Soil recovery following landsliding at Whatawhata Research Station, Waikato, New Zealand: preliminary results

Abstract

This research investigates soil recovery following landslides at the Whatawhata Research Station 20 km west of Hamilton. Six landslides were studied, ranging in age from pre-1953 to 2014. The landslides were divided into four zones: shear zones (mean of 25% of landslide area), intact accumulation zones (20%), transition zones (40%), and re-deposition zones (15%), along with a control. Soils were well developed in the control and intact accumulation zones and least recovered in the shear and re-deposition zones. Mean A horizon depths ranged from 2 cm in the shear and re-deposition zones to 7 cm in the transition zone, 17 cm in the intact accumulation zone, and 20 cm in the control. Mean soil carbon contents were lower (P<0.05) in the landslide zones (range of 3.2-5.2%) than in the controls (8.2%). Older landslides showed great recovery; however, the differences between zones within the landslides were greater than the differences between landslides