Abstract
Eco-geomorphic implications of hillslope aspect: Inferences from analysis of landscape morphology in central New Mexico
School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
Department of Earth and Environmental Science, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, New Mexico, USA
Department of Earth and Environmental Science, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, New Mexico, USA
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
We investigate the influence of hillslope aspect on landscape morphology in central New Mexico, where differences in soils, vegetation, and landforms are observed between mesic north-facing and xeric south-facing slopes. Slope–area and curvature–area relations, derived from a Digital Elevation Model (DEM), are used to characterize the opposing hillslope morphologies. In all geologies and elevation ranges studied, topographic data reveal significantly steeper slopes in north-facing aspects, and shallower slopes in south-facing aspects. North-facing slope curvatures are also greater than south-facing curvatures. Using a conceptual slope-area model, we suggest that for a given drainage area, steeper north-facing slopes imply lower soil erodibility. We argue that this interpretation, consistent with recent views of ecosystem control on semiarid erosion rates, shows the influence hillslope aspect on topography and its associated vegetation communities. Observed valley asymmetry in the region reinforces this concept and suggests a long-term legacy of aspect-modulated ecogeomorphic processes.
Received 29 April 2008; accepted 17 May 2008; published 31 July 2008.
Citation: (2008), Eco-geomorphic implications of hillslope aspect: Inferences from analysis of landscape morphology in central New Mexico, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L14403, doi:10.1029/2008GL034477.
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