Browsing by Author "Rice, Loren L."

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    The determination of surface mine soil erodibility factors for two soils in southern West Virginia
    Rice, Loren L. (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1982)
    A grid type portable rainfall simulator, developed at Virginia Tech from support by the Office of Surface Mining, Department of Interior under Grant NO. G5114009, was used to apply 2.3 inch per hour “storms” to three replicated plots to determine surface mine soil erodibility factors for two distinctly different soils in southern West Virginia. Other variables included in the study were detailed soil descriptions for each site, initial and final soil moistures, plot rainfall distributions and the particle size distributions of the eroded materials. The soil erodibility indexes for the silt silt-loam and sandy respectively. loam soils averaged 0.408 and 0.735. Erodibility indexes for the silt silt-loam decreased, while indexes for the sandy loam soil remained constant for repeated rainfall applications. Using statistical analysis, rainfall distributions were shown to be uniform across plots for most rainfall applications. From a particle size distribution analysis of the eroded soil material, the percentage of silt and clay decreased, while the percentage of sand increased at each site with repeated rainfall applications. A rock mulching effect was present at the end of each testing sequence.
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    Sediment detachment and transport functions to simulate soil loss from reclaimed mine soils
    Wolfe, Mary Leigh; Shanholtz, Vernon O.; Rice, Loren L.; Ross, Burton Blake (Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, 1983)
    The Finite Element Storm Hydrograph Model ( FESHM), a distributed parameter model developed in the Department of Agricultural Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, was modified to predict sediment yield from surface-mined areas. Separate functions were included to define interrill detachment, rill detachment, and transport capacity of overland flow. Data from rainfall simulator studies, which were conducted at two surface mine sites in southern West Virginia, were used for field verification of the model. A comparison of simulated and recorded hydrographs showed good agreement. The model, however, consistently overpredicted sediment yield. Two factors, aggregate stability and armoring, were shown to contribute to the biased predictions.