Soil crevice formation and erosion in Yuanmou dry-hot valley, Yunnan Province, China

The basic characteristics, X-ray analysis and micromorphology of soil developed from the parent ruified soil had been probed, results showed that there were similarities among different types of the rubified soils. The soil clay (D<0.002 mm) contents (C _c ) were relative higher as between 29.16% and 80.03%. In addition, organic matter contents were lower as between 2.2–6.6 g/kg. The clay minerals in the rubified soils had high content of 2:1 type swelling minerals, e.g., smectite and vermiculite, which were the basic causes of formation of soil cracks and crevices. Soil micromorphology characteristics showed that microcosmic crevices universally distributed within the tight and compact soil microstructure were the microcosmic characteristics of crevices formation. The soil cracks and crevices changed the erosion process. Obviously, well developed soil crevice carries a significant connection with strong soil erosion in Yuanmou, Yunnan province, China. The term “soil crevice erosion” was coincided with the viewpoint put forward that soil crevice erosion played a dominant role in regional and violent soil erosion in this area. Foundation item: Supported by the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(KZCX2-YW-409) and the National Key Technology R&D Program of China (2006BAC01A11)