Wojciech Froehlich

Articles

Rainfall, runoff and soil erosion in the extremely humid area around Cherrapunji, India

Leszek Starkel, Surendra Singh, Roman Soja, Wojciech Froehlich, Hiambok Syiemlieh, Paweł Prokop

Geographia Polonica (2002) vol. 75, iss. 1, pp. 43-65 | Full text

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Abstract

The present paper includes a characterization of the environment in the extremely humid Cherrapunji region (with annual rainfalls from 8 000 to 24 000 mm), as well as a description of a new project and preliminary observations on runoff and soil erosion. Due to deforestation, soils are degraded. The investigation is based on existing meteorological records, measurements of rainfall intensity by way of pluviometers, and observations of selected geomorphological and hydrological processes conducted in an experimental catchment. Heavy rains mainly occur during late evening and continue till morning. The runoff follows the heavy rains immediately, even if the soil profiles may absorb 100 mm of rainfall over 3-4 hours. Deeper layers of the soil profile are still satura-ted during the first half of the dry season. During the rainy season, saturated sheet flow also prevails in the valley bottoms. The present-day rate of soil erosion is very low due to heavy overland How continuing for centuries, and the formation of a stony pavement on slope surfaces as well as of river channels cut in resistant rocks with iron crusts. This has been documented by measurement of ,rCs contents in soil profiles.

Keywords: rainstorm, overland flow, soil erosion, Cherrapunji plateau, '7Cs

Leszek Starkel [starkel@zg.pan.krakow.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Św. Jana 22, 31-018 Kraków, Poland
Surendra Singh, epartment of Geography, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong-793014, India
Roman Soja [soja@zg.pan.krakow.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Św. Jana 22, 31-018 Kraków, Poland
Wojciech Froehlich, Homerka Laboratory of Fluvial Processes, Institute of Geography, Polish Academy of Sciences, Frycowa, Poland
Hiambok Syiemlieh, department of Geography, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong-793014, India
Paweł Prokop [pawel@zg.pan.krakow.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Św. Jana 22, 31-018 Kraków, Poland

The role of land use in varying the suspended load during continuous rainfall (Kamienica Nawojowska catchment, flysch Carpathians)

Wojciech Froehlich

Geographia Polonica (1978) vol. 41, pp. 27-38 | Full text

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Abstract

The Carpathian river valleys experience catastrophic floods every few years. Floods are the result of continuous rainfall with daily amounts exceed-ing 100 mm (T. Niedźwiedź, 1972). Floods play the major role in channel transformation and they are moving waste materials accumulated in the val-ley-floors at flood-free intervals (K. Brykowicz et al., 1972; W. Froehlich, 1972; M. Gałka, 1973; M. Klimaszewski, 1935; M. Niemirowski, 1972; L. Starkel, 1972; M. Woźnowski, 1935; A. Zierhoffer, 1935; T. Ziętara, 1968, 1974). Both intensity and magnitude of the waste removal process is reflected in the sus-pended sediment transport. During floods the Carpathian rivers can carry more than half of the material transported per year (J. Brański, 1968; J. Cyberski, 1969; W. Froehlich, 1972; Z. Kajetanowicz, 1938; A. Welc, 1972; H. Ziemska, 1928). For this reason, detailed studies of the then removed material are neces-sary to know the extreme intensities of the present-day waste removal from the Carpathian flysch catchments.Both the activities of man and land use affect the transport of materials by rivers (J. Douglas, 1967). Researches into the mechanism of sediment transport-ation during floods and of waste supply from the small catchments with various land use have as yet been lacking.

Wojciech Froehlich, Homerka Laboratory of Fluvial Processes, Institute of Geography, Polish Academy of Sciences, Frycowa, Poland