Semi-arid erosional systems: case srudies from Spain / Полузасушливые эрозионные системы: тематические исследования в Испании

This book is mainly about accelerated soil erosion, which is the rapid loss of soil from slopes at rates much faster than those occurring under natural geological conditions. By soil one has in mind the whole system of weathered material and not simply the upper few centimetres in which plants grow. With this definition, it is sometimes difficult and even impossible to differentiate soil from unconsolidated bedrock materials. This broader definition of soil is matched by a broader definition of the erosion problem to include the entire area of small catchments up to several kilometres in length. This is because it is meaningful, in the environments investigated and at the scale studied, to include channel effects as significant contributors to the erosion problem. The economic and social aspects of soil erosion are two-sided; what is lost from fields and orchards is subsequently redeposited in channels and reservoirs and on fields and factories. <...>