Using Cs-137 measurements to estimate soil erosion rates in the Pcinja and South Morava River Basins, southeastern Serbia

Abstract

The need for reliable assessments of soil erosion rates in Serbia has directed attention to the potential for using Cs-137 measurements to derive estimates of soil redistribution rates. Since, to date, this approach has not been applied in southeastern Serbia, a reconnaissance study was undertaken to confirm its viability. The need to take account of the occurrence of substantial Chernobyl fallout was seen as a potential problem. Samples for Cs-137 measurement were collected from a zone of uncultivated soils in the watersheds of Pcinja and South Morava Rivers, an area with known high soil erosion rates. Two theoretical conversion models, the profile distribution (PD) model and diffusion and migration (D and M) model were used to derive estimates of soil erosion and deposition rates from the Cs-137 measurements. The estimates of soil redistribution rates derived by using the PD and D and M models were found to differ substantially and this difference was ascribed to the assumptions of the simpler PD model that cause it to overestimate rates of soil loss. The results provided by the D and M model were judged to more reliable. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.