A NEW CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR MEASURING SOIL EROSION BY WATER

Current estimates of rates of soil erosion by water are incompatible with estimates of long-term lowering of large drainage basins. Here we argue that traditional arguments to reconcile these two disparate rates are flawed and that the problem lies with the methods that have been used to calculate rates of soil erosion. We develop a new conceptual approach that is based upon the travel distances of individual particles. The implication of our study is that previous estimates of rates of soil erosion by water are fallacious.