Arid Zone Research ›› 2019, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (5): 1292-1299.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2019.05.27

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Morphological Complex and Classification of Gullies in the Liudaogou Minor Drainage Basin in North Shaanxi Province

ZHAO Ying1,2, DONG Shuang1,3, JIA Yu-hua1   

  1. 1. Liaoning Province Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion Control and Ecological Restoration,Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866,Liaoning,China;
    2. State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau,Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources,Yangling 712100,Shaanxi,China;
    3. Tongren Polytechnic College,Tongren 554300,Guizhou,China
  • Received:2018-12-18 Revised:2019-03-19 Published:2025-10-14

Abstract: The appearance and development of permanent gullies considerably change the catchment geomorphology and natural environment in the Loess Plateau.Research on gully morphology is beneficial to understand the development process and evolvement mechanism of gullies.Through a field survey in 32 typical gullies in the Liudaogou minor drainage basin with portable GPS,the morphological characteristics and the main results are as follows: ① The number of gully >100 m in length accounted for 81.2%.The widening extent of the gullies was larger than their deepening.Specifically,the width of the gullies was two times higher than their depth.Moreover,the mean width and depth were significantly different among the head-cut,cross-section and outlet of the gullies; ② Inconsistent information was achieved from the box dimension and the shape index.In comparison,the box dimension was sufficient in expressing the shape complex of gullies,which ranged from 1.011 to 1.293 in this study; ③ According to the incorporated gully branch information,the permanent gullies were divided into four types: linear,head-expanded,head-branched and outlet-branched.In view of the spatial links between the main and branched gullies,the branches of the permanent gullies would be important for recognizing the gullies and understanding the fragmentation of the drainage basins.

Key words: erosional gully, geomorphology, fractal dimension, gully type, Liudaogou minor drainage basin, Loess Plateau