Dating Sediment in a Fast Sedimentation Reservoir using Cesium‐137 and Lead‐210

Zhang, X.C.; Zhang, G.H.; Garbrecht, Jürgen; Steiner, Jean L.

doi:10.2136/sssaj2015.01.0021

Cited by 20 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Some farmers have converted the highly erosive parts of their crop land to Bermuda grass pastureland (USDA-FSA, 2015). These initiatives reduced sediment loadings by three to five times as compared to the time prior to 1963 (Zhang et al, 2015). Garbrecht, Starks & Moriasi (2008) stated that there was substantial reduction in sediment yield in the Five Mile Creek sub-watershed in the second half of the 20th century mainly due to conversion of cropland to pasture land.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Modeling the impacts of agricultural best management practices on runoff, sediment, and crop yield in an agriculture-pasture intensive watershed

Gharibdousti

Kharel

Stoecker

2019

PeerJ

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Best management practices (BMPs) are commonly used to reduce sediment loadings. In this study, we modeled the Fort Cobb Reservoir watershed located in southwestern Oklahoma, USA using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and evaluated the impacts of five agricultural BMP scenarios on surface runoff, sediment yield, and crop yield. The hydrological model, with 43 sub-basins and 15,217 hydrological response units, was calibrated (1991–2000) and validated (2001–2010) against the monthly observations of streamflow, sediment grab samples, and crop-yields. The coefficient of determination (R2), Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NS) and percentage bias (PB) were used to determine model performance with satisfactory values of R2 (0.64 and 0.79) and NS (0.61 and 0.62) in the calibration and validation period respectively for streamflow. We found that contouring practice reduced surface runoff by more than 18% in both conservation tillage and no-till practices for all crops used in this modeling study. In addition, contour farming with either conservation tillage or no-till practice reduced sediment yield by almost half. Compared to the conservation tillage practice, no-till practice decreased sediment yield by 25.3% and 9.0% for cotton and grain sorghum, respectively. Using wheat as cover crop for grain sorghum generated the lowest runoff followed by its rotation with canola and cotton regardless of contouring. Converting all the crops in the watershed into Bermuda grass resulted in significant reduction in sediment yield (72.5–96.3%) and surface runoff (6.8–38.5%). The model can be used to provide useful information for stakeholders to prioritize ecologically sound and feasible BMPs at fields that are capable of reducing sediment yield while increasing crop yield.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies identified sedimentation as one of the water quality issues in the region with the associated ecological and economic impacts (Zhang et al, 2015). As a result, various agricultural BMPs have been implemented in the watershed to abate sediment loading and transport (Becker, 2011).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling the impacts of agricultural best management practices on runoff, sediment, and crop yield in an agriculture-pasture intensive watershed

Gharibdousti

Kharel

Stoecker

2019

PeerJ

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“…Overall, soil erosion rates predicted by both methods were relatively low, with the maximum erosion rates being 2 Mg ha −1 yr −1 . The low soil erosion rates even for the long and steep slopes indicated that the undisturbed soil under native rangeland vegetation was effective in keeping soil erosion rates low in the past 50 yr. Zhang et al (2015a) estimated soil erosion rates in the Bull Creek watershed between 1957 and 2003 based on the measured sedimentation volume in the reservoir controlling the watershed. The estimated soil erosion rates for the Bull Creek watershed, corrected for a reservoir trapping efficiency of 90% and a sediment delivery ratio of 42%, were 29.0 Mg ha −1 yr −1 during 1957 to 1962 and 6.8 Mg ha −1 yr −1 during 1963 to 2003.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the WEPP Rangeland Hillslope Model Using Cesium‐137 Estimated Spatial Erosion Data

Liu

Zhang

Storm

et al. 2017

Vadose Zone Journal

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Core Ideas WEPP rangeland model was evaluated using spatial erosion data for the first time. WEPP and 137Cs methods predicted similar low soil erosion rates. Spatial erosion patterns predicted by WEPP and 137Cs methods agreed well. WEPP predicted soil erosion patterns well along rangeland hillslopes. Lack of spatially distributed soil erosion data has greatly hampered the development and improvement of process‐based soil erosion models. The 137Cs method has been widely used to estimate soil erosion and redistribution but has seldom been used to evaluate process‐based erosion models. This study evaluated spatial erosion patterns predicted by the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model using 137Cs‐estimated spatially distributed erosion data and quantified the effects of slope length on erosion along rangeland hillslopes. Eight rangeland hillslopes in midwestern Oklahoma were selected. The WEPP rangeland model was parameterized with observed soil and vegetation data. One downslope transect was sampled for each hillslope. At each sampling position, seven samples along a contour line were composited to represent the 137Cs inventory for that slope position to reduce random spatial variation. Both methods predicted low soil erosion rates, with the maximum erosion rates being near 2 Mg ha−1 yr−1. The erosion rates predicted by the two methods were significantly correlated at P = 0.01, and the medians were not significantly different; however, a paired t‐test showed that WEPP predicted significantly lower erosion rates than the 137Cs method. More importantly, the WEPP‐predicted soil erosion patterns in response to slope length agreed very well with those predicted by the 137Cs method. The loci of the maximum and minimum erosion rates were similar between the two methods for seven transects. The WEPP rangeland model predictions for the spatial patterns of relative soil erosion intensity along a hillslope compared favorably with 137Cs method estimates.

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“…Consequently, we based our calculations of the historical SSYs on the C‐CRS dating. In general, the C‐CRS model is more appropriate for dating sediment deposited continuously over periods of <100 years leading up to the time of sampling (Zhang et al, ). As the lifespan of a reservoir is usually <100 years, it can be assumed that the C‐CRS model is especially appropriate for reservoir deposit dating, particularly in the case of temporal variations in the deposition rate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dating reservoir deposits to assess the recently changing sediment yields from a medium‐sized agricultural catchment

Long

Lu²,

Pei³

et al. 2019

Land Degrad Dev

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Medium‐sized catchments exhibit different patterns of sediment yield than small catchments and large river basins (taking scale dependency into account) and play in soil loss from upstream areas with downstream sediment transportation over larger spatial scales than small catchments. Few studies have used reservoir depositional records to assess historical sediment yields at the scale of a medium‐sized catchment. By analyzing six cores obtained from reservoir deposits, this investigation reconstructed the recent sediment yield from a medium‐sized agricultural catchment (the Xujiaya catchment in Northern China) and examined the changing pattern of sediment yield over the past 57 years. The cores were dated using the 137Cs and 210Pbex methods. The historical specific sediment yields (SSYs) were estimated based on the original reservoir capacity curve and the depositional chronology modeled using a composite chronological model based on the constant rate of supply (CRS) approach (i.e., the C‐CRS model). The mean SSYs estimated from the six cores over each of seven short stages (i.e., 1959–1963, 1964–1972, 1973–1980, 1981–1989, 1990–1997, 1998–2007, and 2008–2016) defined over the 57‐year study period ranged between 4.6 ± 1.8 and 16.2 ± 6.3 t ha−1 yr−1, with a mean value of 8.1 ± 3.2 ha−1 yr−1 for all seven stages, and this mean value can be used to broadly represent the sediment yield from the catchment since dam construction. These SSY values are relatively high, reflecting intense agricultural disturbance and the underlying lithology. The values were highest for the 1959–1963 stage and lowest in the following stage of 1964–1972 and then generally increased over the successive stages of 1973–1980, 1981–1989, and 1990–1997 before decreasing slightly during the last two stages after 1997. This change was driven mainly by human activity over the past 57 years. The results indicate that the environmental factors (e.g., human activity and lithology) influencing sediment yield in a medium‐sized catchment are more complicated than those affecting a small catchment and reveal the characteristic pattern of sediment yield in medium‐sized catchments.

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Dating Sediment in a Fast Sedimentation Reservoir using Cesium‐137 and Lead‐210

Cited by 20 publications

References 16 publications

Modeling the impacts of agricultural best management practices on runoff, sediment, and crop yield in an agriculture-pasture intensive watershed

Modeling the impacts of agricultural best management practices on runoff, sediment, and crop yield in an agriculture-pasture intensive watershed

Evaluating the WEPP Rangeland Hillslope Model Using Cesium‐137 Estimated Spatial Erosion Data

Dating reservoir deposits to assess the recently changing sediment yields from a medium‐sized agricultural catchment

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