Geomorphologic peculiarities of the gully erosion in the arid zone

Abstract

Gullies of specific type occurs in the arid zone. Their formation depends on landscape-geomorphic features of the territory: there exist "desert" gullies of plains and piedmonts, "mountain" gullies on the slopes of residual mountains, "irrigation" gullies, developing due to inrushes in the irrigation systems. The presence of badlands in the arid zone indicated favorable conditions for erosion process during short and rare cloudburst and for preservation at low denudation rate. Irrigation erosion in the arid zone may have a catastrophic character.