes, modern pedological research explores the role of
soils as products and indicators of geomorphologic change. Understanding the
dynamics of hill slope pedogenesis is especially important in regions with limited,
poor, or threatened soil resources. The island of Cyprus, situated in the eastern
Mediterranean, is claimed by many authors to exhibit signs of severe soil
degradation and is a prime site for comparative soil geomorphologic research. This
study strove to 1) identify the controls of soil genesis and landscape stability within
the Troodos Mountains of Cyprus using image and GIS analysis; 2) compare
toposequence data to expected soil thickness trends from traditional models of xeric
soil toposequences prevalent in current scientific literature; and 3) develop a
predictive model for hillslope pedogenesis based on measured soil properties
within the field area.
Study soils within the Troodos are thin, weakly developed Lithic and Typic
Xerorthents formed in colluvium derived from fractured, igneous bedrock. Soil
thickness was measured at 368 sites in seven transects across three watersheds in
the Troodos, using interpretations of field profiles and image analysis of digital
soil-bedrock profiles in photographed road-cuts along forestry paths. Soil thickness
was compared through GIS and statistical analysis to landscape attributes derived
from a 25-m DEM and other map data. Results indicate that lithology is the only
factor of several studied to have a significant relationship with the variability of
soil-profile thickness in the Troodos, and that soil thickness does not vary in a
predictable manner across toposequences. These results, combined with differences
between measured soil data and values predicted by the landscape stability model
SHALSTAB, suggest that soil genesis in the Troodos is best described only within
the context of a weathering-limited geomorphological system.
Short-term disruptive processes such as forest fires, land sliding, tree throw,
and raindrop impact, combined with long-term processes such as tectonic uplift and
stream incision, are the most likely driving forces behind the rapid erosion of hill
slope sediments and the weak development of Troodos hill slope soils. These
findings have important implications for DEM-based, predictive soil mapping in
weathering-limited geomorphologic systems. / Graduation date: 2005
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/29563 |
| Date | 17 August 2004 |
| Creators | Robins, Colin R. |
| Contributors | Noller, Jay S. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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