Using caesium-137 measurements to investigate soil erosion rates in western Istanbul (NW Turkey)

Buyukcekmece Reservoir, located in the western outskirts of Istanbul, is one of the major water resources of Istanbul, and supplies drinking water to about 4 million people. Erosion in the catchment of the reservoir is an important problem in terms of its longer-term sustainability for water supply. There is an urgent need to obtain reliable quantitative data regarding erosion and deposition rates within the catchment to assess the magnitude of the problem and to plan catchment management strategies. In the absence of existing data, attention has focussed on the potential for using ¹³⁷Cs measurements to provide retrospective estimates of medium-term soil erosion rates within the catchment over the past ca. 40 years. To date, the ¹³⁷Cs approach has not been used to document soil redistribution rates in Turkey and this contribution reports an attempt to confirm the viability of the approach and the results of a preliminary investigation of rates of soil loss from uncultivated areas within the catchment. The soil redistribution rates estimated using the profile distribution conversion model varied from − 16.11 (erosion) to 4.59 (deposition) t/ha/year.     

Application of Chernobyl-derived Cs for the assessment of soil redistribution within a cultivated field

Vast areas of Europe were contaminated by the Chernobyl-derived ¹³⁷Cs in April–May 1986. This paper reports a detailed study of the post-fallout ¹³⁷Cs redistribution within a 1 ha field located in the Chasovenkov Verh catchment in the northern part of the Middle-Russian upland. Particular attention was paid to the study of reference inventories. It is shown that the random spatial variability of ¹³⁷Cs is similar within undisturbed and cultivated parts of a flat interfluve. Systematic spatial variability is not essential for a relatively short (200 m) topographical unit with simple relief. The analysis of a soil redistribution pattern within the study field using the Chernobyl ¹³⁷Cs technique demonstrates that it is possible to identify areas of soil loss/gain. This pattern does not reflect soil redistribution for the whole field, because these have been only 12 years since the Chernobyl accident. Net erosion rates based on ¹³⁷Cs method were comparable to soil losses directly measured at the study field.     

The use of environmental radionuclides as tracers in soil erosion and sedimentation investigations: recent advances and future developments

Although much of the recent attention on the environmental problems has focused on climatic change, there is also increasing concern that accelerated soil erosion and associated land degradation represent a major problem for sustainable development and environmental protection. There is an urgent need to obtain reliable quantitative data on the extent and rates of soil erosion worldwide to provide a more comprehensive assessment of the magnitude of the problems and to underpin the selection of effective soil conservation measures. The use of environmental radionuclides, in particular ¹³⁷Cs, affords an effective and valuable means for studying erosion and deposition within the landscape. The key advantage of this approach is that it can provide retrospective information on medium-term (30–40 years) erosion/deposition rates and spatial patterns of soil redistribution, without the need for long-term monitoring programmes. Advantages and limitations of the technique are highlighted. The launching of two closely linked International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) research networked projects in 1996 involving some 25 research groups worldwide has made a major contribution to co-ordinating efforts to refine and to standardise the ¹³⁷Cs technique. The efficacy and value of the approach has been demonstrated by investigations in a number of environments. Significant developments that have been made to exploit its application in a wide range of studies are reported in this review paper. Other environmental radionuclides, such as unsupported ²¹⁰Pb and ⁷Be offer considerable potential for use in soil erosion investigations, both individually and complementary to ¹³⁷Cs. The IAEA through research networks and other mechanisms is promoting further development and applications of these radionuclides in soil erosion and sedimentation studies for a sustainable resource use and environmental protection.     

Validating the use of Cs measurements to estimate rates of soil redistribution by wind

Wind erosion has degraded over one-half billion hectares of land worldwide. ¹³⁷Cesium (¹³⁷Cs) has been used as a tracer to study long-term rates of soil redistribution by water and, to a lesser extent, by wind. Early studies assumed that the decline in ¹³⁷Cs activity for a potentially eroded soil relative to that for an uneroded soil was linearly proportional to soil loss. More recently, models have emerged that consider the effects of soil cultivation and the particle surface area-dependent partitioning of ¹³⁷Cs on soils. We investigated the partitioning of ¹³⁷Cs in wind-eroded sediments and with soil surface samples sieved into contiguous ranges of particle sizes. We also compared the ¹³⁷Cs activities and stratification of several adjacent soils with known wind erosion and deposition histories. Finally, we tested ¹³⁷Cs-based soil loss models with measured data from sites with documented histories. ¹³⁷Cs activities and mean particle diameters of aeolian samples agreed well with the ¹³⁷Cs activities and respective mean diameters of the sieved surface soil samples. Good agreement between model estimations and measured data indicated that ¹³⁷Cs models developed to estimate soil redistribution by water were also applicable to soil redistribution by wind provided that the models contained an appropriate particle size correction parameter.     

Use of Cs to estimate tillage- and water-induced soil redistribution rates on agricultural land under different use and management in central-south Chile

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the applicability of conventional ¹³⁷Cs sampling and a simplified approach, for estimating medium-term tillage- and water-induced soil erosion and sedimentation rates on agricultural land in Chile. For this purpose, four study sites under contrasting land use and management were selected in central-south Chile. First, a conventional ¹³⁷Cs approach, based on grid sampling was applied, adapting a mass balance conversion model incorporating soil movement by tillage to the site specific conditions of the study region. Secondly, using the same conversion model, the feasibility of estimating soil redistribution rates from measurements of ¹³⁷Cs inventories based on composite soil samples taken along contour lines was also tested at all four sites. The redistribution rates associated with tillage and water and the total rates estimated using both methods correlated strongly at all four sites. The conventional method provides more detailed information concerning the redistribution processes operating over the landscape. The simplified method is suitable for assessing soil loss and sediment accumulation in areas exhibiting simple topography and almost similar slopes along the contour lines. Under these conditions, this method permits faster estimation of soil redistribution rates, providing the possibility of estimating soil redistribution rates over larger areas in a shorter time. In order to optimise the costs and benefits of the methods, the sampling and inventory quantification strategy must be selected according to the resolution of the required information, and the scale and complexity of the landscape relief. Higher tillage- and water-induced erosion rates were observed in the annually ploughed cropland sites than in the semi-permanent grassland sites. Subsistence managed crop and grassland sites also show greater erosion effects than the commercially managed sites. The ¹³⁷Cs methods used permit discrimination between redistribution rates observed on agricultural land under different land use and management. The ¹³⁷Cs technique must be seen as an efficient method for estimating medium-term soil redistribution rates, and for planning soil conservation and sustainable agricultural production under the climatic conditions and the soil type of the region of Chile investigated.     

Using Cs measurements to validate the application of the AGNPS and ANSWERS erosion and sediment yield models in two small Devon catchments

Distributed erosion and sediment yield models are being increasingly used for predicting soil erosion and sediment yields in agricultural catchments. In most applications, validation of such models has commonly been restricted to comparison of the predicted and measured sediment output from a catchment, because spatially distributed information on rates and patterns of soil redistribution within the catchment has been lacking. However, such spatially distributed data are needed for rigorous model testing, in order to validate the internal functioning of a model and its applicability at different spatial scales. The study reported in this paper uses two approaches to test the performance of the agricultural non-point source pollution (AGNPS) and areal non-point source watershed environmental response simulation (ANSWERS) erosion and sediment yield models in two small catchments in Devon, UK. These involve, firstly, comparison of observed and predicted runoff and sediment output data for individual storm events monitored at the basin outlets and, secondly, information on the spatial pattern of soil redistribution within the catchments derived from ¹³⁷Cs measurements. The results obtained indicate that catchment outputs simulated by both models are reasonably consistent with the recorded values, although the AGNPS model appears to provide closer agreement between observed and predicted values. However, the spatial patterns of soil redistribution and the sediment delivery ratios predicted for the two catchments by the AGNPS and ANSWERS models differ significantly. Comparison of the catchment sediment delivery ratios and the pattern of soil redistribution in individual fields predicted by the models with equivalent information derived from ¹³⁷Cs measurements indicates that the AGNPS model provides more meaningful predictions of erosion and sediment yield under UK conditions than the ANSWERS model and emphasises the importance of using information on both catchment output and sediment redistribution within the catchment for model validation.     

Assessment of soil erosion on arable land using Cs measurements: a case study from Jaslovske Bohunice, Slovakia

This study was carried out to obtain a representative set of data on long-term erosion rates from a pilot area located close to the Jaslovske Bohunice village, in western Slovakia using the ¹³⁷Cs-method. The study area chosen was representative of the hilly loess cultivated areas of Slovakia. The sampling strategy was based on a multiple transect approach. Analyses of the samples for ¹³⁷Cs activity were made at the Nuclear Power Plant Research Institute, Jaslovske Bohunice. The ¹³⁷Cs-method was used to obtain long-term estimates of soil erosion in the Jaslovske Bohunice site, a representative hilly loess cultivated area of Slovakia. The estimated reference ¹³⁷Cs inventory was 2910 Bq m⁻², with a coefficient of variation of 4.3%.Examination of the ¹³⁷Cs redistribution in relation to the topography of the study area revealed that, within individual transects the ¹³⁷Cs inventories were closely related to major landforms. The ¹³⁷Cs inventories were considerably lower on the slopes than on the plateau and they were highest in the valley. However, when plotted against a selection of individual quantitative slope parameters, i.e. the S and the LS factors of the USLE or slope inclination, the correlations obtained were weak.Three conversion models, i.e. the proportional model (PM), the simplified mass balance model (MBM1) and the standard mass balance model (MBM2), from the set of models developed at Exeter University, Great Britain were selected to interpret the resulting ¹³⁷Cs measurements into soil erosion/deposition rates. The mean erosion rates estimated with the PM were 22.4, 35.6 with MBM1 and 17.3 t ha⁻¹ per year with MBM2. There was a good agreement between the average of these mean erosion rates (25.1 t ha⁻¹ per year) for the Jaslovske Bohunice site and the estimated mean soil erosion rate obtained for small erosion plots (15 t ha⁻¹ per year) for conditions similar to the study site. Nevertheless, further research on the application of the ¹³⁷Cs-method, in particular the independent validation of the results obtained, is needed. Several issues requiring further study have been highlighted.     

Use of caesium-137 data for validation of spatially distributed erosion models: the implications of tillage erosion

Validation of spatially distributed models using spatially distributed data represents a vital element in the development process; however, it is rarely undertaken. To a large extent, this reflects the problems associated with assembling erosion rate data, at appropriate temporal and spatial scales and with a suitable spatial resolution, for comparison with model results. The caesium-137 (¹³⁷Cs) technique would appear to offer considerable potential for meeting this need for data, at least for longer timescales. Nevertheless, initial attempts to use ¹³⁷Cs for model validation did not prove successful. This lack of success may be explained by the important role of tillage erosion in redistributing soil within agricultural fields and, therefore, contributing to the ¹³⁷Cs-derived soil redistribution rates. This paper examines the implications of tillage erosion for the use of ¹³⁷Cs in erosion model validation and presents an outline methodology for the use of ¹³⁷Cs in model validation. This methodology acknowledges and addresses the constraints imposed by the need to: (1) separate water and tillage erosion contributions to total soil redistribution as represented in ¹³⁷Cs derived rates; (2) account for lateral mixing of ¹³⁷Cs within fields as a result of tillage translocation; (3) simulate long-term water erosion rates using the model under evaluation if ¹³⁷Cs-derived water erosion rates are to be used in model validation. The methodology is dependent on accurate simulation of tillage erosion and tillage translocation. Therefore, as greater understanding of tillage erosion is obtained, the potential for the use of ¹³⁷Cs in water erosion model validation will increase. Caesium-137 measurements remain one of the few sources of spatially distributed erosion information and, therefore, their potential value should be exploited to the full.     

Soil erosion evaluation in a small basin through the use of Cs technique

Soil erosion significantly affects the most productive lands in Argentina, particularly the region called “Pampa Ondulada”. Quantification of the actual rates and patterns of soil loss is necessary for designing efficient degradation control strategies. The aim of this investigation was to gather using the ¹³⁷Cs technique a reliable set of data of erosion and sedimentation rates, in order to describe the long-term erosive landscape dynamic in a 300 ha basin representative for the “Pampa Ondulada” region of Argentina. The general topography of the basin is undulated with slopes gradients between 0 and 2.5% and slope lengths up to 800 m long. The main land use consisted in annual cropping under conventional tillage.For the soil erosion study in the basin the ¹³⁷Cs technique was used, which is based on the comparison between the ¹³⁷Cs inventories surveyed with a local reference ¹³⁷Cs profile. The sampling strategy was based on a multiple transect approach.The estimated mean soil erosion rates obtained applying Mass Balance Model 2 for the studied hillslopes ranged between −11.5 and −36 t ha⁻¹ per year and fitted the low and moderate erosion classes according to FAO. These values ranged beyond the admitted tolerance. Sedimentation was observed at the lower landscape positions probably related to changes from convex to concave slopes. The application of the ¹³⁷Cs technique in the studied basin proved to be a useful and sensible tool for assessing erosion/deposition rates. In areas with low topographic gradients like the Pampa Ondulada region, the slope length appears to be an important property for predicting spatial patterns of erosion rates.     

Validating erosion rate estimates provided by caesium‐137 measurements for two small forested catchments in Calabria,southern Italy

Increasing concern for problems of soil degradation and the off‐site impacts of accelerated erosion has generated a need for improved methods of estimating rates and patterns of soil erosion by water. The use of environmental radionuclides, particularly ¹³⁷Cs, to estimate erosion rates has attracted increased attention and the approach has been shown to possess several important advantages. However, the use of ¹³⁷Cs measurements to estimate erosion rates introduces one important uncertainty, namely, the need to employ a conversion model or relationship to convert the measured reduction in the ¹³⁷Cs inventory to an estimate of the erosion rate. There have been few attempts to validate these theoretical conversion models and the resulting erosion rate estimates. However, there is an important need for such validation, if the ¹³⁷Cs approach is to be more widely applied and reliance is to be placed on the results obtained. This paper reports the results of a study aimed at validating the use of two theoretical conversion models, namely the exponential depth distribution model and the diffusion and migration model, that have been used in several recent studies to convert measurements of ¹³⁷Cs inventories on uncultivated soils to estimates of soil erosion rates. The study is based on data assembled for two small catchments (1.38 and 1.65 ha) in Calabria, southern Italy, for which measurements of sediment output are available for the catchment outlet. The two catchments differ in terms of the steepness of their terrain, and this difference is reflected by their sediment yields. Because there is no evidence of significant deposition within the two catchments, sediment delivery ratios close to 1.0 can be assumed. It is therefore possible to make a direct comparison between the estimates of the mean annual erosion rates within the two catchments derived from ¹³⁷Cs measurements and the measured sediment outputs. The results of the comparison show that the erosion rate estimates provided by both models are reasonably consistent with the measured sediment yields at the catchment outlets. However, more detailed assessment of the results shows that the validity of the erosion rate estimates is influenced by the magnitude of the erosion rates within the catchment. The exponential depth distribution model appears to perform better for the catchment with higher erosion rates and to overestimate erosion rates in the other catchment. Similarly, the basic migration and diffusion model performs better for the catchment with lower erosion rates and overestimates erosion rates in the other catchment. However, the improved migration and diffusion model appears to perform satisfactorily for both catchments. There is a need for further studies to extend such independent validation of the ¹³⁷Cs technique to other environments, including cultivated soils, and to other conversion models and procedures. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

137Cs tracing of the spatial patterns in soil redistribution,organic carbon and total nitrogen in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau

The southeastern Tibetan Plateau, which profoundly affects East Asia by helping to maintain the stability of climate systems, biological diversity and clean water, is one of the regions most vulnerable to water erosion, wind erosion, tillage erosion, freeze–thaw erosion and overgrazing under global climate changes and intensive human activities. Spatial variations in soil erosion in terraced farmland (TL), sloping farmland (SL) and grassland (GL) were determined by the ¹³⁷Cs tracing method and compared with spatial variations in soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (total N). The ¹³⁷Cs concentration in the GL was higher in the 0–0.03 m soil layer than in the other soil layers due to weak migration and diffusion under low precipitation and temperature conditions, while the ¹³⁷Cs concentration in the soil layer of the SL was generally uniform in the 0–0.18 m soil layer due to tillage-induced mixing. Low ¹³⁷Cs inventories appeared at the summit and toe slope positions in the SL due to soil loss by tillage erosion and water erosion, respectively, while the highest ¹³⁷Cs inventories appeared at the middle slope positions due to soil accumulation under relatively flat landform conditions. In the GL, the ¹³⁷Cs data showed that higher soil erosion rates appeared at the summit due to freeze–thaw erosion and steep slope gradients and at the toe slope position due to wind erosion, gully erosion, freeze–thaw erosion and overgrazing. The ¹³⁷Cs inventory generally increased from upper to lower slope positions within each terrace (except the lowest terrace). The ¹³⁷Cs data along the terrace toposequence showed abrupt changes in soil erosion rates between the lower part of the upper terrace and the upper part of the immediate terrace over a short distance and net deposition on the lower and toe terraces. Hence, tillage erosion played an important role in the soil loss at the summit slope positions of each terrace, while water erosion dominantly transported soil from the upper terrace to the lower terrace and resulted in net soil deposition on the flat lower terrace. The SOC inventories showed similar spatial patterns to the ¹³⁷Cs inventories in the SL, TL and GL, and significant correlations were found between the SOC and ¹³⁷Cs inventories in these slope landscapes. The total N inventories showed similar spatial patterns to the inventories of ¹³⁷Cs and SOC, and significant correlations were also found between the total N and ¹³⁷Cs inventories in the SL, TL and GL. Therefore, ¹³⁷Cs can successfully be used for tracing soil, SOC and total N dynamics within slope landscapes in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau.     

Investigating the spatial distribution of soil erosion and deposition in a small catchment on the Loess Plateau of China, using Cs

An understanding of the spatial distribution of soil erosion and deposition in a catchment is important for designing soil and water conservation measures. Traditional monitoring techniques provide limited information on the spatial patterns of erosion and deposition. The fallout radionuclide ¹³⁷Cs was used to document rates and patterns of soil redistribution within a small (0.17 km²) gully catchment located near An'sai in Shaanxi Province, representative of the Loess Plateau of China. The local reference inventory was estimated to be 2266 Bq m⁻² and the ¹³⁷Cs inventories of 198 soil cores collected from the catchment, ranged from 0 to 3849 Bq m⁻². The coefficient of variation of the inventories of the individual cores was 0.85, reflecting the complex pattern of ¹³⁷Cs redistribution by soil erosion and deposition. Estimates of erosion rates derived from ¹³⁷Cs measurement ranged from less than 25 to 150 Mg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, with about 70% of the net soil loss from the catchment coming from the gully area. The ¹³⁷Cs technique was shown to provide an effective means of documenting the spatial distribution of soil erosion and deposition within the small catchment.     

Quantitative assessment of effectiveness of soil conservation measures using a combination of Cs radioactive tracer and conventional techniques

Quantitative assessment of soil redistribution in landscapes remains a challenging task. In this study we used radioactive soil redistribution tracer ¹³⁷Cs together with soil morphological characteristics and empirically-based modeling for quantitative assessment of long-term soil conservation effectiveness. Three pairs of arable slopes were selected, all located within the territory of the Novosil experimental station (the Orel Region, central European Russia). One slope in each pair undergone creation of artificial terraces with forest shelter belts located parallel to topography contour lines and spaced at approximately 100 m from each other.Preliminary results have shown that slopes with soil-protective measures are characterized by a 11–80% reduction of average soil redistribution rates, as shown by soil profile morphology and ¹³⁷Cs methods. Discrepancy in values obtained can be attributed to differences in temporal resolution of methods as well as possible influence of individual extreme events on results yielded by the ¹³⁷Cs method. On the other hand, more significant decrease in average soil degradation rates on slopes with soil conservation (62–75% for each pair of slopes) was predicted by the model.The ¹³⁷Cs method overestimates gross and net soil redistribution rates, as a result of the influence of extreme erosion prior to tillage mixing of a fresh fallout isotope, not accounted for by calibration models used. Another shortcoming of the estimations obtained is that sediment redeposition directly within forest belts was not taken into account. Therefore, net erosion rates obtained for slopes with forest belts should be regarded as overestimation. Nevertheless, it can be generally concluded that the multi-technical approach has allowed acquiring much more detailed information on temporal and spatial variability of soil redistribution rates than single method-based studies.     

Impacts of soil erosion on organic carbon and nutrient dynamics in an alpine grassland soil

The impact of soil erosion on the nutrient dynamics in alpine grassland soils is still an essential problem. Selecting a grass-covered hillslope in eastern Tibet Plateau, the cesium-137 (¹³⁷Cs) technique was used to determine the impacts of soil erosion on soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and total potassium (TK). The ¹³⁷Cs data revealed that there were distinct soil redistribution patterns in different hillslope positions because of the influences of slope runoff, plant coverage and grazing activity. For the upper slope, soil erosion first decreased downward, followed by soil deposition in its lower part. In contrast, for middle and toe slopes, there was an increasing soil erosion along a downslope transect. Across the lower slope, soil erosion showed an irregular variation. Influenced by the selective transport of water erosion, SOC, TN and TP storage decreased with increasing soil erosion in upper, middle and toe slopes. In contrast, SOC, TN and TP storage varied little with soil erosion in the lower slope. On the whole hillslope, TK storage also varied little with soil erosion due to the large amount of potassium elements derived from soil parent materials. Particularly noteworthy was the greatest storage of SOC, TN and TP in the lower slope where most obvious net soil erosion occurred, which is closely related to the humus accumulation combined with gravel separation as well as weathering and pedogenesis of parent rocks induced by soil freeze-thaw.     

Effects of cropland abandonment and afforestation on soil redistribution in a small Mediterranean mountain catchment

In slopes of Mediterranean mid-mountain areas, land use and land cover changes linked to the abandonment of cropland activity affect soil quality and degradation and soil redistribution; however, limited attention has been paid to this issue at catchment scale. This paper evaluates the effects of cropland abandonment and post-land abandonment management (through natural revegetation and afforestation) on soil redistribution rates using fallout ¹³⁷Cs measurements in the Araguás catchment (0.45 km², Central Spanish Pyrenees). A total of 52 soil core samples, distributed in a regular grid, from the first 30–40 cm and 9 sectioned reference samples were collected across the catchment and soil properties were analysed. Fallout ¹³⁷Cs was measured in a 5 cm sectioned references samples and in bulk grid samples. ¹³⁷Cs inventories were used to estimate soil erosion and deposition rates across the catchment. Results show that the highest erosion rates were recorded under sparsely vegetated sites in the badland area, while the lowest rates were found in the afforested area, but no significant differences were observed between the different uses and covers in soil redistribution rates likely due to a long history of human intervention through cultivation in steep slopes and afforestation practices. However, the recovery of the soil organic matter in afforested areas suggest that afforestation can reduce soil degradation at long-term scale. The information gained achieve a better understanding of soil redistribution dynamics and provide knowledge for effective land management after cropland abandonment of agroecosystems in Mediterranean mountain areas.     

Cesium and soil carbon in a small agricultural watershed

Scientific, political, and social interests have developed recently in the concept of using agricultural soils to sequester carbon. Studies supporting this concept indicate that soil erosion and subsequent redeposition of eroded soils in the same field may establish an ecosystem disequilibrium that promotes the buildup of carbon on agricultural landscapes. The problem is to determine the patterns of soil erosion and redeposition on the landscape and to relate these to soil carbon patterns. Radioactive ¹³⁷cesium (¹³⁷Cs) can be used to estimate soil erosion patterns and, more importantly, redeposition patterns at the field level. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between ¹³⁷Cs, soil erosion, and soil carbon patterns on a small agricultural watershed. Profiles of soils from an upland area and soils in an adjacent riparian system were collected in 5 cm increments and the concentrations of ¹³⁷Cs and carbon were determined. ¹³⁷Cs and carbon were uniformly mixed in the upper 15–20 cm of upland soils. ¹³⁷Cs (Bq g⁻¹) and carbon (%) in the upland soils were significantly correlated (r²=0.66). Carbon content of the 0–20 cm layer was higher (1.4±0.3%) in areas of soil deposition than carbon content (1.1±0.3%) in areas of soil erosion as determined by the ¹³⁷Cs technique. These data suggest that measurements of ¹³⁷Cs in the soils can be useful for understanding carbon distribution patterns in surface soil. Carbon content of the upland soils ranged from 0.5 to 1.9% with an average of 1.2±0.4% in the 0–20 cm layer while carbon below this upper tilled layer (20–30 cm) ranged from 0.2 to 1.5% with an average of 0.5±0.3%. Total carbon was 2.66 and 3.20 kg m⁻² in the upper 20 cm and upper 30 cm of the upland soils, respectively. Carbon content of the 0–20 cm layer in the riparian system ranged from 1.1 to 67.0% with an average 11.7±17.1%. Carbon content below 20 cm ranged from 1.8 to 79.3% with an average of 18.3±17.5%. Soil carbon in the upper 20 cm of the riparian profile was 10.1 and 15.0 kg m⁻² in the upper 30 cm of the riparian profiles. This is an increase of organic carbon by a factor of 3.8 and 4.7 for the upper 20 cm and upper 30 cm of the riparian profiles, respectively, when compared to the upland soil profiles.     

Soil erosion and deposition rates in a cultivated catchment area in central Greece, estimated using the Cs technique

The spatial variation of soil erosion and deposition rates was studied in a small catchment cultivated by rainfed agriculture, in the Mouriki area, Viotia Greece, using the ¹³⁷Cs technique. A 25 m grid was established parallel to the slope and the ¹³⁷Cs inventories were defined for the grid points. After establishing the local reference inventory, the soil erosion and deposition rates were estimated using the ¹³⁷Cs residuals for individual points on the grid in conjunction with the four conversion (calibration) models described by Walling and He (2001) [Models for converting ¹³⁷Cs measurements to estimates of soils redistribution rates on cultivated and uncultivated soils]. The conversion models were validated by means of sensitivity analysis and using local experimental data. The resulting estimates of soil redistribution rates were interpolated by means of kriging, using Surfer Golden software. The magnitude of the soil erosion rates depend on many factors, including the location of the sampling point, the local slope, and the soil properties. The mass balance model 2 (MBM2) and mass balance model incorporating soil movement by tillage (MBM3) conversion models predict soil redistribution rates of the same order of magnitude as the experimental data and are able to take account of Chernobyl fallout. Predicted soil erosion rates for catchment grid varied from 6.71 to 85.55 t ha⁻¹ per year using MBM2 and from 3.54 to 95.78 t ha⁻¹ per year using MBM3. Deposition rates varied from 1.23 to 168.19 t ha⁻¹ per year using MBM2 and from 3.24 to 189.18 t ha⁻¹ per year using MBM3. High correlation was apparent between erosion/deposition rates (MBM2) and soil P (P<0.001), soil K (P<0.001), soil organic matter % (P<0.05), point slope (P<0.05), clay % (P=0.053) and altitude (P=0.057). The total soil losses from the catchment have been estimated at 18.34 t ha⁻¹ per year using MBM2 and 22.12 t ha⁻¹ per year using MBM3.     

A preliminary assessment of the potential for using Pbex measurement to estimate soil redistribution rates on cultivated slopes in the Sichuan Hilly Basin of China

In order to assess its potential for estimating soil redistribution rates, the naturally occurring fallout radionuclide ²¹⁰Pb_ex has been used in parallel with ¹³⁷Cs, derived from the atmospheric testing of nuclear weapon testing in the 1950s to 1970s, to estimate rates of soil redistribution on a sloping field with traditional erosion control measures located near Jiajia Village, Jianyang County, in the Sichuan Hilly Basin of China. The local ²¹⁰Pb_ex reference inventory of 12,860 Bq m^− 2 is higher than those reported for many other areas of the world and may reflect the influence of cloudy weather in preventing ²¹⁰Pb released to the atmosphere across the local region moving up into the upper troposphere, where is would be more widely dispersed. The mean ²¹⁰Pb_ex and ¹³⁷Cs inventories measured in cores collected from the upper part of the field with an average slope of 10° were 8028 Bq m^− 2 and 993 Bq m^− 2, respectively, and the equivalent values for the lower part of the field, where the slopes are steeper (20°) were 11,388 Bq m^− 2 and 1299 Bq m^− 2. The pattern of post-fallout ²¹⁰Pb_ex and ¹³⁷Cs redistribution on the sloping field reflects not only the effects of water erosion and redistribution by tillage, but also the local traditional practice of “Tiaoshamiantu”, whereby sediment trapped in the ditches is returned to the fields by the farmer. The estimates of annual rates of soil loss provided by the ²¹⁰Pb_ex measurement are closely comparable with those derived from the ¹³⁷Cs measurements and are consistent with existing knowledge for the study area. The results obtained from this study confirm the potential for using ²¹⁰Pb_ex measurement to estimate soil erosion rates over medium-term timescale of 50–100 years. By combining the estimates of erosion rates provided by the ²¹⁰Pb_ex and ¹³⁷Cs measurements, the weighted mean net soil loss was estimated to be 48.7 t ha^− 1 year^− 1 from the upper subfield and 16.9 t ha^− 1 year^− 1 from the lower subfield. These rates are considerably lower than the erosion rates obtained from runoff plot measurements in the local area. It is suggested that the traditional erosion control practices and the practice of “Tiaoshamiantu” have a significant effect in reducing soil loss and conserving valuable cultivated soil on sloping fields in the Sichuan Hilly Basin.     

利用137Cs示踪技术评价东北黑土侵蚀和沉积过程

Soil and water losses through erosion have been serious in the black soil region of Northeast China. Therefore, a sloping cultivated land in Songnen Plain was selected as a case study to： 1） determine the ^137Cs reference inventory in the study area; 2） calculate erosion and deposition rates of black soil on different slope locations; 3） conduct a sensitivity analysis of some model parameters; and 4） compare overall outputs using four different models. Three transects were set in the field with five slope locations for each transect, including summit, shoulder-slope, back-slope, foot-slope, and toe-slope. Field measurements and model simulation were used to estimate a bomb-derived ^137Cs reference inventory in the study area. Soil erosion and deposition rates were estimated using four ^137Cs models and percentage of ^137Cs loss/gain. The ^137Cs reference value in the study area was 2 232.8 Bq m^-2 with ^137Cs showing a clear topographic pattern, decreasing from the summit to shoulder-slope, then increasing again at the foot-slope and reaching a maximum at the toe-slope, Predicted soil redistribution rates for different slope locations varied. Among models, the Yang Model （YANG-M） overestimated erosion loss but underestimated deposition. However, the standard mass balance model （MBM1） gave predictions similar to a mass balance model incorporating soil movement by tillage （MBM2）. Sensitivity analysis of the proportion factor and distribution pattern of ^137Cs in the surface layer demonstrated the impact of ^137Cs enrichment on calculation of the soil erosion rate. Factors influencing the redistribution of fallout ^137Cs in landscape should be fully considered as calculating soil redistribution rate using ^137Cs technique.     

中国四川盆地地区侵蚀斜坡土壤酶活性研究

Determining how soil erosion affects enzyme activity may enhance our understanding of soil degradation on eroded agricultural landscapes. This study assessed the changes in enzyme activity with slope position and erosion type by selecting water and tillage erosion-dominated slopes and performing analyses using the ¹³⁷Cs technique. The ¹³⁷Cs data revealed that soil loss occurred in the upper section of the two eroded slope types, while soil accumulation occurred in the lower section. The invertase activity increased downslope and exhibited a pattern similar to the ¹³⁷Cs data. The spatial patterns of urease and alkaline phosphatase activities were similar to the ¹³⁷Cs inventories on the water and tillage erosion-dominated slopes, respectively. On both the eroded slope types, the invertase activity and soil organic carbon content were correlated, but no correlation was observed between the alkaline phosphatase activity and total phosphorus content. Nevertheless, the urease activity was correlated with the total nitrogen content only on the water erosion-dominated slopes. The enzyme activity-to-microbial biomass carbon ratios indicated high activities of invertase and urease but low activity of phosphatase on the water erosion-dominated slopes compared with the tillage erosion-dominated slopes. Both the invertase activity and the invertase activity-to-microbial biomass carbon ratio varied with the slope position. Changes in the urease activity-to-microbial biomass carbon ratio were significantly affected by the erosion type. These suggested that the dynamics of the invertase activity were linked to soil redistribution on the two eroded slope types, whereas the dynamics of the urease and alkaline phosphatase activities were associated with soil redistribution only on the water or tillage erosion-dominated slopes, respectively. The erosion type had an obvious effect on the activities of invertase, urease and alkaline phosphatase. Soil redistribution might influence the involvement of urease in the N cycle and alkaline phosphatase in the P cycle. Thus, enzyme activity-to-microbial biomass ratios may be used to better evaluate microbiological activity in eroded soils.