1994
  • Non-ICIMOD publication

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Accelerated erosion and denudation in the Nana Kosi watershed, central Himalaya, India - part I: sediment load

  • Rawat, J. S.
  • Rawat, M. S.
  • Summary

The Nana Kosi watershed is an area of homogeneous bedrock, undulating terrain, and a cool temperate climate where the removal of forest cover and agricultural activities have greatly accelerated the rates of erosion. This reconnaissance study estimates the current erosion rate as 0.09 mm/yr on deforested land and 0.18 mm/yr on agricultural land. By contrast, natural erosion rates vary between 0.02 mm/yr under oak and pine mixed forest and 0.04 mm/yr under pine forest. In the month of heaviest rainfall, suspended and dissolved sediment yields are 7.25-26.0 times higher in the most disturbed agricultural land than in the forest. The geological rate of surface lowering due to channel erosion may be of the order of 0.10 mm/yr. 

  • Published in:
    Mountain Research and Development, Vol.14, No. 1
  • Language:
    English
  • Published Year:
    1994
  • External Link:
    External link