Complex influence of relief on the erosion of Red Ferrallitic soils at a local scale

Abstract

Studying the relief through morphological analysis allows typifying forms, elements and structures of the karst relief that help in the understanding of the genesis, evolution and dynamics assumed by the erosion of Red Ferrallitic soils. It is a particularly important circumstance in the Southern karst Plain Havana - Matanzas, to understand how and why certain information is preserved and others are lost as the research is carried out from one scale to another. It has led to certain myths and uncertainties about the degradation processes of these soils. The present work aims to analyze the complex influence of relief and geographic scale on the understanding of karst-erosive processes in the areas of influence of karst depressions from a baseline of more than three decades, which demonstrates the unidirectional advance of karst-erosive dynamics in accordance with the conditions of use and management to which they have been subjected. It is concluded that the recognition and spatio-temporal evolution of erosion forms is only possible at a local scale and not from a simple rescaling of the variables to large areas, in order to avoid different interpretations in the erosion maps of the Red Ferrallitic soils in Cuba.