Report Shows Tectonics to be Main Driver Of Hillslope 'Connectivity'
Chances are good that most people reading this are situated on a hillslope, as hillslopes cover some 90% of the Earth’s landmass.
Hillslopes are critical landscape features that move water from ridges down to valleys, transport sediments and nutrients, and link terrestrial ecosystems with aquatic ones — facets of a hillslope’s “connectivity.”
A new large-scale analysis of hillslope connectivity at the continental scale from the University of Kansas was recently published in Geophysical Research Letters. The study gives new understanding of mechanisms that determine how effectively hillslopes drive floods and landslides, as well as promote the presence of wetlands.