<abstract xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The estimation of soil erosion rates in complex subtropical agricultural systems of hilly environment is difficult and most of the traditional methods have serious limitations. The 137Cs technique allows to obtain relatively quickly retrospective medium term soil erosion results. The objective of this study was using 137Cs approach to quantify soil loss under agricultural system which develops under growing human pressure on the hilly terrain of the Meghalaya Plateau. The measured values of caesium inventory for all sampling points are between 2% and 63% of the reference value of caesium inventory. The estimated annual soil loss for sampling points located on the slope are between 29 and 79 Mg·ha−1·yr−1 in the case of an improved mass balance model. It means that soil erosion in this manually tilled agricultural area cannot be neglected.</p></abstract>

The estimation of soil erosion rates in complex subtropical agricultural systems of hilly environment is difficult and most of the traditional methods have serious limitations. The 137Cs technique allows to obtain relatively quickly retrospective medium term soil erosion results. The objective of this study was using 137Cs approach to quantify soil loss under agricultural system which develops under growing human pressure on the hilly terrain of the Meghalaya Plateau. The measured values of caesium inventory for all sampling points are between 2% and 63% of the reference value of caesium inventory. The estimated annual soil loss for sampling points located on the slope are between 29 and 79 Mg·ha−1·yr−1 in the case of an improved mass balance model. It means that soil erosion in this manually tilled agricultural area cannot be neglected.

Estimation of soil erosion on cultivated fields on the hilly Meghalaya Plateau, North-East India

Department of Radioisotopes (GADAM Centre of Excellence), Institute of Physics, Silesian University of Technology, Krzywoustego 2, 44-100, Gliwice, Poland

Department of Geomorphology and Hydrology, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Polish Academy of Sciences, Jana 22, 31-018, Krakow, Poland

Geochronometria

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The estimation of soil erosion rates in complex subtropical agricultural systems of hilly environment is difficult and most of the traditional methods have...

Estimation of soil erosion on cultivated fields on the hilly Meghalaya Plateau, North-East India

Published Online: Jan 28, 2011

Page range: 77 - 84

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s13386-011-0008-7

Keywords
Soil erosion, Cs-137, mathematical models, Meghalaya Plateau, India

© 2011 Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Estimation of soil erosion on cultivated fields on the hilly Meghalaya Plateau, North-East India

Published Online: Jan 28, 2011

Page range: 77 - 84

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s13386-011-0008-7

KeywordsSoil erosion, Cs-137, mathematical models, Meghalaya Plateau, India

© 2011 Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Soil erosion, Cs-137, mathematical models, Meghalaya Plateau, India