Interpretation of soil erosion in a Polish loess area using OSL, 137Cs, 210Pbex, dendrochronology and micromorphology – case study: Biedrzykowice site (s Poland)
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.
Fig. 1
A – Location of research area on the map of loess distribution (yellow patches) in southern Poland; B – DEM model; C – orthophotomap; D – aerial photo
Fig. 2
The spatial patterns of 137Cs and 210Pbex inventories on the studied agricultural field. The data on the figure are expressed in Bq·m–2.
Fig. 3
The downslope change of 137Cs and 210Pbex inventories. On the figure is marked the shape of the slope.
Fig. 4
Micromorphological features and genetic interpretation of upper part of soil-colluvial sequence in Biedrzykowice.
Fig. 5
Micromorphological characteristic of lower part of soil-colluvial sequence in Biedrzykowice. The microphotograph presents massive microstructure in clay-rich soil material.
Fig. 6
Core with eccentric growth of tree (A), and ring reduction (B)
Fig. 7
The example of depth distributions of 137Cs and 210Pbex for a reference site.
Fig. 8
a) The calculated annual 137Cs inventories based on precipitation data and model Sarmiento-Gwinn for a study site; b) The calculated monthly 137Cs inventories based on precipitation data and model Sarmiento-Gwinn for a study site for the period 1962–1964
Fig. 9
The spatial patterns soil erosion and sediment accumulation calculated by different models based on radionuclide inventories on the studied agricultural field: a) proportional model based on 137Cs inventories, b) simplified mass balance model based on 137Cs inventories, c) improved mass balance model based on 137Cs inventories, d) improved mass balance model based on 210Pbex inventories.
Fig. 10
The depth distribution of the 137Cs and 210Pbex (A), SAR OSL ages (B), grain size composition (C, D) and stratigraphy (E) for the soil core collected from the upper part of the slope.
Fig. 11
The depth distribution of the 137Cs and 210Pbex (A), SAR OSL ages (B), grain size composition (C, D) and stratigraphy (E) for the soil core collected from the middle part of the slope.
Fig. 12
The depth distribution of the 137Cs and 210Pbex (A), SAR OSL ages (B), grain size composition (C, D) and stratigraphy (E), for the soil core collected from the lower part of the slope.
Fig. 13
The results of OSL SAR dating for the side of the gully (B), results of U-238, Th-232 (C) and K-40 (D) analysis as well as grain size analysis (E, F) in samples from the wall of gully. On the figure also shown the results of activity measurements by portable gamma spectrometer (B) and stratigraphy (A).
Fig. 14
The examples of De distributions.
Fig. 15
Graphs showing strong ring reductions in tree no. 1 signed by arrows and grey surfaces (A), tree ring curves form opposite site of the tree no. 3 (B), and yearly variation of eccentricity index of the tree no. 3 (C)
Fig. 16
Erosion events dated dendrochronologically (B) compared with rainfalls events recorded in Sielec gauge, dark and light grey colour were used one after the other to make more visible the individual rainfall events on the graph (A).
Micromorphology of colluvial-soil sequence at Biedrzykowice. Microstructure: ch – channel, co – coprolithic, ma – massive. Frequency of occurrence: 0 – none, 1 – single, 2 – few, 3 – common, 4 – very common.
Unit
Depth (cm)
Microstructures
Clay coatings and infillings
Fe and Fe-Mn microforms
Fecal pellets
Charcoals
I
10–15
ch-co
0
0
3
2
25–30
ch
0
2
2
2
55–60
ch
1
2
1
0
120–124
ch
2
2
3
2
II
151–155
ch
2
2
2
2
200–205
ch
2
2
2
1
231–235
ch
1
2
2
0
285–290
ch
0
3
2
0
355–360
ch
0
3
2
0
III
380–385
ch
0
3
4
1
405–410
ch
3
2
2
3
425–430
ch-ma
4
3
2
2
470–475
ch-ma
2
1
0
0
Results of activity concentration measurement (based on low-level semiconductor γ-spectrometry), dose rate calculation, De estimation and OSL ages for sediment samples from Biedrzykowice. 1Doses for samples collected from a depth lower than 50 cm were corrected with respect to range of gamma rays. 2Dose rates in this column were obtained by using portable gamma spectrometer in situ