A study on responses of soil erosion and sediment yield to closing cultivation on sloping land in a small catchment using 137Cs technique in the Rolling Loess Plateau, China

By comparison of volumes and 137Cs contents of the deposited sediments before and after 1993, changes of specific sediment yields and relative sediment contributions from the gully area and from the inter gully area after closing cultivation on the later area on a small catchment of Zhaojia Gully, in the Rolling Loess Plateau, are analyzed in this paper. Closing cultivation in a large scale has not resulted in decrease but increase of specific sediment yield of the catchment, in sharp decrease of the sediment yield and the relative sediment contribution of the inter-gully area, and in increase of the sediment yield and the contribution of the gully area, for a short term. The mean specific sediment yield of 29650 t km−2 a−1 of 1994–1996 in the catchment was 2.2 times the average value of 13413 t km−2 a−1 for a long term. The specific sediment yield of the inter-gully area decreased from the 14335 t km−2 a−1 in 1994 to 7034 t km−2 a−1 in 1995 and 3517 t km−2 a−1 in 1996, while the yield of the gully area varied between 44944 and 62136 t km−2 a−1 during the period of 1994–1996 which was much greater than the value of 21118 t km−2 a−1 before 1993. The relative sediment contribution from the inter-gully area decreased from 23% in 1994 to 15% in 1995 and 6% in 1996, while the contribution from the gully area increased from 77% in 1994 to 85% in 1995 and 94% in 1996. It is suggested that compacting of ploughed soils resulted in increasing of the erosion resistance but in decreasing of the precipitation infiltration, therefore, the soil erosion reduced but the runoff amount increased on the inter-gully area. Increase of delivering runoff from the inter-gully area to the gully area should result in activeness of gully erosion and mass movements, consequently, in increase of the total sediment yield from the catchment.