Morphodynamics of gully development on the platform– slope system of spoil dumps under platform concentrated flow

Abstract

Severe gully erosion on spoil dumps, caused by dense concentrated flow derived from platforms, poses a significant threat to the land management of mining areas. However, little is known about the development processes and mechanisms of gullies on spoil dumps. A flow scouring experiment was conducted on an established platform–slope system under 3.6–5.04 m3 h−1. The soils of the system consisted of a surface sandy loam A layer and anunderlying clay loam B layer. The results showed that the platform exhibited a gully development process of headcut-incision– headcut-expansion–stabilization and the steep slope experienced gully development of A-layer in-cision–A-layer expansion–B-layer incision–stabilization. The results showed 88.97–100% of Froude Number (Fr) decrement and 47.90–88.97% of Darcy–Weisbach roughness coefficient increment finished in the two incision stages on the steep slope. Gully depth has the most sensitive response to flow hydraulics. A significant linear correlation exists between gully depth and shear stress, runoff power, Fr, and Reynolds Number (R2 > 0.337). Overall, the optimal hydraulic indicator varies within different stages for describing the gully morphology development, illustrating the different action mechanism between flow hydraulics and gully morphology. Our findings provide a theoretical support for future mechanistic studies of gully erosion and the land management on spoil dump.