The near-surface saturated hydraulic conductivity (K_sat) is an important hydrological characteristic because it determines surface infiltration rates and the vertical and lateral redistribution of water in the soil. However, there is comparatively little knowledge about the changes in K_sat during landscape development and how the co-evolution of biological, pedological and hydrological characteristics affect the movement of water through the soil. On the one hand, increasing vegetation cover is expected to increase macroporosity and thus K_sat. On the other hand, clay formation is expected to decrease K_sat. To investigate how hillslope aging affects K_sat, we used a space-for-time approach and conducted comprehensive measurements of vegetation, soil and topography on a chronosequence of moraines in a proglacial area of the Swiss Alps. On four moraines, ranging from about ten thousand to ~30 years in age, we measured for three plots the near-surface soil characteristics. Surface and near-surface K_sat were high and decreased with depth on all moraines. Surface K_sat was highest on the youngest moraine (median: 4320 mm hr⁻¹) and lowest (540 mm hr⁻¹) on the oldest moraine. K_sat was significantly positive correlated with soil texture and the gravel content in the surface soil layer. The correlation analyses and Structural Equation Model suggested that the larger fraction of small particles for the older moraines had a bigger effect on K_sat than the denser root network. Even though the variability in measured K_sat-values within the moraines was high and water movement is thus likely very heterogeneous, the measured K_sat values suggest that infiltration-excess overland flow is very unlikely on these hillslopes but (lateral) near surface flow likely increases with the age of the hillslope. This information is important for understanding differences in runoff generation mechanisms in alpine areas with moraines of different ages, as well as landscape evolution models.

近地表饱和导水率（K _sat）是重要的水文特征，因为它决定了表面渗透率以及土壤中水的垂直和横向再分布。然而，相对较少的知识有关的变化ķ_坐在景观的发展，以及如何生物，土壤学和水文特征的协同进化通过土壤会影响水的运动过程。一方面，增加植被覆盖度有望增加大孔隙度，从而增加K _sat。另一方面，预计粘土的形成会降低K _sat。调查山坡老化如何影响K _sat，我们采用时空方法，对瑞士阿尔卑斯山冰山一带的芒mo按时间序列进行了植被，土壤和地形的综合测量。在大约从一万到30年的四个月龄鼠上，我们对三个地表的近地表土壤特征进行了测量。在所有near上，表面和近表面的K _sat都很高，并且随深度的增加而降低。表面K_坐于最年轻的冰ora上最高（中值：4320 mm hr ^-1），而最老的冰ora上最低（540 mm hr ^-1）。ķ _SAT与土壤质地和表层土壤层中的砾石含量显着正相关。相关分析和结构方程模型表明，较老的mo子，较大颗粒的小颗粒对K _sat的影响大于较密的根网。即使在谷粒中测得的K _sat值的变化很大，因此水的运动很可能是非均质的，但测得的K _sat值表明，在这些山坡上极少有渗入过量的陆上水流，但随着山坡年龄的增加，（地表）近地表水流可能会增加。这些信息对于了解不同年龄的高寒地区的径流产生机制的差异以及景观演化模型非常重要。