Investigating the Soil Wind Erosion in the Black Soil Region of Northeast China Based on ¹³⁷Cs Tracer Method

Abstract

Soil wind erosion is one of the critical drivers of land degradation in the black soil region of northeastern China. In this study, 137 Cs background value and soil wind erosion rate was studied by using 137 Cs nuclide tracing technique in the black soil region of northeastern China, and wind erosion characteristics such as background value and soil erosion rate over the years were clarified, which has guiding significance for soil and water conservation and agricultural sustainable development in the black soil region of northeast China. The mean area activity of the Hilltop area was 1541 Bq•m -2 , which was lower than the background value of 1879.7 Bq•m -2 in the study area. At the top of the hill, soil erosion occurred to some extent. The 137 Cs profile has distributional characteristics that can be divided into three categories. Most of the 137 Cs area activity in Hilltop area is evenly distributed in 0-15 cm, and the 137 Cs area activity below 15 cm decreased gradually until it disappeared. The spatial difference of wind erosion rate is significant in the study area, mainly between 7.17-10.13 t•hm -2 a -1 . The average wind erosion rate of hilltops with different tillage quality depths has little difference. The average wind erosion rate is 8.60 t•hm -2 a -1 , which belongs to mild erosion. However, its erosion rate is higher than the tolerable soil loss of 2 t•hm -2 a -1 in the black soil