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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Morris, Minnesota » Soil Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #118322
Title: PROCESS OF TILLAGE EROSION

Author
item Lindstrom, Michael

Submitted to: Encyclopedia of Soil Science
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/3/2001
Publication Date: 6/3/2002
Citation: LINDSTROM, M.J. TILLAGE EROSION, DESCRIPTION AND PROCESS OF. LAL, R. EDITOR. MARCEL DEKKER, INC., NEW YORK, NY. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SOIL SCIENCE. 2002. P. 1324-1326.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Tillage erosion is a problem that has been present since the dawn of cultivation. The problem has intensified with increased tillage speed and depth and size of tillage tools and with the tillage of steeper and more undulating lands. This report describes both the processes and effects of tillage erosion. Soil translocation by tillage can be described by a simple linear regression of the form Y = a + b(S), where Y = the translocation distance (m), S = the slope gradient, and a and b are constants. Expanding on this relationship, soil translocation can be considered as a diffusion-type geomorphological process, similar to rainsplash and soil creep, and characterized by a single constant (k). The tillage transport coefficient, k = -DrbB, where D is the depth of tillage (m), rb is the soil bulk density (kg m**-3), and B is the slope of the linear regression equation of the relationship between soil displacement (m) and the slope gradient (m m**-1). Using this relationship, the unit soil transport rate in the direction of tillage (Qs) at any specific point in a field can be calculated as Qs = kS. The rate of soil erosion depends on the unit transport rate and the degree of change in slope gradients. In effect, soil loss occurs on convex slope positions and soil deposition takes place on concave slope positions. Although tillage erosion can result in considerable soil loss and accumulation within fields, soil is not directly lost from fields. However, tillage erosion exposes subsoil material on upper slope positions that is dispersed and mixed into the tilled layer of adjacent slope position resulting in an overall decrease in soil productivity. Tillage erosion is directly proportional to the degree and scale of topographic complexity.