2003 Geomorphic Changes in A Complex Gully System

Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
Earth Surf. Process. LandformsAND

MEASURING 28, 10431058 (2003) GULLY EROSION PROCESSES USING SEQUENTIAL DEMS
INTERPRETING 1043
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/esp.500
GEOMORPHIC CHANGES IN A COMPLEX GULLY SYSTEM

MEASURED FROM SEQUENTIAL DIGITAL ELEVATION MODELS,
AND IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGEMENT
HARLEY D. BETTS,1* NOEL A. TRUSTRUM1 AND RONALD C. DE ROSE2
1
Landcare Research, Private Bag 11052, Palmerston North, New Zealand
2
CSIRO Land and Water Division, GPO Box 1666, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
Received 26 June 2002; Revised 29 November 2002; Accepted 9 January 2003
ABSTRACT
High-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) were derived from sequential aerial photography of an active uvio-mass
movement (gully) complex in New Zealands North Island East Coast region, to measure geomorphic changes over approxi-
mately one year. The gully showed a complex behaviour, combining uvial and mass movement erosion, deposition, and
reworking of materials stored in an active debris fan. During the measurement period 5200 1700 m3 of material were
eroded from the 87 ha gully complex and 670 180 m3 from the 08 ha depositional fan, giving a total of 5870 1710 m3
for the entire gully complexfan system.
The results provide a high-resolution description of gully behaviour over a short time period, and also demonstrate that
mass movement (slumping and debris ows) accounted for almost 90 per cent (4660 200 m3) of the sediment generated.
This erosional response is described in terms of gully evolution by comparing the gully complex to other systems in the
region in various stages of development. The effect of gully evolution on geomorphic coupling between the gully complex
and channel system is described, and coupling is also shown to vary with the magnitude and frequency of rainfall events.
From a land management perspective the success of strategies, such as tree planting, to mitigate against gully erosion
depends on the stage of gully development particularly on whether or not mass movement erosion has begun. In contrast
to gully rehabilitation efforts elsewhere, basin-wide afforestation in the early stages of gully incision is favoured over riparian
planting, given that mass movement assisted by excessive groundwater pressure is the main process leading to uncontrollable
gully expansion.
To protect land effectively against continuing gully erosion of headwater catchments and resulting downstream aggrada-
tion, it is necessary for land managers to understand the spatial and temporal variability of gully development fully so that
mitigation efforts can be targeted appropriately. Copyright 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
KEY WORDS: gully; mass movement; geomorphic coupling; DEM; land management
INTRODUCTION
Damage to productive land by various forms of erosion is widespread around the world, and is an increasing
problem as demand for high-quality productive land intensies. In New Zealand, serious problems exist in the
North Islands East Coast region, where the widespread deforestation of soft-rock hill country by European
settlers over the last century (Allsop, 1973) has led to severe hillslope erosion and soil loss, and consequent
ooding and sedimentation downstream (Trustrum et al., 1999; Page et al., 2001).
Effective land management in this kind of environment presents a formidable challenge, and requires a ne
balance to be struck between a farmers desire to use the land for production and the need for erosion control
measures to be put in place at the same time. The extensive damage that has occurred already in the East Coast
region is testimony to early (and often continuing) ignorance of that balance in the quest to farm the land as
intensively as possible. In recent decades, local and regional government have recognized the severity of erosion
problems faced by this region, and, through land purchases and subsidies, have established large areas of
* Correspondence to: H. D. Betts, Landcare Research, Private Bag 11052, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
E-mail: bettsh@landcareresearch.co.nz
Copyright 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Earth Surf. Process. Landforms 28, 10431058 (2003)
1044 H. D. BETTS, N. A. TRUSTRUM AND R. C. DE ROSE
plantation forestry as an alternative to farming (Water and Soil Directorate, 1987). However, in places this has
resulted in an inefcient pattern of land use determined mainly by property boundaries. In some cases, produc-
tive land that is not particularly susceptible to erosion has been planted, while in other cases severely eroding
land remains under pasture and continues to deteriorate. Clearly there is a need for an improved knowledge of
the erosional dynamics of this complex and susceptible landscape, in order for land managers to target their
limited resources more effectively in reducing the loss of productive land to erosion.
In the Waipaoa catchment in the North Islands East Coast region, for example, the most erodible parts of
the landscape have been identied on the basis of lithology, erosion type and land cover (M. J. Page, Landcare
Research, unpublished report, 1994), and this information serves as a guide to the most appropriate type of
remedial action. Erosion in the East Coast region occurs mainly in the form of sheet wash, shallow landslides,
earthows, deep-seated slumps and gullying. In some cases, particularly for shallow landslides, the relationship
between storm rainfall magnitude and sediment generation is well understood (Page et al., 1999). This infor-
mation enables predictions of sediment yield to be made on the basis of land type and storm rainfall magnitude.
Gully erosion, however, is more complex, and the relationship between it and storm magnitude is not well
understood. Erosion from gullies and gully complexes is estimated to account for signicantly more than 50 per
cent of the sediment yield of the Waiapu River (Page et al., 2001) and also dominates the suspended sediment
yield of the 2205 km2 Waipaoa River to the south. The continuing nature of gully erosion, during even small
rainfall events that do not directly trigger other forms of erosion, means that ne sediment from gully erosion
is a persistent factor in water quality degradation downstream (Hicks et al., 2000). Previous work on gully
erosion in the Waipaoa catchment (De Rose et al., 1998) showed that approximately 5 per cent of the annual
sediment load of the Waipaoa River was generated by two large gullies alone. Despite this signicance, the
erosional response of gullies and their channelized fans to rainfall events of various magnitude is complex and
notoriously difcult to measure directly in the eld (De Rose et al., 1998; Betts and De Rose, 1999). Alternative
means of measurement and prediction using analytical photogrammetry (Barker et al., 1997) and sequential
high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) (Desmet and Govers, 1996; Prosser and Aberneathy, 1996; De
Rose et al., 1998; Betts and De Rose, 1999; Casali et al., 1999) have become popular in recent years. Indeed,
it is only with the use of high-resolution DEMs (e.g. Pyle et al., 1997) that we have been able to better elucidate
the complex erosion processes that couple hillslopechannel interactions and sediment delivery to streams.
DEMs have already been used to measure long-term erosion rates within gullies (e.g. De Rose et al., 1998; Betts
and De Rose, 1999), but a detailed elucidation of the processes operating requires higher-resolution measure-
ments than previously used.
The term gully is normally used for systems that have formed as a result of uvial incision and surface
erosion processes (e.g. Blong 1985; Crouch, 1987; Prosser and Slade, 1994). This denition holds true for some
small gully systems in the North Island East Coast region, but in the majority of cases discussed here, mass
movement processes resulting from groundwater seepage (Howard and McLane, 1988) also contribute signi-
cantly to gully enlargement and sediment generation. Therefore most gully systems in the North Island East
Coast region can be more correctly referred to as uvio-mass movement gully complexes. They all ultimately
originate from gully erosion processes, which produce the oversteepened slopes necessary to initiate mass
movement. In the following discussions the term gully complex refers to this type of gully system.
In addition, active depositional fans associated with gully complexes have been emplaced largely by mass
movement processes (debris ows and small earthows) rather than by purely uvial processes. This is a
phenomenon common to many similar gully systems in the region, e.g. the Tarndale and Mangatu gullies (De
Rose et al., 1998) and gullies in the Waingaromia subcatchment to the Waipaoa River, Gisborne (Betts and De
Rose, 1999). The term fan, while referring strictly to uvially deposited features, is used in the following
discussions for the feature described here.
From a land management perspective, the effectiveness of efforts to mitigate against damage by gully erosion
rests with an understanding of the phenomenon itself. This, in turn, requires information from long-term studies
of gully development, from gully initiation through to eventual decay and stabilization, in combination with
information on short-term gully processes and how these change over time. This has implications for an im-
proved general understanding of gully complex evolution and longevity, which would ultimately improve soil
conservation strategies for reducing the loss of productive land.
MEASURING AND INTERPRETING GULLY EROSION PROCESSES USING SEQUENTIAL DEMS 1045
This study describes the use of high-resolution sequential DEMs to measure the short-term erosional his-
tory of an active gully complex on the North Island East Coast, New Zealand. Aerial photographs were obtained
for the site for two dates covering 135 months. High-resolution DEMs derived from these were then compared
for evidence of geomorphic change over that period. Particular emphasis is given to the likely processes respon-
sible for gully complex evolution and sediment delivery, which are described in the context of long-term
(decadal) DEM-based measurements of gully erosion from the upper Mangatu subcatchment (Waipaoa River
basin) to the south (De Rose et al., 1998; Betts and De Rose, 1999). Mass movement processes, relative to
surface processes, are described and their signicance is compared to existing accounts of gully erosion in
the literature.
This study also addresses the connectivity between the gully complex as a sediment source and the channel
system it drains into. This connectivity is referred to by Brunsden and Thornes (1979) as coupling. Channel
systems are more recently described by Harvey (2001) as being either coupled, buffered or decoupled, depending
on the spatial and temporal variability of sediment transfer between hillslopes and channels. The gully complex
studied here is compared in this context with other gullies in the region. The evolution of coupling with gully
development is also described and discussed, drawing on unpublished material related to a previous study by
De Rose et al. (1998).
STUDY AREA
The study site is located in the East Coast region of New Zealands North Island. The gully complex, known
as Hogs Wash, is approximately 85 ha in area and forms part of the c. 320 ha Mangawhairiki catchment,
tributary to the Tapuaeroa River, which ows eastward to join the Waiapu River near the township of Ruatoria
(Figure 1).
Figure 1. Location of the gully site (Hogs Wash) in the Mangawhairiki catchment, Tapuaeroa Valley, Ruatoria, at approximately 370744 S,
1785040 E (New Zealand Map Grid reference: NZMS 260 Sheet Y15 2961400, 6360500). Locations of automatic rain gauges are shown
with an asterisk
The upper reaches of the Mangawhairiki catchment occur on the late Cretaceous Tapuwaeroa Formation,
which consists of sandstone-dominated alternating sandstone and mudstone, with minor conglomerates, breccia
and mudstone. The lower c. 80 per cent of the catchment, including Hogs Wash, occurs on the early Cretaceous
Mokoiwi Formation comprising centimetre- to decimetre-bedded alternating mid-grey sandstone and mudstone.
These materials exhibit complex deformation. An approximately 200 m wide band of early Cretaceous altered
basalts, dolerites and tuffs (Rip Volcanics) crosses the catchment from northwest to southeast about 300
400 m northeast of the study site (Mazengarb and Speden, 2000).
The Mangawhairiki catchment around and downstream of Hogs Wash was cleared of its original podocarp-
hardwood forest cover in the early part of the 20th century and converted to pasture. Upstream, small areas of
intact forest are present near the catchment divide and much of the rest of the upper catchment, previously
cleared, has reverted to scrub. Forest clearance in the catchment, as with most of the East Coast region, has led
to widespread and severe erosion due to the interaction between a highly dynamic rainfall regime and the weak,
highly tectonized, sandstonemudstone lithology (Mazengarb and Speden, 2000).
The regional climate is characterized by high but irregular annual rainfall, increasing with altitude from about
1600 mm near the coast to about 4000 mm near the main divide to the west (Hessell, 1980). The climate is also
strongly inuenced by the El Nio/Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The frequency of major rainfall events gen-
erally increases in the North Island East Coast region during La Nia conditions, when southeast to northeast
winds predominate and cyclonic storms originating from the subtropical Pacic are more common. Conversely,
during El Nio years, prevailing offshore westerly conditions often lead to severe and prolonged drought in the
region. This volatile climate contributes to high erosion rates through the weakening of soil and regolith by
desiccation cracking during drought (Water and Soil Directorate, 1987), and through extreme rainfall events.
METHOD
Site selection
The active gully complex selected for study was morphologically similar to other active systems in the
Waiapu/ Waipaoa region. For establishment and identication of ground control points, it was also desirable that
the gully complex be relatively free of woody vegetation, and surrounded by open pastoral farmland that was
not earmarked for conversion to plantation forestry in the immediate future.
Field work: ground control and erosion pins

Twenty-six ground control points (GCPs) were placed in and around the gully complex. Each GCP consisted
of a 30 cm or 50 cm length of steel reinforcing rod with a 10 cm 10 cm steel plate welded onto one end. These
were driven into the ground so that the steel plate was left ush with the ground surface. Each GCP was then
marked out with a triangular arrangement of three 1 m long white boards so that it would be clearly visible on
subsequent aerial photographs of the site. The GCPs were surveyed to 5 cm precision (xyz) using a theodolite
and electronic distance measurement (EDM) equipment. Due to widespread, deep-seated instability of the
hillslopes surrounding Hogs Wash, it was deemed necessary to resurvey the GCPs immediately before each
aerial photographic survey to eliminate the risk of GCPs being rendered inaccurate by ground movement. Each
survey was based on a common set of four survey stations, where each station was located on a stable site that
showed no evidence of subsidence.
To provide manual measurements of sidewall erosion for comparison with DEM-derived results, 30 erosion
pins were also driven into two bare, eroding faces within the gully complex. These consisted of 30 cm and 50 cm
long lengths of steel reinforcing rod, driven into the gully sidewalls at right angles to the surface so that 10 cm
of each rod was left protruding for subsequent measurement of surface degradation. The pins were placed at the
time of the rst ground control survey (6 November 1998), 60 days before the rst date of photography. Of these
30 pins, 18 were subsequently lost due to mass failure, highlighting the difculties involved with obtaining
manual measurements of gully erosion. Measurements from the remaining 12 pins were collected during a
second ground control survey on 15 December 1999, 72 days before the second date of photography (bad
weather prevented the photography from being taken any earlier).
Table I. Details of aerial photography, scanning and resulting ground resolution for imagery used for DEM construction
Date Reciprocal scale Number of Scanning Ground pixel size,

(nominal, min.max.) stereopairs used in resolution (m) m (nominal, min.max.)
aero-triangulation block
5/1/99 8 000, 7 2008 500 4 106 0085, 00760090

25/2/00 10 000, 9 10011 500 3 70 0070, 00640081
Table II. Triangulation parameters and results for each set of imagery prior to DEM construction
Date Image and SD of unit weight GCP residuals*

GCP SDs (acceptable range:
(pixels (metres)) 0520) Mean (max.) Mean (max.) Mean (max.)
nett x (m) nett y (m) nett z (m)
5/1/99 0.5 (005) 086 0026 (0084) 0045 (0102) 0016 (0041)
25/2/00 05 (005) 149 0044 (0090) 0046 (0117) 0017 (0064)
SD, standard deviation.

* Triangulation adjustment applied to GCPs.
Aerial photography and scanning

Black-and-white aerial photography of the site was acquired on 5 January 1999 and 25 February 2000 using
a calibrated metric Hasselblad camera (6 cm 6 cm format), tted with a reseau plate and a Zeiss 100 mm
planar lens. For each date of photography, stereo overlap was around 65 per cent. Kodak TMAX-100 black and
white lm was chosen for its ne grain and suitability for high-resolution scanning.
Details of the aerial photography are given in Table I.
Image triangulation
Image triangulation and DEM derivation were carried out using the software Imagine OrthoMAX v. 83
(ERDAS, Incorporated). The camera position for each image frame in each date of photography was rst
calculated by triangulation from camera and lens calibration data and GCP locations, and DEMs were then
derived by correlation-based image matching once a satisfactory triangulation result was obtained (Gooch et al.,
1999). Triangulation results are given in Table II.
DEM derivation
DEMs were derived from each set of photography on a stereopair-by-stereopair basis and then mosaicked to
produce a single DEM for each date of photography. The DEM resolution was 50 cm. We decided to derive each
section of the DEM ve times under slightly different collection parameters (for example, by varying the
threshold values that determined whether a spike or pit in the DEM was regarded as a successful match or
not) and then combined them using a conditional median function. This was done to minimize the quasi-random
noise created by the stereo-matching process, and also to remove a slight but persistent grid pattern in the
DEM (a common artefact of DEM derivation using OrthoMAX). The overall proportions of matched and
interpolated points in the nal mosaicked DEM covering the entire site are given in Table III.
Orthorectication and gully denition

Orthorectication was performed at a resolution of 10 cm, similar to the resolution of the original scanned
imagery (see Table I), which enabled the gully complex and fan boundaries to be delineated precisely on-screen
and planimetric areas measured. Active gully complex and depositional fan areas were measured for each set
of photography. The active gully complex was dened as the entire area of actively eroding bare ground that
was either contiguous with or enclosed the incised channel systems that drained it (Betts and De Rose, 1999).
Table III. Proportions of matched and interpolated pixels for

each DEM
Date Pixels matched (%) Pixels interpolated (%)
5/1/99 705 295

25/2/00 749 251
Table IV. Frequency of rainfall events recorded at Pakihiroa

Station, 5/1/9925/2/00. Rainfall events are recorded exclusively;
for example, a 24-hour total of 60 mm followed by 30 mm over
the following 24 hours is recorded as a 48-hour event and the
larger 24-hour total is not recorded under 24-hour events
Storm event Number of Maximum event

magnitude/duration events recorded rainfall (mm)
>50 mm/24 h 4 83
>75 mm/48 h 6 1315
>100 mm/72 h 1 187
Daily rainfall data courtesy of Gisborne District Council.
Marginal slump features associated with the gully complex were included in this as per the denition of gully
complex described above.
DEM overlay and interpretation

Elevation changes over the period of study were calculated simply by subtracting the rst (earlier) DEM from
the second (later) DEM to create a difference image, similar to De Rose et al. (1998) and Betts and De Rose
(1999). Systematic errors in the difference image arising from residual errors in the triangulation and ground
control establishment stages, were measured and compensated for. This was achieved by examining the average
apparent elevation differences for a sample of 49 100-pixel (25 m2 per pixel) control areas located on areas
of stable ground around the gully complex where no elevation change was expected over the study period.
The average apparent elevation change for each control area was measured, and these values were converted
into a point coverage from which an error surface was interpolated and then subtracted from the difference
image to create a corrected difference image. The average systematic error measured from the points used to
generate the error surface was 013 001 m (95 per cent condence). The residual systematic error was
then remeasured for the corrected difference image, using an independent set of 49 100-pixel control areas
located randomly within areas of stable ground. The residual systematic error was 002 002 m (95 per cent
condence).
Rainfall records
Daily rainfall records were obtained from four automatic weather stations in the vicinity of the study site. It
is estimated that approximately 2500 mm of rain fell at Hogs Wash during the period under study, based on
the amount recorded at Pakihiroa Station (25585 mm), 5 km to the west-southwest, and Poroporo (25165 mm),
16 km to the east-northeast. Lesser amounts were recorded at the Ruatoria and Mata stations (19060 mm and
15855 mm respectively), both of which are situated further from the main divide of the Raukumara Range to
the northwest of Hogs Wash.
No extreme rainfall events were recorded during the study period; Table IV summarizes the main events based
on data recorded at Pakihiroa Station. Table V gives magnitudefrequency relationships for long-term rainfall
records taken at Pakihiroa Station. Tables IV and V show that the rainfall events recorded at Pakihiroa Station
during the study period were all of a return period of less than two years. The erosion measurements at the site
are therefore considered to indicate average background rates of erosion.
Table V. Frequency of heavy rainfalls (mm) recorded at Pakihiroa
Station, 19131953
Duration Return period (years)

(h)
2 5 10 20 50 Maximum
recorded
24 h 156 195 220 244 276 284

48 h 204 270 314 356 410 384
72 h 227 306 359 409 475 492
New Zealand Meteorological Service (1980).
Table VI. Changes in gully and fan areas between 5/1/99 and 25/2/00,
measured from the orthophotos in Figure 2
Component of Area at Area at Change in

gully complex 5/1/99 (ha) 25/2/00 (ha) area (ha (%))
Gully 8581 8659 +0078 (+091)

Fan 0921 0950 +0029 (+315)
RESULTS
Both the gully complex and fan expanded slightly in area during the study period (Figure 2, Table VI). The gully
complex extended headward slightly as a result of continued mass movement, and the fan showed a similar
headward extension as fresh debris accumulated in the main channel head below a large slump block. However,
the fan also showed a net loss of material. Erosion of the fan was particularly apparent in its middle reaches,
due to channel migration from the southern side to the northern side of the gully complex oor (see Figures 2
and 3), and subsequent incision. Changes in gully complex area are given in Table VI.
Sediment generation
DEM measurements of the average change in surface elevation for the gully complex are shown in Figure
3. They showed that, on average, surface lowering amounted to 006 002 m within the gully complex over
the 417 day study period. This translates to a volume of 5200 1700 m3. In addition, a further 670 180 m3 (an
average surface lowering of 007 002 m) was eroded from the depositional fan at the base of the gully
complex as a result of channel migration and incision, giving a total sediment generation of 5870 1710 m3 for
the entire gully complexfan system. This amounts to an annual sediment generation rate of 4550 1490 m3,
590 160 m3 and 5140 1500 m3 for the gully complex, fan and the entire system respectively, assuming a
constant erosion rate.
A large proportion of the material eroded from the gully complex was a direct result of deep-seated mass
failures of the gully complex walls, demonstrated by the loss of over half the erosion pins installed, and
particularly by the presence of two regions of pronounced surface lowering on the difference image in Figure
3. These correspond to slump blocks that can be clearly identied on the orthophoto shown in Figure 2, and
DEM measurements of these two mass failures alone indicated a total displacement of 4660 200 m3. This
accounted for almost 90 per cent of the total sediment yield from the entire gully complex for the period under
study, and shows that mass movement was clearly the dominant mode of sediment generation in this system at
this time. This is supported by eld observations of debris ows associated with the larger of these two mass
failures (Figure 4).
Erosion rates were much lower outside the areas of mass movement, with an overall (and insignicant)
average surface lowering of approximately 1 cm measured from the DEMs. This is likely to be a slight under-
estimate, as the gully complex contains small areas (<1 per cent of the total gully area) of newly established
scrub vegetation (Leptospermum scoparium and Kunzea ericoides), the rapid growth of which was detected as
Figure 2. Orthophotos of the study area for (A) 5 January 1999, and (B) 25 February 2000. The gully and fan are outlined in black
Figure 3. Corrected difference image for the gully complex site for the period 5 January 1999 to 25 February 2000
an apparent increase in surface elevation on the DEMs (scrub vegetation growth also led to the large positive
values that occur adjacent to the fan). By comparison, the remaining erosion pins, installed in an actively eroding
face within the gully complex, suggested a higher average rate of surface lowering of about 7 cm a1.
DISCUSSION
Erosion type and response to rainfall events

In contrast to many studies of gully erosion in the literature (e.g. Blong, 1985; Crouch, 1987; Prosser and
Slade, 1994), sediment generation in the gully complex studied here appears to be predominantly by mass
movement processes in response to the gradual oversteepening of gully sidewalls by channel incision. Unpub-
lished work relating to De Rose et al. (1998), and anecdotal evidence, report similar mass movement behaviour
from gully complexes in the upper Waipaoa River catchment in the south of the GisborneEast Coast region.
Debris ows derived from mass failures were also observed at the site on two separate occasions: one
following a moderate overnight rainfall event of about 50 mm, and the second following several weeks of
relatively high rainfall but without any large storm events. A large proportion of this material is delivered to the
channel system as ne bedload and suspended sediment (e.g. Phillips, 1988), or stored temporarily within the
gully head to be reworked by future mass movements. However, the highly unstable nature of the fan at the base
of the gully complex made it impossible to directly monitor suspended sediment delivery from the gully in
response to individual events.
Figure 4. The path of a fresh debris ow on the depositional fan within the gully complex, originating from the larger of the two slump
blocks depicted in Figure 3, following a rainfall event of approximately 50 mm over the preceding day. Photo: Harley Betts
A conceptual model of the erosional response of the gully complex to rainfall of various magnitudes and
durations is summarized in Figure 5. Anecdotal evidence, and eld observations to date, suggest surface erosion
and uvial incision respond rapidly to rainfall events, diminishing rapidly once rainfall has ceased. Mass
movement processes, on the other hand, show a less clear response to individual events and are instead more
likely to reect rainfall received over a longer period, perhaps weeks or even months. In Figure 5A, a large
rainfall event over two or three days leads to a rapid increase in surface erosion and channel incision, which
diminishes rapidly after the event ends. Mass movement erosion, however, lags in its response by the time it
takes for rainwater to enter the groundwater system and raise groundwater pressures sufciently for mass
movement to accelerate. While shallow landslides in other areas generally occur during or shortly after a storm
event, deep-seated mass movement erosion may be delayed considerably by the time it takes for rainwater to
inltrate to sufcient depth (Iverson, 2000). At Hogs Wash, this response, in the form of mass failures
and debris ows, has been observed to occur up to ve days following a moderate rainfall event at the site
(Figure 4).
Figure 5. Hypothesized response of gully complex erosion processes to rainfall events of differing duration and magnitude
By contrast, mass movement processes are considered likely to dominate the sediment budget strongly during
periods of high average rainfall, but in the absence of very large individual events (Figure 5B). Anecdotal
evidence from the East Coast region suggests mass movement erosion around large gully complexes is more
predominant in winter months, when rainfall is relatively high and evapotranspiration rates are low (D. Peacock,
Gisborne District Council, personal communication). High average rainfall over a period of time leads to satu-
ration and a high water table, which are considered important to the mass failure of gully slopes (Harvey, 2001).
Mass movement is therefore favoured even in the absence of large triggering events, and sediment generation
rates from the gully complex are correspondingly high even though surface erosion processes may be of a much
lesser magnitude. The mobilization or reactivation of deep landslides following prolonged, low-intensity rainfall
has been similarly described from the Flysch Carpathians, Poland, by Froehlich and Starkel (1995), who reported
that local downpours played a relatively minor role in this process. Mass movement is clearly a very important
process in the North Island East Coast region, and particularly near Hogs Wash, where low-angle hillslopes are
severely disrupted by deep-seated slumping, representing the regrading of hillslopes following channel incision.
This has an impact on downstream sediment load characteristics. For example, half the long-term suspended
sediment yield from the gully-dominated Mangatu subcatchment is transported by rainfall events with a return
period of less than approximately one year (Hicks et al., 2000). This is attributed to erosion within gullies that
are activated even by small events. Deep-seated mass movement in association with gully erosion, particularly
from the largest gullies in the catchments headwaters (De Rose et al., 1998), is also likely to be a signicant
contributor over the longer term.
The net loss of material from the active debris fan in the base of the gully complex supports the ndings
of Marutani et al. (1999) in the Waipaoa catchment, who noted that channel deposits emplaced by large storm
events were gradually removed by smaller, more frequent, storm events. Even though the fan extended headwards
slightly due to deposition from an adjacent mass movement block, its sediment budget was negative overall for
the study period. It is therefore considered that most of the material being excavated from the debris fan was
deposited by one or more previous extreme events, and is currently being excavated by moderate events in a
fashion similar to the observations of Marutani et al. (1999). A large storm event is likely to cause considerable
geomorphic change within the gully complex and fan system and, in the absence of large events (such as during
the period under study), fan degradation and mass movement driven by subsurface hydrological processes play
a relatively more important role in sediment generation. The mass movement of gully sidewalls observed at
Hogs Wash is also recognized by Harvey (2001) as an important process in the absence of extreme rainfall
events, and has been linked to localized gully reactivation.
Observations of neighbouring gullies near the study site suggest sediment generation by mass movement is
signicant only after gully incision passes a critical threshold beyond which gully slopes become unstable and
liable to failure. At this point, probably determined by the shear strength and steepness of the gully sidewalls
and the depth of the developing gully, a small gully rapidly expands laterally by mass failure of the gully
sidewalls. For example, numerous smaller gullies, situated on the same land type within a few kilometres to the
west of the study site, have a linear form, lack fan systems, and do not exhibit marginal mass movement features
(Figure 6). Examination of historical aerial photographs shows these smaller gullies are considerably younger
than the gully complex studied here, which suggests they have not yet developed to the point where mass failure
is favoured.
Therefore, sediment generation by gullies in this region is clearly a complex process that not only varies with
rainfall event characteristics, but is also a function of the stage of gully complex evolution. Incipient gullies,
dominated by channel incision and surface erosion processes, have a more direct response to rainfall events, and
Figure 6. Incipient gullies, approximately 15 km west of the study site and on the same rock type. Note the strongly linear form of the
gullies, their steep channels, and the near-absence of fan deposits, indicating strong coupling between the gullies and the river channel into
which they drain (foreground). The larger gully complex on the right (outlined) has begun to expand laterally with the start of mass movement
around its periphery. Photo: Harley Betts
their lack of aggradational fans suggests a relatively high sediment delivery ratio. On the other hand, larger gully
complexes, in which deep-seated mass movement processes are more important, generally contain aggradational
surfaces in their channels that temporarily store pulses of newly generated sediment; as a result, the sediment
delivery to channels from these systems is buffered.
Investigations by De Rose et al. (1998) further illustrate the importance of mass movement to gully complex
sediment yields. Their study of the long-term behaviour of 11 gully complexes in the upper Waipaoa catchment
showed annual sediment yields were over an order of magnitude higher for some of these than for Hogs Wash.
This difference could be explained partly by the larger gully complex sizes (up to 27 ha), but it could also be
attributed to the extensive and severe mass movement associated with them. Direct comparisons with the data
in their study are tentative, however, given the episodic nature of gully erosion (Crouch, 1987). Therefore the
erosion rates described from Hogs Wash should not necessarily be taken to represent long-term average rates,
which could differ signicantly from year to year. Given that none of the rainfall events recorded for Hogs
Wash exceeded a two-year return period during the measurement period, long-term erosion rates are probably
considerably higher.
Gully complexchannel coupling

The delivery of sediment from hillslope to stream channel can be referred to as coupling, after the terminology
introduced by Brunsden and Thornes (1979). At the study site, the presence of an extensive depositional fan
suggests the gully complex is presently buffered from the Mangawhairiki Stream system into which it drains.
This buffering is temporally variable, however, given that extreme events lead to temporary aggradation and
storage in the gully oor (cf. Marutani et al., 1999) and intervening events of lower magnitude appear to be
excavating the fan deposits. In other words, gully complexstream coupling weakens during extreme events and
a degree of buffering occurs when the gully complex oor becomes overwhelmed by new sediment, which is
later ushed from the coupling zone and into the channel system by smaller events. More observations of the
site under different conditions are required to conrm this phenomenon, which has been similarly described in
other gully systems elsewhere (e.g. Harvey, 1994; Marutani et al., 1999).
As gullies initiate and develop, they often undergo a characteristic sequence of evolutionary changes that lead
to changes in gully complexchannel coupling. Historical aerial photographs of the area, and of gully complexes
in the upper Waipaoa catchment (De Rose et al., 1998), show that gullies tend to begin as linear features forming
as a result of channel incision (see also Figure 6), and expand through continued channel incision and also
laterally by sidewall erosion processes (Blong, 1985). Mass movement, once it has commenced, further acts to
weaken bedrock material near the shear plane and accelerates channel incision that occurs most rapidly im-
mediately above the fan head and below the slump blocks (R. C. De Rose et al., unpublished data). This, in turn,
causes a rapid increase in the amount of sediment being delivered to the gully complex oor, leading to channel
aggradation and the formation of a fan system as a result of the channel being overwhelmed by new sediment.
This represents the early stages of the decoupling of a gully complex from the channel network, and, as the gully
complex slopes continue to lower and toe slopes become stabilized by gully complex oor deposition, the gully
eventually becomes completely decoupled and ultimately stabilized by pioneering vegetation. Sediment genera-
tion rates are likely to peak during the early stages of mass failure of the gully complex sidewalls, immediately
before the formation of a buffering fan system in the gully complex oor, and then decline gradually as the gully
complex expands further but begins to stabilize.
Consequently, gully complexchannel coupling depends on the magnitudefrequency characteristics of rain-
fall events, seasonal effects, and also on the stage of the gully complexs evolution. Sediment transfer within
gullies becomes more intricate with gully complex development and increasing within-gully complex storage,
and coupling weakens as basal slopes stabilize and vegetation becomes established (Harvey, 1994, 2001). In
view of this complexity, the accuracy of sediment generation predictions from rainfall records is uncertain
without detailed knowledge of the nature of erosion within the gully complex at the time.
The active mass movement features associated with this and other gully complexes in the region also provide
an opportunity for detailed studies into the processes leading to catastrophic mass failure and debris ow
generation. Catastrophic erosion events such as landslides and debris ows are a recognized hazard in the New
Zealand environment and worldwide, but the exact nature of the mechanisms that lead to slope failure are
complex and a paucity of direct eld measurements precludes a detailed understanding of immediate pre-failure
conditions (Reid et al., 1988). A detailed elucidation of gully complex erosion processes in this setting therefore
provides an opportunity for the identication and measurement of potential landslides and/or debris ows. This
provides an ideal eld laboratory for such work because mass movement features around the gully complex are
clearly identiable: potential failure events can therefore be anticipated, and instrumentation installed, before
a failure occurs.
An improved knowledge of gully complex morphodynamics has implications for the long-term management
of gully-prone terrain. It is clearly important that soil conservation strategies should be undertaken in the early
stages of gully incision before the gully deepens and mass movement processes take over. Erosion rates accel-
erate quickly once mass movement has begun around a gully, and subsequent attempts at mitigating against
further gully complex expansion are generally much less successful by this stage. Conventional mitigation
strategies, such as riparian planting and/or oversowing, have been shown to be effective in gully systems in other
regions such as parts of Australia (e.g. Webb and Erskine, 1999), but, owing to the extremely high degradation
rates and the depth of subsidence in large gully complexes in the North Island East Coast region, the emphasis
needs to be placed more on basin-wide afforestation to help reduce the excess pore water pressures that con-
tribute to mass movement. This has been demonstrated by the success with which basin-wide afforestation
has stabilized relatively small gullies in the upper Waipaoa catchment, although the largest of these continue to
expand unabated due to the severity of mass movement around their peripheries (De Rose et al., 1998). This
further highlights the need for land managers to target gully erosion early before mass movement starts to take
place.
Once a gullied landscape is stabilized, however, sediment yields can be expected to remain elevated over the
longer term due to the establishment of signicant sediment stores by channel and fan aggradation while gullies
were active. This is particularly true for higher-order channels, which receive reworked material from tributary
channels and thus may take some time to reect the effects of upstream afforestation (Kasai et al., 2001). Indeed,
aggradation of higher-order channels may well continue even after gully erosion has been arrested upstream,
until material stored in lower-order channels has been excavated by channel degradation.
CONCLUSIONS
The use of sequential, high-resolution DEMs has provided detailed information on short-term geomorphological
changes within the gully complex. This information, used in the context of longer-term DEM-based work in the
upper Waipaoa catchment (De Rose et al., 1998), contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of gully
complex morphodynamics in this highly unstable environment and provides land managers with more signicant
options for prevention and/or mitigation.
Observations at the site suggest a complex response by the gully complex to rainfall events of varying
magnitude and frequency. Surface erosion processes generally dominate during large storm events, and occur
during the events, whereas mass movement processes may become active up to several days after a large event
due to the time it takes for rainwater to reach the groundwater store. Mass movement, however, may be more
signicant during periods of high average rainfall and increased pore water pressures but without large events,
such as an unusually wet winter.
Unlike many gully systems in various parts of the world, gully erosion in the North Island East Coast region
is strongly inuenced by mass movement processes. Mass movement was the dominant degradation process
during the period studied, accounting for almost 90 per cent of the sediment generated within the gully complex.
Mass movement processes are of relatively minor importance in the early stages of gully development when
surface erosion and uvial incision dominate, but become increasingly important as a developing gully passes
a critical threshold of sidewall length and/or slope, and sidewalls then begin to fail.
The degree of gully complexchannel coupling is variable, depending on the nature of the rainfall events that
cause erosion and also on the stage of evolution of the gully complex. Incipient gullies, such as those that occur
near the study site, are essentially incised channels with very steep gradients that lack within-channel deposits,
suggesting gullychannel coupling is strong during the early stages of gully development. The fan system in the
gully studied here is evidence that gully complexchannel coupling has weakened as the gully complex has
continued to expand. Gully complexchannel coupling also weakens with very large storm events, during which
large quantities of sediment are eroded from the gully complex head and sidewalls and deposited in the gully
complex oor as debris ow deposits. During smaller, more frequent events, these deposits are gradually
excavated from the gully complex oor.
The abundance of mass movement features around gully complexes such as that studied here also provides
opportunities for studies into the mechanics of mass failures and catastrophic landslides. Such phenomena are
often difcult to anticipate in the eld, and it is unusual for a potential landslide to be fully instrumented before
failure. However, the widespread and regularly failing slump blocks present around this and many other gully
complexes in the North Island East Coast region may present useful research opportunities.
A thorough understanding of gully complex dynamics and evolution is critical for land managers if they are
to mitigate effectively against continuing soil losses due to gully complex erosion. Obviously it is not prudent
to undertake a planting programme within a young gully complex that is aggressively expanding by deep-seated
mass failures, nor is it optimal to plant an older gully face that has already begun to stabilize of its own accord
without need for intervention. Furthermore, areas of gully-prone land already under plantation forest would need
to be harvested in such a way that potential gullies are not reactivated by clearfelling; this may involve selective
logging within a gully complex site, or retiring a gully complex site completely and underplanting the plantation
trees in it with native species of greater longevity to ensure that it remains stabilized. Land managers often have
very limited resources available for erosion control, so information on gully processes and evolution will help
ensure these resources are targeted in the most effective way.
Successful mitigation against gully complex erosion and downstream sedimentation requires a long-term
solution. It should not be expected that the successful stabilization of a gullied terrain will necessarily lead
to an immediate improvement in downstream channel condition, owing to the reworking of material already
stored in aggraded channels and fans. Hence, while some initial improvements in water quality could be
expected following the successful stabilization of a gully complex-prone landscape, the complete restoration of
a channel system could take decades.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This study was funded by the Foundation for Research Science and Technology, Contract No. C09X0013. The
authors would like to thank Craig Trotter and Mike Page for their comments on drafts of the manuscript. Gary
Brierley, Basil Gomez, Mike Marden, Andre Niederheide, Ted Pinkney, Donna Rowan and Birte Schoettker
helped with establishing the eld site, and Lawrie Cairns, Ted Pinkney, Donna Rowan and Dane Simpson
assisted with ground control surveying. Aerial photography was carried out by Geoff Swain of PF Olsen and
Company Limited. We also thank Mohi Aupouri for kindly allowing unrestricted access to the site.
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2003 Geomorphic Changes in A Complex Gully System

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Earth Surface Processes and Landforms

Earth Surf. Process. LandformsAND

GEOMORPHIC CHANGES IN A COMPLEX GULLY SYSTEM

Received 26 June 2002; Revised 29 November 2002; Accepted 9 January 2003

Field work: ground control and erosion pins

Date Reciprocal scale Number of Scanning Ground pixel size,

5/1/99 8 000, 7 2008 500 4 106 0085, 00760090

Date Image and SD of unit weight GCP residuals*

SD, standard deviation.

Aerial photography and scanning

Orthorectication and gully denition

Table III. Proportions of matched and interpolated pixels for

Date Pixels matched (%) Pixels interpolated (%)

5/1/99 705 295

Table IV. Frequency of rainfall events recorded at Pakihiroa

Storm event Number of Maximum event

Daily rainfall data courtesy of Gisborne District Council.

DEM overlay and interpretation

Duration Return period (years)

24 h 156 195 220 244 276 284

New Zealand Meteorological Service (1980).

Component of Area at Area at Change in

Gully 8581 8659 +0078 (+091)

Erosion type and response to rainfall events

Gully complexchannel coupling

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