Abstract Understanding rill development and erosion rates is crucial for understanding changes in hillslope morphology and soil erosion. Mudcracks, a widely distributed feature on the land surface, play an important role in erosion, but the quantitative relationship between mudcracks and erosion has seldom been reported. Thanks to advances in terrestrial laser scanning (TLS, also known as terrestrial LiDAR), topographic changes can be observed at high resolution. This study is designed to quantify the effects of mudcracks on erosion. Mudstone specimens with and without mudcracks were analyzed. Using TLS, we quantified the millimeter-scale effects of mudcracks on slope erosion and rill development in laboratory experiments with well-controlled samples and water discharge. The point cloud data collected by TLS were then converted to digital elevation models (DEMs) for DEM of difference (DoD) analysis. The results show that mudcracks facilitate rill development. In the early stage of the experiment, the erosion depth of the cracked mudstone is twice that of the surface without cracks, and the total erosion amount is more than twice. During the experiments, the dominant erosion pattern changes from sheet erosion to rill erosion and then lateral erosion. Moreover, our study highlights the potential of TLS and DoD for high-resolution spatio-temporal topographic surveys to identify and characterize micro-relief-induced erosion.

中文翻译：

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在实验室径流实验中使用地面激光扫描量化泥裂驱动的侵蚀

摘要 了解细沟发育和侵蚀率对于了解山坡形态和土壤侵蚀的变化至关重要。泥裂是地表广泛分布的特征，在侵蚀中起重要作用，但很少报道泥裂与侵蚀之间的定量关系。由于地面激光扫描（TLS，也称为地面激光雷达）的进步，可以以高分辨率观察地形变化。本研究旨在量化泥石流对侵蚀的影响。对有和没有泥裂的泥岩标本进行了分析。使用 TLS，我们在控制良好的样本和排水的实验室实验中量化了泥裂对斜坡侵蚀和细沟发育的毫米级影响。然后将 TLS 收集的点云数据转换为数字高程模型 (DEM) 以进行 DEM 差异 (DoD) 分析。结果表明，泥裂有利于细沟的发育。试验初期，裂隙泥岩冲蚀深度是无裂隙地表冲蚀深度的两倍，总冲蚀量超过两倍。在实验过程中，主要的侵蚀模式从片状侵蚀变为细沟侵蚀，然后是侧向侵蚀。此外，我们的研究强调了 TLS 和 DoD 在高分辨率时空地形调查方面的潜力，以识别和表征微浮雕引起的侵蚀。裂隙泥岩的冲蚀深度是无裂隙地表冲蚀深度的两倍，总冲蚀量超过两倍。在实验过程中，主要的侵蚀模式从片状侵蚀变为细沟侵蚀，然后是侧向侵蚀。此外，我们的研究强调了 TLS 和 DoD 在高分辨率时空地形调查方面的潜力，以识别和表征微浮雕引起的侵蚀。裂隙泥岩的冲蚀深度是无裂隙地表冲蚀深度的两倍，总冲蚀量超过两倍。在实验过程中，主要的侵蚀模式从片状侵蚀变为细沟侵蚀，然后是侧向侵蚀。此外，我们的研究强调了 TLS 和 DoD 在高分辨率时空地形调查方面的潜力，以识别和表征微浮雕引起的侵蚀。