Use of ~7Be measurements to estimate rates of soil loss from cultivated land: Testing a new approach applicable to individual storm events occurring during an extended period

摘要

The techniques available for documenting rates and patterns of soil redistribution in the landscape have many limitations and the value of those employing fallout radionuclides (FRNs), including caesium-137 (Cs-137) and excess lead-210 (Pb-210(ex)) is being increasingly recognized. However, the use of Cs-137 and Pb-210(ex) measurements is best suited to investigations of longer-term soil redistribution rates (i.e., approximate to 50-60 years for Cs-137 and approximate to 100 years for Pb-210(ex)). For many purposes, a much shorter timeframe is required. Beryllium-7 (Be-7), another FRN (half-life 53 days), offers the potential to document soil redistribution associated with individual events or short periods of heavy rainfall. However, existing approaches for using Be-7 possess important limitations related to both the timing of the study period and its length. This contribution reports the development of a new approach that permits estimation of the soil loss associated with all individual events or short periods of rainfall occurring during a study period extending over a year or more. The approach was validated using data collected from an erosion plot located in southern Italy. The close agreement of the measured and estimated values demonstrates the validity of the new approach which has the potential to greatly increase the scope for using Be-7 measurements to document short-term soil redistribution associated with individual storm events.Key Pointslist id="wrcr21180-list-0001" list-type="bulleted" list-item id="wrcr21180-li-0001"Existing approaches to use Be-7 for quantifying soil loss possess limitations list-item id="wrcr21180-li-0002"A new approach is proposed to document short-term soil redistribution list-item id="wrcr21180-li-0003"The approach is validated using data collected from an experimental plot doi origin="wiley" registered="yes"10.1002/(ISSN)1944-7973/doi