Articles | Volume 6, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-549-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-549-2020
Original research article
 | 
16 Nov 2020
Original research article |  | 16 Nov 2020

Understanding the role of water and tillage erosion from 239+240Pu tracer measurements using inverse modelling

Florian Wilken, Michael Ketterer, Sylvia Koszinski, Michael Sommer, and Peter Fiener

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Cited articles

Alewell, C., Meusburger, K., Juretzko, G., Mabit, L., and Ketterer, M. E.: Suitability of 239+240Pu and 137Cs as tracers for soil erosion assessment in mountain grasslands, Chemosphere, 103, 274–280, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2013.12.016, 2014. 
Alewell, C., Pitois, A., Meusburger, K., Ketterer, M., and Mabit, L.: 239+240Pu from “contaminant” to soil erosion tracer: Where do we stand?, Earth-Sci. Rev., 172, 107–123, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2017.07.009, 2017. 
Alewell, C., Borrelli, P., Meusburger, K., and Panagos, P.: Using the USLE: Chances, challenges and limitations of soil erosion modelling, International Soil and Water Conservation Research, 7, 203–225, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iswcr.2019.05.004, 2019. 
Auerswald, K., Fiener, P., Martin, W., and Elhaus, D.: Use and misuse of the K factor equation in soil erosion modeling: An alternative equation for determining USLE nomograph soil erodibility values, Catena, 118, 220–225, 2014. 
Belyaev, V. R., Wallbrink, P. J., Golosov, V. N., Murray, A. S., and Sidorchuk, A. Y.: A comparison of methods for evaluating soil redistribution in the severely eroded Stavropol region, southern European Russia, Geomorphology, 65, 173–193, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2004.09.001, 2005. 
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Short summary
Soil redistribution by water and tillage erosion processes on arable land is a major threat to sustainable use of soil resources. We unravel the role of tillage and water erosion from fallout radionuclide (239+240Pu) activities in a ground moraine landscape. Our results show that tillage erosion dominates soil redistribution processes and has a major impact on the hydrological and sedimentological connectivity, which started before the onset of highly mechanised farming since the 1960s.