Assessment of soil erosion in a small watershed covered by loess

Loose sediments like loess are easily erodable especially on hillslopes used for agriculture. Erosion contributes to the sedimentation and pollution of lakes such threatening quasi-natural ecosystems. On the other hand soil erosion damages fertile soils.The aim of the present paper is the assessment of soil and nutrient loss in a tributary catchment of Lake Balaton, including geoecological aspects of the lake ecosystem and of the slopes mantled by loess.The USLE is applied for small topological units, for the so called erotops. Rainfall simulation experiments were applied for the determination of the erodibility of soils. The calculation is based on a new, GIS aided method. Control measurements have been going on for four years at a gauging station to check how much sediment and water actually leaves the catchment.Results of sediment yield measurements were compared with the results obtained by the application of USLE for the whole catchment. According to this comparison only 2% leaves the catchment so that redeposition processes within the catchment are very important whereas the contribution of soil erosion to the eutrophication of the lake is not very significant in the small tributaries in the northern part of Lake Balaton catchment.     

Developing a soil erodibility map across Mongolia

Duration is a key characteristic of floods influencing the design of protection infrastructures for prevention, deployment of rescue resources during the emergency, and repartition of damage costs in the aftermath. The latter financial aspect mainly relies on the insurance industry and allows the transfer of damage costs from the public sector to the private capital market. In this context, the cost of catastrophes affecting a large amount of insured properties is partly or totally transferred from insurance companies to reinsurance companies by contracts that define the portion of transferred costs according to the temporal extent of the flood events synthesized in the so-called hours clause. However, hours clauses imply standard flood event durations, such as 168 h (1 week), regardless of the hydrological properties characterizing different areas. In this study, we firstly perform a synoptic-scale exploratory analysis to investigate the duration and magnitude of large flood events that occurred around the world and in Europe between 1985 and 2016, and then we present a data-driven procedure devised to compute flood duration by tracking flood peaks along a river network. The exploratory analysis highlights the link of flood duration and magnitude with flood generation mechanism, thus allowing the identification of regions that are more or less prone to long-lasting events exceeding the standard hours clauses. The flood tracking procedure is applied to seven of the largest river basins in Central and Eastern Europe (Danube, Rhine, Elbe, Weser, Rhone, Loire, and Garonne). It correctly identifies major flood events and enables the definition of the probability distribution of the flood propagation time and its sampling uncertainty. Overall, we provide information and analysis tools readily applicable to improve reinsurance practices with respect to spatiotemporal extent of flooding hazard.     

Spatial variability of soil properties in relation to land use and topography in a typical small watershed of the black soil region,northeastern China

Soil degradation resulted from unreasonable land use and erosion has been a serious problem in the black soil region of northeastern China. This paper seeks to understand the relationships between topsoil properties and topography and land use for land management targeting at improving soil quality in this region. A total of 292 soil samples and 81 volumetric rings were taken from a typical small watershed of the region in June 2005 for examining total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), soil texture (classified into gravel, sand, silt, and clay), and bulk density (ρ _b), respectively. Spatial variability of these soil properties was evaluated with classical statistics and geostatistics methods. The results of classical statistics indicated that TC, TN, sand, silt, clay content, and ρ _b were moderate variables while gravel had great variability. Soil properties were mainly correlated to slope position, elevation and land types. Geostatistical analyses showed that the spatial autocorrelation for TC, TN, and silt was weak, strong for clay and moderate for and ρ _b sand, respectively. The spatial variations of soil properties are affected comprehensively by topographic factors, land use, erosion, and erosion control in this watershed. Past erosion, however, is the most important component to induce change of soil properties. In this small watershed, current soil and water conservation measures play an important role in controlling soil loss. But the restoration of soil properties was unsatisfactory. Comparing with untilled soil of this region, TC, TN, silt content are excessively low; whereas ρ _b, sand and clay content are excessively high; gravel appears at most sampling locations. It is necessary for improving soil properties to protect forest and grassland and change cultivation system of farmlands.     

Estimation of soil organic carbon storage and its fractions in a small karst watershed

With few available soil organic carbon (SOC) profiles and the heterogeneity of those that do exist, the estimation of SOC pools in karst areas is highly uncertain. Based on the spatial heterogeneity of SOC content of 23,536 samples in a karst watershed, a modified estimation method was determined for SOC storage that exclusively applies to karst areas. The method is a “soil-type method” based on revised calculation indexes for SOC storage. In the present study, the organic carbon contents of different soil types varied greatly, but generally decreased with increasing soil depth. The organic carbon content decreased nearly linearly to a depth of 0–50 cm and then varied at depths of 50–100 cm. Because of the large spatial variability in the karst area, we were able to determine that influences of the different indexes on the estimation of SOC storage decreased as follows: soil thickness > boulder content > rock fragment content > SOC content > bulk density. Using the modified formula, the SOC content in the Houzhai watershed in Puding was estimated to range from 3.53 to 5.44 kg m^?2, with an average value of 1.24 kg m^?2 to a depth of 20 cm, and from 4.44 to 14.50 kg m^?2, with an average value of 12.12 kg m^?2 to a depth of 100 cm. The total SOC content was estimated at 5.39 × 10⁵ t.     

Topographic controls on the depth distribution of soil CO2 in a small temperate watershed

Accurate measurements of soil CO₂ concentrations (pCO₂) are important for understanding carbonic acid reaction pathways for continental weathering and the global carbon (C) cycle. While there have been many studies of soil pCO₂, most sample or model only one, or at most a few, landscape positions and therefore do not account for complex topography. Here, we test the hypothesis that soil pCO₂ distribution can predictably vary with topographic position. We measured soil pCO₂ at the Susquehanna Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory (SSHCZO), Pennsylvania, where controls on soil pCO₂ (e.g., depth, texture, porosity, and moisture) vary from ridge tops down to the valley floor, between planar slopes and slopes with convergent flow (i.e., swales), and between north and south-facing aspects. We quantified pCO₂ generally at 0.1–0.2 m depth intervals down to bedrock from 2008 to 2010 and in 2013. Of the variables tested, topographic position along catenas was the best predictor of soil pCO₂ because it controls soil depth, texture, porosity, and moisture, which govern soil CO₂ diffusive fluxes. The highest pCO₂ values were observed in the valley floor and swales where soils are deep (≥0.7 m) and wet, resulting in low CO₂ diffusion through soil profiles. In contrast, the ridge top and planar slope soils have lower pCO₂ because they are shallower (≤0.6 m) and drier, resulting in high CO₂ diffusion through soil profiles. Aspect was a minor predictor of soil pCO₂: the north (i.e., south-facing) swale generally had lower soil moisture content and pCO₂ than its south (i.e., north-facing) counterpart. Seasonally, we observed that while the timing of peak soil pCO₂ was similar across the watershed, the amplitude of the pCO₂ peak was higher in the deep soils due to more variable moisture content. The high pCO₂ observed in the deeper, wetter topographic positions could lower soil porewater pH by up to 1 pH unit compared to porewaters equilibrated with atmospheric CO₂ alone. CO₂ is generally the dominant acid driving weathering in soils: based on our observations, models of chemical weathering and CO₂ dynamics would be improved by including landscape controls on soil pCO₂.     

喀斯特小流域土壤石砾分布特征及其影响因素

为探究喀斯特土壤石砾含量的影响因素、形成机制及其分布规律,采集了3 180个土壤样品,分析后寨河流域不同影响因素下土壤石砾含量的分布规律,并利用相关性分析得出了影响后寨河流域土壤石砾含量的主要影响因子。结果表明,坡度、岩性、土层厚度和植被类型是影响土壤石砾含量分布的主要影响因素,其中坡度对喀斯特地区土壤石砾含量的分布特征影响作用最大。在不同坡度条件下,土壤石砾含量的分布规律为:坡度<30°时随坡度增加,土壤石砾含量增大。坡度>30°时随坡度增加,土壤石砾含量减小。不同土层厚度下,土壤石砾含量分布规律为:随土层厚度增加,土壤中石砾含量减少。植被类型不同,土壤石砾含量大小排序为:灌木>草本>乔木。不同岩性发育形成土壤,土壤石砾含量大小排序为:白云岩>石灰岩>泥灰岩>第四纪黄粘土>砂页岩。喀斯特地区岩性决定风化成土速率和土壤石砾总量,是土壤石砾含量的物质来源基础。坡度是促进土壤石砾含量迁移、再分配的驱动因素,植被类型和土层厚度是影响土壤石砾含量的响应因素。      

科尔沁东部沙地土壤可风蚀性研究

使用筛析法和SA—CP3粒度分析仪对科尔沁东部沙的耕地、沙岗地和裸地7个表土样品进行分析测试。结果表明：①研究区表土粒度组成以细砂和中砂为主（50%-70％），土壤可风蚀性较高；②不同土地利用类型中，耕地土壤可风蚀性程度大于沙岗地和裸地；③同一流域不同位置的土壤可风蚀性程度，西辽河东岸大于西岸；④对大气的粉尘贡献率，耕地远大于沙岗地和裸地。     

土壤水分特性曲线的分形模拟

应用Menger海绵结构模型,推导出包含有分形维数的土壤水分特征曲线的解析模型,该模型与Brook Corey (1964)及Campbell (1974)经验模型的结构相似。通过对不同地区所采集的10种土壤样本利用压力薄膜仪实测得到水分特性曲线资料反求得到相应的分形维数,分析了分形维数与土壤质地、结构之间的关系,结果表明分形维数随土壤粘粒含量的增大而增大,随砂粒含量的增大而减小。同时对土壤水分特性曲线模型的分形维数与基于质量的土壤颗粒分布分形维数进行了比较,结果表明,两者十分接近,而且具有良好的线性相关关系。根据上述关系,利用易测得的土壤粒径分形维数结合所推导的解析模型,对土壤水分特性曲线进行了预测,预测值与实测值具有良好的一致性。     

紫色土坡地壤中流特征

壤中流是紫色土坡地径流的重要组成部分。通过野外人工模拟降雨试验,研究了不同降雨条件下紫色土坡地壤中流特征和地表状况变化对壤中流的影响,结果表明:①未扰动荒坡地壤中流径流系数是裸露坡耕地的3～15倍,平均流量是坡耕地的7～33倍,荒坡地和坡耕地壤中流特征差异在大雨强条件下表现更为明显;②坡耕地壤中流径流系数随降雨强度的增加而显著减少,但荒坡地壤中流受雨强的影响不明显;③荒坡地壤中流随地表状况变化而改变,植被覆盖的减少和降雨对疏松地表的压实导致壤中流明显减少。     

Modelling soil erosion from a watershed using cubic splines

Erosion in a watershed exhibits spatial and temporal variability, and its determination is fundamental to determining sediment yield which is a key to proper watershed management. In this study, we propose a relationship between the curve number (SCS 1956) and Sediment Yield Index (SYI) using cubic splines. The method is illustrated with a case study of one watershed of Narmada Basin located in Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh, India. Cubic splines are found to perform satisfactorily with Nash efficiency of 63.64%, absolute prediction error of 2.64%, integral square error of 1.22%, coefficient of correlation of 93.78% and degree of agreement of 0.99%. The relation between observed and computed SYI values is correlated with a coefficient of determination (R ²) of 0.87. Such a relationship can be used to determine SYI from the available CN value, which may be quite useful in field applications.     

渝东南岩溶山区耕地利用变化下土壤颗粒体积分形特征研究

通过对重庆东南部喀斯特山区的野外调查采样和室内粒度分析,利用土壤颗粒体积分维模型,分析了该区域耕地土壤与撂荒地土壤颗粒体积分形维数特征,探讨了颗粒体积分形特征与颗粒体积含量的关系。研究结果表明:土壤颗粒体积分形维数与土壤中粘粒(<0.002mm)含量呈明显的线性相关,表现为粘粒含量越高的土壤,其分形维数也越高。土壤粘粒含量与土壤颗粒体积分形维数在不同土地利用方式的土壤剖面上表现出相同的变化规律。土壤分形维数不仅受粘粒含量的支配,还与土壤质地的均一程度有关,分形维数与土壤质地均匀指数表现出一定的相关性,但相关性较弱。耕地土壤分形维数值(平均值为2.5065)大于撂荒地分形维数值(平均值为2.4835),说明岩溶区人类农耕活动对土壤质地尤其是粘粒含量影响明显。土壤体积分形维数可以作为区域耕地土壤质量评价指标之一。      

Distribution and relationship of radionuclides to streambed gravels in a small watershed

In White Oak Creek watershed in eastern Tennessee, the radionuclides⁶⁰Co,⁹⁰Sr, and¹³⁷Cs were retained by streambed gravels on different sites:⁶⁰Co was associated with manganese in the hydrous oxide coatings on rocks and minerals;⁹⁰Sr occurred primarily as an exchangeable cation although small amounts were held in a nonexchangeable form; and¹³⁷Cs was held very selectively, presumably by illite in shale fragments composing the sediment. The distribution of radionuclides on sediments was size dependent: the 0.85–3.35 mm fine-gravel fraction was higher in radionuclide concentration than the sand fraction. An areal survey of radionuclide concentrations on streambed gravels from throughout the watershed, located numerous contamination sources. These radionuclide concentrations, when combined with both distribution coefficients of radionuclides between gravel and water and drainage area, were used to rank subsections of the watershed by their relative contribution to the overall contamination of the watershed. For⁹⁰Sr, this ranking procedure agreed with the measured discharges of subsections of the watershed which are routinely monitored. Research sponsored by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (operated by U.S. Department of Energy under contract W-7405-eng-26 with Union Carbide Corporation. Publication No. 2017, Environmental Sciences Division, ORNL.     

Conditional simulation of USLE/RUSLE soil erodibility factor by geostatistics in a Mediterranean Catchment,Turkey

Soil erosion is a major environmental problem that threatens the sustainability and productivity of agricultural areas. Assessment and mapping of soil erosion are extremely important in the management and conservation of natural resources. The universal soil loss equation (USLE/RUSLE) is an erosion model that predicts soil loss as a function of soil erodibility (K-factor), as well as topographic, rainfall, cover, and management factors. The traditional approach assumes that one soil erodibility value represents the entire area of each soil series. Therefore, that approach does not account for spatial variability of soil series. This study was carried out to evaluate the use of the sequential Gaussian simulation (SGS) for mapping soil erodibility factor of the USLE/RUSLE methodology. Five hundred and forty-four surface soil samples (0–20 cm) were collected from the study area to determine the soil erodibility. A simulation procedure was carried out on 300 realizations, and histogram and semivariogram of the simulation were compared to the observed values. The results showed that the summary statistics, histogram, and semivariogram of the simulation results were close to the observed values. In contrary to the traditional approach and kriging, 95% confidence interval of the simulated realizations was formed in order to determine uncertainty standard deviation map, and the uncertainty was explained numerically. The SGS produced a more reliable soil erodibility map and it can be more successfully used for monitoring and improving effective strategies to prevent erosion hazards especially to improve site specific management plans.     

Assessing spatial uncertainty in mapping soil erodibility factor using geostatistical stochastic simulation

Soil erosion is one of most widespread process of degradation. The erodibility of a soil is a measure of its susceptibility to erosion and depends on many soil properties. Soil erodibility factor varies greatly over space and is commonly estimated using the revised universal soil loss equation. Neglecting information about estimation uncertainty may lead to improper decision-making. One geostatistical approach to spatial analysis is sequential Gaussian simulation, which draws alternative, equally probable, joint realizations of a regionalised variable. Differences between the realizations provide a measure of spatial uncertainty and allow us to carry out an error analysis. The objective of this paper was to assess the model output error of soil erodibility resulting from the uncertainties in the input attributes (texture and organic matter). The study area covers about 30 km² (Calabria, southern Italy). Topsoil samples were collected at 175 locations within the study area in 2006 and the main chemical and physical soil properties were determined. As soil textural size fractions are compositional data, the additive-logratio (alr) transformation was used to remove the non-negativity and constant-sum constraints on compositional variables. A Monte Carlo analysis was performed, which consisted of drawing a large number (500) of identically distributed input attributes from the multivariable joint probability distribution function. We incorporated spatial cross-correlation information through joint sequential Gaussian simulation, because model inputs were spatially correlated. The erodibility model was then estimated for each set of the 500 joint realisations of the input variables and the ensemble of the model outputs was used to infer the erodibility probability distribution function. This approach has also allowed for delineating the areas characterised by greater uncertainty and then to suggest efficient supplementary sampling strategies for further improving the precision of K value predictions.     

紫色泥岩水热条件下崩解过程的分维特性

以马头山组（K2m）、妥甸组（J3t）和下禄丰组（J1l）自然风干的紫色泥岩为研究对象,分别进行干湿、冷热和干湿冷热3种处理,并运用分维方法分析不同处理下紫色泥岩的崩解特性,发现分维数能比较准确地表征紫色泥岩的崩解过程：分维数越大,岩石破碎程度越高;分维数越小,岩石破碎程度越低。3种紫色泥岩在不同处理方式下崩解的分维数大小都是干湿冷热 干湿 冷热,可见,水热共同作用对母岩崩解的影响明显大于仅有水或热的作用。相同处理方式下3种泥岩的分维数大小为J3t J1l K2m,且在干湿和干湿冷热条件下J3t的崩解分维数与K2m和J1l的差异显著,这主要是由这3种泥岩的物理特性、元素组成以及其风化成度所决定的。     

多重分形在海积软土微观结构研究中的应用

本文将多重分形谱引入到土微观结构分形研究中,对天津市滨海新区三个不同地点海积软土原状样及不同固结压力后土中孔隙的多重分形特征进行研究,从多重分形的角度对孔隙的不均匀性进行定量描述,并建立孔隙多重分形谱各特征参数与荷载之间的关系.结果表明三个地点的海积软土孔隙多重分形特征存在差异.     

小流域水土资源优化配置线性规划数学模型的构建及求解——以陕南丹凤大南沟小流域为例

陕南地区位于秦岭山区,坡耕地面积大,降雨形成的坡面径流是当地水土流失的主导因子,通过合理配置当地土地资源,充分利用坡面径流资源,从而减少水土流失。以陕南大南沟小流域为研究对象,通过收集整理当地多年的降雨资料,借助GIS及Surfer等相关软件对不同坡度的坡地资源进行划分和统计,利用流域内水土资源之间的相互依存及彼此约束性,基于线性规划理论,通过构建、求解水土资源优化配置线性规划的数学模型,对小流域的水土资源进行优化配置,并用单纯形法对模型进行求解。通过对模型中相关参数的不断优化、调节,最终得出“以人定水田”“以水定田无旱无树”“以水定田无旱有树”3种水土资源的优化配置方案。通过优化配置即可达到水土保持的目的,同时也为后期土地规划等提     

Spatial heterogeneity of soil organic matter and soil total nitrogen in a Mollisol watershed of Northeast China

The spatial heterogeneity of soil nutrients influences crop yield and the environment. Previous research has focused mainly on the surface layer, with little research being carried out on the deep soil layers, where high root density is highly related to crop growth. In the study, 610 soil samples were collected from 122 soil profiles (0–60 cm) in a random-sample method. Both geostatistics and traditional statistics were used to describe the spatial variability of soil organic matter (SOM) and total nitrogen (TN) deeper in the soil profile (0–60 cm) with high root density from a typical Mollisol watershed of Northeast China. Also, the SOM and TN in farmland and forest (field returned to forest over 10 years) areas was compared. The spatial autocorrelations of SOM at 0–50 cm depth and TN at 30–60 cm depth were strong, and were mainly influenced by structural factors. Compared to farmland, SOM and TN were typically lower in the 0–30 cm depth of the forest areas, while they were higher in the 30–60 cm depth. As well, both SOM and TN decreased from the 0–20 cm layer to the 30–40 cm layer, and then discontinues, while they continuously decreased with increasing soil depth in the farmland. SOM and TN were typically higher at the gently sloped summit of the watershed and part of the bottom of the slope than at mid-slope positions at the 0–30 cm depth. SOM and TN were lower on the back slope at the 30–60 cm depth, but were higher at the bottom of the slope. Also, the spatial distribution of the carbon storage and nitrogen storage were all highest at the bottom of the slope and part of the summit, while they were lowest in most of back slope in depth of 0–60 cm, and mainly caused by soil loss and deposition. SOM at 0–60 cm and TN at 0–40 cm greater than the sufficiency level for crop growth (3.7–79.2 and 0.09–3.09 g kg^?1, respectively) covered 99 % of the total area, yet for TN, over 35 % of the total area was less than the insufficiency level at the 40–60 cm depth. Generally, accurately predicting SOM and TN is nearly impossible when based only on soil loss by water, although the fact that variability is influenced by elevation, soil loss, deposition and steepness, was shown in this research. Nitrogen fertilizer and manure application were needed, especially in conjunction with conservation tillage in special conditions and specific areas such as the back slope, where soil loss was severe and the deep soil that lacked TN was exposed at the surface.