INDIRECT ASSESSMENT OF RIVER-TORRENTIAL EROSION BY MEASURING THE ERODED VOLUM CASE STUDY: THE REGHIU STREAM
NICULAE LUCICA
ABSTRACT. Indirect assessment of river-torrential erosion by measuring the eroded volum (flow). Case study: The Reghiu Stream. The landform, as a whole, is the basic component of the environment and evolves as an open system controlled by two categories of components, in a close relationship of dynamic interconditioning. The endodynamic components are stable and they define the relief physiognomy: hypsometry, the gradient and length of the slope, lithologic conditions and the drainage density. The exodynamic components, with high spatial and temporal mobility, control the flow of matter and energy within the hydrographic basin, the solar energy, the rainfalls, the temperature, the plant cover, and the anthropic activity. The volume of eroded material of a hydrographic basin will set the relationship between the present physiognomy of the landform and the flow of materials carried and discharged. The quantitative evaluation of the erosion in a hydrographic basin, specific to a certain region, will deal with the parameters reflecting the intensity of the morphogenetic processes over a specified period of time. The Reghiu Stream, a left-side tributary of the River Milcov, drains varied landforms, developed on geological formations with different physical properties; moreover, it manifests a regressive erosion, weaker than the Zabala River (they used to have a common evolution during the geological past), and the interfluve is very narrow – there are few facts which lead to the conclusion that the erosion is differential, depending on the local conditions of shaping.
Keywords: hydrographic basin, eroded volume, thalweg, morphogenetic process, initial landform and present landform.