Analysis of Erosive Dynamics in an Inselberg: Understanding Gully Behavior in Cut-Off Areas.

• Grant number: 25/07451-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: November 01, 2025
• End date: October 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Physical Geography
• Principal Investigator: Cenira Maria Lupinacci
• Grantee: Willian Toshiaki Mizumura
• Host Institution: Instituto de Geociências e Ciências Exatas (IGCE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Erosion, a natural process influenced by rainfall, is especially common in tropical regions, with its intensity often amplified by human activity. In Brazil, the landforms resulting from this process include rills, gullies, and ravines, with the latter being the largest in scale. This study aims to understand the erosive dynamics in cuesta and inselberg environments through a multi-stage investigation. These stages include information gathering (literature review) and preparation for fieldwork; conducting fieldwork, which involves collecting aerial photographs, sampling materials for analysis, and monitoring the eroded slope; processing high-resolution images to produce morphometric maps, a cartographic base, surface runoff accumulation maps, and vegetation cover change maps for both rainy and dry scenarios; verifying the ravine's evolution over time; analyzing and describing the collected materials; and finally, analyzing the data and comparing it with previous findings. Thus, the study seeks to identify erosive processes in a cuesta area, analyze the evolution of the ravine and related erosive features, and understand the dynamics of cuestas in the studied region. (AU)