Spatial and temporal analysis of crust deterioration under particle impact

An experimental study on the susceptibility of crusted surfaces to wind erosion: A comparison of the strength properties of biotic and salt crusts

“…Following from experiments suggestive of fatigue-like phenomena in crusts and stress chains in granular media, we hypothesized that the weakest crusts would be those that had been subjected to the greatest number of impacts over time. While previous wind tunnel experiments (McKenna Neuman and Maxwell, 2002;McKenna Neuman et al, 2005) suggest the operation of this mechanism from consideration of the time dependency of the mass transport rate, this is the first set of experiments designed to test the hypothesis directly. The experimental design also allowed for a preliminary assessment of the effects of fetch length on the breakdown of the crust, as represented in the three Petri dishes aligned in a streamwise direction.…”

“…A considerable body of work exists regarding the strength properties of both biotic crusts (McKenna Neuman et al, 1996, 2005Maxwell, 1999, 2002) and clay crusted soils (Rice et al, 1996(Rice et al, , 1997(Rice et al, , 1999Houser and Nickling, 2001;Rice and McEwan, 2001). However, apart from Nickling and Ecclestone (1981) and Gillette et al (1982), relatively little research has specifically addressed the strength properties and entrainment of salt crusts.…”

“…This heterogeneity is important since wind-borne particles that strike the surface will rupture weaker areas of the crust provided the impact force exceeds the binding force. This abrasion, in turn, may liberate greater numbers of saltating particles and create further ruptures downwind (McKenna Neuman et al, 1996, 2005McKenna Neuman and Maxwell, 2002). The emission of dust from crusted playa surfaces has been shown to be dependent upon the abrasive action of saltating sand grains that set loose the fine fraction (Cahill et al, 1996;Houser and Nickling, 2001).…”

“…Comparison of the cumulative mass loss for each crust in wind tunnel studies also demonstrated that weak crusts deteriorate more easily than strong crusts. However, wind tunnel experiments by Maxwell (2002) andMcKenna Neuman et al (2005) demonstrated that deflation of biotic crusts also may occur over an extended period of time when the probability distributions do not overlap significantly. The authors suggested that repeated impacts on a crust surface weakens the inter-particle bonds, analogous to the fatigue that occurs in metals, pavement, and concrete under repeated strain.…”

The effect of rain, wind-driven rain and wind on particle transport under controlled laboratory conditions

“…Butzen et al, 2015;Iserloh et al, 2013bIserloh et al, , 2013cIserloh et al, , 2012Keesstra et al, 2016;Montenegro et al, 2013;Peter et al, 2014;Prosdocimi et al, 2016;Ries et al, 2013Ries et al, , 2009Rodrigo Comino et al, 2016;Vermang et al, 2015;Wirtz et al, 2012) and wind (e.g. Fister and Ries, 2009;Funk and Engel, 2015;Goossens, 2000;McKenna Neuman et al, 2005;Youssef et al, 2012;Zhang et al, 2014;Zobeck et al, 2013), few focused on wind-driven rain (Cornelis et al, 2004;De Lima et al, 1992;Iserloh et al, 2013a;Ries et al, 2014). Experimental quantifications on autochthonous soils and disturbed substrates (Iserloh et al, 2013a) reveal a powerful impact of wind-driven rain on erosion rates that is highly dependent on soil surface characteristics.…”