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Journal of Arid Land
Journal of Arid Land  2022, Vol. 14 Issue (5): 490-501    DOI: 10.1007/s40333-022-0016-x     CSTR: 32276.14.s40333-022-0016-x
Research article     
Transport mechanism of eroded sediment particles under freeze-thaw and runoff conditions
WANG Tian1,2, LI Peng1,2, HOU Jingming1,*(), TONG Yu1, LI Jing1, WANG Feng1, LI Zhanbin1,2
1State Key Laboratory of Eco-hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region, Xi'an University of Technology, Xi'an 710048, China
2Key Laboratory of National Forestry Administration on Ecological Hydrology and Disaster Prevention in Arid Regions, Xi'an University of Technology, Xi'an 710048, China
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Abstract  

Hydraulic erosion associated with seasonal freeze-thaw cycles is one of the most predominant factors, which drives soil stripping and transportation. In this study, indoor simulated meltwater erosion experiments were used to investigate the sorting characteristics and transport mechanism of sediment particles under different freeze-thaw conditions (unfrozen, shallow-thawed, and frozen slopes) and runoff rates (1, 2, and 4 L/min). Results showed that the order of sediment particle contents was silt>sand>clay during erosion process on unfrozen, shallow-thawed, and frozen slopes. Compared with original soils, clay and silt were lost, and sand was deposited. On unfrozen and shallow-thawed slopes, the change of runoff rate had a significant impact on the enrichment of clay, silt, and sand particles. In this study, the sediment particles transported in the form of suspension/saltation were 83.58%-86.54% on unfrozen slopes, 69.24%-84.89% on shallow-thawed slopes, and 83.75%-87.44% on frozen slopes. Moreover, sediment particles smaller than 0.027 mm were preferentially transported. On shallow-thawed slope, relative contribution percentage of suspension/saltation sediment particles gradually increased with the increase in runoff rate, and an opposite trend occurred on unfrozen and frozen slopes. At the same runoff rate, freeze-thaw process had a significant impact on the relative contribution percentage of sediment particle transport via suspension/saltation and rolling during erosion process. The research results provide an improved transport mechanism under freeze-thaw condition for steep loessal slopes.

Key words： freeze-thaw      runoff conditions      erosion process      sediment particles      transport mechanism     
Received: 26 January 2022      Published: 31 May 2022
Fund:  This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(U2040208);This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(52009104);This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(52079106);This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(42107087);the Shaanxi Province Innovation Talent Promotion Plan Project Technology Innovation Team(2020TD-023);In addition, we thank the reviewers for their useful comments and suggestions
Corresponding Authors: *: HOU Jingming (E-mail: jingminghou@xaut.edu.cn)
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WANG Tian
LI Peng
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LI Zhanbin
Cite this article:

WANG Tian, LI Peng, HOU Jingming, TONG Yu, LI Jing, WANG Feng, LI Zhanbin. Transport mechanism of eroded sediment particles under freeze-thaw and runoff conditions. Journal of Arid Land, 2022, 14(5): 490-501.

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http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-022-0016-x     OR     http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2022/V14/I5/490

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of the experimental device
Fig. 2 Changes in the contents of silt, sand, and clay on unfrozen
(a), shallow-thawed (b), and frozen slopes (c) with 1 L/min runoff rate
Fig. 3 Changes in the contents of silt, sand, and clay on unfrozen
(a), shallow-thawed (b), and frozen slopes (c) with 2 L/min runoff rate
Fig. 4 Changes in the contents of silt, sand, and clay on unfrozen
(a), shallow-thawed (b), and frozen slopes (c) with 4 L/min runoff rate
Runoff rate
(L/min)		 Slope type Mean value (%)
Clay Silt Sand
1 Unfrozen 0.30 73.66 26.04
Shallow-thawed 0.19 64.70 35.12
Frozen 0.30 72.87 26.84
2 Unfrozen 0.31 73.92 25.76
Shallow-thawed 0.23 70.23 29.54
Frozen 0.25 71.31 28.44
4 Unfrozen 0.22 65.95 33.83
Shallow-thawed 0.27 71.22 28.51
Frozen 0.27 70.66 29.07
Table 1 Average particle contents of clay, silt, and sand on unfrozen, shallow-thawed, and frozen slopes at different runoff rates
Runoff rate
(L/min)		 Slope type ER value
Clay Silt Sand
1 Unfrozen 1.75Aa 1.15Aa 0.73Bb
Shallow-thawed 1.08Cb 1.01Bb 0.99Aa
Frozen 1.73Aa 1.13Aa 0.75Ab
2 Unfrozen 1.90Aa 1.15Aa 0.72Bb
Shallow-thawed 1.33Bb 1.09Ab 0.83Ba
Frozen 1.39Ab 1.10Ab 0.82Aa
4 Unfrozen 1.25Bb 1.03Bb 0.95Aa
Shallow-thawed 1.60Aa 1.11Aa 0.80Bb
Frozen 1.59Aa 1.10Aa 0.82Ab
Table 2 Enrichment rate (ER) of clay, silt, and sand on unfrozen, shallow-thawed, and frozen slopes at different runoff rates
Fig. 5 Percentage of 10 classes of grain-size particles in eroded sediments under different slope types and times at 1 L/min runoff rate. Dotted line represents the particle size content when the 10 particle sizes of original soils are equal to 10%.
(a), unfrozen slope; (b), shallow-thawed slope; (c), frozen slope.
Fig. 6 Percentage of 10 classes of grain-size particles in eroded sediments under different slope types and times at 2 L/min runoff rate. Dotted line represents the particle size content when the ten particle sizes of original soils are equal to 10%.
(a), unfrozen slope; (b), shallow-thawed slope; (c), frozen slope.
Fig. 7 Percentage of 10 classes of grain-size particles in eroded sediments under different slope types and times at 4 L/min runoff rate. Dotted line represents the particle size content when the ten particle sizes of original soils are equal to 10%.
(a), unfrozen slope; (b), shallow-thawed slope; (c), frozen slope.
Runoff rate
(L/min)		 Slope type Suspension/saltation
percentage (%)		 Rolling
percentage (%)
1 Unfrozen 86.54 13.46
Shallow-thawed 69.24 30.76
Frozen 87.44 12.56
2 Unfrozen 86.31 13.69
Shallow-thawed 79.78 20.22
Frozen 83.75 16.25
4 Unfrozen 83.58 16.42
Shallow-thawed 84.89 15.11
Frozen 86.07 13.93
Table 3 Relative contribution percentage of suspension/saltation and rolling transportation modes in soil sediments
Runoff ratio
(L/min)		 Slope type CV (%)
Clay Silt Sand
1 Unfrozen 22.61 7.88 28.71
Shallow-thawed 15.69 8.48 15.32
Frozen 26.50 9.61 41.26
2 Unfrozen 7.69 2.64 11.43
Shallow-thawed 8.45 3.52 12.12
Frozen 11.21 4.43 11.45
4 Unfrozen 16.22 8.20 41.24
Shallow-thawed 7.01 2.77 9.33
Frozen 10.32 4.21 12.61
Table 4 Coefficient of variation (CV) of clay, silt, and sand particles on unfrozen, shallow-thawed, and frozen slopes at different runoff rates
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