Assessment of soil erosion in a small agricultural basin of the St. Lawrence River watershed

Mabit, Lionel; Bernard, Claude; Laverdière, M. R.; Wicherek, Stanislas

doi:10.1007/978-94-017-2163-9_27

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Soil erosion rates can be obtained by direct quantification of sediment transport in the field, by fallout-radionuclide (FRN)-based methods (e.g. Mabit et al, 1999;Benmansour et al, 2013;Meusburger et al, 2013) and by soil erosion models (Nearing et al, 1989;Merritt et al, 2003). Since the end of the 1970s empirical soil erosion models such as the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE; Smith, 1965, 1978) and its refined versions, the Revised USLE (RUSLE; Renard et al, 1997) and the Modified USLE (MUSLE;Smith et al, 1984), have been used worldwide to evaluate soil erosion magnitude under various conditions (Kinnell, 2010).…”

Section: K Meusburger Et Al: Soil Erosion By Snow Gliding -A First Quantification Attemptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil erosion by snow gliding – a first quantification attempt in a sub-alpine area, Switzerland

Meusburger¹,

Leitinger²,

Mabit³

et al. 2014

Preprint

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Abstract. Snow processes might be one important driver of soil erosion in Alpine grasslands and thus the unknown variable when erosion modelling is attempted. The aim of this study is to assess the importance of snow gliding as soil erosion agent for four different land use/land cover types in a sub-alpine area in Switzerland. We used three different approaches to estimate soil erosion rates: sediment yield measurements in snow glide deposits, the fallout radionuclide 137Cs, and modelling with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). The RUSLE model is suitable to estimate soil loss by water erosion, while the 137Cs method integrates soil loss due to all erosion agents involved. Thus, we hypothesise that the soil erosion rates determined with the 137Cs method are higher and that the observed discrepancy between the soil erosion rate of RUSLE and the 137Cs method is related to snow gliding and sediment concentrations in the snow glide deposits. Cumulative snow glide distance was measured for the sites in the winter 2009/10 and modelled for the surrounding area with the Spatial Snow Glide Model (SSGM). Measured snow glide distance ranged from 2 to 189 cm, with lower values at the north facing slopes. We observed a reduction of snow glide distance with increasing surface roughness of the vegetation, which is important information with respect to conservation planning and expected land use changes in the Alps. Our hypothesis was confirmed: the difference of RUSLE and 137Cs erosion rates was related to the measured snow glide distance (R2= 0.64; p < 0.005) and snow sediment yields (R2 = 0.39; p = 0.13). A high difference (lower proportion of water erosion compared to total net erosion) was observed for high snow glide rates and vice versa. The SSGM reproduced the relative difference of the measured snow glide values under different land uses and land cover types. The resulting map highlighted the relevance of snow gliding for large parts of the investigated area. Based on these results, we conclude that snow gliding is a key process impacting soil erosion pattern and magnitude in sub-alpine areas with similar topographic and climatic conditions.

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Section: K Meusburger Et Al: Soil Erosion By Snow Gliding -A First Quantification Attemptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil erosion by snow gliding – a first quantification attempt in a sub-alpine area, Switzerland

Meusburger¹,

Leitinger²,

Mabit³

et al. 2014

Preprint

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“…This sustainable approach, combines the management of agro-and hydro-systems at the watershed scale, and includes soil bioengineering techniques, afforestation, grassed filter strips, revegetation and the development of sustainable agricultural practices which reduce runoff and soil erosion from agricultural lands (e.g. Goldman et al 1986;Mabit et al 1999;2007). In order to further improve our understanding of sediment dynamics and processes, conventional methods (i.e.…”

Section: Environmental Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent sedimentation rates in Garaet El Ichkeul Lake, NW Tunisia, as affected by the construction of dams and a regulatory sluice

Trabelsi¹,

Gharbi

Ghali³

et al. 2012

J Soils Sediments

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Purpose Ichkeul National Park, NW Tunisia, is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Garaet El Ichkeul Lake is known for its seasonal variability in water level and salinity. In recent decades, the waterbody has been affected by the construction of new hydraulic structures. To reduce the impacts of dams and to maintain the sustainability of the ecosystem, a sluice was built at the outlet of the lake, and it operated for the first time in 1996. This paper describes an investigation of recent sedimentation dynamics in Ichkeul Lake, determined by radiometric dating of sediment cores. Materials and methods A sediment core was collected with a UWITEC gravity corer at the deepest, central part of the lake in August 2009. Specific activities of unsupported lead-210 ( 210 Pb) and caesium-137 ( 137 Cs) were measured in the core, enabling calculation of recent sediment accumulation rates (SAR). Published radiometric data from nearby sediment cores, collected in 1997 and 1982, provide a comparison. Results and discussionThe measured excess 210 Pb inventory was 5300±500 Bq m −2 , leading to an estimation of constant flux of 165±16 Bq m −2 yr −1 , a value higher than the best estimate for local atmospheric fluxes (123 ± 12 Bq m −2 yr −1 ) and the flux estimated from the core collected in 1982 (48 Bq m −2 yr −1 ). The 137 Cs inventory was 3550±120 Bq m −2 , two times higher than the historical 137 Cs atmospheric deposition in the area. The 137 Cs profile displayed a distinct peak, but the 137 Cs depth-distribution did not follow the pattern expected from atmospheric deposition. Application of the constant rate of supply (CRS) model, with the reference point method, produced a chronology and SAR values comparable to those found in previous work. The whole 137 Cs profile was quantitatively reconstructed from the historical records of atmospheric deposition, using the system-time-averaged (STA) model. Conclusions The CRS and STA models provide consistent sediment accumulation results for the whole data set, considering the time resolution of the chronology (~6 years) and analytical uncertainties. Results from cores sampled in 1982 , 1997

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“…Mabit et al, 1999;Benmansour et al, 2013;Meusburger et al, 2013) and by soil erosion models (Nearing et al, 1989;Merritt et al, 2003). Since the end of the 1970s empirical soil erosion models such as the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE; Smith, 1965, 1978) and its refined versions, the Revised USLE (RUSLE; Renard et al, 1997) and the Modified USLE (MUSLE;Smith et al, 1984), have been used worldwide to evaluate soil erosion magnitude under various conditions (Kinnell, 2010).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil erosion by snow gliding – a first quantification attempt in a subalpine area in Switzerland

Meusburger

Leitinger

Mabit

et al. 2014

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Snow processes might be one important driver of soil erosion in Alpine grasslands and thus the unknown variable when erosion modelling is attempted. The aim of this study is to assess the importance of snow gliding as a soil erosion agent for four different land use/land cover types in a subalpine area in Switzerland. We used three different approaches to estimate soil erosion rates: sediment yield measurements in snow glide depositions, the fallout radionuclide 137 Cs and modelling with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). RUSLE permits the evaluation of soil loss by water erosion, the 137 Cs method integrates soil loss due to all erosion agents involved, and the measurement of snow glide deposition sediment yield can be directly related to snow-glide-induced erosion. Further, cumulative snow glide distance was measured for the sites in the winter of 2009/2010 and modelled for the surrounding area and long-term average winter precipitation with the spatial snow glide model (SSGM). Measured snow glide distance confirmed the presence of snow gliding and ranged from 2 to 189 cm, with lower values on the north-facing slopes. We observed a reduction of snow glide distance with increasing surface roughness of the vegetation, which is an important information with respect to conservation planning and expected and ongoing land use changes in the Alps. Snow glide erosion estimated from the snow glide depositions was highly variable with values ranging from 0.03 to 22.9 t ha −1 yr −1 in the winter of 2012/2013. For sites affected by snow glide deposition, a mean erosion rate of 8.4 t ha −1 yr −1 was found. The difference in long-term erosion rates determined with RUSLE and 137 Cs confirms the constant influence of snow-glide-induced erosion, since a large difference (lower proportion of water erosion compared to total net erosion) was observed for sites with high snow glide rates and vice versa. Moreover, the difference between RUSLE and 137 Cs erosion rates was related to the measured snow glide distance (R 2 = 0.64; p < 0.005) and to the snow deposition sediment yields (R 2 = 0.39; p = 0.13). The SSGM reproduced the relative difference of the measured snow glide values under different land uses and land cover types. The resulting map highlighted the relevance of snow gliding for large parts of the investigated area. Based on these results, we conclude that snow gliding appears to be a crucial and non-negligible process impacting soil erosion patterns and magnitude in subalpine areas with similar topographic and climatic conditions.

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Assessment of soil erosion in a small agricultural basin of the St. Lawrence River watershed

Cited by 5 publications

References 6 publications

Soil erosion by snow gliding – a first quantification attempt in a sub-alpine area, Switzerland

Soil erosion by snow gliding – a first quantification attempt in a sub-alpine area, Switzerland

Recent sedimentation rates in Garaet El Ichkeul Lake, NW Tunisia, as affected by the construction of dams and a regulatory sluice

Soil erosion by snow gliding – a first quantification attempt in a subalpine area in Switzerland

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