Abstract
The steeply sloping agricultural highlands in Korea have severe soil erosion. Estimation of both soil erosion and sedimentation in these highlands is necessary to make plans for soil-conservation measures, but it is not feasible using existing soil-erosion models. This study measured the site-specific concentrations of 137Cs and 210Pbex on both a highland slope (33% slope) and a reference site (undisturbed flat area) to estimate soil erosion and redistribution. The use of the fallout radionuclide (FRN) method was evaluated to see if it is a suitable method for characterizing soil erosion. Results were compared with those obtained with the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE), which is an empirical model that estimates annual soil erosion. The average concentrations of 137Cs and 210Pbex at the reference site were 11.57±0.24 Bq kg−1 and 59.74±4.2 Bq kg−1, respectively. Concentrations of 137Cs and 210Pbex in the experimental slope were 16.4% and 10.8%, respectively, of those at the reference site. Radionuclide inventories were lower at the upper point of the slope than those at the basal point of the slope. Concentrations of 137Cs and 210Pbex were significantly correlated with available phosphorus, organic matter, CEC, and exchangeable cations. Estimation of soil redistribution rate using 137Cs and 210Pbex showed site-specific variations at different points along the slope, and respective ranges were −17.46∼−207.51 and 1.55∼−581.38 Mg ha−1 yr−1, which indicated that more erosion was assessed by 210Pbex than by 137Cs. Redistribution analysis showed that soil erosion occurred along the entire slope, except for the bottom point of the slope where 1.55 Mg ha−1 yr−1 of sediment accumulated. The USLE provided a single value of the average annual soil loss in the entire slope, which was either 166 or 398 Mg ha−1 yr−1, depending on the soil erodibility factor (soil series factor and calculated factor from soil sample analysis) used in the model. We conclude that the FRN method using 137Cs and 210Pbex radionuclides can be used to assess soil erosion and redistribution in steeply sloping agricultural highlands. Verification of soil-erosion values using the FRN method and soil-erosion models has been controversial, but it merits further study at many locations with different soils, topography, and management practices.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
An J, Zheng F, Wang B (2014) Using 137Cs technique to investigate the spatial distribution of erosion and deposition regimes for a small catchment in the black soil region, Northeast China. Catena 123:243–251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2014.08.009
Arata L, Meusburger K, Frenkel E, et al. (2016) Modelling deposition and erosion rates with radionuclides (MODERN)-Part 1: A new conversion model to derive soil redistribution rates from inventories of fallout radionuclides. J Environ Radioactivity 162–163:45–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2016.05.008
Arnold JG, Srinivasan R, Muttiah RS, et al. (1998) Large area hydrologic modelling and assessment Part I: Model development. J Am Water Resour Assoc 34:73–89. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-1688.1998.tb05961.x
Ascough II JC, Flanagan DC, Tatarko J, et al. (2018) Soil erosion modelling and conservation planning. In Delgado # et al. (ed.) Precision Conservation: Geospatial techniques for agricultural and natural resources conservation. Agronomy Monograph 59, American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America and Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI, USA.
Box JE (1981) The effects of surface slaty fragments on soil erosion by water. Soil Sci Soc Am J 45(1):111–116. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1981.03615995004500010024x
Bray RH, Kurtz LT (1945) Determination of total, organic, and available forms of phosphorus in soils. Soil Sci 59(1)39–46. https://doi.org/10.1097/00010694-194501000-00006
Croke J, Nethery M (2006) Modelling runoff and soil erosion in logged forests: Scope and application of some existing models. Catena 67(1):35–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2006.01.006
Davis RB, Hess CT, Norton SA, et al. (1984) 137Cs and 210Pb dating of sediments from soft-water lakes in New England (U.S.A.) and Scandinavia: a failure of 137Cs dating. Chem Geol 44:151–181. https://doi.org/10.1016/0009-2541(84)90071-8
Dörr H, and Münnich KO (1989) Downward movement of soil organic matter and its influence on trace-element transport (210Pb and 137Cs) in the soil. Radiocarb 31:655–663. https://doi.org/10.1017/s003382220001225x
Elliott GL, Campbell BL, Loughran RJ (1990) Correlation of erosion measurement and soil caesium-137 content. Inr J Radiat Appl Instrum Part A Appl Radiat Isot 41:713–717. https://doi.org/10.1016/0883-2889(90)90017-B
Flanagan DC, Gilley JE, Franti TG (2007) Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP): Development, history, model capabilities, and future enhancements. Trans ASABE 50:1603–1612. https://doi.org/10.13031/2013.23968
Francis CW, Brinkley FS (1976) Preferential adsorption of 137Cs to micaceous minerals in contaminated freshwater sediment. Nature 260(5551):511–513. https://doi.org/10.1038/260511a0
Gaspar L, Navas A, Walling DE, et al. (2013) Using 137Cs and 210Pbex to assess soil redistribution on slopes at different temporal scales. Catena 102:46–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2011.01.004
Gharibreza M, Samani AB, Arabkhedri M, et al. (2021) Investigation of on-site implications of tea plantations on soil erosion in Iran using 137Cs method and RUSLE. Environ Earth Sci 80(1):1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-020-09347-y
He Q, Walling DE. (1997) The distribution of fallout 137Cs and 210Pb in undisturbed and cultivated soils. Appl Radiat Isot 48(5):677–690. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0969-8043(96)00302-8
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). (2014) Guidelines for using fallout radionuclides to assess erosion and effectiveness of soil conservation strategies. Joint FAO/IAEA Programme, IAEA TECDOC Series IAEA-TECDOC-1741, IAEA, Vienna, Austria.
Joo JH, Park C, Jung YS, et al. (2004) Evaluation of the dressed soil applied in mountainous agricultural land. Korean J Soil Sci Fert 37:245–250.
Jung KH, Kim WT, Hur SO, et al. (2004) USLE/RUSLE factors for national scale soil loss estimation based on the digital detailed soil map. Korean J Soil Sci Fert 37(4):199–206.
Jung YH, Kum DH, Han JH, et al. (2015) Study on Topsoil Erosion Indices for Efficient Topsoil Management. J Korean Soc Water Environ 31(5):543–555.
Karydas CG, Panagos P, Gitas IZ (2012) A classification of water erosion models according to their geospatial characteristics. Int J Digit Earth 7(3):229–250. https://doi.org/10.1080/17538947.2012.671380
Lee GJ, Lee JT, Ryu JS, et al. (2010) Status and soil management problems of highland agriculture of the main mountainous region in the South Korea. Proceedings of the 19th World Congress of Soil Science, Soil Solutions for a Changing World 1–6 August 2010, Brisbane, Australia, pp 154–157.
Mabit L, Klik A, Benmansour M, et al. (2009) Assessment of erosion and deposition rates within an Austrian agricultural watershed by combining 137Cs, 210Pbex and conventional measurements. Geoderma 150(3):231–239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2009.01.024
Mabit L, Benmansour M, Abril JM, et al. (2014) Fallout 210Pb as a soil and sediment tracer in catchment sediment budget investigations: A review. Earth-Sci Rev 138: 335–351. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2014.06.007
Mabit L, Bernard C (1998) Relationship between soil 137Cs inventories and chemical properties in a small intensively cropped watershed. C r Acad sci, Ser 2, Earth planet sci 327(8):527–532. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1251-8050(99)80034-2
Mabit L, Bernard C, Laverdière MR (2002) Quantification of soil redistribution and sediment budget in a Canadian watershed from fallout caesium-137 (137Cs) data. Can J Soil Sci 82(4):423–431. https://doi.org/10.4141/s02-016
Mabit L, Bernard C, Yi ALZ, et al. (2018) Promoting the use of isotopic techniques to combat soil erosion: An overview of the key role played by the SWMCN Subprogramme of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division over the last 20 years. Land Degrad Dev 29:3077–3091. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.3016
Mabit L, Benmansour M, Walling DE (2008) Comparative advantages and limitations of the fallout radionuclides 137Cs, 210Pbex and 7Be for assessing soil erosion and sedimentation. J Environ Radioact 99(12):1799–1807. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2008.08.009
Meusburger K, Mabit L, Park JH, et al. (2013) Combined use of stable isotopes and fallout radionuclides as soil erosion indicators in a forested mountain site, South Korea. Biogeosciences 10(8):5627–5638. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-5627-2013
Meusburger K, Evrard O, Alewell C, et al. (2020) Plutonium aided reconstruction of caesium atmospheric fallout in European topsoils. Sci Rep 10:11858. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68736-2
Miller WP, Miller DM (1987) A micro-pipette method for soil mechanical analysis. Comm Soil Sci Plant Anal 18(1):1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/00103628709367799
Ministry of Environment (MoE) (2004) Comprehensive plan for reducing non-point pollution in highland areas. Ministry of Environment, Korea.
Ministry of Environment (MoE) (2012) The Notice about the Erosion Status Survey and Measures such as Topsoil. Ministry of Environment, Korea. pp. 1–26.
Morgan RPC, Quinton JN, Rickson RJ (1990) Structure of the Soil Erosion Prediction Model for the European Community. In: Proceedings of International Symposium on Water Erosion, Sedimentation and Resource Conservation, Dehradun.
Nearing MA, Forster GR, Lane LJ (1989) A Process-based Soil Erosion Model for USDA Water Erosion Prediction Project. Trans ASAE 32:1587–1593. https://doi.org/10.13031/2013.31195
Nelson DW, Sommers LE. (1996) Total carbon, organic carbon, and organic matter. In Sparks DL et al. (eds.). Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 3. Chemical Methods. Soil Science Society of America, Inc, and American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI, USA, pp 961–1010.
Ni LS, Fang NF, Shi ZH, et al. (2017) Validating a basic assumption of using cesium — 137 method to assess soil loss in a small agricultural catchment. Land Degrad Dev 28(5):1772–1778. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.2708
Park CS, Jung YS, Joo JH, et al. (2004) Soil Characteristics of the Saprolite Piled Upland Fields at Highland in Gangwon Province. Korean J Soil Sci Fert 37(2):66–73.
Park SY, Oh CY, Jeon SW, et al. (2011) Soil Erosion Risk in Korean Watersheds, Assessed Using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation. J Hydrol 399(3):263–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2011.01.004
Quijano L, Beguería S, Gaspar L, et al. (2016) Estimating erosion rates using 137Cs measurements and WATEM/SEDEM in a Mediterranean cultivated field. Catena 138:38–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2015.11.009
Rabesiranana N, Rasolonirina M, Solonjara AF, et al. (2016) Assessment of soil redistribution rates by 137Cs and 210Pbex in a typical Malagasy agricultural field. J Environ Radioact 152:112–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2015.11.007
Renard KG, Foster GR, Weesies GA, et al. (1997) Predicting Soil Erosion by Water: a Guide to Conservation Planning with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), Agriculture Handbook, Washington, p 703.
Ritchie JC, McHenry JR (1990) Application of radioactive fallout cesium-137 for measuring soil erosion and sediment accumulation rates and patterns: a review. J Environ Qual 19(2):215–233. https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq1990.00472425001900020006x
Saç MM, Ugur A, Yener G, et al. (2008) Estimates of soil erosion using cesium-137 tracer models. Environ Monit Assess 136:461–467. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-007-9700-8
Sumner ME, Miller WP (1996) Cation exchange capacity and exchange coefficients. In D.L. Sparks AL et al. (eds.). Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 3. Chemical Methods. Soil Science Society of America, Inc, and American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI, USA, pp. 1201–1229.
Tamura T, Jacobs DG (1960) Structural implications in cesium sorption. Health physics 2(4):391–398. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004032-195910000-00009
Walling DE, Zhang Y, He Q (2007). Models for converting measurements of environmental radionuclide inventories (137Cs, Excess 210Pb, and 7Be) to estimates of soil erosion and deposition rates (including software for model implementation). Including Software for Model Implementation. www-naweb.iaea.org/nafa/swmn/Helpfile.pdf (accessed on 20 August 2021)
Wischmeier WH, Smith DD (1978) Predicting rainfall erosion losses-a guide to conservation planning. Agric. Handbook No. 537, U.S. Gov. Print. Office, Washington, DC, USA.
Zapata F (2002) Handbook for the Assessment of Soil Erosion and Sedimentation using Environmental Radionuclides. Kluwer Ac. Publ., Dordrecht, Netherlands, p 219.
Zapata F, Nguyen ML (2009) Soil erosion and sedimentation studies using environmental radionuclides. Radioact Environ 16:295–322. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1569-4860(09)01607-6
Acknowledgement
This research was supported in part by Research Grant from Kangwon National University (No. 520160156: 2016) and by the Korea Ministry of Environment, with the strategic EcoSSSoil Project, KEITI (Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute), Korea (Grant No. 2019002820004).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yoon, JH., Kim, YN., Kim, KH. et al. Use of 137Cs and 210Pbex fallout radionuclides for spatial soil erosion and redistribution assessment on steeply sloping agricultural highlands. J. Mt. Sci. 18, 2888–2899 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-021-7080-0
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-021-7080-0