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

Abstract

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...

A comprehensive global dataset of atmospheric <sup>7</sup>Be and <sup>210</sup>Pb measurements: air concentration and depositional flux

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Ecological conditions of the altitudinal substitution of Petasites kablikianus and P. hybridus in the Polish Carpathians

“…In groups of patches where P. kablikianus was dominant, 16 Agrostis stolonifera c 3.5 19 -6 - 15 15.7 27 Alnus incana a - 10 4.6 12 -15.5 18 Festuca gigantea c - 16 - 31 6.9 38 15.5 45 Petasites kablikianus c 33 Relevés were divided into four groups: with P. kablikianus as the only dominant (Pk), mixed plots with a dominance of P. kablikianus (Pk/Ph), mixed plots with a dominance of P. hybridus (Ph/Pk) and with P. hybridus as the only dominant (Ph Phalaris arundinacea, and Salix alba presented more significant relationships to plots with P. hybridus. Thirteen of these were more characteristic to the Ph/Pk mixed group and 13 to the group in which P. hybridus was dominant (Tab.…”

“…Altitudinal gradient can directly modify local climatic factors, including temperature [19][20][21], atmospheric pressure [22], precipitation [23], and UV irradiation [24]. An indirect modification of environmental factors according to altitudinal gradient applies to factors such as duration of snow cover [25], physical weathering and erosion [26,27], chemical composition of the soil [28,29], content of organic matter [30] and its decomposition [31], diversity of plant communities, and the frequency of disturbances [32].…”

Streamflow variability and the role of snowmelt in a marginal snow environment

“…The two dominant vegetation types are grasslands and eucalypt woodlands, although sphagnum bogs and fens are also present. These, together with the surrounding organic-rich soils (Stromsoe et al 2016), potentially play an important role in the hydrology of the catchment. Pipers Creek lies within the catchment of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme, which provides electricity to the National Electricity Market and diverts water to the MDB.…”