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AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHIC INVESTIGATION OF
LEACHING AND SAPPING AS AN EROSION PROCESS
ABSTRACT
The following article is a terrain study of peculiar topography which
does not fit the descriptions of landforms accompanying the usually considered
erosion agencies. The topography is believed to result from an expedited
erosion process which operates less effectively and with less distinctive land-
forms in other areas.
A short description of the region under consideration is given.
An erosion process, similar to the possible agency accounting for the
region under consideration, has been given as accounting for the savanna land-
scape of Australia. Since savanna landforms occur in the more advanced stage
of erosion, in the area considered, the savanna landscape is discussed.
The erosion process here involved is believed to be due to leaching and
sapping considered as a single process. Sapping is given as the erosion pro-
cess accounting for topography of the Great Plains of the temperate semiarid
regions of North America, but the accompanying landforms are distinct from
those found in the region under consideration. Nor is the erosion in this region
related to the leaching process found in karst regions.
The erosion cycle in the area of the photography ranges from maturity to
old age. Features are here discussed as they appear (a) in the uplands; (b)
along permanent streams and their valleys; and (c) in the coastal regions.
The article is accompanied by illustrations of southern Japan and a semi-
arid area of eastern Venezuela where modified forms of the same topographic
features appear. 17 Stereo-pairs as illustrations have been found to be im-
practical due to space restrictions, required adjustment of exposures to indi-
vidual eye-base and to printing. Each photograph is accompanied by a diagram
showing locations of some of the peculiar topographic features. Shadows fall
towards the bottom of the page.
