Comparison of fallout radionuclide (caesium-137) and modelling approaches for the assessment of soil erosion rates for an uncultivated site in south-eastern Australia

Martínez, C.; Hancock, Greg; Kalma, J. D.

doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2009.03.023

Cited by 53 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…shown to correspond well with erosion plots and sediment yield data in some areas (Martinez et al, 2009). Equally, the diffusion and migration model has produced more comparable estimates in other cases (Simms et al, 2008).…”

supporting

confidence: 76%

“…Equally, the diffusion and migration model has produced more comparable estimates in other cases (Simms et al, 2008). Based on past studies undertaken within Australia it is possible that the AEM may underestimate and the diffusion and migration model overestimate true erosion rates for Australian soils (Martinez et al, 2009;Simms et al, 2008 Cs within the soil profile. As this can be affected by factors extraneous to soil redistribution, such as fallout history, radioactive decay, diffusion, leaching and bioturbation, the diffusion and migration model requires inputs describing the profile typology of radionuclide activity in soil unaffected by erosion or deposition (these include the diffusion parameter, downward migration rate and relaxation depth factor (which describes profile shape)).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Estimates of late Holocene soil production and erosion in the Snowy Mountains, Australia

Stromsoe

Marx

Callow

et al. 2016

CATENA

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Soil production in actively uplifting or high precipitation alpine landscapes is potentially rapid. However, these same landscapes are also susceptible to erosion and can be sensitive to changes in climate and anthropogenic activity which can upset the balance between soil production and erosion. The Snowy Mountains, southeastern Australia, are a tectonically stable, low relief, moderate precipitation mountain environment. The alpine area is extensively blanketed by soil that has been subjected to more intensive episodes of erosion during past periods of anthropogenic disturbance and under cold climate conditions of the late Quaternary. In this study, rates of soil development and hillslope erosion were investigated using radiocarbon dating, fallout radionuclides and sediment cores collected from lakes and reservoirs. Estimated Holocene soil development rates were 20-220 t/km2/y. Erosion rates determined from the radionuclides 137Cs and 210Pb were equivocal, due to the inherent spatial variability of radionuclide inventories relative to apparent erosion rates. Estimated average erosion rates over the past 100 years, determined from 210Pbex inventories, were 60 t/km2/y (95% CI: 10, 90). Inventories of 137Cs observed at the same site implied that more recent erosion rates (over the past 60 years) was below the detection limits of the sampling method applied here (i.e. /km2/y). The upper estimate of 90 t/km2/y is comparable to the mean erosion rate estimated using the radionuclide method for uncultivated sites in Australia and is significantly lower than that measured at sites were vegetation cover was disturbed by livestock grazing prior to its exclusion from the alpine area in the 1940s CE. Low erosion and high soil production rates relative to the lowland soils are likely related to extensive vegetation cover, which, in this context, protects soils against erosion and contributes to the formation of organic alpine soils, that rapidly accumulate organic matter by comparison to other soil types. Disciplines Medicine and Health Sciences | Social and Behavioral Sciences Publication DetailsStromsoe, N., Marx, S. K., Callow, N., McGowan, H. A. & Heijnis, H. (2016 AbstractSoil production in actively uplifting or high precipitation alpine landscapes is potentially rapid.However, these same landscapes are also susceptible to erosion and can be sensitive to changes in climate and anthropogenic activity which can upset the balance between soil production and erosion. The Snowy Mountains, southeastern Australia, are a tectonically stable, low relief, moderate precipitation mountain environment. The alpine area is extensively blanketed by soil that has been subjected to more intensive episodes of erosion during past periods of anthropogenic disturbance and under cold climate conditions of the late Quaternary. In this study, rates of soil development and hillslope erosion were investigated using radiocarbon dating, fallout radionuclides and sediment cores collected from lakes and reservoirs. the mean erosion rate est...

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supporting

confidence: 76%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimates of late Holocene soil production and erosion in the Snowy Mountains, Australia

Stromsoe

Marx

Callow

et al. 2016

CATENA

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“…Statistically significant relationships between 137 Cs and SOC have been established for agricultural regions (e.g. Ritchie and McCarty, 2003;Ritchie et al, 2007;Wei et al, 2008), providing support for the movement of 137 Cs and SOC along the same physical pathways and through the same physical mechanisms (Martinez et al, 2009). These developments with the 137 Cs technique provide the opportunity to consider the net soil redistribution, of all erosion and deposition processes, at the catchment scale over large areas.…”

Section: Cs-derived Net (1950s-1990) Soil Redistributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Australian net (1950s–1990) soil organic carbon erosion: implications for CO<sub>2</sub> emission and land–atmosphere modelling

Chappell

Webb²,

Rossel

et al. 2014

Biogeosciences

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Abstract. The debate remains unresolved about soil erosion substantially offsetting fossil fuel emissions and acting as an important source or sink of CO 2 . There is little historical land use and management context to this debate, which is central to Australia's recent past of European settlement, agricultural expansion and agriculturallyinduced soil erosion. We use "catchment" scale (∼ 25 km 2 ) estimates of 137 Cs-derived net (1950s-1990) soil redistribution of all processes (wind, water and tillage) to calculate the net soil organic carbon (SOC) redistribution across Australia. We approximate the selective removal of SOC at net eroding locations and SOC enrichment of transported sediment and net depositional locations. We map net (1950s-1990) SOC redistribution across Australia and estimate erosion by all processes to be ∼ 4 Tg SOC yr −1 , which represents a loss of ∼ 2 % of the total carbon stock (0-10 cm) of Australia. Assuming this net SOC loss is mineralised, the flux (∼ 15 Tg CO 2 -equivalents yr −1 ) represents an omitted 12 % of CO 2 -equivalent emissions from all carbon pools in Australia. Although a small source of uncertainty in the Australian carbon budget, the mass flux interacts with energy and water fluxes, and its omission from land surface models likely creates more uncertainty than has been previously recognised.

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“…Erosion rates estimated using the AEM have been shown to correspond well with erosion plots and sediment yield data in some areas (Martinez et al, 2009). Equally, the diffusion and migration model has produced more comparable estimates in other cases (Simms et al, 2008).…”

mentioning

confidence: 55%

mentioning

confidence: 91%

The fate of atmospheric metal pollutants in the landscape, Snowy Mountains, south-eastern Australia

Stromsoe¹

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Industrial metals, emitted to the atmosphere by human activity, have been transported and deposited to almost every location on Earth, including Antarctica and Greenland. This is demonstrated by an increasing body of literature in which many atmospheric industrial metals (e.g. Pb, Hg, Cd and Cu) have been shown to be significantly enriched in environmental archives. Studies have largely focussed on peat mires and ice cores, which receive high rates of atmospheric deposition relative to terrestrial inputs. By contrast, few studies have examined the extent of atmospherically derived metals across the wider landscape, where processes such as pedogenesis, erosion and sedimentation affect the spatial extent and magnitude of metal enrichment. In the Snowy Mountains, Australia, atmospheric pollutant metals have previously been identified in alpine peat mires, although their impact on the wider environment has not been assessed. Interest in the fate of atmospheric pollutants in the Snowy Mountains has increased due to the operation of a cloud seeding program in which, silver iodide, AgI, is released to the atmosphere, leading to concerns that silver, Ag, contamination may be accumulating in this ecologically important region. This thesis examines the spatial extent and magnitude of atmospherically derived metals in the SnowyMountains by investigating patterns of enrichment in a range of geomorphic settings and catchment positions, including in soils, peat mires, lakes and reservoirs. The potential movement of metals through the landscape was also assessed by examining rates of geomorphic processes, including rates of pedogenesis and erosion, determined via radionuclides. The thesis was undertaken in three parts which are summarised below. by atmospheric deposition (ombrotrophic peat mires in the upper parts of catchments), the order and magnitude of metal enrichment most closely resembled that of collected aerosols, however, on average enrichment was 5-7 fold lower than in the aerosols. Metals most sensitive to enrichment, i.e., those with low natural abundance in local sediments (Cd, Ag, Sb, Mo), were enriched in all environments including the most geomorphically active settings (tarn lake sediments). In reservoirs, located lower in catchments, patterns of metal enrichment largely reflected concentrations in catchment soils but metals were additionally enriched or depleted depending on their relative particle reactivity. For those metals which are most sensitive to enrichment (Ag, Cd, Sb), the increase in excess flux required to reach trigger value concentrations is lowest in the reservoir sediments (Ag: 13-18, Cd: 7-10 and Sb: 17-61 times the current flux) and highest in the tarn lake (Ag: 60, Cd: 15, Sb: 27 times the current flux) and the peat mire (Ag: 74, Cd: 15, Sb: 18 times the current flux).In part three of this thesis, rates of soil production and soil erosion were quantified using radiocarbon dating, fallout radionuclides and sediment yields in lakes and reservoirs in order to assess the stability of l...

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Comparison of fallout radionuclide (caesium-137) and modelling approaches for the assessment of soil erosion rates for an uncultivated site in south-eastern Australia

Cited by 53 publications

References 39 publications

Estimates of late Holocene soil production and erosion in the Snowy Mountains, Australia

Estimates of late Holocene soil production and erosion in the Snowy Mountains, Australia

Australian net (1950s–1990) soil organic carbon erosion: implications for CO<sub>2</sub> emission and land–atmosphere modelling

The fate of atmospheric metal pollutants in the landscape, Snowy Mountains, south-eastern Australia

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Comparison of fallout radionuclide (caesium-137) and modelling approaches for the assessment of soil erosion rates for an uncultivated site in south-eastern Australia

Cited by 53 publications

References 39 publications

Estimates of late Holocene soil production and erosion in the Snowy Mountains, Australia

Estimates of late Holocene soil production and erosion in the Snowy Mountains, Australia

Australian net (1950s–1990) soil organic carbon erosion: implications for CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; emission and land–atmosphere modelling

The fate of atmospheric metal pollutants in the landscape, Snowy Mountains, south-eastern Australia

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Product

Resources

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Australian net (1950s–1990) soil organic carbon erosion: implications for CO<sub>2</sub> emission and land–atmosphere modelling