PROGRESS IN GEOGRAPHY ›› 2018, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (7): 890-900.doi: 10.18306/dlkxjz.2018.07.003

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Soil erosion investigation based on sediments in lakes and reservoirs

Tianyi XUE(), Hongya WANG   

  1. College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
  • Received:2017-06-21 Revised:2017-10-13 Online:2018-07-28 Published:2018-07-28
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.41571130044

Abstract:

Soil erosion investigation has important significance for preventing natural hazard-induced disasters and promoting the sustainable use of land. Due to the absence of long-term hydrological observation data in some areas, research on historical soil erosion often needs to use surrogate indicators. As the sink of erosion products in drainage basins, sediments in lakes and reservoirs record the characteristics of soil erosion in a long period of time and have high application value and potential in many fields. Focusing on the questions of determining the age of soil erosion, reconstructing the erosion processes, and searching for sediment sources, this study first reviewed the application theories and methods of radioactive isotopes, mineral magnetism, grain size, and geochemical indicators. Second, we summarized the research in the above fields with the sediments in lakes and reservoirs respectively, thus confirmed the important role of these sediments. Finally, we discussed the uncertainty in soil erosion investigations and identified the potential research directions.

Key words: sediments in lakes and reservoirs, soil erosion, magnetic characteristics, fingerprinting technique