Km. Turnage et al., COMPARISON OF SOIL-EROSION AND DEPOSITION RATES USING RADIOCESIUM, RUSLE, AND BURIED SOILS IN DOLINES IN EAST TENNESSEE, Environmental geology, 29(1-2), 1997, pp. 1-10
Citations number
45
Categorie Soggetti
Water Resources","Environmental Sciences","Geosciences, Interdisciplinary
Three dolines (sinkholes), each representing different land uses (crop
, grass, and forest) in a karst area in East Tennesse, were selected t
o determine soil erosional and depositional rates. Three methods were
used to estimate the rates: fallout radiocesium (Cs-137) redistributio
n, buried surface soil horizons (Ab horizon), and the revised universa
l soil loss equation (RUSLE). When Cs-137 redistribution was examined,
the average soil erosion rates were calculated to be 27 t ha(-1) yr(-
1) at the cropland, 3 t ha(-1) yr(-1) at the grassland, and 2 t ha(-1)
yr(-1) at the forest. By comparison, cropland erosion rate of 2.6 t h
a(-1) yr(-1), a grassland rate of 0.6 t ha(-1) yr(-1), and a forest ra
te of 0.2 t ha(-1) yr(-1) were estimated by RUSLE. The Cs-137 method e
xpressed higher rates than RUSLE because RUSLE tends to overestimate l
ow erosion rates and does not account for deposition. The buried surfa
ce horizons method resulted in deposition rates that were 8 t ha(-1) y
r(-1) (during 480 yr) at the cropland, 12 t ha(-1) yr(-1) (during 980
yr) at the grassland, and 4 t ha(-1) yr(-1) (during 101 yr) at the for
est site. By examining Cs-137 redistribution, soil deposition rates we
re found to be 23 t ha(-1) yr(-1) at the cropland, 20 t ha(-1) yr(-1)
at the grassland, and 16 t ha(-1) yr(-1) at the forest site. The varia
bility in deposition rates was accounted for by temporal differences;
Cs-137 expressed deposition during the last 38 yr, whereas Ab horizons
represented deposition during hundreds of years. In most cases, land
use affected both erosion and deposition rates - the highest rates of
soil redistribution usually representing the cropland and the lowest,
the forest. When this was not true, differences in the rates were attr
ibuted to differences in the size, shape, and closure of the of the do
lines.