Erosion processes in black marl soils at the millimetre scale: preliminary insights from an analogous model

Bechet, J.; Duc, J.; Jaboyedoff, M.; Loye, A.; Mathys, N.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-1849-2015

Articles | Volume 19, issue 4

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-1849-2015

© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-1849-2015

© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 4

Technical note

|

20 Apr 2015

Technical note |

| 20 Apr 2015

Erosion processes in black marl soils at the millimetre scale: preliminary insights from an analogous model

J. Bechet, J. Duc, M. Jaboyedoff, A. Loye, and N. Mathys

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Final revised paper (published on 20 Apr 2015)
Preprint (discussion started on 21 Feb 2014)

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment

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- Supplement

RC C699: 'Interactive comment on “Technical Note: Erosion processes in black-marls at the millimetre scale, the input of an analogical model” by J. Bechet, J. Duc, M. Jaboyedoff, A. Loye, and N. Mathys', Anonymous Referee #1, 28 Mar 2014
- AC C2263: 'Answer referee #1', Michel Jaboyedoff, 08 Jul 2014
  - AC C2267: 'Answer referee #2', Michel Jaboyedoff, 08 Jul 2014
- AC C2265: 'Answer referee #1', Michel Jaboyedoff, 08 Jul 2014
RC C780: 'Interesting measurement that requires more data analysis.', Anonymous Referee #2, 03 Apr 2014
- AC C2270: 'Answer referee #2', Michel Jaboyedoff, 08 Jul 2014
RC C1128: 'Comments to discussion paper "Technical Note: Erosion processes in black marls.." by Bechet et al.', Anonymous Referee #3, 25 Apr 2014
- AC C2273: 'Answer referee #3', Michel Jaboyedoff, 08 Jul 2014

Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision

ED: Reconsider after major revisions (16 Jul 2014) by Matjaz Mikos

AR by Michel Jaboyedoff on behalf of the Authors (15 Oct 2014) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (16 Oct 2014) by Matjaz Mikos

RR by Anonymous Referee #1 (31 Oct 2014)

RR by Anonymous Referee #3 (21 Dec 2014)

Suggestions for revision or reasons for rejection

One of the major issue in all three reviews of the initial manuscript was the weak analysis and discussion of the results with regard to the (not really explcitely) formulated problem. By including several scientific references in the discussion as well as pointing out some specific processes such as the role of crack closing this aspect has improved. However, the paper still lacks the specific problem that should be resolved and the hypotheses to be checked. This is a continuing weakness of the manuscript, that probably is difficult to rectify in this state of the research. The chapter « data processing » has undergone a substantial improvement. This applies also for the data documentation in the results part. The figures are now much more informative and better explained. Concerning the language the specific terminology is generally correctly used although there are several minor spelling errors..

Here some special issues :

The abstract should be written more explicitely. It should be more than a description of what has been done.

The soil profile must be described properly, at least texture must be given (see review #1)

TLS data aquisition is time consuming : What was the actual time resolution? In table 1 and 2 has to be given the total scan time on the sample box and not only the starting (or ending point). In the present form the column caption « aquisition time » is not correct. When data acquisition is more than 10 minutes, this would include an important unsharpness in the data. In this case it is crucial, to know whether the scan was horizontally (then we have a bias in the data) or vertically (then the long sampling time only adds noise to the data)

The paragraph beginning at line 86 cannot be understood. What is « about 1.3 litres fell on the box » ? This paragraph contains several spelling errors.

Final suggestion:
Under the precondition that the mentioned points are resolved, I can recommend the publication of the manuscript in HESS, mainly because the presented methodology in erosion research is still upcoming and because the transfer of a bulk micro hillslope to the lab is somewhat original.

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ED: Reconsider after major revisions (02 Jan 2015) by Matjaz Mikos

AR by Michel Jaboyedoff on behalf of the Authors (11 Feb 2015) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (15 Feb 2015) by Matjaz Mikos

ED: Publish as is (25 Mar 2015) by Matjaz Mikos

AR by Michel Jaboyedoff on behalf of the Authors (29 Mar 2015)

Short summary

High-resolution three-dimensional point clouds are used to analyse erosion processes at the millimetre scale. The processes analysed here play a role in the closure of cracks. We demonstrated how micro-scale infiltration can influence the degradation of soil surface by inducing downward mass movements that are not reversible. This development will aid in designing future experiments to analyse processes such as swelling, crack closure, micro-landslides, etc.