Preliminary results of using137Cs to study wind erosion in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The world fallout of caesium-137 (137Cs) associated with nuclear weapons testing during the 1950s and 1960s has provided a valuable man-made tracer for studies of soil erosion and sediment delivery. But relatively few researchers have used it to estimate wind erosion. In this paper, the137Cs technique is introduced into the study of wind erosion and its modern processes in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Two137Cs reference inventories of 982•11 and 2376•04 Bq m−2was established preliminarily, which distribute in the south and mid-north parts of the study area respectively. By analysing the patterns of137Cs depth profiles from sampling sites, the aeolian processes of erosion and deposition along nearly 40 years has been revealed, i.e. the shrub coppice dunes(S1) and semi-fixed dunefields (S3) had experienced the alternation of erosion and deposition, while the grasslands (S4, S6 and S7) and dry farmlands (S5) suffered erosion only. By using the137Cs model, the average wind erosion rates for shrub coppice dune (S1), semi-fixed dunefields (S3), dry farmlands (S5) and grasslands (S4, S6 and S7) were estimated to be 84•14, 69•43, 30•68 and 21•84 tha−1a−1respectively, and for the whole Plateau, averaging 47•59 ha−1a−1which can be regarded as the medium erosion standard. These results derived from137Cs for the first time have significant implications for the further research of wind erosion and desertification control in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.