Prioritization of erosion prone areas based on a sediment yield index for conservation treatments: A case study of the upper Tapi River basin

Soil erosion is one of the most significant forms of land degradation in the Bosnia and Herzegovina. The mapping of soil erosion in B&H, as in the study area, was realized 30 years ago (1979-1985). The past decades has been marked by the changes which retained visible tracks and caused numerous changes in the intensity of erosion processes. In this paper, the mapping of the recent state of erosion intensity was performed, and then an analysis of changes was made in relation to the state of 30 years ago. The erosion potential method (EPM) was used for mapping the soil erosion and calculation of gross annual erosion and sediment yield. Erosion Map of the Vrbas river basin was made in the scale of 1:25,000. This Erosion Map counts a total of 69 topographic sections and 4,524 erosion polygons (plots). According to the Erosion Map of the Vrbas river basin, 5,666.88 km2 of the study area is affected by erosion, while 621.71 km2 are accumulating sediments. Annual gross erosion in the Vrbas river basin is 1,223,989.60 m3/year, while sediment yield is 366,088.10 m3/year. These research results are important because this is the first soil erosion map for the Vrbas river basin with EPM methodology for the whole river basin on territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The results can be applied in the field of spatial and urban planning, water and soil management on the local and regional level.

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Contemporary erosion and suspended sediment yield within river basins in the steppe of the Southeastern part of the Russian Plain: A case study of the Samara River basin

Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk Seriya Geograficheskaya ◽

10.31857/s2587-55662019137-51 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 37-51 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

A. V. Gusarov ◽

A. G. Sharifullin

Keyword(s):

Suspended Sediment ◽

River Basin ◽

Sediment Yield ◽

Soil Freezing ◽

Russian Plain ◽

Accumulation Rates ◽

Small Catchment ◽

Suspended Sediment Yield ◽

Erosion Intensity

The paper presents the results of contemporary trend assessment in general erosion intensity within the southeastern steppe sector of the Russian Plain, a case study of the Samara River (the upper reaches) basin (22,800 km2, Orenburg oblast, European part of Russia), based on the long-term studying of river suspended sediment yield dynamics. The assessment is supplemented by accumulation rates field study of the soil-rill-gully erosion products in a typical small catchment (the catchment area is 1.92 km2) of the river basin using environmental radioactive caesium-137 (incl. Chernobyl-derived 137Cs) as a chronomarker. The results obtained clearly show that the Samara River’s suspended sediment yield has been reduced at least twice over the last 30 years compared with 1940–1960s. The marked decreasing trend in the erosion intensity in the Samara River basin is confirmed by a decrease (by 3.0–3.6 times as a minimum) in accumulation rates of the erosion products over the past 60 years within the dry valley bottom of the studied small catchment. The main reason for such significant erosion rates reduction was a decrease in surface snowmelt runoff within the basin area since the early 1980s, associated with a reduction in a soil freezing depth and a general increase in air temperature during spring months.

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