Soil erosion quantification using cosmogenic radionuclide Beryllium-7

The fallout radionuclides Cesium-137, Lead-210 are used widely for obtaining quantitative information on soil erosion and sediment redistribution rates within agricultural landscapes, over several spatial and temporal scales, and they are frequently seen to represent a valuable complement to conventional soil erosion measurement techniques. However, measurements of these radionuclides provide estimates of medium term (i.e. 40-100 years) soil erosion rates. The shorter-term perspective provided by the Beryllium-7 method has the potential to estimate soil erosion rates associated with individual events or short periods. The Beryllium-7 method has become increasingly relevant in an environment impacted by climate change, changing land use and other human activities. This book presents a mathematical model based on the physical processes of molecular diffusion and radioactive decay, to study the vertical behaviour of cosmogenic Beryllium-7 in soils. This model was further used to quantify erosion rates for 12 individual erosional events over a period of two years at a study site in Mncheberg, Germany.