Study of Spatial and Temporal Processes of Soil Erosion on Sloping Land Using Rare Earth Elements As Tracers

Rare earth elements(REE) were used to study the temporal and spatial processes of soil erosion from different depths and sections of a slope. Two simulated rainfall events were applied to a prepared plot with a slope of 22°. The total runoff and sediment yield were collected every minute during the rainfall events. During the first twenty minutes of the first rainfall event,the average rate of rill erosion and the accumulated sediment yield due to rill erosion was 0.5 and 0.3 times higher than for sheet erosion. During this time,most of the erosion occurred on the lower one third of the plot. After 20 min,rill erosion became the dominant process on the slope. The average acceleration in the rate of rill erosion,the rate of rill erosion and the accumulated sediment yield due to rill erosion were 42,6 and 4 times higher than that of sheet erosion,respectively. During the first 35 minutes of the second rainfall event,the average acceleration in the rate of rill erosion was 6～9 times higher than that of sheet erosion. Afterwards,the slope became nearly stable with little change in either rill or sheet erosion rates. Initially,most of the rill erosion occurred in the lower third of the slope but later the preexisting rillhead in the middle section of the slope became reactivated and erosion in this section of the slope increased rapidly. These results indicate that REE tracer technology is a valuable tool for quantifying spatial and temporal changes in erosion from a soil slope.