Abstract
The gullies of the Idemili River system and, in fact all other gullies of southeastern Nigeria, originated as a response of highly erodible sandy formations to the incisional regimes caused by base level changes following the Pleistocene glacio-eustatic sea level fluctuations. Tropical meteoric variables combine into a favourable erosivity factor that triggers off sheet wash, rlling and catastrophic slope retreat, expressed mostly as plane and circular slides, slumps and undercutting toe processes.
The gullies tend to evolve in a self-destructive sequence respecting the local base level and resulting in natural reclamation of their lower reaches. Rehabilitation measures may as such replicate natural tendencies by mechanically accelerating the processes so as to artificially and speedily attain a stable new level and reclaim large expanses of badland.
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© 1992 Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Braunschweig/Wiesbaden
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Nwajide, C.S. (1992). Gullying in the Idemili River catchment, Anambra State, Nigeria: theory and cure. In: Freeth, S.J., Ofoegbu, C.O., Onuoha, K.M. (eds) Natural Hazards in West and Central Africa. International Monograph Series. Vieweg+Teubner Verlag, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-663-05239-5_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-663-05239-5_13
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