Gully erosion is an environmental problem that confronts the
international community. This study was undertaken to investigate the
relationships between gully length and average gully width on two geological
sediments of varying resistance to erosion. Thirty-seven and five gully samples
formed respectively on two homogenous geological sediments (the Ajalli
Sandstones (AS) and the Upper Coal Measures (UCM)) underlying the Idah-Ankpa
Plateau of the North Central Nigeria were measured and their lengths (L) and
average widths (W) were subjected to correlation analyses and the sample
bivariate regression to examine and compare their relationships on the two
formations. Results show that on the
highly erodible AS, L is positively, poorly, and not significantly correlated
with W (R = 0.201, R2 = 0.040), whereas the correlation is stronger,
significant, but negative at the 0.05 level on the UCM (R = -0.930, R2 =
0.865). The regression equations show that L is a poor predictor of W on the AS
(W1 = 6.387 + 0.03L1, R2 = 0.040), and a very good predictor of the parameter
(W) on the UCM (W2=18.135 – 0.033L2, R2 = 0.865), which appears as a negative
value. And the valid range of gully lengths for the prediction of the average
width on the AS can be ranked as 0 = L < ∞
(infinity), whereas the ranking is of the form 0 ≤ L ≤ 549.55 m on the
UCM. The study suggests that the
correlation of W with L becomes stronger, negative and significant as the
resistance to erosion of the geological sediments increases. It also suggests
that the predictability of W using L as a tool improves and transforms to a
negative value as the resistance to erosion of the formation increases.
Author(s) Details
Dr. Louis A. Oparaku Author(s) Details
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria.
View Book: - http://bp.bookpi.org/index.php/bpi/catalog/book/175
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