Abstract
There is an age old maxim: what goes up must come down. It is no less true for mountains and high land masses. As tectonics attempt to shorten the crustal distances making mountains arise, the action of rain, wind and gravitation are designed to put the mountains back in their place. The natural atmospheric forces tend to level the surface of the earth which results in a filling of the oceans, at least at the borders of continents. These actions pass by a destruction of the structure of the rocks making up mountains, either by physical means or mechanical ones so that the smaller pieces can be transported to a situation of lower gravitational potential.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abe K and Ziemer R (2001) Effect of tree roots on shallow-seated landslides. USDA Forest Gen Tech Report PSW-GTR–130.
Amato M, Belfiore G, Mazzoleni S and Urciuoli G (2005) Analisi contributo meccanico della vegetazione alla resistenza dell coltri ei terreno superficiale, 1–12, Convengo Nationale La Mitigazione del Rischioda Colate et Fango, Sarno.
Barshad I (1959) Factors affecting clay formation, 110–132. In E Ingerson (ed.), Clay and Clay Minerals, Vol. 2, Pergamon Press, 411 pp.
Birkeland P (1984) Soils and Geomorphology, Oxford Univ Press, 351 pp.
Bormann F and Likens C (1994) Pattern and Process in a Forested Ecosystem, Springer Verlag, 253 pp.
Burras L, Smeck N and Bigham J (1996) Origin and properties of smectites in loess-derived soils of Western Ohio. Soil Sci Soc Ame J 60: 1961–1996.
Catt J (1988) Economic significance, 113–142. In A Lerman and M Meybeck (eds.), Physical and Chemcial Weathering in Geochemical Cycles, Kluwer Academic, 375 pp.
Cornforth D (2005) Landslides in Practice, Wiley, 596 pp.
Cox J (1925) Crop Production and Soil Management, Wiley, 516 pp.
De Baetz S, Poesen J, Knapen A, Barbera G and Navarro J (2007) Root characteristics of representative Mediterranean plant species and their erosion-reducing potential during concentrated runoff. Plant Soil 294: 169–183.
Devkota B, Omura H, Kubota T, Paudel P and Inoue S (2006) Revegetation conditions and morphological characteristics of grass species observed in landslide scars, Shintategawa watershed, Fukuoka, Japan. J Appl Sci 6: 2238–2244.
Docker B and Hubble T (2008) Quantifying root-reinforcement of river bank soils by four Australian tree species. Geomorphology 100: 401–418.
Drooste J, Bhattachanya N and Sundermann J (1966) Clay mineral alteration in some Indiana soils, 329–342. In E Ingerson (ed.), Clays and Clay Minerals, Vol. 11, Pergamon press, 614 pp.
Duncan J and Wright S (2005) Soil Strength and Slope Stability, Wiley, 297 pp.
Egli M, Mirabella A, Mancabelli A and Sartori G (2004) Weathering of soils in Alpine areas as influenced by climate and parent material. Clays Clay Miner 52: 287–303.
Encyclopaedia Britannica (1969) William Benton, Chicago.
Gabet E and Dunne T (2002) Landslides on coastal sage-scrub and grassland hillslopes in a sevier El Nino winter: The effects of vegetation cover on a sediment delivery. Bull Geol Soc Ame 114: 983–990.
Gillot F, Righi D and Räisänen M (1999) Formation of smectites and their alteration in two chronosequences of Podzols in Finland. In H Kodama and AR Mermut and JK Torrance (eds.), Clays to Our Future, Proc.11th Int. Clay Conf., pp. 725–731.
Graham R and Wood H (1991) Morphologic development and clay distribution in lysimeter soils under chaparral and pine. Soil Sci Soc Ame J 55: 1638–1646.
Gray D and Sotir R (1996) Biotechnical and Slope Bioengineering Slope Stabilization, Wiley, 323 pp.
Greenway D (1987) Vegetation and slope stability, 187–230. In M Anderson and K Richards (eds.), Slope Stability, Wiley, 648 pp.
Gyssels G, Poessen H, Bochet E and Li A (2005) Impact of plant roots on the resistance of soils to erosion by water: A review. Prog Phys Geogr 29: 189–217.
Jamagne M (1973) Contribution à l’étude pédologique des formations loessiques du Nord de la France (Thesis), Faculté des Sciences Agronomique de l’Etat, Gembloux, Belgium, 445 pp.
Kuzila M and Lewis D (1993) Properties and genesis of loessial soils across a South-central Nebraska basin. Soil Sci Soc Ame J 57: 155–161.
Langhein L and Schumm S (1958) Yield of sediment relation to mean annual precipitation. Trans Ame Geophys Union 39: 1076–1084.
Morgan R (2005) Soil Erosion and Conservation, Blackwell, 304 pp.
Obruchev W (1945) Loess types and their origin. Ame J Sci 243: 256–262.
Paquet H (1977) Evolution géochimique des minéraux argileux dans les altérations et les sols des climats méditerranéens tropicaux à saisons contrastées. Mém Bull Carte Géol Alsace Lorraine 30: 1–212.
Pollen N (2007) Temporal and spatial variability in root reinforcement of stream banks: Accounting for soil shear strength and moisture. Catena 69: 197–205.
Prospero J, Ginoux P, Torres O, Nicholson S and Gill T (2002) Environmental characterization of global sources of atmospheric soil dust identified with NIMBUS 7 total ozone mapping spectrometer (TOMS) absorbing aerosol product. Rev Geophys 40: 1–29.
Ransom M, Bigham J, Smeck N and Jaynes W (1988) Transitional vermiculite – smectites phases in Aqualfs in Southwestern Ohio. Soil Sci Soc Ame J 52: 873–880.
Roering J, Schmidt K, Stock J, Dietrich W and Montgomery D (2003) Shallow landsliding, root re-enforcement, and the spatial distribution of trees in the Oregon Coast Range. Can Geotech J 40: 237–253.
Ruhe R (1984) Soil – climate system across the prairies in Midwestern USA. Geoderma 34: 201–219.
Schenk H and Jackson R (2002) The global biogeography of roots. Ecol Monographs 72: 311–328.
Teveldal S, Jorgensen P and Stuanes A (1990) Long-term weathering of silicates in a sandy soil at Nordmoen, Southern Norway. Clay Miner 25: 117–465.
Tice KR, Graham RC and Wood HB (1996) Transformations of 2:1 phyllosilicates in 41-year old soils under oak and pine. Geoderma 70: 49–62.
Tosi M (2007) Root tensile strength relationships and their slope stability implications of three shrub species in Northern Apennines (Italy). Geomorphology 87: 2268–2283.
Toy T, Foster, G and Renard K (2002) Soil Erosion: Processes, Prediction; Measurement and Control, Wiley, 337 pp.
Velde B and Church T (1999) Rapid clay transformations in Delaware Salt marshes. Appl Geochem 14: 559–568.
Velde B and Meunier A (2008) The Origin of Clay Minerals in Soils and Weathered Rocks, Springer, 406 pp.
Waldron L and Dakessian S (1981) Soil reinforcement by roots: Calculations of increased soil shear risistence from root propeties. Soil Sci 132: 427–435.
Walker L and del Moral R (2003) Primary Succession and Ecosystem Rehabilitation, Cambridge Univ Press, 456 pp.
Willman H, Glass H and Frye J (1963) Mineralogy of glacial tills and their weathering profiles in Illinois circular, 347, Illinois state Geological Survey, 55 pp.
Xu J (2005) Precipitation – vegetation coupling and its influence on erosion on the Loess Plateau, China. Catena 64: 103–116.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Velde, B., Barré, P. (2009). Physical Factors Affecting Soil Profiles: The Three Dimensional Aspect of Plant – Mineral Interaction: Displacements. In: Soils, Plants and Clay Minerals. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03499-2_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03499-2_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-03498-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-03499-2
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)