Runoff and soil erosion on frozen soils in northeastern Oregon.

Abstract

Frozen soils, snowmelt, and rain on snow all were key factors in major soil loss events during the 1979-1980 winter at four erosion monitoring sites in north central Oregon. Snowmelt and/or frozen soils were responsible for 86% of the observed soil loss events. Heat balance calculations for a typical rain-on-snow event showed that condensation melt accounted for as much as 38% of total hourly melt and averaged 21% for the entire event. The accelerated runoff from partially thawed soil thus produced severe soil movement.- from Authors