Determining the depth and rate of soil movement down the soil profile using an environmental tracer: a hillslope scale assessment

G. R. Hancock; A. Gibson; I. P. Senanayake; Tristan Cox

doi:10.1071/SR23253

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Previous Next Contents Vol 62(4)

Determining the depth and rate of soil movement down the soil profile using an environmental tracer: a hillslope scale assessment

G. R. Hancock

^A ^* , A. Gibson ^B , I. P. Senanayake ^A and Tristan Cox ^A

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A School of Environmental and Life Sciences, Earth Science Building, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia.

^B Faculty of Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, Military Road, East Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: Greg.Hancock@newcastle.edu.au

Handling Editor: Siobhan Staunton

Soil Research 62, SR23253 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR23253

Submitted: 21 December 2023 Accepted: 4 April 2024 Published: 13 May 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

Soil materials can be delivered to depth from both in situ and ex situ materials. Here, we examine a hillslope in an agricultural environment that has been used for cropping and cattle grazing for over 150 years and a parallel area where cattle have been excluded for approximately 20 years. The exclusion area is a shelterbelt and also provides ecological services.

Aims

To quantify the depth and rate of down profile soil movement using the environmental tracer ¹³⁷Cs at points along a hillslope profile.

Methods

¹³⁷Cs concentration is measured to bedrock at regular intervals both inside and outside a fenced of ecological services area pre-drought (2015) and post-drought (2021). In Australia. ¹³⁷Cs is the by-product of nuclear weapons use and testing from1945 to 1972. Therefore, this places an age constraint on any labelled soil.

Key results

Results show that soil materials can move down the soil profile to reach bedrock at decadal time scales. An important finding is that materials from the surface can reach depths of up to 80 cm near the hillslope crest and up to 2.2 m at the base of the hillslope.

Conclusions

This demonstrates a relatively rapid translocation of surface material.

Implications

The method provides the ability to quantify the rapid movement of soil components and demonstrates the potential for deep sequestration of soil organic carbon. The results demonstrate the potential for soil amendments and agrochemicals to be rapidly transported to depth. The findings suggest that cattle exclusion has no impact on the movement of soil materials down the profile over the 20-year exclusion period.

Keywords: ¹³⁷Cs, carbon sequestration, cattle grazing, ecological services, environmental tracer, exclusion area, pedogenesis, shelterbelts.

References

Al-Masri MS (2006) Vertical distribution and inventories of ¹³⁷Cs in the Syrian soils of the eastern Mediterranean region. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 86, 187-198.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Arata L, Alewell C, Frenkel E, A’Campo-Neuen A, Iurian A-R, Ketterer ME, Mabit L, Meusburger K (2016) Modelling deposition and erosion rates with RadioNuclides (MODERN) – Part 2: a comparison of different models to convert ^239+240Pu inventories into soil redistribution rates at unploughed sites. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 162–163, 97-106.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Butler DR (1995) ‘Zoogeomorphology.’ p. 231. (Cambridge University Press)

Butler DR (2018) Zoogeomorphology in the Anthropocene. Geomorphology 303, 146-154.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Charman PEV, Murphy BW (2007) ‘Soils, their properties and management,’ 3rd edn, (Oxford University Press: South Melbourne, Australia)

Conrad KA, Dalal RC, Dalzell SA, Allen DE, Menzies NW (2017) The sequestration and turnover of soil organic carbon in subtropical leucaena-grass pastures. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 248, 38-47.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Curtis SJ (1996) Estimating soil erosion from Krasnozem soils on hillslopes under pasture and cultivation in Comboyne, New South Wales, and Silvan, Victoria. Masters Thesis, Department of Geography, The University of Newcastle, Australia.

Dalal RC, Thornton CM, Allen DE, Owens JS, Kopittke PM (2021) Long-term land use change in Australia from native forest decreases all fractions of soil organic carbon, including resistant organic carbon, for cropping but not sown pasture. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 311, 107326.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Dalzell BJ, Fissore C, Nater EA (2022) Topography and land use impact erosion and soil organic carbon burial over decadal timescales. Catena 218, 106578.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

De Alba S (2001) Modeling the effects of complex topography and patterns of tillage on soil translocation by tillage with mouldboard plough. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 56, 335-345.
| Google Scholar |

De Alba S (2003) Simulating long-term soil redistribution generated by different patterns of mouldboard ploughing in landscapes of complex topography. Soil and Tillage Research 71, 71-86.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

De Alba S, Lindstrom M, Schumacher TE, Malo DD (2004) Soil landscape evolution due to soil redistribution by tillage: a new conceptual model of soil catena evolution in agricultural landscapes. Catena 58, 77-100.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Gaspar L, Navas A (2013) Vertical and lateral distributions of ¹³⁷Cs in cultivated and uncultivated soils on Mediterranean hillslopes. Geoderma 207–208, 131-143.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Gibson AJ, Hancock GR, Healy E, Lindsay L, Moore K, Bretreger D, Cox T, Yeo I (2022) Limitations to the soil impacts of tree regrowth in improved cattle pasture. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 337, 108015.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Hancock GR (2023a) Understanding and quantifying whole soil-profile organic carbon transfer using an environmental tracer. Soil Research 61, 775-786.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Hancock GR (2023b) Using environmental tracers to understand soil organic carbon and soil erosion on a steep slope hillslope in south-east Australia. Soil Research 61, 616-625.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Hancock GR, Coulthard TJ (2012) Channel movement and erosion response to rainfall variability in southeast Australia. Hydrological Processes 26, 663-673.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Hancock G, Lowry J (2021) Quantifying the influence of rainfall, vegetation and animals on soil erosion and hillslope connectivity in the monsoonal tropics of northern Australia. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 46, 2110-2123.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Hancock GR, Vallely M (2020) Effects of grazing exclusion on soil organic carbon: hillslope and soil profile results (an Australian example). Science of The Total Environment 705, 135844.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Hancock GR, Wells T, Martinez C, Dever C (2015) Soil erosion and tolerable soil loss: insights into erosion rates for a well-managed grassland catchment. Geoderma 237–238, 256-265.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Hancock GR, Kunkel V, Wells T, Martinez C (2019) Soil organic carbon and soil erosion – understanding change at the large catchment scale. Geoderma 343, 60-71.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

He Q, Walling DE, Wallbrink PJ (2002) Chapter 9: Alternative methods and radionuclides for use in soil-erosion and sedimentation investigations. In ‘Handbook for the assessment of soil erosion and sedimentation using environmental radionuclides’. (Ed. F Zapata) pp. 185–215. (Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht, The Netherlands)

Heimsath AM, Fink D, Hancock GR (2009) The ‘humped’ soil production function: eroding Arnhem Land, Australia. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 34, 1674-1684.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Hobley EU, Baldock J, Wilson B (2016) Environmental and human influences on organic carbon fractions down the soil profile. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 223, 152-166.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Hulugalle NR, Weaver TB, Finlay LA (2012) Carbon inputs by wheat and vetch roots to an irrigated Vertosol. Soil Research 50, 177-187.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Jagercikova M, Evrard O, Balesdent J, Lefèvre I, Cornu S (2014) Modeling the migration of fallout radionuclides to quantify the contemporary transfer of fine particles in Luvisol profiles under different land uses and farming practices. Soil and Tillage Research 140, 82-97.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Jenny H (1941) ‘Factors of soil formation: a system of quantitative pedology.’ p. 281. (McGraw-Hill)

Jha P, Hati KM, Dalal RC, Dang YP, Kopittke PM, Menzies NW (2020) Soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in a Vertisol following 50 years of no-tillage, crop stubble retention and nitrogen fertilization. Geoderma 358, 113996.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Kiem AS, Johnson F, Westra S, van Dijk A, Evans JP, O’Donnell A, et al. (2016) Natural hazards in Australia: droughts. Climatic Change 139, 37-54.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Knighton D (1998) ‘Fluvial form and processes.’ (Routledge: Oxon)

Kovac M, Lawrie JW (1991) Soil landscapes of the Singleton 1:250 000 sheet. p. 456. Soil Conservation Service of NSW, Sydney.

Loughran RJ (1994) The use of the environmental isotope caesium-137 for soil erosion and sedimentation studies. Trends in Hydrology 1, 149-167.
| Google Scholar |

Loughran RJ, Pennock DJ, Walling DE (2002) Spatial distribution of caesium-137. In ‘Handbook for the assessment of soil erosion and sedimentation using environmental radionuclides’. (Ed. F Zapata) pp. 97–109. (Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht)

Martinez C, Hancock GR, Kalma JD (2009) Comparison of fallout radionuclide (caesium-137) and modelling approaches for the assessment of soil erosion rates for an uncultivated site in south-eastern Australia. Geoderma 151, 128-140.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Martinez C, Hancock GR, Kalma JD (2010) Relationships between ¹³⁷Cs and soil organic carbon (SOC) in cultivated and never-cultivated soils: an Australian example. Geoderma 158, 137-147.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Murphy BW (2015) Impact of soil organic matter on soil properties – a review with emphasis on Australian soils. Soil Research 53, 605-635.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Paton TR, Humphreys GS, Mitchell PB (1995) ‘Soils: a new global view soils : a new global view.’ (UCL Press: London)

Pringle MJ, Allen DE, Dalal RC, Payne JE, Mayer DG, O’Reagain P, Marchant BP (2011) Soil carbon stock in the tropical rangelands of Australia: effects of soil type and grazing pressure, and determination of sampling requirement. Geoderma 167–168, 261-273.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Rayment GE, Lyons DJ (2010) ‘Soil chemical methods – Australasia.’ (CSIRO Publishing)

Ritchie JC, McHenry JR (1975) Fallout Cs-137: a tool in conservation research. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 30(341), 283-286.
| Google Scholar |

Southard RJ, Graham RC (1992) Cesium-137 distribution in a California pelloxerert: evidence of pedoturbation. Soil Science Society of America Journal 56, 202-207.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Story R, Galloway R, van de Graff R, Tweedie AD (1963) General report on the lands of the Hunter Valley. Land Research Series 8. CSIRO.

Van Oost K, Govers G (2006) Tillage erosion. In ‘Soil erosion in Europe’. (Eds J Boardman, J Poesen) pp. 599–608. (John Wiley & Sons, Ltd) doi:10.1002/0470859202.ch43

Van Oost K, Govers G, de Alba S, Quine TA (2006) Tillage erosion: a review of controlling factors and implications for soil quality. Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment 30, 443-466.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Walling DE, He Q (1999) Improved models for estimating soil erosion rates from cesium-137 measurements. Journal of Environmental Quality 28(2), 611-622.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Walling DE, He Q (2001) Models for converting ¹³⁷Cs measurements to estimates of soil redistribution rates on cultivated and uncultivated soils, and estimating bomb derived ¹³⁷Cs reference inventories (including software for model implementation). A contribution to the IAEA Coordinated Research Programmes on Soil Erosion (D1.50.05) and Sedimentation (F3.10.01). University of Exeter. p. 32.

Walling DE, He Q, Appleby PG (2002) Chapter 7: Conversion models for use in soil-erosion, soil redistribution and sedimentation investigations. In ‘Handbook for the assessment of soil erosion and sedimentation using environmental radionuclides’. (Ed. F Zapata) pp. 111–164. (Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht, The Netherlands)

Walling DE, Zhang Y, He Q (2011) Models for deriving estimates of erosion and deposition rates from fallout radionuclide (caesium-137, excess lead-201, and beryllium-7) measurements and the development of user friendly software for model implementation. Impact of soil conservation measures on erosion control and soil quality. IAEA-TECDOC-1665. pp. 11–33.

Welivitiya WDDP, Willgoose GR, Hancock GR (2019) A coupled soilscape-landform evolution model: model formulation and initial results. Earth Surface Dynamics 7, 591-607.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Wells T, Hancock G (2014) Comparison of vertical transport of ¹³⁷Cs and organic carbon in agricultural cracking soils. Geoderma 214–215, 228-238.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Wells T, Hancock GR, Dever C, Murphy D (2012) Prediction of vertical soil organic carbon profiles using soil properties and environmental tracer data at an untilled site. Geoderma 170, 337-346.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Wells T, Hancock GR, Dever C, Martinez C (2013) Application of RothPC-1 to soil carbon profiles in cracking soils under minimal till cultivation. Geoderma 207–208, 144-153.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Wilding LP, Tessier D (1988) Genesis of vertisols: Shrink-swell phenomena. In ‘Vertisols: their distribution, properties, classification and management’. (Eds LP Wilding, R Puentes) pp. 55–81. (Texas A & M University Printing Center: Texas, USA)

Willgoose G (2018) ‘Principles of soilscape and landscape evolution.’ p. 356. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK) doi:10.1017/9781139029339

Yaalon DH, Kalmar D (1978) Dynamics of cracking and swelling clay soils: displacement of skeletal grains, optimum depth of slickensides, and rate of intra-pedonic turbation. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 3, 31-42.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Zapata F (2002) ‘Handbook for the assessment of soil erosion and sedimentation using environmental radionuclides.’ p. 219. (Kluwer Academic: Dordrecht, The Netherlands)

Zapata F, Garcia-Agudo E, Ritchie JC, Appleby PG (2002) Chapter 1: Introduction. In ‘Handbook for the assessment of soil erosion and sedimentation using environmental radionuclides’. (Ed. F Zapata) pp. 1–13. (Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht, The Netherlands)