Reconstruction of gully erosion based on exposed tree roots in a recent landform of Paricutin Volcano, Mexico

Abstract

Gullies in volcanic deposits are among the first signs of erosion that can be observed during or immediately after the volcanic activity and reflective of unstable conditions of newly formed deposits. Gully formation and erosion pulses may well continue to occur long after the initial landform was created, mostly as a result of torrential rainfall and/or land‐use changes. Yet, proper understanding of erosion dynamics and its relations with environmental drivers remains challenging as long‐term observations are, especially in volcanic terrain. Here we applied dendrogeomorphic approaches to (i) analyse both microscopic and macroscopic disturbances in tree roots exposed by gully erosion in a young volcanic landform of central Mexico and to (ii) quantify the evolution of erosion in the volcanic deposits of Paricutin Volcano. To this end we analysed 154 cross‐sections of 30 living, exposed roots of Pinus pseudoestrobus Lindl., of which 25 were used for anatomical and 129 for macroscopic analysis. Wood anatomical – or microscopic – disturbances were mostly in the form of strong growth reductions (~50%) in lumen area of earlywood tracheids, substantial increases in ring widths (mostly stemming from eccentric growth) and the increased formation of latewood cells. We observe major erosion pulses in 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, triggered primarily by torrential rainfall (with >100 mm 24 h−1 for the maximum intensity event: standard precipitation index values ≥ 2). Along the gully, the lower sector formed between 2009 and 2017, whereas the central sector exhibited important phases of exposure from 2012 to 2018. In the upper, most recent sector of the gully, erosion started only in 2017. Erosion rates in the lower and upper sectors are smaller with a channel widening rate of 6 to 16 cm yr−1. Around the main knickpoint found in the central part of the gully, retreat rates are up to 60 cm yr−1 and gully incision is 30 cm yr−1. The methods applied in this research are novel and can be applied to other volcanic environments with intense gully erosion, so as to provide baseline data for land‐use and environmental management plans.

Recent gully erosion intensity in an agricultural landscape underlain by fluvioglacial sediments (NE Czechia)

“…However, the A‐C gully evolution since 2014 is negligible based on regular field observations since 2015. Similar irregular erosion pulses were also observed by Franco‐Ramos et al (2022). Moreover, gully propagation has also been stopped thanks to countermeasures implemented to improve surface runoff (Figure 9).…”

“…The mean incision rates calculated in gullies A-C are therefore confusing because most of the incision occurred during a few extreme rainfall events, such as in May 2014, when incision was estimated to be as much as 1.5 m during a single event. The mean incision rates derived from exposed root data are comparable to incision rates from badlands in the Mediterranean (Ballesteros-Cánovas et al, 2017) or from steep gullies in highly erodible volcanic sediments in Mexico (Franco-Ramos et al, 2022).…”

“…While large gully systems can be monitored using aerial or satellite images (Ries and Marzolff, 2003; Shirahama et al, 2015; Li et al, 2017), narrow forested gullies require more detailed in‐situ investigations, for example, because of limitations related to the low resolution of digital elevation models (James et al, 2007), even when using airborne laser scanning due to possible signal attenuation from vegetation cover (Bernatek‐Jakiel & Jakiel, 2021). In forested landscape, the gully propagation can be dated and quantified using dendrogeomorphic methods (Malik, 2008; Šilhán, 2012; Ballesteros Canovas et al, 2017; Bernatek‐Jakiel & Wrońska‐Walach, 2018; Bollati et al, 2019; Bovi et al, 2019; Franco‐Ramos et al, 2022). These methods enable the determination of the years of erosion events by detecting changes in the tree‐ring growth in living exposed roots that cross the gully profiles (Vandeckerkhove et al, 2001; Stoffel et al, 2013).…”

Long-term reconstruction of flash floods in the Qilian Mountains, China, based on dendrogeomorphic methods

“…With further development of the discipline, the suitability of the approach has been demonstrated repeatedly and the widespread distribution of floodaffected trees has resulted in a large number of studies aimed at improving the understanding of flood processes worldwide (Ballesteros-Cánovas et al 2015c) and is now considered an effective method to improve information on past floods in mountain rivers (Ruiz-Villanueva et al 2010;Stoffel et al , 2013Ballesteros-Cánovas et al 2015b, 2020aGénova et al 2015;Zaginaev et al 2016;Šilhán et al 2018;Zaginaev et al 2019;Quesada-Román et al 2022). In recent years, it has been employed repeatedly to carry out research aimed at documenting flash flood histories in North and Central America (Bégin 2001;George and Nielsen 2003;Therrell and Bialecki 2015;Quesada-Román et al 2020;Sánchez-Asunción et al 2020;Franco-Ramos et al 2021), South America , Europe (Zielonka et al 2008;Kundzewicz et al 2017), the Mediterranean (Ballesteros et al 2010a(Ballesteros et al , 2010bRuiz-Villanueva et al 2010;Ferrio et al 2015), and the Himalayas (Ballesteros-Cánovas et al 2017;Speer et al 2019). Research has thereby shifted gradually from the mere dating of past floods and their frequency or intensity to the exploration of the driving mechanisms of processes and establishing regional hydrological models (Ballesteros-Cánovas et al 2018).…”

Bank erosion and erosion processes from dendrogeomorphology in southern U.S. prairie streams

“…By analyzing the anatomy in cut sections of exposed roots (root slabs) collected along stream channels, dates of erosion of hydrologic paths are determined by counting growth increments from the outermost ring to the ring that shows the growth anomaly (e.g., Corona et al, 2011; Stoffel et al, 2013; Vandekerckhove et al, 2001). Tree type is important, as conifers are frequently used for dendrogeomorphological analysis, because of the ease in identifying root anatomical changes (Franco‐Ramos et al, 2022; Gärtner et al, 2001; Malik & Matyja, 2008; Bodoque et al, 2011). For angiosperms, only ring‐porous species can be used due to their characteristic ring structure in response to seasonal water availability (Dick et al, 2014; Hitz et al, 2008; Stotts et al, 2014; Tichavský et al, 2018).…”