A influência de aspectos geológicos na erosão linear - médio-baixo vale do Ribeirão do Secretário, Paty do Alferes (RJ)

The relationship between geologic structure with gully erosion spatial distribution and orientation was analysed on the Secretário river middle-low valley, located at the northwestern area of Paty do Alferes municipality (RJ). It was verified that the local lithologic characteristics are susceptible to erosion process, and rills/gullies disconnected of the drainage network are the most common erosion feature in the studied area. These erosion features present similar behavior to the structural segments of southeastern Brazilian region, showing that the underlying rock structure exerts significant control on the spatial distribution of this kind of erosion system. The connected gullies don’t attend the regional structural orientation pattern, revealing that another factors are stronger to these gullies occurrence and distribution.