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Assessing soil erosion and control factors by radiometric technique in the source region of the Yellow River, Tibetan Plateau

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Yibo Wang ,
Fujun Niu ,
Qingbai Wu  and
Zeyong Gao
Yibo Wang*
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environment Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 73000, China State Key laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Lanzhou 730000, China
Fujun Niu
Affiliation:
State Key laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Lanzhou 730000, China
Qingbai Wu
Affiliation:
State Key laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Lanzhou 730000, China
Zeyong Gao
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environment Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 73000, China
*
*Corresponding author at: Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environment Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 73000, China. E-mail address:wangyib@lzu.edu.cn (Y.Wang).
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Abstract

Measurements of 137Cs concentration in soils were made in a representative catchment to quantify erosion rates and identify the main factors involved in the erosion in the source region of the Yellow River in the Tibetan Plateau. In order to estimate erosion rates in terms of the main factors affecting soil loss, samples were collected taking into account the slope and vegetation cover along six selected transects within the Dari County catchment. The reference inventory for the area was established at a stable, well-preserved, site of small thickness (value of 2324 Bq·m− 2). All the sampling sites had been eroded and 137Cs inventories varied widely in the topsoil (14.87–25.56 Bq·kg− 1). The effective soil loss values were also highly variable (11.03–28.35 t·km− 1·yr− 1) in line with the vegetation cover change. The radiometric approach was useful in quantifying soil erosion rates and examining patterns of soil movement.

Keywords

Soil erosion137Cs methodGrassland degradationVegetation cover
Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 81 , Issue 3 , May 2014 , pp. 538 - 544
Copyright
University of Washington

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